The Grand Ball

When zecarayus first got the invitation he didn't know about this "sabertooth" guild or these other legal guilds, but he was invited still to the ball! Which I have no idea how that goes he thought to himself. Growing up from where he was, he was never allowed to events so formal or so nice, and often the closest he got to it was to watch the formal parties. Now he had a chance to learn about the mainland and it's cultures, which both excited and made him nervous.
It took awhile for him to get to the sabertooth ball, not knowing his away around the mainland, so by the time he arrived some of the speeches were already given. He wore a simple black tux with a white collared undershirt buttoned up and a black tie wore inside of the tux. He had black slacks and leather dress shoes that had been gained through a pawn shop for trading some pure gold coins he still held from his homeland.
Once inside, he was set-aback by all the decorations and people, this seemed like a gathering for royalty rather then guilds, but this land was far different from his own. He then saw the large groups of people with different guild marks, which as much as he should have mingled in these groups he stuck to the outside, preferring the comfort of those outside the big groups. But he was very absorbed by all the decorations and art, each told something about this sabertooth who were VERY well off to zecarayus.
As he walked he did not notice the big black lion familiar until he nearly bumped into it. With fast reaction time he caught himself on the table near it and was now slightly over the great beast. Maybe if i'm lucky, I can reposition myself and introduce myself to whomever this stranglethorn panther's owner might be, if not I hope it doesn't attack. Zecarayus thought to himself.

The blonde nun blinked as the situation escalated, with another man literally sweeping Raven off her feet and absconding with her whilst Zack and Heero were discussing what to do. Riley's barely controlled snickering was not helping the situation at all... nor was the small bits of arguements and discomforts that she was picking up across the ballroom.

Kiersa took in a few short breaths, trying to calm her nerves down as best as she could. "Breathe in, breathe out, in with the light, out with the stress..." she muttered to herself as she breathed. She opened her eyes to behold the sight of the gathered guilds and let out a slow breath. "Everything is fine... so, there's a couple of disagreements... nothing to worry about, everything is fine..." she said softly, finally feeling herself calm down.

Yes, everything was fine. Everything was going well. The guests were all happy, a few arguements made for healthy relationships later on as they all looked back on them and laughed. Yes. Tonight was going well. The blonde nun allowed herself to smile and decided to go mingle amongst the guests... before something else decided to rear its head and cause her to go into a full on panic attack.

Several days ago...

Akeya frowned as she unrolled another feet of the scroll that she was reading. She wasn't in the best of moods right now, although it was still manageable, so even as she frowned she kept reading the symbols put on the paper with ink. Of course, her mask and blindfold masked almost her entire face, so to most people it would most likely look as if she wasn't particularly annoyed at all.

Every single legal mage whose location was known had apparently been invited to this special Ball hosted by one of the other Legal Guilds, Sabertooth. According to the invitation this event had been organized with the purpose of improving relationships between the Guilds. Akeya wasn't against that kind of thing. Honestly it sounded like a good idea, knowing that mages could disagree with each other just as easily as other people, and being in different Guilds was quite likely to make people feel inclined to act upon feelings of rivalry. So in that regard she didn't really mind. The problem was that they then expected her to attend.

If it wasn't known by now, Akeya wasn't exactly one for parties or the like. She was the kind of person who focused most of her life on things she could do by herself, like studying or training. Both of those ways of spending time had good practical uses, and Akeya enjoyed them. She didn't really like the idea of going to some Grand Ball where she would most likely be expected to stand around chatting with other mages. Which most definitely wasn't on either her list of practical ways of spending times or things which she enjoyed.

So the half dragon's original reaction to the invitation was to leave others to enjoy the event while she kept doing what she preferred to do. The invitation had said stuff about how the people from Sabertooth would be glad if those who received the invitation actually bothered to answer with their presence at the Ball, but Akeya was pretty sure that they weren't actually expecting every single person. They wouldn't mind her not coming, seeing how they most likely didn't even know her. She was the Shadow Dragon Slayer of Blue Pegasus, but she didn't really do things that would help her make a name for herself.

