Should the castle's residents be wandering as evening falls through the windows, they might hear the soft strains of music coming from down a hall, around a corner, behind a closed door. Regardless of where they are, or how far they are from the source of the sound, it will lead them all to the same place: a veranda high up on the castle's southern ( Read more... )

Bruce really, really, really wishes he wasn't doing this. Like, seriously. If he could be anywhere esle, doing anything else, it would be an improvement over this. Even being dragged along by Janet to Brooks Brothers and Armani Exchange and all sorts of other stores all over New York with Tony and Clint laughing uproariously in the background would ( Read more... )

Cissie's been warned not to leave the barracks by herself, but frankly, she's restless and has never been all that good at listening to vague warnings. ...Or specific warnings, for that matter. She used to throw herself at dangerous things all the time, but that was a long time ago ( Read more... )

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... )

At the very beginning of the universe, before time was time and space was all un-banged out, certain set laws were writ into whatever equivalent of stone omnipotent things use for such things. Gravity, black holes, no one ever really being able to win the lotto - all the various rules and such for running an existence were put down. And at the very ( Read more... )

She hated winter. She didn't like it in Hong Kong, she didn't like it back in the states, and she sure as hell didn't like it in this new place. After waking up next to a stream, it hadn't taken her very long to look around and place the location she had found herself in once again. The freaking fairytale gone wrong had brought her back. At least ( Read more... )

"My gift to you..."

The last thing Kes remembered was an effusive feeling of freedom. She had reached into the threads wound into the endless tapestry of the universe and pulled, and reality had bent to her will - but this time, she controlled it; there were no tangles, no snags, and without resistance she sent Voyager hurtling through the Delta ( 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... )

When the sun finally rises again, each guest will find him or herself back in their original room, with the door locked and a costume hanging beside it. The door will open - but only after they put on the clothes. When they leave, guests will find themselves descending a winding staircase into a dizzying room built entirely in crystal; the floor, ( Read more... )

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... )