#athenashipping

Pairing 1: Ghostshipping (Reiji Akaba/Yuri)

Propaganda: They're my favorite, I've made them my whole personality and I am (basically) the founder

Pairing 2: Athenashipping (Gloria Tyler/Selena)

Propaganda: i feel like they'd have a REALLY good competitive relationship

   The costumes in question were what was available after the third and second years had raided the costume box. Although, there wouldn’t have been much variety even if first years could go first to raid as most costumes were of elegance and debonair qualities as this was meant to be quite the upscale soiree for the duellists of Duel Academia. After all, held once a year and in grand esteem, a most important masquerade ball was hosted by the staff and it was quite the media circus due to the novelty of their school so no, dear students, you cannot go in anything less than your Sunday best. Certainly not as a ghost, zombie, or pirate either. Only princes and princesses were allowed at this ball. 

   “Here, don’t forget to wear this.” Yuri said and he handed Serena a mask.

   She sighed. She was really not all that fond of the sequins and feathers but once she got used to the feeling of the mask itself on her face, she was able to find it most acceptable to wear. Even if she wasn’t all that excited for the masquerade ball, it was mandatory to go, especially if one wanted to make it on the pro circuit like she. Knowing how to schmooze was an invaluable skill and one that Serena lacked so, she forced herself to go, knowing deep inside herself that she was going to stand by the refreshments table and do nothing else.

   She was most certainly not going to dance. She had two left feet and hated dancing. Or at least that’s what Serena was planning on doing.

   Serena spent at least forty minutes doing that, however. She was enjoying the likes of prawn cocktails and crab rangoons, downing fruit punch and other beverages, hovering by the table, making seemingly no impression on anyone. Yuri had long since abandoned her because whilst he enjoyed the dressing up part of the event, the music and the dancing was also not his forte but Dennis had roped him into a foxtrot and they were still going at it. 

   But Serena was all fine by herself. The mysterious girl who approached her, however, was not quite so fine leaving her to her own devices of awkwardness and seeming introversion. And Serena didn’t mind one bit.

   She was entranced by this student - this older student - and felt that she knew her from somewhere. She had to, they went to the same school after all and there was only a finite number of students, but all dressed up, Serena felt clueless. Especially before such beauty and she was extremely beautiful, like a tiger in the jungle of dim lights and confetti and crepe paper decorations.

   “I’ve been admiring you from afar, you know, your a promising rookie,” she complimented Serena, taking her away from the refreshments table and leading her effortlessly, gracefully, to the dancefloor, into a crowd of gorgeously furnished peers of theirs, “but I never found the right time to get closer. Until now.”

   “Really?” Serena felt a lump in her throat.

   “Yes, really.” she giggled cutely.

   Though Serena was the one dressed as a prince between them, this princess before her was taking the masculine lead in all her femininity. She looked the picture of a perfect fairy tale in her pale pink gown with all the frills and ribbons suiting such an image; her long blonde hair down and floaty as she moved. Her high heels clicked on the linenoum of the gymnasium floor as she led Serena through a waltz.

   “You are a very cute little duellist, I hope to see more of you.” the girl praised.

   Serena smiled awkwardly. She held onto the girl’s hand and she really wanted to ask her for her name but for some reason, she just couldn’t make the words leave from her mouth. Possibly fortunate as the girl continued to speak. Though she was speaking about all sorts of irrelevant things, nothing that would constitute as identifying information beyond just that she was a member of the Obelisk Blue Dorm - and Serena had half expected that due to how she carried herself. She suspected this student was a second or third year and quite the ace. 

   She had such a magnificent aura about her and Serena was all swept up in it, a burgeoning infatuation colouring her cheeks with blush. Her heart skipped a beat and she wanted for everything when these few magical moments - of over an hour of dancing, it would turn out - was over. And Serena still did not know who this mystery student was, just that when the clock struck twelve, she apologised and bowed, saying that it was too late for her.

   Serena could only watch, a question on her lips, as this girl fled away from her and met with another student, also of long, blonde hair and in a dress of opposite, darkened colours of her and then vanished. She watched as they disappeared into a hallway, scurrying off, and she wondered whatever could be the matter. Serena didn’t even notice as an exhausted Yuri trudged up to her.

   “Oh my,” he gasped, seeing how starstruck her eyes were, “someone is in love.”

   That snapped Serena out of her dreamy, fugue state and she ruffled up immediately, “Am not!” she snapped.

   “We’ll see about that.” Yuri hummed.

   “Whatever, let’s go, this place sucks, I’m bored.” Serena complained and Yuri deemed only half of what she said as being genuine.

   Yuri shrugged and escorted the rather danced off her feet Serena back to their dorm. They parted at the entryway and Serena returned to her room. She collapsed onto her bed as soon as she could, only tearing off that mask that she had forgotten she was wearing at all before going to sleep where she dreamed of that mysterious girl she had spent all night with. She fell asleep to the memory of her dry, floral perfume and the elegance of how she twirled her, still feeling as though she were in that waltz. One step, two step, and then back and forth, Serena sighed and slept especially well.

