Masquerade (closed)

Mojin threw the foolish looking mask on the table as he walked up to his sister. She was still wearing her mask to his surprise. He heard his sister say, “Now brother you must wear your mask. You want to make the king happy?” The man glared at his sister and snapped, “Do you think I care?” She did not move and was not even shocked at Mojin’s behavior, because they both felt the same way. Mojin hated the parties the King threw. He hated going about the busy halls and speaking to the important nobles and diplomats. He would rather spend time in the Lower Ring than in a place like this. Mojin walked away from his sister and avoided any conversation. When someone did speak to him he gave a sharp, “I cannot talk now,” and continued on his way. He was stopped by a diplomat from the Dark Bender State.

“Hello Mojin,” the man said slyly. This was the man Mojin liked. He was almost as crocked as Mojin and his sister, but not that much. “Hello Anwen,” Mojin said calmly not shaking the man’s hand. “I see you are in a rush like always,” the diplomat said with a chuckle. “My business is my own and I am sure you know that.” Mojin smelled alcohol on the man’s breath. The Earth King’s advisor focused his colorless eyes on the man’s dark brown eyes. The diplomat then stared deeply into Mojin’s eyes and actually started to drool a little. “Now sleep,” was all Mojin had to say and the man dropped on the spot. He gave a sinister chuckle as he made his way down a hall. He made his way past party goers ignoring their loud ravenous laughter. As soon as he was embraced by the darkness and fresh air did he feel at ease. There were still people here, but he could think.

Mojin was in one of the Earth Kingdon Palace’s many gardens. He walked past a few plants crushing the beautiful flowers in the process and he made his way to a bench. His eyes fell on the palace and he was able to picture all the people inside. He even pictured his sister standing in the same spot surveying everyone, silently judging them. Then Mojin felt as if there was a sort of shift in his chi. He shot up and quickly scanned the area making sure there were no assassins or anyone seeking to kill him. Mojin was able to train his bending to tell when someone was nearby. Oddly this shift was stronger than any other; it was as if there was another mind bender here. Mojin had only met one like him and he ended up killing said person. He heard a distant noise and shot up again. Mojin focused his attention to that spot and then quickly stopped. It was someone like him. “I know you are there,” Mojin said bluntly, “and if you don’t come out. I can have the guards here in seconds dragging you to jail.”

Psykeh Charna was technically invited to the Masquerade. Only just technically that a judge could convict of trespassing. The diplomat from the Dark Nation Anwen had invited her to come. She gave the thought to his mind and he was happy to tell Psykeh the news. She needed to leave the Dark Nation. It was island that filled her with dread and vengeance. She only wanted to kill her parents. Her bloodlust sometimes would kill her heart. She was turing into a monster. Leaving no one in her path. She was killing and controlling those to rise to the top. In the begging she was a lowly citizen, but she is advising the diplomat of the Dark Nation, Anwen. He was an important figure in the Dark Nation. He often traveled and always invited Psykeh along after she gave him the thought. He was just a mere pawn in her game. He let her advance a few spaces, but never back, she could never go back.

They both arrived at the Earth King’s Masquerade. The diplomat was in a formal robe embedded with the Dark Nation crest on his back showing loyalty to his nation, but around his neck was a Fire Nation necklace. His mask was a black bird. It only covered his nose up to the top of his forehead. The black bird’s feathers were gleaming, and around Anwen’s eye was tinge of small red feathers accenting his eye. Psykia was also in dress robe attire. She also wore the dark robe with the Dark Nation crest. However, she did not wear any Fire Nation emblems. She did not want this visit to interrupt any plans, but she wanting to meet the Earth King privately. But first, she had to blend in; her mask was like a wolf. It only covered from her nose to her forehead. Her nose was black and around her eyes were tinges of yellow. The areas of her mask where fur on a wolf would be were silver and black. Psykeh wanted to leave the party to go into the gardens to hide, but Anwen wouldn’t leave, so he would cause a diversion. Psykeh sent him into two twins that seemed to be advisors to the Earth King.