The problem was that then Akryn suddenly had arrived and told her that she was going. When she told him that she didn't share that idea he just kept going, explaining how they had to show others the magnificence of Blue Pegasus and the like. Apparently that included showing off the assassin mage who wasn't entirely human. And when she objected that a Ball would require her to wear the kind of dress she simply didn't possess Akryn had also countered that, stating that he was going to make sure that every Blue Pegasus member had an outfit to be proud of. At that point Akeya had just grumbled and stopped arguing, feeling that she wasn't going to win this one. Akryn was a lot more vehement about her going than she was about staying behind, and she didn't feel like continuing to object out of raw stubbornness.

So now she was going to have to attend a Ball when honestly she didn't really have a reason to besides Akryn being persistent about it, and she'd have to wear an outfit she wasn't used to and which most likely wouldn't be practical (she had told Akryn that if he got her something that would hinder her if she needed to actually move about she wouldn't wear it, but she wasn't very sure whether he'd let that stop him). This wasn't really something she was going to enjoy. At least, she was pretty sure that she wasn't going to enjoy it. She might end up pleasantly surprised, but right now she just tried to avoid letting her annoyance influence her attempts at reading.

Here and now

Akeya stayed silent as Akryn approached the group consisting of at least three guild masters and one renowned and powerful mage, who apparently were having an argument. Something about how the three males all wanted the first dance with the female guild master, who the half dragon recognized as Raven from Sabertooth. She was a famous person, as all guild masters are, although she looked like she had put a lot more effort into her appearance than what the public knowledge said she normally did. Not too surprising either, seeing how this was the Grand Ball hosted by her guild, so as the guild master she'd of course try her best to look her best. And Akeya couldn't deny the results: she certainly had an air around her that explained why several people would get into a fight vying for her attention.

As for the half dragon herself, she still wasn't too amused at the situation. Akryn had surprised her when the attire he had shown her was actually something that would still allow her full freedom of movement if required. And it wasn't like it was that unattractive a dress either, so she decided to at least not act too annoyed about having to wear it. Although she did keep thinking about the fact that the dress seemed to design to expose all of her non-human traits as much as possible. The dress had no back, so not only her tail and wings were free, but people would also be able to see that her entire back was covered in midnight blue scales. Akryn also hadn't done anything in the sense of gloves or shoes, so the glimmering scales on her forearms, lower legs, hands and feet were visible to all. Even more so because the lower part of the dress consisted of a broad curtain of dark blue satin down her front her back, completely leaving her hips exposed.

Other than that, it also left her shoulders bare, leaving the dark blue lines adorning the skin there open for inspection. Oh, and there wasn't a mask for her lower face, so now the scales on her cheeks were no longer hidden, and whenever she opened her mouth her teeth, sharp even for Dragon Slayers, would be revealed. All in all, she felt a lot more exposed that she usually was. Even if she was too proud and controlled to let others see that.

Although Akryn hadn't been able to get her to leave her blindfold behind. At least the dark blue cloth was of high quality, so that shouldn't be an issue. Although most people would probably still find it odd, especially since Akryn hadn't allowed her to hide the spinal fins that had replaced her ears underneath them. And he also hadn't kept her from bringing her Atronach Stone along, which was now attached to a cloth collar surrounding her neck.

So, if Akeya had to make an assessment, she'd have to admit that it wasn't as bad as she had imagined it to be, but still wasn't completely appreciative of having been forced to come here. Her wings were tightly folded against her back, and her tail kept close to her, the only things revealing her mild annoyance. Other than that she just tried to go along with Akryn's plan, as he at least seemed to have an idea of what he was doing. Well, except for the idea that they would steal the dance floor. Or that she was the loveliest lady around. She wouldn't ever claim that she wasn't good looking: a half dragon who isn't proud of themselves would practically be betraying the dragon blood running through their veins. Arrogance is a primary trait of dragons. But she also wouldn't go around claiming that she was the most stunning female around. And while she knew how to dance, she would have been willing to bet a lot that other female mages had put a lot more of their time and effort into that particular art than her.

