The Devil Slayer & The Steam Prince Volume1

Chapter 14 Halloween Ball Part1

Timeskip to the morning of Halloween Party———————————————————————
Seth's POV: It's another simple morning at the guild and I had just finished helping Mira and Lisanna cook and serve breakfast, I am now getting on my fall clothes in my room. I soon walk down and hand the take-over sisters a note to give to Erza before I walk over to the job board to find some jobs that would be easy but keep me busy for long enough as I told Antonio recently via letter that I would come by myself early to the party to help decorate and so Mira starts talking to me as I spread my lineup of jobs in front of her. "If you're not by his side how is Gray supposed to prove with his ticket that he belongs at the party, Mira asks me?" ———————————————————————
I look at her with surprise as I know that my childhood friend would give the staff a photo of Gray but anyone could paint our mark on their skin and style there hair like him and claim to be him, so then I look nervously at the door to my room where my childhood friendship charm bracelet lays in a box but the box is unlocked. "There is a box in my room that's unlocked and has in it a friendship charm bracelet with my family crest and colors as well as Antonio's family crest and colors if the staff sees that charm bracelet in Gray's keeping they are sure to let him in, I say as I turn from her and walk away." As I'm working on wrapping up some of my jobs don't Lucy and her crew walk past and try to flag me down I just look away and slide into shadow to avoid conversation.———————————————————————
Eventually, I just stop and take a lunch break at a cafe but again the team is traveling around the area near me so I just ignore it by sipping elegantly from the cup of hot chocolate on the saucer of biscotti but of course Lucy feels compelled to sit with me 1-on-1 after making the vow to my mothers gravesite, I tell her it's party night tonight and I can't bring myself to have him see me today until then as I want him to see how I look more finely dressed the wow factor of a guy meeting their dance date when the date is all changed and comes down the stairs. "I'm sure to be more relaxed if he sees me dressed in such a manner, I say to the celestial mage." Lucy nods in understanding and pats me on the back in support before getting up and heading back to find her friends. ———————————————————————
I finish the last of my list of jobs I took even though they are easy and don't require much magic or any battles I know a certain scarlet haired she mage would prefer me to cut my list in half. I now stand at the train station platform near Antonio's home and I can't help but start to feel a little strange I shake it off as I think it's just my body not used to working as many jobs in a row as I did today, I then walk all the way to my friend's house and once by the gate I press the button to the camera security I say with a weak voice "It's young lord Whitman I came early to help decorate." I then show my guild mark on my arm to prove my identity as I didn't have my charm bracelet.———————————————————————
A moment later the gate opens and at the same time the front door opened and Antonio came sprinting over to me and his smile turns into a face of concern when he sees me exhausted. "You took 12 jobs to do by yourself after just getting off house arrest earlier this month, You need to take better care of yourself and probably should've done only 4 jobs to start to get back into it, Antonio says with a big brother like attitude towards me as we sit in the dining room and I sip on some soda to get back my energy. "I know I know, I just wanted to keep busy to avoid seeing him until later when everyone's in costume, I say as I set the glass down." ———————————————————————
"Speaking of costumes is everything set for when I turn from a phoenix into a swan during the dance, I ask with a raised eyebrow." "Yep the costume will be hidden behind the banner on the wall all you have to do is put ur water spiral collum up by it and change and everything should go well without a problem, Antonio says calmly as he sets his glass on the table." "Well come on I came over early to help decorate so let do this thing, I say as I regain my hyper positivity." Thanks to my steam clouds I'm able to get the higher decoration hung and decorating the walls goes by faster then if we had to wait for a ladder to be brought out and with my magic I'm able to turn the fire in the main fireplace from its normal reddish orange into purple to give more of a witchy haunted feel.———————————————————————
Eventually, all the decorations are in their respective places and so I look at the time and see we have roughly an hour to get changed before guests start to arrive. I frantically run up the stairs and hunt down my phoenix costume. "Your outfit is on my bed with mine so chill out we have an hour we only need a few minutes to get everything on so let's get washed up first and then we can get changed, Antonio says as he puts a hand on my shoulder." I just take a deep breath and calm down realizing he is right about how long we have so I collect my outfit and warrior-like knee-high boots and accessories from his room and bring it to the spare room he always has available to me.———————————————————————
