"King, four o'clock, in the corner, do you see them?" Ria Koehler said.

She looked down intently at a set of two people matching King's description somewhat. There were a sh#@!load of people at the ball who fit his description, but somehow her eye was drawn to them time and time again. There was something about them. The way they... interacted? With anyone below their station. Well practiced, well rehearsed.

If she thought about it, she knew it well.

A professional arse kisser. Or a professional backstabber. She'd seen it a lot in the family gatherings she'd been forced to attend. Frankly, she was disgusted she shared blood with those people. But well, when you were a minor and they were your family, what else were you supposed to do?

"Oh, hey, that's them alright!" King's voice suddenly came over the transciever.

Ria had been so absorbed in her thoughts that King's voice rattled her a little bit.

"Those two are who you're looking for?" She said in an incredulous tone of voice. "Last thing I knew, we didn't know any twins with blonde hair who looked like that."

"They might be in disguise, but I know we don't know any twins, either."

"Haha, don't worry, you might or might not know 'em by the end of this. I'm gonna be a little while so have a good night, King out and that's a job well done!"

The transceiver shut off abruptly.

Ria shook her head as she looked down at the scene below, once again. She could never understand what King was thinking, now moreso than ever. She didn't want to stick around at the party, but if she left now she just knew she wouldn't get a proper answer within the next business month. Maybe more.

So what exactly would she do?

No other incidents happened with respect to Christine for the rest of the ball. After she finished dancing with Rurik, she proceeded to dance with various other personages in the ball.

Lise was, of course, one of them.

She was naturally an expert dancer, much more so than Christine, making the ice manipulator being the one struggling to keep up with her fancy moves. A couple of times she ended up stepping on her feet, to the latter's chagrin. Not to mention the all-too-obvious sight of her too-short dress. When Lise confronted her about the matter, however, she only replied with a blushing smile and these words, "Oh, don't worry. I'm wearing a mask, you see, so it's not that embarrassing."

Suffice to say the lady couldn't quite accept that reasoning.

Afterward, she had a couple more dances with complete strangers, mostly guys who were attracted to her (and her attire). She didn't last long, however, as she got tired and decided to take a break from dancing altogether. She spent the rest of the party eating and drinking while watching for her sister from a distance.

@Hammerman

---

Rurik shuffled off out of the main crowd once his dance with Christine finally came to an end. It... hadn't been much of a dance, and anyone who'd paid enough attention now though he was the scum of the earth. More so than they already had, anyway. Oh well, he hadn't cared about that kind of stuff before, and he certainly didn't now.

He watched as Christine went on to dance with others. There were those who might've glared at any men who managed to finagle a dance with their girlfriend, but Rurik wasn't terribly concerned. If anyone else thought it would be cute to let their hands slip, Rurik knew he wouldn't need to get involved.

They'd be fighting off a case of frostbite long before he would have a chance to do anything.

No, he was content to fade into the background for the rest of the ball. Well, as much as someone with five fake knives sticking out of their back could, anyway. Yes, he was perfectly fine riding it out alone and-

"Fuck me..." He swore under his breath as he saw Katherine walking in his direction. It was probably a coincidence. It wasn't like she knew he was over here. She'd just pass on by-

"Rurik," she spoke. To him.

"Fffff- What?" He grumbled through gritted teeth. Had she seen his slip-up? Did she want to give him a piece of her mind? "It was an accident. Piss off."

"Wh-? What was?"

". . . nothing. What do you want?" Bullet dodged, then.

"I've just... had a lot of time to think about things since that fight in the park."

"That's a lot of thinking." Rurik leaned against the wall, avoiding direct eye contact with her. "Let me guess. You got a headache?"

He watched Katherine take a deep breath, and then miraculously not bite his head off, "You did punch me pretty hard, but haha, no." She frowned. "I just... realized that even when I knew I was bleeding to death I couldn't stop myself from trying to break your kneecaps. I guess... I mean if that of all things couldn't stop me. Look, I just... I mean..."

"No, no, take your time, words are hard."

Another deep breath, "I'm sorry. I know I've been a bitch. Christine's tough enough to take care of herself. I don't need to be interfering all the time."

"Wow." Rurik nodded a few times, processing her words. "An apology?"

"Yes." Katherine fought to keep a straight face. "If Christine's happy, then... whatever I guess."

"An apology... after over a year of making my life hell." Rurik finally stared directly at her. "Well damn. Hey, maybe another few years and I'll actually give a shit."

"Wh-what?" Kath's eyes went wide and her jaw hung open. She'd swallowed her pride to say that! She'd even talked herself into accepting he was a decent fighter and not just some coward who was trying to leech off her sister!

"Fuck you, Kath," Rurik pushed off the wall. "I don't need your apologies. I don't want to be your friend. And I certainly don't want to see you around any more than I absolutely have to. Because you're right; me and Christine is our business, not yours." He made to walk away as Kath stood there, hand's clenched tightly and trembling as she tried to contain the pit of rage each word had fueled into existence. "Oh, and Kath?" She grit her teeth as she looked over to have. "Have a great night," he spoke with all the condescension he could muster, while her eyes quickly locked onto the solitary finger he held aloft.

With that, Rurik figured maybe the party was over for him.

Finding an outfit for the ball was a simple matter. All it took was a quick internet search for a suitable tuxedo and his artistic power allowed him to draw it into reality, perfectly tailored to his size, and a black cavalier hat with a white ribbon, edging, and ostrich feather. His masquerade mask was simple, only covering the left side of his face while leaving his right and mouth open. The event itself was... eventful. However, he wasn't one for dancing, preferring to stay near and partake in the food and drink as well as observing the ball's participants. A rather large group was forming, some of whom he thought he recognized, though it was difficult to tell with all the masks on. Lise was in the group as well, and it seemed they were having a bit of a scuffle about dancing order. It was certainly a group that attracted attention, judging from Diana's interjection. And still others attracted attention, such as Bak's and Luigi's big frames, but they weren't worth much more than a passing glance.

Shenanigans came and went, and soon they lost Michael's attention. They weren't what he was watching for, anyway. He was really waiting for an opportunity to show up, just something to increase potential connections or update his storage of information. That opportunity came when someone came by when someone from said group came over to the food and drinks, where Michael had been waiting.

"Quite the night, no?" Michael asked Christine. "Don't mind me too much, if you don't want to. Just making some idle conversation. That being said, there's plenty of dancing to be done, and delectable food and drink here. Makes me wonder how much this all cost."

As he talked, he continued to observe the area, keeping an eye out for anything interesting. Soon, something did occur, namely the argument between Rurik and Katherine. While they was a little too far to hear what they were saying, it seemed that Rurik did not have the friendliest of attitudes towards Kath. "I'm guessing that's not a good thing, is it?" Michael asked Christine, pointing toward the two.

---

Michelle wore a black-and-red dress with thin straps, and it extending just past her knees. She accompanied it with long white evening gloves, a white marble bead bracelet on her left wrist, and a lacy masquerade mask that was white on the left side and black on the right. She was dressed up for the ball, and was ready to impress.

If only they weren't running late for it.

"I thought you were supposed to be the meticulous one, Michelle," Belinda said as they waited, stuck in traffic. "How could you let this happen?"

"I didn't know this was going to happen!" Michelle whined. "I- ugh, I-I just-"

"Whatever, We can get there faster on our own, anyway," Belinda said, opening the door and getting out of the car. Belinda activated her ability, donning her armor and spreading her wings. "Thanks, Jeeves," Belinda said to the chauffeur before launching herself into the air, flying towards the ball.

"...keep telling her my name's not Jeeves," the chauffeur muttered to herself.

---

"Phew, finally," Belinda said as she entered the ball, having deactivated her ability and returning her dress back to normal. The ball was well underway, but it was alright. She was here now, and that was what mattered. "Alright, I'll let you have some fun now," Belinda said, letting Michelle take control again. "Gee thanks," Michelle said sarcastically, making her way further in. She was at least able to enjoy the festivities for a minute, before stumbling into what seemed to be an argument between Katherine and Rurik. She wasn't really sure of the exact relationship between the two, but it didn't seem to be that good, judging from the contents of this interaction.

Belinda felt it was her time to interject, taking back control and walking in between them. "Hey now, let's be civil," Belinda said as she grinned, holding up her hands at either side. "This is a ball, or whatever. Let's just have fun while we're here."

Alright, your turn, Belinda thought to Michelle, swapping back. Michelle then took a step back as she drew her arms back in, shily adding, "Uh... please?" Michelle was not surprised that Belinda was pulling this move again, having experienced it so many times in the past, but it was never a pleasant feeling each time she did it.

@Scarifar
When Christine made her way to the food stand, she was greeted by Michael, who was also standing there with some food and drink on his hands.

"Oh, hello!" Christine gave him a smile. "Quite the nice party, isn't it? I've been to a number of parties like these before, and this is certainly up there quality-wise! Not that I'm a judge of parties or anything." She giggled. "Yeah, it's been quite the night. Never knew dancing could be so tiring. I'm pooped now."

She walked over to the meat section and took some sausages for her plate. As for the drink, she took a glass of red wine with her. She took care only to drink a little, not wanting to make a trip to the latrines anytime soon. Her stomach was rumbling and it demanded to be filled at once.

Going back to where Michael was, it came to her attention that Rurik and her sister had gotten into an argument yet again.

"Well…" She sighed. "I won't say it's not bad but that's just what they do every time they meet. No matter what I say it always ends up that way. So I've given up on it. They can take care of themselves." She gave Michael a comforting smile.

To her surprise, however, someone actually tried to calm them down.

Andras timidly stepped up to the front of Vera's house. It was not unlike the gates of the underworld itself, Andras a wayward soul wandering to a certain and eternal doom just beyond. But she had no choice. She had resolved to come to Vera as her last resort.

The day of the Rhean Ball had come, and Andras had nothing to wear. She was hoping that something usable would show up in the Root, but alas. The closest thing she had was a card that summoned a lion, which would turn heads at the ball, but not in the way she wanted. She had received help from Vera before, so she had no choice but to try her luck again. After all, they were friends... Vera would gladly help out a friend, right?

Andras's stomach turned as she readied her phone to tell Vera she was outside and needed some help. Though it was slightly unpleasant, she vastly preferred her uneasiness over clothing to the last few week's true, heart-stopping stress. She nodded to herself, thinking 'I've survived much worse. This is nothing, now!' and sent the message.

Now she just had to wait.

Vera stood in her room, looking over the outfit she'd be wearing to the ball. It was an elaborate get-up, totally inappropriate for a high-class function. She also loved it for that reason. It had all started when she heard that a few people had confused "masquerade" with "costume party." She had then gleefully and maliciously spread that misinformation. It wasn't hard. Twas the season, after all.

As a vigilante, or one who associated with them, she could even claim to know people who knew Liselotte, as a few of their number were also St. Laurel's students. She'd spun it that not only did she want to use it as a fund-raiser, but as a source of levity in light of recent events. That was her favorite part of the trick. In misleading people, she'd actually made Lise look better. Now she could either roll with it and accept the free publicity, or make a big scene and look like a spoiled brat.

Either way, Vera would be amused.

And if it blew back on her? Vera didn't care. Everyone already thought she was a bitch, only rivaled by Ria, and she didn't have friends to begin with.

Well, with perhaps one exception.

Her phone buzzed, announcing the arrival of Andras.

. . .

The door would eventually open for Andras, but it would be an unfamiliar sight before her. It was a girl with short, black hair cut tight to her head.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," the girl smirked, content to let the seconds tick by. "I bet you don't even recognize me. I'll give you a hint." She leaned forward and put her lips next to Andras's ear. "Your butt looked great in those shorts I bought you." Vera pulled back, laughing giddily. "Yeah, I did my hair and everything. I'm going all out! Now come on, we need to get you ready, your outfit just will not do! Did you even try?!"

