Fandom The Gathering of Death Eater Children

[Hikari Chan]

"It's fine..." Aislinn protested, but let Alastair have his way. ...The rain never bothers me and I am used to walk in the rain without an umbrella...I can put a protection spell on myself so that the raindrops never touch me and so that I do not get wet at all, but sometimes I do not care about that spell at all. I can also put that warming spell on myself...he is spoiling me too much...

Once they had left the gates, she embraced him as soon as he opened his arms wide. ...I guess there's no carriage today, but I do not mind...because I love traveling this way with Alastair where I can stay so close to him, in his arms...She thought happily and blushed. She closed her eyes and did not open them until they landed on a city rooftop. She did not recognize her surroundings, but yet she sensed it as a familiar place.

"One floor down, there is a twenty-four-hour bar with clear windows and deliciously spicy food," Alastair said, gently putting Aislinn down and pointing downwards with a smile. "I brought some Wizarding drinks for us to share since it is a Muggle establishment. Of course, if you are dissatisfied with it, I will accept any alternatives that you suggest-" he bowed immediately "-without hesitation, my lady."

"Thank you, it is so thoughtful and sweet of you, but it's fine. I am used to eat and drink muggle food and drinks," Aislinn replied smilingly. "By the way, where are we?" She gestured around.

"Do we really have to remain in the Great Hall just because Mr. D'Arcy is with miss Dolohov in her office? Claude and some other professors dined with that bloody vampire and they were fine, so we can just return to our offices, can't we?" Rowle complained.

"I think we have to keep an eye on the students until the vampire leaves. The students cannot leave the Great Hall until he is out of here," Endewyne sighed.

"I cannot believe that Adela has invited a monster inside her office..." Faeryn said with a trembling and almost inaudible voice. She looked as if she was going to faint any second.

"If you want to return to your offices, then do as you please," August finally spoke after having been silent during the entire dinner. "It would be best if the head of the houses could remain and keep an eye on the students. But seeing that one is missing-" He hinted on Flynn Pyrites who had dined in the staff room and later left to his office. "-and another one that can barely keep her sanity-" August nodded towards Faeryn. "-I suggest that we wait until the vampire leaves-"

"I am not going to sit here another two bloody hours!" Macnair snapped.

"Fine, you may leave. Anyone may leave. I am going to remain here to keep an eye on the students," August replied calmly.

...I cannot believe that he is so calm and collected...but perhaps he is feeling so furious because of Adela but he is not showing what he is feeling or thinking..., well Merlin knows what's August is going through at the moment...Endewyne thought. ...But that's not surprising since he does not care about her at all...

"Hey! Miss Shadowwalker!" You should not leave the Great Hall!"

"Why not?" Lily turned around, facing Macnair, who had called for her, and Avery. "I'm tired and wish to return to my common room..."

"But....but....there's a vampire..." Avery tried to explain with a trembling voice.

"I know," Lily said with a boring tone. "I heard that he was given a tour in the castle. They would not give a tour to someone dangerous, would they?"

"Well...we are worried about you-" Macnair began but Lily did not let him finish.

"Thank you for your concern, professor. But I am not a child anymore. I am an adult and can take care of myself."

"But your brother won't be ha-"

"And where's my brother? Why did he not dine with us in the Great Hall? He probably ate his meal in his office as usual-"

"He chose to dine with the vampire!"

"Merlin's beard! Well, if they dined together and my brother was fine, then I would also be fine if I am outside the Great Hall. Goodnight professor Macnair. Goodnight professor Avery!"

"...Well...she seems hard to persuade..." Avery commented when Lily had vanished downstairs.

"...It's fine...the vampire is with miss Dolohov at the moment and miss Shadowwalker went straight to the dungeons...As long as Elias does not scold us for this...we tried to stop her...well..." Macnair shrugged. "I do not understand why we have to remain inside the Great Hall until the vampire leaves. Anyway, care for a drink at the Hog's Head Inn?"

Adela received the Patronus message by the deputy headmistress at the same moment when she had entered her office and closed the door. Vincent looked curiously at the shimmering serpent that delivered its message.

"Do I have to leave now?" He asked.

"..." Adela got speechless for a moment. I cannot ask him to leave or it would be so rude. Why do I feel that everyone wants to kick him out from here after his cousin left? Just because he is a different being...

"I can leave here..." He continued to speak and took a couple of steps towards the window in her office.

"No! Wait, please!" She rushed forward and took a hold of his arm, almost clinging to him.

"But did you not hear the message? They do not want me here." He turned around to face her.

"I am coming with you! We will go on a date!" Her words came out too quickly and sudden before she had time to think. Then, she realized what she had said and blushed. Was I too straightforward right now? I wanted to show him my paintings and have a chat with him until midnight. But he cannot remain here in the castle for too long. He is only allowed to be here for two hours, but no more. I have to take him out of here when the time is up. Two hours are not enough and time will run fast, besides I do not feel ready to part with him yet...

"A date...?" There was a surprising look in his eyes, yet he was smiling.

"Eh...yes...please wait for a moment. I just need to get myself ready," She gestured towards a chair and did not leave her office until he was seated.

Once Adela was inside her room, where she had her closet and bed, she summoned her raven Patronus and sent a message to the deputy headmistress. "I completely understand. Please do not worry, we decided to go on a date instead and hence we will be leaving Hogwarts very soon. The professors and students do not have to remain in the Great Hall. While I am preparing myself to go out, everyone may leave the Great Hall. Once all students have returned to their common rooms and dorms and professors to their offices, we will be leaving. Thank you."

She sighed deeply after she had sent her message and then looked through her few gowns and attires. She chose a long dark red gown in velour, with long sleeves. The neckline was small and v-shaped and the design of the top was wrapped-around hence the v-shaped neckline. She wore a black autumn cloak to her gown and a pair of black laced boots with heels. She dressed quickly but put more time on putting up her hair in a braided updo when she realized that she did not have a pair of matching earrings and let her hair down in a wavy style instead.

"Have you painted these?" Vincent asked, as soon as Adela left her room.

"Yes, every painting that I have put up on the walls here are by me," She smiled happily. I feel less stressed that I do not need to give him a small tour in my office, now that he has checked out my paintings by himself...She was feeling happy that he had shown interest in her paintings. I shall gift him a still painting on his birthday...He would love that for sure...

"They look romantic...I mean they are conveying a romantic message..."

...aww....he is so understanding and can see the stories that I try to tell through my paintings...None of my paintings are extravagant like Mr. Dantes' bold paintings, because my paintings are suitable for any age group without ruining anyone's innocence...and Vincent seems to enjoy my paintings...and it makes me happy...

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Shanghai, China, my lady. That is the Huangpu River river." Alastair stood up straight and gestured to the lovely view with a warm smile.

Crystal didn't say anything when Lily Shadowwalker left the Great Hall. She wasn't sure what to say, and she sighed quietly when the others had left as well. Luna would've known what to say in this situation. The most I can do is tell her what just happened. Crystal discreetly whispered into her patronus then sent it to Luna.

As soon as Luna finished listening to Ms. Dolohov's patronus message, and then Crystal's, she replied with her own. "On second thought, it would be best for you to leave as soon as possible. I underestimated how tiring remaining in the Great Hall for such a length could be, so please make haste. Thank you for your understanding, Ms. Dolohov." To Crystal, she informed that it wouldn't be much longer for the vampire to leave.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"...Oh..." was all Aislinn could say at the moment. It brought her unpleasant memories at first when she remembered the first mission she went on, yet she smiled as if the past was bygone.

....well that would be the best...no one would ever try to stop me from leaving, Faeryn, Endewyne and my brothers are still in the Great Hall...I should hurry...

"Are we going to pass through that moving staircase?" Vincent asked as Adela led the way.

"Do not worry," She assured him. "We won't be taking the same staircase as we did earlier, however, there'll be another one that is moving," She warned him and explained about the hidden staircase with the trick step.

It was after they had stepped outside the gates and she had sent a Patronus message to the headmistress when Adela discovered she had forgotten her purse.

...Well...I just need to step inside the gates to summon my purse...no one would notice as long as Vincent remains outside for a couple of seconds...

"Why are you returning?" Vincent gave Adela a confusing look.

"I just remembered that I forgot my purse. I will be summoning-"

"No need, the night is on me!" He decided, interrupting her mid-sentence, and took a firm grip by her hand, almost dragging her away from the gates.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"And we'll put a carrot here for the nose." Soren pushed the most picturesque carrot nose into the snowman's face. "I've found the perfect rocks for his face." He handed Rosaleya a small brown paper bag full of them. As Rosaleya made the eyes and mouth with the rocks, Athena put a top hat with a festive sprig of mistletoe on the snowman's head. Soren lent the snowman his Ravenclaw infinity scarf. "350 DC a day, and don't be late on the payments." He said to the snowman, and Rosaleya giggled. "He's missing something." Soren took a step back to see what it was. Rosaleya stepped back to stand beside him with the hope of helping. Athena stood beside them as well, and after a moment, she whispered the answer to Soren with the tone that she had known all along but had given the other two a chance to attempt to recognize it. "How could I forget?" Soren laughed mischievously, pulling another carrot from his pocket. Rosaleya wondered why they needed another carrot if the snowman already had a perfectly good nose. "Maybe," Jade suggested "he's got another carrot in his pocket so that they can make 'demon horns' for the snowman. Or they're just going to use one to make it a unicorn snowman?" Rosaleya became even more curious when Soren's aim lowered to past the snowman's 'chest', thinking that perhaps he was going to push it into the snowman's side as if he had a wand in his 'pocket'. When he placed the carrot below the snowman's abdomen, Athena, Rosaleya, and Soren all burst out into laughter.

Rosaleya's pager received two new messages, one after the other. She shook her head quickly to clear away her daydream, then read them. I didn't realize that I was laughing out loud.

Prince Endymion: Before we go back to our Common Rooms, I wanted to share that memory I promised you....

Prince Endymion: I've had enough time to think here to select one. I was eight years old in the memory, so please keep that in mind.

Lady Rose: I'm excited. I wonder what you looked like when you were younger. I'm imagining you to look like Johan Liebert when he was a child, but with the hair that he has when he's older.

Prince Endymion: I started dressing myself and choosing my own hair and eye colors at the end of my seventh year.

Prince Endymion: Before that, mother was fond of that look, yes.

Prince Endymion: How did you know?

Lady Rose: I don't know, my imagination did all of the work.

Soren laughed quietly at this reply. She's so cute when she's explaining something!

Rosaleya paged Athena next.

Lady Rose: Athena, Soren said that he picked a memory. We'll be able to see it tonight!

Touka Kirishima: Do you know what Chuunibyou is?

Lady Rose: Yes. It's when an Anime character actually believes that he/she has magic powers when they actually don't.

Lady Rose: Characters who have it are usually very fun to watch, because they embarrass themselves a lot, sometimes without even knowing it...

Lady Rose: ...and they usually make me laugh. Are you saying...?

Touka Kirishima: I'm not saying anything... : )



Luna sent a patronus to Crystal first to announce that everyone was free to leave, then to Ms. Dolohov informing her that she had received her message and appreciated the swift execution of her request. I could've left with Vincent much faster if I was in Ms. Dolohov's place, but I suppose I should feel relieved that chaos didn't break out in the Great Hall. She laughed quietly, imagining the students rioting and demanding to leave, holding up signs with words like 'unfair', 'scary', and 'monster' in angry, jagged letters while the professors helplessly asked them to stop. Yes, I am relieved. She nodded to herself.



Crystal took a deep breath after listening to the patronus message; no one else had heard it. "The Headmistress just gave us all the OK to leave." She announced to the other professors as she stood and stretched. "Damn, pins and needles." She added quietly to herself, making to leave the Great Hall with uneven steps; her left foot had fallen asleep. I kept my legs crossed for too long without switching them. She laughed quietly. And I'm doing a terrible job of keeping it hidden.

Athena was the first student to leave, making a run for the bathroom. I drank so much water during dinner that my bladder is more impatient than that rich girl. She rolled her eyes at the memory of Lily Shadowwalker haughtily leaving the Great Hall.

As the majority of the students started clearing out, Rosaleya felt Soren's hand grasp hers and give it a gentle tug. She inhaled sharply and turned to face him. "Hmm?" She had been daydreaming again, and was surprised to see the other students clearing out around them. I got so lost in my daydreams that I forgot to pay attention to anything else.

Soren gave her an embarrassed smile. 'It's time.' his expression said. Was that...? I'm certain that was a lustful aura just now...there is no mistaking that color...and with that distant look on her face...I do hope that I was the subject of such an exciting daydream. He thought as they crossed the Great Hall's threshold. Although she's wonderful at controlling her facial expressions when she isn't being threatened by that wicked being- He pictured the disgusting smirk that Leigh made when he was imagining something lewd about Claudia -her aura is always easy to read. They turned into a busy hallway. I wonder if she knows that? I don't think she does, but I really don't want to tell her. I want to always know how she's feeling, that way I can always help her feel better, even if she tries to hide her negative feelings. Athena's aura is so unreadable...the thought of Rosaleya's being the same way is...

"Race you there!" Rosaleya laughed, suddenly pulling her hand away from Soren's and bolting up the nearest staircase.

"Nofair, youdidn'tsay123go!" Soren jumped the steps three at a time to catch up to Rosaleya. Your hands are so cold in the winter, I love holding them in mine to warm them up. I hate it when you let go or pull your hands away, even though I know it's going to happen.

"He's jumping the stairs." Jade informed, standing on the landing and shouting for Rosaleya to win the race. He had been the one to pull her hand away from his and push her up the staircase with the suggestion of skipping the countdown.

"Cheater!" Rosaleya jested, already fifteen steps away from the landing. I would've been done already if I didn't have to avoid bumping into all these students trying to leave.

"How dare you!" Soren jested, laughing. "You fiend!" He said when she reached the landing first.

Jade placed her hands around her mouth like a bullhorn, as if Soren was still at the bottom and not ten steps away. "I can't hear you from all the way down there!" Rosaleya called, repeating after Jade.

Soren ran the last few steps and embraced Rosaleya.

"Are you suffering from an oxytocin deficiency?" Rosaleya asked, taking a step back a moment later. I heard it in an Anime, and of course I confirmed it on Google, that oxytocin is the chemical that your brain makes when two people hug or cuddle.

"I need to hug someone a lot or else I will die." Soren jokingly confessed. "I was so embarrassed to tell you...I'm sorry for keeping such a terrible secret. Do you...still love me?" He asked dramatically. "I understand if...you want to leave."

They both burst into laughter.

Oh, I almost forgot that I have to get through this painfully embarrassing memory with her. Soren remembered suddenly, and his face fell instantly.

"What's-" Rosaleya began, halting her laughter as well with a look of genuine concern.

"-Memory." Soren said. "Excuse me-" he turned his head in the direction of the nearest boys' bathroom "-I'll be right there." He let go of her hand and walked away.

Rosaleya nodded and continued on.

"I've got the Pensieve." Athena held it up excitedly when Rosaleya entered the Room of Requirement.

"Soren probably paged her to ask for it and bring it back in the Great Hall." Jade surmised.

"I love a good laugh." Athena said, her eyes on the entrance with an excited expression. She giggled a bit, imagining what the memory would be like.

"Isn't it a bit...weird...to laugh at your brother?" Rosaleya asked, having firmly decided that since Soren laughing during her memory would've made her embarrassment multiply, laughing during his would be completely unacceptable and absolutely forbidden.

"It's already happened. It would be bad to have laughed while it was doing down instead of helping or telling someone who could, but now, whether I laugh or not, he'll still feel the same amount of embarrassment." Athena shrugged. "Besides, he laughed when he saw a video of me singing the Dragon Ball song live the first time, so now it's my turn to laugh."

"He hasn't done anything embarrassing since?" Rosaleya asked.

"Not as far as I know." Athena replied.



"Why did you help me out there, with that book?" The girl from earlier, who had believed in the frivolous quiz, asked Soren as he exited the bathroom. "Do you..." she began with a hopeful look on her face.

"You were annoying me." He said simply, and when their eyes met he gave her a serious expression to inform that he wasn't joking or planning to mess about with her. "It bothers me when people don't make their own decisions. You have a lovely life to live, so live it the best way you can: by not giving in to the demands of other people, or leaving your decisions to some stupid guide that a stranger made."

"The author is famous in-" The girl began.

"-The author 'famous' because a bunch of idiots love to read and follow whatever he or she writes. That doesn't make them smart or give the author credibility."

The girl hugged him suddenly. "You're such a kind person!" Her expression promised him that she wouldn't do silly things anymore. "I've never thought about it that way! And every quiz said that we weren't-"

Soren held her at arm's length by her shoulders. "We're not." He replied coldly. "I just hate it when people are doing something illogical because it's popular." He let go of her with an expression that warned her not to embrace him again. "So don't. Goodnight." He turned away.

"Goodnight to you, too." The girl replied softly with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I just hate it when people are doing something illogical because it's popular." Soren embraced her a bit tighter before letting go. "So don't. You're too beautiful for that." He insisted, holding her at arm's length. "But you deserve someone who returns your affections." He finished gently. "Good night." He smiled softly, then walked away.

If I didn't say it coldly she might've gotten the wrong idea and perceived it as flirtatious dialogue. But why, then, does she have that annoyingly dreamy aura? Is she some sort of masochist, or was I more gentle than I realized? Soren thought.

"As promised." Soren returned two minutes later, holding up the vial. "Here we go." Good thing mother was available to extract the memory for me. That spell is so tricky! "Lets go." He offered his hand to Rosaleya while pouring the memory into the Pensieve. Soren didn't look directly at Rosaleya, keeping his head turned in the opposite direction to hide his embarrassment. His swift movements showed that he wanted to get this over with quickly, like taking bitter medicine. "Like ripping off a plaster." Soren gestured to the Pensieve, his expression asking them to enter without further delay.

Rosaleya responded to this with raised eyebrows, then spoke a mile a minute "I think that saying that doesn't ever make sense. They aren't painful to remove, they're painful to keep on. Whenever I got a small, annoying cut on my hand or something, before I learned how to use healing spells for superficial cuts and scrapes, washing my hands was a pain because the plaster kept slipping off, or the water slid in between the plaster and my skin, or it stopped being sticky if I slept with it on, so I'd find it in between my sheets instead of protecting my hand." She sighed. "I had to put on so many just to protect something so little but so annoying...it's funny because I've actually never cut myself with a knife-"

That 8@$+@4d buys the cheapest type of plasters that barely have any adhesive power instead of... Athena thought.

Even though they have plenty of money...I would understand if they didn't. Soren thought. But he has no excuse. He's not even 'saving it for retirement' like the Muggles do because he spends so much on the pubs he visits. It contradicts his choice of cheap clothing, food, cologne, and the 'minimalist decor' in the parts of their apartment that I've seen during the visits.

