Secret Blossom Ball Event Finished

-Interacting with @Aaron Jones -
Open to Interactions

A sense of accomplishment filled Lydia as the two safety fireworks light up and flew high in the sky, illuminating the night with their bright, red spark. Asking Atlas to be a part of the team had been an amazing idea, and the blue haired girl was incredibly happy that her Hufflepuff friend had the ability to create such fireworks; hopefully the professors in the castle would have noticed them, and therefore would have come to help the students.

As Lydia turned back around, she had just the time to see Aaron try to hit one of the two mosps that were, apparently, obsessed with the two of them; his swing though missed the giant bug (#9), that prepared to hit her with its stingers. The part-vela girl managed to dodge out of the way, landing on her side on the ground and dirtying her dress; if this would have happened under any other circumstances, she would have been so upset about ruining the fancy gown, but right now that was the last of her problems. Another mosp (#14) was headed towards her, and all that Lydia could do was quickly rollaway from it, just in time to miss those terrifyingly long stingers.

Both of the mosps were ready to attack her and Aaron again, and Lydia was starting to be slightly out of breath from all of the rolling, running and avoiding giant insects. She looked around for something that she could use as a weapon, since Aaron had the music stand now; the only thing she thought could possibly be some king of weapon were her shoes: sure, they weren't massive heels, but at least they were something!

Lydia quickly took off her right shoe and wielded it in her right hand, ready to hit the closest mosp(#9), as she placed herself next to her best friend. "These things sure are stubborn!" she commented, her voice slightly annoyed towards the insects. As she was waiting to (hopefully) hit the giant bug, the Hufflepuff girl finally noticed that the lights were back on, and she could properly take in the real state of things: the mosps were everywhere, stinging students and buzzing upset through the air. An even bigger sense of panic settled into her chest, right as she noticed two giant fires by the dance floor; she squinted her eyes, and all the colour drained from her face as she realised that the fires were students.

Oh God, what have we done?

Lydia thought as she take in the screams that were filling the air in the Quidditch Pitch; her fingers started to tingle, just as her heartbeat got quicker, signs that she was about to have a panic attack. She shook her head quickly, now was not the time to give in to that, not with two mosps coming for her and her best friend!

Action: attempting to hit Mosp #9 with her shoe; panicking as she realises the disaster they had done by creating the secret ball.

Stats:
Stamina: 5
Evasion: 5
Strength: 5
Wisdom: 5
Arcane Power: 5
Accuracy: 5

Abilities:
Part-veela

Reducio

Lydia's updated outfit

Moderation Announcement --- Professors
Starting today, Professors may now enter the Blossom Ball through any of the three threads of your choice. Same rules apply as students - you can only be in one location at a time. You can enter the event through any.

However, please note that those entering this round can only be looking around, observing the chaos, and I guess freaking out. Talking is a free action, of course, so scream your soul out if you wish to. You cannot make any actions this round other than to observe.

Any professors entering starting next round or after, you will be able to take your actions as normal. It is only this round that is limited to looking around.

To Everyone Else: As warned, professors will now be able to enter. This may or may not affect your IC decisions.

Race: Human
Abilities: A Secret
Stats: Stamina ↣ 2 Evasion ↣ 10 Strength ↣ 10 Wisdom ↣ 3 Accuracy ↣ 10 Arcane Power ↣ 10

Potion has worn off.

Action: Extinguo on Wren's flowers

Actions:
Use extinguo on the flowers unless Victor was successful in his cast. In which case she would cast extinguo on Victor.

Race: Human
Abilities: A secret
Stats: STAMINA: 2 EVASION: 8 STRENGTH: 0 WISDOM: 10 ARCANE POWER: 10
ACCURACY: 15

Interacting with: @Tyranni Whitethorn and @Vladimir Athanatos
Mentions: Thora Larkston, Marion Davenport, Rafael D'Spacito, Opeila Seilun, Flash Holmwood, Willow Anderson, and Selim Faust

At least one thing went their way, if you counted fixing a setback that was hardly necessary in the first place as much of an accomplishment. Still, with Tyranni unfrozen they had a better chance of making their own move instead of just dealing with what came their way. Bridget extended her hand to help the younger girl back up. "Thora had to leave. Well, not really leave... just, fires..." She gestured towards the flames. As much as she didn't like them splitting up--there was strength in numbers, after all, especially in numbers you could trust--sometimes the only way to address everything was to go separate ways.

