A Tale of Two Worlds Chapter 20: Dancing Through Life, a dragonlance fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is not mine.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Jade Limill, who broke my writer's block by reminding me that there are worse things than fanfic Sues – namely, canon ones. I would also like to thank Valgoruth, my wonderful beta who agreed to read over even my Sue story! Please note – dialogue in italics indicates telepathy. So, in the spirit of an English queen, I give you chapter 20, and say, "Let them read tripe!"

Dancing Through Life

The group looked about for another second, still shaken from their ordeal. "Well, we will have to break up into smaller groups to drive to prom." Dalamar decided to take charge.

Maeg tried to smile. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. What is it about elves and the need to state what is common knowledge?" She squeezed his hand lightly to let him know that she was kidding. Suddenly, a thought seemed to occur to her. "Can I ride your motorcycle?"

Dalamar gaped at her. She had never asked before, and Dalamar had thought that the Earth girl might be afraid of the precarious vehicle. "I guess. Won't it ruin your dress?" He still wasn't quite sure what prompted this sudden change in heart.

"If anything happens to it, Rebecca can fix it." Maeg smiled, suddenly realizing what he was so surprised about. "A near-death experience gives one certain different perspectives about danger. You may have anticipated the danger, or lack thereof, but I definitely didn't!" Her thoughts seemed to echo the thoughts of the others.

"Jess, you should take my car, since it's bigger than yours. You know where I keep my keys." Now that she had a purpose, Maeg seemed to get control of herself again. "We should get going before Takhisis gets too much of a head start." She marched back up the driveway towards the garage, hiding fear behind activity.

Dalamar hurried to catch up with her, as the others argued over who had the biggest, sturdiest cars. "Do you think this is wise?" He sounded concerned over Maeg's new recklessness.

"Hell, if we can't defend ourselves, who can?" She used magic to lift the garage door, and hustled in, grabbing the extra helmet off of a shelf. She moved to the left side of the motorcycle, hitched up her skirts, and swung her leg over the top. She waited impatiently as Dalamar got himself on in front of her.

"Hold on. And don't lean against the turns."

Maeg hugged the elf close. She picked her feet off of the floor of the garage, and placed them on the footrests. Out of habit born of years of horseback riding, she pushed her high heels down awkwardly. She hadn't had time to ride in several years, but there were some things that time could not take away.

Suddenly, they started to move. Maeg got a sudden feeling of insecurity and falling, but it exhilarated her rather then scaring her as it would normally. She cried out in joy, hair streaming out behind her, as they zoomed down the driveway and made a sharp turn onto the street. The pair got to the hall where the dance was being held ten minutes before the rest of their group arrived, and to kill time Dalamar drove in figure eights around the parking lot. Naturally, despite outrageous speeding, they had met no policemen on the way, and the roads had been unnaturally clear.

Finally, the rest of the mages arrived. Everyone stood at attention while Rebecca twitched the Earthlings' dresses and tuxes back into order. Maeg especially was glad because of her friend's talent for fabric magic, since her skirts were hopelessly wrinkled from her wild ride. Finally, they were completely ready. Maeg and Jess happily took the proffered arms of their respective Krynnish mages, and the group walked in the door together.

Prom this year was being held in a local hotel, and tables of light hors-d'oeuvres were scattered around the lobby. "Remember," as Raistlin spoke, his voice was caustic. "We are here to make sure that Takhisis does not gain new followers. We will now split up and mingle. Anyone whose mind you take will gain eyes that look like mine. Anyone without golden eyes must be assumed to have been taken by Takhisis. Trust no one outside of this coven, even if we appear to have taken him or her. If you meet with trouble, call for Dalamar or myself. Be careful not to draw too much attention to yourselves."

