It was the final day of the rehearsals in their two week stint in Australia, meaning a final feast to be had in the Moleside Inn’s dining room.

     There was an unspoken excitement among the contestants, as they eagerly awaited for Frankie to arrive, idly chatting away with one another on what their plans were.

     Rachel and Natalie looked exhausted, the two clearly having stayed up rather late last night designing their trick, but the smiles on their faces seeming to indicate that it had gone off without a hitch.

     Kacie was busy looking over a notebook she had, little diagrams showing off dance moves and music notes.

     Olive was busy fussing around with her, rubbing her back and telling her that rehearsal was going to go great.

     Paxton looked around nervously for Dahlia, who had not came out of her room this morning when she had knocked.

     Penny and Jean were busy playing with each other. Penny had a look that almost resembled swiss cheese, seemingly arbitrary holes distributed across her multi-armed and legged body. Jean, or her part, was having a fun time passing objects through theses holes. A fork through her hand, some bread through her thigh. At one point, she passed a napkin through Penny’s left ear and out the other, eliciting a lot of giggles from the table.

     Frankie walked into the dining room, a little bit shocked to see everyone up so early, “Oh! Good morning girls! I hope everyone slept well.” With a sprinkling of affirmatives, breakfast was ordered, and food was devoured.

     “Since today’s the last day for rehearsals, I guess I’ll open up the floor to comments or questions,” Frankie smiled, “after all, it’s probably the last time we’ll all get to talk like this,”

     Olive smiled, “Well, let me just say that it’s been an absolute pleasure to work with you Frankie. I can see why Automagic probably runs like a tight ship.”

     “…I have a question…” Dahlia said. Paxton (who was sitting next to the formally empty seat of her partner) jumped slightly. “…Do you know who will be our magician next week?”

     Frankie smiled nervously, “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I’m as in the dark as much as you all are on that one. David’s still on the lookout for a suitable replacement. Whoever they may be, I’m sure they’ll do a fantastic job.”

     The table remained silent at this answer, a cloud of worry briefly hanging over everyone as Frankie brought them back to the present, “Alright, any other questions?” Frankie smiled at the table.

     “Uh… I do,” Natalie nervously was holding a book to her chest, “so… I know it might be a little embarrassing… but…” She extended the book outwards, “Can I have your autograph?!”
    Frankie laughed at the request, accepting the book easily and signing her name with a large flourish. The other pages briefly shown had the names of practically every other famous person involved in the show up to that point, including Tetra’s printed signature sticking out like a bookmark.

     With no further questions or remarks, the girls split upon their separate paths, preparing for a long day of rehearsals.

~~~

Dahlia & Paxton’s Rehearsal

     Paxton was sitting down on the floor, her eyes closed and wheezing heavily.

     They had been practicing for about forty-five minutes at this point, and while she had gotten much better at conjuring the effect they were going for, it was clearly taking a toll on her to maintain it for such long stretches of time.

     Frankie walked over, a water bottle in her hand, handing it to Paxton, “Drink up,” she gave her a warm smile. Paton nodded, downing half the bottle in practically a single gulp. “You know, you’ve really gotten better at that effect.”

     “T-thanks… *huff*” Paxton said, still trying to slow her heartbeat down.

     “There’s really no need to go overboard today,” Frankie offered her hand to help Paxton stand up, the girl doing so, a little shaky still on her feet. “You two clearly have what you want to do down exactly.” She gestured to Dahlia.

     Dahlia was maintaining her effect effortlessly, holding perfectly still, her transformation speaking for itself. Every time Frankie had told them to take a break for Paxton, she refused to budge, staring sat herself in the mirror with an unmoving face.

     “*huff* … One more time,” Paxton said, finishing down the second half of the water bottle. She smiled at Frankie, “I-… I want to do this right.”

     Frankie looked at her a little nervously, but smiled at her conviction. “Take a bit more time, we’ll do another rep in three minutes.”

~~~

Kacie & Olive’s Rehearsal

     “Ugh” Tetra whined, as she missed her step off yet again.

     “It’s okay, dear,” Olive patted her on the back. “You’re doing just fine.”

     “No, I’m not,” Tetra said, clearly a little fed up, “I keep missing my cues, a-and stepping over my own feet,” her voice trembled some animated tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

     “Don’t worry, Tetra,” Frankie said, “You’re branching out. You’re not going to be perfect at it your first go-around.”

