Myste had her head down, and was staring down the ground. In the corner of her eyes she could see gowns and bodies moving, and swaying, and could feel the humming of their emotions on all sides. Her section of the ballroom floor reflected the flickering and crackling given off by fire demons resting in lamps, and darting around the ceiling. If she were even remotely the princess these people need, she thought, this might've actually been a happy evening. All the excitement was relatively wasted on her. If she wasn't trying to preserve her image she might have even considered crying. She shut her eyes gently and took a short breath, thankfully not seeing anything but darkness behind her eyelids. Unbeknownst to her, this momentary reprieve was to be short lived.

In an instant two voluminous silhouettes appeared behind her, Myste's eyes snapped open as she felt two other sets of arms wrapping tightly around her arms. The sudden sensation was frightening, but she did not move, her awareness sharpened straight away and posture immediately straightening. They spoke to her. These voices, here? in this place? No it couldn't have been, she thought. It wasn't fair.

Her psyche had been brought to the mercy of old and powerful magic. It was unforgiving; taking the things she loved, hated and wished to hide and toying with them. And now it seems it had come again, taunting her with the image of her closest friends. She had known them in an instant- and It felt nothing short of agonising. A familiar crackling sensation spread from her fingertips straight to her temple, static and burning. The heat coursed beneath her skin as she felt the telltale signs of a second par of eyes making an appearance. Her body arched violently as she tried to wrestle the feeling away, but to no avail. The well of her will had run dry. Here she stood helpless, in the eye of the storm armed with nothing but the desire to just make it stop.

It was too much, too much heat, too much light, too much pain.

In that exact moment something gave way inside of her, and everything stilled..and Myste did not realise how she screeched, nor did she notice a powerful pair of black wings swooping past her as they moved to cover something. Markings swirled and pulsed around her, as everything became consumed by a blinding pink light. They tore through the fabric of her dress with ease, and shredded the cloak behind her, burning their erratic swirling patterns into the floor surrounding her. They expanded, and coursed violently through the ballroom, swirling around the party's attendees- zipping through the air and scorching all they came into contact with. It was as if something was being ripped clean out of her as Myste dug claws into her brow, desperately trying to shove it all back down. She pressed harder, and harder, and her lungs once again opened to expel a series of horrible pained shrieks. These efforts too would be short lived, for as quickly as it had come on, the surge left her body. She became overcome with a supernatural tiredness and seconds later her body hit the floor. Her body lay dead still, and time seemed to resume to its regular flow.

Ah, Here is your princess then, Unconscious and smouldering in the center of the ballroom.



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