All Hallow's Eve is finally here. A parade, Ball, special guests, and even the concert awaits tonight under the full moon!

Part 5: I Put a Spell on You

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"You wish to cause harm to both humans and ghosts~?"

"You're more foolish than we believed!"

"They won't go away!!!"

The two girls clung to one another in fright a the ghost trio circled them.

"Don't fret, my dears! We have a gift for you!"

"A-A gift?"

"Yes~! You will spend eternity with us for the rest of your days!!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" and they sped off into the night.

"Nyahaha....hahahahaha!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! We got rid of them all!" Grim cackled.

"Well then it seems you gave us a run for our money." Vil chuckled.

"Not as bad as we believed..." Jade murmured.

"But we did our part, thankfully!" Cater finished.

Then, the clocktower chimed the tolls, the hands pointing respectively at the 10, the small hand, and 12, the big hand.

"Attention: today's Hallo-week event is over! Thank you for visiting the campus, please make your way to the exit." the overhead blares across the grounds.

"Wow, 10pm already? Time flies..."

"Tomorrow shall be Halloween."

"And we've still the decision of the faculty..." Cater muttered. "To host or not and keep the gates open on campus for the party..."

"We did what we could to drive them away." Vil nods tiredly. "Now we must await the jury's decision."

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-Halloween-

"Unbelievable..." Crowley stared in awe.

"Do it again! Do it again!" one child squealed.

"As you wish!" Lilia smiled. "Shut your eyes and..." Suddenly, his forms changed as he went from right-side up to upside down. "Rargh! I'm a dragon who'll devour little children!" he smiled. "Are you scared?"

But the little boy laughed til his sides hurt. "No! You're too silly!"

"Oho? Then let me see if I can really scare you~!"

"Father, no!" Silver bites.

"He's a child, for Pete's sake!" Sebek ran hand through his hair exasperated.

"What? It's not like I'm going to scar him for life." Lilia looks at them in defeat.

"Don't mind him, sweetie." Charlie knelt down beside the little boy with a smile, the red cape fluttering behind her and settling down like a curtain. She looked refreshed and revitalized after the horrors of yesterday. Her hair had obtained its shine and bounce as before, her eyes sparkled brighter than ever, no sign of tiredness after a nice long sleep, and her skin was healthy with a beautiful glow. She had removed the claw mark makeup from her face for the final day, and ditched her weapons after Malleus convinced her not to go after the Headmaster's head a second time. But Malleus would be lying to himself if he said he didn't feel the tiniest bit scared when he found that she tried to actually kill the headmaster. How he convinced her remained a mystery, even to himself.....

Instead, she had her wicker basket as before, filled with cake batter-flavored cookies, which the boy chewed one with happiness. "So you're liking Halloween?"

"Yes, Ma'am! It's my first time here!" he nods.

"Hahaha! Well, that's such a good thing to hear then!" Lilia laughed as he snuck another cookie from the basket behind Charlie's back and began to nibble on it.

"I'm sorry, but you want a picture with me?" Malleus asked

"Yea! You're costume is amazing! It can be memento of sorts." the guy nods.

"Well then....you seem to be very brave, asking me to take a picture." Malleus mused. "You dare step into a dragon's territory....if you're fine with being burnt to ash, then step closer! ...... you're too stiff...why aren't you laughing?" Malleus muttered to himself, "I'm doing my best dragonic imitation, but it's not working....am I not that good?" Charlie overheard his predicament and started to hide her snickers behind her hands over her mouth.

"W-Wait, you were joking?! I thought I'd get burnt to a crisp for real!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Do I look like the kind of being to do something horrible like that?"

But his response caused Charlie to start crying out tears of laughter.

"Very well. Let's do so."

"Thanks!"

"Line up for a pic with the ghosts!"

Two twin sisters step up front. "Awesome!"

"Which pose should we try for our scrapbook?"

"If you want a pose, let me help you out!" Grim steps up and makes his trademark pose, making the girls squeal and call him cute. "Uh, no, that's supposed to be cool.... Ah who cares?! Better than getting chased by a mob!"

"The monsters are nowhere to be found....' Trein looked around.

"It's all just guests and students...." Crewel nodded stiffly.

"Well, it's a nice change for once!" Sam laughed.

"And after looking around the other venues, the others are peaceful as well!" Vargas finished.

"The campus is peaceful once more!" Crowley sighed happily. But then, something came over him. "Teachers, tell the committee to come to the lecture hall at once.....we've something to discuss."