But she felt like she couldn't really do anything but shrug mentally. Akryn wanted to show off, she would just follow his wishes. Now that she was here she might as well try to get something out of it. Actually, now that she thought of it... Akeya closed her eyes as she began to focus, using her other senses and the fact that her arm and Akryn's were linked to not let others notice that underneath her blindfold her eyelids had lowered.

Akeya's magic sensing ability quickly spread out to cover the hall that was used to host the Grand Ball, her mind classifying and memorizing each of the magic signatures present. A lot of legal mages were present, so if she could get a grip on their magic signatures she would be able to quickly recognize them in the future. Of course she wouldn't immediately be able to link names and appearances to magic signature, but if she could recognize the magic signature that was already enough. Some of the mages present were rather weak, but others, like the four that she and Akryn were close to, shone like beacons, although only two of them actually felt strong enough to be classified as H-Rank. The others felt more like S-Ranks, still enough to make sure she kept them in mind.

While mentally making her way through the crowds, using her mind, trained to memorize important information like this for extended periods of time without flaw, to get an understanding of the kind of mages the legal side of Fiore had available. As she did this her wings and tail became more relaxed as she was no longer focused on the issue of being here wearing something she wasn't used to. On a side note she wondered how likely it was that this Grand Ball would actually improve relationships between the legal mages and legal Guilds. Big events like this could also be the source of large conflicts, after all...

Serena blinked, Astrid seemed to be disturbed by something or someone in particular. Her eyes trailed from the feet of the stranger up to the face of male who looked as if he was about to cross over the lion. "What are you doing?" she asked, an eyebrow raised in annoyance and confusion. She let out a sigh and stroked Astrid softly, "He won't bite unless I tell him to...sometimes," she added that last word softly, diverting her gaze slightly. She figured her pet wouldn't be attacking anyone soon, after all, she had just fed him quite well and tended to its mane quite often.

Blake was walking to the Holy Ball, it was pretty much the biggest deal ever when it came to formal dances. The boy was actually really excited for the dance and couldn't wait to get there. On his way he could feel ho calm and relaxed he was and it was weird to be calm and excited at the same time. "There's nothing like running to a formal dance to meet some random people because you're still new in town." The dragon slayer said to himself sarcastically. Blake could see the dance from where he was and when he arrived, he showed his invitation to the man in front and walked right in. The dance floor was amazing and it was everything he'd ever hoped it would be. Blake walked through the huge venue and explored a bit seeing all the food and drinks. He looked around and recognized a few faces from his guild hall. "This is gonna be awesome." Blake said while running forward, disappearing into a crowd of people who were currently dancing on the dance floor. He started jumping up and down trying to do the best dance he could do. "Man I have no dancing talent whatsoever." The boy said while laughing to himself just trying to have a good time.

Zecarayus sighed a breath of relief and straightened himself out, giving the lion enough space. "I did not mean to disrespect you or your panther here. Actually I was walking, observing the grand hall here and what's going on and I did not see your panther til almost too late." he said. It was odd too, he would have passed by this woman if not for the near collision, but it appears to him she is observing everything in the ball room. "By chance actually, are you from not around here? I mean the guilds and the towns and such." he asked her.

Kite expected to get a reaction from Riley upon his less than fashionably late arrival but he was genuinely surprised that she had a rather large grin on her face when she turned to face him and simply teased at him saying she didn't think he would show up. He couldn't help but smile when he heard the playful tone in her voice as she made the statement and replied  "nothing would have been able to stop me from coming tonight, especially with you waiting for me " the color of his cheeks had turned from their usual pale color to a slight rosy color the second he allowed that last bit of  words to escape his lips completely unintentionally. "Crap, I didn’t mean to say that outloud, good going Kite! .  " he thought to himself but luckily she turned her attention back to the situation Raven had found herself in. He was informed that he didn’t miss much and that the show was going to start, show referring to the upcoming Dance contest that would determine who would have the distinct honor of being Raven’s first dance. Kite followed Riley’s lead and turned to take a gander at the scene that was about to play out in front of them all. Unfortunately with the show being essentially cancelled when Raven was taken out to the dance floor by a gentleman he had never met before but it seemed he and Raven had some sort of history with the man.

