CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
As Mercury and Nox walked back, they were, of course, greeted by a worried fluorine and a hyperventilating Iodine. Or, at least, she was hyperventilating before. currently, though, she wasn't even conscious. "Im back!" Mercury said, siwing aside the curtains to reveal her best friend , who was lying on the floor. Its easy enough to find out what happened if ou remember chapter 3. "Oh, fainting spells again?" Mercury asked, and Flourine nodded. Mercury! she literally worried herself ot death over you, shame on ya! "OOOOPS. thats my fault…" she said, scratchin her brown hair. innocent until proven guilty??? Welp, now all the could do was wait for her to wake up. which was going to take a while. "But, anyway, I got the ID. should we go to a party to celebrate?!" Mercury asked, hefting her brand-new ID high in the air. yes, Mercury! after all that pure drama and brick-throwing you went through to get that singular peice of paper, you can brag as much as you want. "Good job! but what took so long?" Fluorine asked, green eyes wide, (wide with curiosity i mean) and Mercury chuckled, patting her head. good question. Here she was, lying to a child. Have some morals, bruh!
"What do you think? I got lost." Nox flinched behind her, but Mercury pretended not to notice. sus???? "So, party??? wanna borrow some bling-y clothes on Ioidne, Flo? She probably has some good loot somewhere." Mercury said, picking up her friend's suitcase. no privacy if your fainted! after all, Io wasnt there to see. she knew her best friend too well. "If it was me, I would hide a few decent dresses… right here!" Mercury said, unzipping a hidden pocket inside the brown suitcase. Of course, 3 of the most blinged-up dresses she had ever seen tumbled out. Nice save, Iodine!
"Flourine, over here! we can pinch this one back a little to make it perfect for you." Mercury cheered, holding up a light green dress. All hail Iodine!
and, while were on the topic of Iodine, why dont I write it to that she wakes up? speak of the devil, I guess. You jinxed it or something, Mercury. Or, I jinxed it! As mercury was helping Flourine put it on, Iodine stirred awake. Told you she jinxed it. "Mer, you're back!' Iodine said delitghedtly, and Mercury hugged her. she hugged her in a way that her back was turned away form the suitcase she had been going through. Mercury had a feeling she would get smacked if Iodine found out hwat she had been doing. "Did you get it? The ID?" Iodine asked, and Mercury grinned, passing her the fresh scroll. "We were thinking of going to a party to celebrate. I'm officially safe now!" Mercury said, and Iodine high-fved her. "Of course! only the best party, though!" Iodine said, and Flourine cheered. "Right, Fluorine! its your birthday today too, right?" Mercury said, and Flourine gasped. dashing to the calendar on the wall, she exclaimed, 'Right, it is!" . weird that she forgot her own birthday.
Mercury gently took her favorite choker off her neck and handed it to Flourine. "Heres your gift. My favoirte choker." Fluorine stared at the delicate silver moon and lush satin straps for a minute, before saying, "It seems special…" oooh! fast! "Yes, its a family heirloom. The only one I have, too. Its meant to be passed down to only those you absolutely trust." Mercury said, patting Flourine's head and closing the clasps. Since her neck was bigger, it was big enough on fluorine to look like a necklace. "Happy birthday, Fluorine." Mercury said happily.
As Iodine, Nox, and Mercuy waled up to the gate (They had left Flourine there because she had fallen asleep in her dress, the poor thing), Iodine held up 3 golden-lined tickets. She as wearing a galaxy-blue gown, with a beautiful skirt that showed off her slender figure and gold earrings. Mercury, meanwhile, was wearing the peachy pink dress that faded to a deep red towards the bottom, and makeup to make her face look dewy and delicate. her hair was a in a delicate bun, tied with a ribbon and adorned with plum blossoms. honestly, she looked good. Nox was wearing a deep, blood-red suit that brought out his red eyes and a gold earring in one ear. His hair was especially styled today, and Mercury could already see a few fangirls up and ready to swarm him. Nox will not be left alone! now I kinda get why he hated going outside. The guard bowed to open the gate. Mercury hesitated, not sure if she should step in. "Hey, when I said party, I meant, like, a club. Not a ball. where did you even get the tickets…?" Mercury said, and Iodine nodded at a figure in the shadows, wearing a cloak over his head. very sus. "That guy over there. He paid for me. the tickets costed 100 million coins in total, apparently." oh, alright Iodine! so you just randomly accept tickets from a hooded stranger? have you not heard of stranger danger?
the shadow pulled back his cloak to reveal Mags, and, next to him, the crown prince. no stranger danger at all, I take that back! Mags smiled and waved, and Mercury, even more hesitantly, waved back. What was the crown prince doing here…? she did suppose if was a ball, but for a coincidence like this? (Author laughs manically in the background. Yes, coincidences! the best form of torturing characters!)
