Event Blossom Ball - Underworld

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open to interactions (owl first)

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When the ball had been officially announced to the students, Stanley had an impulse to write a letter to his dad. The theme had made him bounce on the balls of his feet in excitement considering his grandfather was from Greece. At the first chance he got, the boy wrote to Santino asking what he should wear and any advice on what would make him look 'cool'.

It had not taken very long for him to get a response. Stanley had not been surprised at the emotions his father was expressing in the letter. He had always been very proud of his Greek ancestry and would always jump at a chance to show off his knowledge and the legends of his culture. Santino had sent a small package along with the letter and had ordered to Stanley not to look at the outfit before the day of the ball.

His reaction to the costume was priceless. His face went up in flames as he held up the white traditional toga, a toy bow and arrow, some wings and a small golden crown. Stanley had not mentally prepared himself to go out in a fancy dress up like that. However there was no time to come up with a new costume and make it so he had reluctantly put it on and trudged down to the courtyard with Big Ted.

Annoyed, he swatted away the fake wings away from his hair yet again when they kept tugging on small strands. Stanley stopped at the entrance and looked around wearily. He hadn't planned coming with anyone but there were so many people together making him feel like an outcast. His heart dropped at the thought of having to be all alone the whole night.

He fumbled with his hands dropping Big Ted in the process. Sighing, he bent down to grab the teddy bear off of the floor and flicked away all the dirt that had collected onto the teddy's bum. Standing back up again, he scanned the area slightly.

His eye caught the punch stand. It would be nice to have a drink after he had ran down from the dormitory. Walking over steadily, Stanley lifted his hand to grab to grab a cup and hesitated a little but before latching his fingers around the circular object and taking a gulp.

Action: Arriving late, taking a drink of punch
Stats: Sta: 4 | Eva: 7 | Str: 1 | Wis: 7 | Arc P: 6 | Acc: 5
Abilities: Part-Goblin

Outfit:

Reducio

Kaegen paused, the comment about the 1-Cs being something unfamiliar to his hand was something he hadn't expected, but that made sense in retrospect. He would have to move slower, despite that being the very thing he had been trying to avoid. The journal he held had been meant for a friend, once. Now it was just a gloomy reminder of what couldn't happen. An obsessive journal kept by someone who desperately needed to cling to something.

Tea's fingers were doing the thing that a few of his own did, when the muscles chose to act of their own accord, as though they were trying to escape the body they were fused to. It meant adrenaline, fear, unease. Words of comfort failed to even come to mind, it was natural for someone to be afraid here, natural for them to be panicked and nervous. Of course they were, this was a party, after all. Death was around every corner.

But, displaying that openly was not a good move. It was just going to give away that they didn't belong to the light, that they weren't people deserving of protection or help. It wasn't out of a desire to help tea feel better, but out of a desire to survive that Kaegen's mind began turning gears, and it was out of that desire to survive that a plan was born. A plan that manifested in spidery, gaunt hands reaching for tea's twitching fingers. A clasp, to hold them still.

"Did they REALLY? And THEN what?"

loud, loud enough to hear, to be understood. He had seen other students do this, hold hands like this, but only when they were saying something like 'no!!!' or 'did he REALLY?' or 'you poor thing'. It would work, work enough. Tea didn't have to be calm, that was unreasonable. But they had to act it if they wanted to make it out in one piece. They were in a deathtrap, and deathtraps didn't typically allow for much margin of error.

They nodded along to tea's recounting of thanatos. Yes, others had displayed similar powers, although none had actually spoken with Kaegen directly. He often suspected that many lightworlders had a similar ability, though to a lesser extent. The glances they seemed to give each other in order to convey entire sentences spoke volumes more than Kaegen could ever hope to understand, for example.

"That's why we try to not give them reason to probe into our minds, and if they do, we make sure they dont' find anything of value. I've seen mindreading a few times, here and there. I don't know about being gifted something like that though. They've never been cooperative, when it comes to that kind of question. As for hope, they're always looking for it, so it should be easy to fake. Just look hurt and sad and use those tears, yes, as eyedrops. The tears are their hope. The all-too-human trait of inner sadness to show them that even monsters feel the same way, even if we don't."

Kaegen waved his arm vaguely at the crowd of students, as though he had hand-selected each of them to be there in attendance, specifically and exclusively to give him cover and protection.

"They always come back. There's never more than a handful that die, I'm sure. Most return. They're simply too many to take down. Their minimal power multiplies in groups, their healing attempts ensure their wounded do not succumb. They have numbers, and the desperate powers of the stupid. Imagine the potential if we could traverse that, use their resources, move amongst their ranks, all while being aware of what we're doing. Nothing can kill that much light. At least nothing in this school."

