For the Guild

by J E Mueller

  SkepticalMouse: I will also never mention I know you for that very reason.

  ReyWraith: Wow, that’s crazy. And I reallllly hate those people already. Ugh.

  ReyWraith: Okay, so that’s a thing.

  ReyWraith: What do you need from me?

  SkepticalMouse: I’ve no idea how I can get there, and I’m about 1,000% sure she’ll try to lock me down here – room is the basement. It’s easy to trap me.

  ReyWraith: Maybe James can swing by and grab you? If he has a house key he can probably just get in and make sure you’re not locked up and whatever garbage they’re planning.

  SkepticalMouse: James has already promised to help with photos. They’ll be gone before the ball, I think they said about 3 since it’s at 6?

  ReyWraith: If they’re gone at 3, probably can send another guild member to get you. Knight is totally reliable.

  SkepticalMouse: Great idea! Think he’ll help?

  ReyWraith: If he doesn’t I will personally sneak out and come rescue you. And I firmly believe even my mom would support that since she does seem to want you here.

  SkepticalMouse: lol

  SkepticalMouse: True, she was fairly adamant about it all.

  ReyWraith: Let’s see what Knight says and go from there.

  Of course, it would have been easier if Eogan could have helped, but he was already taking his two sisters and his girlfriend to the ball. Still, I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t sure about giving mom all the details, but I mentioned enough about her step-mom not wanting to give her a ride there, and my mom was more than pleased to let me help out. No surprises there.

  I was excited that Cat was coming, though. Everything about her just seemed to make things more fun. It was fun talking and gaming with her nearly daily. I made the mistake of mentioning that to Mother and she seemed a bit too happy to hear that, but with the full swing of the ball in motion it was easy to avoid her and her smirks, and soon it was time for me to rescue Cat.

  I called Cat when I reached her driveway to give her a second to confirm or deny she needed rescuing. After the third ring, she picked up.

  “The plan is a go!”

  “What does that mean?” I wasn’t surprised by the lack of a hello. Guild chat seemed to ruin normal greetings long ago.

  “Well, I was trapped, but I kind of accidentally broke the knob. Can you come in and help me glue it back together?”

  That was not what I was expecting. “Gluing what? That’s not how these things should work.” I got out of the car and headed towards the house.

  “Well, I accidentally disintegrated the screws so.... it just needs to hold until I can fix it tomorrow or something.”

  What the heck. “How do you accidentally disintegrate the screws but not the whole door? Am I just letting myself in?”

  “Yes, please. I don’t have time for an explanation. Just come on, and hurry.”

  I pulled the key out of my pocket that she gave me the day before and let myself in. Once in, I followed the sounds of noise down the entrance way with too many family photos around the corner to see Cat sitting there with several odd gadgets and a bottle of magic sealant. Unless the glue-like substance got significantly wet, it would hold anything for at least forty-eight hours.

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked feeling confused at her disheveled state.

  “Hold both sides of the knob in place for a few minutes while I put all this stuff back downstairs and grab my bag,” she replied, nodding at where she was holding.

  “Well, that’s simple enough.” I carefully pressed above where her hands were and she moved, quickly scooping things out of the way.

  “Thank you! You’re a lifesaver!” Cat quickly kissed my cheek and headed downstairs.

  I stared at her retreating form not sure how to mentally react, but damn did it make my heart race. Why? Stupid heart. She’s clearly just very thankful and it’s nothing worth reading into. We both enjoyed being friends and friends were allowed to be close. I nodded and waited another minute or two for Cat to come back up.

  “Thanks again, that should be good to let go,” she declared as she came back up. Her hair was brushed back into place and she was carrying a pretty full looking backpack and had a leather bracelet in her hand. “And for you this fine evening.”

  “Oh awesome. I wasn’t sure you’d have time to finish it.” I was excited to have the cosplay backup bracelet.

  “Of course. I rarely don’t meet project deadlines.” She beamed. “Now, let’s get you off to the ball.”