Psykeh went into the Palace gardens. She could smell the roses, beautiful. But, she had to focus. She stepped into the shadows of tall hedge and dark bended a weave of shadow to conceal herself she was golden. Psykeh retrieved her staff she kept in the shadows and waited. It took about another six minutes till one of the twins arrived. At first he seemed at ease, but then he seemed tense. He looked around for someone. Psykeh. She looked at her weave of shadows; there were no holes with the net of darkness. How? She tried to delve into his mind, but he had a barrier, as did she. Very few could make a barrier, only mind benders could make a worthy defense. “I know you are out there,” The man said this as if stating the obvious, “and if you don’t come out. I can have the guards here in seconds dragging you to jail.” Psykeh thought to herself, Sure that will work I’ll just send them away. But, what the heck maybe he can help me. Psykeh got out of her net of shadow, and pretended she was hiding behind the bush concealing her dark bending powers, mask on, and holding her staff she emerged. “I see you can use minds, as can I. I do not think your guard is needed for now, what do you require?”

Mojin's eyes fell on the intruder. Well she was not that much of an intruder more of a girl. He quickly made a few more barriers around his mind just in case this girl was stronger than he was. He had secrets in his head that he wanted no one to see. He laughed at her obvious statement and wanted to say something sarcastic, but decided against it. Mojin still had no idea who this girl was so he would keep his comments to himself, for now. He stood in his spot not moving an inch. He simply stared at her. Mojin had stopped trying to get into her head, because she had a barrier like he did and it would take hours for him to get past it. Mojin simply stared at her in response to her question.

After a few minutes of silence he shook his head chuckling. "I don't think you should be asking me that. I should be asking you." Mojin said sitting on the bench once more and looked up at the night sky. "You can come out of the bush," Mojin said plainly patting his hand on the bench. "Come now I won't bite I promise." He turned his head towards her and a smile slowly formed. It was an eerie looking smile, as if the man behind it was planning to attack any moment. The smile then faded and he looked back at the sky. "No need to use any weapons," Mojin motioned to the staff in her hand. His eyes fell on the weapon. It looked very different he would love to get a closer look at it.

Mojin shifted on the bench smoothing out his robe. He stared out at the darkness and asked, "I guess my question for you is. Why were you watching me from the darkness?" He continued to stare out at the plants, which were concealed by darkness. He then turned his head to the palace and finally the girl. A light glow was on her now and Mojin could only make out a little bit of her. She looked rather young, and youthful. "If you want to talk you can just walk up to me like a normal person," Mojin added still being blunt. "I may not like when people do that, but it is the preferred way of starting a conversation." Mojin does not see as what he says as rude, it is just who he is.

Once she emerged it felt like a stare off. Who would blink first? No one did. The man just kept motionless. He kept very still. Psykeh was thinking to herself, Wait if he is mind bender he can read my thoughts and my past She then wanted to kill. The thought of him penetrating her mind was doubtful, but she would no take chances. She immediately, keeping still, added a web of protection around her mind. This would make his intrusion foiled for a few more hours. It still kept silent. It felt as if this was a duel, who would strike at their enemies heart first? Psykeh gripped her staff harder she was slightly studying him. He was also studying her. What could this bring, fear, nonsense. She could not have fear anymore. She left this long ago. She wanted him to fear her, but he also seems to have lost the trait.

The silence kept walking on for a few more minutes. Ages seemed too past by before the man chuckled and shook his head. It was not the happy man’s chuckle, more like the evil chuckle of victory. “I don’t think you should be asking me that. I should be asking you.” His voice echoed, while he went over a casually sat on a bench within the garden. I have every right to say what a can. Even thought her mind was not easily accessed, she could still think on her own. “You can come out of the bush,” She then just watched as he pated the bench, a sign of inviting her to sit. “Come now I won’t bite I promise.” Psykeh had no upper hand, no way to trick his mind into thinking she was never here. She was about to move when a creepy, and I seriously mean, creepy smile was bestowed onto his face. It looked at if he wanted to pounce on her, but it subsided while he looked to the sky. “No need to use any weapons,” He said this motioning to her staff.