At the archmagus' command, the group split up and started to mingle. Maeg took Dalamar's hand, and they began to walk towards the tables on the opposite side of the room. As they passed people, Maeg tried to catch their eyes with hers. If she could establish eye contact with someone as she passed, she was able to breach the other person's mind. Once there, it was fairly simple to put up artificial walls to keep out other intruders, and leave a small thread of magic connecting the other student to herself. It took a lot less magic to leave only shreds of control in many people than to completely command one, so it was not too difficult for Maeg and Dalamar to achieve. In not too long a time, the two started to notice more and more golden-eyed students among the crowd.

"So, are we having fun yet?" After they had traversed the room, Maeg was starting to get bored with this game of magic. "Ooh, mini spring rolls!" Her boredom was suddenly broken by the arrival of wandering serving people with trays of hot food. After a couple of minutes, though, that got old as well.

Finally, after having to compliment several casual acquaintances on their 'lovely' dresses, Maeg pulled a camera out of her deceptively small purse. Dalamar eyed her incredulously. "How did that fit?"

Maeg grinned. "Never doubt what a woman can do with a purse!" She opened the aforementioned tiny bag. As Dalamar stared, she handed him a cell phone, a large pack of tissues, a small bag with some pain killers, a few dollars, several packets of small blobular things that Dalamar didn't recognize, and her lipstick. The purse was about two inches tall and six inches long. Dalamar shook his head in wonder as Maeg stuffed it all back, leaving the camera out.

"Hehe, now, for the real fun." Maeg grinned at Dalamar's confused look. "I'm going to try to get all of the most hideous dresses on camera! And of course, I'm going to need several pictures of us."

For the next half-hour, she and Dalamar continued to wander around, taking pictures of people they either liked or liked to laugh at, and enthralling any of the general populace who was not already wearing the golden-eyed mark of the mages' allies. Finally, they were allowed in to the ballroom itself.

"This isn't too bad," Dalamar remarked as they wandered around trying to find their table. Maeg had to admit that he was right. She was shocked to hear that the DJ was playing some light jazz, nice and quietly. She wondered how long it would last. Finally, the group was able to find their table. Of course, they were set up in no numerical order, but eventually everyone was able to find their place. The group had applied for a table together, and luckily, Takhisis hadn't felt the need to destroy the table arrangements.

When they sat down, there were already plates of salad at their places, but no one was very eager to touch them, as they looked as though they'd been sitting there for the past hour. Maeg ate the carrots off of the top of her plate, but made a face when she tasted the lettuce.

The friends rolled their eyes as the people were filing in. Takhisis, who seemed to have taken over preparations for prom from the regular supervisor, got on the DJ's microphone and was commanding everyone to take their seats so that dinner might be served. Of course, the majority of the people were only milling around because they couldn't find their tables! In the lull, Maeg whipped out her camera again and insisted on taking pictures of everyone at the table. She then vowed to get a different picture of Raistlin later, one in which he wasn't giving her even more of a glare than normal.

Finally, everyone was seated, and "Miss Virago" announced that dinner would be brought around. The waitstaff began circling the room, and it was not long before a waitress laden with plates had reached their tables.

"Who wants rare?" The waitress sounded utterly bored and annoyed that she was being paid to do her job. Without waiting for an answer, she swung one of the plates around and tried to put it down in front of Dalamar.

Noting that the elf looked as though he were about to throw up at the sight of the fuchsia steak, Maeg stepped in. "He registered to get a vegetarian plate." The surly waitress glared at Maeg, and tried to put the plate down in front of her instead. "Um, is there anything more well done?" Maeg didn't particularly favor eating steak that looked as though it was still mooing either.

If possible, the woman's glare increased. "Raise your hand if you want rare," the woman huffed. Even Jess, who normally liked her steaks on the rare side, did not want to brave the bloody meat. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" The waitress gave the table a dirty look to match any of Raistlin's, and moved on.

Within a minute, another waitress came over. "So, who wants rare?" This one at least looked as though she had applied for the job willingly. She did seem rather intimidated, however, by the unusual-looking 'children' who were seated at the table.

Wanting to prevent Raistlin from snapping, Rebecca cut in. "We had asked for more well-done meat, if you don't mind. And he," she pointed at Dalamar, "Had requested the vegetarian plate."

The more amiable waitress moved on without comment. It took a good ten minutes at least, and at least three more disappointed waitresses, before the cooked meat came out. This time, Maeg accepted the meat that had nearly been placed in front of Dalamar, and everyone seemed much happier with his or her food. It was only a second before another waiter came by to drop off Dalamar's vegetarian meal. Once everyone had been served, they began to eat.

Suddenly, Maria mage a gagging noise. She had cut into her meat, which looked to be an end cut that was blackened to perfection. When she cut into the meat, however, it ended up being as brilliant a pink as the originally-refused meat had been. Suddenly, the realization that she had magic covered her face, and she smiled. Flipping the meat over so that the offending side was facing her, she directed a spurt of fire towards her plate. Within seconds, the meat was properly cooked.

All of a sudden, Dalamar gasped. "Don't eat anything!" Nearly everyone at the table put down their forks with surprise. "Here, take a pinch of this and sprinkle it onto your food." He gave Maeg a handful of what looked like blue-ish sand. "If your food is safe, this will not affect it in any way."

Without further explanation, the elf removed another pinch from one of his pouches and sprinkled it generously over his clichéd vegetable lasagna. The coarse dust turned a bright, putrid, green. One after another, the others spread the gritty stuff over their own food, where it faded away and disappeared.

Raistlin raised an eyebrow. "Apparently, the vegetarian meals, or at least this one, have been poisoned."

Maeg spooned her rice and vegetables onto her bread plate. "Here. You can have this instead." She felt sick to her stomach, but decided to ignore it in favor of taking action. Dalamar nodded, his face displaying no emotions. A few other people donated their side dishes to the elf, and the group began to eat a silent dinner.

Finally, when the group thought they could bear silence no longer, the waitstaff came to clear the tables. Unfortunately, they were soon faced with an opposing problem. With the promise of dessert, the DJ decided that it was time to start the actual dance. As the first notes of what Maeg had termed "gangsta' music" blared over the speakers, Dalamar hunched over into a ball, trying to shield his ears. Raistlin was nearly as displeased, but he would never show such weakness.

Suddenly, Maeg fumbled with her purse. She quickly produced the packets of things that had so puzzled Dalamar. She handed the stricken elf a pack, and opened one herself. The elf watched in pained amazement as she shaped the small blobs and stuck them in her ears. Imitating her, he found that the noise had lessened considerably. As Maeg distributed the rest of the packets, she spoke.

"Earplugs. I know they're not perfect, but at least we won't completely lose our hearing by the end of the night!" She heard silent recognitions from the rest of the group. "I love magic! Before this, I could either talk to my friends, or leave a party head-ache free, but now I can do both!"

Of course, if they had chosen to, the mages could have made a silence bubble around them so that they would be able to converse. However, besides taking up much magic that no one would want to sacrifice for something so trivial, the bubble would prevent the group from splitting up or mingling with the rest of the students. While speaking telepathically also used magic, it was considerably less draining, especially since the whole group was in rapport from working together in a coterie. Even Lenny had just enough magic to hear the others' thoughts and reply.

"We must split up now in order to fulfill our purpose here." Even Raistlin's mental voice was sharp and caustic. Though the telepathic voices did not change unrecognizably and still held a bit of the thinker's essence, each person's voice did change, becoming something different that reflected their true selves. Raistlin's mental voice, though mostly sharp, also held a tone quality that seemed like the sound his spell components would produce if they could make sound; it was a noise both soft like rose petals and rancid like some of the less savory objects in his pouches.

Finally, they reached the group of tables across room, on the opposite side of the dance floor. "So, are we having fun yet?" Dalamar smirked as Maeg's voice sounded in his head.

