CLANG. Eberron felt the impact shudder through his body, and he shook his head. Leaning over while he waited to catch his breath from the sudden shock.

"Oww..."

Pulling himself together, Eberron began to speak, if only to make sure his friend was still there.

"Hehe... sorry about that, didn't realise I'd hit something with quite such force. Should probably be more careful. See, I'm pretty clumsy for a 'mysterious guy' don't you..."

Eberron stopped as he heard an unusual noise. What was that? Was Masakazu... The strange gasping noise at first caused Eberron to think of lack of air, or possibly some danger. It was a few moments before he realised that the poor man was sobbing in despair. Eberron reached through the dark and found him again. Tapping him as lightly as he could, fully aware of his strong, goron hands, Eberron tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry... so it's metal. We can get past metal. There are LOTS of ways to get past it. And even if we can't get past here, we'll find another way out. There's ALWAYS another way out."

Eberron looked around thinking about their situation.

"We may even be close enough for someone to hear us who could help... If all else fails, we could cry out for help!"

Eberron was doing his best to stay positive for his friends sake, but he sounded more confident then he felt. There was no point giving in to despair though. They had to fight on through. First Zeze... now Masakazu. This pale man was hurting all of Eberron's new friends. And he didn't take kindly to people who hurt his friends. Concentrating on all the stories he had been told by his father of daring escapes, and unusual incidences, Eberron failed to find anything that could be useful... Until a sudden idea entered his mind. Unless these bars were magic... which could be quite possible. Eberron decided it was still worth a try. Turning to Masakazu he spoke quietly.

"Hey... Masakazu? I have an idea. Something father once told me about metal bars and escaping from them. Once he was trapped in a metal cage he told me, and he couldn't fit out... But he did a little trick which allowed his smaller friend to escape and get help... I don't know. It may have just been a story, but much of what he told me as a child seems to have worked this far in my travels... Now... this is going to sound kind of disgusting once I've finished explaining it so... first off, the easy bit. We need some cloth, and a stick or something solid. I don't Carry any weapons and my bag was left back in the kitchen."

Eberron sighed.

"You don't happen to have a deku staff or a stick with you? I presume you have clothing of some kind that you can rip a bit."

Keychain's eyes showed shock as she stared at the hysterical woman. "I-I ended up here when—why am I explaining this to you? I don't even know who you are!" A small squeak came from her throat as she was dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "The last thing I need right now is someone going crazy on me."

Her mouth open and closed as words wouldn't come out. What was going on? Not knowing the answer herself, Keychain shook her head and stood up. She didn't want to stand around looking like an idiot. She wanted out. Watching Zeze, Keychain wasn't so sure what she should do to get out.

