Event Blossom Ball - Trial of Persephone

INTERACTING WITH: n/a

MENTIONING: @Persephone Barret, @Marshal Mozor

Persephone.

Of all the gods they could have chosen to exalt and celebrate, they had to pick Persephone. Goddess of spring growth. Herald of harvest and bounty. A beacon of hope and a shepherd of grace to guide the weak and weary into a safe and prosperous afterlife. Kind. Beautiful. Victimized.

Poppycock.

The only thing that was remotely correct was that she was, indeed, Queen of the Underworld. And as far as Evelynn was concerned, she was more than welcome to remain there amidst rot and hellfire, never to return to the surface world again. In fact, life had been made a great deal simpler and more appealing in her absence. Tea, whose pleasant aroma and comforting warmth had stained her with a persistent reminder of pain and suffering, had only recently begun to fade from memory. While she still could hardly idle in any crowd without keeping her back to something solid, no longer did Evelynn feel compelled to keep beverage stands firmly within her line of sight. Nor did she feel the urge to hasten her steps from the potions classroom lest she be thrown against stone and find fingers infused with inhuman strength wrapped in a death grip around her neck.

Yet, the girl's shade still lingered, dogging Evelynn's heels wherever she traipsed. She thought herself free of hades' bride once beyond the walls of Hogwarts last summer. But even international borders weren't enough to banish the jeering spectre of the banshee's countenance. In France, she'd resurfaced, infringing upon precious time amidst the stained-glass gallery, basking in the glow of a million shards of fractures light. One word, one breath had punctured the peace and siphoned all joy until there remained only darkness. It was in the eyes. Like they could simultaneously see you—all of you all at once—for what you were, and yet pierce directly through you as though even your person weren't worthy enough to capture their attention. Cold and callous. Empty.

A non-existent chill sent a shiver up the length of Evelynn's spine where she stood, staring forward towards the trial grounds. In her musings, she'd all but forgotten where she was, or that she was accompanied. As fixated upon her features as he seemed to be, it was undoubtable that Mozor would notice the darkening of her lidded gaze. No humor brightened her face. Her eyes were void of any spark of curiosity or eager flame to best the challenge. As though carved from the very marble he often seemed to equate her, she peered expressionless towards the fields of flowers that lay open before them.

Other heroes approached the scene, and the trial was explained anew. Again, Evelynn was reminded of its purpose. To collect a bouquet of flowers that she so desires. Does she, though? Truly? Never had the blooms of spring sprung to mind when contemplating that one's significance. In a mental exercise, she forced the two together. Persephone, haughty and poised, presented with a bountiful collection of the more glorious buds. She cast her sights upon them, voids of perilous judgment; and immediately the flowers wilted beneath that weight, colour draining and leaves withering until they shuddered and fell altogether into a pile of ash at her feet. There was nothing lively about her. If it was a bouquet she so desired, no doubt it was such that all beauty could be uprooted and snuffed from the world.

Fingers twitched. For half a second, Evelynn felt a very real temptation to reach for her wand and drown the field in a sea of fire. Deny the witch the satisfaction of anyone presenting her with that which she deserved not. Then again…that would mean a lowering to the same level. And she believed herself better than that. If it was a bouquet that need be gathered, it was a bouquet she would present…

But not to her. Never to her.

WORD COUNT: 650

[ @Scarlett Aden • @Henry Knight as Charles • @Rose Moon as Drew ]

being naive • picking flowers

English #26687E • French #72267E

Finally! After the mythical queen of the underworld hanging over all the other trials (pomegranate, anyone?) it was finally time for the trial which was actually based off her. Cassie was prepared. She had basically no idea what the myth of Persephone was about, although her mum had probably told her about it at some point. Harriet McGregor was quite a greek myths fan (although she quite liked Roman, Norse, and even Egyptian as well). She had tried in vain to pass her interest on to her only child, but it hadn't really worked. Cassie Heather had barely been able to tell a pomegranate from a plum before today.

