Previously On ANGAS2:

     “Okay,” Sable said, checking her watch again, “We’ll give Nora ten more minutes, but if she doesn’t show up, we’re going to go in and explain everything. Okay?”

     “Dad! We need to talk!” Nora said,

     “Do you really think that I could ever. EVER. Do that to her.” Howard sobbed, “Of course, You weren’t there. None of you were there. Alright then. Here’s what happened!

     …Elana’s part was always the showstopper. We'd set up a large pendulum saw, and slowly lowered it towards her neck…

     …her body had what’s called a ‘magically induced pregnancy’…

     …It was truly a miracle of modern science and magic that they were even able to be save you Nora…”

     “Shut up!” Nora shouted, tears streaming down her face, “So you’ve kept me cooped up in this eternal prison as some sort of sick penance for your mistakes?

     …I’m packing up! And then I’m moving out tomorrow! If you try and stop me, I’ll file a police report for unlawful kidnapping. Do NOT get in my way!”

     It hurts me beyond measurement to tell Nora she can’t perform… I look at her, and all I see is Elana’s face, begging for the opportunity to get back to work and hit the road again… But how can I, in good consciousness, after everything that’s happened-“ Howard sobs turned to weeping again.

     Sable got up, telling Howard, “Howard… Don’t beat yourself up… Let me try talking to Nora.”

~~~

The Previous Night, Nora’s Room

     “Nora, stop packing,” Sable said.

     “Shut up, Sable!” Nora said, tears still flowing down her face as she started throwing her few possessions into a large box-like suitcase she had found among the wrecked props. “You’re not going to convince me to change my mind.”

     “Nora-“

     “What would you even know about all of this!” Nora threw some shirts in, before finding the process inefficient and ripping the drawer out of the dresser and dumping the whole thing in, “I only met you less than a week ago!”

     “Well… Firstly I know that you’re currently throwing your clothes into an unstable vanishing cabinet.” Nora stopped rushing around, opening the door wide to the case and realizing that everything she had thrown in was gone, and would most likely not be coming back. “And secondly, I do know what you’re going through… because I’ve been there before.”

      Nora didn’t say anything, dragging the cabinet back to the prop room and returning it to where she had found it, shifting through the rubble to try and find a better case to fit her clothes in. Sable wasn’t far behind her, explaining, “You’re feeling hurt. Wondering, how in the world the person you thought you loved most in the world could have betrayed you.” Nora found a ratty, moth-bitten carpet bag, testing it first by placing a piece of scrap wood in it. Once happy that she was able to get the piece of wood back, she left the prop room, Sable still following behind her, “You feel like you’re completely alone. That there’s nobody you can talk to.That you tried to talk reason, when clearly neither of you were ready for it, and now that that road is gone, the only way left is to escape.”

     “Then if you know what I’m feeling. Why don’t you just tell me what I’m supposed to do!” Nora wheeled around, tears streaming down her face as she confronted Sable.

     Sable stood her ground, despite the fact she was significantly shorter than Nora. “Well… Why don’t you sit down on the couch, and I’ll make us some hot chocolate?”

     Nora blew on her hot chocolate, trying to cool it down slightly. With the chance to just sit down and contemplate what had happened thus far, Nora had calmed down slightly. There were still some clear tear streaks down her face, and she would occasionally breathe slightly harder than normal, but for the moment, she seemed more willing to hear Sable out.

     Sable took several sips of her own hot chocolate before finally telling her story. “Unlike a lot of my sisters… I still remember what Mom used to look like. She didn’t really visit all that often, she was always so busy with work. At least that’s what Dad used to tell us, but who ever heard of a delivery person who was never home for more than a day or two?

     Anyways… Mom was absolutely radiant. She had the brightest eyes, and seeing her smile made you feel like everything was right with the world. She just seemed to give off this aura of positivity that felt like it was clouding your mind.

     But then… when Sin and I were really little, Mom stopped showing up. Dad was just as confused as we were. He checked everywhere, even tried calling Mom’s job… but it was like she had disappeared off of the face of the Earth. Dad kept looking for years, and when the police finally declared the case a lost cause, Dad went to the courthouse alone to sign the death certificate. It was probably the only time I’ve ever seen him crying.

     The next day… Dad had changed. It wasn’t that he suddenly became how he is today… More like little things that we did started to get on his nerves. He would ask us to stop playing around in the house when he got home from work. Asked us to not take ourselves apart in front of other people. We only ever had one TV set, and when Dad came home, it was his choice or no TV.

     The strange thing was… Despite the fact that Mom had disappeared, every few years another girl would show up at our door. She always arrived the same: A rainbow colored box, wrapped in a colored blanket with a little note saying to take care of her. Dad always reacted the same, giving her to my older sister, Scar, and then later to Saph and Ron. The older kids and I who at least had some vague memories of Mom were certain they had came from her, but we still don’t know why, if she were alive, she would send them to us. Especially if she had seen how Dad had turned out.

