Magic Mishap

Violet smacked her lips together as she finished applying the red lipstick. She gave herself a smile as she took out her hair rollers, letting her wavy blonde hair rest just past her shoulders. She then got off her chair and walked over to the clothing rack, taking off her underwear. She grabbed the strapless red leotard and fishnet stockings, and put them on. She made adjustments to the leotard and then proceeded to put on her red heels and long gloves. Finally she completed her outfit with a small red top hat. Violet check herself out in the tall mirror, happy with her appearance then exited the dressing room.



“Ah good you're ready,” David was pleased to see Violet. He adjusted his red bow-tie and straightened out the tail of his penguin tuxedo. “Come I want to show you something before we start the show,” David grinned as he lead Violet backstage. “Ta-dah!” David motioned both arms towards two boxes. “So what do you think?”

“Why are there two...” Violet began though she realised the answer before she finished the question. “So who's the second person going to be?” She wasn't impressed.

“An audience member of course. The show's numbers have been down a bit lately, we need to spice things up.”

“I take it you're going to swap our lower halves? I mean just sawing two people in half isn't going add that much excitement,” Violet raised her eyebrows as she crossed her arms. David's silence confirmed her suspicions. “I'm not going to do it, David. This is way out of my comfort level, I don't want to have another woman's lower half, even if it's just temporary.”

“Actually...” David went to correct Violet's assumption but then decided better of it.



“Fuck no!” Violet snapped as that was enough to get where he was getting at. “I told after the rabbit incident, I'm not going to perform any more tricks that I don't feel comfortable with and if I'm not comfortable with swapping with another woman why the hell would I even entertain...” she put her arms up and went to walk away, not even wanting to finish this conversation.



“Violet, please,” David grabbed her arm and turned her back around. “I understand, that's why I wanted to check with you first.” He placed his hands on her bare shoulders and looked her directly in the eye. “You know me, I get carried away with my ideas, that's why I have you, to talk me out of these things. And once again I'm sorry about the rabbit incident, it's just that all the kids loved you and things got carried away.”



Violet rolled her eyes, she had heard that excuse a million times before. “Fine... I'll do the show, but no double sawing... ever. Now do you want my hair up or down?”



“Down, I'm not going to decapitate you tonight and don't worry about the rest of the show, I already anticipated you saying no, rest assured it's all tricks you've done before an are comfortable with,” David promised. “Now, time for the show to begin!” He clapped his hands together and vanished in a puff of smoke.



* * * * *


Chandler stood patiently at the booth as he waited for the ticket master to get to work. Chandler hadn't expected to get here so quickly, but because the bus he needed to catch was running a few minutes slow he managed to get on it straight after getting off the train. Now he had another thirty minutes to kill with nothing to do and he had already planned to be here early.



The ticket master walked past the booth and took a step back, noticing someone was already standing there. He sighed as he entered the booth and unlocked the window.

“One to see Maximilian the Magnificent please,” Chandler said politely.



The ticket master raised his finger indicating Chandler to wait as he logged onto the terminal. “You know the show doesn't start for another hour, right?”



“Yeah, sorry about that, the bus I caught was running late so I managed to catch it early,” Chandler apologised as he pulled out his wallet.



“That'll be twenty dollars,” the ticket master shrugged with disinterest as he took the money off Chandler. “I'm going to need to unlock the door for you,” the ticket master explained as he passed over the ticket and locked the window again.



Chandler waited as the ticket master got up and unlocked the front door, gesturing for Chandler to come in. “You can wait in the lobby or you can go straight to the second theatre if you want, it's all set up, they are just doing pre-show checks.” The ticket master gestured to some benches and down the hall. “The candy bar isn't opened yet.”



Not seeing much point in waiting in the lobby, Chandler decided to head straight to the theatre to secure his seat. When he entered the lights were all on and there was a man in a plain white shirt and some jeans walking around on stage. Even though he was wearing plain clothes his slick black hair and pencil moustache made Chandler recognise him as Maximilian instantly.



“So I bring the box out here and... oh? I wasn't expecting anyone so soon,” Maximilian turned to face Chandler. He then jumped off the stage and walked over to greet him.



“Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your rehearsal, I just didn't expect to be here so early. The ticket master said I could go right in,” Chandler explained.



“It's fine, I was just getting my barrings of the stage before I go on tonight. I'm Maximilian by the way,” Maximilian raised out his hand. Chandler eagerly shook his hand. “My, my, you seem to be the enthusiastic sort.”