  “Like you’re not coming.” I rolled my eyes and followed her towards the front door. I paused at all the photos. “There’s a ton of these things.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” She let me pause for a moment. “Ready spaghetti?”

  “Yeah...” Something was bothering me though, and it took a second to figure it out. “There’s no photos of you...”

  “Can’t say I’m the favorite, but you’ve already seen that.” Cat shrugged. “Shall we?”

  This time I nodded and followed. While it had sounded like there was favoritism going on, I hadn’t expected something like this. I really wanted to say something, but nothing could make it better, and really, she already knew how terrible it was.

  Instead, I changed the subject as we got into the car. “So, what is your cosplay anyway? You haven’t said.”

  “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait.”

  “Okay, fine.” I shook my head at her as we headed back to my place. “How does this ever infamous bracelet work?”

  “Very easily.” Cat replied, “If you, the wearer, rotate it twice to the left it’ll change up your cosplay. I’ve got two forms on there. Since you were going with the assassin look I decided a similar look, a la Link, and for the second, a dark mage.”

  “Oh, that’s neat.” I was excited to have a few other options. “Does this change my cosplay only or some of my appearance? And I’m guessing since you said the wearer that means no one else can accidentally change it.”

  “Correct, and somewhat. It’ll lighten your hair to ash blonde and change your eyes to more of a green.”

  “Great, that’s way more than I was expecting. Thank you.”

  “Of course. I had to step it up since you were being so stubborn about trying to pay more.” Cat shook her head. “At least now it’s worth it.”

  “I don’t know how you think it’s not worth even more now.” I laughed. “But tell me. How did you mess up that door?” I put the car in gear and started to head back.

  Cat sighed. “I’m sort of magicked out and I really want to try using the key to get myself out since I heard her leave it on the counter by the door and I was focusing less on the key and more on other ways to get the door to open, and it just happened that I focused too much attention on it and destroyed the screws. Thankfully nothing else got destroyed or scorched.”

  “Good old mis-fires. Magical life would be boring without them.” I laughed.

  “And the all perfect prince mis-spells?” Cat asked sarcastically.

  “Of course. Not horribly often, but my magic isn’t something that easily blows up. I can accidentally send the dogs my thoughts that I don’t care for them to hear, but they don’t really care much. A ward exploding can cause some magical fire damage, but healing tends to just not work instead of causing destruction. Thank heavens for that, right?”

  Cat nodded and looked out the window, taking a moment to respond. “That’s not too bad. Kind of nice hearing you’re not always perfect too.”

  “We game together, you already know that.” I laughed.

  “True, but still.”

  “I am human. A magical human, but still full of mistakes and silly issues like everyone else.”

  “Guess that’s not really a surprise.” Cat gave me a warm smile before changing the subject. “And now it’s almost cosplay time!” She was nearly giddy with excitement. “If there wasn’t going to be so many damn people this would be the best thing ever.”
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  “Right?” I agreed. “Which is why I love going to some of the less crazy conventions. It’s a ton of fun. Then I post about it later and people flip out. Those conventions get a boost, and no one can predict where I’ll show the next season.”

  Cat gave a snort. “And then people go crazy trying to figure out if they saw you, or got a photo of you, or even better with you.”

  “Basically. It’s kind of amusing seeing what happens.” I shrugged. “Actually, now that I think of it, how exactly is this getting back at your family at all?”

  “I’ll post a picture in a few days showing I was there and had zero negative effect on their night.” Cat shrugged. “Or I can be a complete brat and ask to take a photo with you and post that... but I don’t think I want that level of drama. Maybe I won’t do anything at all. Still. How can you tell someone they are so terrible in one breath and then tell them they’re going to ruin their life by going to an event like this? Yeah, no.”

  “Whatever you decide, I’m glad you came. It’ll be fun.”

  Cat smiled at me. “Yeah, I think it will.”