     There wasn’t really any set time between them showing up. I know that Mom was still around when Silvia was born… But then it was six years until San showed up, three later Sia arrived at our door, then another three for Shi and five more for Sara. Dad would do his duty, making sure that they got properly enrolled in school and acknowledged, but how he did so without any alarm bells going off, I’ll never know.

     When Scar was seventeen, Dad really started to lose it. I don’t know if it was because he was worried about losing the only person who seemed to be able to keep us in line, but his behavior just kept getting worse and worse. He clearly didn’t want Scar to leave, but he would never tell her why, or even give her a reason to stay. He just threatened her, telling her that if she decided to leave, he would make sure that none of us would ever see her again. We all thought he was bluffing, maybe that Scar leaving would finally realize how much he was abusing us… But it ended up having the opposite effect.

     Scar ran from home, and suddenly Saph and Ron were responsible for taking care of us all. They kept a brave face on the matter, but I could always tell that they weren’t ready to suddenly have to take care of us all. Dad only got more obnoxious, thinking that Scar had left because she had too much free time on her hands to plan something like that, he enrolled us in some after school activities and made us sign up for the harder classes. Of course, maybe he was also preparing us… Striving us to get better so that we were ready to face the world? I’ll never really know, and I’m sure he wouldn’t give a good answer even if we were on speaking terms.

     The rest of the story’s pretty well known by this point. Saph ran away too and founded some massive company that sells cosmetics. Then Ron ran away last year, and now Sin and I are on the run… Of course, thanks to Howard, I guess we’re not really on the run anymore,” Sable managed to smile, despite the large amount of pain in her voice and on her face.

    “So… Why did you tell me all that?” Nora asked, her tears having returned a little bit from hearing Sable’s tale of woe.

    “I’m told you all that, because I don’t want the same thing to happen to you and Howard,” Sable explained, “The reason that my family fell apart… at least why I think it did, is because Dad wasn’t able to accept the loss of my Mom. He internalized it as something that he did, and the guilt began to eat him alive and transform him into someone who clearly wasn’t himself. By the time my sisters and I were old enough to be able to help him through it, he was already too set in his new ways to ever go back.

     We thought we could shock him out of it, that by leaving he would suddenly see the errors of his ways and turn back into the Dad we had used to know. But instead, it had the opposite effect, it only further increased his loss, and his guilt.

    But… Howard is different. I’m not saying he still doesn’t feel loss and guilt. He’s clearly still in pain over Elana, and I’m not sure that pain will ever truly go away. But unlike our Dad, he hasn’t forgotten the person he used to be,” by this point, Sable had started crying, “He really loves you Nora. He’s trying so hard to break out of the trap that he’s created for himself. If you leave him now, all its going to do is lock him in tighter.”

    Sable was fully crying now, the roles almost exactly reversed from how they had started, with Nora seeming oddly calm. Through her tears, Sable continued, “I can’t apologize for what Howard’s done to you over your lifetime, and I don’t think you would accept it even if he got down on his hands and knees and begged you for forgiveness. But right now you’re at the crossroads of losing him forever, or being able to do what my sister and I were never able to do and help him maintain his promise of being the one person in this world who will love you unconditionally.” Sable continued crying, but managed to take another sip of her hot chocolate.

    Nora’s face remained motionless as she watched Sable’s tears mix into her hot chocolate. When Sable had finally calmed down enough from the silence in the room, Nora politely asked her to leave, which she did without argument, eventually heading to her own room for the first time since Sinopia has left to go to sleep.

~~~

Morning

     The girls were awoken by their natural body clocks. All three were worried, as barring the time he had been out, Howard had never missed a morning wake-up call, but nevertheless they persisted in their morning routine. The three of them grabbed breakfast with each other, Annette and Maya asking Sable what had transpired the night prior, but she had refused to tell them anything other than the fact that Nora she had managed to help Nora at least calm down a little bit.

     The girls had briefly considered using their Friday, normally reserved for practicing in anticipation for the show the next night, to get some fresh air away from the dour atmosphere, but unfortunately when they stopped by the lobby, it was clear that was never going to happen. Outside of the front doors, lines of reporters stood, each reporter wearing a different broadcaster’s badge (although, Sable was disappointed, there didn’t seem to be a representative from Channel 17). When the reporters noticed the girls, they started banging on the clearly locked hotel doors, shouting out questions about Howard and whether or not the season was going to be cancelled after the revelations the prior night.

