Crowvette

Royal Rumble!

Lise scratched her head as she watched the showdown unfold before her. She had barely managed to learn the names of her classmates, so she was fairly lost at all the new faces currently squaring up before her. However, Andreim gave her the impression that they were dangerous enough to warrant keeping a guard up. Lise summoned two maids to her side, just in case, and studied the situation.

"What should we do about this...?" Lise muttered to no one in particular. It seemed fairly simple at first, Kath being angry at the man. But then someone else appeared from thin air and appeared to have created a three-way crossfire. Or something like that. 'If a fight actually broke out right now, I don't think I'd know what to actually do. Staying close to Kath would burn, and I'm not sure what the other two are doing, or what their abilities are, at all. I should just follow Andreim's lead.' Lise was glad that she finally found someone able to recognize her status as royalty - Andreim proved to be a trustworthy guard so far. Trusting him for this fight seemed like a safe move.

Royal Rumble!

Lise peeked out from behind Andreim, quickly scanning the room. Nothing spooky anymore. She let out a sigh of relief.

Lise's face burned red. 'How embarrassing, freezing up like that! How can I call myself the team's undeniable queen if I lose my composure like this in front of them?!' She sneaked a look at her team members that were left in the room. None of them seemed to have noticed her freeze, instead focusing on the... person? Lise wasn't paying the best attention, but she remembered someone saying the name Vittorio.

"Don't worry, Lady Valois-Saint-Remy. I will take care of any hinderances ahead." Andreim said to her. It was at that moment, when Lise's embarrassed gaze met with Andreim's, that Lise became acutely aware that she was still gripping his arm. In addition, she was pretty close to him overall. Had she ever been this close to anyone? Especially a boy?! How did she not notice until now?

"T-That's very good A-Andreim." Lise stammered, letting go and quickly taking a step back. Taking a few quick breaths and clearing her throat, she continued. "It's natural to clear the way for the royalty, after all! Let's move after Katherine."

Mana-Script Academy: Alteration

What are the other four races? It could be interesting.

Royal Rumble!

Lise heard everyone agreeing to move up distantly. She was in her thoughts as she ascended the staircase. 'Should I recruit some people to train group fighting? Who would be good for that... If I tell them to join my royal guard, I'm sure they'll go for it-'

Lise was snapped out of her thoughts as she softly bumped into Andreim, who was walking ahead of her and had apparently stopped. Scanning the area, she realized that the entire party had stopped. She looked over the stances of everyone, trying to get a feel for what had happened. Lise internally berated herself for losing track of another situation. Her eyes settled on Katherine, who seemed to have stormed ahead, looking ready to fight, and in front of Kath...

Lise gripped Andreim's arm. She figured some place as shabby as this would have all sorts of strange things, but some part of her refused to accept the possibilities of ghosts. That part of her now had to deal with none other than a spectre appearing before her. Lise wasn't afraid of ghosts. She wasn't. Only children get scared at stuff like that. Children who lived seemingly alone in a giant, empty manor, waited on mainly by faceless shadows taking the form of domestic servants. Children who explored the empty halls at night, walking through the oppressive stares of countless dead family members' portraits, each one with canvas-white skin and lifeless eyes that seemed to follow you as you tiptoed down the dark hallways, trying to find your room using only the sliver of moonlight coming from a faraway window.

But she wasn't afraid. She summoned a shadow servant, in a totally-not-afraid manner, as she clutched Andreim's arm. The servant stood at the ready for any potential attack.

Royal Rumble!

Lise crossed her arms. "I'm ready. Though... I wasn't sure what I expected to run into out here. Giant cats? What kind of apartment is this?"

The threat was dealt with fairly quickly. Lise knew that as a group they would be able to handle single targets well, but she didn't consider the interactions of the different powers, which made the fight more complex than she would have imagined at first. She had to admit that she didn't consider having to maneuver her shadows amongst friendlies until recently.

This most recent fight wasn't her first, but she had to admit she was fairly inexperienced. She wasn't the type to normally spend time worrying about her place, considering she was always at the top, but perhaps she will have to practice more with a group to fully understand fighting. Lost in her own thoughts, she absentmindedly pondered the power dynamics of her team. She didn't even notice Andreim's subtle offer of his arm to her.

Royal Rumble!

Lise was cursing her poor luck at encountering enemies when, ironically, nothing other than a giant cat pounced down from the top of the stairs. The previous wave of banter forgotten, she saw her other teammates spring into action. Lise admittedly did not have the most honed of combat reflexes, nor did she commonly deal with wild beasts - let alone ones that seemingly have crawled out of Hell itself, so she definitely couldn't spring into action as quickly as all the others.

Ignoring her normal theatrics of speaking in her royal tongue, she called two shadow servants between her and the demon cat. They stood in position, ready to take advantage of an opening on the enemy, or protect her if it decided to come towards her.

Royal Rumble!

Lise let out a light laugh. "Indeed. I plan on raising the bar around this place, after all." She knew full and well that Laurels could do for some improvement, considering the defeat that the leader had suffered not too long ago.

