15/04/2025

The Plan

There was a beautiful morning, the sun was just nearing it's highest point in the sky, the sunlight shine through the tree leaves in the forest, leaving just enough light through to illuminate a cave that was on the side of a mountain.
A small mage dressed in purple was running around doing chores and trying to get everything as clean as possible, or as much as a cave could be cleaned all whilst preparing breakfast.
Outside, taking in the sunlight, was a much taller mage dressed mainly in orange and red, he was taking advantage of the sunlight to write on a small notebook, he was completely into the zone, not paying much attention to his surroundings. The scenery had been more peaceful than usual not even a single wild creature or foolish adventurer had wandered near to the relief of both mages, so both could afford to lower their defenses for at least a second.

A few kilometers away from the cave, a third mage, dressed in blue this time was making his way throughout the forest, he clearly had been here before, he was walking in a straight line with total confidence, not even a lick of lost in his system.
The Blue mage if anything, was only worried on making sure something in his hands didn't get dirty or damaged, it was a letter, a fancy one at that, must be related to royalty.

The Red mage continued his writing, only hearing the scribbling on his notebook and the Purple mage doing his job inside the cave, the calming silence being interrupted by faint footsteps in the distance, he stopped writing and listened quietly, wondering if it was just a wild animal, but those footsteps sounded way too familiar for comfort, it didn't sound like it was walking in circles, each step was full of confidence with a ting of annoyance in each of them, he was almost completely convinced it was Blue by these facts alone. And shortly after, his theory was proven right, the Blue mage appeared from in-between the trees and was a little surprised to see the Red mage outside taking sunlight instead of staying inside like he usually would.

"Aww, hello Red, where you waiting for me?"

The Blue make spoke, being interrupted at the end of his sentence by the Red one

"Cut the bullshit, what do you want"

Red was in his usual mood, angry and annoyed at the lightest interaction.
Blue as usual too, didn't care and kept trying to establish a conversation much to the others dismay.
He walked in front of him blocking the sunlight and leaned down, handing him a letter, he continued leaning, waiting for the other to read it.
"Why a letter, you can just tell me, whatever i don't want to hear your annoying voice either"
Red mumbled to himself while opening the letter, having already assumed Blue was the one who wrote it.
[Dear (BLANK)
We cordially invite you to the royal ball of Aznar that is held once every 5 years in the great hall, followed by a banquet prepared by the best chefs in our kingdom. (...)]

Red blinked a few times, genuinely dumbfounded, did he read that right? He re-read the letter a couple of times, the more he read it, the more puzzled his expression was, he was starting to believe he must've accidentally fallen asleep outside and this was just some, weird dumb dream.

"A royal ball?.....l-like a dance?? like a-an actual dance at the castle????"

Blue was more than amused at his reaction and couldn't help but snicker at his response
"Uh-hum and I'm inviting you, only few people get invites from higher ups at the castle"

Red, somehow, looked even more confused, he couldn't understand why, how, what and why again.
"What, why would- why would you?-"
He held his head with his hands in disbelief before taking a deep breath
"Blue, i know there's something very wrong with your brain but, why would you, invite me of all people there is out there?! You could've even invited Purple!"
He stood up, not done rambling, Blue was just standing there, smiling as if he didn't understand why Red was so upset
"First of all, fuck you, second of all, i HATE you, you should HATE me, third of all, even if that wasn't the case, the entire kingdom wants me DEAD, even if i really wanted to go, what guarantees me i won't be buried under every single guard the second i set foot in Aznar's territory?"

Blue didn't even blink, if anything, he wasn't surprised Red didn't strangle him at the idea.
"So does that mean you do want to go?"
Before Red could start yelling he shoved two fingers in his mouth to silence him
"Ah -ah, let me finish, I'm just messing with you"
He scoffed at the other's reaction once more before going on
"Of course I'm not inviting you to the ball, i am well aware, I've seen the times you've gotten near the kingdom, and before you start yelling at me again, i have a plan if you're interested, I'm willing to go the extra mile if it means it to dance with you, and watch you miserably fail at it"

He laughs again before Red bites his fingers and pulls them out of his mouth
"Don't do that again, and, what great plan do you have? and why would i go with you to the ball to begin with?"

Blue leaned closer, putting his arm behind Red to push him closer whilst lying his hand on his chest, giving him a pleading yet mocking look
"Aww come on, it will be fun, i have a thousand other groupies i could've invited, but you're the only one i know won't bore me, and there's a banquet too, you look like you could use it"
He ran his finger across his torso before Red grabbed his arm stopping it from moving, yet not moving it away

Blue's proposal was short from insane, not only was he inviting him into the kingdom he had attacked a thousand times before, where everyone knew him as some sort of arsonist psychopath, but also inside the castle where people were even more aware of his long criminal record, inside the castle, in the great hall where the king would be-
Where the king would be
He would be in front of the king.

Red's mind froze for a second before he gave Blue a big grin, not only was it an evil grin, but it was incredibly unnatural for Red to smile at all, Blue didn't even recall him ever smiling at all.
"Ohhh, of course, sounds wonderful! I can't imagine how fun it will be, what's your plan?"

Blue gave him an unamused stare in exchange, feeling he had some ulterior motives for his expression to change so quickly, but he was going to let it slide, for now.