     So, instead the girls decided to use the time to practice their routines with each other. giving critical feedback so that they could ensure that if the show was still going on tomorrow, they would at least be able to provide the audience with something entertaining.

~~~

Noon - Outside of Howard’s Bedroom

     “Howard?” Annette asked, knocking on the door to the older magician’s room, “Are you in there? Can we come in?” No response came, but the door did manage to open on its own.

     Howard’s bedroom was rather surprising to the girls, as they had sort of expected his bedroom to be some amazing feat of impossible architecture, or at the very least luxurious like the rest of the hotel, but in a similar manner to the plainness of his office, Howard’s bedroom truly seemed to be the bog-standard hotel room. Howard had all of the lights turned off, and his curtains drawn, the TV screen casting a faint, bluish glow over his entire body, as he stared at the TV. His suit was strewn about the room, the man reduced to a plain white t-shirt and a pair of boxers.

     “Howard? What time did you go to bed?” Maya asked, walking over and opening up the drapes.

     “I didn’t,” Howard said, his voice sounding scratchy, “There was a marathon on of that old noir series starring Donald Newcombe, and I’d only ever seen the first one.”

     “Really, Howard?” Annette said, “It wasn’t because of Nora.”

     “…Well mostly that yes, but I still wanted to find out how they ended it.”

     “Howard. I understand how you must be feeling, but lying around like a slouch all day isn’t going to help anyone,” Annette said, “Especially since we’ve got a performance tomorrow.”

     Howard slumped over on the couch, turning away from the girls as he mumbled, “Show’s cancelled.”

     The three girls stood there, not really grasping what Howard had just said. “H-Howard,” Maya said.

     “Howard,” Sable said seriously, “You can’t just cancel the show like that. Haven’t you ever heard the expression ‘The Show must Go On?’”

     “Not this one,” Howard said.

     “Alright. We tried doing things the easy way,” Annette said, leaving the room and going back into the golden elevator.

     “Howard. I talked to Nora last night,” Sable said.

     “That’s nice,” Howard still refused to look at them, simply waving his hand in the air as he said, “You two can leave now. I just want to sleep for a bit longer…”

     Moments later, Annette returned, carrying Rocky in her arms, who currently looked a bit like a sheep dog, his long hair blocking his eyesight a little bit. “Alright Rocky! Get him dressed!” Rocky obliged, growing rapidly in size to swallow not only Howard, but the couch that he was sleeping on.

     The dog shrunk back down, his mouth distending as he spat out Howard, now completely dressed once more and sprawled out on the floor. “There. He’s dressed at least. Now Howard, are you going to come upstairs with us and tell all those reporters at the door that the show’s still going on, or do I have to get Rocky to carry you upstairs?”

     Howard picked himself up, dusting himself down, emotionlessly saying, “Ah yes. The Press. I guess I should tell them that there won’t be any performances tomorrow. I’ll get Dudley to refund everyone’s tickets right after.” He began lifelessly shuffling towards the doors, the girls still looking nervously at each other as they followed behind him.

~~~

Lobby

     Howard froze. Standing in the lobby, looking away from his was Nora. She was wearing a white blouse and some blue jeans, the ratty carpet bag from last night on the floor besides her. She was looking out towards the front doors, where the reporters had opened up a walkway so that she would have room to leave when she walked out of the hotel. “N-Nora!” He managed to get out, causing her to turn and look at him.

     Her eyes were still clearly a little red from crying, and were equally as tired looking as Howards. She briefly looked behind him at his three assistants, who had chosen to stay back slightly so as to let them talk. “Hey Dad,” she said, about as emotionlessly as Howard had been moments earlier, “Will you break the enchantment on the hotel now so that I can leave?”

     Pain flashed across Howard’s face. He looked like he wanted to say so many different things to her, but in the end, all he could do was give a slight nod, raising his hand and pointing it at the front doors of the hotel. A purple light flashed out, and when it hit the door, it seemed to spread out like a wave, briefly covering the hotel in a purple light, which quickly diminished back into nothing.

     Nora didn’t let any look of emotion pass by her face, as she picked up her carpet bag and walked towards Howard. Despite how much he had cried the night prior, more tears managed to escape. When Nora finally reached him, she gently put the carpet bag on the ground and just stared at him, for what felt like an eternity. Eventually though, Nora spoke.

