Dance With Me
Chapter Seven: The Midsummer Ball
The interior of the Sycamore Mansion was just as splendid and opulent as its exterior. The main foyer was massive, dominated by a grand twisting staircase. Nearly the entire ceiling was taken up by a massive skylight, offering a perfect view of the stars twinkling in the night sky. Angled trenches climbed up the white marble walls, full of plants in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Intricately carved archways opened up to hallways leading deeper into the mansion.
"Okay, this is pretty badass," Anne said. She and Marcy stood in the center of the foyer as a pair of servants closed the doors behind them. "These newts have a literal jungle in their house."
"Well when you're as rich as the Sycamores, you can afford to do crazy stuff like this," Marcy said. "Oh wait, my mistake. When you're rich this kind of stuff isn't crazy, it's 'eccentric.'"
"Ah, you must be Lady Marcy."
The girls looked up as a blond newt in a black suit approach, a look of carefully practiced stoicism that they had long since come to associate with butlers and other servants. Marcy closed her eyes and took a deep breath; it was Lady Marcy who opened them.
"Indeed I am," she said, bowing politely. Anne followed suit, albeit slower. "Lady Marcy Wu, Chief Ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard. This is my plus one, Lady Anne Boonchuy."
"Greetings," the butler said, bowing in return. "On behalf of the Sycamore family, thank you for gracing us with your presence. Oh, this is just a formality at this point, but I will need to see your invitation."
"Got it right here, my good man," Anne said. From her pocket she produced the embroidered invitation that had come with Marcy's letter a week ago. The butler accepted the parchment, examined it closely, then nodded.
"Very good." He pocketed the invitation. "If you would be so kind as to follow me, I will escort you to the grand ballroom."
The butler turned on his heels and began walking down one of the hallways, Marcy and Anne close behind.
"How am I doing so far?" Marcy whispered to Anne.
"Doing great," Anne replied with a smile and a thumbs-up. "Just remember, Lady Marcy is strong and confident. Lady Marcy always knows what to say, and doesn't let fear hold her back."
"Got it," Marcy said. She repeated that mantra to herself in her head. Lady Marcy is strong and confident.
The hallway opened up into an enormous ballroom. A huge golden chandelier hung from the high ceiling, its arms intricately shaped to resemble flowering vines. A large portion of the room was dedicated to a dance floor, dozens of couples dressing to music from a live band performing on a stage set up in the far corner. Other newts stood around tables piled high with hors d'oeuvres, laughing and chatting. Stoic servants moved to and fro, keeping the food and drink flowing. The newts all wore extravagant suits and dresses, the kind of clothing that broadcast the wealth and status of anyone that wore it.
"Announcing the arrival of Lady Marcy Wu," the butler announced as he, Anne and Marcy entered the chamber, "Chief Ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard, and her guest, Lady Anne Boonchuy."
A few dozen newts turned to look in Anne and Marcy's direction at the announcement. Marcy felt an instinctive surge of panic at the sudden attention, but she took another deep breath and fought back against her natural social anxiety.
Lady Marcy is strong and confident.
"Shall we mingle, Lady Anne?" Marcy asked her companion.
"I would be delighted, Lady Marcy," Anne replied with a proud smile.
The two of them walked over to where a fairly-large group of party-goers had congregated. The crowd parted as an elderly newt in a grey suit stepped forward. Marcy and Anne recognized his teal skin, thick glasses, bushy white beard and gold-tipped cane from the description Lady Olivia had given them.
"Lady Marcy, Lady Anne!" He said with a withered voice but an exuberant smile. "Welcome to my humble home!"
"Good evening to you, sir," Marcy said as she and Anne bowed. "You must be Lord Sycamore. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is all mine," Sycamore replied. "It's an honor to have the Chief Ranger herself grace us with her presence. May I just say it's quite impressive how much you've accomplished in the short time you've been in Newtopia."
"Oh it's not much, really," Marcy said with a wave of her hand and a coy smile. "Just some missions out in the Amphibian wilderness and a few improvements to the city's infrastructure. Nothing major."
"Ah, like that bridge over in District Seven," Sycamore noted with a smirk. "It was about time someone fixed that crumbling thing up. That blasted thing was old when I was just a wee lad!"
That earned a round of laughter from the rest of the assembled newts. It was an airy "Oh-hohoho" type of laugh, the kind Marcy used in her Creatures and Caverns games when voicing pompous NPCs.
"And what of you, Lady… Anne, was it?" Sycamore asked, turning his attention to Anne. "I hear you arrived in Newtopia a little over a week ago. What have you been up to in your time in Amphibia?"
