First Annual Quistis Ball

[Meier Link]

"To the host" Meier said in a calm but prodomant voice with his glass raised in the air. After seeing everyone else in the party start their drink he took his, a long drink but not long enough to triuph Silvers.

A second after finishing his first drink he heard the sounds of Joe's voice ""o, um, Lunasa, do you want to...." the sentance was stoped short in Meier's mind because he heard a distant sound of a grand-father clock humming as it's steel hammer struck its chord on the lightly casted brass bellows. Meier looked around, Joe was staring at Lunasa with a smile, Flash was also staring with optimism in his eyes while he looked at Lunasa for a responce to Joe's question.

With a sudden frustration Meier asked "Ann do you know the time?"

"Why it's only 7:30." she replied.

Downing his glass he looked at everyone and said "For a moment I moment I must take my leave, I must give into temptation" not caring who heard him as he pulled out his cigerettes and quickly headed to a side door which led to a dimly lit terrace.

The night breeze was starting to pick up, he looked out and saw the front entry as people approached, he slowly pulled a Red 100 out of the pack and lit it as he fumbeled in his other pocket pulling out a cell phone. His fingers dialed the oh so familar number.

A voice picked up on the other end "Hello?"

"Is he still up" Meier replied. "Yes sir, he has been waiting for you to call, let me get him." said the voice.

A small voice of a child came across next "Dada?" Meier almost broke down, it had been only a day since he left but it seemed like an eternity "Yeah buddy it is me, I wanted to let you know I made it here safe and I will be home before you know it, I just called to say good night and to wish you sweet dreams, I love you son." he said teary eyed. The little voice on the line replied "Nite nite dada, I love you" followed by a small crack of what was apparently a cell phone snapping shut on the other end.

He took a drag, the firey glow of the embers glistened in the somber dimness of the night. He exhaled and turned to lean on the railing.

There was someone else there that he had not noticed when coming out, he quickly pitched his cigerette behind him and over the railing. "Who is there?" he demanded...

[Sinister]

OmniTense looked around… Opulence..a burlesque of hospitality, finery too blinding for meek eyes…off-set only by pretentions and airs. He had seldom a chance to feel more at home than he did now with the waltz for the moon playing in the background.

OmniTense stood in a vested black tuxedo with purple inlay a silk top hat with a red lining, white gloves, leather bound cane, dazzling in all manner of splendor, pomp and circumstance with which he so enthusiastically indulges. His short light blonde hair contrasted the black well. His left white-gloved hand held the cane, whilst the other held the hand of the beautiful Xeim.

She wore a light dark purple crushed dress that folded and draped around her. Her light brown hair had the fondest hints of blonde and fell to the tops of her shoulders. But from the light of the ball…and perhaps the angle…it had the distant embers of red.

She was attractively thin and with a slight nervous grace that betokened excitement…a smile that betokened slight dimples.

"Are you ready, my dear?" OmniTense asked, nodding his head to the mass of people.

The two made their way into the ballroom. OmniTense contumely looked from wall-to-wall counting names and faces until he recognized Rocky. Xeim saw Rika. A wordless decision was made that they needed to mingle and their victims had been selected. OmniTense pulled Rocky away as Xeim pulled Rika as well.

[Chez Daja]

'But you're still ma cibar luv 4eva.'

The words echoed in Chez' ear like sweet honey. A shiver ran up her spine and she took a deep breath. Govinda leaned back and said something about UntilTheEnd that didn't entirely register with Chez due to the fact the whole room seemed to have disappeared, the people and music all slowed down and all she could focus on was Heather. Chez blinked and shook her head; (it must be the cider, surely), she thought to herself, lifting the bottle to her lips.
Even so, she concluded that she would have to spend some time with Govinda. "UntilTheEnd, Johnny... Why don't you get us some more drinks?" she asked.
UntilTheEnd raised his eyebrow. "What about that bottle of cider?" he asked. "Well," Chez began, "I figure we ought to keep ourselves from going insane by inducing slightly tipsiness upon ourselves," she said.
"But you don't like drinking yourself into tipsiness," he replied.
"...Well I think we'll need it tonight. The room reeks of seriousness," she said. UntilTheEnd accepted this and went off to get some drinks. Chez looked at Johnny. "Well?"
He stood there, headless.
"Look, I'll celotape your head back on if you'll give us a moment," she said. Govinda whispered into the Johnny-neck-stump, and gently pushed him away. "We'll be back," she explained.
Chez sighed and looked Govinda in the eyes. "We can't carry on like this," she said.
Govinda knew very well what she meant, but said "Like what?"
"Like this! Dragging our dates around when we know --" Chez trailed off as UntilTheEnd returned with some bottles. "WINE?!" Chez scoffed. "Who's hosting this party, a group of daydreamy fourteen year old girls?!" UntilTheEnd hadn't known what else to get -- he didn't like wine, either, but there hadn't been any other choice. He dropped the bottles on the floor, letting them smash. Chez glared at him. "What's wrong with you tonight?"
UntilTheEnd was never like this. Stiltzkin flew in, glared at the foursome and started sweeping the glass and wine away.
"Well," started UntilTheEnd, "maybe because you two are pratically all over each other, and I'm stuck in this shithole with a bunch of sixteen year old kids and nobody adult to talk to!" he said. Chez nodded. "Okay. I agree, I'm sorry. Let's all four of us do something," she said. UntilTheEnd seemed satisfied. Chez picked up Johnny's head and celotaped it back onto his neck. "Well, he looks little like a hunchback now, but it'll do," she said. Govinda grabbed onto Jonny's arm and Chez onto UntilTheEnds, "well then, what shall we do?"

[Unknown Entity]

"You can dance kupo! I couldn't keep up... I thought males were supposed to lead eh?" laughed my newly made friend.

"Hehe, you can fly! I thought females were supposed to be the angels!" Entity giggled, as the cute moggle blushed.

"Aww... Shucks..." he mumbled, toying with his pom-pom.

They must have been dancing for about half an hour, before Entity felt a little thirsty again. The moggle had to get back to his work by the broken door again, so Entity was on her own. She had made her way over to the bar, seeing as the waiters had stopped doing their usual rounds with the trays. Scanning the list of the drinks, Entity became lost. What's this... whats that... Everything just seemed so... different. Shaking her head, she just ordered a double courvosier and coke. Entity turned around, raising her glass to her lips.

"WINE?!" Chez scoffed. "Who's hosting this party, a group of daydreamy fourteen year old girls?!"

Courvosier and coke endded up being spat everywhere as she laughed. A few passers by looked at her as if she was either disgusting or really comical. The group Chez was in gave her a little look of confusion, hiding their smirks well, before continuing with their converstation. Entity wiped her mouth, and took a step forward, and slipped on the mess she had made. Grabbing quickly onto a bar stool, she managed to get her balance right. Phew... Close one... she thought, laughing to herself.

"Don't you think you've had a bit too much to drink?" said a familier voice. Jumping up, Entity went into defence mode.

"Me? Nah, I've only had a drink..." she looked at the floor at the puddle of coke and brandy, then back at the glass in her hand. "... and a half... MARTIN! You turned up!"

[Djinn]

Djinn walked towards the old mansion; looking hesitant he stopped short of the doors.

He was wearing a classic two button black dinner suit, accompanied by a white shirt, cross-stitched waistcoat and a bow-tie. His pants were pressed to perfection and his shoes shined even in the dimly lit walkway. He always did enjoy the chance to dress smart. Turning up to formal events without a date, however, was definitely not on his favourite things to do list.

