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❝With the magic of positivity, anything can happen!❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#30b818 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #d1ca00】
|| Girl Inside || Mika Kobayashi ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#30b818 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #d1ca00】
|| Girl Inside || Mika Kobayashi ||
Against her will Aya was forced into a golden dress. She had been scrubbed down and de-haired and had weird stuff shoved in her face and rubbed all over it. Once it was done Aya wasn't sure if she was a clown or a frog but she sure didn't like it either way. Thankfully no one cared about the bruising in the end, they believed her story about falling down. Aya was pretty clever, wasn't she? It must have been a really convincing story then. Cress was put in a dress and made suitable as well, though she looked to be having as much fun as Aya was right now. "Now, unfortunately, the two of you are a little uncouth." Xion said, sporting an unreadable expression on her face. "I'll have Farrel teach you the basics of etiquette."
Farrel was all dressed up in a tuxedo as Xion lead them to another spare room. "Stand up and straight. Aya, you come first." He held his arm out and Aya smiled brightly, accepting his offer. He spun her around over and over, making the poor squid dizzy and confused as she tried to keep up with her clumsy little feet. It was hard enough trying to breathe, why did she have to do this too? "It would look bad if two pretty girls like you couldn't dance." Farrel snickered, cruelly putting Aya through the moves. "Cress, I'll be easier on you since you won't be as noticed." He held his arm out, letting Aya down once he was satisfied she learned. Two girls with no noble manners couldn't do very well at all in sneaking into a Ball where important people would be looking in at all times. "Will it be dangerous?" Aya asked while Cress was being taught some basic moves. "We'll have people in the staff to help if there's an emergency." Farrel assured them. "So don't worry your heads and focus on finding out who Princess Narisia is." After dance practice they were given pictures and made to memorize all the nobles attending the ball, from Beatrice Liefthith, Corren's sister in law, to Alastor Vance, a young scientist studying alchemy, to even the wild and ferocious knight Heron Cherubim, the Fang of Ashia.
It was possible that Narisia really was just Cress's cousin, Ellie, kidnapped because she looked like Ellie. Similarly, Aya was being made to dress up as Aine because she looked a little bit like her. Even as Aya was put into a fancy flying chariot she wasn't sure what to think. A thin old man in a simple black suit was there to greet them. "You really do look just like her." His gaze was sympathetic. "My name's Serpina. I'm Aine's father." He shook his head at Cress and Aya. "I'm sorry for what Xion's doing. She's a bit zealous in her methods." Even his voice sounded like soft sad cotton. "I'm sorry about Aine." Aya said, having known and seen Serpina a few times back when the school was operating. He gave her a weak little smile, but couldn't say anything in return.
The Untouchable Tier was a place of beauty. There were statues and fountains and fancy streets and stores and happiness abound up here. Aya wasn't sure she liked it, it all looked so artificial. The Rubble Tier is probably the most real of them all. "Look, isn't it pretty?" Aya asked, pointing at some rare flowers blooming near a crosswalk. "If anything happens, break the stick." Serpina held out two sticks for the girls. "Someone from the resistance will come and save you." Ashia Palace was both scary and fantastic, almost looking like a castle made entirely out of ice, waiting for them, the gates opening, a carpet rolled out for the nobles to attend. Already Aya could hear the music.