Event Blossom Ball - Underworld

As soon as it came, it was over. Nikita had scrambled under the nearest table, and grabbed her legs rocking back and forth. She wasn't herself. Her mind wasn't her own. She was someone else. She was scared. She couldn't think, she couldn't focus. She couldn't breathe. Tears came to her eyes as she started shaking.

That's when it happened. It felt like someone had pulled her out of an ocean of honey. Before everything was scary, loud, and she couldn't breathe. Now everything seemed different. Normal. Nikita looked around, taking deep breathes. Suddenly she wasn't scared. The words in her head were gone.

But there was something else there, now. Anger. Deep boiling anger. She was furious. She got out from under the table, fuming. Who the hell do they think they are? They think they can just drive kids insane... poison them. Nikita brushed herself off. I may of been speaking nonsense, but they certainly are trying to harm us or something.

All she saw was red. She had a mission. To find whoever was responsible and test just how much of a bruise she can make with her hands. She looked around, not finding anyone who seemed in charge. She gritted her teeth. "WHO IS THE HOST OF THIS BALL?!" She demanded, no really expecting anyone to own up. She would look for any guilty faces.

She searched the faces of everyone, her fists curled. She needed to warn everyone. But first, revenge.

Action: demanding for the host of the ball | outfit

STA 6 | EVA 6 | STR 8 | WIS 5 | ARC 5 | ACC 5 | Obnoxiously Strong

Graphic by Leonard Oaksworth

Interacting with: @Evelynn Decipio, Arjan Oberoi - @Serena Towers & @Rafael D'Spacito

Apparel

Feeling the gentle pressure of Evelynn's gaze upon him, Marshal momentarily swiveled his head to meet it. He wasn't sure how she felt about the large boy's appearance, but the subtle softening of her countenance did not escape his notice as their eyes met. The look they shared then lasted only a moment, yet served to reinforce his conviction.
While her condition remained a mystery to him - his certainty that something wasn't right strengthened by the cloud which seemed to hover over her - it was clear that his presence had extended some amount of comfort to the girl, and there was no way he would take that from her. He would linger at her side until it became apparent that she wished him gone. And if it meant enduring a conflict with one who could likely kill him, then so be it.

Her relaxed posture did not last, however, as a repetition of the word 'guns' was torn from her lips, errant strands of red hair nearly swiping Marshal across the face when she hastily turned to face the stranger once more.
This drew a perplexed furrowing of the boy's brow. Was she truly so desperate to view the bulging biceps on display before her? Perhaps she harbored secret desires concerning the more mountainous nature of this pompous fellow's musculature.
Rolling his shoulders lightly, Marshal resisted the urge to examine his own arm as previous insecurities increased. Such an action wouldn't do in the face of confrontation. Weakness wouldn't be allowed an outward appearance here; the other boy's confidence needed no extra foundation to base itself upon, and he certainly couldn't provide it through a lack of poise - at least not if he wanted to prevail in a battle dominated by will.
In reality, the young Gryffindor was no slouch, speaking in a physical sense, especially considering his age. His build, though slender, was clearly shaped in the likeness of an athlete, his muscles gradually hardening and becoming more defined as he grew.
Unfortunately for him, the area in which he lacked advantage was made manifest in his height, or lack thereof. The way he was forced to crane his neck in order to glare at the leering expression on the stranger's face served as a painful reminder of that fact.

The giant responded to his hostile comment in kind, causing his features to harden as his full attention returned to the obnoxious excuse for a mountain range. However, though the other boy's words were spoken in a provocative manner, he barely paid the first-year a glance, his nose thrust much too high in the air to allow his eyes a view of the shorter student.
It was then that Marshal experienced an involuntary shudder of disgust at his previous thought that the large boy's comment was similar to something he might say himself.
This was exactly the type of personality that vexed him the most; one who flaunted their own confidence to gain what they desired, heedless of the hearts they had to step on to promote their own image of ill-conceived importance.
Mentally washing his hands of any similarities the two might have, he grew determined to prove just how much of a contrast distinguished their respective colors in the grand painting of reality.

