Enchanted Captivation [InquisitorMaster AU fanfiction]

Chapter 9: Dance.

Alex, Jade, and Charli were all in Alex's room, trying on their dresses and helping each other get ready.

Miss Mesa stayed by, but out of the way, helping here and there. The girls were just goofing around and having fun, it was the first time in a while since they've got to use magic so freely around each other.

"Hey Alex," Charli started, "did you end up freeing more of the witches?"

Alex nodded as Jade brushed her hair and while Miss Mesa pointed to spells for Alex to use in order to touch up her look, "Yep, I got five more out of there. It's a gradual process but I'm sure we'll all be out of here eventually!"

"Oh my god, did I tell you, girls?" Jade gasped, having a giant smile on her face mid-brushing Alex's hair, the girls turned to her, "What?" Jade's smile widened, "Prince Drake asked me if I wanted to dance with him! I was just picking berries and taking them to others when he came up to me and invited me!"

"Wow, lucky!" Charli exclaimed, Alex began to smile as well, "No way, me too!"

The two others turned to look at Alex, Alex putting on a smug face, "Prince Zach walked me to the washroom and asked me if I wanted to be his date!" she explained, causing all three of them to squeal in excitement.

They blabbered on about it, bragging here and there. Apparently, Charli got asked to dance by another servant named Luca, Charli explained how she's been talking to him for a while whilst they cooked, they agreed it'd just be a friend thing.

They laughed for a bit, getting the last layers of clothing on. Alex stared down at her cloak as she was about to grab it. She sat silently.

"Hey, girls?" Alex asked, her tone shifting the atmosphere to a more serious one, "What are we going to do when all the witches escape? Are we going to stay here forever, or are we going to sneak out so we can continue to do magic?"

The other girls went quiet. They glanced at each other and then back to Alex. "I don't... I don't know..." Jade mumbles, "I mean, I love doing magic, I wouldn't give it up for the world! But... it's so comfortable here, I myself, am starting to wonder if it's worth leaving it all behind..."

The girls nodded, humming in agreement.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The girls instantly scattered, hiding all the witchcraft items before Charli opened the door. "Hello?"

"Oh, uh- hello..?" the voice greeted uneasily, it wasn't just any voice, "Zach!" Alex exclaimed, speed walking over. Zach peeked behind her into Alex's room to see Jade there too. "I see that you three got ready together," He acknowledges. Alex nods, chuckling, "Yep, we've always done that. It kinda felt wrong not to, you know?"

Zach nods in agreement, taking Alex's hand into his, "Come on, we've got a dance to attend," he smiles sweetly. He peeked over Alex's shoulder to Jade, "Don't worry Jade, my brother, Drake, is on his way!" And just like that, he and Alex were off, Alex leaving her cloak behind for the first time.

They walked down the castle's hallways to the ballroom, holding hands in comfortable silence. "Hey, you look really beautiful tonight," Zach complements, Alex blushes, smiling a bit and fidgetting, "Oh-! Um, th-thank you..!" She squeaks anxiously, not really expecting a compliment out of the blue, "For the record, you look absolutely dashing tonight," She shoots back, giving him another one of her classic grins. It was this time Zach blushed, "Thank you, m'lady."

Alex playfully bumped into him, pushing him a bit while still holding his hand and walking, "Don't refer to me by "m'lady", what are you, a 'nice guy'?" She teased, getting a confused look from Zach. After getting a jokingly annoyed glance from Alex he understood what she was referring to and burst out in laughter, "Oh c'mon! I was just trying to be a gentleman!"

...

Jade was putting the final finishing touches on her appearance when the second knock came on the door, this time being Drake. Jade opened the door to be greeted by him, he bowed to her, "Are you ready for the dance?" He asked politely. Jade snickered, "No need to be so formal, and yeah, I am!" She chirped.

"Now c'mon!" She grabbed his hand, "Let's go before the buffet runs out of food!" Jade waves to Charli before gripping Drake's hand tighter and began to run to the ballroom.

"J-jade..! Slow down!" Drake wheezed while they ran, "Do you even know where you're going..???" Jade stopped, letting Drake catch his breath, "Nope, no idea where it is."

Drake smiled, "In that case, here, I'll show you." Drake began to lead Jade through the hallway. "By the way, you're a really good runner, how come?" He asked. Jade knew why, running away from mobs to hide really built up her stamina over the years, but it's unlike a girl to run. "O-oh! I didn't have a father, so it was just me and my mother, we did all the work out in the yard, I tended to get all the vegetables we grew and run back to the house, giving them to my mom to sell the next day." Jade quickly made up a lie, "I guess that's what built up my system," she nervously laughed.

"Interesting," Drake said blankly. He believed her, nailed it.

They then heard the ball music, Jade could track it down fairly well, she grabbed Drake's hand again, "Drake, come on! We can't be horribly late!" She yelled before taking off, practically dragging Drae behind her.

...

The music was soft and slow, beautiful and lulling. One of Zach's arms held Alex close by the waist while Alex wrapped one of her arms around Zach's neck, the other set of their arms clasped each other's hands as they waltzed from side to side She'd be freaking out if the music didn't distract her from the fact she was this close to Zach.

The orchestra played softly, a song nobody's ever heard nor will ever know the name of until centuries later, a song known now as Not Yet. Odd.

No matter, the ballroom was dancing to the soft melody of the song, Zach held Alex out, letting her spin gently before coming right back into Zach's arms, going from side to side once more until Zach gently dipped her down and brought her back up. As the song concluded, Alex looked into Zach's eyes with a warm smile, and before they knew it, their lips met for a gentle kiss. Alex's lips were warm, and in that brief moment, that small kiss, it felt as if time had stopped. While their lips touched, it felt like everything came to a slow, the people paused mid-dance, and like the two of them were the center of the universe through that brief kiss. For three seconds, all of the universe's attention was on those two.

It felt natural, it felt right. When they parted lips they just gave each other an embarrassed yet sweet smile before going back to dancing.

And for Drake and Jade? Jade dripped Drake down in the waltz, Drake chuckled humorously, "I think the roles are supposed to be reversed there, Jade."

"Nah," Jade statically replied, smirking with mischief. She pecked Drake on the cheek watching his face flush a deep red. "You're such a dork," She laughed before going back to dancing.

It was peaceful, the most peaceful thing the girls ever went through actually. For a moment, just a moment, they forgot everything around them, all their problems, all their sorrows, at this moment, it was just them and their dates.

They'd describe the experience as magical if they hadn't already known what magic was like.

Maybe their lives were going to get better...

SO HI

I got a spike of motivation and decided to do two chapters in one day, so uh... let's goooooo. Hope the writing doesn't make that too obvious lmao.

Also, pretend as if Charli and Luca were doing the Hokey Pokey in the corner like the goofballs they are. Ignore the fact the Hokey Pokey didn't exist until 1940, shut up. One more thing, you just KNOW I had to throw in a PMMM song reference, it's my thing :)