It was the morning after the girls had arrived in the European Wellspring. The rather large get-together Andrea had planned went off swimmingly, allowing the girls one true final time to say goodbye to Rachel and their Australian experts, and to also get to know one of their two hosts the tiniest bit better (Phian having slipped out into the night some point relatively early to the party getting started, Andrea offering a half-hearted apology that they seem to tend to do that sometimes).

      However, jet lag did eventually catch up with them, the girls shambling into their rooms.

 Their rooms, much like the last hotel, were honestly nothing special. Heavily stylized with old, wooden furniture and magic candles, the rooms offered a comfy feeling of simultaneously being heavily dated and surprisingly modern.

      Each room was also equipped with a door connecting it to the adjacent room next door. As the five contestants quickly realized, opening up all of their doors meant that they now had one, singular massive room to each enjoy and share. This discovery helped to spur their consciousness just that tiniest bit longer, before that high too ended, and the girls fell asleep in their own comfy beds once again.

~~~

Olive’s Rehearsal

      Martin took another look at his schedule again and sighed. True to his word, Drake had significantly reduced the number of press spots he was going to be taking. In fact, Drake had removed them all, completely clearing his schedule so he could focus once again on what mattered most to him in the show: training his assistants.

      Of course, since rehearsal time slots were completely voluntary, he wasn’t all that shocked when on his first day back as the magician for the season, the only person who had bothered to sign up was Olive.

      Martin sat patiently in the practice studio the European Magic Union had been gracious enough to allow them access to, located about a short journey south of their International Headquarters in Brussels, located right next to Magasin Central and Retro Paradise at Les Petits Reins.

      He still looks rather ragged, clearly not having slept very well ever since he first announced that he was going to be leaving the show.

      Olive walked into the Practice studio, Martin visually brightening up, despite how hoarse his voice sounded. He offered her a weak smile, “Hello Olive… I’m glad to see you…”

      Olive, for her part, ignored Martin for the moment, walking over to a nearby table and placing her purse down. She opened it, beginning to fish around for something.

      Martin was absolutely heartbroken, “O-Olive… Please talk to me… I don’t want you to be mad at me…”

      Olive sighed, she looked at Martin, her eyes clearly a little pink themselves, “Martin. I’m not mad at you, dear… I just-“ Olive took a deep breath, “I need to know. We all need to know. Why did you quit on us?”

      Martin sighed, “It’s not-... It’s not that easy for me to say- You know? I wish that I had some sort of grand reason for leaving… But truthfully, I- I just don’t know…” Martin choked up a little bit, his voice growing more hoarse.

      “You know… The previous hosts for this show- and really all world class magicians- I look up to them- They’re my idols! And watching them… They make it all look so effortless,” Martin was tearing up now, “They always seem to have the right answer… A-and- I just wanted to deliver as good a product as they’ve offered me. But- Look at me!”

      Martin gestures to himself, tears actively streaming down his face, “What have I ever accomplished? Finished some tests? Made the right people happy? I certainly don’t know all the answers! I’ve just coasted my entire career! It’s pure luck, and people telling me what to do! I couldn’t even stand up enough to just tell Drake ‘No!’ to those stupid press junkits! I’m not the next Howard Weiss or David Angel! And I certainly don’t deserve to stand upon the same stage that they did.” Martin holds his hair in his hands, pulling downwards to cover his face.

      “You girls deserve someone more experienced than me!- A-And I don’t even deserve to look you in the face- I should have just fully broken my contract and given up my magic-“ Martin sobbed, practically incomprehensible if not for the subtitles, “Then at least I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this again! But I can’t even do that grand gesture right! And now I’ve only made things worse by coming back!”

      Olive stood, watching Martin’s mental state spiral out of control, her own face looking on the edge of tears as he continued, “I mean! None of you will even talk to me! Not that I blame you, I wouldn’t want to talk to me either. I’m just a low tier magician who managed to fall his way upwards! Who would want to associate with that!?-”

      Martin was interrupted, as he suddenly felt Olive’s arms wrap around him in a hug. “Is that why you left us?!” Olive was actively crying now, her voice an equal mix of pain and anger, “For something as stupid as doubting yourself?”

      “O-Olive-“

      “Do you know how scared you made us when you left,” Olive’s tears were beginning to stain Martin’s jacket. “We thought we had did something wrong! You just left without even telling us goodbye! You’re the only magician most of these girls have ever had, and rather than letting us help, you just through us to the dogs!”

 Martin’s face scrunched up, “I-I know. I don’t-“

      “Do you know that Paxton was basically catatonic for days after you left!” Olive wasn’t done scolding him, still crying, “You had finally opened that poor girl up, and then didn’t even have the courtesy to hold the door open.”

      “It’s why David-
     “Who cares about David and Howard!?” Olive was practically shouting now, her voice heavily muffled by his jacket, “Are they our magician? No! It’s you! And we don’t want another magician besides you!”

      “B-but… The schedule-“

      “No one signed up because they’re all trying to give you space!” Olive cried, “We’re not trying to lock ourselves away, Martin. Every time we’ve tried to come and talk, you’ve kept the door closed! You didn’t even come to Andrea’s party last night!”

      Martin took this all in, remaining quiet or a while, “We want you to be our magician, Martin,” Olive sobbed. “You’re a bright boy. We know you don’t have all the answers. We’re not expecting you to. We just want to be there to help you find them.”

 Martin closed his eyes again, still crying, “I-I’ve been so stupid…”

      “You really have. And you need to tell the others girls.”

      Martin sat there a bit, still hugging Olive.

      “Okay…”

