Event Blossom Ball - Spring Festival

"Well! You should learn to understand when you're not wanted. Shimada is Dee's date and clearly has no interest in you." She managed to scold, flushed because she wasn't used to confrontation. "If you want to date him, you should ask him properly instead of trying to steal him away." And a poem? Ugh! How embarrassing. Who was so desperate that they would conduct poetry for the person they had a crush on? And more importantly, would that method work on Jack? She was tempted to tackle the girl to the ground, but she recognized her from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. There was no doubt that this girl was much stronger than her, and now that Dee had returned, she could easily take care of things, right? There was nothing that Dee couldn't do, and Shimada seemed like he was an intelligent boy. Surely they could handle themselves... She would keep an eye on the three for now and step in if needed.

More importantly, Winnie found herself still huffing over Mathias Pride's comments. Just who did that boy think he was? Claiming that she was undressing him with her eyes. That was hardly necessary, given that he had stripped himself in front of her. Still... Something he had said before was still ringing through her head as she stared longingly over at Jack and Ruka.

"To be wanted enough to be pursued. To be valued, wanted, desired. To be chased rather than doing the chasing. To not be treated as irrelevant even if that means being subservient."

Stupid Pride. What did he know about her? Nothing. Just like he knew nothing about Jack. Even though they were in the same house. And he probably knew him longer. UGH. What a jerk face. Well, joke was on him. She had never known any of those things and she was just fine. Irrelevant and subservient? She gnawed at her lower lip, still staring at Jack and Ruka. They were both so cool and she enjoyed watching their dance, but she also felt awkward just standing there. Like a third wheel. Or a fifth wheel... Or even a sixth wheel now that Kazuo's biggest... fan had made an appearance. Was she irrelevant?

She hugged herself, glancing around. Her eyes fell back on Mathias Pride. He was in his knickers still, and it was partly her fault. What would her mother say? Well... There was no sense in allowing his night to be ruined just because she had lost her temper. He might have been a big jerk face, but Winnie was better than that. She had to be better.

"Just stay here a moment." Ruka's voice rang in her mind. It soothed her. He would be back, right? He wouldn't leave her alone. Sweet Ruka and clever Jack. She would be good, she would wait and stay--...

"To not be treated as irrelevant even if that means being subservient." Nope, there was that anger again. Ringing through her body and burning like a flame. The sharp sting of acid eating away at her. Stupid Pride. What right did he have anyways? She went to glare at him, only to find that he had disappeared.

Wait a minute! She wasn't done. She had more to say. More to scold him over.

Was she really going to...? She was. She straightened her posture and scanned the room. She found him, still in his knickers. She somehow managed to ignore a blonde girl tackling a rather damper looking student, and instead stormed up to him. She huffed, quickly glancing over at Ruka and Jack before her blue eyes settled on him, narrowed into a glare. "I am not irrelevant." She suddenly told him, if any of his bandages were left behind, her pink painted fingers would help rip them off (if this counts as an action, I have not used mine this round). "Nor am I subservient." She had disobeyed Ruka just now by leaving her station. It made her feel guilty, but she had a point to make! She was about to open her mouth to tell him just how much she mattered, when someone fired a spell and she jumped, gripping his arm. Where were the chaperones?!

Action: Being annoyed. Helping Pride get the bandages off.
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage
Inventory: Purse/Clutch | Wand

Banner by Winnie Harper

"She corrected herself!" Jack protested when Ruka brought up Winnie having declared her love. "It was an honest mistake; anyone could have made it. What, do you think she may have gotten a mouthful of a love potion or something? What does 'swooning' even entail?!" He followed along half-heartedly to the steps of the choreography that he remembered, careful to mind the flames of the torch as he did so. "How can I be careless when I can't read minds? It's not my fault if not everything is as it seems! I'm just playing a role for the night. Or should I not even do that?"

His grumpy scowl abruptly ceased when Ruka lowered his voice, speaking nearer to comment on 'not wanting anybody else ending up on a cutting board'. Hazel eyes widened a moment before he wilted visibly. Then he looked away, his jaw stubbornly jutting forward. "Fine," he snapped through clenched teeth. "I suppose I'll just never get close to or be nice to anyone ever again. Because apparently, I'm not only forbidden from pissing people off, I'm barred from asking them for dances or anything else that might suggest I'm leading them on. Might as well live the rest of my life as an isolated hermit, then."

He was about to storm away when several very familiar voices reached Jack's ears, causing him to jerk his head in the direction of the sources. He was just in time to see Erin tackle another dorm mate of his - Percival Gray - while calling him a 'death witch' before Vladimir cast the slug-vomiting curse upon her.

