#edeottrp

"OH right! You’re probably up here to see the firework show, right? Well, I don’t know how much longer it’s gonna last but, I… Never mind, let’s just enjoy the show, alright?"

"Yes, I came here for the fireworks. Cuan and a giantess is on their way up here to watch as well. I also brought some food in case if you were here, since I hadn't seen you at the ground floor."

Uro handed Lobhadeir the plate of food.

"Also, don't worry. The drumsticks aren't tainted or anything. I tried them myself. They're a bit cold, but it should still be good."

Uro gazed at the fireworks as they erupted one by one. He didn't like how loud the fireworks were, but it was pleasing to look at.

It's a nice view.. Hm.. I wonder if Lobhadeir had been here the whole time we were eating? I'll try asking her.

"Überwachen der Feuerwerkskörper? Are you sure?"

O-oh she's really tall up close. Wow, I've never met a giant before!

Uro had never really noticed the giant's eyes, since he saw her from afar that one time, but they were not normal. Actually.. her eyes were kind of like his!

How strange! Or.. not really strange to me, but those eyes on a giant? Is she a Fomorian? But... everything else looks normal though.. Hm.. maybe something happened to her.

Seeing those eyes made Uro feel a little more comfortable. He felt kind of out of place at this party with all these Millitians around. It made him reassured about himself knowing there's someone sort of similar here. 

Cuan replied next,

"Well, I don’t see why not,"

Uro was glad to hear her reply. He did fail to help her friend, Milo. Although she did seemed annoyed, which was understandable. Uro was still irritated from that encounter with Milo's brother as well.

Oh right I need to respond to the giant. I have not a clue what the first part means.. something about fireworks?

"Why, yes! Of course you can come!"

Uro pointed towards the stairs that led up.

"I suppose I'll go up ahead first, I need to see if a little blue child is there. She probably hasn't eaten yet, so I'm planning on bringing her food quick. I'll meet you both at that place."

Good.. we're finally back inside... well that was quite an adventure. Looks like we're a little late with the food too. But I'm sure it's still warm. I just hope there isn't anything funny with them..

Uro, who is switched with Cuan, grabbed a drumstick nearby and stared suspiciously at it. He didn't want to turn into a chicken or something, especially when he's in someone else's body. It wouldn't do any good to have Cuan's body become a chicken and start laying eggs everywhere or whatever chickens do.

He is pretty hungry though.. They haven't eaten since they came to this party, or well, since he met Cuan. He didn't know what she did before that, but what he did know is that he felt hungry.

Uhm.. I'm sure it's fine. The other guests should have eaten, and it doesn't look anything bad happened to them. Except that guy who passed out.. What did he do? Well I just hope he didn't pass out from chicken.

After a couple of moments of munching food, he began to feel strange again. The same feeling he had before.

Oh god, I'm going to turn into a chicken-

This is it.

Sorry Cuan.

He ended up feeling perfectly fine in the end. They actually switched back to normal.

Oh! Perfect! I didn't want to be stuck like that forever. I'm not sure how uh.. certain things function.

Uro, now in his actual body, went to look for Cuan. She had a drumstick in her hand, which was his doing. Afterall, he was eating.

"Sorry about that chicken.. I got hungry."

He didn't bother searching around for anyone else he knew, since he hadn't really socialized. Lobhadeir, Cuan, and the ghost were the only ones he had conversed with. Maybe Lobhadeir would come up and talk to him, she seemed like a nice person to Uro.

"Oh gods.. I am truly sorry for all of this."

Uro felt extremely bad about the whole situation. He knew he made Cuan cry, and this was the last thing he was hoping for her not to do.

He heard the other girl fall nearby. But he couldn't really see her since he was laying down, he definitely needed to check if she was okay as well. "Okay. Cuan. I'll help you up okay? We should get out of this cold soon and back in the castle at least. I think there should be food right about now actually. Food sounds nice yes? Maybe you'll see someone you'll know, everyone usually gathers around food right." Uro wasn't sure how to comfort her, but he spoke softly and gently to try to calm her down. He helped her up and supported her out of the hole they made from falling.

"I uh… I didn’t catch your names."

Lobhadeir was it?

"Ah yes.. well sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Uro, and this over here is Cuan. I'm.. sorry for the whole.. riding balloon scenario. I.. hope you're okay.. from the... fall. No... broken.. bones?.."

Uro's talking was becoming more slow and sluggish, like he was drowsy. He felt tired all of a sudden, but he was fine before, well besides the sores.

"I'm... feeling rather dizzy..-"

Uro's vision faded and he blacked out- Or at least he thought he would've. He instantly felt a lot better. Oh.. that was strange, I'm feeling really great now! There's even less sores! Hm.. I should tell Lobhadeir we should head back in. I'm getting hungry.

"Nevermind that, I'm fine. Right.. so shall- what"

My voice is higher??? Is this another one of those transformations again-

Uro started walking and screamed. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY GENITALS!!!! IT'S GONE!"

Between my legs-- I feel-- nOTHING!! OH MY GOD!!!

Uro noticed he wore different clothes too... Very familiar clothes.. He was sure Cuan had these exact clothes on.. He checked behind him to see where 'Cuan' was suppose to be, and gasped. "C-CUAN!? IS THAT YOU!?"

He pointed at Cuan, or rather himself.

Everyone was screaming.

