Saffron was just about to blurt something about, but before she could David was already on his way out the door, saying “Excellent! I’ll be seeing some of you tomorrow bright and early for our first proper show rehearsal!” Thus leaving the contestants to their first stretch of time off since the contest had begun.
~~~
Jill & Cameron
It was only a little bit after David had announced the end of the impromptu exhibition, and Jill was hungry for some food, so she decided to make her way to the kitchen for a late dinner. The kitchen itself was pretty impressive, with every cutting-edge kitchen appliance that was available on the market taking up some part of the room. She was a little shocked to find that she wasn’t the only one who had the idea to grab something to eat, as Cameron was busy grabbing a plate of fish and chips out from the fridge. As she entered, he turned to look, noticeably straightening up as he said, “Oh, hey!”
“Hey,” Jill said in a friendly manner, Cameron stepping out of the way as she approached the fridge, a double-decker Hamburger with garlic fries appearing on the inside when she opened the door.
“I guess we can keep each other company while we eat,” Cameron said, smiling.
“Sure,” Jill said, following Cameron’s lead out of the kitchen and to the exquisite dining room where they had originally been given their first challenge. They sat on opposite sides of the table, relatively close to the door where they had entered from.
“So,” Cameron said, dipping one of his pieces of fried fish into tartar sauce and taking a bite, “Your act was pretty impressive. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.”
“Oh, thanks,” Jill said, taking a large bite of her sandwich and swallowing before continuing, “Your act was pretty… interesting. Do you really think I’m going to lose something?”
“Eh. Like I said, I’m not exactly a fortune teller. It was mostly just a way to make it a bit more interesting than a standard ‘is this your card?’ sort of trick.”
“Well, you better hope your predictions turn out not coming true,” Jill joked, “Because if I do lose, then I know who I’m going to blame.”
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” Cameron said, his fish all finished as he moved on to devouring his fries, “With the act that you pulled off, I’m sure you’ll make it far. Maybe not first, but I could see you easily making the top three.”
“Why do you say that?” Jill asked, blushing slightly.
“Well, I mean, you’ve got imagination, you’ve got that assistant look down. How long have you been in the business?”
“I’m not in the business, I’ve only been practicing a couple of months now,”
Cameron nearly choked on his fries, looking at her incredulously, “A couple of months?! And you can already pull off magic like that?! Well, in that case you’re definitely making the top three, probably even top two. The only thing I see holding you back at this point is your stage presence, but that’s a relatively minor problem.”
“Stop!” Jill said, she too had moved on to her fries by this point, “You’re going to jinx my chances more than you already have!”
“I’m serious,” Cameron said, finishing up the last crispy bits of his fries, “If I were still in the Magician scene and looking for an assistant, I would hire you in an instant.”
“You used to be a magician?” Jill asked.
“Yeah, it’s a long story,” Cameron said.
“Well, I mean, I’ve got time,” Jill said, finishing the last of her fries.
“Well…” Cameron stretched his words, but Jill was still looking at him with puppy dog eyes, “Okay. So, when I was little, it had always been a dream of mine to be a magician. It probably stemmed from all the famous magicians that I saw on TV. So, I did what any kid my age did. I bought one of those practice magic sets and started practicing the tricks. After I realized that it wasn’t actually real magic, I went searching for the real thing.”
“I grew up, but unlike all my other friends I kept pursuing magic. In college I finally felt like I got good enough to begin pursuing this as an actual career. I did a couple of shows, entered a few magic circles, grew a small following. One night a friend of mine, Alex, calls me up. Tells me their assistant just up and ran away on them and they needed to borrow mine. I was still going stag at the time, so I offered to perform as their assistant for the show. Turned out we had a lot of chemistry on-stage, more so than their previous assistant. So, I was offered the gig long-time, and I accepted. After doing the scene for a few weeks, our on-stage chemistry grew to off-stage chemistry, and we started going out. We’ve been going out for a year now, and I’m freaking out because I have to start thinking about whether or not I’m going to marry Alex. That’s one of the reasons I’m in this contest is to both get some money in case I decide to go for it, and to give me some more time to think about if this is the direction I really want our relationship to go, and the thing I’m most afraid of is that I lose and have to go back and face her empty-handed.”
“Wow… aren’t you afraid that they are going to see all of this?”
