Dantega:Volume 3 Chapter 11
(PART 2)
"Eh... Don't you think this looks a little ridiculous?" asks Ash.
She is wearing an extremely frilly pink dress with ribbons all over.
Standing next to her in one of the dressing rooms is a tall girl with lime green hair who's name is Elise, she has stars in her eyes and her face is sparkling bright red. "Ahhhhnn~ you look so cute!! How can you say this doesn't look good on you!?"
Ash smiles and with a vein on her forehead she politely answers, "Because it doesn't..."
Elise shows a pouting expression and replies, "Boooo, fine I'll get you a different dress. But I do think that looks good on you."
"I'm not trying to impress a ten year old girl! I'm trying to make an older guy look at me, and if he saw me the first thing he'd do is laugh and say how childish I look!"
"I'm telling you that looking older will be much worse! Being young is the best part of life so you must show it off if you want to win him over!"
Ash sighs when she realizes that nothing she can do will break the determination of how Elise wants her to look, if she had any idea how to dress herself in such a way she would've ditched the dawdling tall woman long ago.
"Fine... Let's just make this next one a little more classy."
Elise solutes her and states, "Leave it to me!"
She dashes out of the dress room and heads back into the aisles.
Ash takes the dress off and sits on a bench that rests in the ten by ten sized dressing room, she glares at herself in the mirror and a saddened expression surfaces on her face.
"What am I doing?.. It's not like this is actually going to work.."
Thinking about how enthusiastic this random girl Elise is, she can't help but feel grateful for her help, but at the same time feel that there is no need for Elise to put so much effort into a lost cause. After all, Zurvick is much older. And not only that, he has Queen LeLaine for a wife; the chances of her winning him over are slim to none.
Ash leans her back against the wall for a moment until her determination comes back. "So what if he's married to the Queen, I'll be damned if I don't try to do something!"
Elise is rushing through the aisles to find the right dress for Ash; it's almost as if she is in an entranced state as she scopes out the best of the best. In the aisle that Elise is currently in, a girl with long black hair that parts at her shoulders and bright blue eyes is shopping as well. She is Rain Von Ronheim, the leading Battle Strategist for Eiyalazo.
Of course Elise, being the type of person she is immediately picked out an outfit for Rain without even gathering a second look at either Rain or the dress.
"This one." she says as if her mind is occupied with something else.
Rain doesn't really care about her opinion but she decides to take a look anyway. It is a sky blue dress with black linings over the buttons and ribbons; there are slight and simple designs etched in dark blue throughout and it even matches the top hat and umbrella that goes along with it.
Rain is actually not too picky when it comes to things like this, she doesn't want to get a dress too extravagant so she won't stand out more than necessary, and she doesn't want a gaudy one for the exact same reason. Her job is to blend into the crowd, this outfit is perfect for such an occasion. It's just the right color to where she can look like someone with a lot of class, and with her personality make it seem as natural as it already is.
She takes it and begins to walk toward the dressing room, but before she gets there she turns to Elise and simply says, "Thank you."
Rain gets to the dressing rooms, there are three of them and they are all connected to where they share the same roofs with a gap in the top wall.
Rain begins to change when she hears the sound of thumping being heard on the wall next to her, that banging noise is accompanied by a girl's voice.
"Ahhh who am I kidding!? There's not way this is gonna work!" This voice belongs to Ash, who is despairing over her current situation, she is banging her head against the wall in frustration at this very moment.
Rain, who is in the room adjacent to Ash is becoming very annoyed, she knocks on the wall and says, "Can you please be quiet? The noise is giving me a headache."
The banging stops and Ash jumps to her feet. "Sorry sorry! I didn't know anyone was in there!"
Hearing her loud voice, Rain wants to end the conversation quickly so she can try her outfit on and get out. "Don't worry about, now you know."
"O-Okay... Sorry again."
"....."