  8

  When we got in, Mother was in the living room, looking flustered as Lilly tried to help show her how to put on a wig. The whole scene looked amusing but they stopped as soon as they realized we were there.

  “Oh, good to see you’ve made it,” Mother stated, going from flustered to her proper court voice. She turned to face Cat. “What are you going to be cosplaying as, dear?”

  “It’s a surprise, but I can show you while Rey gets ready.” She smiled happily at me before turning back to my mother. “And I can help with that wig too. It’s awesome to see you’re getting involved in this.”

  “I am making the attempt to be supportive. It’s just like a little early Hallows Eve festival, right?” Mother tried to reason.

  “Only extra fun since it’s you hosting it.” Cat easily poured on the charm.

  Mother laughed. “Go on, Rey, get ready. All right, Cat, you seem to be the expert here, come help me with this thing.” Mother motioned for her to follow and Cat seemed to have zero issues with it.

  Shrugging, I left them to go get ready.

  Not that it took long. Fifteen minutes later I was dressed and had applied a little gel to my hair so if I did put my hood up it wouldn’t come back looking like hat hair. There would be more than enough terrible pictures from this event and I didn’t want to add in unnecessary ones.

  Since I had a moment, I took time to get used to the bracelet. It was weird, with the sunglasses I was used to my look instantly changing. With this though nothing happened. I followed Cat’s instructions and turned it twice to the left and saw my outfit and hair quickly change. I still had my same size and features, but looked a lot like Link from the game series, just as promised. The outfit was spot on and I loved it.

  I tried turning the bracelet to the right to see if it would reverse anything or if it did nothing. Nothing happened, so once more I rotated it twice to the left. This time I was completely covered in a blue robe but my face was shrouded in darkness and no features could be seen. From my mirror I could see glowing yellow eyes. The pointy yellow wizard’s hat was a fun add on and I loved how I had a complete set of things to wear. My cosplay everyone would first see me in, a backup if I needed to escape, and the ultimate backup that no one would know me in. Cat had outdone herself.

  Once more, I rotated the bracelet twice and was back to my normal Assassin’s Creed cosplay. Satisfied by my appearance, I headed back downstairs to see where everyone else was.

  Once downstairs, all I found were Olmi and Aggo chilling on the sofas. I raised an eyebrow at them, surprised they weren’t where the people where.

  I glanced at Olmi. “Where’s Mom?” I asked. She picked up her head and titled it to the side, looking at me curiously. “Go find Mamma.” I commanded.

  Olmi got up tiredly, tail wagging happily as she walked down the hall and back up the stairs. I shouldn’t have been surprised she stopped in front of her bedroom door. With a slight sigh, I gave the door a light knock before saying. “So, everyone just about ready?”

  “Patience is a virtue, son,” Mother called.

  “You’re just going to have to wait.” Cat laughed. “This is going to be a lot more fun now.”

  “I’m not sure I like that tone...” I admitted, unsure what to do now.

  I could hear them both laughing. With a sigh, I decided to sign onto my computer.

  After some time, Lilly knocked on the door. “Ready to go?”

  I glanced at the clock, surprised both by the time that passed and that I hadn’t seen Cat since we got here. “Yeah. What happened to everyone?”

  “Cat has gone to join the guests, you’ll see her later.”

  “Of course she’s somehow snuck away. What is she cosplaying?” I grumbled more to myself than to Lilly.

  Lilly chuckled and headed downstairs, leaving me to follow. Once down there, I saw my parents had decided to go with the Beauty and the Beast look. Of course, Father was the after version from the end of the movie where the Beast has changed back to his royal self. I was surprised though that Mother’s dress had a shimmer to it.

  “I didn’t think you were going to wear a magic dress,” I commented. I knew Mother had said she wanted something cute and simple.

  “Cat had a few extra things on hand and managed to fairly quickly change one of her little enchantment things and make it so I almost had two dresses.” Mother seemed really excited, almost as if she was a kid again. “Watch.” She picked up the corner of her skirt and gave a quick turn and it changed into Belle’s normal dress instead of her ball gown.