Kaegen squinted their eyes, scrunching their sallow face in an attempt to smile with their eyes, failing miserably. It felt, to them, as though there must be muscle group just out of reach, something almost attainable but not quite that somehow succeeded in avoiding the grasp of his brain, time and time again.

"It's not- working. Demonstrate."

The comment with the punch was nearly dismissed. It was Always spiked, with the food being spiked a good half of the time.

"Eat the food of the dead, remain in their world. Fitting, considering the theme. Although they always spike the drink. People should have caught on by now, although I suppose the light is fairly blinding."

The book was produced, again, along with hastily muttered notes, definitely not all on the same page, or concise, but at least referenceable. It just took a minute of flipping back and forth.

"Lights, maybe. The old star professor, tried to kill him once. Same with the old history professor. Three students I almost killed in the bathroom definitely recognize me, bones cull-them, airheat, the name wraith, bean, the one who lies, all of those would probably try to kill me if given the change. 7 others, unnamed, as well...

A pause

"I'll probably keep it on."

closed to interations unless we discuss it OOC

Balls weren't something that had particularly excited Noah before. He honestly couldn't have cared less and he mostly avoided them. The first time had been to a ball had been an absolute disaster and it was a wonder that this sentence isn't written as "the first and only time" after that as it had been the only time Noah had been in a seriously dangerous situation and he would love to have avoided it from ever happening again. But of course, he had realised that it had simply been because it was a secret ball held against the staff rules and it had made him feel stupid for going in the first place. But yes; he went to a ball again after that, the second and last ball before this one which was the exact reason he had been counting the days to the ball, spending his entire past 2-3 days thinking over and over about how it would go.

The one thing that maybe could've been good for him to think about, however, would have been to communicate where they would be meeting each other.

The other person was Roberta; his friend from the ball and someone he had developed a fairly strong connection to despite not having known her for that long. However, as of this moment, he was stuck in a courtyard with tons of people in costumes having a good time and he had no idea how he was going to find her, he was already kind of late already. Noah wasn't late often, turns out you're going to end up being late only when you really spend all your time and effort into making sure you won't be late. He kept forgetting to do something or the other and had to keep going back to his dorm and it was quite frankly his fault for not thinking straight. Just kidding, of course, it's all because of luck, fate or whatever natural force existed to ruin his life as much as humanly (or should that be naturally?) possible.

Either way; Noah found himself walking around the courtyard like the idiot he was walking around and trying to figure out who was who. It was a bit hard as some peoples costumes made it a bit hard to recognize them. Speaking of which, Noah was dressed as Hades. Cliche? Perhaps but Noah hadn't tried to put too much thought into it, he just wanted to talk to Roberta again, he couldn't care much about what he would be wearing other than it should be black and simple; which fit Hades well enough. The only thing weird was the helmet and he was quite confused when his parents sent him one when he asked for what he wanted but he wore it anyway, although he was considering taking it off on his way to the courtyard because he felt like he was going to look stupid. It turned out to be the least of his worries.

He should've thought about this before, they hadn't owled each other THAT much since the last ball but this felt like the most obvious thing to have communicated to each other; where they would be meeting. Damn him and his slow brain.

On the other hand, exploring the courtyard wasn't all that bad. It didn't have the feeling he would expect from a ball normally, it felt a lot more calmer and... cool... more relaxed. Definitely something he appreciated and he had no idea why anyone would want to go to the other place anyway, this was far nicer. Although he would probably give that a look later too just to see what was going on.

But as of now, he didn't have much time to appreciate the ball as he tried to find Roberta, getting more and more worried as he moved through the crowd, falling to find her. He couldn't have been too late right? Did she go back or something and thought he wasn't coming? Or perhaps she was at the other ball? What if she was angry at him like she was with her partner the last ball and was now dancing with someone else? The thoughts came to his head one after another he couldn't let them stop him from at least trying to find her, that was about all he could do unless he wanted to miss his chance at meeting her after all this time, he had to do this somehow.

actions: entering the ball and walking around searching for roberta because he's an idiot
also syl made that banner for noah so thanks syl lol

There were more people entering the ball than Opeila had expected. Suddenly the entrance area- How did they call it again? The Underworld?- was crowded. Too many things were happening at the same time.
For one, the drink showed an unexpected effect. While the unfamiliar liquid still ran down her throat, something else seemed to fill her stomach. Something hot and powerful that seemed to burn away the excitement and the joy from the thought of spending a great night with a friend. Opeila was so angry, she couldn't remember when she had felt like that the last time.

