Persona- Burn On, Shining Souls!

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Bellow High Gymnasium, PAR-TAY Mode [Monday Evening]

Wizard. Pirate. Cop. Phoenix Ranger. Nothing.

That last one wasn't to say that the guy was wearing nothing¹ or wearing a costume representing the concept of "nothing."² He just had no costume. Some guys were just like that, somehow - they felt the obligation to show up to a costume party but still wouldn't dress up. Strange. This particular one looked familiar, though. One of his classmates, perhaps?

...the guy from last night! That was him. The group had gotten a couple of wanderers into the court over the past weeks, but none had actually stuck around. It was kinda lucky for them, actually - the Court was stable as it was, so it was best that nobody else had to risk their rear ends. Not so lucky for this one, if his outburst in class and approach just now were anything to go by.

"Hey, can I have a word with you?" the last-night-guy asked, looking pretty directly at Sigmund. Yup, definitely not so lucky. He began to stammer out something halfsensical about making sure that last night hadn't been some sort of Mischief Night prank. Sigmund shook his head in response and wiped the bit of punch from his chin that he had been trying to get to emulate blood. Apparently he was going to have to break the news. Not usually his thing, but -

"Okay, so, Kevin?"

...

"Levin. Cool. So there's a good answer to that, but here is the wrong place for it. Follow me a bit." Trying to act as collected and veteran-ish as he could³, he lead the other classmate out the main doors and down one of the campus paths. Most people were heading toward the party rather than away from it right now, so hopefully whatever got overheard could be attributed to video game or movie talk. Once the two were clear of the crowd about the doorway, Sigmund started speaking at length, stopping only to answer aside questions when he could and shrug when he couldn't.

"So, here's the deal. You saw those shadowy creature-things last night, right? Of course you did, or else you wouldn't be asking. Those're shadows - they're bad juju. They've been causing that Apathy Syndrome that's been going around. Thing is, they only show up at a certain time of night. Other thing is, most people're asleep that time of night or their brains just skip right over it. Yeah, it's weird, just consider it the witching hour and stick with me for a sec. We don't know why, but some of us can actually stay awake through the Court of Miracles - that's what our boss calls the shadow hour. That kinda gives us the option of trying to get rid of them, since nobody else really can. It's not quite as dangerous as it sounds - being able to stay active through the Court means that you can summon a Persona - spirit guardian, familiar, whatever you wanna call it - which is cool and all, but it only sticks around for the dark hour. You saw us use those? ...no? Well, bottom line is, they're on our side. Super useful. Makes fighting shadows a whole lot easier. Thing is, now that you've seen it all, you've kinda got a choice to make."

Ready to finish off his spiel, Sigmund turned on his heel and jumped onto a nearby rock, flourishing his cape a bit for effect and barely managing to keep his balance. He raised the right side of his cape and explained,

"You can join us. Fight the shadows, help get rid of Apathy Syndrome, break through to the heavens and all that jazz. Nobody else to remember us, a bit dangerous, but a pretty rare chance. Or..." he raised the left side, "you can just walk away. Ignore the Court long enough, it'll start ignoring you, you'll forget the whole thing and life goes back to average. Probably the safest option for your personal health." Sigmund now hopped down from his perch, letting his cape bellow out slightly and standing eye-to-eye with Levin.

"'Course, you don't have to choose right away. You want in by midnight, talk to the school Pharmacist. Should be in the gym, dressed like a mummy, I think. You don't know, you can think it over as long as you need to. You want out, you don't have to do a thing. No shame in any choice." Giving him a firm nod, Sigmund thumped his classmate on the shoulder and left him to think, slowly wandering back to his spot near the front of the party.

Yeah, that had gone all right.

---

¹ Which would be impressively gutsy, but liable to get one kicked out at best and arrested at worst.
² Which would be downright near impossible.
³ Which would be, on a scale from one to ten, only mostly convincing.

[Niihyl]

<OOC> Bleh, this is crap. But I need to post, so post'd.

Mana Shizuko
Dorms

Ciara looked down at him with the superior, contemptuous look she always had. "What, sweetie? Oh, Alice, do you want me to get you some Tampax? I understand that random mood swings are often..."

She was silenced as JP crashed down, immediately getting up in Joshua's face. Well, that had to be expected. The thing on the second floor was a personal affront to him, after all.

"Wh-What are you talking about? Wh-Who did what?" Joshua exclaimed. The poor guy looked completely terrified. Of course, JP was in his face, with an absurdly large sword - insert 'compensating for something' joke here - and that had to be pretty damn terrifying. Especially if he knew nothing about the 'crime'.

Mana took a deep breath, and composed himself. "Sorry, Josh. I don't think you did it. I was just… pissed." He flashed him a smile. "Someone's put up an insulting little effigy of Theresa, along with some music. Apparently it's funny."

"Please, get that sword out of his face, and remain calm. I would love to stay and chat about whatever it is that's gotten in you two milkmaids in such a frightful state, but right now I have more important things to attend to," Ciara said with a mocking tone. She snatched Josh up and started dragging him away, pushing past Mana.

Mana glared at her back and spoke, filling his voice his own cocky, smug mockery; it was a tone that he didn't get many chances to use. "Oh dear, you had no idea? I'm so sorry. You won't mind if we talk a little, then? Well, it appeared on our floor just a couple of minutes ago. Whoever it was must live in our dorm; the mannequin's too bulky to carry about and hide easily. Whoever did it would have to be vindictive enough to make fun of someone we've lost. Looks like you just got down the stairs. You didn't hear the music? You didn't see the mannequin? I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but it doesn't take a genius to work out a damn good hunch."

JP had raised his sword above his head, a veritable storm upon his face. His teeth were gritted, and there was murder in his eyes. A rapid debate flicked through his mind as Mana considered whether or not he should intervene.

Just as Mana decided to stop the murder (the voices in his head had voted. 48 for letting it happen, 49 for stopping it, 11 abstained), JP stopped on his own. He let Josh and Ciara leave.

The music seemed to have ceased a while back. Halberd passed by, leaving a brief greeting behind him. Mana nodded, and turned to JP once Halberd had left.

“Hey, kid, thanks for that. I kinda… lost my temper there for a second," JP said. “I honestly don’t even know where… that,” he waved an imaginary sword above his head. “Where that came from…”

Mana gave him a small grin. "S'alright, bro. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have the same idea. When someone mocks someone you've lost, damn straight you want to kick their ***. I've had family die, so I know how it feels. Well, I've always got your back, man… uh, no homo."

Mana unstrung his bow, taking a deep breath of his own. "Anyway, what's this about Josh and Ciara? Either he's not gay, or the crazy b!tch is secretly a man. Not sure about you, but I'm assuming the latter. Anyway, you go ahead to the party. I'm probably not going to go. I don't even have a costume; I got caught up with Sofiya… the collar still won't come off… eh well. I'll get rid of the mannequin if you want - you've got the clothes - and we'll see if we can stir things up during Court tonight."

[Wordy]

Ciara H. Wright, Gardening
Hallowe'en Evening

She swept past Joshua's procured arm, and marched imperiously out of the dorm, as if outraged at being delayed by such imbeciles, deflecting all insults with a sharp wave of the hand. On the inside, things were bright. Everything had gone better than expected. They were falling apart, breaking inside! The whole 'not caring' thing they cultivated, well. That was gone now, wasn't it? Eventually, they seemed to have gotten a safe distance away from the losers, and that was when Ciara slowed to allow for a small conversation.

He looked at her, and that was when Ciara had a brainwave.

"Thanks. That, er... That was really looking bad for me for a sec. "

All one had to do was plant an idea. The right words, in the right place, could completely change one's opinion of another. All it took was a little change in perspective.

She smiled venomously. "Well, you know, about that..."

Ciara shifted, as if the subject made her uneasy, although actually the idea that had just come to her was more than brilliant. It was perfection itself. It was time for Joshua to see things as they really were, to see those people as the malicious vermin they were.

"He's been wandering around by himself for an awful long time. In the Court. And you know what that's like even in a group. So imagine doing all this stuff, but with nobody else to keep you in check. And on top of that, he lost that 'girlfriend of his,' so his mind was always in a delicate place over these last few months..." Ciara trailed off, to allow Joshua to fill in the blanks himself, and fiddled with her hat. He had seen for himself what that boy had done, what had lain in those eyes. She wasn't lying at all. The idiot was clearly several sandwiches short of a picnic, and she had to make Joshua realise this so that he could prepare himself.

"So what I'm saying is that he's an unpredictable variable. And that we should stay away. He wasn't a nice person to us to begin with, and he's definitely not all there any more. In fact, he could already have been corrupted by a Shadow. We don't know all that they're capable of, and after what he just did..." She shrugged and smiled innocuously, "All I'm saying is that you should watch your back. Don't trust him."

Whilst she was at it, there was always the matter of Mana. He was crazy to begin with. "And then, of course, there's the other one," Ciara remarked darkly as she now slammed the broom into the ground, punctuating how much she despised him. He got on her nerves. She hoped that that smart aleck got eaten alive for his troubles. Or that maybe something could rip out his tongue. "What an annoying brat. Unhinged, you know. Haven't you noticed? How he's always so... creepy. Dark. Emo. And that Persona of his. A psychotic little girl. The Persona represents the true self, right? So mine's a fox, yours is Lord of the Dance, God of Destruction," she smiled in a knowing way, "But a malicious, spiteful little girl that delights in death and pointless mayhem... that just says it all. And I'm not talking about his desire to become a woman, although those oestrogen injections are probably the reason he's PMSing. Something to keep in mind, I guess."

