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Chapter 21: The Dance

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Just a reminder for anyone who doesn't already know, chapter 20 has been changed, please go back and re-read it if you haven't already.

Also, you may want to queue up a YouTube video by the name of "Counting Stars - OneRepublic (violin/cello/bass cover) Simply Three." It's not for any kind of combat music, but I think you'll know when to play it. I will still mark it, look for this symbol:. It is by no means required, but I just think it'll help with immersion.

Once you see the symbol, press play on the video and jump to about the twenty-second mark. Then just let it play in the background as you read.

Here's the YouTube link: "youtube com/watch?v=bdkVzkIGjp0"

O00000O00000O

"Why do I have to go to this thing again?" Eugene asked.

Delsin had been checking out his image in one of the mirrors. Through the reflection, he and Coco locked eyes and she asked a silent question. He rolled his eyes and motioned in the affirmative.

"We've been over this Eugene, you're going," Coco said.

The two of them heard him groan behind the fitting room door. The two of them smiled. They almost felt like parents. Johnathan Halbridge walked in behind them.

"Is he still complaining?" Mr. Halbridge asked jokingly.

"Of course he is," Delsin commented.

Mr. Halbridge laughed.

At that moment, Eugene walked out of the fitting room. He was wearing a very nice Tuxedo handcrafted by Johnathan Halbridge with materials from Mistral that his husband George had brought back. Eugene had to give the man credit. It looked great, fit perfectly, and he'd managed to make it from scratch in twelve hours.

"How do I look?" Eugene asked nervously.

Coco gave him a quick once over and smiled.

"You look great," she said, "Great job Mr. H."

"Oh, I can't take all the credit, my dear, George helped quite a bit."

"Your husband?" Delsin asked.

"Oh I know my way around a needle pretty well," they heard a voice say.

A second man walked in. This one was much taller, easily well over 6 and a half feet tall. He had dark hair and green eyes and was in excellent physical shape. Eugene and Delsin assumed this was George Halbridge, husband to the proprietor of Starlight Outfitters.

"Honey, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you've got customers asking for you," he said.

Johnathan sighed.

"I'll be right there," he said, walking out of the room.

"If they start getting rowdy, let me know," George called after him.

Johnathan flashed him a thumbs-up as the door closed behind him.

"Things get rowdy here often?" Delsin asked sarcastically.

"You'd be surprised actually," George replied, "But it's nothing a premiere fashion designer and retired Huntsman turned contractor can't handle."

"You were a Huntsman?" Eugene asked.

"You bet he was," Coco said, "He's the one who inspired me to be one."

"That was a long time ago. I still go out and fight every once in a while, but nothing too dangerous. I'm getting too old for it," George explained.

They heard a sound of breaking glass.

"George!" they heard Johnathan call, though his tone sounded more annoyed than afraid.

"That's my cue," He said, quickly making his way out of the room, "The back door is through there. You'll want to make your way out that way."

He shut the door behind him.

"Um, should we be worried?" Delsin asked.

"Nah, George can handle whatever it is," Coco explained, "But he's not wrong, we should head out the back door."

"Got it."

O00000O00000O

The dance was only a couple of hours away by the time the three of them got back. Coco left them when they arrived so she could get ready, so Eugene and Delsin decided to wait out the remaining time in their room.

"Alex? You here?" Delsin asked.

"We're back," Eugene continued.

There was no response. As the two of them entered the room, not only was Alex not there, but the window was open.

"Shit. Where'd he go?" Delsin asked, worried.

"I thought Yang got through to him?" Eugene asked.

Delsin sighed as his eyes fell upon something.

"Hang on," he said, "'Hey guys it's Alex, don't worry, I just left to take care of some things. Be back soon.'"

"Yeah, that doesn't really stop me from worrying," Eugene said.

"Me either," Delsin replied, "but since we have literally no way of tracking him since GPS doesn't exist on Remnant and there is only one cell tower in the entire country, we just have to hope he hasn't run away. Again."

Eugene sighed.

"Guess so."

O00000O00000O

They didn't need to worry. Alex may not have been back to 100% just yet, but he wasn't going anywhere. He had flown up to the very top of Beacon Tower. It was one of his favorite spots. He didn't go up there very often, he didn't often need to. But today was a different story. Today, he was waiting for someone. As he idly gazed at the city before him his mind wandered. Eventually, though, he saw her coming on the horizon.

