The ball is starting now!

Arwen-

I am the first to arrive at the ball, which is being held in a mansion that Leafy conjured up in her imagination. Technically, she is the host of this ball, but since CBers aren't allowed to come, Jarnen, Serene, Hazel, and I are more or less acting hosts. Not like it really matters though. Everything has been taken care of, and the ball is ready to begin.

It's growing dark outside as I walk up the wide cobblestone path that leads to the mansion. The sun is starting to set, streaking the sky with purple and peach and gold. It illuminates the flowers and trees lining the path. There is a beautiful garden out here, which I'm sure people will enjoy walking through. There are lots of benches and walkways; it's sort of a courtyard. 

I walk up to the mansion's gigantic front doors, being careful not to stumble as I climb the stairs with my stiletto heels. I pull open the doors.

They open right into a small coat room area, and then the ballroom. In the ballroom, there are tables of food lining almost every wall, lights are dangling elegantly from the ceiling, and dance music is playing softly from speakers. The middle of the room is left empty for dancing. 

Like I said, the ball is ready to begin. 

Serene-

I put the finishing touches on my hairstyle, turning elegantly before my full-length mirror. I honestly look nothing like my usual self today, wearing my ball gown and shoes and having put my hair up. I even wore some makeup, which Arwen suggested. Not like I care about being attractive, though. I just thought it might be good to try to look...nice today. Although I'm not really a big fan of balls. Or socializing. Leafy said there would be a library in the mansion that the ball is being held at, so probably I'll find some way to disappear up to there sometime during the party. 

"Serene, you ready?" Jarnen popped his head into my room, looking charming in a black tuxedo and a green tie to match his eyes, his hair a curly, fluffy mess as usual. "Leafy said she could teleport us both, and Hazel, at the same time." 

"Yes, hang on...." I grab my bag, which has some essentials such as a book, the lipstick I'm wearing, and bandages. You never know what might happen at a ball. "I'm ready."

I follow Jarnen downstairs. Leafy and Hazel waiting for us, Hazel bouncing in her pink dress. Leafy's going to teleport us to the gates of the mansion, where Hazel and I can continue to the ball and Jarnen can wait to escort Delphine when she shows up. Leafy already teleported Arwen there, so that she could open the mansion and receive guests when they show up. 

Leafy looks us over and nods approvingly. "You two look nice. Are you ready to go?" We stand next to each other, Hazel joins us, bumping against me, and Leafy raises her hand to snap her fingers, which will teleport us to the ball. She looks at us with a grin and her eyes sparkle. "Have fun, Æs." She snaps her fingers. A moment later, we're there.

Jarnen-

Once we've teleported onto the cobblestones of the walkway to the mansion, Hazel and Serene start walking up to the mansion and I stay at the gateway of the mansion, leaning against one side of the big stone gateposts to wait for Delphine. I'm not sure if anyone else is here yet, but they should be showing up soon.  

I knock on Stargirl's door. "Come in!",she says.  I enter and nod approvingly at myself in her mirror. I look amazing! 

I'm worried. What if someone tries to talk to me? Leafy said there ould be a library, I hope there are maps of the mansion inside. Penny touches up my hair. "Ready to go?" I nod, grab a book, and join Penny in getting transported to the mansion. 

I haven't brought a coat, so I head straight to the ballroom. Leafy's AE's are standing inside, but they seem nervous. Some one come!!!! Sally? Are you there? 

~Alice~ 

Sally and I arrive early at the mansion. It looked beautiful, but I would have enjoyed it better if I wasn't so nervous. There were a few people here already. I walked over to the food table. "Come on Sally, you can place your cookies down here," I said to my sister, who was holding a tray full of cookies with smiley faces on them (made by her, obviously). She smiled and put them down on the table. "Everyone will love these! Not like those other fancy boring treats. Hey Alice, want one?" 
"I already had several at home..." I muttered. 
"Oh, you can have more!" Sally said happily. She looked around at the small group of people around the room. "Hey, why are we so early? Can't we wait until theres more people and its more exciting?" 
"That's the point. I don't want many people. I need a few minutes to take it all in before... everything happens." 
"Hmmm," Sally said. She studied the people again. "Well, at least I won't have as many wonderful people to choose from to be your friend!"

I cringed. Great. A friend. How on earth am I going to do this? Would I really be better off with one? "Yeah," I sighed. 
"Don't worry! Since you like hanging out in corners apparently, you can go stand awkwardly in one while I find you a friend for life!" 
"Ok," I replied. Then, I leaned in close to Sally and whispered, "Just... Don't embarrass me, ok?" 
"Okie dokie! I know you're allergic or something to embarrassment anyways. Wish me luck!" Then she bounced away.

I sighed. Maybe coming here was going to be the worst mistake of my life.   

Delphine~

I scrambled everywhere around Umi's house, trying to make sure I looked good. “You look fine, Delphine. Besides, why're panicking? He's just a boy,” Delphin said, trying to assure me. “I need to look my absolute best!” I replied, still running around.

