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kinkfest2008-06-15 09:26 pm
queenoftheskies.livejournal.com) wrote in kinkfest2008-06-15 09:26 pm
Entry tags:
Masks (Final Fantasy VI, Maria, PG-13)
Title: Masks
Author/Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
queenoftheskies
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: implied nudity
Word count: 1,030
Prompt: - Final Fantasy VI, Maria: Masks - The world knew her as the Opera Diva, but few really knew the woman behind the lovely mask.
A/N: This prompt was for June 12. I'm sorry I'm late. I started a new job and got behind.
The world knew her as the Opera Diva, but few really knew the woman behind the lovely mask. Fame had its price and though Maria loved to bask in the glow of popularity and the fortune that accompanied it, there were times she spent locked in her rooms, more alone than she'd ever felt in her entire life.
Her dressing gown rustled as it dragged the plush carpet on the stairs, brushed against the marble floor as she made her way into the drawing room. On nights like this, she liked to pretend. With the collection of masks she'd amassed from hundreds of performances over her career, she'd imagine she was standing in front of her adoring audiences and sing again. Each had a story, each had a persona, each had a memory it carried from a special time in her life.
Donning the first, she twirled and danced around the room. It was from her first opera, before she'd become a star, and she'd been nothing more than a promising singer in a chorus of dancers that accented the prima donna's performance.
She set it aside quickly. She didn't like remembrances of what she'd been before she'd become a star. Those had been lean, lonely days. And, though the loneliness might haunt her still, she had the money now to take care of her needs...at least, all the needs that mattered.
She passed by the second, third, and fourth. While they were more stunning than the first, covered in porcelain and feathers and glamour, they chronicled her career, her rise to the top, and were filled with as many reminders of failures as they were of success.
By the time she reached her first starring roll, her mask had become vibrant and alive. With gentle hands, she caressed it, donned it, and performed her closing lines before collapsing on the floor. Her character had died and she'd given the death such life that she had risen to stardom from that single roll.
One by one, Maria touched them as she walked the perimeter of the well-furnished room. She had memories of each, fondness for many, until she reached one that would always stand out in her mind. She lifted the multi-colored mask, a green porcelain base covered in painted vines and flowers, framed with elegant feathers and leaves.
She'd played a fairy queen in that role and it was after her third performance that she'd met him: Setzer, the man who had changed her life. Though she'd had many men and never lacked for any attention she desired, he was her first love, the first man for whom she'd had feeling. But, he was as unpredictable as the weather, as flighty as the wind, and she'd learned before long that she could depend on him no more than she could depend on the others.
He'd promised to kidnap her from her more recent opera, to take her away and start a life with her. He'd promised her love and happiness...everything she'd wanted, but had never found.
Maria set the mask aside and proceeded to the end of her collection, gathered the pearl and silver mask from its satin resting place, cradled it in her hands. She was to play a queen, a queen kidnapped by invaders of her home land, and forced to marry the invading prince against her wishes. In the end, her true love was to rescue her, and dispose of the cad who had compromised her and bent her to his desires.
But, the Impresario had gotten wind of their scheme and hustled her away from the Opera House, away from the town. They'd replaced her with some twit that didn't begin to do her beauty and her voice justice, who had probably ruined her career, just as they'd ruined her life.
Tears burned at her eyes, spilled onto her cheeks. She released the mask and watched as it fell to shatter on the tiled floor. It represented her future, represented the future of their world.
A gust of wind whipped her hair around her face and she whirled to find the windows open behind her. "Who's there?"
Another breath of wind touched her cheek, caressed her back.
She whirled to find him hunched over the remains of the mask, head bent, shoulders bowed. He picked them up, one broken piece at a time, captured them in his gloved hands, and clutched them to his chest as he rose.
Their eyes locked. He reached out to stroke the tear stains from her cheeks.
"Maria," he whispered. "My love."
"Setzer."
"Come with me." He set the shards of porcelain, the strings of pearls back on the cushion from which she'd taken them. "Be my wife."
"You have..." Her gaze dropped. She bit down on her trembling lip. She didn't want to speak the words, didn't want to give up the life she'd dreamed of. "A duty now. A duty more important than some self-centered diva. You have no time for a wife, no place in your life for..."
He silenced her with a kiss that took her breath away, captured her, pressed her to his chest. Maria tangled her fingers in the spill of hair that caressed his shoulders, cupped his face between her hands.
"Come with me," he begged when they parted. "Come..." His voice trembled and then broke.
"I can't go with you," she said, unable to keep the sadness from her voice.
"And, I would not take you," he admitted, turning away. "I would never take you where you could be hurt. I could never live with myself if anything happened..."
"Don't think about her," she begged. "She's gone, and I am here."
"I love you, Maria." His voice filled with pain. "I will always love you. Believe me."
"I do believe you." Though she didn't want to, she did.
Tugging on his arm, she forced him to turn her way. "You're here now, my love, and that's all that matters." She drew him toward the brocaded divan, let her dressing gown slide from her shoulders and down her lithe form. "Stay with me tonight, Setzer, and love me like there's no tomorrow."