     Tetra sighed, the noise produced sounding a bit like static. “Okay… Olive, can you show me the steps again?”

     “With pleasure, dear,” Olive smiled, walking her through the routine once more. “Think of it a bit like your composing. Let each step just come naturally to the beat,”

     After a couple of more go-arounds, Tetra had discovered a breakthrough, being able to completely go through the routine once.

~~~

Natalie & Rachel’s Rehearsal

     “So, that’s the gist of it,” Rachel finished explaining, Frankie nodding along to the plan.

     “Do you think we’ll be able to get the prop ready in time?” Natalie asked, squeezing her hands together nervously.

     “I think we’ll be able to manage it,” Frankie grinned, “After all, Automagic has some of the fastest prop manufacturers in all of Australia,”

     Natalie looked ready to explode, “Oh man! I can’t believe it!”

     “I’ll send a request out during our first break, but I hope you two are ready to work hard today,” Frankie had a stern look on her face, “After all, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover if we’re going to make it presentable tomorrow.”

     Rachel and Natalie nodded in agreement, setting up in their spots for the opening part of the act.

~~~

Anana’s Bar

     Olive looked nervous as she sat, looking around the bar. Rachel sighed, “Olive, if you’re uncomfortable, you really don’t have to drink anything.”

     “Oh no dear, It’s not that,” Olive gave her a warm smile, “Just not a big fan of the bar scene. Not much I can do about it I’m afraid.”

     Rachel had the bright idea, once more, to grab a final drink before their big show tomorrow. After all, there were high odds that this would be the very last time that they all got to hang out with one another before saying goodbye. She had kindly invited Penny, Jean, and Frankie to come out as well. Jean had arrived moments ago, wearing a suspiciously caramel colored dress that seemed to ripple slightly as she walked, and explaining that Penny wasn’t going to be able to make it that night.

     They weren’t waiting very long before Natalie smiled, pointing out, “There she is!”

     Frankie’s outfit was an absolute stunner. It was pure black with small white dots distributed like the night sky. The outfit wrapped around her neck, leaving her shoulders bare, some separate sleeves adorning her forearms with the same design as her dress. Some dark blue frills adorned the bottom of her dress and sleeves. Her lips and nails were similarly painted black to match with the rest of her aesthetic.

     “Hello girls,” Frankie smiled, as she joined their small table, “I hope you all weren’t waiting too long.”

     A waiter came around, passing some drink menus gladly accepted by everyone, except for Olive, who said to the waiter, “Could you get me a water, dear?”

     Paxton stared at the menu for a while, “I-I’m not sure what to get…”

     Rachel smiled, “Well, this place also has magic cocktails, I guess we could do another round of a friend’s sampler, if everyone’s interested.”

     Kacie grinned, “I was actually going to go for the ‘Mind Blown!’ tonight.”

     “I wanted to try out the ‘Fizzy Lifting Drink’,” Natalie chimed in

     “Ooh… I would like that as well…” Dahlia smiled.

     Eventually, drink orders had been settled, Natalie, Dahlia, and Paxton were getting the ‘Fizzy Lifting Drink’; Kacie, Rachel, and Frankie were getting some ‘Mind Blown!’s; while Jean was ordering a ‘Double Down’.

     The drinks arrived, Frankie honoring their last moments together by saying, “A Toast! To A great performance tomorrow!”

     The girls raised their glasses and drank.

     The three who ordered Fizzy lifting drinks ever so slightly began to float upwards, their legs underneath the table being just enough to prevent them from going flying all over the bar.

     The three who ordered the ‘Mind Blown!’s suddenly found themselves lacking heads, their appendages disappearing with a little *poof* and smoke effect.

     Finally, Jean’s dress seemed to grow a little tighter, as two extra mounds began to form on her chest, pushing outwards and matching her upper pair in almost an instant.

