Its a date.
That was the first thought that crossed Tiara's mind as Winston wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. His faint breath tickled against her skin, making the heat rush to her cheeks.
"Let's go." He whispered into her ear, and then, the ground was no longer under her feet.
The next moment, she felt herself falling, a transcendental sensation that gravity no longer had a hold of her. And then, her mind connected to something vast and endless.
An ocean of colours burst forth before her eyes, all imaginable combinations mingling around her in all possible forms. Everything seemed to overlap, the floors of the tower, distant places that would take years of time to cover, people, objects, all of them turned into a single monotonous blend that dashed past her eyes and into the infinite recess of colours that streamed through this space.
As suddenly as she had appeared here, the world then snapped back into its usual place.
Her feet touched solid ground and she almost stumbled if not for Winston's grip on her waist.
It took a moment for her vision to stabalize. And what she saw shocked her.
"What the-?" She muttered.
A large city atop a floating island stretched out below her, complete with high rise buildings and thousands of people on the streets. They all were looking towards the sky, not moving a muscle.
And as she too turned her eyes to the sky, there it was.
A large fleet of battleships. Faintly, Tiara could feel who was on there.
She only felt such a profound sense of insignificance in front of her father and... Winston.
"Two family heads..." she concluded. There were two family heads atop the leading mothership.
"Bingo." Winston smirked. He let go of her waist and walked to the edge of the roof. Then, turning towards her, he spread his arms out and declared "Welcome to my city. Paradise."
"Paradise?" Tiara muttered absently, still looking towards the warships. Just then, a thought clicked into her mind and a manic smile slowly grew on her face, splitting her face ear to ear.
Winston gave her a knowing smirk and turned back to the warships.
"For our reunion today, princess, I shall destroy two other family heads and a war fleet consisting to 500,000 rankers." He declared. "And present to you the aftermath."
At that moment, the dome of the mothership opener and out stepped two figures. One was clad in a blue robe and lightning sizzled around him. The other was dressed in a dark green trench coat, almost black in colour and wore a mask on his face.
Tiara's lips trembled.
Traumerei and Eduan. Two heads who were, at the moment, at odds with their family.
As she looked at Winston's back, she had only thought in mind.
I love him so much...
...
It happened in an instant.
The sky fell down.
Boom!
Eduan and Traumerei had just set foot outside the mothership when it happened. In the time it took to blink, every single inhabitant in the entire city simultaneously looked up and the space above the mothership folded. Like a crumpled piece of paper that had too much weight it fell down towards the mothership, instantly dissolving into a furious space time storm!
"FUCK!" Eduan cursed and reacted instantly. Lightning blazed around him, covering the entire sky in a matter of moments. It felt as if Armageddon had started in this small corner of the tower.
Traumerei, although a bit slower to react, tightened his jaw and pulled out a gigantic orb made out of yellow light, containing a monstrous amalgamation of flesh and teeth and bones and tendons.
The buildings below Winston and Tiara's feet struggled for a moment and it felt as if they would dissolve into dust. But then they quieted down, as if whatever was happening in the sky was nothing but a breeze. There was no sun in the sky, and with the advent to the two calamities circling above, it truly felt as if the only source of light in the whole world was at this moment, the thousands of lightning bolts around Eduan and the constantly shifting sphere of yellowed flesh laying in Traumerei's hand.
Winston looked at the display and gave a snort.
"Eduan and Traumerei." He spoke softly, but the voice carried over despite the rumbling thunder. "For the crime of invading Paradise, you are both sentenced to immediate execution." His smile lengthened and he looked at the shinsu black hole sphere, that was holding the souls of the shinhueh Traumerei had captured. "May you never find peace in death."
It happened in an instant.
Eduan and Traumerei sought to attack, but before right when they were about to, they stopped.
Their eyes turned muddled for a moment and they stood dumbly in the sky, as if thinking about what their next action was going to be.
As if on queue, the residents of Paradise began to float up towards the sky, hundreds upon hundreds in number. They all turned towards the fleet of warships up above and gave a weak smile. Then they blinked.
Whoosh!
Boooooom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
All of them disappeared into the spirit world, bombarding the war fleet with all forms of shinsu derived attacks.
Eduan and Traumerei who had broken out of their momentary daze turned around, only to be met with dozens of avatars swarming around them.
"Fuck off!"
"Die!"
As they all engaged in a battle, Winston looked back towards Tiara and smiled.
Walking to her, he bowed a little and held out his hand.
"My lady." He said. "Will you grace me with a dance?"
"A dance?" Tiara raised an eyebrow and took his hand. "There's no music."
Winston shook his head, and more marionettes appeared around them. Their bodies morphed, twisting and turning until they all became something entirely inhuman.
One's body twisted to take the form of a piano. Another twisted to form a violin. Another a tuba.
One by one, they all began to form, a human marionette accompanying them to play the instrument.
And the song then started.
The avatar's fingers danced across the piano keys and the others soon joined.
Winston remembered that song.
It was Waltz No. 2, by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Tiara's lips trembled and her heart did a little flip. With a giddy smile, she let herself be carried along by Winston.
And so, illuminated by the light of a thousand lightning bolts and the constant explosions of the war ships above them, Winston and Tiara began to dance.
Winston took her into his arms, one hand resting on her waist while the other grapsed her soft hand. He leaned in forward, his breath lightly grazing the crux of her neck.
They stepped forward, and stepped back. With each step, an explosion sounded high above and the debris of a destroyed ship fell onto the city.
Winston spun Tiara around in a circle and Lo Po Bia Traumerei, battered and bloodied fell down towards the ground.
Tiara leapt upwards and Winston held her in the air for that moment. Both of them stated into each other's eyes, the moment pausing, and so the mothership was ripped in half, killing all the rankers hosted within.
Tiara landed back on her feet and they resumed the dance.
Every step they took, thousands of rankers stopped existing. The choir of the Waltz buzzed around them in waves. It was unknown at what point the entire band had started to float into the air, playing music around them as they danced over the building.
As the music came to and end, Winston and Tiara finally stopped.
Thud!
Behind them, the bloodied body of Khun Eduan dropped to the roof.
Winston let go of the Po Bidau princess and walked towards Eduan, who, despite his fatal injuries was trying his hardest to get back up.
"Don't bother." Winston smirked and kneeled down. Without haste, he touched Eduan's head.
Whish!
Crack!
Squelch!
Accompanied by a sickening sound, the blood drained out of Eduan's body and coagulated in Winston's hand. Winston took back towards Tiara, and with another bow, presented it to her.
It was a rose.
Made out of the blood of the head of the Khun family.
"A flower... bloomed in blood." Winston chuckled.
Tiara stared at the blood rose for a split second, before she stumbled forward.
Thud!
With a thud, she dove into Winston's chest.
Before Winston could say anything, she took a hold of his face, and with a tremendous force of effort, her lips met his.
...
...
A/N: Happy New Year everyone.