Rain doesn't respond so she can get the other person to stop talking, and after a few moments she realizes it worked. She readies to change until she hears the loud sound of the adjacent door opening quickly and slamming shut ringing through her ears.
The loud voice of Elise is heard yelling, "This is the one! It's perfect it's perfect it's perfect!"
Then, Ash's voice is heard, "Waaaaaa!? That one!? It shows way too much skin below my shoulders!"
"No it doesn't! This has just the right amount of mature sex appeal and shows just the right amount of your cute young body! Ahaaaan I'm so proud of myself!"
Thuds and thumps are heard throughout the dressing rooms, it's as though a bear attacking something is taking place just a few feet away. Rain sighs and says to herself, "Forget it, I'll just buy this one and get out of here."
Without trying it on, Rain leaves the dressing room and begins to walks to the cashier to purchase it.
Zurvick is staring down on a little girl who is holding a flask out in a motion signifying that she wants to give it to him. He raises his eyebrow as when he asks, "May I ask what you are doing?"
The little girl smiles and answers, "I'm paying you back for what you have lost."
"Uggh that came out wrong, what I was to trying to ask is why you do you have a flask full of alcohol in your possession!?"
She glares at him and asks, "Doesn't everybody nowadays have one of these things?"
"Not at your age they don't!!! What's your name?"
She smiles and tilts her head and cutely says, "Ebihara Seiri."
"Okay then miss Ebihara, where might your parents be?"
The smile leaves her face and she starts to tear up and sniffle her nose in an adorable way, it is obvious that this is a bad attempt at acting when she says, "M-My parents died when I was little, me and Haas here escaped from the orphanage that mistreated us."
Zurvick's face drops, he completely fell for it.
"Oooaaaahh!!?"
Seiri sobs and continues, "The only thing my dad ever taught me when he was alive was to always repay someone if you have done something wrong. The only thing I have to offer is this flask, if you don't take it, I'd be letting my dead father down."
Zurvick writhes in horror at what he feels to be the ultimate form of disrespect on his part by not accepting her payment. He himself also starts to tear up when he grabs her little shoulders and shouts, "I'm sorry! I had no idea how tragic you and your friend's life is! Please allow me to take your flask!!!"
Zurvick takes it and once again apologizes, he leaves the two and heads to his original destination, the cashier's desk to talk to the old lady he knew from his childhood.
Seiri watches him walk away with a big smile on her face, after waving him goodbye she turns to Haas and that smile turns cocky. "So what did you think of my superior acting skills? The Ebihara family have a long lineage of famous actors and actresses throughout time, naturally, I inherited those talents."
To Haas, who was trained to not speak nor show emotion, is actually quite annoyed at how this situation had turned out. The whole point of their presence in this town is to be discrete until the battle starts; of course he feels like he had made a mistake possible of jeopardizing the mission by bumping into the man and causing a scene in the first place. But Seiri butting in and pulling off the whole acting thing for no reason whatsoever is far worse. So his answer to her question is as simple as what he feels can be,
"...Pointless..."
Zurvick arrives at the cashiers desk and sees the familiar old lady working the counter.
"Granny!"
The white haired old lady stares up at him and tilts her head, with a confused glare she coldly asks, "Who the hell are you?"
Zurvick jolts in shock. "Whuaa!?"
The two stare at each other for a few seconds but the silence is broken by the old lady's laugh. "Hahaha, I'm just kidding you little twerp. How can I forget that face of yours? But now I can't call you little anymore can I.."
He sighs in relief and says, "That's right, I'm much bigger now."
"Yeah much bigger, you're the damn King now, how about that... Who would've thought that you, my little servant would become such a man."
"Uhh, is that a compliment?"
"That's about as much of a compliment I've ever given you right? So that means it is, I'm happy for you."
Zurvick smiles wholeheartedly and says, "Thanks Granny!"
The old lady lifts her index finger and smiles menacingly, "I don't mean to break up the nostalgic mood, but I have a favor to ask."