"How short is too short anyhow? Having servants dressing you usually huh?" Andreim spoke out again. "Ahh? Erhm. Oh nevermind!" He bowed respectfully.

Lise cocked her head, thinking. "I personally believe that anything higher than the knees is too short. Like my tutor once said, 'Ladies require all the protection they can get.' And as for servants dressing me... Well, it was more necessary when I was wearing more intricate clothing. With typical afternoon manor wear, there are many pieces that have to be put on, in a specific order... If there is any benefit to these modern clothes-" she adjusted the sleeves of her blouse, "They are much more easy to wear."

Lise strode confidently to the next door, the form of a shadow butler appearing to her side. "You've proven yourself capable, Andreim, so I will allow you to witness my powers firsthand. Serviteur, en avant!" With a flourish, Lise waves the shadow through. The servant nodded, and burst through the door.

Lise was expecting the sound of fighting, maybe crashing against furniture, some splintering of wood. After several seconds of silence, her expression soured slightly and she turned to look into the room. Though the room was gross, there were no enemies in it at all. "I-I see that my reputation precedes me. Those cowardly imps must have fled upon the sound of my voice." She stammered, slightly embarrassed at the anticlimax.

Striding into the next room and summoning a shadow maid, and nodding to her, Lise prepared once again by clearing her throat. "Now, we shall slay any unsightly beasts in this next room!" she shouted, as the maid kicked the door open.

The door opened at the end of a hallway, next to the stairs, where Lise now could see her other Laurels teammates - Samoth, Cyan, Cassius, and Katherine. As Lise surveyed the situation, the shadow maid deemed the situation clear, and returned to Lise's shadow. "...Ahem. It seems that this room, too, is clear. Hello, teammates." Lise meekly said, trying to keep her composure for dynamically entering rooms without enemies in it twice in a row.

The door, smashed thoroughly by the shadow maid, creaked off of its hinges and fell to the ground in two pieces.

Royal Rumble!

Lise studied the actions of her partner intently, as he dispatched the imps within the room. Luckily, he didn't protest about going first first - though, why would he? He's clearly some type of gentleman.

Lise raised an eyebrow at his attacks. Though to her, they seemed rather brutish, they were indeed effective. Although these opponents were so below them that they might as well be worms underground, it was still no time for playing around. She eyed Andreim as he finished the remaining two imps off.

"Ah.. uh.. I mean it's the natural thing to do." Andreim stammered. Lise thought she had heard something before that, but he murmured it too low for her to pick up. Lise wasn't exactly sure how to respond. There was a brief silence, before Andreim started again. "You have a nice skirt." Lise was caught off guard by that. She wasn't too sure what passed for in-vogue fashion in this city, but she did remember that she looked distinctly out of place with her original Victorian attire. She absentmindedly touched the fabric of her past-knee-length skirt, remembering how she stumbled around a modern clothes store until she found a few outfits that would blend in better.

But this man was clearly in-the-know about fashion, if he would go out of his way to compliment specific parts of her outfit. "Do you think so? I admit that I usually leave my clothing selection to my servants, but here in the city it seems that dressing yourself is popular." Lise did a twirl, giving a 360 degree view of her outfit to her partner. "It relieves me that you think so. Lots of the other girls at this school seem to adopt skirts that are far too short to be considered proper. Perhaps my clothing will be a beacon of decency to others." She returned a confident smile to Andreim as her hair and skirt settled from her impromptu twirl.

Royal Rumble!

Lise walked behind her partner, thinking. She wasn't exactly sure what to say, or talk about, as they stepped towards the ghost apartment. Her lessons in being a hostess didn't really apply to the current situation. At the same time, it wasn't right to have a hanging silence. She noticed that Andreim wore gloves - maybe that was a talking point. 'What am I thinking... Gloves? Really?' Lise sighed. Maybe her charge could pick up the conversation despite Lise's lack of speaking topics.

As they reached the door to the building, Lise had another thought: What was her partners' abilities? She hadn't been keeping the best track of Laurels students. If anything, she was just now getting used to living outside of her manor, she hadn't had much time to study the people of Laurels. 'I can't just ask him, it'd be rude...' Lise tossed on the tumultuous waves of her own thoughts.

Lise put on a polite smile. "I'll let you take the first room, Andreim." It was the perfect move. He would demonstrate his ability by clearing the room, and she wouldn't have to ask what his powers were. Lise grinned to herself. She truly was the best. Simply the best.

Royal Rumble!

Lise opened one eye after Andreim's enthusiastic reply, scanning the party. Though she was expecting more, the fact that the only polite one there (other than perhaps Cyan) spoke up was probably as good as she would get from this group.

The others quickly formed their own teams and shuffled off, but not before Cyan whispered an advisory remark to Lise: "Be careful." Lise internally rolled her eyes. To think that of all people, Cyan was concerned about her! At the same time, she felt a pang of regret at her initial reaction. Cyan probably was showing concern as a friend. After all, they were friends, right?

Ignoring her rather un-confident thoughts, Lise strode over to Andreim confidently. "So. Shall we?" She said, folding her parasol and stowing it in her bag.

@Dezuel