Andras's heart sank when someone she didn't quite recognize answered. She specifically had messaged Vera instead of knocking because she didn't want to awkwardly have to talk to someone else. Her mind raced, wondering if it was a sibling, cousin... Mother?

She didn't feel any better when it turned out to be Vera, because Vera managed to find a way to reveal herself in a way that left Andras embarrassed rather than herself. "L-Leave my butt out of this!" Andras stuttered, flushing. She subconsciously grabbed at the hem of her skirt, even though she wasn't even wearing the aforementioned shorts at the moment. It was a compliment, but it ended up scattering Andras's thoughts all the same; Why was Vera looking at her like that anyway? In fact, did other people at the club also think that? She didn't have time to think about those thoughts, or she'd end up freezing in place.

She gathered herself and continued. "And I did try, but the Root wasn't providing me any formal wear at all, and you've got a lot of clothes, so I figured... I could borrow something nice..." Andras stared down as her voice trailed off, adopting a meek position. She didn't plan to be playing the "defenseless maiden" card so quickly, but Vera managed to rout her forces on the first attack.

"Formal wear? Don't be an idiot, it's a costume party! You need a costume!" Vera grabbed her wrist and dragged her inside. "And don't tell me it's not. I said it's a costume party and so it is, regardless of what that stuck-up princess says! I already got dozens of people in on it!"

. . . Earlier. . .

"I... I don't like it. It seems mean," Wolf argued.

"Oh for fuck's sake! Just wear that ceremonial armor of yours! That way you look the part, but if Lise sees you she'll think you're just representing your family or something!" Vera scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"That's... not a bad idea, actually..." Wolf mumbled under his breath.

"Of course it isn't!"

. . .

"Trust me, this is gonna be way more fun!" Vera once more insisted. "So what do you think? You wanna be a dark sorceress? Dashing rogue? Witch?" Vera grinned deviously. "Sexy kitten? Ooh, maybe a naughty police officer. I'll let you put me in cuffs." She winked with a lecherous chuckle. "And yes I have cuffs. Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to."

"A costume party? But isn't a masquera-" Andras barely got to say anything before Vera gave her reasons, and grabbed Andras's hand.

Andras had to shake her head at Vera's suggestions. "I don't want ANYTHING that can be described with 'sexy!' This is a school party, isn't it?!" She stepped away from Vera, trying to regain some ground in the conversation. "Of all of those, the sorceress sounds best. But why would you even have the clothes for that?! You don't know anything of the dark arts!" Andras questioned indignantly, as if her own way of life was being called into question.

"Are you sure about that?" Vera crossed her arms and stepped closer to Andras, staring her down. "I bet I could cast a spell on you," she said with a sultry lilt to her voice. She let the moment hang a tick longer before dropping the act for the time being. "But I know you, Alexandria , and I knew you would need me to come to your rescue, so I prepared ahead of time. Also I've gone through more phases than I can count and my wardrobe doth overflow, so we have stuff to work with. And makeup. So much makeup." Vera pointed her finger at the girl dramatically. "No more games, my little demoness! I will forge you into the sorceress you always claimed to be! Or... at least you'll look the part," she said, capping it all off with an apathetic shrug.

Once in Vera's room, she flung open a massive walk-in closet. It was choked to the brim with clothes, hanging from racks, folded on shelves, stuffed into basked, and even old shopping bags. And not so old shopping bags.

"What can I say, my parents piss me off a lot and I choose to let them believe they can buy my love back. Hasn't worked so far, but who am I to disillusion them?" She sighed. "Stuff should be in here somewhere..."

Before long, Andras had various dresses, gowns, and other trappings in various shades of black, purple, and red to choose from.

"Good, now we throw in a big, gaudy amulet or something and you'll be all set..."

Andras cocked her head, thinking about the phases Vera must have went through. 'It feels like she's going through a phase right now, actually...' Andras was a little concerned with the amount of energy Vera was bringing. Maybe she was a fan of the time of year? It was intriguing enough for Andras to ignore Vera's use of her real first name.

Andras dodged the first few lumps of clothing that were tossed from the closet as Vera casually said some fairly sad statements, but a few of the thrown articles of clothing solidly landed across Andras's face.

"Ummm..." Andras thumbed through the clothing, eventually setting some of it on Vera's bed. "You know, I might have an amulet of my own in the Root, if we can't find one in here." Andras's eye settled upon one of the dresses she laid out. "I like this dress with flared sleeves, but it's way too short... Do you have a petticoat or something that would lengthen it?" She held up the black dress, and looked down. "...And it shows off way too much of the chest! Is there supposed to be a blouse under this?!" Andras feared that even the more fringe clothing that Vera had was still far too brazen for Andras's tastes.

"Petticoat? Who do I look like?" Vera stared at Andras in something akin to disgust. "I never even considered buying a petticoat. You're lucky I even know what that is! Don't be such a baby! You have to have confidence! You need to act like you wouldn't care if you walked into the room naked! You need to be so comfortable in your skin that other people get uncomfortable in theirs!" Or something like that, honestly she was making it up as she went. "Besides, low cut or not it barely makes a difference with you." She'd never been one to pull punches. "Of course, that also means you could safely go extra low cut without it being risky..."

Vera sighed, no, of course not. Andras wasn't going to suddenly be OK with that just because Vera told her to be.

"Ugh, fine, hold on..." Vera disappeared into the back of her closet, emerging again with a rather gorgeous, crimson dress that on Andras would be so long it'd almost be dragging on the floor. "I was suppose to wear this to a school dance years ago, but I missed it because I was busy being a delinquent. I was... closer to your size at the time anyway." She then promptly draped it over Andras's head. By the time the girl would have removed the dress and could see again, Vera would be holding up a pair of extravagant eye-patches. Both were adorned with flowers, one a red rose, the other black. "I told you I was prepared! Which one do you like better?!"

Andras was taken aback at the dress Vera managed to find. It was far too pretty for Andras. 'Wait, what am I thinking, too pretty for me? I can't think like that. Even if she's wrong in general, Vera has a point about confidence...' She pulled it from over her head, only to find another article that she didn't expect in Vera's hands.

"W-What are you doing with eyepatches in your wardrobe?!" Andras was washed with confusion, curiosity, and perhaps a little bit of excitement. Her eye darted back and forth over the two options without settling on one. "Um... The rose would probably match the dress better, right? Or does it match too much if it's all red? Wait, would the black one match too much with my hair...?" Andras stopped herself before she wasted Vera's time for any longer. "Um. I think I like the rose more."

Andras took a look back down at the dress, her eyes darting back up to Vera, and then back to the dress. "And this dress is really beautiful, Vera, so... Um... Thank you..." Andras wanted to hide her face, but she was trying her best to be up front. After all, Vera was helping her out, the least she could do is thank her properly.
...Or at least as properly as Andras could do.

"They aren't part of my wardrobe, I bought them for you. I said I was prepared, keep up." Vera rolled her eyes. She'd never understand the way Andras's mind worked. "Next... we..." Vera wandered back into the closet. Then she saw it. She came out of the closet and promptly ripped the red dress out of Andra's hands, tossing it over her shoulder like so much trash. "Forget that shit, THIS is your dress!" She held up a new one, way too overdesigned with frills and ribbons, but yet all in darker tones. It couldn't be mistaken for modern fashion. In fact, one would have had to go back a few ]centuries to make it work. Even then it might've been eccentric.

"I totally forgot I stol- . . . borrowed this," Vera told the other girl. "But combine this and my makeup skills and we'll have you looking ready to cast a spell on the whole ball. Well, that or a curse."

Andras was dumbstruck at Vera's sudden change of dress. A slight sense of irritation weaved through Andras's expression for a moment, but she bounced back quickly. It was easy to do so, since Vera's other dress was equally extravagant. Someone having this much of a wardrobe was such a foreign concept to Andras; she wondered if she personally could have turned out like that if her childhood was different.

Andras's mind snapped back to something Vera said. "Wait, this is stolen?! Nobody is going to show up to the ball and demand it right off of my back, are they?!" Andras only considered such a possibility because of the unpredictable nature of the people Vera has slighted. She already had one crazy night specifically just because of an ex.

Of course, Andras was excited to try the dress. It was something more fitting for a demon lady of despair such as herself, suffused with old world charm. If someone did try to take it off of her, she would just have to show that the sorceress costume was anything but.

"Let's just say I liked the dress more than the girl who lent it to me..." Vera crossed her arms haughtily. "I doubt that tramp will show up, and if she does I'll just tell Wolf to get rid of her." She waved off Andras's concerns. "Then again, every other time someone messes with us, you usually handle it just fine come to think of it. You're kind of a tiny badass." Kidnappings notwithstanding. Quickly trying to shift gears so as not to dwell on those memories, she found her makeup kit. "Now go get dressed so I can complete your transformation. I bet if I do this right you'll be turning more heads than the princess herself."

Andras wasn't sure to pout or just be glad that Vera complimented her, but she eventually settled on a slight pouting. "Hmph. Who's tiny?" Andras mumbled as she stepped into the closet and closed the door behind her. She wasn't sure if Vera was planning on just watching Andras change, but that wasn't going to happen if Andras could help it.

Andras hadn't put on a dress in a decent amount of time, since she prefered her more comfortable setup of hoodie and skirt. Perhaps most concerningly, the dress was tight around Andras's hips as she stepped into it. She began wondering if she was putting it on the right way. "It's actually kind of snug..." Andras said with a tint of worry in her voice. She steadied herself against the closet door, almost losing her balance.

Andras absolutely didn't want to ask for help. It would be an admission of failure, which although a tiny failure, would still be too much. But at the same time, she was concerned she would end up spilling right through the closet doors when she lost her balance the next time. She just had to deal with it, unfortunately. "Um. Vera, you need to help with the back of the dress." Andras said, and quickly added under her breath, "And getting the thing on to begin with..."

"You. You're tiny. Just take the compliment-" Wait. Snug? Weren't they just talking about her being tiny? When Andras asked for her help, Vera had to suppress a grin. No, no, she should give the girl a break now. She'd had her fun. When the door opened, however, Vera almost immediately snorted. The extent to which the dress hugged her curves, and Vera was trying to come to terms with Andras having curves. She probably should've noticed last time too, but Andras hadn't quite drawn attention to it.

"OK, stand still. I promise my hands won't 'slip,'" Vera grabbed the girl's shoulders and spun her around so she could work. ". . .more than once." She said so, but her hands didn't go anywhere they didn't need to and soon enough Andras had been wrestled into the dress. Aside from around her hips, and by goodness what hips they were, the dress fit well enough and wasn't at risk of splitting open on her. "So!" She dragged the girl to a mirror. "What do you think so far? I'm starting to get jealous. I'm almost afraid you'll steal all the attention from me."

Andras breathed a sigh of relief when Vera finally slipped the dress into the correct place. "Weird... I'm surprised it got stuck like that." Andras muttered, still embarrassed by having to call in help. She didn't pay much mind to Vera's reactions, perhaps due to her own self-consciousness.

Andras gave a tentative twirl in the mirror. It was a different feeling to wear something so fancy. She couldn't help but crack a small smile. "I'm glad it fits, becuase I think it... fits." Andras couldn't formulate anything particularly eloquent, because she was too focused on her reflection. She would definitely wear stuff like this more often... if these types of clothes weren't so expensive, that is. "I won't steal your attention, Vera... But what are you wearing anyway?" Andras was curious about that since Vera said she would attend, but it was only now that she had a good chance to ask.

"If you want to know what I'm wearing so badly, then hold still and let me do your makeup. I have a lot of work to do for my outfit, so we need to hurry so we're not too late. After a while it stops being fashionable," Vera told her. "Now when you wink at people do you want to set hearts aflutter with fear or desire? Because I can do either." She had to bite her lip at the suggestion that Andras could actually wink at someone and pull it off. Well, maybe with her help she might manage.

