Day 03: The Masquerade Ball; Ceremony Proper [Open]

To Goibniu's surprise, and in a way, relief, the battle wasn't going to be Eun against the Archmage himself, but rather his apprentice. The girl he pushed into the fray seemed rather meek, which only made him more curious as to what was the Archmage's aim; just have his apprentice train by dueling someone for real? Or was it all a trick and she had some sort of powerful ace up her sleeve? As it turns out, it was the latter, just not in the way he thought it would happen.

Eun's first strike was avoided when Amber seemingly displayed some sort of flying magic he didn't hear of. The Archmage was kind enough to explain the details of what transpired, even if it still surprised Goibniu that she seemingly was able to achieve a big step towards more powerful cartic magic. How clever! Now his investment in the fight turned to one of curiosity rather than concern, as Eun lunged forward for another attack. He didn't even notice Liseran going towards some alleyway, nor did he notice Maia following after her.

But the one person that noticed was Higini, as he turned to Maia to see what she thought of Cassima's proposal, only to just turn and walk away towards some place else. "H-Huh? Where are y-" He called out, when he noticed among the people the same girl in red he saw at the dance floor with Eun, who seemed to be... stealing things? Hey! That was not good! "Hey, look over there." He whispered to Cassima as he pointed at the red robber. "I don't know what your plan is, but shouldn't we try to stop her? She's being a thief." Despite the worried look in his face, there were still a shades of determination in it. Looks like his mind was now set on stopping petty theft.

Cassima waited for the response from May and Higini, however it seems that May was going to decline Cassima's offer to help her with something. As she needed to be somewhere else. She smiled back at her. "Please, take you're time. We'll likely be here all night." Cassima spoke joyously to May as she watched her walk off.

Oh well, she still always has Higini...Except, he wanted to stop a thief instead. "Well my plan was to tell off princess Eala by shouting a swear word at her. Which would make her angry. But she won't be able to do anything without looking like a tyrant like she already is." Cassima explained her plan to Higini, but she rolled her eyes.

"But...We can stop that woman in red if you like. If not then some guards will, probably." Cassima accepted to help Higini and stood up from the table, ready to follow him towards the thief.

People marvelled and applauded as the mage flew, particularly the noble ones that were high up on the platforms and away from the scrabble, however, a few locals did seem to root on Eun's attack, mostly a few Enkidu immigrants who seemed to enjoy the representation they were getting.

At the table of the leaders, Princess Eala merely stared, her violet eyes glassy and hollow like that of a doll's. King Alexiel was smiling next to her.

"My dear Eala, you truly are fortunate to have such a learned mage at your side," he said. "It is good to see the Cartic arts is good and well in Eisleyn."

"I'll have to agree," the low and raspy voice of the Prime Minister of Aldmerrow said. The blue-robed woman was watching thoughtfully. Compared to Eala's disinterested eyes, the Prime Minister was carefully observing the battles and marks being used.

"It does relieve me that lost practices can still prevail even now," she said. "Albeit, some other Cartic practices do concern me..."

Hearing the almost ominous tone, it was the Sultan who spoke next. He had had his hands resting on his lap as he watched, though he had to admit the magic didn't interest him so much. Gossip was much more interesting.

"Concern, my dear Prime Minister. Why would that be?"

At this, the other leaders seemed to face her, querying. The woman sighed.

"There have been rumors of another obsolete practice that scholars are finding traces of use," she said. "Particularly, there is news and traces of grey magic."

"Grey magic?"

This time, it was the voice of Princess Eala. Everyone seemed surprised at her sudden interest in the conversation. Her tone seemed...curious, even.

"Grey magic," the Prime Minister said. "For many years, Cartic marks are used to create certain effects. It is almost almost a positive one wherein something is created or a reaction is initiated. However, everyone is also familiar with effects such as buffs against other spells or Expiate magic that tames Anima and can silence its use as of Cantus through binding or purging.

"That said, they are just fragments of what is known Grey magic. The magic of Nothing. There was only one family that had ever used it and..."

