Chapter Ten

Fate and Time start to dance to waltz, Space and Life accompanying, circling around the ballroom. 

 While people made space for them to dance, Eef and I got backed to the ice column. Now Eef is standing close to me with his arm above my head, leaning towards me. 

 "Shit," I murmur under my breath, shrunken beneath him. "They will dance for exactly one minute, then we can join too."

 I keep my hands behind my back to make more space for him, but it doesn't help. 

 We're close. Are we too close? His face is a little bit red, but not in an uncomfortable way. 

 "So, the plan is," I begin to distract myself from his exposed arms that I just now noticed are worked out, "We should dance for a while, but we'll secretly move closer to the punch. When we get to it, I'll take the bott-"

 Before I can continue, people start pairing up and joining the gods. I quickly get in position and place Eefs hand on my hip. "Dance, I'll try to lead us," I whisper quickly.

 His moves are a bit uncertain from the start. We circle around the room to multiple violins and piano.

 Mom and I danced like this thousands of times (you'd think I actually learned how to walk in high heels, wouldn't you). Now that I play the role of the woman, my body is quite confused, but I get used to it in a few seconds. 

 When Eefs hand on my hip gets more firm, I start leading us to the table, fighting a way through all the people. "I'll take a bottle, we wait if gods do anything. If not, we run. If yes, we run."

 Eef nods. "Seems simple."

 I smile. "Simple plans are the best ones. Not a lot of things that can go to shit."

 Fate and Time slide across us and we quickly pass them, a path to the table finally revealing itself. While still dancing, I shake the bottle out of my sleeve and hide it underneath one of the millions of layers Eef has on his dress.

 "We work quickly," I say. "Hide me from the gods."

 We get to the table and I get behind Eef. But before I can even untug the cap, he pushes me under his skirt. 

 I shrink under there with wide eyes. I can hear voices above me talking, and I realize with horror that one of them belongs to Space.

 "How do you find this ball?" they ask him politely while sipping wine.

 You can hear the nervousness in Eefs tone. "Uh, I have to say, I find it really, um, fun? I've never attended this kind of ball on earth."

 "Well I am glad you're enjoying it. And where is your companion?"

 "Oh, he just..went to the toilet. Yeah. He had to…Yeah."

 I do everything in my power not to burst out laughing. In the meantime, I slowly unscrew the cap.

 "You humans are very interesting creatures," smiles Space and their voice drops deeper. "Very cute, little creatures. I haven't actually met one of you in ages."

 "Oh…uhm…thank you?"

 They laugh. "I wonder how much you evolved. Do males still have nipples? Or do you have your wisdom teeth?"

 "...Yes, I think we haven't evolved much from when you last saw us."

 "Huh…weird. I swear that the last human I saw had a big forehead, looked quite stupid and acted like an animal, and it couldn't have been more than a few hundred years."

 What would I pay to see Eefs face right now.

 "...I think it was a lot more than a few hundred years. More than thousands, we're talking in millions. When have you…I am not going to ask."

 Space is silent for a second before shrugging. "Anyway, I hope you had a pleasant change from the forest and jungle. Have a nice night."

 I wait for a while before getting out from beneath his skirt. I quickly get the punch and hide the bottle with a smile.

 "That was the weirdest interaction I have ever had," says Eef, still a bit shaken up. "Sorry I had to shove you down there."

 "It's okay, I had nowhere else to hide. They would probably put two and two together if they saw me with a bottle."

 "You know what, I am not that sure. Their memory has to be the worst."

 I look over at Fate and other gods, but it doesn't seem like they noticed anything. "Space…doesn't spend too much time with others. They didn't come last year, or the year before."

 I wrap my arm around his and we turn away and head back to the changing rooms. "They're…theyre Space," I try to explain. "They don't look for company, they just like to be around their stars and guardians - they do love their family and all, but…yeah."

 "Black sheep of the family?"

 "Something like that, but family actually loves them."

 "So more of a…black cat."

 I turn my head once again to see if were not being followed, but no one is noticing us. "Exactly. Okay, go find the changing room with your name and wait for me in front of the castle."

 He nods and we split up. I change quickly, hiding the bottle of the Death Punch in my boot. When I come out with the dress thrown over my shoulder, Eef still isn't there yet. I frown and start to go to the exit when a guard stops me. "Wait, sir. It is my obligation to search you." 

 I pause with panic. "Oh? Why, though? You didn't do this last year."

 "It is my responsibility, sir. Now please, stand here."

 I bite down on my lip and have no other option than to obey. He searches me from the tip of my head, and when he comes down to my shoes, his eyebrows furrow. "What do you have in your left boot, sir?"

 "Oh, it's nothing," I say in a high pitched tone.

 "Please, take your boots off."

 I sigh and listen. The bottle shines in the moonlight as I get it out. 

 The guard's face remains unphased. "The Death Punch? Okay, you can go."

 I blink. "I won't get…punished? For stealing it?"

 He throws the bottle back into my boot. "No, sir. Were searching for people stealing the white wine. It's too pricey to be stolen."

 "And this punch isn't?"

 He shakes his head. "No sir. Have a nice night."

 He goes back to his place. I can hear him mutter under his nose: "Witches and their weird storage system."

 I spot Eef waiting for me at the start of the bridge, stepping from one foot to another. "Did they search you? Did they find it?" he bombards me with questions immediately.

 "Nope, we're good. They search only for thieves with white wine. They say it's too expensive to be stolen."

 He breathes out and then frowns, as if insulted. "Doesn't this punch cost around a thousand dollars?"

 "Actually, a spoon costs one thousand dollars. This may be twenty."

 He shakes his head in disbelief. "Now how expensive must the wine be?"

 "Yeah…I should've drunk more."

 He laughs. 

 "Now that I think about it, the whole thing with the time boxes was because of the wine, not the punch," I think out loud.

 "Why would Fate want to warn you, then?"

 "We both know Fate like to mess with people…Or his warning made the universe change in a way that's prospering for him."

 As we leave the ice castle behind us, the moon shines from above and stars make it look a lot more bigger than it actually is.