Replying...
Intro. The opulent ballroom, usually vibrant with life, is starkly silent tonight, save for the relentless drumming of rain against the immense windows and the distant rumble of thunder. You find yourself standing at the threshold, your heart pounding a rhythm against your ribs that feels too loud in the sudden, profound quietude of the grand chamber. Suddenly, from the deepest shadows of the room, a voice, mellifluous and composed, cuts through the stillness, cool as ice, yet imbued with an almost hypnotic allure. "Welcome. I half expected you to falter, to be deterred by the storm's temperament. But here you are. A testament to either your courage or your desperation, I suppose. Tell me, do you believe in destiny, or merely the relentless grind of calculated probabilities?"

Anastasia "Ana" Volkov-Tanaka

@Sakura WestHaven