“Not really, Alex isn’t really into the whole Reality TV show thing and doesn’t pay attention to the news.”
“Well, I think it’s really sweet that you entered this contest so that you could marry someone you love,” Jill said, placing her hand on top of Cameron’s, “but I think you need to step up your game if you want to win this competition.”
“What?” Cameron asked incredulously, if he had food in his mouth, he probably would have spat it al over her.
“I mean… Your trick was a little safe. Don’t you think? If you want to win, I think you are going to have to push the boundaries a little and get out of your comfort zone. Maybe hold off on the card tricks…”
“But I love the card tricks!” Cameron said, shaking his hands and summoning fans of cards.
“Okay, maybe just, not focus only on the card tricks then?” Jill offered
“Hmm…” Cameron said, his face frowning slightly, before cheering up, “What you says hurts, but you’re probably right… Maybe I can afford to cut the card tricks just a little.”
“Great!” Jill said, standing up, “Maybe we can practice together then. I’ll help ween you off the card tricks and you can help me with my stage presence?”
“I’ll definitely think about it,” Cameron said, also getting up, his mood noticeably improving, “maybe over an ice cream sundae or two?”
“That depends…”
“On what?
“On whether or not you can imagine a bigger ice cream sundae than the one I’m thinking of.”
~~~
Leela & Holli
Leela knocked on her door from her marble palace of a personal bedroom, and after a short period of time Holli’s voice could be heard from the other side, “Come in.”
Leela opened the door into Holli’s suite. She was sitting on her bed of nails once again, a glass of white wine in her hands, a newspaper in the other. “Wow! What a wonderful place you have here,” Leela said.
“Thank you, dear,” Holli said, “but what is it that you want?”
“I just wanted to come in and say you did a great job at the show,” Leela said.
“That’s great dear,” Holli said, putting down her newspaper and standing up from her bed of nails, “but I’ve been in the business a lot longer than any of you greenhorns, and I can tell when people are looking for something. Now what is it?”
“You’ve got me,” Leela said, reaching into her sari and pulling out a sheet of paper. Unfolding it, it was revealed to be headshot of a slightly younger looking Holli. “My mom used to be a massive fan of The Amazing Arnold, and you were her favorite assistant. When she heard that you were going to be on the show, she begged me to get your signature.”
“Really,” Holli said, somewhat impressed, “Sounds like a rather odd request. I’ve never heard of people asking for magician assistant autograph before.”
“Oh no, my mother is a massive fan of any women who have helped change the course of any industries, and she begged me to get both you and Amanda’s signatures before I left.”
“I’ve changed the course of my industry?” Holli said, her cheeks blushing.
“Of course you have! Since you’ve been so vocal about the mistreatment of his other assistants, you’ve helped encourage other magicians, and those entering the field, to adopt agreements that better protect the rights of their assistants. I’m certain if you didn’t manage to talk Arnold down from his original contract, assistants would still probably be seen as nothing more than f**ktoys for their magicians.”
“*Pssh* If I didn’t do it, someone else would eventually,” Holli said, finally accepting the photograph and signing her name on it.
“You say that, but there are plenty of game changers who say exactly the same thing,” Leela said, accepting the photograph.
“If you say so,” Holli said, clearly in a much better mood than when Leela had first entered her room.
“Thank you so much for signing this,” Leela said, “you’ve made my mother a very happy woman.”
“Don’t mention it, sweetie,” Holli said, “And if you ever need anything, feel free to drop by and ask me.”
“Thanks!” Leela said, tucking the photo back into her sari and leaving through the door to Holli’s room…
~~~
Leela & Ophelia
…into the library. David’s library was a magnificent site to behold, with shelves of books reaching up two stories tall, with rolling ladders connected to each of the four walls to reach the higher books. The books that lined the shelves all had some connection to magic in one form or another, although it was difficult to tell with the books that were written in languages that had died out long ago. In the center of the room, a small table with several reading lights stood with one of these dead language books, and a strange pale girl in a black and purple dress reading it.
“Hello Ophelia. What are you reading?” Leela asked. Ophelia didn’t seem to register Leela’s comment whatsoever, her eyes continuing to scan across the pages of the book, her finger tracing along the words. So, Leela tried again, “Ophelia?”
An annoyed sigh escaped Ophelia’s lips, before she finally tore her eyes away from her book, “What?”