When he saw her approach, he smiled. It had been a long time since he'd last seen her. He remembered her face, blue eyes and kind features framed by her pure white bangs, though it wasevident that she had aged since he last saw her. He wondered if he could look down on her now. She wasn't a tall woman, and people often joked about it with her, much to her chagrin. But, she was endlessly creative with her revenge and every time someone made a short joke about her, they would soon regret it.

As he saw her flying towards him, floating on her brown and white falcon-like wings, he couldn't help but remember when she had taught him to fly. No matter how many times he fell, and there were plenty, she was always there to help him up.

When she landed in front of him, he immediately hugged her.

"Hi Alex," she said.

"Hi mom," he replied.

Maria Roman pulled back a bit and looked at him. He was a full head taller than her now, and a small grimace passed over her face as she looked up at him. Alex smiled.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," she said, "There were some tricky winds on my flight over."

"Oh, believe me, I know. The air currents here change on a dime," Alex replied, nodding.

"I know right?"

She laughed.

"So how are you? You haven't called much since you came here," she said chastisingly.

"Well school keeps me busy, and the only way to make sure the call will connect is to go all the way to the Tower," Alex replied defensively.

"Excuses excuses," she said.

She glared at him softly for a moment, but the two of them quickly devolved into laughter.

"You brought it?" Alex asked.

"Of course I did. In fact, I was a little surprised you didn't already have it."

She shrugged her shoulder and shed the medium sized case that she had been carrying. Alex took the case from her, holding it gingerly in his hands.

"So what's her name?" his mom asked.

Alex nearly dropped the case.

"What?" he shot back, his face red.

"A mother always knows," she said with a wink.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said unconvincingly.

"Oh? Well, maybe I should stick around for a few days? Make sure you're doing alright?" she said innocently.

"MOM!"

"No need to shout honey," she said, "I'm only kidding."

Alex's face didn't change but inside he cried in relief.

"Either way, it was good to see you, honey," his mother said, smiling.

She walked to the other end of the tower's peak and jumped into the air. She fell for a moment but the wind caught her and she glided back up to look at her son one more time.

"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call. It's only a two-hour flight."

"I will," Alex said, "And here!"

He threw her a wind crystal.

"To help with the winds on your way back," he said with a smile.

His mom smiled one more time and flew off.

Alex quickly left. After all, he had a dance to prepare for. Among other things.

O00000O00000O

As the dance got underway, Yang was actually early. She set herself up at the entrance to the party, making sure to greet everyone who walked through the door. She was in the middle of writing something down when she heard the doors open again. As the next guest walked in, Yang jumped in glee.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" she said.

For her part, Ruby was just trying not to fall over.

"Ugh, can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?"

As she started to try and walk forward, she nearly toppled over. Luckily, Eugene appeared andcaught her before she did.

"Thank you," she said quietly while her sister laughed.

"No problem," he said, "Wait, Weiss fights in heels?"

"You never noticed?" Yang asked, still giggling.

Eugene shook his head. He found himself with a brand new respect for the Ice Queen. Delsin walked up behind him.

"Looking good you two," Yang said.

"Thanks, Blondie," Delsin replied, "You too."

Yang smiled.

"Where's Alex?" Ruby asked.

Eugene's expression faltered. It was only for a second before he recomposed himself, but it was long enough for Ruby and Yang to pick up on it.

"He should be here soon," Delsin said confidently.

The sisters nodded, deciding to trust in those words.

Yang stayed behind to do her job at the front, but Delsin, Eugene, and Ruby all went into the party. At the start, none of them really felt like dancing, so they stood off to the side and told stories.

"So there I am, fighting some a-hole Acid Conduit that calls himself 'The Melter'." Delsin started.

"Not this again," Eugene complained.

"I'm getting my butt handed to me, but I manage to get him to use up his reserves. He ducks away to refuel and what happens?"

"What?" Ruby asked, giddy.

"This guy right here," Delsin replied, pointing at Eugene, "tries to fly in like some kind of superhero, and ends up overshooting the landing and crashing into the far wall like a sack of bricks."

