Here is the fiftieth chapter in this story released in accordance with my release schedule for this story. It's been longer than I'd like but such is life when you're away from home for 3 weeks and have a lot going on when you get back but that's all done now so hopefully things will be a bit quicker as I've got nothing big planned IRL until December. Anyway, the Grand Ball is about to begin and the Guilds of the Grand Magic Games are set to be honored at it but first the Guild members have to get ready for it as this is a formal event hosted by the Royal Family so they've got to look their best for it, a potential challenge for some of the Black Bulls, and maybe someone special at the same time. That is it the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions to answer here there is a guest review that need a response so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.
To Brayden (guest), that reaction will come eventually but it's a fair bit off as right now the Black Bulls aren't revealing that tidbit publicly so as of right now only Erza knows and she's keeping it to herself. It will happen and I'm sure Natsu's reaction will be very interesting especially in light of his reaction to Asta beating Erza and Laxus to win the Grand Magic Games. Stay tuned, plenty more to look forward to so keep reading and enjoying my work.
Anyway, that is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the fiftieth chapter in Black Bull Banishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 50: Preparations for the Ball
"The King is very generous to let us keep these dresses after the Ball." Mimosa said. "King Clover would never allow it, especially with how expensive just one of these dresses is."
As Mimosa was speaking she was admiring herself in the mirror in the changing room that the Black Bull females had been assigned and making sure that she looked as good as possible. Now that she was honest with herself, Mimosa wasn't going to deny that she was putting in all this effort so that a certain grey haired squadmate to notice her.
That said, calling the room that the girls were in a changing room was a bit of a misnomer as it was a full scale powder room befitting the Royal Palace complete with plush ottomans, perfumes, a full service washroom, and a wide selection of dresses and jewelry that could be quickly tailored to fit their various styles by palace servants who could be summoned in minutes. Both Mimosa and Noelle's families had rooms like this in their palaces but even those didn't compare to the one in Fiore.
"Augustus Kira Clover wouldn't host something like this unless it was so that we could all praise and adore him while paying for the privilege of doing so." Noelle scoffed as she adjusted a few things on her own dress and like Mimosa make sure that she was looking her best for the exact same reason as her cousin. "It just shows how things are different here compared to back home."
"And why they're better here." Nero said bluntly. "This world understands that magic should be used to help others and not horded, it's just what my Prince envisioned. It's not perfect of course but it's a lot closer to his dream than the Clover Kingdom currently is."
"I know that we royals have not been great over the centuries and that it's still pretty bad." Mimosa said with a note of regret in her voice even if she'd never been one of those royals. "Just look at my brother and his attitude towards commoners. However things are changing, Noelle is a prime example of that."
"We all know who's responsible for that." Vanessa said with a grin looking over at Noelle. "Our royal failure has really grown since she first joined the Black Bulls."
"It's not just him!" Noelle said her face going bright red as she gave it away though none of the girls present were surprised that she tried to deny it. "I've just come to realize things with the Black Bulls that's all. I, I wouldn't have done that if my brother hadn't have sent me to Captain Yami and banished me from the family Squad. That said I do agree with Mimosa, things are changing as I've seen Nozel's attitude change a bit around commoners as well."
"There are those who are carrying on the first Wizard King's work." Nero said. "Julius Novachrono is a good example of it though he is hindered at times. When Asta becomes the Wizard King I am sure that it will keep getting better, especially after we've seen how a magic kingdom should be run. Tonight may be fancy but it's for the Guild Wizards, none of whom are nobles, not that there seems to be many of those here, which wouldn't happen back home. Anything like this would be open only to the nobility in Clover."
"Well whatever the case I'm just glad that we get to party with fine wine and fancy clothes!" Vanessa said as she used her magic to touch up her own dress so that it fit her style and accentuated her curves perfectly while Mimosa and Noelle nodded in agreement at Nero's statement. "And for once we're the center of attention and the guests of honor seeing as we did win the Grand Magic Games and were pivotal in ending the dragon attack even if it was that brash, pink haired, Fairy Tail guy who destroyed the Eclipse Gate. Let's celebrate it in style and enjoy all the free, fancy, booze that we can drink!"