"Not to worry," he responded lightly to the comment concerning a punching bag, notably unfazed. "Your ego is quite large enough for two people. You can find one of them in a mirror, and I'm certain he'll be happy to help. After all, he's much more interested in you than anyone here." A deceitfully innocent cock of his head accompanied the sweeping gesture he performed with his hands, indicating himself, Evelynn, and the entirety of the ball.
The game was on, and he wasn't interested in holding back once he was committed.
And neither, evidently, was Eve.
Marshal was shocked to see the appearance of the red-head's wand, though a grin heralded his assumption that she had taken such action in response to the violent implications of the stranger's words.
His lips parted with the intent of releasing a smug comment in the other boy's direction. But one word didn't pass their curled threshold before Eve spoke again, unease tainting her inquiry.
Hazel eyes flicking to appraise her troubled expression, the flame of anger in his chest waned once more, concern overthrowing all else. He hated to see her this way; it wasn't normal.
Fixated as he was upon the girl, the movement of another figure teased the edge of his gaze and evoked a momentary glance in that direction.
There, he saw yet another boy striding their way, noticed how his path veered unfailingly toward Evelynn, and ultimately violated her personal space as another collision resulted in sparkling liquid splattered across her stunning outfit.

Stepping forward, the young Gryffindor extended his arms, one hand grasping for Eve's forearm, while the other wrapped around her waist in an attempt stop her from stumbling.
Had the situation contained any sort of normalcy, he would have held her for as long as she permitted, cherished the way her body felt against his in a moment seemingly pulled straight from his favorite movie scenes. But the circumstances were nowhere near normal.
His judgement already clouded by doubt, jealousy and protective indignation, he perceived that the boy's route had remained consistent, steadily nearing Evelynn with predetermined vigor. The newcomer's vindictive tone as he 'apologized' only lent itself to Marshal's suspicion, causing the fire within to flare hotter than before.
Gently pulling his date out of the way, the blonde boy released her and reached out, intending to place his hands on the assailant's chest and shove with all his strength.
Whether the action succeeded or not, he would address his target in a challenging tone. "Struggling to walk in a straight line, are we?" he mocked the boy's own words. "Or do you always look like a cross-eyed drunk?"

Allowing his eyes to travel across the boy's features, he quickly deduced that he did not, in fact, appear to be cross-eyed. Much to the contrary, the dark features that made up his carefully sculpted face accented the chocolate irises set between them, creating a face that many would envy, and that Marshal recognized.
Though the agitated look persisted on his own face, his inward surprise would show itself in the form of slightly raised eyebrows. This was Rafael D'Spacito, captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, and someone whom the young student had previously admired for his skill in the sport he fantasized so much about.
But now, despite his abilities involving a broomstick, all of that admiration swirled down the proverbial drain in one fell swoop. Now the captain's true colors had been shown; now he was the enemy.

The first stranger, with whom this whole conflict had started, spat an absurd accusation at Marshal, but would be met only with indifference - a fact that was sure to drive the self-absorbed giant up the wall.

Action: Further antagonizing Arjan. Attempting to catch Evelynn if she stumbles from Rafael's actions. Attempting to shove Rafael with all of his strength. Ignoring Arjan's wild accusations.

Stats:
Stamina 6 | Evasion 5 | Strength 8 | Wisdom 5 | Arcane Power 5 | Accuracy 6

Abilities:
Fearless

Post Tracker: X | X | X | X | X

Englisch: 349293 | Russian 800020

Interacting with: Irina @Lavinia Cloven permission for slightly godmode

Outfit

This trip was supposed to be special, it was supposed to be fun, but now here they were, getting poisoned and Nate couldn't wait to get back. This whole evening was too crazy and the only thing he could do was shake his head about it and definitely not drink anything. But he would not let that get him down. He was a fighter and he would not give up that easily. They were all going to have a good time and they deserved it. Irina deserved it, his classmates deserved it, and he deserved it. He wanted to at least still take the chance and somehow save the evening, not for himself, but for his good friend Irina, who had probably prevented him from going completely crazy tonight.

He smiled at her for the first time after all the events and held out his hand to her, silently asking her to dance. His left hand was clasped behind his back and he bowed slightly as soon as Irina put her hand in his. He placed a soft and short kiss on her hand before he stood up again. Just like a gentleman did, as he had learned from his father. He led her with him to the dance floor, trying to block out the chaos around him, he had enough of that today.

"May I?" he asked her when they arrived and as soon as she gave him the confirmation, he put his hand on her hip and took the other in his hand and started dancing with her. He didn't know how well Irina could dance and depending on that he would take the lead or not. If need be, he would just put her on his feet like they had always done when they were kids. His brother and he had learned to dance early but not only that. Dancing, forms of politeness, etiquette and whatever else there was. These were also among the subjects that were more strictly lived in the Smirnov household. A man should behave like a man. He should be able to take a woman out dancing and he had to be able to ask her decently. He had to know how to behave decently at the table and how to dress decently. He should not engage in unnecessary fights, but he should be able to defend himself. All this and much more was taught to them at an early age and there were no exceptions from their father.