"I wound up in a small farming community called Wartwood," Anne said. "I had to wait a few months for the path in and out of the valley to clear before I could make it to Newtopia, so I just spent that time… living the simple life with my adoptive family, I guess you could say."
"Oh that must have been quite the ordeal," a newt woman with platinum blond hair said, a hand raised to her mouth in shock. "I can't imagine having to spend so much time with the peasants. You poor thing."
Anne kept smiling, but Marcy could feel her tense up at the noblewoman's "compassion." Some of Olivia's advice on socializing with the nobility echoed in her head.
Should a conversation start to turn sour, redirect it with a question about whomever you're speaking with. If there's one thing the nobility like to talk about, it's themselves.
"So, Lord Sycamore!" Marcy said loudly. "I'm noticing a theme with the decor. Are you something of a nature lover?"
"You could say that," Sycamore said. "My great-great-grandfather was a botanist. He traveled to the farthest corners of Amphibia to study flora and discover new types of plant life. Then he used what he learned to develop new medicine and cosmetics, which became the foundation of the Sycamore family fortune."
"You don't say?" Marcy smiled. She knew from previous research into the Newtopian nobility that the Sycamores had gotten their start in pharmaceuticals, but it was another thing to hear about such history from a direct source. "I've been studying the local plant life myself. Were those western creep vines I saw growing out in the foyer?"
"Got it in one!" Sycamore chuckled. "You've got quite the eye for foliage, Lady Marcy."
Marcy smirked. "What can I say? When a Ranger is out in the wilderness, knowing your plants can mean the difference between life and death."
Sycamore nodded sagely, his guests hanging onto every word of the conversation. Marcy couldn't help noticing more and more newts gathering around, obviously eager to get a closer look at the ball's human guests. Some of Anne's advice from the last few days of socializing flashed behind her eyes.
Don't let conversations center around you for too long. Ask about the other person: show them you're interested.
"Are you also interested in the botanical sciences, Lord Sycamore?" Marcy asked. Sycamore scoffed, but smiled.
"I wish," he said. "I know how to garden, and that's about it. My strength has always been in engineering and architectural design. In fact when we had the manor remodeled some years ago, I was the one who personally designed the foyer."
"No kidding?" Anne asked, impressed. "Well it looks fantastic. Very cool how you have your own garden built into the walls."
"I was actually wondering about that," Marcy said. "I noticed the trenches in the foyer all sat at an angle, why is that?"
"Oh that's part of a special watering system of my own design," Sycamore said proudly. "Far more practical and cost-effective than having the staff water the plants by hand."
"Outstanding!" Marcy's eyes lit up at the prospect of learning something new. "You simply must tell me how you accomplished that."
"I'd be delighted! You see, it's all about letting gravity do most of the work for you…"
"... So I'm there in the temple ruins plotting my next move when this hulking frog comes charging in. He says that I've been a thorn in the bandits' side for long enough, and the boss has sent his right hand to take care of me. To which I reply; 'Wait, his right hand comes off?'"
The newts around Marcy laughed heartily. She leaned back against the refreshments table, idly swirling some bug juice around in a glass as she waited for silence.
"And like I said, this guy was big. Not only that, but he was armed to the teeth and madder than a widowed lovebird. I won't lie, he would've given me trouble in a straight fight." Marcy smirked. "Which is exactly why I rigged snare traps at every entrance to the temple. The scumbag took two steps and he was swinging upside-down by his feet before he knew what hit him."
She paused for dramatic effect, taking a sip of her drink. The crowd of party-goers waited with baited breath, enraptured.
"Well, don't keep us in suspense," said a portly green newt in a powder-blue suit. "What happened next?"
"I had a friendly little chat with my guest," Marcy said. "He wasn't willing to talk at first, but a few hours of hanging upside-down changed his tune. He gave me the number of remaining bandits, the layout of the camp, and the guard's patrol schedule. Then I just called in my Ranger squad, we hit 'em at the break of dawn the next morning, and captured them all with almost no resistance. It was almost disappointing how anticlimactic it was."
She held her almost-empty glass out to the side, and a servant hurried over to immediately refill it.
"Needless to say, those bandits won't be causing any more trouble," Marcy finished. She smirked again, raising her glass. "At least not for ten-to-fifteen years with good behavior."
The crowd voiced their approval, some raising their own glasses while others clapped politely. Marcy beamed with pride, thinking again of her mantra.
Lady Marcy is strong and confident.