"-but tons of times with the vegetable grater and vegetable peeler, for some reason." Rosaleya finished. There was something important that we were supposed to do. Jade turned her head in the direction of the Pensieve, and she remembered what it was. "Sorry I got distracted."

Athena entered without another word, a mischevious look on her face.

Then, Soren and Rosaleya entered together, arms linked.

"I was eight years old here," Soren reminded, already looking like Rosaleya had felt when she was showing them her memory "in the fifth grade at a Muggle school. I was attending both a Muggle, and Demon school at the same time, but since one was in Hell I always had plenty of time to sleep and study. I wanted to attend the Muggle school because I was interested to see what it would be like. Athena attended them both as well in the beginning, but she grew bored and just continued with the-"

"-You were so cute!" Rosaleya's eyes grew twice as large, immediately walking away from Soren and attempting to pinch the cheeks of his younger self. "Aww..." She sounded disappointed despite knowing full well that she wouldn't have been able to interact with it the way she wanted. In the shade of the giant oak trees, Past-Soren looked much smaller than he actually was. He wore Kirito's long black coat over his school uniform, and his hair was dyed and styled like Kirito as well. He had a pair of toy swords sheathed on his back that resembled Kirito's. He sat with his legs crossed on a tree stump, eating penne pasta with marinara with his hands, taking great care to pick each piece up carefully, open it, and enjoy its taste. "And you have sauce all over your mouth!" She suppressed a squeal of delight at something so cute. "You can eat with your hands in front of me, it's okay." She assured, returning to him with a highly pleased aura. Seeing him do that at this age would be just as cute as seeing him do it at that age! So cute! And he was doing it with such a serious expression!

Why is she so happy at something like that? That's not embarrassing enough already? Soren wondered.

"He used to pull Twizzlers apart and make things with the strings before eating them, too." Athena said.

"I do that, too!" Rosaleya said in surprise.

"And he used to roll pizza slices up and eat them like burritos." Athena continued, enjoying Rosaleya's reactions.

"I used to pick all of the toppings off of mine, sort them, then eat them in fistfuls from my favorite to least-favorite, and the crust would always come last." Rosaleya said to Soren. 'My way is more embarrassing than yours' her expression said, trying to make him see why she didn't find his way embarrassing.

For pizza, Rosaleya's was more weird than Soren's, I think. "And he used to-"

"-Athena, please." Soren was blushing.

"Okay, okay." Athena laughed at his expression.

"Look there." Soren pointed to behind Rosaleya and Athena.

"I'm not falling for that." Athena crossed her arms with a smile.

"He's not messing with you two." Jade said.

Rosaleya looked, since she would've looked anyway even if Jade hadn't spoken, and after a moment Athena looked as well.

A fifth-grader was being bullied by four others for his lunch money; they were all boys, although the presence of girls meant that this wasn't an all-boys school. Suddenly, two bullies held the victim's arms and talked badly about him and his family while the leader of the bullies punched and kicked him. The fourth bully stood a few steps away from the other three and alternated between looking away and looking at the leader's face with hesitation, as if he was fighting the urge to tell him to stop.

Past-Soren put his lunch down on the tree stump, and fearlessly marched over to the bullies with something that looked like a toy in his hand. "Is chivalry dead?" He asked confidently, his hands on his hips, his voice imitating Joseph Joestar's British accent.

"Tomato sauce on your costume." Athena said quietly, chuckling.

"You shouldn't let it die so easily for a few cents." Past-Soren continued. "Cease your needless violence at once. A true knight only fights his enemies, never the less fortunate!"

"What the hell were you watching?!" Jade chortled.

"And if he must, then he does so in a fair fight! So I will fight to defend Allen's honor! Fight me." Past-Soren finished.

Present-Soren hid his face in his palms, but his hands seemed to move on their own when his fingers parted to let him see the rest of the memory.

"What if we don't want to fight fair?" The leader sneered.

The fourth bully stared at Past-Soren in shock, secretly worrying for him, although it wasn't much of a secret because his emotions were clearly written on his face. The other two bullies just sneered, waiting for their leader to make the first move.

"I'll show you, smart@$$." The leader made to kick Past-Soren in his face, but he didn't flinch. When the bully's leg was about to make contact, Past-Soren jumped backwards, being careful not to jump further or higher than a human his age would jump. "You _ spineless girl." The leader laughed. "Are you afraid of my kicks?"

"No, I was filling these clackers with Hamon energy. Now that I've filled them, you'll be no match for me!" He attempted to mimic one of Joseph Joestar's attacks, but with no luck. According to the show, they were supposed to act like miniature cannonballs causing a great deal of damage or pain on impact, depending on the strength of the enemy. However, one fell pathetically behind the leader, and the other hit the fourth bully in the eye, causing him to grunt in pain and run to see the nurse.

"Oh, so you were watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure." Athena laughed. "And Sword Art Online. How'd you watch them if it wasn't out, yet?"

"A wish." Present-Soren replied quietly.

I haven't watched Jojo yet. But I recognized the Kirito Cosplay. Rosaleya thought.

The leader of the bullies laughed, and pulled back his arm to attempt to punch Past-Soren.

Past-Soren dodged it again with a cocky expression. "Your pointless attacks will have no effect! I still have another trick up my sleeve! My Clacker Volley always takes enemies by surprise, and-"

"So, you had Chuunibyou?" Rosaleya asked with raised eyebrows as Past-Soren continued his monologue. "That's honestly more cute than embarrassing." She assured him, forcing herself not to laugh, and above all to keep a straight expression.

Jade joined Athena in laughing hysterically.

"-so you will pay for your actions!" Past-Soren pulled another two 'clackers' from his sleeve, and whipped them around like they were nunchucks, making ridiculous high-pitched noises like he was in a beginner's karate class. "Hwwwah! Hoooooooah! Hyyyyyyyeah! Ohua!"

The leader of the bullies pulled back his fist again in preparation with a smirk on his face.

And right before Past-Soren had a chance to attempt a third attack, he accidentally hit himself in the eye with one of the 'clackers', dropped both sets, and the bully's punch went unblocked, straight into his groin.

"That's curious." Past-Soren groaned, kneeling in pain while he had one hand on both areas where he had been hurt. "Help me understand...Why would you do something like that? It's just such an unsavory thing to do." He breathed.

"You quoted it." Athena laughed even harder. "You quoted Joseph Joestar word for word!"

"Shut up." The bully punched Past-Soren in the other eye, then again on the cheek, and several more blows straight to his face. "Say something else stupid, why won't you?"

Past-Soren managed to form his hands to perform the famous Dragon Ball attack. "Kame..." he managed to breathe "...hame...ha!" In his face he desperately believed that the attack would work. "I just...have to buy time....for the clackers...to come...back!"

The bully drew back his fist again, and the memory immediately turned to pitch black when the hit landed.

"Didn't your mother tell you that that stuff wasn't real?" Rosaleya asked once they had all returned to the Room of Requirement.

"She did. I thought she was just telling me that so that..." Soren inhaled then finished quickly "...I didn't 'use my powers for evil'. Like she was protecting the world from the potential darkness in my heart if I allowed my powers to reach their full potential-I can tell that you want to laugh, it's okay go ahead." He promised. His voice sounded certain, but his expression, and the fact that he looked away right after finishing the line meant otherwise.

"I don't want to laugh." Rosaleya insisted. "Thank you for showing me that. It does make me curious, though...I wonder how your room was decorated back then."

 

[Hikari Chan]

The night was young and Adela decided to not return to Hogwarts until dawn. ...It's Saturday tomorrow and I do not have any classes to teach, so it would be fine if I pulled a nighter...She thought, looking nervously at Vincent.

She felt a bit guilty that she had dragged him to Silvery Serpents in Knockturn Alley, especially after using apparition. She did not know that he despised to travel by apparition and that Silvery Serpents did not offer anything on their menus for vampires. She ended up having just a goblet of expensive red wine and a dessert that costed a fortune, while he just kept her company. They were lucky enough to find a vacant table because guests were supposed to book tables in advance and there was one table that had not been booked for the evening. She did not care that the guests and the waiters glanced oddly at her, but about that the ideal date she had been planning in the rush did not turn out as she had thought.

"What's the matter? Are you not happy?" He had noticed when she picked in her dessert before forcing herself to eat a bit.

"I am fine," she smiled nervously. "It's just...well...eh-" She tried to explain herself, but ended up stuttering even if she was being honest.

"It's alright," He interrupted her. "Mr. Shaddowwalker was generous today that I am not hungry-"

Some nearby couples that were on dinner date almost choked on their food and drinks when they heard the name Shadowwalker. Since the new minister of magic was more known than his son was to the wizarding world, they wondered what kind of generous business the minister had with a vampire.

"-I just forgot to tell you that I despise apparition," Vincent continued. "I should have told you...anyway, I forgive you this time...just do not repeat your mistake..." His eyes darkened dangerously as he smiled eerily, giving off creepy vibes.

The nearby guests exchanged worried looks with each other, wondering how on earth a vampire knew how to apparate.

"I am so sorry," Adela apologized, feeling deeply remorseful. "How should I make it up to you?" She leaned forward and put her hand atop his hand. She was ignoring the odd glances by guests as if it was only her and Vincent at the restaurant.

This took Vincent by surprise that he almost became speechless and looked stupified. "Eh..." His earlier dark and creepy expression were gone. When he did not speak for several minutes, Adela changed the subject by asking him if they could take a walk in the moonlight later which he agreed to without any hesitation. She wanted to talk with him about the coming Halloween party, but she could not bring herself to talk about the subject at the moment that she finished the rest of her dessert and drink during silence. Vincent left a pile of galleons on the table, paying a little more than he should, not caring about the exchange. Adela wanted to double-check the bill and count the galleons he had left on the table, but she worried that he would misunderstand her as being rude towards him when he was so generous and desired to spoil her. At the same time, she felt slightly guilty and avoided to look at the pile of galleons when they left their table. All the guests were staring with eyes big as saucers at the money the vampire had left behind him. They did not stare because of the glimmering gold since they were rich themselves and had millions of galleons stocked in Gringotts. They stared because they had never encountered a vampire with wizarding money.

"Well..." Adela got nervous and disappointed at the same time as soon she stepped out from Silvery Serpents. There was hardly moonlight and the sky was clouded because it was still raining. She did not mind the rain, but she had hoped for the clouds to clear up a bit and allow the moon and stars to shine up the night.

"Do you really want to walk in this heavy rain?" Vincent asked.

She did not have an answer and remained silent. We do not need an umbrella or raincoats like muggles, because I can magically protect us both from the rain. But we have taken night walks before and it would be boring to take another walk again on a date. We are both full, so going to another cafe or restaurant is not a good idea. Nightclubs are the last places I would visit and I would rather go to balls. But there are no balls tonight. The Halloween party is approaching and I need to talk with Vincent about it. I would love to visit stores that are still open and just browse around, but that's a bad idea after seeing him spending galleons so frivolously and he did not let me fetch my purse earlier this evening, so I cannot access my wizarding or muggle money...

"No...actually...do you have an idea what we could do next?" She spoke after some consideration.

"Yes..." He smiled slyly. "You said you would make it up to me for bothering me with apparition. So my suggestion is traveling with me my way."

"Of course, I would love to!" She exclaimed happily. "But where would we go?"

"To an inn, we could spend the rest of the night there..." He spoke with a smooth alluring tone.

"But I would rather go to a library!" She immediately protested, speaking without thinking. At the same moment, she realized what she had suggested, but it was too late to take back her words. Merlin's beard...why on earth did I suggest the library...who goes on date to such a place...but during the moment I felt the panic rise within me I could not think about other places...I had to say something because I cannot let...

"You like reading books that much?" He was not smiling anymore and his tone had changed, but she could not tell if he was disappointed or if he was mocking her.

"Well, that's not what I meant," She hurried to explain. "There are a couple of inns, in Knockturn Alley and in Diagon Alley. If we went to any of them, it would not be that exciting because it's just a couple of minutes short walk. But if we went to the library in Serpentine Village, it would be more exciting because we would travel your way for a longer distance. However, I am not sure if the library is still open or if there are inns-"

He did not let her finish. It happened in the blink of the eye when he suddenly grabbed her, pulled her towards him, lifted her in his arms and carried her in bridal style. After some minutes they reached their destination and when he put her down on the ground, she was feeling so windy. It took a few minutes until she recognized her surroundings and she was surprised to see that they were standing outside the Monroe Manor.

"My family has a library with lots of books and it's always open..." Vincent explained and led a very speechless and surprised Adela inside.

As soon as they had entered the manor and the doors closed behind them, he leaned forward and placed his right hand on the wall behind her so that he almost cornered her.

"You will make it up to me after this, won't you?" The smooth alluring tone was back.

She did not look away but stared directly into his dark eyes. All she could hear during this moment was her heart beating so fast. Too many thoughts were rushing in her mind as she was trying to think of a way to delay his desire. All of sudden, he straightened his back and moved some inches away from her. His facial expression and posture changed totally.

"Oh dear, good evening, what a nice surprise visit!" Vincent's great aunt greeted them both. Adela had not heard her descending the stairs, but Vincent had. ...That's it! I will make use of his great aunt to avoid-"

"Well..." Vincent began nervously.

"Oh please come in...did you have dinner, my dear? I will prepare you tea and night snacks. Vincent, please show Adela to the family room-"

"Let me help you out, please!" Adela hurried to protest and neared Lady Monroe, staring at her with pleading eyes.

"Oh no, that would inappropriate. You are our guest, my dear."

...oh well, I have to find another way to speak to her...Adela thought as she followed Vincent upstairs. ...anyway he cannot do anything at the moment...

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

How can she be so interested in the most embarrassing and useless part of me? It appears as though, even though I wished for all of our tastes to match, she adores things that I never even thought could appear cute. How strange that I did not think of that when making my wish. Neither did mother or father. I just hope that she doesn't secretly have a love for something that I find too strange, or even something repulsive? Probably... Soren pictured her adorable smile. ...not. It is difficult, to imagine her liking anything too strange. "My room was-" He met her eyes again with a smile. "-very messy. My current bedroom at home is completely different, and much more comfortable." He promised, laughing nervously. "But, would you still like to see my old one?"

"Yes." Rosaleya nodded with an eager smile.

"Maybe another time?" His eyes continued 'I've had enough embarrassment for today'.

"Phew!" Athena sighed, gasping for breath from all the laughing. "That was frickin' hilarious." She said to herself.

"Okay." Rosaleya replied to Soren.

"See you later." Athena said to both of them, heading towards the exit.

"Later." Rosaleya said.

"Bye." Soren said.

"Do you want to play a game, or do you have another funny movie in mind?" Rosaleya turned back to Soren.

"What type of film are you in the mood for?" Soren asked, thinking for a moment. "I'm in the mood for something...funny?" And I must remind myself...she loves everything I do. Yes, I've decided. As soon as Winter Break comes, I'll show her what I've been worried about revealing. I know that she will understand. I can trust her not to freak out. Especially since I specified in the wish that she shares my tastes. He reminded himself. Everything will be fine.

"Sounds good to me." Rosaleya agreed. "What do you have in mind? You've haven't picked a bad movie yet; you have excellent taste."

"Just put it in." Rosaleya said.

No way! Athena sat bold-upright in her bed, turning her head in the direction of a sleep-talking Rosaleya. She talks in her sleep? That's so adorable! Why haven't I noticed it yet? I would've heard it. Definitely would've noticed. That means that she doesn't talk every time....she does it irregularly. And what is she dreaming about right now? What is she saying? If I get closer, just a little closer, I'll be able to hear what she's saying. Athena quietly slipped out of bed, crept over to the edge of Rosaleya's bed, and remained crouching there to listen.

"If you put candy with the corpse it'll taste good." Rosaleya muttered. "I promise it tastes...mmhmm. Please try some. Trust me I'm not messing with you."

What is she dreaming about? Athena thought curiously.

Rosaleya stood in the bathroom with Athena, having woken right before the end of her dream with a full bladder. She noticed Athena in the bathroom as well, and they had started up a conversation despite the current time. "And then, what, did I say something weird?" She asked with a sceptical expression.

"You started singing 'Sweets Parade'." Athena replied. "I didn't know you knew the words to that, but you were so adorable I had to put a spell around you so that no one else heard it." I wouldn't want anyone else to hear it. They shouldn't make fun of something so adorable. "You're not mad that I listened to the whole thing?"

Rosaleya shook her head "Thanks for having my back." Keeping me from getting bullied any further is worth it. Besides, this dream wasn't that embarrassing. "If you're not making fun of me, there's nothing wrong with laughing at something funny." She paused for a moment, then nodded to herself, deciding on sharing her dream with Athena. "I had a dream that Soren was a cute tanuki, and he and I were in this adorable gingerbread world where the houses were gingerbread houses and the roads were cobbled and made out of chocolate and the people were edible!" Rosaleya smiled with a distant, dreamy look in her eyes. She was picturing it as she spoke. "There were gingerbread people; Soren and I were the only things that were normal, so I would kidnap people and eat their heads off, and eat their organs, which were shaped like just like your organ candies, and then fill their bodies with whipped cream, which was lying around like snow so all I had to do was scoop it up with a shovel made out of pretzel!" She giggled. "And I added strawberries, too. Then, I promised Soren that it tasted good, but he was still suspicious. He wouldn't eat any, and I don't know why. I tried to get him just to stick his finger in the whipped cream seeping out of the neck and try it, but he wouldn't. Then, I tried describing how delicious it was. Then, he tried it, and we both enjoyed kidnapping people and repeating the process over and over again, but it wasn't always strawberries that we mixed with the whipped cream. Soren thought of caramel, that came out of the gumdrop trees like tree sap, or bananas, or peppermints, which grew on bushes like berries. Then, there was the montage of us doing that a bunch of times, and Sweets Parade was playing, so I guess that's when I was singing it out loud." Rosaleya laughed, mildly embarrassed. "I didn't know that I talked in my sleep."

"This is the first time I'm hearing it." Athena replied. "Why didn't your extension muffle your noise, or cast a spell or something?"

"He's sleeping. I guess he was sleeping when I started talking. Maybe he was helping me before that."

"Gotcha." Athena nodded, making for the bathroom's exit. Her expression said 'we should get back to bed'. She's so frickin cute. Oh! "Can you...do you mind if I tell Soren about your dream? I think he'll find it super cute."

"Are you kidding? I'm going to tell him as soon as I see him tomorrow. Something so wonderful like that has to be shared. I'm thinking of using the Pensieve." Rosaleya laughed. "It was very vivid, with smells and tastes and everything. It felt real."

"Sounds great." Athena nodded with a smile.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Thank you," Adela smiled politely when Lady Monroe handed her a cup of tea. The tea looked so inviting and the biscuits so delicious. Adela took a sip of her tea and tried not to grimace of surprise.
The taste of tea leaves was too strong mixed with the too-sweet taste of sugar.