Now that Tyranni was back in action, she had absolutely no idea what to do. People were on fire. Someone she wasn't working with had the bag and she wasn't even sure why everyone was after it, anyways. Sure, she wanted answers and she wanted them badly, but she'd only made her way over to stop Marion from incapacitating everyone. Fireworks were exploding above them, a clear distress call. By now there was no way the Professors hadn't noticed. But she wouldn't leave. Bridget didn't care if she got her first detention. What did it matter?

She turned in a circle, taking in everything she could. The best way to figure out what to do was to figure out what needed doing, after all. At least the lights that had strangely reignited made for decent visibility. A very large, very red giant bee was approaching their group. She felt a shudder run down her spine and for a minute all she could focus on were those deadly-looking stingers. With a shake of her head, she resumed her observation. It would leave them alone if they left it alone, right? The only reason students were getting attacked by the bugs was because they had started the aggression. Finally, her gaze landed on something she thought she could help with. Vladimir Athanatos.

How had she completely let him out of her sights? Bridget had come with the nearly sole purpose of figuring out how Vladimir was involved in all of this, yet she'd gotten caught up in more or less a recreation of the interrogation in the Owlery. She'd also come to prevent some of the disaster the ball was sure to entail, and four first years up against an older, stronger, more dangerous student definitely fit into that category. Opeila seemed to be fine, futilely holding Vladimir back. Flash was on the ground and looked fairly beat up, as did the girl next to him, who she vaguely recognized as the new Hufflepuff Keeper. Vladimir's attention was on another boy, though, and that was what worried her the most. True, their was a mosp in the area that had already been ticked off, but the older boy pulverizing a student took priority.

She turned to Tyranni. "Look, I'll be back if I can, okay? I've got to help Opeila with Vladimir. Watch out for the mosp." With that, she crossed the Pitch, weaving through screaming children and projectiles until she was within casting range. She still kept her distance to a degree; she didn't need to be within punching range. Flourishing her wand, she muttered the incantation, quiet enough to not instantly broadcast what she was doing but clear enough to not ruin the cast. "Flipendo." Best to get the attacking out of the way before the Professors showed up.

Action | Casting Flipendo at Vladimir Athanatos to knock him off of Selim Faust
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 9 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 8
Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers
Outfit | Broom: Nimbus 1700

Wearing:

Reducio

"You couldn't think of a way to do that that doesn't involve them accidentally killing you instead?" Ruka had asked while shaking his head disapprovingly at Jack.

"Oh, come off it. They wouldn't have killed me," he retorted, though he sounded more convinced than he truly was. He doubted either of the kicks would have been fatal, but that hadn't meant the pair of older snakes hadn't performed them with killing intent. Still, that was besides the point. "Who do you take me for? I'm not that careless about my life."

He was immensely pleased and yet again impressed at the small change in Ruka's expression when he mentioned the term 'teens'. Of course he should have known the second year would catch his hint. Still, it never failed to amuse and amaze him at how quick the other boy was to pick up on even the most subtle of his messages. It was all the more astounding since it had been quite a while that they'd gotten the chance to communicate properly, much less with the briefest and least conspicuous of clues. Their connection, it seemed, had yet to dull regardless of the time spent away from each other.

When Ruka went on to accuse Erin's behavior of being dangerous to everyone's health, gesturing to Jack, the first year responded with a sheepish look, wishing the Gryffindor would have kept from trying to antagonize the purple-haired girl any more than she already had been. His choice to step between her and Thomas, while perhaps stupid, had been entirely his own choice. And while he appreciated Ruka sticking up for him, he doubted Erin had really done anything to directly earn the Fire Dancer's ire. If anything, Jack was the one who had potentially wronged her.