Marking an end to her 'food for thought' session, Ciara looked up into his eyes and smiled openly, fluttering her eyelashes slightly. She turned to look towards the gymnasium, where costumed partygoers were gathered in a loose assortment, and then gave her final pep-talk.

"There's one last thing."

She brushed some imaginary lint of off his shoulder as she tried to find a delicate way to word what she had to say next, so that he wouldn't be upset with her. "Everything about this look is perfect except for one thing..." she smiled primly, and treated the next sentence delicately, "You. To be frank, sweetheart, as soon as you open your mouth the mystique is ruined. So what we're going to do with this," she pointed at his face again, "Is that you're going to get into the role. You're into drama, right? Leading man material, sweeping the girls off their feet. I know the type." She winked. "So, become the Phantom. Well, not actually, that's creepy. But be... mysterious."

She linked her arm through his, hoping that he was taking what she just said in... all of it.

"You know what I mean. Shall we proceed?"

[Ysavvryl]

Snow Fields
at party

“A pony cowgirl?” Snow asked, puzzled at what Melissa was talking about. “I thought cowboys used horses.”

“It's a cartoon show, silly. And that's not the weirdest part. What kinds of shows do you watch?”

He shrugged. “Not much. I mean, my dad had old video tapes of Fraggle Rock, and I liked to watch those. They had a lot of fun songs.” He noticed Sig for a moment, giving him a thumbs up. He smiled a bit, but was too caught in the conversation to do much more.

She playfully nudged him. “Aw, come on, then you need to see more. You can find a lot of those shows on the internet, like that My Little Pony, and that Featherman show, I guess since you're a guy and my brother absolutely has to watch that if it's on. There's a whole bunch I love to watch.”

“How do you keep up on schoolwork then? I mean, between that, the band, and other club stuff, I don't always find a lot of time.” And what time he got was sometimes devoted to naps. Having to deal with an unspecific time of monsters at midnight didn't work well with a regular sleep schedule.

Melissa shrugged. “I do both at the same time. Drama club doesn't always take up that much time. Sometimes, if we get to talking a lot. What kind of club are you in?”

Not expecting that question, Snow stumbled through some thoughts trying to say something, but not give it away, but not make it sound too interesting. “Uh, Investigations of Midnight Phenomenon Society, or... actually, it's an astronomy astrology club and we haven't really decided on a name or what exactly it's about. Sorta a nocturnal moon thing.”

“That's weird,” Melissa said, and thankfully didn't sound interested in hearing about it further. “As long as you have fun, I guess. I have lots of fun in Drama club. I so want to suggest some Oz-based musical, since we have a munchkin on the team.” She giggled.

Feeling that he ought to stick up for him, Snow shook his head. “Nah, you should make Russell the Tin Woodsman. He'd be pretty cool with an axe.”

“Hmm, yeah, possibly.” Then she grinned, “Oo, and we can make Josh the Cowardly Lion! I really want to do that kind of play, but I don't want to play Dorothy. I want to play the good witch.”

“But her part's not very long,” he pointed out.

She leaned in closer and said quietly, “Yeah, but an excuse to wear a big poofy frilly dress without being made fun of as too old-fashioned? I'll take that in a heartbeat.”

“I see.” And to tell the truth, he didn't see many girls in dresses around Quarterman. Skirts and pants, but not dresses.

“Although if we did something Star Wars like, I'd want to try out for Princess Leia, no doubt.”

Snow smiled. “Star Wars is great. How would that work as a school production, though?”

“Probably obviously cheap. But I can watch that any time; my parents have a big movie collection. We don't have the Wizard of Oz, though.”

“Mine have a lot of movies too. Lots of Fred and Ginger ones; those are lots of fun to watch.”

“Really? I haven't seen many of those, but I hear the dancing is amazing.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it is. I wish I could dance like that, but I hadn't taken many dance lessons. I mean, a waltz, yeah, but not tap dance.”

“You know how to waltz?” Melissa asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

“You don't?” Snow asked, puzzled. When she shook her head, he considered the idea. “Well I'm not that great, but I know the basic moves.”

“Can you teach me?” She seemed hopeful of that.

He glanced at the DJ. “Well this isn't really a waltzing song; you have to have the right one. Do you know if there's going to be anything else going on at this party?”

“I dunno.” Then she put a hand to her chin. “I just hope that they do not have bobbing for apples. The last time I did that, I got one with a worm in it.”

“That's disgusting,” Snow said, making a face. Just the thought of it made his stomach turn.

“I know! It's taken me years to get over that revulsion of apples. And my mom loves to push apples on us, ugh. Well can you show me how to waltz anyhow?”

“I can try,” he said, taking her hand to go onto the dance floor with her.

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor
Dormitory Living Room

Does she eat that many sweets? Those bags of Skittles in her room didn't get there by themselves. Lace took in Bryan's speech with applause. "Yah!" She cheered. This appreciation came at each of the boy's shouts.

"Steady the masts!" Lace nodded, fixing her hat. "Ready the cannons!" Lace shook her feet and faced the doors--warming up. "Anchors aweigh me hearties, thar we sail to the islands of wonder!"

At "wonder" she ran to the front and punted the doors open.

"Ahoy!"

Gymnasium

The double-doors of the gym shot open, sending Lace ahead of the entrance. Inside, you could see her struggling to stay calm. Squeezing her moppy hair, holding her hat for dear life, she looked around with bug eyes. "Why haven't I been inside here yet?! They have got...everything!" Emphasizing every word. Lace turned to Bryan and Russell making their way in. She tossed her hat over to one of the tables, took off her jacket and fastened it around her waist.

"This dance is going on all the way to midnight. We'll all be ready to fight when the Court happens...," she took a deep breath. "Until then," she turned to a girl beside her dressed as a pink fairy holding a red plastic cup with some kind of juice in it. Just as the girl raised it, Lace snatched it from her, "Thanks," dug in her pocket slapping a $5 bill in the girl's hand as Lace gave her a wink and started side-skipping to the crowd. She shouted back to Russell and Halberd, "We got this!" Lace downed the cup in one gulp, threw it in Ichigo Kurosaki's hoodie, yelled over the music in his ear "Soul Reapers don't wear Nike!" Grabbed the poor guy's shoulders, then leap-frogged off his back, launching herself on the top of the crowd.

A sea of hands waved Lace around the pit. The girl stretching out on her. "I can see my house from heeeerrreee!" Shouting at the ceiling. Cupping her eyes from the light Lace eyed for her mates. She spotted Sigmund by the wall talking with Levin. Still being carried afloat from the crowd, Lace sat up and shouted at the vampire.

"H-Hey! Yoo, Sigmund! Your here!" Angrily waving at him she leaned in his direction. "What're you doing over there--You got to get in this with me!" Just as he moved she was lifted up and down like a trampoline. Higher each throw. "Guys, it's ok. Just, c-chill. Chill!" Lace didn't mean a word she said. On the third lift she was thrown completely backwards in the air. A mixture of panic and excitment, Lace spun--landing on all fours. Along with the sound of marbles rolling away.

Trying hard not to bump into anyone, Lace was already on the floor scrapping up pieces calling them out by color. "Blue, orange, red, pur-?" Lace looking up in the middle of the crowd's shoes; fist tight with chocolates. "Where's purple?!" No one turned to her to the clown waxing the floor. "Watch your feet!"

[MarbleZone]

\\Levin Sanders - Chariot Arcana//
Bellow High, Outside the Gym

"... What?"

Levin was perplexed. Not so much because of what he'd just heard, but because of the gigantic mistake in evaluation he had made. Turns out, this guy was legitimately crazy, no way he was just staying in character - behind the theatrics, it was clear he actually believed what he was saying. Levin couldn't remember the last time a first impression had been so off the mark.

They hadn't wandered too far away from the Gym, but he made his way back slowly. He was in no hurry to catch up with Sigmund, and his mind was racing again. He'd learned by now that it was best to give it time to think carefully than to postpone his concerns for a later time.

"Surely he was drunk. He was by the refreshments table like myself, he probably had his share of punch. But no, his speech was coherent. And if he was deranged, he wouldn't have been admitted into Bellow anyway. And so, having ruled out the impossible..."


He stopped altogether. He'd reached the front door of the Gym, loud music - too much so - could be heard coming from inside.

"What if he's right?..."

To be honest with himself, what he had lived last night was certainly paranormal. He hadn't consumed alcohol or drugs, and the odds of him being hallucinating were minimal without an apparent reason. No, it had been real. Inconceivable, but real. And if he couldn't deny that, why should he refuse to believe Sigmund? What he said was no less believable, and provided some sort of twisted reasoning to this madness.

Levin smiled.

"Fine, let's go find that mummy."


---


"Hey grouch, over here!!"
"Levin, come on, let's dance!!"
"Don't just stand there, come and have fun!!"

Yes. Definitely too loud. He needed to get to the point quickly, his head was killing him. "Animals."

It was going to be a challenge finding the the pharmacist, Mr. Wulfgard, especially if he was wrapped in bandages like a fair number of other people at the party.

"Heh... worst case scenario, waiting until midnight might help filter out some unwanted mummies."
He forced himself to smile. Last time he felt so nervous was... well, last night.