"You're welcome," Lady Monroe smiled. She had not noticed if Adela had a strange reaction because of the tea she had prepared. Neither did anyone else notice her reaction.

Adela was too polite to refuse the cup of tea, so she drank it without any sign of being disgusted. But suddenly Lady Monroe brought up a subject that made her nearly choke on her tea.

"I was wondering how long you two have been seeing each other? Sometimes I lose track of time. Either way, it is highly inappropriate for a couple to remain unmarried and in my household, I can not accept anyone to have a romantic relationship without marriage-"

...well, Lady Monroe does not need to worry...I and Vincent have only been holding hands and embracing each other...should I tell her about it to ease her mind?

"-even if it's only about holding hands, a man and a woman should not hold hands before marriage-"

....Merlin's beard...I think it's best to not open my mouth...

"My lady," Natalia began politely. "Holding hands would not do harm, besides they have shared a couple of dances on the Summer Feast-"

"That's different. Sharing a dance on a ball cannot be compared to having a romantic relationship. Anyway, it's time to set up a date for a wedding, which would be perfect during the day with the longest night of the year. The 22nd of December-"

"But..." Adela said with a small voice. She immediately regretted that she had spoken. The vampires exchanged glances with each other. Lady Monroe gave her a long look. Her expression was blank and Adela could not tell what she was thinking.

"I hope you have a good reason and explanation for your 'but'," She spoke calmly and cooly.

"I apologize for interrupting you," Adela spoke carefully and placed her teacup on the table. "I agree with you that it's inappropriate for a couple to remain unmarried and I knew that this day would eventually come, hence I had planned to leave my occupation at Hogwarts so that it won't interfere with my marriage. But before I can quit I need to report to the headmaster of Hogwarts so that he can find someone else to hire in my place and I am not allowed to quit until summer..."

"I understand..." Lady Monroe smiled. Her tone was even warmer when she spoke. "Then let's settle for the 22nd of December next year!"

...looks like I have eased her mind...Adela thought with relief. ...And now that it's settled, Vincent would not try something before marriage...

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

The next day, Crystal knocked on the Headmaster's door when he wasn't busy. When permitted to enter, she exchanged the expected formal greeting before sitting in the seat he indicated. She spoke her rehearsed lines in her best formal tone. Too bad I'm not as good at this as Luna. "I would like to discuss the upcoming Halloween Party. I would like Ms. Fairbrook to attend, but I clearly remember our discussion on revoking her weekend privileges. I hoped that you might be able to make an exception and allow her to attend...Since her father will not be attending, I would love for her to accompany me for the night." I just had to ask when there were three days left to the party, didn't I? I was so excited to take Rosaleya that I forgot she wasn't allowed to go! How could I fail her like this? Luna would've asked about the Halloween party in the same conversation where we talked about revoking her privileges! Damn!

 

[Hikari Chan]

Vincent seemed quieter than usual as he escorted Adela to the front doors. His face was expressionless and she could not guess what he was thinking. Just when they were about to wish each other a good night, she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to ask him to join her at the coming Halloween party. He looked very surprised when she suddenly brought up an unexpected subject. He also had a troubled look, because he already had other plans for Halloween but did not wish to turn down her request at the same time. Adela thought that she must have asked him for too much and before he had time to explain for her, she said:

"Look, it's alright. If you cannot join the Halloween party, I will be fine." She smiled to ensure her words. "I won't be alone at the party. My brothers will be there." It was almost the truth. She knew Alexis would join the party, but she was not sure about August and Andrew. And then she left, with a good night full of warmth but they did not embrace each other as they usually did, because they both thought that Lady Monroe might be watching them as long as they were at the manor, whether they were indoors or outside.

Adela returned earlier to Hogwarts than she had expected, almost around midnight. With a deep sigh, she went to bed, debating if she should join the Halloween party or not.

"Well...I cannot undo the revokement of her weekend privileges," Elias replied thoughtfully. "Miss Fairbrook is only revoked from doing anything outside school activities, however, she may take part in any school activities during the weekend even if it is outside Hogwarts...so you may take her to this party as if you would be taking her on a school trip. Both you and Mulciber will be responsible for her during the party and you both have to escort her to the party and back to Hogwarts. We often ask students to hand in essays in conclusion to lectures, so she has to hand in something to us after the party. The ideal homework would be for her to choose the scenery from the party and paint it. She has to bring her supplies to the party, but she does not have to finish the painting there. She will be given a week after the party to finish and animate the painting and hand it to professor Adela Dolohov. Miss Fairbrook may dress up for the party and does not need to wear her school uniform, but she must remember to bring her art and paint supplies. If this mission fails or if she makes trouble, she will be suspended from leaving Hogwarts during the winter break."

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Thank you, so much." Crystal replied, deeply grateful. "I promise to follow the rules you've set, and ensure that Rosaleya does the same."

November 3

Alastair descended the steps of the Shiki Agency after filing the report for their latest mission. Aislynn was waiting in the car for him to finish the report as per usual. He sat in the driver's seat and closed the door as he spoke. "Good evening, my lady-" He smiled, even though he had only left her ten minutes ago "-the Halloween Party starts at four, and the current time is two o'clock-" He nodded to the lovely view of Osaka's night sky out the dashboard window as he started driving "-in London." And eleven o'clock in Osaka. "I've planned for us to change into our costumes en route," he was driving back to where Raven had parked the carriage "-and arrive early since the majority of demonic guests are in the habit of arriving early as well. In addition, I would love to see your reaction for the lovely setting I've been preparing." He smiled charmingly, flashing her a loving look before returning his attention to the road. "Do you still wish to dress as Christine and The Phantom?" I don't want to change her mind, no. I couldn't possibly deny any of the requests that she makes in our last weeks together. I'm simply confirming that there is no unexpected change of mind that she's been thinking of. After all, "It isn't unreasonable to have a change of mind concerning a decision made a few months prior." He assured. "We can have Ravenna create whatever you wish with plenty of time to spare, if you don't wish to visit a shop."

"Lovely. I'll transform my face to be as it was the night of the play." He parked the car, and walked around to open her door for her. "Would you like for me to assist you with your hair?" He gave her another charming smile, offering his hand to help her out.

"Here we are." Alastair stepped out of the carriage first, then extended a hand to assist Aislynn. Afterward, he offered her his arm, so that they could link arms and walk to their destination.

They had landed forty-five meters from the venue. Upon exiting the carriage, it was immediately clear why: the view of the venue from outside was enchanting. Not a building, but an actual pumpkin, approximately nineteen meters tall, with a perfectly round, carved entrance approximately six meters tall, sat on a platform with fifty steps leading to it. At the right side of the pumpkin was a flight of steps curving around the right side, leading to the second, mezzanine floor, through which the party down below, and the sky above could be viewed in a more private setting. The first floor was made of stained glass tiles, and each four tiles connected to form an image representing either a Wizarding fairy tail, a Muggle fairy tail, such as Belle and the Beast holding hands, or Goldilocks tasting porridge, or a demonic fairy tail, the latter of which seemed to be a bit more dark. For instance, there was a beautiful princess beheading a prince with two faces, one handsome, and the other cruel and hideous, and one filthy clawed hand and one normal hand. Another was a prince and princess riding a dragon together, while it blew a deathly flame onto a mob of villagers with pitchforks and other time-appropriate weapons. Another was a princess saving her prince from a thorny cage. Each image moved slightly, if one was to look closely, but not so much so that one would become dizzy after looking at them all for too long. Large round holes carved into the pumpkin displayed different 'carvings' moving through them slowly: different animals, such as a school of fish, eels, accurately-sized giraffes, whales, and elephants, cats, dragons, or fictional characters from fairy tails walking past or driving past in their carriages, or historical figures from Wizarding history, such as Merlin or Laverne de Montmorency. The lighting came from a multitude of candles floating high overhead, like the Great Hall. The top of the pumpkin was cut out, and from it the moon would appear to be full once the sun set, despite tonight's moon being only a half moon. Cauldrons placed around the borders of the room, five meters apart, emitted different colors of odorless sparkly smoke, which slowly floated upward and out the pumpkin's top, giving the sky and ceiling a surreal look. The music came from a full-size orchestra set up at the furthest end of the room, opposite the entrance, and they were currently playing ambient classical music. The center was left clear for dancing. The east and west sides were filled with green, lacquered wooden tables shaped like overlarge pumpkin leaves, and comfortable chairs of the same color, crafted to look like pumpkin vines. Two miniature jack-o-lanterns were placed at the center of each table, with a card informing that they were complimentary gifts to take home post-event, if desired. The goblets were different for each table, with four styles repeating in a pattern for every four tables:

The last type of goblet was a plain goblet with cup accessories such as cute jack-o-lanterns, bats, or ghosts, and a card indicated that the accessories were complimentary as well, if desired. The tables were set with shiny black, plain silverware of the highest quality, and shiny round plates that resembled full-moons, reflecting the light to appear as though they were glowing.

"What do you think, my lady?" Alastair asked at the top of the steps, gazing into the room through the entrance. I do hope I haven't overdone the decorations. I would hate to see my guests become dizzy from overstimulation.

"Greetings, charming host." Nova extended a hand to greet Alastair first with an excited expression, then Aislynn. He was dressed as Willy Wonka, from the American 1971 film, exchanging his glasses for contact lenses. However, he hadn't changed his hair. "Stephan?" He took a step back, and gestured to the space in front of him.

Stephan, dressed as Tuxedo Mask, stepped forward from behind Nova, to shake hands with Alastair, then Aislynn, forcing himself to make eye contact so as not to appear rude. "Good evening." He said in a voice so quiet it almost went unheard. His costume was one hundred percent accurate.

Reign bowed his head to both Alastair and Aislynn with a warm "Good evening." As soon as they had exchanged greetings, his eyes became distant again, admiring the scenery. Reign had chosen a Japanese emperor costume complete with a silly time-appropriate hat, polished his usual katana, and put his hair into a half-up style with a few locks loose at the front to frame his face. He planned to remove the mask the moment he grew tired of wearing it, which would most likely be whenever Melody arrived.

"What a lovely pumpkin you've carved this year." Nova said to Alastair after the greetings had been exchanged.

"Thank you." Alastair replied with a smile.

"Did you know that it is a demonic custom to carve pumpkins near this size as a family activity?" Nova asked Aislynn. "Although, we don't usually decorate the insides like this!" He laughed cheerfully. "I've never thought of using them for party venues, combined with a stay-fresh charm to prevent moulding-An ingenious idea!" He suddenly turned to Alastair again without giving Aislynn a chance to reply. "Your costumes are quite charming." He smiled, his eyes glowing with excitement. Clearly, Nova would enjoy every moment of tonight's party.

While Reign was busy admiring the venue's decorations with a distant look in his eyes, Stephan stood near Nova, looking at the floor and giving off the impression that he was quite shy. Nova didn't wait for a reply from Aislynn, walking away quickly after his last comment to admire and touch the decorations. He didn't leave rudely, but with an extremely eager expression, like an excited child. Reign took Stephan's hand, and led him away with the polite nod of his head to Alastair and Aislynn. He told Stephan to choose a table, and took a seat at the one he selected, continuing to admire the scenery while facing the entrance. Stephan joined Nova in taking a close look at everything, shadowing him while ringing his hands behind his back.

"My lady...your thoughts?" Alastair asked again, looking at her in excitement. We arrived here an hour and a half before the event was scheduled to start and I still just barely arrived in time to greet the first of my guests. If I hadn't been so lucky with the timing...

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Oh..." Aislinn laughed, feeling that she did not like to change her choice of costume just two hours before the party. "I still wish to dress as Christine and the Phantom. I have not changed my mind about that!" She smiled.

"Lovely. I'll transform my face to be as it was the night of the play." Alastair parked the car, and walked around to open her door for her. "Would you like for me to assist you with your hair?" He gave her another charming smile, offering his hand to help her out.

"Thank you, but no thank you..." She giggled. "I have actually made an appointment with the hair salon in Diagon Alley."

Adela stood in front of her mirror. It was not a floor-length mirror, but big enough to view her face and upper body. She had dressed up as she had planned for the Halloween Party, a dark red sleeveless gown with a flowy skirt, heart-shaped neckline, a pair of black gloves and a black cloak with a hood. Her hair was down in wavy loose curls. For makeup, she had blood-red lips and smokey eyeshadow with dark lines. The silver necklace with the crescent moon and red heart added a nice touch and the plastic vampire teeth completed her attire. But knowing that Vincent was not going to attend the party, she was not feeling in the mood to go to the feast.

"Here we are." Alastair stepped out of the carriage first, then extended a hand to assist Aislinn. Afterward, he offered her his arm, so that they could link arms and walk to their destination.

"Oh..." Aislinn was charmed by both the exterior and the interior. She could not stop looking at every little detail, trying to indulge everything of the enchanting sight.

There was a knock on the door and Adela hoped that it was not Endewyne or Faeryn who disturbed her. But she was not even happy to see the over-excited look of her brother, Alexis. His attire was fully black, a shirt with lace details and a pair of dress pants and shoes, along with a cloak. Adela could not help but wonder if he was trying to impress on her by copying Vincent's style. His grin with the fake vampire teeth made him look so silly.

"You look very beautiful!" Alexis complimented her, noticing that she was wearing the necklace he had gifted her for her birthday. But his smile faltered when she remained silent and looked depressed.
"What's the matter?"

"Nothing...I have changed my mind. I won't be attending the party-"

"What?! After you have put so much time and effort into dressing up?!"

"He won't be there anyway..."

"Who? Do you mean Vincent? Did he decline your invite?"

"No....but he...I..."

"Listen! You have to allow yourself to have fun sometimes without him. Do not forget your family members and friends. You may hate August, but what about me?"

Aislinn greeted the early guests that had arrived before her and Alastair. She nodded politely and smilingly to Nova's words as he spoke with such excitement. He is such a talkative man, that he does not give me the chance to reply...Merlin's beard...

"My lady...your thoughts?" Alastair asked again, looking at her in excitement.

"It's lovely! The interior is as charming and enchanting as the exterior. You have done a splendid job!" She praised him.

Elias had planned his attire carefully and when he was done, he looked several times in the mirror, hoping that he did not look weird. He had changed his skin to slightly sickly green with the help of a skin color-potion that would last for at least thirty-six hours. He had to visit the hair salon in Hogsmeade to get both his hair and face done. His hair was tied back, while the front part of his hair was combed inwards so it stood up more than usual and was colored with white streaks. He felt a little awkward when he got his face and nails painted. But when he looked in the mirror, he was satisfied with the makeup that gave him realistic-looking stitches and scars across his face, mostly on his forehead and cheeks. His black short nails complemented his sickly looking skin color and he wore a pair of black contacts. His attire was a usual formal and elegant black suit and black dress shirt with a black cloak and black dress shoes. Before he left the hair salon, he glanced one last time in the mirror and wondered nervously if Luna would recognize him.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

Alastair smiled in relief. She adores them. I'm glad that she loves the decorations as much as I do. "You aren't obligated to remain here with me to greet the remainder of the guests, please enjoy yourself. Luna made me promise to share my first waltz with her, but as soon as I've finished I promise I won't leave your side for the remainder of the event..." he said with a loving expression "...if that is your wish, my lady."

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Of course, I will enjoy myself," Aislinn smiled. "But I do not mind to greet the guests with you. Standing here by your side is of my own willing."

...I am waiting for you by the gates...Elias thought to Luna as he touched his brooch. He smiled when he saw her approaching and complimented her attire.

"You look like a beautiful bride..." He chuckled. "Well...shall we?" He held out his hand so that she could use smoke apparition. "Do not worry, my skin color won't leave any spots on you."

August made sure that he arrived at the Halloween party earlier, before Celeste, because he wanted to be there for her when she arrived and he longed to see her after such a long time since their last date months ago. He had lost the count of their dates and wondered if this party was counted as a date. As for his attire, he wore a Venetian costume in a dark purple suit with white socks and a white mask, along with a black hat, cloak, and gloves.

He found the exterior and interior of where the feast was located quite interesting and amusing. When he entered he greeted everyone, the few guests that were there, with a nod and then extended his hand to shake hands with the host before he took a seat by one of the vacant tables.

He recognized both Adela and Alexis when they arrived because they had not dressed too extravagantly or different, especially the latter one who gave himself away by grinning like a fool. August sighed at his younger brother's foolishness for trying to look like a vampire when he failed. Adela and Alexis, on the other hand, did not recognize August because he was wearing a full mask that covered his face entirely, even his eyes. The mask was enchanted in a way that he could see through it. They both walked towards the host, to greet him and to greet Monroe as well. Aislinn crooked arms with Adela and dragged her to a secluded corner to have a word with her.

"Did you not invite Vincent?" Aislinn asked Adela.

"Well...I...I mentioned it to him, but I did not wait for an answer but left," Adela confessed. "He seemed troubled about it, so I did not wish to bother him..."

"Merlin's beard..." Aislinn sighed audibly. "Why did you not ask him what he would do on Halloween's Eve instead of trying to invite to this feast?"

"It's fine...actually I have good news..."

While Adela was talking with Aislinn, August was observing them and he was trying to hear what they were talking about it. But he was sitting far away from them, on the opposite of the room, and they were speaking in low voices only audible for themselves, that he could only assume that they were having some girls' talk.

"Oh, congratulations!" Aislinn exclaimed happily when she heard that Adela had gotten betrothed to Vincent.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

...I am waiting for you by the gates...

Luna smiled and touched her brooch, thinking in reply: I will see you in a minute. She made her way to the gates, eager and curious to see his costume more than the days leading up to the event.

"You look like a beautiful bride..." Elias chuckled.

"Thank you." Luna replied distractedly, as she was busy taking in every exquisite detail of his costume. She wore an elegant half-up half-down hairstyle, and a streak of white going from her hairline to the tips. Her makeup was realistic, thanks to her Disguise Mirror: her skin appeared to be sewn together in many different places including her face, with the patches of skin being either light green, or light purple. She wore an elegant black wedding dress with a petticoat, a modest boat neckline, no sleeves, and an open back that revealed her scapulae. Tiny black teardrop shaped beads were distributed about the dress, with a high concentration around the neckline and waist. She had also applied just enough of the perfume Elias had gifted her for it to be a subtle scent. Under her arm, she held Wuthering Heights, which she had planned to return to Elias on this day shortly after receiving it. She couldn't find the words to describe her feelings toward his costume. I'll try to think of something...I'll tell him my thoughts on his costume during our first dance. That should give me plenty of time. Saying 'I wish you would replicate your appearance for our wedding!' right now would seem...too strange, I'm certain.

"Well...shall we?" He held out his hand so that she could use smoke apparition. "Do not worry, my skin color won't leave any spots on you."

