Mirrorhouse

[Honour]

Off to the right of the dance floor and a little further from the lake stood a room-shaped construction with doors at either end, light shimmered upwards from it's unroofed interior alighting the grand oak trees above. Near it, upon a raised plinth a flower arrangement of Scottish thistles.

As he continued his hunt for a drink a rather strange sight came upon him. Some sort of room, near the lake. That deserved closer investigation. It seemed a lot of effort had gone into this ball for there were many things to look at and listen to, row boats on the lake as well!

But the room intrigued him the most, and so it was that he made his way towards it. It appeared to be well-lit, and without a roof. What could it possibly be? Well, Honour did not intend to merely wander, and so as he reached it, he pushed open one of the doors and moved inside.


[hr][/hr]

The door swung easily open, a great brightness shone into Honour's eyes blinding him momentarily as the swung door shuttered behind him. Shrieks and giggles came from further in - that of other curious courtiers lost within this amusement.

When his eyes adjusted to the bright, he saw a man looking at him. The man wore a frock coat of a dark silver colour embroidered with four emblems, and a mask of light silver with delicate white and gold decorations swirling about the surface.

To one side a man dressed similarly looked towards that figure, and behind him a same dressed man kept his back to Honour.

[Frivolity]

Frivolity couldn't help but laugh heartily when Temperance got a measure of his own medicine, being smacked on the behind with the make shift sword.

"Oh yes, lets make merry," she agreed swiftly looking over the festival terrain "So many people going for a dance hardly makes it an interesting choice. Let us find the fun house if that pleases you, now that it is not overcrowded." With every step she put forward little silver bells tolled. She emptied the last of her champagne and giggled.

[Chastity]

Waving over a passing servant, Chastity grabbed two glasses of champagne, handed one over to Frivolity, then linked her arms with the tickling girl. As they moved, they made a bit of a racket, squeeking and ringing as they walked. This caused Chastity to laugh.

"Well, we won't be able to sneak up on anyone, eh?," she chuckled, moving towards the house that Honour had entered. Opening the door, she looked about them. "Well then, which way?"

[Nonviolence]

Nonviolence looked where Perserverance pointed, spotting the metal clad Chastity and chuckling. "There's more armor there than just what you see," he said, possibly revealing that he knew who was under the armor. His glance over towards Wrath and Slavery had him shaking his head. "No, let the mistress and her slave have their fun. I prefer the woman to not have a whip, thank you very much."

His eyes scanned their surroundings and found the runaway angel. "No, I prefer angels, don't you? So sweet and innocent. Just ripe for the chase. Besides, it seems the man she flees simply will not give up the chase."

[Perseverance]

Another chuckle rumbled in the hooded man's chest, if he indeed had a chest and was not truly skeletal underneath his robe. "So, it is not danger of the hunt you seek, milord. You are a corruptor then. Your feud with me makes much more sense now. That is if you are a religious man and believe that wicked men go to Hell after they die." He led the way towards the house into which Chastity and Frivolity had disappeared. "Are you wicked man, my dear? Did you don your robes to atone for the sins of your past? Or are you simply hiding from them for a little while in another guise?"

[Fluff]

Off to the right of the dance floor and a little further from the lake stood a room-shaped construction with doors at either end, light shimmered upwards from it's unroofed interior alighting the grand oak trees above. Near it, upon a raised plinth a flower arrangement of Scottish thistles.

What a fine looking gentleman Honour thought as he came upon someone already in the room. The outfit was familiar and it was several seconds before he realised that it was a mirror, allbeit some sort of distorted mirror. Curious he thought, and was glad he had not started drinking yet. 'Twould be quite embarrassing to engage in a conversation with himself. Well, in public at least.

Onwards he though as he looked about him. There appeared to be only one direction in which to go, so at a leisurely pace he turned that way and began to wander along, looking about him as he went for he anticipated there to be more to see up ahead, if the shrieks were anything to go by.

[hr][/hr]

Choosing to move forward Honour discovered his reflection in front of him and to the right side did so to, behind him his reflection became further away. Until he met the glass and could not step forward anymore.

[Fluff]

"Well, we won't be able to sneak up on anyone, eh?, Well then, which way?"