[Son_of_Shadows]

Joshua Sands - Tower Arcana - Monday Night - On the way to the Gym

He couldn't help but reflect on Mana's last words as he'd left with Ciara, and his hunch that Ciara was responsible for the effigy. Was she really capable of something like that? Possibly. It made him feel very uncomfortable, that here he was, essentially her date for the evening, and she was mocking a young woman in a coma, who had saved Joshua's life in the Court. He remembered it well, having just stabbed himself to save JP from Shadow Izzy... Theresa was the one who healed his wound. He would've bled to death otherwise, unless Snow or someone had come along. But still, she was the one he owed his life to.

But all this was besides the point. Mana's hunch was just a hunch. There was no proof of Ciara's involvement, though at the same time, nothing to disprove it. He decided to push it out of his mind, it wasn't as though he would have it in him to bring it up anyway. Why spoil the evening? Yeah, that was the reason, or so he'd keep telling himself.

And then he had even MORE to reflect on as Ciara made points about JP and Mana, including the possibility of JP being possessed... He had become so distant from the group, even patrolling alone during the Court. Joshua knew he was tough, tougher than most of the group, but how had he kept himself safe over these months? The only other person who'd gone it alone ONCE had come back with a broken arm. It was possible, but highly unlikely, surmised Joshua - could the Shadows even exist outside the Court, even if they were possessing someone? Could they even do that anyway? He should probably bring it up with Wulfgard, just in case. But the point that he was something of a loose cannon right now... Well, he couldn't argue with that.

As for Mana, he found that less easy to accept. He knew Mana better, and he liked him for his witty sarcasm. And he'd seen the first time Mana summoned his Persona, and his complete freakout, as though he'd seen a ghost. Maybe he was. Could something in Mana's past have affected his Persona? Not to mention Ciara's sheer contempt for him, which was almost certainly colouring her views. Yes, Mana obviously had issues... But to speak of him like that... Well, he wasn't sure he liked it. But yes, he should probably be watched out for.

The seeds of doubt had been sown, though only one had completely taken root. The other might take some time.

And then an abrupt change of topic. She wanted him to be "mysterious"? The look was fine, just as long as his words matched apparently... Well, how hard could it be? Anything to make her happy he supposed, it was her birthday tomorrow... She took his arm, and smiled at him, shamelessly manipulative as ever.

"You know what I mean. Shall we proceed?"

"Yes... Let's." They walked in, easily the most dressed up pair at the party. Oops. Well, at least they were still in costume, they were just slightly more formal about it. And he had to admit, Ciara looked fabulous in her black dress, which certainly highlighted her- Eyes front mister! If she'd caught you. you'd be screwed. And not in the good way. The party itself was fairly standard. Mostly awkward teens too nervous to dance without any liquor in them, but would undoubtedly loosen up as the night went on. Joshua spooned out two plastic cups of punch for himself and Ciara, and looked around for the rest of their group. He was fairly sure Miyuki and Izzy should've been here by now... He still wasn't keen on Izzy, but nonetheless... Lace was being her usual hyperactive self (Joshua knew exactly how Ciara was sneering about her in his head, and how she was probably about to vocalise it), Sigmund was speaking to the boy who'd been pulled into the court last night - so he probably remembered what had happened, and Snow was with one of the girls from Drama Club. Joshua did a double-take. Snow? With a date? Hot damn. He felt a slight tinge of pride in his young friend, who was growing up to be exactly the sort of musical pretty boy girls liked.

... Ciara was rubbing off on him. Not that way.

Oh, what the hell... Better say something before she says something about Lace anyway. "So, do you want to... dance or anything?" So yeah, that whole mysterious thing... Not happening. That was just awkward of him. Brilliant. "I'm still getting used to this whole mysterious thing?" he smiled, as though the awkwardness was just a joke.

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
Dorm’s Living Area

Lace took his commentary to her idea rather well; it kind of surprised him. It made Russell think that maybe she wasn’t as crazy as he thought. She so cheerfully decided to go back to her room and change out of her ninja gear and went skipping up the stairs. Leaving him alone with Halberd... He began to talk admiring his costume... though it was the Drama Club’s... As he talked the man redhead got one big impression... someone was awfully excited. It seems the Scottish upperclassman was all excited about the Halloween Party; even the mature Halberd knew how to have fun. This made Russell the only person who wasn’t really looking forward to it... that he knew.

The long-hair guy left for something he could add to his costume leaving him alone. He wondered if he should go to his room a drop off his schoolbag. He could just bring it with him and finish his homework if he found a nicely lit place..... Do homework at a party; yup just for the thought Russell was a stick-in-the-mud. He would rather do homework than go to a party; maybe it was time to pick up a new hobby. He was a bit interested in boxing nowadays since Sigmund just looked so cool throwing punches and such; however, he doubt he’d would have a similar image. Also the fourteen year old felt he should concentrate on the weapons he already had. He could certainly use it but wasn’t anything extraordinary like everyone else and their weapon. He just didn’t have a talent for fighting yet his stubbornness pushed him to try to get better at it.

He decided to make a trip quickly to his room, drop his bag off and come back... The teen was going to the party, if not to just ease the worry of the Drama Club members. On his way up he saw the manikin in the hall. Even with his horrid vision he could easily recognize the style of the clothing. Never really meant to but after first seeing ‘Terri’ in this hallway with a weapon strapped to her back, his eyes would unconsciously lock on to her style of clothing. Though he didn’t see much as ‘she’ was taken away by JP and Mana but there was definitely a hint of hostility and sorrow in the air so the visual before it taken down must not have been something good. It made him frown thinking anyone would make fun of such an upsetting thing; since the older lady seem like a nice person for the short moment he knew her.

Russell continued to his room dropping off his bag and picking up his Midnight Expedition bag. His costume lacked pockets and he need something to carry his glasses in. The dusky brown bag didn’t clash with the outfit. There also wasn’t anything suspicious in the bag especially since their gun evoker has been replaced with a card. Why a card would have the same affect as a gun; the redhead didn’t know but it was less nerve-racking than the gun. Tossing the bag over his shoulder Russell quickly made it to the lounge area and amazingly before Lace and Halberd. Lace was... interestingly dressed. If she hadn’t told him she was some kind of clown thing he certainly wouldn’t have guessed it... was the ketchup and mustard on her?

“Just in case there is a Court tonight,” There was a Court every night it’s just that nothing as bad as when they first join has happened in nearly two months. Now that the older guy had said it was almost guaranteed that the night would be curse with something bad. “I strongly advise that nobody consume any illegal substances before midnight. Or eat too many sweets.” The sweets comment was definitely pointed towards Lace. He likes sweets but he could easily live without it. The statement before that is what got his attention.

“How would we even obtain illegal substances?” Suddenly blurted out at the random advice to them; candy was a likely one since Lace seem to have an endless supply of it stored up in her room. There were even some stray skittles in the bag she had tossed. But both of them were freshman and anyone mistaken them for 21 was impossible. Well guess in some places 18 was a drinking age but he was certain he couldn’t even get away with that. People outside of school tend to think he was in middle school. Only way they were getting any was if someone supplied it to them and no one, he knew, was that stupid to supply minors with liquor. And with the excitement of the other two of the group members Russell went along with them to the party.

Bellow High Gymnasium

The party atmosphere was just as Russell imagined: dim lighting impairing his vision worse than normal, large crowd of people who were loudly speaking to one other and overall it seem like a joyous celebration that he alone wasn’t really into. He hadn’t put his glasses on so the freshman was having a difficult time making out anyone other than Pirate Captain Halberd and the Condiment Clown Lace but that was only because they were close by. And then Lace was gone from his seeable view as she ran into crowd, somehow though he could still managed to hear her screaming above the many people before she completely left his hearing range... He followed Halberd and happened to see Lace throw her punch cup in someone’s hood and jump over them... that was rather rude. The teen would now add to his earlier statement that the redheaded girl wasn’t as crazy as he thought, she was absolutely crazier...

There really wasn’t much to do but he couldn’t really see much around the gym area; the redhead was refusing to put his glasses on in such a public setting even though no one would probably notice. It seems like everyone was either dancing or talking and he couldn’t dance. He decided to get some food while the night was still young... Russell didn’t like eating near Court time. He decided to check out the table to see what they had anything other than punch.

[Zincspider]

Randy Clopin
Halloween Party
Monday- 8:15 PM

“-And so then I lead both the girls back to my hot-tub, where we share some sweet lovin', and bang all night long.... sound believable to you?” Ned asked, leaning on the punch table, a small translucent glass in his had, colored red from the liquid inside. His audience (A rather exasperated Halls, Randy, and Phil) all took a moment to grade his tale. Halls spoke up first, leaning over the table to get a good look at the boy in the dim lighting.

“Now, Edward, that's woefully inappropriate to be talking about in front of a woman... and your teacher, don't you think?”

“It's Ned, 'mam.” The boy offered lightly. He was met with a small smack to the face, courtesy of the witch.

“Don't correct me. I'm not done anyway. Now, when you tell this story do you intend to be wearing a dress? That tends to damage it's already questionable credibility.” A wry smile spread over Hall's face after the dig, causing Phil to spit out his punch (some through his nose) onto the dance floor, and begin laughing hysterically.

“Dammit!”

“Language, Loganson!”

Ned slammed his cup down on the table, and walked off ranting something about 'Phil's stupid effin idea', leaving his brother laughing his *** off behind him, and Randy to stare at Miss Halls, jaw open in shock and awe. He'd been thinking the same thing to be honest... but he didn't think Miss Halls would be the one to rib at him for his costume.

