Dance Dance Reprobation

[magicademymods]

The Twilight Ball Arrival The Promenade has been transformed. Literally. With Modification. Ha ha. Cough. Crickets. Toad familiars eat the crickets. Circle of life. Animals bow before singing lions. You get the idea. Neither tree nor stone form the Promenade now. It is instead a long bridge over a shallow and brilliant pool, the gentle ripples of which catch the afternoon sun and scatter it into a million highlights that play over the Great Hall, the bridge, and those who walk down it. There is no formal receiving line, merely a gentle procession of people across the bridge at whatever speed feels comfortable, slowly making their way to the Great Hall. The Great Hall itself has been enchanted to be completely invisible while one is inside it, save for the outline of doors so people can actually find their way out through means other than smacking their noses into the invisible walls till they find a place with no resistance. Thus the twilight for which the ball is named will show all around the dancers, while they are protected from any errant breezes, faint hints of rain, or slime monsters that might otherwise threaten the festivity. Come in. Find your date and get comfortable. The fun is just beginning. Let the Revels Begin After Headmaster Birony welcomes everyone with a speech about she's going to get on her boat, go upriver, and kick that sonuvabitch Bison's ass so HORDT that the next Bison-wannabe is gonna feel it, the dance formally begins with a peppy number designed to get people out and moving. The orchestra here comprises some of the finest players available anywhere in the world, thanks to the whole Valhudor shtick and graduates of said house, and the music is infectious as it drifts through the slowly-darkening air. But as the dance progresses, they play something for everyone. Martial waltzes and slow dance ballroom numbers. Powerful tunes to lose yourself in, and gentle melodies that slip beneath conversation and encourage intimacy and closeness. Professors Trammel and King treat everyone to an exhibition of what an Earth resident might call 'swing dancing on amphetamines' and many students do call 'the closest I have ever come to death'. No pause for speeches, no announcements or interruptions -- just a steady stream of music, bringing dates and lovers together in dance, as the sun sets and casts the room into gentle and romantic twilight. Also a dolphin and a whale are swimming through the floor and they, too, are unmistakably dancing. If this is the weirdest thing you've seen all night, you need your eyes checked. "Food! One of the food tables has been discreetly slid against a wall, where it positively shudders under the weight of a massive buffet open to everyone. The food here tends towards the light, such as fish and vegetables, cucumber sandwiches and thin-sliced meats. Things that will give you energy without weighing you down, so you can keep dancing till the dawn comes. At one end of the table, an owl the size of a cupboard sits on a perch, serenely watching the varied drinks laid out for consumption. 'Spiking the punch' is so cliche that no one is going to pretend it won't happen or the students will behave on their honor, so here you get a chaperone. Even so, this whole area is a popular gathering spot for those between dances or partners, drawing steady attention throughout the night. Meanwhile, Elsewhere Shockingly, not everyone has found that loving feeling, asked out an attractive someone, and gone to the dance with romance on their minds. The rest of the campus, and of course Anastara itself, remain open as normal... and perhaps even less-minded than normal. The faculty, the familiars, the cleaning golems -- almost all attention is on the dance itself. If there's mischief to manage, now would be the perfect time... or just something else besides wallflowering and missing out. Wait, Wasn't There a Ghost Dragon and an Off-Brand Shoggoth? Professor King managed to find a way around the protoplasmic ooze's resistance to magic and splatted it (with no small amount of help from students and faculty!). The dragon disappeared into the caverns beneath the Magicademy. That certainly isn't ominous and won't inspire anyone to go down there, will it? Don't fall in the river down there. Please don't fall in the river.

Comments

[sevenyearsasleep]

Food

What happens when an eleven-year-old in a seventeen-year-old's body picks out his own tuxedo? Look no further than the Hylian at the buffet table. Not that they had any clothing like this in Hyrule, especially not the Kokiri Forest.

Green coat, yellow trousers, pink striped bow-tie. Complete with matching green top hat and fancy cane. In some worlds, he could be mistake for a children's breakfast cereal mascot.

Link was quite content to spend this occasion grazing at the food table. Dancing didn't strike him as terribly interesting, but, he was more than willing to talk with people who were able to contain their laughter at his poor fashion choices.

[woo_oo]

Webby knows nothing about fashion, so as far as she's concerned, Link looks quite dapper!

"Aw, I didn't know we could bring canes! I would've totally gone for an Uncle Scrooge look."