"Not that I can sense. So, this is the famed Prom, which no seniors may miss, and its taboo for juniors not to go as well? Impressive." Dalamar's mental voice dripped with sarcasm. Maeg was interested to hear the timbre of his heart's voice; it was bittersweet, holding both a hint of flowers and trees in spring, and undertones of restraint and resentment. As Raistlin's did, Dalamar's inner voice also sounded impossibly like spell components. Maeg idly wondered what her voice sounded like to the others, and if the voice of the heart changed as a person grew, or if the heart always knew what a person was to become. It was an odd thought, and stank too much of fate for Maeg's liking. With a slight shiver, she turned her mind back to the dance.

"What do we do now?" Maeg's question was valid; the two had hours in which to make sure no one in the dance was under Takhisis' control.

"I'm guessing that you don't wish to engage in the encouraged prostitution occurring over there?" Dalamar nodded towards the mass of writhing students crowding the dance floor. At Maeg's grinning affirmative, Dalamar continued. "For lack of anything else to do, shall we walk around outside of this room?"

As they had already crossed the seething mass of humanity that controlled the majority of the room, this did not seem like a bad idea. Maeg and Dalamar wandered through the lobby of the hotel room, and soon noticed a door leading to an outside courtyard. In a mutual decision, they changed direction and wandered that way.

Outside, the air was fresh and quiet, a welcome change from the cacophony inside the dance hall. The two gratefully took out their earplugs for the moment. It was still fairly early in the evening, and the sky was lit with summer's twilight. While the courtyard was not immense or grand, the center being dominated by an extremely grimy-looking swimming pool, the left end was pleasant. It was there that the two walked, among the carefully-gardened trees that surrounded the white gazebo. They walked in silence, taking comfort from each other's presence.

Dalamar had leaned down and was kissing Maeg gently when their pristine moment was broken. "Dalamar!" Catalina's voice echoed harshly through the small garden. "I didn't expect you to be here." As she normally did, she ignored Maeg.

Dalamar kept his arm around the small human protectively. "And why would you have thought that, Catalina?" His voice was icy, and held no trace of the warmth he'd felt just moments before.

"I didn't think that you had anyone to go with." Though he didn't show it, Dalamar thought her advances ridiculous. On top of everything else, the girl was wearing a slinky golden-orange dress that accentuated her board-like figure rather than hiding it.

Maeg cleared her throat pointedly. "Oh. Hi, Maeg. I didn't see you. Nice dress." While Catalina was outwardly polite and even friendly, the two girls' dislike for each other was obvious.

"Yours is nice as well. I guess we'd best be heading back in, then." Maeg grabbed Dalamar's hand and led him towards the door. It was a sign of just how much she disliked the girl that she'd rather be in the crowded, loud dance hall than share the lovely arbor.

When they got inside, they crossed the brothel… dance floor that it, and found the others in their group. Suddenly, much to the Krynnish mages' astonishment, all of their Earth friends and students elected to travel towards the dance floor. Dalamar and Raistlin found themselves being dragged along by their respective dates and exchanged puzzled glances.

Suddenly, Maeg grabbed Dalamar's arms and stood in front of him. Soon, she was wildly gesticulating with both sets of arms over her head, showing Dalamar what to do. As the confused mage went along with it helplessly, the teens around him shrieked to the music: "Y! M! C! A! We're gonna stay at the Y! M! C! A!"

About a half an hour later, the Krynnish mages dragged their prom dates back to the table and collapsed as several of the others of the group went to mingle again. The mages had been forced by the teens to dance not only the "YMCA", but also the Electric Slide, Shout, Cotton Eyed Joe, and several other songs that did not seem to be dance-specific, but were not as repulsive to the teens as the previous music had been. Raistlin decided that a worthwhile use for his magic would be to heat the water in his glass so that he could have his tea. He'd barely made it through the energetic Cotton Eyed Joe alive, or so he thought. Dalamar was only slightly better off.

"Why?" Though Raistlin's mental voice was not nearly as raspy as his actual voice would likely be, his terse question, unusually short even for him, showed his extreme exhaustion.