Ruby burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Eugene said.

"Hey, it wasn't all bad. The guy I was fighting got so distracted by your epic failure that he didn't notice his shoes had come untied. He ended up falling flat on his face!" Delsin yelled, devolving into laughter.

Both he and Ruby were doubling over in laughter while Eugene watched and stewed over the fact that even in an entirely different universe, he was still the butt of everyone's jokes.

Once again, Ruby nearly fell over. Once again, Eugene managed to catch her.

"You ok?" Delsin asked, trying to get his laughter under control.

"Yeah, sorry," she replied, "Stupid... lady stilts."

Delsin smirked.

"Hey guys," said a voice to their left.

"Oh hey Jaune," Eugene said.

Jaune sat down next to them, looking more defeated than usual. Delsin raised an eyebrow.

"You ok buddy?" Delsin asked.

Jaune sighed.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Yeah, right," Delsin thought.

He grabbed Jaune by the shoulder.

"C'mon big guy, we need to talk," Delsin said.

"Wha...?"

"Just come with me," Delsin insisted.

O00000O00000O

Delsin led Jaune outside to one of the balconies. Once they were both outside, Delsin closed the doors to give them some privacy.

"Ok big guy, what's wrong?" Delsin asked.

"What?"

"It's just us here and you look like someone told you you're dog died. What's wrong?"

Jaune said nothing and walked to the edge of the balcony. Delsin sighed silently.

"Look, I'm just trying to help. But you have to help me help you."

Jaune grimaced. Delsin threw up his hands.

"Fine, you wanna be unhappy and sit here while everyone else has fun? Go for it. I tried."

Delsin turned to walk away.

"I stuck out, okay?" Jaune said.

Delsin turned back around.

"I tried like ten different times asking Weiss to come to the dance with me and I struck out every time," Jaune complained.

"Well there's your problem," Delsin said.

Jaune scowled at him.

"Why? Because she's out of my league?!" he shouted.

"That's not what I meant genius," Delsin replied, keeping his tone level.

"Then what?" Jaune asked.

"Well, first of all, I was witness to a few of your attempts to try and ask her out. The only thing you managed to do was annoy her with grandiose and over the top gestures. Try toning it down a little bit," Delsin said.

"I know that already. Pyrrha told me the same thing. So I went to go ask her out again, planning on 'just being myself,' and what do I find? She's asking out Neptune!"

"Wait, Pyrrha told you that?" Delsin asked.

"Yeah," Jaune said.

Delsin couldn't help it. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" Jaune asked, his scowl returning.

"The irony that of all the people you could get good relationship advice from, it was Pyrrha," Delsin said.

"Wait, what? Why is that ironic?"

"Because she likes you, you idiot!" Delsin shouted.

Jaune was stunned.

"What?" he repeated.

Delsin just kept laughing. Then he saw the look on Jaune's face.

"Oh. Oh ho ho ho! Wait a minute!" Delsin exclaimed, "You like her too!"

Jaune's face went red. He had forgotten just how observant Delsin was.

"Wait, if you like her, then why in the world would you ask out another girl?"

Jaune scowled.

"Practice," he said quietly.

Delsin's eyes widened. Then he smiled.

"Well, If you remember what she told you, I think you could go ask her to dance."

"Yeah, and get between her and her date? I would like to leave tonight with all of my limbs intact."

Delsin turned to leave again.

"She came alone numb-nuts," he called.

Jaune's eyebrows shot up and he turned around but Delsin was already gone. Jaune smiled.

He knew what he needed to do.

O00000O00000O

Delsin walked back into the ballroom, smiling softly.

He looked around and saw Ruby and Eugene chatting and laughing over by the punch bowl. As he looked around the room and saw all of his friends smiling and having fun, he simply found a chair an sat down, a smile of pure satisfaction on his face.

"Having fun?"

Delsin turned and saw Coco standing next to him in the dress she had designed. He was surprised she hadn't made it as fancy as her other outfits, but she still looked nice in her simple black dress.

"Yeah, I am," Delsin said.

"Really? Where's your date?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Delsin replied, "Let me guess, dances aren't really Fox's cup of tea?"

"No, not rea- wait. How did you...?"