"No subterfuge for us tonight," Frivolity agreed, peering inside the funhouse, "Oh... mirrors." She danced inside and made a little soundfilled twirl, seeing her body in so many directions. "I wonder if we could make a gentleman dizzy with this?" There was a chance for mischief here, she was sure of it. "Let us take a left, then a left again," she told the ironclad lady.

[Fluff]

Nonviolence walked with Perserverance towards the funhouse, silent as the death that his companion portrayed, until they entered. "Religion is a political tool, my friend," he replied. "Both on this plane and in the next. It is only useful to get what we want. I do not atone for my sins, but wear them like a badge upon my chest. Some of my sins are not my own of creation, though I will be blamed for them, nonetheless." He grew silent again for a moment, then laughed.

"Well, Grim one, you certainly know how to take the levity out of a party. Come, let us put down our somber ways, at least for this one night. Death will continue on in th morning." He waited to see if his companion would lighten up any before pushing open the door.

The man under the mask smiled, nodding solemnly before he voiced his acceptance of the other man's proposition. "You are quite right. After all I am not dressed as such to be grim, but rather because this visage represents a virtue rather well." He was indeed in the somber mood these past couple of days, but he did not need to transfer it to others. He would push dark thoughts back and enjoy the evening for what it was, letting the world weigh upon his shoulder once more come morning. Like Nonviolence had said Life will go on in the morning.

Minding his scythe he strode into the house of mirrors, pausing within to await the other man, and then gazed about, trying to see whom else sought entrance there. "Now, I hope no one get scared of me here. Not sure how obvious my desire to make this a joyful evening from now on is." He allowed himself a chuckle, no more trying to fit into his mask, finding the other man's company quite enjoyable.

[Fluff]

Nonviolence chuckled at Perserverance's words. "A merry Grim Reaper. It just goes to show that anything can happen tonight," He glanced in the mirrors and would have smiled at this reflection, but it was missing. Instead, he said, "As much fun as it is to look at ourselves, shall we chase down the lovelies who entered before us? Or try and make our own way? Left..or Right? Now I know these are not the life and death decisions you are used to, but I think you capable of such."

[Fluff]

The mirror house was drawing more than its fair share of visitors. Large mirrors were very rare and very expensive. Some came to gawk at the size of the mirrors, rather than their own reflections.

[Perseverance]

Leaning closer the hooded man replied his companion in stage whisper. "Well you yourself told me to take the evening off from my grim work. Who is to say that the Reaper does not enjoy a good bit of fun when he does not attend to dying men?" At the next questions he paused, glad that the mask was hiding his grin, humming softly as a finger tapped his chin. "Left I think and I think we do need some company. Now, without any desire to insult, but I would prefer someone giggly and brave, who won't be frightened by my visage. I wonder if there is such a person somewhere within." And just as he was bid, he motioned towards the left, indicating that was the way they should take.

[Chastity]

Chastity laughed as Frivolity lived up to her vice. "Odd's Fish!," she said, "Yer making me dizzy. Imagine what you'll do to a man. Come, let us be off." She could hear the men entering soon behind them and chuckled as she heard the tall one's words as they moved to the left. So, he was going to follow them. Good luck, big guy.

Off to the left they went, coming to a room full of mirrors. "Oh, look, two lovely ladies," she said, then moved left again, pulling Frivolity with her. She then put her finger to her mask covered lips and said, "Shhhh," with a giggle in her voice. She waited to see if their pursuers would pursue correctly.

[Honour]

Well, this promises to be fun Honour thought with a frown as his path was greeted by a pane of glass. It appeared this was a house of devilish delights. He pushed at the glass to see if it would give way. If not he was going to have to work his way backwards trying to push each mirror to progress onwards. He wasn't going to be beaten so easily by the constructor of the house.

[Hope]

As Frivolity and Chastity neared the Mirror house a woman dressed to resemble Aphrodite in flowing white robes approached a man who stood with his back to the structure watching on the growing festivities...

"Darling..." she cooed in sultry tones, "tonight you choose to be coy? How unlike you." a smirk played on her lips as she withdrew something small from her purse. "Or are you looking for someone in particular?"

A glint of sapphire caught the light as she passed him his cravat pin, lost at her party some nights ago.

The man, dressed comfortably in English military costume, though tonight sporting a beaked mask of Portuguese style, laughed uncomfortably as he placed the pin in breast pocket. "Ever insightful milady."

