[PP - F4] Grandmaster

[Lessa 1]

(Please message me for an invite.)

There were many reasons why Lessa had selected this inn to be the meeting place for the party. First and foremost, it was on her favorite floor. If she were to draw strength from her surroundings, it would be in a place like this.

Which led to second reason - the inn was beautiful. The room where they would meet had been reserved especially for this occasion. Rich crimson carpet lay underfoot, and overstuffed armchairs dotted the space. A cheery fire crackled away in a great stone fireplace on one wall, and a few square windows gave a gorgeous view of the falling snow. Though there was a full bar on the other side of the door, a small table with warm drinks sat in one corner.

Finally, the inn was on safe, neutral ground. Sure, she could have had the party at the Guild Hall - Zelrius had even offered. But there was something special about this floor. Even the NPCs always seemed happy. It was like Christmas all the time. Who could possibly say no to that?

Lessa stood by the fire, her usual battle attire traded out for black slacks and a warm, red sweater. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest, and she watched the flames dance in silence. Was this party the right thing to do? She had hoped to reach the grandmaster rank with no fanfare, but Celes had insisted in organizing a get-together. And considering that Celes was among the very, very few that Lessa still considered a friend, she had a very difficult time saying no. A brief, sideways glance toward the door revealed that no one had arrived quite yet, but she knew it would only be a matter of time.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Lessa

[Jomei 0]

"..Celes?" 

The Irishman looked at the message in his inbox for a moment, trying to match a face to the name. However, he could not. This was a person Jomei was entirely unfamiliar with, so he did not know whether to open the message or not. Then again.. he figured what harm could it be to open a simple message from a stranger, though an invite to a party, as the message subject pertained, could be quite the red flag. Despite, he opened it. His realization was almost audible to those around him when he read it. The message detailed a celebration for Lessa, who would be reaching a benchmark in her skills; the grandmaster rank. It would take players a long time to come this far, proving themselves to be a true master of their weapon. Jomei, himself, had achieved this rank a couple of months prior withLowenthal, and it made him happy to know someone who he referred to as a dear friend would be reaching that same rank.

Without hesitation, the ginger warped to the place where this party would be held, the Fourth Floor. Since this celebration would be held inside of the safe zone, he deemed it unnecessary to equip his armor and weapon. In its place he wore a long sleeved green shirt and black pants, over his shoulders was his usual green cloak. After trudging through the cold snow for a couple of minutes, he found the cozy wooden inn where the celebration was going to be held. Entering the inn, the heat for the fire hit Jomei's body instantly, warming him up from the cold. He brushed the snow off of his boots and stepped onto the red carpet, walking forward to greet his blonde haired friend. Seemingly enough, he was the first one to arrive. 

"Hey there Lessa." he said with a smile, "Looks like I'm the first one here... Haven't heard from you in a bit since Floor Eleven." 

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius awoke from another not-so-deep slumber through the day only to remember, much to his delight, that he didn't have a whole lot planned today. That of which he did have to attend was one thing he would rather attend than do much else these days. Standing from his bed in the Azure Guild hall, from his private room, The boy put on all his gear. Starting from switching out of his sleepware to the Tuxedo with the little Z on his lapel that Kiru had gotten him for his birthday. Within moments, He was tightening the gloves of Midas around his hands, adjusting the golden lined, all black cloak, of Blackfyre around his back so that it was more comfortable. He clicked the heels of his Boots of Speed, of which he had not actually activated in quite some time, given one of the Pendants around his neck gave the exact same stats of it, just bigger numbers.

Now fully dressed, the Golden haired Commandant made his way to the Teleportation Plaza in the town closest to the Guild hall (Whichever town that is) and headed on down to the Fourth floor in search of Lessa to have her Grandmaster party. Making his way into the building, Zelrius put on the best smile he could; Sure, Grandmastering a skill was an every day thing for people in Aincrad, but it was still something to celebrate. Especially for and with someone such as Lessa, whom, upon Zelrius entering the building, greeted whole-heartedly. "Well, Good Morning, or Afternoon. Whichever it is. You ready to Grandmaster today, Lady Lessa?"

[Lessa 1]

The first to arrive was Jomei, which surprised her very little. More recently, he had been one of the few members who consistently stayed in communication with her. It made since that Celes would have invited the redhead, and Lessa had caught herself talking about him on more than one occasion. She paused as he shook of the cold, dislodging tiny diamonds that fluttered easily to the stone floor. And when he greeted her, she pressed a smile that felt unnatural, despite her happiness at seeing the boy again. 

"My favorite Irishman," she commented softly. "I'm glad to see that you were invited. Celes handled all the planning, so the guest list is a complete mystery to me. It will be exciting to see who shows up." But the hesitation in her tone, and the apprehension that lingered within the depths of her blue eyes revealed that perhaps exciting was not the correct term. Truth be told, the blonde had no idea who else might be invited, and that terrified her. There were very few people that she still considered herself close to, and fewer still who she felt all that comfortable around. The thought of filling this place with those ghosts of past acquaintances, or worse, past friends, chilled the blood in her veins more violently than the chill of the fourth floor ever could.

