Locked Inside Reality's Maze [OPEN]

[Meduzia]

<sub>This is who I am
Escapist, paradise seeker
Farewell, now time to fly
Out of sight, out of time, away from all lies.

A nightingale in a golden cage
That's me locked inside reality's maze
Come someone make my heavy heart light
Come undone bring me back to life
It all starts with a lullaby

Nightwish - The Escapist</sub>

Magic was to be handed carefully. Twins disliked magic but at the same time, they lived for it. It was enrapturing, catching and trapping, bad and good, fire and ice, simple and complex, dangerous and saving factor all at the same time. This is why they loved it, this is why their feelings too were divided. Magic was worth living for, but their fears prevented them from using it fully, using it properly, not in front of other people, because that meant they might be harmed. They might be harmed again, and even though their mind knew it was only a slim chance, their body betrayed them.

But they did practice magic. When they were alone only, where there was no chance somebody will come and interrupt them. And they did magic. It was freeing and not deceiving - freeing them of clutches of reality, warping it in ways unimaginable.

But it was poor.

Ever since the accident, their magic was poor. Like right now, when they were doing a play in different setting, trying to act and keep magic all together, but it didn't work. Golden bars of the large bird cage were flickering in and out of transparency, and red curtains well-- there were no red curtains. It was poor at best, so twins gave up completely, laying down on the grass and leaning against a grave. Quietly, they began reading a drama. Although it didn't lack it's normal passion, it sounded a bit funny, with no motion or even exaggerated face expression. At one point, Nadia started humming a melody to Aidan's reciting too, and they felt into a normal pace they used.

[galethewhale]

[[hey evy look who's being really productive
it's princess ella~ //throwssparkles//]]

There was times when even Eliza needed to take a breather - sure, she loved spending time with her friends in the Library or the Common Room, but sometimes she just needed to go somewhere and just think, even if only to herself. She had her craft kit tucked to her chest, a few dream catchers in hand both finished and unfinished (she swore to herself she'd get them done sometime soon). Making her way outside of Academy, she couldn’t but constantly tug at a lock of her hair or the collar of her shirt, somewhat nervous.

She’d only been to the graveyard and catacombs once before - and that had been a strange encounter. Eliza had heard too many rumours, but at least if this happened to be the place she would be able to sit down and just breathe, then so be it. Maybe it was because she’d felt a little homesick lately and just needed reassurance.

With light green eyes, she seemed to scan the area and saw… a birdcage? Or not, for it seemed to disappear shortly after - and it was no lie that nightmare was a curious person, to a certain extent.

Eliza clutched her kit tighter, making her way over very slowly to where she had seen this… illusion? That must have been what it was - completely normal for the Academy, she assumed. And nightmare continued to move closer until she could heard hushed words, though she couldn’t entirely make out what they were saying. It was slightly cold, and Eliza shivered.

When she saw the twins - Aidan and Nadia, or her friends, she liked to think - she couldn’t help but smile softly and let out hushed, “Hello.” - as per usual, they seemed to be reading aloud to each other, or Nadia seemed to be humming while Aidan read and for moments Eliza forgot all about the homesickness. “What are you doing… here?” - she supposed it was strange spot to recite.

But then again, each to their own.

[Meduzia]

Sorry for the delay ; v ; / ]]

The urge to get up and run in circle like idiots had gotten into both of them, but they were adults now. There was no need to embarrass themselves further, so twins didn't. The two of them really needed a panic coping mechanism, but so far, just this (pretending they were statues and freezing up for few seconds) worked as well. Or, well, until they realized it was Eliza and equal, dimpled smiles appeared on their cheeks. They didn't know many people and it was pretty easy to make the two of them swoon, and Eliza did just that, because the girl read, and that made her perfect in their book.

So, when they did get up and clumsily brushed the dust off themselves and each other, they were around the girl with powder-blue hair in matter of seconds, chattering about nonsense - poetry and songs and classical music and modern novels.

"Hi!" - it was a bit unclear which one of them greeter her, so it is pretty safe to assume that Aidan was the one to remember proper etiquette first. Nadia did have some slips of mind before (their brother berated them for it, both of them, because it was so rare that they were apart) and was, if Aidan could dare say, the rude one. He would not tell to other people - loyalty too deeply rooted in him, but he would stiff huff and puff in private.

"Academy is so loud." - said sister frowned, although only slightly before smiling again - "And Common room is full of people and Hall Monitors walk continuously around the hallways and we wanted to stage a play. It-- we got..." - a pause and it was pretty obvious what happened - "we got a little carried away."

Nadia sent her brother a look that said 'Do you think she felt magic here?' but knowing him, he probably thought it was something like 'Did we have breakfast today or we forgot?' or something equally stupid like every time, so she just shook her head with a little sigh.

"Anyway, do you want to sit with us?"