Elsa woke up with her head bent over the toilet, someone knocking on the door, and a pounding in her head that was keeping time with the beating on the door.
"Elsa, open up! You're the only one not accounted for, so we know that you're in there! For Death's sake, let me in!" Elsa rubbed the back of her neck as she raised her head, blinking to clear her spotty vision. "Elsa! Now!"
Elsa stumbled to her feet and ran the water in the sink, splashing it over her dry lips and face. "Elsa!"
"Give me a second!" The silver haired meister shouted, finally placing the voice to a person. The exasperated sigh that echoed through the door just made her laugh a bit. "Chloe, just give me a second."
"We all have to use it, so you better hurry!" Elsa just made a face into the mirror and rinsed her mouth out with water before opening the door and stumbling slightly as she left, yawning.
"About time!" Chloe darted into the room and shut the door. Elsa couldn't help but giggle as she threaded her way carefully into the large living space. She plopped down beside Melody and grinned a bit. The girls had all gathered up together, the guys were around James and Val.
Chloe finished in the restroom and came back, sitting beside Artemis. Nicole looked over her shoulder at the guys and scooted in closer. The other women got the hint and soon they were sitting in a tight circle, their heads all bent in, talking to each other in low voices.
"Alright, spill." Nicole said, staring straight at Melody.
The meister looked at Nicole innocently. "Je ne sais pas que-"
"Don't give us that line, Melody!" Nicole interrupted, laughing.
"We want all the details!" Artemis said suddenly, and the group burst out laughing as Melody blushed.
"There's nothing to-" Melody started.
"Come on, Melody! We all know what happened last night," Elsa said with a grin. "I may not remember much past the drinking contest, but I do remember that your and Avy-kun's souls were awful, awful close to be-" Melody's hand slipped over Elsa's mouth and the silver haired girl laughed through it, though she rubbed her temples after Melody removed her hand. "Gah, I have such a headache…" she whispered miserably.
"Maybe you should have been more careful with what you drank, Elsa." Ren chided, earning a glare from the teen.
Nicole stepped in to the conversation again. "Come on, Mel-chan, just spill!"
The Frenchwoman blushed again and leaned in towards the others. Laughter spilled through the group before they all gave the woman that was quietly speaking their entire attention.
"I'm sure that I'm not the only one, n'est-ce pas, Sylvia?" Melody said slyly. The young dragon just blushed and Melody took a deep breath. "Well… it started with just a kiss… and then… Avy's hands…"
The men looked up as the women burst into laughter. Val just sat with his head cushioned on his arm on the table, James in a similar position across the table.
"What do you think they're laughing about?" James muttered from his elbow, wincing a bit at the noise.
"They're girls, what do you think?" Val replied. "They're either making fun of us or talking about us."
The men chuckled a bit. "Well, now that you two have had a taste of getting so drunk you pass out, do you think you'll do it again?" Kiru smirked as Avalon asked the question.
"Bleh," was Val's response.
"I don't see how my dad does this so often." James complained.
"You build up a tolerance," the dhampir said calmly.
"Yeah, that's why you were all sunshiny last night." Trevor said, laughing. "Or did you forget all about you wanting to sing kitty songs to Sylvia who thought that she was a cat?"
Kiru's face flushed slightly and Trevor strode off into the kitchen laughing. The men bantered back and forth for a bit before they heard someone clear their throat.
"I got volunteered to come get you all. Elsa says we've got to get going or we'll miss the DWMA's hallow's eve fete."
There was a sudden rush as the men scrambled over themselves.
The hallow's eve fete was well known through the school, and not a one of them wanted to miss what would be there last one as students.
"Franken! Someone's at the door!" Marie's voice drifted through the lab and Stein just shook his head, standing to his feet. He peeled off his gloves and slipped out of his research lab and to the door, opening it to find no one there.
There was, however a box sitting at the doorstep, addressed to him and Marie from a location in France. Elsa's curving handwriting covered the front of the box and Stein smirked as he looked down at it. He picked up the box and walked into the kitchen where Marie was, sitting it down on the table and sliding a scalpel out of his pocket, carefully opening the box.
There were too smaller packages inside, and a note from Elsa.
Daddy, mother, these are something that I thought that the two of you would enjoy. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what belongs to each of you. I have faith you can!
Love, Elsa!
Stein picked up one of the boxes and shrugged, handing Marie the other one. He carefully opened his, handing Marie the scalpel so that she could open hers and laughed as he stared down into the carefully packed box.
"I think that I might have gotten yours, Marie." He pulled a bright yellow scarf out of the box; a lightning bolt symbol that matched the one on Marie's eye patch embroidered on the bottom, and then picked up the set of plane tickets that were sitting underneath it.
"I know that I got yours." Marie's voice didn't sound enthusiastic at all, and she was still staring into the box. Stein stepped around the table to look into it, and couldn't keep himself from chuckling.
Gentle hands reached out to pick the antique medical items up and he gingerly removed the small scalpel from the front.
"What is it?" Marie asked, standing beside him and looking at the odd item.
"A set of urethral probes, from the looks of things." Marie shuddered beside him and Stein draped an arm over her shoulder.
"Our daughter knows us all too well." Marie said and Stein just smirked.
"Elsa, we have to go or we're going to miss the plane."
Elsa blinked into the sunlight. "We'll get another one if we do. We have to get a prekishin before we leave or we can't put this into the expense report."
James just sighed, looking over his shoulder. "Can you even sense any?"
A grin crossed the girl's face. "Yeah, this way!" She darted off, James hot on her trail. The prekishin they found was pitifully easy to take down, but Elsa grinned as they did so.