The woman stopped and smiled ruefully.

"I'm afraid I do not want to spoil your evening, my good friends," she said. "Perhaps I shall save this story for another time--a more suitable time. Now is the time for merrymaking and kinship. Speaking of kinship..."

The Prime Minister's eyes would look towards the man seated at the very end of the table, the Sakigake Emperor. He had been silent this whole time, and with good reason she believed. She offered him a smile.

"It makes us so happy that you could grace us with your presence, Emperor Mada," she said. "How have you found Aldmerrow since your arrival?"

***

"Oy, will you two shut yer traps?" the voice came from a table a bit behind that of the gang's. At it were two individuals, a rather tan and dark-haired young man wearing a coat lined with fur at the collar and an Enkidu girl with long brown hare ears and red eyes.
A long broad sword rested on one of the other seats next to them while the last one was empty.

The person who had spoken was the young man, his dark eyes glaring at the two while his arm propped itself against the chair. A tankard dangled in his hand by two of his fingers. It was almost empty.

"Say stuff like that any louder and you'll be beheaded on the spot," he said. "Now, I don't give any damn bout no princess, but you're crazy if you think I'll let whiners ruin a good opportunity for mead by spouting treason. Especially when some of us here have really good hearing."

The man pointed to his friend's ears to which she swatted his hand away.

"Use your own ears as an example for once!" she snapped. Her voice, in contrast to the callous voice of her companion, was high-pitched and sing-songy. She glared at him and then looked at the two. She didn't seem necessarily angry at them, but she was frowning.

"He's right, though, you know," she said. "Best you shut up about such crazy attempts. You may have the bravado now, but it's a differenr matter when you're found out altogether."

"Peh," the guy said. "It's so like people here, eh, Saki? All talk, no bite?"

Saki scowled, her ears slightly lowering, as she glowered at her friend.

"Leo..."

If Cassima and Higini were up from the table, they'd see that the girl pickpocketing had slipped further down and was now cutting a pouch from its strap of a passed out drunk four tables down.

***

As Maia started heading followed Liseran, she'd start straying away from the lighted square and into what appeared to be a dark alley. Liseran's cloak seemed to shimmer in the moonlight filtering from the trees, and its deep blue hue was met a deep carmine hue of another cape. If Maia listened, she'd hear two voices.

"Sister! What are you doing here!?" the voice of a young man said.

Maia would hear Liseran gasp.

"W-Will...I...I..."

"If Alanna finds out, she'll be furious," the young man said in a hushed tone. "This could throw off the whole operation!"

Emperor Mada propped his elbow on one of the arms rests of his chair, resting his head against his fist.

"It is very... divided."

The emperor's words were low but clear. His expression did not lean away from stern and harsh. There was an uncomfortable silence before Byakuya barged in and broke in.

"Ooeeeey~ Try some of this drink, brother!" the ragged-looking burly man slurred, swirling an entire wine bottle between two fingers. "It's like really sharp fruit juice! It's nothing like plum saki, but it's interesting! I didn't know this land catered wine to children! Gyahahaha!"

Despite his brother and military general's fumbling, Mada remained cool and collected, simply holding up a glass and allowing the wild man to pour the red liquor in. The emperor swirled the drink thoughtfully, sniffed it twice, and sipped.

"Distasteful," he said simply and set the glass down.

