At the front entrance is a small table with registration for the party.
A goat is taking registrations.
Goat: “Naaaaaaaaaaames?”
Grace: “I'm Grace, and I'm a princess. This is Lucia and she is a frog prince. This is Gabe, and he's a…”
Gabe: “I’m a ninja.”
Grace: “And he’s a ninja.”
The goat has my write our names and costumes on a sheet of paper, which it then eats.
Goat: “Enjoy the paaaaaaaaarty. Approoooooach the stage when you aaaaaare readdddddy.”
Unlike American costume parties, where you can find your friends and compliment them on their costumes, this costume party doesn't really have… costumes. Everyone fully has become the thing they wanted to be. There’s the spider boy and his daemon uncle (the uncle is apparently a real daemon, and isn't dressing up at all), mythical creatures and beasts and royalty and mailmen and everything under the sun. There are hundreds of people at this party, and I find myself recognizing everyone we’ve met in the neighborhood as they approach us. Somehow, we are also the center of attention. Not truly surprising when you have a princess that literally glows, but considering the other people at the party… still. Grace, Lucia, and I thank the people who helped us create our costumes as we make our way to the stage.
As we near the stage, a loud voice echoes in the room.
“Ladies and gentledaemons, we now begin our Halloween costume contest! Will the contestants take the stage.”
We climb on to the stage, only to realize that there are only a handful of people there. Most of the stage is covered in mist. The voice continues.
“On the left, we have the reigning champion, the king of costumes, the ruler of Halloween, and the boss of our celebration tonight - Ichabod Crane!”
The crowd roars in delight, and I look over to that side of the stage. The pale mist begins to clear, revealing a ghostly horse, topped by a rider in a military uniform. Looking upwards, the rider is headless, and holds a carved pumpkin in its arms. The figure theatrically places the pumpkin where its head would be. It's the headless horseman!
“And on the right, we have the challengers! The princess of light, her alter-ego shadow ninja, and her childhood friend the frog prince!”
Alter-ego shadow ninja… wait! There’s an old-school video game where a princess dresses up as a shadow ninja to hide her identity! Did they just mash video games with fairy tales?
The voice continues:
“The contest is simple. The single costume that wins by majority popular vote is the winner. The members of the losing team will be beheaded, as is customary.”
The crowd roars in applause.
This is terrifying. Our lives are now in the hands of the literal monsters in front of us.
Worst case scenario, we die and leave the adventure crystal, right? That’s not that bad. At this point we have to have some kind of points. I never even heard anything about this kind of thing from either Koji or Fred.
“The vote will be taken as sound, and will be rated mechanically. Please come close to the stage so that your screams may be heard.”
“Each contestant will have two chances. We will take the louder of the two scores.”
“The first contestant is… the ninja! Step forward please, and cheer for the best costume!”
I step forward and the crowd cheers and claps. The sound machine doesn't have much response. Suddenly someone yells.
“HEY! GET OFF MY TAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIILLLL!”
The machine spikes upwards to 8 and the crowd goes oddly quiet.
Voice: “Well, that was the ninja! The next contestant is… the frog!”
The cheers are a little louder this time, mostly from a group of screaming witches. But the machine only registers a 6 since there wasn't someone yelling at the edge of the stage.
Voice: “And next the princess!”
The crowd roars, and machine spikes to an 8 again.
Voice: “And finally… our king!”
Thunder rolls, and the entire room begins to shake. The machine registers a 14 at max, and I'm glad it stops before I go deaf.
Voice: “After the first round, the leader is our king, with the princess in second place, the frog in third, and the ninja fourth. Let's see what the second round holds!”
Voice: “During the second round, each character will be placed in typical themed lighting and backgrounds to highlight their costumes. The crowd will also be able to see the costume from many angles. As before, the score will be recorded mechanically. Please gather close to the stage.”
Voice: “The first contestant of the second round is… the frog prince!”
Lucia hops forward, and suddenly she is a handsome prince, who is cursed by a witch to become a frog until he finds true love’s kiss. The scenery changes, and he meets a princess, who loses her golden ball in a well. She eventually kisses him, and he returns to being a prince. In seconds, the entire fairy tale of the frog prince was communicated, with Lucia being the centerpiece. It was breathtaking.
Cheers break out from the crowd - not just from the witches this time. The costume is spectacular, since Lucia is truly a large frog prince. The machine hits 10 and the crowd dies down.
Voice: “The second contestant is… the ninja!”
I step forward, and suddenly I'm… I'm a princess. Really, world? Complete with elfin ears, tiara, pink-white dress, a triangle on the back of my hand, and a golden harp, I'm an iconic video game princess, speaking to the hero of legend. Darkness falls across the stage, and a huge beast attacks. I disappear, and out of the darkness comes a ninja. A small amount of blond hair sneaks out of the hood, and I take the iconic pose I remember from the game.
