Lenna was confident. Of course she was. How could she not, looking like that with the background she had? Lenna looked gorgeous in that little blue dress. Like a woman who knew what she was doing and was comfortable with it. She wore her heels steadier than Faris, and her silken dress was accented with a flowing sash around the middle and a river lilly stuck into the left side of her hair. Looking at her made Faris feel somehow better and worse all at once. Better because it was almost inspiring to see someone look so right put together like that, and worse because Faris knew he could never hit the same mark. His own costume was just that -- a costume -- and he wasn’t for a second comfortable in it. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t Faris Scherwiz, this was…

Sarisa Tycoon. The name made him shudder with something like anticipation or maybe dread. Faris didn’t know which.

Lenna’s hands were folding together. Nervous, Faris guessed. His own hands often twisted when he felt the same way -- a habit in the family, he supposed. But still, she couldn’t help but to try to make him feel better, her own feelings be damned. ”You are looking great. I doubt anyone in the audience will be able to keep their eyes off of you while we dance,” she said, and Faris felt his cheeks grow hot. Everyone would be watching. Of course they would, that was the point. They’d all be watching him look like this...moving like a dancer...like a woman.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he barely caught her worries about using magic to win. It was all just a part of their talents, he wanted to reassure her. There was no such thing as fair play. But his mind was still caught elsewhere and his tongue didn’t quite catch up. He imagined the heat of stage lights, the call of his name, and then pounding expectation. They were here to see him. Him dancing. Him in these clothes…

No, no, no. Not him. Sarisa. Keep it straight.

”Heh. I’m half tempted to switch to a white mage and cure the pain away.” Faris made a spell-casting gesture at their feet. ”I guess we’ll have to wait until this is done, eh? Might be just a tad conspicuous if we’re waiting here in white robes.” Faris shot Lenna a grin that he knew came out a lot weaker than usual. His stomach was jerking around like a dancer in itself.

”All this, it reminds me of that ball you had at the castle Tycoon. I guess it was for me. Aye, for ’the return of Princess Sarisa.’” Faris shook his head, half scowling, half laughing. It all felt so ridiculous even now. ”They somehow got me into a dress I was practically drowning in and did up my face and hair so I hardly knew my own reflection. That was an odd night. Going by a name I didn’t know and looking like someone else entirely.” Faris glanced at Lenna, a hint of fondness in his eyes. ”You were something out of a book though. You knew every step of the dances. Tried to teach me too but I was hopeless without a crystal.”

That wasn’t the best night he’d ever had. It was damn awkward, actually, and he’d never wanted another one like it. But it was a part of him, still. The royal part of him that had nearly been lost at sea. ”When we get back from this, I’ll stay at Tycoon again. A sailor’s promise. No matter what parties you want to throw.” Faris gave a real laugh at that. ”I think I’ll just be happy to see it again.”

ulla

The laugh didn’t feel right. It was hollow, nervous, hiding something. Faris knew himself better than anyone, and he knew that none of it was right. None of this. He could act confident all he wanted, but it wouldn’t shine through because none of it was real. Apparently Lenna noticed that too because she didn’t entertain his wistful thinking. Instead, she looked at him straight on and said, ”Faris, this is you.”

It was so blunt that Faris couldn’t help but blink in surprise. For a moment, he was shaken out of his deep discomfort by pure shock alone. ’This is you as much as the pirate side is.’ ’You’re both my sister and a tough pirate hero.’ They were odd words. Sentimental words that cut into him like daggers, paring away his defenses and leaving nothing but a beating core. This is you. It felt wrong. Like something he’d punch someone else for saying, but coming from Lenna…

She’d always been better at looking inside of people, hadn’t she? He wondered if maybe she’d seen something that he’d missed.

”I do not know, but this almost feels like the inner you, Faris.”

”The...inner me?” The words were left to slosh around his head like ocean waves. Was there an inner him? Was it something like this? Vulnerable, small, and deeply uncomfortable? That was all he could associate with this look, these heels, that name. Was this really him or was it…?

”Only a couple more… I am getting so nervous… So so nervous…”

”Eh?” Faris straightened and looked at her in alarm. Only a couple more? How could that be right? He peered around the crowds to try to get a look at the stage and low-and-behold, there was a couple only two acts away from theirs. ”Oh.” His stomach plummeted into a sinkhole beneath his lungs. ”Oh gods no.”

