Chapter 74: Chapter 74 - Winter Party I
[3rd Person POV]
The big day had finally arrived, the famous Friday before winter break. Tonight, several students decided to participate in the big party that would take place as a way to celebrate the arrival of this period of rest that they will have.
In the ballroom, there were already some people ahead of schedule, around noon, all of them from the disciplinary committee and the student council, in addition to some Xyrus Academy employees who were already released from their normal roles, in order to assist the president of the student council, the elven princess and disciple of Goodsky, Tessia Eralith. But it wasn't just these employees who were present at the moment, there was a guest who, for a certain family, was not wanted to be here in Xyrus City.
"Are you sure this won't cause any problems with this whole situation?" Luz said to Tessia as he helped her put the vines along the walls of the ballroom.
Normally there would be a problem with him using plant magic so overtly, but at the moment he was using his persona, Adventurer Diamond, to do those things. With that identity, he was an adventurer that people theorized to be an unknown elf noble, but there was one small detail, he also got the fame of "Being one of the few adventurers forbidden to enter Xyrus, because of a noble house." but here he was, inside Xyrus Academy.
"Teehee" Tessia made her usual noise in response to what her "brother" asked, making him more concerned with the situation he was in.
Director Cynthia had given full permission for Adventurer Diamond's presence here, using the protection of students as an excuse. After all, it's never known whether or not rebels would attack Xyrus Academy during this, making the presence of adventurers hired by Cynthia justifiable.
"Hunf..." The masked adventurer finished putting a layer of vines on some walls, while the elven princess was putting vines on the floor in a decorated way, to separate the dance floor from the table areas.
"Actually, I believe Mr.Diamond's concern, after all, Lucas has a restraining order against him." Theodore was with them as he ordered Doradrae and Elijah to place the stone blocks so they could begin carving the tables out of them.
"Relax, Theo, this guy knows how to disappear easily, he's very agile, no wonder he knocked Lucas down instantly when he attacked us from behind." Elijah made the comment, as he controlled the stone block to levitate it to the chosen area, and finally set it down there.
"So it's true? Were you two in the same adventuring party?" Doradrae asked as she put her stone block into place.
The masked adventurer and the four-eyes only responded with a thumbs-up as they went about their business. During this time, Arthur, Kathyln and Kai arrived there, they were the last members of both special groups of Xyrus Academy who could help with the decoration.
Even though most of there knew about Diamond's true face, Theodore, Doradrae and other employees present there didn't know, which made the boy continue acting. "Oh! So Princess Glayder is also part of your little group, Miss Eralith? Interesting... Will you help us with the snow?" Luz asked Kathyln, not talking to Arthur as there would be no point in Diamond and Art being acquainted.
The princess had a slight difficulty acting as if she didn't know him, so she ended up stuttering. "Y-yes, me and my friend will help with the ice and snow." She pointed to the auburn hair boy beside her.
"So you're Diamond? Interesting, Elijah told me about what you guys did to Lucas. Well deserved, that brat is hell." Arthur spoke, managing to act easily.
"Yes yes, but I think the correct term is Half-Blood Imp!" With the masked man's comment, they both started laughing and even Elijah started to laugh a lot.
"You really hate Lucas right?" Theodore asked and all 3 of them raised their hands to confirm this.
"You act like you're old acquaintances." Doradrae questioned, looking at them.
"Nah, just a 'common enemy'. No big deal." Elijah made the comment, making the brothers laugh more.
After this conversation, Arthur kept talking to Tessia, starting to put the decorations by freezing the back walls, while Kathyln and Diamond go to the front area to make the snow. Princess Glayder wasn't that good at this part of ice magic, instead creating small ice crystals that linger on the floor, so Luz had to help her.
Standing behind her and seeming to indicate where to put the snow, the masked boy, in a hidden way, activated his first phase, starting to conjure snow in front of the princess. That way, anyone who saw the scene would think that she was using that magic.
"Thank you..." Kathyln whispered to her hero, who just gave a light, soft laugh in response.
————————————————————
It was been a while after Arthur and Kathyln had arrived at the ballroom. Several of the members would have returned to their rooms, and thus got ready for the real party. Luckily, during that moment, neither Lucas nor his "friends" appeared around, thus making them not know about Adventurer Diamond's presence there.