Not wasting any time Kite turned to Riley and explained why he was late to her which she merely chuckled at his reason for being late but he couldn’t help but smile when he saw the surprised look on her face upon presenting her with the small bouquet of flowers and his smile grew even more when she had accepted the gift and even admitted she thought they were beautiful. "I’m really glad that you like them, When I heard of aflower that blooms in the cold called the Blue winter rose I just knew it would be the perfect flowers to get you " he said adorning a goofy grin on his face "No way in hell will I tell her that I took that nap because I was tired from looking for those flowers that only grow up north ". Kite’s crimson colored eyes locked on to hers as she accepted not only the flowers but a compliment as well and even returned one saying that he didn’t look to bad. This made Kite chuckle as he lifted his suit jacket revealing more of his vest "Unfortunately I despise clothes like this and I have never been to an event like this so I am sorta outta my element " he admitted and it was obvious due to his less than extravagant looking suit.

Before their conversation could actually continue Kite heard Riley make mention that she had found Zoe, a fellow guild member in the crowd and wanted to go them to both go say hello to her. Kite looked over to see the blonde mage standing with a man he had not seen until now and then finally back to his date with a smile"Sure, sounds like a plan to me let’s go " he said to her as he followed behind her making their way around people mingling. While walking Riley was bumped into by a small red haired girl luckily she wasn’t hurt and even managed to get the situation under control but in the corner of his eye he noticed that there was a situation not so much, a White haired lady was swinging her arms about trying to keep herself upright but it seemed that she too was the victim of being bumped into as well but was about to meet a much more disastrous end if someone didn’t catch her. Kite couldn’t stand idly by as someone who had come out for fun and was dressed up was about to end up on the floor. Kite dashed quickly as he managed to get right behind the white haired beauty catching her mid fall right, he was kneeled down when he caught her but had his right hand right below her shoulders cushioning her fall."that was close huh? " he asked as he stood up using his arm and momentum to put her firmly back in an upright position. "are you alright miss? " he asked her but then turned to see Riley was interacting with the red head girl but at the same time her young pup ran over to Zoe and clung to her leg saying hello. Kite smiled at how adorable it looked, "Well miss if you would excuse me I must go over there, pleasure meeting you" he said as he started to make his way back towards his date.

Serena nodded in answer to his question, "I'm from Blue Pegasus. You?" she asked. Astrid then turned into a cub and she picked him up, figuring that people won't trip over me too much if he stays a little out of the way. However, she was only thinking of keeping him out of the way while she talks with this guy, which most likely should't take too much time, considering her attitude towards conversation and topics. Ironically, she wasn't too bad with maintaining conversations themselves. She had learnt quite a lot from people watching after all, how each individual responds to different subjects and the main topic that others seem to engage in.

"Well actually I meant from off the mainland here, you see i'm from an...ah I suppose island, and had no idea all this, here..." he waved one arm to the event floor, "...even existed. Even this Blue Pegasus guild you speak of or the Sabertooth guild that is holding this ball I had no idea existed til very recently. And I asked if you were not from around here because you are observing a lot of what's going on here with a determined focus, and I naturally assumed because like me, you were not from here." He saw her transform the lion back into a cub and showed genuine surprise at that, a new form of magic? He had to ask her about it if she allowed him the time.

The very thing that wouldn't cause the nun of Sabertooth a panic attack, but instead a full blown heart attack. Was nothing more then the walking time bomb fueled with anger himself. Frederick Corbyn. The former dark guild master of Savage Skull and known around the guild for his rather hostile nature towards others.

If those two aspects of the mage weren't already enough, then there was also the fact that Frederick reigned over Savage Skull during the events that made them the life long nemesis of Blue Pegasus and Fairy Tail. And now he was here, in the grand hall of Sabertooth. That was filled with the very mages he had done wrong several years ago.