"That's it- now we can go." James just shook his head, laughing as he followed her towards the airport.
"Melody, can you zip my dress?" Elsa asked, posing in front of the mirror. Her costume was almost done- Sylvia was painting the last of the stitches across Elsa's preexisting scars.
"Oui." Melody said, her pale hands reaching out to zip up Elsa's dress. "It is so cool that you and James are going to go as Jack and Sally. You make a really good Sally, and I'm sure he'll do a good Jack Skellington." Elsa grinned.
"You and Avy-kun going as a zombie and a ghost is so much fun though! I wish James and I had thought of something like that." Elsa said admiring her now finished costume in the mirror. "Are you sure that you're going to be alright just going in your chibi form, Syl-chan?" Elsa asked suddenly.
"Oh, it's not just her chibi form!" Nicole said cheerfully. "I have some… additions!" The older girl grinned at Sylvia and held up a small bag.
Laughter burst through the room as she pulled out the items from the bag. A pair of cat ears, a small jar of black makeup, a collar with a bell, a tail and a set of whiskers were soon laid out in front of the dragon and Nicole was already busy applying the makeup to Sylvia's nose as the other teen squirmed a bit.
"And what about you, Nicole-chan?" Elsa asked as she adjusted the large white bow that was adorning Melody's now white-tinted hair.
"You'll just have to wait until we get there to see!" Nicole laughed.
Elsa grinned and she shrugged. "Alright, Nicole. We'll see when we get there!"
Jack Skellington, a zombie, and a vampire were loitering at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the DWMA when the women arrived in Nicole's car. Sally, a ghost and a dragon turned cat slipped out of the vehicle and watched as it drove off, an odd expression on their faces.
"Where's Nicole going?" James asked.
"No clue!" Elsa said, "But we better get going. It's supposed to start in about 10 minutes. I'm sure that she'll make it back in time."
"It probably has something to do with her costume." Melody reasoned, and Sylvia nodded from her position wrapped around Kiru's throat. The three couples walked up the steps where they were met by an eclectic collection of individuals.
Ren and Val had dressed as a witch and a phantom of the opera type character, respectively. Artemis was a huntress and Trevor had come as a witchdoctor. Elsa burst out laughing as she looked at the half-dressed man with a fake bone going through his nose. Zane had come as a wolf-man, and Chloe was a ninja.
Marie and Stein were standing at the top of the stairs, chaperoning and directing students into the school and towards the large auditorium and dance hall that would serve as the party's main area. They were dressed alike, though their costumes were as different as they were similar. Both had on a top hat, though Marie's was smaller than Stein's, and their costumes were almost Victorian looking, if not for the addition of gears and cogs. Marie even carried a small clockwork gun on her side, and the cane that Stein was holding was even more obviously modified.
No one was surprised to find out that their steampunk costumes were completely handmade.
Inside and at the party there was an even more eclectic collection of costumes. They ran the gamut from risqué to terrifying to just plain adorable. The teens mingled throughout the party, laughing and joking.
Ren drifted away from the group, stopping with a glass of punch against the wall, next to another teen that was in the same position, just watching the party from the sidelines. She smiled over at him, and extended her hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Holmes," she said with a small giggle.
The strawberry blonde teen met her eyes and tentatively extended his hand to her. As his suit jacket rode up his arm Ren's eyes widened at the sight of an obvious bandage wrapped around the portion of his arm that she could see.
"A pleasure to meet you as well, MS…" The boy's voice was low and even and Ren felt herself blush slightly as she looked into his green eyes. Emerald green eyes.
She giggled slightly as they shook hands, her voice small as she replied, "Ren."
His hand brought hers to his lips, the teen playing the part of Sherlock Holmes to a tee. "A pleasure to meet you Ms. Ren." He released her hand then, and leaned back against the wall, a book held open against his leg.
Ren fidgeted nervously for a moment before taking a step closer to the other teen. "The party really is gorgeous this year, isn't it?"
"Yes it is, Ms. Ren. The Earl certainly has thrown a smashing ball for us all."
Ren laughed, and she saw the boy give a small smile. "Well, Mr. Holmes, perhaps I could entreat you for a dance then?" Ren held out her arm, her shyness evaporating a bit as he nodded, sitting a well-used copy of Sherlock Holmes down beside where he had been standing, the two of them stepping onto the ballroom floor.
Val smiled from his position by the punch bowl.
"Melody?" Avalon's voice came from slightly above the woman's head and she looked up into his eyes. "I don't know what is bothering you, but you've been sad the whole time that we've been here."
"My parents were here last year, Avy. They refused to come this year because of my father. He… he doesn't want to allow me to choose to marry you… my mother says yes… but my father… il est très stupide."
Avalon smiled down at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead, careful of her makeup. "Don't worry about it, Melody. We will have our entire lives to make him happy for you, and make up for this missed party. You have my word."
Melody smiled as she leaned her head against her fiancé's chest, the two of them swaying to the ephemeral beat.
James and Elsa danced together in the middle of the floor, Elsa laughing for the first time when people would point out her scars and the careful marks that they had made across them to represent the stitches on Sally.
"Who would ever have thought that I would be happy to have had the scars when I was doing a costume?" She asked James.
"It's a mystery to us all." James joked.
The music picked up and James laughed as Elsa swept away from his with a flourish. He followed with an equally large flourish, grasping her hand and dipping the teen into a low sweep. A small crowd gathered around them, watching as they danced the night away.
A/N: I'll continue the party in the next chapter. Happy Halloween.
I don't own Soul Eater or any of the OCs except James and Elsa. Also, the newcomer belongs to boob. Enjoy.