I then get undressed and slide into the shower and let the steamy water hammer down on me and relax my body, I make sure to get every inch of my hair and body clean and smelling nice as I wanted to really make a good impression on everyone. I soon enough get out of the shower and dry off before finally getting dressed in my costume. I check my costume in the mirror and adjust the fake feathers accordingly, I then look around for my mask realizing I must have left it in Antonio's room. ———————————————————————
As I'm about to open my door a knock comes from the other side so I open it to see Antonio in his costume and he is holding my mask in one of his hands. "You really look amazing in that outfit dude I can tell just by the flame shapes and fake feathers your theme." Antonio says happily as I take my mask from him and slide it over my face. I walk down the stairs before my friend and already some guests have arrived early including Gray, I get nervous as my boots touch solid flooring, Antonio just takes my hand and we walk over to the ice mage who was just walking into the ballroom. "Gray so glad you decided to join the party I believe this is who you're looking for, Antonio says pointing his thumb at me." ———————————————————————
"Thanks for the invite and wait...Seth? Is that you? Gray says in surprise." "Yeah um hi thanks again for agreeing to this, I say nervously." "You don't need to hide behind a mask come on take that thing off and keep it off all night, Gray says to me and so I just inwardly start to feel warm from how surprisingly nice it is to hear that from him." I do as I'm told and remove the mask and just hand it to Antonio as to tell him to get rid of the swan mask as well. Antonio and his mother go meet all their guests and soon Lady Marianne comes over to where Gray and I are. ———————————————————————
"Lady Marianne a pleasure to see you once again, I say as I bow my head." "Seth, I know you were put into formal etiquette from a young age but as I told you last we met you don't need to bow to me and you must be Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail I've heard a lot about you from both Seth and my son Antonio it's nice to meet you, Lady Marianne says as she looks at us. "Oh, I hope they were good things being spoken Lady Bartell and it's a nice to meet you as well, Gray says as he meets my moms best friend." "I assure you they were all good things my son has been a big fan of your guild for a long time and even was in the crowd in the stadium the time you won the grand magic games, Lady Marianne says as she talks to the ice mage." ———————————————————————
"How has Seth been in the guild lately Lady Marianne asks Gray as she continues to just be fascinated in having a conversation with him." "Well he is good at deducing clues and he is quite powerful and yet if his emotions take over he is quite scary good he even protected me and the rest of the team from a dark guild team though he passed out shortly afterward, Gray says calmly to our host." "Yes I have seen his emotion-based take-over magic and it's quite surprising but at least he is able to control it so that's good to know." Lady Marianne says as she looks at us before excusing herself to go meet with other guests.———————————————————————
I step out onto the patio to let the cool winds settle my mind as without the mask I feel my nerves starting to get the better of me. I then hear footsteps from behind me. "I know you have a good handle of your magic but you never told me how you found out you had magic Gray says as he stands beside me as he looks at the sky." "My mom was a card mage kinda like Cana she was known as the one hand wonder and could defeat her targets with a single hand of cards, I found my control of water and liquids out as I was helping mom with her garden as a child, I noticed that some of the flowers had dry soil so I ran to get water from a nearby fountain and yet as I approached the fountain the water in it parted, when I whipped my body around to call my mom over that caused the water to whip over my shoulder, with enough will on my part I controlled it enough to water the flowers, I say as I look over at the nearby fountain." ———————————————————————
"Did you always have take-over magic Gray asked?" "No, it's something that first surfaced a few years after moms passing and I was still living at home, I couldn't help but cry and scream she and I were so close together that losing her was the hardest thing to get over, But I told myself to keep my chin up and stay as chipper as I could and she would want me to live with joy and happiness in my heart and memories of her, She always felt happy at seeing me always smiling when I was a little kid, I say as I look over to the pathway to the private gardens the Bartells built in her memory." "Oh alright then sorry for bringing that up, Gray says in regret." "It's fine it's a memory all the same anyway let's head in I think dinners about ready, I say with a more upbeat tone."