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The main committee was called in. Lilia was worried she and the Ghosts couldn't handle the venue on their own, but Charlie reassured them they'd be okay. There were no more monsters running rampant and she was sane after sleep and Malleus helping her out. Plus, she still needed to make a few tweaks to her concert setup at the last second.

"Good morning and Happy Halloween, everyone!" Crowley greets. "As you all know, today is the final day of Hallo-week and the night of the ball. And yesterday, i told everyone that I'd look through the conditions on deciding whether or not the party shall be cancelled. I had a possible thought that hosting the party through the chaos would be impossible. Many more monsters would show up and cause a travesty! And the campus would fall to pieces at the swarm! However, after looking around, there's not a single monster spotted! It's amazing how the campus became so peaceful in just one day! How did this even happen?"

"We, too, are surprised as you are." Jade nods.

"Yea! What in the world happened?" Cater feigned ignorance. Which set off a bi of a warning bell in the teacher's heads.

"Are all of you really unaware of how this came to be?" Trein asked.

"Y-Yes sir!" Epel answered.

"We had so much on our hands we didn't have time to catch wind of the events!" Deuce adds. "Right, Jack?"

"Y-Yea! What he said!" The three first years shared forced smiles, making the red flags wave furiously.

"You're acting rather suspicious...." Trein narrowed his eyes. But he shook his head. "But since they're gone, there's no reason to do what we originally planned."

"That is right." Crowley nods. "The Halloween Party is still on for tonight!"

And everyone cheered.

"Huh...the pups are acting so giddy....silence! Don't celebrate so early!" crewel snaps.

"He's right." Vargas steps in. "We can't act up now just because the party's not getting shut down!"

"We've still more guests to welcome when they arrive! It'll be hard work!" Sam adds. "They're looking forward to it....they're the guests of honor, remember that!"

"And don't forget to keep your venues for the stamp rally in check til the end! And with that, our final meeting is adjourned!"

"Diamond-senpai! I'll take over for you!" Deuce smiled. But he lost it. "Oh, wait! I need to tell Charlie and Grim the news!"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it!" Cater winked. "I mean, we did drag them into this mess in the first place, and if it wasn't for Charlie's help, we'd have our gooses' cooked!"

"Thank you!...I hope Charlie's concert is spell-bounding!"

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"The party's still on?" Charlie gasped.

"YAAAAAAAAAY!!!" The ghosts cheer.

"Food, here I come!" Grim cheers. "Charlie, get the tupperwares! We're getting leftovers!"

"We're doing no such thing, you!" she threatened sweetly. "Besides, I've got better things to deal with than your needs for food. And that's my concert! Plus, with you and the Music Club involved!"

"Totally!" Cater smiled. He convinced Charlie beforehand that he, Kalim and Lilia would do a one-hour session of live performing since technically, it was tradition for them. And they will perform with her. Which she agreed to!

"But before we get to that, as well as your costume, there's one last thing." Vil steps in, taking Charlie's hand in his.

"Wha?! Work again?!" Grim groaned.

"But if you don't want to then no feast for you!" Jade grinned.

"Grrrr....what is it? Wash the dishes? Arrange tables and chairs? What?!"

But their smiles only grew.

"Yea, now you're making me uncomfortable...." Grim backs up.

"It's not what you may think it is." Vil laughed and began to escort Charlie out of the building, the others following.

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Outside at the front gates, everyone was gathered.

"Come on!" Cater took Charlie's hand in his and led her to the front of a parade float. "Good thing you've got your basket!" he snaps his fingers and all sorts of sweets and candy filled it to the brim.

"Wait, we're in a small parade?" she asked.

"Yes. This is our final gift to the guests who've celebrated the week with us!" Vil confirmed. "To your places! We're starting!"

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

With a flash of light, everyone was decked out in their costumes and began to show off to the crowds along the street.

The Ghost led the show, following them were Diasomnia, Scarabia, Savanaclaw and Ignihyde.

Charlie was leading the second half, which included Heartslabyul, Octavinelle and Pomefiore, and a giant float with all the venue themes meshed into one. The only thing that changed for her was her red hood, the train now longer by a few meters and wider so that it kissed the ground as she walked or even ran forward.

The small children in the crowd gazed and smiled at her as she waved and tossed candy out to the open hands in the crowd. She sent a few air kisses and winks, making the crowd go wild.