"Do you, um, need some help?" she questioned before the other questions registered to her head. One in particular. "Where has he gone? I simply can not live without him!" She glared darkly at the person. "Excuse me? I don't think that something like that can possibly exist. A man like him is not worth it. If he is a man at all."

~~~~~
Aqua looked up at Jack. Her eyes watched him in an uneasy way. Finally admitting that her friend and that guy weren't coming back, she had sat down with her legs stretched straight out. People avoided her long limbs.

"Aqua," she said after staring at him long and hard. "My name is Aqua. It's short for something, but you don't need to know what is short for. I suggest that you don't get too close to me." She held up one of Keychain's heels. The ends were long and pointed. "I have personal space issues. This shoe could become a weapon any time soon."

With amazement Arrika watched Alpha reanimate himself. Uncanny. Even she couldn't pull that off as successfully as he. And she was the one who had been specifically trained in it.

She did not pry any further into his past, instead letting his words hang like a bad omen in the air.

The thief tilted her head as he complimented her, contemplating- what a smooth talker he was, needless to say he knew of the classic "effect he had on women". Well, if he wanted something from her, she wanted something in return. Answers. Curiosity suddenly the better of her, and as he turned away, striding back confidently into the party, she allowed a small smile to twitch on her lips. She would solve the mystery sooner or later; he had already confided in her, and they'd only spoken a few times.

Is that Sakiko?!

Arrika dashed to his side, the unexpected urgency in his voice causing her mind to swerve away automatically from her previous thoughts. "...why... I think it is... Saki? Are you- oh, Nayru, Din, and Farore... she's drunk..." The thief observed, moving to her friend and propping her arm up over her shoulders. She scanned the crowd, then glanced up at the staircase. "We can't just leave her here."

========
Back in the tapestry, Zeze's slashing with her newly made sword cut great rifts in the space before her. Yet the holes seemed to patch themselves back up, but not quick enough for her to miss noticing the bottomless, empty void beneath the embroidery.

The women cast Key angry, stormy looks as she criticized their behavior. Some of them looked completely appalled. They moved away from her, hissing and muttering amongst themselves.

One woman did not. She had light blonde hair reminiscent of the sun, and was so skinny she seemed brittle and weak. With an loud, tired exhale she sat down again, rubbing her ankles as if they pained her greatly just to stand for a moment or two. She glanced at the Countess, Zeze, and Key, shaking her head sorrowfully.

Alpha was by Arrika's side in an instant, bending over Sakiko's unconscious form. For an moment he found himself enraged, angered by the fact that although she had been passed out on the stairs for several minutes now, the party seemed to have continued as though no one had noticed. However, upon raising his head to fix the other party-goers with a face that bespoke pure DOOM, he felt the expression falter; the decorations on the side of the staircase covered up the stairs completely. No one had been able to see Sakiko from the party floor, which gave them at least something of an excuse.

Arrika was already lifting the mage up over her shoulders, but Alpha quickly circumvented her efforts. "I'll get her," he said quickly as he wrapped his arms around the silver haired girl and cradled her in his own grasp, feeling a note of surprise at how light the girl was. Shrugging off the fact, he motioned with his head for the thief to follow as he carried the unconscious mage further up the stairwell, hoping to find something like a bed or couch somewhere on the second story. Sakiko needed rest to recover, and that would require something of a flat surface . . .

Glancing around at the top of the stairwell, his eyes fell on a slightly cracked doorway; rushing over to it, he pushed it open with his foot and - lo and behold - found a bedroom situated beyond it. He quickly moved to the bedside and placed her atop the mattress.

He didn't even glance back to see if Arrika had followed him; instead he immediately placed his nose directly above Sakiko's mouth, testing her breath with his scent of smell . . . yes, there were definitely traces of alcohol to be found. "She's drunk alright," he confirmed. "Might even be some alcohol poisoning in the works here; I can't say for sure. But regardless," his lips curled into a smile, "I can take care of this, no problem at all."

Muttering a few words in a chant, he rubbed his hands together for a second before placing one hand on Sakiko's forehead and the other above her heart. As they made contact with her skin and brown dress, a soft emerald glow began emanating from his fingertips. As he waited, the glow seemed to spread into Sakiko's body, slowly traveling through her veins until at last her entire body was shimmering with the pale light.

"I have a . . . special grasp of poisons," Alpha explained to Arrika. "I'm immune to virtually any toxin that works by infecting the bloodstream, and this is the main reason for it. The spell I've just cast takes a few minutes to work, but it cleanses the blood of any impurities - normally I use it to negate deadly toxicants, but the alcohol's effects should also be completely undone by it. Once it finishes, she'll wake up good as new - won't even have to deal with a hangover."

