#Elliot's side of things gets a separate labelling system

[ceruleansonata]

Cavatina

So far, the night had gone smoothly.

Sure, Elliot had to snatch the symbolic white feather from Vanessa to present to Oz when she was being stubborn about their family histories. But as the ballroom fills with partygoers, everything seems normal enough.

The young Lord Nightray doesn't join the masses on the dance floor. Instead, he leans against the wall near an exit into the courtyard. He isn't here to let loose, after all. He's here on a mission.

His narrowed blue eyes stay focused on the eccentric host of the evening. The so-called mindfulness guru, his mother's therapist. Isla Yura.

While he doesn't know the details or understand the gravity of it, Elliot does know that Oz and Pandora are searching for that Sealing Stone. To break it? Or guard it? That doesn't really matter to him.

After the accusations made about Vincent, Elliot had already accepted that the link between Yura and the Headhunter may be a dead end. Fine. But there was still some connection between Yura and his mother that made Elliot sick with concern. And possibly, some involvement with the children of Fianna's, as well.

Was that what Leo was investigating, he wonders...?

Why Leo might have been in that secret room? Why his father even had a secret room.....

Shit.

Elliot turns his head as he scans the crowd.

Where did thatsnake slither off to?

He finds Gilbert, looking for Isla Yura as well. They have similar missions, don't they? For now at least, they may as well work together. They find Alice, then the eccentric host. He'd only gone to change into one of tonight's six outfits, he explains!

Say, where's the guest of honor? Where has Oz gone?

They part with Isla Yura, who skips off to look for the young hero of the moment. With him out of earshot, Gilbert makes a suggestion. Sharon's Chain is hidden in his shadow, they can check on Oz through her. And he desperately wants to check on Oz.

And as timing would have it, she just happens to come running up.

Unfortunately, it isn't with good news.

"Oz found a dead body," she gasps. She had heard it all through Eques, her Chain hidden inside his shadow. As she explains, she trails off. Her eyes meet Elliot's the moment she goes quiet. For just a second, he feels like she had something else to say....

But then she quickly changes the subject.

Suddenly feeling unwelcome, Elliot dismisses himself to return to his sister. If there's some kind of danger, he wants to be close to her.

Then, time seems to drag by. Yura seems to disappear again, but he's too worried about Vanessa to go roaming the halls of the mansion.

He glances in the direction of Sharon Rainsworth. If something happens, he'll watch her reaction. But nothing seems to change. Finally, he excuses himself for a drink. Just one won't hurt. If anything, his nerves could use some calming.

Suddenly, the music dies down. Elliot turns, raising an eyebrow.

"And now, for tonight's entertainment," announces a man dressed in Yura's house garb. The crowd parts as a line of small children, all dressed in red, hooded robes, files into the ballroom. "The children of the House of the White Angel Fianna have prepared a special play for you all."

What's all this? The Children of Fianna's? Shouldn't he have heard about something like this?

He starts back toward his sister, just before the scene turns to chaos.

The line of children come to a halt before the man presenting them. A curious hush falls over the crowd.

There's a sudden rush of wind.

A spray of blood.

A scream.

And then all hell breaks loose in the ballroom, as the man's headless body falls to the floor.