Marli nearly swooned once she was inside the ballroom proper. She had been impressed by one crystal chandelier, this room had three. They'd entered on a balcony that ringed the entire room. In front of them two staircases curved down to the wide floor. Nobody even gave them a glance as they made their way down; it was almost like they didn't exist for now. A musical ensemble played a score to orchestrate the scene and fill the ambience. Flowers in blue and purple tastefully adorned the bannister and the pillars, which were also decorated with draping fabric, red over blue. There was a drinks table with wine glasses stacked in pyramids and professional wait staff roamed the room carrying trays laden with fancy hors d'oeuvres.

The guests of the ball were also rather exquisite individuals. There were massive dresses held up by crinolines, stiff collars and bowties, expensive jewellery and watches, there were even capes on some outfits. Women whose arms weren't otherwise covered by sleeves wore long, white gloves. Kairi and Marli were suddenly feeling underdressed. It wasn't just the fashion that was echelons above them either.

"I can't believe how many famous people there are," Marli whispered, eyes going all around the room, unable to settle on one particular thing. She pointed to a couple of old men with long, white hair and beards, wearing blue sorcerer robes and ceremonial belts. "That man over there is Merlin the Magician! And that other man – oh my gosh – is that Yen Sid? There are passages we read about him in our history class that were centuries old! That can't be possible, right? Oh, oh, and over there—" she pointed in a different direction, "—those guys are from Balamb Garden, they're wearing the uniform. Imagine being privileged enough to go to Balamb Garden for school."

Marli sighed dreamily. However, Kairi wasn't so sure that was the correct term. The students of Balamb Garden were looked upon very respectfully; the levels of their achievements were parallel to none, so naturally most people assumed that it was a very high class institution. That was only partially true, if anything Kairi had heard was to be believed. It was mostly hearsay but from the sounds of things, Balamb Garden was practically an exceedingly well-funded and glorified orphanage. The only reason she was inclined to believe this in any way was because she had once heard Ienzo mutter something along those lines.

Kairi was looking around and craning her neck for any sign of Ienzo. She wanted to just break away and search all of the places in the room where he was likely to be but Marli was dragging her by the wrist, pointing out all of the recognisable people.

"Look, look, look! There're the king and queen of Disney – do you know where that is, by any chance? They really are mice! And there are ducks and there's a dog in a suit of armour! I've never seen an Animal in person before; we should try to meet them at some point." 'Animal' being the term used for those anthropomorphic beings, as opposed to the non-capitalised version. Suddenly, Marli gasped dramatically. "Kairi!" she hissed. "It's the Keyblade Masters."

This time Kairi's head whipped around, scouting for the individuals Marli had mentioned. She froze and gawked. They were really there in their ceremonial tunics and armour, pieces of clothing that were impractical for battle and swamped their wearers with their symbolic importance so much that the people were barely recognisable. But if all of that was ignored and you just looked at their faces, it was definitely the Keyblade Masters. Terra's broadness could not be hidden under any amount of earthy brown and gold robes or armour. His severe face was sharpened with age and some short but well-groomed facial hair made him look almost a decade older. Beside him was Aqua. Marli considerately let go of Kairi's hand so that the redhead could bring both to her cheeks. Ever since she was a little girl Kairi had admired Aqua from the depths of her heart. She could never see the woman as anything less than the perfect fusion of strength and beauty. Unlike Terra, the shape of her figure was barely visible under her bulky blue and silver outfit. She had let her hair down and allowed it to fall around her face and shoulders.

Behind the Masters were the apprentices. Kairi had no idea what went on in the secret world of Keyblade Wielders but the apprentices would always shadow their masters at any formal gathering they attended. They had the embroidered tunics and belts but weren't ranked high enough to earn the pretty robes and pretend armour. Still, Ventus was smiling like a small child in his green outfit, tailing Aqua faithfully. On Terra's side was the mysterious one. Ventus had been around for a while and was only a bit younger than Terra and Aqua. Word was that he was on the cusp of achieving his mastery of the Keyblade as well. Terra's apprentice was still a teen and yet he was every bit the impressive specimen of a man that Terra was. He was tall but lean in contrast to Terra's bulk and was even fairer than Kairi, taking into account the cyan eyes and silver hair. Something about him unsettled Kairi. She wasn't sure what it was and the answer would only dawn on her later in the night: he looked to be the brooding type (it was the dark purple clothing and vision-obstructing fringe) and yet he was laughing brightly.

That's when Kairi spotted the most curious example of a human being she had ever laid eyes on. His hands, feet and blue eyes were large and badly proportioned on his gangling body, with its narrow shoulders and skinny waist. His hair stuck up at almost every angle but in the light it looked downy like duckling feathers, rather than shiny or slick like sprayed or gelled hair. His outfit was tribal, foreign and exotic. Kairi had never seen anything like it, not even in a book. Even his skin was painted with elaborate ink stains. He laughed with the Terra's silver-haired apprentice, making it clear that they were friends.

"I wonder if being good looking is a requirement of applying for Keyblade apprenticeship," Marli said in a low voice, ogling the boys and men a bit too discernibly. "Maybe you should, you know, go up there and try to get your foot in the door."

"What?" Kairi whispered.