Who ever heard of a balloon being a person before!? Not me, I thought it was just a simple balloon.. It just... looked so friendly.. I wanted to ride it.. why did this have to happen. I am never going to ride another balloon again. Not going to risk another balloon turning into a person.

No no.. this isn't good.

Oh gods.

His robe flipped upwards covering his face, he tried patting it down, but it was extremely annoying because the wind kept pushing it back up. Now he had to wrestle with his own clothes as his last moments before dieing.

This is just grand. I get to fight my clothes while plummeting towards death- I-is Cuan okay?

Uro managed to take a quick glance at Cuan, who was right next to him.

She looked even worse than he did.

Oh dear... This is pretty much my fault.

Uro heard someone mumbling above them as well. He couldn't really see who was talking to them, because of his clothing, but it sounded like a young girl's voice. It must be the one who was the balloon!

“Hey, I know this is a bad time, but hello! My name is Lobhadeir Ott and I have a Mage in training. My hobbies include exploring Iria and making crystals with my big brother in Taillteann.

From what I gathered, at least one of your is an alchemist, right? Can either of you helping me shoot wind crystals at the ground?”

That's quite the introduction.

"A-ah yes I'm an alchemist, I'm not sure about Cuan though. This might take awhile but I'll try."

He fumbled around trying to grab his equipment.

Clothing why do you hate me so.

Somehow he got it and followed Lobhadeir's tip about the crystals. Uro had no idea what Cuan would do, but he's pretty sure pain works the same way with Millitians. And falling from such a height would not feel good at all. He didn't know where Millitians even go after they die, but he was not willing to ruin her time here any further.

"S-sorry about this."

Uro grabbed Cuan pretty tightly close to him. Normally he would never do this because suddenly grabbing onto a lady was not a very proper thing to do, but this was a life-or-death situation. He'll apologize again to her later. If they live of course, or well if HE lives.

Let's hope this works.

He shot the crystals downwards, just as Lobhadeir had said. They bounced up a bit, and fell back down, but it didn't feel as heavy or fast as their initial drop. As they got nearer to the ground, Uro, still holding onto Cuan, positioned himself below her, so he'd be the one who hit the ground first. It'll hurt a lot more, but it'll help lessen the damage Cuan would go through.

Well if I die, at least I die hugging a girl. Better than fighting clothes.

They hit the ground. The snow was pretty deep so that was good. Though Uro definitely did feel pain from hitting the snow on his back and from Cuan falling on top of him.

Okay well.. no broken bones, I think. Maybe.. I can't really feel anything. I wonder if Cuan is alright.

"A-are you okay? I'm so sorry about that..."

Above, Uro could see the girl who was talking before, falling towards them.

"♫I wonder, considering the rest of this event, if this is someone who was transformed? Like how we were transformed into dolls, or how you’ve transformed into ice?♫"

Uro hadn't really taken that into thought. He knew that he transformed into ice, but someone being transformed into a balloon? Was it really one of the possibilities here? Well... he did turn into a toy before.

Did someone actually write 'balloon' in their application?

He dismissed the thought. His box had the number 23, which was written on his form. So it definitely had to do with numbers this time, and not specific objects.

Actually.. Did Cuan ever opened one of those gift boxes? I never really saw her open one, since I was too occupied with mine... Is that why she's singing all of a sudden? Huh.. so I guess some others didn't really have to transform into something.

Uro felt bad, he thought she was singing on purpose.

"O-oh... Is that why you're singing? I thought it was some.. uhh.. new style going on, sorry about that. It's why I didn't really comment about it before. But you do have a lovely voice."

After taking a few thoughts about the balloon situation, Uro knew now that they are in trouble. He wondered if there was any way to go back down quick before.. disaster happens. There was no steering wheels on this thing when he tried to look.

"Well, let's suppose this balloon is a transformed guest......... what happens if it transformed back... midair? Y-you see I'm not a Millitian obviously. I'm not looking forward to dieing here any time soon, o-okay. And I finally got comfortable talking to you after hours, this is too soon to die."

Oh gods, there is literally nothing to control this.

“♫is that safe? What if it burns you…?♫”

How unusual… Why is she singing her words? Maybe its some trend going on? Well, not like I know how things work here, I suppose its normal.

"I’m sure I’ll be fine. It was probably just a one time burst. I brought ice with me to cool off. Hopefully nothing too bad happens. It was out here in the balcony after all, so it must be safe for guests, right?"

As soon as Cuan got in with him, the balloon started to ascend. It was a bit quirky at the start, but then it suddenly rose up to a pretty decent height.

Oh dear…. I’ve never been this high up before..

Uro made the mistake of looking down. He felt worried if the balloon had enough fuel to keep it going. But if it was out on the balcony, he assumed that it must have enough to last a couple of rides for the guests, and if it did run out, it might just slowly descend. It is a balloon after all. But the trip back to the castle would be tedious.

Well.. this is uhh… worrying.. but it does have a nice view. So far so good I guess.

Ignoring the possibility of falling off, Uro was enjoying himself. It was his first time riding a flying vehicle, so this was a new experience for him.

Perhaps I should ask Cuan about hot air balloons. She might know more about these. I could learn something from her.

"Have you.. ever ridden any of these before? Are they usually like this one? It was pretty strange back there in the balcony.. I was wondering if these vehicles were also like those Millitian scooters and weird flying food trucks. Like.. being able to move on their own and such. These contraptions are usually unfamiliar to me."