Let The Spectacle Astound You

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

Characters: OPEN
Progress: Continuous
Summary: The party you've all been waiting for: the Grand Ball of Alexandria!
Location: Palace Alexandria
Date: June 21st, 1803
Warnings: TBA. Eventually, Violence.

For weeks, the palace had been abuzz with activity; even more so than usual. On top of the usual hustle and bustle of daily life, there were the extensive preparations to be done for the festival, and this, the grand finale. The palace's largest ballroom had been decorated from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Long elaborate draperies of silk and chiffon in white and cream, the stairs lined in a rich, crimson carpeting. Gold and silver everywhere, framing the large windows and the door opening out to the courtyard. A warm summer evening, with the roses in full bloom. Flowers adorned every table, column, and doorway. It wasn't just the ballroom that had been decorated, however; the entire palace was decked in regalia, the staff having obviously anticipated the crowd to be much larger than usual.

All around the palace, inside and out, the guard was on high alert. Every guest was greeted, checked, and in the case of the higher-ranked, announced to the company at large. The sun had not quite set, and already the ballroom was half full; nobles and low-born alike, natives and foreigners, all dressed in their best. The guest of honor had yet to make her appearance, but no one seemed to be fussed by the fact.

But the night was young, and there was bound to plenty of seeing and being seen before the night was over.

[[ooc: Here we go, everyone! Party style still applies. Tag in, tag each other, mingle, HAVE FUN!... while you can. Thread jumping and ninja tagging is encouraged. ^.^]]

Update: A fist fight broke out on page two. Feel free to ninja in to spectate, generally comment or gasp, or just read it and have a laugh. Appropriate authority figures... Squall, Steiner, etc may need to step in.

Comments

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

Living in a place like Lowtown gave you good ears for the things going on around you, and those of a fight were unmistakable. Especially when one of the voices involved a close friend of yours.

Penelo stomped over, hands on her hips and glared hard at Balthier. The other she recognized from earlier, but for all she knew he was given to brawling.

Her commentary was quite condemning. "I'd expect this out of Vaan, not you."

[captain-rusty.livejournal.com]

Noticing the commotion, Steiner hurried over - and moved twice as fast when he saw that his Queen was trying to get involved.

"Stay out of the way, Your Majesty!" He held out his arm to stop her in her tracks. "I shall deal with this!"

His bulky armour allowed him to shove through the crowd easily, and Steiner gave a stern look to both young men.

"The Queen's ball is no place for a brawl! Cease at once or I shall escort both of you out at swordpoint!"

[knightedmayrose.livejournal.com]

The minute Beatrix heard the commotion, she jettisoned across the ballroom herself, doubling her steps when she caught a flash of Garnet's gown headed that direction.

She echoed Steiner's advice, "Your Majesty, please stand back."

Poised in a soldier's stance, she glared at the rabble-rousers, hand on her sword hilt. Steiner's approach was louder than hers, but she conveyed the same meaning. She would have no problem beating them with the flat of her blade before throwing them out or in irons.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

Irvine fell to floor after Balthier's counter to his leg. Great. He slowly got up and replied, "Why don't you just shut u-" but then a sudden interruption of both Quistis and Squall made Irvine stop. Then the Queen came. Then Fran. Then the guards with swords. His mind started to clear up and even ignored the mutt quote that Balthier stated.

He kept his head lowered, and he was in some slight pain, mainly from losing a battle with Balthier. With everyone watching, Irvine said no words as he walked over to the side heading towards the exit of the palace. For some reason he felt like he was not wanted there at all.

[xbalthierx.livejournal.com]

Just while he was finishing with Quistis and Squall, suddenly there was a Queen and Fran there. Fran's words stung quite a bit more than any punch Irvine could've landed and then Penelo added salt to the wound, which couldn't have helped in the slightest. Glaring right back at Penelo, he rolled his eyes. "The next time someone tries to break your face, I do hope you defend yourself. I'll have you know, little girl, that I do not start fights, but I certainly end them."

At that, he didn't even bother to go after Fran. He just followed Irvine out of the exit, ignoring whatever way the cowboy went and simply made for his unnamed airship.

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

Squall resisted the urge to facepalm at the spectacle this has turned out to be. A fistfight in a public place was bad enough, but to have drawn the attention of the Queen herself and her advisers was even worse. Catching Quistis' eye, he jerked his head in the direction Irvine disappeared to, ask if asking her to follow after him.

Then he turned back to the Queen and gave a short bow in her direction. "My apologies for the disturbance, your Majesty. It will not happen again."

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

"Apology accepted, although I'd much rather have heard it from the parties involved," replied Garnet, her gaze following the retreating brawlers. She recognized one of them as the one who'd introduced himself as Irvine Kinneas. He'd been so self-conscious, she never would have suspected him to be the type to get into a fist-fight.

"I don't suppose you know what started it?"

[herownhero.livejournal.com]

Noticing the subtle signal Squall was directing towards her, Quistis turned to face the queen, bowing her head deeply as her knees bent into a curtsy.

"I'm not sure what overcame them to cause such a scene, but I will go off to find Irvine and I'll be sure you receive a proper apology from him."

With another small, apologetic nod, Quistis turned and headed towards the direction Irvine stormed off to, determined to find the cowboy.