“Sorry, I just love stage magic and I've seen some of your show on YouTube, I can't wait to watch you perform tonight,” Chandler said with glee.



“I'm glad you're a fan, and lucky for you, you got here early. I thought about grabbing a volunteer tonight and here you are before anyone else, so you've already made an impression. I can't really promise anything but if you're lucky, you might get a rather hands on experience with my assistant, Violet.” Maximilian gave a sly smile. “Now why don't you take a seat, anywhere in the front row will do. If you'll excuse me, I need to get dressed and run a few things by my assistant. Enjoy the show.”

Chandler couldn't believe his luck tonight, because he got on the earlier bus he had managed to meet Maximilian before the show, and now he was all but promised a volunteer position for tonight. He walked to the front row and sat down right in the middle. He pulled out his phone and opened up his blog 'Magic Exposed' and began typing.



* * * * *



Claudia sat at a cafe across the road from the theatre, keeping her eye on it as she drank her coffee. Not long ago a man with dark red hair, wearing a polo shirt and jeans arrived just stood in front of the ticket office, which by her clock, wasn't scheduled to open for another twenty minutes. She couldn't believe how early this person was waiting, especially since there were plenty of places along the street to wait, like she was doing. However waiting directly at the ticket booth seemed to have paid off, as he was allowed inside.



Claudia put down her coffee and pulled out her purse from her handbag, leaving a note on the table as she proceeded to cross the road. When she got up to the ticket booth, the window was locked again and the ticket master was nowhere to be seen. She was about to wait for the ticket master to return when she thought about trying the front door and sure enough it was left unlocked. She smiled as she entered the theatre unnoticed and searched for a backstage door.



“Excuse me, do you know where I can find David?” She asked a blonde hair woman, who was also backstage. The woman glanced at her suspiciously for a moment before pointing to a dressing room door. “Thank you so much,” Claudia said as she knocked on the door.

“Excuse me, David?” Claudia asked as he opened the door slightly, surprised to see it wasn't locked.



Standing at the back of the room, was a man wearing not shirt and was about to take off his pants. Though he quickly pulled them up again and motioned for Claudia to enter. “It's Maximilian to you,” he said rather annoyed. “Claudia I take it, you are persistent. I thought I already told you that I no longer perform private shows.”



“I know, but my boss saw your show a year or so ago and really wants you at this function he's hosting, he's more than willing to pay whatever you want,” Claudia explained as she stepped into the dressing room, shutting the door behind her.



“And I take it you want to be the one who gets me, impress your boss and get a promotion, I take it?” Maximilian asked as he took a seat. “Tell me Claudia, have you bought a ticket to tonight's show? Do you like magic?” Claudia shook her head, she had already snuck into his dressing room, there was no point lying to him too. “Thank you for being honest,” Maximilian praised. “I'll tell you what, I will consider this private show if you purchase a ticket to tonight's performance, sit front row and if I call for a volunteer you're going to put your hand up, understood?”



“Yes, thank you so much,” Claudia left the dressing room and returned to the lobby.



* * * * *



Maximilian appeared centre stage, with the lights already anticipating his instantaneous entrance. He took off his hat and gave the audience a soft bow, pleased as his laid on Chandler and Claudia sitting next to each other in the front row. He couldn't wait until they 'volunteered' later in the show so he could have a bit of fun.



“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's show. I am Maximilian the Magnificent and I hope to keep you all entertained tonight. Be warned my tricks will shock and amaze you, making you question the very nature of reality itself. However when you leave through those doors, while you might keep a sense of wonder, everything will make perfect sense.” Maximilian walked across the stage, giving the well rehearsed introduction and staying in the spot light. He always hated the second part as it distracted from the show he was promising, though it was required if he wanted to continue practising magic. With the hypnotic suggestion given it was time to continue with the show.



“Please welcome my lovely assistant Violet!” Maximilian yelled as he waited for Violet to appear on stage. “Violet?” He asked again as he pretended to look for her. “Where could she have gone? Hmm, that's right, my hat!”



Maximilian took off his hat and skidded it by the top across the stage floor, letting it come to a stop before he reached in. His arm was halfway down the hat when he pulled it out again revealing Violet's arm. He tried to pull her out further but she wouldn't budge. “It seems you're a tad too big, let me fix that.” He tapped the side of the hat with his wand and the arm withdrew into the hat once more. He then tipped his top hat over, and gave it two large taps on the top before lifting the hat up, showing of the two foot tall Violet, sitting dazed on the stage.