Obviously Frederick refused to attend at all, and was mostly more then pessimistic during the preparations. However, after a few words with his fellow guild mage, Ryo. The only one whom considered Frederick as an actual friend then just the big angry nuisance all the time. Frederick turned around, and actually went out of his usual way and went out to find and buy an actual suit.

So now he was here, standing in the large ball room. His usual grim attire traded in for the white clad suit, witnessing the first nuisance of the night already. In front of him, just after he reluctantly witnessed his own guild master who was being swamped by those so called legends. A young girl, unable to maintain her posture and elegance as she fell on the ground. Right before Frederick's feet. And in doing so, almost knocking his drink out of his hand.

'tch..'

Not even an hand was extended to help the girl back up her feet, no instead she was being met with a cold stare and the clear indication that Frederick had already judged her before she even had the chance to utter one word to him. Not that any words would help her case in that matter. It was well known around Sabertooth, that when Frederick had made up his mind on someone, that he firmly stuck with that assessment.

Off course the girl wasn't really at fault, nor was she the real reason for his agitation. She was just unlucky enough to encounter Frederick. After he witnessed Raven, being swamped by other mages. And even being swayed by some other unknown factor. Why it irked him, he didn't really understood. He just knew it annoyed him. And maybe he should do something about.

Diverting his gaze from the girl, which in his mind he had dubbed 'meaningless commoner' in case he had to actually address her at some point this evening. Frederick glared straight at the small group of mages surrounding Raven. Which consisted out of a rather interesting group, which in Frederick's mind need to put back a place... or ten.

At this point voices in the ball room raised again for a moment, as attendants witnessed the new face that was about to join the fray around Raven. Yet instead of calling him a legend, or any other words of admiration. The whispers were by far more cautious, fearful even. As they slowly realized who he was. 'That can't be him right?' 'So the rumors were true'
Surely in its own corrupted way, Frederick could be considered a legend as well. A name that most mages of Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus have probably heard off. And not in a good way.

'My my, isn't this a rather interesting development' his voice, cold and dripping with arrogance. His gaze even colder. As he placed himself just a mere meter or two away from the group of high powered individuals. 'The ..so called.. hero of Magnolia, the Speed Demon itself... and some vagabond I assume. All barking like some rabid dog around a woman who surely deserves more then the pathetic attempt only commoners could provide'

Flapping wings caught the boy's attention, causing his gaze to shift upwards. And that's when he saw it. A girl...in a white dress...with wings for arms. She flew towards the group and landed next to him, immediately questioning Blue as to what all the fuss was about. He opened his mouth to answer but froze when she said 'it'. 'It' was all he could hear as the word echoed over and over again inside of his head...

"...shorter...short...!!!"
"...shorter...shorter...short..."

Blue's face went blank, the only movement occurring on it was that of his left eye twitching. Lucky placed his paws on his hips and stared, tilting his head at his partner's odd behavior. "I think his rage broke..." the Exceed stated. There was really only so much being called short he could take in a day...and Blue hit his limit almost as soon as he got here! Even Zemina commenting that he would grow taller eventually and Nanaka reassuring him that being short was okay wasn't enough to bring him out of his daze. Lucky was considering flying over and getting Heero to smack some sense into him when something astounding happened. Something that had never happened to the brash young Mage in his entire life. Something that...for the foreseeable future...wouldn't happen again! For the first and only time...someone referred to Blue S. Coldsummer...along with the word "tall"...

I know. Crazy, right?

The boy shook his head, instantly snapping out of his stupor and turning towards Alyia. But before he could even get a word out she was gone. Skillfully navigating her way through the crowd and out of eyesight. "Woah..." was the only thing Blue could manage, his mouth hanging open slightly afterwards. He was stricken. It wasn't just because she'd said he was taller than her (that helped, of course...) but because of elegant she looked. How she maneuvered through the crowd with such grace. Lucky put a paw to his mouth and snickered at his companion, the cat obviously keen to the boy's attraction. "Your face is getting red, Blue.~" The young Mage glared at the Exceed in return, but it faded fast as his thoughts returned to the mysterious beauty. Blue placed his hands on his hips and stared in the direction she'd gone off to. "Who was that?" he wondered aloud. It seemed like the boy had all but forgotten about the jabs at his height...

