Xelqua Rising || The Lost One AU

24.Dance of the Great Ones

Xelqua wandered around the halls of the temple. It had been a very long time since he had walked about freely, being able to pick out an activity for himself.

Still unused to seeing his body in third person, he made sure to stick to the center of the hall, making it easier to not bump into something. Any Watchers that he passed stuck a bit closer to the walls, giving him some room.

He decided to go into the room dedicated to dance, though he did not intend on dancing himself. He never had been there in person before, but in his time cocooned, he spent many hours watching Watchers dance rather elegantly. He had noticed only a few females were there at the moment, which meant no one there knew that he had cried and therefore, no one would bring it up.

As he approached the door, he slowed down as to not embarrass himself. He failed, however, walking just a step too far and walking right into the door. Xelqua couldn't help but to just stand there, rubbing his injured face for a moment before the pain began to subside by his magic. As he did this, a swirl of magic blew through the door and opened it for him, allowing him an easier entrance.

"Careful there, Xelqua!" Zoltalia said. It was her that had opened the door, having had added it to her routine with a spin. From the ceiling, Juden cascaded down what looked to be semi-transparent curtains, landing incredibly softly. Once safely on the ground, she untangled her arms free of the curtain and drew nearer to the male. "Hey Xelqua. What brings you here?" She asked, knowing that he had never been there before.

Xelqua shrugged as he stepped inside. "I had nothing better to do." He answered truthfully.

"Are you going to join us?" Another Watcher named Daisus said. From his interactions with her, Xelqua had learned that she was rather energetic and extroverted, though she always tried to remain solemn like the rest.

"Oh, no! That's... that's not a good idea," He chuckled nervously. He was already practically falling over himself, no need to add complicated dance moves into the mix.

Daisus frowned. "Aw, come on. You laid there and did nothing for a century! You should move a little bit at least." There seemed to be no malice in her words, no undertone of supremacy. It was almost as if she legitimately wanted him to have fun just because.

"You should at least stretch your wings. It's not good for them to be wound up so tight all the time," Juden agreed.

Xelqua looked around the room of girls that wanted him to join them. He paused, considering it. "Promise not to laugh...? I was never much of a dancer..." He asked. They all quickly agreed.

"If you don't join us, what are you going to do instead? Smell the flowers again?" Zoltalia pointed out. That's all Grian had ever did here outside of learning and sleeping.

"A...alright," he agreed slowly. Juden then took him by the hands and began to lead him, spinning in a circle. 

"This is the Dance of the Great Ones," she explained as she led Xelqua around. "It represents balance; two equal partners that are separate, but are also one. They work together in harmony. One without the other would not suffice; there needs to be two for the dance to work."

She started slowly at first, but then started spinning faster and faster. He found the steps easy enough at first, finding her momentum pulled him along and as he joined in, his momentum also pulled her as well. Zoltalia and Daisus also joined hands and began to dance in the same manner. It was less elegant than what had they been doing before, instead more playful. As they all swung each other around, he noticed that it was dead silent aside from the wind rushing past his ears. He had expected there to be music, but there wasn't any. He wondered why that was, but he kept it to himself, having been trained to not ask stupid questions.

Xelqua never remembered doing anything like this before, not being one of dance himself. Perhaps it was because the temple had always sort of bored him, but he was having a lot of fun!

Circling around and around, they danced together in harmony. They spun so fast that they had become a blur, their colors intermixing and intertwining almost as if they were becoming one. As one of Juden's hands slipped away from Xelqua's, he felt himself be flung outside of the circle, now joining hands with Zoltalia. He quickly understood that he was changing partners, letting go of Juden's other hand and grabbing at Zoltalia's hand that had just been freed from Daisus. Daisus and Juden spun around the new pair, quickly finding each other and interlocking hands. They all continued to spin now, but in the opposite direction from before. It had been a silent transition, no cue seemed to have been made, but it had happened smoothly and effortlessly regardless.

As they continued to spin, Xelqua thought that he would have gotten dizzy by now, but he didn't. Then he had realized that at some point, he had given up having a collection of eyes in front of him, instead leaving them all over the room, as if they had spun out of orbit from him. It a weird way, it almost felt natural to have left his eyes just floating around the room.

When he saw that Daisus had slipped her hand away from Juden, he in turned slipped his hand from Zoltalia's and flung his arm over to Daisus. She caught it and they fastened their grip on one another. He transferred the other arm with ease. They began to spin in the first direction as the other two met up and did the same.

He had almost been put in a trance by these dances, and before he had realized it, he had separated from Daisus, Daisus had joined with Zoltalia and he spun around them to meet back up with Juden. They spun in the opposite direction.

Spinning and twirling, pushing one another along in a circle. Changing partners to do it once again, only in a different direction. Always the same, but yet somehow the rush never flickered. On and on they danced, immersed in this world they had created for themselves.

That was, until Xelqua realized that a certain Watcher was headed into the North wing, right for them. He slowed down and sensing this, his partner Zoltalia did as well. Juden and Daisus soon followed, all coming to a stop to watch Miesall enter.

"I did not wish to interject, but I wish to have Xelqua accompany me immediately." He said. Xelqua frowned, wanting to continue dancing with the others. Collecting some of his eyes in front of his face, he turned between the two parties.

"What for?" He asked.

"It is time to begin your lessons."

"But... But I thought I graduated..." Xelqua pouted.

"You have become literate and now know Language, yes." Miesall nodded. "However, I do not believe you know how to fly... do you?" He asked, leaning forward almost as if to scold. He already knew the answer.

Xelqua hung his head. "Nooo..." he replied, shaking his head.

"Come on, let us delay no further." Miesall orders before heading out the door, Xelqua trailing behind like he had so many times before.