"Uh oh.."
"That's right, why don't you make yourself useful and help me move some boxes to the upper cabinet."
"Uhhh..."
"Come on twerp, do it for old time's sake. Besides, I'm not as young as I used to be, those boxes are too heavy for my aging bones."
Zurvick can't help but oblige; this is the kind of guy he is, he won't ever turn his back on people no matter how much power he acquires.
"Fine fine."
He walks behind the counter and the old lady shows him what boxes to grab, he does so and lifts himself up the three stepped stool to put them in the cabinet that rests above the counter.
As soon as he does this, the old lady's voice is heard, but she is not addressing Zurvick. "I hope you found everything okay."
The person on the costumer end of the counter is Dice Di'vore, he is holding a gray suite with red lining, numerous buttons run down the middle but the suit gives off the impression that it would look better if it was worn as is. He also has a silk red scarf as an accessory.
"I think I did." Dice says with a polite smile.
The old lady looks at the price tag and tells him what he needs to pay. "Good good, you made a smart choice on this suit."
Dice pays her the money and says his thanks, he feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to find Rain standing there with a dress in her hand.
"Oh, so this is what you decided to get?" he asks.
Rain walks past him and to the counter, "I guess you can say that..."
She pays the old lady and watches her put it into a large paper bag. Just to the side of the working old lady is a man on a stool working on something up in the top cabinet who's face cannot be seen because his head is to the roof and the cabinet is blocking their view. He lets off a groan and a few items fall to the floor.
"Ohh sorry about that! It's just that this box is a little heavy." Zurvick says with strain in his voice.
The old lady's gentle smile turns into a bitter one. "Get your act together you little brat."
Dice looks a little worried when he asks, "Does he need any help?"
The old lady turns to him and waves her hand from side to side. "No no he's fine, it would be an insult to have a precious costumer help a useless employee."
"Oh.."
The struggling Zurvick becomes frustrated at her words, "It would only be an insult if I was actually an employee!"
"SHUT YOUR TRAP YOU TWERP!"
The old lady punches his leg and he almost falls off the stool.
Rain sighs and begins to become annoyed, to her this whole shop has been bugging her since the moment she walked through the door. Her experience here was definitely a bad one. She starts walking toward the exit and says, "Let's go."
Dice doesn't know what to do, he really wants to help the poor guy, but when Rain tells him to do something, he can't say no. He politely waves to the old lady and gives Zurvick's legs a pitiful look, he follows Rain out of the door and into the town.
Zurvick gets done with putting the boxes in the cabinet and comes off the stool, he glares at the old lady with a bitter look on his face. The old lady shrugs her shoulders, "Don't give me that look, if anything I should be the one who's angry. You're lack of work ethic embarrassed me in front of the costumers."
"Huh? How does that work!?"
Before the old lady can answer, a flustered Ash walks up to the counter. "I-I'd like to purchase this please."
The old lady's eyes light up and she says her usual saying, "Good good, you made a smart choice on this dress."
Zurvick scopes out Ash's dress and smiles, "This is really nice! Oh wait, I still gotta get my suit!"
Not giving Ash anytime to soak the compliment in, he rushes off back into the aisles to finish his shopping.
"That boy... Hasn't changed at all since he was a little child." the old lady says with a proud smile.
Ash hands her the money. "I can only imagine what that idiot was like as a kid, it's amazing that anyone could handle him."
"Hehe that was my job. Back then he always used to sneak out of the Archbishop's estate to find an odd job to do."
Ash tilts her head and asks, "Job?"
"That's right, being born into a royal family he never had to worry about a hard day's work. But he would go to every shop in the city and ask for any kind of work they could offer, and one of them was this shop."
Ash turns and stares at him rushing to find the right outfit. "Wow... He really is that kind of guy.. That behavior of his would explain why he joined the lowest ranks of the military. I guess he just likes work."