“A little warning next time!” Violet complained with a higher pitched voice, she then noticed Maximilian towering over her. “Why am I so small?”



“Well you were too big to fit through my hat, so I solved the problem by shrinking you,” Maximilian explained as he crouched down in front of her. “I think you're adorable like this.” He patted her head, knocking her hat off in the process. “Maybe we should do the show like this.”



“No way!” Violet protested as she bent down to grab her hat. “I want to be tall again.”



“If you insist,” Maximilian began to pull coloured handkerchiefs from his sleeve, he then tied Violet up with them. “Though returning you to your regular size isn't going to be pretty.” He laid the tied up Violet on her back, and had her parallel with the stage. “I'll be right back!”



Maximilian ran off stage for a few seconds before blowing what sounded like a train horn. The sound of a steam train echoed through the theatre and Maximilian came back on the stage ridding on a small black train, with his knees up to his shoulder.



Violet looked up as best she could as this toy train came rolling towards her and she tried to inch her way out of its path. Though she wasn't able to struggle enough and she was flattened and spread across the stage as Maximilian rode right on top of her and off the stage.



A few seconds later he came running back in with a resuscitation air bag and placed it over Violet's flattened face. He began to pump as Violet began to inflate until she was completely swollen. Maximilian stopped pumping the bag and threw it off stage. Violet then exhaled with a huge gust of wind, blowing Maximilian's hat off and returning herself to her proper shape and size.



Violet, slowly sat up, brushing the handkerchiefs off. “I could've just walked on stage, or you could've just made me appear in a puff of smoke like you did.” Violet said as she grabbed Maximilian's hand and got to her feet.



“Where's the fun in that,” Maximilian countered before turning towards the audience. “Give it up for Violet!” The audience clapped and cheered as she took a bow. “Now after all that, my first trick is going to making her disappear!”



“Of course it is...” Violet commented as she moved to the centre stage.



Maximilian seemingly pulled a red sheet out of nowhere and rolled it out. He then flicked his want making the top levitate, concealing Violet from the audience. “Ready?” He asked to Violet more than the audience before dropping the sheet.



When the sheet dropped Violet was still standing on the stage, and she hadn't quite disappeared, instead only her clothes had, leaving her naked for everyone to see. However she was ready for this and already had her arm and hand covering her privates.



“Oops, I think I messed that up” Maximilian chuckled a little. He then raised the sheet again and dropped it once more, only this time Violet had vanished. “There we go. Now lets see if we can get her back, this time with her clothes full on.” Maximilian lifted the sheet up again and dropped it, however Violet didn't reappear. “Strange that usually works, I guess she must of ran off. Oh well, we've had a bit of fun with her tonight, now how about we grab a couple of audience volunteers?”



As expected Chandler and Claudia were the first with their hands up. Maximilian smiled as he looked down on the unsuspecting pair. He had selected these two for a particular reason. Claudia was because she wouldn't take no for an answer, so thought he'd teach her a lesson by turning her into a rabbit or a dove and sending her back to her boss with a card that said 'No' before returning her to normal. Chandler he knew from his blog about magic tricks and revealing how he thought they were done. Of course most of them were wrong, but that wasn't Chandler's fault, magicians just had a way of covering their tracks. Maximilian's main reason for selecting Chandler was to see how the hypnotic suggestion would affect the trick he had planned for him.



Those plans had changed though, with Violet's refusal to do the trick. It didn't affect Chandler though, except now he wouldn't be doing it with Violet. Instead his partner would be Claudia, saving her from being transformed into an animal. Maximilian also decided he'd do the private show for Claudia's boss after this.



“How about you two?” Maximilian pointed to them.


* * * * *

Chandler was having a good time so far, the tricks he had seen had been nearly impossible to explain. Except for Violet disappearing, that was obviously a trap door and before that assistants are very good at changing clothes quickly. It was the earlier tricks when she first appeared that had him puzzled. The arm was obviously a trap door but the miniature, flattened and inflated Violet was hard to explain. He always managed to figure how they may have done it after the show was over.

When Maximilian called for two volunteers, Chandler was already expecting that he'd be chosen, given the promise earlier. He wasn't expecting a second volunteer to be called though, or that the woman he'd been sitting next to the whole night would put her hand up. She had been here almost as long as he had and seemed disinterested in the show. Chandler figured she must've been a planted assistant, seeing as Violet didn't reappear and the promise of interacting with an assistant. He gave her a knowing smile and nod as they both got up off their seats.