It was eating her up from inside, making her want to say things that she knew she could not say, but it took a lot of willpower to keep it down. Whatever she had just drunk, she could not let the effect of it ruin her and Zyk's evening. How long would it last? How long did she have to bite her tongue and swallow whatever snarky comment came to her mind?
The answer came with the next seconds: Not long. The aggressively burning sensation disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Opeila a little breathless.

If it hadn't come so quickly, she would have been unable to tell that it was no natural anger. Only now she noticed that she had held her breath and exhaled quickly. Just when she turned to her friend to make a joke about it or tell him to stay away from ominous drinks, she was not sure yet, his arm that had been around her the whole time was ripped away. Or maybe she had been ripped away, who could tell. Opeila found herself in a crowd that was pushing away from the Underworld. "Zyk? Zyk!"

The Slytherin gave up. Instead of fighting the crowd, she allowed them to pull her along, to whatever other place there was on the other end.

English = 5D4A64 | Russian = 4E7A27

Interacting with: @Aurora Raniver, @Howard White, Nate Smirnow (@Haley Rose), @Alan Vanes
Open to interactions

Befuddlement Draught in effect

Irina was so burrowed in her own anger that she didn’t notice Nate come up beside her until he told her to calm down in Russian. She was shocked that he had come to her but then again she was shouting. Trying not to let her anger get the better of her she turned Nate and responded back in Russian. ”I’m trying to but all I feel is anger.” Her goals were currently set on the two Hogwarts students but it would be nice to spend some time with Nate at this ball.

The little girl’s spell had missed and let out a laugh at that, the girl might be able to dress well but couldn’t cast a simple spell. Unfortunately that caused the boy to want to grab hold of her and after screaming at him she found her way out of the hold. These Hogwarts students were crazy and at that moment Irina felt some of the anger start to go away.

Befuddlement Draught effect gone

It was gone just like that, all of the random anger went away and Irina found herself confused as to why it had come in the first place. Why had she even yelled at the kids? It wasn’t a typical thing for her to do and it brought about a bad reputation to her school. She needed to apologize for yelling at these kids, especially the girl who she tried to steal the purse from. Before she had a chance to though, another older boy asked what was going on.

Irina had no clue who he was but the fancy girl seemed to recognize him and looked to be a little scared of him. This girl quickly tried to cover up the fact that she cast a spell and Irina was trying to play along, she didn’t want the things that she said to be told to more people. Nodding along with the lie she provided her own insight by saying, ”Yes, we couldn’t find another time to get together to practice except for this ball.”

Taking a small step towards the girl right before she fled, Irina quietly said, ”I’m so sorry for everything I said and for trying to take your purse, that was unacceptable of me and I’m shocked that I even did that.” She hoped that the apology would be enough but the girl seemed to want to try and run away, she was apparently going to a friend but when Irina looked there she saw no one. Maybe the girl was just trying to run away from Irina.

Knowing that she needed to apologize to the boy now, Irina took a tiny step towards him and said, ”Sorry about all that, that all just came over me after I drank one of the drinks…” then it hit her, she had figured it out before when she was under the potion but didn’t believe it, there was different potions acting as drinks. ”That’s it the drinks are potions.”

She needed to make sure that Nate didn’t drink anything because it wasn’t safe, she had no idea what other one they had in store. Turning back to Nate she saw him take a sip of a drink. The timing was terrible, right when she figured it out, he made the same mistake. Tapping on Nate’s arm lightly she said in a concerned tone, ”Are you okay Nate? I think that there might be something in the drinks.”

For Moderation:

Reducio

Action:
Stats: STA: 8 | EVA: 8 | STR: 7 | WIS: 9 | ARCP: 6 | ACC: 7
Heath points: 800/800
Abilities: Sixth Sense, Fearless, and Calming Presence
Effect: +2 to their awareness rolls. If a player attempts to enter a thread that you are already in, there is a 25% chance that you automatically detect them on entry.
Effect: Fear effects such as a dhmpir's aura, the ability terrible presence, a lycanothrope's intimidation or certain charms, potions and jinxes that would normally cause a fear effect do not work on you as you are immune to them.
Effect: An aura of calm. Allies (defined at the START of an instance regardless of later betrayal) gain a 10% chance to auto-hit their chosen target. This does not stack.