...for now, anyway.

Look, the dance floor is open, idiot. Kai remarked before putting his finger outward. Then with his right arm, he gave Elyx a soft nudge, a sly smirk on his face. Even people like Kai have fun their way of having fun was just a little bit different. In this case, the Dream Mage just wanted to see his companion make a little fool out of himself as he abruptly asks to dance. Now if he got rejected, then the joke was over, that thing hurts, though Kai never felt like he had ever been on that end before. One, because he didn't think anyone was worth the time, and two, anyone who ever came to him would just be ignored. It was a nice way of simply saying "I don't know you, I just met you, I don't like you, and I don't give a rats ass if you think I'm rude." With that, by default, he was not going to dance with anyone. Still though, being a Violinist that used magic while playing, Elyx had to know a good move or two right? Don't just stand there, dance! The bored and unamused Kai ordered to Elyx before making an attempt to put his palm on the back of the Violinist. If done so correctly, Kai would push Elyx forward onto the dance floor. Before this would be done, Kai had one more quick order before pushing him into the crowd to find a girl. And don't get your ass over here until you find yourself a girl. And with that, if all went according to Kai's plan, he would push Elyx forward. The unfortunate thing about doing that is that with a push, people stumble, and then a domino effect would be created, and probably in the worst way possible.

Kai would then cross his arms and watch as the other scenes unfolded. His first sight was Raven with another man, and that man already let out quite the remark that actually let Kai smile for once. Only about half of it was true though in his opinion. Oh please! Her? What she deserves is a screaming death. Still though, I guess two guys doing... That... Is worse than a screaming death. The Dream Mage thought to himself before watching more event unfold. A little girl was bumping into people, how nice that they let children around in a formal event. Raven might as well let Kai wear a hood if this were the sort of thing that was going to be tolerated, still though, it's not a complete loss. Idiot children, flailing Violinists, half-baked statements, this was just how I expected the ball to turn out. Kai thought to himself before putting a glass below a quick drink, placing his palm against the lever instead of his finger, almost destroying the handle. If that were to happen, the Dream Mage might as well make an attempt to steal the whole machine altogether. But instead, the handle messed up loosely a little bit, but the machine still functioned, so he let it alone. He took a quick sip from his drink and prepared himself to laugh at the foreseeable future.

Elyx crossed his arms as Kai told him that the dance floor was open. I don't have a girl man, I don't have to dance! I'm a lonely happy little snowflake. The Violinist announced with a prideful smile on his face before looking to see a few events occurring. A realistic cardboard cutting of Allison was actually bumping into people, but everyone knew that she was not that clumsy. So instead of going to that scene, he just turned his head to see the current "Dance Battle", which really just ended up looking like they needed attention. This was a ball, not something that is designed to target themselves. Whatever, arrogance has a certain effect on people that just never made sense to him, so instead of giving them any attention, Elyx turned his head away from that scene as well. The next was a few familiar groups of people that seem to be... Fighting... How nice. This ball was not at all the way Elyx expected it to be, and maybe it was truly a better idea to hide in the shadows instead of expose himself to this awkwardly huge amount of disaster. If this were the legal guilds ball, what would the dark guilds version of it be. Genocide in the making for sure based on what he can see. The boy then felt something on his back, followed by a remark from Kai, which instantly told him what was going on. But before he had any time to react, Elyx was pushed forward into the crowd, his feet were frantically trying to balance themselves correctly.

And as a final result, he did bump into someone from behind, which did cause him to balance, but now he just disturbed the peace that a person once had. Elyx put his hands up into the air as he shook them from side to side, his light brown eyes open in shock and regret. I-I... I'm so sorry. Elyx apologized lamely, but of course, something like that should be made up with something other than an apology. There was the off chance that the person had a drink, and if he just ruined that on their wear, then the Violinist messed up worse. It was bad enough that he was just merely an exception, but now he was a messed up exception.