“What's wrong Clopin? Cat got your tongue?” She asked, moving back to her standing position. She took a couple of seconds to adjust her hat, and smooth out her dress over her curves, something Phil seemed to be taking notice of as his laughter calmed down. Damn idiot. “It's rude to stare, Loganson. Also, you've got a bit of punch right here.” To illustrate her point, she raised her hand and dabbed under her nose.

Embarrassed, Phil made clear he lacked a napkin and hurried off from his teacher.

“So, Clopin.” She turned to Randy, who carefully sipped his glass of punch. Great... he was the only one left. She'd already picked off Phil and Ned... “Seems you're the last one. Braver than your buddies I suppose.” Randy shrugged and took one more small sip. Not much he could really say... at all.

“Oh, gonna keep quiet, eh? Fine. Stick around if you want.” She seemed to have given up her game, in preference for her job at this point, although he could see she was looking at him from the side, almost amused... as if she knew he was getting nervous. Randy held back a sigh, afraid she'd see it as a sign of weakness. At the moment, he was still glad to have even a shred of dignity. For the same reason, he chose to stay in the same damn spot, completely still, staring Miss Halls down.

The rest of the party was a blank. At one point, Izzy and Miyuki stood by the table as well, but he didn't bother talking to them (har har...), a bit out of embarrassment, and a bit out of not wanting to quit this little game.
He only stopped when someone small and dressed in a white ghost sheet ran up to him and kicked his shin before running off once more. Causing him to gasp out in pain and drop his cup so that he might grab his tender area and hop around for a couple of seconds. He wanted to scream 'why', but his sore vocal cords got the better of him, making it sound like a small sputter instead.

And then he fell over.

Izzy Simone
Halloween Party
Monday- 8:20 PM

"Well, what do you think? I don't usually wear anything like this, so I'm not sure how it looks."

Izzy knew his answer to the question. It was cute, esspecially with the little twirl. But he held back his answer. He'd watched television... what is this was one of those 'women traps'? Like... if he answered he'd get his throat torn out or something. He didn't know what she was dressed up as. What if it was supposed to be some kind of monster, and he'd insult her costume?

"The costume idea just came naturally, I didn't even need any make-up."

See... she prided it! What could he say? That she was scary? What if she was just supposed to look Japanese? A Japanese Lady with Ice. That's... possible. Albeit unlikely. Still... was he willing to take the risk.
Possibly.
He did want to compliment her... that was always a good thing, right?

“It's really cu-” He began, before someone passing by knocked into him. He only caught a slight glimpse of flannel and blonde hair before losing his balance, falling neatly into Miyuki's arms. Izzy's face immediately matched the trim on his jacket, and his goggles slowly fell to his eyes, covering them up. As quick as he could, he stood up, and tried to laugh it off, nervously, and find anything to talk about. Anything at all.

“Hey would you look at that? Randy's having a staring contest with Miss Halls. Liza won't be happy about...” Izzy began before raising his hands to his mouth, terrified that he'd let something slip. He ignored a confused look from Miyuki and searched for any excuse to take a break from interaction.

“I HAVE TO PEE!” He screamed, running to the bathroom, and leaving Miyuki behind. Or at least he tried. Not two feet from her, he tripped on his own feet, and fell down face first. A crack was barely audible through the din of the crowd, but Miyuki was close enough to hear the goggles smack the ground. I single hand rose into the air, with it's index finger pointed upwards “Look on the bright side... I didn't land on you this time.” And as if he finally grasped his manhood in his moment of pain. "By the way... the costume's really cute on you."

Garret Wulfgard
Halloween Party
Monday- 9:25 PM

The party was... stranger than he expected.
A small group of nerdy looking students had gathered around Space Case and had decided to start dancing... they were about the only ones doing so so happily. Most of the couples stayed off to the sides and talked. Speaking of couples talking, Izzy seemed to be having a nice time with Miyuki until he face faulted... again. Ciara (who didn't seem like a party person) was dragging Josh by his collar like a dog. Randy was just staring at Halls... an act that bothered him more than it should have. Or he was until Liza ran up and kicked him. Good girl. Testa was ballroom dancing (As inappropriate as it was for this kind of party) with his sister just a second ago...

But he wasn't there now.

Odd... he should have been keep a watch on the students. After quickly scanning the room, and seeing no threat of hostile outbreak or sign of Jones, Garret popped open the door he was standing next to and slipped outside as quietly as he could.
-

Testa Jones
Track Stadium
Monday- 9:40 PM

“HRRRG!”

**THUNK!**

Testa stepped back for a second to admire his toss, taking a long drag on the cigarette hang out of his mouth in the process.
The white light of the stadium gave the illusion of daylight, leaving the sand looking a pure as ever. Jones himself was standing at the sand pit, while a set of large foam dummies were set about 40 yards ahead of him. No less than a dozen bright orange plastic javelins protruded from the dolls, plucked directly from the track team supplies.

“This is great.” Jones confirmed with himself. Stepping back a few feet to pick up another throwing spear. “Been a while since I've been able to do this.” The distance was child's play, but hitting the target's dead on? Well, he wasn't doing so bad for how long he'd been out of practice. While he was hitting the targets, quite a few orange bars were sticking up out of the field as well.

“TESTA!”

Now who could that be?
Jones turned around to find his brother in law still in his Mummy costume. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and stomped it out in the sand.
“Hey, Garret.” He shouted, offering a smile, but then returning to his game. With a powerful toss, Jones let his new javelin soar... right into the sand not an inch away from the target. “Aww...”

Garret decided to wait to get closer before confronting Testa, placing his hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, buddy, why are ya out here?” Testa raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head.

“You know... just releasing some steam. I told Haruka I was going to take a smoke. Didn't really lie.” Dropping the new javelin he'd picked up, he decided to turn and talk.

“Dude... I didn't know you got steamed.” Garret commented, the comment sound a bit more like a joke than a serious observation.

“Well... a lot's been going on you know. With all the crazy things happening here... that Apathy stuff. It's just nice doing something I'm good at again.” Jones remarked, gesturing to the field of dummies and spears ahead.

“The toss?” Garret asked, rolling with the conversation. “I thought you were a boxer.” As if to lighten the mood, Garret picked up a mock stance and jabbed at Testa's chest a few times.

“Well, the school preferred the boxing team back then. We got a lot of attention. Other groups? Not so much.” Testa seemed to enjoy the new turn in the conversation, as if it were getting his mind of something unpleasant. He was smiling again. “I was better at Javelin Toss by far. I dabbled in the rest of track, but I always preferred this.”

“I see...” Garret looked around. He did seem to be quite good at it... but he wasn't really an expert on Track stuffs. “...Well, are you ready to get back? I bet Haruka's waiting for you. We've got a long night ahead of us. Let's not waste our Haru given breaks just yet.”

“Yeah... I guess so.”

[niedude]

<//JP- Lovers Arcana//3
<//Bellow Dorms//3


It pleased JP to hear Mana talking about loss. He felt they could relate... He’d ask more about the kid’s past, but frankly his mind wasn’t in the right place to have such a deep conversation. He needed to relax, to do something to think straight.

He could always cook.

"Anyway, what's this about Josh and Ciara? Either he's not gay, or the crazy b!tch is secretly a man. Not sure about you, but I'm assuming the latter. Anyway, you go ahead to the party. I'm probably not going to go. I don't even have a costume; I got caught up with Sofiya… the collar still won't come off… eh well. I'll get rid of the mannequin if you want - you've got the clothes - and we'll see if we can stir things up during Court tonight."

JP thought about offering his sword to try and break that collar, but the possibility of decapitating Mana didn’t really appeal to him that time of day. Not to mention it would end up ruining his appetite. Speaking of ruining appetite...

“I think Josh is just curious, and is starting out by finding the closest embodiment of both genders he can. Ciara fits that pretty well. At least she looks female. We’ll need to make note of checking her Adam’s apple, or see if she pads her bra. Failing that, I expect you to volunteer to grope her nether regions. At worse, you’ll confirm our suspicions – any eventual castration a risk you need to take – and at best you’ll have a handful of the reason why I love them b!tches.”

He let that sink in as he made his way to the kitchen. Most of the dorm had been emptied by now; good riddance, if you asked him.

“And I wasn’t planning on hitting that party either. The best parts would only happen after I’d be beaten to a bloody pulp by the court. And explaining why your clothes just inexplicably ripped while you kissed is a difficult thing.”

He turned to Mana and mouthed “believe me” before he entered the kitchen area. He began speaking louder so Mana could hear him.

“Anyway, I’m hungry and there’s this risotto recipe I’ve been meaning to try out. Wanna be my guinea-pig? I always overcook when I’m trying on a new recipe.”

[GoldenHouou]

OOC: I had so much fun with this that I don’t even care how disorganize everything in this post is! 8D

Oh and I totally forgot whether or not Randy was in a costume. Woops.

--

Sofiya Mikhailovna Ignatova
Monday
Rooftop somewhere

Sofiya was leaning her cheek against two slender fingers, her lips forming a small, very uncharacteristic smirk as she eyed her spoils of the day. She was wearing a tight military uniform, with the front opened all the way to her chest. She had on black leather gloves with matching, thigh-high boots, and a military cap hung on her head, shrouding one turquoise eye in darkness. She had, for the time being, abandoned one of her gloves as well as her crop in favor of flipping through a rainbow-colored photoalbum, both of said items now sitting next to her on the cold surface of the roof. Some distance from them lay other… items Commander Ignatova had required tonight, all scattered across the roof she was sitting on the edge of.