And while an outsider might think that all this was much too strict and especially that their father was too strict with his sons, they were wrong with this assumption. Even though it was often annoying for the two brothers as children, they were grateful to him for it today. They knew how to behave and of course they were still young and behaved according to their age but the foundation was there. They grew up in a loving household and were allowed to be children, children who knew how to behave.

Closed to Interactions unless mentioned below
Mentioning: @Elizabeth Isaacs
Mentioning for Convineince: @Akari Kato as Enzo Delacroix & @Elisabeth Erner as Rosa Swan
Bolded Text: French | Regular Text: English | Color: #BF4040
Post Tracker: X | X
Trial Tracker: Trial Tracker: HADES | HECATE | ORPHEUS | HERMES | PERSEPHONE | APOLLO

Florian returned from the trials as confident as ever. He had managed to make it through each one with relatively little problems, even doing quite well in some of them, if he did say so himself. However, his favorite of the lot was Apollo. Not many knew of the boy's hidden 'broom-tricks' talent, and it was nice to finally have a stage to show them off. Of course, he felt that the one token he received was certainly not enough. While he was happy to have been able to show off to the judges he felt absolutely certain they would have never had seen anything like that before, which was definitely more deserving of two... nay, five tokens instead. Of course he could have definitely gotten five tokens had he had his broom in hand, able to perform various flips and tricks off of it, but of course he wasn't allowed to as a first year. He huffed about this as he returned back into the underworld, eagerly anticipating the results.

He scoured the crowd for his date, Elizabeth, but to no avail. Perhaps she had decided to do the trials herself? No matter, he would place himself where he could be easily seen and grab a glass of punch in the meantime. The colors of the mixtures were quite strange, but he got one anyway, ignorant to the fact that they could be tainted. With all the chaos going on around him, and his experience from the last ball, it was certainly more so just the people around him being stupid Hogwarts students as per usual.

He took a sip as he observed it all.

Action: Returning from the trials, having a drink
Stats: Stamina: 5 - Evasion: 7 - Strength: 4 - Wisdom: 9 - Arcane: 4 - Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Foulplay

English Russian | Open for Interaction

Banner made by Winnie Harper

Roleplaying as INPC Rodion Makarovich | Koldovstoretz | Charmer

Interacting with @Violet Carrington

What just happened? Maybe it was his panic kicked in, perhaps he was just a bit oblivious, it took him a couple of seconds to realise that his level of hotness raised from ten to a billion. Flaming hot Makarovich. He was literally on fire, burning in the midst of the chaos of the Underworld. Am I dead? Am I in hell already? His so called date was not playing around. The master of the art of spellcasting herself, trying to burn the entire venue just because she hated the way the stylish macaroni dressed. The fire spread ever so quickly, burning the expensive designer made outer, then slowly his black shirt afterwards. Fuming on the inside and out, he did the one thing that came to his mind. Revenge. You wanna play with fire? I’ll give you fire. “YOU- YOU CRAZY OLD HAG CARRINGTON!”

Ran at full speed, did not care less about anything except one thing. Spread the fire onto the Slytherin’s dress. Oh yes. If he will be burned into ashes, she should too. Hopefully, the other goblin girl who apparently incompetent enough at wand waving will help his attempt to hug the Christmas tree girl. If he succeeds, Carrington would be on fire, and thus, they will be a hot couple. Forever and always.

The Beach Boy Outfit

Reducio

Sta 7 | Eva 5 | Str 7 | Wis 7 | Arc 4 | Acc 5

Charmer
Action :
Hugging Violet so she will be hot as well
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Closed to Interactions
Interacting with @Everly Charlton
Mentioning: @Piper Clark
Post Tracker: X | X | X | X
Trial Tracker: HADES | HECATE | ORPHEUS | HERMES | PERSEPHONE | APOLLO

Starlee felt rather pleased with her performance at the trials. She hadn't expected to like them, but here she was, enjoyably leaving the Apollo trial with Everly. It seemed the judge was pleased with their performance, Starlee even noticed him singing along, and he gave them both a token for it. She had accumulated quite a few tokens now, and she was curious how everyone else had faired, and, of course, who would win the coveted Blossom Ball King and Queen position.

She reviewed her performance, which she completed with (almost) flying colors. The one trial that tripped (literally) her up was Hermes, ironically enough with her choice of footwear. She had tripped not once, but twice, her pomegranate smashing to bits. The others, she thought, she had done exceedingly well. Hades had been fine, despite her lack of knowledge on the Bundimum. Hecate had probably been her favorite. Aside from the fact that her lumos went off without a hitch, she certainly felt confident about her potion. Orpheus had been what sparked that fire within her, and she kept her head strong and forward when her 'Grandfather' coaxed her back. And then finally there was Persephone, another easy challenge. Her strategic notion for plant gathering helped her, as she found all three in one go. Surely she had to be a top contender for Blossom Ball Queen. Perhaps she could rub that in Piper's face. She hadn't seen Piper at the ball yet, but where there was a competition like this, Piper was sure to have joined in.

