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[KH - KC] Masks
The other fic I promised Tsu (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pumpkin_bomb). It's.. a bit shorter than I liked to have made it, but the idea suddenly hit me last night and I knew I had to write it. I hope you like it~~
Title: Masks
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts - Kingdom Chronicles [mentions FF9 places and characters]
Summary: Everyone wore a mask.
Disclaimer: KH is Square-Enix and Disney's. FF9, Zidane Tribal, Tantalus, Lindblum, Alexandria, etc. belong to Square-Enix. Liesl belongs to Tsu. But Cian's all mine.
Every time an actor walked on stage, he or she put on some kind of mask. Most of them couldn't be seen - it seemed almost like a metaphor, hidden between the casked makeup and the frilly suits and dresses. Each play felt like the strings on the mask, tightening their alibis for thievery.
The plays were their alibis. Their reasons for coming to perform? Thievery, pure and simple. Tantalus appeared to be your average acting troupe, yes. Everyone in Gaia enjoyed their performances. It wasn't as if the actors didn't put their passion into their performances, either. You could see their faces lightening up as they put zeal into each and every line, poured their hearts into each movement they made...
They just happened to be thieves too. By night, they were actors on the stage. Daytime brought thieves who could elude nearly every nobleman's precious house guard and steal away what they were ordered to: tables, chairs, princesses... hearts.
Not everyone, however, knew that the king of Alexandria, Zidane Tribal, hailed from these humble, if corrupted, beginnings. For some people, the allure was simply in its mystery - how they managed to travel across the world and capture the hearts of everyone in the entire world. Other people simply enjoyed how they could elude the public eye.
For, you see, some of the actors in their troupes always had a mask on. It wasn't always obvious just by looking at them, either. The casked make-up wasn't always on; their outfits looked like something they would normally wear (and in some cases, it was).
There was Liesl. Quiet, calm... Every time you looked at her, she always had something in her hand. She kept herself busy because there wasn't much for her to do. The other Tantalus members may keep on trying to crack her shell, but their leader knew better. That shell, that eerie quietness? That was her mask. Some people would try and hide from the world when they wanted to stay hidden.
Zidane knew that she was more open than she looked; he had talked with her mother on a couple of occasions. He didn't know why she wanted to be more quiet and calm here - but she had to have her reasons. Some actors took their masks off when the theater lights turned off, yet.. Liesl never seemed to.
And then you had Cian. The kid had been one of their newer members from Lindblum, claiming to be an orphan who just wanted a second chance. Zidane hadn't been with the troupe at the time - he was king of a neighboring kingdom, after all - so he couldn't have disputed those lies. Even if he could have... Zidane wasn't so sure that he could now.
Cian had abilities in battle that were well-liked by the other kids. People said that his speed and agility were unmatched - almost as if he were Zidane reborn from the ashes. He also had made friends with nearly everyone (even quiet Liesl, Zidane noted amusedly); he.. was at home here.
How could he even think of telling people what was behind Cian's mask? Zidane knew more painfully than anyone who that boy was: every night, he longed to just go up and give him a hug, tell him how proud he is of him. But he couldn't, because Cian didn't know the truth about his own father.
It was completely - and insanely - stupid. When they got back to Alexandria, Zidane promised he would rip their masks off. Sure, everyone had masks on at Tantalus. Some were more painfully obvious than others, but they were all there. And no of them needed to be there.
The stage would open its curtains tonight. No one, Zidane promised, would ever have to wear a mask again.
pumpkin_bomb). It's.. a bit shorter than I liked to have made it, but the idea suddenly hit me last night and I knew I had to write it. I hope you like it~~ Title: Masks
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts - Kingdom Chronicles [mentions FF9 places and characters]
Summary: Everyone wore a mask.
Disclaimer: KH is Square-Enix and Disney's. FF9, Zidane Tribal, Tantalus, Lindblum, Alexandria, etc. belong to Square-Enix. Liesl belongs to Tsu. But Cian's all mine.
Every time an actor walked on stage, he or she put on some kind of mask. Most of them couldn't be seen - it seemed almost like a metaphor, hidden between the casked makeup and the frilly suits and dresses. Each play felt like the strings on the mask, tightening their alibis for thievery.
The plays were their alibis. Their reasons for coming to perform? Thievery, pure and simple. Tantalus appeared to be your average acting troupe, yes. Everyone in Gaia enjoyed their performances. It wasn't as if the actors didn't put their passion into their performances, either. You could see their faces lightening up as they put zeal into each and every line, poured their hearts into each movement they made...
They just happened to be thieves too. By night, they were actors on the stage. Daytime brought thieves who could elude nearly every nobleman's precious house guard and steal away what they were ordered to: tables, chairs, princesses... hearts.
Not everyone, however, knew that the king of Alexandria, Zidane Tribal, hailed from these humble, if corrupted, beginnings. For some people, the allure was simply in its mystery - how they managed to travel across the world and capture the hearts of everyone in the entire world. Other people simply enjoyed how they could elude the public eye.
For, you see, some of the actors in their troupes always had a mask on. It wasn't always obvious just by looking at them, either. The casked make-up wasn't always on; their outfits looked like something they would normally wear (and in some cases, it was).
There was Liesl. Quiet, calm... Every time you looked at her, she always had something in her hand. She kept herself busy because there wasn't much for her to do. The other Tantalus members may keep on trying to crack her shell, but their leader knew better. That shell, that eerie quietness? That was her mask. Some people would try and hide from the world when they wanted to stay hidden.
Zidane knew that she was more open than she looked; he had talked with her mother on a couple of occasions. He didn't know why she wanted to be more quiet and calm here - but she had to have her reasons. Some actors took their masks off when the theater lights turned off, yet.. Liesl never seemed to.
And then you had Cian. The kid had been one of their newer members from Lindblum, claiming to be an orphan who just wanted a second chance. Zidane hadn't been with the troupe at the time - he was king of a neighboring kingdom, after all - so he couldn't have disputed those lies. Even if he could have... Zidane wasn't so sure that he could now.
Cian had abilities in battle that were well-liked by the other kids. People said that his speed and agility were unmatched - almost as if he were Zidane reborn from the ashes. He also had made friends with nearly everyone (even quiet Liesl, Zidane noted amusedly); he.. was at home here.
How could he even think of telling people what was behind Cian's mask? Zidane knew more painfully than anyone who that boy was: every night, he longed to just go up and give him a hug, tell him how proud he is of him. But he couldn't, because Cian didn't know the truth about his own father.
It was completely - and insanely - stupid. When they got back to Alexandria, Zidane promised he would rip their masks off. Sure, everyone had masks on at Tantalus. Some were more painfully obvious than others, but they were all there. And no of them needed to be there.
The stage would open its curtains tonight. No one, Zidane promised, would ever have to wear a mask again.