The Welsh boy's eyes narrowed. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn't like it. He'd even done his best to ignore Vlad for the duration of the ball though he'd seen him nearby when he'd entered the Spring Festival. However, this was going too far. Jack darted to Erin's side, whipping out his wand to perform the proper movements and bellowing a counter-spell.

"Finite Incantatem!"

Wearing:

Reducio

Interacting with: @Ruka Burnett-Tân & @Erin Ryan
Mentioning: @Vladimir Athanatos & @Percival Gray
Action: Arguing with Ruka only to stop and attempt to cast a counter-spell on Vlad's slug-vomiting curse aimed at Erin
Abilities: Prodigal Charms Learner; Binding Mark
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 10 | ArcPower: 7 | Accuracy: 7
Inventory: Pan pipes & wand
Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Interacting| @Erin Ryan
Mentions| @Quinn Healy | @Nico Shymane | @Percival Gray | @Vladimir Athanatos | @Jack Burnett
Attire - Medusa
Action| Casting Immobulus at Erin Ryan.

Kazuo was pleased that his silliness had drawn a laugh from Dee. “Perhaps I shall keep the skirts around for when I need them but I think day-to-day I’ll leave that to you. You clearly wear them better.” He said with a smile before turning his attention to the very pushy girl. Yet to his dismay - and clearly an error in his judgement - while he was trying to get rid of Lavinia, Dee decided to play along… in the wrong way. He supposed in hindsight that the ‘fiance’ lie was probably not the best choice while his date for the evening was standing beside him. He had mistakenly assumed that Dee would understand what he was doing and back him but instead, the traitorous Raven was clearly taking delight in his suffering. And he couldn’t exactly blame her. In her shoes, he would have likely done the same.

“My deepest apologies, lovely Aphrodite! How could I possibly refuse your gracious invitation?” He replied to Dee with a grin. “Truly terrible of me not to tell you but I had hoped to have at least this one night with you.” Wow was this awful. Just uttering the saccharine words made his teeth hurt. It was growing increasingly harder to resist the urge to laugh at his own over-the-top acting.

While Dee’s response had been playful, Lavinia’s was downright creepy, wiping away all traces of humour from Kazuo’s expression. Her suggestion that they run away together sounded altogether like the sort of thing a love-sick teenager might propose but the ominous addition of 'get rid of the girl in the way’ was not. His eyes narrowed, disapproval turning his lips downward. “I am an honourable son of the Shimada clan, Miss Lavinia. I do not break my word once it is given and I do not disgrace my family.” He may have been lying about the fiance but the gravitas with which he spoke these words implied an unquestionable honesty.

Dee’s snide clap-back at Lavinia only served to aggravate the situation and Lavinia, in turn, threw spiteful words at Dee. Of course, Lavinia had no idea that Dee and Kazuo were attending the Ball more as friends than romantic partners so of course, she would assume that Dee was seriously fighting for him. It was amusing - and terrifying - and only got worse. Lavinia began to recite poetry to him. He stared at her in disbelief as she professed her obsession. Then she was leaning in. Toward him. He’d seen this disastrous act enough times in shoujo manga and he would not be the victim of it if he had any say. As Lavinia leaned in, Kazuo immediately raised his hand to her face, attempting to block the kiss and shove her face away, speaking only a single, firm word. "No."



He would have liked to have witnessed the exchange between Winnie and Matthias, would have far preferred to follow the suspicious Slytherin, to find out what he was up to. Yet instead he was afflicted by a yandere he didn’t even know, trying to kiss, marry, kill him. Truly irritating. Girls were crazy. The real fun was about to start and he was stuck fending off obsessive affection.

───────────── Interacting: @Dealla Prince @Lavinia Cloven Mentioning: Action: DODGING. NO KISSING HERE. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I AM TOO YOUNG FOR THESE SHENANIGANS. ─────────────

──────────────── Stats Stamina 5 Evasion 7 Strength 5 Wisdom 6 Arcane Power 6 Accuracy 6 ────────────────

───────────── Abilities Perfectionist You have a reduced critical failure chance range by 1. In addition, you can counter up to 1 point of additional critical failure chances caused by abilities or spells (not potions). ─────────────

|Interacting|
@Jack Burnett @Vladimir Athanatos
|Mentioning|
@Winnie Harper @Erin Ryan
|Closed to Interaction unless tagged or discussed|

If Ruka had thought his little intervention would make his brother aware of Winnie's obvious affections, then he was wrong. Jack decided to be daft, insisting that someone declaring their love for someone else was an honest mistake, as if Winnie hadn't been furiously blushing and gushing over him for the past fifteen minutes. Ruka could do little else but blink, face blank as he tried to figure out just when Jack had turned this stupid. Had he always been this oblivious to other people's emotions and Ruka had just turned a blind eye on it? After all... Well, Winnie wasn't the first person whose intimate affections Jack had been blissfully ignorant about.

