So thanks for being patient with this. I've been sick and I have SATs next week and AHDFJSALK. Anyway, for my Jason readers, I've decided to hold off until I finish this story or reach a block.
For those that want to participate in writing a fanfic taking place after Beautiful Redemption, contact VDcaster and audition for a role! I will be involved too :D
"So, what do you want to do for an hour?" Ridley sucked on a lollipop as I laid out my suitcase.
"I guess we can explore, maybe meet some cool relatives?"
We both walked out into the hallway and were immediately amazed at the amount of people in the Duchannes Lounge. Almost all of them were around Uncle Macon's age, but there were a few children.
"They all look boring and old. Why don't we go over to the Ravenwood hallway? They're probably a lot more interesting." Ridley started to walk off as I took a breath and went up to the first Duchannes I saw.
"Hello, I'm Lena Duchannes. You are?" The lady shook my hand, but I noticed she didn't have a mouth.
"Ah!" I shrieked. She laughed and I could see lines starting to form where her mouth should have been.
"Sorry for scaring you dear, my name is Val Duchannes and I'm an Iviso. I can disappear and appear at will, and that includes my body features." She smiled. I noticed that people were staring and pointing at me.
"So Lena Duchannes. We've heard all about you. I'm honestly quite curious how you'll help us with this year's war. You're a Natural are you not?" I nodded.
"Then you'll be great help. Especially with the new modern tasks they put in this year." Everyone rolled their eyes and went back to their conversations.
"What do you mean by modern tasks?"
"Well, back when I was a girl, the challenges were along the lines of wrestling a wild boar without using one's hands or a huge lifting contest. But for the past few years we've done water balloon fights, or paintball wars. I love the scavenger hunt though. My favorite." A huge grandfather clock chimed and I nearly jumped out of my seat.
"Oh, it's time for dinner!" Val swirled her hand and when I looked down I was in a dark purple dress and my hair was done.
"Dinner here is a special occasion. Now let's go." We walked towards the ballroom and I saw a bunch of people dancing and eating and just having a good time.
"You have to be careful Lena," Val whispered to me, "Although it's technically not the start of the War, Althea will still mark points for behavior. Also, if you're not gracefully gifted, I wouldn't dance either." I noticed that both Ravenwoods and Duchannes were dancing a sort of Waltz. I grabbed some food from the buffet line and walked over to Ridley, who was in a conversation with a Ravenwood.
"Cuz, meet Zippy Ravenwood." I took a quick glance at "Zippy" and saw that he had a light dark skin tone, almost olive-like, and very pretty blue eyes. His grey suit made him look uncomfortable and like every other male, he had white dinner gloves.
"Is your name really Zippy?" I had to ask. He looked down and didn't say anything until Ridley said, "Actually his real name is weird like Zephyr or something. I call him Zippy cause it's easy and he's the only person I could find that's under 20, but old enough to flirt with." Ridley put her finger on his shoulder and dragged it down slowly, making "Zippy" start to sweat.
"Stop it Ridley. If she ever does anything, just tell me." Ridley stuck her tongue out and walked away. I was left with "Zippy."
"So, where are your parents?"
"They're dead." He said bluntly.
"I'm sorry. Mine are too…" Uncle M suddenly appeared behind me.
"Ah, Lena, I see you have met Zhypntkin." Uncle M wore a dark black suit with a blue vest and held out his hand to me.
"Are we going to dance Uncle Macon?"
"If you want. I was going to ask your Aunt Adele just to annoy her." I grabbed his hand and waved Zhypntkin goodbye. We started to dance until I whispered, "Val Duchannes told me not to dance. I think she's afraid I might get points off." I looked around and saw almost every Duchannes dance with a Ravenwood. Instead of causal dancing though, they had intense expressions and never missed a beat.
"Why don't the families dance with each other Uncle?"
"Because they want their dancing partner to mess up and get points off. It's tradition. I, however, have no other intention but to enjoy a lovely evening with my favorite niece." He spun me around and I smiled.
"Do you know Zhypntkin?" I asked, still having trouble with his name. It came out as Zil-phon-can.
"I met him in Comoros, a lovely country near Africa. He has a unique ability that can be very helpful in this year's War." I stopped dancing.
"Uncle, you wouldn't betray me to win this stupid War would you?" He looked deadly serious, until he burst out laughing.
"Have I ever done anything to make you think I am that shallow and petty?" I raised my eyebrows and he put his hands up, "Alright, maybe sometimes, but no. I am not really participating in this year's War. Some of our more pacifistic relatives like to not get involved." He pointed to a group of people sitting on a table, just eating.
"Or some of our relatives are just cowards that don't want to play fairly." I jumped when I saw Aunt Adele sneak out behind Uncle Macon's back. Uncle M looked unsurprised.
"Please don't spread lies Adele."
"Don't get cocky then Macon. Or should I say chicken since you're name wasn't submitted in the top Ravenwood groups. Are you afraid to fight me at the Bridgerock challenge again?" Uncle M and Aunt Adele stared at each other until Uncle M grabbed Aunt Adele's hands and started dancing. I felt like they were Kelting, so I joined in their conversation.
"I have a replay of the entire footage of our match. I did not touch the board once."
"Then why did you have a chip of wood in your shoe?"
"The rules do not say that debris is the same as touching the plank."
"Well if I was a plank, I would never touch you." I quickly left the conversation and found Althea.
"How's my grandniece holding up? Is your Uncle Macon bickering with Adele again?" I nodded and she sighed.
"They're adults and yet they bicker like children. I should probably deduct points from both of them." She waved her hand and two magic lanterns, with gems inside of them, appeared in her hands. She slashed twice at the top of both lanterns and they both lost two gems.
"Hey, that's kinda like Harry Potter." I pointed out. Althea stared at me blankly.
"Never mind. I think I'll go to bed, goodnight." I went straight to my room and plopped down on my bed. I started to fall asleep until I heard a dog barking.
"Boo?" I went to the window and saw a dog, not Boo, and Zhypntkin.
"Hey Zhyp!" I waved. He saw me and quickly dashed towards the woods.
"Goodnight to you too." I mumbled.