As Mercury looked around the ballroom, she saw it that it was well-decorated and spacious, and her own dress was beautifully crafted. Indeed, she and Iodine looked like real nobles, which was not something she ever expected to say. not something I expected to write either. as they stepped into the ballroom, she suddenly remembered from he chicken dance incident that she didnt know how to dance. oh, what was she going to do? she was going to have to ditch the idea of dancing - or, she could learn from someone. "Hey, Iodine-" Mercury started, but then, suddenly, there were three people around her. abracadabra, Mercury! Nox, The Crown Prince, and Mags. And they all held out a hand to her - asking for the first dance of the night. And, even better, she had to choose between somone who smiled so brightly he was almost a lightbulb, the last elf on the planet, and the person who would ultimately execute her (??????).
Mercury's brain lagged so hard she almost forgot to blink. "Oh, I know! you guys are just randomly sticking your hands out, right? nothing more?" Mercury asked nervously, in denial, even though she knew the answer. There was no way. There was only one thing she could do now. stall, stall, stall! what were these crazy choices! hell no, she wasn't picking any of them! shoo, bruh! why are ya'll trying to turn this into romance novel! shes not ready!!! she was, instead, picking one of the 3 things needed for survival - food, water, shelter.
As in, she picked food. She casually glided past Nox, the Prince, and Mags, ignoring them before they could say anything, and grabbed a large plate. There was a buffet table against the wall, that she had seen as an emergency resort, so she piled it up with all the food that she could, as fast as she could. Within ten seconds, there was a heap of food. a mountain. on her plate. Then, she grabbed a fork and walked back to the trio, who were now collectively glaring at her. ha… looks like they had seen right through her. there wasnt anything they could do, though! the author would not let them! take that! this is not going ot be a romance novel in any universe! "Oops. Looks like I have to eat this entire plate, which will take me all of the first dance. Looks like I cant dance with any of you!" mercury said, feigning innocence and trying to act like she was sorry, but internally she was cackling like a witch. She had thwarted a potentially awkward situation! a true genius! And, even better, she had just rejected 3 people at once. Impressive! a true world-record setter! now, the world-record setter was tired and retired to lingering near the buffet table.
"Well, Iodine. did you find anyone to dance with?' Mercury asked, as Iodine joined her at the table. Iodine jabbed a thumb behind her, where at least 20 people had lined up to ask for a dance. "Oh, wow. I was only able to bag three." Mercury sniffed, chewing on her vegetable spring rolls. "Three?! WHO?!" Iodine said, yelling a bit too loud. and at that, through a mouthful of food, almost choking. "The crown prince, Mags, and Nox. I said no, though." Mercury said, and Iodine screamed, in unison with the fangirls at the ball. they were just sad that Nox got rejected, they didnt care about the others. "WHYYYY?! THEIR ALL PERFECT!"
"Ha ha. you're just saying that because you havent met them. Also, Im one of those "single for life" people, remember?" Mercury said, and Iodine rolled her eyes. "I cant believe you, Mer." she whispered, and Mercury raised an eyebrow at her. "Your telling me? theres 20 people behind you and you havent batted an eye at any of them!"