The old lady folds the dress and puts it into a large bag. "That's not it... He acts this way because he wants to be close to people, no matter what rank or social status they have, everyone is the same to him. I once asked him why he wanted to work when he didn't have to, and he simply replied, 'Because that's what people do.' He is some kind of man." The old lady's expression turns from serious and honest to one of a fantasizing manner. "If only I was younger, the things I'd do to him would be----"
"Waaaaaa! How the the conversation mold into that!? You shouldn't mess up the mood and talk about perverted things." Ash interrupts as her imagination starts racing.
The old lady chuckles, "Oh why not? I miss the good old days where my friends and I used to dote over such things."
Ash takes a deep breath and puffs her chest out. "W-Well I can't, as his Captain there's no way I can speak of such things."
The old lady wryly smiles, "If you're not speaking about it, you certainly are thinking it right?"
"Ehhh?"
"A young girl's feelings are always noticeable to the eyes of a seasoned woman."
Ash gets extremely flustered and shifts her eyes to the ground, the old lady finds her actions to be adorable and it reminds her of how she used to be years in the past. Not trying to poke fun at her or anything, the old lady begins to sympathize with Ash's situation. "It's a shame... You really are apart of a fairy tale like story of the average girl and a man of royalty. You know, the stories about the forbidden love of two classes of people. Unfortunately it's just a little too late, that boy, once his mind his set, he never wavers. The Queen is his woman and that is that."
Hearing the old lady's more than true words make her heart waver for a moment, she reveals a troubled smile and says, "I know... But the chances of me even being around him are once in a lifetime, so I won't give up quite yet."
She turns away and walks toward Zurvick, who is taking his sweet time and making her impatient. "Hey you idiot! Hurry the hell up!!"
Having not been yelled an order in some time, he turns and salutes,"My apologies Captain!"
This makes Ash even more angry when she shouts, "I told you not to call me that!"
The old lady smiles and watches the scene from the cashier's booth, thinking about their situation makes her talk quietly to herself, "That girl... She doesn't even think of the consequences of her actions. If she were to actually win the King over, I can only imagine what the Queen would do. It'd most certainly be bad for Troy."
The old lady turns and begins sorting out the rest of the boxes that sit against the wall, she chuckles and finishes, "Hehehe, she's just like me when I was younger."
Little does the old lady, Ash, and Zurvick know, a powder keg of disaster has just narrowly been avoided. Two people who want them dead at all costs were mere inches away from them. This also applies too Rain and Dice as well, three members of the most dangerous group in all the world were shopping in the same store; if any kind of information on who they are was leaked, the high chances that they would be killed is through the roof.
La'Juune, Eiyalazo and Troy.
Three different Kingdoms that have been at an on and off war since their founding, had all been represented in this one little shop called 'ROYAL WEAR'.
The sun has almost set and the orange glare of the horizon makes the city of Tronoble look almost surreal, this view is seen perfectly from the large window on the top floor suite of a luxurious hotel. Noah is staring out this window and at the large snow capped mountains that are shining elegantly in the sunlight. He adjusts his tie and puts on a white overcoat when he says, "Are all the preparations complete Jeffery?"
Jeffrey is sitting on a dining chair that sits by the dining table. "Yes, I've gotten word from everyone that their positions are set. Though a few of our objectives were changed around because the presence of the King of Troy. It looks like we have hit a large spot of unusual luck."
Noah turns around and says, "Good... Luck always favors the victors, but we can't let this opportunity change our outlook on how difficult the mission is.... This is going to be a rough night."
Jeffery chuckles a little bit and straightens up his intricately designed black suit. "No kidding, at least we're going to look damn good doing it."
Noah straightens up his white overcoat as well and replies, "Well that is a bright side... Seiri, Haas, and Elise did a good job at picking out some good outfits for the Ball tonight."