Andras fidgeted for a moment as Vera got closer to apply her makeup. It wasn't something she was familiar with beyond some basics Andras looked up when bored. She was hoping that Vera was going to play the costume straight, rather than surprise Andras with some kind of strange clown makeup. Andras hoped that if it looked too crazy, she would be able to wash it off without incurring Vera's wrath. Or hurting her feelings, if that was even possible. She was also worried that Vera would need to take off her eyepatch, which... was not going to happen. Andras planned to deal with that problem as it appeared.

Andras fixed herself in place as best she could next to Vera as she thought about the question. "Wink? Is that an important skill to have? I guess I'd rather have desire than fear me... Let me try." Andras's face visibly strained as she winked with her right eye. It was clearly a foreign feeling for her, and perhaps more strangely, she had decided to wink with her covered eye.

Vera stood there, waiting for Andras to try. As the two ended up staring at each other, Vera realized that Andras already had... with the eye under her eyepatch. The staring continued a moment longer as Vera resisted the urge to smack some sense into the little idiot. It was just too much.

"That was great. Do it just like that when we're at the ball," she spoke through gritted teeth. "Now stand still and keep your eye shut or else you'll need both eyepatches." Vera sat Andras down and went to work. When she was done, Andras was like a different person. Vera probably could have charged people money to do something like this... not that she needed it.

Dark purple lipstick and glittering purple eyeshadow added some color to the look while maintaining the dark aesthetic, with extravagant winged eyeliner completing the look.

During the process, Andras would have felt something touch her eyepatch, but moments later she'd have felt the other eyepatch be slipped on, so it was nothing too suspicious, and the new one was big enough that it was comfortably slipped over the first without having to remove it.

Her outfit was complete.

"Well we'd better not make this a habit, or I might actually develop a crush on you. What would poor Wolf think, hm?" Vera chuckled absently. "Now feel free to ogle yourself in the mirror while I go get ready." Without giving her an opportunity to respond, Vera walked away and locked herself in the bathroom with her own supplies.

Andras felt a twist in her stomach at Vera's teasing comment. 'A-A crush?! She's just joking around, right? She's with Wolf, so she's gotta be joking. Right...?' Andras felt a blur of excitement, anxiety, and even some shame. Of course, while Andras was stunned by the offhand comment, Vera nonchalantly walked past her and worked on her own costume, leaving Andras's mind in chaos.

Andras felt the new eyepatch as she slowly calmed herself down. It was a different sensation than she was used to, but she really was curious about how she looked. She resisted the urge to touch (and likely mess up) her make up, so she kept idly inspecting the eyepatch as she stood up and walked to the mirror.

Andras's gasp likely could have been heard by Vera in the bathroom. It really was something Andras couldn't have imagined herself. 'I almost look like the real thing...' Andras thought to herself, before locking the thought away. She was an actual sorceror, despite the girly-girl time that was transpiring. She felt like for a moment she almost lost her sense of being a Demon Lady of Despair.

Andras took a deep inhale, calming herself. She had to get back in her element. Vera wouldn't be out for a while, so Andras took the opportunity to try some poses and cool moves in the mirror. She wouldn't likely get an opportunity to do so with such a costume in a decent amount of time, after all.

It took Vera quite some time, but when she finally emerged, the purpose of her change in chair became apparent. She arguably looked more like a demon than Andras ever had. Although, if one were to ask Vera, she'd tell them she wasn't masquerading as any sort of demon. She was dressed up as on of her favorite legends.

"Ready?" Vera asked the other girl. "We're gonna be cutting it a little close at this point." However, she couldn't resist showing off just a little. She stood up straight and flipped a few strands of hair out of her face, throwing on a toothy grin. "Like it?"



Andras was awestruck. "That's... From... Wow." Andras was surprised that Vera even knew the character that she was dressed as. "Do you think that the people of the Ball will even get it?" Vera's grin was infectious, and Andras found herself smirking too. "Either way, I think it's really good." Andras said, eyeing Vera as she showed off her costume.

Andras took a deep breath. It was a journey, but she managed to survive. And it turned out much better than she was expecting. "Thanks to you, I'm ready to go. Shall we?"

"I think it's mysterious enough to pass as a costume no matter what people think it is." Vera chuckled. "And yes." She linked arms with Andras. "We shall. Time to make everyone jealous."

And to make a certain stuck up princess very mad, if she was lucky.

Andras stopped for a moment. She hadn't actually thought up the logistics of going to the ball, now that the two were together in both presence and outfit. "So. Um. Are you going to drive? Or should I summon a horse... or something...?"

Andras didn't have a horse to summon, but if any place was good to show up on a fantastical mount, then it would be a fancy ball. Though... She mulled over the cards she had available. It wouldn't be hard to find a way around town, but it would be hard to do so without messing up her outfit. She wasn't an experienced beast rider by any stretch of the imagination, and the Root's spells for summoning often gave more... aggressive options than she wanted for transport. "It might be hard if I have to summon a ride..." Andras mumbled.

"Oh don't worry about that, my dear," Vera grinned with a toss of her hair... forgetting she barely had any hair to toss at this point. "Just tell me how big of a limo you want. We can do much better than a horse."

Andras stopped in her tracks. "Wait. An actual limo?" Andras's voice wavered slightly, before she realized she didn't answer Vera's question. "J-Just a normal limo is fine!" She quickly added, as if not responding would make Vera rescind the offer.

She turned away from Vera from a moment to gather herself. Even someone like Andras always wanted to make that entrance to a dance. She couldn't deny herself the excitement. The fact that it was Vera coming with her made it even better.

...Or perhaps it was worse? Andras wasn't sure if showing too much enthusiasm would make Vera tease her. Or perhaps not showing enough would make Vera cancel the offer? Andras's mind was stuck between the two options, unsure of which direction to go.

"Oh, how humble Miss Andras, willing to accept simply a 'normal' Limo," Vera teased the flustered girl. "Well that will be a bit easier to acquire, so sure." One phone call later, and they were told their ride would be there within ten to fifteen minutes. "Don't worry, I told them to stock the limo cooler with apple juice instead of beer, just for you."

An obvious joke, since Vera had made the call right in front of Andras and have never mentioned drinks period... but Vera hadn't been able to resist that jab.

Andras puffed out her chest in pride. "Actually, I'll have you know that I will be of drinking age in just a few days anyway." She then wavered. "So um.. I guess you still would be correct for tonight, at least..." Andras's face tinged red with embarrassment. "Since it's so close to the actual day, I was going to treat this like an early birthday party!" Andras let out a nervous laugh, wondering to herself if revealing something like that was lame or not.

She began to wish that the ride would arrive before she dug her grave deeper.

"WAIT, WHAT!?" Vera surged forward, gripping Andras's shoulders tightly. "Why are you just telling me this now?!" Never mind that it was probably her own fault for harassing Andras for 90% of the time she'd know her rather than being an actual friend. This was important! It was Vera and her friend had a birthday coming up. That meant a party. She could do parties.

She was a little annoyed that the princess was apparently hijacking Andras's birthday, but... hadn't Vera technically reverse hijacked it? It all worked out she supposed.

"Well don't wear yourself out, because you'll be getting a party of your own after this!" Vera insisted. Their ride arrived shortly after, but it did not take them directly to the ball. They had to get Wolf first. It seemed only fair, him being her actual boyfriend and all...

He too wore an unusual get-up, but it was perhaps the first time he'd ever truly looked the part of what he was supposed to be, that being the latest of an ancient, well and truly, order of knights. He wore the purest white tunic and trousers Vera had ever seen, complete with golden threading and tassels, beneath silvery, platinum armor with mindbogglingly ornate engravings.

It clearly was a ceremonial outfit, that wasn't meant for, let alone ever having seen, a battlefield seeing as how the armor left too many parts exposed. It also lacked a helmet, but included a crimson cape.

He looked ridiculous climbing into a limousine.

"Wow, you actually went for it, huh?" Vera had to hold in her laughter. It had been her suggestion to dress up as an actual knight for the ball.

"It... wasn't a bad idea..."

"That's a seriously fancy get-up, I gotta admit." It didn't look bad, so much as it was just... anachronistic.

"It's based off of my mother's armor," Wolf admitted, plunging the limo into near dead silence save for the faint rumble of the engine as they began moving again.

"Well... it suits you." Vera added more quietly.

". . . thanks." Wolf squirmed uncomfortably, keeping his gaze lowered. And thus the awkward silence returned.

Andras flinched as Vera reacted so explosively to her birthday reveal. 'I-Is she the type to take birthdays seriously?' Andras made sure to file away that fact in her mind. It made her a little happy to know that Vera would be interested in throwing a party just for her, but it filled her with apprehension in the way that only Vera could manage to do. She figured protesting would not change anything, and Andras was curious about what Vera had in mind, so she kept silent.

Andras was surprised that Wolf ended up with such a costume as he stepped into the limo. 'How much of that was Vera's influence, I wonder...?' She mused, as Wolf and Vera idly chatted about the costume. She didn't quite pick up much of the conversation, because Andras felt somewhat awkward with the two that formed an actual couple meeting up, and she wondered to herself if she felt awkward because of a third wheel effect, or perhaps some other reason...

Andras shrugged it off. She was going to really... Do whatever it was she was supposed to do at a fancy costume party. 'No time to worry about that gut feeling of yours. Especially since you're likely just antsy because of the party.'

Andras sat, lost in thought. She wondered what she would do at the ball, since she didn't want to follow around Vera the entire time like some kind of dog. Maybe she should try and set some kind of goal, like getting someone's phone number...? Andras felt somewhat annoyed that the person she would ask about this is Vera, when Andras is trying her best not to turn to Vera for everything.

Andras frowned slightly as she watched the passing city scenery. 'Maybe I'll just go with the flow and see what happens.'

Vera couldn't take the ensuing silence for more than a solid minute. Why was Andras being quiet too? OK, it was probably because she was Andras. Fortunately, Andras was easy to figure out.

OK, that was a lie. The girl was too weird to totally figure out, but Vera had learned quite a few buttons she could push, for good or for ill.

She reached out and grabbed Andras, pulling her closer so their shoulders were touching.

"Now, what do you think of Andras's outfit? Looks like she'd finally ready to actually inflict some despair don't you think? Maybe even break a few hearts?" Vera forced on a grin.

"O-oh, ummm..." Wolf perked up and quickly glanced over Andras. "Wow, I almost wouldn't recognize you. You could almost get away with wearing that every day!" It took him a second to realize that wasn't necessarily a compliment... "Err, I-I mean... th-that is... I-I'm not trying to s-"

Vera frowned at him as he desperate tried and failed to recover, "Just say it looks good, Wolf. That's all you had to do."

"I-it looks good..." Wolf mumbled while fidgeting anxiously. It was true, anyway.

"Of course it looks good, I put it together for her! Now was that so hard?" Vera rolled her eyes. "Of course, I had a pretty decent canvas to work with, so I can't take all the credit." She nudged Andras playfully. She was going to have to carry the mood all night for these two, wasn't she?

Well she'd dealt with worse she supposed.

Andras almost mirrored Wolf's fidgety posture when subjected to Vera's sudden interjection. It actually somewhat comforted her that she wasn't the only one out of her element, and she found herself smiling at Wolf's fumbling.

Trying to change mental gears, Andras quickly tried to think of a witty reply, and spoke up, "Actually, I wasn't even sure the paint was the right... size for the canvas...?" Andras's confidence began tapering the second she started to speak, but she tried to course correct. "I-I mean, we're lucky that it fit at all. I thought that wouldn't be an issue since you're taller than me!" She nervously laughed, before meekly adding, "I'm glad you both think it looks good."

'Well, maybe going with the flow is fine. It's usually pretty fun with them involved, either way.' Andras thought, and felt a little more confident in the night overall, despite how poorly she managed her reply.

"Oho, is that so?" Vera smirked at Andras. "What are you getting at, hm?" Vera leaned in, almost nose-to-nose with the girl. However, it was all a distraction as her arms snaked around and got into position... before her fingers viciously attacked Andras's hips. "Getting cocky because you've got it where it counts?!"