At the first sentence spoken by the organiser, however, Cassie's heart fell. Flowers? Really? What kind of a trial was that? [please note: this is an entirely ic view and is not mirrored ooc.] She was handed a piece of parchment, ornately decorated and depicting six labeled flowers. Wait, so now they didn't just have to make a bouquet, but there were specific flowers they had to use? Cassie Heather didn't know the first thing about flowers! All her plants in herbology just died! Really fast! She could only recognise one flower on here (Narcissus: that was the guy who drowned in a lake) and she didn't even know what it really looked like beyond the sketch! Cassie took a deep breath and squinted at the parchment, trying to figure out how she could make this fun. Maybe... yeah! She'd just see it as a race. Like the second trial, only with more flowers. Okay. That would work.

Cassie frowned at the mention of a dangerous woodline. How could a wood be dangerous? Were there, like, dragons which lived in them? Would the Hogwarts students know what the boy meant? Because if so that was kinda unfair. Wait - Cassie had a Hogwarts student right next to her, didn't she?! She turned to Scarlett and whispered furtively, "What's he mean, 'dangerous woodline'?"

As soon as the boy muttered 'good luck', Cassie was off, sprinting towards where she thought some of the flowers might be and slipping about a little in her sandels. Then she realised that she wouldn't be able to collect a flower if she stood on it and slowed down a bit. She had to get this right.

[ sixth sense • fearless • sta 9 • eva 6 • str 8 • wis 7 • arc 4 • acc 7 ]

Hades | Hecate |Orpheus | Hermes | Persephone(here)| Apollo

Well, wasn't this kid dramatic (never mind that she was only a year older herself). Hogwarts was an odd place indeed, with children speaking like they were living in the wrong century - but perhaps he was only play-acting to fit the scene and theme.

"Thanks," she said cheerfully, accepting the parchment and glancing down at it. Oh. Well. This would be... fun, she supposed. Dee wasn't overly interested in plants beyond what she needed to know to maintain her grades in Herbology or to brew potions. And while dianthus was very familiar to her, and hyacinth, red spider lilies, and narcissus were eye-catching enough that she might recognise them, she had no clue which of the generic looking flowers sprinkled across the grounds might be asters or anemones. If they were potion ingredients, she wasn't aware of the potion that required them.

The sketches provided gave some small help - might make picking them more an educated guess than truly random - but would not give any real certainty that she was on the right track. Well. If Persephone didn't want her bouquet, she could just give it to someone else instead, she supposed. Curiosity had brought her here, an urge to see what the organisers had come up with, compare it to the ball she had helped organise last autumn. A flower crown already on her head, she wasn't in dire need of another, although she wouldn't mind winning.

The warning that the woods were dangerous received a raised eyebrow and a huff that wasn't quite as amused as she would have liked it to be. Oh, she knew they were dangerous, and although it had been a year since she had wandered between the trees, it wasn't an experience she was likely to forget. No physical scars remained of burns or scratches, but she didn't need those to remember. Had this boy had a similar experience? What had he seen? "Thanks for the reminder," she replied, now thoughtful. "I'll remember to run if something comes crawling out."

Scanning the list of flowers again, Dee set off, to look first for the ones she knew, and then see about the rest.

1 2 3 4 H H O H P A

Action | It's Trial Time

Sta 5 | Eva 9 | Str 3 | Wis 10 | Arc 6 | Acc 8
Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer

Reducio

Charmer Allies: All Hogwarts students/staff except Ileen Knight, Percival Rainwood, Thomas Lestrange, Henry Knight, [Isaac W. Pincus ,] Vladimir Athanatos.

speech #bf0040
action finding the flowers
abilities prodigal charms leaner, fearless
stats stamina 7 | evasion 6 | accuracy 8 | strength 6 | wisdom 6 | arcane power 9

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[font=times new roman]A[/font]nd now, flower-picking. A frivolous activity for some, Scarlett was sure it wouldn't have been chosen if it wasn't formidable in some way. She glanced at her piece of parchment, with the name of the flower and a coloured sketch next to it. Scarlett had no idea how plucking a...hyacinth could be all that difficult but she was curious to see. Scarlett was absolutely rubbish at Herbology, but she could identify something from a decent sketch, so thank Merlin.