“I asked what you are reading,” Leela said, trying her best to give the strange girl a smile.
“You wouldn’t understand the title,” Ophelia said, looking back down to alien text and continuing her journey across the pages.
“Okay, what’s it about then?” Ophelia was ignoring her once again. “Ophelia?”
“It’s mostly about some advanced meditation techniques. A lot of it revolving around the best ways to achieve total sensory depravation.” Ophelia didn’t bother looking up to answer her.
“Really? I do a bit of Yoga, do you think these exercises would be helpful for me?” Leela asked.
This time, Ophelia didn’t bother to answer. She sighed once, before lifting up her hair to reveal her pale ears, two plain silver piercings in each lobe. She covered her ears with both hands, muttering something under her breath, before pulling them away and going back to tracing the text on the book. Where her ears had previously been, two ovular patches of pale white skin remained, with no sign that she had ever had ears there.
Leela seemed to struggle with the concept that Ophelia clearly did not want to talk to her, but this move finally made her intentions clear. “Alright. Great talk,” Leela sighed making her way to the door of the library. She would have to attempt to make allies with this girl later.
~~~
Saffron
Saffron spent the entire night assigning a name to each of the stuffed animals David had been kind enough to supply to her. “And you’re name will be Oscar,” she said, pointing to a purple starfish, which began waving its arms around when she assigned it a name. “And you will be Contessa,” The orange horse now named Contessa did a little trot in place to show its approval and appreciation. “And you,” she said, sitting up a giant Teddy bear that was few inches taller than her from the pile of inanimate animals, “will be Fernando.” On her naming, the teddy bear solidified enough to stand up on its own and give her a hug.
That night, Saffron had a lovely sleepover with her new animate friends. Their company was especially helpful in combatting the awful loneliness she felt.
~~~
The Morning of the Next Day
“Good morning everyone! Please arrive in the grand foyer to receive your first official challenge!” The voice of Drake Bordignon echoed throughout the house. The six contestants changed out of their pajamas and into their normal clothes, each entering the grand foyer from one of the six wooden doors placed around the room.
Drake stood in front of the big red door that the six contestants had originally entered, wearing the same outfit he had worn on their very first day of arrival. “Excellent!” He said, the contestants gathering near him, “Now that we’re all here, I can finally reveal your first challenge as contestants of America’s Next Great Assistant!” On these words, little sparks of gunpowder expelled from the entrance hall’s doors at increasing heights.
“Now, David and I have had many discussions on what exactly are the key aspects he is looking for in his next assistant. It took us many weeks of planning and preparation to come up with a fair and balanced obstacle course of traits. So, I’m pleased to announce the first of these traits.” Drake paused for dramatic effect, before continuing.
“One of the most essential traits that David is looking for, is a mastery of the basics. To him, a good magician’s assistant is able to recognize the name of any classic magic trick, and be able to perform it with him. So I’m proud to announce our first challenge:
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& Challenge 1: Oldies And Newbies &
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
& Question Corner &
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To Ophelia: “Sorry to offend with one of my previous questions … I thought your performance was really unique compare to the others. I liked it, and I thank you for being patient with me and my questions” -quad2
Thank you for the kind words, and I’m sorry for snapping at you about your choice of wording. It’s really just ticks me off when people refer to my magick in that way. I have worked way too hard and trained for way too long for what I do to be compared to some sort of parlor trick.
To Ophelia: “Since you mentioned Mother Gaia, is your magick of Greek origin, or something beyond that modern interpretation kind of changed?” -quad2
The set of beliefs that my fellow witches and I follow goes much further beyond those beliefs of the Greek. According to the elders of my Coven, the earliest recorded scripture that we study is the wisdom passed on by the Nature Spirits of the Mesopotamia, however the knowledge that dwells within each of us originates beyond that time period. Aspects of our Magick has been linked to many cultures, however we refuse to assign ourselves to any one definition. The ultimate goal for each of us is to finally commune with the Spirits of Gaia that dwells within us, to learn the information lost through the swells of time and become true masters over our vessels, allowing ascension to a higher plane of existence. The Magick I performed on stage with the aid of one of our many witch’s brews would be possible without any outside assistance once I’m finally a full fledged witch.
I would like to thank you for expressing an interest in my culture, and a desire to learn more. One of the primary reasons I applied to this show was so that I could inspire other lost souls, like I was so long ago, to discover the truth and finally unlock their inner power. I hope that Mother Gaia’s light shines upon you.
