Twas the beginning of the festivities in Reverie Cathedral, in the Celestial Hall. The guests were arriving, great and small. The tables were laid out with a sumptuous feast, with drinks and refreshments as well as seasonal treats. The glistening walls made of gemstones were decorated with garlands and wreaths of holly, ivy, and branches of evergreen. The floral fragrance of pine along with spruce was accompanied with snowdrops and amaryllis too. She was dressed in her best, a flowing silk gown with ruffled sleeves and a lace collared cloak. The hood of the cloak was lined with soft furs, and the light from the fixtures made the rosy tones of her dress stand out more clearly. She had an array of flower-shaped pins and some faux hellebores in her hair with gold and pearl earrings. The chill from the high elevation made her thankful for bringing gloves. 

The lady alchemist was in a hurry, with a look of concern on her face. Briskly walking in and out of the crowd she tried to spot a particular red velvet cap lined with white fur. "…Where did she run off to? I knew I should've placed some sort of locator. A simple enchanted pin to her clothes would've sufficed." Politely approaching the dancers, she asked various couples if they had seen a small girl in red with short black hair that reached past her ears. "Excuse me, but have you seen a child about this tall wearing fake antlers and a red cap? It's velvet and the end has a puff of white fur. Oh, I see…Thank you anyway." Normally this wouldn't be an issue since Professor Ryou loved social gatherings, however she had failed to keep an eye on her after leaving her at the buffet table and she returned to find her former teacher missing.

The options she was running through her mind weren't very pleasant. Had she been kidnapped? No, not likely. Too many witnesses and the professor would've gotten away. Perhaps she ran off to explore the rest of the settlement? Again, not very possible as the arcanist had a very low tolerance for tedium. Once she saw all a place had to offer, she'd quickly find something else as entertainment. Frankly there was no reason why she wouldn't still be in here, so why on Revaliir was she so hard to pin down?

Rather exasperated, she sighed and put a hand to her face. By the Conclave, who knew what that mischievous imp of a mage was up to now? She had to think. What if there were clues that she had missed? Recalling what had taken place up until this very moment, Liselotte remembered her professor became exceptionally excited at the sight of the food on display. In fact, it was because of that unusual enthusiasm that the alchemist thought it was fine to leave the oni by herself. She'd thought the food would keep her here until she had come back. But in less than ten minutes the arcanist had disappeared again. "Gods above, where is she? I look away for one moment and she's nowhere to be seen."

It was hard for Eden to leave the Cradle… not because of the roads, but because of all the white they kept calling "snow" was rough on her feet, and considering the miles she harmed her feet in before, it would be rough for her to get out. Luckily, the winged people were willing to house her and tend to her as she recovered her toes… Then again, they also asked her for some work in return. While she was not much one for people work, she was a major hand in chopping wood and fending off wild animals from the people. All in all leading to the event currently happening.

While the room was filled with much more properly dressed folk, Eden was still in her small kimono-ish garb, trimmed up to grant her a warrior's realm of movement with the fancy cloth. Then again, Eden could not help but question how people would wear such expanding clothes and not trip over them. Their movements were also very odd, working around each other to the noise in the room… Many things unfamiliar to her, leading her to the one thing she was: food and drinks.

While the smell of the ales bugged her nose as she sniffed each one, one of them caused her to step back and growl at it… It had the hate of the ale, but alongside with something more sinister… what it was, she had no idea, but her nose at least said it would be problematic to consume.

Out of nowhere, a small figure in blazing red began parading around with a large platter holding the head of a roast pig. A juicy apple was stuck in its mouth, and the girl herself was singing as loud as her voice could allow. "The booooar's head in hand bear I, bedecked with bays and rosemaryyyy! And I pray you, my masters be merry–quot estis in conviviooooo!" Then picking up from where she stopped, a group of carolers continued without missing a beat. "Caput apri defero, reddens laudes Domino!" Skidding to a stop before a bearded elderly scholar, she grinned and the man put a tin of nougat on the platter she was holding over her head. Giving her a smile, the old professor decided to play along and sang the next verse broadly. "The boar's head, as I understand; is the rarest dish in all this land! Which thus bedecked with a bay garland, let us servire cantico!"