Before Jack could speak a word on the matter, though, Ruka had busied himself with passing both snake boys torches of their own. Time was still ticking and they could always discuss things more in-depth at a later time. Thomas seemed ready to leave, waiting only on Ruka, and Jack was eager to go on his own way, but the Gryffindor reached out to squeeze the Slytherin first-year's wrist in a gesture that made a hard knot form in Jack's throat. He would have liked to reciprocate somehow, but he didn't dare try in the case he thoughtlessly and accidentally set something like their hair or Ruka's unlit sticks or wand on fire.

"If you die while I'm gone," the older boy told him, "I'm going to kill you."

At that, Jack couldn't hold back a small laugh consisting not just of amusement, but surprise and deep affection for his like-minded companion. "Right back at you, Tân. Watch yourself." And with those final words, he'd parted ways with his slightly shorter doppleganger.

Jack was vaguely aware of Erin casting her spell and, much to his relief, the fact that she took off with Oliver for presumably safer grounds rather than attempt to engage in combat with anyone else any further. Somewhere along the way, he caught sight of Persephone's blonde hair and green dress as well, his brow furrowing slightly at what he'd percieved to be a close proximity to Erin and some sort of communication with Thomas. However, Persephone, too, seemed to realize that the most sensible option was to try to leave while she could, so Jack decided not to keep from attempting to hinder any of them, suspicious as they seemed to be. He had not the time to question or investigate while there was still someone who was literally dying right before him.

Jack wasn't sure exactly what happened or how, but it seemed like he'd been able to briefly put out a few of the roses on fire with a meager goblet of water - at least before a failed attempt to extinguish the already-doused roses somehow managed to set them alight once more. With hardly any time to understand the logistics of that, the Welsh boy's panic only grew as Victor's cries and Marion's desperation indicated that time was almost up for the third year boy.

No, the redhead thought determinedly. No, NO! I won't let him die here! Not here, not like this!

"VICTOR! Victor, can you hear me?! Stay with us, Vic," he tried to tell the burning boy, hoping not to let his voice be swayed by fear or sorrow. "It's Marion and Jack. We're right here. We'll get this stupid fire put out one way or another, okay?"

Dropping the goblet on the grass, the Slytherin first year crouched to rummage through his own bag, grabbing a large water bottle that had been packed within. He had hoped to avoid using the bottles of water before because they weren't filled with just any water, but holy water he had specifically messaged his parents for in peculiarly large quantities a week or two prior to the ball.

When they'd asked him why he'd needed said water, Jack hadn't offered too much more of an explanation other than some potential precaution against vampires 'just in case'. His muggle parents, though skeptical, decided to follow through with fulfilling his request (in exchange for future summer chores and allowance) without further questions, figuring that if their son needed it to feel safe, it was probably worth what little trouble it might have cost them to get it for him.

If the roses were not yet fully extinguished by Victor's or Marion's spells, Jack would quickly attempt to uncap the bottle (putting his stick torch in his mouth for a moment if he needed a free hand to do so) and pour the entire bottle over the remainder of the burning roses.

If the roses were all extinguished by Victor's or Marion's spells but Victor was still on fire, Jack would quickly attempt to uncap the bottle (putting his stick torch in his mouth for a moment if he needed a free hand to do so) and pour the entire bottle over Victor's burning body instead.

If the roses and Victor were all extinguished by Victor's and Marion's spells, Jack would rush toward Vladimir while quickly attempting to uncap the bottle (putting his stick torch in his mouth for a moment if he needed a free hand to do so).

Vladimir's actions had not been missed by Jack ever since he had managed to enter the Quidditch Pitch. He'd seen how the Ravenclaw had not only repeatedly and violently attacked people like Willow, Flash, and now Selim, but how he seemed to take sadistic pleasure in it. And, while it was true that his dorm mates and their allies had attempted to steal Vladimir's bag away from him, the ridiculously charismatic third year appeared to enjoy assaulting the other first years much more than Jack believed was normal, only using the theft as an excuse to go after them.