Wolf just sighed and averted his eyes for Andras's sake, hoping to let her hold onto at least some of her pride.

Andras was already off guard when Vera came so close to her, but she was never prepared for the attack that came immediately after. "Vera, no! Stooop!" Andras cried, squirming away from Vera in between suppressed fits of laughing. Wolf could see that Andras was so surprised that her cards flickered into existence, as if she was trying to find a magical way out of the situation.

Andras eventually managed to put an arm's length between her and Vera (without use of the Root), where she caught her breath. Her face was still red, but she had survived. Somehow. "That... Was... Uncalled for!" Andras crossed her arms with indignation, keeping them ready to protect her sides. "Does she do that to you too, Wolf?" She said, before cracking a mischievous grin and adding, "Or is she just that jealous?

Andras felt a twinge of fear when she said it, but she was finally catching some kind of rhythm in the conversation and didn't want to let Vera win so easily. Andras began to wonder if this was Vera's way of psyching up the (self-admittedly) less social friends of hers.

'Or maybe she's just screwing with us and doesn't have a plan. I guess it's still working either way.' Andras thought, dismissing her image of a mastermind Vera calculating out the night in advance.

"You really don't learn, do you?" Vera suddenly glowered at her. Andras would have to keep wondering about whether Wolf had ever been tickled, for the boy was left silent by the sudden mood change. Vera reached out and grabbed Andras by the collar of her dress and dragged her back over so she could glare directly into the other girl's eyes. ". . . don't move." And suddenly Vera gently dabbed at Andras's eye with a cloth. "Almost made your makeup run. Can't have you get all messed up at the last second, can we?"

And indeed it was the last second. Only a short time later the limo arrived at the ball.

"Well, have fun, my itty-bitty sorceress. I owe Wolf a dance. I'll come check on you later." And with that Andras was abandoned and left to her own devices amongst a sea of people.

Andras gulped a little. The ballroom was large, sure, but the floor seemed paradoxically claustrophobic as she got near it. Or maybe she was being overwhelmed by the offhand glances she was receiving, people wondering about the girl with the eyepatch, or maybe the one dressed for a party set a century in the past. It'd be better if she at least recognized someone... But if she was going to stick it to Vera, she'd probably need to try and woo someone into dancing with her.

Well, not that Andras had any idea on how to do that. She did look up some absolute basics about dancing, but they seemed hard to recall now that she was in the thick of things. She was hoping she'd find some muscle memory when the time came.

Andras bumped directly into a child that had wandered onto the dance floor. Or rather... Not a child, but... "The witch of bones?!" Andras accidentally used her title rather than her name, but even despite the situation Andras had to admit it was a fairly good title that deserved to b used. "Um. I mean, Diana!"

Andras felt a pang of awkwardness. The last time they were together - more specifically, the first time they formally met - well, stressful would be putting it lightly. But if Diana was out in public like this, perhaps it meant she was taking things well? Even Andras knew it would be foolish to try and pry about such matters in this setting. She was going to keep things light and pleasant! Something to introduce herself with, and then some small talk, and then-

"H-How about a dance?" Andras blurted out, cutting to the chase far too quickly. Her mouth had jumped the gun and left her brain in the dust.

Diana was unsure at the Noblewoman's reply. She literally had gone from trying to quench a certain fire, into another one herself. She could have asked backup from Brutus, but that poor lad seemed really out of depth in subtle hints and diplomacy. Well, perhaps she needn't be so subtle with this one. This ... esteemed host had a distinct feeling of... unique reasoning to herself. "Yes, indeed. Far sight is blessing, my lady." She said, trying to hider her frustrated expression well. At least she had not casually insulted someone's birthright. Yet.

Needless to say, she needed a escape route. And like everything in life, she needed to be careful what she wished for. Before asking what kind of idiot would nearly trample her to the ground, she was asked to dance.

Of course it was her. HER. It seemed to be the fate, that when trying to attend a social meeting to mend her grief, one of such root problems was there. She wished to blast that migraine inducing magical clump with the strongest fireball she could afford. Let some steam off...

And yet, she just raised an eyebrow, before sighing. "I would be delighted." In the end it was choosing an idiot over another idiot. A pang of pain ran through her heart. Only him was brilliant among this bunch of dunces. "...but do you even know how to dance?"

"Well..." Andras hesitated for a moment, as she was somewhat expecting to be flat-out refused since she so brazenly ruined her introduction, but instead was given a fairly mundane reply. Any rational person would have asked that, considering Andras's reputation...

"O-Of course! After all, how hard can dancing be, anyway...?" Andras tried to convince herself. She actually was unsure of how exactly she was going to proceed, since she hadn't really expected to find herself dancing with someone shorter than her...

Andras's eye darted over Diana, and her hands fidgeted slightly. 'Um... I know she agreed to dance, but I actually suddenly feel like I have no idea what I'm doing...' Andras's thoughts were betrayed by a flash of embarrassment across her face.

"Very, if you don't want to ridicule yourself." Diana answered, as she bit her lip, and eyed the girl who was making a mess of her magical sense. "Can't be helped then. I will have to do the man's part." She said, as she imperceptiblely made a small reinforcement spell on her limbs and moved forward, boldly clasping Andras hands and pressing the taller girl against herself. She was thankful Andras seemed to be... on the petite side of things.

It would have looked much more ridiculous had it been the demonic sow, for once.

"Just follow my lead." She said, a small hint of smirk in her face. Diana wasn't a petty person most of the time, but even she had her moments. Specially towards this walking disaster of a girl, that had somehow managed to get Lightbringer's attention over her.

Andras felt a chill run down her spine. Either the ball was haunted, or Diana was perhaps giving off an ominous aura... Andras gulped and wondered if she made a mistake trying to extend her hand to the first person she ran into. Of course, as Diana grabbed her, it was clearly too late to run. Andras didn't even have time to complain about how close Diana was before she took off.

Andras's poorly memorized online instructions for dancing more or less became eclipsed by Diana's lead. She seemed far more capable than someone who (likely) regularly gets mistaken for a middle schooler should be. "Um. T-This is at least better than the last time I was taken dancing..." Andras nervously laughed, before coming to a realization. "Um. Right, there's no way you'd know about that. Um..."

For a brief moment Andras thought she might die. She had already fouled so many lines that she's surprised the witch didn't drop her on the floor and leave. She was coming to a distinct realization that she didn't know much about Diana at all - and the stuff she did know was likely not something she should bring up.

Andras had to say something nice. She quickly settled on at least being genuine, hoping that would smooth over the awkwardness. "Um. I hope you're doing alright. Things have been... stressful, so I-I was surprised to see you here..." Andras gave a quick sidelong glance at Diana, while still focusing on keeping up with the witch's superior footwork.

"And what you would have me to do? Drop dead and spend a year mourning?" Diana said, as she continued dancing, as she made her turns even sharper. "Was your head touched, when you gained your powers? You claim to be a dark demon lady. All I see is a willless child." She added, in a harsh whisper, as she made Andras do quite a sharp spin.

"For those who dabble in the arcane, they must have an unbreakable will. I knew that the entire fate would conspire against me today. Idiots are a plenty these days. And the world seems a little dimmer." She added, her usual restraint cracking little by little because of Andras' clumsiness. "But the show must go on."

Andras's head was spinning from Diana's move, but she barely managed to keep her balance. She had to keep a better grip on the witch if she was going to stay on her feet. Of course she also could barely keep on her feet in the context of the conversation - it was perhaps even worse on that front.

Andras wasn't sure how to respond. Or rather, she wasn't sure if she could really say anything to help. Diana's talk actually reminded her of Cel... Which of course made sense, but it wracked Andras's gut with a feeling of dread. She didn't like the idea of someone going down a similar path to Cel at all.

Andras blinked, feeling her eyes water somewhat. She tried her best to keep it together. If she cried here she'd probably fall on the dance floor in moments from the lack of vision alone. "That's... Um. I'm really sorry. I..." Andras trailed off as she focused to keep track of Diana's turns for a moment. "I probably can't help you feel better, can I?" Andras said, her voice wavering a little. "But to shoulder all of that, alone..."

Andras took a deep breath. "I-I just want to say you don't have to! Um. I could tell the first time we met, that you were dealing with far too much..." Andras's thoughts flashed back to when she had hugged Diana. At the time, it seemed to help at least a little. "S-So I would like to help... Even if you think I can't."

"Not unless you want to resurrect people, and let me warn you, It's not advised to." Diana said bluntly as she continued to impose her rhythm on the amateur dancer. She gritted her teeth when Andras tried to empathize with her. It was a different situation than back then, now she was all set to try and forget about the whole deal for a night... only to find that the most glaring remainder of the mess had asked her to dance of all things.

"It must be feel great to be so loved and with so much talent." Diana said, gritting her teeth. "And living in the bliss of ignorance. Once I was like you, and It was wonderful." She paused. "But then he took me in his arms, and things went downhill from there." She added while flexing her tiny reinforced limbs to rise Andras well above her head in the dance. "I really hate how lucky you seem to be."

Andras gave a yelp of surprise when Diana somehow managed to lift her. To any onlookers, it must have been quite a strange sight. It was only a brief distraction from what the witch was saying: words that only further troubled Andras.

"I can't deny my luck..." Andras admitted quietly. "And of ignorance, that entire... situation had taught me plenty, though. And this dance has taught me more... And I'm truly sorry to come and open the wounds once more for you. As little as that must mean to you."

"If the best help I can offer is to avoid you whenever I can... I will. Offering up my help so eagerly was what set me into this unfortunate sequence of events to begin with. I want to try and atone, but some things can't... or shouldn't be solved." Andras couldn't say she was getting used to dancing with Diana, but she at least wasn't in danger of tripping outside of when Diana introduced something new entirely. It didn't change how uncomfortable Andras felt - she prayed for the end of the song.

"So...painfully naive." Diana added as she let Andras rest from the entire dance, save for the finishing pose. "There is no sin in being ignorant, as long as you can learn. " Diana finally said. "It was unfortunate that you tried to approach me when I was most vexed, but then again that allowed me to conquer my fears, once more" The witch said. "Cathartic." She added, before leaning and slipping a magically inscribed paper on Andras cuff. "You may call me upon advice, as you may unwittingly start the apocalypse at some point." She added, before kissing Andras hand and allowing the frazzled girl to rest after the piece.

Andras was too conflicted to really react when Diana kissed her hand. The entire exchange had been... Less than fun, but Andras couldn't shake the feeling that it could have gone much worse at the same time. She gave Diana a somewhat uncomfortable smile.

"T-Thanks." Andras's voice still was somewhat shaky as she looked at the paper she had been handed. She opened her mouth to wish Diana a good night, but something made her reconsider. She instead gave the witch one last nod, before parting ways with her.

As she walked and was clear of Diana, Andras let out a massive sigh of relief. It felt as if a great knot within her stomach had been undone, and she could breathe normally once more. 'Please... Let me never get a dance partner like that again...' Andras wordlessly prayed, as she took deep breaths.

@Hammerman@Scarifar@KillamriX88

---

She still hated him. Sorry Christine, but dear immortal everlasting gods above did she still hate him. He just had to remind her why, too. Tonight of all night, her first night back, she's civil, she opens up for once and what does he do with that olive branch? Oh, yeah, that's right, take it and stab her in the heart. She stood stock still, teeth gritted, white knuckled as every word Rurik spoke pushed her steadily through right through anger, past fury, way past livid, until she was so mad it was legitimately becoming hard to string together complete thoughts.

"You fuck." She said, coughing up the words from somewhere deep in her throat like phlegm. "You...you murderous fucks try to have me...I apologize to you...you should...you can't even...gyahhhhngggg..."