He straightened his jacket and buttoned it up before heading towards the doorway.

"There you are" His heart skipped a beat, recognizing the voice instantly. Turning around to see the one person he'd wanted to ask to the ball. She had a gorgeous green dress on and looked amazing as she made her way towards him.

"So tell me, Andy, why don’t I have a date to this ball?" She said, placing her hands firmly on her hips.

"Well, you haven’t been around to ask." He replied quickly, knowing it wasn't a very good reason. He knew he should have made the extra effort to get in touch.

"No excuses!"

Trying to keep a straight face he took her hand. "Ally, will you do me the honor of being my date for the Quistis Ball?"

“Yes I will. Your arm, please.” She replied.

They linked arms and made their way towards the entrance, stopping briefly at the now dilapidated door as the moogle announced their arrival.

As they walked into the main ballroom a waiter passed them with a tray full of what looked like very expensive drinks. He quickly picked two cocktail glasses filled with a clear liquid off the tray, which he presumed were Martini's as there was a rather large pickle in each of them. He turned to Ally and handed her a glass as he took a sip out of his own.

"You look beautiful" He said, whispering into her ear as they made their way towards the main room where the majority of members were already indulging in various alcoholic treats.

[Rocky]

As Rocky shot the breeze with Cid for awhile, his beautiful date found a close friend of hers amidst the mass confusion and pandemonium of what was called the Quistis Ball. Lady Rika waved excitedly while exclaming "Xeim!", and the two of them gave each other hugs and compliments about one another's dress, shoes, and such. By her side, OmniTense smiled at Rocky and waved in a beckoning fashion at him. "It was great talking to you Cid! I have to go make my rounds now, catch up with you later!" Cid bid Rocky farewell and Cid along with Rikku made their way elsewhere as Rocky approached OmniTense.

"You look adorable!" Rika said to Xeim as they were bubbily excitable as two high school girls getting to meet the teenage heartthrob Squall Leonheart. Rocky got to meet OmniTense as he reached out to shake his hand, which Rocky returned with a firm gentlemen-ly handshake. OmniTense was the epitome of a gentleman; dressed to the nines in his black tux along with a tophat and cane to boot. The two couples conversed for a while, and from his gathered opinions of him OmniTense was quite an interesting person indeed, and the looks only solidified the person.

Suddenly... Rocky heard the the high-pitched strings of the violin orchestra as the lyrics of Whenever sang my song, on the stage, on my own.. and so on was being played.

"Eyes On Me!" Rocky exclaimed. This track from Final Fantasy VIII was one of Rocky's personal favorites. Quickly, he approached the fair Lady Rika and put one of his hands on her waist in a light manner. "Lady Rika, may I have this dance?" Rika's face beamed with a giant smile as she said, "Yes, yes you may!" Rocky pardoned himself from Xeim and OmniTense as the two approached the dancefloor, ready to slow dance to the lyrics of Faye Wong.

[Doc Rocco]

Rocco stared at the alluring mansion before him. Chatter, music and laughter radiated from it like heat from a fire. Nervously, he adjusted his tie so that air was actually able to reach his lungs.

“Why is it that in order for a suit to look half decent, you need to be halfway dead? It’s just not fair.” he grumbled.

He smoothed his black suit with faint pinstripes, and made sure the belt buckle was tightly fastened. There was no need to embarrass himself tonight. Especially if the crowd was as large as it sounded. As he strode towards the mansion, he noticed his dress boots made a nice sound as they hit the path.

“Hey, kupo! What’s your name, so I can announce you?” asked Stiltzkin.

“Well aren’t you adorable!” gushed Rocco, “I’m Doc Rocco, but you can just call me Rocco.”

“Do you have a date, kupo?” the Moogle asked, giving him a disgruntled look.

“Oh, you Moogles don’t like being called cute, eh? Sorry about that. Oh, and I do have date. I dunno if she’s here or not yet.”

The Moogle ignored him.

“Um, do I just go in then?” Rocco asked uncertainly.

“Yes, kupo. Yes.” replied Stiltzkin tartly.

Rocco strode into the mansion, slightly contrite, and began looking for Bleachfangirl. A Final Fantasy theme filled his ears, one that he could not remember, and the magnificence of the hall filled his eyes. He managed to tear his eyes away from the architecture and instead turn his gaze to the crowds of people, and it became apparent finding his partner would be nigh on impossible. Rocco sighed, and began to look for Bleach. He managed to spot Anachlirium amidst the taller crowds, Lunasa and her three dates (He chuckled at her ability to get three dates), Xeim and Sinny together with Rika and Rocky. But no Bleach.

“Needle in a haystack, alright.” he muttered to himself, “Oh great. Talking to yourself, that’s real classy, Rocco. Oh shut up, what would you know? I’m only you, the person who knows you best! Thanks for that Captain Obvious.”

He cut himself short, realising he was starting to draw a crowd. Conversations with yourself weren’t exactly the best thing to do in the middle of a crowded hall. Rocco smiled, and began a brisk walk over to the bar. Only ten minutes into the night, and he had already embarrassed himself.

[UntilTheEnd]

"Well then, what shall we do?" said Chez with glaring eyes pointed in the direction of UntilTheEnd, as per usual.

"Don't look at me, I'm just the alcoholic beverage carrier, the one you all hate for my wine purchasing antics." Everyone agreed it was probably not best to ask UTE on the matter of entertainment.

Then, out of the blue, their worst fears bore life. "However, I think I've got the answer to all our problems!" exclaimed UTE, "I know what we can all do! I have the ultimate idea that will keep us entertained for weeks on end!" he said with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh no, please don't tell me" said a dejected Chez as she felt her heart slip slowly to the floor, "It's not going to involve nakedness and poo, is it?"

"I'm afraid you're wrong there, my darling" said UntilTheEnd, the grin still spread wide across his face, "For you see, my idea involves urine and being clothed!"

Govinda's face filled with digust as sick and twisted thoughts rushed through her mind, "You can't be serious, UTE, there's no way I'm doing that!"

"Do what, Gov?" replied Andrew, "I was only suggesting we take a toilet break before we commence with the most amazing event in the history of this thread."

"Oh, I see" said Govinda as she let out a sigh of relief, "You really had me worried there!"

"How come, what did you think I was going to say?" questioned UntilTheEnd with an inquisitive look upon his face. "Did you really think I'd suggest such acts?!"

"Well of course not" Govinda replied sarcastically, "You never, ever come up with ideas to smear pee and poo over each other!" Govinda rolled her eyes which coincidentally landed directly in the path of Chez's stare. They both began to lick their lips.

Chez quickly became extremely flustered as sweat beads began to form on her forehead. "Alright lads, Gov and myself have some business to attend to. Have fun being bored but I need to tell Gov about something really important!". Chez grabbed Govinda's hand and pulled her along behind her, out of the hallway and towards the kitchen area of the mansion.

"Well, there goes the poo plan" UntilTheEnd said to himself.

[Raider]

Now that the fuss of entering was over, it was time to party. He wondered around with loner-kid for a while talking about a few things, he walked up to the barman,

"can i get a Sazerac, but with this instead of absinthe," he slips the barman a bottle from under his overcoat.

There was a nice warm feel about this place, he thought to himself as he looked around, his spare hand again returned to his cuff and began fiddling with the pristine button. He began Humming a familiar tune, which was on the tip of his tongue but, he just couldn't figure out what it was.

He just waited. Humming to himself. Raider was alone, but not for much longer. Loner-kid had returned.