He tried to swallow, but his mouth was suddenly dry. He swept a long piece of hair from his eyes and tried to clear his expression before turning back to Lenna. ”Nothing to be nervous about,” he said, though he had no idea how convincing it was. ”We’re not putting our lives on the line afterall. This is just to get some practice with the crystals. You need that, and the money isn’t bad either.” That’s right. He just had to keep telling himself that. He wouldn’t die if they failed up there. They wouldn’t get mauled by some monster’s fangs which made it perfect for Lenna. Personally, Faris would have rather faced a snarling behemoth than get on that stage, but Lenna? No, he wouldn’t put Lenna into that kind of danger. Not before she was ready.

Faris nodded again to reassure himself. ”Right, there’s nothing to worry about. We go up there, let the crystals do their work, and then we’re done. Money well-earned. The most honest money I’ve made since I got here and probably the easiest too. That’s all the matters. All that matters.” The music faded, there was thunderous applause, and the next dancer approached the stage. His jaw clenched.

They were next.

”We'll be fine.” Faris went on once he found his voice again. ”Just fine.”

ulla

”Let us slay another beast.”

Faris would have swelled with pride if his heart hadn’t lodged itself deeply between his lungs. There was a fire in them both that couldn’t be quenched, but right now, that fire felt dim and flickering. The music faded as though on an echo. It rang in his ears like something ethereal chiming from the edges of an other-worldly Rift. It’s time. It’s time. It’s time.

Faris’ feet moved on their own as he shuffled into the public eye. The lights were faded, but they felt like blazing fire lashing at his cheeks. For a moment, there was but him, Lenna, and the darkness beyond those lights -- hazy and unknowable. The crystal beat hot in his blood.

And then the music started.

From somewhere far away, Faris heard his name shifting from the shadows. “Faris and Lenna Tycoon.” The announcement struck his heart like a frozen dagger and for a moment, he stiffened with anticipation, but the crystal had other plans. Maybe his panic had awoken it or maybe it was the opening lines of music. Maybe it knew better than he did how it wanted this to go. But as soon as the fear settled in, something else did too. A single thought.

What good was standing here, cowering before a ravenous beast? There was only one way to slay his fears, and that was to fight.

And so he raised his arms, took a breath, and began to dance.

It came to him as naturally as it ever had. He surrendered his will to the crystal, and the crystal took care of the rest. For a moment, there was a creeping dread of uncertainty as his dance had yet to make itself clear. And then a pair of swords glinted to life in his hands. The Sword Dance. For the first time in his life, Faris could have cursed it from the depths of the sea and back. What would even happen if he tried that dance without an enemy to target? Would he attack the audience? Would he strike Lenna?

But no. It appeared that neither would be the case as he slipped past Lenna, twirling and stepping in sync to the swords twirling through his fingers. Every second was tense with questions -- Would he strike first? Would his dance draw blood? How did this even work? -- but he was answered only with gasps of awe as he tossed a sword above his head and caught it with a single fluid swipe. Apparently, he needed a target to turn his dance into something truly deadly.

Well, that was a relief. And a surprise to him. He hadn’t even considered it until he was standing here, heavily armed and swaying like a snake in front of a captive audience, all of them gaping. Maybe they sensed the element of danger at play. Why didn’t he ever think these things through?

Time passed. He couldn’t say how long in the murky haze of side-steps, twirls, and flashing blades, but it all blended together in the end. Once he knew it was (probably) safe, he felt almost at ease with the weight of weapons clutched in his hands. Dancing wasn’t so different from fighting, really. They both took coordination, skill, and the fire to see it through. By the time that the music finished on a bombastic final note and he spun into a final stop, Faris almost could have said he’d enjoyed himself -- if only a little. He panted his own rhythm now, and the applause could have swept him away like thunder in a stormy sea for all its ferocity. The current of it ushered him off stage to the echoing of their names again: “Give it up for Faris and Lenna - the Dancing Queens of Tycoon!” And then he was being handed a bag of gil, the music started once more, and it was another pair’s turn to draw the eye of the crowd.

Faris stared at the weight in his hand. A pouch of five hundred gil, as promised. Then he laughed, a wild and rapturous laugh that let loose like wind released from a sail. It had all been so built up. So dreaded. And now it was done. As easy as that.

”Well, that got us a bit of gil for our efforts.” Faris grinned and jingled the bag for Lenna to see. ”And not a single drop of blood to show for it. Now I don’t know about you, but I think a drink’s in order. A heavy one that tastes like fire. And I’m about to throw these shoes in the river and hope they rot there for all the good they’ve done me. What do you say to leaving this job in the bin where it belongs?”

ulla