[Nonviolence]

"Brave, definately," Nonviolence replied to Perserverence in regards to what sort of ladies they might find inside. "As for giggly, perhaps the brave knight's friend might provide that distraction." He moved left and pushed through the first mirror, then paused listening for the jiggling he had heard when Frivolity and Chastity entered the building.

[Frivolity]

Just before Frivolity was pulled further into the mirror house she caught sight of a scene that made her heart race. A sapphire pin. She committed the man's uniform to memory thinking it strangely appropriate to what she had already deduced. And so.. are you my previous hostess then, milady? she thought shrewdly, not able to conceive of anyone else who would have obtained the missing gem. Yes, she would hope to intercede the man later perhaps, but now, she let herself be pulled further into the Mirror house by Chastity, softly giggling.

[Fluff]

Towards the Mirror House a woman, almost a girl from her half grown form, ran with a loud giggle. Her hair was dark, gathered up. She wore no jewelry of note. "Come on then, Infidelity," she called, to the man she was pulling behind her.

Something about the tone of voice, the way it was a very controlled English, hiding an accent, pulled at the memory of Perseverance.

[Hope]

A blast of Trumpets sounded, ringing out through the party. Those within the mirror house knew not who it hailed...

[Perseverance]

The reaper grow silent as death when the giggling came from seemingly just beyond the corner, pressing a finger to his lips, smiling under the mask. To the left he moved and then stopped there, pondering what to do, fairly certain the voices came from just beyond the wall to his left. "Left or right, my friend? I could swear the voices came from the right." Then he stepped to the left, stopping just as he turned the corner his head tilted towards the entrance, the voice there causing him to wonder if he heard it right, and more importantly if Infidelity was the right company for its owner.

[Chastity]

The blast of the trumpets had Chastity frowning. Charlie had been up to something, but he wouldn't tell her, which annoyed her to no end. Perhaps this was it. She needed to be there. So, she said, "Well, seems we're being summoned by His Highness. Shall we head back?"

[Frivolity]

Curiosity peaked, especially since Chastity was restless, as if worried about the call of trumpets "Why certainly," Frivolity agreed "Can't miss the fun." With her head up high she made sure they went right and right again, leading them back to the entrance. She had walked so many labyrinths in her youth that she had learned the trick of not losing her way by always going in the same direction.. always left or always right.

Outside, passing through towards the entrance where the crowd was gathering to listen to the King Frivolity made sure they passed the man in the uniform. Her perfume was the same as at Hawthorns mask and when she was near she whispered behind him, her breath touching his ear , while she wondered if the silver bells had forewarned him of her arrival."Am I Prey or Seduction tonight, or merely Frivolity defined," before she giggled and ran to catch up with Chastity, casting a coy look over her shoulder.

[Nonviolence]

The sound of trumpets never heralded good things for him, so Nonviolence cursed under his breathe. It seemed it was time. "It seems while your duty can be put aside tonight, mine can not," he said to Perserverance. "Let us depart now and catch the little birdies unaware outside. You take the giggly one, I'll take the armored one," he offered.

[Perseverance]

The ladies eluded them without much effort, and his companion was not willing to let them escape so easily, and thus Perseverance motioned for the man to lead the way and followed on his heels. It was the man's words that got the hooded man's attention, indicating that Nonviolence was someone of import, and causing him to go through the possibilities in silence. As they emerged from the mirror house, his eyes sought the pair and he leaned closer to whisper. "Good luck, milord. Call me if you find it difficult to unfold the armor. Just follow the giggles."

It was the giggle that betrayed Frivolity's location and without delay he steered Nonviolence in that direction, all but floating after the pair of ladies and stopping at the giggly ones side, turning and whispering into her ear. "You have been quite an elusive prey, my dear. Giggling to show us the way but never quite within the grasp. Am I so scary or is it simply that you do not want to be caught?"

[Nonviolence]

Nonviolence nodded to Perserverance, though his thoughts were elsewhere. He moved beside Chastity as his companion sidled up to Frivolity. "Come, dear Saint, there are battle to be fought ahead," he said, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her in the direction of Merriment.

[Chastity]

It took Chastity just a moment to recognize the voice beside her, one extremely familiar to her. "Indeed," she replied, relaxing as her sword hit his shin. "Let us sally forth and slay all dragons, especially french ones!," she said, allowing Nonviolence to slip her way from their companions, moving quicker than Frivolity or Perserverance.