Edonil: Sorry for the lack of updates; I exhausted my creativity over the holidays, and have run out of inspiration. Which isn't so good… I still have no idea how this chapter will go. Hopefully it'll be long… Remember when I tried to write 14K in eight days? Now I'm in something a friend and I call TI: The Insanity. 25K in January. And I have no creativity or inspiration… I'm going to strangle my muse.

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To Change

Chapter Forty-One

Kuja was delighted. His daughter was really, really smart. A genius! Who would have thought… Crims was also happy. So happy she'd proposed having a small celebration. Kuja had readily agreed, but also pointed out that they needed to have a party so Crims and Avylonn could be introduced to their new neighbours. So tonight would be the party, with lots of the high-end citizens of Treno and their offspring. It ought to be very enjoyable.

Kuja went over his appearance one last time in the mirror. Silvery hair held in place with magic, just the right amount of cosmetics, his outfit neat and tidy… All was perfect. Crims was in the next room with her maidservant. She'd been quite amused by the idea of a maid. But as Kuja had pointed out, Crims wasn't sure how to put on a fancy dress. Avylonn was only a few doors down the hall, her brand-new gown being carefully arranged by another maid.

---

Avylonn glared at the maid. Stupid woman. And stupid dress! It wasn't very well designed. The skirt was so wide she'd never fit through the door, and even though Avylonn was thin, the dress was too tight across her stomach. And then the maid wanted to apply cosmetics to Avylonn's face! She didn't need any; she looked fine the way she was. But no, the maid insisted, and eventually got her own way. Then there was Avylonn's hair; the maid had this fantastical idea of styling Avylonn's hair in the shape of a bird. Avylonn thought the woman was on something. She allowed the maid to arrange her feathery hair over her shoulders, but it was not going to be tied back! Then there was those stupid two feathers on the top of Avylonn's head; they stuck straight up, and no amount of work would get them to do otherwise. Eventually the maid gave up in disgust.

"M'Lady, what do you think?" she asked Avylonn, gesturing towards a mirror. Avylonn looked in curiously.

And stared.

Her dress was a brilliant crimson, the same shade as her hair and eyes. It was beautiful, the fabric of the skirt draping and folding over the layers of crinoline beneath. The bodice was a brilliant white, and apparently being so tight did accomplish something; it made Avylonn look freakishly skinny, and rather top-heavy. The neckline was rather low, but the costume was much less revealing than her normal garb. Her hair was arranged in such a way that it reminded Avylonn of the soft ringlets she'd seen girls at school sporting. Her face had definitely been improved upon; rather than her usual ashen paleness (only made paler by sanguine eyes and lips), she had been coloured a creamy ivory with powder, and there was rouge on her cheekbones. Her eyelashes had been coloured with black mascara, and her eye brows had been mysteriously darkened. Her eyelids supported a light brown eye shadow, making them stand out even more.

She looked… pretty.

"I… I'm impressed," she told the maid. "Thank you."

"Only doin' my job," the maid replied, bobbing her head respectfully. "Now off with ya; the party'll be startin' soon." Avylonn hurried to comply.

---

Crims looked at her reflection, her lips twitching. The costume- a dress was a costume to her- made her look very… different. It was lovely, with a skirt made of many layers of amethyst gauze (to match her eyes) and the bodice a vivid red (to match her hair). Ruby slippers peaked out beneath the skirt. Her hair had been piled on top of her head, with carefully-planned tendrils escaping, which had been carefully curled. Crims felt a bit of envy for her boyfriend and daughter; no one would be able to curl their hair. It wasn't fair. As far as make-up, Crims had been turned ivory (which made her look ridiculous, in her opinion), with rouge on her cheeks, eye-shadow on her eyes, mascara, and lipstick. She looked so… fake. But this was what her new neighbours wanted to see…

"Thanks," she told the maid. "I should be getting to my boyfriend now. The party will start soon." The maid nodded, and let Crims go. Freedom!

---

Kuja smiled politely to the people at the party. They smiled back. Fake smiles, of course, meant only to be polite, but still, they'd arrived; that alone said something. Perhaps he'd be alright…

Crims looked gorgeous. Stunningly gorgeous. He couldn't remember ever seeing her in a dress before. He now wished she wore dresses more often. Her face looked a little odd, of course, but her dress was so pretty… His daughter looked nice too, of course. Avylonn even seemed to be enjoying herself; she was standing near some other children her age, and talking to a young man with his back to Kuja. Kuja would have to meet him later. He was certain to be a nice young man- anything was better than Saniiro!- but Kuja wanted to know who his parents were.

---

Albin was very talkative. Avylonn had figured that out pretty quick. Luckily, he spoke of interesting things, and was delighted to hear about Avylonn's past. He thought her life previous to meeting her parents sounded 'jolly good', and was amazed at her advanced knowledge of history (one of his passions). They were currently discussing current events; Albin knew more about that subject than Avylonn, but she was learning quickly.