It was already 5 pm, there were some students arriving early, and among them were the people who would be part of the band that would participate, there were 3 elves, 1 dwarf. Two elves were boys very alike, with light green hair and eyes so light they could be mistaken for blind, the other elf was a blonde girl with a beautiful body that belied her true age, the dwarf there had long red hair, decorated in an amazing shape having three ponytails. In addition to the students, some adventurers who would serve as security were already in the area, but preferred to stay outside, keeping an eye on any troublemakers that appeared.
Luz, Kathyln, Claire, Theodore, Arthur and Tessia were the official organizers of that party, so they also arrived at the place, but now they were wearing more appropriate attire. The elven princess wore a white dress that went down to her knees, with tights, long gloves and headdresses in her tied hair, all of these items being light green and emerald. Next to her was her partner, Arthur, wearing a black blazer, black pants and white inner shirt, with a dark blue string around his neck, as shoes he had black shoes with white socks.
The red-haired captain wore a blood red dress, the lower part being very loose so there was no problem in moving, under the dress, she wore a small black short and black tights, for shoes she had a blood red color. Theodore was beside her, wearing what appeared to be a tailored tuxedo, with a light orange undershirt, blood red pants slightly torn at the ankles and dark brown boots.
And finally, the princess of Sapin and her partner, the vice captain, wore a black shirt and long pants that went to the ankles, as footwear, seemed to wear dark blue boots. Meanwhile, Princess wore a beautiful black dress that went to just below her knees, with long white gloves and socks and black ballet shoes.
"Are you sure that was a good idea? You look so out of place bro." Tessia said, with Arthur, Claire, and Theodore all agreeing with her, while Kathyln just held hands with him.
"I think he's perfect even if he came in the training uniform." The Icy Princess said with a soft smile.
"Not really, Kathy... And I'll be singing along with the band, so I don't want to be sweating like crazy, especially since most of the lights will be focused on the stage." Luz replied in a low voice to his friends as they walked towards the back area of the ballroom, waving to everyone who noticed him there.
Moving on, he ended up meeting the band that would be playing at the party, and the members smiled waving at them. "Professor Luz, glad you arrived early, our dear Zenkya was afraid you would take longer!" Said one of the elf twins laughing, making the elf next to them blush. "Don't say that Trin! You're so annoying when you say that, why aren't you just like Johyel!?"
"Leave me out of this." The other twin, Johyel, commented, making the whole group laugh.
"Guys, I know you are students in my class, but my semester classes ended last week, just call me Luz."
"And I see you're not as rough as you are in class either." The dwarf, Gylgrimo, made a comment while taking a good look at the people close to his teacher.
"Well, I'm aggressive when I try to teach and you all keep teasing me... Anyway... I know you already know them, but these are Trin, Johyel, Gylgrimo and Zenkya, they are my students in the Basic Rune Learning (BRL). And guys, these are Tessia Eralith, Kathyln Glayder, Claire Bladeheart, and Theodore Maxwell. And this is my brother Arthur, but I'm sure you already know them."
The 3 elves bowed slightly to the elven princess while the dwarf gave a pleasant laugh. "So when are we going to go on stage?"
"When there are more people... In fact, in the meantime, I can use sound magic to have background music. That way you can enjoy the start of the party." Luz replied his dwarf student.
"Hm... Come to think of it, you didn't say what song you're going to play." Tessia asked, as her considerate brother raised his hands up and cast a sound spell, the background music was something reminiscent of classic slow jazz.
"It's going to be something Luz invented." When Trin made that comment, the girls looked at him curiously. Theodore raised an eyebrow as he didn't know his colleague had any talent for music and Arthur just smirked, thinking it was very possible that he didn't invent the music, but was going to use some other world famous music.
"Cutie, you really surprise me every day." Claire commented, causing Kathyln's instincts to kick in and she gripped Luz's arm tightly.
"Haha... It's nothing, I'm just the school's 'do-all'." As he spoke, everyone started to laugh.
"Good choice of Jazz." Arthur commented, but soon widened his eyes as he remembered that, in theory, only he and his brother knew about this musical genre.
"Jazz?" Tessia asked her partner as she poked his cheek.
"That's the name I gave to this style of rhythm." the eldest reincarnated had to make the comment, saving his little brother from that question.
After a few minutes, Elijah and Emily arrived together, Emily was wearing a white and blue uniform, which looked more like a scientist outfit than a party outfit, while Elijah was wearing a black shirt, a dark brown vest, long black pants and brown boots. They were coming along with some Xyrus Academy staff, who were bringing out trays of food and drinks, putting them on the ice table next to the stage.