Claudia knew she'd be selected to volunteer, only she didn't know it would be with someone else. At least it was the person sitting next to her, it made her feel more comfortable about leaving her handbag on behind, as she placed it between the two chairs where they had been sitting, so it was out of reach of everyone else. The man who volunteered with her kept looking back at her with a smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Her heart raced as she made it up onto the stage and took her spot next to David.

"Give it up for our two volunteers folks," Maximilian stepped in between them. "Now what are your names?"

"Claudia."

"Chandler."

"Alright Claudia and Chandler, I'm going to give you a choice. Behind us are two boxes, one is standing vertical and the other one is laying horizontal," he made them appear without them noticing. "Lady's first," he instructed as he looked over to Chandler, reading his mind.

"Horizontal?" Claudia made her choice without thinking, as she turned behind her.

"Excellent choice, I guess that means Chandler gets the vertical box. However that can wait a moment." Maximilian led Claudia to the box, which stood on a flat frame. He unlatched the lid and motioned for her to climb in.

Claudia stepped in the middle of the box and laid down with her arms at her side. The box was just shorter than what she was though, leaving room for her neck to rest in a small padded hole at the top and her ankles a hole each at the base.

"Cross your arms please, either resting them across your chest or each grabbing the opposite shoulder." Claudia obeyed and once she was in position, David shut the lid latching it. He stood to her side as he began to step on a crank, which raised her to about his waist. "Comfortable?" Claudia nodded.

Maximilian reached under the box and pulled out a rectangle blade, but only showed it to the audience and Chandler. He demonstrated it was blunt but pressing it up against his wrist. He walked up the side of the box and found a spot he was comfortable with and slotted it in just at the top of the box, wedging it in place.

"Care to do the honours?" Maximilian asked Chandler as he stepped away from the blade and down back to Claudia's head. "Don't worry, stay calm, everything is fine. You have nothing to worry about," he assured her before signalling Chandler.

Chandler didn't see a line for the blade but pulled down on the handle regardless, it slid straight through the box like it was made of air and came to a stop at the base.

Claudia didn't know what was happening, though she had an idea, this box was used for one of the oldest tricks on the book after all. Though she had no proper training in that trick so wasn't sure how David was going to pull it off. Every second with him out of sight made her heart race but he soon returned to her and calmed her down. Everything was fine after that and she knew she had nothing to worry about, even as she felt the cold metal slice through her midsection. There was no pain and she could still feel her toes as she rubbed them together in her shoes, so she wasn't sure what was actually going on. She felt two hands grab onto her ankles as they were being tugged and steered. She heard something being wheeled next to her and when she turned to the side she saw her own feet.

With another wordless gesture from Maximilian, Chandler grabbed Claudia's ankles and gave a tug, as the lower half of the box still supported by the frame rolled forward away from the blade still planted in the upper box. He couldn't believe it, her ankles felt so real and her feet were moving. There was no way this was fake, yet it had to be. Perhaps while it was on the ground another lady climbed in and now he was holding the legs of a third assistant. Though when he rolled the box next to Claudia's head she seemed quite surprised but that could've been a fake reaction, she was another assistant after all. This was all a part of the show.

"Give it up for Claudia," Maximilian instructed the audience as they clapped and cheered. "Now I'll put her back together in a little bit, but first it's Chandler's turn." He walked Chandler over to the other box.

This one wasn't the same style as Claudia's, instead of a holes at the end of each box instead there was a hole on the lid, allowing you to see the person's face. Maximilian unlocked the box and gestured Chandler to get in. Chandler was hesitant at first but given his love for magic shows and the desire to reveal how they work he couldn't pass this up. He stepped into the box and turned back around to face Maximilian, who was already beginning to close the box again.

"Arms crossed," Maximilian reminded Chandler as he latched the box. "Now remember to remain calm, there's nothing to worry about. This is all part of the show."

Chandler took a few deep breaths as he was locked inside the box, with only his face revealed. From this angle, he was facing the audience directly, so couldn't really see Claudia or Maximilian. Though he was calm and relaxed, even when Maximilian finally walked in front of him, holding a metal blade. 'Magic isn't real, this is a part of the show' he reminded himself as the cold metal blade cut through his midsection. Maximilian stepped to the side again and Chandler heard the sound of a box sliding underneath him. He couldn't look down and the box was too tight to uncross his arms, so instead he wiggled his toes in his shoes. 'I'm still in one piece, he just wants me to think I've been cut in half.' Chandler smiled nervously at the crowd.

