The Main Story.

(Kitt, why you keep switching Mercury's gender?)

''Well, okay..rather good actually. ''Sighed Vivian. ''You?"

''Oh, I-I didn't? W-ell..I-it m-must b-be 'cause..w-well..I -only s-s-t-u-tter wh-hen I'm un-c-comfortable I g-guess...''Stuttered Camille...

(Because Mercury is genderless.)

"I am fine too, although I had a run-in with the Robin Hood a while ago..." Ravena said.

"Oh" Joseph said with a wicked grin. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

(Peeves go use the king and Matt plz)

''W-what? Oh...r-r-ight....n-not really.''Answered Camille, shifting legs, allowing the book to slide of her lap again.


The King was on the balcony which overlooked the ballroom.

''Sooo,,,''Mumbled Matt. ''Whadda ya think of ..uggh...Vivian?''

Joseph smiled as he looked around. "Where is your daemon, miss?"

"I don't really like here" Jasper said. "She is too demeaning.." He stopped the king on the balcony and tried to found a way up there.

("I don't really like here" Jasper said. "She is too demeaning.." He stopped the king on the balcony and tried to found a way up there.
Wow Kitt, fail much? ))

''Well, yeah and the fact that she's a two-faced prissy stuck up good for nothing...''Mumbled Matt.

''Yes?''Demanded the King.

''Ai'm 'ew.''Mumbled Charlie has he came shuffling under the bed.

(I am sleepy)

"Yes she is" Jasper agreed with her. "Why would she come over to you, really, when it is clear she does not like you?"

"Oh, hey there!" Joseph said. His daemon was laying around his neck and yawned softly. It was a red panda named Vermillion.

Hope noticed a few people that stood out from the crowd. Of course, there was the woman with the giant hair, but there were a few others that didn't really belong between the typical members of the crowd. There was the girl that fell and caused a ruckus, there was of course the man that once confused him with Robin Hood. There was also a person that kept looking in his direction. She wasn't really hard to notice, as she had bright red hair. He knew that she noticed him, but he didn't know how or why. Another mystery that had to be solved. How wonderful.

Mercury noticed that she had been noticed. Well, it didn't really bother him. It amused him that the stranger was just standing there, in the middle of crowd, observing the crowd (and Mercury, too). Something was off about the stranger and it intrigued Mercury a little.

Hope wasn't one to keep mystery waiting. Mystery existed only to be solved. That's why he started walking towards the stranger.

"Who are you, and how did you see?" He asked as he stood next to him.

"Nothing more than a priest" Mercury replied with a sly smile. "I see things." He brushed a hand through her hair. Mercury shifted and played with a few charms on his belt.

Rose-Mary looked at Joanne. "You look lovely." She said. "You really think so?" Joanne asked. Her mother nodded.

"A priest? Interesting. What god do you pray for?" Hope asked the mysterious... being... person...

"I serve the Liesmith, of course" Mercury said. "Who else?" The priest traced her the lines over her hand with the other hand, keeping an eye on Hope.

"Of course. I should've seen" Hope smiled. It was a fake smile, and he didn't even try to make it seem real. Any smile given at a ball like this would be fake, so why break the trend? "It's such a logical thing. However, there are some things that aren't nearly as logical here. For example, how you saw a man that has trained his entire life to not be seen. And there are more matters that remain a mystery, but I'll probably ask about those when the right time is there."

Rosalina was standing still ???

Vivian was patience was wearing thin and she was getting rather annoyed by Ravena. She was too...tense..anxious..some..other negative adjectivea... And so, she scanned the crowd once more until she spotted Rosalina and gracefully made hervway over to the aforementioned shopkeeper. It wasn't normally something for Vivian, being the stuck op Gold she was, to associate with people of the Silver zone let alone lower but she usually made an exception for Rosalinda whom she had known for a very long time and had proven to be a rather thrustworthy companion. Or at least that's what she liked to tell herself.

Mercury's reply was simple: "I am but a simple servant of Moira." He laughed.

"Then answer me, simple servant of Moira. What species are you?" Hope looked at Mercury. "You have traits of both a male and a female, but you lack too much of either to be one of them. Your voice is a perfect match between that of a man and a woman, not telling anyone what gender you are. One could only assume that you are either not a mere human, or hiding who and what you are with extreme care."

Mercury gave him one of his/her mysterious smiles and strode over to the bowl of punch, a few meters away. She fumbled around in her one of her pouches before finding the right one and spiking the punch. "Why would I tell you?" Mercury said.

"You wouldn't. That much is clear by now." Hope sighed, and adjusted his tophat by a single degree. "Oh well, this isn't going anywhere. I trust you'll be able to find me if you ever need me. I'll probably do the same to you." He walked back into the crowd, blending in like usual. None of the conversations he heard were of any use to him. He slipped past the crowd, back into the hall, and stood still next to a door with a sign on it, saying "Authorized personnel only". Authorized personnel always knew things that shouldn't be said out loud.

Ravena was alone again, and she felt frightened for some reason. She walked around and bumped into somebody...

Hope felt someone bump into him. Without budging even an inch, he looked to his left. He couldn't surpress a smile. "How nice to meet you again. Now, don't run away screaming or both of us have a problem." He said with a soft voice. He laid his hand on Ravena's shoulder, not giving it any pressure, but just to make clear that running really wasn't an option this time.

Ravena looked up and her eyes widened instantly.
"You" she whispered before trying to back away, trying to look around and find Theodore. "What do you want from me?" she said, trying to sound courageous and failing miserably.

"Good question. Money? Information? Maybe a good meal and a safe place to sleep?" Hope said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I have none of those. But that doesn't matter, because the one thing I do have, is resourcefullness. Now, what I want you to do is to keep walking, like nothing happened here. After that, start a conversation with your boss. Somewhere in the conversation, tell him that you think it's actually a good idea to keep this 'bleeding tophat' as a friend. Maybe he could even help you with some jobs. I know he thinks I'm an idiot, so talk about me like you think the same, to avoid any suspicion. Also, give him this." Hope handed Ravena a picture. "I 'found' it in his wallet."

Ravena didn't look at the picture and nodded meekly, to scared to try anything else before making her way over to Theodore. The blonde was visibly shaking and she shook Theodore's arm, trying to calm herself.