[Zardoch]

Far off from the mansion, a black smile glistened in the moonlight as a flash of light flickered off the glass of a small telescope the dark figure held.

"Yes...that seems about right." He says to himself as he pulled the telescope away from his face, pushing it back into its condensed form. Placing it inside his large black overcoat, he then pulled out a glowing watch to check the time. "Don't want to be late."

He places both hands on a large catapult a second later, moving it around a bit before jumping into the massive spoon-shaped arm and curling up in the fetal position. Soon after, a rope snapped in two and the loud shriek of the man laughing echoed across the plains as it got louder and louder. Suddenly, one of the windows on the top floor of the mansion exploded inwards as the man crashed roughly against the ground and bounced into a wall. He groaned while pushing up onto his hands and knees, a smile still on his face as he stands up.

OOC: I'd like to make this very clear. He--I repeat--DID NOT CRASH THROUGH THE CEILING! He went THROUGH a window on the TOP floor of the mansion, which says he's now in one of the rooms on the TOP floor.

The orange haze coming from the warming fire kissed the freakish features of such a man as he brushed his hands through the large spiky red hair to get the pieces of glass out. His white skin gave off a pale blue shade of death and his eyes were red in color, black pupils at each center. The rest of his appearance was shadowed by a large black overcoat with no pockets on the outside and a big round, rolled-up collar. Underneath that was a pink shirt that said, 'Laughing is my excuse for killing people. What's yours?' and then some black flexible slack pants along with fluffy white shoes covered in dried blood finishing the portrayal. What is very distinct within the fires' light is the prominent parts of his face; his black eye-lids, black nose, and very thin black lips that were not products of make-up.

The door burst open a minute later as a frightened young man rushes inside and stop at this freak's feet.

"Excuse me sir for being late!" The young man yelled.
"Well, I'm not late so you're not late. Now kiss my baby seal shoes." The servant leaned in and did as he was ordered before standing up with his head still low. "Have you done as I ordered?" The freak ask.
"Yes, Mr. Red, all of it has been used in the entire collection. He bows again.
"Very good, Wedge. What about the attic?"
"Everything is there in working order." Red laughs with glee and smacks the boy across the face almost involuntary.
"Excellent! I have something else for you to do!" Red then pulls out a box from inside his overcoat and hands it to his servant. "This box is filled with a hundred letters, all saying the same thing. Take them to the dance below and give everyone who's sipped any alcohol served by all the other servants one letter." The boy grabbed the box almost ripping it from Red's hands and bowed a third time.
"I shall, sir!" And then he was off.

Once Red had finished dusting himself off, he then left the room and went up the stairs towards an attic that stood over the main ballroom, pulling out a key to open the door. Finally inside, he locked the door behind him and turned his attention to a large object ten feet away. He then flipped a switch and a light bulb flickered on almost reluctantly, revealing the words '5000 lbs. on the size of the large box.

"Oh, what a night this is going to be!"

Down below, the servant boy was handing out the letters to anyone with a glass of alcohol or wine that had been given to them by the ballroom staff. When he finished, he vanished from sight. The letter read:

"Dear goody-two-shoes,

If you would take a moment to look at your drink, you'll notice--NOTHING! That is because I have poisoned all of your drinks with an odorless and tasteless form of Ex-Lax, a laxative that induces bowel movements and it often treated for constipation! Any person found to have drank anything served by the ballroom staff will now be having a case of the runs, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA HA HA HA!

Unsincerely,
Your unfriendly neighborhood supervillain, "Red" the Blacksmith

Back in the attic, an alarm began to go off as Red pulled out the watch inside his jacket to see the long hand pointing at the number three. In anticipation, he quickly got onto his belly and opened up a small trap door to look out onto the ballroom floor. Quickly his eyes picked out a wobbly little moogle with a bottle of wine in his hand. It was moving towards Xeim before it stopped and dropped the bottle, holding its' stomach.

"I don't feel so good..." The moogle said, almost falling over after it took a few more steps. All of the sudden the little guy with eyes wide open let out a yell. "It burns! It burns I tell ya, kupo!" One could see his small little pants beginning to fill up as it looked like it was about to explode!

Red let out a howling roar of cackling laughter when he heard this.

[NOTE: Those to have drank are: Quistis, Joesteel, Unknown Entity, Raider, Djinn, and possibly a few others.]

[Lady Rika]

Rika was happy to see Xeim actually in a dress and she looked beautiful in it. The purple really looked amazing on her. Her date looked lovely as well; the top hat was the icing on the cake for OmniTense who couldn’t have looked better.

As soon as the Faye Wong music began to play it hit her deep in her head that she would be forced to dance which was something she really failed at, she only really danced to arrows via DDR.

Rika watched people move to the dance floor to start to dance then saw Rocky’s face light up and before she knew it they were on the huge marble dance floor together. She placed her hands where she thought they were supposed to go though she wasn’t exactly sure. Rika’s aqua eyes held a tinge of nervous luster as she danced slowly with Rocky, one hand in his the other on his shoulder. The song had been a song she’d enjoyed for quite a time, from the first time she’d heard it when her best friend played it for her one late evening.
“Sorry im a sucky dancer.” Rika muttered with a little laugh that she couldn’t help but let out. She felt a little tremor in her stomach which she thought was just her being a big baby. But it hurt a little but stopped quickly enough and so she continued on without breaking a sweat. Rocky gave her a concerned look but said nothing.
“You don’t have to be so formal and say Lady all the time.” Rika told him as she attempted to take lead in the dance before failing and letting him take over again. “Just leave it at Rika…I don’t have to be such a Lady all the time do I?” She asked playfully. Knowing that most of the time she was.

Before Rocky got to say anything a loud crash ruptured throughout the large mansion. Rika heard people cry out when the glass flew across the room hoping to dodge the shards. But it was the man who caught Rika’s eyes not that he wouldn’t get noticed by anyone who actually had working eyes; his large black coat kept her from seeing his frame well but all she knew was he was much bigger than her short 5’4 self.
‘Looks like bad news…who is that?’

Rika tried to focus on Rocky but it was hard to while trying to see what the mischievous looking man was doing.
“Whose that Guy Rocky?” Rika finally asked.
“Blacksmith.” Rocky replied.

She kept her watch on him till he disappeared up the stairs; she saw what looked like a little minion of his giving out papers. Rika wanted one just to see what it was though she knew it would be something rude. She saw a guy that she didn’t know get really red in the face and hold his stomach, he also had a little letter.
‘What is that!?’

When the song ended Rika pulled away from Rocky’s grasp but held tight to his hand as she dragged him over to where the man had stood. He had dropped his letter.
Rika read it quickly her eyes getting bigger by the second, ‘Oh shit…the mango drink!’
But she had barely even had a sip, she’d put it back and even a little had slipped from her lips back into the frosted glass when Rocky had forced it from her.
‘That could have been the little pain in my belly earlier during the dance?’

Rika glared up the stairs, she knew she was the most unintimidating thing on the face of the earth but she wouldn’t giving him a piece of her mind that could involve a whack in the back of the head with sole of her shoe. Not the heel…she was too nice for that.

“Im going up there!” Rika puffed up and took a big step forward; Rocky though grabbed her around her waist and pulling her back.
"Where?"
"The Attic!"
“Look at you Rika! What could you do?” Rocky chuckled giving her a light pat on the head, “Don’t get so hot under the collar.”
“But..thats not nice!” Rika pouted but knew she would have to wait, maybe she would do something if worst came to worst but for now she would be an onlooker. But Rocky was right, she was small in size and couldn’t do anything…it’d be like a Corgi going up against a Rottweiler.
‘Well…I’ve seen Corgi’s take down bulls…so who knows what will happen.’