"Geheheheh, thought so."
~~~~~~

"Uwawawawwawa!!" Amber yammered as Eun dashed at her. The timid mage hugged her wand securely with tears in her eyes. Eun's spearpoint came within a dangerous range and with skittish reflex, Amber thrust out with her wand and collided the end with the edge of the spear, pushing upwards and directing the point away. One top of that, she got in arms reach of the enkidu girl.

Amber's free hand swung out, the palm facing Eun.

"Push!" Amber shouted. A rune flashed and suddenly an invisible force launched Eun away to the opposite side of the area. The young mage girl gasped and panted, a hand against her chest. "Too fast, too fast, too fast! I can't handle thiiis!"

Amber cried out desperately. She slapped her cheeks. And stood on shaking knees. "Fuuuuuu! I have no choice!"

Amber pointed upwards with her wand and moved it in a series of motions as if drawing in the air. The other hand was pointed at the ground. Magic was being channeled from both ends seemingly.

"Cast!" Amber yelled. A large runic circle appeared above her head, over five feet in diameter. "Fire Ball!"

Like cannon fire, a massive sphere of swirling flames shot from the circle and made a beeline for Eun. This wasn't something that could be batted away with a spear. Then Amber held her wand in both hands and pointed towards Eun, moving slightly as if adjusting aim.

"Terra Crash!"

A circle appeared under Eun's feet and suddenly earth spike burst from the ground surrounding her, closing at an attempt to meet in the middle to seal her in an earthen pyramid the same time the fireball would hit.

Cassima turned and gulped when she was asked to shut up. "He yelled." She pointed to Higini as the two people at the table near Cassima and Higini. Leo and Saki, told them it was a bad idea to piss Eala off, or else Cassima would risk getting beheaded.

Something which Cassima snickered at. "Please. That immature tart is busy cutting off the heads of all her suitors then at any people that will piss her off. Besides, even if she is pissed off by my antics, they're is nothing she can do it about here. For it's a time of celebration and she would definitely not look good in all of the lands if she had tried her best to stop me from trying to make her angry."

She did however smile at the two. "Of course, I have urgent matters to attend with my friend here. For we are about to stop a woman in red from pick pocketing unsuspecting guests." Cassima revealed to Leo and Saki as she noticed that the woman was quickly getting out of her view. She turned to Higini.

"She is getting away. We must quit loitering around and stop that thief!" Cassima told Higini as she proceeded to run past the table Leo and Saki were sitting on to chase after the woman in Red.

"Hey!" She called out in anger at the woman in Red.

Eun was thrown off guard by the girl's sudden parry, unable to recover in time before she threw her back to the other side of the dome as she was already making the motions to crouch, her muscles following her train of through from earlier.

Well, at least she could do more than float around.

After that, though, Eun noticed her take a rather odd stance, with her wand pointed up and her other arm pointed down. As annoying as they were, the archmage's words flashed back from recent memory - if Amber could do these 'calculations' so fast, why didn't she instantly counterattack? - so, as distracting as the large fireball that appeared was, Eun followed her instinct and used her legs like a coiled up spring to jump directly backwards, just in time to escape the earth prison, snarling as her ears flattened against her head due to the heat.

Once the dust settled though, she poked her head out from behind her hiding place, flashed the girl a smile, and licked her lips. Now she had proven to be worthy prey, despite the whole flustered act. And if a frontal attack wouldn't work, then Eun would have to bring this down to a contest of reflexes - one that she should have an advantage in, hopefully. A moment later, she shot out into a run, this time not directly at Amber, but instead towards the girl's left side, moving to circle around her and slowly close in, keeping just enough distance to avoid letting her push her away like that again until she saw an opening to strike.

And hell, if the whole clumsy thing wasn't an act, maybe she'd get dizzy and fall over from spinning around.

The sudden outburst of the other two patrons of the fair caught Higini off guard, as they warned them (or Cassima, really) how they shouldn't talk bad about a member of the monarchy during a fair where said monarch is present. He was about to say something to calm them down, when Cassima pretty much threw the blame at him. "H-Hey!" He yelped, looking confounded by her words, and it definitely didn't help when she then proceeded to dig a deeper whole.

Leo and Saki would see how, as Cassima kept speaking, Higini was right next to her, looking more and more exasperated with each uttered word, looking like he was getting ready to lunge at her at any moment. That is until, she finally realized what they were meant to do in the first place.

'Quit loitering'? More like 'quit giving the guards a reason to behead them' he thought. He couldn't even say something when she then suddenly turned and ran towards the thief, not giving him a moment to gather his thoughts. "Hey, wait up!" He called her out, as he took off to chase after her.

Maia followed Liseran at a safe distance. Far enough that she wouldn't be considered suspicious but close enough that she could see where she was going. Maia watched as Liseran ducked down an alleyway, which meant she was definitely doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Maybe it wasn't a good thing to think, but Maia knew Liseran well enough that she had a habit of doing stuff like this.

She followed Liseran towards the alleyway, but instead of following her down, she leaned up against the side of the entrance to listen. She heard Liseran talking to someone. A man named Will, apparently. She heard them speaking about an operation, and someone named Alanna. Yep, Liseran was definitely up to something. "Oh, Liseran. What are you doing...?' She thought.