Indeed, after a few moments the glowing sensation subsided, and he removed his hands from Sakiko's body before slowly standing up. Now all they needed to do was wait for the mage to awaken.

* * *

Burning.

That was the only way to describe the unbearable agony she was feeling.

He was turning . . . he was walking . . . he was leaving!

'Move, Din-forsaken legs!'

And yet Shada could only stand like a statue as the strangely entrancing man disappeared into the crowd. Her eyes never registered the changes that had suddenly overtaken him - she didn't notice his eyes narrowing, never took note of the hiss that left his lips at the sight of rejection. The only thing she was aware of was the fact that the wondrous figure was leaving . . . and for some reason she could not follow him.

Her soul was screaming -

'MOVE! AFTER HIM! GO NOW!'

- and her body felt the incredible pull of whatever spell had been cast upon it. With every inch he moved away, it felt as though a metal spike was being smashed into her back, her legs, her arms, her head, her breasts, leaving nothing but pain at the rejection that she knew the man to feel -

'FORGET KEYRU! GET HIM!'

- as well as an almighty desire to undo the venomous, traitorous words she had just spoken to him.

Her skin broke out in a sweat as he passed into the crowd, her view of him being obstructed by other guests -

'YOU WITCH, DON'T YOU DARE LET HIM LEAVE!'

- Her mouth dropped open, abruptly short of breath and panting in an attempt to pacify the ever quickening heartbeat that resounded in her ears -

'REPENT YOU TRAITOROUS DEMON, GO UP TO HIM AND TAKE THAT HAND! KISS HIM, HUG HIM, LOVE HIM, I DON'T CARE WHAT DON'T LET HIM GO!!'

- Her eyes widened, quivering in fear as he had almost -

'NONONONONO DON'T LET HIM LEAVE YOU IDIOT!!!'

- And then everything went black. He had vanished from her sight, and suddenly nothing else mattered.


She did not falter in her stance; didn't collapse or go unconscious or anything that might have been noted by others. But her crimson eyes were suddenly dulled, staring off into space as she became completely motionless. She no longer cared about anything; she had lost the most wondrous of men in the world, and she abruptly knew only three things: that she could no longer live without him . . . that she had betrayed the desires of this most wonderful of men . . . and that such a horrendous sin was unforgivable.

There was a fourth thought . . . but its voice was growing ever smaller when faced with the weight of the other three. Yet it still remained, somehow keeping her glued to the spot despite her body, mind, and soul all cursing her for making such a devastating mistake.

'Keyru . . . Keyru . . . Keyru . . . Keyru . . . Keyru . . .'

ooc: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I have posted this REALLY LONG AND AWESOME POST and I checked back this morning and poof, it be gone!!! T_____T

I'm still not over it!! I'm madddddd!!!!!

IC:

Breathing out shakily, Masakazu slid his hands down the metal bars. He listened to Eberron’s comforting half heartedly, wondering if they could truly find their way out. When he had lifted the candlestick, he had definitely heard some screeching. Maybe this entire structure was connected somehow, and by lifting the candle, he had caused this barrier to come down? He shivered, an eerie feeling creeping up to him. Someone had already planned out everything so that they could not escape. Whatever force had led him here had already known his thoughts and actions; it had already anticipated his plans.

Masakazu pressed his forehead against the bars, an icy hand of dread clenching his heart. Just then, he heard Eberron saying something about getting out, and a piece of cloth…and a stick. The Mage peeled off his tuxedo jacket, wondering how the Goron was going to manage this. Since there was no sure plan that this would work, he held out his article of clothing with some regret. He had paid a high price for this tux, and even though he knew that his remorse was vain and stupid, he still couldn’t help but doubt. He had wanted to impress Sakiko…

At the mention of a stick, Masakazu silently held out the femur. He was glad that it was coming to some use; he had scavenged it out with some regret.

“Whatever it is on your mind, Eberron, I hope it’s going to work.”

He sighed, closing his eyes. If he had to die, at least he could’ve died with some dignity. Not like this. Not like a fool. Not like a coward, trembling in the dark. This was all madness.

________________

Zeze sat down in dismay. Had she seen a vacuum of…? Indeed. She had. The Bard dropped the sword, which immediately began to etch onto the patch of woven thread quickly. It was soon permanently ‘sewn’ in, and it would take more scratching with her fingernails – which had already started to chip – to dig it out. She stared at it in helpless fury.

She began to run around the tapestry, screaming and waving her arms at the already disgusted women. There was no life! Even though the figures were moving and murmuring amongst themselves, there was no depth in any of their chatter. She could not see vivacity in their blank eyes.

And just as she had thought that she was going to die in despair, she spotted a woman with brilliant golden hair. She stopped in her tracks, gazing at this pitiful woman. There was a deeper, soulful look in this woman’s eyes. Perhaps she had something else to offer than brainless speech? The Bard made her way to the woman carefully, her expression softening. A pang of pity warmed her heart at the sight of this skinny lady – what pains had she gone through?