This boy was hopeless. He cared too much about his height and decided to enrage whenever someone was taller than him. Zemina herself stopped growing, meaning eventually he would most likely be taller than her. She didn't care, because those taller than her were those taller than her.

"You're just a child who needs to grow up." She said while taking a sip of her water, and walking off. Zemina then took the time to observe the scene, for much happened during her little quarrel. Some man was attracting both eyes and fear... And the hand of Raven at the dance floor. That was interesting, but sadly Zemina wasn't one to dance, she just listened to music. She had zero dancing talent, and Zemina was proud of it.

So Zemina stayed along the back, not dancing as many people had started doing and taking sips of her drink, imbibing the music that was playing. The slow song was beautiful, but both Zemina and the shimmering dress didn't bother to go near the dance floor. For two main reasons:

The first being the aforementioned fact that she can't dance.

The second being the fact that even if she were to try to wing it, she would have no one to dance with.

So all the woman did was observe, and observing she actually liked. It brought her the joy of entertainment at least, seeing one person randomly flail around, and others resolve conflicts, and other things. At least this ball was interesting, because Zemina would just leave if it were up to her, and the place was boring. However that would be rude, and who likes rude people?

Julius saw the anger on Blue's face but suddenly after that girl came by saying that Blue is taller he calmed down. Julius let out a sigh of relief.

Looking back at the dance floor where the 3 guys where arguing who got the first dance with master Raven. A other guy suddenly appeared. Julius didn't know what but Julius had a feeling that he didn't want to meet him in a dark alley. Master Raven even said that that guy was her date. Master Raven also said that the dance floor was open. Julius was talking with Blue and Lucky until he heard his favorite song Julius loves this song! Please excuse Julius Blue-kun Julius will be right back. Julius went to the dance floor and began dancing on the song he did some dancing back on the island. Julius also hoped some people would look at him.

The Dance:

(OOC: Skip too 3:45 to get a better view of the dance.)

It didn't happen often, in fact it rarely happened at all. That Frederick was thrown so much off his game, that he was literally left standing with a dumbfounded look on his face. Entirely unable to comprehend what just happened. Even his mouth hung a bit open, clearly showing that he had a hard time believing what he just heard. In fact he was probably not the only one.

With just a few words, the sabertooth guild master managed to cleave right through Frederick's hostile attitude or any other friction he created by clearly insulting the other mages. And she didn't even gave him any further chance to do so either. Within the moment, Frederick stood there as an actual fool. Raven had already excused herself with the mage Frederick didn't knew. And was already pulling him onto the dance floor.

As they approached the centre the musicians started to reform their current song, and slowly directed it into a more playful tune instead. Slow enough to dance perfectly on, yet with filled with lively enough to remind people that this was a happy occasion and not just some aristocrat party.
Frederick on the other hand was trying to regain some of his former posture, but was immediately put back into his place when Raven noticed he tried to speak up once more. By bluntly whispering into his ear that had to simply keep his mouth shut.

In response Frederick didn't even spoke up, no he just nodded in silence and somehow automatically moved his free hand down. Only to let it rest on her lower back, where he could literally feel the girls form through the expensive fabric of her dress. His other hand, who was still being held Raven. Started to move on instinct as well, as it gently reversed the position. So that it was he who took her by the hand and not the other way around anymore. Yet he didn't grabbed it firmly, but instead had her fingers resting in his palm. During this process he was already moved terribly close to her, closer then he'd actually found comfortable. Yet still it was rather nice, somehow.

His eyes now locked with her purple gems, seemed to be unaware of everything else around him now. As Frederick literally saw nothing but Raven in front of him. His feet, moving instinctively in a certain slow pattern, which was nothing else but the dance known as the Waltz. Which probably to some surprisingly revealed that Frederick could actually dance. Quite well even.

