In Another Lifetime ~ Hariana

Chapter 4 - An Invitation

The canorous sound of the violin and the powerful, yet, beautiful voice which accompanied the instrument, created a harmony even birds halted in their journey to hear. It was a perfect combination, that of James' violin piece and Ariana's voice. They had been practicing all morning and the previous night, in hope to add it to this afternoon's performance. It was the ideal way to bid Nice farewell, before heading towards their new destination.

The crew applauded once it was over, and Ariana was proud of herself for having finally honed this complicated song.

"You were great, Ari! I knew this song was perfect for you." James patted her head, a habit he seemed to have around her. However, no matter how many times he did the same gesture, he always managed to yank a blush out of her, followed by an increase of heart rate and some incoherent and messy sentence on her part.

"Ha..Yeah, uhm, t-thanks." She wanted to slap herself for still acting like a child with a crush, giving David the more reason to mock her afterwards.

"Unbelievable!" Alejandro interrupted the awkward mood by exclaiming loudly as he read the newspaper, "He really has no shame."

Valentina, who sat next to him on the chairs outside the automobile, looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened.

"What is it, Al?" Evelyn questioned, as confused as the rest of the crew.

"That White Mask fella. Remember yesterday's paper, on how he had murdered those people in Spain. It seems this time, he has decided to announce his next attack, which will happen here in Nice." He informed the rest of the crew who was listening attentively as he shook his head and sighed. "Guess we'll have to be careful with our surroundings for the rest of the day."

~~~~~~~

"Lord Harry!" 

Harry was forced to halt his attempt at escaping the mansion and spending yet another day relishing his few opportunities of exploring what Nice had to offer. Abel had found out, so Harry could already predict what was coming, and his father's adviser's words proved he was right.

"Lord Harry, please, you must get ready for the party tonight. You know the important announcement which is to happen, and you cannot escape it. Your father has commanded me that I make sure you attend the ball, so you mustn't try to run off and do only God knows what." He said in that plummy voice of his which made Harry want to grunt in annoyance, though he contained himself.

"Can't we just tell father that I'm feeling queer and can't, in any way, attend that...Ball?" Harry pleaded, almost. Whose idea was it to have these grand parties, anyway? It just made no sense.

Abel shook his head in disagreement, indicating with his hand for his Lord to follow him, which the young man, very reluctantly, did.

~~~~~

There was a slight breeze in the warm air which felt nice against the petite frame of the brunette sitting on a white bench outside a small store. At the moment, Ariana was waiting for granny who had gone inside to buy a few supplies. After the earlier discussion about White Mask, Donald had felt it was necessary for someone to accompany granny out of concern for her safety, and so Ariana volunteered.

She wasn't sure what to think of the whole White Mask deal. Why would anyone have that much hatred within themselves to brutally kill so many innocent people? According to the papers, his victims all seemed to come from royalty, though that fact didn't tranquil all these inquiries going through her head. The girl sighed and ran her fingers through her hair before the shadow of someone blocking the sun got her attention.

"Oh, my!" Ariana only knew one person who had such a gentle voice. "We meet again, this must be fate." 

She looked up, finding the blue eyes which belonged to the golden hair maiden staring back at her, and clumsily, she quickly got up to greet the lady politely.

"Ah, hello, Miss White. It's a pleasure seeing you again."  Ariana said, followed by a very messy courtesy, only causing the blonde to laugh quietly

"Please, no need for that. This is marvellous, though! How have you been since we last met a few days ago?" The woman questioned with a smile on her pink lips, and Ariana couldn't help but notice how fashionable and impeccable the lady always looked. That tiny feeling of jealousy burned at the back of her core, though she decided to ignore it and focus on the current conversation.

"I've been excellent, thanks for asking! I'm actually here with granny from that crew I told you about last time. She's here to buy some things for when we get back on the road tomorrow." The two sat down as Ariana explained the details on what the show today was going to be about and how excited to perform the new song she was.

"How lovely! James sounds sweet and I'm sure the song will be beautifully performed." Miss White motivated her and Ariana nodded in agreement. A gasp then flew past the blonde's lips, causing Ariana to jump, slightly startled at the unexpected sound. "That's right! Before I forget, and this is of high importance, Ariana."

Her intense gaze scared the brunette, so she wasn't sure what to expect.

"Remember last time, how I said that maybe you could sing for my family, someday? Well, we have a ball happening tonight for my father's anniversary, and personally, I'd love to invite you to sing for us. Perhaps even sing that song you've been rehearsing? I'm sure father would love it, and I honestly really want to hear you perform!"

This invitation definitely caught her by surprise, and though this could be an amazing opportunity, she wasn't sure about singing in front of royalty. The pressure was for sure there, and is she were to mess it up....

"Now that's a great idea." Granny concurred, appearing suddenly with a plastic bag in her hands and slightly frightening both girls.

"Granny..Wha-"

"Don't you think it'd be such a wonderful opportunity for you, dear?"

"Yeah, but.."

"Don't fight fate, it will always come back to you. Maybe this is what you're suppose to be doing."

Her words left Ariana bewildered, though her mind was quickly set on another problem.

"I don't have a dress for this occasion, though."

Miss White quickly interrupted, "Oh, you need not to worry about such trivial matter. I have a great deal of dresses and, you can borrow whichever piques your fancy! Please, Ariana, I know this party will be so tedious otherwise." The blue eyed girl pouted and the brunette sighed, giving in.

"I guess...All right, then. Please excuse me if I don't live up to your expectations." Ariana chuckled and soon after the two discussed the time and location of this grand ball. Although she wouldn't admit it, deep inside she was growing more and more excited about the idea, feelings that pushed all insecurity to the back of her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fire broke out in the dead of night, and a creaky door sound was heard within the dirty four brick wall space, where a woman sat on an old chair sewing what seemed to be a black piece of clothing. She noted the footsteps though didn't move an inch. She simply kept rocking the chair back and forth, focusing on her current job.

A figure approached her, standing tall and watching her attentively, without making a sound. In the figure's hand was a newspaper, which was soon dropped to the cold, hard ground, an action that caught the woman's attention. Finally, she spoke.

"They're 'prepared' to fight, yet they won't be able to stop the inevitable."

A smirk appeared on the figure's lips, however, it was unseen to the woman's eyes. The reason for it being that it was covered. Covered by a white mask.