“Hi… are you alright? My name’s Zeze, and that girl there-“

She pointed at Keychain,

“-is Key-Key..erm, Keychain.”

_______________________

It was a wonderful dream.

Well, at first it wasn’t. Everything had been so dark and heavy. She felt glued to the ground, as if her ankles were magnetically attracted towards the ground. Maybe if she opened her eyes.. Oh, but she was too tired. She just could not possibly move a muscle. Sakiko couldn’t remember how she had landed into this state – everything before this…what had happened? No matter – it was too tiring to remember.

And suddenly, behind her closed eyelids, she saw a beam of the brightest green light. It was comforting; it was like lying in the sun with eyes closed, seeing the orange glow of warmth. You knew the sun was there, and that in itself was vitalizing. The Mage sighed contently, wondering if she could open her eyes. She wanted to see the source of such beautiful luminosity.

I think I can…

Sakiko slowly began to open her eyes, but things were blurry at first. It was as if a painter had splashed a bucket of water unto a painted canvas, all the colors running and drippy. She blinked, letting the moisture clear up her vision.

Alpha?

Sakiko’s heart skipped a beat, wondering why he was here. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t even remember where she was. Her hand brushed against the mattress, her face still blank. What…? The Mage sat up quickly, strange thoughts intruding her mind. Her emotionless expression replaced with that of confusion, Sakiko looked around her surroundings.

Her eyes caught hold of her friend relatively close to Alpha. Her eyes narrowed – how did all three of them end up together like this…in a bedroom? The abrupt panic and bewilderment must have been too sudden; Sakiko rubbed her temple as a twinge of pain shocked her head. She sighed, this time not so contently, and put her feet onto the floor. Putting her feet down onto the solid floor, she gripped the sides of the mattress.

“Water and explanation…if you would, please.”

"Water and explanation...if you would, please."

Alpha couldn't help but smile as Sakiko at last awoke from her slumber, sitting up without any noticeable difficulties; apparently his spell had worked just as intended. Always nice to see a plan work as intended. Still, there were obviously a few side effects to her having passed out - memory loss and what seemed to be a headache chief among them. That couldn't be helped, though; the spell only purged a person's circulatory system of toxins. It did not erase the effects of said toxin.

"The water I can take care of," he finally responded to her request. His hand rose into the air, manipulating the elements into an E Burst of the Water element. Slowly but surely the moisture in the air condensed into a sphere floating a centimeter from his palm. "But the explanation was something we were hoping you would provide," he continued, holding the orb close to her face; she could simply breath in the liquid and it would enter her mouth.

"You were drunk and passed out on the stairwell when we came back inside; I have no idea what happened to you after I left you talking to Shada," he said with a shrug, wishing he could be a bit more helpful . . . if for no other reason so that she could explain the mysterious situation to them.

"The water I can take care of.”

Sakiko expected him to leave the bedroom to fetch a glass of water – and so, it was only natural that she stared as Alpha’s hand shot up into the air. What…? Only when she physically saw a globe of water floating from his palm did she finally stop watching with a uncertainly. Her face started to blush (for the fifth time already throughout this entire evening – entirely Alpha’s fault, mind you) as she realized that he expected her drink from his hand.

Propriety was one thing; thirst was another matter. The Mage lowered her dry lips towards the orb, letting the water satiate her dehydration. As she did so, she wondered where Alpha had been. When one goes outside into the cold night air, one carries the crisp smell inside with him. This was the case with the Sheikah. Sakiko was almost certain that she could smell the foreign scent – it wasn’t like the warm, friendly aroma of the party – from Alpha.

She gave another look at Arrika, wondering if she had been with him this entire time. Sakiko tried to ignore the feeling of frustration welling up inside her.

"You were drunk and passed out on the stairwell when we came back inside; I have no idea what happened to you after I left you talking to Shada.”

Sakiko frowned, knowing that she wasn’t the type of person to drink so heavily. She did recall that the wine provided at this party were diluted and not potent at all…

Shada.

The Mage felt another shock of pain, as if the mere recollection of the memory gave her a headache. No, not exactly a headache. More like resentment. Fury. Anger.

Sakiko muttered more to herself than anyone else,

“She came to me after the dancing…yes, I remember clearly now. She told me that I was thirsty, and of course I was at the time. Shada was handing me a drink, and after that I can’t call to mind anything that happened.”

Eberron thanked his friend as he took the tux from him. Staring at it close up, squinting through the dark, Eberron looked at his friend and grimaced.

"I'm sorry but... This is kind of going to be ruined. I know that a lot of non gorons like yourself like clothes..."