Post tracker: [1] [O] [H] [H] [P] [H] [A] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Writing as Ella Forsberg

Ella’s blue-gray eyes livened with Makism’s approach from the refreshments section. Finding it so easy to match the boy’s warm and confident energy, the pre-game jitters became instantly disposable after simply knowing he was happy to see her. Her confidence rose as she could bury her status as a charity case, instead representing a person the boy was genuinely interested in sharing the evening with.

Greta’s return of compliments became background noise, a string-puller on a side stage in comparison to the main attraction that Makism represented to her. “Makism...hi!” Her voice was higher pitched than her normal speaking tone. She returned a broad smile of her own with a modest sideways turn of her hips to partially mask the reddish tone threatening to overtake her olive skin. “A goddess, really…” With a humbled shrug of amusement, she side-eyed Greta in her enthusiastic melting process. "Thank you."

All the radiant energy Maks brought upon his approach was more than enough to offset his choice to arrive with an empty hand, opting not to offer her a drink. Not that Ella was the type of girl that a guy needed to wait on, his company was more than enough to satisfy her...though she did tilt her head in a glance towards the refreshment table for a moment, a bit thirsty after all.

“And you're as jaunty as ever, Makism.” She beamed with a reticent giggle, the kind of laugh you question after the fact. Wait, why did I laugh? She hooked her arm with his in a joyous grin, taking his side as he addressed Greta. Once again displaying a high level of class, and understanding for a ball’s standards. Greta, however, unsuspecting or unfamiliar, unraveled amidst the boy’s classy moves...leaving Ella with a silly chuckle at her friend’s flustered recovery. “Oh, does Maks know Hanzo…?” Her eyes flickered between the pair, unsure if Greta typically introduced herself as Hanzo’s sister...or if the boys were already familiar.

Sensing her embarrassment, Ella used her free hand to take Greta’s, lightly swinging with a soft squeeze of her palm. “It does seem grim...doesn’t it?” Ella agreed with Greta’s assessment, a furrowed brow responding to their gloomy surroundings. Though one only needs to glance at the school paper’s to understand the disorder that plagues this campus. Nowhere near the efficiency or elegance of the Durmstrang Elite. Ella was relieved to know she chose the right school in the end...the students here have not even the slightest concept of discipline.

Before she could engage Greta further, a dark cloud loomed overhead in her brother’s approach. Increasingly colder, often outspoken in his objections to not just Makism, but ANY member of the male gender showing a shred of interest in her. God forbid a boy like me for who I am, and take away his self-righteous position as the closest one in my life. The audacity he has to think he can dictate who I talk to. This all ends tonight.

Her cheerful smile faded as she detected her brother’s trademark soul stealing glare directly into the wickets of Makism. How could Greta have any interest in him?! Damn Hollywood glorifying the bad boy image and breaching a young impressionable girl’s subconscious to make her believe anything about that nihilistic attitude was valuable. “He can put his hands where he wants, and you’ll do nothing about it.” Ella huffed, then her eyes widened in embarrassment at what that might have insinuated for a typical teenage boy. That came out..wrong. But Makism was everything mother and father could want in a boy she likes, and Nichlas would still nitpick every last detail. Like he smiles too much, he’s too nice to actually be nice. He might like boys instead of girls...

Fortunately, after extending an invitation to Greta, Nichlas took his temporary leave to go participate in the trials, being the typical competitor that he was. Leaving Greta in an uncomfortable middle ground after witnessing the formidable tension between them. She would lean in to whisper in Ella’s ear as Makism downed his drink like a practiced frat boy.

"Does Niche not like Maksim?" Greta asked.

In truth, this aversion was not personal. It was sourced from Nichlas belief that Ella was hiding something, and whatever boy she placed her sights on fell victim to his suspicions. At times when Ella’s been away from home, Nichlas noticed some unusual activity in her room. Suspecting she had a secret admirer, a stalker that regularly goes through her things in an attempt to find a way to gain her favor. Ella didn’t believe it, thinking it was merely a front for Nichlas to justify his overbearing behavior.

Ella turned to Greta with a sternly blank expression, but Greta would understand the meaning of the look. Not now...not in front of Maks. “I’m thirsty...Greta, could you grab me a drink?”[Greta permitted godmodding]. With a nod, her friend understood the assignment as a necessary distraction, and a moment for Ella to address the tension. “I apologise for Niche...he’s…” She stopped herself, releasing a fatigued sigh. “Anyway. Any interest in the trials?” One thing’s for certain, if Makism did want to participate, they’d start on the trial opposite of Niche.

When Greta eventually returned with a drink, Ella attempted to drink it in the fashion Maks did, tilting the cup up, though managing no more than a gulp before a series of coughs ensued.