     “Would you mind having Dudley carry my bag back up to my room?”

     Howard’s jaw dropped, as he stuttered, “b-b-back to your room?”

     “Of course,” Nora said, the slightest hint of a smile finally creeping across her face “I overpacked a bit, and I only barely managed to get it down here.”

     Howard let out a small chuckle. And then the chuckle grew into a laugh. Within moments, Howard was practically howling with laughter at Nora’s response, his tears of sadness replacing themselves with tears of joy at hearing his daughter’s decision.

     “Hey!” Nora said sternly, catching Howard off guard again, but only enough to lower his howl to just some minor snickering “Don’t think that I’ve forgiven you. You’ve still got a long way to go to be on good terms with me again. And I’m only staying around if you’ll meet my demands.”

     “A-Anything!” Howard managed to get out through his laughter.

     “Number 1) I’m allowed free reign of the hotel, and can leave whenever I want. Number 2) When you’re done with your show, I want you to help me sign up to become an assistant with the ISAG. And Number 3) I want you to throw away those broken props in the old practice room and replace them with some proper ones so that I can start practicing.”

     Howard’s laughter subsided but the tears of joy still streamed as he replied, “Is that all? With how much of a royal screw up I’ve been your whole life, I would have imagined you would have wanted more than just that.”

     “That’s just the immediate stuff,” Nora grinned, almost uncannily similar to how her father’s grin looked, “I assure you, when I think of more stuff, you’ll be the first to know.”

     “Consider it done!” Howard said, “Although, may I make one request?”

     “It depends on what it is.”

     “Could you please give this old fool a hug?” Howard asked.

     Nora mocked giving this some thought, reluctantly saying, “*Hmmmm* I’ll allow it,” With enthusiasm, Nora walked forwards, hugging Howard tightly, her head barely reaching his armpits. Howard smiled, looking up as though he was offering a prayer of thanks to get the chance to redeem himself with his daughter.

     When Nora eventually broke the hug, Howard gave her a warm smile, telling her, “Thank you, Nora. You don’t know how much that meant to me.”

     “Yeah, yeah. You can thank me later,” Nora said, “After, you’ve earned my forgiveness.”

     “I’ll look forward to the day,” Howard grinned.

     Howard did a one eighty, looking at his assistants, “Alright girls! Apologies for my behavior as of late. However, that’s all in the past. We’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re to make these performances presentable tomorrow!”

     Maya let out a little cheer of glee, “Do you mean it?!”

     “Of course!” Howard said, “After all, how else am I supposed to prove that this old World-Class Magician’s still got it?!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

& Question Corner &

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     To Nora: “If you do go, please be careful when finding a magician. Though there's been progress, many magicians still like to have themselves or their lawyers write contracts that strongly inhibit your rights. Before you look around, please find an agent or lawyer to talk to, or talk to the IGAFFC. Howard wants you to be safe, and though his means were certainly unwise and degrading, his motive is pure and you should take heed of it.” -@@WanderTones

     Of course I’m going to be careful! My mom was one of the first assistants of her time to really start rallying for contract reform! But don’t worry, hiring me a proper agent is among the many little things Dad’s going to need to do before I fully forgive him.

     And… I know what Dad’s motives were for doing what he did. This morning, Drake stopped by and showed me his confession after I had left. I’m shocked that Mom would do something so dangerous… just so that she could perform with Dad for a little bit longer… *Sniff* Sorry… I think I need a minute…

     To Howard: “I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Elana. It's always a worry in the back of my mind that, as unlikely as it is, something will go wrong when I perform, and hearing your retelling of that tragic night... it's tough to have to be reminded of such dangers. I wish I could say something to help ease the pain, but I know I can't. All I can offer is that if you need someone who'll lend you their ear, I have two that I'm more than willing to 'port over to you.” -@@WanderTones

     Thank you very much Penny. I often find it very… difficult to open up like I did last night. I guess that must be why I’m considered such an excellent performer. *chuckles* I appreciate the offer of your supporting ears, and I might have to take you up on that offer, although I’m not sure it will be entirely necessary. Now that everything’s finally out in the open… It feels like, for the very first time in a long while, that a massive weight has been taken off of my back. Which is pretty good, because I’ve probably only got a few more good years in it anyways *laughs*

     To Maya: “Oh yes, there was the need for non-human heads but it has increased as of late. Though the most abundant that I got are cat girls, dullahan heads, elves, and the occasional fairies. Centaurs are iffy but Monoeyes are much much harder. As for them horror stories, that's what my shop is for and what I do in my spare time. Finding them lost heads. Heck, there's a bunch of them in my shop alone.” -Rei

     Well, I’m really glad that you make the effort to separate the more difficult to distinguish non-human heads from the regular human heads. After all, I’d imagine it’d be rather difficult to distinguish a hemi-human’s head like a centaur or harpy from a regular person’s head, since they wouldn’t really have many distinguishing differences, besides the fact that magic wouldn’t really work on them all that well due to not having magic reserves.