After taking in a yet another photograph she let out a high-pitched chuckle and flipped the page, the sharp look in her eyes focusing on the next picture depicting a boy clad in a homemade cat costume. Sofiya shifted her crossed legs, her camouflage patterned skirt flipping about before settling back to cover what little was visible of her thighs.

“Perfect,” the eerie woman mused softly, contently, tapping the stone of the building’s exterior with one of her boots. The cold breeze of Halloween eve had caught her hair which she had, just for the occasion, decided to let remain free. And so her ridiculously long, black streaks were whipped about freely by the wind, sometimes curling around her when the wind changed directions too suddenly. It was like black, silky strings wrapping around her and warning each passerby not to get too close lest you be trapped in her web. She threw back her strands with one, shift flick of her hand, never losing the grace and poise expected of a high-ranking soldier.

Needless to say, the Russian looked like a completely different person then. That was because this wasn’t Sofiya at all; this was Commander Ignatova and you’d better remember it, you lowly cur.

“So very perfect…” She repeated once more with a whisper, her accent adding an unusual edge to her words. Tracing one of the pictures with her long, painted nails, and her wine-red lips barely parting, she breathed out a silent: “Yes, my pupil….”

Sofiya’s smirk widened, and then immediately fell right off of her face.

“-is so cyuuuute~!” Sofiya exclaimed in her usual, kiddy voice as she jumped up to stand, a much more familiar, cat-like smile replacing her ominous grin from earlier. She spun around a few times, dangerously close to the edge before she finally banged her photoalbum shut and held it against her chest as if it were a dear childhood toy of some sort. Yes, Mana, her pupil, he was so utterly adorable in all these pictures! He made such a great cat in the end. Well, he had needed some disciplining to make it happen, but in the end it was worth it. That tail had reaaally suit him. Granted, it had been a bit difficult to attach and Mana had kept complaining how much it hurt, but… but well, she wouldn’t have been a proper Commander had she not known how to be strict, right? Surely he’d think all the suffering was totally worth it too, once he saw the results of their little – forced – photoshoot!

She had allowed Mana to return to the dorms some time ago by now, or rather, she had shooed him off so she could print out the photos and gather them in an album for him. He had seemed happy to comply, and so, Sofiya had stayed behind. And, maybe it was because it was Halloween, but Sofiya had wanted to keep the military costume on and remain in character a bit longer. It was fun, she loved the boots and the gloves and everything! The hat was fun, and so was the crop. Especially the crop! Mana loved the crop too. She could faintly recall him saying that after some very intensive persuasion.

Sofiya stretched, figuring it was time to get back already. As she gathered her “equipment” she silently wished she would run into JP at some point during the party. He had secluded himself for so long, she was really getting worried. But she had decided that she wouldn’t let him be alone any longer. Halloween was meant to be spent with friends, scaring each other half to death!

Nodding, determined, she started to make her way towards the dorms, stopping to change back into her earlier costume – the costume of Everything.

~

Dorms

As Sofiya reached the dorms and opened the door to step inside, she overheard talking. A familiar voice- JP?! Snapping into her stealth mode, she quickly hid behind the door and peeked inside as slyly as she could. Yeah, she had been right, it was JP! Talking to someone! That was so good! And that someone… Oh, it was Mana? Strange, why wasn’t he at the party? In fact, why was neither of them at the party? And hey! Mana didn’t seem to be wearing his ears! She’d need to lecture him about that later. But for now, she was in stealth mode and her goal was to just listen.

So, she pulled herself completely behind the door and pressed an ear against its surface.

“… explaining why your clothes just inexplicably ripped while you kissed is a difficult thing.”

… Huh? Clothes ripping while… kissing? Had one of them kissed someone? And ripped their clothes? She was pretty sure she had seen an educational video like that once. But wait, who did they kiss, there wasn’t anyone in there except… Oh.

Oh.

So that’s why neither of them went to the party! And that was why Mana had been so eager to leave – he had to meet up with JP in secret! It was like Romeo and Juliet! Except it was like… Romeo and Julius instead. Which was pretty weird. But, but she was open-minded! Even if she couldn’t, for the life of her, imagine how they could do the stuff on the videos together ever. They had too many tangly bits!

This would now bother her.

So Sofiya made a mental note to look for someone who could possibly have more knowledge on the subject, but that was for later. Now, there was a party to attend to!

~

PARTEH

So, on her way to the party Sofiya had suddenly realized that she… didn’t have anyone to go to the party with. No partner. No date. How could she go to the party without a date? She would be seen as an outcast, a boring loner who was so unsociable she couldn’t even find a single boy to take to the party. Everyone would start to hate her, and she… didn’t think she would be able to handle that. Public humiliation and all.

Well luckily, she was smart.

She had taken the carcass that used to be part of her costume and was now carrying it in her arms, princess style. She would just need to say that her partner was dressed up as a dead, beat up body. Sure, her Everything costume now lacked a rotting corpse, but everything else was still in place, so maybe they wouldn’t mind? She just needed to make a really dramatic entrance to make up for that shortcoming, that was all.

And so, when she reached the doors from behind which she could already hear party music, she took in a deep breath, determined. This was it. Now go in with style! She took a few steps back and then walked forward, kicking the doors open once she reached them. She stood on the doorway, her “date” for the night in her arms and her stance wide.

“Good evening, mortals! I am Everything! And, and this is my date, a... well a beat up, totally dead corpse!” She exclaimed, trying to have her voice beat the music in volume. “Now he’s really, really serious about this being dressed up as a dead body business, so don’t try to talk to him okay? He won’t - Oh, drinky things!”

Completely forgetting all about the part she was supposed to play, she tossed the fake corpse away somewhere and scurried to the punch table, jumping up and down in excitement. Yay, she was starting to get really thirsty! Cheerful as ever, she filled herself a glass and spun around to take a look around the gym. She loved, loved, loved parties! Especially costume ones. And from the first glance it was clear her costume was the best here! There were multiple vampires and ghosts and… other things, but she was the only Everything!

Beaming brightly as ever, Sofiya started to jump up and down again, this time to the beat of music. She was moving while jumping, doing well until she almost fell over as she stepped onto... something. Or someone. Yelping a bit she jumped away, only to step onto another part of that... something. Confused, she looked down... only to see a peculiar sigh; Randy, the boy whose upbeat attitude she had grown to like over the weeks… now lying on the floor alone, totally... not upbeat. That couldn’t be! Why wouldn't he be upbeat It was a party! Maybe it was part of his guise. He wasn’t wearing a costume though… Well, only one way to find out.

"Wah, sorry!" She gasped, moving her hand to rub the back of her head sheepishly, splashing some of her drink on the unfortunate man as she did. "And um... well hi! How are you doing and... um... why are you on the floor?" She took a better look and then exclaimed, all surprised and oblivious: "Ohh, you've got punch on you too! Silly, it's not supposed to go on your face! You need to drink it! I'll teach you!" She offered a hand. "Now get up, up up!"

[Kiruria]

Bryan "Halberd" Donneley
Bellow High Dorms, just before the party
"With a Bottle of Rum and a Yo-Ho-Ho"

"How would we even obtain illegal substances?" Russell asked him in response to his earlier remark about them.

"Yeah, you're right," Halberd replied, "I think that part was directed more at me than you." He took a brief glance at the empty rum bottle in his pocket, which had in fact held its proper contents about fifteen minutes ago. No, he didn't drink it. He just transferred it to an empty soda bottle (taken from Lace of course) for the time being.

Being in a gang has its benefits, better access to illegal substances being one of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Party in the Gymnasium

And so the musketeer, the pirate, and the clown arrived at the party. Well, more like the clown first, and then the musketeer and the pirate a while afterward. A shame really. On one hand, Lace's new costume made her stick out like a sore thumb around the two boys, but on the other, Halberd had been looking forward to accompanying Lace all the way up to the party. Though a bit relieved, he was overall disappointed at how she just ran off like that. Not to mention now he was stuck with Russell being his "date". As if he couldn't accidentally torment Russell further than he apparently already had. But at least their costumes went together...

Once inside the gym, there were a few moments where Halberd looked around with a confident smile on his face, glacing around at the decorations and that lovely witch near the punch bowl. But then his smile faded when he saw Lace--in fact, he once again had to muster all the willpower he had to prevent himself from facepalming. Throwing her punch cup into someone's hoodie, dancing around and even being lifted over the crowd like some superstar. Well, actually, he found that last part rather amusing. Who would've expected a bunch of high school students to do that to a clown? Yup, she definitely reminded him of cute little Warren back home. He, too, had an odd ability to convince people into things like that, though perhaps not to this extreme.

At this time, Halberd decided to impersonate his anti-virus program* by performing a quick scan of the area. In doing so, he found one thing to add to his "blacklist of dangerous sea dogs": whoever caused Randy to lie on the floor with punch all over him. Ah well, rowdy people were pretty common on Halloween. Otherwise, the decks were scoured and the coast was clear.

But after a few moments, he turned back to Russell, who was heading towards the snack table. Good idea, Halberd thought. He himself was not too fond of dancing without a sword in front of him, so since he couldn't just draw out his rapier in front of everyone at a normal school event, and since Lace was off doing her own thing, and since dancing with Russell (which seemed impossible to convince him of in itself) would make people think he was gay, he decided it wasn't an option. He did kind of like the music though--he was at least glad it was different from the hip-hop music that was so popular at school dances nowadays.

