12 Dancing with Umbra

When Umbra clapped, he materialized five floating orbs. Spinning, they revolved around him, forming a red halo that released inward-slanting beams. Mere meters from the ceiling, they conjoined at a single point and made the shape of a cone. The cone's apex burst with a red light that lit up the room like a burning plasma core.

Umbra cocked his head. "Who dares to say Dessy isn't worthy of Prince Aether? I say he isn't worthy of the little lamb."

"Wha-what are you doing! You psycho!" The woman dressed in purple shivered, so did most of the other guests.

"Oh? What's that?" Umbra took a single step towards her, and she cringed. Her face paled.

"That's enough," said Aether. He spun to face Umbra, and summoning the aura within him, he aura broke. The seven shards of ice, which had been melting on the ground, sprang to life and beckoned the water covering the floor. The liquid swirled into them, forming a whirlpool as the shards orbited Aether.

Umbra shrugged. "Oh, c'mon. You know I'm not gonna hurt her."

"You should be guarding your star prince," said Aether.

"Yeah, no. I'm actually with the empress dowager. Don't know where she went."

The shards circling Aether faltered and shook like a wonky gear, but it was only for a moment. Few people seemed to notice.

Gen raised a brow. It was an odd mistake for such a renown aura-breaker, especially for a star prince known to be one of the most powerful breakers.

Umbra clapped his hands; the orbs widened their distance from each other, shortening the cone of light and fattening its base. The light released by its apex twisted and congealed, transforming into large, solid spikes.

Aether stomped his foot, and a shard sank into the ground. Ice radiated outward, casing the floor and expanding like a floating island appearing from the clouds. Various markings—mostly fanciful shapes and lines—were engraved into its surface. They spread for every breath Aether exhaled.

Another clap, and the tips of Umbra's spikes split into more spikes.

The two men were competing in their ability to control their aura breaks by making a fanciful display. Although somewhat random, Gen thought it was much better than the chaos she had expected Umbra to cause.

With a wave of his hand, Aether imprinted lions into the ice, but as the image grew more complicated, the ice expanded. A jagged ridge formed at its ends.

Umbra said, "C'mon. We all know your control is crap. Aren't you worried your date will freeze if you bring it too close to me?"

Remaining silent, Aether pointed his finger; and the ice rushed towards Umbra, rumbling and swelling like a wave.

"Excuse me, little lamb," Umbra whispered into Gen's ear then swooped her into his arms. The spikes, including the cone-shaped beam, shattered into small, red glitters. They were soft and bore no obvious offensive capabilities.

As the ice rushed towards her, a smile tugged at her lips and a faint blush threatened to show itself. She had realized Umbra's objective.

The solid wave halted and retreated, returning to the location where the shard had sunk into the ground. After a moment, the shard revealed itself, mysterious arising from the floor and into the air.

"Look," Umbra said. "If you didn't care about your little date, why did you stop the ice? You're just too embarrassed to admit it." He gently released Gen, setting her on her feet. "But I'm not you; I'll proudly admit it. I'm stealing your date."

Gen desperately tried to stop her face from twitching. Things had gone too far. She'd rather not embroil herself with a man who had proven himself so easily irritated. She only meant to tease Umbra in order to prod Aether.

She had been ninety percent sure she would get a reaction, because firstly, Aether was wary of Umbra, and secondly, she was supposedly his subordinate's sister. If Aether was smart, he wouldn't let a possible enemy lurk so close to him and his people.

"Let her go," Aether said.

"No. We're dancing." Umbra grinned and simultaneously bared his teeth. Then, he glared at the woman dressed in purple. She shivered as he ordered, "Hurry up and put on some music."

"I-I-I," she stammered.

"The droid next to you. Request music. Now."

She scrambled to the closest droid. It was holding refreshments in its hands and pamphlets on its head, and her fumbling knocked them to the ground. Ignoring the mess, she placed her wrist watch to the droid's chest. "Please play some music."

"A slow song." Umbra snorted.

She obeyed, and the droid played a slow yet melancholic song. Gen didn't know if the woman was dumb, being spiteful towards Umbra, or just nervous; the song was far from Umbra's expectations. His jaw clenched.

One of the gala's hosts—likewise misunderstanding the differences between a slow, romantic song and a slow, melancholic song—helped her by recruiting the other droids. In sync, the robots played the song and sang its lyrics. A few of them, however, were preset to alter their voice to a robotic sound, causing a jagged disharmony.