"Yo! Four-eyes! I thought you gave Emily a dress." Luz made a comment that left the nerdy couple blushing.
"It's just that we ended up having to stay longer than we thought in the lab... And then I couldn't change my clothes..." The nerdy girl said covering her face in embarrassment.
"And I was already dressed in my clothes when I stayed with her in the lab." replied her companion.
"Okay... Anyway, since the snacks have been delivered if you want to eat something, you can. I asked Mentor Cynthia to order the cooks to have enough food for everyone." Tessia commented and then hugged Arthur's arm, the same way Kathyln hugged Luz's arm.
"Hm.... I think I'm missing some people, no?" Luz commented upon realizing that not everyone from the student council and disciplinary committee had arrived.
"Oh, Clive told me he wouldn't come, Fable is coming alone and Jarrod will be coming with Lilia in a little while." Tessia answered him.
"Feyfey said that maybe he would come with Dora because he was helping her with some things. Kai commented that he wouldn't come and Curtis said he would be here with a girl." When Theodore said this, the trio of reincarnated faces the "oldest" of the group.
"Curtis? With a girl? I'm sorry, Theo. But I can't believe that, he's too dense, even more so than Art." Elijah said laughing, and it ended up making Arthur kind of embarrassed as Tessia hugged him tighter.
"Oh, and speaking of him." Emily commented, making everyone look at the entrance to the Ballroom and see the prince.
He wore a formal party outfit of white, red and yellow colors, with red shoes and black socks. Beside him was a girl with short brown hair with some red strands, she wore a strange black top that covered her entire back and left her belly exposed, in addition to having tight black pants that went to her ankles, black boots and a red and yellow coat.
Everyone was amazed to see that girl, and several students felt jealous that someone had apparently conquered the prince. However, there was a person who had a raised eyebrow watching that scene, Luz did a facepalm and sighed deeply.
"Yoo, guys! Apparently almost everyone is here." Curtis spoke as he approached his colleagues. "This one is Ale—"
"Alexyo?... I didn't know you were in a relationship with Curtis." Luz interrupted the prince and everyone seemed confused by the fact that they both knew each other.
"Eh? Did you already know my girl?" the prince asked confused.
"Oh... I never said... I'm one of the students in his upperclass." Alexyo said, looking embarrassed and... cute?
Alexyo, an alacryan spy who was converted to be of the "corrupt cult" and who was extremely aggressive and straight to the point in fights... This Alexyo... seemed nice, kind, and quite affectionate to her partner, but there was something even weirder in all this. Luz had commanded everyone of the cult not to try to interact with people outside of it, unless people interact with them. And as this situation was unfolding, clearly it was Curtis who took the first step in this relationship.
"Curtis... You're both unlucky and lucky at the same time, if it weren't for me, there's a chance you would have befriended a malevolent sadistic spy. My god, the dense way he is... Clearly would be dominated by her." Luz thought, swallowing hard.
"I see, that makes sense." Curtis commented as he looked around. "Do we have our own tables?"
"Well, we have a few tables and chairs in addition to the food ones, but due to the space for dancing, most of them are now outside. Well, that table over there is ours." Claire said pointing to one of the tables that was in the inner area of the ballroom, being a large rectangular table with several chairs, enough for the two special groups of Xyrus Academy.
"Fine. Come on, Alexyo. We better see what food options we have here!" The prince said running towards the snack table.
"W-wakatta!" she exclaimed and followed him.
"Did she just speak in Japanese?" Arthur and Luz had the same thought, and shook their heads trying to ignore it.
The two princesses stared at their loved ones and were confused by their reaction, they tightly hugged their arms "Hm? What happened, Art?" "Lulu, is everything okay?"
"No big deal, Tess."
"I'm fine, Kathy. Don't worry."
"Hmm, will you also want to go get something to eat?" Claire asked the others, with Theo and Elijah sighing in defeat as they heard their own stomachs growl.
"Apparently Eli really wants it. So do I." Emily said laughing and giving the four-eyes a kiss on the cheek, who blushed extremely.
The two princesses looked at their respective "Princes Charming", as if expecting them to be kind to them. Luz, without any shame, gave a lovely kiss on the cheek of Kathyln, who turned all red in the face and hid her face in his shoulder. Arthur, on the other hand, seemed to refuse because there were people there watching, but he gave up and gave Tess a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay, let's get something to eat soon!" Theo said and walked over to the snack table where Curtis and Alexyo went.