"Who would've thought that those three oddballs could pull off something that doesn't involve fighting. Though Elise likes to think of herself as somewhat of a clothing connoisseur."
Noah slightly laughs at how things have worked out in this way, he walks for the door and says, "Everyone is in everyone after all."
Jeffrey follows and responds, "That is certainly true, if that wasn't the case there would be no way the ten of us could work together effectively."
Noah opens the door and enters the hallway. "That truth will give us an upstanding victory tonight... They will do their jobs around the city, and we will do our jobs in the Ballroom."
The Ballroom is located in a massive castle that literally sits in the middle of Tronoble, this castle was once the house of a King and Queen that ruled over what used to be a city-state. In Troy's past, the southern half of the country was separated into many city-states; each one of these had their own rulers. Though most of them were considered warlords, the largest ones were so powerful that they were more like a country, so naturally they had their own Kings and Queens.
These city-states were soon taken over and dissembled by the north when they began joining together and threatening a revolution, some of the castles owned by the old rulers of the land still remain and this one in particular is over seven hundred years old.
This Ballroom is four sided and six hundred sixty feet wide and across, smooth marble floors lay below the feet and more than a dozen crystal chandeliers rest above the head. Many tables covered in fine linen have many different kinds of food on them, and they are constantly being restocked by caterers and waiters.
There is a platform on the north end of the room that has an orchestra playing smooth classical music, giving the atmosphere of the place an even more classy feel. As of now there are a few dozen people apart of the Ball socializing around the tables and on the dance floor, the Ball doesn't start until eight o'clock so there is still a few minutes until the the people in line outside of the front gate of the manor will be allowed in.
Sitting on the main table of the room is Zurvick and the awkward feeling Ash, she feels dreadfully uncomfortable in her frilly dress that is covered in ribbons and shows a lot of skin from her chest up.
Zurvick, in his basic black suit looks at her and says, "Don't be so on edge, it's not as bad as you think."
"Maybe not for you, but for me this is beyond awful. I hate dresses and I hate these kind of parties."
He nudges her shoulder and jokingly says, "Quite the socially awkward girl you are. You'll never get a boyfriend like that you know."
Ash frowns and stomps on his foot under the table. "Of course I'd be like that when I'm sitting next to the center of attention! And what makes you think that I want a useless boyfriend!?"
Zurvick cringes at the pain in his foot, he is about to say something back when the sound of horns are heard signifying the beginning of the Ball and people begin to head in.
"Just be yourself Ash, you'll be okay." he says as he stands up, he holds his arm out and asks, "Shall we?"
Ash takes a deep breath and exhales out of her nose, she grabs his arm and replies, "Fine."
Rain and Dice are in line at the gate, about a dozen people stand in front of them and the meeting with four Trojan soldier/security guards is coming soon. The two show no signs of nervousness, instead the aura of confidence is felt as they walk toward the guards with their heads held high.
They reach the guards and hand them the tickets, the guards look at them suspiciously because there have already been a few people caught for fraudulent tickets, but they are hesitant to say anything when Rain and Dice don't even bother to greet them. The reason for them being so cold is because it shows that they are so confident in their class that they feel that there is no need to speak to the lowly guards, the people who were caught earlier were unusually kind to them so it blew their cover.
Weary of looking foolish and being punished, the security guards let them through and the two royals from Eiyalazo enter the manor were the King of Troy is present.
"That was simple." Dice says.
Rain puts her hand onto his arm to make them look like a couple and replies, "I was expecting it to be."
The two walk up a columned stairway that leads to the two large double doors, two doormen open it and lead them in. Once in the castle, there are a few workers of the manor standing at a table that is covered in masks, one of the women workers bows and says, "For the guests only. The first couple hours of the Ball is set as a masquerade theme, please choose a mask from our selection that is to your liking."
Rain and Dice look at each other and then to the masks. Dice picks a white mask that only covers his eyes and Rain picks one that matches her light blue dress. The workers say their thanks and the two walk down the hallway that leads to the Ballroom.