Delsin smiled.

Coco sighed.

"Velvet," she said.

Delsin's smile widened.

"Never doubt the power of her rabbit ears," Delsin said.

Coco gave him a hearty helping of side-eye, and Delsin's smile widened even further. Then, something headed their way caught her attention.

"Speaking of," she said.

Delsin looked up to see that Velvet was indeed on her way over.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Hey Velvet," Delsin said.

"You're late," Coco said.

"I know, I know, my hair just wasn't cooperating."

"I know the feeling. I feel weird without my beanie and my hair hates it about as much as I do," Delsin said.

Velvet laughed and Delsin couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was in her simple chocolate colored dress. Coco smiled.

"I think I'm gonna go get some punch," she said, leaving.

Neither of her friends heard her or noticed her go. They'd gotten wrapped up in their own conversation already.

O00000O00000O

At the main door, Yang was just about to call it for the night and go join the party. She was putting her stuff away when she heard the door open.

"Hope I'm not too late," she heard a voice say.

Yang looked up to see Alex standing in the doorway wearing a very nice tuxedo. A leather strap was crossing his chest.

"No," Yang said with a smile, "You're right on time."

"Good, I just needed to get some practice in before I started."

"Wait, practice for what?" she asked.

Alex smiled.

"You'll see."

Alex walked past her and made his way to the stage. As he was walking, Yang saw the case on his back.

"Is that... an instrument case?" she thought.

Alex quickly made his way onto the stage where the band was playing. Luckily they had just finished their latest song and were gearing up for the next one. When they saw Alex, they stopped and the cello and bass players smiled. Alex placed their new sheet-music in front of them and the three of them stood center stage.

"Thanks for doing this guys," Alex said.

"No problem man," the cello player said, "Anything for a fellow musician."

Yang came to the base of the stage and looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Repaying poetry for poetry," he smiled.

O00000O00000O

At the same time, Velvet and Delsin were still wrapped up in conversation.

"So where's your date tonight?" Delsin asked.

"I don't have one. I just wanted to come. You?"

Delsin scratched his head.

"Well, I'm at least six years older than anybody in this room," Delsin explained, "If I'd asked someone out, I'd have felt like I was cradle robbing."

"Wait, six years? I thought you were 24?"

"I am," Delsin said, his tone carrying a touch of confusion.

"Well then you might want to tone it down to four years," she told him.

Delsin shook his head as his confusion slowly grew.

"Why? There aren't any fourth years at this party," he said.

Velvet raised a hand meekly. Delsin shook his head again.

"No," he said, "There is no way you're twenty."

"It's the truth," she said.

"Then how are you only a second-year student?" Delsin asked.

Velvet sighed.

"When I was at Signol one of my teachers was an old man whose grandfather had fought in the Great War on Mistral's side, or so he said. Whatever the reason, he hated Faunus, so he gave me failing marks every year so I couldn't graduate. Thankfully by the time I was 19 the headmaster had found out and fired him."

Delsin had to stop and consider that, but he didn't get a chance.

"Delsin. Look," Velvet said, pointing at the door.

Delsin looked up. His mouth fell open.

"No. Way."

O00000O00000O

Pyrrha didn't know why people were laughing. Then she turned around, and what did she find?

Her partner standing there wearing a pretty white dress.

"Jaune?"

"I told you that if you didn't have a date to this dance, I'd wear a dress. So here it is," he said confidently.

Pyrrha couldn't stop herself. She burst out laughing.

"Jaune! You didn't have to!"

"Hey," he countered, "An Arc never goes back on his word. Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do you want to dance?"

He held out a hand. Pyrrha took it, still laughing.

"I would love to dance."

O00000O00000O

At that moment, Alex bent down, took his old violin out of its case, and let the music play. ( )

Yang was floored. She had no idea he could play at all, let alone that he was as good as he was. He wasn't even looking at the sheet music.

The music of the three players resounded throughout the ballroom. Alex felt himself slip away as he closed his eyes and let the music flow. It was a feeling he had forgotten. The blissful joy of playing was something many musicians knew, but Alex hadn't played in years. That was why he had been late to the party. He'd needed to practice a bit before trying a piece as complex as the one before him. He had actually been worried that he would screw up and make a fool of himself in front of the entire school, but as soon as he drew back the bow for his violin, his fears fell away.