Everyone decided to follow Theodore, until Luz noticed some specific people. "I need to see something Kathyln, can you stay with Claire in the meantime?" At his question, Kathyln sighed and let go of his arm, with him now walking towards two people dressed as guards.
One of these people looked like.... he was drinking from a canteen and the other would be looking around. "Good afternoon Lovefall brothers" Luz said, waving at them.
"Eh? Do I know you, kid?" asked the youngest.
"You should know... After all, you were also hired to help me on the school trip I'm going to do with my students." At the answer, the younger one raised an eyebrow, and the older one looked confused.
"Wait, are you the Rune Teacher, Luz Leywin? I'm sorry, you just looked like a student around those kids." The eldest commented with a slight laugh.
"Hm... But I'm a student. It's just that I'm so smart in this subject, they put me on as a teacher in exchange for getting top marks in some subjects in the curriculum." he said, as he smoothed the fringe of hair that fell under his right eye.
Waiting 10 seconds for them to have any reaction, Jayden, the eldest, got a silly smile as he thought "Is this serious?... Is this kid making fun of me?" while Alexander started to laugh in disbelief, saying. "HAHAHA! IS THIS SERIOUS? A TEACHER WITH WHAT? 10 YEARS OLD?!?! HAHAHAHHA!!!"
"Actually I'm 13 years old... And yes, you can confirm with any student or teacher around, I'm a teacher here, and also vice captain of the group that beats up any sick who try to cause chaos here at the academy." with his answer, the Lovefalls were silent for a few more seconds, until Alexander started to laugh a lot and Jayden sighed, shaking his head.
"If that wise old lady put you as a teacher, there's really no way we can say that you're just any child.. Minimally a genius?" Jayden said as he noticed more students entering the ballroom.
Luz didn't answer, just gave a light laugh and nodded, also noticing the people there. Among the students entering now, there were Feyrith, Doradrae, Lilia and Jarrod, the boys wore luxurious clothes, Dora wore a simple and very comfortable uniform made for cold days, and Lilia had a simple dress and black ballet shoes with an accessory on her head, that same blue flower Luz gave her a long time ago.
The daughter of the Helstea family moved away from the others and approached the adventurers and the Leywins' adopted son, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Good afternoon Lu, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Lily. And you're still taking care of the flower I gave you?" He said stroking her hair and returning that kiss on the cheek.
"Why wouldn't I be taking care of it? You made this flower yourself." The girl said smiling, quite happy.
"I think I'm getting out of here, I don't want to disturb the little couple." Alexander said laughing and walking away.
"Hm.. Jayden, you better start patrolling the place, then I want to talk to you guys, maybe even do a little battle warm-up before the school trip." the vice captain said, hugging Lilia around the waist with one arm.
"Of course.. I'll tidy things up, boss." Jayden said with a light laugh and walking away too.
"Shall we get the party started for real?" Lilia asked.
"Yes, let's get started." Luz said, walking over to the snack table to get something to eat.
————————————————————
It didn't take even an hour, and people were already having fun there with music, drinks, food and interactions with each other. It was around 6:30 pm and the band was already playing, but without any vocals, just the instruments.
Zenkya was playing a harp softly, Gylgrimo was behind a drum set, giving the music a light rhythm, without being aggressive. Meanwhile, the twin elves were seated in small chairs, playing flutes.
At the DC/SC table, everyone was eating different things, some were just indulging in goodies like cupcakes and puddings, while others were indulging in salty chunks of meat. As expected, the distribution among the people made all the couples stay as close together as possible, but that didn't last, because Luz got up.
"I'll play the music now, if you want you can go to the dance area." He said, smiling.
"I'd like to dance with you." The three girls interested in him said at the same time.
Tessia started to laugh. "Well, you'll have to wait for him to come back. Did you forget he's going to be the singer?" Arthur soon got up and helped the elf princess up with him.
"Want to come dance with me, Alexyo?" Curtis smiled, putting his hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Yes, I would love to, my prince." She replied softly and was getting up with him.
Luz took a long jump using wind on his legs, catching the attention of several people as he landed on stage. The band started to smile and changed the rhythm in which they played, being something more cheerful. The boy took his prototype bard guitar from inside his dimensional ring.
He soon begins to play lightly with his instrument, while the others try to keep the rhythm, catching everyone's attention.