Dice chuckles a little and says, "A masquerade party... Oh how the stars have aligned for us, this couldn't work out any better."
Rain agrees, "I guess you can call it divine intervention, having masks on will make things much easier to escape when we kill the King." she adjusts the mask a little to the left to fit her face and adds, "And it's not just that, this will make it even easier to spot the King when he's not wearing a mask, it's quite convenient that only the guests have to wear them. The star of the show is the King, so it's only natural that he'd be the only one that needs to be seen."
Dice smiles at her words and the two walk into the Ballroom, close to a 150 people are already here and more will show up in a short time. "The time for your revenge is coming up very shortly."
Her lips rise slightly at the thought of it and she replies, "I can't wait."
Ebihara Seiri is standing on the rooftop of the Ballroom; next to her is Haas, the two are dressed in black and standing in silence.
"I just want my light show to start already." says Seiri impatiently.
Haas looks at his wristwatch and says, "... One hour..."
Seiri pouts and sits, she looks into a duffle bag that is full of flasks, she takes one out and begins to toss it up and down. "It's a shame that I had to give one of these babies to that guy, but the one I gave him wasn't much good anyhow. The one's with me are the true stars of the show."
Haas ignores her for a few minutes and then looks at his watch once more, he has a duffle bag himself and pulls out a large roll of string. He turns to her and says, "... Time... To begin... Set up..."
Seiri jumps up and smiles, "Hooray! This is going to be so much fun!"
Haas takes the string and starts walking along the edge of the roof, leaving a trail of string behind.
"...Let's go..."
Seiri merrily skips along the edge of the five story building and cheerfully says, "Right!"
Ash is walking alone in the middle of a few hundred people all dressed up and talking; Ash has a red mask on that is hiding her frustration.
'Damn that idiot, as soon as he takes a few drinks out of the flask that some random girl gave him he runs off and leaves me alone! Now I can't find the bastard!'
The ball has been going on for well over thirty minutes and she hasn't been with Zurvick for the majority of it. Rubbing shoulders with people and dodging bodies becomes more of a hassle with each passing person, she gets extremely frustrated and starts to power through people, and that's when runs into something very sturdy.
THUNK!
"Ooowahh!?" Ash yelps as she falls backwards, before she falls the feeling of hands on her shoulders lift her back to her feet. She looks up and sees the man she had just carelessly ran into holding her upward.
He is fairly tall, he is wearing a gray suit with a lot of buttons, a silk red scarf covers his neck and a white mask is worn on his face covered by his dirty blond hair.
"Are you okay mam?" he asks.
Ash looks troubled when she says, "I-I apologize."
The man smiles and happily replies. "It's not a problem, it never hurts to bump into a pretty lady."
This makes her blush, she is sure he said that to be kind, that or because she is wearing a mask. "Thank you... But I really got to get going, I was separated from the person I was with so I need to find him."
The man in the white mask shrugs his shoulders, "So you were separated too huh? The person I was with disappeared as well, though I can't say I expected her to hang around me all night anyways."
He lets go of her shoulders and is about to send her off when the sound of the orchestra's music can be heard, they are playing a slow classical song that is perfect for dance. He looks around and sees people beginning to dance, not wanting to be have to walk in between numerous dancing couples, he turns to Ash and holds out his hand.
"Would you care to dance mam?"
Ash is pretty much feeling the same way, the awkwardness of walking through those couples would make her night much worse, she nervously takes his hand and responds, "S-Sure.."
Rain has spotted Zurvick, desperately trying to get near to him she ended up losing sight of Dice and the two got separated because the crowd of people was far too dense; and now that there are dancing couples there is no way that she can get to the King. If she walked through them all and damaged him in any way, she would easily be spotted and quickly caught.