[Rikkuffx]

She shrugged as Omni and Xeim whisked Rocky and Rika away from her and Cid,it didnt really bother her but whatever. She just smiled to cid and slipped her hand into his and leaned into him a bit. She was just listening to the music and looking around to see who else was here. She spotted her good friend Lunasa and laughed softly as she saw her 3 dates around her. Then she glanced to Cid again. She was being quiet tonight and she didnt know why. Maybe she was still a bit nervous,she usually didnt do this sort of thing and it was a bit out of character but it was deffinately fun. She giggled to herself and dragged Cid with her to Lunasa"Sorry Cid I just wanna say hi real quick" She smiled to him and looked to Lunasa and her three men."Well it looks like you've accessorised nicely tonight my friend." She laughed softly and looked at Lunasa's dress."and you have a wonderful dress on"

[Halie]

As she jumped out from what appeared to be a long, black, slick limo, Halie gently picked up the front of her dress to avoid stomping all over it. She was a little bit late, but she wasn't really bothered by that. She lightly dropped her black heels onto the pavement before gently placing her feet inside.

"Damnit. These shoes are going to be the death of me feet, aye." She thought to herself, chuckling slightly.

She began walking towards a very large house, which fortunately for her, and her feet, was situated not too far from where she stood. Her dress flowed lightly through the wind as she walked. It was made from a light purple silk from the top to her waist with no sleeves, whilst the rest was a slightly darker purple, made from different layers of net. Around her waist was a large silver ribbon, tied in a bow at the back. Her dark, pinky-purple hair had been curled into cute little ringlets that hung just above her shoulders. Normally, she'd be far too lazy and impatient to curl her hair, but since this was a "special occasion", she thought she'd at last make the effort.

After a short walk, she arrived at the mansion. It seemed even bigger now that she was closer to it, though that wasn't too much of a surprise, since she was only 5'3" herself.

She would've stopped longer to gaze at the beautiful craftings of the building, but the rather fussy little bugger decided it was far too cold to stay outside. So she reached her arms out and leaned much of her body weight forward whilst looking up at the tall building, expecting to push a door open. Only she discovered there was no door, causing her to nearly fall flat on her face.

"...Whoops." She scanned her eyes quickly over the room, checking to see if anyone had noticed, but luckily no one seemed to. "Phew. Anyhoo..."

A small, fuzzy little thing suddenly approached her.

"M'am, may I please take your name?" it asked.

Halie blankly stared at the little thing. Then, it suddenly occured to her what it was.

"... Oh my God! Moogles are real?! Seriously?! ...Dude!" She shouted enthusiastically, with her eyes and mouth wide open with a huge grin, as she begun to repeatedly poke the poor little Moogle.

It did not look amused.

"M'am, your name, please?"

"Oh right, yeah! Halie, spelled 'H-A-L-I-E, Halie!" she cited, before continuing to poke him.

Still unamused, the Moogle scanned his guest list and found her name on it.

"... Enjoy the party." he groaned.

Halie began to walk away with her eyes glued to the Moogle and the same expression on her face. Rather quickly, the novelty wore off so she turned forward and looked around for her date, Darkwolf.

"Hmm... where is he?" She thought to herself.

Then, not too far off in the distance, she could see Raider and Loner-Kid waiting by the bar. She quickly scurried behind them, then crept up right behind the two.

"Aww! Look at you two, together! You sure do make a cute couple!" she blurted intentionally to scare them half to death.

[Unknown Entity]

Entity placed what was left of her drink on the bar, and turned to face Martin, who looked quite nervous. Entity grinned before giving him a hug and a small peck on the cheek.

"What took you so long hun? I thought you'd have been here a little while ago..." she asked him, smiling.

"Damn taffic... and after the God knows how long I was stuck in it, the driver wanted me to pay extra! Not my fault there had been some kind of accident further up the road... But I'm here now!"

They both sat down on the stalls, and chatted and laughed. Entity told him about her new moggle friend, whom she had almost knocked out and be-friended in a matter of an hour. They both noticed a few more people come in through the doors, most with a look of confusion at what happened to the door to the mansion. Entity looked over the room at Silver, who had noticed their looks too. Entity laughed quietly to herself.

"Entity, are you sure you aren't drunk?" Martin laughed, wondering why she had all of a sudden laughed.

"I'm not even near tipsy! Honestly, I've only had a glass of wine and a double brandy and coke, and half of that endded up on the floor..." she said. "I don't intend on getting drunk either. I intend on causing out-most trouble, losing my virginity in the masters bedroom and comitting acts of... I dunno. Just some weird freaky stuff."

Martin, who almost choked on his drink, looked worried, and gave her a look of concern. "Are you sure thats what you want to do?"

"Of course not! Maybe have a little fun, and pull a few pranks. Honestly, did you think I'd do the things I just said?" Entity and Martin both laughed.

At that moment, Entity spotted Halie enter through the doors, lookiong behind her with a look of facination spread on her face. Entity guessed it must have something to do with the moggle, and she smiled. Halie, Entity had noticed was now making her way over to Raider and loner-kid, a smile on her face.

"Hun, look it's Halie! Oh, I've just gotta go and say hi! I'll be back in a few mins, I swear!" Entity said, hopping down from her stall, giving Martin another hug, before running over, her arms spread high in the air and waving at Halie. Halie, who by now had reached Raider and loner-kid, looked around at Entity running across the dacne floor like a crazed lunatic, and screamed with laughter.

"HHHHAAAALLLLIIIIEEEEE!!!" Entity laughed, as she finaly reached her.

[Govinda]

Govinda took Chez by the arm and smiled. 'Finally, away from the boys...' she smiled.

Just before funtimes could begin, a small explosion rocked the room around them. Govinda looked up to see a small man clad in black falling gracefully from the ceiling. In the haze, she thought she saw cube heels on his feet.

'DAISY! GET DOWN! PRINCE! IT'S PRINCE!' Govinda screamed, jumping to shield her lover. 'The one in heels shall not get you, my love,' she whispered.

Time seemed to slow around the pair. They shared a meaningful look before dashing off through the dust and falling morter, their eyes clasped on the SWAT Team version of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. It was such a rush for Govinda, running into danger to protect her one and only. They dodged people in dresses and suits, their aim clear.

However, as they neared their target, it became quite clear to them that this was either Prince in disguise, or just not Prince. They slowed quickly into a light stroll and began looking around.

Govinda stopped for a moment, grabbing her lover's arm gently. 'Chez, although he is not Prince, Destroyer of Worlds in Heels, he looks pretty creepy. Is that his minion handing out letters to people? What the ****'s going on?'

A minion rushed past them, pressing a small note into Chez's hand as he did so. She mulled it over. 'Uh, well, Gov,' she began, 'This guy's decided to give the whole room the shits, put something in their drinks.'

Govinda made a double-take and looked at the note. 'Holy shit,' she remarked. '...literally. After all that stuff UTE was saying about shit, and now this, well...'

'It looks like this is just going to be a pile of shit!' they said in unison.

There was nothing for it. Time to head back to the waiting males and uncontaminated cider, and watch the shit go down. 'I wish it really had been Prince,' Chez sighed.

'Maybe later, ma cibar luv,' Govinda smiled, preparing to get herself ready to once again act as if she was in love with Johnny, lest he be offended. She'd dragged him here, after all, and since then he'd spent several hours in bushes, had his head ripped off, and had almost been invited to engage in some very dubious acts with ClosetWham!Fan. She felt responsible for his night; but somewhere deep down, she knew he would merely look at her and smile in a coy and unbearably sexy manner.