"Ah, there you are," Halberd said to him, forgetting to speak in his pirate voice again. "I'm not that fond of dancing either, so let's see what we have here instead..."

He stood there stroking his goatee while examining the snack selection. Candy, candy canes, candy corns, syrup... no wait. Well, candy nonetheless. Figures, this was a Halloween party, so of course there was candy. Nothing too interesting, though he did crack a few Snickers upon seeing a bowl of Three Musketeers candy bars. While those were all Good and Plenty, he didn't have nearly as much a sweet tooth as Lace did. Where was that little Tootsie Pop anyway? Looking back at the table, for a brief moment it seemed like all there was in this entire Milky Way galaxy was Mounds of candy... and eating too much of it would not only make him feel nauseous, but eventually give him a Jelly Belly.

...Okay, then there were chips. And pretzels. Too ordinary--they didn't really elaborate on anything that wasn't sweet. He really had to admire the brain-shaped gelatin treats** a person dressed like a zombie was serving though. He was half-surprised that zombie didn't just scarf them all down by himself. And then there was the punch. Though he liked the fact that it looked like blood, it would probably be a bit sugary for his tastes, and therefore not worth drinking if it wasn't spiked, a scenario which was impossible at a high-school party with teachers watching. And besides, he was not too fond of portraying himself as the blood-thirsty type of pirate.

"Thar be no sign of land anywhere," Halberd announced while looking about with his hand in a salute-like gesture against his tri-cornered hat. "We must sail onward without picking up provisions. Straight into the approaching storm***."

It didn't really matter anyway; Halberd was still a little full from supper. Which had recently become his biggest meal of the day, as if to assure that he had enough energy for the upcoming Court. Nevertheless, he did decide to pick up one of those brain jellies, just for the fun of it, and since gelatin tended to not have an excessive amount of sugar in it.

While looking around some more, Halberd eventually spotted something that put a smile on his face: Snow! With a girl, no less! And dressed as some sort of Renaissance-era person! And having just finished dancing with her! He just had to go over and say hello, leaving Russell by himself unless he decided to join him.

"Why, I ne'er did expect to see our ship's piano player to pick up a bonnie lass!" Halberd greeted after the song was over****, fearing that calling Snow's date a wench would be taken as an insult. "You two be getting along rather well there, aye? Got my first mate Russell here as well, had Lace till the sweets took her over..." He ran out of piratey things to say at that point, deciding to give Snow and his date a chance to repond before going back to check on Russell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* I'm referring to Avast, which has "pirate talk" as one of its possible languages. All the piratey phrases in that paragraph are from that program.
** I made this once at a Halloween party at my house... it was fun. And tasty. I made it strawberry-peach flavoured and added milk, so that it was the colour of a real brain. Real brains are pink, not gray.
*** By which he means the Court of course.
**** I mean to give Snow time to dance with Melissa for a while before Halberd says hi to them.

[Ysavvryl]

Snow
Halloween party

Well he couldn't say the dance lessons were that successful. It wasn't easy to waltz when his partner was carrying a large super soaker at her side, not to mention tripping over his own feet at one point. But, it hadn't gotten bloody and it was only a little embarrassing, so it wasn't a total failure either. They ended up laughing it off, and then tried to do what the other students were doing. But that wasn't very sophisticated dancing, leading Melissa to start mocking them (but only loud enough that Snow could hear). That ended up making them both laugh

And right then, Sofiya burst onto the scene, shouting that she was dressed as Everything (which was almost believable from the wild array of stuff she was wearing, but was lacking some) and that her date was a beat-up corpse. And then getting distracted by the drinks. Already in a silly mood, Snow and Melissa cracked up at that.

“Someone has to tell her that she's lacking wings,” Snow said, once he was able to talk again.

“And bunny ears,” Melissa said. “She totally needs bunny ears. And wheels.”

“But it's a nice abstract attempt. You'd almost think it was an intellectual statement.”

Melissa leaned in closer. “Hey, what if it is? You think maybe she's an alien secret agent sent to spy on our planet in preparations for an invasion?”

Unable to take that serious, Snow burst into laughter again. “She... she might be.”

She stepped away again. “Oo, then I wonder what her true form would be. Maybe a lizard?”

“A lizard bunny,” Snow said, making Melissa laugh this time.

After a little while of joking back and forth, they were approached by someone else. "Why, I ne'er did expect to see our ship's piano player to pick up a bonnie lass! You two be getting along rather well there, aye? Got my first mate Russell here as well, had Lace till the sweets took her over..."

The two of them couldn't resist laughing. “Oh, I hope you're a good pirate,” Melissa said in a sing-song kind of voice. She then took hold of her water shotgun. “Cause otherwise I'm gonna have to shoot ya full of holes.”

“I think a pirate would be used to getting wet,” Snow said teasingly. “We're having fun, but we were going over to get a drink. You guys having fun? I can tell Lace is.” They then headed off the dance floor to pick up some bloody red punch.

[Jason-Kun]

Clarise Stone
Bellow High Dorm (After School)

As Clarise tried to catch her breath, Snow responded. "Hi Clarise." He paused for a moment before continuing, eyes seeming to trail over the area the trio was walking on. "I haven't seen anyone else, but I've been doing homework out here while the weather's nice. Oh, no, I think I saw Ciara over by the tree." At this Clarise smiled, preparing to leave as Snow acknowledged her once again. "Are you going to be at the costume party? It seems like it might be even busier than our concerts."

At this Clarise slowed down as she took in his words." I hadn't really considered it. Do you think I should?"

At this Snow seemed to pause for a moment, considering a reply before speaking. "Well, why not? It'll be fun, and we have to be dealing with darkness and fighting every night. Might as well have some fun when we can."

At that Clarise turned towards him, a small frown adorning her features for a moment. " Well don't we already do stuff like that in our own time?"

A sigh met her in response. " To be honest I was thinking more along the lines of having fun in a group. Consider it, alright?"

At this Clarise gave a small nod as the group made came upon the dorms. Without waiting for a response, Clarise waved Sig and Snow a goodbye, making her way towards the dorm.

---

Clarise Stone
Bellow High Gymnasium (Evening)

As the party seemed to gather steam, Clarise made her way into the gymnasium being careful to try and avoid any attention she might gather. In the hours between school ending and now she had made few changes to her costume. Or rather what had meant to be a few changes had turned out to be another costume change entirely.

The ponytail had been pulled out falling to her shoulders. Her lavender contacts had been taken out and replaced with a pair of light blue ones instead. The fedora from earlier discarded, she now wore a small yet hardly noticeable white crown with a blue jewel in the center. The canteen in turn had had to go and no her waist was bare. In place of the longcoat she now wore a small white coat with fur around the edges of the sleeves and collar, her boots exchanged for a more normal pair of black kneehigh ones. Underneath the jacket she wore a red dress that clung to her, her old gloves pulled on for just this night. Safely hidden within the confines of her jacket however was her evoker just in case she managed to be caught unawares.

Smoothing out the jacket, she cast her eyes around for the others. Noticing Russel alone by one of the tables she she began to make her way over to him before she remember she'd been intending on avoiding him. With a sigh she cast a desperate glance over to room once more her eyes finally resting upon someone else. Was that Lace on the floor? Making her way over to the younger redhead she reached out her hand towards her. "Here let me help you out."

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
Bellow High Gym- Snack Table

There was mostly candy on this table and though Russell like sweets he prefer it to be milder in sweetness or in small portion often not the case. Though his choice remained, go hungry for the night and eat this. After the Court all he ever wants to do was go back to his room and stay there; eating was always the last thing on his mind. He could hear Halberd pirate speech as he examine it as well; it appears the Captain wasn’t a large fan of sweets himself. The older brunette was really getting into this whole Halloween thing. So Russell got pretzels, chips and couple of small packs of candy. It wasn’t exactly quiet but there was certainly an absence of a particular voice.

“…Halberd?” the redhead called out as he looked around for tall senior who had also vanish and became one in the blur sea of silhouettes. It seems he was on his own now, a slight relief yet a bit lonely. “It looks like he set sail while I was pilfering for valuables.” Great, now he has me doing it... Russell was fairly certain that he would probably come back but he didn’t want to block other people from the snack table of the alternate of someone bumping into him. If Halberd wanted him he could find him better than the other way around.

Carefully maneuvering around people as carefully as he could, he found an empty spot on against the gym wall. Eating the food on his plate he watched the indistinguishable students of the school; everyone in his eyes saw seemed to be having fun of some kind. This was better than staying in his room by himself even if he wasn’t doing anything.

[TheSequelReturns]

~ Miyuki Tachibana ~
~ Halloween Party - Monday Evening ~

Izzy had seemed a bit flustered ever since she asked her question. He was probably over-thinking it, it was just a simple question after all. Finally, as if he had found the words after a frantic search through his mental dictionary, he began “It's really cu-” before promptly getting cut off as a nudge from a passerby sent him off balance.

As the apparent laws of physics dictate, whenever Izzy loses his balance, he falls directly towards her. Miyuki managed to avoid having him land face-first once-again by catching him in her arms the way one might catch a random piece of scenery that decided to gently fall at you. That is, she held up her arms, and let Izzy fall right into them. A blush (that Miyuki had to admit was kinda adorable) quickly spread across his face as his googles became dis-shelved from their usual perch on his forehead. He quickly threw himself back into a standing position, dusting himself off and in general trying to act like that little event had never happened.