   In the morning, she was still in a daze and that was probably quite good because in the morning, as she pulled herself from bed and dragged herself to the dining hall, she discovered something. She had caused quite the ruckus the night before at the masquerade ball and she had no idea how or why. She was still wearing the costume with its puffy pants and its epaulette-having shoulders and she wasn’t the only one. 

   The girl from the night before was still in her costume, too. 

   She stole Serena’s breath away in her bleary, not a morning person state realised as all the buzz was because of them. The dining hall had become quite the parade as people tried to work out which way it was going to be and Serena felt her spirits lift in disbelief as she got closer.

   She was standing on a table, her back turned to the entryway that Serena approached from. The dress was the exact same, the baby pink and the white frills, the glimpses of glass slippers underneath all the excess of her gown. And when Serena was finally at the edge of the table, her hands placed upon it as she looked up in wonder to the girl, she turned around and giggled.

   The chiming sound of her mischievous laughter was exactly what Serena had remembered the night before. Her heart began to pound faster and she tried to ask what she had been dying to ask all night.

   “Can I finally know your name?” she asked.

   “Of course, my sweet.” she replied and she flipped her long, blonde hair off her shoulder but Serena could have sworn, was it always that gold a tone or was it merely silver because of the dark lighting of the ball?

   She tore her mask off and revealed her face. Serena felt her stomach drop. There were a few girls around across all the dorms with long blonde hair, which was why she didn’t want to get her hopes up that it was either of two, possibly three, specific Obelisk Blue dorm third years that she had managed to charm but miracle of miracles. Those piercing yellow eyes, Serena was enraptured by just how feline and hungry they were. She was… Unmasked, she was one of the Tyler sisters but being a head down, thumbs up kind of girl, Serena was uncertain which one.

   Especially as her sister burst in, “Stop it, older sister, why are you tormenting me like this?”

   The whole dining hall stopped to gasp as the other Tyler Twin, who had significantly lighter hair than the one on the table, raced in. She was crying, clutching her heart as she tried to catch up to the brouhaha that was unfolding as very rare morning entertainment.

   “Serena, Serena, please,” she begged, “it was me who danced with you last night, not Gloria. She stole my dress just… just to torment me! She knows I have an admiration for you, one she does not possess herself.” She panted and cried, her face going red as she tried to convince Serena of what had happened last night in the dark and in the dancing.

   “She lies, she is simply envious of what you and I have,” Gloria sneered, yet her expression was neutral, “it was you and I who spent all night together before the midnight curfew. Please, Serena, surely you know which twin you have become so enamoured for.”

   "No!" Grace yelled, protested. "It was us. We were the ones who danced all night, surely you know who it truly was, who was under the mask?" Her demeanour was hot and fiery, fighting against her sister unfair or was it just as Gloria said? It was just some ruse of envy.

   “I… I, um…” Serena stammered as she glanced between both sisters who demanded her attention but she could hardly hear their pleas over the sound of her heart pounding. She didn’t know and it struck her like thunder and lightning that she did know and the uncertainty, the agony, was killing her, ruining that dream of admiration and beauty.

Gloria rolled her eyes when her sister went down onto the floor with a giggle, pretending to be drunk on the eggnog.  Two other girls giggled with her, flopping next to her and pretending to be drunk too, while someone else chanted for them to do shots.  God.  They were supposed to be Academia’s elite, and here they were acting like fools.  Worse, like friendly fools.  As though all of them hadn’t been trying to actively sabotage each other less than a day ago.

She sighed.  She was only here because Grace had made her, and Grace wasn’t even paying any attention to her anymore.  She picked her way around the bouncing students to get to the table, refilling her cup with more warm eggnog, and then heading for the door.  Everyone else was way too excitable and stupid to notice she was leaving.  And they were supposed to lead the invasion.  Ridiculous.

She left the party room behind for the chilly hallways of Academia instead.  They weren’t far from the courtyard from here.  She made her way through the dark, empty hallways and down to the doors.  They were locked.  But she had a high enough clearance that she could unlock them, so she pushed out into the cold, freezing courtyard.

That was better, she thought, shivering against the bitter cold.  Much better than the stuffy heat of all of those bodies grinding against each other.  The cold was sharp, making her alert and tense, like a real soldier ought to be.

The sky overhead hung high and dark, dotted with clear stars.  None of the lights were on out here, so she could see every single one of them in between the surveillance spires.  She took a sip of the eggnog, letting it warm her core.  Here, it was utter silence.  She could hear her own steady heartbeat.  Perfect.  Now this was how you prepared for an invasion.  Quiet vigilance.