[OceanEyes28]

“Careful, Andy. Keep whispering in my ear, and we might have to make an early night of it.” She smiled and squeezed his arm as they walked into the main hall. There were several familiar faces and she was interested in greeting all of them. Just at that moment, however, a new melody began and some of the couples made their way to the dance floor. “Care to dance with me?”

Djinn happily put down the drinks and led her into the music, “Let’s show them how to do it properly.”

OceanEyes didn’t wear heels or gowns often, but she was incredibly comfortable in them. She thought back to similar evenings spent dancing in expensive clothing and exchanging expensive Southern etiquette, and remembered how proud she had been when the awkwardness had melted away. She was quite at home in a dress. And Djinn was British. Of course he knew how to dance.

But in the middle of their dancing, there was a noticeable murmuring of laxatives among a few of the guests, causing the couple to pause. OceanEyes approached a wound up Lady Rika and her date. “Rocky, Lady Rika. First of all, hello. Second, I keep hearing the words ‘oh no, laxative.’ What exactly is going on?” And where is Quistis with her whip? She would definitely be helpful in handling party crashers with fecal fetishes... Speaking of fetish, I wonder if Govinda and Chez made it...

Djinn stood by his date, ears open for other explanations that could be floating around; but he couldn’t help but wonder if a sip might be all it took.

((OOC: Once again, in the middle of finals, enjoy the short posts. Yaaaay))

[Bleachfangirl]

She had her mother drop her off one block off the mark, and Bleachfangirl was completely lost. After walking for a few minutes and she realized she was standing right in front of the mansion, Bleach was shocked that she missed it. A huge, lit up, French-style mansion should have been the most obvious building in the city, but she still ended up in the wrong place.

Stiltzkin was floating near the entrance, looking tired, though it wasn’t that late. When Bleach saw the moogle, she shrieked and pounced on the creature. “Cute thing!” was her battle cry.

Stiltzkin had to wrestle is way out of the girl’s bear hug. He righted himself, and asked, “What is your name, kupo?” while she grinned at him and smoothed out her plain black dress.

“Bleachfangirl’s the name. Sorry about that. You were too cute not to hug.”

“Fine, fine,” the moogle said. “The ball is this way,” the creature indicated past the large doorframe. “Do you have a date?”

Bleach nodded. “I just don’t know if he’s here yet. Do you know if Rocco came in?”

The moogle nodded back, and said, “He should be in there.” Bleach gave her thanks as he announced her, and bobbed his little red antenna as she passed.

The ballroom looked completely full, and the girl felt slightly overwhelmed. She could barely make out faces from where she stood, and had no idea which person was Rocco. Bleach began walking through the mass of people, and felt the blisters starting to form on her heels from the evil flats she wore. She noticed a couple really loud suits as she searched, but still nothing that indicated the whereabouts of her date.

Then, Bleach noticed the thin form of male that was walking around alone. ‘If that isn’t him, I’ll die, so let’s hope it’s him.’

She pranced up to the unknown person, momentarily forgetting the pain in her feet, and jumped to a halt in front of them.

“Hi! Are you my date?” she asked cheerily with a wave and smile.


((OOC: Rocco, I hope that is you. =D))

[Chez Daja]

"A shitstorm!" Chez grinned. She reread the note. "Laxative! Why hadn't I thought of it?!" she happily grabbed her unspiked cider from UTE and took a huge swig. "Hopefully, the party will start soon," she grinned. "See," she said pointedly to UTE. "This is why I never drink from weird places," she smiled. Somebody ran past the foursome with their hands clutched to their buttocks. "Who was that?" Chez asked. "Didn't see," said Govinda. "Happy crapping!" Chez yelled. This was about to get interesting.

Although Chez severely doubted TFF'ers would be courage enough to embarrass themselves in front of their intaweb friends by going along with the storyline. She figured the foursome + UE were the only ones to have a giggle. Still, that's better than nothing. She would have to wait and see at any rate.
Chez thought she heard the sound of somebody puking, but it might've been somebody gulping down terrible wine that so many people thought was "sophisticated drinking."

[Halie]

"HHHHAAAALLLLIIIIEEEEE!!!" Entity laughed, as she finaly reached her.

Hearing this, Halie began to spasm like an old lady, much like she usually did in a state of shock. After quickly recovering from the sudden spasm, she turned to look at who had called her. For the first few seconds, she couldn't remember who it was, until it finally occured to her and her gaw dropped, and an expression much like this '=O', spread across her face.

"EEEENTITYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" she shouted, whilst frantically jumping up and down with her arms flailing around like a mong.



((OOC: Sorry it's so short, but there wasn't much else for me to do >.> haha.))

[Andromeda]

(OoC: I missed some chances to have some fun, but my goodness things are wild. ^^; I’m glad you’re entertaining yourself. I know was laughing a lot. Keep it up.)

Quistis reminded him of the door and he gave her an innocent laugh. “Yeah, the place is older than it looks. Hope it can handle a lively bunch,” he said with a joking smile.

“So, who’s your date?” Quistis inquired seeing that he was being unattended at the moment.

“Seeing is understanding.” Andromeda gave her one of his mysterious smiles that was half playful as well. “My date is over there at the moment. Give her one second.” The conversation that she had been having ended and she was simply making the rounds when she looked up over at him. She smiled and nodded walking over to him pulling up space next to him taking a careful seat on the stool.

“Hey! It is Quistis!” she said immediately recognizing an old familiar face and very pleased to see that she decided to come. “You should have told me sooner.”

He could not help but slip a small chuckle at the confused look that Quistis gave his date. He put his arm around Andromeda as she placed hers around his waist. “This is my date, Andromeda.” Andromeda waited on Quistis to let it sink in for a moment before doing a further explanation. “Sorry, the reaction was priceless. It’s my little joke about the old days and the confusion surrounding my gender. Thought it be fitting that I was both since they see one or the other.”

Andromeda’s ears suddenly picked up a distressing message floating around the floor. She looked at the letter that had been handed to Quistis after she opened it. Her eyes widened in surprise to think that Blacksmith would do such a thing. ‘I guess this would be no worse than the party crashers and drunks from old balls…’ She stood up placing a hand on Quistis seeing her begin to look a little pale. Andromeda knew that she had no choice now. “Glad I came prepared with contingence plans in the event that something like this happened.” She took a step away and rose up her arm producing an oak wand or club neatly wrapped with red and white cloth with a price tag hanging from it labeled ‘Solid Wand +5 MND +5 INT – 5000 gil’. “Esuna!” she exclaimed to the ceiling waiting for the results that did not come. If the room had been quiet she would have swore there were crickets laughing at her.

“Uh Andromeda dear, White Magic was not approved by the planning committee,” Andromeda said to her whispering close to her ear.

“What?! No White Magic? But…but…” She sighed relief with a puff of cute white smoke and then turned around holding one fist tightly against her chest with a determined look. “Fine no white magic. I’ve got other contingences.” Andromeda looked at the barkeep giving him a signal as he grabbed the very dusty old bottle of whisky giving it a sharp pull revealing a secret panel under the bar. Out of the compartment slid an aged container with a roughly black stencil painted letters reading ‘Shinra Co.’ followed by aggressive marker saying ‘Don’t touch’.