O00000O00000O

Off to the side, Delsin pulled Velvet to her feet.

"Care to dance?" he asked.

Velvet was absolutely beaming.

"I would love to."

The two of them walked to the floor and Delsin took the lead. Silently, he thanked his parents for making him take dance classes when he was a kid. As the music played on, Delsin realized that he felt happier right then with Velvet in his arms than he had in years.

O00000O00000O

On the interior balcony, Mercury and Emerald were observing the festivities. Emerald activated her comms.

"It appears all the partygoers are occupied," she said.

"How long do I have?" Cinder asked.

"We should probably be back by midnight, just to be safe," Mercury said.

"I'll keep my eye on the clock," Cinder replied.

O00000O00000O

Off to the side, Ruby and Eugene were having fun listening to Alex play.

"Did you know he could play like this?" Ruby asked.

"I didn't know he could play at all," Eugene said.

Eugene let his eyes wander around the room as he watched all the dancers either watch Team JNPR, or more specifically, Jaune in a dress, or dance to the beat Alex was leading. But, when he got to the back of the group, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Ruby, look," he said, pointing at the rooftops.

"Hm?"

Ruby looked out the open door. The two of them saw what appeared to be a black-clad woman jumping across rooftops. Ruby's eyes narrowed.

"Well that's not suspicious at all," Eugene said sarcastically.

"C'mon," Ruby said.

"We're going after them?" he said, already standing.

"Yup," she said.

As stealthily as they could, they left the party.

O00000O00000O

Cinder made her way to the front of the Vale CCT tower. Without a great deal of effort, she subdued the guard stationed at the front door. Once she moved him, hiding his unconscious form behind one of the shrubberies in front of the door, she made her way inside.

For as secure a building as this was supposed to be, she was surprised there weren't more guards. When she got to the main elevator, she was greeted by a measly four guards.

"Excuse me," one of the guards said, moving his hand to his holstered weapon, "No one's allowed in this area."

Cinder ignored him and kept walking.

"Stop!" the guard yelled.

As the first guard drew his weapon, Cinder dashed forward and got inside his range to easily disable him. The second guard tried to come at her from behind, but she used his partners gun to shoot him. She didn't know if she'd killed him, and to be honest, she didn't really care.

The two guards in front of the elevator door jumped into action, swords drawn. Cinder spun and summoned two glass swords of her own. When the third guard brought his blade down, she deflected it and got in front of him and swung both of her blades at the remaining guard. Then she used her momentum and did a leg sweep and her target hit the floor like a sack of bricks.

The only remaining guard swung furiously, but Cinder either dodged or blocked all of his blows. Then, when he tried to kick her, she parried and returned the blow with an elbow to the guy's face. He stumbled back and she brought both fists forward and punched his now exposed gut. Then, she flipped over and brought her foot down on his head, knocking him out.

She made her way onto the elevator as it arrived. The two guards onboard didn't know how to react to her presence, especially when they saw the carnage she had left in her wake. But, the second the doors were closed, she disposed of them.

O00000O00000O

Ruby and Eugene followed the masked woman's trail and quickly arrived at the CCT tower. They looked around for any sign of her.

"Eugene, look!" she whispered.

Eugene's head snapped to where Ruby was pointing. When he saw the unconscious guard, he bolted to his side. He placed two fingers on the man's neck and watched his chest. He had a pulse and he was breathing normally. Eugene let out a small breath he'd been holding.

"He's ok, just knocked out," he told Ruby.

"We should hurry," Ruby replied, "We need to check on the guards inside."

Ruby pulled out her Scroll and launched her weapon locker. It crashed a few feet away and she quickly grabbed Crescent Rose as the two of them headed inside.

They quickly saw what the masked woman had done to the other guards. The two closest to them groaned, so Eugene knew they were ok. The one that was by the stairs was definitely alive, but judging from the bruising, he may have had a few internal injuries.

"Eugene!" Ruby called.

Eugene ran to her side. She was standing next to a guard who appeared to have been shot. Eugene checked for a pulse. When he didn't find one, he shook his head.

