Oh, I'm so sick of dealing with these idiots... Here, have a taste of my New Year's Eve—

Guy on phone: "Are you telling me I'm gonna have to close down?!"
Me: "Sir, I don't know why your partner didn't receive the notice of a lack of CEUs, but you cannot have an active business license without an active technician."
-click-
Me: -puts the phone down- "Okay, whatever. Not my job to tie your shoes for you. He shoulda been paying closer attention to how many hours he had and when his license expired."
Linn: "Oh, another one of those?"
Me: "I stopped counting this morning after the fourth call. I think it was about nine?"
Linn: "Yeah, they do that. See you next week."
Me: "Enjoy the rest of your time off."
(a couple hours later...)
Curt: "Happy New Year. See you on the eleventh."
Me: "Leaving again?"
Curt: "Yeah... You gonna be alright on your own?"
Me: -glances at the phone- 'Now he asks...' "I'll live. I've survived this last week and a half, right?"
Curt: -chuckles and walks off-

So yeah. A glimpse into the life of the author. Sucks being the only person in a program. Thank Gods Linn comes back Monday.

Now then! On to the dance! (Yeesh, is there gonna be one of these in all three books?)

"Oh, boy... And here I thought Tear was the utterly hopeless case." –Kairi

"Dallies, you say? How foolish of him, to leave his lady waiting as he coerces his clothing into cooperation..." –Reighn

Chapter 11.3 – Dances With Death
Part 92

I twirled, arms out to the side. Nephry grinned. "Beautiful!"

I laughed. "Thanks. Now go help Cantabile. We've got half a dozen hopeless cases to contend with and only two of us." Nephry laughed as well and left, her pink gown swirling around her feet as she moved. I followed her out after reaching out and grabbing the mask I'd sat on the table nearby.

Three weeks had passed since I'd received the invitation from Nephry to a masquerade ball celebrating the new peace treaty between Kimlasca and Malkuth. Nine of us had gone to the boutique here in Keterburg two weeks back to find and reserve our dresses, and while Nephry and I had found ours easily enough... Well, Natalia was used to her maids picking her dresses for her (she had considered letting them do so again before deciding to take part, just for the experience of it), Aerith and Selenia usually just wore what was comfortable (Selenia had outgrown the blue dress she'd worn to the End of Year Ball), Tear, Anise, and Cantabile had their uniforms, and Flick...

Well, Flick was a year old. And there'd been enough arguments at the beginning, when she'd insisted that her old battle mask would be fine, that I had to put her in her own category.

We had split up into groups of three, actually, and while I knew what Nephry's dress looked like since she'd come in to check on me, Natalia and Tear were the only other two whose dresses I'd seen so far, though I knew what everyone's masks looked like, since we'd come back to Nephry's mansion and made those after reserving our dresses. And yes, Flick had gotten to wear her old mask, the one that looked like Sync's... Though, I'd have sworn it was silver and red when I saw her after Danté shot me. It was silver and gold, now.

Deciding that Tear, my utterly and completely hopeless case, needed my attention first, I headed over to the room she'd been assigned for getting dressed.

Well... she was in the dress, at least. The silvery heels we'd gotten for her were still sitting off to one side, and she was looking at her reflection helplessly. I smiled. "Okay. Let me see..."

She sighed and turned around, and after adjusting her dress a bit, I leaned over for her brush and started contemplating what I wanted to do with her hair. Unlike the End of Year Ball, I wasn't in a rush, so I ended up doing a pretty little net of braids over the top of her hair. Then I did a few more small braids that would hang down her back fully, unlike the loose ends of the first set that didn't reach very far. The rest of her hair, I allowed to fall free.

Then I had her turn around so I could do makeup. I'd been taught a few tricks from my mom on how to not overdo it, so it really didn't take me long to finish. "There... Look."

Tear turned at looked back at the mirror, and I saw her visible eye widen in surprise. I'd left her bangs alone, so the right eye was as concealed as ever. "Oh..."

I smiled. "Beautiful. Now, get those shoes on, find your mask, and head downstairs. I've got to go help Natalia, I'm sure."

Tear nodded silently, apparently still shocked by her reflection, while I turned and went to find Natalia.

Natalia did two better than Tear. She already had her heels on, and her hair was done up already... Well, mostly. She was holding the comb that would go in the small bun she'd made and staring at her reflection irritably. I slipped the comb out of her fingers easily, and she jumped a bit as I put a hand on her shoulder. Once the comb was in place, I smiled and checked her dark blue and black dress and black heels.