Psykeh kept holding her staff; “I’m not going to inflict any pain onto you with the staff.” Psykeh said this preferring saying ‘I’m’ than I am because this was not a formal meeting. Casual. “Don’t worry I won’t bite either.” She said this making her way towards him, her mask was still on, and was getting annoying. She took the mask and left it on the ground, and kept walking. Then she sat on the right bench with the man, she switched her staff to her right hand, just in case. "I guess my question for you is. Why were you watching me from the darkness?" Psykeh did not want more moments of silence so she answered, “I’m sorry, but I was not watching for you in the darkness,” Psykeh thought while she spoke. Lie. “I came out here to see an old friend. She is in the masquerade, she told me at seven we would meet out here in secret.” Psykeh finished with suavity. "If you want to talk you can just walk up to me like a normal person,” The man said very bluntly "I may not like when people do that, but it is the preferred way of starting a conversation."

“I do not need to walk and talk, this bench is just as well.” Psykeh gripped her staff, “I can tell you are mind bender, I know I am repeating myself, but a base is good for conversation. I am a mind bender, which you know.” Psykeh finished; she hadn’t given anything away, but the obvious. Psykeh then thought of what to say, an ice breaker always seems to work well in these situations. “Before we begin trying to latch onto each others minds, let’s just ask each other one question truthfully. If you ask the question you must also answer the question. The person must only answer with the truth.” Psykeh asked his this, because each of them would learn two things about the other, simple. Psykeh looked up at the stars, she saw a planet that Kai named after Psykeh, even though it was called a different name. Kai was the sweet one in the family. She slightly jilted herself back to reality; She looked back at the man and asked a simple question, “What is your name? My name is Psykeh.”

Mojin shrugged and replied, “I am not afraid of some staff.” He turned his head to look at her again. He laughed when she said she won’t bite either. This laugh was not as dark as the first, but still sounded like he was hatching an evil plan. As soon as she stared to move Mojin’s lifeless looking eyes fixed on her. He judged her motions, how she walked, and was able to figure out a little bit about her just from this. Then she removed her mask and Mojin saw her face for the first time. It was very smooth and most people would say she was beautiful, but Mojin was not like most people. As soon as she sat on the bench next to him Mojin actually scooted over a little bit. She was far too close for comfort and he was not too fond of people touching him. He turned ever so slightly to face her and asked, “Now was that hard?” It was more of a rhetorical question.

Mojin moved his attention back to the very lit palace. He heard laughter and chatter radiating from it. Just the thought of people in there having a good time made him sick. When he becomes King there will be many changes and the first thing to go will be these foolish parties. Mojin for some reason could not enter her mind to see if she was telling the truth about meeting a friend, but he did not need his bending here. “Let’s not lie,” Mojin said making a tsking sound, “it shows you have bad characters and gets you nowhere.” Actually Mojin lies on a daily basis and without lieing he could not be the Earth King’s top advisor. “If you are waiting for a friend,” Mojin said looking around the dark garden, “then where is she?” He turned his head to look at her and simply stared. A sinister grin went across his face; he had her stuck between a rock and a hard place. “Might as well tell the truth,” he said straightening out his robes.

Mojin nodded solemnly when she stated the obvious about him being a mind bender. “I do know that,” Mojn said and added, “The last mind bender I met I ended up killing him.” The adviser simply shrugged and continued his story, “He was much older and I ended up killing him because I wanted to be the only master mind bender.” He turned his head to look at the girl and grinned, and then it faded away. “You don’t have to worry though. I am not going to harm a hair on your little head.” He sat in silence and listened as she mentioned they would pay some game that broke the ice. Mojin wanted to retire to his chambers and work, but for some reason he stayed. Mojin’s eyes fell on the staff once more. He has never seen anything like it before. “My name is Mojin Shan-Erh, Head Advisor to the Earth King.” The title was not necessary, but he liked to say it. He pulled his eyes from her staff and looked at the girl. “Why are you really here?” Mojin asked and explained, “I don’t want another lie I want the truth.”