Luna laughed. "As if I would be worried about that, Elias." She took hold of his hand confidently, the look in her eyes saying that even if he was covered in mud it could not possibly make her feel dirty.

"How lovely." Luna stopped walking as soon as they reached the top of the stairs. Her eyes were busy taking in every minute detail of Alastair's hard work. She was frozen in her pleasant surprise, her eyes widening and unable to settle on one detail for too long.

"Luna!" Alastair embraced her warmly. Is that book part of her costume?

"It-it's wonderful, Alastair!" Luna breathed, still looking around. "Did you do this all on your own?!"

"Of course not." Alastair laughed modestly, as if the idea was absurd. What an adorable reaction! "Even I couldn't get every carving to move without constant supervision, or select the perfect ingredients for the odorless 'fairy dust' effects from the cauldrons. And the tiles-"

"But the designs themselves, were they yours?"

"Yes, they were all mine. I only needed assistance putting my plans into...motion."

A pun. How comical. Luna thought as Alastair broke their embrace to greet Elias.

"And good evening to you, Frankenstein." Alastair shook hands with Elias.

Luna, who shook her head suddenly to stop herself from staring at everything, turned to greet Aislynn. "Good evening." She extended her hand to shake.

Nova couldn't imagine how strange it would be for them to have chosen matching costumes without consulting each other first. Very unlikely.

"I promised, and I haven't forgotten." Luna turned back to Alastair after she had exchanged greetings with Aislynn. "My first dance will be with you."

"Lovely." Alastair turned away from Elias, and smiled warmly with the nod of his head. "The white streak looks so charming on you."

"And your costumes match as well." Luna noticed. I had been too busy admiring the stunning venue to notice their costumes. "Did you plan that?"

"Of course. Didn't you?" Alastair said rhetorically.

"No, we actually wanted to surprise each other, but-" Luna laughed "-we ended up matching anyways."

Alastair smiled. It would be so strange for Aislynn and I to match our costumes without planning it. Perhaps Luna is simply playing a prank on me by telling me this, and she will inform me, later, that it was indeed a joke. I'll play along for now. "Lucky you."

"Indeed." Luna agreed. As she walked away with Elias, she asked "Would you like to choose a table for now? We cannot dance until-" she explained, since she wasn't certain if he had been listening to her conversation with Alastair or not "-I've shared my first dance with my brother."

Meanwhile, Athena made her entrance with a wide smile. "Hello." She waved, then walked past them eagerly to join the party. He's gotta be tired of shaking everyone's frickin' hand. He could use a break from it. She laughed as she ran to greet Stephan. "Hey there, cutie. That costume really suits you. I wished to know what you'd be wearing, and chose mine to match."

"It's...beautiful." Stephan replied, admiring her eyes; he wasn't used to seeing both at once. Even when she'd cosplayed as Julia, she had styled her hair to cover one eye.

Today, she had lengthened her hair and styled it a bright, light blue. Her costume matched well with Stephan's, in her opinion. Since I'm going as a gender-bent version, my ship is sailing!

"Can I tag along with you?" Athena asked, approaching Rosaleya on her way to meet Crystal and Mulciber at the Hogwarts gates. Stephan's arriving with Nova and Reign, so I don't have any responsibilities there. Athena thought as she took hold of Rosaleya's hand.

"You're better off using a portal." Rosaleya replied quietly, gently pulling her hand away. "Apparition." She explained as she positioned her self on a banister.

"See you there!" Athena waved as Rosaleya slid down.

"Hi." Crystal smiled when she saw Rosaleya. She was leaning up against the Hogwarts gates, a few feet away from Mulciber. Her hair was down, styled with soft curls, and she had red lipstick that was the perfect dark red so that it suited her face and skin tone. She wore a black, knee-length corset ballgown with plain black Mary-Janes with a one-inch heel, and gloves. Strings attached to her wrists, ankles, head and neck connected to a marionette control that hovered above her, moving when she did to make it appear as though some invisible giant was controlling her movements. A black mini top hat with a silver ribbon rested on her head, slightly off-center for style.

"Good evening, professors. Thank you both so much for helping me attend the party." Rosaleya greeted genuinely.

"All you have to do is pay with a painting?! Pfft!, scenery is the easiest thing for you to draw." Jade laughed excitedly. He was wearing a Sephiroth costume.

I'm so happy that's all I had to do! Rosaleya thought. Crystal is so cool for asking for me! I thought it was the price I had to pay for not having to see Dad on the weekends.

"It's no trouble; I'll tail you like that day at the arcade and stuff." Crystal smiled. 'You'll forget I'm there' her expression said. "It's not like I've got anything better to do." Except dance with Nova once to pay for my 'unlimited portals' wish. I can just have Rosaleya stand near Mulciber during those few minutes.

"Thank you." Rosaleya replied gratefully. She looks so beautiful tonight. I didn't expect a marionette costume...I thought she was going to go as a cartoonish witch with a big, wide-rimmed pointy hat, her pointy-toed shoes, and a cute, long gown. She thought as they walked past the gates together.

Rosaleya gasped for air the moment they appeared in the open field. I hate apparating! Luckily, the venue's awesomeness distracted her from her prior discomfort a split-second later. From the top of the pumpkin, the colored smoke billowed, and the moving carvings were visible as well.

"Wow..." Jade was humming 'This is Halloween' from The Nightmare Before Christmas as he walked on the left side of Rosaleya.

She stood still for a full minute to admire the exterior, during which Crystal waited patiently behind her until she was ready to move on.

"Remember that your first dance will be with me." Athena reminded. "Good evening." Rosaleya greeted the king a bit awkwardly, bowing her head respectfully before shaking hands with Aislynn. "Good evening." She greeted more warmly, smiling.

"Hi." Crystal shook Aislynn's hand, then Alastair's. "This place is amazing." She gestured around. "Mind blowing decorations."

Rosaleya noticed Athena standing with Stephan ten feet from Nova and Reign's table, and walked past to approach them. "Your costumes are amazing!"

"Thank you. Yours is, too." Athena smiled. I made the neckline more modest; I can't have a deep v-cut if I leave my chest the way it is. "Usagi was super annoying until she became Princess Serenity. She was funny to watch, but who would want to hang out with that whiny, flaky motormouth? I wish Fish-Eye got transformed into a girl, instead of being forced to give up his dream of living happily ever after with Mamoru."

"That episode where Fish-Eye tried so hard to make Mamoru love him made me want to give him a hug." Rosaleya agreed with a nod. "A genderbent cosplay is perfect. But I never thought of shipping a genderbent Fish-Eye with Mamoru, I pictured him happily-ever-after-ing with Michiru since the first time she played the violin. I loved that part in...I think it was Sailor Moon Super S...yeah, where they shared a dance together at the rich guy's party. It was so cute."

Crystal was greeting Nova in the meantime, promising that she hadn't forgotten the dance she owed him for her 'unlimited portals' wish.

Stephan looked everywhere but in Rosaleya's direction, as if he was trying to convince himself that she wasn't standing there. Although the fact that he didn't look in her direction made it difficult to pretend.

"Give him more time." Athena whispered.

As Rosaleya listened, Nova stopped his conversation abruptly when he noticed Rosaleya, and beckoned for her to join their table with an eager expression. As she moved to occupy the chair that Nova pointed to, Athena led Stephan further away to speak with him for a moment. After Rosaleya exchanged greetings with Nova and Reign, the former asked "Isn't it such a lovely setting?"

"It is. Your costume is perfect for you." Rosaleya smiled. And Reign's is super hot. Perfect historical bishie costume!

"And you look fairly prepared to battle your monster." Nova complimented.

"Thank you." I can't wait until Soren shows up!

A highly excited aura, just like myself. Nova thought.

Crystal had taken her seat at a table directly behind the one Rosaleya shared with Nova and Reign, out of Rosaleya's eyesight.

Rosaleya followed Reign's gaze, admiring every detail of the pumpkin twice before his eyes settled on the beautiful ceiling. Rosaleya began daydreaming for a few minutes, and her daydream led into a memory of a conversation she'd had with Soren a week ago.

"The finalists." Soren said, holding up his paper. "Let's review them and buy our costumes from Hell today."

I've got plenty of potion to get me to Hell. Rosaleya thought, handing him her list. As Soren read hers, she read his. "Alucard and Ceres? I don't want to dress as Ceres." Rosaleya crossed it off.

"May I ask why not?" Soren asked politely.

Rosaleya pointed to her bust. "Not enough. I want my costume to be accurate. Is that...a pencil?" She pointed to it as Soren crossed off 'Shogo Makishima and Akane Tsunemori' from her list.

"It's a pencil that looks like a quill." Soren handed it to her to take a closer look. "I hate dipping my quill in ink every few letters, and self-inking quills become obsolete after a while after their self-inking spell wears off. So I just use pencils in disguise."

"Why don't you just create a self-inking spell so that you can refresh it yourself?" Rosaleya asked, handing the quill-pencil back.

"I can't do that." Soren laughed, as if failure was assured if he attempted it.

"Is it more difficult than making an illusion spell or a spell to conjure bugs?" Rosaleya asked.

"Most likely." Soren insisted, returning his attention to her list and crossing off 'Isaac and Miria'.

"They work so well together and they rarely argue." Rosaleya said.

"Their costumes aren't cool enough for Halloween." Soren pointed out. "I guess that's why you crossed off Haru Yoshida and Shizuku, right?"

"Yes. I wasn't arguing with you about that, I was just explaining why I ship them. Oh, you've got Griffith and Casca on your list, too!"

"Circled!" Soren had just circled the same ship on Rosaleya's list.

"Kirito and Azuna would also be a cool joint cosplay idea." Rosaleya circled that ship on Soren's paper.

"So you ship them, but not in your Top 5?" Soren stated, chuckling as he crossed off 'Gackpo and Luka'. Azuna and Kirito weren't on Rosaleya's list.

"Yes." Rosaleya replied, then noticed that he had crossed off her Vocaloid ship. "Why?" She nodded to his recent change.

"I don't know these characters. I want to know them well and take my time getting to like them, so maybe for the next event." Soren said. "Same for whoever these two are...?" He pointed to the third ship from the top. "Who are Nam Chi Won and Yoon Yi?"

"They're this adorable couple from a Korea drama called 'Jugglers'. If you haven't watched it, it's adorable, and it's not all mushy stuff, there's suspense and plot twists and comedy, too. I laughed a lot watching it and-"

"I'll watch it." Soren promised, kissing her hand and noticing that she'd crossed off 'Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity' on his list. "Aren't their costumes cool enough for you?"

"Athena told me that Stephan is going as Tuxedo Mask. I don't want to rub our relationship in his face or anything like that. Since Athena isn't going as Uragi-"

"-Usagi-" Soren corrected gently.

"-Usagi-" Rosaleya corrected herself, nodding to thank Soren "-it would just put an emphasis on the fact that he isn't in a relationship. I think that he might feel lonely."

"You're so sweet." Soren said. "Almost as sweet as Griffith and Casca would be together. Looks like they're the only ones left circled on both our lists, so let's go with that?"

"Yes!" Rosaleya couldn't wait to see Soren dressed as Griffith. He was her favorite male Anime character of all time, irreplaceable in her eyes. The fact that she had grown accustomed to seeing Soren with white hair meant that his transition to a longer style in a strange color wouldn't seem too strange; she would be able to interact with a real-life, Deredere version of her favorite male character. She looked at her list, still in Soren's hands. "I'm so curious, why did you cross off Makishima and Akane?"

"They were never on the same side. Akane was a puppet for the-"

"-you haven't heard my alternate reality idea, yet." Rosaleya interrupted excitedly. "What if, she was working with Makishima the whole time, only pretending to follow the system's rules, and she helped him fake his death with a hologram replacement so that Kougami let his guard down, and then she joins up with Makishima after that final battle scene, kills Kougami and fixes the system, then lives happily ever after with Makishima in the fixed world? Oh, and also a cool 'It was planned all along' explanation to help the viewers understand the plot-twist."

"Do you think Makishima would've wanted that?" Soren asked curiously, surprised by how deeply Rosaleya had pondered the matter.

"Yes! He was lonely! If he had someone that was on his side that didn't die or betray him, and he accomplished his goals, then he would've been happy. Think about his voice and expressions when he was telling his backstory."

"Why do you love Makishima so much?" Soren asked curiously.

Rosaleya laughed, but didn't answer. "I'm not going to get a tan to dress as Casca."

"Very well. May I keep this?" He held up her list.

"Sure, If I can keep yours." Rosaleya replied absentmindedly. Oh, I can't wait to see Griffith in real life! It's so fudging hard to contain my excitement and keep my face calm! I want to ask him if he's going to use a wig or actually grow his hair out, but then I would seem too excited...I don't want him to think that I'm more excited about going with an Anime character than going with him...that might seem rude, right?

"I understand." Athena nodded to Stephan. "Good luck tonight, then, and don't forget-" she looked at him seriously "-that you aren't bothering me. If you were annoying, then I wouldn't want to help you, so I wouldn't bother." Trying to be more independent and following my advice. That's good...I just hope he doesn't embarrass himself; he's really blunt sometimes, and he's got a problem controlling his expressions. But the way he insisted...it's like he has someone else in mind to dance with. Who could it be, if he's obviously decided to ignore Rosaleya for tonight?

"One..." Celeste said quietly.

"Two..." Dante said quietly.

"...Three" The twins said in sync, the proceeded to greet Aislynn and Alastair at the same time, bowing elegantly. "Happy Halloween!" For tonight Celeste had removed the hair color shampoo, returning it to its natural black, and braided it into one long, thick, elegant braid which sat on her shoulder. She wore a high-necked, sleeveless, form-fitting cheongsam the same color as her hair usually was. The dress was just short enough to show her black ballet flats with embroidered purple Chinese dragons. So comfortable, I could walk all day without tiring in them. A wonderful gift, as well as the dress and umbrella. She thought, grateful to the gifter. The slits in the cheongsam went up to just below her knees. A white oil paper umbrella hovered above her without getting in her way, with a handle resembling a branch bearing a few realistic-looking and smelling dark and light purple Chinese flowers. Kunai sat on a black rope around her waist, and a kodachi was sheathed behind her back. But the kunai and kodachi that Dante insisted on, despite them being Japanese weapons, look nice to the inexperienced eye, I suppose...Of course, I would never give small details like that enough thought to argue over, since he seems so happy with the final result. But in return, I got to choose his weapon, and of course, I made it accurate to match his costume. Dante had lengthened his hair and taken Celeste's suggestion to remove the color shampoo to return it to black, and put it into a half-up style with some braids at the sides. Real silver Chinese armor with a design of dragons and scales engraved were treated with a silencing charm to prevent the clatter from annoying the wearer. And since Celeste had chosen his weapon in return, a blue Chinese broadsword was sheathed at his side.

Malice eagerly greeted Alastair with an elegant curtsy the moment Dante and Celeste finished exchanging greetings. Her white handkerchief dress reached just above her knees, with a very modest sweetheart neckline and no sleeves. Real, tiny white rose petals went all around the waist and neckline. She wore plain white Mary-Janes with a half-inch heel. She wore a white headband with a white veil attached and pulled back so that her face was visible. Her hair was left wild and untamed as usual. Her arms, hands, feet and legs looked as though a majority of the bone was exposed, with a bit of flesh still present to hold her body together. Her left hand was the exception, consisting of only bone. A deep, long horizontal slash on her neck was dripping realistic, dark blood. Her lips were 'rotted away', so that only her straight, white teeth and pink gums were visible. Her eyes didn't have pupils, just vacant, hazy white. A few large dried blood stains on her dress looked realistic, and the neckline turned red slowly as it 'absorbed' the 'blood' from the slash in her neck.

"What a perfectly ghastly costume." Alastair praised, clapping his hands together once. "A corpse bride? Hmm...would you turn around for me?"

Malice did so with a smile.

"Ah, there's a 'knife' in your back." Alastair laughed. "Did you do all this yourself?"

"Yes." Malice replied happily.

"Have a pleasant night." Alastair stepped aside and gestured past himself.

Meanwhile, Celeste and Dante had found August. The latter only scowled at August, before Celeste elbowed him, and together they repeated the greeting they had given the king and his lady. "Happy Halloween!" They both bowed. Dante continued scowling at August immediately after finishing the greeting. Celeste stepped past him and opened her arms wide in a non-verbal invitation for August to embrace her. "I've missed you." She whispered as they embraced.

Dante clenched his fists behind his back. He...I had to bow to him on the floor! For no reason! Disgusting-Hmm? He turned away to see Malice tugging on his sleeve. His expression didn't change when he met her eyes, but Malice understood that his anger wasn't directed at her. "Yes?" Dante's expression softened after a moment.

Malice made a tunnel with her hand from her mouth to his ear, and gestured for him to bend down.

Dante did so, aligning his left ear with her hand. "Alastair prepared a special surprise for the demon guests. That's why I'm here." Malice whispered. "He told me that I could tell as many demon guests as I wanted once the party started, but not any of the humans, because..." She continued.

"That is a lovely surprise. Thank you for telling me." Dante whispered, then stood straight, smiling eerily.

As soon as we break this embrace, I'll introduce him to Malice. Celeste thought, happy that Malice was here. I can explain that she was one of the painters from the exhibit I took him to. "You look stunning, my prince." Celeste whispered.

"Good evening." Easton greeted with his best eerie smile. He had managed to clear his busy schedule for tonight's party, which Claudia had been looking forward to. He was dressed as Alucard Nosferatu, complete with the glasses and sharpened teeth. His costume was almost accurate enough to make him look like real character. All the details were accurate, but something in the shape of his face, or the look in his eyes, distinguished him from the real character. Over his shoulder, he carried Claudia like a sack of potatoes, yet he paid her no mind, as if it was normal for him to carry her this way in public places.

"Put me down." Claudia laughed, playfully punching his back with her fists. Her hair was styled in soft waves, her nails were painted black and filed to be pointy at the tips. Illusion magic made her mouth appear to be rotting from ear to ear, exposing her perfectly white, straight teeth. Bandages the exact color of her skin covered every inch of her body except for her hands and face. She had placed a cushioning charm on her feet. Widow spider earrings, which magically wriggled like real spiders, hung from a string resembling spiders' silk. Her right eye was done up with its usual makeup, while the left eye had the eyeball hanging out by its optic nerve, and out of the socket, a scolopendra crawled out, ran around her face or in her hair, then crawled back inside, slowly repeating the process without growing tired.

After Easton had greeted Alastair and Aislynn with a casual handshake, he turned around, so that Claudia could extend her hand and do the same, smiling cheerfully despite the subtle hint of embarrassment in her eyes. She shook Alastair's hand, then Aislynn's, then Easton walked away with her.

