Will you marry me?

[serpentoflore]

**From A Whole New Show (Hyperspace)**

Sarah had two thoughts on her head at the very moment. One was on how nice the show had turned out despite the rehearsal fighting. In fact, she had been thinking about how Acteur and herself had made such a good team when a strange man had not only spoken the name 'Maria.' Not only had he spoke the name of that diva the Impresario had lost, his daughter, but he had grasped her up in the air! Now she wondered who this silver haired man was. His grip was quite strong and though she wanted to get out of it immediately, she had no intentions of falling quite a bit.

"What are you doing?!" Her eyes glared, attempting to whack the man with some part of her body. For a moment she wanted to say 'put me down,' but realized he probably had no intention of following anything of that sort. Her eyes held a slightly dark hue to them, wishing she could reach for her silver piccolo. The farther the man moved, the farther she was away from Acteur. If he stopped she would play it in order to at least knock the man out.

[Secondary Characters]

[glow=silver,2,300]When Setzer arrived back on the bridge of the Falcon, he quickly brought her into the confines of the hotel-like airship, setting her down in a nice, quiet parlor-like room, plopping her down on a long red velvet couch, and taking a dramatic stance.

"Long have I awaited for your return, Maria," he said. "And when the fliers came sprawling throughout Twilight Town heralding the performance of a lifetime, I just knew you'd be back. Though I must say..." he threw a hand to his perfectly-sculpted chin to consider her for a moment. "I am not pleased with the eye-wear or your new hair color. Though you're still as beautiful--more youthful-looking--as ever!"[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

"I'm not Maria." Sarah spoke, finally out of the strange man's hold. She had a feeling that she was in some sort of flying vessel. She had been in an airplane and even a hot air balloon before. This was either more advanced or just something abnormal to her. "I never was in the first place." Her eyes narrowed, adjusting the glasses with a gloved hand. She had one hand near her pocket in order to defend herself should he try and grab her again. "In fact, I was informed Maria was missing according to the Impresario."

Her mind kept thinking of what she could do to somehow get away from the strange figure. No matter what she'd have to play her piccolo in order to get out of there. However, she had no way of seeing how she could deal with an enemy like that other than to create an illusion. Even if she could get out of there, the fall alone would be a crazy amount most likely.

[Acteur de la Noir]

*From a Whole New Show in Hyperspace*

While all of this was taking place, the darkness of night played across the Falcon. Though the myriad lights of the sumptuous airship battled against that darkness, they themselves contributed to it--cast by running lights, lamps, and control equipment, elongated shadows stretched everywhere. To a person inside the Falcon--albeit one with a particularly morbid mindset--it could well appear as though the darkness outside was trying to force its way in, subtly infiltrating this bastion of decadence and aristocracy in the sky. Oh, not all at once--the lights held it at bay--but nevertheless, one might wonder if it would last. All flames flicker and fade at the end, after all...in the end, the darkness always finds a way.

And that philosophy applied here in ways that no one might have guessed.

For now, certain shadows twisted and danced of their own accord, acting independently of their sources. Starting in one of the hallways--one with a series of windows that looked out into the night--this peculiar darkness moved of its own accord, slithering across carpeted decks and creeping along the walls and ceiling. Like a host of serpents, the shadows split out in all directions--some flickered in the direction of the generator room; others slid down halls that would eventually lead to the bridge; and others still danced out at random, as though set on exploring every room that they could.

But these shadows were not the only intrusion. For, in the hallway of windows where they had first emerged, one of those large portholes had been forced open, letting in the midnight air in a shrill, whistling torrent. The wind...and a solitary figure, who now stalked the halls of the Falcon with a purposeful stride, a scarecrow-thin physique wrapped in tattered cloak of black velvet and Victorian noble's hat. And, of course, the mask...that theatrical visage of bone-white porcelain, its crescent-moon smile belied by the sinister gleam of ghostly yellow eyes.

Though the master of the Falcon had yet to realize it, his actions had brought not one guest, but two...and by kidnapping the former, he had succeeded in making the latter quite perturbed.

And when one perturbs the darkness, they rarely walk away clean...

[Secondary Characters]

[glow=silver,2,300]"Tsk, tsk," said Setzer, waving his index finger before the girl's eyes. "Maria--my love--you must have hit your head, or something...for you are no longer in your mindset; it's clear with the hairstyle you've now chosen, and the color that now stains your once corn-yellow locks."

The gambler sighed, sitting beside his captive, and noticed suddenly he was leaning into her; the Falcon had been jolted, rocked--attacked!--by some malign force of wind, or what have you...

"By the gods," he yelped, tumbling over Sarah's lap and onto the floor as the ship capsized slightly, leveling out again several moments later. "What is this madness?"[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

Sarah had pushed the man away as soon as he began to lean forward. It did result in her falling a slight distance away when the vessel made a rather unstable movement. Her body quickly moved away from the man who mistook her for the blond diva of the opera house. She grasped the silver piccolo and began to play a song that sounded like a music box. She put as much energy as she could into it, which was hard after having just finished the entire play.

She tried to make the song play back the memories of Maria, enough to make him fall asleep right on the ground. It mattered not how exhausted she would most likely be after this.

[Acteur de la Noir]

As Sarah attempted to infuse magical resonance into the melody--a valiant attempt to ward off her abductor, despite the drain from her recent performance--the sound carried, reaching beyond the confines of the parlor in which the twilight musician was imprisoned. However faint it was, the tune reached the presence of the preternatural shadows which had spread across the Falcon...and, through them, the one who had introduced them to this fanciful airship...

