The night of the full moon is unusually warm after the recent winter weather, and those who follow the sound of music floating through the woods, the path lined by fairy lights, will find that it only grows warmer the further they go. By the time they reach the Carnival, there's no snow on the ground at all - only lush, newly-grown grass and ( Read more... )

Max wasn't one of the people quick to complain about a ton of incoming monsters.  Having something around whose face she could rearrange with her fist had been a nice outlet, but none of it had managed to change the inescapable fact that this place was a prison, and that this time there was no easy way to break out.

She'd been out of the loop back ( Read more... )

Alec is bored.

Not that that isn't relatively easy to do, but he decided to stick around the castle tonight, and he's already considering that a bit of a mistake. The people that he's crashing with? Not really the social types. Not that Alec should really care, but they all did sell their souls to their fairy overlords. You'd think that they'd ( Read more... )

As far as Alec was concerned, good moods were contagious.

Part of it was due to the fact that Alec was a giant five year-old and the other part of it being he didn’t exactly have very many pleasant childhood memories, but when someone was as bright and cheery and just friendly over the communicator, the way Rapunzel was? Well, it made Alec a ( Read more... )

Murphy stands out in front of the barracks' open gates, turning Fidelacchius over in her hands as she looks out at the woods. She's just finished putting out a call to potential first responders - and yelling at certain parties for being massive fricking idiots. Now all that's left is to wait until people show up. If they show up ( Read more... )

A couple of nights later, Jo had figured out that it was in her best interest to move on from being upset about her friend leaving, and had learned to just accept that she was going to have to move on in life alone because anyone could be taken away from her at any given minute. The part that made her hurt the worst was knowing that she couldn't ( Read more... )

Dawn breaks through the windows of the crystal ballroom as a woman in a storm-gray mask and gray silks mounts the stairs and turns to face the crowd. Silence falls as she spreads her hands ( Read more... )

The sun never seems to rise after the feast, leaving the castle and its surroundings in a sort of twilight that goes on and on without showing any sign of ending. After a time - it’s impossible to tell just how long - snatches of music and singing and laughter start to filter into the guests’ atrium seemingly from everywhere. The same doors the ( Read more... )

( The days between the first and second halves of the Gala... )

Across the open lawn between the front of the castle proper and the white stone wall, the snow has been cleared away in large rings. At the center of each is a bonfire, roaring away without any apparent source of fuel. Hot drinks and small treats are available, as always, balanced on the trays of servants who wander the crowd. The walls themselves ( Read more... )