"Good evening." Soren greeted with the deepest respect, kneeling to the host and his lady. He was in character, speaking with a slightly more charming voice than usual. He had chosen the armor that Griffith wore back when he was the leader of the Band of the Hawk, used light blue contacts, and styled his hair accordingly.

"Look over there." Jade pointed to Soren. "He's here!"

Her excitement just tripled. Nova thought in surprise, looking suddenly at Rosaleya's aura, then following her gaze. Ah, I see. He looked away, to continue his conversation with Reign.

Soren stood. "A lovely venue for the night's celebration." He complimented.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Well, more guests are arriving and I need to be there by the host' side, greeting them...I will return to you later..." Aislinn left Adela on her own and returned to Alastair when Luna and Elias arrived.

"And good evening to you, Frankenstein." Alastair shook hands with Elias.

"Good evening, Mr. Phantom." Elias greeted him in return, noticing that Aislinn was matching Alastair's costume. Elias found it amusing that he and Luna had managed to match their costumes without planning it together while Alastair and Aislinn had to plan their costumes in beforehand. And he also found it odd that they had chosen costumes of two characters that did not end up together in the story of Phantom of the Opera.

"Would you like to choose a table for now? We cannot dance until I've shared my first dance with my brother."

"That's alright, I will be waiting here for you by this table," Elias chose the closest vacant table he found and immediately took a seat. He had been expecting Luna sharing a dance with her brother, something that most siblings did since Lily always had to share a dance with him.

The moment August sighted Celeste, he rose from his seat and took off his mask and hat. Since there were not many guests yet but a couple, it had not become too crowded and Adela immediately discovered August when she saw him revealing his face. She had not been expecting him attending a costume party on Halloween. What more took her by surprise was when she witnessed him sharing an embrace with a young lady. She could not take her eyes away and she was staring at them without realizing what she was doing. Alexis was not staring but sneaking a peek at them. He noticed that his sister was staring and he tried to catch her attention by gently pinching her on her hand, but she did not seem to react to him at all.

"I have missed you more..." August whispered softly as he embraced Celeste.

"You look stunning, my prince," Celeste whispered.

August chuckled, finding her compliment cute.

"You look so beautiful and charming, my queen..."

A moment later, Lily arrived with her friends Clarissa and Pegah. Lily had followed her brother's advice and dressed up as Snowwhite from the story Snowwhite and the Huntsman. She wore an ice-blue dress with long sleeves and a square neckline along with a dark brown overdress with puff sleeves. The overdress was embellished with dark red scrolling trim and dark brown front lacing. She did not wear any accessories but simply makeup and her black hair flowed elegantly down behind her back. Pegah was dressed up in an entirely light blue attire with off-shoulder sleeves. It looked like a dress, but instead of a skirt, she was wearing wide puffy trousers connected with her top at the waist. The top was connected to the trousers like overalls because she did not like to show her tummy and decided to have it covered. A flowy transparent skirt that was open in the front was attached to her waist as well. In contrast to Lily, Pegah wore accessories that consisted of golden earrings, a necklace, and head circlet. She had lengthened her hair and styled it in a loose braid with light blue ribbons. Clarissa looked much bolder than her friends. She wore a very short blue skirt with a white sailor top with two ridiculously big ribbon ties, one which was attached to her chest with a big golden pendant. A star with a crescent moon inside was engraved on the pendant. The other ribbon tie was attached just behind her back at her waistline. Along with her attire, she was wearing white gloves that reached her elbows, red boots that reached her knees, a pair of golden earrings with crescent moons and stars, and a red choker with a golden crescent moon and also golden forehead tiara. She had straightened and lengthened her hair and put it up in two pigtails with buns. But the weirdest thing she had done was to hide her wand inside a toy wand, which no one knew about, not even her friends. The toy wand had a pink handle with a big crescent moon at the top. Clarissa, Lily, and Pegah were surprised to meet their other friends, the twins, Summer and Rhaine at the party. The twins were dressed up in costumes, inspired by the twin characters from a horror muggle movie called the Shining. They had arrived some minutes before the other three had arrived and the twins stared with eyes wide as saucers at Clarissa's attire.

"Merlin's beard, Clarissa! You look so s*****y!" Summer complimented her friend in a loud voice, not caring if other guests heard her or not.

The girls burst out in laughter.

"I know, right!" Clarissa giggled and then she held up her toy wand and said with a smirk: "Look at this!" Red sparkles shoot up from the wand.

Her friends were amazed and Rhaine wondered if she had gotten a customized wand and where she had gotten it because her wand looked very weird in design.

"It's a secret!" Clarissa giggled, not wanting to reveal what she had done.

"Oh come on!" Rhaine laughed.

"Girls, I will be right back..." Lily said and went to first see if her brother had arrived. When she found him sitting by a table, she shot him a glance that said his first dance had to be with her. He nodded to her with a promising smile. Then she walked over to Alastair to greet him.

"It's so nice to see you again!" She shook hands with him and then she shook hands with Aislinn. "Such lovely costumes!" Lily complimented them. "Who are you portraying? You look like a bride and groom!"

Aislinn's face turned red as a tomato. She did not dare to look at Alastair and she tried to explain for Elias' sister about their costumes, but she had gotten speechless and her lower lip was trembling.

Meanwhile, Persephone had arrived with her brother and also with Macnair, Avery, Rowle, Selwyn, and Nott. Persephone had dressed up in a colorful ragged dress that reached her knees along with short sleeves, a pair of Mary Janes shoes. Her hair was down and she had painted her lips irresistible red. She also wore a pair of contacts to replace her green eyes with small black eyes. She kept her pale skin color though she had added a lot of stitches at her face, neck, arms, and legs. She had forced her brother to wear a black suit and transformed his hands into white bones so that it looked that he did not have any skin or flesh on his hands. He had been very reluctant to dress up, especially he was against wearing a white headpiece, with black holes for eyes and nose and a stitched grin, that would hide his entire head, hair, and face, but then she had threatened to transform his head into a pumpkin if he did not wear the headpiece hence he ended up wearing it. Both Avery and Nott were wearing masks, however, the difference between them was that Avery's mask looked neat and even in shape with small holes beside the open holes for the eyes, while Nott's mask looked distorted. Further, Nott's black suit, tie, and white shirt looked slightly wrinkled and messy and he was carrying a large bloodied muggle item in his hands. Anyone who was familiar with muggle items would immediately recognize it as an electric chainsaw. Avery was dressed in casual and shabby muggle clothes and he was carrying a bloodied cuff knife. He was holding it up in his right hand and resting the blade against his right shoulder. Rowle was not wearing a mask, but he was also carrying on muggle items since he was dressed up as a Viking and wanted to carry the special muggle weapons, a hammer and a sword. Macnair who did not like to carry muggle items chose a different costume with a much scarier looking mask and a wizard hat. His usually silky hair looked worn out, damaged and messy. He wore a thick rope around his neck, a long suit jacket and a pair of dress pants in black. Persephone had tried to persuade him into carrying a pitchfork since he was dressed up as the scarecrow but it was in vain. Macnair despised to carry any muggle items and he did not want to give Monroe a reason to taunt him. Selwyn was the only one who looked the most elegant in his costume. A pure black attire, with hat and mask that only covered the upper half of his face and showed his eyes, dress pants, boots, a medieval shirt, and cloak. Along with his attire, he was carrying a rapier that was attached to his belt. Flynn almost envied Selwyn for his attire but when he saw Miss Eugenie Taylor entering the party, he was very grateful that he had listened to his sister because his costume made him unrecognizable. He wanted to avoid miss Taylor at any cost because she had been bothering him with love letters lately and he was feeling so confused about her confessing her love for him. Since he was kind-hearted, he did not ignore her but responding to her letters by only thanking her and trying to explain to her that he only regarded her as a friend. He did neither want to hurt her feelings nor encouraging her to love him. But little did he know that despite his attempts, she would not give up on him and because she wanted to impress on him, she had dressed up as a pirate maiden, wearing an eye-patch, hoping that he would attend the party.

Mulciber who had arrived at the party together with Crystal and miss Fairbrook did not recognize all his friends and colleagues. He had dressed up in a red suit with an orange shirt and a green bow tie and painted his face in white, messy black shadows around his eyes and smudgy dark red across his mouth that it looked like as if he had been savoring raw red meat. He had also colored his hair in green and combed it back. The only ones he recognized was the Dolohovs, Selwyn, and Rowle.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"You look so beautiful and charming, my queen..."

Celeste inhaled deeply. When I let this breath out, I will step back. This can't go on all night. She exhaled slowly, then broke their embrace. She turned to Malice with a fond smile, and said "Malice, this is August Dolohov."

"A pleasure to meet you." Malice curtsied elegantly.

"August, this-" Celeste turned back to August, gesturing fondly to Malice "-is Malice DiVilliers. She is the third painter from the art exhibit we visited in Rouen. A charming young lady. She was also adopted by my master."

Athena noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a Sailor Moon cosplayer. Hmm...that's very creative to use a spell to make the Moon Stick look more accurate. She thought as Clarissa made the wand shoot out red sparkles. Is she an Otaku, too, or did she just find the costume at a store and think 'huh, this looks cool!'. She noticed that Stephan was staring at her in pleasant surprise, and nudged him with her elbow a bit harder than intended. "You're staring."

"Ouch." Stephan looked at her suddenly with a scowl, then registered what she'd said. "Thank you, I didn't notice."

Luna smiled when she saw the look Lily gave her brother. How adorable. She envisaged herself dancing her first dance with Alastair as Elias and Lily waltzed by. She had taken a seat facing the entrance, deciding to silently judge the costumes of the other guests as they arrived until it was time for her to share the first dance with Elias.

Patience. Alastair told himself as he caught sight of an approaching Snow White.

"It's so nice to see you again!" Lily shook hands with Alastair.

"And you as well." Alastair replied with a polite smile.

"Who are you portraying? You look like a bride and groom!"

Alastair noticed Aislynn's expression through his peripheral vision, feeling a pang of guilt although his grin only grew larger. "Aren't you familiar with the lovely novel by Gaston Leroux? If not, I truly must find time to lend it to you...The Phantom of the Opera?" He asked hopefully. I thought it was a classic. Although...he remembered her obnoxious taste in music, and their day at the Old Times Theater together. "It's one of Luna's favorites." He added, hoping that this would be enough of a motivation for her to actually read the novel.

 

[Hikari Chan]

The moment Celeste broke the embrace with August, he suddenly noticed Adela staring at them. She immediately looked away, pretending that she had not seen him at all and that he would ignore her.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, miss DiVilliers," August greeted Malice after Celeste had introduced them to each other. So this young little girl is a painter...she is very talented for age indeed...

"Gaston Leroux...The Phantom of the Opera..." Lily seemed to taste the name of the author and the title of the story as she pronounced them slowly.

Aislinn was feeling relieved that Alastair had answered at once.

"It's one of Luna's favorites."

"Oh! Then I must absolutely read it! Thank you for the lovely recommendation," She said very excitedly and then excused herself by curtsying before leaving.

....what a boring attire...Elias seems to be more creative than his sister...Aislinn thought for herself. ...I forget to ask her who she was portraying...perhaps a maiden...? There are more interesting attires among the other guests...Malice's costume is my favorite...and the lady with the spiders looks so horrifying beautifully and charming...hmm...is that miss Pyrites over there? I can recognize Selwyn and Rowle...I wonder who the rest might be...with their masks and muggle items...Merlin's beard, they look so silly....in comparison to that Scarecrow who is another favorite of mine hehe...what a horrifying charming outfit...

Worried that miss Taylor would spot him if he remained with his sister, Flynn sneaked away and hid among other guests.

It took a while for Eugenie to find Persephone and by that time, Flynn had already disappeared to somewhere else in the room.

"Professor Pyrites! What a charming costume. Nice to see you!" Eugenie greeted Persephone as she neared her.

"Nice to see you as well. If I am not mistaken, you must be Miss Taylor, a past student of Hogwarts?! How have you been doing lately?"

"I am very well, thank you. And how have you and your brother been doing? By the way, is he also attending this party tonight?"

"Well...I do not know...I can not recognize my own brother tonight, maybe you would be able to guess who he is among the guests and help me find him as well? He owns me a dance namely..." Persephone said with a sly smile.

"Of course, I will definitely find him!" Eugenie promised and turned around, only to see the annoying faces of miss Shadowwalker and her friends.

Melody was fidgeting with her fingers nervously as she stood several feet outside the entrance. She had apparated together with Mary Jane to the location and both Faeryn and Endewyne who could not contain their curiosity about the party, had also appeared at the same place at the same time. Faeryn had dressed up in a sparkling ball gown in pink and purple with fairy wings at her back. The wings were Endewyne's idea who thought it would make Faeryn look enchanting for the party. Endewyne, on the other hand, wore a dark gown with black wings instead.

"Well...you look very odd..." Faeryn stifled a laugh, eyeing Mary Jane from head to toe.

Mary Jane was dressed in entirely black attire that consisted of black slim trousers, a wrapped jacket with a belt, and boots that looked more like socks than shoes. She also wore a headband and a mask that covered her mouth. She had styled her hair in a simple ponytail and carried all the possible Japanese weapons she could carry: dual katanas along with a wooden at her back, shurikens that she hid inside her clothing while the nunchaku was attached to the right side of her belt. She ignored Faeryn and urged on Melody that they should enter the party. But Melody did not take any step further.

"Do...do I look odd?" Melody stammered nervously when Faeryn and Endewyne had left.

"No, absolutely not! Remember this: You are the most beautiful princess at the party!" Mary Jane exclaimed. "Do you feel nervous?"

"Well..."

Everything was spot on. The makeup and hairstyle which Mary Jane had worked very hard on, to make her friend look so charming along with the accessories and attire, had taken several hours to complete.

"Here you go..." Mary Jane conjured a mirror so that Melody could view her image of wearing an ancient attire in green, gold and white, for the hundredth time. The red flowers in her accessories added a charming detail. "Now...let's go...Reign is probably waiting for you if he is at the party..." The mirror disappeared and Mary Jane took her friend by her hand and led the way towards the entrance.

"By the way! How could you forget this!" Mary Jane exclaimed and pulled out the war fan from inside of her ninja jacket and folded it up for Melody and forced it into her hands.

"Uhm..." Melody dropped the fan by accident when she got distracted at the sight of Reign.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

He didn't squirm at the sight of my costume. Malice thought optimistically. After a moment, she took Dante's hand and led him away, seeing as he had started to scowl at August again.

Meanwhile, Nova waved to Celeste.

Celeste took August's hand, and led him to Nova's table. "I wish to greet my comrades with you, and afterwards, it will be your turn to introduce me to anyone you view as worthwhile." She smiled. Whichever of your family members aren't too bothersome "Or, if you spot any of those eccentric students you mentioned and your curiosity is still as potent as before."

"Good evening!" Nova stood, shaking August's hand first with a happy smile. He spoke excitedly of how marvelous the decorations were, pointing out his favorite decorations, speaking at lightning-speed while Celeste greeted Reign.

"...and what a handsome costume you're wearing!-" Nova complimented August.

Celeste tapped Nova on the shoulder, and he turned to her with a wide grin. "My turn!" He embraced her eagerly as if they hadn't seen each other for years. "I have this for you." As they embraced, he put an Everlasting Gobstopper into her hand.

Meanwhile, Reign greeted August with a shallow bow and a lukewarm "Good evening." He had already seen how this would play out. However, Celeste refused to save time by looking into the future, firmly believing that things would turn out better if she didn't rely on Reign's powers and did things 'normally'.

"Hey, you should probably greet the professor." Jade nudged Rosaleya out of her daydream about Soren.

"Good evening, Professor Dolohov." Rosaleya said when Reign finished greeting August. She spoke formally, as if he was teaching a class this very moment.

"Good evening." Celeste extended her hand to Rosaleya.

Rosaleya was surprised to see that she was in fact dating August. Celeste had shared this information with her before today, but it was so difficult to imagine them together that she'd taken to simply disbelieving it. And her costume...is so...she looks so beautiful in it...I can see why she always wears that cloak around guys. Her body is amazing! It makes me wonder...she imagined, for a split-second, that Soren would prefer someone with Celeste's body over her own. No, he loves me the way I am. I shouldn't think like that. But...she envisaged going through his collection of hentai to get a clue about his preferences when he wasn't occupying his room at home, only to find that he did prefer that body type...I won't question it. She decided. I won't invade his privacy like that. I'm not Dad.

"Relax, you're at a party tonight." Celeste assured.

"Hello, dear." Claudia smiled, tapping Rosaleya on the shoulder. She barely had enough time to turn around and register that it was a fake scolopendra before Claudia embraced her without warning. She took a deep breath to calm herself to avoid pushing her away suddenly. Calm down! Logically, she wouldn't hollow out her own eye for Halloween and let a bug run around in it, it's definitely an illusion spell. For a second there I was actually worried.

"This is another friend of mine, Claudia McCunnen." Celeste introduced them.

"Hello." Claudia smiled, waving to August instead of shaking his hand.

"And this is her husband, Easton." Celeste continued. "This is August Dolohov."

"An honor to meet you." Easton smiled eerily, extending his hand to Rosaleya first, then August.

Claudia and Easton shared a look, exchanging all of their thoughts on August thus far in a single glance. To an outsider, they were merely exchanging a loving glance toward one another.

"Maybe you've seen their son in class, his name is Soren McCunnen?" Celeste asked August. I have to be careful tonight not to mention that Athena is also..."He's got white hair now, I've heard."

She was staring at me so intently only a minute ago, with such a strong aura. I was surprised that it switched from surprise to lust so quickly. "Did you forget about me?" Soren embraced Rosaleya from behind, speaking softly into her ear.

Jade whistled.

She could hear him smiling. In one second, Rosaleya felt goosebumps on her skin, and her spine suddenly became stiff. She was suddenly standing much straighter than usual. She took a deep breath to avoid her emotions showing on her face. For that second, the only ones that existed within this room were Soren and herself, and Jade whispered the escape plan to her quickly. "Sorry, I have to use the bathroom." Rosaleya repeated calmly, gently but quickly pushing Soren away with her elbows and leaving the group to approach Crystal. "I have to use the bathroom." She stated, just loud enough for Crystal to hear her.

Meanwhile, Soren was greeting everyone at Nova's table as if nothing strange had happened.

"Okay, there's a mini pumpkin behind this one with bathroom stalls in it. I asked another guest already just in case." Crystal winked, standing immediately.

Jade's nose was bleeding heavily.

"Your turn." Celeste turned to August, taking his hand. "Until Eric and Damien arrive, of course." She smiled, meaning that it was his turn to introduce her to whomever he wished now.

"Your time has come!" Damien addressed Alastair and Aislynn in an eerily serious voice, abruptly appearing right in front of them in an attempt to startle them.

"Of course." Alastair waved his attempt to be creepy off quite easily, not even surprised. "Good evening to you as well." He smiled.