You shouldn't dish out what you can't take, Vladimir Athanatos, he thought darkly, hazel eyes narrowing at the young man as he approached. You've been spared my attention thus far, even after ruthlessly bringing harm to those I care about. But if Victor dies...you won't have that luxury to wallow in any longer.

Fortunately for Selim and his concerned dorm mate, Bridget Collins seemed to be working on her own spell to try to get Vladimir off of the Japanese boy, so regardless of Jack's actions, the stealthy thief would not be alone in his battle.

Action:

- Take out a large, full water bottle of (holy) water from his bag to try to dump over Wren's/Victor's blood magic roses

OR

- If the fire on the roses is already extinguished, try to put out the fire engulfing Victor himself

OR

- If the fire on the roses and on Victor are already extinguished, go to Vladimir with legitimately murderous intent and attempt to splash him with the large, full bottle of (holy) water instead

Stats: | Sta 5 | Eva 7 | Str 3 | Wis 8 | Arc P 6 | Acc 6 |

Interacting with: @Victor Moore & (potentially) @Vladimir Athanatos
Mentioning: @Erin Ryan, @Oliver Hart, @Thomas LeStrange, @Ruka Tân, @Persephone Barret, @Selim Faust, @Willow Anderson, @Flash Holmwood, @Marion Davenport, & @Bridget Collins

╔══════════════☩══♛══☩══════════════╗

Interacting With: N/A
Mentioning: @Katrina Walker @Anastasia Beckett

╚═══════════════☩══✦══☩══════════════╝

Status • Temporarily closed for interactions.

[font=Segoe Print]The raw anger, sense for danger, stark will for evil, was lurking right beneath the skin of the young Quidditch Captain, his eyes narrowed and grip tightened as he walked, a large scowl spread out upon his face, shoulders loose as he swung his arms along, whistling a happy tune, in stark contrast to the countenance in which he held. It was strange, the feeling that was washing over him now, the ill power that was taking control of his movements as he walked, bag swinging cordially in his hand, material rough between his fingers. Enlightening, to put it simply, perfect in ways the young child could do little to describe. Was it evil? Had he been corrupted by circumstance? Perhaps. Ana’s pain had left a hole in his being, a vulnerable patch now flooding with the danger and discord now spiraling about his consciousness. There was only rage, the need for revenge, and the will to save his best friend. There would be no other action to partake in. He must have looked unsettling to the average onlooker, eyes dull, oddly comfortable amidst the chaos, bag was clutched in his fingertips, his eye throbbing from the utter pain of the damned midget’s advances against him. Everything was spiraling out of control. But no matter. There was no pain, no danger that could put his plan out of motion.

However, the universe’s actions were a different story.

Always plotting, always scheming, always screwing up his life. This time, it came in the form of a lovely acquaintance of his – particularly, Katrina Walker, hands clad with the burning flowers that had doomed his hamburger-flipping hot best friend. The fire in which he was to burn his troubles. “Fuck,” he growled out loud, his eyes narrowing down on the girl. It was a real shame, that a friend like her would have to cause the young Captain so much trouble. But such matters did nothing to deter him – after all, what was evil, if not prevailing? The brown eyes of the rogue Captain soon caught the lovely visage of the flames, licking away at the grass around Ana, along with the grass of the once lovely pitch. A sight that made him sick to his stomach, in the most amazing, twisted sort of way. Hope was far from lost, something the boy would be quick to take advantage of.