     To Annette and Maya: “Oh, I model for commercials and youtube ads for my shop. I got beauty so I might as well. I bet you two didn't expect me of all people to have a youtube channel. It's mostly just the ads I made and some interviews of some of the heads in the shop. Be sure to check them out as the heads themselves will appreciate it, even if they were already sold.” -Rei

     Maya: I’ll be sure to add it to the list of channels that I’m going to have to subscribe to when the show’s over.

     Annette: Me too! Right up there with Elise’s channel and Penny’s Blog!

     To Bernice: “You sure about that. I got a a truck load of heads for you if that's what you want. I even got some famous models too who could help. That's only with the ones that I can think from the top of my head.” -Rei

     Ha Ha! I don’t think they need a truckload of heads. They’re really only looking to get a couple of dozen of shots, so they’d really only need around ten. I’m certain that you’d have good taste in picking those out, so I’ll send your info to the scout and he’ll get in contact with you to set it all up.

     To Nora: “I'm going to be straight with you on this but don't do anything stupid! You must be feeling a bunch of emotions right now and to just act rashly on them will screw you over! I know what's it's like when my parents did not approve with my magician career and I ended up in lots of trouble despite the bright sides!” -Rei

     You’re right… Rei. Sorry, still getting used to this thing. Do the others really have to answer questions like this everyday?

     Sable’s talk really helped me figure things out, and of course Drake showing what Dad really wanted to say to me helped greatly too. Without them… I’m sorry, I don’t even want to think about that. I’ve already made my decision, and I’m going to see it through without doubting myself.

     To Sable: “Honestly, I cannot truly relate as I can only imagine the grief to those that were dear to me faced. I do miss them so. But enough about me, it is the master who should listen to your problems. I'll be sure to be aware of this family conflict of yours and do my part to help.” -Isilynor

     Thank you Izzy. You really don’t have to worry about it now though. We’ve already made peace with our decision, and after all, family isn’t who you’re born to, its the people who support you and make you wish that you could spend more time together.

     To Maya: “Simply blowing up your head in rehearsal for the sake of corn? That's new. Though I am no expert in parlor tricks, that would be for someone like Rei and Howard. I do suggest is to do more than popping yourself. You need to explode. I think you'll get the message somehow.” -Isilynor

     Oh, I hope I do give an explosive performance tomorrow! After all, we’re entering the final week of the competition, and I want to make sure I have enough momentum going in to make it!

     To Annette: “I have observed your familiar Rocky and it seems that your bonds are getting stronger. I suggest you not only focus on the act but also your bonds with your familiar. You are bound to gain new skills and abilities that way. Maybe to be able to communicate with him.” -Isilynor

     Ooh! If Rocky could talk… Well, he’d certainly have some explaining to do about a whole lot of topics. But for right now, I’m just happy enough that he’s giving it his all to try and make us win!

     To everyone: “Of course they are invited too, I wouldn't have it any other way.” -Genie Schutter.

     Annette: That’s good to hear! I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the premiere as much if everyone didn’t get the chance to go.

     Maya: Yep! Just imagine what Elise’s reaction is going to be to get the chance to go to a proper red carpet movie premiere.

     Sable: I can tell you right now that Sinopia and I are probably not going to be the same deer in headlights we were when we arrived on the ANGA red carpet.

     To Howard: I am heartily sorry to hear of what had happened to your wife. I for one do not know what I would do if I lost my Jenny. Though it was not available during Elana's day, I know of spells which can safe any prop should the assistant be pregnant, or have any other condition that would endanger them. I would like to make them available to manufacturers of magical equipment free of charge, so they may become standard though out the industry. I would hope to avoid such tragedies in future. -Jacob Schutter, Genie’s Father

     Well, I’m quite amazed that you would be able to provide such enchantments, as far as I’ve heard such sort of spells have been eluding all of the major manufacturers for decades, and predicted that we wouldn’t be able to divine such enchantments for many more decades. You must either be an impossibly powerful magician, or… Well, never mind that. If you would be able to help guarantee that such a sadness as the one I experienced could be avoided, who am I to question the source of such discoveries. I wish you the best of luck on your quest to convince the major manufacturer’s to adopt your enchantment.