Another day, another chapter- is anyone else surprised that it's already August? Special surprise for people back home (and you know who you are) beware August. Beware it! Sometimes, my friends make it so hard to give mysterious messages. Seriously, Sally, it's not that hard, take my advice and beware it! Sorry, a little off-topic. A new chapter for August 1st!

"Joker- JOKER! Ah-hem... the MAFIA? Aren't those the bad guys who try to murder everyone?" Elizabeth said worriedly. Joker laughed. "Uh, yeah. Well, kind of." Elizabeth was left, imagining buff, mean-looking guys with stubble, bald bandanna-bound heads and murderous glances. She ran up to Joker again. "Excuse me, again, THE MAFIA?" She nearly screamed. He was looking at her with a weird look. "Yeah. Elliot, Blood, Dee and Dum. You've already met everyone except Blood. He's the main mafia dude." Puzzled, she asked him, "Elliot's in the mafia? And those two sweet little twins?" At this, his smile grew, twisted. "Sweet? Dee and Dum are anything but sweet." His eyes sparkled, and Elizabeth went redder than a tomato. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Emory and Elliot were waiting at the gate. Emory made a disgusted noise. "Lost again?" She asked, rolling her eyes. Styrr ran to her and hugged her- well, not really hugged, more like football tackled. Offhandedly, Elizabeth wondered if Styrr had ever caused an injury to someone she didn't despise with her entire soul.

"No, Emory! We're here for a tea party! Elizabeth hasn't met Blood yet..." Styrr said. "Not that she needs to." She said the last words in an undertone, looking darkly to the mansion. Elliot lightly smacked her. "Hey," he warned, "He's my boss, idiot." She only smiled.

Gradually, everyone made their way into the mansion. When they were all inside, they stared at each other. Faceless maids scurried around the place like chittering birds. Except they didn't have feathers, or beaks, and Elizabeth doubted they ate worms.

"So... let's get fancy!" Styrr said excitedly. Everyone looked at her like she was insane. Again, Elizabeth wondered if she was insane, just a bit. Then she wondered if anyone else had ever thought that. Elizabeth had stood there with an idiotic look on her face while everyone else rushed to get their "fancy" clothes on. She felt stupid, standing in a room with no one around. Suddenly, a pair of hands had grabbed her shoulders. Oh, crap. She thought. I'm being kidnapped because I was spacing out like a ditz. Now I'll really pay.

Fortunately, she hadn't been kidnapped. Elizabeth had been rushed into a room, changed, and rushed back out in the blink of an eye. She hadn't even thanked the maids, but they had already scurried off to do more work. She looked down at her dress. It was a silvery-white color, the color of a unicorn's horn. It was slim, and showed off her figure. Elizabeth was very self-conscious wearing it.

She stepped out into the courtyard, where everyone else was waiting. There was a man she had never met before, in a white suit and a top hat. Emory was in a different dress, a strapless black dress with a long flowy skirt. Elliot was also wearing a white suit. Ace was in his coat, but more formal with black trim, and Styrr was wearing a strapless blue dress with black ribbon around the edges and elbow-length gloves. Elizabeth notices two sheaths on her upper arms with daggers in them- she had not bothered to take them off. The shape of the blade made her want to sit as far away as possible.

The Joker came out.

He was dressed in all black, it looked like a tuxedo. He wasn't wearing his circus hat anymore, so his maroon hair stuck up all over the place. He smiled at Elizabeth, then winked and sat down. She couldn't stop staring.

"Excuse me, Outsider, what is your name?" The man with the top hat asked her. She jerked her head towards him, trying to get her mouth to work. He had black hair, which was messy, and he had green eyes. He's the mafia? She tried to ask, but no one was paying very much attention to her. He looks... like a cross between a black cat, and a raven.

"I- I'm Elizabeth. You must be Blood Dupre..." Elizabeth stuttered. "Pleased to have your acquaintance." She slowly sat down beside Elliot, Emory on his left. Blood smiled, and Elizabeth wondered what he was thinking about.

"Well, everyone here seems to know Elizabeth, so let's cut straight to the chase. It's a tea party, but I have to ask you one question, an awkward one too. When are you leaving? Because I don't want to have you stay for the night without me knowing." As he said this, he looked straight at Ace. The knight only smiled in return.

"I have a show tonight." Joker said tonelessly, like no one cared. Elizabeth wanted to run to him and bounce up on her toes, with stereotypical hearts in her eyes, saying, "I'll come Joker I know it's gonna be awesome and I'll love it..." She almost had to hold herself back from jumping over the table.