Andromeda pushed in the button on the clasp and the lid flipped open revealing many colored orbs. “Yuffie’s going to be angry,” Andromeda said under her breath. She pulled out a bluish-green orb and took hold of it letting it slide part way into her skin before magical energies were gathered. Her arm glowed brightly for a moment before shooting off to the ceiling where it exploded into particles of light falling through the air like a fancy light show, which those drunk or not paying attention would not have discerned the difference.

“But you don’t have the All-materia to make it work,” Andromeda said.

She lifted up her other hand holding another orb. “I didn’t forget.” As peace slowly return to the room with those infected feeling surprisingly better suddenly Andromeda turned back to Quistis attempting to look innocent in what just happened. An argument nearby got her attention for a moment. “What’s going on?” She kicked the container back up the panel as he swallowed it and slammed the false wall down.

“Oh that? Someone said that Sephiroth was better than Kefka,” Andromeda said looking away a little sheepishly. “But now that things are normal again for the moment. This is my date, Andromeda, Quistis.”

[Doc Rocco]

From the bar, Rocco attempted to scout out Bleach, but to no avail. Every time he thought he spotted her, it turned out it was either someone else, a figment of his imagination, or (much to his horror) Nathan.

“You’re losing it, Rocco. Nathan doesn’t look like Bleach in the slightest. And you’re talking to yourself again. Nice.”

He noticed the barman was looking at him strangely, and turned to face him.

“What? You’ve never heard someone speak to himself, or seen someone mistake a 6’3” guy for a girl about five foot?” snapped Rocco.

The barman just about died, and and practically ran to the other end. Rocco sighed, and began his mission again. Minutes passed, and no success. He was beginning to think that he’d either been stood up or Bleach had an unfortunate with a lion on her way to the ball.

Suddenly he spotted her amongst the masses of ball-goers, directly underneath a massive chandelier. Bleach was prancing towards some unknown male, smiling. She prances well in heels, he thought. Another thought entered his head, and Rocco's palm slapped his forehead.

“Oh please don’t ask him if he’s me.” groaned Rocco, as he made a dash to save Bleach from embarrassment of the lethal kind.

He leapt up from his bar stool and began his run to his date, which was surprisingly difficult to do on the smooth floors. Dress shoes were obviously not made for mad sprints. As luck would have it, a mass of people decided to pass by at that very moment.

“Craaaap. Sorry people, but you’ve gotta get outta the way!” he said loudly as he shepherded the crowd out of the way, “Sorry, but it’s for the good of another!”

“Hi! Are you my date?” asked Bleach to the unknown male, waving at him.

The male looked at her strangely, slightly weirded out. As he opened his mouth to speak and slowly backed away, Rocco reached Bleach just in time to save her from potential disaster.

“Yes, yes. I’m your date, Bleach.” panted Rocco, “Not you, mate. She has lazy eyes. Sorry if you thought she was asking you.”

“Whatever dude.” mumbled the man, as he walked away, glaring and obviously disturbed by the pair.

“Sorry about the lazy eye thing, Bleach. I’m not known for my eloquent ad libbing. And what's with Captain Sadsack? You'd think he had never seen someone make a mad dash halfway across a hall, nor someone with lazy eyes.” chuckled Rocco sheepishly.

Bleach looked at him funnily and laughed.

“Now, how about we save some Moogles?”

[Meier Link]

"Who is there?" he demanded, the balcony was poorly lit and the shadowy figure did not respond, even with his exceptional night vision the darkness was to much Meier couldn't figure out who it was.

He slowly lifted his right arm, palm facing the shadow, fingers extending to the sky. Pain, a wonderful sensation he could feel the blood rushing away from his right hand as his pulse increased, he let out a small grunt when suddenly a blade shot out of the crest of his palm, the blade was ancient one of his fathers passed down to his from his “mother”. He caught the sword by the hilt and quickly drew it to the side before the few drops of blood could even hit the ground, the blood returned to his hand and in doing so the wound quickly closed up. “I will give you until the count of three, answer me damn it, I don't play childish games!” he demanded as the colors of his eyes shifted from their normal ice blue to a dark shade of crimson red, his pupils all but disappeared. Still no response.

“1......2......2 and a half..... 3!” He shouted, before he even finish the word three he lept forwards, something was wrong, the shadow hadn't moved , this infuriated Meier. He slashed sideways pulled his blade back around and down before pulling it back into its original position. The figure fell into pieces, Meier was baffled, “Why did you not defend your self” he shouted in a stern voice.

He heard foot steps running up from behind him, “What now” he thought to himself as he turned and extended his blade upon the on comer.

“Wait” screamed a shirll little voice “What have you done!” It was a servant of the mansion, a young lad, couldn't be more then 19 by the looks of him, feeling no threat from him Meier stepped back, and the sword quickly vanished back into it's resting place under his skin. “I will ask again what have you done!” the boy demanded. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small flash light, he quickly turned it on and the light flooded Meier's face.

Meier ran his hand though his spiked hair covering his eyes in the process, in this motion his eyes returned to their normal shade of blue. “I took care of some rubbish” he said with a small smirk “I also almost gave you a throat piercing with my blade, what's it to you...”

The young man drew his flashlight down and away from Meier and into the direction that the attack was made. Nothing but terror could be seen on the young mans face, “Oh no you didn't” he said “this is horrible, how could you do that to my masters favorite potted plant, it was a gift from his wife!”

Meier was shocked he quickly turned, what he came to discover was a heap of branches that was originally pruned into the form of a man.

Meier turned and headed to the door back into the establishment, trying to play the cool card as he pulled out a cigarette, lit it up and took a drag before chunking it over the railing. “Sir please don't do that” said the small voice “my master will have me out there cleaning up your butts in the morning.” Meier was really to embarrassed to acknowledge anything the tenant had said, he quickly entered the ball room.

I need a drink as he headed through the room tracking through the dance floor on his was back to where is dates previously where.

He stopped for a moment when he caught a girl staring at him.
“Hi! Are you my date?” said the beautifully dressed woman, she was starring right at him coming from the side of him he heard another voice, “Yes, yes. I’m your date, Bleach. Not you, mate. She has lazy eyes. Sorry if you thought she was asking you.” Said the male that came running up to her side, he was breathing heavily. Thinking of how he hadn't been with his real dates Meier quickly turned and mumbled “whatever dude.” as he walked away slightly confused and dumb founded that Bleachie didn't recognize him.

He spotted his dates, but before he figured he would rejoin them he stopped pulled a flask out of the breast pocket of his shirt and downed a swig. “Ah Jager then nectar of the gods...” he said as he closed the flask and put it back into it's hidey hole...

[Zardoch]

Red was rolling around on the floor at this point as he watched from high above people scattering to deal with the laxative poison. His face became stiff as a statue when he saw one of the dancers below fire about a blanket of orbs that seemed to have an effect on anyone in touched. Red growled like a beast and hissed, getting back up before slamming the trap door shut. How dare she ruin such comedic evil! He thought, reaching into his coat once again and pulling out a huge tube of what appeared to be tooth paste.

"On with the plan!" Hunched over and walking very slowly, Red then began to squeeze the paste around the floor edges of the huge box until he nearly ran out, screwing the lid back on and putting it back into his coat. Next, he pulled out a small phone with a wire attached, sticking one end of the wire into the paste and then jumping on top of the large box. Finally standing up, he breathed in and smiled.

"It's Thwomping time!" And with a push of a button, the paste exploded with great force and sent the large box falling towards the center of the ballroom. However, as the box was about to land, Red could've swore he heard the words, 'Mama mia, it'sa me, Mario!' before he felt something squish underneath the box as it crashed into the floor roughly, though still level. Red only shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

Now, out in view of everyone, he then spread out his arms like wings and smiled as much as his thin black lips could stretch.