Maia listened for them to speak more. Maybe she would get more clues on what they were doing? Maybe she wouldn't get anything out of this? Either way, this was more interesting than that fight.

The rather blunt remark on the part of the emperor sent a wave of uneasiness around the table. There was something of a brief flash of indignation in the Prime Minister's gray eyes, but a firm hand from the Stahl consul stopped her from saying something rash. Instead, she let out a small exhale, and propped herself up in her seat.

"I'm curious as to why you may think so, your Highness," she said.

"Division is necessary."

The soft but firm voice came from Eala. Her expression remained that of one disinterested as her eyes shifted from the wine she swiveled in her goblet to the fight. Her eyes did not bother meeting to the person she was talking to.

"Division allows one to assess one's peoples, especially when it is one of high diversity," she said. "Division does not mean a lack of unity, however. Just a form of...organization. I'm sure you can understand that considering the many warring clans your land experienced a few years back, am I correct?"

The uneasy atmosphere instantly turned into one of tension, with many of the leaders looking at Eala in disbelief at what she said. She didn't seem to mind them. Her violet eyes at last tried to meet that of the emperor, hoping he would respond.

She'd fail to get what she wanted though, with the disruption of the emperor's brother. Despite it being extremely informal and rude for him to show up out of nowhere, the leaders seemed to visibly lax at the break in the conversation.

"Ah, your Majesty Byakuya," the Saorisian king said all of a sudden. "How are you taking a liking to the festival?"

She would have waited for an answer, but the emperor's brother quickly interrupted the exchange.

***

Cassima's response to the man named "Leo" only caused him to roll his eyes.

"You know, whatever," he murmured as he turned from them and continued downing a tankard of mead.

People continued to cheer and applaud as Eun and Amber fought. Despite everyone's expectations for the duel, it was a surprise that two frail girls were adeptly putting on quite a spectacle. Meanwhile, the hooded girl with the red cloak flinched just as she slid a silver plate into a brown satchel.

"Crap," she muttered.

A person who had been in front of her watching the spectacle had turned around to see his empty plate with her. He growled.

"Hey!"

But before he could continue, the girl raised up two fingers and murmured something. Two orbs of light moved towards the guy's forehead and he suddenly drooped onto his table in what seemed like a heavy slumber. The girl, seeing Higini and Cassima, proceeded to flee towards the empty streets.

***

"Leave this place, sister," the cloaked figure named Will urged. "It will be terrible news if father finds you around here."

"No, Will, you don't understand!" she said. "I came to warn you! Mephis, he--"

"I got out."

Maia would feel the air around her become chilly as a gale of wind passed her. What seemed like cloudy black smoke passed her and made its way up to a high branch on a tall birch tree. It soon solidified into the figure of a lean black wildcat armored with intricate white and gold plating around the head and with silver wings on its back. Gold intricate marks pulsed on its black fur.

The figure named Will's jaw dropped as Liseran stood next time him frozen in shock.

"M-Mephis--"

"Don't bother fighting me right now, my little dormouse," he said. "Wouldn't want to make a spectacle and--"

But Will beat him to it by placing his hands on the ground. A glyph appeared underneath Will as the birch tree suddenly glowed brightly and started closing branches and trunk around the Incantus.

Amber was panting heavily as if that last spell took a lot of effort. She almost didn't notice Eun's sudden movement. Her eyes moved, looking at the circling enkidu as if the small girl was moving too fast for the mage's mind to process in time.

"Uwwaaaaaa!" Amber screamed, flailing back. The girl tried to swing her wand in Eun's direction, but her left foot hooked behind her right during the turn and she fell face-first to the ground. "A-AAAH! HEEEELP!! PROTECT MEEEEE!!"

The helpless magician shielded the back of her head with her arms. Was this Eun's chance?

But just as the fox girl would approach ten feet from the mage, the ground in front of her would explode in a ball of fire. The flames pulsed and flickered, getting in the way between Eun and the apprentice magician.

A low, deep rumbling can be heard a distance away in the direction where Amber's previous spells had hit.

The fractured earth and the raging flames had risen and grown high, standing thirty feet tall. The stone and rock seemed to be floating from the ground chaotically and gradually formed a full shape.

Gargolem:

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" the massive behemoth of fire and stone let out a booming roar, flexing its powerful arms, fanning out wings of flames.

*pant* *pant* "I thought I was gonna die..."

Somehow during the brief distraction, Amber had circled and gotten to the other side of the field, leaving a colossal giant in the way between her and her opponent.

"T-Thank you Gargolem..."

The mages in the audience looked on and expressed admiration for the display.

"A two-part golem crafting spell disguised as attack magic. What complex spellcasting," some mages commented. "No, not just disguised. She used the properties of attack magic as a foundation to simultaneously create a golem. How many layers would this involve...?"

The massive golem roared and wound back its massive arm. In a wide swing, it flung down a giant fist of stone towards Eun. It was a fatal-looking attack, but the arm only seem to come down around the same speed a falling rock would.
~~~~~~