A chorus of trumpets blared as a small group joined the carolers and broke into song, all while the girl in red marched around with the pig head on the platter. It was a curious sight, both festive and frivolous. "Mints! Free mints for all! Have one, have two!" She tossed the candies in her bag out into the crowds like a person throwing seeds to the pigeons. They were unusual as they looked like red and white goldfish. From the crowd, a noblewoman in a pink silk and satin dress emerged and began to haul her away. "There you are! Goodness, you almost gave me a scare again! Where have you been all this time professor? …You've been drinking haven't you? How many cups of that wine did you have?" Myouga pushed the platter off onto someone else while she hugged the skirt of the woman's dress. "Liiiise~ You're here! I got so bored waiting for you! Look, Nick's here too! Hiya Nick!" She waved, clearly tipsy from her erratic and silly behavior. Not that she wasn't normally silly, but today she was especially so after a few dozen cups of mulled wine and a few glasses of cider.

"Ehehehe…holidays are the best!" She said, quieting down. In her carelessness, a few goldfish shaped mints spilled onto the floor from her bag. The alchemist raised an eyebrow and picked one off the floor. "Professor Ryou, what are these?" The arcanist looked at what she held in her hand. "Hmm? Oh, they're mints!" "Yes I know that, but what did you use to make them?" The small oni gave a goofy grin and replied. "Sugar…and mint!" "Professor…" The half-elf's voice was stern now. She then sighed as the mage was clearly in no state to give her a straight response. "Awww, don't be mad Lise! They're just candy–honest!" 

The smell rang strong in her nose at the drink, eyes peering down into the liquid to see few small, solid shapes inside rested on the bottom of the serving glass, watching them shrink down as they broke apart in the liquid. Whatever they were, they gave off a strong smell that flooded her nose as it mixed with the burning ales. However, the more she took in the scent, the more her focus seemed to have been distracted… The scent itself had become much more scattered… There was a path to them… to an ending concentration.

Taken by the scent's trail, Eden was quick to follow the trail down, interrupting a couple dancers as they flowed with the music before through the band of bards that were playing until she encountered the source of the scent, her nose retching back from the small scent of the items on her surrounding her body. Still, it did not stop her from giving an audible growl at the little one. After all, the scents matched and the drink itself did not feel safe.

"Professor, what else did you put in there?" Picking up the small oni she held her up by her waist, so they could see eye to eye. Professor Ryou was too drunk to squirm her way out of Liselotte's grasp and just wriggled around like a worm plucked from the earth. She flopped over, like a doll. As exasperated as she was, the half-elf wasn't letting her former teacher get out of this one. She'd hold her here for as long as it'd take until the woman was sober enough to have information squeezed out of her. By the gods, who knew what was in these innocently bright-colored candies? Not that Professor Ryou would be the type to poison people, but anything classified as a food item made by a person who could not cook to save her life should be considered suspect.

It was then that a beastkin woman made her entrance. She came in, hackles raised and growling at them. Liselotte looked at the woman and followed her gaze. With how dodgy Professor Ryou had been on disclosing the goldfish mints' ingredients, it was easy for the alchemist to jump to conclusions. "Ah…hello. Do you have business with this particularly naughty little mage?" Shaking the arcanist lightly she turned to her. "Well Professor? What do you have to say for yourself? What exactly have you been doing with these 'mints'?" She produced a small bottle of smelling salts, something she had on hand for emergencies. But never did she expect to use it to temporarily sober up a drunk person. Sticking the opened bottle beneath Professor Ryou's nose, the mage began to writhe as the smell was displeasing to her. "Mrrrghhh! Mrgnnnnn! It smeeeells–" Swatting the bottle away, the oni flailed sloppily.

"I'm going to keep this up until you confess. I suggest you hurry." The half-elf woman demanded. After repeatedly waving it in front of her drunk professor, the mage finally gave in. "Ok…fiiiine. I just gave 'em out to everybody–yup. I gave 'em out before you came back, after rinking–hic! Er, drinking a buncha cider… Then I started tossing 'em up in the air and the kiddies were running after 'em. Ohh riiight~ I hid some of 'em around the place as a surprise present for…for everybody!" The arcanist then yawned as she slumped to one side. Liselotte sighed loudly as she set the sleeping mage down. That meant whatever was in these candies were now everywhere. "I knew I shouldn't have left you without supervision…There's no way I can properly analyze whatever you put in those mints here. And better yet, thanks to your 'generosity' retrieving them all will be nigh impossible."