~~~

Oak Holm Market

      With it finally being day time, the Enchanted Forest, as a connecting hub for a large amount of Europe, was completely abuzz with activity.

 The natural flowing streams of people weren’t as busy as the Down Under, of course. With a much more open space and a lot more to actually do in the wellspring itself, people were much more willing to just amble around, maybe check out the stalls at the market (which true to Andrea’s warning, had grown significantly in the morning hours) or maybe even just sit and chat with the variety of non- and hemi-humans that inhabited the place.

      It was in this exact marketplace that Paxton found herself wandering around, desperately hoping to find something that would inspire her for her trick this week. She stood in awe at the sheer volume and variety of people out on display, trying to not stare too hard as she watched their bodies move in weird and wondrous ways.

      While she was crowd watching, she briefly caught the site of a small parting circle in the crowd, some distinctly blond hair with red streaks darting by in the center of it. “Oh! Phian!” She attempted to shout over the crowd. Evidently, Phian must not have heard her, the bubble continuing to move further away in the crowd.

      Paxton began to give chase, her own bubble of misdirection allowing her to make her way through the crowd rather easily. The problem was, with her small height, it was rather difficult at times to spot where Phian’s bubble was going.

      Eventually though, slightly outside of the marketplace, she did manage to finally catch up, catching her breath slightly as she said, “Phian! *huff* Can we talk?” The figure Paxton was chasing turned around.

      They looked an awful lot like the Phian that Paxton had met last night. Similar, lithe build; pretty face; even a similar mostly black outfit.

      What was clearly different, however, was that this person seemed to be a girl, having slightly more accentuated curves, longer hair, and overall softer features. “Oh! Sorry miss… You just look a lot like a person I know.”

      The mysterious woman smiled, “Oh! Hello Paxton! How are you?” Their voice sounded exactly like Phian’s voice from yesterday, although clearly a higher pitch.

      Paxton balked a little bit at this, “P-Phian?” she asked.

      Phian smiled, “The one and the same! What’s up?”

      “N-Nothing,” Paxton said, clearly a little thrown off by how nonchalantly Phian was acting,      “Just wanted to see if we could talk about the upcoming challenge.”

      “Challenge?” Phian tilted their head to the side.

      “For the show?” Paxton asked.

      “Show… show… Are we performing together in a show today?” Phian asked, her tone of voice seeming genuine.

      “For ANGA?” Paxton prompted.

      “Oh, I love ANGA!” Phian smiled, her eyes shining brightly for a moment with recognition, “Oh yeah! I’m the special guest this week! That’s right! So what’s the issue you’re having with the challenge?”

      “Well, i-it’s just that,” Paxton seemed distracted as she continued to stare at Phian’s female state, “I’m having a really hard time-“

      “Paxton, is my current form bothering you?” Phian asked, clearly picking up on her discomfort, “I can change it if you’d like.”

      “N-No! It’s fine,” Paxton blushed, “I just didn’t realize that you liked to change your forms like Penny”

      “Oh, I don’t go too crazy with things like her” Phian smiles, “Just like a little variety every now and then.”
     “Okay,” Paxton shook her head, “So, anyways-“

      “Phian!” The voice of Natalie could be heard coming through the crowd. Phian looked confused looking around for the source of the noise, until Natalie finally joined there little circle.

      “Oh, Hello Natalie,” Phian smiled. “How are you?”
     “I’m doing great!” Natalie smiled, “struggling a bit with figuring out a good trick idea for this week, but it’s been pretty fun. But I’m so glad I caught you, would you if you’d give me your autograph?” Natalie held out a little notebook.

      “Sure thing,” Phian grinned, writing their name into the notebook before handing it back.

      “Thanks!” Natalie grinned, bowing slightly before running back off into the crowd.

      Phian looked back at Paxton, “So, what was I helping you with again?”

      “Designing a trick for the challenge this week on ANGA.”

 Phian snapped their fingers, “Right… You know, there’s so many cool diverse magical races here. I bet you could design a pretty good trick by just picking one to observe and be inspired by.”

 Paxton’s head hurt a little bit from this exchange. “Y-yeah… Thanks Phian,”

 Phian smiled, “Don’t mention it. And if you need any more help, feel free to ask,” They then proceeded to turn around, disappearing back into the crowd.

~~~

Jozef Oak Inn (Kacie’s Room)

      It was about mid-afternoon when Kacie came up for air, removing Tetra and putting back on her normal head. She had been basically working on the next setlist for her act the entire time, and wanted to get some fresh air before getting back to it.

      As she headed towards her door, she heard some strange noises coming from the door that connected her own bedroom to Dahlia’s bedroom. It sounded like some people talking, neither of the voices she could hear sounding anything like Dahlia.

 Kacie snuck up on the door, giving the knob an experimental turn and finding that it opened easily enough.

      She walked into Dahlia’s bedroom and gasped at the site that laid before her.

~~~

Jozef Oak Inn (Dahlia’s Room)

      Drake was perhaps the most livid he’d ever been on the show. “I cannot believe that you two thought this was in any way an appropriate thing to do!” He shouted.

      After Kacie had seen what was going on in Dahlia’s room, and thus the camera crew similarly saw it. Drake was immediately notified of the incident, and within ten minutes had gathered everyone up into Dahlia’s room.

      Laying in Dahila’s bed were two women of approximately the same young age. One was a rather muscular looking African American woman, her curly hair almost matching up exactly with Dahlia’s own (although, hers was actually more wild than anything. Gripping on to her side, a rather frightened looking redhead with pale skin and freckles held on to the other woman as though her life depended on it.

      “P-please Drake,” the small redhead stuttered in a clearly American accent, “D-Dont punish Dawn for this… It was my idea that we merge to have better odds of getting in.”

      “I don’t care who’s idea it was!” Drake shouted, “Do you two have any idea of the nightmare scenario you’ve managed to throw the show into? We’re not talking about a potential ratings drop here. We’re talking about potentially being thrown off the air!”

      Andrea looked rather annoyed with Drake, warning him, “Drake. You’re scaring them.”

      “Oh! I’m scaring them? Do you know what’s scary Andrea? Prison! For potentially breaking broadcasting laws relating to Merged People!”
     “We knew what we were signing up for,” the African American woman identified as Dawn said in a thicker french accent than Dahlia had, “I do not see why there should be any sort of penalties for what Julia and I did.”