We later then finally got there to the mansion, walking there was a death trap. I never knew high heels were so hard to walk in. Delphin had to practically carry me the whole way there. We got to the mansion and Delphin set me down. “Thank you, my kind sir!” Delphin chuckled and walked into the mansion, waving good-bye to me. I waved good-bye back and I waddled over to Jarnen.

“Sorry, high heels are awful. Shall we go in?”

~~~~

Delphin-

I walked into the mansion, looking everywhere. It was amazing. I saw a library and instantly darted in there, not wanting to socialize with anyone. In there, I found all of Luminara's AEs. I've seen them around a few times.

I went in deeper into the library, seeing rows of shelves of books. It was heaven. I then grabbed a book and sat down right on the ground, flipping through the pages of the book.

\Omric/ 

I walked over to Tanii, watching her spin around in circles, making her dress have a nice spin to it. She smiled and walked over to me when she saw me.

«Hello» «Omric.»

<Hhey,> <Tanii> 

«Aarey» «ooure» «adyfo» «rthee» «baall?»

I nodded my head, smiling. We walked to the mansion where the ball was held, looking at the whole mansion from the outside. We then walked inside, myself wanting to explore everything, and Tanii wanting to go make some new friends. 

Abcde~

I walk into the mansion. This is my first ever ball. It's pretty much my first ever anything. It's scary, and my introvert is starting to come out. What if I don't know anyone. What if no one knows me? What if no one WANTS to know me? I see a plate of cookies with smiley faces on them. I really wnat one. Maybe they're good luck. I don't know if they're vegan, though. I figure out that the cookies belong to someone named Alice, and I walk up to her. *Crossing fingers.* "Um. Alice. Hi. My name is Abcde. And. . . um. . . I was wondering if your cookies were. . . um. . . vegan? 'Cause I'm vegan. So I only eat vegan foods. So. . . um. . . I'm gonna stop talking now." Ugh. Not a good first try on talking to other Alter Egos, Abcde. I thought you were s'posed to be good with people. 

Maya:

Whoa!! I walk in and nearly trip on my dress. 
This place looks Amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Ooo chocolate.    I look around,
there are so many people here already! I walk over to the snack bar and
grab some strawberries, my favorite.  This is my first ball, so I'm a
litttleee nervous.   I go and sit down and re-adjust my shoe, as it's
trying to fall off.  Then I see that almost NO ONE is dancing! Might be a good time to warm up, I'm not the best dancer I thought.  And the song playing was perfect!  I look back at the snack bar to see if anyone else has come yet.  And start dancing.

Jarnen-

As I'm leaning against the gatepost waiting for Delphine, some Æs pull up in a car and tumble out. I think they're Agent Winter's Æs. One of them, who has large white feathery wings, says something in a low voice to another, who's wearing a black skirt and a yellow crop top. The one with the crop top seems to ignore her, though, and comes over towards me. She says, "Hey there! How's it going? I'm Reese, what's your name?" 

Across from me, I see the winged Æ glance at me mistrustfully and I catch her eyes. They're blue. Blue. Like Chilly's. Why can't I forget about her? 

I glance away, see Reese waiting for me to respond, and falter for a moment. "H-" I take a deep breath and smooth over my mind. "Hi," I say, smiling disarmingly. "I'm Jarnen. I'm waiting for a friend. Welcome to the ball, Reese!"

I see Delphine and Delphin arriving, Delphin carrying Delphine. I turn back to Reese. "Delphine's here. I hope I'll see you later?" Reese gives me a nod and walks away, towards the ball.

Delphin has set Delphine down, and she teeters over to me on her high heels. "Sorry, high heels are awful. Shall we go in?" 

"Yeah, sure." I offer Delphine my arm, which she gladly takes as a support to help her walk in those shoes, and we walk towards the mansion, although we have to stop several times as Delphine nearly falls over and I attempt to help her stay upright.  

"I never understood why people wear those," I say. "I mean, they seem so hard to walk in. If you can pull it off, like some people do, then great, but a lot of people...can't...." I glance down at her shoes. "No offense, of course." 

Arwen-

Finally, people are arriving. The first people to arrive are some that I recognize vaguely as Agent Winter's Æs, from their appearances. I read the guest forms, just to try to acquaint myself even a little bit with all the people I'd be meeting today. 

One of them wanders in my direction. She looks like she'd like someone to talk to, so I walk over to her, my heels clicking on the dance floor. "Hi! I'm Arwen, what's your name?" I ask. 

Serene-

Several groups of Æs have already walked into the ballroom. Hazel has already dashed over to stuff her face with sweets at the refreshment tables, Arwen has started a conversation with someone, and Jarnen has just walked in the door with a pretty girl who's stumbling on her high heels. I'm really glad I wore flats today. I honestly cannot walk in high heels to save my life. 

I guess I should go talk to someone, although I'd really rather not. It's better than standing around looking awkward, I suppose.  

I make myself walk in the direction of two Æs who looked like they were having a rather awkward conversation. Probably introverts. My stomach dropped at the prospect of having to initiate a conversation but, as I walked closer, it seemed like I might not have to....One of them is talking really earnestly about what seems to be veganism? The other one is looking kind of trapped and panicky. Great. What am I getting into? Their conversation trails off as I approach, and the one who was talking looks just about ready to run away from the whole situation. I put a small smile on my face and say, "Hi! I'm Serene, what are your names?"