Returning to his friend’s acquaintance once more, he spared her no worried glance, nor concerned words. It seemed as if, in fact, he had no awareness to her distressed state, his focus merely on the bag in his clutches, and the plan that was unfolding just beyond his eyes, the gears in his mind churning ominously as he put his worst thoughts into motion. The original concept had been to hold the bag hostage, get people to save his lovely friend. However, the monster lurking in his bones, knawing at the contents of his stomach, told him differently, lured him in a whole new direction – the boy would begin to kick the fire together to the best of his ability, much like a football player guiding his ball in the right direction, clumps of dirt and grass finding its way into a small pile of light and destruction. It was hot, hotter than he’d first anticipated. His shoes were on fire. Bloody hell, a real shame. He supposed he’d never liked his Converses. The child made quick work in taking them off, tossing them nonchalantly into the hideous flames, the hungry fire only growing as they ate away at the materials of the shoes. Fire, such a lovely substance. It would need more kindling, however. A lightbulb appearing in the mind of the Gryffindor, he took off the blazer adorning his hoodie, only to throw it in the fire, sparks flying about at the impact. Beautiful. The fire was a good size now, a proper source of light. But the kindling was far from over.

The boy glanced down at the bag in his hands, knowing full well that the contents were at his mercy. He was a curiosity-driven machine, but there was no room for deafening thoughts anymore. He wasn’t himself. He couldn’t think, only let his gaze slip, falling down upon the lovely visage of the flames. The whole ball was damned to fire. Best he just speed the process up. He could do nothing but watch numbly as the bag slipped from his fingertips, the impact of the duffel against the flames causing sparks to paint the air in front of him, prickling his lungs and lighting up his vision as it pierced the warm spring air. It was beautiful. It was deadly. It was perfect.

What was lost, is lost. But with death, comes life. [/font]

Action • Attempting to burn/decimate Victor's Bag

Open to Interactions
───── ⋆★⋆ ─────
Completely and Utterly Confused

What the actual flipendo was going on down there.

Mars had been hearing about a "Secret Blossom Ball" for weeks. It had floated down every school corridor, through every classroom, notes slid between hands behind backs. It had taken over the buzz for weeks, people talking about their dresses to their dates to suits and everything in between. It seemed that every wix from every house from every year knew about this event. Why they even bothered to call it a secret was beyond Mars.

They were perched on the roof of the owlery, their new favorite hangout for sleepless nice and general escape. The wind was always brisk up here, whipping their hair into a tangled mess. It was usually the perfect place to sit in peace, alone, with only the stars to accompany them. Usually.

Mars sighed as the Quidditch field exploded yet again. What the f*ck were they doing that it was audible all the way up here? Another plume of smoke went up accompanied by a couple of green and red flashes. Fireworks exploded above their head.

Mars groaned and rolled their eyes. It was times like now that they wished muggle tech worked the most. What they wouldn't give to just be able to stick some earbuds in and shut out the world.

They pulled their jacket tighter around them as the wind picked up again. They never wore robes up here; it was too difficult to climb out of windows with literal bat wings. Instead, they were wearing their muggle attire—a black leather jacket, a low-cut tank top, ripped jeans, and high heels as always. Climbing probably wasn't all that safe in heels either, but it didn't really matter. They'd gotten up just fine. Their eyes were lined and dusted with eyeshadow and today, they'd felt like wearing a dark lip, smacking their lips together lightly as they stared out in the opposite direction of the Quidditch field.

Reducio

Something similar to this:

There was no way the professors hadn't heard about this by now. Hell, Mars would be surprised if any of them hadn't heard about it while it was going around school. But by now, definitely.

The field boomed again and a wave of shrieks went through the crowd. Mars jolted and sat up, trying to see what was going on. Did those imbeciles set themselves on fire or something? Of course, it was impossible to see anything from up here.

Mars sighed. Should they go down there? They had decided long before—maybe when they'd first heard—that they'd try to avoid it entirely. They didn't know what a "secret blossom ball" entailed—hell, they didn't even know what a regular blossom ball entailed—but they had assumed by the word "ball" that it would be a lot of people, a lot of expectation to mingle, and a lot of general chaos. That wasn't something they needed to deal with.

But they'd always been a curious wix. Especially now that it seemed everything was going down in flames. They looked up at the sky, trying to pinpoint where Venus was. Maybe the sky could tell them the answers. It seemed that was the point of Divination, no? Mars didn't know. They'd never attended such a class.