Interactions: @Ami Procoppio, @Alan Vanes, @Evelynn Decipio

Open to Interactions
interacting with Arjan Oberoi (@Serena Towers) & @Phaedra Stavrou

As Dolf stood by the corner of the table watching the crowd move around him, he quickly lost track of time. It was sort of hypnotic, looking at all the students pass him by as they headed for the brighter area beyond the Underworld or into the supposedly thrilling "Hero Trials" — a name that was both ridiculous and extremely intriguing, by the way. At first, he'd been looking for a familiar face, intent on not spending the night alone. He was better than that. Even if he was the picture of a social outcast right now, with only his cup to keep him company.

After a few minutes, however, the faces started to blur together and a fog settled over his mind. He tried to take another sip of his drink to refresh himself and found nothing left at the bottom. When had he finished it? He didn't remember doing that. Dolf turned the cup over in his hands a few times, making sure that it was his and that he hadn't picked up someone else's by mistake. It was. He squinted at it for a moment longer before putting it down on the table and glancing around the room again.

He knew where he was, right? Right. The Blossom Ball at Hogwarts. He knew that he was there to enjoy himself, and he knew he hadn't been there for very long. That covered Where, Why, When. Still, the feeling that he'd forgotten something nagged at him. It was a horrible feeling. Dolf was an organized person and he rarely let anything slip his mind; as a result, this sense that something had gotten away from him, and the fact that he didn't know what that something was, were incredibly irritating. Where. When. Why. What was next? How, he supposed. That one was easy too. He remembered walking down to the party from the cabins where the Durmstrang students were staying. He'd been adjusting his laurel crown the whole time, since there was no one around to tell him it looked fine the way it was. And he'd nearly tripped on a root at the edge of the woods and sworn so loudly he was sure that Hogwarts' headmaster could hear it up in his tower.

Where. When. Why. How. Dolf could skip over What, because that really didn't apply here, being mostly the same as Where. In that case, all that was left was...Who. But that was ridiculous as well, wasn't it? He didn't have a date — he absolutely would've remembered bringing a date — and he knew who he was. He was...

He was...

Dolf felt his skin crawl. He knew his father's name. He knew his mother's name. He muttered them quietly and they felt familiar on his tongue. They felt natural. But when he tried to say his own name, nothing came out. He couldn't remember it at all.

Stricken by sudden panic, he backed away a few steps from the table, his eyes darting to the punch fountain in alarm. What the hell was in that drink? Because it had to be the drink. Even in his fog, Dolf was sure of that much. There was no other way that he'd forget his own name. He had to knock it over before anyone else took a cup. Yeah, he'd knock it over, and then he'd find the Hogwarts pridurki — the assholes — that had done this, and he'd do something...well, very bad. Specifics would come later when his mind was working better. He grit his teeth and took a step towards the fountain, squaring his shoulders, getting ready to shove.

But he never got the chance. Someone nearby called out a name that made Dolf pause. "Novikov!" It got through to the boy's addled mind and he felt a rush of relief. He was Novikov: wasn't he? It sounded right. Dolf...Rudolf...Novikov. He silently repeated it a few times until he was sure of it. That was his name. He had a name again. And someone was using it.

"What are you doing there?" the same voice continued. This time, Dolf looked up to see who was speaking and was met with the face of his pal Arjan Oberoi. He was pretty sure they were friends! He was also pretty sure that whatever had been in his drink wasn't entirely worn off, but that was beside the point. He smiled at Arjan and took a step over to him, but the other boy was already on a different topic. In a burst of excitement, Arjan started talking about the trials, and then he was turning to a very pretty girl at his side. That must have been his date. Dolf looked at her face for a few long seconds, trying to remember if he'd ever seen her before, and only turned away when he realized with embarrassment that she might think he was staring.

Dolf turned his attention to Arjan as the charmer himself invited the girl he called Miss Stavrou to "be his queen". He then proceeded to wander off in a completely random direction without a word of goodbye. Were they supposed to follow him? Arjan must have taken a drink too. He was going to be pissed when he found out what had happened to him. That was a good thing, though. If Dolf could find whoever had spiked the fountains, he could use Arjan's muscle in the fight. He hadn't forgotten about that, not yet anyway.

Clearing his throat, Dolf shuffled a half-step closer to the Stavrou girl. He noticed suddenly that they were both wearing purple. This realization completely destroyed his train of thought, and it took a moment before he spoke, flinching at the uncertainty in his own voice. "Hello. I'm...uh...Rudolf. Rudolf Novikov." I didn't forget, I know my own name, he nearly added, but bit his tongue just in time. He gestured to Arjan as the other boy roamed the Underworld. "Did you come with him? I'm sorry."