She clicks her tongue in frustration, her vision begins to become blurry at the thought that her father's murderer is only a few feet away from her and she can't do anything about it. She takes a seat by one of the tables and never lets her glare leave what looks to be an intoxicated King Zurvick.
Zoning out at the crowd and looking serious, she senses a presence to her left, she ignores it at first until the presence speaks, "May I ask what you are looking at? This is a Ball, you shouldn't have to look so serious and uptight."
Rain turns toward the source of the young man's voice and finds the person standing there in a white overcoat, a light golden brown vest is worn under it, and under that a white collared shirt accompanied by a black tie. He has orange hair and a gold mask covers his black eyes.
Rain is disinterested in making conversation with this young man so she tries to make it short and simple. "I don't think it'd matter how I look or feel, just because I'm at a Ball, doesn't necessarily mean that I have to be merry."
"Oh? How cold you are. I like that in a woman." the young man says as he holds his arm out. "Care for a dance?"
Rain keeps her glare on Zurvick when she replies, "No thanks."
The young man chuckles, "You want to get close to the King right? If we dance, we can maneuver our way closer to him."
Rain thinks about this for a second, if they dance and move in on him, once the music stops she'd be able to integrate with the crown that surrounds him. With this thought in mind, there is only one thing to say, "Very well then."
She stands and grabs onto his hand, the two move to the center of the dance floor and begin dancing.
Holding Rain's hand and waist, and already moving to the music, he finally asks, "May I ask what your name is miss?"
Rain frowns behind her mask and says, "That is supposed to be the job of the man to introduce himself before the woman."
"Oh right, I guess I got carried away. My name is Noah."
"Only your first name?"
"Is the last name necessary in this situation?"
Rain blows air out of her nose and faintly smiles, "I guess your right. My name is Rain. No need for you to know the rest."
Noah chuckles a little, "It's a pleasure to meat your acquaintance Rain."
The two begin dancing there way towards the crowd in which Zurvick is entertaining, inching closer and closer, the two actually dance quite well together considering their goal isn't to be so in sync.
"Thank you for accompanying me for this dance Rain, it wouldn't be any fun being a wall rat while everyone else is enjoying themselves."
"It's fine, this benefits me more then it does you anyway."
Noah, looks around at their surroundings, he raises his eyebrow and asks, "Why is it that you want to get close to the KIng?"
"That's none of your concern."
"Hmmm, that's true but... Would you mind if I guess why? Actually, do you mind if I guess what your last name is too?"
Rain looks at him conspicuously, attempting to guess either of these things is pointless, she sighs and says, "Knock yourself out."
Noah smiles confidently and speaks, "Let's see... Looking at your appearance... Blue eyes, long black hair, I'd say that your last name isn't very common. And the reason why you would want to get close to the King depends on your last name as well."
Rain begins to becomes suspicious of what he had just said, and those suspicions become something much more when her hand is gripped very tightly and she is pulled closer to him.
Noah again smiles and says, "Assassination is your motive... Von Ronheim is your last name."
Rain's heart drops and her eyes grow large in shock.
"W-Who are you?"
I am someone who knows a lot about you Rain... If you'd really like to know, would you care to join me on the balcony?"
It's obvious that Rain doesn't have a choice in the matter, with her body held so tightly, she is at the mercy of this mysterious young man. She frowns and is quietly led past the crowd surrounding the drunken King and towards the stairs that lead to the balcony.
Ash is dancing with the man wearing a white mask, though you can't really call this dancing because she is horribly bad at it. This is more like a student and teacher moment because the man in the mask is teaching her step by step.
Ash is flustered at how things have turned out and she says, "This is way more embarrassing then it would've been if I had disturbed the couples."
The man laughs, "Hahaha no you're doing great, just keep following my lead."
She follows his foot movements and more than once she steps on his toes, but since she is so light it doesn't hurt him at all, he smiles and says, "Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself.. My name's Dice Di'v---"
He stops the finish of his last name as to not blow his cover, he turns his head away from her and hopes she didn't notice it.