"Go talk to Aqua. Or Terra, heck, maybe even Ventus. You always said you wanted to be a Keyblade Master. Tonight's finally your chance to talk to the actual Masters and see if you're worthy."

Kairi shook her head. "No way. I can't just go up to Aqua like that."

"But you've been idolising her practically your whole life. Now you can make something of that. She's right there."

"I can't just go up to someone who I've had a massive girl crush on for my entire life. That'll just turn out to be a mess of awkward. Besides, I'm looking for someone, remember? I should go find him."

She darted into the crowd, still blushing over the notion of approaching the Keyblade Wielders directly. Marli hurried after her, latching onto the back of her dress so that they wouldn't separate. It was a very crowded ballroom, after all. She returned to her previous activity of people-watching while Kairi kept her eyes peeled for any sign of Ienzo.

Presently, Ienzo wasn't even on the ballroom floor. He was behind closed doors in a corridor branching off the ballroom. It was an ordinary, recreational room that was now being repurposed as a dressing room for tonight. A full length mirror in the corner showed Ienzo in his full regal attire: the thick, embroidered tunic, cinched at the waist by a belt with a ceremonial sword hanging on his right hip. He swallowed nervously.

"Are you almost ready?" Even asked, looking over his shoulder. Ienzo looked at him through the mirror. He was in the traditional Radiant Garden livery, white like his lab coat, which for some reason he was still wearing.

"You don't look ready," Ienzo said, deflecting.

Even shrugged off the coat and tossed it over a chair. "I had some experiments to check on in the lab quickly."

"Ansem won't be happy to hear that you went to the lab in your livery. What if you'd gotten it dirty right before the event?"

"But I didn't. The point is, you're once again avoiding answering questions about yourself."

Ienzo sighed and blinked slowly. "I don't know if I can do this. I'm not ready to be the heir."

"That's nonsense. If Ansem thinks you're ready, you're ready. They don't call him wise for nothing."

"And they call me 'percipient'. Do most people even know what that means?" Ienzo sighed. "I'm not ready to be the heir."

"Now you're directly questioning Ansem's judgment?"

"I'm not a leader. I was comfortable living in the shadow of Ansem, the apprentices and the castle. Now I'll spend the rest of my life in the light."

Even sighed and rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the door opening again and two more visitors stepping in. Dilan and Aeleus walked in, both of them tall, square and regal in their black uniforms. Their special outfits of the night were modified versions of the guard uniforms, designed to look sharper and flashier despite being less practical. If they were here then it was safe to assume that they were off duty – captaincy of the guard was a job they undertook when they weren't required to do apprentice work with Ansem.

"Ansem is ready to begin the formal ceremony," Dilan announced in a perfunctory manner.

"All we're waiting on is the prince-to-be," Aeleus added, looking at Ienzo and smiling. "You look handsome."

Ienzo sighed, turning his back on the mirror and ambling into the middle of the room. He slumped into a chair that had once had parts of his outfit laid on its seat. "Good to know that being ugly is the least of my worries."

"You're being melodramatic," Even sneered, waving a hand dismissively. "It's not an execution, just a public entrance."

"What do I expect?" Ienzo moaned, looking up at Even imploringly. The blond shrugged.

"Don't look at me; I've never seen a Succession Ball. Ansem has been king since my earliest memory. You will be perfectly fine. Just do all of the things we rehearsed and talked about – following instructions is something you're good at, at least – and then be yourself. Nobody can go wrong when they're standing around like an oil painting."

"I know it's a long shot to ask you to suddenly grow a personality but try to be charming for the aristocrats," Dilan reminded him offhandedly. "Some of them came a very long way."

Apprehension gripped Ienzo's throat, tightening his airway. Still, he rolled his eyes as if his surrogate brother had merely annoyed him. "Yes, about that…"

A servant knocked on the still open doors, peeking around Dilan and Aeleus' lumbering forms as all eyes turned to him. "Um, Ansem is wondering if the lords are ready."

"Impatient," Even tutted, dismissing the servant after assuring him they were. "Let's get it over with."

"I can't," Ienzo muttered, clenching and unclenching his hands to rid his fingers of the chill he got thinking of the girl with the red hair.

"You have to."

"No." Ienzo gripped the edge of his chair adamantly.

Even twisted his lip, glancing at the two burlier men in the room. Dilan and Aeleus exchanged glances and smirked. Ienzo's eyes widened when they sauntered up to him and his grip tightened. They picked up the chair, one side each, as effortlessly as if the chair hadn't been occupied and carried it to the door. With a single swing they threw Ienzo onto the carpet in the corridor, getting a panicked yelp out of him.

Even stepped out, smirking in satisfaction while Dilan threw the chair back into the room and Aeleus closed the door quietly. The blond grabbed Ienzo by his collar and lifted him from the inelegant sprawl on the floor, steadying him on his feet. He straightened up the outfit and smoothed down the boy's hair with a warm, affectionate touch at odds with his usual iciness. He went over Ienzo's outfit with a lint brush he must have picked up in the room. Ienzo let out a breath and relaxed under the brotherly ministrations.

"Have a little more faith in yourself," Even said softly, putting the brush away in an inner jacket pocket, where it seemed to disappear without a trace. "If your father thinks you're ready, then believe him, you're ready."

Ienzo nodded sombrely, allowing Even to take his arm and lead him to the ballroom, flanked by Dilan and Aeleus.