The sky didn't say anything. The field, however, did. Another set of flashes flew up into the air. Mars sighed for the third time and then stood, swinging back down into the Owlery through an open window. They clattered down the steps, mumbling under their breath about imbeciles and stupidity.

When they reached the Quidditch field, they stopped. What were they going to do, just waltz in? They looked down at their attire. They weren't exactly dressed for a dance. Then again, it wasn't as if they had any decent clothes.

Whatever. They walked in, staying to the edge of the entrance path. Glowing bubbles lined the pathway but they tried to stay in the shadows. It was fairly successful, what with their black clothes. When they finally made it to the field, they stopped. Whoever had organized this had done a wonderful job.

On either side of them was a stack of broom and stack of buttons. Each of the six hoops had been adorned in strings of flowers and there were candles floating above the whole scene. Under each endline was a table filled with food and drinks. The sheer amount of people, all dressed in suits and dresses, were essentially a part of the scenery as well.

But then—some of them were on fire. What the actual f*ck. How many times had they said that already.

Okay... unless someone explained, Mars wasn't going to get involved. They scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face, but no one showed up in the chaos.

Taking another look at the field Mars spotted what looked like a bunch of flying bugs. But they were massive, buzzing around as students tried to fend them off. So, this was what happened when magic wasn't supervised. Good to know. Someone really needed to get a professor. Someone really needed to buy a massive amount of insect repellant. Someone really needed to grab a pitcher of those drinks and douse in on the nearest burning human.

Mars turned on a heel and started back out the pitch. Unless someone stopped them, they were going back to the Owlery, where they probably should have stayed.

ACTION: Leaving unless interacted with

Interacting with:
@Allister-Jameson MacAllister @Griseldis Edelhardt @Alan Noble

Everything was happening so fast. People were suddenly appearing by Ana as she continued to burn in front of Lark and her friend. Flames still dancing in her eyes as she lost herself to her thoughts and turned to watch fellow students appear and start helping Ana. She felt helpless but dazzled by the sudden number of bodies that had come across the pitch to help. Lark was about to back up, feeling overwhelmed and pushed aside, useless, when she felt hands on her. Warm, comforting, safe. Something, no someone was turning her away from Ana and the others, the movement starting to make her stir from the haze that had fallen over her. Blue eyes drawing her out of the depths and into the air. Words carrying her from the stagnant darkness that had tried to consume her.

"A..AJ..?” Lark’s voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke to her, a small shake ridding her of the last bits of- why was he apologizing? And there it was. Almost stumbling against her friend as he pulled her into his space, she found herself pressed against him in some sort of...wait a minute. ’Is he!!?!?’ All of her reading hadn’t prepared her for this. Stories of Princes and Princesses, damsels in distress, fair maidens being saved by some sort of dashing hero. Trying to process what exactly was going on, lips pressed against her best friend’s, his hands gripping her shoulders, emotions flooded the young girl and sent a surge of adrenaline through her body. The shock had effected her still untamed abilities, hair shortening to just under her ears and locks a blaze of pink. Still, with her lack of knowledge or experience in any area involving boys let alone kissing, she knew it somehow felt right. Safe. Was it because he was her closest friend? Or something more.

Without any time to ponder the thought she was pulled away not by her own hands but once again by the sound of another friend calling out to her. The Gryffindor’s voice called out that they needed to leave. Right, leaving.. there was a fire going on and.. beyond this moment the two first years were sharing, the real world sat waiting for them to come back to. A subconscious realization caused the girl to jerk back from AJ.

”We.. we uh.” What were words again? ”Gris, she and Alan...” Not realizing more than the blush across her face was giving away the shock and embarrassment at being caught in the act so to speak, she nervously brushed the longer bit of hair that had managed to stay silver from her eyes and waved over to Gris and Alan. ”They’re right, we need to get out of here.” As much as she wanted to help things were clearly getting out of control and the more bodies around the more trouble it only seemed to cause.

Actions Giving AJ cooties

༺Outfit for the Evening༻

Reducio