[ from the deck of the equilibrium ]

you receive an invitation from the eccentric tian-vett family, welcoming you to a ball aboard their bejeweled behemoth of a spaceship. no matter which princess is courting your favor, you arrive to gilt-wrought star-shine and marble fraught in filigree and moonglow, somewhere between supernova and singularity point. choose a souvenir:

• torc (x1) a metal ribbon that fits like it was made for you—a slither of beaten gold wrought into a garnet-eyed serpent, gem-shard fangs a whisper of cool against your throat. when you accept it from the consort with a smile like a dying sun, the ember-glow of a nearby brazier seems to roar into something molten, devouring the air down to scorch-shimmer and shadow
• diamond pendant (x1) light ricochets like shrapnel off the frosted brilliance at your sternum. the diamond is enormous, heavy as a gunshot; the candy-haired princess who clasps it around your neck has eyes that glitter as hard as her beloved gemstones, and she asks for nothing in exchange, save for a few photos. there's no harm in accepting, right?
• lily-of-the-valley, sprigs (x4) bouquets of white blossoms overflowing like froths of lace, as sweetly scented as springtime itself. the night-haired second princess has a laugh that shimmers like spun sugar, and you can't help but to laugh with her as she adorns you in those delicate, poisonous flowers. the ivory-soft petals are misted in dew that never evaporates; you're not sure if it's truly real
• veil, cerulean silk, torn (x1) a flutter of cloth like a swathe of summer sky—one infinitely kinder than the star-winged void of space, the abyss that soars beyond the windows. at first glance, the fabric is nothing but a rift of gossamer, too diaphanous to be anything but ornamental; it's only when you slip it over your head that you realize it blocks out the entirety of your expression. strangely enough, the insides are speckled with blood
• marble fragment, chipped (x2) the stone is so finely carved that the constellations projected across the banquet hall shimmer like moonbeams through the individual spires, chiaroscuro prisms forming between your fingers when you hold the marble up to the light. a woman with hair like spilled blood appears between one flash of planetside lightning and the next. when you try to grasp her hand, she's gone again