“Hey would you look at that? Randy's having a staring contest with Miss Halls. Liza won't be happy about...” As if realizing he was off on a completely random tangent, Izzy slapped his hand over his mouth in a rather dramatic way to shut himself-up. At this point, the only reason Miyuki wasn't laughing was because she had no idea what was going through his head. She cast him a quizzical look, which he proceeded to ignore completely before asserting a need for a breather in the most eloquent way possible. “I HAVE TO PEE!”

There are only two explanations Miyuki could think of for exactly what happened next. Either Izzy simply has an extremely poor sense of balance, and a blow to the head is the best way to stimulate his thinking ability, or he must have been born with the power to trip over flat surfaces. Izzy fell, yet again (because what encounter of theirs would be complete without Izzy suffering a total balance failure?) this time landing face-first (another choice quality of his) onto the hard gymnasium floor, his googles smacking before the rest of his face, thankfully.

She had just opened her mouth to ask if he was okay when Izzy's hand shot into the air, one finger pointed skywards. “Look on the bright side... I didn't land on you this time.” She couldn't help it, she laughed. A pause. "By the way... the costume's really cute on you."

Cute. He said "cute". Miyuki took a moment to process that. How did he mean it? Was it a general compliment or something more? Was it because he couldn't think of anything else to say? Was he just being nice? Wait, didn't she just mentally remark about him over-thinking things? Wait, he's just laying there. Do something.

"Are you okay? Here, let me help you up..." She reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm, helping to lift him back up to his feet. Thankfully, he wasn't too heavy.

Once he was back in proper alignment with gravity, she raised one hand, tapping her cheek gently with one finger as she gave him another quizzical look, this one a little more mischievous than the last. "So, I'm cute am I?" she smiled. What Izzy didn't see, was her other hand reaching into the small pouch at her side.

"We'll see how cute I am when I freeze you~" she said in her "scary" voice again, tossing a large handful of silver snowflake-shaped glitter into the air where it landed all over Izzy, and the surrounding area. Miyuki started laughing at the look on Izzy's face. "I've been waiting for a chance to use that," she said, still laughing, "And it was worth it." Her little joke complete, a contented look came over her face as she caught her breath from her laughing fit. "Sorry, I just wanted to have a little fun. Play it up, you know?" A smile, this one beaming and genuine rather than playful or mischievous. "So, is there anything that you want to do tonight?"

[Vivian_Bloom]

Author's Note:

Hey, what's happening?

I enjoy editing more than writing. Well, editing is re-writing what doesn't work.
It only makes it better and balances out the crazy. Here we go!

---------------------

Lace Condor
Dance Floor

Knee on the ground, Lace zipped her pockets and flexed her shoulders. The dancers; opening a small circle-- giving her a view of Russell and Halberd. The two of them had taken their own corners of the party. This was her chance to interact. Rubbing her painted cheeks, a pair of black boots appeared before her; with it, a familiar hand.

"Here, let me help you out."

"Clarise?" Lace looked surprise. Wiping off her shirt with one hand she took Clarise's with the other. With some leverage, they were hoisted back on their feet. She didn't waste time. "Happy Halloween! Good to see you in your; ice queen costume," she said looking her over. "You must've skinned two dozen polar bears for this thing! What've you been up to?" She asked taking in a breath.

"I came as," motioning herself, "Ronald McDonald's daughter!” Picking around her costume. "I got...the whole mustard striped shirt, ketchup hat; I think I'm good enough to eat!" The two of them were at the edge of the dance floor as the crowd shifting out. Between looking Clarise in the eye to talk, to shifting her look around the gym, Lace stuffed her hands in her back pockets. Leaning to the side. "I knew you'd show. You must go to these things a lot," she smiled. "I came here with Russell and Halberd earlier--believe me; if I saw you ahead of time, we either would have dragged you along with us, or threw you in a maid outfit." She waved to the crowd. "They're crazy. Do you like it so far?" Lace noticed a snack bar a little ways up that gave her an idea to move things forward. The two talked.

"I don't see you outside of school, or pretty much, anyone else..." Tilting her head to the tables she stepped around Clarise and was reaching to grab her arm before deciding against it, fidgeting at the last minute. "Later on. Want to see if we can ride on this crowd? I caught a small wave on top of them last time. They threw me completely backwards! Like some limp noodle--a greasy catfish!"

The crowd's tide settled the girls outside the dance floor circle. "I've been going around and around topics with you here, sucking up your whole night." Lace said, shaking her head around. "I-I, hold on," she couldn't stop giggling. "Let's go over to the snack table," she thumbed back recovering herself. Dusting off her pants, "I'm going to figure out what your favorite goodies for Halloween are; before this night is over," she spun to Clarise. "Don't even try to hide anything about it," she said, squinting. "I'm just kidding--but, I am sharp!" She couldn't hold a serious face longer than three seconds before laughing. Collecting herself she gestured Clarise over, "I just want to talk for a bit."

Lace walked with Clarise a little ways to the tables. Stopping in mid-step, Lace patted her pockets in a panic. "Little problem here," Lace muttered a bit to herself fumbling her wallet. She did the worst fake-cough opening her wallet. "Dust-tea and empty..." Taking her eyes off the wallet; raising her gaze at Clarise. "Just to let you know. I don't know how much they want for root beer." Lace pointed at the table. With her expression you'd think someone ran her cat over and kicked it. "If it's more than a quarter--can you... Spot me?" She dropped the sad face act and walked over to Clarise. "I'll grab some chips," she said cheerfully.

There was another issue Lace needed to take care of. Her warm-up; pre-post, but not-an-after party game, with Clarise was missing something. Lace drew a small blue package out her pocket and held a strip in her mouth; the other for Clarise. Talking out the side of her mouth, "Here," she nodded. "I'll pay you...in gum. 'Wintaaa Freshhh." Her made-up accent was horrible.

[Zincspider]

Izzy Simone
Next to Miyuki
Monday- 8:40 PM

Alright... so it worked. His nose was aching, he was covered in glitter, and he was pretty sure a bit of gum had stuck to his jacket, but he was OK none the less. Miyuki seemed to have reacted well to his statement, which he really didn't remember, and that was good. He'd apparently used the word 'Cute' which had set off her small ghost girl tangent (which reminded him of something Ciara would say... she was hanging out with her too much), and then her question if there was anything he wanted to do.

“Umm... how about just talk? You've been hanging out with Ciara an awful lot, and I feel we don't really get to... just speak to each other as much. I kinda just stand there while you guys go on.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Randy getting kicked by Liza, and then stepped on by... something that sounded like Sofiya while he writhed in pain. Poor guy. He seemed to have had enough too, pointing at something behind Sofiya, and as soon as her head was turned, he jumped up and bolted out of the gym.

“So, is that alright with you?”

Shinai Haitani
Own Apartment
Monday- 10:00 PM

Just two more hours. Two measly hours and what he'd been aching for would finally be in his clutches. The table next to him stood laden with gadgets and gizmos, ranging from microscopic to nearly a foot in length. He lightly brushed the nearest piece, the tips of his fingers grazing the glossy white surface of fiberglass encased steel. It had not been easy, or cheap, to assemble the collection. But a little bit of 'searching' during the time where no one could stop him, and some cash slipped to that Halls woman, he was able to have each part made to his specifications... or rather its specifications. It was a long process, each part taking several days, maybe weeks depending on how complicated. Luckily, the woman was able to work on multiple pieces at once... and she didn't ask questions. That was also good.

“Just two short hours...” Shinai muttered, raising his hand to his head to push back his hair. He'd finally regained his habits for good hygiene. The serpent was right. No need to raise suspicion by resembling a pauper. “...and I'll be one step closer.” Anyone else could have seen the manic look in his eyes. Wide and bright, it was unnatural, even when he was completely sane. But he didn't notice. He didn't question what was happening anymore. He didn't need to. He had a friend who told him everything he needed to know.

“You hear that, boy? She's screaming for you. Whe-hee-HAHAaHahA!”

“LET HER GO!”

“Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, it's my goal in life to make you as darn right miserable as possible. I could have simply killed you... but that's just not as satisfying is it?”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“Why, I'm you of course. What you really are. And I already told you what I want. And to get it, she has to pay your price.”

“I'll kill you!”

“Is that so? I'd love to see you try. You haven't moved from that spot yet. Without her, you're nothing but a crippled brat with no one to lean on.”

“NO! I'll do it! I swear!”

“Oh, I don't think you understand. The only way to kill me, is to become me. To become as sick and twisted as you really are. To unlock your true potential, you'll have to show your true colors and strike me down with all the hatred in your heart. And then, if you succeed... I'll have never left.”

**SNAP**

'Now why did I think about that? It's hardly important at the moment. Besides... if that bastard ever returns, I'll take him out no matter the cost. I can do it...

“Just. Two. Hours...”

Garret Wulfgard
Gymnasium- Near the End of Party
Monday- 11:55 PM

The place had cleared out considerably by now, only a few dedicated couples, kids stuffing the snacks into their costumes, and his own group were still left. Even the Jones' decided to turn in about an hour ago, another teacher taking their place. It was nearing time for the Court, and he was starting to get bored... and a little thirsty.
With nothing better to do, Wulfgard wandered over to the punch bowl, and grabbed one of the few remaining glasses.