Shifting around a bit in a nervous and uncomfortable manner, he turned and placed it on the floor in front of him. He couldn't help but giggle quietly to himself as he remembered his father's story. He and a friend of his father's had been trapped in a cage... why always changed every time he had told the story. But what had remained the same every time, were the events of the escape. Talking over his shoulder Eberron decided he might as well explain what was going on to his own friend.

"Masakazu, I suggest you look away if you don't want to see me ruining this cloth. My father found out this when trapped once. His friend believed that if you got certain cloth wet, it would not break and that it could be used to bend the bars. Sounds silly huh?"

At this point Eberron looked down focusing on nothing in particular. He supposed it was lucky he had drunk all that water before coming here...

"And it was silly. It didn't work... however, they did find out something odd about us Goron's... maybe it's something in our diet, I don't know but... When we, umm... go to the toilet."

Eberron blushed, his face turning red as he tried to find a way of explaining it without being incredibly crude. Laughing nervously, he picked up the now wet cloth and wrapped it around two of the bars. Whispering

"sorry"

Eberron tied an odd knot around the bone, ending up in a position where he could turn the bone round like the steering wheel of a ship. Grunting as he strained with it, he slowly turned it round.

"Whoo... These are strong bars... But I'll be stronger... I just hope that father wasn't exaggerating about the effectiveness..."

Laughing again, Eberron heaved as he continued his work, praying that this would have the desired effect.

"Bet you didn't expect to end up doing this with a goron in the dark when you came to this party huh?"

Laughing cheerfully, Eberron stopped and looked directly at Masakazu

"But be ready. If this works, you're going to need to slip through, while I hold it. There's no way someone as wide as me could fit through. But I'll wait here while you get help. Just like Father."

Keychain shrank away from the crowd of women as the comments came to her. Had she really made the wrong decision to speak out? There was nothing wrong with how she saw it. The woman were too. . . obsessed with this man. Maybe it was because Keychain had never felt what it was like to be in love with someone. But this was too unnatural. It was more like an obsession than anything else.

She shook her head, the ashy red locks flying around her face. She really needed to cut her hair. Or keep something around with her all the time to hold the long hair back. Keychain groped for every lock of hair and pulled it over her shoulder. It was long enough so that it wouldn't move off her shoulder even if she turned her head all the way.

A heavy sigh rolled through her chest. This seemed impossible. Why were they here to begin with? Keychain didn't know at all! Her eyes gazed at Zeze with defeat as the sword didn't work. What would?

"Zeze, I'm starting to wonder deeply at why we're here. It's just . . . things seemed to be odd. It's like as if we are here for no---" Keychain breathed carefully as the anger was boiling inside of her. "We are here for no reason at all. Unless if it is for admiration for that one guy." Keychain could have spat the words out.

And then she noticed the woman. The only one who didn't seem to make Keychain into an enemy. She was thin and small. She reminded Keychain of someone, but she couldn't place her fingers on it. Then she looked down at her arms that were just starting to get color to them instead of looking as pale as the moonlight that came in through her window. The woman reminded her of how she was long before she came to Hyrule's gates.

"Um, hi," Keychain said, blinking her round, bright blue orbs for eyes. "Um, yeah, just as Zeze said, I'm Keychain. You could either call me Key-Key or Key. Or Keychain if you don't feel comfortable with saying a nickname. Oh boy, I'm starting to blabber. I should stop now." Keychain sat on the ground with her hands folded in her lap. Her lips were pressed together hard enough to make the area white.

OoC: SORRY I HAD BAND CAMP THIS WEEK HAHAHAHAH ITS OVER YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! *my arms hurt*
so now i am "back"
and listening to Mr. Brightside

IC:

"She gave me a drink too. You have really low tolerance, don't you?" The thief exclaimed incredulously. "...why'd you think it was a good idea to drink it in the first place?" Her own wine glass was still in her hand, and she walked over to a nearby potted plant and emptied it, grimacing. "There's something about Shada... I don't trust her. I don't really know her that well, actually. Where'd you pick up that one, Alpha?" The last question came out more scathingly than she intended. As the thief glanced from her best friend to the stoic Sheikah, a flare of... territoriality suddenly possessed her. "...We should go back to the party. People will be wondering. Really... the two guests of honor and a handsome man disappearing upstairs? I don't want to ruin your rep, Saki."

=========

"I... am Celeste," the delicate blond woman said slowly. She nodded towards the other seemingly brainless women. "It's not their fault... I am having a hard time resisting myself. I've been in here for far too long, and it's taking a toll on me. But you, you're still strong. Figure something out, before it's too late and you end up like them." She narrowed her eyes in distaste, but gradually the expression softened. "Ah. Love. Some pay a heavy price for it. Or what they think it is."

She sighed and began braiding her hair methodically, closing her eyes. "He'll be back soon... He's gone after someone else at that party. Then you can strike."