That would be come immediately evident several minutes after Sarah began playing--for at that moment, the distinct, subtle creak of well-oiled hinges joined the sound of her music. Were the noise to draw the attention of Ms. Appleton and Setzer, the two of them would likely find themselves turning towards the main door to the parlor...just in time to see it shoved open, nearly hitting the wall that it was attached to! Across the threshold, the adjoining hallway was completely dark--whatever their power source, the lights that usually illuminated the ornate passages had been snuffed, leaving only the dim flicker of emergency lighting to cast the dark hallways with an eerie gloom.

But all of that was a matter of secondary details...for what would assuredly attract the attention of both abductor and musician would be the presence of the one who stood in the doorway--that bizarre-yet-elegant figure in the garb of Victorian nobility, swathed in a cape of sable velvet and cast into mysterious half-shadows by the darkness from the hallways. To Setzer, this intruder would likely come off as bizarre and unwelcome...albeit familiar, if the deluded suitor properly recalled the faces of those he left back at the Jidoor Opera House. But to Sarah, the otherworldly performer would likely inspire quite the opposite sentiment...for it had been he who had introduced her to the twilight instrument she now wielded, he who had accepted her just as she was...and he, who had found such a fond place in her heart.

Acteur de la Noir, Phantom Puppeteer and loyal servant of Atticus the Fallen, had come for her.

Sweeping over the threshold, Acteur advanced into the opulent parlor, eyes like ghostly fire glowing behind his theatrical mask as they fixed on the Falcon's deluded master. Sheathed in opera gloves, bone-thin fingers curled into talons, from which extended a host of glittering strings of pure jet black...threads of darkness, which reached downward into the Phantom Puppeteer's own shadow and caused it to grow and ripple of its own accord. Most striking of all, however, would be the way that the Heartless performer glanced in Sarah's direction--the way the sinister gleam in those inhuman eyes faded, replaced with an emotion that was rather alien to most Heartless...relief. Perhaps even more.

Then Acteur turned his gaze back upon the similarly-elegant Setzer, those eerie yellow orbs becoming haunting and dangerous...a sentiment that extended into his voice as he spoke, mocking cordiality betrayed by a subtle undertone of menace. "Bonjour and good eve, gambler of the fates! Do excuse my uninvited presence upon this most marvelous vessel, and my intrusion into your quarters..." Acteur paused, tightening his thread-laden fingers as though commanding the reigns of a fearsome cavalry. "...but I have come for my precious apprentice. I very much doubt she wishes to stay here, after all."

[serpentoflore]

Sarah stopped playing once Setzer failed to react to Acteur's entrance. She had been slightly surprised, shaking a little at the devil-may-care way he seemed to come in. The dark powers were so strong her mind, the part of her that was still light could feel a bit weak. "Acteur." She felt dizzy, walking towards the puppeteer as fast as she could. She grasped him in a tight hug and smiled despite the shaking still all over her frame. 'I'll smile for him.' She could vaguely hear the strange woman's words resonating inside her.

"I'll try and make a corridor this time." She spoke, moving back slowly. She began a slow, methodical waltz that slowly materialized a black portal. Grasping Acteur's hand, she let him lead. She placed the piccolo back within her dress pocket, taking slow steps through the corridor. So happy to be back with him she was...that she failed to notice she had let go of his hand and had begun to fall. Her mind entered the darkness of sleep, falling into another world that she couldn't tell.

**To Manhattan**

[Acteur de la Noir]

Taking advantage of the abducting gambler's apparent shock, Acteur reached out with one arm to embrace Sarah, releasing that one handful of shadow-strings so as to prevent ensnaring his apprentice by accident. And so did they proceed through that summoning waltz, Acteur leading them through a slow, nocturnal waltz that often sent their feet passing through the shadows of the room. All the while, those ghostly yellow eyes remained fixed on Setzer, wary for any signs of treachery. In his free hand, the dark threads trembled subtly, as though holding back a host of hunting hounds that were only too eager to be set loose.

Then came Sarah's accidental slip into that Corridor of Darkness, her slender fingers somehow coming free of Acteur's as some twist of fate sent her plunging to another world. Though the Phantom Puppeteer threw his hand out to catch her, the material of her gown proved entirely too slick to grasp, for whatever reason--whether by accident or intentional design, his apprentice was tumbling alone, to another world.

...!

For a moment, the Heartless gazed in disbelief at the dark vortex...then he glanced back at Setzer. There was no time to be caught flat-footed, or even for the drawn-out speeches and punishments that Acteur had intended to visit upon the gambler--the portal would not remain open long. Thus it was, with a haughty gleam and his eyes and a sinister edge to the smile on his mask, that the Heartless puppetmaster let out a melodramatic chuckle. "...Her fate is out of your hands, gambler. This lot will see to that."

With those words, Acteur burst into motion--with a flourish, he yanked upward on the strings of glistening dark; from the shadows, a host of shadowy creatures emerged with alacrity--ten sleek, humanoid Neoshadows who brandished hands that ended in wickedly-curved talons; a pair of elegantly-robed Wizards who held bat-winged wand-scepters and hid their shadowy faces beneath the wide brims of witch's hats. As this small legion began to circle Setzer, their master took his leave--just as the Corridor of Darkness began to vanish, Acteur flung himself into its depths, disappearing into the nocturnal currents that connected the worlds...

*To Manhattan*

[Secondary Characters]

[glow=silver,2,300]Setzer Gabianni was, indeed, shocked at the sudden intrusion of the Heartless, and even heartbroken upon the departure of his beloved "Maria". He cried out in a horror, falling to the floor immediately after catching himself.

"M-maria!" he cried, punching a NeoShadow what had its hands clenching around his black and burgundy coat, kicking it as it tried to take another grip. "You can't take her from--"

Boom! He was knocked back by a sudden wave of cold, a burst from the Wizard Heartless' sceptre. He flew back, and only momentarily glanced the senior Heartless' leave.[/glow]