“What, no 'thanks'?” Halls asked, raising a single eye brow, and crossing her arms around her chest.

“Nope, not really.” Garret began, raising the glass to his lips. But before he could really, drink something came to mind. Looking at Halls' attire, he spoke up. “Anyway, this was supposed to be a costume party. Why didn't you dress up?”

Without missing a beat. Hall reached over and snatched the glass from Garret's hand.

“You know, I was going to ask you the same thing. Looking a little less beat up than usual, I might add.”

“Touche.”

Garret Wulfgard
Gymnasium
Court of Miracles

In a flash, Halls disappeared, the glass she was carrying falling to the ground. Figures. Right in the middle of a conversation with a woman, he gets pulled into this. None the less, he reached for the last glass and began to take a sip. A small trickle ran down his mouth, staining a few of the bandages a deep red.

“Drat.”

Turning to the rest of the Gym, he saw all but three familiar faces... and one newer mug. The kid from last night.

“Alright, the van's outback for those who need it. I expect one of you has given the new guy the rundown?” He said, a bit more shocked than he let on. There hadn't been any real newbies for two months. Quite a bit of time between Court goers. “If not, someone get on it and meet me outback in front of the van.”

Shinai Haitani
Apartment
Court of Miracles

It was time. It was finally time. The yellow moon had returned, dragging a scarlet army or stars in tow. The lights flashed out in the room, leaving only the glare from outside. Standing, he lit the candles he'd placed around the room with a small silver lighter.

“Ophidian...” He whispered, knowing just what to expect at the mere utterance of the name. Sure as night, a heavy weight was applied to his shoulders, and began to slither up to his neck. “Are you ready?” Shinai asked, eagerly, reaching for the object nearest to him. A scalpel. Looking to his left, the head of a large, fat serpent stared back at him. It's jaw resembled a piranha more than a snake, almost mailbox like, but it did not take away from it's majesty. Dark black patterns floated across the cream body, ever changing.

“Nooooooo....” The brusque statement, slid through Shinai's ears, and caused his spine to tingle with each stressed, high pitched second the word was drawn out. A light tingle filled the room as the silvery knife skittered on the floor.

“What?”

“No, we require one more thing.” The snake leaned in close ans whispered in the boy's ear, causing his face to scrunch up in anger.

“Why didn't you tell me before?” Shinai spat out, obviously disturbed.

“It hassss to be fressssh or it'ssss usssselesssss.”

“You lied to me...”

”Go. Get what we need. We'll sssstart tomorrow.”

Shinai's mind raced. He couldn't wait another minute, much less another day. He stared ahead at the liquid on the walls. While not blood, it caused him too think. The Hospital was just two blocks away. Or omore. He didn't care. He should be able to make it there and back with plenty of time to spare. He had to.

“No. We finish it tonight. TONIGHT. I'll not wait another second.”

Shinai's back shivered, and if he wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn Ophidian smiled at this.

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Bellow High [Late Night]


The rest of the evening went without incident¹ - Sigmund spent most of it hanging around at the edge of the crowds, occasionally exchanging a few words with the others but mostly imposing a steady drain on the school's supply of snacks and fruit punch. As the night went on, the dance began to fizzle out, and by 11:40 it had been reduced to two types of people: the few who were making idle conversation before heading out, and those who were staying around for another reason entirely.

Sigmund took this opportunity to slip out of the party and off to his locker, where he had stashed away his usual duffel that held his gauntlets, tape and a set of comfortable clothes. As fun it might be to fight shadows dressed as a vampire, his current attire was too classy to risk ruining. As he disappeared into a nearby restroom to change, he came to a compromise with himself, ditching his nice clothes in favor of sturdy tan pants and boots but keeping the cape and finding that he had stupidly forgot to pack a spare shirt. Luckily, the night wasn't too cold, anyway, and without it he looked sort of like a wandering warrior or something. A quick wrap of boxing tape around one of his upper thighs and a pouch on his hip for his evoker card solidified the look, and after slipping on the gauntlets Sigmund felt like he might belong in a fighting tournament or something.

He made a few quick poses, now feeling a bit more confident about having to endure the witching hour on a Halloween night. Not only was the outfit totally radical², but it was showing off one result of the last two months rather nicely. Since the start of the school year, his chest and particularly his arms had beefed up fairly nicely, giving him almost a boxer's build, which he rather liked the look of. After one more energetic punch at nothing in particular, Sigmund picked up his things and started back toward the gym. Despite the circumstances, if how he looked was any indication, tonight's shadows would be in for it.


Bellow High Gym [Court of Miracles]

Sigmund strolled back into the gym just as midnight hit and the sky changed to a surreal, sickly green. What once had set him flying into a complete panic now just registered as little more than a shudder and a reminder to check around for "civilians." Despite how full the gym had been an hour ago, there were none left now, besides Levin, and him still being around meant that he didn't count as a bystander anymore, either. Wulfgard seemed to pick up on this right away, calling to the group in general for someone to give the new guy his briefing.

"Got ya covered, chief!" he called back. Then, coming up behind Levin, Sigmund threw an arm around his classmate's shoulder and started walking, half-dragging him along.

"So, you're sticking it out, then? Brave move, man," he praised, following Wulfgard out of the gym from a distance. "Let's get you equipped, then - don't want to have to fall back on magic for everything. Boss man's got us covered for that." As the van came into view, he pointed it out to Levin, commenting, "Pick out something you like from there - just something that feels right, you'll figure out how to use whatever you pick given time, anyway. As for the actual summoning, ah..." Sigmund stuck his opposite hand behind his head and admitted, "Wulfgard'll probably explain that better than me, anyway. Any other questions, then, or you got this?"

---

¹ Aside from Sofiya and Lace's usual shenanigans.
² A description which, as Sigmund had just discovered, sounded more outdated he had previously thought.

[MarbleZone]

\\Levin Sanders - Chariot Arcana//
Bellow High Gym - Party

"Dammit, can't find the guy!..."

Levin was growing increasingly anxious, midnight was approaching... but why was he so scared about midnight? Who said anything would happen tonight at all, and who said it had to be precisely at midnight other than poetic tradition?
He had to be reading too much into all of this. But somehow, he knew that was exactly how things would...

Bellow High Gym - Party

... happen.

Out of nowhere, mostly everyone in the Gym vanished and the atmosphere changed inexplicably. Hell, forget the atmosphere, everyone just vanished.

He didn't plan on that to happen. His last layer of protection against insanity was taking comfort in the thought that he wouldn't be alone the next time this happened. But now...

"Sh*t! Not again... not again!" Levin looked around, seeing nothing in particular. He was panicking inside, and completely failed to notice the four remaining people in the Gym. "I'm all alone again... I'm gonna die!..."
He couldn't move, couldn't think straight and his heart was racing. Last night his instinct told him to run... Tonight, his instinct seemed to have vanished along with everybody else. But just then...


«Alright... outback for those who... given the new guy the rundown?...»

Levin turned his head to the sound. "A voice... So I'm not alone?..."

His senses were coming back. The lighting in the room was eerie. Blood was dripping from the walls, just like last night, but no shadowy forms around at first glance... And a man standing across the Gym, looking directly at him. The pharmacist?...


As he fought to calm down and regain his composure, he felt something. An arm around his shoulder, and a familiar voice.

«So, you're sticking it out, then? Brave move, man.» said the boy who'd tried to enlighten him earlier in the evening, Sigmund.
Maybe he was telling the truth after all. Well, he was here too, and some others as well, now that he noticed, so he had to have been right about something. In the very least, he seemed familiar with what was going on.

As Sigmund half-pushed him out of the Gym, talking something about equipment, Levin found himself able to somehow muster another smile.
"Thanks mate. I guess I really could use some pointers..."

---

They were outside. The night air was chilly and made colder by the sight of blood all around, along with the definitely awkward moonlight. But it was quiet...
Levin took a deep breath. He was in control again, and that was essential. "...Good. You got this, you're safe. You're above this, Levin. Above all of this and all of them; you were just off to a slow start."

Sigmund was still talking; in any other situation it would have annoyed him, but it was rather welcome given the circumstances.
«Pick out something you like from there - just something that feels right, you'll figure out how to use whatever you pick given time, anyway. As for the actual summoning, ah... Wulfgard'll probably explain that better than me, anyway. Any other questions, then, or you got this?»

"Summoning? What summoning?" this seemed more and more like something out of a bad horror film with dark cults and spiritist rituals.
But he forgot about that soon enough. Before him was a van, and inside was the most impressive - and certainly illegal - collection of weaponry Levin had ever seen. Most were melee-ranged, and no firearms in sight (which raised an interesting question, considering this was meant for survival). He instinctively reached for his pocket, feeling the butterfly knife, then looked back at the death-dealing stash. Yeah.

"If I'm dying, I'll do so in style."

He reached for a spear, an elegant naginata that was both surprisingly light for a pole arm and provided excellent reach. A fairly logical choice for someone who wanted to stay as far as possible from whatever those shadow things were. Thinking back to his previous weapon of choice, Levin grinned. "Talk about overcompensation."

The anxiety was slowly turning into an odd sense of excitement, now that he had people and a weapon on his side. After all, the unexplainable always seems much more fascinating when the risk of death isn't immediate. But above all... he couldn't afford to look weak and scared again, not with people watching this time. He was Levin Sanders, and he was good. Things should remain that way.

"So. About this... summoning?"