From the other end of the refreshments table past the crowd, Anne leaned against the wall with her own glass of juice. The ambient sounds of the party danced in the air: muted conversations, clinking glasses and the orchestra playing a gentle tune. Marcy threw a quick glance Anne's way. Anne smiled and raised her glass. Marcy smiled right back.
Marcy Wu, the life of the party. Such a thing would have been laughably impossible to Anne just a few short months ago. As much as Anne loved Marcy, she knew being sociable was by far her greatest weakness. Yet here she was, commanding the attention of dozens of guests at a high-class soiree. Her posture was perfect, her voice free of cracks and stammers. She was even looking people in the eye.
Marcy had leveled up. And she'd done so with Anne's help.
"She really is something, isn't she?"
Anne jumped slightly. She turned to see Lord Sycamore smiling at her, a martini glass in one withered hand. He nodded towards Marcy, who had launched into another tale of her Ranger exploits.
"Yeah, Marcy is amazing," Anne said, nodding and smiling. "When I first got to Newtopia, I couldn't believe she had become this great warrior."
Sycamore chuckled. "That's putting it lightly. Rising through the ranks of the Newtopian Knights at such a rate is unprecedented for anyone, let alone a visitor from another world."
Anne nodded. She thought back to her first time in Amphibia, barely surviving in this strange and hostile world and her… less-than-positive first interactions with the residents of Wartwood.
"When Marcy first arrived here," she said, "what was that like exactly? With how everyone reacted to her, I mean."
Sycamore shrugged. "Well it was a shock at first, having some bizarre creature pop up out of nowhere in the middle of Newtopia. I know the King had her brought to the castle almost immediately, but I can't tell you exactly what transpired between them."
Anne made a mental note to ask Marcy about that at some point.
"And there was even more confusion when word got around that she had joined the Rangers and was running missions on behalf of the King himself. No one was sure what to make of Marcy at that point." He smiled. "But she's long since proven herself to be an invaluable asset to Newtopia. We're very lucky to have her."
He paused to sip his drink. "What was she like back in your own world, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Super smart," Anne said instantly. "One of the smartest kids in school, and really sweet. But she could also be super clumsy and oblivious. That's why it was such a shock to me at first to see how much she had changed when I first got here."
They looked back over to Marcy. They couldn't hear what she was saying now, but the crowd was leaning forward and listening intently. Marcy finished speaking with a flourish and huge grin, and everyone present burst out laughing.
"But you know what?" Anne smiled softly. "Change doesn't have to be a bad thing, you know?"
Sycamore nodded. "Indeed. I was also curious about something else-"
"Excuse me, Lord Sycamore."
The two looked up as a butler approached. He leaned in close and whispered something that Anne couldn't hear to Sycamore, who furrowed his brow.
"Huh? … Mm-hmm… I see…"
He nodded to the butler, then bowed his head towards Anne. "My apologies Lady Anne, but it seems something has some up that requires my attention. I must take my leave for the moment."
"I understand," Anne nodded. "It was a pleasure speaking to you, Lord Sycamore."
"And to you as well."
Sycamore walked off with the butler. As they did, Anne heard the elderly newt mutter; "Hopefully this doesn't take too long. Gnat King Cole just arrived, and I don't want to miss too much of his performance."
Less than a minute passed before Marcy bid farewell to the guests she'd been entertaining. The crowd broke off into several smaller groups as Marcy made her way over to Anne, smiling sheepishly.
"Hey Anna-Banana," she said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to just abandon you like that. Someone asked what it was like being a Ranger and I… guess I kind of got carried away with my stories."
"That's a-okay, it's all good," Anne said. "You looked like you were doing just fine on your own, so I figured I shouldn't interfere."
Marcy nodded slowly. "Yeah… I guess I did. I've been doing pretty damn good so far, haven't I?"
Anne smiled. "You sure have, Lady Marcy. I'm proud of you, girl."
Marcy's smile was radiant.
She looked over to the dance floor, then smirked at Anne. "You know, we haven't gotten a chance to dance yet. It'd be a shame to let our lessons go to waste, wouldn't you say?"
"I couldn't agree more," Anne said. She set her drink down and extended an open hand towards Marcy. "May I have this dance, m'lady?"
Marcy set her own drink aside and took Anne's hand. "I would be delighted, my dear!"
Hand-in-hand the girls made their way onto the dance floor, where several other couples were milling about as they waited for the band to start the next set. Up on the stage, a svelte green axolotl with short, slick black hair stepped up to the pianist. After a few words, the frog at the piano nodded and got up off the bench, allowing the axolotl to take his place.