Author/Artist:
queenoftheskies Rating: PG-13
Warnings: implied nudity
Word count: 1,030
Prompt: - Final Fantasy VI, Maria: Masks - The world knew her as the Opera Diva, but few really knew the woman behind the lovely mask.
A/N: This prompt was for June 12. I'm sorry I'm late. I started a new job and got behind.
The world knew her as the Opera Diva, but few really knew the woman behind the lovely mask. Fame had its price and though Maria loved to bask in the glow of popularity and the fortune that accompanied it, there were times she spent locked in her rooms, more alone than she'd ever felt in her entire life.
Her dressing gown rustled as it dragged the plush carpet on the stairs, brushed against the marble floor as she made her way into the drawing room. On nights like this, she liked to pretend. With the collection of masks she'd amassed from hundreds of performances over her career, she'd imagine she was standing in front of her adoring audiences and sing again. Each had a story, each had a persona, each had a memory it carried from a special time in her life.
Donning the first, she twirled and danced around the room. It was from her first opera, before she'd become a star, and she'd been nothing more than a promising singer in a chorus of dancers that accented the prima donna's performance.
She set it aside quickly. She didn't like remembrances of what she'd been before she'd become a star. Those had been lean, lonely days. And, though the loneliness might haunt her still, she had the money now to take care of her needs...at least, all the needs that mattered.
She passed by the second, third, and fourth. While they were more stunning than the first, covered in porcelain and feathers and glamour, they chronicled her career, her rise to the top, and were filled with as many reminders of failures as they were of success.
By the time she reached her first starring roll, her mask had become vibrant and alive. With gentle hands, she caressed it, donned it, and performed her closing lines before collapsing on the floor. Her character had died and she'd given the death such life that she had risen to stardom from that single roll.
One by one, Maria touched them as she walked the perimeter of the well-furnished room. She had memories of each, fondness for many, until she reached one that would always stand out in her mind. She lifted the multi-colored mask, a green porcelain base covered in painted vines and flowers, framed with elegant feathers and leaves.
She'd played a fairy queen in that role and it was after her third performance that she'd met him: Setzer, the man who had changed her life. Though she'd had many men and never lacked for any attention she desired, he was her first love, the first man for whom she'd had feeling. But, he was as unpredictable as the weather, as flighty as the wind, and she'd learned before long that she could depend on him no more than she could depend on the others.
He'd promised to kidnap her from her more recent opera, to take her away and start a life with her. He'd promised her love and happiness...everything she'd wanted, but had never found.
Maria set the mask aside and proceeded to the end of her collection, gathered the pearl and silver mask from its satin resting place, cradled it in her hands. She was to play a queen, a queen kidnapped by invaders of her home land, and forced to marry the invading prince against her wishes. In the end, her true love was to rescue her, and dispose of the cad who had compromised her and bent her to his desires.
But, the Impresario had gotten wind of their scheme and hustled her away from the Opera House, away from the town. They'd replaced her with some twit that didn't begin to do her beauty and her voice justice, who had probably ruined her career, just as they'd ruined her life.
Tears burned at her eyes, spilled onto her cheeks. She released the mask and watched as it fell to shatter on the tiled floor. It represented her future, represented the future of their world.
A gust of wind whipped her hair around her face and she whirled to find the windows open behind her. "Who's there?"
Another breath of wind touched her cheek, caressed her back.
She whirled to find him hunched over the remains of the mask, head bent, shoulders bowed. He picked them up, one broken piece at a time, captured them in his gloved hands, and clutched them to his chest as he rose.
Their eyes locked. He reached out to stroke the tear stains from her cheeks.
"Maria," he whispered. "My love."
"Setzer."
"Come with me." He set the shards of porcelain, the strings of pearls back on the cushion from which she'd taken them. "Be my wife."
"You have..." Her gaze dropped. She bit down on her trembling lip. She didn't want to speak the words, didn't want to give up the life she'd dreamed of. "A duty now. A duty more important than some self-centered diva. You have no time for a wife, no place in your life for..."
He silenced her with a kiss that took her breath away, captured her, pressed her to his chest. Maria tangled her fingers in the spill of hair that caressed his shoulders, cupped his face between her hands.
"Come with me," he begged when they parted. "Come..." His voice trembled and then broke.
"I can't go with you," she said, unable to keep the sadness from her voice.
"And, I would not take you," he admitted, turning away. "I would never take you where you could be hurt. I could never live with myself if anything happened..."
"Don't think about her," she begged. "She's gone, and I am here."
"I love you, Maria." His voice filled with pain. "I will always love you. Believe me."
"I do believe you." Though she didn't want to, she did.
Tugging on his arm, she forced him to turn her way. "You're here now, my love, and that's all that matters." She drew him toward the brocaded divan, let her dressing gown slide from her shoulders and down her lithe form. "Stay with me tonight, Setzer, and love me like there's no tomorrow."