#dancewithsum1

Nessa had been dying to go to the Carnival since she started hearing it’s haunting melodies float around town. It was almost hypnotizing, and she couldn’t wait for her night off. Usually she hated taking her required night to herself, much preferring to at least check in at the club before heading off for a quick bite, but now that there was new excitement in town she couldn’t wait! Wandering through the neon lights made Nessa feel truly alive. It was almost the same energy as being in a club, with thrashing bodies, blood pumping, energy exploding. Only now she felt like she was in one of those teen movies she loved, just without the romantic date. She shrugged off the fleeting thought of loneliness and skipped towards the Hall of Mirrors, her long skirt flowing around her hooved feet. “How many tickets, good sir? Oh- and do I need someone to ride with? Er- walk through with?”

Norma was getting bored of her usually feeding grounds. And a bored valkyrie who couldn’t use her powers was nothing but a sorry sight. Lucky for her, the carnival on the beach had opened up. It seemed like a good opportunity to blend in, too. Humans went to this place of “fun.” So did many crying children as she discovered. If only she could incite just one temper tantrum. Alas, she had to feed off the scraps. She sighed and noticed a lot of the crying children were leaving the “Hall of Mirrors.” Odd, she knew many humans were unfortunate looking, but she didn’t imagine reflections would cause such reactions so consistently. Might as well explore it. She walked up to the entrance to see another woman standing there. “Great. You two can go in together. Enjoy,” the man said, practically shoving them both inside the door before slamming it shut. “Well that was speedy service,” she said as she looked around. “I’m Norma, by the way. I believe it is usually considered rude to not introduce yourself when thrown into strange circumstances with one another. Or so I've been told.”

Before she knew it, Nessa was thrown inside the attraction with a strange woman named Norma. Well, she wasn’t strange anymore! She was Norma! “Nice to meet ya, Norma! I’m Nessa! I guess we’re gonna try to navigate this thing together, yeah?” Her bright smile flashed across 3 or 4 different mirrors and she watched as her eyes widened. This was gonna be fun. “You wanna lead the way? Or I can! I’ve never done a Hall of Mirrors before, have you?” It was hard to see where the path led, but that was sort of the whole point. Nessa let her hooves lead her in the most organic route possible, but she still ended up crashing into a hard wall. “Oops! That’s not the way!” She giggled, hoping the other woman was having as much fun as she was.

Norma returned her smile and grabbed the woman’s hand and shook it. A lot. As was customary, of course. “Very good to meet you, Nessa!” It was comforting to hear that there were other humans who had not done such silly and tacky endeavors like this. In normal circumstances, she would never have come in here. She wouldn’t need to. But now, well, it sure was riddled with ambient waves of chaos energy. The whole carnival was, but there was a ping or two more here. “This is my first, too, I think you should try first. You were in line first and I’ve been told lines work in particular orders.” It was more of yelled at than told but all the same. Norma followed behind the giggly woman, wondering if she should just reach out and insight a little more chaos, get them more lost than they were. It was so tempting. And not quite worth the bounty hunters it would bring. She sighed and took in what she could. “Oh no, it’s not. How about we,” Norma spun around in a circle a few times then stopped and pointed in a direction. “Go that way.” As they walked, Norma wondered if they were alone, she kept seeing flashes of red. Lots of red. She could feel the vibrations of energy humming a little louder as they went.

Nessa radiated joy and exuberance as they made their way further into the maze. She liked this woman, Norma. She spoke a little literally, but that was fine! Nessa did that too from time to time. She wondered if her companion was something a bit more than human. Wouldn’t that be exciting?? “I’m so glad we get to experience this together then!” Nessa bounced forward, all the while remaining on the tip of her- well toes if she had them. After running into a few more dead ends, Nessa and her 4 reflections spun around, a pout beginning to form on each set of lips. “I don’t think we’re going the right way, are we?” She caught a wisp of movement out of the corner of her eye and spun, smacking her face right against the plastic, mirror wall. “Aw heck!” She rubbed her forehead and turned to Norma. “Did you see that? I think they let someone else in here before we got a chance to get out! What a rip off!”

Norma was more than happy to follow along the random, distinctly incorrect paths the other woman chose. It was chance and chaos, and though not as good as the strife of a sobbing child, it was still satisfying. “I did see something. I do not believe it was your skirt, either. This is rather unfortunate. We should demand our hard earned cash back if they let someone else in. They should be ashamed!” Norma hoped her outrage was sufficient. The mirror they had stopped at featured a very wiggly looking Nessa and a very stretched out Norma. “Look at how they’ve changed our features,” she said pointing at their reflections. “It’s quite humorous.” She laughed as she started moving around, watching how it affected the distorted view. As she waved her arms in uncharacteristic mannerisms, the picture changed and shifted. She was no longer in her modern clothes or in a hall of other mirrors. What she saw reflected was no longer Norma, but Xmucane from long ago. She was beautiful, far more so than she was now, in her own option. She was covered in blood, the tips of her hair soaked, arms covered, her entire outfit splattered red only where it wasn’t dripping. In her hands were intestines. After a moment of gleeful examination, her reflection reached out towards the mirror, almost like she expected her hand to cross through to the other side, grabbing right at Norma’s heart. For a moment, she was lost in it, longing for her old self. Then she remembered that she wasn’t alone. “Oh, um, wow!” Norma started as she tried to throw herself in front of the mirror. “That is so strangely specific and oddly life-like!” Perhaps this Nessa was too dazed from smacking her head on mirrors to make the connection.