Meanwhile, at the royal table where attention has been turned away from, tensions have started to increase uneasily.

However, the emperor's posture and expression didn't seem to change at all as he remained boringly staring on with his head resting against his propped up arm.

"Do not misunderstand," Emperor Mada said. "I do not find fault in the people being divided. Five different lands will have five different ways of life. The farmers and the scholars all benefit their land in their own unique way. There is no wrong in individuality."

He slowly opened his eyes as if waking up from a nap.

"But the division I see is in the very foundation of this land," he stated. "You fight, hide, and scheme amongst yourselves. You celebrated comradery and yet you subjugate and oppress your brothers and sisters for traits they were born with. Even here at this table as you celebrate your great treaty, you all hold secrets and personal intentions."

Byakuya leaned against the throne his brother sat on and chugged wine straight from the bottle, acting uncaring regarding Mada's speech.

"My country may be undergoing some civil war, but it's all in natural due," the emperor stated boringly. "War is merely another form of political negotiation. War and conquest was how my ancestor, Edonaga Oda, first united my country, and soon it will unite us once again.

"Do not think so high just because some of my people have seen it fit to migrate to your country. Many of your own people have attempted to come to my land only to be turned away. You may disagree with the ways of my land, but that's all you are permitted. The king is absolute, their rule is always just. What they do for and with their people is their right. No one has the right to question it. Not even other kings."

Then his eyes suddenly narrow and turned sharp. His head slowly turned giving each of the rulers seated beside him a piercing looking

"That is why I will not regard how many enkidus who sought peace on this land were met with discrimination, interrogation, abuse, and imprisonment."

He lazily closed his eyes again, as if this no longer interested him.

"Why not speak of what you actually wish to discuss," the emperor said in complete deadpan. "You are cautious of the increasing immigration of enkidus to this land, correct? That is the only reason I was invited to this celebration afterall. Just like how you all want to use this chance to question the methods of the young queen of the ice land."

Duke Charmr and Archmage Winters tensed and turned towards the Emperor who remained in place without care.

"Know this, if my people wish to cross the ocean, I give them food and a boat for the journey," the emperor stated. "They come here of their own wishes. My people would never use such cowardly tactics as espionage if we had any desire to invade your country. We simply would not need it. So you can rest easy. I have no interest in this land."

"Mmm, have you drank too much brother?" Byakuya asked coyly. "You seem to be talkative tonight."

"Perhaps," Mada replied plainly, swirling the wine in his goblet. "Now, Queen Eala, does that satisfy your curiosity?"