*Hazel-* 

Oh my GOSH there's so much food here. I've just seen like every kind of dessert imaginable, and then some more. And that's only some of the food, because it's not all dessert. Hopefully there's some tofu with the rest of the food. I don't think Leafy could have NOT put tofu over there. There were some KitKats with the desserts, in a bowl with other candy. I took them. A lot of them, actually. They're in my dress right now, because this dress has POCKETS. It's awesome. I think I'll go check out the other food. I don't think there are any Æs over there right now.... 

»Dexter«

I walked with Magdalene, Arabella, and Alec to the ball. Fun fact, Magadelene had to carry Alec there. I carried Arabella, of course, she was light. It was beautiful watching Magdalene and Alec struggle and agrue with each other. Anyways, we got to the mansion and I quickly dashed inside, looking for a library.

When I was dashing in, I saw two AEs, one of Umi's Alter Egos and someone else. I glanced over to Umi's Alter Ego, Delphine, for a second and then I dashed off, dragging Magdalene and Alec with me. We got inside and I headed for the library, not even waiting for Magdalene and Alec, instead, I dragged them both while carrying Arabella. I felt like a true dad at that point.

Anyways, I stopped at a table near the front of the library, lecturing Magdalene and Alec to not fight and act behaved while in public.

»---«

Alec-

I mumbled while being lectured, bored. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Dexter smiled and nodded. He then eyed something walking past us. I followed his gaze, just Delphin, one of Umi's AEs. We've seen them around a few times, honestly.

“You'd better take this seriously, Alec. We actually need to behave ourselves for once,” Magdalene said, sighing.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” I replied.

Arabella nodded, agreeing to what Magdalene had just said. Dexter walked off, looking at all of the books. I wandered off with Maggie, hah. I can call her Maggie now. Anyways, we can across some food. OH MY FLASHLIGHT it was amazing. It was a beautiful sight to see.

---

Magdalene-

I sighed, watching Alec bring a whole plate of food to a table. I grabbed a smaller plate and placed a little bit of each dish onto it, wanting to try most of the things. To be honest, I wasn't much of a sweets fan, so I just stuck with the normal food instead of sweets.

I sat down by Alec, who was now shoving his face full of food. “Manners,” I whispered to him. He shurgged, not really caring. I watched a few Alter Egos and CAPTCHAs wandering around, socializing, and having a blast, while I was here and stuck with Alec.

---

Arabella-

I wandered over to see everything. I saw a small fountain near the enterance, it was so pretty! I wanted to stay away from most of the action, still not wanting to go into the library. I bet a lot of introverts and people who don't want to socialize were there, no offense...

I walked all around the mansion and saw a room that was behind the main room. It looked small, but no one was in there. I quickly and quietly dashed into the room, sitting down on a wooden chair, grabbing the small book I carried in my bag, and started reading. I started blocking out the sounds of the songs that were playing, and I didn't even look up once until someone would stop me.

~Sally~ 

I wander through the crowd of AEs. I smiled. It's finally picking up steam! I can't wait to twirl around and dance by myself! I didn't get to very much last time, so as soon as I get Alice a friend, I'll start dancing. But right now, I'm on a mission. I am here to save the universe from Alice's lonliness. I'm sort of like the heroine in a cartoon that helps fix someone's problems and then when the problem gets solved the person thanks the heroine bunches of times. I will be a hero!

I tried looking at all the AEs and trying to remember who they were. Alice had told me all the applications earlier and described them in detail, but I didn't pay attention that much. Some people just couldn't make their sheets entertaining enough. I only paid attention to a few of the energetic people's sheets. There were so many! Maybe I could make an 'eccentric AE club'. I bet a whole lot of people would want to join that!

I walked around, happy in my bubbly thoughts, and then I saw someone. She looked just like one of the appearances I actually listened to. It took me a moment to recognize who she was. Yeeeeeeeeeee! It's Penny Packer! I thought. I immediately ran up to her. "Oh my goodness, I found you! I'm Sally, remember? It's so amazing to meet you, you're just like me! Do you have any siblings? Do you like kittens and rainbows? Do you like balls? I like balls, but my sister doesn't. Yeeeeeeee, I'm so glad we found each other! We're going to be best friends!" 

(get used to the bombarding of questions. It's probably going to happen pretty often.)

~Alice~

As we were having this quite awkward conversation (is this normally how starting conversations go?) another person walked up to us, told us her name, and asked ours. I was baffled. Another one? Was Sally secretly hiding somewhere? No, probably not, she wouldn't do that. But at least I can actually properly answer this question. "I'm Alice. I have a sister here too, but shes a lot more eccentric than I am. Nice to meet you, Serene." The other girl introduced herself as abcde. I remembered seeing that name in the online appilications. It was a strange name, but there had been stranger, so I thought nothing of it. There was a little of an awkward silence, so I said, "So, I am still learning every AE, so do you guys have any siblings?"

(a little bit of a strange conversation starter, but it's Alice... she doesn't have much to grasp on.)