It was so quiet, in fact, that her ears caught on the tiniest scrabble of stones in an instant.

She whirled, hand shooting out.  A soft gasp and swear echoed through the courtyard when her hand caught on something trying to shoot past her for the door.  She tightened her fingers into the fabric she’d grabbed and flung her captured prey to the ground in front of her, placing herself in front of the door to prevent an escape.

She hadn’t even spilled her drink, she thought with some satisfaction.

The girl in front of her was younger than Gloria.  Probably thirteen at the most.  She looked ragged — her hair was coming undone from its ponytail and there were pine needles and dirt twisted into the strands.  Her clothes were rumpled and stained with dirt, and her cheeks were so red from the cold it looked like she might be on fire.

She had a fiery sort of glare despite that though, leaping right back up to her feet and taking a stance with both fists up.  Gloria couldn’t help but smirk.  Kid had guts.

“What are you doing out here?” she said.  “It’s off limits at this time of night.”

“I could ask you that,” the girl said, eyes flashing.

Gloria chuckled.  Gutsy.  She liked it.

By way of answer, she lifted her arm and showed off her Duel Disk.  It was clear the girl was Academia, and not a spy, because her eyes instantly widened as they caught on Gloria’s lieutenant colonel insignia.  Immediately, the girl dropped her stance, snapping her feet together and saluting.

“Forgive me, ma’am, I didn’t realize who you were.”

Gutsy and disciplined.  Gloria was liking her more by the second.  Gloria chuckled again, swirling her drink.

“At ease,” she said, and the girl immediately went into parade rest.  “So, kid...how about you tell me your name and rank?”

“Selena, ma’am.  And...I don’t...have one.”

Her cheeks got even redder than before, but she didn’t falter in her stance.  Gloria considered her for a moment.  She was young sure, but there were quite a few kids her age who had been cleared for the invasion or for other roles.  She didn’t seem like the kind to get passed over.  And Gloria had never seen or heard of her before.

“Which class are you in?”

Selena’s eyes flicked down.

“I’m not,” she said.  “...not in any, ma’am.”

Gloria blinked.  Okay, now she was getting confused.  If this kid was from Academia, why wasn’t she in a class?

“Okay, I’ll bite,” she said, sighing as she took a seat on the bench near her.  “What are you doing in here?”

Selena bit her lip, for a moment actually looking her age.  She considered Gloria for a long moment, as though determining whether to lie or not.

“I...I’m not allowed to be in the invasion,” she said finally.  “Even though my simulation scores are in the top percentile.  The Professor won’t allow me to join.”

Gloria raised an eyebrow.

“You talk to the Professor much?” she said.

“He’s my teacher,” Selena said.

Something clicked in Gloria’s head, then.  Oooh.  So this was the Professor’s pet student that Gloria had often heard of.  She’d heard of the kid appearing in random classes before getting shooed out, or challenging squadrons in the middle of classes and then taking them all out.  No one had any idea why she wasn’t in a regular class with anyone else.  Grace was always saying it was because she was probably the Professor’s secret love child.

“So why aren’t you going on the invasion if you’re so good?” Gloria said.

“I don’t know,” Selena said, and some of her discipline broke with the frustration in her voice.  “I was — I was going to join you guys.  So that I could prove myself.”

“You were planning on sneaking out with us?  That would have been tough, kid.  We’re in formation — we’d notice a passenger.”

“Not necessarily,” Selena said.  “I’ve looked the schematics over.  Your normal formation before transfer will take place inside the courtyard, and squads will move in waves.  There’s a series of hedges right beside wave four.  All I have to do is stay inside one of those, and touch a pant leg near me to go along.  After that, I can make my way.”

Resourceful.  Reckless and impulsive and probably stupid, but resourceful.  Gloria couldn’t help but admire that.  She took another sip of her eggnog.

“Are you going to report me, ma’am?” Selena said.

Gloria considered her a moment.  Despite the cold, Selena barely trembled.  Her gaze was harsh and tough.  There was a limberness to her stance, something that suggested explosive speed and agility.  If her simulation scores really were as high as she said she was, it would be a damn shame if she wasn’t in the invasion.  Not that there was much Gloria could do about it.

Selena’s shaking knees were starting to be annoying, though, so Gloria stood up.  She shoved the eggnog at Selena’s chest.

“Get something warm in you,” she said.  “You’ll be useless in an invasion if you’re suffering pneumonia.”

Selena blinked with surprise.  Her fingers closed around the cup, though, and Gloria stepped back.  She made a show of yawning.

“Nothing like a walk in an empty courtyard to clear your head before the big day,” she said, not looking at Selena.

Selena blinked.  Her lips parted.

Gloria didn’t look at her again.  But she did shoot the girl a thumb’s up behind her back as she made her way back inside.

They probably wouldn’t see each other again.  The Professor would definitely pick her up before she could get out with the first invasion wave.