Awww, maybe that was a little harsh. Dolf and Arjan were friends, after all. Maybe. Who could remember for sure? He hurried to walk back his joke. "I mean, Arjan is a...great guy. Yes." If Maksim were here, Dolf would never hear the end of how awful this conversation was going. He was going to blame this one on the drink too, but that excuse was wearing thin. Before he could dig himself any deeper with Miss Stavrou, Dolf gave her a stiff nod and turned to follow Arjan into the Hero Trials.

He made a mental note to smack himself on the head a few times before he got there.

ACTION: Leaving for Hero Trials

STR 10 | EVA 8 | ACC 8 | ARC 9 | WIS 5 | STA 10
Monster Hunter | Martial Artist | Fearless | Advanced Casting

Englisch: 349293 | Russian 800020

Interacting with: Irina @Lavinia Cloven

Outfit

Open to interactions

Nate was confused, why was Irina so angry? He looked at her with forrowed eyebrows while anger was written on her face as she answered him. "But why?" he inquired, his voice anxious. He didn't understand the world anymore and unnoticed a feeling was spreading inside him. He fell silent, began to look back and forth in panic. What was going on here? Was everyone crazy? Why was she so angry? Was Irina dangerous? Unnoticed, he took a few steps back, bumping into a student. He turned around, his instinct was to apologize, but he only looked at the student with wide eyes, who continued walking with his companion, shaking their head.

WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE? Shouted his own voice in his head. He now looked back at Irina, who suddenly apologized. He looked away and back at her in shock. Why did she suddenly apologize? A moment ago she was angry and wanted to kill the students, now she was apologizing. Was she mentally ill in some way? Who had he made friends with?

Anxiously he looked at her, when suddenly she turned her attention back to him, "Oh No." he whispered softly. Now his hour had struck. Would she now yell at him too and then apologize? Or worse, would she use violence? Nate, you have a chance, you've been boxing for years, his voice reminded him. STOP, he would never fight a girl. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Desperation was written all over his face.

He flinched and stumbled back a few steps as Irina touched him on the arm. Scared to death and with fear in his eyes, he looked at her, "I don't know. I'm so scared." He looked at her, that was a mistake. Never tell the potential threat that you are scared. He put his hands to his head and ruffled his hair. He wanted to lie down here. In the fetal position and wrap his arms protectively around himself. "I want to go ho - what?" There's something in the drinks.

Of course there's something in the drinks, why else would he act like this. WAIT, there was something in the drinks! "Oh by Merlin, I'm going to die." He said quietly and looked at Irina, startled. "I'M GOING TO DIE. THEY HAVE POISONED ME!" he now screamed loudly in panic. Oh No, was the only thing he could think. "How long do I have?" he asked now with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat. He had to do something, this wasn't going to be the end of him.

He glanced around quickly, spinning rapidly on his axis, to the right, to the left, and to the right again. He ignored the confused looks that were on him. "HELP ME." He shouted again now, completely desperate.

"I got it!" A shout of joy. He now looked back to Irina and spoke directly to her. "I got it!" If the drinks were poisoned, surely there would be a drink with the antidote. He looked into the cup in his hand and ran off to the drinks. On the way he spilled half of it, jostled other students but nothing could stop him. The adrenaline in his body made him stop at nothing and no one. It was as if he was running away from his killer.

Arriving at the drinks, he looked into his cup, "Okay Nate, think." He now spoke to himself. "Think." He picked up the cup with the color that was the complete opposite of his first drink and took a hit. He still had an anxious look on his face and glanced around. "I don't feel anything." He whispered. "WHY DON'T I FEEL ANYTHING?" he shouted and threw the cup on the floor. He took two more and took a sip each, but nothing happened.

He dropped to his knees, a tear running down his face. "This is the end of me."

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Reducio

Interacting with @Vivian Fletcher and @Lily Cawthi
Mentioning @Rhea Miller as Ophélie Moore and @Calypso Starling
Open to interactions
Samantha's thoughts

Hair ~ Shoes ~ Flower Crown ~ Dress

When Vivian's eyes started to fill with tears, Samantha started to panic. She didn't want to see her friend crying or being upset. When Vivian started to talk about how quiet she was, Samantha decided to go with it. She didn't want to get any more attention. "Owhhh yes, sorry. I meant to say that, you are indeed really quiet."