     The girls laughed, staying up late into the night ordering drinks and sharing stories.

~~~

Moleside Inn (Drake’s Bedroom)

     Drake had just settled down for the evening in his bedroom, already having swapped into a luscious, blue satin robe, a cup of decaf coffee in his hand, when he hear a knock at the door.

     Annoyed, he walked over, not bothering to peek into the keyhole.

     Standing on the opposite side of the door, one of the PA’s stood nervously, holding clipboard and wearing a headset. She was a rather modest looking Satyr, two rams horns growing out of her head in an almost space buns styled configuration, her brown furry legs leading down to a pair of cloven feet, the front of which had a rustic red looking nail polish applied to them. “Umm… Drake?”

     “Yes?” Drake asked.

     “They found Martin,” She said matter of factly, handing him a cellphone with the local precinct’s number displayed. Drake looked annoyed at the phone as he accepted it. “Should I tell the girls?”

     Drake breathed out heavily, holding the bridge of his nose, “It’d be better not to tell them. They’ve got an important show tomorrow. I’m pretty sure this is the last thing they need on their mind right now.” Drake shook the phone.

     “Alright, I’ll pass the memo,” the Satyr bowed her head.

     “Thanks, Paige,” Drake said, closing his door. He put his coffee down on the table, walking into his bedroom to start changing.

     It looks like tonight was going to be another long night.

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

& Question Corner &

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

To Dahlia: “Ooh, interesting detours. What are you up to? Something that will help with your upcoming performance, I assume.” -Phian (@@vanishedmagician)

 Dahlia: “…I was looking for inspiration… A muse to project myself upon…”

To Kacie: “It's starting to look like maybe you'd rather be a magician. Or a magical DJ.” -Phian (@@vanishedmagician)

 Kacie: “I really think I’d have a great time being a magician’s assistant…. But I think that if I had to make a decision between magic or music…”

 Kacie shakes her head, “I need to focus on the show. I don’t want to let Olive down tomorrow.”

To Paxton: “I don't think anything would make Andrea happier than meeting you next week.” -Phian (@@vanishedmagician)

 Paxton: Paxton blushes, “Well, I’m really excited to meet her too… I really hopes she’s doing alright…”

To Natalie and Rachel: “Glad to see you two are making up! If there’s one thing I don’t like to see it’s drama between people I like.” -Shannon (@@FlagsOtherSide)

 Rachel: Rachel blushes, “Yeah… I’m really sorry about getting so intense with you Natalie.”

 Natalie: “It’s alright Rachel. I think we probably both said things that we regret. I’m just glad we could work it out in the end.”

 Natalie and Rachel share a hug.

To David: “I quite understand, you have to make sure your problems are sorted out first. Still the invitation is open when you are ready just let me know, you have my private e-mail. And please, Drake's kicking himself over this enough, I don't blame him a bit. No security, no matter how tight, is absolute.” -Jacob Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 David: “Thank you for understanding, Jake. Hopefully this matter of a magician for the season will be resolved soon enough.

 And don’t worry about Drake. He’s a rather resilient fellow. I’m not sure why he’s been hyper-fixated on this particular issue, but I’ll make sure to pass along the sentiment."

To Howard: “You got it! I'll see you Wednesday unless you want to get in a day or two early. I'll make sure any equipment you need is available. See you soon!” -Jacob Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Howard: “Excellent! I’ll let the girls know!

 Oh, and make sure you’ve got some dog treats for Rocky. He’s usually a good pup, but he still occasionally get antsy around meeting a large amount of new people at once. We might just come over a day earlier just so he can get a little acclimated with Mageria before hand.”

To Kacie: “Oh you got me! As far as controlling multiple arms, I've had a lifetime of practice, so don't feel to bad. I had a hard time when I tried a normal human form. Just two arms a two feet? How do you do it?! (laugh emoji)” -Genie Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Kacie: “Ha ha. You’ve got me there. I never even considered how it would feel for a multi-limbed person to suddenly lose all that mobility. I guess it would be similar to if I suddenly one of my arms?

 But anyways, I’m totally down to have a jam session with you sometime in the future. I’m sure we’ll make some killer tracks!”

To Paxton: “See you then, hugs to you.” -James Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Paxton: Paxton blushes, a silly looking grin on her face. “T-thanks. You too~”

To Natalie and Rachel: “I'm glad you two made up, I'm sure your act will be spectacular!” -Genie Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)

 Natalie: “Well, I certainly hope so… One day to practice isn’t all that much time to really polish everything up…”

 Rachel: Rachel blushes, “Yeah… But I’m sure everything will go fine. I really like how it was turning out in rehearsal.”