“Ah, Mojin, I told you myself I would not lie about the question you asked,” Psykeh paused only briefly letting her mind run into itself. In real time this was only a second, but to Psykeh she was analyze She looked at Mojin, he stated that he had killed a man, but that didn’t make Psykeh bat an eyelash. She was almost like a killer; anyone who could control a mind was technically in societies standards a killer. They physiologically invaded your deepest thoughts. Yours dreams and ambitions, tools of the killer game. Nothing was off-limits to a mind bender, nothing. Except when the person’s mind you are trying to invade in another mind bender, then you are at a standstill. Psykeh thought one more moment, just one more to collect her thoughts together and speak to the Earth King’s Advisor. Wait, the Earth King’s advisor, interesting. Very interesting. Psykeh then stopped thinking and spoke.

“I am here to see the Earth King about my father,” Psykeh said, she was truthful; she wanted to know where her father Po was to kill him. He was her archenemy in her life the bane of her existence. She slightly smiled at the thought of killing Po; the blood of her sister would not be in vain, her hands clasped around his throat. The images stopped when he saw Mojin looking at her staff with his white eyes. He didn’t show much compassion, but he seemed to take particular interest in her staff. “Mojin,” Psykeh asked getting his attention from looking elsewhere, “If you wanted to see my staff you could have just asked than eyeing it like a dog waiting for its treat.” Psykeh careful set her dark nation staff embedded with three gems on his lap. The crystals were not active because she was not feeding them energy. Really he couldn’t run away with the staff because Psykeh could begin bending. So it was no harm to show him the staff, exchange of trust.

“This is a dark nation metal,” Psykeh explained, not like to a two year-old, but someone like Mojin, “It is embedded with three gems, obviously red, blue, and green. Each gem inflicts a different emotion and it can be controlled to which extent the emotion is used. The blue can inflict sleep and calm feelings, red creates fury, and green mesmerizes a target.” Psykeh finished her gist of the weapon, “Isn’t it neat?” Psykeh said changing her tone to a more friendly, but she then looked over to the sky becoming slightly darker again. “Do you own any weapons that are special to you?” Psykeh asked looking over at Mojin.

Mojin watched her facial features and tried to look for any emotions when he told her he killed a man who was like them. She was not even bothered by it. She looked as if she did not even hear him, Mojin wanted to repeat it just in case, but he understood now. This girl must dive down deep into the mind of people and mess with their emotions and mind. Only someone as twisted as Mojin would not care about the taking on an innocent life; he was starting to like this girl. Mojin looked deeply into her eyes wondering what she was thinking of. He smoothed out his robe yet another time and sat tall turning his attention to the darkness. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he looked at Psykeh because she was starting to speak. He could not help but laugh when she said she wanted to speak to the Earth King. No one could just come to a party and wish to speak to the man. There was so much you had to do.

“You can’t just walk up to the man and speak to him,” Mojin commented. “What could he do in dealing with your father? Since you are from the Dark Nation I take it so is your father. The Earth King has no power there; you want to speak with the Fire Lord.” Mojin laughed again. If you thought speaking with the Earth King was hard try getting a meeting with the Fire Lord. Mojin was also the Earth King’s secretary and he would plan meetings with foreign leaders. He would have to plan months in advance when the Earth King wanted to speak with the Fire Lord he was just that busy. Well with the Fire Nation and then the Dark State and Light State to watch he figured being the Fire Lord was a busy and stressful job. He could care less in the end, the Fire Lord was a foolish many anyway. When she mentioned her staff Mojin’s eyes grew wide and a sly grin went across his face.

He gladly accepted the staff and quickly moved it around in his hands. “Dark Nation metal,” he said and continued to look at the staff. “I have heard that is very strong,” he touched the jewels and continued, “the Earth King wanted to get some for weapons, but it was far too much so we stick with the metals we have here.” He ran his hand over each of the gems and felt nothing from them. Maybe she powers the staff somehow and that is how people are affected. “Yes, very neat.” He said and handed the staff back to Psykeh. It was an interesting piece of work he would like to have it in his possession, but that would mean killing the girl and to be honest she was fairly bearable. He heard the friendly tone in her voice and Mojin actually got sick. Thank goodness he has not eaten or he would be throwing up. “Please don’t get friendly with me,” Mojin said bluntly holding up his hand. “It won’t get you anywhere.” He was being mean, but he could care less.