He didn't knew how long he was dancing, not that he'd actually have been thinking about it. Or even cared for that matter, in fact he wouldn't mind if this moment could carry on until eternity itself. Yet when he suddenly saw others on the dance floor as well. He realized the first dance was already over, maybe even for quite some time. Which made him lower the frequencies of his steps, to the point he almost came to a complete standstill.

'I - I need some air...'

Almost clumsy, Frederick let go of Raven, and walked in a straight line towards the nearest balcony.

It seemed both Deniel, Heero and himself would be denied as a man Zack personally did not recognise arrived and was declared as Raven's date. It seemed a little forced, but he didn't mind. It settled things without him needing to have a dance off with Heero. He had a feeling he'd of lost that and that would be perhaps more embarassing than failing to secure a dance. However, the name that Raven had called this man seemed awfully familiar. Plus he had garnered a lot of 'is that true' rumours. Frederik...Frederik. It couldn't be THAT Frederik could it? The one responsible for destroying Blue Pegasus? The reason why bonds were so stretched between Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus?

"Enjoy your dance Raven. I am sorry if I was a bit...ah...forward in my approach." he said and bowed to her. He waster "I merely wanted to get the more...difficult...discussions over with at the beginning of the night, but we can talk later." He had wanted to try to find out if this Frederik was the Frederik, but it seemed whilst he had bowed that the two had wandered off for their dance.

Slightly embarassed Zack walked over to Deniel. "Long time no see bud. How's Nidhogg doing?" he asked extending a hand to his former student. As he did so his sharp magical sense made him aware that a few more of Blue Pegasus had arrived. He also noticed a few others that he recognised. It seemed every guild was being represented here. Or at least every legal guild. Of course, Sabertooth had the highest presence, but he even saw some members of his old guild Lamia Scale who were becoming big again since the rebuild. One of his fellow wizard saints was in charge of that guild now, Kihia if he recalled correctly. A lot of things had changed recently. IF he remembred correctly Raven herself was only recently the guild master of Sabertooth. The last one he remembered was Zenshin who he had been on a couple of jobs with.

In fact, now that he thought about it most of the legal guild masters were recently promoted to their positions. Raven, Kihia and himself were three, but he'd heard the leadership of Fairy Tail and eclipse soul had changed recently as well. He wondered how many former guild masters were here and as that thought struck him he sensed the arrival of two more people. One who as a former guildmaster. His former guildmaster in fact. Shuhei Kisaragi.

Akryn was a bit annoyed that the other mages had ignored his attempt to get things moving, and his false threat to steal the first dance, but he brushed that off. He was no where close to their status or power anyway, thus they were likely doing their own thing. Still, he wasn't to concerned. These ball things were supposed to be big, hard to manage, affairs where people often didn't get heard, so he wasn't going to press it, instead glancing at Akeya and starting to turn away. He knew her, and he knew she was likely scanning the place now with her eyes shut. It was the main reason that he had only put up a token argument against it. He himself was packing almost every weapon he owned under his small cape, the seven cuts clinging to the cape itself and his spear, currently transformed into two sais tucked into the side of his pants, as well as the black star cutter fully on display, to compliment the outfit. He didn't trust saber tooth, and he was ready to fight his way out if necessary.


And the very reason he didn't trust them reared its ugly head as he began to turn away. A very familiar, hated voice, spoke up out of nowhere, insulting Zack and causing his teeth to grind. If anyone around could see auras his would be shining as a vicious, murderous black.

Frederick, the former master of savage skull, a dark mage of the most wicked and horrid of pasts, a past more blood stained then Akryns was. A man that Akryn hated, deeply and with a passion, for the that he had done long ago topeople Akryn cared for. Saber tooth had forgiven him and taken him in, claiming he could be good, and so many had gone along with that. But Akryn knew, maybe better than others, that monsters did not change. He quietly watched as Frederick stole the first dance with Raven. He watched patiently as Fred seemed unusually taken aback and began to leave the ball room. He slowly and quietly beganslipping his arm away from Akeyas as Fred moved away, intending to follow him. This was a prime chance to punish Fred, one he was not ready to let go.