"I can't wait for all the food that we get to eat." Charmy said drooling at the thought she'd been long ready as her dress was simple and easy to sort out. "I bet it will be the tastiest that we've ever had here."
"I just want to find a hole to hide in so that no one notices me tonight." Grey wailed her hands over her face as she alone had not gotten dressed and just stood there in her undergarments not wanting to put the dress that had been selected for her on. "I'll die of embarrassment if anyone sees me in something like this!"
"Nonsense Grey you're going to look stunning in that dress." Vanessa said turning to her friend and squadmate threads coming from her hands and a grin on her face. "Now let's get you in that, make you up a bit to highlight your natural beauty, and then add just the right accessories to show off how cute you are! We're going to rock these Earth Landers tonight!"
At that and before Grey could react Vanessa's threads had grabbed her and her dress and put it on her in a single, swift, notion. Vanessa's fine control over her magic made it easy and in moments Grey was in her dress with Vanessa making the final touches to it so that she was ready.
"See, you look great!" Vanessa said grinning. "Ready to knock the guys dead when they see you, or the gals if they swing that way."
"It does look really good on you Grey." Mimosa said with a smile. "Suits your perfectly I feel."
"The stylists here did do a good job matching our personal styles well." Nero said with a nod. "Yours is no different Grey."
"Yes, it's nice and we should all look good for this." Noelle said with a nod. "Though I do wish we could wear our robes. Feels odd going without them at this point."
"I agree." Mimosa said with a nod. "It's part of being a Magic Knight and one of the things we kept in this world even after adding Guild Marks."
"They'd clash with our looks." Nero said simply which got looks form the royal cousins as her outfit actually would work with a Black Bull robe but Nero ignored them. "And this is a formal occasion so we should look our best for it and that means forgoing our robes."
"I agree that they clash and so we can't wear them." Noelle said a little reluctantly before her usual tone returned. "But as a royal in our world it is my duty to look good and as unofficial ambassadors for the Clover Kingdom we all should strive to show that even if no one knows that we aren't from this world. I believe that we've accomplished that so don't worry Grey, that dress really does suit you."
"Noelle's right, you've got two royal seals of approval Grey, I'm sure that you'll make your special someone notice you." Vanessa said wink causing Charmy's ongoing fantasizing about the food that to come that she'd been distracted by ever since mentioning it to morph into one where she got to feed her Prince of Provisions as well. "Whoever that may be."
That got Grey's attention and she finally peaked out from her fingers at the mirror to finally see how she looked in the dress. She really hoped that she'd catch his eye in this and get him to notice her, maybe even compliment her even if she'd die from embarrassment at that, but like the other girls in her Squad, Grey had the same problem with the guy she was crushing on, he was oblivious to her feelings.
Admittedly she was so shy that there was no way he'd realize it but even if she wasn't he wouldn't notice because, well, she had feelings for Gauche and his focus was entirely, and creepily, on his little sister. Still Grey couldn't help but admire the dress she was in and let some part of her hope that he'd notice it.
It wasn't her style at all as the top part was a dark blue that was just shy of navy and with sleeves to her mid forearms and a deep cut showing off an ample amount of cleavage even with her modest bust by comparison to the average in this world with the cuffs and edging around the cut being pure white and slightly ruffled which did help hide some of her cleavage making it less embarrassing. All this was complimented with a matching white, slightly ruffled, sash around her waist that had a special grimoire bag on it which had been provided for her as they were allowed to keep their grimoires on them for the Ball.
By contrast the skirt part was slightly wide and fell down to her ankles with the blue graduating in shades from just lighter than the top all the way to white at the hem. It was so long that hid the simple blue slip on shoes that went with it and which Grey still had to put on but at least they were manageable shoes for her.