"Good evening." Eric greeted Alastair and Aislynn elegantly in a perfect imitation of Alastair.

"Greetings." A lovely demon lady tipped her hat to Alastair and Aislynn before passing.

"...so I do think finger puppets are inferior to hand puppets." Nova finished. "I won't believe otherwise."

"Excuse me." Reign said politely, standing from his seat since Melody would be at the top of the stairs soon. He wanted to see her as quickly as possible, so greeting her the moment she passed the king would be ideal.

"Which-" Nova wanted Reign's opinion first.

"-Marionettes-" Reign replied "-with invisible strings." He made for the entrance. His heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of Melody. The first thing he noticed was her beautiful eyes. Then, her makeup, then her costume. He noticed her war fan when he got a bit closer, and levitated it into his hand, handing it back to her without breaking eye contact. "Good evening." He greeted warmly, smiling subtly. For a moment, he simply stood there, gazing into her eyes without the desire to remember his next step. Even if I foresaw what she would choose...seeing it before me is even more pleasant than I anticipated. Then, he looked away from her to greet Mary Jane. "Good evening." He said, not nearly as warm, but still politely.

"It's been so long." Damien smiled, stopping Celeste and August before they had a chance to greet anyone else.

Celeste let go of August's hand again to embrace Damien. "Twenty four hours is too much." She laughed through her nose.

"Good evening." Damien greeted August afterwards with a polite handshake, yet he was giving off that unintentionally intimidating aura again. When their eyes met, his clearly communicated 'if you do anything to cause Celeste unhappiness, I will take great joy in torturing you'. He was dressed as Undertaker from Black Butler: Book of Atlantic, not sparing a single detail. Then, he moved past them to greet everyone at Nova's table. "Good evening to you all." He smiled.

Meanwhile, Eric was greeting Malice and Dante near the entrance. He was dressed as Len Kagamine.

Celeste caught sight of him, once again letting go of August's hand and halting their progress. She was so happy to see everyone that she didn't consider he might be becoming irritated with the repeated interruptions. "This is Eric. He's my master's assistant, but he also helps my brother and I if we need it." She explained. "As well as some of my comrades."

"I'm honored to meet you." Eric extended his hand seriously, using his most polite tone. Alastair would've greeted this way.

A boy entered the bathroom before him, so the Masked Man waited a minute before entering. Then, he walked in, careful to make his footsteps audible to the boys inside the stalls. He glanced at the stall doors, and noticed two different auras seeping out of the cracks of two stalls. He checked his makeup in the mirror, adjusted his tie, and tucked the left half of his hair behind his head. He had an alarm on his phone go off, the same tone as his usual ringtone, and answered it like a real phone call, in a clear voice. "Hello, darling!" He waited a moment, then answered. "Of course! Of course I haven't lost it!" Another pause. "I'm not always losing things!, I just-" He stopped abruptly, as if he'd been interrupted. "Well I-" he stopped again. "-Yes I trust you! Although, I was a little sceptical when you told me to inject it into a vein." He laughed, setting a syringe three-quarters full of orange potion on the edge of a sink. "But to be fair..." he laughed again "I can't believe I actually won against the Whomping Willow! You're incredible!...Mmmmhmm..." He paused. "I know! It's a shame they won't even give you a chance...I'll help you as much as I can! Everyone should be able to experience this." He kissed the air noisily. "I'll see you at six, and we'll talk about it." He paused again. "Money is an evil thing, but I'll tell you what: I will never let it get in your way." He kissed the air again, then pressed a button to make it sound as if he had hung up. He sighed in mock euphoria. "Such a sweet girl." He smiled eerily, enjoying the look of his reflection. Their auras are intensely interested. What fools. It doesn't count if I don't do it directly, so this is free dinner for me. He resisted laughing as made for the door, 'forgetting' the syringe on the counter. There will be no proof.

"That's mean." His extension tugged on his arm, preventing his exit. "Take it with you, please." She had a very sad look in her eyes. "I don't want you to do this."

He shot her a nasty glance, pulled his arm away harshly, and coldly turned away, turning into a cockroach while ignoring her pleas for him to change his mind.

The boys waited until they were certain the Masked Man was gone, then left their stalls, and froze when they noticed the syringe. With one hesitant look at each other, they made to grab it at the same time, then began wrestling for it.

The stronger boy, a fourth year, won with a lucky punch to his opponent's forehead, knocking him out. He held the syringe in his hands, regarding it with a look of triumph, before he noticed that a note written on the side...

One dose = 1/4 of this
Two doses = overdose

"Yes! We can share it." He said to the other boy. He injected one quarter of the contents into his own arm, then a quarter into his friend's. He shook his friend, as if he was merely asleep, and gave up after a few tries. Still clutching the syringe in his hand, he left with the intention to wrestle the Whomping Willow. He felt intensely excited, and was unaware of the large cockroach following him. He stepped outside, ignoring the rain, and spit up a bit of blood. Huh? Why...? He continued running regardless, and suddenly felt extremely tired. He tripped on his own feet, and collapsed, dead.

The Masked Man crawled by, and devoured the boy's soul. Fool. Why would you inject poison into your arm? Was your life so terrible that you had to brew poison and take it, giving it to your friend as well? Well, it certainly looks that way. He resisted laughing again.

His extension scooped him up in her hands, levitated the syringe from the victim's hand to her pocket, and disappeared without a trace, appearing with the Masked Man near the Halloween party's venue. "It was very smart. But it was an evil thing to do. They weren't scheduled to turn into wicked beings for another forty years." Silent tears fell to the grass.

"Stop lecturing me. It's so annoying." The Masked Man jumped out of her cupped hands and transformed by the time he touched the ground. He snatched the syringe from her and backhanded her harshly. Then he turned in the direction of the venue, tucking the syringe into an inside pocket in his suit. "They'll still turn into wicked beings, and cause a great deal of damage, regardless of the good deeds they do beforehand that don't matter, because the end result is all that matters. Really, I only vividly remember the endings of good books."

His extension wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, then followed him.

"Good evening." The Masked Man greeted with an eerie smile. He had transformed his face to resemble Heath Ledgers's when he took the role of Joker. My dearest lady said, as I recall, that Heath Ledger's version of the Joker was her favorite. She will love it when she sees I've become a breathing version of the Joker from that film.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Is that Monroe?" Faeryn whispered to Endewyne.

"I think so, her face is familiar...ah, she must have concealed her tattoos, yes it must be her...because who else would stand beside the Dark Mistress' brother?"

"So, Monroe has dressed up as a bride for a Halloween Event? pft!"

"Well, the gown is white, but she is still missing the veil and the bouquet..."

"The gown itself speaks of a wedding, that she does not need to add the other details...probably she is just showing off that she is going to get married to him and become the sister-in-law of the Dark Mistress. I do not doubt that Monroe is typically making a fuss about it. I wonder what made her conceal her tattoos..."

"Perhaps she got rid of them. Merlin knows if the Dark Mistress' brother approves of his lady being tattoed or not."

"I bet he is the kind that would disapprove of tattoos...oh Merlin's beard! Did you see that little girl in that horrid costume?"

"Oh my...I wonder whose child she is...How could her parents approve of her dressing up like that and attend a Halloween party for adults?"

"...Well, some parents do not make sense at all. By the way, let's go and say hello to Adela. I bet she will be surprised seeing us here all of sudden teheh..."

"...Good evening..." Melody replied with a timid voice. "Thank you..." She took the war fan when he handed it over to her and she was unsure about what to do with the fan. She did not know if she should hold it folded or unfolded. She kept folding and unfolding it without realizing what she was doing.

Mary Jane nodded curtly when Reign greeted her and she could not help but feel like a third wheeler when she saw how Reign and Melody were looking into each other's eyes. She poked her friend gently and Melody finally came to her senses and stopped folding and unfolding her fan and kept it folded.

"That's an interesting costume you have chosen," Eugenie sneered at Lily as she walked past her and her friends.

"As interesting as yours," Lily smirked and looked at Eugenie with the face that said 'let's see who of us gets the first dance tonight!'

Eugenie rolled her eyes and answered Lily with a look that said that Lily could dream about getting asked out for a dance.

Because of the tense atmosphere between the two girls, Eugenie did not notice that a certain guest with a Jack Skellington costume moved further away from her.

August followed Celeste around with great patience and politely greeted everyone she introduced him to. He did not like that his woman embraced other men, but let it slide for tonight. The two he liked the most and found them to be very polite were Malice and Eric. Nova seemed flamboyant in his opinion but he did not say anything and kept his thought for himself. The one he disliked the most was Damien because of the look he gave him. ....Merlin's beard...He is already giving me that kind of look as if he is her father...well, I shall not care about him. The most important is that I get on the good side with her brother and her master. Well, so everyone she has introduced to me so far must be the same thing as her, unhuman? I wanted to introduce her to miss Lovett and Mr. Dantes, but I cannot recognize them if they have dressed up in costumes that make them unrecognizable...well, now I know that miss Fairbrook and Mr. McCunnen are the same kinds as Celeste. Not humans. Anyway, I will first introduce her to Alexis and Adela and see if I can find the two other peculiar students...miss Lovett and Mr. Dantes...

"Now I would like to introduce you to some family members and friends," August announced to Celeste when he noticed that Mulciber, Jugson, and Travers had joined the same table as Adela and Alexis, hoping that no one else would interrupt them as Damien had done.

Adela was the only one who had a stern look on her face. Faeryn and Endewyne were talking and laughing and they had even offered Mulciber to take the seat beside Adela. She had her head turned away from him in an attempt to ignore him. Alexis tried to smile, yet he looked nervous because he did not want his sister to believe that he had planned her to be with Mulciber at the party. His smile faltered when he noticed the cold look she gave him.

August's voice was distant as he introduced them to his date, Celeste. Adela extended her hand to shake hands with Celeste, to be polite, yet her face had a plain look not only because of Mulciber's presence but also because she perceived Celeste to be someone like August.

When August introduced them he started from Adela, introducing her as his youngest sister and then he introduced Faeryn and Endewyne, introducing them as his colleagues and close friends of his sister. Then he introduced Alexis as his younger brother. Alexis recognized Celeste from her eyes from the summer party and his hand trembled slightly when he shook hands with her. He could not look into her eyes straightly but kept his eyes on some guests that stood further behind her. Lastly, when August was about to introduce Mulciber to Celeste, he only reached so far to tell her that Mulciber was his friend and professor in Potions at Hogwarts. He had planned to force Adela into marriage with Mulciber, by introducing him as her betrothed, because he had noticed that Vincent was not present at the party and decided to seize the opportunity by changing Adela's future for good. But August never got the chance, because he had barely finished his sentence when he just mentioned that Mulciber was a professor when someone he least expected interrupted him.

A tall dark figure had entered the party, sending cold shivers down the spine of some guests as he quickly made his way past them to reach Adela. The noticeable pointy ears, the creepy smile and dangerously elegant and charming. Adela who earlier had looked like a crestfallen soul suddenly shone up like the brightest star while Faeryn's smile faltered and her face turned paler than a ghost.

....Should I....should embrace him...Adela thought nervously as she wondered how she should greet Vincent in public. Before she had time to react, Alexis switched place with her, by squeezing himself between her and Mulciber so that he freed her way if she desired to leave the table.

"You...you...you came..." She blurted out.

"Is that how you greet your betrothed?" Vincent complained, yet he was smiling warmly.

"Eh...good evening...well I did not expect you-"

"Tsk..."

"Don't tsk me, you never gave me a straight answer when I invited you. You were so hesitant when I asked you if you could join me that I thought you had other plans." She laughed.

"I did have other plans...however I changed my mind. Pft...your fangs look so fake-" He neared her and lifted her chin so that she was only facing him.

....he is not going to kiss me...is he...? She thought and blushed. ...I am not ready for this...

"-Do you want to be a vampire so bad?" He smirked.

"...eh...I-"

"It suits you, really, unlike your brother looking so silly-"

Alexis nearly flinched at Vincent's remark.

"-You look quite charming..." Vincent looked deep into Adela's eyes as if they were the only ones that existed at the party. "...But I rather prefer you as a human..." He whispered.

...Merlin's beard, acting so lovely-Dovey in public...could these two lovebirds get a room...Endewyne thought for herself. Faeryn, who was slightly trembling and cold-sweating, looked so disgusted by the sight.

"Care to introduce your friends?" Vincent let go of Adela's chin much to her relief.

"Well...you have already met my brother, Alexis..."

Alexis reached out his hand to greet Vincent with a firm and jovial handshake. "It's nice to meet you again."

"...And this is my oldest brother, August..." Adela forced a smile and avoided to look August directly into his eyes. "August...this is Vincent..."

August forced himself to shake hands with Vincent because he did not want to look impolite in front of Celeste. He scowled at Vincent and he did not realize that he was being resistant towards Vincent, just as Celeste's brother was resistant towards him. Vincent only smiled his usual creepy smile as if he could care less about August.

"...And this is Celeste, August's date...Celeste, this is Vincent, my betrothed..."

"Nice to meet you miss Celeste..."

"....And...eh..." Adela was about to introduce Faeryn and Endewyne but noticed that they both were gone. Faeryn had been feeling so sick that she had hurried to the bathroom and Endewyne had followed her because she feared that her friend would faint anytime soon and that no one would be there to help her.

"I noticed the two girls who left...your so-called friends who almost got you killed with magic once...I do not care about them," Vincent spoke coldly.

"Oh, that time...do not worry, it was just an accident and I have forgiven them," Adela explained for Vincent.

"...I hope they will not repeat it or I will make them both pay with their lives. By the way who is that man who looks like a child who has been playing with his mother's make-up box?"

Mulciber's face turned red of anger because of Vincent's remark. Both Alexis and Adela burst out in laughter. Alexis laughed so hard but when he noticed the severe and cold look August was giving him, he choked on his laughter.

"...That's my colleague, Mr. Ivan Mulciber-" Adela was still laughing.

"Colleague? I do not like colleagues because they are so troublesome," Vincent crossed his arms and did not care about shaking hands with Mulciber when the word colleague reminded him about Sherwood. The latter one did not even bother himself by trying to shake hands with a vampire. "You should stay away from colleagues, promise me you will do that..."

"Of course..." Adela did not mind to keep her distance from Mulciber. She would gladly do that, but she found Vincent's thoughts about colleagues so peculiar. "...by the way, Mr. Mulciber is also a friend of my brother August-

"I do not care whoever your brothers are friends with, Mr. Mully or whatever his name is. You are my woman, and therefore you shouldn't think about other men!"

"Of course...of course..." Adela blushed even deeper this time.

Aislinn immediately noticed Vincent when he entered the party. She was so surprised to see him entering alone because she had been expecting him to come to the party with Adela or with his mother like last time. Because she was so surprised to see him, she did not notice two other guests entering, one wearing a death eater mask and clothes, while the other one was dressed in pure black, victorian ascot with a cloak, Venetian raven mask, and a hat.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

Reign offered Melody his hand, then began leading her to the table she wished to occupy. He had no preference as to whether they sat at Nova's table or not, so he simply used his special power to find out which one Melody would prefer. Reign pulled out Melody's chair for her, gesturing to it. He took his seat a moment later, then took off his mask, gently setting it on the table. He summoned Melody's choicest drink in his usual way, then set it in front of her, before summoning water in a tinted glass for himself. He held it up to Melody, meeting her eyes with eyes full of respect, then drank. He replaced his glass on the table, then said gently "How is your garden?" I've missed you. He imagined her garden growing beautifully with all the seeds he'd bought her mixing with hers.

One hundred people every month and she's bothered me every time with her complaints and pleading. What a pain. The Masked Man thought as he looked around the room for Rosaleya. All the same, I feel even more annoyed when I've put her away. His extension breathed a sigh of relief when she was certain he wasn't going to put her away. Oh, where is my beloved? I can sense her nearby. He looked closely around Athena, then around Soren, and suddenly noticed that Crystal was missing as well. I saw her leave the castle... He glanced at the mezzanine floor, and couldn't sense any auras emanating from it. ...so she must be in the bathrooms right now. Perhaps I can greet her on the way back? I doubt she would recognize me since...He smiled at his use of transformation rather than a mask, which would most likely have given him away immediately. Perhaps I can even share a dance or two with her, and just speak with her normally without that brat's influence...He wanted to glare at Athena, but refrained with a great effort. ...or that 8@$+@rd. He suddenly realized who Soren was cosplaying as. Does she like the Joker or Griffith more? A chaotic villain or a charming villain? From my experience, she always favors...He smirked. I'll speak with her before she has a chance to return to him. That will be my chance.

"Excuse me..." Stephan said, a bit too quiet. "...could you share a dance with me?" His target didn't even notice him standing right in front of her. Too quiet...I have to ask her bravely... He stood a bit straighter, then said, in a perfectly audible voice "Will you dance with me, Miss Shadowwalker?" It came out, contrary to his perception, as a charming invitation. His posture had fixed itself without him noticing, and his eyes had softened a bit.

Athena noticed, right when Lily opened her mouth to reply, that she had been the one on Stephan's mind for tonight. He picked that stuck-up _? I don't think she'd dance with him even if he begged her to. Poor guy. Wrong choice. I would've picked a demon girl to dance with instead, if I was in his place.

"Now I would like to introduce you to some family members and friends," August said.

Celeste nodded with a smile. I feel as though his friends will see me the same way mine see August.

"Nice to meet you." Celeste replied calmly to Adela, unable to put any warmth behind her greeting. She met everyone's eyes, either until they looked away, or until she was being introduced to the next person. It's the best I can do, keeping every ounce of disrespect hidden. A calm greeting is the most they can expect. It looks like my expectations weren't too far off. She thought when she finished shaking Alexis's hand. I remember you. Who runs from a woman who requests a dance? She extended her hand to shake with Mulciber's, but lowered it when an interruption arrived. While Adela was interacting with the vampire, Celeste only listened to their dialogue while staring at August, curious as to his current reaction and aura surrounding the matter. Is his aura acting strangely because he dislikes the idea of humanoids marrying into his family, or this particular humanoid? What if, after tonight, he never wants to see me again? Well, then I will go through the usual process. This is nothing new.

"-You look quite charming..." Vincent looked deep into Adela's eyes as if they were the only ones that existed at the party.

Those two are getting along quite well. It's kind of...cute. Celeste thought. She could just barely hear Vincent whisper the words 'prefer' and 'human', using her imagination to form the sentence "Don't think I don't prefer you over other women because you're human." She noticed how Alexis was calmer when greeting the vampire than when greeting her. She noticed how Adela had to force a smile when meeting August's eyes. Something strange must've happened between them. She has a terrible poker face; her smile is obviously forced. And her aura... She noticed how August scowled openly at Vincent, reminding her of the way Dante scowled at August. She also noticed that the vampire didn't take August seriously. Is that how August would scowl at me? She recalled a few of the reactions she'd received from previous potential 'princes'. No, worse than a scowl, besides- she recalled a few of the worst reactions -I've already experienced the worst. There is no way this can be worse, since the reactions of those who don't mind or don't fear my darker hobbies tend to be less terrible than those who do.