The universe, it seemed, had a sick sense of humor. A sharp gust of cold air carried through her, sending the flames into a flurry of reds, oranges,and yellows. There, in the doorway, stood one of those aforementioned specters. He was now her guild leader, and so she had seen him a number of times, but he still stirred unpleasant nostalgia within her. And, of course, she had never expected to see him here.

But his greeting was delivered with a flourish and warmth that would require the best of actors were it insincere. Not to respond in kind would be rude, but her words made her shock clear. "Hi Zelrius. I am ready, yeah. But I guess I'm surprised to see you here. I didn't think you'd come to something like this.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Lessa

[Calrex 0]

"Hm?"

As Calrex finished up his business on the first floor he looked to see a message appear in his inbox, giving a small sigh to himself as he pulled up the display, "Not from Teayre...I hope she's doing alright. She hasn't messaged at all since she took her leave of absence. It's got me kind of worried..."

Viewing the contents the bluenette's eyes of deep ocean blue seemed illuminated by the LED-like shine of the HUD as he completed reading the contents, "So Lessa getting ready for grandmastering her weapon skill. Sounds like an interesting outing."

Swiping on his menu as he made his way towards the teleportation plaza his avatar became engulfed in a bright flash of blue light as he changed his equipment out. With a hard hitting player in the team he would likely be more focused on defense and tanking than striking, and his gear was going to reflect just that. First his entire body became encased in the Grand Chariot II armor as his face was covered by the stoic appearance of the helmet. Next the Grand Blade II vanished, being replaced by the two pieces of the Grand Guard II, which affixed themselves to his forearms. Lastly, a unenhanced sword took the place of his original weapon, the sword forged by Meokka in commemoration of his and Teayre's wedding.

Appearing on the fourth floor he made his way over to the meeting location, looking to see that two other individuals had also shown up. First was Jomei, the ginger-haired leader of Velvet Room. Second was Zelrius, the "Hero of Aincrad," bearer of the Dual Blades unique skill, and former member of the Azure Brigade. A friendly smile appeared on his face, even though it was masked by his helmet, as he completed his trek over, "Hey guys, long time no see."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei gently ruffled the back of his hair as he stepped forward, "Yeah.. I was honestly a little confused about the invitation at first.. being I did not know a Celes." he chuckled. He stopped walking when he stood next to Lessa, feeling the direct heat from the dancing flames in the fireplace upon his exposed skin. He could not help but smile softly at the comfort of the room. His olive eyes shifted from the fire to the blonde, wondering just what she had been up to since they last had seen each other.  Though he had not spent time with the girl very often, he did notice a slight shift in her atmosphere between their quest on Floor Nine and their time on Floor Eleven. Just what may have shifted it, he had no idea. A question for another time possibly, in case it bothered her. For now was a time of celebration for her benchmark. "So how have you-" Jomei began to ask before the room was engulfed by a brief chill when the door swung open. He turned his head to see just who had arrived to the party, and his eyes widened in surprise. It was Zelrius. He had heard that the man had gone on a slight hiatus, leaving his rank in Azure to Lowenthal. "Didn't think I'd see you here." he said with a smirk, "Its good to see you again Zel." Following soon after the tuxedo wearing blonde was a familiar blue suit of armor that housed Calrex. Jomei brought his hand up and gave him a simple wave and smile as he entered the door, "Hey Calrex."

[Baldur 0]

Baldur stood outside the door for a long moment. He was about to step back into the thick of it. He had just reconnected with Lessa after being away for almost a year. There were bound to be old faces here, and it took him a long moment to build up the courage to face them again. Does he just walk in like nothing had happened? There were so many questions he didn't want to face. But he needed to move forward, and he wanted to be there for Lessa.

Pushing the door open, the tall man stepped into the room.

"Ohayo!"

The wind and snow pulled at his ice blue haori, and the white flames at the base matched the snow perfectly.

"Sorry if I'm late."

[Lessa 1]

The room was filling more quickly now. First, Calrex filed in. At first, Lessa found herself wondering why Celes had invited him, as they were not particularly close friends. But his broad smile lit up the room just as well as the fire crackling beside her, and her reservations were quickly shelved. "Calrex," she greeted him, offering a small wave. "Really good to see you. Feel free to grab some hot chocolate. I know how cold it is out there."

Jomei had been in the middle of asking her something, but the arrival of the two other men had cut him off. Rather than waiting awkwardly for him to reboard his train of thought, she quickly jumped on the question he had meant to ask. "I've been okay." It was certainly the most noncommittal answer that she could have offered him. It promised nothing, as 'okay' could easily be interpreted as good or bad. She was not good, but she was not bad either. It was safe, and short enough that it closed the door on further questions. At least, she hoped.

The door opened once more, and the blonde turned to face it. Her eyes widened, and a genuine smile split her lips. "Baldur," she breathed. "Oh wow, hey." She had worried that he would not make it.