Mojin chuckled when she asked him if he had any special weapons. Mojin simply tapped the side of his head and replied, “My weapon is my brain.” That sounded a little cheesy, but to be honest it was the best weapon he could rely on. “It has saved me many times and I don’t plan on getting rid of it any time soon. It can defeat any blade or arrow.” A sly grin formed on his face and he looked at the girl. “I know I asked this earlier, but what can the Earth King do for you? I could do more than him honestly, he is far to busy dealing with guests than actual policies.”

“My father, Po Charna is,” Psykeh paused, “Or was working for the Earth King in connection to a spy organization. I trust you know about this organization.” Psykeh said eyeing Mojin then continuing her tale, “He killed my sister in a blaze when I was younger, I barely escaped with my life in my hands. He wanted me to join him with spying on other nations. I ran out from the dark nation. It suited my needs to go into the Earth Kingdom to gain another life. Only later did I learn my father was somehow still working. I do not know where he is working, but he is dangerous man Mojin. He is just like the both of us. He is willing to kill in cold blood without hesitation, but he will torture you till you are reduced to nothing.” Psykeh finished her tale of her childhood. The blaze taunted her in the dreams, Kai screamed as Po’s hands clenched around her throat. Psykeh couldn’t move. Time was still. No one moved it was just Po and Kai. Kai attacked him. Her shadow wolf joined her then the house exploded. Flames burst out. Psykeh stopped her thought and looked again at the sky. It seemed whenever each one of the two didn’t know what to say next they looked to the stars. Psykeh thought again, Well might as well give my life fricken’ story because I gave him my father’s name.

“My sister and I were beaten, abused, and tortured into becoming my father’s image of a perfect spy. We were kept in jail my parents built under our house. He were tortured by mercenaries my father hired to teach us patience. The reason why I am asking you for my father’s whereabouts is because I want to kill him. I want my sister’s death not to be in vain. I want to kill him with my mind till he is pleading for forgiveness.” Psykeh finished her slight rant, and gave a slight breath, “Mojin, if I may ask would you like to join me back in the masquerade for a dance, my treat, and don’t worry you do not need worry about anything.” Psykeh said with a ever so slight grin with the last sentence.

Mojin listened to Psykeh as she spoke about her father working with the Earth King. “I know all of the Earth King’s inner most secrets and who he works with and most of the time I am there. I do not remember meeting your father though, but I do remember the name.” The adviser’s eyes sifted from left to right and he lowered his voice to a hush. “The king will not kill anyone,” he looked around again and continued, “he is far too weak to do that, but I do have connections with some people who can find your father and get the job done.” Mojin sat tall and his eyes fell on Psykeh, “They do a good job and I know from experience. Let’s say I am a regular customer.” A devilish grin went across the adviser’s face. Mojin sometimes needs people taken care of like an annoying diplomat or a begging peasant. No matter who the person is the people do not ask questions and as long as they get paid they do the job.

Mojin listened to Psykeh’s story about her sister and father. A normal person would feel sorry and give the victim their condolences, but not Mojin. He actually wanted to meet this man now, but he would not tell the girl that. Pity she wanted him dead the two could share tips of the trade. Mojin decided to say nothing about the subject of her father’s abuse and death of her sister. He was not one to show sympathy for a death of a loved one. Mojin simply sat there emotionless as she continued her story and once he finished he nodded softly showing that he got it all. Then she suggested they go dance and for once in his life Mojin laughed. The laugh was not a sinister laugh or an evil chuckle, it was actually light hearted and it make Mojin feel sick after. “No,” he said bluntly refusing her offer. “I do not dance,” the man said glaring at Psykeh.

Mojin could care less if the woman wanted to dance with him. Mojin despised dancing because it was a waste of time like this foolish party. The world is moving all around them and everyone in the palace is getting drunk and having the time of their life. There is work that has to be done and everyone is just being foolish. “I do not worry about anything because I am going to stay here and not dance,” Mojin said bluntly staring at the woman.