Star Child

Chapter XVI: Star Formation

The company all stared in slight fear at the floating, spectral being that was glowing wickedly in front of them all; all but Noel, who, albeit staring, was not fearful of the Star Child. Gold dripped silently around his eyes and his fingertips. Both the Star Child and Noel made eye contact for a minute or so, both in a strange mutual respect. After they broke eye contact, Noel looked around the room at the masked faces; most had removed the masquerades at this point, except for a strange wolf-masked person standing silently behind Lady Corbeau.

Her ivory, feathered plumage of a neck-scarf was making her visibly heated, Noel noticed, but she wouldn't remove that, the wide-brimmed black hat stuck with a red feather, the sunglasses she replaced her mask with, or the long black coat that she draped over her tight dark dress that ruffled above her raven-like pointed feet. They also made eye contact, but for only a few fleeting seconds.

She was the only vampire to pick up on Festum's existence; her bird-like observational skills were unparalleled; there was a reason she was the queen's personal assassin. And the queen's personal assassin was now snapped out of the daze, and reaching under a table for something...

Drawing his attention away was the Star Child; he was dropping to the floor now, walking around the witch and the queen who were now gazing in awe. The Star Child, who was supposedly a myth, was now here.

See how much of a myth he is now, spoke Festum, prompting Noel to stand up to watch the battle unfold, rolling his eyes at the comment made by Festum. That demon could be a little annoying sometimes, especially when they throw one of their... tantrums.

Festum dealt primarily in greed, meaning their overwhelming desire for excess of anything, useful or superfluous, was what drew them to Noel, who had nothing, not even his life, when he was claimed by the demon.

When they had met, they had made a deal, and Noel now owes the demon, who protects him at the cost of being a host, servitude, and general relinquishing of the beast's excessive desire for anything from food to wealth. Anything that he wanted, Noel had to supply, or the demon would get angry, and he didn't want a repeat of what happened when he was younger.

In any case, attempting to ignore the golden voice of Festum, Noel watched as the Star Child glided along the floor. His body was glowing with an aura similar to an actual star; his movements seemed to be exaggerated and dramatic, like he was in some sort of mock drama. The air in the room was a still vacuum, with the physical bodies of both the people and the furniture of the room being stationary and no elliptical in this situation.

"W͠ELL,͏ ̵WEL͝L҉, W͜EL̡L͜.̶..͢," the Star Child was chiding the witch as she lay in a heap of black scarves and cloth. It was as if a star was maniacally scolding the witch who was about four or five times his age. "I ҉GU͠E̕S͝S IT'́S TIMÈ F̀ÓR̷ ̨LIL͝' ̵O̸LD ̡ME̡ ͠TO ͘U͠N͟-̸F̷U̡CK͢ ͟T͘HIS͡ MÉSS̢ T͘H̸A͜T͢ ͝YOU͠ ̀C҉A͘US͟E͠D̴." The star child smiled eerily with glowing teeth and a ghostly aura releasing itself from his mouth, as if he were smoking.

A small bottle was launched at the star child by the witch in an effort to defend herself, however he caught it effortlessly and tossed it onto a nearby table. Laughing darkly, the star child approached the witch, who showed fear, but wasn't letting herself be conquered by this young teenager. Defiantly, she raised herself and looked into the starlight eyes that had become the emphasis in her view.

Her body then felt light as she began to levitate unwillingly; the star child was raising her with some sort of dark energy that extended from his fingertips to the witch. Everyone in the room felt slight fear except for the demon possessed jester and Lady Corbeau, who now held some sort of weapon hidden behind her back as she stood with everyone beside her in front.