Overall it was a lot fancier than what she was used to, though not something gaudy and over the top that her awful step sisters might wear, but for this event it would do and there were still the accessories to add like the other girls had. Besides, to Grey her squadmates rocked their looks even better than she did though that was mainly down to her lack of confidence.
However she wasn't the only one with worries as Vanessa's comment about catching the eye of her special someone had hit home for Noelle and Mimosa and their shared special someone. Given that they were now aware of their feelings for though not that the other liked him as well this hit both of them harder than usual.
The only two for whom this wasn't a concern for were Charmy and Nero. For the former it was because her special someone wasn't in Earth Land so he wouldn't see her in her outfit though of course Charmy knew that her Prince of Provisions would love seeing her in it. For the latter it was because she didn't have anyone who was that for her but Nero was fully aware of Noelle and Mimosa's feelings for Asta so she was sure that the event to come would be interesting on that front.
That had already started as Noelle couldn't deny that she really wanted to catch Asta's eye with her outfit. Now that she had come to terms with the fact that she was in love with him part of her really hoped that he'd notice her outfit and complement her in it, now she understood why she really wanted that, while another part of her was nearing Grey's level of embarrassment and shyness at the realization of her feelings and the thought of Asta complementing her look tonight. Still, her love, and her sense of propriety as a member of House Silva, had won out and she'd gone all out with her dress.
Noelle had opted for a flowing silver dress that almost sparkled when hit by the right angle of light and in the style of the Fiore Kingdom so a low cut top part that showed off more cleavage then she was comfortable showing outside of her Valkyrie Armor and sleeves that came to her elbows though there were no cuffs or ruffles to it but rather intricate royal blue edgings in a slight wave pattern around the wrists and collar that Vaness had helped perfect.
Meanwhile the skirt part was the same silver color with a wave pattern on the hem and a slight pleat to it and separated from the top by a blue band with her grimoire on her hip in a special bag while her wand hung in a special holder right behind the bag. I also wasn't as long as Greys and didn't cover her feet so Noelle had paired the whole ensemble with a set of low heeled silver shoes that matched the dress in color and formalness.
There was one big change to Noelle's style, however, and that was her hair. Noelle had accepted that her usual hairstyle wasn't the best for something this fancy so she'd let her hair down and allowed the stylist assigned to them to style it in a wavey sheet as it hung loose around her shoulders. To hold it all in place, and to honor her royal heritage, Noelle had selected a silver circlet with bright blue sapphires set into it at equal distances from the jewelry options that caught the light well.
The only different color to the scheme that Noelle was going for was the pendent that Noelle wore around her neck as it was the pink crest of House Silva on a silver chain. It matched her earrings which she'd not changed at all and added to the whole look even if it drew some eyes to her cleavage but if anyone stared, well she did have her want wand on her.
Overall it was a classy look befitting of a royale and Noelle was pleased with it and hopefully it would get Asta's attention and praise hence why she'd gone all out with it. Naturally Mimosa was going for the same thing with her own dress and had coordinated with Noelle to some extent, they were cousins and close after all and their shared feelings for Asta wouldn't get in the way of that.
That was why Mimosa was wearing a pale gold dress that was one full ball gown with long sleeves that came to her wrists and had a similarly deep cut showing off her ample breasts in a way she was a little embarrassed by but it was the style here so she put up with it. Unlike Noelle's, Mimosa's dress had cuffs and a collar that was a thick, dark, gold in an intertwined pattern and on the sides of her wrists, the base of the collar and shoulders Mimosa had added golden flowers to fit her magic and style while she'd placed a larger one on her left hip to help pin the dark gold sash there with her grimoire on the other side.
The flower theme extended to Mimosa's hair as she wore a circlet of woven green vines around her head with gold flowers blooming around it and a few more smaller flowers accenting the tasteful braids that the stylist had done in her hair. It was very her and Mimosa really hoped that Asta would notice and complement her in it.