"What you shouldn't be doing is leading people on if you don't have the intention to follow through," he said gruffly, furrowing his brows. "If you really think she realises you're playing a role for the night you're not half as smart as I thought you were. Even Kaz noticed, and he's barely seen you for a minute!" Shaking his head, Ruka took a step to the side, breaking their choreography so he could pull his torch back from Jack with a little too much force. "If you can't realise when people are attached enough to you that it'll break them the second you run away, then yeah," he murmured, more calmly than he was feeling as he watched Jack's expression shift into something that made Ruka hate himself for the way he was talking to his brother. Yet, he couldn't seem to stop. Over a year of frustrations and concern; he wasn't even scratching the surface. "Then maybe it'd be better for someone to lock you away before you can hurt anybody else." One step back, and Ruka wanted to turn around to make sure Jack wouldn't see the way his lip quivered, but in that moment things around them seemed to get more out of hand than they had been.

Voices were casting spells across the area, and the next thing Ruka knew, Jack was sprinting in the direction of his crazed ex girlfriend. Typical. More than typical. Run away, be someone's hero, fix the problem, play God. God, Jack fit into this setting flawlessly, with his radar for damsels in distress and his too big heart taking responsibility for everybody's problems in the ways that would backfire most. Locking him up seemed like a good plan to ensure everyone's safety. He was explosive, going off when it was least expected, planting bombs in other people without realising, watching them blow up and blaming someone else. Always meddling, meddling, meddling, sticking his nose where it had no business being, trying to save the day and dooming people instead.

Erin seemed like a good example for that.

Erin, who was tackling lanterns and people alike because apparently everyone was the enemy. Not wrong. Maybe she had it all figured out. Maybe that was why she found herself targeted by two jinxes and Jack's counter spell that was cast at seemingly about the same time as everything else. Jack was trying to ease the effects of spells that might not even have hit, proving again how terribly impulsive he was despite his constant claims of acting logically rather than emotionally.

Ruka's eyes drifted through the crowd, to whoever was nearby, to locate the source of this mess. He stopped with his eyes on Vladimir, wand drawn. He was the problem, wasn't he? Every single time, it always revolved around him. Spells cast, fists balled, conspiracies, suspicions, fire, death, at the centre of it Vladimir Athanatos. Maybe just an innocent bystander, maybe wrongfully accused, but in the moment, Ruka couldn't bring himself to care about whether he really was the villain everyone made him out to be or not. Last Ball he hadn't been able to find someone to blame for Jack leaving him behind, but this time he could blame the wand in Vladimir's hand, pointed at Erin.

Ruka reached beneath his Chlamys and into the messenger bag he was carrying hidden from sight. Rummaging around in it for just a short moment, Ruka retrieved his own wand, hand shaking slightly as he pointed it at the Ravenclaw. "Expelliarmus!" he exclaimed in a quivering voice, gripping the hilt of his wand tightly. Enough with all the spell casting, slug spitting, lantern tackling, enough. "Are you daft?" he asked, stepping towards Vladimir whether his spell had had any effect or not. "Aiming a spell into a group of people like there's not enough chaos already? Think her spitting slugs on his face is really gonna make anything any better?" Rationally, yes, Erin spitting slugs on people could quite possibly be a better alternative to her wrestling them to the ground, but there was also the possibility that choking up slime would just make her even more aggressive. Just because her mouth would be occupied didn't mean she couldn't still use her arms and legs to inflict damage. And even in her current state, Ruka was certain she'd be able to inflict a lot of damage.

How was it possible for every single Ball to dissolve into chaos quicker than the last one?

|Action|
- Hating Jack a little too passionately
- Casting Expelliarmus on Vlad because obviously this is all his fault

|Stats and Abilities|
Stamina - 7 || Evasion - 9 || Strength - 4 || Wisdom - 12 || Arcane Power - 6 || Accuracy - 7

The Muggle Condition || Advanced Casting || Perfectionist

Lil Outfit Doodle

|Post Tracker|
1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 ||
9

Haley followed the path and the other students while not letting go of Simon's hand. She followed the cherry blossom petals and looked around in awe. The surroundings turned into a place lit in yellow and orange. The atmosphere reminded Haley of the sun, of the coming summer and spring, which they were now welcoming after winter. In the distance she could see all the lights reflected in the lake and she stopped for a moment to take in everything around her. With shining eyes she looked at Simon before she spun around once and started to giggle. When she stopped again she looked to Simon again, excitement still written all over her face. "Wow."