~"A world without activity, without joy, without fun..."~
~"What can I say? It's all crazy and rotten..."~
~"Please tell me the truth... You hate this as much as I do..."~
~"Then come dance with me. And forget what made you sad!"~
The rhythm is being built up and becoming lively, some students were having the courage to go to the dance floor, with most of them being couples.
~"I don't know nights without dancing! I don't know nights without fun!"~
~"I can't stand boring nights! Stress and irritation, I don't want to!"~
~"I don't know nights without dancing! I don't remember so many situations!"~
~"I don't want this hassle! I just want to hang out with you!"~
Arthur and Elijah were there in the middle of the stage, dancing with Tessia and Emily, or rather, they were teaching the girls to dance to that song and apparently other couples seemed to follow suit.
~"It's very very boring... Acting thinking all the time... We are alive and emotional, don't hide your heart."~
~"So step up to that beat, papapa papapapa papapa... Show me how it feels, with your pretty smooth, pretty moves!"~
~"I don't know nights without dancing! I don't know nights without emotion!"~
~"I can't stand nights without you! I don't accept it. Stay away! Stay away and live without your warmth!"~
~"I can't remember the nights I didn't dance! I don't feel good without you!"~
"Hihihi, really, where does he get these songs from? They're so lively." Tessia said while dancing with Arthur hand in hand.
"Maybe we'll tell you, but until that day comes, know that it's all in his head." Art said in her ear in a moment of the dance that needed the two partners well together, making her blush a lot.
"Hmm... I see. After the party... If you want to rest better... Could you come to... My room?" The elf princess asked in a low voice very close to her lover, who blushed a lot.
"T-tess.. What are you talking about?"
"No big deal, we'll take some plates of snacks and chat~" She gave a soft smile, the tips of her ears reddening from saying that, but inside she was super happy that she had the courage to ask for it.
Meanwhile, Elijah almost slipped in the dance area, but Emily held him and they soon try to continue as if nothing happened, but the boy is all embarrassed. "D-dammit... Sorry, Emily, I think I slipped here."
"Don't worry, Eli. You're doing fine, we're doing fine." She said smiling with her eyes closed, but soon she has an expression of surprise and shyness with the boy pulling her by the waist to dance more together. "A-a-ah???"
"Yeah, we're doing fine." He said, with her now hugging him as they danced.
"You act so different sometimes... One minute you're all embarrassed and cute, the next you're all confident and self-assured. I love that about you" She received a soft kiss in response to her comment.
Not far from them, the former alacryan spy and the prince of Sapin were also dancing to the beat of the music, always holding hands, just like Tess and Art. "Wow, Alexyo, you can dance this style of music a lot, could you teach me more later?"
"My prince, I don't think I'm that good, and I already told you, call me Alex." She said, not stopping to look deeply into his eyes. Her eyes, due to being from the "corruption cult" had a reddish depth right in the center.
"Fine, but if you want me to call you Alex, you must call me something other than 'my prince'. Understand?" he asked looking deep into those eyes of hers.
"So how about I call you 'Cutes'?" She giggled and Curtis just sighed in defeat.
The music was about to end, but Luz noticed something strange, a bizarre sensation... Someone was watching him, not in a normal way, but in a hidden way. "I better see this." Luz thought, but the voice that popped into his mind was his and Sirius's in unison.
He soon said the last lyrics of the song and walked down the stage, with his three girls approaching and hugging him. "Girls, I need to sort something out. It will be super fast and I promise to dance with you all as soon as I get back. Are you okay?"
"Lulu. Do you really have to go?" Kathyln asked sadly and he just patted her head.
"Relax, I'll be right back."
"Is it a serious problem?" Claire asked.
"Not so much, it's about the school trip that I'll be doing this winter break. So wait for me, I'll be back in 15 minutes at the most." He said waving at them and now he was walking towards the ballroom entrance.
"Hmm? Did you see anything strange?" Jayden asked, he was guarding the entrance.
"No, I'm just going to get some air, how about you?" Luz asked and then Jayden denied it. Which meant what he felt was very powerful for hidden, but not for him.
"Okay, keep up with your good work..." Luz said and then started walking towards an area a little far the entrance.
{A/N: Just if anyone thought in some music while Luz was singing.. It was a parody of OddLoop, a japonese rock by Frederic. Why do I choose this song...? Welp I was hearing this everyFtime to give me inspiration of what would happen in this Winter Party event... So yeah...(*╹▽╹*)}
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone