Scarlet

“I still say you should’ve worn a dress,” Belle complains for the umpteenth time as we both stand at the edge of the little party that was originally meant to celebrate the end of the first day of the Primaries but has since been shifted to celebrate the start of the Primaries instead thanks to the Demonic Assault earlier today.

“Yeah, no,” I bluntly answer while wearing my regular magi-tech armor and swirling around the glass of punch in my hand. “That’s not happening. Ever.”

“But Scarleeeet!!!” Belle whines reaching out to grab my hand only to miss when I back up slightly before she almost trips on her high heels. The girl is wearing a rather beautiful blue dress that goes about down to her knees and is rather similar to the one she tried to get me to wear. Meanwhile Emily on the other side of the table from us – who is currently chowing down on the food at the table and not paying an ounce of attention to us in the process – is wearing a nice outfit as well, but this one not being a dress. Hers is more of a cross between a dress and a suit.

If I ever had to dress up, then that’s probably more along the lines of what I’d wear. Something with pants at least.

“Come on Arabellia, there’s no reason to try forcing her into something she obviously doesn’t want to wear,” the voice of reason – Carol, Michael and Emily’s older sister – says as the girl walks over wearing a purple dress that goes all the way down to her calves, her heels clicking on the floor as she walks. And behind her is Michael, who is currently wearing a black tuxedo and slightly flushed with a drink in his hand.

They seriously serve magical alcohol here? Right on the night before the Primaries? I wonder who thought that was a good idea…

Then again, people can always have a healer clear them of the alcohol poisoning…

No judgement towards Michael though. He’s done with his tournaments since I’m the only one in our team competing in the Primaries.

Actually, the only reason everyone else is here is because I was allowed to invite my whole team to the party along with me. And while I was originally gonna skip out, Belle kind of voided that option with her begging.

The girl really loves parties and getting dressed up. Two of my banes.

And Tar vanished at some point as well, not saying a word in the process.

“Come on, Carol! Don’t you think Scarlet would look amazing in a dress?!” Belle asks, turning her attention to the girl in the process. And Carol glances at me while looking me over for a second before answering, “She would look absolutely stunning in a dress.” But then she turns to Belle and adds, “That doesn’t change the fact that it’s her choice.”

Belle pouts like a child until she realizes that isn’t gonna work. Then she goes to join Emily in stuffing her face.

I give an exhausted smile while shaking my head and focusing on Carol as I say, “Thank you for the help.”

She just shrugs and walks over to grab some wine from a passing waiter, answering back, “No worries.”

I glance at Michael to find him downing his glass and grabbing another from that very same waiter with a grin on his face.

Who knew he liked alcohol so much.

Probably not as much as his sister likes food though.

I look around the room for a moment to find various other people that I recognize from the news, most of which are the participants for the various Primary tournaments. Meanwhile the ones who aren’t participants are either Class V Guardians who didn’t need an invite or teammates of the participants who aren’t part of the Primary tournaments.

My thoughts are interrupted when I see a group across the large hall that looks to be beckoning me to come over. So I point at myself, and Lost just nods her head. So I excuse myself from those at my table, grab another glass of punch, and make my way over to them.

Once I reach them, Lost immediately gives me a light curtsy, surprising me a little as she lifts the ends of her skirt and says, “Welcome, Scarlet Wolf.” She looks up again with a light smile. “It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to battle during the Tower Siege tournament, but maybe we can during the Primary?”

I nod back, a light smile on my face matching her own as I say, “Agreed.” Then I turn to the man next to her who simply nods his head at me.

Molten Angel. And still not a big talker. Also one of the fewer people in this room along with me that’s wearing their magi-tech armor and not formal clothing.

“This big lug is Ethan Davis,” Crim suddenly says, a wide grin on his face as he puts his arm around Molten Angel’s shoulders. Which surprisingly doesn’t seem to bother the man. Crim then points to himself, the man wearing a red and black suit, and says, “And I’m Samuel Lewis. But just call me Sam, kay?”

I nod at him before looking at the last of the group of four.

Shifter stares at me for a few seconds and sniffs again only to give me a nod and say, “Name’s Lucas Walsh. Nice to meet you.”

At least he isn’t saying anything about my smell again. Even if he obviously just sniffed again.

“I’m Abigail Kim,” Lost suddenly says, seemingly remembering that she didn’t introduce herself.

“Nice to meet you all,” I say before glancing at Ethan and Lucas, “or meeting you again in some of your cases. My name is Scarlet Asger. Please just call me Scarlet.”

“In that case, call me Abigail, or just Abi,” Lost says with a smile, her glowing white eyes making the smile look a tad odd. Ethan then says, “Call me Ethan.” And Lucas gives a nod, “Lucas.”

This seems like a nice group.

“Call me Sam!” Sam says. Again.

“You already said that,” Ethan says, his voice sounding slightly gruff as he frowns at the man who still has his arm around his shoulder. But Sam just shrugs, saying, “So?”

Guess Sam isn’t as insane as I had first thought. He’s still weird though.

Same with Lucas with his sniffing.