Preparations started two weeks from Iris’ birthday. It seemed like the entirety of Illuminana helped out, with a heavy assist from their worshipers. Many of the Priests and Priestesses where there, arranging the flowers, putting up the decorations, and decorating the cakes. The entirety of Castle Dayspring was covered with rainbows, Iris’ symbol. Iris was supervising the whole thing, checking off items on her list. The list itself was as long as a summer day, and Dia made a promise to herself to make her birthday party a lot more informal.
Dia asked Iris if she could invite a “new friend” of hers. “Yeah, of course, Dia. It’s nice seeing you make new friends.” “Mom, I’m 1,045 years old. You’re talking like I’m still six.” “It only gets harder to make new friends with age, Dia. The invitations won’t be done until Wednesday, so you just focus on the lighting.” Dia’s responsibility required her to make sure the electrical system didn’t go out during the ball. The system was powered by fire, Dia’s forte. So long as there was enough kindling, there was nothing to worry about.
The invitation reached Noctave, but there wasn’t one for Urainia. As she explained to Noctave,“Iris could never forgive me for loving Umbrum. I couldn’t afford to go anyway, Starlight University needs me at that time for the graduation ceremony.” Noctave was disappointed.“Oh, I see.” Urainia comforted Noctave. “Don’t worry about me, I don’t need to go to a party. Go and have fun!”
Noctave didn’t want to go all out with her outfit. She didn’t like wearing giant ballgown dresses, but she knew she was required to wear something more formal. She took out a knee-length dress that was pastel gray and black with a cupcake shaped skirt. There were 3 arctic blue bows on the bodice, 1 on the collar, small ones on the butterfly sleeves, and around the skirt. There was lace and ruffles all around, was well as the underskirt showing the moon phases. It required her to wear a petticoat, but that was never a deal-breaker for her. It wasn’t high fashion, but it was cute, and that was enough for Noctave. She knew she couldn’t wear her fur gloves or boots, due to the heat of Illuminana, but she did have some lace gloves made of some more breathable fabric. For shoes, she had lacy ankle high-boots that showed the crest of Noctaria on the sides. She looked at herself in the mirror, light indigo hair down. She looked cute, but more of a Lady of the Court than a proper princess. Then she remembered the treasures in her jewelry box.
Inside was exactly what she was looking for: it was an elaborate circlet showing the full moon, made of silver and studded with black pearls. It was part of a matching set that included 2 bracelets, a necklace, earrings, and even an armlet, like the ones Dia likes to wear. They were given to her as an offering by her favorite priest, long since dead. She tried it all on, but felt that the necklace, combined with both the bracelets and armlet was too busy. Noctave never really liked long, ultra-detailed necklaces over simple chokers. So she took off the bracelets and swapped the necklace with a black ribbon choker that had a crescent moon charm in the center. She tried to do an up-do, but she felt she looked more like herself with her hair down. She knew that Illuminana was hot, but it would be colder on the trip. Noctave wore a white wolf-skin shift over the dress, a massive status symbol in Noctaria. Her makeup was rather smoky yet glittery.
Noxis strolled in her room. He approved of the look, saying “I’m proud of you for wearing traditionally Noctarian clothing. I honestly expected you to dress like you were an Illuminanan.”
“What is the deal with you and backhanded complements?” It was defensive, but still inquiring on Noctave’s part. Noxis smiled and disappeared. Noctave decided that was a good sign.
Dia picked her up before sunset, driving a massive carriage, marble white with golden ornaments. Noctave was glad to see Skypainter again, and hugged her neck and gave her a carrot as a snack. Dia was dressed fairly casually, with a white top with orange stripes that tied in the front and ripped gold jeans. “Are you really going to the ball in that?” Dia looked at her clothing to understand what Noctave was talking about. “Um…Well, the ballgown I picked out wasn’t good for travel. Or doing anything more than speedwalking. Just so you know, I’ll be in my chambers at first, getting ready, and I’ll meet you later. The early hours of the party won’t have very many people, because everyone wants to show up fashionably late, and I guess that includes me.” Noctave couldn’t really hide her disappointment, but she understood it. Being punctual isn’t very trendy in Illuminana, she thought.
Noctave sat inside the carriage, with Dia driving it. When they arrived in Illuminana, it was right at sunset. Dia helped Noctave out of the carriage and they walked into Dayspring Castle side by side. Noctave handed her wolf-skin to a servant once she walked in.
“I’ll see you later, Noctave.” said Noctave. “You’ll be able to admire the castle’s beauty more with less people.” Noctave wasn’t a fan of Dia abandoning her, but she was right. The palace was beautiful, with lots of natural light and arches everywhere. Eventide had murals, too, but they weren’t as cheery as these ones. It was mostly landscapes of the surrounding nature, from the forests to the reefs. The artists were clearly skilled, it looked like you reach out and touch the shells of the sea turtles. Noctave wasn’t sure if it was polite to wander, but she did so anyway.
She came upon Cumulus, in full ceremonial dress, a sky blue silk suit with patterns of clouds all over it. A crown that was painted with every type of precipitation was on his head. He didn’t recognize her at first, but when he saw her light indigo hair, he knew exactly who he was talking to. “You’re Urainia’s daughter! You’re friends with Dia, right?” I’m not Dia’s " friend", though I’m not sure how to tell you that. “Yeah, me and Dia are good friends.” “ I never thought as the sun and moon being friends, but I guess I’m just narrow-minded. There’ll be more guests coming soon, so make yourself comfortable.” Noctave agreed, and turned away to find a place to sit. But Cumulus interrupted her, asking “Is it true that Urainia has a tail?” Noctave didn’t turn to face Cumulus, and kept walking. “It’s not true! Don’t slander my mother like that!”
Noctave sat on a soft, red and blue window seat, it having a good view of the ballroom, but far away enough to be relaxing. The pillows were all the colors of the rainbow, and there was a thin blanket that was patterned with rainbow colored stripes. Iris probably naps here on hot days, thought Noctave. I hope she doesn’t mind me sitting here.
More people came. First a trickle, then a steady stream, and finally a rushing river. They were divine and mortal, self-made and old money, native and foreign. She felt nervous just looking at the crowd of strangers, and didn’t see Dia anywhere. It’s not as if she wanted to get any closer, anyway. Just looking at the crowded ballroom made her nervous. She wondered what was taking her so long.
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