"Actually, I was planning to do some work this evening, so have fun." He looked exasperated, but work was work, after all. Elizabeth was secretly glad he wasn't coming.

"I'll be sad to leave you," Joker proclaimed, "Because I have a special show tonight. But what happens is a secret, so you can't know." He put a finger to his lips and made a shh-ing gesture. "But you'll all come, right?"

"Yeah, whatever, sure," everyone chimed in. No one sounded very ecstatic about it. There was another moment of awkward silence.

"Okay! Carrot party is ON!" Elliot yelled from beside her. Elizabeth jumped, wincing at the sound. "Come on, Emory! Let's get the cake! And everything else!" While the carrot-loving fanatics went off to get the food, Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, resting for the first time in a while. She closed her eyes, feeling the sun on her face, and visualizing Joker on the trapieze, Joker taming lions, Joker sawing people in half. She was almost done with her little mental circus when... "Hello? Elizabeth?" Blood had started staring off into the distance, and Styrr was trying to get her attention from the other side of the table. "The carrot party's starting!" Blood groaned, looking off into the distance. Is he depressed or something? She asked herself, and made a mental note to ask someone later. Then she noticed... all the orange.

Elliot and Emory had appeared miraculously with carrot cake, carrot compote, and everything else with the word "carrot" in it. Holy crap, when did they make all THIS? She asked herself in wonder. And how did they bring it here all by themselves?

"Yeah! Gimme a slice of that carrot cake, Emory-chan. I love that stuff, it's the best!" Styrr declared joyously, then started eating it in delicate little bites. Only the cake part, though, because she was saving the icing for last. In a few minutes, it resembled a popped balloon made of icing.

"Hey, Elizabeth, want some carrot cake? It's the best yet!" Emory shoved the cake under her nose. "Try it!" Elizabeth reached for the cake, then set it down at her place. After everyone was settled, the table quieted down a little. The man named Blood was sipping his tea, probably his third or fourth cup, judging from the empty ones beside his plate. Styrr was eating the icing off cake- and it wasn't her cake, it was Ace's. Elliot and Emory were looking really excited... for no reason at all besides that it was a carrot party. Emory had a piece of strange-looking pie and Elliot had some carrot pudding. I never knew you could make this many carrot dishes- this is more than I thought even existed! Elizabeth was amazed. This party was completely orange, except for the people.

"So... how is everything? Delicious? Oh, yeah, I already knew it was. Thanks!" Emory was talking so fast her words blurred together. "I love carrots!" She blurted.

"Emory- stop, Emory!" Styrr cried, "Have you recently had any coffee? You're speaking so fast I can't even understand you!" The girl with the black hair only grinned, showing all her teeth. For some reason, even though it was friendly, Elizabeth shrank back. She didn't know that all of these people were this violent.

"Anyway... this carrot party is over. Almost, at least. So everyone LEAVE!" Emory shouted, waving her arms in the air. "Go to Joker's circus or something! Just go! Bye!" Elizabeth felt herself being pulled by Joker's hand. She blushed again, everything showing on her pale face. She felt her dress weighing her down as she stumbled across the yard.

"That was a short party," she noted, looking pointedly at Joker. They were alone, standing in the forest. "Where did they go?" Joker asked her, staring into the blackness. "Umm... I dunno..." Elizabeth replied, feeling stupid. She was alone... with Joker... and the mental images came, possible or impossible, she didn't know. She and Joker holding hands. She and Joker sharing spaghetti like Lady and the Tramp. She and Joker watching sunsets. She and Joker kissing.

"Oh!" She gasped, snapping out of her reverie. She blushed, looking around for some excuse. Fortunately, Ace's red coat was visible just ahead. There was also a red blob that was Styrr's head. She ran towards them, stopping halfway through. Joker was right behind her. "Wait... where are they going?" Joker asked no one in particular. They had started going back towards the mansion. They really are directionally challenged! Those idiots! Elizabeth's inner self said. "Hey!" She yelled at them. It got all the more annoying when both of them looked around and smiled.

"Hey~" they said, in unison, and in a singy-song voice. Grabbing Ace's hand while Joker grabbed Styrr's, she and Joker dragged them away from the mafia mansion and towards Joker's circus.

*cowers* PLEASE DON'T KILL ME FOR MAKING ELLIOT WITH EMORY. And for those fangirls, that fangirl over Ace... I don't care, as I would be one of those people. I am currently collecting all the Ace of Heart cards from every deck of cards we own in this house. It might prove problematic in the future.