A Bitter Taste

After having magically dried her clothing, she turned to the dome building and began her lecture there with the raven who agreed to cooperate with her. When the time came, she made her way to the colliseum where the purple stadium was. Looking about, she found that the place was much more bustling than before!

There were so many people walking about to their seats with food in hands. Some had even packed their own lunches with them as they ate harmoniously. It wasn't just them, but some of the students sat with their families while others even sat amongst other students. Children and adults sat around the stadium with bright smiles. Races reacting closely with other races...

Seeing the scenery before her, she couldn't help but smile and mutter softly, "It looks as if the chaos that born order had bore such a scene of peace from the newly born chaos... Is this the new order that was born from chaos?"

Thinking back, the scene of races existing peacefully amongst one another began to overlap the one before her as she sighed, "I wonder how will the people of this world thrive... Would it be... like that again?"

"Lotus!"

She glanced down from the top of the entrance into the stadium. Leaning against the rails, she noticed a familiar trio standing below her. Her eyes widen in surprise, "Azul-senpai? Floyd and Jade too!"

Lotus looked down in confusion when her eyes also landed on a familiar individual, "Ah, Ren!"

She hopped down from over the rails with ease and surprising grace that it surprised others around her. As she landed, Azul sighed, "Seriously? Can't you greet us in a more orderly fashion?"

Lotus chuckled, "Is there need to greet friends in an orderly fashion? In any case, it's good to see the Jade-senpai is doing well. Are you all here for the show too?"

Ren sighed, "Lotus, what are you doing here? Aren't you working with the prefect and Grim?"

"I don't want to be there to see the show." Lotus grumbled in dismay as she shook her head and smiled, "Things like this are best seen from a good distance! I've never seen pop music choreography till they started practicing for the VDC!"

Ren chuckled, "Sounds like you're pretty excited."

"Really?" Azul laughed, "You've also had a similar look of excitement outside of the Hall of Mirrors, Ren. It would seem that this will be quite an interesting sight this year."

"You didn't see the VDC last year?" Lotus questioned with a look of confusion.

"Ah, I had some business to take care of last year." Azul responded with a look of regret.

"I see. Form the looks of it all of the dorm leaders are here..." Lotus looked around curiously before raising a brow, "Is Dormleader Idia not using his notepad to take part?"

"That guy?" Azul raised a brow in confusion before shaking his head, "That's right. He's usually not around crowded places. He seems to dislike the idea of standing out as well. He has a special physical appearance trait that makes him stand out."

"Ah, I see..." Lotus nodded her head with a heavy sigh, "I wonder if he would still want to come if the criteria meets his expectations... Oh!"

Lotus wore a wide smile and turned around, "I need to make an errand! Do you know where Idia is right now?"

"He should be making a beeline to the classrooms or the Ignihyde's dorm." Azul raised a brow, "But are you sure that you want to go get him? Nobody's managed to get him outside before for these occassions."

"Yup!" Lotus wore a wide smile and turned to the entrance, "I'll see you guys later!"

As they watched her run out the entrance, Ren called out after her, "Ah, be careful not to run into others!"

"I know!"

As he watched her run, just the fact that she left them behind was enough to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. Confused, Azul grumbled, "I wonder why..."

Could she be up to something again?

.....

She rushed into Ignihyde dorm with a bright smile on her face. Hurrying past the skeletons that supports large and upside down Greek buildings onto the surface of the cave's cieling, she rushed into the upside down building from the spiraling stairs as the gravity around her helped get her into the building. She hurried through halls and to the lounge hoping to find a familiar figure.

"Ortho!" Lotus said with a wide smile in relief.

"Ah, Lotus!" Ortho smiled at the sight of the guy, "What brought you here?"

"I want to go talk with the dorm leader. Is he back?"

Ortho nodded, "Yup! He's here. I'll take you to him."

"Thanks!" Lotus replied and followed the robot into the metal halls with open windows.

Ortho knocked on the door and called out, "Big Brother! Are you done changing?"

"O-Ortho?" Idia's voice replied with a sigh of relief, "Yeah. What is it?"

"Lotus is here!"

"Lotus?" Idia raised a brow in confusion and sighed, "I just came back from the presentation too..."

"Presentation?" Lotus's eyes widen as she suddenly recalled the situation back in the dorm meeting, "You were taking part in a presentation? Ah, then maybe I should let you rest."

"Huh?" Idia responded in confusion, "Whatever, just tell me what you need."

"I actually wanted to ask you if you want to go see the VDC in person. Azul said that you don't like to be seen by others, so I wanted you to see if this spell could help keep you from being seen by others."

"Eh?"

Ortho looked to her in surprise. Even Idia was so surprised that he opened the door. After the door opened up, she took out the spell she had created and handed it to Idia curiously, "I found an old spell that makes one invisible, so I wanted to see if I can make this even stronger. So, I rewritten the spell that could make others undetected or blend into the surroundings. This worked well with Riddle, so I wanted to see if you can give it a try given the current situation. But, that's if you want to go to the VDC or not."

"This spell is really weird... and suspicious..." Idia muttered hesitantly, "Did Riddle really gave this spell a try?"

"I looked for Cater, but he was nowhere to be seen." Lotus sighed, "To be fair, Cater would naturally be the best candidate to try this out, but he keeps disappearing everytime he sees me. It probably has to do with how bitter my medicine are, but it can't be helped when he keeps running errands in the snow."

"So, that's it..." Idia muttered in confusion and sighed. He was left in a deep contemplation for a long time before he asked her, "Out of everyone, we did it have to be me? Can't you ask someone else to go with you?"

Lotus shook her head, "Nope. I've studied classical and old styles of dances for a really long time, but this is my first time taking part in a pop music dance competition. You listen to a lot of them yourselves and kept a close eye on Idols' movements across the stage. So, I thought it would be better to consult with you. I could ask Azul, but I know he's not as familiar with human culture on the surface and you know the other dorm leaders aren't familiar or interested in this part of human culture. So, this is also a good chance for me to learn of the dance and choreography of pop music dances. I've only recently understood the music, but the dances are still foreign to me."

"Why don't you talk with Pomefiore's dorm leader before?"

Lotus grumbled, "Cause I really don't like him. If I could I'd prefer to trouble the other dorm leaders, but none knows more about the culture than you do. I've known that you don't like to come out, so I didn't want to trouble you at first. But, after hearing what Azul said, I wanted to see if this will make a difference. Of course, since this is a foreign magic to us, you can't use this all the time, but I wanted to know if you wanted to take this chance to visit the event this time in person. I didn't realize that you had just returned from a presentation."

"But, I don't have a ticket." Idia responded with a frown.

"Don't worry about it." Lotus smiled wide, "I can get you in. Those guards and camera people do owe me a favor today, after all."

"What?!" Idia looked to her in disbelief and questioned in confusion, "How did you-?!"

"Let's say I helped cover up a small incident for them all today with a couple intruders." Lotus smirked as she said this.

After learning that those girls had snuck past them, they were thankful towards Lotus for covering the matter for them, so they would help her get one companion with her through the back door if she does have a friend she wanted to join in the stadium.