Nessa nodded, her usual optimistic attitude beginning to skew towards irritated. They would definitely file a complaint with the Carnival manager. But then she was distracted by their goofy reflections, warping this way and that. Nessa bleated in excitement and immediately went about dancing to make her elongated extremities ebb and flow in unnatural patterns. “How fun!!” Her eyes darted over to Norma’s reflection, expecting to see her stretched to seem 10 feet tall. Instead, she saw a macabre scene, blood and gore and entrails abounding. Her mouth began to water but she reminded herself it was just special effects. Cocking her head to the side, Nessa began to examine her own reflection. Nothing but the run of the mill wiggly warping. That wasn’t fair. “Wow! They really went all out on the effects, huh?” Nessa pouted, spinning around to try to find a better mirror. Not only did the workers let someone else in on their fun, she didn’t even get the special treatment of a grotesque display! “Let’s try this way, maybe?” Speeding through the mirrors, Nessa screeched to a halt and found herself face to face with a beautiful woman reflected in one of the walls. “Oh!” Her stomach dropped and she let out a frightened bleat before backing up the way she came as quickly as possible. She couldn’t have found her here, she was miles and decades away from that hunter. “This way!” Nessa grabbed Norma’s arm and dragged her deeper and deeper into the maze.

Before Norma could lament her lost past, Nessa was dragging her away. When they spun around, Norma could no longer see herself at all. Or Nessa. She looked around but there was no one standing beside them. Touching the edge of the glass, there was no doubt the woman was on the other side of some surface or another. Odd. Norma pressed her finger a little more to the glass and felt a ripple. There was no further chance to explore it, Nessa pulled her away and they were once again racing through a maze of reflections. The chaos and frantic nature of their running calmed Norma. This felt right. Beautiful, even as their reflections were being chased by flashes of entrails and the face of this mystery woman. “Who was that?” Norma asked as they paused a moment to catch their breath. She looked around and behind them, pointed. “I think that’s the exit,” she said.

Nessa rarely felt fear. Since moving to White Crest, she hadn’t felt the need to run or hide, she’d found a new fae community, and she’d put the thought of hunters, or at least that hunter, far behind her. Of course they were still a danger, but she hadn’t been hunted in years. Barely paying attention to the reflections, or lack thereof, Nessa continued to haul them through the maze at a near breakneck speed, her hooves clicking loudly against the metal floor. “Who?” Nessa’s frightened eyes looked back at her companion. “A monster.” She gritted her teeth and pressed forward, grateful that she wasn’t alone but worried what that woman might do to Norma if she was caught in her company. “Oh!” Nessa spun and pushed Norma ahead of her, throwing one last frantic look behind her as she all but shoved them forward towards what she desperately hoped was the exit and not just another dead end.

Norma tried to keep the curl of a smile from forming on her face. The strife coming from the woman there with her smelled so sweet. If she just reached out and touched her, maybe she could just get a small taste of it, feel the anger and fear of this “monster” resonate within her own bones. But before she could even think any further of allowing that for herself, she was turned around and being shoved towards the exit sign. Norma sighed, almost too happy to keep running around in this mess, but she had to admit, the chaos was likely at an end and dwindling away. They may as well leave and she could collect whatever meager scraps of strife she could find elsewhere. Once through the door, she had to squint and moment and let her eyes readjust to the light. “Well, I believe that was good human fun! I quite enjoyed that experience.” Something still lingered in her mind, though. Almost like… concern? Perhaps? Possibly. It was also possible she was just so ready to pry any information that could be used against someone from her years of doing just that. “That monster, however, that you mentioned. What was that? Do I have cause for concern?”

Nessa practically flung herself out of the Hall. That was supposed to be fun, not traumatic. Her eyes darted around, looking for any sign that her hunter was hot on her trail and indeed the person let in after them. After a few minutes of waiting, however, it was clear she was nowhere to be found. Nessa let out the breath she hadn't realized she’d been holding and tried to smile up at Norma. “I dunno about fun persay, but it certainly wasn’t what I’d expected. Those horror effects were top notch!” She tilted her head, wondering if Norma had been a plant. How else would they have been able to make a grotesque double of her racing through holding various entrails? “Oh...no, I don’t think so.” Her face darkened at the memory. Luckily she hadn’t had to do too much to get away from that hunter, but there were others who were far more seasoned. “She...well she had a grudge against me.” And others like me. But her skin didn’t prickle around Norma like it did when she was around other fae. She could be some other supernatural, but that wasn’t for her to worry about. “Weird, though. I guess I must have mistaken one of the people they let in behind us. I haven’t seen that woman in years. There’s no way she could be here.” The words were more to comfort herself, she realized. But she smiled again, feeling a bit more at ease with each human person who came out of the Hall of Mirrors after them. The past was the past, and Nessa didn’t want to revisit it if she didn’t absolutely need to.