She devolved into complete incoherence as she began to shake like an active volcano. The air around them began to heat up and the front of Katherine's dress began to smoke and dissolve as the heat from he scar burned through the material and shone through, looking for all the world like a lava filled crevasse over her heart and giving her a neckline that she would have never been comfortable with if she had been thinking about it. The words "incandescent rage" had perhaps never been more appropriate.

And then, to make things worse, someone just had to put themselves in the way. A first year, one of the first years it sounded like. Her name..her name..her name...she searched through the rage clouds to try and find a name, anything to distract her from what she really wanted to do right now. Linda? Miranda? Rochelle? Michelle! Michelle, Belinda. Had that split personality thing going on. Good kid about half the time, kind of annoying the other half. What was she saying? This is a ball. A ball. Have some fun. Fun! Fun.

Fun.

Christine was having fun.

She focused on that, repeated it in her mind, and as she did she swore she could hear another voice chanting it like a mantra alongside her. Christine didn't need her sister being the drama bomb that ruined her night. She felt the shaking subside enough for her to think. Right. Right. Was she okay? Absolutely not. Was she in control? Hell yes.

"Yeah. We're all having fun tonight." She said slowly, turning to the pair in one of a first year and forcing a smile. "Thanks you two. Thank you so much. And as for you." She said, fixing her burning gaze back on Rurik. "You have a great night too. I'm really trying to mean that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go cool off."

With that she turned stiffly and stomped off, careful to keep her eyes to the floor as she picked her way through the hall. She hadn't spotted any ninja mask in the crowd tonight but if she did it would take a miracle to keep her from knocking his teeth out of his head as she was now. It would be better for everyone involved if she got out of here for a bit.

She felt more than saw herself shove open the door and emerge out into the chilly nighttime air, plodding across the cobblestone path laid out before that lead to the adjacent park. Past the eager couples lining up for rides on big fancy carriages like something you would see out of a fairy tale. Across the carriage road, straight on past a bench, onto the grass, through a small cusp of trees whose stray branches sizzled as they brushed past her. Straight, straight, straight.

She found herself, eventually, at the edge of a pond. It was fairly large, so large it had a beautiful wooden bridge that was even now being crossed by one of the laughing couples on their magic carriage ride. She watched it, standing there on the shore until the laughter and clip-clop of hooves faded away. If she were a movie princess this was about the point in the plot where she would spontaneously break into song. Instead she spread her arms wide, tilted forward and let herself bellyflop right into the pond.

The water closest to her immediately boiled, erupting into a storm of churning bubbles as her heat dissipated into the water fixture. Wafts of steam began to rise off of it into the chilly air as Kath's head emerged, hacking and couching and blowing water out of her nose because she hadn't held it because she was a god damn idiot. "Worst princess ever." She said to herself as she tread water. This thing was surprising deep. They must never have intended for someone to jump in at all, least of all from the side she did. On the upside, the area she had plunged in was now at least as warm as a hot, relaxing bath. Relaxation was exactly what she needed, so she took a deep breath of the steam and felt herself beginning to mellow out. Nearby her mask popped up out of the water. She grabbed it and backstroked until she felt her back hit the bank. She held on there, wiping the hair out of her face and making sure she didn't have any more wardrobe malfunction. Finding none, she sighed and let herself sink a little deeper into the water.

"I'm trying, sis." She said to herself. "By the gods I'm trying."

@Scarifar@Gentlemanvaultboy

---

Cassius had made it to the ball, but... he couldn't find Katherine. Or even Christine. Or... anyone. He couldn't find a single person he knew.

It took the boy far too long to realize that this was because he'd gone to the wrong part of the event. There was a separate area dedicated to people who'd fought against the cultists, mainly the students of the schools involved in the tournament, but he'd just gone to the part where all the rich donors who hadn't fought were hanging around.

That also explained why it had been so boring.

He finally made it to the right part of the ball, and just in time to be given the perfect opportunity to locate Katherine. It was easy, because he could smell how angry she must have been. It was a smell he'd gotten accustomed to, because she got mad a lot and her clothes tended to suffer when that happened.

"Hey! I was wondering when I'd run into someone I know!" Cassius immediately cringed and swore he felt a twinge of pain in his chest at the voice of Vala Ace. "I don't know a lot of people and it's a big crowd, you know?!" THe girl jumped right in his path of tavel. He tried to lean around her, but she leaned as well in an attempt to maintain eye contact. "Um, um, Cassius, right?"

"Err, y-yeah." Cassius pursed his lips.

"Yes! I remembered!" Vala clenched her fist happily. "So, are you having fun? I'm trying to have fun! It's a lot different than most parties like this I've been to! People are actually trying to have fun here! It's great! I didn't expect to feel so out of place, but I don't mind!"

It took Cassius a second to realize what the girl meant. He noticed now, looking around, that a lot of the people his age were in... festive costumes, rather than traditional high-class attire. Vala, meanwhile, was wearing a rather lovely gown. He actually had to do a double take. It was like she was a completely different person... although she still acted the same. If anything, what made her seem most out of place was how she was still behaving while wearing the dress.

"Well, um, you look nice, so it's not so bad, right? B-but if you'll ex-" He tried to quickly duck by again, but...

"Yeah, and I still got one of these mask thingies!" She held up a little mask on a stick and placed it over her eyes. "I always liked these!"

"C-cool... but..." He took a deep breath. He really needed to stop being so nice. "Look, I need to talk to someone, OK? I haven't seen Katherine in weeks and I've been worried about her!"

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?! I'll go with you!" She grinned. Cassius had to take another breath.

Unfortunately, when she stepped aside... Kath was gone. Worse, Rurik was there. Well that cleared things up, didn't it? That must have been why Katherine was so mad.

. . .

When Katherine walked away without trying to burn multiple craters into his body with her fists, Rurik raised an eyebrow and glanced at the girl who'd interrupted them.

"Huh... I'm impressed. Normally there'd be a lot more scorch marks by now." Rurik then shrugged. "Whatever. Saves me the trouble-"

"You just can't help yourself, can you!?"

Rurik just grit his teeth and suppressed a groan. He was trying to leave!

"Hi, you two!" Vala called out from behind Cassius upon seeing Michelle.

"Uhh, do I know you?" Rurik glanced about, before pointing to himself in confusion.

"Wasn't talking to you, but hi anyway!" Vala smiled. OK. Apparently this one had a few screws loose then.

"So what did you do this time, huh?!" Cassius crossed his arms.

"Who says I did anything?" Rurik frowned back at the boy. Perhaps the greatest compliment Rurik would ever pay Christine was the fact that he hadn't broken up with her simply to avoid having to deal with this shit. Unfortunately, Cassius just kept glaring at him. "If you mean Kath, that was just her finally apologizing for all her bullshit."

". . . what?" Cassius hadn't expected that answer of all things.

"Yeah. Crazy, right? I mean, I told her to fuck off, but it still happened. Honestly I think we're making progress."

"You what?!" Cassius couldn't believe it, but yet there wasn't a hint of deception coming from Rurik, he could tell at least that much. "You're pathetic. She didn't even owe someone like you an apology to begin with!"

Rurik remained silent for a second, perhaps the only sign that Cassius's words hadn't completely bounced off of him, "Wowww, someone like me, huh?" And now he could even hear the gossip mill churning in the background.

"He was so rude to that girl!"
"Wasn't that Katherine? That Katherine?"
"What do you expect? Isn't he one of those Mephistos?"
"Did he suggest he has some sort of relationship with Christine?"
"That's a scandal waiting to happen. You think someone would do something."
"What do you expect? She's a Mephisto too isn't she?"

See? This is why he avoided people. Or at least places where he wasn't allowed to hit said people.

"Big words coming from the dipshit who stormed my school and attacked me. Or do you think you're above it all?"

"I gave you a chance to talk, you just wouldn't take it!" Cassius insisted.

"No, you just refused to accept my answer." Rurik didn't seem remotely amused at this point. If anything, he was just looking down his nose at Cassius with utter contempt. "But hey, it was about Kath right? That bitch'll drive anyone to the brink."

The next moment, Cassius was grabbing Rurik by the collar of his shirt, "Shut up! Stop twisting things!"

"Fine, fine. You want a high horse to sit on? Well here you go!" BANG! Suddenly Cassius was sent skidding across the floor on his back. Rurik let out a laugh. "Mephisto's, right?! Bunch of violent thugs! Never know when we'll go off!" He rolled his neck back and forth, as if loosening himself up. "Ah, well, probably not a great place to get into a fight, so I'll head out. Here, kid, you earned it!" He suddenly took the knife he was carrying as part of his costume and pushed it into Michelle's hand for some reason. It was probably fine. It was just a prop knife, right? Surprisingly weighty though, and with a very realistic metallic sheen- No, no it was definitely real.

Rurik may or may not have slept in during one of his naps and he may or may not have grabbed the wrong knife on his way out.

And he may or may not have handed it off after seeing security eyeing him just now... And with that taken care of, he began walking, quickly, toward the nearest exit.

Meanwhile, Cassius pushed himself to a sitting position, aggravated that he'd let his guard down and been sent flying by Rurik again. He hadn't even had a chance to even the score, this time. That said, looking around at the crowd, setting off explosions probably would have been a bad idea. He grit his teeth and slammed his fist against the floor. This wasn't like him, losing his cool. He'd learned a long time ago to not have outbursts. Someone like him couldn't afford to. If he picked fights, the second he started winning, the powers would start coming out, and Cassius's powers were just... too much. If he fought back with them, people, including himself, would get hurt.

And... he'd done that, hadn't he? Suddenly Rurik's words felt a lot heavier as they repeated in his head.

"Dammit..." he cursed under his breath.

"Um, are you OK?" Vala asked him.

"Yeah, I..." He sighed. "I'm just gonna... go..." Without giving the girl another chance to interrupt him, he got up off the floor and just walked out of the ballroom.

"Oh. OK!" Vala blinked and then looked at Michelle. "Crazy, huh?! I like this city, way more stuff happens here than back at home!"

. . .

Once Cassius was out of the ballroom, his eyes were drawn to something. He hadn't really had a plan, but... well Kath left a really easy trail to follow. Footsteps burnt into the ground, charred plants that she'd brushed past. Only a few minutes later he'd easily tracked her down. He crouched down at the edge of the pond, just staring down at the patch of shore in front of him.

"Hey, Kath. Long time no see, huh?" He tried to sound happy to see her, but, if he was being honest, he'd had the enthusiasm beaten out of him.

---

---

Bak hardly even remembered Yuuto leading her inside, which is something she would come to regret later but really there was no helping it. Rurik’s joke had shocked the life right out of her, and just as she had been recovering from that Christine had shown up in an utterly scandalous costume that took her breath away a second time. A terrifying double whammy. Horror, embarrassment, stark relief, slight anger, puritanical stick-up-her-ass indignation all swirled together inside her and essentially nessiciated she run on autopilot until all the emotions were sorted into the relevant boxes.

When she finally came out of it she found herself crunching through some kind of cracker, richly adorned with some black jelly that certainly tasted expensive. She looked around, worried a little, as she blocked a section of a table laden with various fancy snacks and refreshments, but compared to the fanciest parties of her fantasies the spread was actually little disappointing. Nevertheless she quickly reached out from under her costume and snatched another of those jelly crackers.

Gulping it down she turned to Yuuto. “Uhhhhhh, I hope I did not do anything embarrassing.” She said. No one was screaming and nothing was on fire, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

Yuuto glanced over at Bak, fighting to prevent form chuckling at how the machine girl had to maneuver to eat her snacks. However, at her query, he shook his head. ”Iie. No embarrassment came to you, Bak-san.” At this, Yuuto turned back to the crowd he’d been watching like a hawk ever since the two had stepped foot inside the ball. At first, Yuuto was sure he’d spotted some THRONEs agents, but they’d disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared. Yuuto grunted in annoyance. Keeping track of THRONEs was as hard as keeping track of a ninja (something he had some experience in). If they didn’t want to be seen, there was no way he’d be finding them any time soon.

