The All Girls Slumber Party (A Spin-off to Sixteen Is the Magic Number)
Ever since Elincia had become the queen, she had had far less time for herself. Now she could finally relax. So she decided to invite 27 of her closest female friends to a slumber party held in the castle. Although some of these girls had to come from other countries, they were all excited for a chance to spend time with their fellow females (and with that pesky Ike out of the picture, there was no one to protest how sexist the practice was).
Lucia was of course the first woman to show up. While she was fashionably early, Elincia had already started the course of the evening. "Oh, my goddess, did you see what Bastian was wearing the other day?" she asked.
"Oh, he looked just like a clown straight out of a marsh!" Elincia shared. Both Elincia and Lucia screamed with delight. Just then Geoffrey marched into their room, only to be yelled at and shooed out.
"Oh, you know how boys are," Lucia said, "They're always worried that you're in danger regardless of whether or not you really are."
"The other guests should be arriving any minute now…" Elincia noted.
There was a knock on the door.
It was Calill, toting her daughter along. "Oh, we're sorry we're late, Elincia," Calill said putting her daughter on the ground. She handed a very large bag to Elincia, "These are the dresses and other fashion accessories that we will all try on."
"Late? You guys are practically the first ones here!" Elincia pointed out.
"I know, but Lucia beat us here, didn't she?"
A second knock was heard.
"I just could not pass up this opportunity, your majesty," Heather said, while walking in, kissing Elincia's hand. Lucia gave her a strange look. Nephenee and Meg, who were right behind her, seconded the strange look.
"I feel more comfortable with just girls around," Nephenee said, "After all, I'm always so self-conscious around the men." Heather looked at Nephenee with desire. "Heather might make me feel the same; since she always seems to give me the 'man look'." Heather pouted.
Meg turned to her and said, "Well, to be fair, you're not exactly subtle." Heather glared at Meg. Here she was in a party full of pretty girls and all that was happening was one big outing session.
A third knock was heard.
"How are you doing, Your Majesty? We've missed you!" Titania exclaimed, while pulling Elincia into a hug.
"Whoa, Titania," Mia said, "I didn't know you felt that way about her."
"Hey Mia," Mist said, "You brought the teeny weenies, right?"
"Oh, yeah! Oscar made some miniature sausages to share with you guys! I bet they're really good so we should snag some before Ilyana gets here…" Mia mentioned.
Meg, Heather, and Nephenee definitely took those words to heart. "Save some for us city folk," Lucia warned.
A fourth knock was heard.
"Hello," Lethe said, "Lyre here has been pumped for this all week."
"Slumber party!" Lyre exclaimed as she jumped in front of everyone, "I brought catnip!"
"Oh, boy," Lethe muttered.
A fifth knock was heard.
"I think she broke or something," Aimee said pitifully. But Ilyana's eyes lit up. "TEENY WEENIES!" she shouted, as she jumped onto the platter.
"I warned you guys, right?"
A sixth knock was heard.
Astrid and Marcia were having a catfight outside the door. Lyre mentioned, "No catfight is complete without catnip!" She then proceeded to pour it all over herself and them. Soon, both she and Lethe were as high as mountain peaks.
Astrid coughed and said, "Marcia said Makalov was an idiot."
"He is, Astrid, whether you love him or not," Marcia coughed out.
Heather came to them and said, "Ladies, ladies, this is supposed to be a fun party, not a fighting party, although if you want to have a catfight, could you do it in your skimpy nightgowns?"
"You insist that the rebel heiress of House Damiell would wear such a revealing thing?" Astrid asked indignantly.
"Well, sorry," Heather said sarcastically, before kidnapping Ilyana to another room.
"But, teeny weenies," Ilyana whined.
"It's okay," Heather said, "In a few minutes we can go back and have all the teeny weenies we want."
A seventh knock was heard.
The apostle herself stood by the doorway. Her best friends, Sigrun and Tanith were close behind. "Before you," Sanaki began, "There are two casseroles. One will grant you immunity from death and one is poison. Know their smells well."
"Oh," Tanith complained, "And I thought I was getting better at cooking too…"
"Well, you just have to try harder," Sigrun asked sweetly.
An eighth knock was heard.
"Ena and I are here," Lady Almedha said, hoping they weren't late.
"Hey, Alms!" Lucia called, "Did you ever find your son?"
"Yes," Almedha responded, "But he's gone now."
"You mean he's dead?" Meg asked, shocked.
"No," the dragon princess said, "Gone as in 'eloped'".
"Oh," Elincia said, "Well I do suppose the likeness is striking."
A ninth knock was heard.
"Jill and my tardiness are inexcusable," Fiona said, "We shall now have to use the lavatory."
"They're in the other corridor," Elincia said.
"Uh-oh," Ilyana said, "Then where did I just…"
Bastian cried out in disgust from the floor just below the hole in the floor where rats had chewed it away.
"Did any get on you?" Lucia asked down there.
"No," Bastian said, "But I shall have to ask a carpenter to build a lavatory in a better place!"
"I'm sorry," Ilyana said.
A tenth knock was heard.
Micaiah and Laura were standing at the door. "We are so sorry we're late," Micaiah said.
"Are you Ashera?" a very inebriated Lyre asked Laura.
"No," Laura responded, "I just interpret for her."
"Lyre, are you drunk?" Micaiah asked.
"Why do you ask?" responded Lyre, about to fall over.
"No reason," Micaiah said, "It's so nice to be in a boy-free setting. I never got that in the Dawn Brigade, you know."
A final knock was heard.
Behind that door were Vika, Nailah, and Leanne. "So we couldn't find anyone better to escort us," Vika muttered.
"It's perfectly okay! Now that everyone's here, we can begin the festivities!
The festivities were an eating contest, a game of truth-or-dare, a pillow fight, and a dress-up game.
"Yeah, go locals!" Mia cheered. "You can do it Meg!"
"Go foreigners!" Lethe shouted, "Take 'em Ilyana."
"I can't out-eat Ilyana," Meg complained.
"Sure you can," Mist said, "Meg! Meg! Meg!"
Ilyana was not slowing her pace at all. Meg felt left in the dust. And boy was she. "Good game, Ilyana," Meg said, holding her stomach sadly.
"I'm hungry," were the next words out of Ilyana's mouth.
During the session of truth or dare, everyone was forced to say who they had a passionate crush on. Some, like Lucia, Mist, Elincia, Leanne, Astrid, Calill, Jill, and Micaiah were obvious, but others were more hidden. Titania admitted it was Rhys, although it had been Commander Greil, Aimee refused to let Ike go, Marcia had a thing for Kieran and Tanith one for Oscar. Heather of course said that her secret crush was Soren, which of course, was a lie. Heather and Soren had an understanding that in any setting where outing was inevitable, he would act as her beard and vice versa.
The pillow fight ended up with a hyperventilating Leanne who was terrified upon finding the white feathers within the pillow. As much as Vika tried to convince her that it was just duck down, it didn't work.
Oh, and the dress-up game was amazing. Meg had never looked so delicious before, and Leanne tried on Vika's shaded clothes. She looked great. Nephenee threw away all of Calill's beautiful clothes in favor of Mia's more tomboyish wear. And no one would ever forget the sight of Jill in Fiona's armor.
The next morning, everyone went home satisfied… except for a highly disappointed Heather.