The Monster Mage

26

^^ Clawed Gauntlet ^^

I don't know why I expected the Gala to be uninterrupted.

I also didn't expect to go berserk when my dress was damaged.

But here we were, as I stood in the middle of a ruined Grand Hall, my dress in tatters and a sea of dead Elementals at my feet, each torn asunder and rendered nearly into mulch.

Just five or so hours ago, I had been excited to show Galatea my dress, my new hairstyle, my makeup, and the purple lingerie she still hadn't seen yet. I had planned a romantic little dinner of her favorite desserts and tons of whipped cream for smooching shenanigans, a couch covered in Purple Pansy's and Cosmos' and lavender blooms, mood lighting, the whole nine yards.

Then all this bullshit happened, and now I was covered in blood and heaving for breath in a blind rage, entirely and completely incensed.

At my feet was one in particular who I hadn't expected to ever fight again.

—

Galatea and I had worked it out so that we wouldn't see each other's dresses until the actual event, so we left each other and I went to get dressed in the Observatory.

We left at separate times, and met up perfectly at the two opposite sides of the grand staircase, descending towards each other.

She had returned to her fire-Elemental form, the light purple of her sleeveless dress accentuating the black-gold of her smoking skin and the red from her hair and her Runes; like Ciros, she had managed to wrangle her little rifts into proper Runes of strength and agility, as well as magical protection. Her dress was a delicate arrangement of purple scales, to the naked eye, but to my dragon's sight it blazed with protective spells of every kind under the sun.

She looked like a succubus, a gorgeous, breathtaking, deliciously sultry and yet delightfully pure enchantress, come to take me to the deepest of the nine hells and ravage me gently for eternity, and all she was missing was horns and wings. I told her so as soon as we reached each other, and smiled when her hair flared up brightly in its long braid form, the light reflecting off a string of bright magic crystals laced into the braid for decoration and also to power the protection Runes in her dress.

"Well... Thank you. You look like my opposite, then... a forest princess of ice and leaves, to whisk me away to some special meadow and teach me the ways of the forest. You're beautiful." She smiled gently, and laced our hands together.

"You flatter me, dear. But your outfit is missing just one thing..." I smiled and kissed her cheek, leaving a green kissmark on her cheekbone, protected by magic. "And for me?" I asked, as she examined the mark in a small hand-mirror.

"You're dreadfully insecure... but I can't say I mind very much." she smirked, and kissed me back, placing a purple mark on my cheek.

"Sorry." I mumbled, rubbing my fingers over her knuckles.

"As I said, I don't mind. I imagine you'll gain confidence at the same rate I'm getting better at faking it!" She whispered in my ear, then smiled kindly, before beginning to walk down the stairs, pulling me along with her.

The Gala was a formal affair, where families could mingle in a professional setting while also showing off the fashion skills of their clans; most clans weren't rich enough to buy their students fancy dresses like ours, and so they wore hand-made ones, which I made a point to admire, as the night began. They were all well-made, some even embroidered with designs, and I knew there was nothing better for your low Ego than for someone you respect or admire to give you a compliment about something you're insecure of, (provided you sounded sincere.) I explained my reasoning to Galatea after she started to get a tiny bit jealous, and she relaxed, joining me in my endeavors.