This chapter's song is To Build An Army by Evening Star.
The ballroom is decorated with red, the walls painted black, accented with gray. Side chandeliers hang in a circle, simple light fixtures, and one main one is in the center, directly above the dance floor, the crystals tinged a light red, perfect (160) for the room.
Sheer red cloth drapes throughout the room, hanging from the ceiling and creating a lovely atmosphere. Red carpet leads up the stairs on the sides, with the space in the middle bare of both carpet and furniture, with seats hugging the walls. Tables are on the lower level, already set and ready to be dined upon once they've placed their order. Both tables and chairs are made of polished black wood, gleaming in the light, the seats cushioned with red, the tableware and utensils gold with black vines decorating them. Wine sits on every table, crystalline goblets aplenty with black stems keep them steady. Every setting has a menu on it, and all of it is perfect.
Until, of course, my guests eventually arrive. Usually, I'd think about a big table so everyone could converse with everyone else, but I'd rather not be grilled by impetuous mages still angry at me for besting them without lifting a finger.
Beaming, I whirl around, and greet the first to arrive, all of my guild that participated, including Fukuro and Decimus. Of course they're invited.
I congratulate all of them, and allow them all to choose their seats, Nightshade taking one right next to me and Morrigan one seat to my left. Lucifer and Noctus claim their own, at their own table, and Orion sits one seat from Morrigan, with Nexus at his side. Each table seats 8, and no one else sits at ours, Midnight and Cobra straying across from Lucifer and Noctus, Cobra patting Midnight's arm (161). Ortelloth and Kessie stand across from the empty seating, which is quickly taken by Fukuro and Decimus, the two talking fondly, smiling the whole time. Fukuro looks uncomfortable in a suit, and without his jetpack. (162)
At the other tables, Vidaldus, Rustyrose, Kurohebi, Racer, and Erigor take their seats, all in one table, talking about stuff. It's nice to see Kurohebi taking so well to his teammates. They're welcoming him with open arms; or, at least, the most open arms in our Family. (163)
As everyone in our Family claimed (164) their seats, the rest of the guests arrived.
First to come through the doors are Lucy and Laxus, holding hands. The couple scans the room, and find an empty table. (165) Lucy sets down her purse, and Laxus, his coat on the seat. Gajeel and Levy follow, Levy leading him to the same table, with her sitting to the right of Lucy, Gajeel following Laxus' lead. Levy puts her glasses to the right of the table setting. Sherria and Lyon, along with Wendy and Romeo, follow the Dragon Slayers and their mates to the table, Lyon claiming the seat next to Laxus and Sherria next to him, Wendy next to her and Romeo taking the last seat available.
Two couple tables already. Lovely.
Jellal and Meredy, together like normal, move to another table, followed by Lisanna, Natsu, Eve, Jenny, Jura and Hoteye, all claiming their seats in that order. Convenient.
Gildarts leads Cana to the nearest unoccupied table, her latching onto Bacchus and snagging him a seat next to her, on her right, while Gildarts got the one to the left. Rocker follows his teammate, only able to get the seat next to Gildarts, the ones to the right of Bacchus caught by Mirajane, Kagura, Arana and Millianna.
The last few stragglers are Sting, Dobengal and Flare, Flare courageously taking the seat next to Vidaldus, looking stunning in a revealing red dress. (166)
The absolute last, however, finally comes through the door, and it's Rogue, supporting Hibiki, though it's more mutual than you'd think. Morrigan tries not to look to excited, and I smile, shaking my head at the minor display of affection. I think there's a bit more there than they'd like us to know.
Of course, most people aren't even paying attention.
Hibiki takes the seat in between Morrigan and Orion, laying down his jacket on the seat. Rogue shyly looks around, spying only two seats left, one right near him and next to me, the other next to Nightshade. He moves around the table to the one next to Nightshade. She looks at him warily, and the doors close behind us, startling almost everyone, except Morrigan, Hibiki and I.
I smile wryly, amused. "Dinner will be served in a small while. If you would follow Lucifer and Noctus onto the dance floor up a level."
The lovebird pair, already halfway there, don't even notice that I've used them to avoid this. I swear, if he doesn't propose soon, I'll be forced to take drastic measures.
Maybe I'll send them on a mandatory vacation.
Pairs of couples rush towards the dance floor, seemingly eager to get away from me. Several people, without partners, move up anyway, although some linger. Behind Noctus and Lucifer, go Fukuro and Decimus, strolling along, delightfully reminding everyone both how cute they are, and how different. Cobra escorts a drowsy Midnight, blushing furiously as Kessie coos. Said mage is scooped up by Ortelloth, eskimo kissing her and carrying her up the staircase, Fukuro in turn teasing them. Neither pays attention.