However, Yuuto’s attention would be drawn to Katherine and her rather explosive exit. Yuuto’s body had tensed, prepared for action, but he relaxed as she left. He reached out for some punch, casually sipping on it as his eyes continued to wander.

Bak tried to follow where Yuuto was looking, briefly flipping on her thermal vision as her eyes landed on a girl ruining her pretty blue princess costume as she stomped away and flinching at the sudden white that engulfed her vision. She quickly flipped it off, realizing from a glance who it must have been and tensing up right alongside Yuuto, but to her relief the girl didn’t even notice them. After a few moments she lowered her weapons and giggled. “It is good thing we are wearing masks. I see why it is you do it all the time. It would not be good idea to get in fight with Christine's sister here.” She sighed. “Still, is nice to know she is all right. For Christine’s sake.”

Yuuto nodded his head absently at Bak’s assessments. ”Hai, for sake of Christine-chan, is good to know. However, bigger concern is demon inside.” At this, Yuuto shook his head.

”Perhaps is better to change subject. After all, would not want to ruin good evening of relaxing, ne?” the ninja asked, after finishing off his punch. ”What say we spar sometime, Bak-san? Am always seeking to improve myself.

“Hah, you want to test yourself against second scariest monster in all Yek. Da. Da! I would be honored.” She said excitedly. She suddenly turned and looked around the room, thoroughly scanning from side to side. “I do not think they have Bear Pit here though. Is disappointing. We could have done so right now, after I got rid of bear.” In fact, this was less extravagant than what she had expected of a decadent foreign princess. No wrestlers, so aria singers, so acrobats or small people that tumbled. “Maybe princess is impoverished.”

Yuuto himself glanced around, after making note of Blak’s pleased expression. However, he quirked an eyebrow at her. ”Second scariest, Bak-san? Who is scariest?” he asked. As she continued, Yuuto just became more confused, though he tried to hide it from his face. Bear pit? What kind of place did Bak come from?

At the impoverished bit, Yuuto couldn’t help but chuckle. ”Hai, is possible. No pachinko machines, no entertainers, and no tea station. Is very unusual party. Perhaps restrictions prevent better party?” he speculated. After all, it seemed to make sense to him that the Rhean government would restrict more dangerous displays.

That didn’t seem right to Bak, her country had tons of restrictions and that didn’t mean the nobility couldn’t throw insane parties. At least, that was what she had heard when listening to her fathers old war friends and the closest they had ever gotten to such a party was setting fire to the mansions they had been held in. She was happy to know that she wasn’t the only one that thought the entertainment was kind of light though.

That was less concerning than Yuuto’s first comment, because that meant she got to talk about her favorite subject. He could see her eyes light up through the holes in her costume. “That monster is Baba Yaga. She is greatest, most frightful monster in whole world. An evil old witch woman that flies around the night, cackling, giving out blessing and curse according to her whim. Some say all monsters that live in Yek come from her somehow. She is my hero.” Bak suddenly got a curious look in her eyes. “Do you have monster like this where you come from?”

The ninja listened in fascination as Bak talked about the Baba Yaga, almost as if it were some sort of celebrity. At Bak’s question, Yuuto chuckled. ”In Jubanese culture, we have many such creatures. Kappas that drown humans that wonder too close to river bank, vicious kamaitachi that chop legs off and sew wound before can blink, and kitsune, fox spirits that can transform into human to trick targets. Even shinobi such as I were used to scare children into behaving.” Yuuto finished. ”We have many horrors, not just one.”

Bak listened like a child to a bedtime story, except these stories that were used to frighten children only inspired wonder and excitement in her. She wanted to see these many horrors, she wanted to fight with them and see who was better. She would like to see a Kamaitachi try to cut its way through her legs, or one of these Kitsune try and outfox bullet. It was interesting how even someone as normal looking as Yuuto could be considered a monster back in his home though.

“Rhea does not have nearly as many horrors as our homes, does it?” She said thoughtfully. There were demons, but every place had trouble with demons. You could walk in a forest or down by a river here and not have to worry about something coming to devour you. “Do you think this is why Mr. Mephesto had to find horrors like us?”

As Yuuto finished telling these tales, he grew wistful for his homeland. Jubanese cities had a certain air about them that Rhean ones just couldn’t compete with. True, he’d never lived in Juban, but he’d gone on trips with the family. The Kugekino ancestral grounds were still occupied, and they’d gone to report on how business was doing with Rhean clients. However, Bak’s comments brought him out of his reverie.

”Hai, compared to home, this country quite tame. However, Rhea not completely safe. Mephisto-dono operate from shadows, as do many others. Plus, we walk streets, do we not? Rhea maybe not have horrors, but Rhea still must deal with us. Perhaps we try to do homes proud, ne?”

Bak giggled. “Da, I have been trying. I can not walk in so many shadows though. Clank too much. Would get Tovarish in much trouble if I were to make too many people afraid, draw torch and pitchfork mob right to Mephisto’s door.” She wished she were able to be that kind of scary sometimes, lurking and moving like a ghost through places. People only knowing you were there from the creeping hairs on the back of their neck stiffening. Then again, from what she had seen, being a ninja wasn’t all fun. “Yuuto, are ninja very much like you see in movies? What is it really like? Oh, if this is not big secret I mean!”

Yuuto nodded in understanding. Of course Bak would have issues with stealth. However, she then asked about… ninja? Yuuto shook his head. ”Shinobi you see on film are not like real shinobi. Real shinobi prefer stealth, efficiency, and going straight for kill. We are assassins, killers, and to be used like a honed blade. There is no such thing as ‘honorable’ shinobi. We do not allow feelings to get in way of job. We are not humans. We are tools, to be used by clients as needed.” As he said this, his voice was hard and determined. This was what he had been taught from birth. He was not a person, he was a tool. His goals were to serve his clan and his clients. If he failed, then he was more worthless than a broken tool, and would be discarded as such. This was his life, and he regretted telling Bak about it. He’d hoped to keep her innocent to the darker side of what he did, but he also wouldn’t lie to her.

“Oh.” Bak said, queer understanding layered in her voice. “You become tool because tool does not have to feel bad, da?” She said softly. “Tool is not guilty of anything because tool can only be used by someone else.”

”We become tool because that is how we live. We earn living by being tools of employers. As for guilt… is difficult to overcome, sometimes…” Yuuto said, trailing off. Some might say that one as young as Yuuto should not speak in such a tone, but Yuuto also knew how close he’d been to actually killing another sentient being during the tournament. Ironically, him doing his job had brought about a spate of… unpleasant circumstances in his life lately. Part of why he was here. Yuuto shook his head. ”Please, let us talk about other things. Perhaps later we will discuss more about shinobi, but tonight is for enjoying, ne?”

Bak instantly understood that she had overstepped her bounds, and shrank down inside her costume. “I am sorry.” She said. “Why do you not ask me question, then? I have asked so many of you so far. Anything at all.”

Yuuto shook his head. ”Is okay, Bak-san. Is sometimes sad to talk about work with friends.” As she continued, he had trouble hiding his surprise. What would he ask about Bak? ”What brought you to Rhea, Bak? If is okay to ask.” Yuuto always had wondered why Bak would be in a place like this.

Bak was slightly taken aback. She hadn’t expected a question like that. “Mr. Mephisto’s man recruited me. I...there was not...ummmm,” She struggled to word the answer, though it didn’t seem as though she were trying to hide anything. At least, not from him. “I had nothing left to do at home. There was no one that would...mind...if I were to leave and Mr. Tatthel, this was the man’s name, he told me Rhea was beautiful city and that I would have more fun doing work here than waiting for Fearless Leaders men to come pick me up. So he put me on cart full of spiders and put me in crate in back of airplane and smuggled me out of country. And now am here.”

Yuuto patiently listened as Bak told her story, hiding any thoughts he had about the incident. However, after she finished, he quirked an eyebrow. ”Is… interesting way to travel. I hope Rhea has brought you good tidings. Is good place, when you know where to look.” the ninja cryptically replied. After all, his family business had found success in Rhea. No matter how much you polished a city, there was always a seedy underside looking to acquire more, even if it meant working outside the law.

“Mmm-hm!” Bak went, nodding. “I did not think so at first. I thought, when I first arrived, that all the people here were like the children back home. Mean. Scornful. Only good as targets.” As she spoke an incredibly cold bitterness crept into her voice. Her eyes became glassy and hard, like the glass sight on a rifle. “When I first came to St. Lucifer’s they surrounded me to make sport. Laughing. Jeering. Trying to drive me away. So I started blowing them up like always. But then do you know what happened?” All of a sudden that glassy look vanished like an exorcised ghost and Bak pointed across the room to the boy currently doing his best to leave it. “Rurik came, and he started blowing them up too. With me. I did not know what to think, because this had never happened before. And then I met council, and Miss Celestine, and you and...city is good place. I found where it is good.”

Yuuto nodded at her story, surprised at how… bitter Bak had sounded. Yuuto had never heard that tone from her before. However, it quickly passed, and Yuuto smiled at the end of her story. ”Is good that you have found where you belong. Void Wisdom say ‘Is not power that makes one strong. Is people to fight for and protect that gives one strength.’ Treasure friends, Bak. They will make you strong.” Yuuto dispensed the advice as if it were from a wise monk on top of a lone mountain peak.

Bak tilted her head, lost in thought. Was that really true? What about back in the village, when she had been alone. She had felt so much stronger back then. She stood alone against the scorn of the entire village and laughed as they broke themselves against her. So had she been protecting something from them? What? Who? She could only think of two people, but the villagers would never think to harm them.

Then who else could she have been protecting them from?
What was it that had made her so strong?
What was she doing wrong now?

“I will have to think about this.” she said, her voice making it obvious that she was taking what he had said maybe more seriously than even he had meant it. It took her a moment to remember that they were supposed to be having fun, she she pushed those questions down to perk back up. “If this is case then it would be better to spend more time with us. I will make you strongest shi-no-bi to ever live!”

As Bak’s head tilted, Yuuto saw some minor emotional conflict that she only betrayed in a few quick flashes of emotion. Confusion was chief among them. At first, Yuuto was worried he’d somehow managed to break the poor girl, but then her voice sounded out after what felt like an eternity. However, it was her declaration that stunned him. Him? The strongest shinobi ever? To stand up to the likes of Hanzo, Goemon, or even Fujibayashi? He smiled to Bak, and as only his eyes were covered by his mask, it was obvious it was a full beaming smile.

@KillamriX88

---

Katherine lethargically looked up, a familiar voice prying her from her from the relaxing fugue of the water. She slowly smiled, then frowned, then tried to smile again. She didn't know what she was feeling right now. Dread? Relief? Happiness? Honestly she had been both waiting for this all night and at the same time wishing to put it off and now that he was here, head down, looking none to happy, she was having trouble figuring out what she should say.

"Hey buddy." She finally settled on, the words coming out breathily as though her lungs were only letting her use so much air lest she put her foot in her mouth. "I was afraid for a while you had given up on me. Maybe a party where everybody is wearing masks wasn't the best place to meet up again, huh?"

She turned over in the water, scooping some up in her hand and letting it drip out. "Looks like the nights been treating you pretty rough too. You want to come in? The water's really soothing."

---

---

@rawkhawk64@Crowvette

---

Yuuto's smile pointed right at her inspired a perhaps unwarranted confidence in the girl. "We should dance!" She said suddenly, bouncing up and down as she said it. "I have never danced at party before. I will probably never get chance again. I am not most nimble girl, but I can swing like this." Bak proceeded to sort of shake from side to side, the hem of her costume swishing back and forth like a broom as she did so. Unfortunately she got a little to into it, and one of her shakes collided with the confection table. Behind her their was the sound of shattering glass and an annoyed "Gyrahh" that froze her mid sashay. Slowly, she turned her gaze over her shoulder.