"Gadies and Lentlemen! If I could literally have you dying attention, I would like to force said attention to this box and what it means to me. It has been in my family for no generations and it really loves thwomping people. Tonight, it shall be the greatest box you ever stare at, EVER! So I say to you, verily, verily...do you like mudkipz?!"

With a push of another button, what sounded like an explosion rumbled throughout the ballroom as pressure from inside the box burst through the cracks a leaking steam, hiding the blacksmith in its mist. Suddenly, all four side doors of the box went flying off in the cardinal directions and a deep growling could be heard. A flash of white alerted those nearby of what was to come, red eyes peering from the darkness. The party members could only imagine what disgusting, foul beast could be waiting for them.

A light squeak finally pierced through the silence as a bunch of white bunny rabbits came pouring out and every one of them had a mudkip hat on. There was a red blinking light flickering on and off in the right eye of the mudkip hat as well as the cute, furry little creatures met with anyone who had food.

"In the name of Caerbannog, YOU SHALL ALL BE OFFERED TO THE SACRIFICIAL DEITY OF CAERBANNOG! ME! Kiss my dead baby seal slippers or I shall fart in your general direction! Then I'll turn your mums into hamsters and fart in their direction too!" Red the Blacksmith then waved his hands from each side of his head and stuck his tongue out. Lastly, he pulled the phone out and pushed a third and final button on the detonator. What happened next was absolutely terrifying.

Their mudkip hats disconnecting from their heads, every rabbit began to transform in a painful transfiguration that turned them into five feet tall, highly-muscular humanoid beings with large, sharp teeth. They still kept their rodent featured head and ears, however, but everything else was mutated in the worst possible way anyone could imagine.

"Feed my children of Ni, FEED!" At his orders, all the rabbits then suddenly began to yell 'Ni!' all in unison in the most annoying manner they could as they went on a rampage.

[Quistis]

"Sephiroth vs Kefka? eh? " Quistis says as she takes a sip of her drink. She does not ask further on the little magic lightshow Andromeda did because it is obvious to Quistis that Andromeda doesn't want to make a scene out of it.

"I can't believe that most of the people had their dates. I should've tried to grab one for myself. I used to have a lot of profit being the TFF Matchmaker .Now, people don't need me. Oh my, how the times has changed. Have I confined myself in the Temple of Fiends for too long?" she said laughing.

Suddenly, a booming voice catches her attention.

"Gadies and Lentlemen! If I could literally have you dying attention, I would like to force said attention to this box and what it means to me. It has been in my family for no generations and it really loves thwomping people. Tonight, it shall be the greatest box you ever stare at, EVER! So I say to you, verily, verily...do you like mudkipz?!"

It'll never be a party without the crashers I guess..or is this part of Andromeda's program?

What seems to be a magic trick turns into a rampage as the tiny furry creatures from the man's little box turn into monstrous humanoid beings .

"Feed my children of Ni, FEED!" the lunatic man commands them to do.

"Andromeda, don't tell me you planned for us to become rat-food" Quistis says as she calmly sips her drink amidst the rampaging rodents, waiting to see what the Andromedas have under their sleeves.

[Psiko]

I really should have thought this mode of transportation through... Psiko thinks as the cool autumn wind whips through his short, brown hair. His arms are wrapped tight around the neck of a rare Black Chocobo as he attempts to navigate the moderately tame bird to the proper destination.

"Kweh!" it squawks as Psiko tries to direct it to head left. The chocobo veers slightly but remains headed in the wrong direction still. Despite the frustrations brought about via this mode of travel, it has not been a complete failure. The expression of surprise and, dare he think it, of joy on his date's face when she saw the chocobo are still firmly etched in the forefront of his mind. He wasn't even certain he would be coming to the Ball with a date when a quite unexpected opportunity arose to ask one of the many beautiful and intelligent young ladies of TFF to escort him.

The casual conversation that soon followed was quite pleasant.

His thoughts are interrupted as her arms wrap tighter around his waist. He quickly notices why: they are heading straight toward a thick congestion of trees. Psiko braces himself for what seems to be an inevitable crash, but the Black Chocobo nimbly navigates through the trees with ease, gradually coming to a landing among the outskirts of the forest. A few people are grouped outside of the mansion and they look on with a bit of shock at the unique entrance, anxious to see who emerges from the forest.

Psiko slides off the Chocobo, his legs a little unstable at first. He extends a hand to the blonde-haired beauty accompanying him, helping her down. He brushes some small pine needles from the sleeves of his crimson jacket. In fact, his entire attire is the same shade of red, all the way down to his boots and his cape. What better attire for a Red Mage to wear than the traditional clothes for the job? He reaches into a pouch along the side of the Chocobo and withdraws his personal affects, most notably his elegant chapeau which he places onto his head to complete the Red Mage attire.

Standing at only 5'7, he has to look up slightly to gaze into the bright blue eyes of his date, Hyzenthlay. Smiling, he extends his arm to her and asks, "Shall we go join the party?"

[Hyzenthlay]

"Shall we go join the party?" a question that brought a smile to her rouged lips.

"Of course." A formal party required formal words as she reached out to take the gentlemans hand.

As he helped her to slide from the fine black chocobo she pushed her hair behind her right ear. With her fringe out of the way she glanced upon the beauty of the mansion. A shining example of French aristocracy, it seemed. Purest of pure beauty shone from it's very foundations. Finally her gaze returned to her date. Subconsciously their attire was set to match. He stood boldly and proudly clad in red; she in white. The perfect combination, it seemed, taking into account the time of year.

The girl gripped his hand firmly, feeling slightly nervous. It wasn't often that she wore a dress with no tights, after all. With grace he led her by hand gently towards the mansion entrance. Her high heels clipping the path in rhythmic patterns. She felt herself to be in a daze as they passed the others stood outside. What a strange sensation to be at a ball. A new one to her. She looked into her date, Psiko green eyes and he looked back. She smiled at him, feeling her nerves finally drop and leave her at ease. She gingerly pulled her knee-length satin dress down. Making sure it was in position she nodded at Psiko. He stood to the side and opened the door leaving her to enter first.

"Thank you." She said with a smirk.

She began to feel giddy with nerves again. Her date entered behind her and she felt the gentle, warm touch of his hand on hers as he led her further into the room. Again she found herself at awe. She looked, at first, past the people within and up at the
breathtaking ceiling. Then she jumped, a voice roused her from her captivated stupor.

"Who shall I say is arriving, kupo?" An incredibly cute moogle was hovering elegantly beside her.

"Stiltzkin!?" She gasped in surprise.

"My name is Stiltzkin, what a pleasant surprise... And your date?" Replied the moogle again.

"Oh, oh no. I'm Hyzenthlay. My date, my date is Psiko."

"Hyzenthlay!? Hmmm, funny name. I dont think I've heard it around, much. Psiko, however, an older member. I have heard of him. Very well, welcome both of you." With that the moogle turned to the other guests and said loudly and clearly,

"Announcing Hyzenthlay and Psiko, kupo!"

The girl straightened up and held Psiko's hand tightly. With her other hand she pinned a red rose to her left dress strap, took a deep breath and they stepped forward into the party.