Vanessa was pleased with how stunning her squadmates looked in their outfits and she was sure that even someone as dense as Asta would notice the two royal beauties that were crushing hard on him and had gone above and beyond to look good for him. Vanessa could tell that the cousins had both fallen for Asta, after all she'd known about Noelle for a long time and over their 2 years in Earth Land she'd come to realize that Mimosa felt the same way about their magicless wonder boy. Asta was a lucky man and he should take note. Now if only Vanessa could get through to her own dense crush that would be great.
Naturally, Vanessa had matched Mimosa and Noelle's enthusiasm and gone all out to get Yami's attention with a red dress that had a cut all the way to just above her navel thus showing slightly more than her usual amount of cleavage, something her uniquely located Guild Mark drew the eye to almost right away, with simple straps over her shoulders, no sleeves, and a slight pleat to it so that it moved alluringly when she walked. Unlike the others, Vanessa's dress was close to her legs and the long slit up the right side all the way to the mid-thigh and showed that she'd gone for blood red high heels to match the dress.
To accessorize, Vanessa had opted for had a thick, dark red, sash around her waist that was made in a woven, thread-like, pattern with her grimoire in purse on her hip while her hair was done up in an elegant and unusual for her bun held in place by a few gold hair pins and completed with a few braids showing off her neck and back well. Vanessa completed her look with elbow length gloves and a red choker around her neck that had a jet black stone set into the center on her throat. She knew she was sexy in this outfit though with her target it might not be enough, he was almost as dense as Asta after all.
Naturally, with no one to show off for, Charmy and Nero so they had been the first to finish getting ready as all they had to do was look good. Of course they did look good and Vanessa was pleased that the girls took this seriously even if they didn't have a special someone to show off for.
In Charmy's case she was wearing a simple sleeveless white dress with a halter choker around her neck with a black skirt part with a pleat that came down to her ankles and a white sash with balls of cotton on it around her waist that had her grimoire bag while her hair remained the same as it usually was. Naturally, she knew that if her Prince of Provision saw her he'd swoon for her but he wasn't here so Charmy wasn't focused on anything like that. All she wanted was to sample all the delicious food that was to come.
As for Nero she'd gone for a pitch black dress, strapless dress that was ruffled all the way down to her ankles and had a high bodice over her non existent chest with two attached sleeve things to her biceps that were styled as if they were feathers. Nere had gone for the style because of her bird form and the fact that it didn't hide her Guild Mark on the back of her right shoulder showing that she was a Black Bull and making her and Vanessa the only girls in the Squad with their Guild Marks visible though the other three did have them in less commonly visible places. Finally her hair was untouched as with her current style and length she didn't need to do anything with it and she didn't bother trying to hide her horns.
The only things that Nero had added was a matching feathery sash around her waist that had her grimoire on it and a black feather choker with the feathers pointing down over her chest and upper back. It was a simple and easy outfit for her that Nero felt fitting though she did wish that her prince could see her in it at least as he'd likely have approved of it.
"I don't like being noticed." Grey said nervously her hands going over her face again now that she'd fully taken in her outfit. "And there will be so many people there tonight, it's embarrassing."
"Well you will be and it's good thing, it will help you come out of that shell." Vanessa said as she used her threads to grab a simple pearl necklace that would go well with Grey's outfit. "Now add this and we'll be good to go."
"It's not really…" Grey began but before she could finish the necklace was on her and she couldn't deny that it really did add to the look.
"There we go." Vanessa said turning and heading to the door. "Now let's go and show Fiore what the ladies of the Clover Kingdom are made of as we own the Grand Ball."
"Ball?" Noelle asked a bit confused. "I thought that this was a banquet."
"It is." Charmy said happily heading to the door. "I'm going to have every dish that they have on offer."
"It's both." Vanessa said with a grin looking at Noelle and Mimosa. "So it will be like that magic ball you two attended a few months back which means that there will dancing."
"D, dancing!" Mimosa exclaimed her cheeks going bright red as now that she was certain of her feelings for Asta the idea of dancing with him was both exhilarating and daunting. "W, well if there is a dance floor then we should use it I guess, it would only be proper."