As the two approached the center of the room, Starlee said, "Hey, wanna head to the Festival area? I'm ready for a change of scenery." Everly agreed, and the two headed off.

Action: Returning from the Trials, Heading to the Spring Festival
Godmodding of Everly returning with Starlee and agreeing to go to the Spring Festival approved
Stats: Sta: 4 | Eva: 6 | Str: 6 | Wis: 8 | Arc: 6 | Acc: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage

Closed to Interactions Mentioning: @Starlee Kennedy as Florian LeRoy For Convenience: @Akari Kato as Enzo Delacroix & @Elisabeth Erner as Rosa Swan

Hex: 064110 English | French Post Tracker: X

Liz had really really not wanted to come here. Yes she asked Florian to the dance and yes at that point she had known about her mother's death, however, she had been in a rare good mood that day. Of course she wasn't going to blow her friend off, she just didn't know how long she could stand being around so many happy people. So many people, who's lives are perfectly fine and dandy, while Liz had to walk around pretending that she was fine. That she was alright and that nothing had happened.

She had waved Florian off when he said he was going to do the trials. Liz would have, but she just didn't have the energy. Instead she had spent her time wandering around the outskirts of the party, trying to avoid people. She didn't notice the return of her date at first, but she finally saw him and made her way over to him.

She smiled as she approached him. Being with someone she got along with so well made her feel a tad bit better. Maybe she could get some enjoyment out of this ball after all. "Hello again Florian. How did your trials go? I spent my time avoiding people and trying to decide whether I wanted to even try one of those drinks? How does yours taste?" She asked.

She busied her hands by running them along her long flowing gown. Of course the gown was green, always the one to be proud of her house she was. She stood on her toes slightly so that she could peer closer at the color of his concoction and without even asking, took it from his hand and brought it up to her nose to smell it. "I don't know if you should be drinking this...it smells kinda funny and it's a really odd color. It could be a potion or something of that sort." She glared down at the drink and located the nearest trash can to toss it.

She came back over to him and offered him her hand to hold. "You're kinda stupid, you know that? At least I am here to keep you safe, mademoiselle." She was teasing him of course. She turned her attention out to the room to watch all the other students.

Action: Throwing Florian's drink away and examining the other students.
Stamina:5 | Evasion:5 | Strength:3 | Wisdom:6 | ArcPower:8 | Accuracy:8
Ability: Fearless

Open to Interaction

Hexcode= #507091

Syl smiled and waved gently as Frost said hi, her warm smile melting him like butter. He would recompose himself after realizing it.

"It's a corsage," he said in answer. "It goes on your wrist like this." Blushing all the while offering to put it over her wrist. "Its some sort of tradition thing my mom said I should do." It was admittedly an American tradition but the flower was beautiful so maybe that could offset the awkwardness of it all. "Do you like it?" He posed, face sincere with curiosity. "If not, I can hang onto it." After her answer, putting it on for her if yes and putting it in his own hair like an ornament if no, Syl would quickly change the topic.

"Do you like dancing?" He knew she had a talents for sweets, but they hadn't had much time to talk otherwise and this was exactly the scenario where confessing his inexperience would matter. "I've not really danced with anyone before, so I'm a bit nervous." She was older and more experienced, thus more likely having gone to a ball before. "The last ball I went to didn't end so well." Thoughts of dark misfits and flaming hay bales amidst a sea of costumed students flickered for a moment. Serena's disembodied head among them.

He would smile half-heartedly. He hoped she didn't mind his inexperience and he certainly didn't seem worried over their lack of planning.

Action: Asking Frost if she likes to dance while offering her a flower.

Roleplaying as Roberta Martin

Open to Interaction

Hexcode= #967bb6

"We're equals in this regard then," she teased him reassuringly with a smirk. It filled her with confidence to know she wasn't alone, and even more so when she realized she wouldn't have to worry about making any lasting impressions. When she noticed Noah blushing it made it all that much more obvious that he'd done this just to please her. She was grateful she had the opportunity to have met him last year. "It is so good to see you again, Noah." She said, her smile becoming more authentic and kind, but less teasing and playful.