"Shall we?" Haley inquired, leading the two of them in easy steps to the long wooden tabletops. On each probably everybody could find something for theirselves, fruits, pastries, cheeses and meats. Haley grabbed a few bunches of grapes and brought them one by one to her mouth while she stood at the edge with Simon and let her gaze wander over the place again.

Some students had gathered on the dance floor and were dancing. It was almost as if the two had walked through a mirror and here was the reciprocal place to the Underworld.

After Haley finished her grapes, she grabbed one of the drinks that were on the tables and took a few sips. "feel like dancing?" she winked at Simon with a questioning look. As soon as he would agree, she would lead him on the dance floor and start enjoying the evening together.

Action: Entering with @Simon Kincaid sipping on a drink and going to the dancefloor

Stats: Stamina - 5 | Evasion - 4 | Strength - 5 | Wisdom - 6 | ArcPower - 5 | Accuracy - 5

Parselmouth

Ballroom Blitz

It seemed the Spring Festival would continue to be the more peaceful side of the Ball, at least at first.

The strange effects of the drinks that had affected @Lavinia Cloven and @Serena Towers would fade, leaving at least one of them likely wondering what had come over them…

More people began to trickle in, to join in the happy atmosphere. @Marion Davenport and @Alexander Varellion would be the first to take to the dance floor, though it seemed Alexander had gained a jealous stalker in @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood.

@Eden Gardener and @Amelia Faye would finally catch up to the group they had earlier parted from but would - perhaps wisely - choose to linger on their own for the time being.

@Quinn Healy - Our Lord Hades and @ Nico Shymane - his lovely Persephone would make a fantastic entrance. Their stunning costumes would catch the eye, not to mention the adorable way Hades carried his Persephone upon his shoulder. @Santario Martin would soon join them for a chat, followed by @Percival Gray and @Vladimir Athanatos, though the latter would find himself rebuffed by the Lord of the Underworld and his tiny, sharp-toothed Persephone.

The next to arrive would be a pair of visitors, Cassie (@Lucia Fox) from Beauxbatons and Charles (@Henry Knight) from Durmstrang. Freshly finished with the Trials, the two would both take a well-deserved drink. Cassie would find herself at the mercy of the Invigoration Draught, suddenly filled with an abundance of energy, while Charles would face the fate of Amortentia.

Two more guest students joined the fun, Madeleine Nakamura (@Aaron Jones) and Cassanora Browne (@Hugh Lowe), lingering at the tables, happy to converse with each other.

It was about this time when chaos would begin to unfold. @Jack Burnett’s successful ferula would only temporarily silence the knickers-clad @Matthias Pride though it was long enough for @Ruka Burnett-Tân to drag Jack off to the dance floor to not-really dance while actually arguing about the puppygirl they had left behind. @Kazuo, left with Matthias and @Winnie Harper for company, would find himself set upon by Lavinia. @Dealla Prince would return from the Trials in time to bear witness to the entire tragic affair. With a cloud of hearts floating above her head, Lavinia would profess her love for the terrified Kazuo and even go so far as to try to kiss him. Her determination was terrifying as she leaned in, so terrifying that though Kazuo’s thought was to push her away, he froze as if caught in a basilisk’s gaze. The ‘No.’ he had attempted to utter came out as a squeak, voice cracking as Lavinia’s lips pressed against his cheek.

Lavinia Accuracy - 20 +11(Critical Success)
Kazuo Evasion - 1 + 7 (Perfectionist negates Critical Failure)

While this trauma might have been world-ending for Apollo, it was @Erin Ryan who would truly shatter the relative calm of the Ball. In a fit of questionable sanity, she would throw herself at Percival, tackling him and knocking him into one of the drink tables. Despite the warning of impending doom that was Erin’s battlecry of “Deathwitch!” Percival would not be quick enough to escape the fratgirl assault. Punch would spill, glasses would shatter, the table would crack with the force of Erin’s tackle.

Erin Tackle - Acc: 12+7 = 19
Percival Evasion: 4 + 8 = 12
Erin Damage: Str 14 + 15 = 29%
Percival Health 497/700

Yet the assault would not go unnoticed or unanswered. First to step up to the plate was Vlad, wand out and firing off a Slug-Vomiting Jinx at the barbarian princess. Yet Erin would manage to dodge. Lucky for Percival. Bad enough to be tackled into a table, getting slug vomit on his lovely suit would have truly added insult to injury.

