<sorry>

I turn and follow Secret across the room, tapping my photo watch to 'record' in case anything happened. Secret storms after Key, wincing as Pseudonym gets banged about.

"Hey! Ow! What's happening?! What did all this? Key?"

Key turned on him. "Shush. Nobody else can see this. Don't draw any attention!"

Secret frowned. "Is she behind all this?"

"I don't know," I answered, "but the least we can do is find out. Did you come armed?"

"What do you think? This is an AE ball, after all. You?"

"Logic cannon. In my tie."

"Okay." 

We snuck up a narrow spiral staircase up to a balcony, where we saw Pseudonym being yanked through a door.

We set ourselves up on either side of the door and peered around the edge.

General Waffleson, you captured Estella perfectly.

My turn! 

Estella:

I'm breathless as I walk in.  The ball is decorated beautifully; a crystal chandelier is above the dance floor, which changes colors as different lighting turns on.  Many AE's are coming in all at once, and some have already started dancing.  Couples talk together, some loudly, some shyly.  People, whether they are couples are not, are all bouncing around because it's a truly beautiful ball.  

Can you believe it?  A real, live ball?  It's so exciting!

I finally transfer my thoughts to Jamie, and some of my excitement turns to nervousness.  I've never even been to a ball, and I've no idea where to go or what to do.  I stand looking at the window, drinking water, and convincing myself that I'm definitely not going to stare at the window the whole time.  Finally, I step away and decide that whatever I'm doing, I'm not going to do this all day.  My eyes transfer to people dancing and laughing.

Will I have a good time too?  Will I have fun?

Suddenly, I see Jamie standing in front of me.  Gathering up the bravery I hope I have, I look up and smile at him.  

He says, "So...do you want to dance, or are we just going to awkardly stand in the corner."

I laugh, not only because what he's said is funny, but because I'm going to be brave and dance.  I'm going to dance. 

"What did we come to do if we weren't going to dance?" I say, and it's true.  One way or another, we would have found eachother and danced (I'm sure of it, just not sure of which way).

"Good point," he says, and our hands suddenly go together.  They're intwined to the point that I feel like I can't tell them apart.

We dance, whether the music is fast and furious or sweet and slow.  I lose track of time because of the great time I'm having.  Suddenly, I see a cupcake fly into the crystal chandeliar, and a the cupcake falling on an AE.  Instantly, the whole ball is in an uproar.

"This doesn't look good," Jamie says.

I agree. We look nervously on the dancefloor to where yelling AE's are fighting each other.

"Let's uhh...go over here," I say.

We walk off the dance floor, and both get some water and snacks from the table. The music and lighting stops soon after.

"I didn't really think this would happen," I say, because I was really having a great time.  So were most of the other AE's. 

"Yep, it looks like the ball is trying to deal with this cupcake crisis," Jamie says, sadly. 

I walk over to the music player, and push the "On" button.  Instantly, music starts blaring out.  

"Come on!  Let's dance," I yell to Jamie.

Jamie starts walking slowly to the dance floor.

"Oh Come on!  Like you want to watch cupcake blasters ruin the ball!" I yell.

He runs to the dance floor (because who would want to see that), and again we're dancing.  I don't know if people came to join us or not, but we danced through the pain.  Well, it wasn't pain.  Actually, it was more like dancing in the rain.  Yes, we danced through the rain. 

Counter's really sweet. He helps me clean up all the frosting, despite the fact that I threw a bit of a diva tantrum over it. I feel rather embarrassed, honestly. Diva tantrums are more of Basil's thing. Man, I hope he's not listening. 

You know, it was really nice when he was spinning me around on the dance floor. We were having so much fun, but did I see a glimmer in his eyes? A spark of something else?

"Jammira?" He says, "Would you like to try that dance again?"

There. There it is. A flash, but there. A flash where he looks at me differently.

"Yes. I think I would." 

I sit on the side like a true wallflower, which is so not me, but what can I do? I have no date. And honestly, I couldn't care less about the the chocolate frosting dripping slowly to the floor, or even the fact that another AE is wearing a light green dress, so now when people hear "light green dress," they'll think of Morganeth and not me. No, what I care about are the couple standing right there. See them? Right under that light on the wall? That's Rosalyn and Grey, and they're having a great time. UGGHH. I should just go up to them. I really should.

Just the clouds of jealousy in my brain thicken to become more of an all-encompassing fog, I spot another couple, still dancing, as if to say "We don't care either."

Isn't this what balls are for? To dance and have fun?

With a dramatic sweep of my dress, I stand and join them. Really, Morganeth, this is a lot more fun than sabotaging a ball. 

Oh no! I made so many mistakes in my previous post! First, I spelled Morgeneth's name wrong. Then I posted it under Applejaguar instead of Sriracha, implying that I was at the ball instead of her.

OH, the mortification!

First, I would just like to say I am sincerely sorry for the grief my AE has caused.... even if she's not. 

~Morgneth 

I glower at the cell walls. How did I end up in here? I always. End. Up. In. A. Cell. ALWAYS. 

I sigh and relive mentally my experience... 

I aim at the other chandelier, chuckling with relish at the panic and confusion my cupcake has caused. 

But then, something hits me in the back--something small and cupcake-like. 

I whirl before I can think, my finely tuned reflexes responding before I can. I give the AE a withering glare--one of my best, actually, and she wilts under my stare. 

"Um...hi... nice blaster!" She says weakly, slowly backing away. Internally, I smile. Don't think I don't notice, little AE. 

"Oh, so you want me to aim it at you, instead of the chandelier? All right. " I said, training my blaster on her. She looks terrified. As it should be. 

She turns and tries to run but then Jarnen rushes up and grabs her out of nowhere... 

"Here, I'll hold her, you hit her." 

"Jarnen!" I roar, furious. "What are you doing back up here? I thought I told you to create a diversion!"

"LISBETH! CUPCAKE!" The AE roars. Hearing her mention Lisbeth's name, I think that this must be Anna. 

In little under 30 seconds, Lisbeth comes racing up the stairs with a cupcake in her hand. She tosses it to Anna, underhand, who catches it. 

"Great! Now go, I can handle this!" Anna cries, and I fire at her. She ducks, very quickly, and it hits Jarnen in the face. After his disobeying me, I can't say that I mind... 

Anna tosses the cupcake at me, a look of desperation on her face. It lands on my cheek, and in surprise, I stagger back and drop my blaster. 

Anna grabs it, and tries to shoot it.  

I get an idea, and pop back up with my most wicked grin on my face. "Ha! You don't know how to load it!" 

She looks dismayed for a moment, but then points it at me. A cupcake whizzes out of it and hits me on the knee. 

I dig my hand into my pocket, and pull out my backup blaster, just in case any such thing happened... 

We face off on the balcony. She scores another hit, and I miss in my fury, but then she misses and I score a hit on her arm. 

We're both slowly circling each other, neither noticing the edge of the balcony railing coming ever closer. 

Until suddenly, we both fire and it lands in our faces, and we go hurtling over the side. 

No, I think, as I plummet downward. I grab Anna's hand, barely hearing the shrieks and terrified shouts of the ballroom AEs. I grab my Ring and force magic into it, moving the fabric of the world into a more pleasing pattern, where we have already reached the floor. Anna slumps to the ground, unconscious.  I land with my feet on the ground, multiple AEs glaring at me, their arms folded over their chests.  

I sigh. 

"Oh, all right," I grumble as they surround me and drag me of to the DtE dungeon, stripping me of my blaster. (But not my Ring. They just see an ordinary ring, not the Dragon Ring of Time.) "After all, I deserve it, for saving Anna's life..." 

I thought I heard one AE grumble that if I hadn't put her life in danger in the first place, her life wouldn't have needed saving. But I ignore that... 

And now here I am. 

Stuck in a cell, again. 

Felinda waits outside my cell, and then I hear familiar footsteps. 

"Thank you for guarding her this long," I hear Nianad tell Felinda. "I can take over it from here." 

Felinda snorts, unconvinced. "Aren't you her CBer?" She says. "It doesn't seem very wise to let her be guarded by her CBer..." 

Nianad sighed, and shot a glare at me, warning me to be quiet.  "I assure you," she says, her voice going a little softer in her anger. "I am quite aware of her misdeeds... she is a villain, after all. I won't let her escape. In fact," she said, "I'll even take her home--and that way you won't have to deal with a CBer on AE territory any longer." 

Felines sighs. "Well, all right... I would like to see if I could go dance, now that there are no more AE Saboteurs..." 

"Watch out for Jarnen," I call at her departing back. "And Niccolai! And Cloud!" I hear her footsteps retreating, paying no attention to my words, and I sit back, reluctantly, as my CBer puts her head to the door window, her shoulder-length blonde hair swinging slightly as she moves. Her eyes look grim as she unlocks the cell door, stands back to let me out, which I scramble to do, and relocks it. Instantly, AE Alarms begin to blare, and Nianad grabs my hand and pulls me out of the DtE palace. 

"How did you get here?" I scream at her, in order to be heard over the alarms. 

"I walked!" She cries. "Use your sorcery to send us back to our home!" 

I sigh, but grab for my mini-staff and propel magic through it. It drains me a little, and I stagger into Nianad even as we see the familiar book-covered rooms of home. 

"Morgneth!" Nianad yells from another room, absorbed already. "You left the Inheritance cycle on the floor!" 

"So sue me," I grumble, but sling my pack over a couch and drop into it. 

--Morgneth 

-Nianad  

Zoey

~~~

When I finally get up the stairs, there's no one there. But there is screaming from below. I look down, and two AEs are lying on the floor: Anna and... is that Morgneth? And... cupcake blasters? I spread my wings and fly down to the ground. I grab Morgneth's sharp chin in my hand.

"How could you?" I ask, my voice shaking. "How could you ruin this ball? And... chocolate frosting.... why would you use chocolate frosting?"

She stares at me defiantly. "Why would I not?'' she asks saucily.

I glare at her, willing my hands not to explode into purple flame. "Lock her up," I demand, and someone does. I don't know who, because i can't see through the blind rage in my eyes.

Ball... chocolate frosting... I suddenly look down at my dress. Why would i wear this one? Why? It looks like... that gown. The gown HE gave me. I start crying, tears dripping down my face. I can't stop. I don't want to stop. I've never cried for my past before, and it feels good. Something warm hugs me.

"It'll be okay," Evil Devin says, and for once I don't say anything. Maybe it will. But for now, it feels nice to be embraced.

I look up at him, and he smiles. "It'll be okay," he repeats. If only I could believe him.

But I nod, not wanting him to worry. "Let's enjoy the night," I say, and lead him onto the dance floor.

I'm a pretty good dancer. Long ago memories of dance lessons surface, and I start humming along to the music.

Surprisingly, (or maybe not so much), Evil Devin is also an amazing dancer. We waltz across the dance floor, smiling and laughing. When the music stops, we bend over laughing and breathing hard. That's when I notice the silence. Every AE is staring at us open-mouthed. I suddenly feel really shy, but luckily Evil Devin takes the lead.

"Well, that was fun!" he says. He takes my hand. "We should do that again!" He motions toward the musicians, and they start playing a fast polka.

We start polka-ing, and there's a key change so he grabs Lisbeth and I spin around and grab Jarnen. He looks surprised, but joins me (a bit awkwardly, may I add) in the polka. Soon all the AEs are laughing and spinning and dancing and switching partners left and right. It's so much fun I almost forget where I am and what I'm wearing. I feel like a new person-- not haunted by HIM, or this dress, or my past. I'm free of it all. I don't have to worry about any of it anymore.

Then the music stops, and I find myself face-to-face with a mysterious AE. "Hello," I say, my face flushed from the wild dance. "Who might you be?"

The mysterious AE laughs, low and long. So it's a guy then.

"Don't you know me, Zoey?" he asks.

He knows my name. I start getting uneasy chills up my back. "Who-- who are you?" I ask.

"Who do you think I am?"

I start getting flustered. "I-- I don't know. Just tell me who you are!"

He smiles. "I'll be waiting for you when you figure it out." Then he melts back into thecrowd of AEs.

"That was so fun! We should-- are you okay?" Evil Devin asks, coming up behind me.

I nod. "Yeah, fine. Let's dance!" I whisk him into a waltz as the music begins again. I won't let that mysterious AE ruin my night.

~~~

As told by Zoey 

Lock grabs my arm and almost rips it out of it's socket as he starts running. 

"Where are you taking me?" Kyar's answer confuses me. 

"Why are we going after Key? I don't know anyone here, why is Key a problem?"

Grey: 

"Wait!" I yell after Rosalyn, but it was too late, she had already ran sobbing into the bathroom. I quickly walk over to the door and call in, "Rosalyn? What's wrong? It's just icing. I-" I was suddenly cut off by a large bloop of icing splattering into my face. I spun around looking for the guilty party. There was Nick, grinning innocently a couple of feet off. I glare at him/her, this was going to get personal very soon. Turning back to the bathroom, I try one more time, "Rosalyn? I was wondering if you wanted to have a picturing done at the booth?" 

There were portraits being done right? It said so at the top of the thread... 

Niccolai: 

This ball was turning out to be much more fun than I first thought. Those Æs with the cupcake gun had the right idea. Sigh... Cloud still hasn't shown up. I pelt a cupcake at Grey for the time being, the grand finale would have to wait.  

Doublock: 

Sigh... this is boring with no partner. I sit by the snack bar nibbling on a piece of cake. It seemes like everyone has a date exept for me! Even Nick of all people is waiting for someone.