"Er…" Iodine siad, speechless. She had lost. "But, at least we're blending in. everyone thinks we're really nobles." Mercury said, changing the topic. she leaned against the fancy table, a glass of champagne in her hand. Her earlier stockpiled plate had disappeared, because it was reather heavy and she wasnt actually going to eat the whole thing. As she swirled the alcohol in her glass, she stared at the slightly bubbly yellow stuff. Hmmm. "Hey, is that what I think it is? You go completely insane when you get drunk. Dont do it, Mercury." Iodine said, gently taking the glass away from Mercury. "No! wait! pleaseee, what will a single sip do-" Mercury protested, and Iodine held it out of her reach. she knew what a single sip meant - the whole glass. thats why she was holding it high above her own head. Oh, how it payed to be tall. Mercury pouted. Argh! nothing would ever go her way!!! (Thanks to the author, who enjoys irony) Suddenly, she spotted a waiter. "Hey! waiter! give me a glass, please!" she said, picking up the edges of her grown to stop it from scraping the floor and walked up to the waiter. 'Wait! no! dont give it to her!" Iodine protested, making a cross with her arms. No one was gonna stop Mercury, though!"Its my life! give me the glass!" Mercury said, and the waiter hesitated. he looked at mercury, then iodine. Mercury, the Iodine. Ha! just take it yourself, gal! you got the author on your side! (well, kinda.) Mercury grabbed the glass and chugged the entire glass at once. chug, chug, chug! it all goes down the hatch! Instantly, a shroud came over her vision, and she started to feel woozy. ha ha. try not to drink the whole glass next time. especially not in one go. "Mercury! not again!" Iodine groaned, and Mercury woozily staggered up to her. oh yes, again. We're sorry, Iodine.
"I dont remember what happened after that." Mercury narrated, and Iodine scratched her head. here they were. "You really dont remember what you did at the party yesterday?" her friend said.
Mercury had woken up at a random inn near the ballroom with a terrible hangover. typical. Maybe, she shouldn't have chugged the whole glass… but, after she took some medicine and drank some water, she could at least walk without tripping on herself.
"I never knew you could juggle, Mer!" Iodine said excitedly. Her friend had been snoozing in the room connected to Mercury's until she woke up. Currently, Mercury was lying on a bed as Iodine pampered her with face masks and nail care. "Juggle? I juggled?" Mercury asked, and Iodine grinned. "You juggled glasses, and ended up breaking 20. The crown prince payed for them." she said, vigorously filing down Mercury's cuticles. "Jeez! just how much did you chip them! this is unbelievable!" Iodine said, and Mercury groaned. Juggling?! her?! glasses?! and she broke 20?! "WHY DIDNT YOU STOP ME, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN THE ENTIRE WORLD WATCHING-" Mercury screamed, covering her face with her fingers. Iodine yanked them back to continue filing and poked Mercury's forehead. "Dont crease your face like that. You'll mess up the face mask."
"SCREW THE FACE MASK! WHAT ELSE DID I DO-" Mercury said, getting up, and Iodine shrugged. "I coudlnt see, you were surrounded by people." noooo! people? she was going to be the recipitor of multiple random and nasty rumors! why, oh why, alcohol?! what in the world did our ML do to you?! huh! answer meeee! "WHO WERE PROBABLY LAUGHING AT MY FACE!" Mercury screeched, coving her head with a blanket. she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. This just couldnt get any worse, right? wrong! very wrong!
"Nah, they were all watching. you seemed quite popular." Iodine said, and Mercury sighed. alright, that wasnt so bad, then. But safe to say, there would be a few weird sentances going around. "here, give me your hand." Iodine fussed, pushing Mercury down again and holding her nail file up like a weapon. "Aye! your going to leave my fingernails in heaven, please! stop!" Mercury yelped, as Iodine frowned at her. "But their so chipped! look!" she said, holding Mercury's fingernails up to eye-level.
Perfect cuticles. glimmering slightly in the light. they were not chipped in any universe. "Oh, their perfect! thanks, Iodine!" Mercury said, delighted. 'hey, wait a minute-" Iodine said, and Mercury snatched the nail file, droke it in half over her knee, and got up to yeet it out the window. "No more of this!" Mercury said, and below them, someone yelled as a broken nail file rained down on them. "Ugh. fine. what now?" Iodine said, and, on cue, Nox burst through the door. The poor dude who got hit with the nail file spewed curses at the heavens.
"Iodine! Rue! Its urgent!" Nox gasped, hands on his knees and drawing a lot of shaky breaths. Did he really have to sprint? arent elves supposed to have good stamina? no? Oh, of course. new problems. Nice, plot armour! You're coming in clutch right now. I almost ran out of things to write about.