Lucy leads Laxus, who looks like he could kill someone from being in such a restrictive suit, with Gajeel being lead in a similar fashion by Levy. He still hasn't tamed his hair.
Natsu and Lisanna take the next spot, accompanied by Lyon and Sherria. Something tells me they'll either become great rivals or great friends. Maybe both.
Wendy fusses with Romeo's bowtie, who looks uncomfortable without his scarf. Eve escorts Jenny out to the floor, though both of them look at Hibiki in confusion. Bacchus glides onto the dance floor with Cana, sweating because of how pointedly Gildarts is looking at him. Vidaldus, looking around, shrugs, and offers his hand to Flare. She blushes, but accepts his hand. (167)
Nexus offers his hand to Orion, who smirks and accepts, going up the opposite staircase. (168)
Morrigan places a hand gently on Hibiki's shoulder, who looks at her and smiles, the two following Nexus and Orion, albeit more slowly, as Hibiki is still injured.
Jellal and Meredy, both looking sad, glare at me as they pass by. I watch them, smiling, and connect to the guards under my control, giving them orders to not let either of them leave the building. I want to deal with them later.
Mirajane clamps her hand on Kagura's arm, leading her up the stairs defiantly, glaring at me the whole way. (169) Racer halts at the table that still has women, offering his arm to Arana, who looks around but finds that Millianna is already on her way to the floor with Rocker, looking somewhat forlorn at both the lack of dance partners and the unluckiness of the situation. Sighing, the web mage accepts, and lets the bold man lead her up.
Sting, cursing himself, pulls at Dobengal, the pair the only non Brotherhood mages left, moving onto the floor with their hands in their pockets and looking uncomfortable at the very idea. Jura and Hoteye climb the same stairs with them, laughing and cheering the duo up. Kurohebi, Rustyrose and Erigor, all laughing, go up the lesser used staircase, already making bets on who'd fall down first.
Literally the only one who didn't have a partner, and only three of us left on the lower levels, Rogue coughs and offers his hand to Nightshade.
Surprised, she hesitantly accepts, and I narrow my eyes at Rogue, before darting close.
"I'm watching you." I growl, then move up the stairs behind them, the Shadow Dragon Slayer looking frightened, perhaps more so than Bacchus right after Gildarts' unspoken threat.
As I peer around the dance floor, the last one to walk up there, I see dresses swirling with enthusiasm as the songs start up, a magic sound system playing. Most people now have smiles on their faces, the tension easing in the presence of the friendly atmosphere and familiar music.
It probably also helps that almost no one will be interacting with me that doesn't want to. I relax against the railing, just watching, a bit wistful.
Couples, some comfortable, some not, some cute, and some horrible matches, pass by, twirling around the ballroom and laughing.
I see Flare Corona and Vidaldus slow dancing, his hands on her waist, not dropping lower in a rare (170) instance, her hands wrapping around his neck, her hands gripping her wrists. The pair moves from side to side, neither as adept at dancing as others seem to be. I smile, happy that he found someone. On the other side of the place, Lucifer and Noctus dance, Noctus resting her head on his chest, eyes closed, content to simply be together. He rests his chin on her head, the pair still in typical waltz style, slowly rotating by memory alone. (171)
Decimus is talking with Fukuro, whom I doubt is listening, mainly because he looks enraptured by his partner's face. Cobra is dancing with Midnight, who looks so happy it's ridiculous. Midnight loves to dance, almost more than cuddles and sleeping. Almost. (172)
Kessie and Ortelloth, though, are perfectly fine, Kessie leading the way to the center of the dance floor and not even following the rhythm of the music. Ortelloth just smiles fondly and assists her, moving her around when she poses, glamour shots that she generously gives away.
Lucy and Laxus are dancing, moderately, although I'm sure that Lucy would be exceptional with a good partner, but Laxus blunders across the dance floor with the grace of a herd of lemmings.
Through that, though, she's laughing, either at his gracelessness or his expression, like a storm cloud with eyes and a forced smile on his face. That gradually changes, though, and he looks at Lucy like she's his everything, the only person in the room that matters to him, which is true in a lot of senses.
I feel a pang of sadness, knowing that that's never happened with me. I wonder if it ever will. (173)
The other couples move about, some looking awkward, some having revelations about their partners and how crazy they are, some shuffling about in a way that makes me want to stab them in the eye with a fork.