What with all the quick-fire running and navigating they were doing, Scarlett was rather glad she had worn a jumpsuit. Though she wasn't impartial to a cool dress (not some stuffy gown), running sandals and trousers were much easier to sprint around in. She briefly listened to what the first-year was saying at the front, and by the end of the instructions, she was ready to run.

Cassie leaned over and privately asked about the 'dangerous woodline'. Scarlett shrugged. "No idea why you would ask me. Sounds like the woodline is...dangerous? Never could have guessed that," she said, with a melodramatic shake of her head. "Well, at least we all know where I'm going to go after flower-picking and bouquet-assembling is done." With a wink, Scarlett set off at the first mention of 'good luck', gripping her parchment tightly in her right hand and searching the area for a...what was it? Ah yes, an aster.

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Closed to Interactions
Bolded Text: French | Regular Text: English | Color: #BF4040
Trial Tracker: HADES | HECATE | ORPHEUS | HERMES | PERSEPHONE | APOLLO

Persephone. His second to last trial. He had actually had a lot more fun than he had expected, and began to put this ball high above the Autumn Ball in his ever important 'Ball Rankings' list. Of course, it would probably all come crashing down if he didn't win the title of King, but he wasn't fretting about that now. Now, he was more concerned about winning the final tasks.

A boy explained the rules of the trial to him. So it was to be... collecting flowers? Certainly not as exciting as the last challenge, but he felt like it should still be a rather easy task. He was a Beauxbaton student after all, he could persevere through anything. He scoffed when the boy mentioned the woodline could be dangerous. Was that a challenge? He turned his mouth from a form of disdain, into a mischievous smirk. Surely the woodline would be where all the good flowers were, no?

Again, he was pleased with his outfit selection. Some of the girls would certainly have a harder time with it, considering some of their long, floor-length dresses. He did wish his shoes were more protective; hopefully none of these plants had thorns. That would be annoying.

And so, he set himself into action, off to collect the flowers necessary.

Action: Attempting to collect the flowers
Stats: Stamina: 5 - Evasion: 7 - Strength: 4 - Wisdom: 9 - Arcane: 4 - Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Foulplay

Rping as Ilvermorny iNPC Melody Westmoore | Hex: English - #8b2788 (to match her caricature as the goddess)
Interacting with: Trial Host (@Levi Drakos) | Outfit: Hecate (see above collage) | Underworld post

Flowers? Well, that didn't seem too hard. Mel wasn't anything like a botany whiz, if that was such a thing, but she had a neighbor who was a florist and she liked to think she'd picked up a thing or two. She was feeling pretty good until the host, a kid named Levi said this creepy thing about the woodline being dangerous and to be cautious and hurry. What in the name of begonias did that mean? These Hogwarts people were crazy. They were either assuring you that everything was perfectly safe and that no harm would come to you, or telling you you were in mortal peril and would probably die. Which was it?

Mel took her piece of paper with the flowers she'd need. It said:
- Aster
- Anemone
- Narcissus
- Red spider lily
- Dianthus
- Hyacinth
and was accompanied by little doodles of the flowers. The drawings weren't great, but they were recognizable, and she was grateful for them. This way, she wouldn't be taking a complete shot in the dark with these plants. Time was of the essence, and Mel set off to find the flowers for this Persephone lady.

Ok, maybe she should take the Easter egg hunt approach? Find all of the easy ones first and then start scouring the area? Or go down the list to make sure.... no, the first method would be quicker, and in this Trial, speed was the key.