Down the table a little ways a boy in a long cloak of multicolored feathers and an ostentatious bird mask with an absurd amount of plumage was trying to wipe a large purple stain out of a patch of feather. The source of the stain was obvious; a collection of over a dozen glasses sat next to him on the table, some of which were still half filled with liquid despite having fallen over. He looked down at them with obvious disgust. "My juice." He growled, looking down the way at Bak and Yuuto. "You!" He said, pointing an accusatory finger at her and holding up the cloak. "Do you know how many birds it took to make this?"

"Ahhh, I am so sorry." Bak said quickly. She knew how much work it was making her own costume.

The boys eyes, though, widened in recognition. "Wait, that voice." He lifted up his mask to get a better look, locking eyes with Bak. "The abomination from the roof."

Bak gasped in surprise. "Stupid bird-brain vigilant boy!"

"And you have a date?" Nas said, ignoring her and bringing up a spyglass he was holding in his other hand up to his eyes and thoroughly examining Yuuto. He didn't recognize him, the removal of the ninja's mask making him practically unidentifiable. "You, sir, are either very generous or have very peculiar taste."

The ominous "ker-chunk" of a missile slotting into place drew his attention back to Bak. Naserph did some very quick weighing of his options, then held up a hand. "Peace, hellspawn, though save that thought. You would make a fine Plan B if Plan A doesn't work out tonight." He directed the gaze of his spyglass back into the crowd and Bak, curious, followed the trail of his eyes until with her own advanced vision the fell upon an uncomfortable looking girl with an eyepatch.

"Why are you stalking cyclops girl?" She asked.

"It's not stalking if I'm not interested in her." He replied, reaching behind him and sipping the last of the grape juice from one of the fallen glasses. "The girl attracts danger at every event she attends. I'm just waiting for it. Though if no disaster has occurred by the end of the night and you still wish to confront me I encourage you to attempt a kidnapping of your own. Her card powers are quite remarkable."

"Oooooh, that is card girl." Bak said, a flash a remembrance playing across her eyes. She didn't know what card girls powers specifically were, but she did now that those three cards Bak had tried to give her back kept appearing behind her ear whenever she went to sleep. "Hmph!" She went, turning her head. "I do not want to take part in stupid nightingale plot. Bird brain cannot even follow simple good plans. Come on, Yuuto." Bak began stomping defiantly toward the dance floor.

"Your plan was stupid and your entire existence is the result of a divine clerical error." Nas called after her, but his attention was fully back to Andras watch by that point.

_{No formatting coz I'm lazy}
@supertinyking

Meredith watched the whole party go forth, her arms crossed and fingers rapping against her own arms. For being a gathering of three schools it was going decently... dull even. Well there was the host of the party confusing the dolly witch for a magical girl show and certain Mephisto fool was making an ass of himself with some Mephisto version of senior Kath. She sighed. Even Wolf was not even on sight. Well, at least less drama. She really needed the drink though... it distracted her from other cravings.

A whistling began to pierce the murmurs and music as Vile returned, a metal tray in hand with one of each type of drink. His movements were slow as he tried his hardest to maintain his balance as he waded through the sea of humanity around him, his height giving him an advantage, the tray going over most people's heads.

"I have no idea what you like in terms of drinks, so I got one of each." Vile says, presenting the drinks to Mer with a bow, while bending his knees. "I hope this is ok. I hate playing guessing games."

Mer looked at the drinks, then at Luigi. She raised an eyebrow, and took just one random drink, before downing it in one go. "You don't need to be so... old fashioned Luigi. You see any of these kids... besides the ohohohoho Princess and the Dolly Witch doing that?"

"No, but I stay at my level and try my hardest to not drop down to fit with the crowd. Besides, I enjoy being dramatic." Luigi states, as he stands back up. He picks a drink and tosses it back. "...Mmm....Regret that choice." He states, wrinkling his nose. "I just can't seem to get my taste buds around some of this fancier stuff. It's like La Croix."

"oh well. I guess we need to find other sources of entertainment." She offered her hand. "Let's try not to shame your school too much in the dance floor, eh?" She said.

Luigi wasn't sure if that was a dig at him, his school, his robotic stiffness, or some sort of self-diss on Mer's part, but Vile sensed a challenge being issued. He set the tray of drinks on some poor fellow's head, leaving it balanced enough to trap the sap under threat of making a scene, before taking Mer's hand and following her.

"Man, you're no fun." Meredith drew closer to Luigi, with little regard for personal space, as she danced with the tall cyborg. Superhuman agility and strength had their mundane uses, and she kept dancing with poise. "You got one hell of a couple for this dance, and you keep wandering about."

Luigi replied to moving like, well, a robot. Movements were smooth, each step landing where he wished, luckily not stomping Mer's feet with his steel soles. "Hmm. We could get fancier about our dance. How do you feel about being tossed and caught?" Vile asks quietly, during one of the more close pressed moments. "As for wandering about, I'm trying to follow your lead...So far that's been quite fun."

"I can fly, dummy." She added. "Being tossed is no big deal." She giggled as she continued to do the lead.

Luigi like a locomotive gaining steam started to speed up, trying to seize control of the dance. "So maybe adding some acrobatics to our dance isn't out of the question?" He asks with a mischievous grin.

"Do you even need to ask that?" Meredith said, as she exerted herself and ended up lifting Luigi in the air for a spin.

"Not what I mea-!" Luigi starts, before he tries his best to stay level as to not end up crashing into the ground, and ending up in the basement. He does his best to play it off, and go with the flow, but it's not hard to tell he's not a fan of being in the air.

Meredith giggled softly, before tilting her head coyly."Sorry. It's my first time... so, what did yoy have in mind?"

"....I was thinking of me picking you up, but...This is definitely more flashy." Luigi says. "Warn me next time strong stuff. " He adds, before trying to continue the dance without missing a beat.

Meredith just did a coy smile. "So what are you waiting for? Spin me like you spin those french guns." Meredith said as she continued to dance alongside Luigi.

"Hmm, a spin...that's a good idea!" Luigi says. "How about a ballerina spin my dear, instead of high flying gymnastics?"

"Mm...not my style but okay."

"Well, what is your style?"

"Rough and wild, but I can accomodate."

".........." This reply seems to cause the cyborg to stall for a few moments as he processes. "...Oh. Well, I like to please, so how about we turn the wild up a few notches? I'm not sure how to dance rough, but wild, that I can get behind."

"Just do what you feel. If you are unused to, no need to overexert yourself."

"I held together detonating enough explosives to level a house, and the house falling on me. Dancing isn't going to do anything...." Vile says, as he begins to move with stiff, robotic motions, humorously starting to do the Robot. He begins his little routine by mocking winding himself up like a tin soldier, his movements going from sluggish, to a normal speed, and eventually he's moving rather fast. He begins to wind down, bowing and motioning to Mer as though saying it was her turn to show off again.

"Robot eh?" Meredith smiled, as she started doing something else. An oriental bellydancing, complete with spins and hip movements.

Luigi watched as she danced, and in his routine mechanically tugged on his shirt collar, small puffs of steam escaping. "Where did you learn those dance moves?" Luigi asks with a goofy smile forming across his face. He was having fun, for the first time in a long time.

"...what do you think my mother's daily exercise routine did involve, Luigi?" She added, as she pressed herself against him once more. "So what next, hotshot?"

"I...I'm not quite sure... Wanna keep dancing, or go do something else? I'm sure there's some trouble we could find..." Luigi offers, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her for a hug.

"...I need to eat." Meredith confessed as she hugged him back. "...A lot in fact."

"We talking a buffet...or...?" Luigi asks as he dances them away from the crowd, basically carrying her if she allowed.

"I see several young bachelors." Meredith said. "Just kidding. Buffet it is."

"Hmm, to public. I could escort you through the rougher parts of tow- Oh, Buffet. Gotcha." Luigi says, chuckling a bit. He notices the ball was light on food, and decides in the purely metaphorical sense to blow this popsicle stand. He starts to carry Mer out of the ball. "Let's ditch this boring crap and go grab a bite then." He says to Mer, a big goofy grin plastered on his face.

"But...I need to help collect funds! Mer is a good girl..."

"I...what?" Luigi asks, seeming a bit worried. "What do you mean funds? Are you ok? I think that's the first time I've heard you refer to yourself in third person."
He shifts his hold on Mer slightly, trying to hold her in a more soothing, comfortable way.

"Charity event, duh. I need to grab a box and smile."

"I know, but they've everyone under the sun here. They're gonna make a killing anyway...besides, you helped fight the cultists. Saved my life. You've done more than enough, and proved you're not just a good girl....you're the best girl." Luigi says, setting Mer down. "...I could run quick and grab something, then bring it back?"

"Alright. Go forth then. I have faith in you... or whatever" Meredith smiled as she pried herself off Luigi. She had some nice fun today, but St. Laurels still had some work for her to do.

Vile nods and runs off to go fetch Mer some food, soon after he vanishes out of sight the loud sounds of a running scrap-heap echos as he does in deed, run.

Michael took another sip of his drink and watched as Katherine walked away from the scene, the situation seeming defused. "And so that's that," Michael remarked. He had been hoping for something a bit more interesting, but it seemed there was already enough excitement between them for one night.

That quickly changed as Cassius came by and began antagonizing Rurik, leading to the two of them starting an altercation between each other. He peeked over at Christine to see her reactions.


Michelle sighed in relief as Katherine walked away. Then she placed her hands on her hips and straightened up confidently. "Another job well done, if I do say so myself," Belinda said, proud of herself.

"What do mean 'job well done'?" Michelle asked, exasperated. She couldn't believe Belinda sometimes. She always jumped into dangerous situations recklessly, and Michelle had to be the one to get caught in the middle of them all. "That could've gone very wrong, very quickly."

"But it worked out fiiine," Belinda countered. "And I say all's well that ends well."

She turned when someone very familiar to her came by. "Vala! You're here too, huh?" Belinda greeted her, slapping her on the shoulder. "Good to see ya again!"

Michelle wanted to add a bit of her own greeting, but was interrupted by the upcoming fight between Rurik and Cassius. Michelle was in mental anguish, wondering what it was about this ball that was bringing so much conflict. Fortunately, it didn't last very long, and both sides went their separate ways, though not without a surprise knife in her hands. "Huh?" Michelle said, switching her gaze between Cassius and the knife multiple times. Then she held the knife far away from her, panicking over what to do. Belinda was quick to take over again, saying, "I'll take care of this," before tossing the knife over to a nearby table, clattering loudly as it landed. Brushing her hands together, Belinda said, "There. That wasn't so hard, now was it, Michelle?"

Michelle, blushing, could only respond with a small, "Shut up."

Returning her attention back to Vala, Michelle sighed and gloomily replied, "It would've been nice to relax and enjoy myself here."

"I dunno what you're on about, Michelle. I'm having the time of my life," Belinda added.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

---

"Hey, buddy."

Somehow the words made the fist that clenched around his heart let go. He hadn't even realized how wound up he'd been until the relief hit him. He let out a breath and chuckled.

"Sure." It wasn't exactly a public pool, but he didn't let that stop him. "Yeah, you could say that," he replied as he maneuvered himself so he was floating next to her. "I tried to find you before... I don't know if you got my messages... uh... it didn't go well." Oh he'd gotten some answers, sure, but the journey to get them had been... messy. "But, hey, here we are huh? Still in one piece?"

He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled, let alone wanted to, but not it was suddenly easy again.

---

@Scarifar

---

"I see..." It seemed the two girls had differing opinions on things. Vala wasn't going to lie, she was sort of with Belinda on this one. "So is fighting not something you do at parties in Rhea? That's a little disappointing; I guess some things are the same no matter where you go." And yet that one boy had been so willing to send Cassius flying. "Did you know the other two?" she asked, referring to said boy and Katherine. Katherine was a student of their school, and yet the few glimpses she'd gotten at this party was the first she'd seen of her.

Despite this, the girl seemed to have a reputation. A reputation amongst the students usually only meant one thing: power.