Umbra snapped his fingers, light flashed, and the offending droids blew up into pieces. The men, by siphoning aura into their aura gauntlets, erected thin barriers to block the shrapnel; a few women possessing boots of a similar nature did the same. After the initial fright, they backed away from Umbra and the droids. Having their pride, however, none of them left the elite section and instead chose to glare at the man.

Umbra calmly held out a hand for Gen as if nothing had happened. He said, "Let's dance."

She nodded, but what she really wanted to do was fight. Fist against fist, aura versus aura, laser gun versus energy beam. The song was slow, yet it pumped her blood. She wanted to destroy, and her thoughts grew increasingly violent and irrational.

No, she said to herself. She scanned her surroundings. Someone must have aura broken and tried to affect her thoughts. Perhaps they wanted her to anger Umbra so that he killed her in a fit of rage.

There were many reasons to target her. Jealousy, pettiness, discrimination... Was it a man or a woman? Should she blame Aether and his silence? He was a true, bonafide jerk.

Aether, possibly believing the danger had abated, dismissed his summoned aura shards. He faced the crowd, but every few seconds his glances turned her way.

"Look at me, little lamb. Let's dance." Umbra pulled her close so that she pressed against his body. He was warm, his touch soft, and he smelled of roses.

Her mind fizzled. She was a shy creature to a man's touch, and she compared herself to a vehicle possessing dual cores. When only one core was lit, her mind would function properly and imagine all kinds of boldness; but once the second core ignited, her brain would overload and reduce itself to worthless scrap.

Umbra's eyes enthralled her, and she leaned into him. In her absent mindedness, he danced her around the hall in an awkward waltz. The beat of the music, which was that of some random melancholic song, made him difficult to follow because none of his dancing made sense. His steps were also out of beat.

Like a piece of paper plastered onto a window with water mixed with flour, their dancing was horrid.

Was he mocking her or was he just that inexperienced?

After the restoration of her brain and a few more steps, Gen began to dance with him in earnest. She followed his haphazard steps in a graceful manner, sparing them at least some dignity with her skills.

As Generation she didn't know how to do so, but Dessy managed to accomplish it with elegance. She couldn't explain her sudden awareness of their movements. Everything just clicked, and that was that. She called it a defensive mechanism. During moments of nervousness or anxiety, her instincts would kick in, and her guise would complete itself.

As she followed Umbra's steps, her inner self yelled. She wanted to lead, not follow his missteps. At the same time, a part of her whispered he would never like her. His eyes and smile seemed to speak of a proud nature that wouldn't bend to others. He wouldn't let her dominate him.

Oh, how she wanted to push him down and have him begging for her. Gen's face reddened at her sudden train of thought, and she faltered and stepped on his foot. She lowered her head to hide her blush. "My bad."

He placed his lips to her ear. His breath was warm and sent a shiver down her spine. "Don't worry about it. Step on me all you want."

"Oh-um-ok," she said, mindlessly nodding. His words pushed her to the utmost limit, and she wanted to know if his words were true. She had a very strong urge to step on his feet. Then to pulse him with her aura. And mash her knee into his groin. Mind jolting, she searched the crowd encircling them.

It was that feeling. Someone had tried affecting her for a second time and had ruined her romantic moment. Unforgivable. She met eyes with a man. She didn't know who he was, but by the way he stood next to the woman in purple, Gen figured he was doing it to appease the woman.

They deserved to be taught a lesson.

The two were glowering at her, and the man turned his head as soon as he realized she had spotted him. Her artificial aggression vanished.

Tsk, amateur.

"Something bothering you?" asked Umbra.

"No," she said.

He suddenly dipped her so that her back arched. Her eyes met his, which gleamed with mischief. He raised his forefinger, and a small, red bead formed at its tip. He said, "Let's play a game. It'll be fun."

"What are you thinking of?" Gen outwardly smiled but was feeling the onset of a headache. Umbra had noticed the pair and wanted to cause another scene, maybe even attack them. As Dessy, she cared for her reputation and didn't want to reduce herself to such erratic pettiness. If he had her do something so crude, how would she seduce Aether by the end of the night?

Umbra said, "You point my finger and I'll blast. Understand, little lamb?"

She felt Aether's gaze on her, so she chuckled and raised her arms, wrapping them around Umbra's neck as she stood up. Tiptoeing, she coyly whispered into Umbra's ear, "And what if I decide to point your finger at you?"

"As long as it's not a vital spot and you promise to keep me company in the healing pod."