Claudia wasn't sure what was happening on the other side of the stage, she was just bewildered by the sight of her feet besides herself. It was a weird feeling as she could feel the cold metal plate at the base of the torso yet she could still move her feet. Something about this sent a tingle up her spine, and recalling the stuff with Violet, only placing herself in that position, made her skin crawl with excitement. Her thoughts were interrupted as the box she was in began to rise and she floated across the stage. She passed another box on the way as her own went upright, allowing her to see the audience and stage again. She looked back to see her lower half where they were before but now another box was resting on the frame. She saw that there was a hole cut out at the top but she couldn't see what was in it, though she had a pretty good guess.

"Don't you dare, don't you dare!" Claudia said like a mother telling her kid off. She didn't want David to do what he was about to do though was still calm about him doing it. She closed her eyes as David grabbed the box with her lower half.

Chandler was looking up at the rafters above the stage, wondering how he moved, and where he was exactly. Last he saw he was heading to Claudia's side of the stage at a fast pace, though he figured his box had been wheeled along. Again it was just Maximilian trying to scare him, especially when he was laid face up. He kept comfort in the fact he could still feel his legs, though the weird part was, they felt like they were standing up while he was laying down. Then he heard something being wheeled beside him, then below him. Something hit his box gently and the cold metal feeling was slowly pulled out. His skin stretched and pulled as his spine realigned itself and his intestines twisted and contracted, making him feel sick for a brief moment. Nothing hurt, it just felt weird and uncomfortable. This time when he tried to move his toes he discovered he wasn't wearing any socks not were they in enclosed shoes. He tried to move his feet now and found his ankles in two separate holes.

Claudia watched in shock as David connected the two boxes and pulled out the blade. She instantly lost the feeling to her legs and she saw as her feet moved around more frantically than before. Her lower half had been attached to Chandler and now in control of half her body. The thought of a guy now having her legs, ass and most importantly genitals caused mixed feelings in Claudia. She knew everything was fine and this would all work out, it was a part of the show, so this swap was only going to be temporary, not enough for him do any real harm. Still she was angry with David attaching her most intimate parts to a man she didn't even know. Still she managed to remain calm, despite her anger.

Maximilian stood over Chandler for a while and leaned over to see his face. Chandler knew what had happened but he was still trying to process it mentally. "Remain calm, this is only temporary," Maximilian promised as he walked over to Claudia. Her box had been placed directly onto Chandler's lower half and just required the blade to be removed to connect her to it. "This is all okay, the doubts you have about this are gone," Maximilian told her as he pulled the blade out from her midsection. He placed the blade down on the ground and took centre stage again. With a wave of his wand, the box with Chandler dropped to the floor and both boxes unlatched and opened.

Chandler stood up slowly and looked down at his legs, horrified to find Claudia's instead. His pants were gone, replaced with a dark blue leather skirt and he was now wearing wedges. He struggled to stand up as he couldn't quite catch his footing and the sensation of wearing a skirt was alien to him. But after a few tries he managed to stumble his way over to Maximilian, who seemed slightly taller now. He watched as Claudia awkwardly walked over to Maximilian with his legs. Both of them looked at each other and neither were impressed.

"Give it up for Claudia and Chandler!" Maximilian cheered as he grabbed their arms and made them take a group bow. "Now I'm sure they're very uncomfortable so I better fix them up." He began to escort Chandler back to the box on the floor when the stage lights went out and an usher opened the doors.

"The building is on fire, I need everyone to evacuate."

* * * * *

Violet stood in the middle of the stage, completely naked, watching as David went on with the show without her. When he raised the sheet and didn't open the doorway between dimensions, she knew she would be left on this side until after the show was finished and that usually meant he had planned for something she wouldn't approve of. The annoying part is she had to watch and wait, ready for him to open the doorway at any moment. If she wondered off, she could be stuck on this side forever, which was actually a common occurrence with assistants in training. With one on one training, an assistant couldn't be instructed by the magician in this world as they had to remain on the other side to open the door. So a lot of trainees would either freak out or find the world a novelty and run off. Violet was always aware of the dangers though and so always stayed with David when she was left here. It always annoyed her where she was left here like this though as the world lacked sound, colour and warmth.