"...And this is Celeste, August's date...Celeste, this is Vincent, my betrothed..."

"Nice to meet you miss Celeste..."

"A pleasure." For the first time since coming to greet August's friends, Celeste greeted warmly, extending her hand with a genuine smile. From one humanoid to another, I'm sure warmth will make more sense. Or do they not know, yet? She suddenly realized that the fact that August's friends and family didn't know she wasn't human was a realistic possibility.

"I noticed the two girls who left...your so-called friends who almost got you killed with magic once...I do not care about them," Vincent spoke coldly.

Celeste, seeing no need to hide her amusement, laughed quietly at this comment. I don't know what happened, but if that is the reality, then I wouldn't, either. If they did it on purpose...She imagined torturing anyone who would harm August intentionally. ...Hmm...for some reason, even though being near August brings me joy, and although I get excited at the thought of seeing him when we're apart...or finding out that he's sent me another letter...The idea of torturing those who harm him isn't bringing me the same joy...But...she pictured doing the same to anyone who harmed Asmodeus, Dante, Nova, or Malice. ...even Rosaleya's theoretical 'wrongdoer' brings about more anger than August's. It's because tonight is the night of the reveal and I'm doubting his love for me. She sighed quietly.

"...I hope they will not repeat it or I will make them both pay with their lives."

So, he shares the same thirst for vengeance as I do when it comes to those he loves. Sometimes, she recalled the reactions of August's friends and family when greeting her moments before humanoids are far easier to understand.

"By the way who is that man who looks like a child who has been playing with his mother's make-up box?"

Celeste knew the character of Joker, and she could think of a thousand more humorous insults toward his character, half of which she would've laughed at without restraint if he had spoken them. She graded his joke with a gesture; this comment earned him an indifferent, subtle shrug. When she realized that August was giving his brother such a cold look, she was surprised. My group of friends tease each other a lot. Why would August condemn his brother for such a natural reaction? It's not like he was insulting him, it was a joke, wasn't it? She was confused as to why August hadn't realized this. Will he have the same reaction if one of my friends makes a joke about him one day? That would be quite off-putting.

"Colleague? I do not like colleagues because they are so troublesome," Vincent crossed his arms and did not care about shaking hands with Mulciber.

This vampire reminds me of Dante...a lot.

"You should stay away from colleagues, promise me you will do that..."

At this, Celeste laughed quietly to herself.

"I do not care whoever your brothers are friends with, Mr. Mully or whatever his name is."

Celeste laughed a bit louder, loosely covering her mouth with her hand as if this would help her remain quiet.

"You are my woman, and therefore you shouldn't think about other men!"

"Of course...of course..." Adela blushed even deeper this time.

They remind me of Easton and Claudia when Adela agrees with his possessiveness like that. I still remember Easton's comment about shaking other guests' hands at parties. She remembered how Claudia had waved to August instead of shaking his hand. Claudia still remembers, too.

"Sir-" Celeste said to Vincent "-if you're ever short on blood-" she spoke openly and without hesitation, with a kind smile that cemented her honesty "-I apprehend villainous humans quite often, and I usually have a lot of blood left over after questioning or torture." She shrugged as if there wasn't much difference between the two. "Seeing as I have no vampire friends, I would be happy to see a break from all the waste. If you're interested...is there a way that I might be able to contact you when more is available?" Right now, I've found a way that their bodies aren't wasted, but their blood still isn't being used. If I could contact him afterwards, it would be perfect. I wonder if August is glaring at me right now? Well, it isn't as though I have anything to hide from him. And if he dislikes me speaking so openly to other people about distributing humans' blood and flesh, then he has to get used to it. I got tired of wasting it so I started saving some, but without someone to distribute it to it's just sitting there all useless and sad.

"Are you okay?" Crystal asked kindly.

"Yeah." Rosaleya exhaled deeply, smiled, then attempted to walk past Crystal.

Crystal put her hands on both sides of the bathroom door frame, blocking Rosaleya's exit. "Nope." She leaned in so that she was towering over Rosaleya without breaking eye contact "Talk."

"Okay...well," Rosaleya took a deep breath, pretending to be preparing her words while listening to Jade. "...I'm just nervous about talking to Vincent again." She repeated. "I showed Athena and Soren my memory...'that time' and all that, and Athena thinks that it was a misunderstanding," she went on for thirty seconds "...so she says I should talk to him to clear it up." That, too, but Griffi-Soren is actually making me more nervous right now. But telling her that would trigger a 'don't let the guy have what he wants' talk. I know she means well but I've heard that one enough to repeat it word for word, even without Jade.

"Why would you do that? From what I saw, he rushed in without confirming anything, so it's his fault. Why would you be a Muggle in a Wizarding store on a Wizarding street? If I was a vampire, I would definitely check, no matter how hungry-er...thirsty I was."

Rosaleya's eyebrows twitched upwards for a split second. I didn't think of that. Jade gave a suggestion for her next lines, and she repeated "He's a little slow. He probably didn't recognize that it was a Wizarding street."

"So they have magic shops on normal streets, too?" I'm not letting this go. Why should she have to apologize to a man who's in the wrong? If someone had stopped me from apologizing to Robert when he was in the wrong, they would've saved me from a lot of his manipulation. "Maybe Athena doesn't have your best interests in mind for this one. Sorry. I'm standing firm on this one: don't go near Vincent tonight."

"Her heartbroken side is speaking." Jade rolled his eyes with a grunt. He was leaning against a wall with a very cool posture. "You would easily argue your way out of this, but that would waste more time than just saying..." He gave her another suggestion. "...Say it. It'll work." He assured with a lazy wave of his hand.

"I won't talk to Vincent...I promise not to talk to him..." Rosaleya pretended to be thinking for a moment "...unless he talks to me first." Rosaleya put her hand to her heart. "Then, it would be stupid not to talk to him, right?"

"Yes, then you'd be defending yourself against his stupidity." Crystal nodded after a moment. "But don't you dare apologize to him." She used her hands to push off the doorway, then lowered them back to her sides when she was standing straight. "We can go now." She smiled, keeping eye contact for ten seconds before turning and walking away, her posture finally giving Rosaleya permission to return to the party.

"The weirdest part of her is also the easiest to manipulate." Jade assured. "Now all you have to do is wish, to Nova, that Vincent will initiate a conversation somehow with you, tonight. Here, I wrote it already." He handed her a piece of paper, where he had written a detailed description of her wish for her before she even noticed him writing it. "I wrote it while you were getting ready; I thought something like this might happen, considering how Crystal thinks about these types of situations." He said in response to her surprised expression.

Rosaleya took the piece of paper, re-folded it, and put it in her back pocket.

"Hi." The Masked Man smiled to Rosaleya the moment she passed the entrance with Crystal.

After giving him a distrusting look, Crystal continued on to return to her chair. I'm not here to be her Idiot Shield. If there's trouble, I'll help. Otherwise... She folded her hands in her lap to remind herself that she wouldn't be interfering. I'm not Leigh, and I never want her to think of me that way, or even compare a single similarity between us.

"Hi." Rosaleya replied with a pleasantly surprised countenance. "Do I know you? I'm sorry if it's obvious, but I actually don't recognize you with your costume on." He looks just like my favorite Joker!!!

"You do, but I'm a background character at school." He smiled.

"Rosaleya-" Jade whispered his lines just to be dramatic "-this could be the Masked Man transformed to avoid using his real face. While it isn't a fact, don't throw out that possibility."

Rosaleya nodded once. "So, why are you...?" She gestured to the air in between them. He's imitating the voice perfectly and everything! It's so cool! But of course, I'll be careful. Having a transformed face means that it's the same as if he's wearing a mask.

"The host planned a special event that starts past midnight, after all humans have left and demons are the only guests left." He grinned, making it look as creepy as he could.

Hmm? A flash of a lustful aura coming from her so suddenly...when she's talking to him?! Don't tell me that disguise has fooled her, I saw him getting ready earlier. Soren excused himself, heading in Rosaleya's direction. This is our night. Our second date, if the chaperones are able to be properly ignored like our last. How dare he...he knows exactly what he's doing.

"Really?" Rosaleya asked with an excited smile.

Ah, so sweet! It's like she's getting drunk when she talks to a 'villain'. This was the right choice. But a little pest is making his way here. Discreetly, the Masked Man put his hand behind his back, and cast a spell to make Soren proceed in slow motion. "Yes. I'll tell you now, if you'll dance with me sometime afterwards?"

"Tell me now, then." Rosaleya smiled, nodding. A dance isn't that bad to know about the thing in advance. But, I didn't say yes on purpose, that way I can get away on a technicality later. Of course I wouldn't trust a male stranger to dance with me when I have Soren.

"Don't even speak to him." Jade said. "If Soren doesn't know, you can ask Claudia, or Nova. Malice would probably know, or maybe..."

Rosaleya ignored Jade as he went on, listening to the Masked Man instead. Of course, I wouldn't give up the chance to hear someone who does a spot-on Joker impression talk about cool stuff.

"Picture a big group of villains in the center of a maze-" The Masked Man spoke with a intense, crazy look in his eyes. Even if her extension is advising her otherwise, she will listen to me if I relay the message with this expression. "-filled with death traps. Those humans hear the guy in charge say 'Ten of you must die for the gates to be opened.' After the first ten deaths, the gates do open. Outside, there are scary traps they have to get past. 'If you're can leave the maze alive, you get to live! If you die or get hurt, there are ghouls here that will eat you for dinner, dead, or half-alive.' The demons place bets on how each 8@$+@4d's going to die, and if they win the bet they get to choose what happens to that human. And the one or two that actually make it outta maze alive-"

Rosaleya was hanging on 'The Joker's' every word, her heart beating quickly. I wish he would speak faster! I've never been more curious in my life!

"Casca-" Soren stepped in front of Rosaleya, blocking her view of the Masked Man, and embraced her for a moment. Wow...now her aura's going crazy. He felt her accelerated breathing.

Joker's news...and Griffith's embrace...it's like an alarm inside my head is going BEEP BEEP: OVER-STIMULATION ALERT! I'm so happy and excited at the same time I can't contain it! And...she noticed that her spine went stiff and that she was standing straighter than usual again. She pushed herself away from Soren before he had a chance to finish his sentence, and tried to speak calmly. It was marginally easier this time; she seemed to be getting used to tonight's look gradually. "-I really want to spend a bunch of time with you tonight, but I wanted 'The Joker' to finish telling me about the 'Demons Only Event'." In her excitement, her words came out at lightning speed. "I'll see you in a few minutes, unless you can tell me instead?" She looked past Soren to see the Masked Man smiling with his best manic grin.

Fool, I've won. She desperately wants to know what I'm going to say next so you've lost this argument. The Masked Man thought.

Soren held both Rosaleya's hands in his, and looked into her eyes with a charming expression. "To dance this entire night with you is my dream, Casca. If spoiling the surprise is all it takes, then I won't spare a detail."

He sounded just like Griffith there! Rosaleya thought, happily looking into his eyes.

It looks like she's about to choose him instead! Not even one dance?! Not even a few minutes to talk?! The Masked Man thought worriedly.

"Bye, Mr. Mask." Rosaleya said coldly, meeting his eyes before embracing Soren again.

"How?" He demanded.

"Griffith confirmed what I already suspected." She broke their embrace to take Soren's hand, and they began to walk away together.

"He didn't even speak!"

"He signalled me with his eyes."

The Masked Man groaned, wanting to set the entire place ablaze with everyone locked inside and put a protective spell around Rosaleya. Instead he picked a table close to the orchestra and rested his face in his hands, using his index fingers to massage his forehead.

"Please, tell me the rest!" Rosaleya spoke quietly in her excitement to avoid yelling it. "He already told me about the maze, criminals, death trap, and bets."

"The humans will wear collars that strengthen their immune systems. It wouldn't be much fun if they died too easily. They can also put them to sleep if the host decides they were about to die."

"What happens when a few survive?"

"They're eaten alive," Soren smiled darkly "by the ghouls." Would she be afraid, or repulsed, if she saw her close friends as delightful spectators in tonight's events?

The only thing $3x!34 than a vampire is a ghoul! Forget just drinking their blood, how about eating them alive? Devouring something that would normally be disgusting to a human's palette, while their inner dialogue sounds like they're describing a delicious meal...and all the while the victim is screaming and begging for mercy.

Her sadistic aura is showing again. I hope she's truly pleased with the event once it's actually happening. "Humans aren't allowed to attend."

"Okay." Rosaleya shrugged, not understanding the connection between his last two sentences.

Ah, she hasn't realized it, yet. "Your chaperones must keep you within their eyesight."

Rosaleya stopped walking abruptly.

"Darn it!" Jade cussed a few times.

There we are. "I've arranged for a disguised demon take your place when it comes time for your chaperones to return you to the castle. I'll have the honor of indulging in the night's merriment with my betrothed at my side."

Rosaleya looked hesitant to break the school rules for tonight.

"If I can assure you no one will know-"

"-It's not that, I just don't like breaking the rules of people I don't hate." She looked away, admiring the floor tiles depicting The Little Mermaid singing about her treasures in her cave.

You said 'don't hate'. So, you want to follow everyone's rules but that 8@$+@4d'$? How cute. Well, then...I have to at least try one more time! "An unofficial rule that was only created to stave off your father's insanity would take precedence over me?" When Rosaleya opened her mouth to argue, he continued "Yin-" Soren used his hands to gently cup her cheeks, using his palms to support her chin so that their eyes met. "-I've had dreams of this day from the moment you first let me hold your hand. Please...I want it so badly that I would force you to stay...but if you hated me for it..." he let go suddenly, and turned away "...you should leave me alone now before I do something I might regret." He began to walk away, slowly: even his legs were pleading for her to change her mind so they wouldn't move faster. He wasn't attempting to guilt her into anything, speaking seriously without any thoughts of doing so.

"That would be considered top-tier manipulation right there..." Jade pointed out "...if you hadn't been messing with him this entire time to see what his reaction would be. Would it have worked if we were serious?" He pretended to wonder. "I don't care," he shrugged "go hug that bishie!" He tapped Soren on the shoulder, then pushed Rosaleya harshly, so she fell into his arms right when he turned around.

Soren smiled softly, and helped Rosaleya stand up straight without letting go of her, then embraced her tightly.

"Would you really have forced me to stay here with you?" Rosaleya asked curiously.

Soren laughed, imitating Griffith's voice again, "I would've fought you for it." He tapped her prop sword. "If you lost, you would have to stay."

Rosaleya laughed.

"May I?-" Alastair gestured to the seat across from Luna.

"-Of course-" Luna nodded.

"-Nearly all the guests have arrived-" Alastair said as he sat down "-so the dancing will begin in ten minutes. As a favor to a friend one of my guests, I will be starting with a tango for five minutes before moving on to waltz music, which will last an hour before switching to another genre. To suit the interests of the guests, I've included a multitude of different musical genres in tonight's playlist. But don't worry-" he assured with a smile "-I organized it so the music you dislike plays at the end of the night. You won't be here."

"How sweet of you." Luna smiled. "You're so thoughtful, and you're an excellent planner." She gestured around the room. "That's why Lily's tarot prediction confused me a bit. You fell in and out of love, that's alright, isn't it? It's happened to me."

But I...didn't want to tell you about why I'm going to break up with her...or what I was doing to her feelings when we were together...He pushed it out of his mind, since he wanted to focus on having a splendid time tonight.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"...well...eh..." Melody chuckled, finding it amusing that the first thing Reign asked her about was her garden. Mary Jane was standing in a dark corner, some feet away from their table. She did not want to be a third wheeler, yet she wanted to watch over Melody by keeping a decent distance from her and Reign. "...it rains a lot...and the warm colors of autumn are so beautiful...the falling colorful leaves..." Melody continued with a timid voice after she took a small sip of her butterbeer. "...well..." ...And soon the winter will be here, nothing will be growing in the cold...until spring arrives... She thought and suddenly remembered something she had wanted to ask Reign for a very long time. "...do you...what do you think when it's raining?" What she had wanted to ask was actually, 'do you also think that rain is dreadful like Nova does?' But she found it awkward to bring up Nova in the conversation when he was not by their table, hence she asked it differently.

Lily was so surprised when a young man approached her, asking her for a dance, that she almost got speechless for a whole minute. She found his voice familiar and wondered where she had met him before. Her friends stopped chatting and looked curiously at both Lily and the young man, waiting excitingly on Lily's response. During that moment Lily pondered if she should break her promise to Elias and dance with him later or if she should explain for the young mysterious man that she always shares her first dance with her brother. Knowing that Eugenie was watching her, she wanted to triumph over her victory on getting the first dance before her rival, hence she decided to accept the dance request. She knew that Elias would not mind if he danced with her first or not and that he would be happy if she did not turn down anyone else who asks her for a dance.

"With all my pleasure," Lily smiled.

"Sir-" Celeste said to Vincent "-if you're ever short on blood-" she spoke openly and without hesitation, with a kind smile that cemented her honesty "-I apprehend villainous humans quite often, and I usually have a lot of blood left over after questioning or torture." She shrugged as if there wasn't much difference between the two. "Seeing as I have no vampire friends, I would be happy to see a break from all the waste. If you're interested...is there a way that I might be able to contact you when more is available?"

Both Adela and August were surprised to hear Celeste's words all of sudden. None of them had expected to hear such words from her. August looked so shocked that he did not know what to think about Celeste, while Adela wondered if Celeste was trying to make a fuss for Vincent. Alexis was curious to hear what Vincent would respond with, glancing at him carefully.

"Hmm...you remind me of another lady, a friend of mine and my second cousin..." Vincent smirked. "...thinking that I might be short of blood and always offering blood...Anyway, it's so kind of you and I would not decline your offer. Who would say no to free food anyway? If it is not too bothersome, you may send the blood in wine bottles, because I despise sinking my teeth in a dead human body. I prefer my prey to be alive when I bite them in their neck..." Vincent spoke as if he was having a normal conversation and did not care if nearby guests heard him or not. "You may send the wine bottles to Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos, in Knockturn Alley." He finished, his tone clearly suggesting that Celeste should not ask him where he lived. He had sensed that her aura was different from a human and noticing that Adela did not like her oldest brother or his date, Vincent did not desire to bring discomfort to the woman he loved. Besides any other lady who would visit him at his place, even if it is just to deliver wine bottles filled with blood, would cause misunderstandings between him and his great aunt.

...my beautiful princess...why are you standing over there all alone...why is Mr. Divilliers not keeping you company...I hope he does not disappoint you...