Jess grinned. "Because its fun! Besides, you have no right to complain – we each," she indicated Maeg and herself "Had to dance at the bar and bat mitzvahs of a dozen of our classmates, not to mention family members!"

Suddenly, Dalamar looked up. "What was that? Did any of you hear that?" The others looked around in confusion at first, but then all doubt as to the reason for Dalamar's distress was erased.

All of a sudden, the four all heard a scream resound in their heads. "HELP!"

"I think that's Maria!" Maeg got up with a leap that looked odd in her ball gown.

"Come on." Raistlin's weakness seamed to have been forgotten, or at least cast aside. He led the group across the hall to where the magical cries seemed to have originated. Finally, they reached their comrade. They found her with her eyes locked on Taylor's, and neither seemed able to move.

Raistlin quickly examined the situation with his magic. "It seems as though Takhisis laid a trap in Taylor's mind. The first person to look in would be caught, and likely have his or her mind taken away after their own barriers fell. Maria has another minute or two."

"How do we help her?" Despite Raistlin's calm demeanor and his assurances that they still had plenty of time, Maeg was worried about her friend.

Dalamar and Raistlin exchanged glances. "You two had best leave us." Dalamar shoved Maeg gently towards the door to the lobby. This was not something that the relatively innocent Earth girls should see. Jess was about to protest, but then thought better of it. The two walked away, not really wanting to think about what was being done behind them.

As soon as the girls were out of sight, the two Krynnish mages turned to the problem at hand. They needed no words to communicate their plans, not even the silent communication they had been relying upon that night. Dalamar held on to Maria, both physically and mentally. He began pushing away Takhisis' holds and gently taking control of those facilities. Maria would likely be grievously hurt were she to regain total control of her body too suddenly.

Raistlin began bombarding Taylor directly. He quickly and efficiently burned away the trap that Takhisis had set, taking little care to protect the mind behind it. Soon, he had erased all traces of Takhisis from the girl's mind. She swooned, and he magically transported her outside into the lobby.

Maeg and Jess came back in to join them as Dalamar gave Maria back her facilities, one by one. Soon, she was able to support herself and speak again.

"I… I couldn't fight it…" She was obviously still very shaken by her ordeal.

"You fought admirably." Raistlin's praise surprised everyone. "You were fighting a goddess. You could not expect to win. Resisting was all you could do, and you did that. We should sit down."

The five traversed the room and sat back down at their table. Dalamar and Raistlin decided that they should patrol the room again, and they left their dates to help Maria regain her confidence.

After a few minutes, Maria was feeling much better. She decided that she was ready to rejoin Joan, who had been staying with her until the incident, at which point Joan was in the restroom. Jess decided that she should go with Maria just in case, because she and Maeg were both strong enough to defend themselves.

A few seconds after Maeg had been left alone at the table, a large hand tapped her on that back. She turned around, wondering who outside of their group would bother coming to talk to her. It was Arnold.

"Dance with me, Maeg." Despite the earplugs protecting her from the noise, Maeg could still tell what Arnold was asking.

"I don't really feel like it right now, Arnold. Thanks for asking." She hoped that this non-confrontational statement would get rid of him. She had not counted on his persistence.

"Well, I feel like it right now. Come on." He grabbed her arm. Maeg began to panic. She was never really good at keeping her head in situations like this.

"Help!" Her mental yell was more of a reflex than a conscious decision. However, it gave her the cue she needed to figure out what she needed to be done. It reminded her of her magic.

"Let go of me, Arnold. I'm warning you." She stood her ground, not letting him lead her to the dance floor where the masses continued to writhe.

"Or what?" He leered. "Your boyfriend is not here to 'protect' you this time." He had said the magic words. There were few things that Maeg hated more than the implication that she needed a man for anything. With a fierce shriek, she pushed at him with all of her might. As she pushed with her arms, she also sent a bolt of power streaking towards the boy. He, not being at all prepared for such a vigorous attack, took the blow with full force. As the power struck his mind, he fainted.