"Y, yes of course there would be dancing tonight." Noelle said trying to avoid her own flush at dancing with Asta and her hope that he would ask her for a dance. "It is to be expected from a royal event like this. I will make sure to show how a royal does it."
"S, same." Mimosa said also hoping that Asta would ask her for a dance unlike the last time when she asked for one.
"This will be good." Nero muttered to herself as they all left the changing room and began to head to Grand Ball. "I may have to find a partner so I can enjoy this up close."
Thankfully there were servants nearby who could lead them to the ballroom and even with their nerves they couldn't wait for the Grand Ball. It was a moment of celebration for not just them but all the Magic Guilds and what they'd done in the Grand Magic Games and the battle with the dragons so they were all going to enjoy themselves. If that included dancing with their crushes, well that was just the icing on the cake as the ladies of the Black Bulls made their way to the ballroom.
"Man it feels strange that we're being honored as the best Squad, well Guild as they say, in the Kingdom." Magna said as he straightened the fire red ascot he wore around his neck unfamiliar to the style or the fancy clothes. "I'm not complaining though as it feels good to be appreciated."
Almost all of the Black Bull men were in a larger but no less opulent changing room, making the finishing touches to their outfits. That said the room did have less of the fancy fixings and amenities that the girls' room had had as this was for the men of the court not the women.
The only ones missing were Yami who'd been directed to his own personal changing room and Henry who couldn't be near them due to his curse. However, the Royal Palace was so large that Henry was able to have his own special training room would have a special area of the ballroom dedicated to him so that he could be with them as well and interact safely with the other Guild Wizards. After all, he was part of the Squad and had played an important role in the battle with the Sea King Dragon so he deserved to be here as well and thankfully King Fiore had made sure that that was possible.
"Yeah that doesn't suit you at all Magna." Luck said with a laugh. "Not your style at all."
Luck wasn't wrong, Magna's punk heavy style made his appearance in formal clothes look a bit odd. There were some touches to his normal style as the silver buttons on his double breasted tunic that he wore were embossed with skulls but that was it and they were a slight clash with the fire red cuffs and piping on the sides, edges, sleeves, and shoulders. Still, Magna had gone for it with a matching black shirt under it and the ascot at his throat, black pants and new black boots that had tasteful, in his mind, silver chains on them. Lastly his grimoire was in a new formal satchel his waist.
"Oh like you're one to talk." Magna said angrily as he and Luck got into it again. "That's way too gaudy even for you."
Luck just laughed at that as he pushed Magna's buttons though like Luck had been with him, Magna wasn't wrong as Luck was wearing an eye watering blue jacket the color of his Lightning Magic with bright yellow piping that wasn't too dissimilar to Laxus's Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic, and matching yellow buttons and epaulets that was open over a dark blue jacket with a green ascot roughly the color of his usual smock. Luck completed it with black pants that had a blue stripes on the outsides of them and which were tucked into knee high blue boots his grimoire on his right hip in a black satchel rather than on his chest as normal.
"You both look ridiculous." Zora said as he lounged in a chair having gotten dressed first before taking a seat to watch the show. "We all do, none of us suit these fancy digs."
For Zora this was the first time he'd actually worn anything so fancy and it didn't suit him at all. He had to dress up though, this was a formal event and it was expected of them to attend which meant dressing up, so he'd gone simple with a black jacket that wasn't fancy, white shirt, and red ascot that the attendant had pushed on him to match his hair. He finished it with simply tight black pants and matching shoes, his grimoire in a bag on his hip that could be seen as his jacket was open.
However, the one thing he'd refused to change was his mask and he still wore it over his face, neck, and upper chest though that was under his shirt. It didn't go with the look but he didn't care.
"What are you talking about, I look great in this." Finral said as he posed in front of one of the mirrors admiring the look on him. "The ladies are going to love this; I can't wait to see how many dates I score today. Wait no, Lady Finnes is the only woman for me so I can't think like that. Instead I'll focus on getting some dances instead, yes that's better and not romantic at all."