Subtly inching her way backwards towards the punch, Roberta would keep the conversation going while secretly maneuvering her way into a drink. She was slippery like that. "I've heard next to nothing about SCAR since I left for home." She confessed nonchalantly whilst grabbing a cup of punch and putting it into her date's hands. "Nor have I heard any rumors about the duelling finals this year." She scanned the room out of the corner of her eye. There were too many costumes obscuring the gathering to recognize any of Hogwart's duelling talent. "Though I guess that's to be expected."

Before getting too carried away in conversation, she would grab another cup of punch for herself. "In your letter, you mentioned falling behind." To her, schoolwork was a matter of competition. A game to be won. As long as she was ahead of the game, she was forgiving about her own mistakes. "Did you ever catch back up or do you need me to tutor you sometime?" Was Hogwart's curriculum even remotely the same as Beauxbaton's? Probably not, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to be a show off. Anyways, after so boldly suggesting she were smarter, she would drink the punch.

Action: Trying the punch

Interactions: @Opeila Winters [Theodore Duncain] and @Thora Larkston [Karilyna Kawahara]
Mentions: Rodion Makarovich

She may have facepalmed. Actually, scratch the 'may', that's exactly what happened. KK showed up in, of all things, a hoodie. And then she asked if dressing up for a ball was standard. "Dude." Was she being serious? It looked like yes, and that was something Phyllis could not wrap her head around. For one, she came from a line of rich snobby, extra purebloods, so balls had been a fact of life since a point in time where she was actually shorter than her friend, aka when she was like five. It didn't fully occur to her that Karilyna might have been less familiar with such events. And besides, had she been living under a rock or something? She'd literally been at the Masquerade Ball a year ago and people had definitely been dressed up for that.

She had no words. You know what? Whatever. Phyllis didn't really care that much if Theo and KK weren't dressed to theme, or like they were going to a ball at all in Shorty's case. And to be fair, dresses sucked, so she could respect the decision to not wear one. Good thing the Thunderbird wasn't a control freak because they did not match. Remotely. But they were ganging up on her! Obviously she could comment, she was the one actually meeting the ball's technical dress code. Ew, wait a minute. Why was she following dress code? Maybe the three of them should have rejected the theme entirely to stand out or something. Oh well, too late, and she was proud of her toga. Speaking of which, "Not a stupid sheet. It was a noble contributor to my perfectly Greek outfit."

Outfits aside, here they were, at the entrance to the ball. Theo asked when he was ever not a gentleman and she snorted. To be fair, he was actually pretty great most of the time so he wasn't completely wrong, but as his friend, she could say for a fact that might have been a slight stretch. KK continued to be kind of clueless and Phyllis watched on with a grin as Theo tried to accommodate the height difference. Though... "Miss Outfit Judge? That's terrible!" She couldn't really talk; she gave out lots of nicknames and they were definitely not all stellar. Case in point: "Maybe I should call you Mr. Nickname Fail for the rest of the night."

Well, finally, they were truly there, inside the ball area and everything. Were they late? Uh, yeah. Fashionably so? I mean, Phyllis would say yes, but probably not. Ah yes, Theo asked the first question you needed to ask yourself if you ever got stuck at a ball: what were you even going to do? Whenever she was at one of those pureblood balls at her parents' insistence, she'd basically resign herself to extreme boredom and try to astral project her consciousness literally anywhere else. This kind of ball was better because she had people to have fun with, but even then, what to do? Theo said drinks, which tended to be her go-to. Eating/drinking was something and the offerings tended to be decent enough. Dancing could also be fun. Just not slow, formal dancing because that's not where it's at.

The kind of dancing she might be down for was not going to happen here, clearly. It was dark and quiet, which was kind of interesting... just not the perfect setting for someone loud like her. "Yeah, let's go drinks first." The redhead led the way to the refreshments table, scrunching up her nose at how fancy all the stuff was. Extra, much? It smelled kind of weird over here, too, but whatever. She would busy herself with filling one of the cups with the brightly colored punch.

As she did that, she took another look around. Phyllis was not an exceptionally observant person, but every once and a while she could be bothered to check out her surroundings, see who all was there. A bright orange flickering stood out in the shadowy area. What was that Theo had just said? Check if there is already a fire somewhere? "Dang, already." She winced in sympathy for the person on fire. How had that happened? Were people even going to do something about it or were they just so used to fire they couldn't care less? It wasn't her problem, right? Hmm. With a little shrug, she turned back to KK and Theo and took a drink of her punch.

Action: Drinking the punch
Stats: STA: 11 | EVA: 9 | STR: 10 | WIS: 7 | ARC: 2 | ACC: 11
Abilities: Calming Presence | Fearless | Statistically Relevant [+2 Stamina]
[Allies for Calming Presence are all Ilvermorny students]