While his head is turned, he notices something strange, he sees Rain walking up the large staircase hand and hand with a man he has never seen before. His stomach turns cold as many different thoughts go into his head as to why she is doing this and where she is going.
He turns to Ash and is about say his apologies because he wants to chase after them, that is, until she introduces herself as well.
"My name is Ash Alworth... It's nice to meet you Dice."
Dice's eyes grow wide, that name hits him like a bolt of lightning, he takes his hand off her waist and puts it to her ear and asks, "May I see your face?"
Ash blushes, she is thinking all sorts of things but the main thought in her head is, 'I hope this guy isn't getting the wrong idea about me.'
She shakes that thought off and answers him, "S-Sure."
Dice unties her mask with his hand and sees her face. Her description fits perfectly, this is the girl whom along with the King of Troy, assassinated Rain's father Ditreig Von Ronheim. This is the girl who is one of the two obstacles standing in the way of his love for Rain to be fulfilled.
Confused on whether or not he chases after Rain or deals with Ash, he grits his teeth and comes to a decision.
There is only one thing for Dice to do, he frowns and instantly twists her arm, he grabs her tightly and pulls her in. Ash is completely caught off guard and doesn't know what in the world had just happened, all she knows is that she is pinned to him and cannot move.
Her questions are answered when Dice leans down and whispers into her ear, "If you make a sound... I'll kill you."
Ash is in shock, and it finally hits her that she is in immanent danger when she feels the sharp edge of a dagger pressed against her back.
On the top of the building that holds the Ballroom, Seiri and Haas are standing there looking at their wristwatches.
"...Preparations... Done..." Haas says in a robotic tone.
Seiri is tapping her toes on the ground impatiently, it is 8:59 and the final minute seems to be taking extra long.
"Come on come on, change already!"
The clock hits nine and Seiri jumps up and sown in excitement, she is normally a calm girl but the thought of what they are waiting for makes her unusually giddy. She leans over and pulls a box of matches out of her pocket, she pulls a match out and strikes it on the sandpaper.
The flamed match is gently held to the rope that Haas had stretched all around the building, the fire from the tip of the rope begins to spread and crackle like a stick of dynamite would down the rest of the line.
"Let's go, we only have three minutes to get out of here so we don't get caught in the blast." Seiri says as she picks up her duffle bag and rushes to the edge of the building.
Haas grabs his bag as well. "...Right..."
He runs to the edge and jumps off the Ballroom building onto another smaller building of the manor.
Seiri follows and the two hopscotch across the roofs of structures until they leave the gates of the manor.
"So who are you?" asks Rain.
She is standing by the railing of the balcony and is cornered by this mysterious man in the mask.
Noah takes his mask off and shows her his face, she instantly knows who he is and reveals a look of shock. Noah knows it's useless to introduce himself but he does it anyway, "Noah Courlivet... I suppose you don't know why I'm here, and what exactly is going on. So I guess I'll explain it to you Rain Von Ronheim, the leading Battle Strategist for the Eiyalazonian military."
"Tch." Rain clicks her tongue and backs away from the approaching Noah, she clinches her fist and the pentagram on her right hand begins to glow.
Noah takes another step closer to her and says, "On second thought, why don't you take a look behind you. What you see will explain for itself."
Rain quizzically turns around and sees a sight completely unexpected, the night sky is glowing with the tint of orange. At least half of the city is engulfed in flames and citizens and soldiers are running all about in confusion and getting caught in the blaze.
Rain scopes the destruction and asks herself, "Is this the doing of my men!?"
Noah grabs her right hand and puts his arm over her shoulder, he leans in towards her ear and says, "No... They are mine, your thirst for revenge has cost you the opportunity to sack Tronoble. So just sit back with me and watch this city and your precious revenge be destroyed by the country of La'Juune."
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