Regardless of the whole Lady Finnes thing, Finral was certain that he'd get a few women to dance with him this time around. He'd only gotten one dance at the Count Balsamico's magic ball and that didn't count as it was the imposter who was firstly not a woman and secondly only danced with him to copy his magic.
As such Finral was sure the Grand Ball would be different as he admired the open green jacket with jet black cuffs, edging, epaulets, and buttons embossed with the golden bull's head of the Black Bulls over a formal cream shirt and black ascot at his throat that had a gold pin set in the center of it. Finral matched this with formal black pants that had gold piping down the sides and tucked into dark green boots that went with his jacket. Finally his grimoire was in a green satchel on his black belt to complete the look.
Between this outfit and his heroics in the Grand Magic Games, which included winning one of the events, and the dragon battle that Finral was sure that get a girl to dance with him though he'd of course turn down any dates as he was focused on winning the hand of Lady Finnes so he had to stay true to her,. Naturally his squadmates disagreed.
"I've got that number at 0." Zora said. "Any takers? I'll offer 500 to 1 odds on this."
"No way." Magna said. "That's a losing bet no matter the odds, there's no chance that Finral gets a date from this."
"Yeah he always strikes out." Luck said with a laugh. "He's got no hope."
"Oh like you three are ones to talk!" Finral snapped at them. "You couldn't late dance partners either, let alone dates from that."
"Hey, I can get a dance if I wanted one!" Magna said. "And it will lead to a date just don't want to that's all."
"Then prove it, get a dance and I'll be your person taxi for a day." Finral said. "But if you fail then you're my servant for a day."
"Done." Magna said grinning. "I'm going to run you ragged when I win this."
"In your dreams." Finral said.
"I don't care." Luck admitted responding to Finral's earlier statement before he could try to make some kind of bet with him as Luck really didn't care about these kinds of things. "Dancing and dating don't interest me, only fighting does. Hopefully a brawl erupts tonight, that would be fun."
"I'm with the Cheery Berserker on the not caring part." Zora added. "Not even going to try, I'm just here to watch you all fail and maybe hand out some rainbow stink bugs I still have on me."
"We all know that Finral will fail so no point in betting on him getting a dance." Gauche said not looking up from the picture of Marie he was staring at. "So will Magna though so Finral's won that bet at least."
"You've got even less to talk about!" Finral said turning to Gauche. "You couldn't get a dance either."
"Yeah all you do is creep out any potential partners." Magna said. "So you've got nothing to talk about."
"Marie's not here so there's no one to dance with anyway." Gauche said simply. "Which is also good because no one else can dance with her either."
Gauche meant that as all he needed was Marie and if she was here he'd dance with her and only her while killing anyone who tried to do the same. Hell, he'd only bothered getting dressed up so that he could get some kind of picture to show his angelic sister how good he looked at the banquet that was honoring his heroism.
It had been this thought that had made Gauche go all out and wore a royal purple jacket and matching pants with black edging, cuffs, and piping, gold buttons and epaulets, while he sported a lilac shirt under the jacket with a pink ascot to honor the color of Marie's magic. Like the others he'd tucked his pants into his formal boots, which in his case were black, and had a matching black belt with his grimoire on it but all Gauche cared about was Marie's praise when she saw the pictures of him in his outfit when he showed her them and all the other things that he had for her when the Black Bulls returned to their world.
"I think we all look very good." Gordon muttered as the chatter continued though no one could hear him. "I'm so proud of my friends for cleaning up so well and looking handsome for the Grand Ball, Now we can enjoy it together and make many new friends at it."
Naturally, Gordon meant that and it include himself in that as he wore a charcoal grey jacket with dark purple piping and buttons, epaulets, and matching grey pants with a purple stripe down the side that were tucked into black boots. He'd done the jacket up over a dark purple shirt with a black ascot that had a purple pin in the center of it and black belt that held it together and had his grimoire bag on it. Finally, he'd opted not to wear his hat so his slicked back hair was on full display and he'd reapplied his usual makeup.