"I DID NOT FORGET WHO I AM!" Samantha looked at Vivian in despair, why would her friend ever say such things. She was annoyed, Vivian never acted like this. The brunette hoped that the hufflepuff would turn back to normal fast, because she had no idea how much she could bare before she snapped.

After Vivian was done laughing at her self spoke again."Vivian," she looked her friends in the eyes, "can you please act normal, I want to have fun at this ball and you are not acting like yourself. You are saying that I forgot who I am, but you are the one acting all strange, not me." Samantha didn't know why her friend acted so weird, all she knew was that she wanted to have a fun night.

“And, maybe I’ll see you when I come back?” Lily asked before leaving. Samantha was relieved, apparently Vivian didn't scare her away. Yes, that would be fun. I think we are going to the Spring Festival soon."

After Vivian apologized she seemed to be back to normal, to Samantha's relief. "Your bag? I haven't seen your bag. Maybe it is over there." She pointed to the place where she had dragged Vivian away from. "Let's take a look, I'm sure we will find it there. After we have found you bag we can go to the festival."

Just before Samantha left the underworld she turned around to see if Ophé and Calypso were still around. She couldn't find either of them, maybe it was because they were already gone or just because Samantha didn't look good enough. She hoped they didn't mind that she wasn't coming back, maybe they could even talk again in the Spring Festival again.

Reducio

Action: Talking with Vivian and leaving the Underworld to go to the Spring Festival
Stats: Sta 6 | Eva 7 | Str 2 | Wis 7 | Arc 7 | Acc 6

"Rabbits live close to death and when death comes closer than usual, thinking about survival leaves little room for anything else." - Watership Down

Kaegen's loud exclamation after his spidery fingers gripped Selim's jittery hand made the smaller boy jerk. The sudden spike of noise had thrown him off-guard and making his thudding heart seem very prominent. He instinctively clenched the dhampir's hand tighter, swearing under his breath.

He scrambled to find a typical reaction to their fake conversation, and could only muster up a nod as his teeth gritted in tension. The swamping noise of the crowd and his own imagination seemed to bear down on him at all angles trying to crowd his thoughts until nothing remained other than primal panic.

Ronri tried to soothe his mind with a song from his past before everything turned for the worst and caused the boy to swiftly degrade. It helped clear his mind enough for him to become very annoyed at himself, at his bad reaction to a simple ball.

He had been through worse, so why was this triggering him? It was the cursed noises, the lies, the sounds conjured up by his madness to drag him further into depravity.

Selim let out a sigh, dragging his focus back into the conversation, and nodded at the fourth year's explanation. He ignored the fact that his question as to what a 1-C was remained unanswered. "Makes sense, though honestly if someone looked into my mind I doubt they'd be able to make sense of its madness anyways..." A good dose of self-deprecating humour never hurt anyone. "But using these tears like eyedrops wouldn't make much sense... they'd go unnoticed under our masks and make no sense outside of them... though I suppose if they bother to try and see our eyes through the eyeholes their wateriness might work well enough." He mused a moment longer, then shrugged it off. "I'll do what I can."

He glanced to the crowd once more as Kaegen gestured to it, noting the burst of a spell being fired and the de-escalating of what had just moments before looked to be the cusp of the fight. Things were still too loud, too erratic, and even a glance at the scene made the nape of his neck bristle with goosebumps of deep unease. He shifted his attention back to the dhampir, at least feeling more grounded thanks to their clasped hands, a physical anchor in his personal ocean of madness.

"So we're making connections to the lightworld? Anchors, so we can shift back to it from the shadows with more ease? Using it to our advantage?" Selim understood that concept, grasped it. It had been his plan when he had first come to Hogwarts, make connections, create bonds to be exploited... well, that was his plan, then insanity came to feed on his unstable character and tore his efforts asunder.

Though, Kaegen seemed to be actively trying to fight against something, or prepare for something. This didn't seem to be the same drive that Selim had last year, ambition, it felt more like an animal's efforts to prepare for a storm.

Maybe he was reading it wrong, though... Selim was hardly as keen as he used to be. Really they needed to discuss further the goals they had to get through future school years.

The dhampir's attempt at another genuine-looking smile was... less-than-favourable. Selim sighed as he tried to scrounge through the decaying files on etiquette in his mind space. His fingers tried to jitter and jerk again, but he kept them still. They ended up merely tensing, shifting slightly and becoming tendons taut over bones.

He shifted his face away from the crowd, briefly shifting his mask to conjure up the expression he had not donned for many months. It was a broken mask, but he forced his facial muscles to work with him. Hollow cheeks shifted up to give his eyes that face-down recent moon look, making them seem squinty. His chapped lips were curved up, no teeth shown. At a first glance, it'd look like a minimally strained smile, but on closer inspection, one would not find that glint of genuine happiness in his crimson hues. Overall, it looked natural, but distinctly had an unsettling feeling that could not be placed.