I'm not supposed to, probably because it'd be bad, but I don't like that look in Rogue's eyes, when he gazes at Nightshade. (174)
I don't move, wishing I had my fan for something to do other than make people feel uncomfortable with my viewing. I think it's either the pallor of my skin of my eyes that make them feel… skittish under my sight.
Kurohebi and Nexus waltz over, Kurohebi dipping Nexus, who smirks at me and raises an eyebrow. I raise mine in response, and start giggling. He certainly knows how to bring a smile to my face.
The two stop dancing, leaning against the railing with me and talking. "So, Listener, what did you think of our performance during the games?" Nexus asks, cool as a cucumber. Kurohebi looks at me with his head cocked.
"You both did very well; I'm very proud. Especially because you, Kurohebi, you helped bring down Minerva and Levy, and your use of Bacchus' palm magic was- is- still admirable. And Nexus, I'm very glad you upheld your own code. Are either of you very injured?"
Kurohebi shrugs, his arms seeming to elongate when he crosses them, blushing slightly at the praise. Nexus smiles at his companion, and tweaks his cheek, before bumping my arm. "We're fine, Listener. You want to dance?"
"You want to die?"
"You're that bad?"
I blush, and look away. "Last time I danced I put three people in comas. I didn't even hit them. It just happened."
Nexus chuckles, and Kurohebi smiles, turning his head back up to a normal position.
Kurohebi perks up, "You want lessons?"
"Not if the teacher wants to die unexpectedly." I joke, semi serious. Mostly serious, actually. It's terrible. I shouldn't be allowed on a dance floor, unless I am gently swaying. Very, very gently.
All of us laugh, and Nexus looks at me. "I can summon a dance partner for you, you know."
My eyes gleam with magic. "I can, too. Doesn't mean I want to injure any of my spirits."
Kurohebi smiles, looking away. He's in a wrap around suit, which suits him better than any suit could. The pants are slightly looser, but still clingy and reminiscent of what he usually wears. The sleeves of the top go down to his wrists, where he still has his wrist cuffs on. A belt holds up the pants, black and green, gleaming in the light. His boots tuck the pants in, about mid calf, and they shine with newness. I suspect Orion and Nexus took him shopping in the short while between the events of this morning and this party. He really does look like a snake, though.
Nexus looks just as good. He's wearing a shirt, although it's cropped, so I don't know if that counts, but it shows off his abs perfectly, the navy blue tee covering his shoulders and neck as well as his pectorals. His skirt is a striped blue, shorter than normal, to his knees and wrapped in the front, coming together in strips of blue and black, a belt keeping it together and an ornament hanging off of it to keep it secure. Gold wristlets cover his forearms, glinting in the light and making it dance. His hair, blonde and cut close, is spiked up, the mage self conscious over the amount of hairspray a person can smell on him. (175)
I smile at the mage, and nudge him back, more comfortable now that their cheerfulness has brought me figuratively back from the dead. Morrigan and Hibiki, swirling around the dance floor dramatically, aided by Morrigan's wind powers and Hibiki's prowess at dancing. The two, after circling the dance floor twice, come back to stand before me.
160- I've had this thing since 4E256, when a visiting vampire clan's lord gave it to me at Volkihar as a token of gratitude for sheltering him and helping him weed out traitors in his group. Yes, I tinged the crystals with the traitor and weaklings' blood. Got a problem?
161- Adorable. Just, just... adorable.
162- It's weird for everyone.
163- I still remember how hostile Arnbjorn was when I was a newbie. After I became a werewolf, even though he was dead, I thought about him. I also started thinking of people as snacks.
164- I mean literally, we put something there to indicate it was ours. Until the others came in, actually, we stood behind them as well. No one is sitting down at this point.
165- This really isn't that hard, only three tables have been touched.
166- She rocks it. I'm quoting Vidaldus.
167- Aside from being a rather good mage, he's quite handsome. Especially since he's got his hair tied back in a bun. It's... adorable.
168- Said staircase circles the room. It's the same on the upper level, which leads to a throne. I'm no architect, Rustyrose did this.
169- I'm not sure what she's trying to do, it doesn't make sense to me.
170- And I mean, rare.
171- They go dancing every month, at least. It's a tradition; Noctus trips over her own feet if they do anything other than a slow waltz.
172- Cobra's starting to look a little sick, though.
173- I doubt it, but my optimistic side is insisting we do not give up hope.
174- He's gazing. I need to stop this.
175- It's actually not that heavy, but he's adorable with his self consciousness. The hair is also quite cool.