  “Wow, that’s awesome. How did she do that so fast?” I wondered aloud.

  Mother spun sharply again and her dress was once more in ball gown form. “She works quickly and has a strong hold on her magic. Though the amount of magical energy radiating off of her was something to be mindful of. One slip and I could see a terrible mis-spell causing some havoc.”

  I thought back to the door that had melted screws. It was odd, but havoc nonetheless. Nodding, I looked back up at my mother. “I’m guessing she left so she could blend into the crowd better. Though it’ll be a pain finding her not knowing her costume.” I sighed.

  “She didn’t hide her face.” Mother gave a smile. “I’m sure you’ll see plenty of all your friends but remember –”

  “It’s an event to meet people and I need to mingle.” I nodded, knowing how things would be going.

  We had already discussed how to more easily trade off dance partners and how to figure in planned breaks so I could actually get away once in awhile. A team of staff members would be helping to escort anyone who wanted to line up to dance with me and every so often (maybe a minute? I wasn’t actually paying attention) they would be traded out. The music would vary from standard ballroom dancing to the more common slow dancing. To make things a little more fun for me from time to time, there would be group songs. Everything from the cha cha slide to the macarena would be mixed into this evening.

  Personally, I was secretly hoping there wouldn’t be a long line, but I knew I wouldn’t be that lucky. Even if several of these individuals weren’t interested in me on a personal level, having a chance to dance with a celebrity was enough to gather the masses like no other. I just mentally sighed at the thought. I had been to enough events to know how these things went and didn’t expect much from it. At least with a theme, I could ask why they picked that costume and have a little fun with it.

  It was finally time to enter the event. The arrival time was a half hour before the start time, and for an event like this, it was unlikely there would be any stragglers. The tickets had been sold out for weeks, and aside from my the guild, two hundred and fifty tickets were sold.

  The lights dimmed before we entered the ballroom and then shone brightly upon us as we reached the top of the grand staircase. For a long pause we stood there. First my parents descended the stairs, a
nd then on the fifth step, I started down, my steps practiced and measured. Too many events had made this easy and natural. Every other step, I would turn my head and smile in one direction or the other, smiling as brightly as I could muster, knowing hearts and cameras were on me.

  This sort of thing used to make me anxious, but now it felt more like a play I had rehearsed to death. I knew all the steps, and the variations in lines I would hear. For this event, my parents took the stage while I stayed at the bottom of the short staircase. Father said some words of greeting and Mother took over the welcoming. I tuned them out as I took in the room. I was very thrilled this event had a reasonable cap. While it felt like too many were here, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some other events I had attended.

  There would be about four hours worth of the event in total. About ninety percent would likely want to dance with me. Everyone would get about a minute of dance time and that would leave me a little time here and there for breaks and general socializing.

  I pulled my attention back to the ball as I heard my mother say something about picking a winner for the first dance. A random ticket number would be drawn. I had forgotten that. It was all the same to me, having to try and dance with most everyone anyway. I couldn’t remember if she was just going to pull a real number or just make one up. Of course, someone would bring up a bowl of folded papers, the illusion that everyone stood a real chance. Truthfully, it took too much unnecessary time to write down numbers. Calling a random number would be almost the same thing as drawing the real thing.

  I waited, knowing it would likely be a two or three digit number but I was surprised after the papers were brought to hear the number two hundred fifty-five. While it wasn’t publicly stated I knew we only sold two hundred and fifty. Was she counting my guild in the mess? Oh no, she didn’t.

  Of course, she had. I saw Cat carefully make her way from the back, a shy smile on her face. I wanted to groan at my mother for doing that but stopped as I caught sight of her costume. She was dressed exactly like Zelda from the Twilight Princess game. Her crown gave off a soft glow, a shimmering effect followed in her wake. Once she was in front of me she gave a deep curtsy and I bowed back.