[sevenyearsasleep]

"Oh, well, they said I couldn't bring my sword, so I figured this was close enough," Link grinned.

[woo_oo]

Ah, that made sense. "What you have to do is wear something that conceals your weapon. I'm hiding a knife in this dress."

[sevenyearsasleep]

Wait. Other students were just breaking the rules?

Blast. If he'd known that he would have snuck something in.

"Probably could have found a cane like that," Link remarked.

[woo_oo]

"Oooh, a cool sword-cane!" Webby squealed with delight. "I've always wanted something like that - a neat cane like Uncle Scrooge has!"

[sevenyearsasleep]

Link grinned at her enthusiasm. It was nice to talk with someone else who appreciated weapons.

"Do you have a big family?" Even having an uncle was more than Link this incarnation could claim.

[woo_oo]

"Kind of?" Boy oh boy, how did you describe her association with the McDuck family?

"Granny is Scrooge's housekeeper, and right now he lives with his nephew Donald duck, and Donald's nephews Huey Dewey and Louie. But Scrooge lets me call him Uncle!"

[sevenyearsasleep]

Housekeeper gave him momentary pause. He had to guess from context, some sort of servant role, but, Link wasn't certain.

"That's a lot of people, alright! Probably never lonely, huh?"

[bearshermark]

"Link," Eleven spots him from across the buffet and approaches with an appraising smile. The colors are bright but seem to go together well enough in his eyes.

"You look nice. Did you come here with someone?"

[sevenyearsasleep]

Link was examining a tiny sandwich, when Eleven approached. "Oh, hi!"

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't know anyone that well, and everyone watches the people dancing anyway."

[bearshermark]

"What," Eleven said, half laugh, half disbelief. "You should try it. I can even dance with you if you want; it's fun."

[sevenyearsasleep]

"Heh, I don't think I'm cut out for that fancy stuff. I think it'd be more fun to join the musicians. But, it doesn't look like they even have an ocarina in their orchestra."

Link had absolutely no idea how to dance. It looked complicated.

[bearshermark]

Eleven turned a curious look to the orchestra, though having no idea what an ocarina was, naturally failed to find one.

"You're a musician?"

[sevenyearsasleep]

"Aw, not exactly, but I've been playing the ocarina since I was little." He pulled the smooth blue instrument from his jacket pocket, and held it out for inspection.

"And in Hyrule, there are certain songs that, when you play them on the Ocarina of Time, they have powers. Teleportation, change night into day, making it rain, moving objects through Time..." Link looked a little sheepish.

"So far, I haven't been able to get it to work here. I tried all the warp songs, when I first arrived here."

[bearshermark]

Eleven leaned in to look at it. He'd never seen anything of its like before, but he found himself increasingly impressed by its apparently dormant magical capabilities.

"Trying to leave," he nodded. "I knew a spell that could transport me to different locations, but of course I realized my magoc was gone quickly. I didn't know even objects could be stripped of their magic on arriving here."

[sevenyearsasleep]

"Maybe magic works in different ways here and I'll just have to learn to do something differently."

[talkyourwayout]

Green coat, pink bow(tie) and a cane? It’s like a horrid hybrid of his style, Webby’s, and Uncle Scrooge’s, but Louie does admire the boldness. He also hasn’t meant Link yet, and now seems as good a time as any, so he approaches the apparent teen with a smile.

“Hey. Having fun?”

[sevenyearsasleep]

Link munched a small piece of fruit. "Mm-yeah, pretty fun, yeah."

[talkyourwayout]

He chuckled. "Cool. I'm Louie Duck, by the way - I don't think we've met."

[sevenyearsasleep]

"I'm Link. Nice to meet you."

He nodded towards the dancers. "Do you, uh, have to go to things like this often, where you're from?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie shook his head. "Nah, we don't have school dances yet. And my uncle doesn't usually bring me or my brothers to fancy stuff - he wouldn't go himself if it weren't for the business opportunities, I think." He rolled his shoulders back in a shrug. "What about you?"

[sevenyearsasleep]

"Nope. Never even went to school until I came here. I mean, my friend Saria taught me a few things, but, uh, nothing like they have here...."

Link rubbed his neck sheepishly.

[talkyourwayout]

"You're probably not missing much. School back home was safer than this place, but classes were even more boring," Louie explained. "It's pretty much a lose-lose."

[sevenyearsasleep]

"I thought this place was pretty safe? I mean, no one's even tried to kill me."

The bar is pretty low, Louie.