"What about your family jewels?" Gen asked, feeling pleased with herself, especially so since Aether had begun approaching. She loved toying with men when dressed as a woman—mainly because she felt perfectly safe doing so. Her heart was steeled against falling for anyone who didn't love or know her true self, and if a man decided to get extra handsy, she could beat him to a pulp. Her heart and body felt safe, albeit the rare short-circuiting of her brain.

"That depends." Umbra chuckled. "Do you want children?"

Gen coughed and turned her head. Man, way too blunt. She peeked at him and blamed herself for setting herself up for that one. Behind her Aether's coldness nipped at her, but he stopped his approach. Would he or would he not take her away from Umbra?

Umbra suddenly laughed. Unlike his chuckling, it was deep and hearty and unexpected. And it was manly, possibly the manliness thing about him. His ruby eyes seemed softer than before. "Let's dance. Relax, follow the flow, and listen to the music." He turned and yelled, "You poor hosts, play a better song!"

He took her by the waist and increased the distance between her and Aether. Once satisfied he ushered her to dance with him, and she accepted his hand. Gen expected Umbra to send a wry sneer at Aether to gloat about capturing her, but he didn't. His eyes remained fixated on her.

The droids began playing another song. Dark and dreary, a song about love, heartbreak, and death. It was inauspicious for a couple to dance to, and it caused Umbra's mouth to pull into a thin line. Once was an accident, twice was on purpose. Someone wanted to incite his anger and possibly snub him.

The droids beeped, and the song abruptly stopped.

"Here's a song for our two lovebirds. 'Planet Name's The True Love Song,' " a voice drifted through the gala's inner section. Gen, narrowing her eyes, recognized it instantly. Phantom Mind. What was her brother up to?

The droids climbed onto the gala's stage and opened their robotic mouths. There were no words, but the melody itself spoke of love. The beat was neither slow nor quick, instead it altered between them as if telling a story. Everyone from Planet Name would know how to dance to it, but Umbra didn't.

His complexion grew stormy.

"It's my favorite song," Gen said with a light smile. "Still want to dance with me?"

"Yes," Umbra replied, and his expression smoothed.

Gen placed her palms against the back of his neck, thumbs behind his ears and fingers intertwined. He rested his hands on her hips. Whether he knew Planet Name's traditions or just assumed it was correct, Gen didn't know; though, she guessed the latter.

"Follow me," she said. And he did, which pleased her inner self. Whenever she stepped forward, he stepped back. They moved with the music, through slow and sadness, through quick and joy. Her smile grew and sunk with the changing of the rhythm and beat as was tradition, but Umbra's remained a perpetual, teasing smile.

She couldn't read his thoughts. Maybe he was happy for beating Aether, or maybe he just liked dancing without a care for his own appearance. He was truly horrible at it, and Gen began to think that he might have problems hearing its beat. Or maybe he liked flaunting his lack of skill and so never tried to do better.

"Step forward and dip me," Gen said. As he stepped, she straightened one leg and let True Stiletto slide against the ground. She lifted the other one—which was holding her up—and let her body swoop downward. She released his neck. Only his hands placed on her hips stopped her from falling.

Umbra's eyes widened as if he was afraid of dropping her; Gen hadn't expected him to be so surprised. This was the classic Planet Name swoop. Odd and somewhat dangerous, but commonly performed within the Compass Constellation.

Feeling his support, she arched her back and neck. Her head dipped close to the ground, hair brushing against it.

She saw Aether, helm pointed towards her. A swarm of hail hovered around him, and he stood on his own island of ice. No one was near him; even Reya and Fenri had fled.

"Lift," Gen said then regretted it. Umbra swung her, throwing her upward. She stiffened her core, straightened her body, and placed her hands on his shoulders. They succeeded in not blundering it due to their pure strength. An East Star lift... She should have been more clear, and now she knew he at least new something about dancing. Maybe.

A few watchers sniggered, possibly laughing at the dance's sudden change. To dance with missteps was one thing, but his mistake with a traditional song and dance was a monster of its own.

Gen ignored the spectators and pushed them to the recesses of her mind. She envisioned smiles and expressions of envy and admiration. Aether still gazed at her, and she imagined him jealous...

And that the world was only of her and a man who cared, not the discordant gala whose flooring bore the marks of Aether's ice and the scars of ruined droids.

Umbra lifted her higher and spun so that they rotated. She released his shoulders, spread her arms, and arched her back, all while putting trust into his strength to not drop her. A breeze brushed against her cheeks, and Umbra's face blurred. Her mind drifted to the past...

Of the day Law married a princess.