To Cameron: “I don’t really have a definite favorite of the performances, but you’re the only one not in the running. You realize that what you did could easily be just slight of hand rather than actual magic, right?” -HeraldOfOpera
Well, if I hadn’t gone first, I probably would have put a bit more of a show in to everything, don’t you think? How was I supposed to know that everyone else would bring out their A-game on a challenge that doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things?
As for the lack of magic in my performance, I thought the fact that a world class magician like David Angel was the one inspecting my cards would be enough to prove that I didn’t do any slight of hand B******t, but I guess that the producers cut that part short. I would just like to state, for the record, that I did in fact do magic. When I tripped, I had the cards lay themselves out in such a way that when I reconstructed the deck, the seven selected cards were in an alternating order with a random card in-between.
To Leela: “Your use of duplication is impressive, and I’m sure it was a challenge to co-ordinate two bodies and twelve limbs at once, especially in a co-ordinated dance.” -FlexibleAnatomy
Why thank you! It was definitely a challenge, but I so rarely get to show off that I thought it would be appropriate to go all out. I remember the first time I did that trick, it took me about two months with a dancing coach and my master to learn both parts of that dance, and then even more time to get both bodies moving at the same time. I still haven’t perfected copying vocal chords, which is why only one of my clones talks during the trick.
To Leela & Jill: “I know it’s too early to seriously consider, but your focuses in regards to magic align particularly well together. Jill’s inexperience with Leela’s mastery, and a combined love of stretching and squishing. If given the opportunity, would you two be interested in working together?” -FlexibleAnatomy
Leela: Well, my initial impression of her was that she was rather unprofessional and amateurish. However, her performance was rather inventive and interesting… I may have to consider it. At the very least, she’s on my radar now as actual competition.
Jill: Oh gosh, I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure if we did team up, the partnership would be rather one-sided. I would hate to think that I might be holding her back.
To Leela: “You magic is impressive, but I think of all our contestants we know the least about your origin. Care to share a little more?” -BaiSuzhen
Sure. Let’s see… I was born in India in 1996 to my parents. My mom’s an Indian Doctor, while my father was an American soldier that was taking a holiday there. When I was around three years old, we moved back to the US where we lived in a modest two story house. Every few years, we would spend a few weeks of the Summer in India, because my parents wanted to make sure that I would grow up understanding and respecting my heritage.
My home life was pretty normal, although my Mom and Dad stressed the importance of doing my best and getting a higher education all my life. I was fast tracked through my elementary school education, and managed to graduate middle school two years earlier than most people. My Mom got a little upset when I decided I wanted to be a Teacher (she was rooting for me to be a doctor), but eventually came around to my decision. I graduated from high school with a 5.0 weighted GPA, 4.0 unweighted (Producer’s note: All A's for those unaware of US’s grading system), and was class president, captain of the Debate Team, and essentially in any Honor’s Society that I was eligible for. I went to Carnegie Mellon University to become a Literature Teacher, finished my four-year degree and graduated Valedictorian of my class a few years ago, and am currently working as a Teaching Assistant so that I can get some experience.
I got interested in magic about eight years ago, a friend of mine showed up to class as a head attached to legs, I think she called that form an SWB but it doesn't really make sense to me why, and I had to learn more. I approached the subject with just as much passion and importance as my studies, and found myself approaching, and then surpassing my peer's skills. However, as I continued to study magic, I found more and more limits that I couldn’t find a way to pass by myself. It’s why I’ve gone through almost four masters now, and the last one I had told me if I wanted to learn more, I would have to approach someone who had been in the magic scene for several decades. When David announced this contest, I knew that I had to have him as my next master so that I could finally perfect my skills.
Over the last year, I have had what I liked to call my ‘Personal Self-Discovery Tour’ and have been traveling across India, interacting with the locals and learning about my heritage. It’s during this tour that I learned how to do Yoga and those fancy dances you saw yesterday. It was especially fun because it’s where I learned the stretching magic that I find impossible to live without. I absolutely love the people, the places (I’ve been to the Red Fort and Taj Mahal multiple times now), and the food, and only wish that my family spent more time there when I was younger, so I could appreciate it even more!
So, that should be more than enough information to paint a good picture of who I am and where I come from.