"So you're saying…?" She was still a little confused. Albin launched into a lengthy explanation about the stock markets. Avylonn found it all fascinating.

"Hey." Avylonn turned to look at the speaker. It was Cassius!

"Hello," she said faintly.

"Nice dress." He walked away while Avylonn stared at him. He'd noticed her dress…

Forgotten about Saniiro already? a small voice in her mind asked. Avylonn pushed it aside.

"Oh dear…" Avylonn looked at Albin, confused.

"What is it?"

"You have fallen prey to Cassius's charms and good looks. And you haven't even been here a day…" He sighed dramatically. "I'm sure that moron is pleased. You do realize he doesn't have a brain, right?"

"Of course he has a brain!" Avylonn argued.

"Ok then, he has a brain, and it's about the size of a chocobo's. Did you know chocobos' brains are only half the size of humans'?"

"He's smarter than that!"

"He's supposed to be graduating in… negative two years."

"Oh." Avylonn felt a little foolish. "Well, it doesn't matter," she said finally. "I'm only looking at him. Besides, I've already got a boyfriend."

"You do?" There was an odd look on Albin's face. "Who is he?"

"He's from Alexandria. He's a vigilante by the name of Saniiro."

"Saniiro… I recognize that name… Oh! Of course! There was a kid a few years older than us that disappeared. His parents were killed by… Er…"

"It's the same Saniiro," Avylonn told Albin. "He told me. And I know, his parents were killed by my father."

"Wow… Er… Yeah, so… Um…"

"Avylonn, there you are!" Avylonn was suddenly encompassed by a large hug. "I've been wondering what happened to you!" Stepping back a little, Avylonn realized it was Albin's twin.

"Uh… Hello, Shanda Van der Veen."

"Oh please, just call me Shanda. I've been looking for you! You have to come chat with my friends and me! Albin won't mind, will you Albin?" She looked imperiously at her brother.

"Uh… I was going to talk to somebody else anyway. Bye, Avylonn."

"Goodbye, Albin…" Avylonn was rather perplexed. Did he always let his sister push him around like that?

"Now let's go!" Shanda said, dragging Avylonn over to talk with her friends.

Avylonn now got to meet the 'in-crowd'. There was Katherine, who talked endlessly about her coppery-red hair, which was currently done up in a thousand tiny curls, Moa, who often gazed off into space, and was rather air-headed, Alice, who simply thought about boys and nothing else, Marlene, a timid little thing who did whatever she was told, and Shanda, their ringleader.

They talked about clothes. They talked about boys. They talked about hair. They talked about boys again. The talked about Avylonn's house and family and father and dress. And they talked about boys again.

It really was quite dreary.

Avylonn didn't speak unless spoken to. And she only really became part of the conversation once, during one of the many times they discussed boys.

"So Avylonn, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Saniiro."

"What's he like?"

"He's nice."

"Is he a noble? Does he have a job?"

"He's a vigilante in Alexandria."

"He sounds dreamy…" The other girls giggled and sighed. Avylonn rolled her eyes. At the first available opportunity, she escaped.

Albin was standing alone, off in a corner, looking bored.

"Hi," Avylonn said, walking up to him.

"Avylonn! I thought you were talking with the girls."

"I escaped. They're boring. All they ever talk about is guys."

"Of course they do. You should hear family conversations at dinner. My sister is a boy-fanatic. Cassius did this and Charles did that and someone else did something else. Shanda is an air-head."

"I can't argue with that."

"Avylonn!" Avylonn looked at her father. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Albin, who was staring at him with deep fascination. "Would you introduce me to your friend?"

"Of course. Father, this is Albin Van der Veen. Albin, this if my father, Kuja King."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir," Albin said, bobbing his head respectfully. Avylonn's father smiled.

"Delighted. So, do you know Avylonn from school?"

"Yes, Sir. I am in several of her classes, and sometimes we eat lunch together."

"It sounds lovely." Someone called for him. "It appears I must go. Perhaps we'll talk later, Albin."

"Of course, Sir." After her father was out of earshot, Albin asked Avylonn, "Sorry if I sound rude, but what the heck is he wearing?" Avylonn looked carefully at her father's clothes. She'd never really noticed them before. But now that she did…

"You know, I have no idea. Those clothes seem like something your sister would wear, though."

"Ok, just checking to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Although if he keeps wearing that, my eyes just might suffer from some sort of scarring or something."

Avylonn couldn't really argue with him.

Edonil: I did it! I spat out some useless drabble! Yay! 1722 words! And that's not counting the title! Oh my goshness… I'm amazed. Aren't you?