The only one of them who didn't speak was Asta, he just smiled and as he adjusted his clothes and watched his friends and squadmates devolve into squabbling over Finral's inability to get a girl to dance with him, Magna's proclamations that he'd beat Finral in their bet, and Gauche's creepy sister stuff. This was why Asta loved being with the Black Bulls, they were his family and he couldn't wait to enjoy the Grand Ball with them.
That said Asta was still not used to the formal clothes and had opted for something simple rather than fancy like Zora had. As such, Asta was wearing a straightforward black suit tailored to his bulky frame and black formal boots that were fancier than anything he'd worn on his feet before and that included what he'd worn to the magic ball.
By contrast Asta had gone gaudy with his shirt opting for a bright, bold, gold one that almost shone and was open at the top due to his broad chest. Naturally, his grimoire was on his hip and like the others in a new black satchel with their crest emblazoned on it that was for the outfit and it felt good to be allowed to keep it close to him.
However, what Asta really liked was that he'd been allowed to wear a black quarter cape similar to the one that Yami wore on a daily basis only new and formal over his right shoulder with the Black Bulls' emblem embossed on it in gold like it should be. In fact all of the men of the Black Bulls were wearing the same style cloak as it fit with their outfits and worked with the formal style in Fiore. It felt good to keep it, especially for Asta after all his hard work to become a Magic Knight, and he wore it with pride so he was glad he could wear something like it for this formal event.
"Enough!" Finral said ending his latest argument with the other guys and cutting Asta from his thoughts. "Let's see who's right then! The Grand Ball is about to start so we should head to the ballroom and begin to mingle with the other Guilds. I will get a dance with an actual woman, just you see!"
"I can't wait to see this and then prove you wrong." Magna said with a grin as Finral began to go to the door, his move getting the others to follow him. "It will be amusing. Hopefully, they've got some good food for the show before I find a dance myself."
"I just hope that a fight breaks out." Luck said shadow boxing as he walked. "I hear that they're common in this world when those Fairy Tail guys party so they'd better not let me down on that front."
"Just stay out of my way." Gauche said. "All I care about is Marie so this doesn't really interest me."
"Well whatever the case this won't be dull." Zora said ready to see what insanity happened and maybe poke it a bit. "It never is with you lot."
"I'm just looking forward to a fun night with my friends." Gordan mumbled as Finral opened the door and they all walked into the corridor. "Old and new ones."
Asta was about to say something to that when he felt someone approaching their location from a few corridors over. There was a purpose in the person's ki and while he wasn't certain, Asta was pretty sure he knew who the person was and his gut told him that the person was deliberately coming to the Black Bulls' changing room in general and for himself in particular.
This could be interesting at least so as Asta was the last out of the dressing room he hung back using the pretense of closing the door so the others to continue to make their way to the ballroom without him which allowed Asta to wait and see what the person wanted with him. What it was would really make the Grand Ball that was about to begin an event to remember.
Ah a nice little cliffhanger to end the chapter on, those are hard to resist after all. I apologize that this is just a preparation chapter as I did say that this would be the Grand Ball chapter and that had been my intention but after realizing how long the preparations went on for and how they set things to come, along with the little cliffhanger to end it, coupled with the projected length of the chapter if I added the Ball (probably close to 20k when all the edits were done) and how long it's been since I last updated the Black Trio I decided to break it up at this point when the preparations are over. There was a good point to break this chapter up so I went with it and this way I can give the entire Grand Ball it's own chapter with no preparations to distract from the fun of it. Naturally, that is what is to come and there's a lot to look forward to there as it's going to be long and filled with good moments as the Magic Guilds of the Grand Magic Games celebrate the end of them and their victory over the dragons. That is all that I have for this chapter, however, so I will leave this off here. That's all that I have for y'all, however, so I will leave this chapter off you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog
