Party

The venue was the ballroom. Several people were already forming their own cliques and talking. The servants were busy walking around and replacing food on the long tables or standing at the doors within the ballroom. The dance floor was not being used to dance; however, numerous people still crossed over the polished wood. Several chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each of them identical with several well-trimmed crystals hanging from them. The lighting was bright, making it contrast greatly from the rest of the manor, which only had moderate lighting.

The ballroom had five doors, one for each wall and one for the kitchen. The door that stood out the most was the door atop the staircase directly across from where Aion and Sam had come from. If Aion had to guess, that door was for the members of the Magnatium family.

“Oh, Aion, you’re here too?” A voice called out to Aion, and he turned to see Esme.

“Esme, you’re here too?”

“Hey, that’s basically what I said!”

“I guess,” Aion said rather indifferently.

He glanced over at Sam to see that he had been pulled into a conversation with someone else.

“So how was Luna’s confession?” Esme asked.

“Ah…well…”

“It went quite poorly, didn’t it?”

“You’re aware?”

The Esme in Aion’s mind was someone who wouldn’t have picked up on something like that. He supposed he hadn’t had much time to profile her, so he didn’t think it to be that big of a deal. He would eventually gain enough information to understand her character in its entirety.

“Alphonse, he’s a pretty big idiot.”

“Uh…”

Esme laughed and said, “Are you surprised?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Aion, I know it doesn’t look like it, but Alphonse really does have a heart of gold. I’m sure he was extremely cruel toward Luna, but please understand, he really is a good guy…”

“If I can be frank, I find that hard to believe.”

Esme smiled, but it was a smile he’d never seen on her face before. It was a sad and bitter one, a smile unbefitting of someone like her.

“Yeah, I can understand that.”

“Both you and Sam have insisted he’s a good guy. But it’s strange when I see him for myself.”

“I bet. Well, I hope you see it by the end of the night.”

“I guess I’ll see…”

“So, how is Luna holding up?”

“Not well.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. I kind of figured it would end up this way.”

“You still let it happen, though?”

“I did. And I’m not ashamed to admit that. Even if you are sure you know what’s coming, there’s always a chance you are wrong. That chance—it’s something I’m always willing to try and grasp onto. I suppose I tried and failed this time. But I still wanted to try before tonight.”

“Before tonight, huh?”

“Yeah, I tried everything I wanted before tonight.”

“Is that so?” Aion asked while his eyes narrowed.

“I did. And now, tonight I—”

Her words were drowned out by the doors atop the steps loudly opening. But Aion saw her expression and tensed up. Her eyes lacked their usual bright luster, like they had accepted defeat.

“Attention!” An older butler spoke loudly, “I present to you, the Magnatiums!”

He bowed out of the way to the left of the doorway. There was a maid on the other side doing the same. Soon, three individuals walked forward.

The first was a middle-aged man. He wore a tuxedo, had well-kept hair, and a tie dyed blue. The second was a woman about his age who wore a blue dress, had long wavy hair, and high heels. And the third was Alphonse, who, similarly to the other, was dressed for the occasion.

“I would like to welcome you all on this Winter Solstice night,” the middle-aged man began. “On this blessed night, I pray that we all continue our path into salvation!”

The people attending all clapped at such a short statement. The whole thing is more for showmanship than anything else. But Aion figured that it didn’t hurt. Soon, the party was officially underway.

“Ugh! What are you doing here!?” A bratty voice caught Aion’s attention.

Aion looked over and saw Sam and Juno staring at one another.

“What am I doing here? Are you seriously asking that or…?” Sam asked.

“I find your presence to be a nuisance, so you should leave while you still can!”

“That’s rather rude, and I would hate to do that to my guest.”

Juno’s eyes widened, and she asked, “You brought someone!? Who!?”

Juno frantically looked around, and Aion stepped forward.

“That would be me,” Aion said.

“You!”

“Me.”

“Yeah, you! What’s your name again?”

“Aion Belial.”

“Aion Belial, I would recommend leaving. This idiot over here doesn’t seem to get it.”

“And why would I do that?”

“That’s…”

“Are you bothered by his presence?”

“Of course! He should not be here, no matter what!”

“Is that so?” Aion mused indifferently.

“Is there a problem?” A charming voice rang out.

Alphonse had arrived at the scene with a smile that could make girls swoon.

“Ah, that’s…”

“Juno over there wants Sam and me to leave,” Aion said.

“Oh? I didn’t notice you there. How are you doing? I mean, you had to chase after Luna and all.”

Aion glared at Alphonse and said, “I’m great. Now do something about the bratty princess over there."

“Bratty princess!?” Juno was astonished. “Look here, I am no bratty princess! I am warning you that you two should leave!”

“Or what? You’re going to complain more?” Aion asked.

“No, it’s for your own good!”

“Uh huh, sure.” Aion didn’t believe it for a second.

“Why won’t you—”

“Juno, that’s enough. You’re being rude to the guests,” Alphonse intervened and directed a displeased gaze her way.

“But—”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses. Sam is a guest of the Magnatiums, and Aion is Sam’s personal guest. I will not tolerate your behavior.”

Juno clenched her teeth and said, “You won’t even listen to me as your fiancé?”

Aion’s mouth dropped open a little at the revelation.

“No, I won’t.” Alphonse didn’t back down.

“Sam, you have to listen to me,” Juno said as she turned to plead to Sam.

“I refuse to listen to anything you have to say, Juno,” Sam said rather coldly.

Juno looked shocked and even a little hurt.

“How could you?” Juno asked without any weight behind her words.

Sam didn’t say anything.

“Fine, see if I care!” Juno said with an expression Aion couldn’t decipher.

Then, she stomped off.

“What an unpleasant woman,” Aion said.

“I would agree,” Alphonse agreed.

“What a pleasant woman,” Aion replied.

Alphonse glanced at Aion, amused.

“So, Aion, you were invited by Sam; how wonderful.” Alphonse gave a fake smile that made Aion’s stomach churn.

“Alphonse, it’s a pleasure to meet you again,” Aion said politely.

“Hey Alphonse,” Esme, who suddenly appeared, spoke quietly.

“Hm?” Alphonse looked over at her.

“Could you not be so harsh on Juno? She’s really nice, you know.”

Aion almost laughed but managed to keep it strained. Did she say that about everyone she knew? Aion was beginning to think that trusting her judgement on anything was pointless.

“Yeah, yeah, I apologize. I just don’t want any commotion tonight, you know?” Alphonse folded much more easily than Aion had expected.

Of course, Aion was aware of why. In Crystal Machinations, Alphonse was madly in love with Esme. Looking back on it, his threat to not associate with Esme anymore probably stemmed from jealousy. It was childish but endearing in a way. At least, Aion would’ve found it endearing coming from almost any other character except Alphonse.

“Great, I’m glad!” Esme smiled beautifully, which caused Alphonse to avert his gaze, blushing.

“Yo, Sam, how long are you going to just stand there in a daze?” Alphonse asked.

“Ah!” Sam let out a noise of surprise when he was called out to. “Sorry about that. I was just thinking about things.”

“It’s fine. Just go enjoy the party and wait for the announcement later tonight.”

“Yeah, of course…” Sam hesitantly agreed, something still weighing him down.

Sam walked away slowly, leaving Aion, Alphonse, and Esme.

“Luna took it pretty rough last night,” Alphonse suddenly decided to mention the events of last night.

“Of course she did,” Aion said.

“Not much could’ve been done.”

“...” Aion didn’t want to lash out. He was sure Sam would be upset if he did.

Alphonse looked at Aion for a few more seconds before asking Esme to come with him.

Aion looked around at the party, taking in the guests and servants. The two middle-aged people with Alphonse, presumably his parents, were off on their own, separate from each other. Each of them had a servant with them, Alphonse’s father having the older butler from earlier, and Alphonse’s mother having the maid from the door.

Aion found it strange that they were off on their own with a servant instead of together or with other adults. However, it wasn’t like he could walk up to them and ask.

The next person Aion took note of was Juno, who was speaking with three older women. Juno was smiling like a happy, normal girl, which made Aion’s skin crawl.

After that, Aion noticed that four older men were congregated opposite the collection of women. It was like something he would see in school, where the two genders segregated from one another naturally.

Then, Aion saw Sam with a slightly older man that looked quite similar to him. So Aion could only presume that was Sam’s older brother.

Next, he saw some religious person sitting off on his own reading from some sort of book that he presumed to be the Book of Lunalis.

Going through all the guests, Aion found that it was surprisingly low. All that was left were some butlers and maids making sure everything was going well. He supposed that because Magna wasn’t all that large of a place, the nobility wasn’t very large in number.

But soon something caught his eye, or rather someone caught his eye. Aira was off on her own, standing next to one of the doors. Aion, resolving to go up to her, started walking over.

Aira soon noticed him and asked, “Aion, you were invited?”

“Yes, Sam was kind enough to extend an invitation.”

“Mr. Samuel did? I don’t think he’s ever done that before.”

“I guess something about me appealed to him.”

“Perhaps. I am glad you’re here, though. These parties are always exhausting.”

“I can imagine.”

“So, how is the party so far?”

“Well…” Aion didn’t want to say his true feelings, but he also didn’t want to lie.

“It’s fine. For an outsider something like this can be overwhelming.”

“Right…”

“Also, I wish to apologize for disappearing without warning. Help was needed here at the manor,” Aira said and took a bow.

“It’s fine. You’re an employee of the Magnatium Manor, not an employee under me.”

“Yes, I suppose that is true.”

“Still, when I was by myself, I was a mess. I slept in, and I couldn’t even make anything.” Aion laughed at his helplessness.

“That’s…” Aira didn’t seem to know how she should respond to that.

“So, I wanted to thank you for all the care you’ve given me,” Aion said with a smile.

“There’s really no need. Plus, you will still have a couple days before you can leave, I imagine.”

“Alexander wasn’t really too specific with the time frame.”

“Well, I should be able to return tonight after the party is over.”

“Is that so? How long does this thing last?”

“It usually ends at midnight.”

“Midnight?” Aion looked like he was about to cry.

Aira glanced at one of the clocks and said, “We have just about five hours to go.”

“Five hours?” Aion asked.

The time was lower than he’d expected, but he didn’t complain.

“Well, I hope you can last.”

Aion sighed and said, “Well, I don’t have much of a choice. If I’d known it was so long, I wouldn’t have accepted Sam’s invitation…”

“I imagine Mr. Samuel would’ve been quite sad at that.”

“Probably…”

“Oh, what’s this? Aira, are you talking with someone?” A cheery voice caught both their attention.

The voice was from Aria, who was walking over with another maid and a few butlers.

“Sister, is there something you need?” Aira asked.

“Well…there’s actually some sort of problem…” Aria looked hesitant to say something as she glanced a couple times at Aion.

“Alright, sorry Aion, but I need to go,” Aira said as she took a bow.

Aion nodded and said, “Good luck.”

As Aria, Aira, and the other servants were walking away toward the door that Aion had entered through, he glanced at the clock Aira had. It read 6:59.

And then, the power went out.