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"...it rains a lot...and the warm colors of autumn are so beautiful...the falling colorful leaves..."

Reign looked away as he listened with a distant look in his eyes, envisaging the scene she described in preparation for his next painting.

"...well...do you...what do you think when it's raining?"

Reign completely understood what she meant to ask. He needed only a split second to recall that pleasantly vivid memory. Then, he extended his hand across the table, palm-up, meeting her eyes with a gentle smile. When she took his hand, he said "Close your eyes." Then, he spoke in an unintentionally poetic tone, and as he did, Melody could see details he described appear around her, as if he was painting her surroundings with his words. "A slate grey sky is calming. Crisp air with an earthy scent drives out my negative thoughts as I breathe. Cool droplets caress my skin. My ears take in every tap against the woodwork and soil." He sighed; he was experiencing everything she was. In the grass of Sakura Temple's best garden area, they sat side by side, holding hands. "The rain brings a myriad of pleasant feelings." The rain made ripples in the pond before them. The air smelled pleasantly of earth and rain. The droplets landing on the woodwork, soil, pond, and their own bodies felt so real. In their shared daydream, he turned to her with a warm smile. "I love the rain."

I hope he finds his wish satisfactory. Nova thought, noticing that Reign was using the power he had wished for the day before. I wonder if he wants that as his main power, more than telling the future?

"With all my pleasure," Lily smiled.

Stephan bowed. "I shall return when the waltz music begins." He tipped his hat to her, then walked away. I can't believe she accepted! I thought she was going to turn me down for certain.

"Good job." Athena smiled as he passed her. "Try more than one, okay?" Basically, don't stick with that _ the whole night.

Stephan nodded after hesitating for a second. Reign told me what my costume would be, but not who I danced with for the most time, or who I arrived with. I don't want to rely on Athena too much. I know that she's doing a lot for me. Tonight, I'll try to give her a break. Shadowwalker is beautiful, and...she's in the same house as me...But- He pictured the Masked Man's sneer He's also in that house...so it's not guaranteed that she will be a kind person.

"...Anyway, it's so kind of you and I would not decline your offer. Who would say no to free food anyway?"

Of course another humanoid would understand that this warmth wasn't intended to be anything but a friendly offer to help. Why is August overreacting?

"If it is not too bothersome, you may send the blood in wine bottles, because I despise sinking my teeth in a dead human body."

Celeste nodded casually, taking mental notes. Her eyes promised that she wouldn't forget such an important detail.

"I prefer my prey to be alive when I bite them in their neck..."

"Understandable." Celeste nodded. It's a personal preference. Some ghouls don't mind as long as the body is still warm.

"You may send the wine bottles to Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos, in Knockturn Alley." He finished, his tone clearly suggesting that Celeste should not ask him where he lived.

Celeste nodded again, repeating the address to herself a few times until it stuck in her mind. "Got it." She said after the third time. Of course I don't want to know his home address; I don't want to give him mine, it's a personal piece of information. Then, she smiled again. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sir." She turned to August, feeling as though they had finished with the introductions and not wishing to overstay her welcome. "Shall we?" She asked, offering her hand to him again with a gentle smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Alastair said, having cast a silent Sonorous charm "I'm pleased to see you've all dressed so marvelously. Hosting such a lovely event has certainly brought me joy, and I cannot contain my excitement now that the festivities are about to begin. As a favor to a close friend of mine, one tango piece will play for five minutes, before the waltz music begins. I thank you for your patience." He said, meaning it as an apology to anyone who disliked tango music. With that, he left the dance floor with Luna's table in mind, and the music began.

Athena and Rosaleya were the first pair on the dance floor, followed by Claudia and Easton. Claudia's remix, as promised, was spectacular: a fast-paced, alluring tango version of Moonlight Densetsu without lyrics. The latter pair moved flawlessly together. The former pair's practice paid off, for although they didn't move as smoothly as their elders, they were able to look splendid and have fun.

"You're doing great." Athena smiled.

"You're amazing." Rosaleya replied, imagining the minor difference in their talent to be larger than it was.

"So are you, when you're having fun."

Halfway through the song, Soren switched with Athena, who left the dance floor happily. A cello solo began right when Rosaleya realized it was even easier to dance with Soren, and he smiled, as if to say 'Why wouldn't we work well together, my love?'

This is that perfect happiness feeling that I felt back at the Umbrella Cafe on our last date...I love it and I never want it to stop. Rosaleya thought.

Five other demonic couples joined the dance floor, a bit less graceful than their predecessors but still lovely to watch. Then, when the song was bordering on four and a half minutes, the music gradually transitioned to a fast-paced yet romantic waltz. The transition was so smooth that Rosaleya was surprised the host managed to pull it off.

A perfect transition; I was unable to decipher the exact moment when the song changed. Marvelously smooth. Soren thought, smiling charmingly at Rosaleya.

"I've returned, Miss." Stephan said to Lily, offering his hand again, just as elegantly as before. He had removed his mask so that it didn't obstruct his vision, and also because he wanted Lily to see his face so that, hopefully, she remembered him beyond tonight. I hope she isn't as insufferable as Athena says she is. That way, I will be able to spend time with her on other days after today...I want to be more independent from Athena.

When they joined the dance floor, his movements were perfect, but a bit too rigid. He had to force himself not to miss even a single step because it was extremely difficult to dance with Lily, for some reason he couldn't understand. He forced himself not to frown or even subtly furrow his brow, and he hoped that it would become easier as the seconds passed. But it didn't, and he kept dancing robotically.

Luna and Alastair joined the dance floor, followed by Malice and Dante, Crystal and Nova, and then various other demonic pairs. A few of the pairs consisted of same-gender couples, as this wasn't frowned upon in the demon realm.

Dancing together isn't a problem. Why should it be? Athena laughed at a particularly adorable pair of male demons almost tripping over each other a few times but still laughing and smiling and moving on regardless. One was dressed as a Roman soldier, and the other was dressed in chain mail, brown boots, and a barbute helmet.

And after this, I will not leave my lady's side for the rest of the night. Alastair thought.

 

[Hikari Chan]

Melody took a deep breath as she opened her eyes and withdrew her hand from Reign. Her cheeks were glowing red and her eyes were sparkling of excitement and happiness.

...Merlin's beard...what a lively answer I got for a simple question...it was like a lovely dream, yet so vivid and clear...that place was so beautiful...he must have visited it sometime in the past and chose to share this memory with me...and it makes me so happy that he loves the rain...one day I would love to visit that beautiful place in his memory...I would also love taking a walk with him in the rain...and then drink hot cocoa indoors while the rain gets heavier outside...

Melody had been so engrossed in the vision Reign had shared with her and because of that, she got so deep in her thoughts that she did not hear the host speaking to all the guests. She did not come back to her senses until tango music started to play all of sudden. She was surprised to hear a different kind of music. ...eh...I do not know how to dance to this kind of music...will there be any suitable music for waltz...?

August nodded, taking Celeste's hand and walking away with great relief. ...I never expected that *** vampire to turn up at this party...neither did I expect Celeste becoming so friendly with him...but that is not a surprise, because she is not human and would probably be friendly to other kinds of living beings that are not humans...He thought for himself.

"...whe....whe...where...what are you doing?" Adela nearly stuttered of surprise, when Vincent dragged her over to the dance floor as soon as the first tunes of tango music started to play.
"I do not know how to-" She began protesting, but Vincent silenced her by putting his finger at her lips.

"Just follow my lead..." He said in a low voice, only audible for her, with a charming smile.

"Woah! Clarry let's dance!" Lily exclaimed excitingly.

"But were you not going to dance with that young man who just asked you?" Clarissa chuckled.

"Of course, but he asked me for a waltz and not tango!" Lily laughed and took a grip of her friend's hand, dragging her with her to the dance floor.

Lily enjoyed dancing to almost all kinds of music and she had been practicing various dances with her friends during her teenage days as she grew up. Elias was astonished to see his sister dancing tango. He knew she liked to dance boogie-woogie besides waltz, but seeing her dancing tango was a big surprise. ...tango? And I who thought I knew my sister more than I knew myself...

"Oh hey!" Persephone waved at Elias and then neared his table. "May I have one dance with you?" She gave him a mischievous look.

"No please! You know I only know waltz..."

"Oh come on!"

"Ask someone else..."

"You are not fun, Elias..." Persephone pouted, however, she meant it as a joke.

"You stepped on my feet ten times," Vincent remarked with an annoying face. "However I forgive you because I know you never did it with purpose."

"I am sorry, really...but I have never danced tango before..." Adela bit her lower lip nervously.

"Never mind..."

"Well..." She glanced carefully at him, waiting for him to ask her for dance now when waltz music started to play. ...he forced me to dance tango, but what about waltz? Is he not going to ask me for dance because of being moody after I stepped on his feet when we danced tango?

"...I am going to ask my cousin for a dance," He said after a couple of minutes of silence. "Since her date is not dancing with her but with miss Lestrange, I will share one dance with her..." There was a spiteful tone in his voice when he pronounced the word date.

"Sure," Adela nodded with a smile. ...it seems that Vincent is not fond of Mr. DiVilliers...

"May I have the first dance with you, or would you rather share it with your brother first?" August asked Celeste politely. He had noticed that Mr. DiVilliers had asked Miss Lestrange for a dance, hence why August was being considerate towards Celeste since her brother was present at the party.

"Oh..." Lily recognized Stefan the moment he returned because he had removed his mask. She smiled and joined him in a waltz. ...the first dance with Clarissa does not count...yet miss Taylor never danced tango and now I can still see her standing in the same corner waiting for someone to ask her for a dance. ...It seems that I won haha...She thought triumphantly, however after a couple of dance steps she felt something was off.

...why are his movements so stiff... It feels like I am dancing with a statue...She thought, feeling disappointed. ...but perhaps he is too nervous to dance with me that he cannot relax his posture and movements...oh well it might be his first time waltzing, perhaps he will be more relaxed during the second round of waltz...or the one who taught him to dance was a bad teacher...unless if he is forcing himself to dance...well it is just once dance, I will just humor him until this dance is over...and thank him for the dance...Elias will probably dance with Luna as soon as he gets the chance...he does not care if we share a dance or not...so I hope someone else would ask me for a dance with this one is over...

...why did he did not ask her for dance? Tango is perfect for couples, but perhaps he only knows waltz? if so why did he not share his first dance with her but with....oh that must be miss Lestrange...does he has a sister complex that he choose to dance with his sister...? Or it must be this new generation where they enjoy dancing with their siblings and couples of same-gender dances together...I feel disappointed that no one asks my princess for dance while Mr. DiVilliers is dancing with miss Lestrange...I bet that not all the guests are couples here since the advertisement for the party did not specify if it was for only couples. Should I...? For a mere second, Edward envisaged himself walking over to Aislinn and silently inviting her to dance by reaching out his hand with his palm facing upwards towards her. She would accept his request and they would swirl around to the waltz music. ....oh no...no...He almost shook his head. ....I would probably scare her....or the worst, she might ignore me and turn her back at me...I can not risk...but I am wearing my death eater mask, so it would be fine if I spoke to her? It is not that I am going to reveal anything...and she would not recognize my voice since I left her when she was too small to remember me...Edward thought, trying to build up his courage, but suddenly he lost all his courage in the blink of the eye.

A young wizard that worked at the Ministry of Magic approached Aislinn and asked her for a dance. Edward could not hear them since he stood too far away to be able to hear any word. But from Aislinn's facial expression and the way she moved her lips he immediately understood that she declined the young wizard.

...well...I should not be surprised, should I? ...She has taken after her mother after all...I do not doubt she would decline me as well, because I would appear as a stranger for her...He thought with a sigh and watched as Vincent walked over to Aislinn and asked her for a dance. Edward was not surprised to see Aislinn accepting Vincent's request since they were second cousins and suddenly it gave him an idea. ...oh of course! That's exactly how I should do! Ask his lady for a dance and then we would switch partners during the dance. Did Vincent deliberately create this opportunity for me? I will thank him later...

But Edward never got the chance to implement his plan. A young man that resembled Vincent's lady a bit in his looks, had been quicker than him to ask her for dance.

...oh well...I should just give up and watch my princess from afar tonight...as long as she is happy I am content...

"Are you not going to take the opportunity and ask Lily's brother for a dance," Pegah nudged Clarissa with her elbow.

"Huh? Oh, no...I...he is already engaged to Lestrange...I dare not-"

"Oh come on! It is not that you are going to steal him away from her."

"But I cannot bring myself to...I rather dance with someone else..."

"Pft...you do not have the courage, watch me while I pull one of the professors to the dance floor, hehe!"

"You would actually not dare do that if your parents were here, would you?

"Why do you think so? I already danced with professor Macnair in front of their noses at the summer party!" Pegah laughed and walked over to Persephone.

"Looks like she is going to dance with a female professor instead. She sure talks too much," Summer chuckled.

"No...look..." Clarissa nodded. Their friend was not dancing with miss Pyrites but with someone dressed up as a scarecrow.

"Of all the handsome men here, she chose someone with a disgusting costume?" Rhaine shook her head.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"May I have the first dance with you, or would you rather share it with your brother first?" August asked Celeste politely.

I'm surprised that he didn't say anything about my bluntness with the vampire, after his reaction back there. Is this one of those conversations that is left, for a certain time, like a pot set on the back-burner until it overflows and drowns the fire beneath it? Celeste nearly heard the sharp sizzling noise. I won't let it boil over. "We're going to go separate tonight, so don't worry about my brother." Celeste explained. "Unless we're greeting you or uttering parting phrases, you can ignore him, for tonight." I will check on that boiling pot later. "So...?" She took his hand with a smile, and nodded towards the dance floor. She wanted him to lead her there at his own pace.

"...and the moment she summons me she tells me she's murdered someone." Nova laughed. "An abusive brother." He shrugged. "She was so sweet and timid about everything, I couldn't resist helping her." He meant that he requested simple favors in return. "Her first wish was for me to help her clean up all the evidence, without magic...she was afraid of it despite having summoned me. I have no idea why." He shrugged again. "She made a second wish for me to remain with her until she'd moved to another city a few states over. Helping her move, as far as her wish went, didn't include helping her make a few meals, but you can imagine I had every meal ready for her the moment she entered the kitchen. A little note hung above the door...'go to the dining room', and she'd have the prettiest smile when she saw the displays I set up. I asked Damien to help with the designs on the-oh, are you familiar with who Damien is?" He couldn't remember if Crystal had been introduced to him, yet. Perhaps I wasn't around for the introduction?

"Yes." Crystal replied. "He looks just like Undertaker from Black Butler...look at this picture!" Rosaleya laughed. "We play games together a lot, and he likes to..."

Nova nodded. "He helped me with the cutest food designs...I don't have his talent for that when it comes to foods, you see, and..."

"Please..." Stephan said when their dance was over. "...would you give me one more chance to dance with you?" He had a pleading look in his eyes. If I cannot even waltz with a human then how am I supposed to waltz with a demon girl? They're so perceptive, not only noticing my physical movements, but also my aura? It would be impossible! Nova said that I'm considered handsome...so I should be able to charm girls and feel at ease around them as easily as playing a game! I'm able to dance with Athena without even thinking...but I can't rely on her! He forced himself to remember the reason for his determination. Just one more dance...I have to try... "I'm finding it difficult to dance with anyone other than my instructor...but if you give me just one more chance...I believe that I will be able to dance properly with you." His face held an almost palpable determination. "Please, miss."

"As promised, my lady." Alastair smiled, extending his hand to Aislynn in an invitation for a dance. His eyes promised that he would dance with her until she wished to stop. It is highly unlikely that she will want to remain here past dawn.

Luna returned to Elias's table the moment she parted with Alastair. I didn't notice if he danced with Lily already..."I'm uncertain as to whether you've danced with Lily yet. If you have, I would love to waltz with you until you grow tired." She smiled. His makeup is so well done. His attention to detail is admirable.

Reign sat in silence, admiring the scenery. He planned to ask Melody for a dance at the third waltz song.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Then I shall keep you company until we part for tonight..." August led Celeste into a waltz.

"It's fine," Elias smiled, noticing that his sister was in company with a familiar-looking young man. "I can dance with her later."

"Well..." Lily spoke slowly. She looked calm, but inside she was feeling frustrated. ...Merlin's beard, can he read minds? ...why did he beg me for a second dance? ...he looks so cute that I cannot resist his request, just like seeing a cute teddy bear that is earning for a hug...but I doubt his second dance would be better than his first...I remember when I taught a girl to dance at the summer party, she was not that stiff but more relaxed...perhaps Mr. Garnett is more easy-going with boys and prefers to be with boys over girls?

Her eyes swept over the rest of the guests and she noticed that her brother was already invited Luna for a dance.

"...alright..." Lily agreed reluctantly. ...I will give him a second chance, but if he is still stiff as a statue, this will be our last dance...I will try to introduce him to Clarissa so they also could dance...perhaps he would not be as stiff with her as with me...well, let's see if he is able to relax this time...

Vincent left Aislinn just a few seconds before Alastair approached them, smoothly walking over to Adela and Alexis.

"I will be sharing a couple of dances with you, then I have to take my leave..." Vincent announced to Adela.

"Oh..." She wondered how many dances he meant with 'a couple of dances', but on the other hand, she would not mind leaving the party at the same time as he did. Earlier, he had come to her rescue just in time and she would be thankful even if he only had shared one dance with her. ...And now both August and Mulciber know that I am betrothed to Vincent, so hopefully, they will not bother me anymore, especially when it was announced in front of my brother's date...but Merlin knows if she is just as wicked and awful like him if he has not chosen a caring and kind-hearted woman like our mother...men usually tend to choose women who resemble their mothers...but eh...miss Celeste looks more like she resembles August in character...pft...I better keep my distance from her...

"What's the matter with you? First, you looked like you were bothered by something and suddenly your expression changed as if you just thought about something funny!"

...Merlin's beard...Either I am not good at keeping a straight face or Vincent must be too sharp than I expected...

"I was just...eh...thinking...about something-"

"You dare not! When we are dancing, I want your full attention!"

"Sure..." She could not help but laugh. She was not laughing at him but laughing because he made her happy. And he did not get angry because she was laughing, because he seemed to notice that on her expression since her facial expression never hid or lied about her intentions or thoughts.

...the look on his eyes is not deceiving me, is it? He will just dance with me and only me until...Aislinn blushed deeply at the thought of dancing with Alastair until dawn. ...but that won't be so exciting at a Halloween party, because it is just an ordinary party and we would probably attend other ordinary parties in the future...I rather save such a special moment for my wedding party...hehe...anyway...it's Sunday tomorrow and I do not plan to go on any missions on a Sunday...even if we only dance to almost midnight, I will remain with him until all the guests leave, even if we won't be dancing until dawn because since I was with him when we greeted the guests it is only proper of me to remain and see the guests off...