Snow was wonderful, and snow in the Netzian capital reminded Gwyn of home – even if it was only a little. The city’s architecture was like what he might see in a historical district back on earth with sharp points, ornate statues, and pillars in line with an older London if he had to guess. He wouldn’t have minded stopping to examine it more thoroughly to be sure, but it was cold, and he wasn’t walking alone.
The blue princess beside him shivered and rubbed her palms together. She evidently hated the cold and reminded him of every couple of steps they had taken. “Stop looking at the buildings; we need to get inside before I turn even more blue!”
“Is that pos…. Nevermind. I don’t think Hal is pacing the floor waiting for us; we don’t have to rush.”
“It doesn’t matter if he’s waiting for us; I just want to get somewhere warm!”
She tugged his arm, urging Gwyn to move faster. He rolled his eyes and complied, speeding up to a quick stride to move through the snowy city more quickly.
They finally arrived at a large mansion at the end of a canal that ran through the city. A large statue labeled ‘Virginia Dare’ held a sword in the air, pointing down the canal and toward the rest of Resh’s landmass. Gwyn paused a moment to study the figure. She looked young, and the name interested him, but Fiona pulled him to the front door – a rather large double door that could easily allow a Bentalousian through without needing to duck. Shivering blue fingers wrapped around the door’s knocker and rapidly banged. “Let us in! Let us in!” Fiona shouted.
Gwyn shook his head, saying nothing in reply.
The door opened rather quickly, revealing the green hair of one of Hal’s sisters. It was one of the younger twins, and Gwyn hadn’t yet figured out which was which.
“He… hello?” the green-haired girl shyly said. She looked at Gwyn first, then at Fiona, who still held her hand in the air where the knocker had been. Hal’s sister muttered almost inaudibly, “…ome… nsid….”
Fiona picked up the message first and happily brushed past the girl into the warmth. She sighed in relief and spread her arms as if soaking in the heat.
“I think you’re being overdramatic,” Gwyn said as he followed. The younger green-haired girl shut the door – sealing the cold outside. He had to admit the inside of the mansion was much warmer than outside.
Fiona threw her heavy coat to the side, landing so it hung perfectly on a hook that jutted out. Her purple eyes grew wide, and she looked at Gwyn while pointing at the hook. He said nothing and hung up his own coat beside it.
“Alright!” the blue princess shouted, “where’s this party at?”
She didn’t have to wait long for the answer as Odell popped his head out from around the corner.
He spoke in a hushed whisper, “Fiona! You are finally here! And you made Gwyn late, too!”
“Why are you whispering, Odell?” The bleu princess responded.
As if on queue, Ceceilia’s head phased through a nearby wall. “Odell? Have you seen him?”
Gwyn noticed the grey prince had conveniently disappeared upon hearing his name. He pointed to the corner they saw him pop his head out from.
“Probably somewhere that way at this rate.”
“I see, thanks!” The grey girl disappeared back into the wall, and they quickly heard a yelp from Odell from down the hall.
“Uh, anyway,” Hal’s little sister said, “most people are gathered around this way….” They followed her as she led them into the main hall. Odell had expressed that they were the last ones to arrive, but Gwyn thought maybe he was exaggerating. How filled with people the hall was suggested the prince had not been wrong.
Crowds of different people from all nations were gathered in a large hall that Gwyn was sure was as big as some fields they used for sports. Along the far wall sat a well-decorated Christmas tree with a star sitting at least four times Gwyn’s height in the air. An ornate set of staircases lined the wall to his right, spiraling up in a fashion that could only be seen as gaudy, and the wall to his left was overtaken by a massive window with stained glass depictions of what he could only figure were important figures to the Netzians. He tried to move to get a better look, but the crowd would not allow it.
Only after deciding to give up did he notice that Fiona had gone in another direction. She would probably be fine, Gwyn hoped. He scanned the faces for someone recognizable. Rheba was the easiest to spot, towering over most of the other guests. Gwyn shimmied through the guests until he stood by the giantess. Her long face was turned downward in a frown - at least, that is how he interpreted the expression.
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“Quite a party,” Rheba said as soon as Gwyn was in earshot relative to the loud crowd noise. “Dare Feya knows how to have fun; at least, that’s what Zenith said before I left.”
The tall warrior’s tone suggested she wasn’t enjoying the party. Gwyn figured the military-style life probably didn’t allow for such things normally, but this was likely a diplomatic trip too. Either way, Rheba looked far too outside of her comfort zone.
“Do you think Harlan’s doing alright in all of this? I mean, even if she decided to show up.” Gwyn asked.
Rheba’s face turned to a snarl before she cleared it up with a cough.
“She’s with her companion in a corner, I’m sure.” The tall warrior crossed her arms and turned to look in a different section of the room. Gwyn wondered if she could see the person they were discussing, but last, he thought they had gotten along well talking about Beauideals—so he wasn’t sure what her demeanor was supposed to mean.