No, not her usual colors, but she and Dark had a bit of a theme going, so I'd gotten to run with it.

"Um... Could you help me with my makeup? I... really don't know what I'm doing," she asked. I lifted my makeup bag.

"Figured as much. Turn around, close your eyes, and hold still..."

It took me a little bit longer to get Natalia's makeup done, since hers was altogether darker than Tear's. Once I finished with her, I told her to go join Tear downstairs with her mask.

Then I got to figure out who to help next. I decided on Flick after glancing around, since she was right across from Natalia.

Nephry hadn't gotten here yet, that much was obvious from the fact that Flick was still fighting with—oh, dear gods, her hair was still wet!

I sighed, shook my head, and walked over to her. She stopped fighting with the comb when she spotted me halfway, and I took it from her and started in on her hair myself, drawing in fire and sun Energies. Enough to generate warmth without actually summoning up a flame. Flick's hair began to dry quickly as I worked.

"That's a neat trick..."

"You're lucky I know it. You realize it's freezing outside, yes? Did you really want a frozen head?"

"Sorry... I just kinda realized a little bit ago that I really needed a bath... Everyone else took theirs before they got here or as soon as they got here this morning."

I shrugged. "I only took mine a few hours ago, but since my hair's difficult to control on a good day, I did it up like this while it was still wet and then used this little trick to get it all dried. Your hair's pretty easy to work with, though I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it as far as a hairstyle for the night goes..."

"I can just wear it like this."

I snorted. "No, darlin', you can't. Especially not with that mask. Now..." I double-checked her hair to see if it was all dry now. "Where's your dress?"

She stood up, walked over to the closet, and pulled out the garment bag, still zipped up, even. I shook my head. "Oh, boy... And here I thought Tear was the utterly hopeless case."

Flick looked sheepish as she also found her shoes. I knew those were pretty gold heels, to go with the gold in her mask, but I still didn't have a clue what the dress looked like. Well, I would soon...

It didn't take us long to get the dress out, and I felt a large smile creeping across my lips as I helped Flick get it on. Gold, silver, red, and orange... This was gorgeous, and while the princess-style ball gown normally would have looked out of place on someone as rough as Flick usually was... it seemed to fit her perfectly. I grinned. "Beautiful... Alright, get your shoes on and go sit down again. I'll be right back."

Flick nodded, and I ran off to find Natalia. She had brought along a number of hair combs and other accessories, and I'd seen a few I'd thought were neat. Unfortunately, my green dress meant the fiery ornaments wouldn't work for me. Flick's dress, on the other hand...

Once I'd gotten the things I needed, I ran back up the stairs to find Flick again, and almost crashed into Anise as I went. She was dressed up in a cute little pink dress, I noted absently.

I finally made it back to Flick and started messing around with her hair. Then I did her makeup, ignoring her complaints about her mask making it basically pointless. Once I was done, I had her stand up and look in the mirror.

Much like Tear, Flick was speechless. I smirked. "Katniss has nothing on you tonight," I said softly. Flick gave me an odd look.

"Who's Katniss?"

I grinned. "Oh? I haven't told you about the Girl on Fire yet? Huh. I'll have to tell you that story sometime. Now, you grab your mask and join the ladies downstairs. Tear, Cantabile, Natalia, and Anise are already there."

Flick nodded, and then looked at the mirror again. I giggled and headed off into the hallway, just in time to see Selenia step out of her room, Nephry behind her.

"Ooh... Aren't we just a winter princess?" I teased. Selenia ducked her head.

"That's kinda what I was going for..." she admitted. I grinned.

"Nice. Flick's a fire princess, Natalia's a spirit of the night, and Tear's a cloud queen, so you definitely fit right in," I said. Selenia gave me an amused look.

"This, from the lady of the forest."

I laughed and looked over at Nephry. "Aerith done, or no?"

"I think I'm done..."

I looked over at Aerith and rolled my eyes. "Your makeup's a little over-done."

She cringed. "Help?"

"I will. You two go on downstairs. Flick's still staring at her reflection for now," I said. Nephry and Selenia nodded and headed off, while I walked over to help Aerith fix her makeup. She really had gone overboard... once it was fixed, though, I smiled. "There. Let's go, the others are waiting."

She smiled and nodded, and the two of us headed downstairs after I collected my mask from where I'd left it in Tear's room.

The others were all pulling on coats now, and I grabbed mine quickly. It wouldn't take us long to walk to the hotel, thankfully... Especially given the fact that my dress wasn't as warm as the winter ball dress had been.