"It's official! Halloween is awesome!" Grim shouts, hopping up and down from his place on the float.

"What made you change your mind?" she wonders as she lifts herself up onto the float and sits on the railing, dangling her legs over the edge, swinging them back and forth like a kid.

"Well, after all that fiasco with the magicamonsters, I thought we'd be done for....but it seems there's something great at the end of the rainbow!"

"I told you: we'd save the best for last!" Vil nods to them. "As chairman of the event for the year, I'd never let anything be repeated in the past years! and this parade was one of our greatest! And we also wanted all of you to be included since you're one of the highlights of the year."

"Well, we appreciate the opportunity." Charlie smiled.

"Oh yea, when'd you have time to prepare all this shtick?" Grim threw in.

"Shtick? You must mean the float." Jade seemed confused a first.

"We had time to squeeze it on while we were getting ready last month!" Cater answered. "This, the party, the venues and costumes, we didn't even have time to calculate the budget! Jade insisted on running the bills! But then again, it'd be next to impossible to stay in between restrictions on money when it comes to us....I still wonder how he did it?!"

"It wasn't that difficult. Just a bit of arithmetic I took note from Charlotte's notes in alchemy." Jade smiled.

"YOU LOOKED AT MY NOTES, YOU ASSHAT?!"

"Other than that, we've had such an increase in guest arrivals this year....and due to their generosity, they sponsored us to do something to send off the Holiday with a bang! And thus, their surprise! Not to mention, we got input on the design from public polls. their opinions mattered in the end."

"Thankfully, the others took this off my hands since i was too busy focused on the fittings." Vil sighed in relief.

"#NRCPowerhouse!" Cater cheered.

"And we're glad to have had you with us for the first tie this year. You've fulfilled your duty in making my beauty impervious!"

"So what next after this?" Grim asks.

"Party time!!!!" Charlie sang.

"Oh yes! And Charlotte?" Vil asks when her attention was on him. "It's ready."

She let out a gasp, then a squeal. "Yay!!! I'm gonna look smokin!"

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Vil took her by the hand and escorted her backstage when the parade ended.

"We've gone over the final details and everything is in order." Vil assures her. "So....are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be...." she wished.

"Close your eyes. We can't have the surprise ruined." he orders. She does as commanded. Vil snaps his fingers sharply and fast.

Charlie felt her clothes shifting. It almost felt like she was moving inside a felt inner tube of sorts.....

"Now twirl!"

She spun on the ball of her foot and let out a ballet-esque spin, the skirts flying and her hood floating.

But....the skirts felt longer, silkier, and the hood was.....

She stopped her twirl when she lost momentum.

"Okay...." a minute of silence. "And open!"

A floor-length mirror popped up in front of her, showing what a month's work paid off from.

He had done a beautiful Smokey eye composed of ashen black and snowy white shadows, a sharp gel lined wing, touch of mascara, and white glitter under the wing, spreading out. Light blush and clear lipgloss to finish.

"Whoa...." She whispered.

"Yes, I know." Vil paralleled his head to hers to smile at his work done.

But what really caught her eyes and her childlike glee was....the dress itself.....

Strapless white ballgown, feathers pinned to the bodice, layers, embezzled with pearls and beaded strands. A cape as pure white snow breezed behind, giving her a regal air.

Charlie felt my mouth drop open.

"What in the...." She didn't know what else to say at this point. But stare at the mirror in shock, taking in all the details of the gown.

"I told you she wouldn't like it!!!" Epel whispered frantically.

"Now, Milady, I know what you're thinking, and if you wish, we could-"

"I love it...." She whispered faintly.

"What was that?" Rook shook his head in disbelief.

"I...love it..." She began to smile happily, and started cheering, "I love it, I love it, I love it! Look at this! The skirt is beautiful, and the jewels and feathers are gorgeous! I really love it!" She kept my grin up, feeling the silky material of the skirts slip between her fingers.

"I knew you would." Vil smiled and took her hands in his, leading her carefully off the pedestal and the floor-length vanity mirror.

Something slipped on her feet and she looked down to see white jeweled flats peeking from under the skirt's edge.

Vil also curled her hair into gentle spirals, plus brushed them out to soften them, and swept it up into a high pinned updo, leaving a few tendrils to frame her face, and braided a section that draped over her head like a headband.

Rook has contributed by pinning in a few dove feather hairpieces to the updo (he made sure they were clean (how he did that and where he got them we don't want to know....).), and of course a special costume tiara.