A green Aqueenian girl pushed her way through the shoulders of two that stood by Gwyn and Rheba. Her face was mostly covered by an ornate silver mask, leaving only a small spot for her green lips to be upturned into a smile. Taking care to pull a long side ponytail away from the arm of one she passed by, the girl jumped in the conversation as if it was standing there the whole time.
“I saw your Zenotote friend and her halfway over on that wall!” she pointed behind Gwyn to the wall the tree guarded.
“Who?” Rheba asked with squinted eyes.
“Uh, she goes by Masquerade,” Gwyn said. He hadn’t seen the girl for a while, but she had a habit of popping up from time to time.
“Nice to meet you, I suppose, but is the mask necessary?”
The girl’s green lips turned down to a frown, “But really, there’s no one else in masks here! I thought this was supposed to be a party!”
“You could just take it off,” Gwyn suggested.
Masquerade held her fingers to her lips like she was trying to shush Gwyn.
“A girl’s got to have some secrets, you know!” she replied chipperly with a tilt of her head. She may have winked, but the mask obscured her eyes enough to make it unclear.
“You seem like quite the character,” Rheba said as she looked at the ceiling.
Masquerade chuckled but didn’t get a chance to reply. At the top of the steps, a woman with fire-red hair shouted out to the rest of the party.
“Hello everyone, and thank you for coming today!” It took a minute for the myriad of conversations to stop, but eventually, each section of the room quieted. They all turned to the woman—Feya, the acting Dare. She smiled a grin that was surely full of sharp teeth, if the Nonpareil recalled well enough, and spoke again. “Now, I must thank all the wonderful helpers who assisted with putting this part together. From my own children, to all the workers here in Roanoke who filled in with their free time, to the Nonpareil for suggesting this party!”
Rheba turned to Gwyn with a surprised expression, and he waved his hands dismissively in response. The Nonpareil had originally brought up the holiday to try and date the Netzian arrival—now he knew not to underestimate how excited the Dare could get.
The woman at the top of the stairs continued, “So we will begin what is called a gift exchange!” At her words, the doors at the top of the steps opened, and Netzians dressed in red and white outfits moved hovering carts stacked with presents behind her. Seconds later, it was like a colorful was built behind her. “So, we will do this as a tournament-style battle, with the winner getting the best present!” Hal emerged from the crowd and ascended the staircase as Feya spoke. His hand reached out and disappeared into his ability, but it looked like it had been removed. “And I must warn you, I’m the toughest fighter here! I can even punch you around the world if–”
Hal smacked her in the head with an overlarge paper fan. Gwyn’s eyes squinted; he wondered where the Netzian had learned that. The green-haired boy pushed his paper weapon back into his ability space and turned to face the crowd.
“Excuse her, she’s had too much to drink.”
“No, I haven’t!”
“There will be no fighting or anything. Please come up and receive a gift in an orderly fashion.”
Masquerade snickered, and Rheba sat her palm over her eyes while shaking her head.
In a flash of blue light, Fiona appeared in front of a forming line. Gwyn imagined she was grinning ear to ear at Hal, who didn’t react to her sudden appearance. The boy waved for something to be brought over, and what must have been tiny—Gwyn couldn’t tell he was handing her anything—was placed in Fiona’s hand. She turned around with a clear frown and descended the stairs slowly.
The line went fairly quickly, with everyone receiving a gift in short order. Gwyn was left with something he thought was a book when wrapped. It was about the right size and weight, but he found a box to some alien-looking contraption upon opening it. He rolled his eyes and set it to the side.
The crowd’s movement into a line, then back into a crowd, shuffled everyone up. He soon found he was standing by Fiona, frowning with her arms crossed.
“What did you get?” Gwyn asked after a moment of silence.
“Can you believe this?” Fiona held out a small pebble held firm between two of her blue fingertips. “I should just throw it away!”
“I wouldn’t do that!” Feya, seemingly from nowhere, joined the conversation. Standing next to Gwyn and Fiona, she was a head shorter than the blue princess. “That there is one of the best gifts! An Earthstone!”
“Earthstone?” Gwyn asked.
Feya nodded. “Yes, as the name suggests, it is a piece of rock brought by our ancestors when they first came here. Probably was stuck in some guy’s shoe or something! Oh, don’t worry, we washed it.”
Fiona sighed and held out the pebble to Gwyn.
“Here, you probably would get more use from it.”
“What use would I get from it?”
Feya looked surprised, “You mean it won’t give you special powers?”
Gwyn couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not.
“No, it won’t.”
“Fascinating! The home world seems stranger and stranger.”
Gwyn sighed and took the pebble from the blue princess. He deposited it into a pocket. Strange as it seemed, it was still a piece of home—the closest he had come to it since arriving on the strange world—he would probably take good care of the little pebble. Though he didn’t want to admit that even to himself.
In no time, the conversation switched to another topic, and then the shuffling crowd put everyone in new groups. The party carried well into the night until everyone departed for home. Gwyn left tired and ready for bed, but he was happy to have gone.