Maeg stared in horror at what she had done, praying to everything and anything that might be listening that she had not killed him. Luckily, Dalamar had just managed to fight his way across the floor back to her in answer to her cry for help. As Maeg started hyperventilating, Dalamar took her in his arms, shielding her from the sight of the fallen body.

"He will recover." Raistlin's sharp voice cut through Maeg's fog. "He has simply been incapacitated temporarily." Maeg breathed a sigh of relief. She had never hurt anything larger than a fly enough to make it pass out, much less kill it.

For another hour or so, there were no more incidents. The Earthlings of the group of mages began to almost enjoy themselves, though the Black Robes were too on edge to derive any enjoyment from the party. Suddenly, their wariness was justified.

"May I have everyone's attention?" Takhisis was speaking into the microphone, and had turned off the music.

"Don't look up!" Raistlin's warning came just in time. Strong enough to resist a general spell of the goddess', Raistlin projected the image of what he saw onto the minds of his comrades. This disco ball was reflecting a huge eye; one of the eyes of the Five-Headed Dragon. As all of the students looked up at the goddess, the hard work that took her enemies hours to do was undone within seconds. Caught in the glance of the goddess, all were helpless to resist her spell of persuasion.

Everyone in Raistlin and Dalamar's army, save Lenny who had never put a spell on anyone, nearly fell over as Takhisis wrenched control of the whole junior and senior body away from them. Even Raistlin and Dalamar, used to unusual backlash from spells, staggered.

Understandably, Raistlin recovered from this shock first. Assessing the situation quickly, he realized that there was only one possible course of action. He forced his way into all of the others, and grabbed their power. All were too shocked by this unforeseen attack to protest.

Gathering all of their power, Raistlin whispered a prayer to all three gods of magic and hoped that they would understand the need for him to steal the power. Muttering the words of the spell for extra effect, Raistlin shaped the power into a spear and hurled it at the disco-ball-turned-divine-eye.

Takhisis shrieked as the light exploded, taking with it much of her power. With what power she had left, she disappeared to some unknown den to nurse her wounds. The students, suddenly released from the power that had been holding them, wandered blankly back to their tables and sat down.

Raistlin turned back to his own table and sank down into a chair. His eyes closed momentarily, and his breathing was erratic. Finally, he was able to appraise the damage he had done, though he was still swaying slightly with exhaustion.

"She's gone," Raistlin gasped aloud. Luckily, no one had turned the music back on after the explosion, because few of the mages had the strength left to communicate mentally.

"You could have asked!" Maeg accused.

"No time. Besides, shouldn't you be thanking me rather than chastising me?" Maeg had the grace to look ashamed.

The Earth girl looked around at the assembled group and the recently vacated dance floor. Suddenly, something occurred to her. "I refuse to say that I've been to prom and not had a slow dance with my boyfriend!"

"Good idea!" Jess grinned at her friend, both for the idea and the change of subject. She pulled Maeg close, and the two spoke in hushed whispers for a moment. It seemed that for some reason, whether an alien feeling akin to friendship or simple time constraints, Raistlin had not completely drained Jess of her magic. She had the strength left to pull a single CD from home to the hotel so that they could hear a song worth playing.

After much muted debate, the two came to a conclusion. "Well," Maeg sounded apologetic. "It's not the best song to dance to, but we agreed that it is definitely the most appropriate for the occasion."

Jess summoned the disk, and made her way towards the DJ's station. After a couple of minutes of fiddling, she managed to insert the CD and get it up to the proper track. She moved back to the table and held her hand out to Raistlin, who reluctantly stood. Maeg and Dalamar got up and walked to the deserted dance floor as well. With her last iota of power, Jess started the song.

In the silence of stupefied hall, the four danced to "The Music of the Night."

A/N: Please review. Remember, though all reviews are greatly appreciated, helpful descriptive ones help me to write more quickly!