The thin boy then placed his mask back over his face after he was sure his companion got enough time to study it. Letting out a sharp breath he hummed. "That's the best I can manage on such short notice... we'll likely have to practice it more in the future... I'll need to dig up the old etiquette book again, it seems." The Slytherin muttered the last part and then focused back on the matter at hand, looking back at the milling partygoers and noting that a few had made exclamations about the punch being tainted with potions.

"Speak of the devil." he murmured, "Well, it seems they're noticing now. Took them long enough."

Selim looked back at the dhampir, listening to his list of those who would recognize him if he didn't remove his mask. The faux-ghoul of a student nodded along, despite not knowing any of the names listed beyond 'lights' perhaps, and wholeheartedly agreed with the conclusion of not removing the mask.

Of course, the boy was entirely unfazed at the mention of Kaegen attempting to murder professors or students, acting as if that was a normal thing to do. Hardly a surprise seeing as how he was a weapon of murder himself. "I have a few who would recognize me as well. My dormmates that know of Mushroom would recognize me, so would the Fox, and a boy I recently dragged close to death. Two professors, one I know who is here, would also likely know my face." He paused, realizing he needed to mention that particular professor. "Beware the small girl with a camera and black hair. They're easily recognizable by their excessive cheer. They are actually a faculty member who seems to enjoy shifting into the form of a normal student... and they're nosey, and I wouldn't trust them for anything."

His tone was serious as he stated the later part. The caretaker made his skin crawl and filled him with deep unease (most of it stemmed from his distrust of adults, but the fact that this staff member disguised themselves as a child made him instinctively recoil from them).

The second year continued his list. "Vladimir would likely at least faintly recognize me, so would a particular Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff..."

Selim paused. "I already intended to keep the mask on but saying the list of those who would know my face solidifies it." He shook his head lightly.

"Not to mention that a few would possibly recognize us simply because they know of me." Aku snorted, "I don't think many students wander around with a puppet on their hand like me."

The rabbit-masked boy nodded, "At least this means that we won't have to worry about mastering a smile, though tone of voice is just as difficult."

His red hues now more focused, Selim dismissed their current surroundings to look towards the actual ball. He thought he could vaguely hear a commotion there, but that may have just been his mind playing tricks on his exhausted brain once more.

"Are we going to simply remain here? More greyworlders seem drawn to 'the Underworld' than lightworlders. Along with that... I smell food coming from the 'Spring Festival." His eyes narrowed as he peered in that direction, and if his mask was alive, its nose would be twitching at the prospect. "I saw Athanatos head there, along with a few that may recognize Mushroom, but more could be gained there rather than here..."

"Stop making up excuses, Tea, you're obviously just hungry." Aku gave a lopsided grin and Selim shrugged.

"I haven't eaten proper food in a while, and I can detect most inconsistencies in food by taste or smell, so I'm not too worried about getting spiked with some sort of potion or poison..." He glanced at Kaegen. "Did you eat before coming here? I was busy getting ready... can't do much world hopping on an empty stomach."

Selim dreaded the noise that would likely come with the overpopulated section, but he also rally wanted some cake.

After eating rat and table scraps for so long he had forgotten what cake tasted like.

... Actually, cake might be too sweet for him, maybe just some fresh meat would satisfy his often-hollow stomach.

Yeah... he could go for some steak.

Better than this mass of chaotic people, it was practically a ticking timebomb in the Underworld. He knew there were more people here than in the Spring Festival, he had only seen a few head to the actual ball.

"I'm pretty sure there are fewer people there as well... and since this is our first attempt at world-hopping I'd think it'd be easier if we try with less people?" His tone held a note of uncertainty as he looked at the dhampir, he didn't really know how the upperclassman viewed world-hopping, but in his experience, trying to interact with lightworlders was easier to do if there was fewer of them, less overwhelming. It would definitely be easier with a physical mask rather than a metaphorical one, that was for sure.

The stress of everyone scrutinizing your expression, your identity, was nullified with an actual mask. Hopefully, it'd help Kaegen as well, after all, that had been Selim's intention when he was making the dhampir's mask... to help.

Actions: No actions

Free Actions: Chatting with he local Dhampir Dungeon Dweller. Getting his senses overwhelmed by the senseless yelling and smells of sweat and punch. Thinking about the steak that's probably in the Spring Festival.