Wis 9 + 10 = 19,
Acc 5 + 10 =15
Versus Erin's eva 11+11 = 22

Not one to be left out of the action, Jack would run to the rescue of his ex-girlfriend (abandoning his brother in the process) from the slimy vomitous fate Vlad had in store by casting a counterspell. Sadly, it was a waste of a cast as Vlad's spell missed.

Wis: 10 + 7 = 17
Acc: 4 + 7 = 11

Santario would go on the offensive, wisely understanding that Erin was a danger to everyone, and cast Immobulus. Despite a skillful cast, she would not be able to land her spell; Erin would somehow manage to dodge again.

Wis: 4 + 8 = 12
Acc: 9 + 8 = 17
Erin Eva: 18 + 11 = 29

Finally, Ruka, not one to let his brother have all the questionable fun, would enter the fray and choose an unlikely target. Not Erin, clearly attacking the relatively innocent Percival, not Jack who seemed intent on helping Erin. No, Ruka would do his best to de-wand Vlad with an Expelliarmus. His spell would hit, though not quitr with the force necessary to send Vlad's wand flying but it did cause the Ravenclaw to fumble. (Impaired hit.)

Wis: 12+12 = 24
Acc: 14 + 7 = 21
Vlad's eva: 11 + 10 = 21

Summary
Lavinia Cloven and Serena Towers are no longer under the effects of the drinks.

Cassie Heather McGregor Martin is under the effects of the Invigorating Draught.

Charles Alluring is under the effects of Amortentia.

Lavinia Cloven successfully assaulted kissed Kazuo on the cheek. Kazuo is frozen in terror.

Erin Ryan successfully tackled Percival Gray, throwing him into the drink table.

Vladimir Athanatos cast the Slug Vomiting Curse but missed.

Jack Burnett cast Finite Incantum. No spells were finited because none had succeeded.

Santario Martin cast Immobulus but it turns out Erin is very dexterous and another spell missed.

Ruka Burnett-Tân cast Expelliarmus at Vlad but the hit was impaired so Vlad fumbled but did not completely lose his wand.

Invigoration Draught
You are suddenly filled with energy. You will have an advantage on any physical action(anything done with your hands) this round.

Amortentia
The effects of the Amortentia would fill the drinker with an obsession for whoever they eyed first after drinking the punch. This person is now the only thing you can focus on. (Kaz has agreed to be the default person if needed, also your reflection is a valid option I'm looking at you Arjan). You have a disadvantage at performing any actions that do not involve the person this round.

Mod 1 Mod 2

Nicholas enjoyed the punch, the sweet fruity tang lingered on his tongue, the sugar of the drink invigorating him for the rest of the ball to come. The liquid slid down his gullet without any ill-effect, not that the boy knew to expect one, nor did he feel any particular relief at the fact. He found himself enjoying his spot of relative peace and quiet, away from the chaos of the ball proper and the risk of embarrassment upon the dance floor. Instead, he found himself happy to observe by his perch at the drinks table, content with the idea that no chaos would come his way for he did not court it.

How ignorant a thought that had been. The ball descended into an uproar in but a moment. The first year had been observing the entrance from the Underworld, people watching in the loosest sense of the term, before everything came crashing down around him. Another of the drinks tables suddenly found itself the scene of a brawl, the wild woman in her toga tackling a hapless second-year into it. Drinks spilt and glasses shattered and all at once the student body jumped into the fray. Spells were cast at the toga-wearing woman, all of which missed, and yet more spells were flung toward those spellcasters. Nicholas merely held his punch in wonder, and in shock.

Nicholas had no intention of being flattened, he retreated from the drinks table and toward the entrance to the Underworld, ready to make his getaway back into Orpheus's passage should things turn for the worse. But a darker thought crossed his mind, perhaps he could actually add to the chaos for once before making his departure. God only knew that some of his upperclassmen deserved it, there were dark tidings afoot whenever some of them were around.

For the umpteenth time since had had attended the school, Nicholas found himself caught halfway between a fight and flight response as he skirted the edge of the ball. His eyes daring not to move themselves from the dueling students. To any passerby he looked as he was, a scared little first year trying to remove himself from the situation, the wand that he had drawn and held into his hand was merely a defensive response.

Action: holding action
Stats: STA: 7 | EVA: 6 | STR: 8 | WIS: 6 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 4
Abilities: Foulplay