When David had called up the two volunteers, and summoned the boxes onto the stage, Violet knew exactly why she had been left here. He was planning to do the double sawing trick, only for some reason he had grabbed the miss made box instead of the second sawing box. At least it wasn't her in the box, that other woman could be hypnotised to remain calm, Violet was immune. Still David was going to hear about this once she returned to the physical world. As she was watching him swap the top halves of the boxes, Violet felt something alien to this world, she felt warmth and it seemed to be coming from beneath the stage.

Something was wrong, nothing was ever warm or cold in this dimension, so Violet did the one thing she knew not to do, she wandered off to investigate. She figured it was safe to do so as David hadn't finished putting the poor couple together yet, and so she still had time before he'd summon her back. She made her way downstairs, where the change rooms were and saw a light emanating from her change room, something else impossible for this world. Phasing through the door she froze, the entire room was ablaze in wild but faint yellow light as her clothes quickly turned to ash. This blaze was already too far out of control. 'Fuck!' Violet mouthed as she ran back into the theatre. She 'breathed' a sigh of relief when she saw David was still here.

'No, no, no!' Violet screamed as the usher and ticket master shoved him, knocking the wand out of his hand, before dragging him to the emergency exit. It was just in time for them too, as the fire began to engulf the stage. However for Violet it spelt her doom, because David had fought with them, he had lost his wand meaning Violet had lost her way back to the physical dimension.

Feeling defeated, Violet walked slowly up the aisle, as the first spread more. When she got down to the front seats though, she discovered David wasn't the only one who left something important behind, as a woman's handbag had been left between the two seats. It only took Violet a second to realise who this bag belonged to, so she rushed out through the walls, to discover their fate.

In the emergency assembly area, David was still fighting against the usher and ticket master, while the audience seemed to be less focused on the fire and were instead circling something else. Violet phased her way through the audience and found the source of their attention. A man wearing a skirt and wedges and a girl wearing jeans. Both of them seemed distraught and that was perfectly understandable, with the theatre on fire, David had lost all his equipment, meaning he could not return them to normal. They were stuck with each others lower halves. There was also another problem regarding their situation too, everyone else was aware of it.

'Fuck!' Violet was frustrated the words wouldn't actually come out of her mouth.

This fire had done so much worse than Violet realised. Not only was she stuck in limbo and the lower halves of the volunteers swapped, magic had been exposed. David's opening suggestion always mentioned going through the theatre doors to make people forget about the magic they witnessed and making it so their own minds justified what they saw in a show, even if it didn't make sense. However the audience didn't leave through the main theatre doors, they had left through the emergency exit, meaning that condition was never met, besides even if it was, there were still two people with their lower halves swapped.

As the whole situation unfolded and the fire department and media arrived, things got progressively worse. The media originally focused on the theatre burning down but upon the discovery of the people David had swapped, the story quickly focused on them. The poor couple couldn't even escape that easily as the man didn't seem to have a vehicle in the area and the woman had lost her car keys to the fire. Violet wasn't sure if anyone was talking about her but as far as she could tell, it seemed her disappearance was of concern as well. Paramedics were called in to treat the couple for shock and the police carried David away in handcuffs. While Violet was stuck not knowing what to do, there was usually only one magician in a town at anyone time and not all of them did the vanishing act like she does. Besides given the coverage here, she suspected they'd go underground. She couldn't even follow her number one rule of sticking with David as he wasn't going to be of help, with destroyed equipment and the fact he was now detained in a police station. Violet was stuck in limbo for the foreseeable future.

Violet sat in the ruined theatre, contemplating her fate, she'd go mad here, with no food, water, colour or sound. She couldn't even interact with anything so reading books or taking up a crafting hobby were also out of the question. She wasn't even sure she could age in this world. She couldn't even comprehend the idea of being stuck here forever. As hope faded in her heart, she saw something she didn't expect to see. A rift had opened on the stage. She couldn't believe her luck, there must've be residual energy or the fire interacted with magic in ways she didn't understand. She hurried to the doorway and paused. There was something different about this doorway, it felt different and shimmered with a different light, this was not the doorway back home. Still she wasn't sure what to do, she could either stay in limbo waiting for a way home or she could step into the unknown and be lost forever. The decision was snatched from her though, quite literally as a giant hand reached through the opening and pulled her into the unknown.