"How are we doing, folks?" He asked the audience with a soft smile. His voice was smooth and mellow. "I am Gnat King Cole, your special musical guest for tonight. It's a pleasure to be here at the Midsummer Ball, and I hope your evening so far has been just lovely."
The crowd politely applauded. As Cole played a short, merry tune on the piano, Anne and Marcy assumed their dance position: hands linked, Anne's arm around Marcy's torso with Marcy's arm draped over Anne's shoulder.
"For my first number, I'd like to play a song for all the couples out there," Cole said. "A little ditty about what it's like being with that special someone who thinks you're just… unforgettable."
Anne and Marcy's eyes widened. They looked to each other, blushing slightly, but made no move to try and separate.
"Uh, did you still want to… ?" Anne asked, and trailed off.
"Yeah," Marcy said quickly, nodding. "Yeah it's fine. This is just a dance between friends."
"Right. Just friends. Y-yeah."
Around them, other couples came together, holding each other closely. Onstage, Cole began playing a slow tune on the piano. He began to sing as the rest of the band joined in.
"Unforgettable, that's what you are," he crooned, fingers dancing across the keys. "Unforgettable, though near or far."
Anne and Marcy began with a simple box step, just like they had practice hundreds of times over the last few days. Their movements were perfectly in sync, their steps careful and precise.
"Like a song of love that clings to me… How the thought of you does things to me… Never before has someone been more…"
Keeping the same rhythm, the girls transitioned to more advanced moves. They took several steps, slowly rotating as they did so.
"Unforgettable in every way… And forever more that's how you'll stay."
Releasing their right arms while keeping their left hands linked and raised, Marcy stepped back and spun in place, the sequins on her dress sparkling as she twirled. They stepped as they faced one another, right arms extended out as Anne's feet skillfully crossed beneath her with each step.
"That's why darling, it's incredible… that someone so unforgettable... thinks I'm unforgettable too."
There was a pause in the singing as Cole played a jaunty solo on the ebony and ivory. The lilting melody danced in the air as Anne and Marcy reconnected, transitioning back to simpler moves. Both girls smiled warmly, gazing into each other's eyes, moving together as one.
Wordlessly, Marcy let go of Anne's hand and put her arm up over Anne's shoulder. Anne did likewise, letting her now-free arm join the other in wrapping around her friend.
Both of Anne's hands drifted lower to Marcy's waist, gently pulling her closer as they danced. Marcy didn't move to correct her, linking her hands together behind Anne's neck.
"Unforgettable in every way," Cole began singing again. "And forever more that's how you'll stay…"
Marcy could feel her pulse quicken as she and Anne danced together closer than they'd ever had before. Their faces just inches apart.
"That's why darling, it's incredible…"
Marcy thought to herself, Lady Marcy is strong. Lady Marcy is confident.
"That someone so unforgettable…"
Lady Marcy doesn't let fear hold her back!
"Thinks that I'm unforgettable too… !"
As the music swelled to a crescendo, Marcy closed her eyes, pulled Anne close and kissed her on the lips.
Marcy saw fireworks behind her eyelids.
Electricity raced up and down her spine.
A warmth washed over her entire body.
The entire rest of the universe seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of them.
In that single moment, Marcy felt… complete. Whole. A sense of perfect, blissful nirvana.
Until she pulled back and opened her eyes to see Anne's own wide with shock.
Blinking rapidly, Marcy quickly let go and stepped back with a gasp. Anne's arms fell limply at her sides.
"Anne!" Marcy gasped. "Anne, I…"
The warmth was rapidly being replaced with icy dread.
"I… I-I, um…"
Marcy glanced around. The other couples on the dance floor, dozens of spectators, even the band itself were all looking their way. Dozens of eyes were upon her, watching. Judging.
"I…"
She looked back towards Anne, who slowly raised a hand to brush her fingers against her lips.
"Marcy?" She asked, confused.
Just like that, Marcy's confidence vanished in a puff of panic.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" She stammered, shutting her eyes tight. She turned and started walking away, which quickly transitioned to a full run as she weaved through the confused crowd.
Anne blinked several times, her senses returning as she beheld Marcy's fleeing form. "Wha- Hey hey, Marcy! Marcy, wait!"
But it was too late; Marcy had already disappeared down one of the hallways leading deeper into the mansion. Anne took off at a sprint, pushing past the nobles and following her down the corridor. The crowd stood in confused silence as the sound of their rapid footsteps faded into the distance.
"What's up with them?" one newt asked.
"I don't know," another replied. "I mean I thought that was sweet."
"Must be a 'hyoo-man' thing."
Author's Note: Nothing much to say, except there's two chapters left after this one. We're in the home stretch, folks.