We moved in a bit of a pack, and I smirked, noticing dozens of other women—and men—doing the same.

"The boys are all going to meet us there, right?" Selenia asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, though I'm probably going to have to run upstairs and help a few out with ties..."

Nephry giggled. "Probably. Jade's actually rather hopeless when it comes to tying a tie properly."

"I can't imagine Dark being any better."

That mental image had most of us laughing.

Sure enough, I did get roped into helping four of the men with their ties. Selenia had insisted on Sync wearing one, and, well... Between him, Seth, Jade, and Dark, I wasn't sure who I wanted to knock upside the head first.

By the time we finally made it down to the ball room, the party had started. I immediately started scanning the crowds for red hair.

I found Luke. I knew it was him, the tie was red, not green, but I just couldn't find Asch.

I spent the first ten minutes standing by the food, just looking around for Asch.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned, only to be a bit disappointed. A white suit, silver waistcoat, blue tie, blue hair, and silver and white mask met my eyes. I sighed, then offered up a small smile. "Your eyes outshine your mask, oh lord of winter."

Reighn chuckled. "And yours don't shine brightly enough, fair lady of the summer forest." He held out a hand. "Might this lonely blizzard have a dance?"

I couldn't help but giggle, even as I accepted his hand. "My partner dallies, it seems. You may."

As Reighn pulled me onto the floor, he wore a barely-visible expression of mock indignation. "Dallies, you say? How foolish of him, to leave his lady waiting as he coerces his clothing into cooperation..."

It took a lot of self-control not to bust up laughing. "Don't tell me he's having problems with his tie," I teased. Reighn looked a bit sheepish.

"His mask, actually... The string broke and ripped out a feather or two while it was at it. It won't take him long to finish fixing it."

I rolled my eyes. "Only Asch would have problems with his mask at a time like this..."

Reighn seemed to agree. A few more steps, a twirl, and then the song came to a close.

"Ahem... May I have the next dance?"

I spun around with a grin, and I sensed more than heard Reighn backing out. "You may, and the dance after for keeping me waiting."

Asch offered up and apologetic smile, but led me into the next dance easily. "I'm afraid I'll have to surrender you for the next dance, milady... Father wanted to speak with you... alone."

I sighed. "Oh boy."

"That about sums it up. But... I will be happy to dance with you again once the two of you are finished with whatever it was he wanted to discuss," Asch said. I nodded, then let myself relax, simply enjoying the dance for now. I'd really only danced three times at the End of Year Ball—twice with Asch, and once with Jade, who had been desperately trying to escape from Cantabile.

This was my second dance of the night, and I was seriously looking forward to the rest of the night. I knew I'd probably end up dancing with my brothers—all three of them, Seth, Jade, and Sync—and I'd already danced with Reighn the once. Guy was definitely making his rounds of the ladies, having danced with Selenia, Anise, Natalia, Tear, and Nephry so far. Though, that, I'd expected. He'd admitted to Luke in a letter a week ago that he was hoping the ball would be a good exercise in not reacting negatively to a female's presence.

As the current song came to a close, Asch bowed to me, and I curtsied back before immediately scanning for red hair—again.

This time, I found Luke, then Suzanne (oh, Gods, she was gorgeous...) and then...

Duke Fabre stepped into my line of vision as I turned to look in another direction, and I smiled. "You were looking for me, Your Grace?"

He held out his hand. "Indeed. May I have the next dance?"

I nodded, and was swept out onto the dance floor again.

"I hear from Luke you've done an excellent job of reorganizing the Third Division in the Oracle Knights."

I nodded again. "So everyone tells me."

"Luke also mentioned something that he overheard Zion talking about... Something about you being from another world?"

I froze mid-step while spinning out, and had he been any less gentle pulling me back over, he likely would have dislocated my arm. A few steps later, and I was back on track. I glanced up at the green eyes visible behind a black mask.

"So it's true."

I nodded, still not quite able to speak.

"And is Asch aware?"

"Yes. He, Sync, and Dark were the first ones to find out... with the befuddling exception of Zion and his cohorts. How they know, I'm still trying to figure out," I said, voice soft.

"How many others?"

"Jade. Reighn. Luke, apparently, knows the basics. The others I've named, though... I told them everything."

"And you don't intend to return home?"

I sighed at that.

Fun Fact: When Asch didn't immediately come downstairs, I sent Sync upstairs to find Asch. He came back cackling 'wardrobe malfunction'. Reighn knocked him upside the head, went to take a peek, and then came back and the scene with Kairi ensued.