"Is he... dead?" Ruby asked, her voice shaking.

"Probably," he said, pulling out his Scroll.

He quickly dialed the number for Vale Emergency Services.

"Vale Emergency Services, what is your emergency?"

"My name is Eugene Sims, I'm a student at Beacon Academy. Just moments ago myself and one of my fellow students were tracking a suspicious person. We followed them to the CCT tower and all of the guards are down, one of them either dead or close to it. Send help immediately."

The operator had to stifle a gasp.

"Help is on the way sir, stay where you are."

Eugene hung up.

"What now?" Ruby asked.

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm not about to just sit here and wait for help."

Eugene forced open one of the elevator bay doors.

"You wanna help me, take the elevator," Eugene said.

"Where are you going?" Ruby said as Eugene ran outside.

"To box her in!"

Before she could ask what he meant by that, he was gone. Ruby shook off her confusion and went into the elevator.

O00000O00000O

Cinder sat down at the main terminal and got to work. She had only just started when her comms crackled to life.

"A party guest is leaving," she heard Emerald say.

Cinder sighed.

"Which one?" she asked.

"Ironwood!" she whispered.

"I guess the general's had enough fun for one night," Mercury said, "Should we intervene?"

Cinder smiled as the program finished loading.

"No," she said, "We're done here."

As soon as she stood up, she heard the elevator open. In the glimpse she had before ducking under the desk, she recognized the girl. It was Ruby Rose, one of the new First Year students at the academy.

Ruby walked out of the elevator, holding Crescent Rose in her hands. She wobbled a bit on her heels, but she found her footing quickly. She walked forward slowly, scanning the room for intruders.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called.

Cinder knew she was caught, but she still had her cover. She could make it out of here if she distracted this girl. Slowly, she stood up.

"Excuse me," Ruby said, her tone growing harsher, "You know, it's not a masquerade party. So why don't you take off that-"

Cinder ignored her and flashed a Dust canister. She swept it in front of her and over a dozen small glass projectiles formed between them. She was about to open fire when she heard a knocking sound behind her.

She turned to see that one of the Conduits she had been told to watch out for, Eugene Sims, was floating just outside the window, alongside four of his Wingmen. She grimaced. She was surrounded.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, though his voice was distorted by the glass.

Slowly, she put the canister away. The projectiles in front of her fell to the floor and shattered.

"Take off your mask and get down on the ground or I will open fire," Eugene said.

She began to reach for her mask, scowling the whole way. Just as her fingers touched the glass, her luck turned. The elevator dinged again. Ruby turned to look at who had just come up, and Cinder used that to make her escape. She spun and grabbed the Dust canister from the floor and erected a small, temporary shield. Eugene opened fire as he said he would. The Wingmen's lasers burned right through the windows, but when they hit Cinder's multifaceted shield, they refracted. The resultant light blinded everyone else but her, and she slipped out without another word.

When the light died down, Ruby opened her eyes to find that their target had escaped.

"What's going on here?!" General Ironwood shouted, more out of shock than anger.

O00000O00000O

Back at the party, Alex had just finished his song. A brief yet enthusiastic wave of applause resonated in the ballroom. Alex gave a polite bow and put away his violin, letting the cello and bass players return to their seats. He made his way quietly off the stage as the music picked back up again.

He placed his violin at the end of the stairs leading to the stage. Yang walked up next to him.

"I didn't know you could play," she said.

"I haven't in a while. But, I figured I needed too. It's therapeutic."

"It was beautiful."

"Thank you. Now, I believe I owe you a dance," he said.

Yang smiled.

"You bet you do."

She took him by the arm and led him to the dance floor, smiles on both of their faces.

O00000O00000O

Cinder walked back into the ballroom, ditching her mask and using the Dust embedded in it to change her outfit's appearance. She walked forward and approached her two compatriots as they danced along the floor.

"Mind if I cut in?" she said, tapping Emerald on the shoulder.

"Of course," Emerald said.

Emerald walked away as Cinder took her place.

"And how's your night been?" Mercury asked.

"Much more... exciting than expected," she said.

"Should we be worried?"

"No, but be on your guard."

"So then, what now?"

"Enjoy the rest of the night. After all," she said, "It is a party."

CHAPTER END