The crowd goes wild.
Apparently the people here know the game, too. That said, I was not going for cross-dressing princess-turned-ninja.
The machine hits 15. Slightly better than Ichabod… but in his own climate I'm sure he’ll be much higher.
Voice: “The next contestant is… our king! Give it up for Ichabod Crane!”
The stage covers again with mist, and the mist clears to show the horse running through the night, a rider with a pumpkin head on top. He removes the head and carries it in his arms, and the rumbling cheers from before pale in comparison.
The machine registers 18. Come on, Grace. You can do this. Channel the cuteness. Be the princess.
Voice: “That’ll be hard to beat! But just before she gets beheaded, give it up for the princess!”
The stage goes black, and suddenly Grace is standing on stage with someone next to her. I realize with a start that it's me. The me in the film-thing is holding her hand. He picks flowers and puts them into Grace's hair, then pulls off his shirt and gives her strips of fabric. Grace laces the strips into her hair and clothing. Then the film shifts and we’re at the door of the spider-boy’s daemon uncle. The daemon laughs and places a tiara on Grace’s head.
The film goes through each moment Grace’s costume improves, with crystal-coated shoes from gnomes, silk spun from spiders, faerie dust for glow, and the strips of fabric I first gave her, used to wrap the flowers and place them at her hands and neck.
Then the stage goes dark.
A staircase appears, rising higher and higher and higher, until at the very top stands Grace. It's the real Grace - just as all of them were the real Grace - but this one is the final costume. She is standing at the edge of a balcony, waving and smiling, as if she really were a princess, waving to her people. And, in a way, she really is. Those are the people who made her a princess.
The roars, stomps, and sudden explosions from the crowd make me almost go deaf. I see magic spells exploding, daemons roaring, and the building itself shakes.
The cheers continue for much longer than they need to. It feels real - as if we are witnessing the birth of a princess that we made, that we adore with all of our hearts.
When the crowd quiets, and the lights return to normal, the large sound machine has fallen over. A couple daemons nearby lift it upright, and the crowd is able to see the number left behind.
32.
The cheer breaks out again, covering the voice that echoes out.
Voice: “And the winner is the princess! With a never-been-seen score of 32, she is the winner of our Halloween Costume Contest! The losing team will be beheaded, and the winner will claim her prize!”
A black-cloaked figure approaches Ichabod and uses a scythe. The pumpkin flies off his neck, and flies into the crowd. Dozens of daemons scream as they clamor to catch it. Is this some gruesome twist on throwing a bouquet?
The announcer (who happens to be the black cloaked figure) places something in Grace’s hand. She closes her fist tight and runs over and hands it to me.
I open my hand.
It's a piece of candy.
The headless horseman is standing at the back of the stage, an orange light beside him. I turn to Grace.
Gabe: “I think it's time to go home.”
Grace: “Already? But I… I like it here.”
Gabe: “... you know what? We can go whenever we want. We’ll go home when the party is over.”
---
A few hours later, Grace is finally exhausted and is falling asleep against my shoulder. I, on the other hand, have been exhausted for what feels like forever. People keep shoving candy into the buckets that I am carrying, and I am almost certain that each weighs over 90 pounds now. Near the end, we sat on the edge of the stage as people came to give their congratulations and pour handfuls of candy into the buckets sitting on the ledge.
Voice: “I can help to carry her, or a bucket, if you’d like.”
Gabe: “That would be great! The buckets are super heavy though.”
Voice: “It's just a Halloween bucket… how heavy can it…”
He tries to lift the bucket and realizes he is struggling. After thinking for a few seconds, he speaks again.
Voice: “I’ll carry the child so you don't have to balance both her and a heavy bucket.”
So kind. But it's true that there’s no way I could carry her and two buckets. And I'd struggle with the imbalance of just one bucket.
I walk to the back of the stage, where a headless officer stands next to an orange-and-black crystal. He bows to us, and then places another piece of candy in my hand.
I put down the buckets and lean Grace gently up against the crystal. Lucia places a frog leg next to her. I don't know if I need to be holding the bucket to get points for it, but I'm not going to chance it. I sit down on the other side of Grace, the handles of both buckets in my left hand, my right outstretched until it touches the crystal.
[Adventure Crystal: Halloween - Complete!]
[Calculating score]
Mobs defeated: 0%
Treasure found: 6263%
Damage taken: 0
Destruction grade: X
Terror grade: X
Costume score: 32
Time Spent: 15:31:02
Dungeon boss: Defeated
Party size: 3
[Calculating reward]
[Calculating reward]
[Calculating reward]
…
[Error. Override required]