@KillamriX88

---

At least he wasn't mad.

"Yeah." She replied. "Did you not get mine? Ah, screw it. Doesn't matter." She could just tell him. She needed to tell him. She needed to talk like normal. "I got 'em. At least, the ones on our home phone. I don't know what happened to my cell, it's probably sitting in an evidence locker somewhere. Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner, I was somewhere no one was going to find me. Thobias ended up pulling me out and setting me and Chrissy up in a safe house with what I'm guessing were the best doctors you could buy with dirty money. They did good work though. All stitched up in one piece, more or less."

That thought led to another, one that sent her as bolt upright as she could in her present condition. In her chest the scar still glowed faintly even after defusing its heat into the pond. "You are in one piece, right? I only learned about what happened days later, you know. I didn't...I was worried at first, not that I thought that those bastards could beat you, but..."

She stopped, deflating a little back into the pool. Relax. Just relax. "Gods, I was so relieved to hear your voice." She breathed out. "Your family's okay, right?"

As Yuuto watched, Bak began to make a spectacular show of swaying, and ended up crashing into the snack table. Even better, some poor sap had gotten himself wet. As Bak apologized, the figure antagonized her. It was then that Yuuto recognized him, but Bak beat him to the punch. Yuuto just watched as Bak nearly escalated the verbal altercation into a brawl he would have no problems jumping into, before she stomped off to the dance floor. Yuuto approached Nasaraph.

"Urusai, kono yarou. You speak ill of Bak-san again, and I will turn you into new custom feather quilt to gift to her. Baka yaro." With that, Yuuto followed after Bak, chuckling at her last-minute insult that she hurled at the bird boy.

"I hope she likes this..." Luigi said to himself silently as he began walking back towards the ball, unable to sprint as he had to take care not to jostle the takeout he had picked up for Merdith. He had grabbed her some tacos from a food truck that he had ran across on his way, and figured it'd be faster to grab food from there. He cut through an alley to save time, he had figured this was a much nicer part of town and that he'd be fine to. He even began to whistle as he walked, for despite all the stress and misery he felt like he was dragging behind him, today was nice. Not even Marty and his date being nasty could manage to ruin this so far nice night.

Until he heard the buzzing. He looked behind him to find Marty hovering above the ground, a cloak of flies carrying him. "Why're you h-" Vile began, before Marty leaned, and a projectile came crashing into Vile's face, lifting him off of his feet. It was a stop sign that had been ripped out of the ground, but was now buried firmly in Luigi's skull, though one of his eye sockets. He began to shutter, the damage to his brain disrupting his ability to move as the swarm descended upon him, and began to rip the flesh off of him. He tried to scream, but as he opened his mouth flies flooded inwards, and began to destroy him from the inside. It didn't take long, no more than three minutes before a pile of cleaned bones and metal collapsed where Luigi Vile once had stood. With a flick of his hands, Marty directed the pile be dumped in the street, where it would be found. "Ahh, easier than I thought it would be. Goodbye Luigi, you died unloved, and unceremoniously. Just as you should have." Marty says, before he begins to head back to the party. He didn't have long to maintain his alibi, and the body would be found soon when people began to leave.

From a near by rooftop, a hooded figure watched in horror as one of his allies were rapidly taken apart, and reduced to nothing. Norrix slowly made his way over to Vile's body, and frowned. "Your story does not end like this." He whispered, as he begins to paint a circle around the body, through a cut on his finger. He begins his quiet chant as he begins to make markings within the circle.

"Come on, get up."

"Your father needs you."

"Your friends need you...."

"Mer needs you...."

The robotic eyes in Luigi's skull flared to life, giving off two small points of dark red light.

"Sssssssssssscccraaaaaaaaaaap yaaaaaarrrrrrrdddddd...." Luigi's damaged voice box hissed, as it rattled around the pile.

The Cultist nodded, and picked up the heap as he took flight, two wings bursting from his back.....



@AtomicNut

The ball was coming to a close, and people had begun to leave, groups had split off to talk before going home and it seemed like things were all but over. As things wound down Marty would appear from the crowd, a wide smirk plastered across his face. "Looks like Vile blew you off....Figures." He began, cleaning his nails as he spoke using a toothpick. "Although, maybe he finally figured out he couldn't put together such a broken wretch."

Thump, thump, thump.

"Or maybe he found a nice refrigerator, that seems more this pace..."

thump, thump, thump...

"O-"



"Is he bothering you Mer?" Luigi's voice asks from this new body, its jaws unmoving as it spoke. Marty's eyes begin to widen, and he began to sweat, like he had just heard a ghost speak. The figure reached into his cloak, and pulled out a small metal box, which it opened to reveal some home-made tacos, fries, and a burger. "Sorry that took so long, ran into a little problem." Vile says, before letting out a wheeze like laugh, his new lipless mouth actually moving as he laughed.

@Hammerman@Gentlemanvaultboy

---

Rurik had finally successfully fled the party. He'd come very, very close to taking advantage of said fact and going home before someone else happened, but for some reason he just couldn't. He'd already left, and that was that, but he couldn't quite go all the way either. Instead he found himself leaning against one of the pillars for the main gate just waiting.

He'd shown up, mingled, and made a half-baked attempt to be polite and sociable... but he hadn't said goodbye. He wasn't sure at which point he'd decided he cared about something like that, but he couldn't shake the feeling that totally up and disappearing would be... wrong.

As he leaned, he saw a couple of others leave, and then one of them came back... and then another person stomped by who he was at least 90% sure hadn't been there before. Well, "person" might have been charitable, but he was friends with a walking tank, so he tried not to judge.

"Was... that... Bak's brother? Does she... have a...? Fuck it, I don't care." Rurik just averted his gaze as the being stomped by. It was a ball filled with students who'd just fought off a demonic invasion. Even a big, stompy thing like that was screwed if it made any wrong moves. Probably.

Besides, it seemed to be minding its own business...

---

@Gentlemanvaultboy

---

"What? Yeah, yeah... everything's fine on my end. And, duh, of course you must've gotten mine. I did get yours. It's how I knew to look for you here. I just, uh, got lost..." It was a tiny thing, but it felt like a continuation of a much bigger thing. He felt like every time it mattered he'd end up MIA. "We shouldn't have to ask these kinds of questions," he said quietly. "I should have been there in the first place... but somehow I never am."

Lost, locked in a closet, or just too slow.

"I'm sorry." He rubbed at his eyes. "And now I'm bringing down the mood again... sorry..."

---

@Crowvette@supertinyking@AtomicNut

---

One could have heard a pin drop as the mechanical beast stomped through the ballroom. There was nearly a panic, many perhaps thinking it was another terrorist or cultist attack of some sort... and then it simply delivered some tacos to Meredith.

"What... the..." Wolf's eyes slowly widened in realization.

"Wait, is that Meredith's date?" Vera asked. "Wasn't he wearing a suit before?"

". . . yes." Wolf replied, still in a state of shock. The average person did not slip out of a suit and into that quite so suddenly. Luigi was very unusual and Wolf vaguely recalled he somehow had this strange person's business card.

"I'm, uh, I'm gonna go check on Andras before this gets violent."

"H-he's not-"

"Yet. He's not yet. I'm not that lucky, Wolf!" Vera argued. While she ran off to find Andras while looking up the nearest bomb shelter on her phone, Wolf decided to check on Meredith and her date.

"Uh, s-sorry to interrupt... but... wh-what?" Wolf failed to fully verbalize his concerns as he looked at Luigi beyond just a little perplexed. So perplexed he didn't even notice the sweating, anxious individual that, unbeknownst to him, was the cause of all this.

---

@Scarifar

---

It seemed Vala would have to learn about Katherine another time. She'd been spotted. Perhaps it had happened a while ago, but it was coming to a head now.

"Well, it would seem we're all here. What a momentous occasion," a slightly older boy spoke. Normally, not an especially noticeable fact, but Vala knew better.

"Yep. Huh, almost wouldn't recognize you dressed up like that," another boy, this one her age.

"Hi, Ward. Hi, Jasper. I'm sure it's not that surprising. We all knew everyone else was here in Rhea." Vala smiled at them without flinching.

"Fair enough. I have to say, though. I've already heard of you running your mouth. Here to play hero, are you? Chosen One come to save the day all on her own? You're as ridiculous as always," Ward sighed.

"If you say so, but it's not like you're going to do it."

"Excuse me?"

"We all know you two are only here because of me so that you wouldn't get left behind." Vala tittered. "You want to beat me to the punch and take all the fame and glory for yourselves."

"You think I can't?" Jasper let out an aggravated growl.

"I know you can't." Ward rolled his eyes.

"Don't be silly." Vala reached out and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Neither of you can! And if you try, you'll both die!"

Jasper and Ward simultaneously made to shrug her off... and couldn't. For a moment, they could only stand there silently under her grasp.

"You should quit while you're ahead! Or, well, while you still have heads anyway." She let go. "Anyway, have fun. I'm gonna get another drink. You should come with me, Michelle. Belinda? Whichever it is right now. These guys aren't very nice."

As she walked away, Jasper was left red-faced, hands balled tightly into fists.

"You gonna be OK?" came Ward's half-hearted query.

"Piss off!" Jasper snapped, turning on his heel and stalking off.

Ward sighed, ". . . sounds about right."

@supertinyking

Meredith was trying to rein herself, repeating mentally the mantra of the last weeks, as she waited for Luigi. She... had a thing about rejection, and could not believe Luigi had stood up her. She refused to believe the boy who had chose to change his appeareance to be more bearable, and to ignore the school gaps had abandoned her so.

Tiny by tiny the gears on her mind drew, as the ... manchild of St Laurel's, her fellow student, made those smug remarks. She had heard such before, in the hands of a boy-girl... who was ten times the danger of this one, and even then, she could break that one.

Turns out, the wait proved her right. Now right there, stood the boy who had not minded her, incredibly broken and maimed, but still alive and wheezing. Her heart sank a little. How could she not.

She had been a very bad girl. She had tried to kill people, but this petty little man was no better. She smiled candidly at Luigi, drawing a tender hand across her cheek.

"Oh, it's not a bother at all..." She smiled. "It must have been tiring to keep up to my standards. But we made through the party." She said. "Still,you're...in no state of dress. Please go get changed." She said, dismissing Luigi as she walked up to Marty, her smile still graceful. She walked slowly towards marty, the incompetent bully witch nowhere was to be found. Prbably busy laughing to herself.

"Looks like he could pull yourself together, Marty." She said.

"What about you?"

The demonic energies within Meredith flared once more, like the hellfire that sustained her half-demonic life. She had always tried to reconcile her aberrant cravings with a normal lifestyle, and now that she was about to succeed... by leaving her first friend... alone and finding a boyfriend, something happened. Something always happened.

She didn't care about getting expelled. Not any longer.

"How dare you do that to my man." She said. "Hell hath no fury..." She then dashed at Marty, claws at the ready, exuding a pulse of demonic energy so intense anything who got to her would surely get burnt.

She didn't even notice Wolf was near hear. That probably was a first.

---

Diana for the most part had gotten her bearings, and given that the party had not ended entirely horribly she was somewhat...sorrowful, but not despaired.

And then she realized she had spoken too soon, as that half-succubus had given to her temper again. Well, normally this wasn't the business of hers, but Meredith could be pretty dangerous if provoked, she knew that first hand. A shadow towered her.

"Rowdy individuals may be quenched with riot foam." Said the...tone of Melanie. "You may acquire as such inside my space."

Riot Foam? It wouldn't stop her, but definitely would help Diana weather the tide before the binding of Meredith could be done properly. Grimacing, she crossed the threshold...

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly;
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy."

A familiar voice greeted her. The missing soul...had been there all along.

"Hello Bellissima. Mind if you take the role of the princess inside the castle? Compliance is not required." said the ghost of Celestine, as Diana cursed under her breath.