[Bleachfangirl]

Being the stupid person that she is, Bleach did not bother to keep her eyes open while she greeted the male she dreadfully hoped was Rocco. After a few seconds of waiting for a reply that did not come, she opened her eyes to find a confused looking man who was definitely over the age of 16. The embarrassment that drove a blush to her cheeks kept the girl from recognizing that the man was actually Meier Link as she smiled sheepishly in apology. Not more than a second later, another thin looking man swooped in.

“Yes, yes. I’m your date, Bleach,” he panted. “Not you, mate. She has lazy eyes. Sorry if you thought she was asking you.”

She was about to protest the statement made about her eyes when she so that the man who came to her rescue really was her date!

“Sorry about the lazy eye thing, Bleach. I’m not known for my eloquent ad libbing. And what's with Captain Sadsack? You'd think he had never seen someone make a mad dash halfway across a hall, nor someone with lazy eyes.”

The fact that Rocco was chuckling made her laugh. She replied that it was no big deal and thought, “Now I’m glad I go around with my eyes closed.”

“Now, how about we save some Moogles?” asked the well-dressed young man when they were done.

“That’s fine with me, gallant Rocco. Oh, and thanks again for the quick save back there. Did you know all guys look the same from behind when they’re wearing suits and tuxedos?” This was asked with wide eyes. “I still don’t know who I went up to earlier.”

That sentence struck a spark in Bleach’s head, and she took off running, dragging Rocco along with her. The goal this time was the same as last time: the mysterious, thin man- or as her date called him, Captain Sadsack. Since he was at the ball, he had to be a TFF member, and Bleach was curious to find out who he was. She managed to dodge a majority of the guests while she ran, but still nudged or bumped a few. When she saw the back of a familiar head, she shouted out, “Dude-man! Hold on! We want to talk to you!”

[Darkwolf]

Hurrying as fast as he could, Darkwolf raced towards the event on foot. His car had broken down four blocks away and he needed to meet Halie there as fast as possible. As his hair flew back behind him, he realized that the style of spikes he had them in would now look WAY different, one of his least worries. Rushing at the entrance with little time to waste, he quickly stopped just before he met the greeter. He fixed himself up a little, so his spikey hair was now back to the way it was...mostly. His *dyed* black hair was now back spiked downward. He wore a greyish black loose shirt that was formal, with a silverish design, but not TOO formal. He wore grey slacks with black shoes that has silver metal things.

He walked towards the greeter and noticed that somehow, there was a moogle there. "Wait, is this some machine or something?" He asked.
-"I am not a machine, sir" it replied
"Oh, I'm just not used to fantasies becoming real"
-"I get that kind of reaction a lot"
"It must suck"
-"I need your name before you can enter"
"Oh!" he noticed that he was in a hurry, and quickly said "Darkwolf"
After examining the guestbook, the moogle nodded and Darkwolf entered.

"EEEENTITYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" someone shouted

Darkwolf raced towards the voice, recognizing the person. It was his date, Halie.
"Oh, heh, I'm really sorry I'm late..." He bent his head slightly downwards, half dissapointed in himself and half apologetic.

[Lady Rika]

Rika smiled as Oceaneyes came near her, she really didn’t know the girl but she looked really sweet. “Well this very rude man called Blacksmith I believe.” She looked at Rocky to confirm if the name was right. “He put laxatives in everyone’s drink for some sort of humorous intent; thankfully Andromeda used magic to fix everyone. I hope you didn’t drink anything.” She was about to speak more before a huge crash exploded in the middle of the room. Both her and Rocky turned to see what had happened. She really couldn’t believe what had just happened.

"Gadies and Lentlemen! If I could literally have you dying attention, I would like to force said attention to this box and what it means to me. It has been in my family for no generations and it really loves thwomping people. Tonight, it shall be the greatest box you ever stare at, EVER! So I say to you, verily, verily...do you like mudkipz?!"

Then when the cute little things transformed Rika thought her heart would explode from her chest.

"Feed my children of Ni, FEED!"

“Oh my goddess…” Rika quickly reached down and undid the little clasp on her slender high heels, “Rocky, I think were gonna have to fight these creepy things off!”

One came running at her and with a graceful ladylike swing hit one in the head. It let out a cry and ran away. “Or maybe I’ll just protect you.” She gave him a sweet smile and readied her heel, her bare foot on the cold floor felt a little weird as her now oddly weird heightened body was hard to keep balance over but she was fine.

“You could take the other one off and have a better advantage of fighting.” Rocky proposed the idea. Rika’s eyes widened at the thought.
“I have a better idea.” Rika took off the other one and placed it in Rocky’s hand.

“There you go.” She gripped her shoe tighter as the rabbits avoided her for fear of getting hurt. “Rocky…I am so going to go find him and…do something.” She held her head high trying to look confident. But she had really no idea where he was and she didn’t want to go running around upstairs and getting lost. Then another idea popped into her head though it really wasn’t too original and he might not pay attention to her but she hoped he would. No body liked to be called out.
“Rocky stay here.” And with that she walked over to where the box had dropped, hitting a few rabbits who hopped nearest her. Now she was much shorter than she was with the heels, so she looked even more unintimidating than before.

“Hey! Hey Hey!” She looked upward with a pouty face, “Blacksmith come down here and fight like a man instead of using your pet bunnies to do it” Rika held her shoe in defense and gave a little girly growl. With her very minimal muscle mass and shortness she was sure he was laughing at her now. But she held her shoe tighter, hoping her would come downstairs and stare down at her so she could reach up on her tippy toes and hit him with the soft side of the shoe.

[Psiko]

"Announcing Hyzenthlay and Psiko, kupo!" shouts the small moogle known as Stiltzkin, and Psiko notices a few heads turn to take notice. He feels the warmth radiate from Hyzenthlay's hand as she squeezes his tighter, a new red rose pinned upon the strap of her perfect white dress. They step out into the ball room, Psiko's eyes glancing around the room at the people present. He sees a few familiar faces among the swarm of the crowd, but for the most part the present company is unfamiliar to him. One glance at his date is enough to bring a small smile onto his face as they advance, hand in hand and step for step, into a small crowd of people.

The band strikes up a familiar Final Fantasy tune, Grand Finale? from Final Fantasy VI, as a crowd begins to gather around the center of the room. There are some words exchanged amongst some attendees, but Psiko can neither see nor hear what is going on. All of a sudden he hears a dozen or so voices screech the word "Ni!", followed by a few screams from the crowd. People begin to scatter, while others begin to draw weapons and circle inward. When Psiko finally is able to get a good view of what is causing all the commotion, he feels the grip on his hand tighten ever so slightly.

Psiko instinctively takes a step forward, placing himself between Hyzenthlay and the grotesque rabbit-mutant creatures. He begins chanting slowly under his breath, the words getting louder as the spell's incantations continue. He shouts the final words and directs his will toward a nearby creature and waits for the aftermath, but nothing happens. A disappointed look crosses his face as he decides to settle for doing things the hard way and frees his hand from Hyzenthlay's before drawing his sword.

One of the creatures rushes toward him and Psiko adopts a defensive stance as he awaits the oncoming brute. He loses track of Hyzenthlay as he focuses his attention on the beast and strikes out with a swift slash that penetrates its arm. Had he been anywhere else, Psiko would have been armed with a heavier sword and would have dealt a more damaging blow; however, for the occasion he chose to wear a rapier that was intended more for decoration than function. It lets out a shriek and slashes at Psiko, who ducks under the blow and thrusts with his sword. Wounded again, the creature turns and flees. At this point the commotion seems to be dying down and Psiko looks around, hoping nothing had happened to Hyzenthlay. After all, having brought her to the ball he at least had hoped to be priveledged with a dance or two.