      “Well, for starters, how about the fact that you blatantly signed your contracts under false pretense?” Drake asked, “You know, the ones you signed that had various clauses and parts asking whether or not you were a Merged Person?”

      “W-We didn’t think we had enough experience,” the redhead known as Julia tried to hide her head under the covers, “We thought we’d have a better chance of getting on if we just merged…”

      “It’s not the fact you were merged that’s the issue!” Drake said, exhausted, “It’s that you’ve been lying and saying you were a single person this whole time. Compensation and facility requirements are different for merged people, and so, because you lied, the show’s been unknowingly breaking the law for the past two weeks!”

      “And while were on the subject of you two lying, how did you even manage to sneak past our physicians?” Drake asked, “we should have had you all thoroughly screened”

      Dawn smiled, “I morphed myself to look like Dahlia whenever we had to meet them. I’d hide Julia away somewhere special~”

      Drake held up his hands, “Look. I don’t want to hear it. I’m sure a judge probably will when we get a court summons though.”

      Drake rubbed his temples, muttering under his breath, “This season has been an absolute train wreck… Why did I agree to come back to this? I should have just stopped after Howard’s shenanigans last year.”

      Drake stopped clapping his hands, “Well girls, I’m afraid that the contracts you signed were very specific on how to handle these situations.
     I’m afraid that, until further notice, Dahlia, or I guess these two women here who composed her, will be disqualified from the competition.” A series of gasps came out from the other contestants.

      Andrea stood her ground, “Drake, you can’t do this to her. She just wanted to compete.”
     Drake didn’t back down, “Andrea. I’m afraid that this is an issue that is larger than both you and I. When it gets to court, you can make your case, but until then, I’m afraid Dahlia will not be allowed to compete in any further competitions. I’m afraid this also means that this week’s competition will not be an elimination one, However we will attempt to offer a prize of an equivalent value-.”

      Drake was cut short as Martin entered into the bedroom. He had significantly cleaned up his act since this morning, having trimmed his beard, ironed out his clothes, and walking with a newfound swagger to his step. “Drake. How dare you treat my assistants this way,” Martin was full of an angry energy that he’d never really shown before. “Dahlia here has done nothing wrong than be herself,” she gestured to the two woman, “and if her being a merged person was an issue, I would have brought it up, since I was aware of their status.”

 Drake looked incredulous, “If you knew, why didn’t you speak up then.”

      “I hardly could with how much you were pushing me around before,” Martin glared, “But that changes going forwards. I’m the magician this season, and if there’s a decision that will be affecting my assistants, I will be the one to make it.”

      Drake seemed taken aback at Martin’s confidence. “W-well… I’m afraid that your opinion doesn’t really matter on this one. The law is pretty straightforwards on what’s supposed to be done.”
     “Well, when we go to the European Magic Union tomorrow, I’m sure they’ll love to have a discussion on those rules with us both,” Martin said.

      “I guess we will!” Drake said, raising his voice as he stormed towards the door.

      With his hand on the doorknob, Drake turned around and looked at the room with a stern look on his face, “Is there any other major secrets I need to be worried about? Any unspecified Lycanthropy? Or that you were actually a dream this entire time?” The other girls nervously shook their head in the negative.

      “Good. Then if you need me, I’ll be calling the shows lawyers. Hopefully I can prevent us from getting cancelled at the very least.”

      “Are you two alright?” Martin asked Dawn and Julia after it was quite clear that Drake was gone. Julia was still in tears, apologizing profusely to Dawn.

      Dawn smiled at Martin, “A little shaken up, but we should be fine… Nice to finally meet you, Martin.”

      Martin flashed one of his award winning smiles, first at Dawn, and then at his five assistants as a whole, “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you all as well,”

      And with that, Martin began the long process of explaining why he left the show in a similar fashion to how he had originally told Olive.

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

& Question Corner &

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

Due to her disqualification, Dahlia will be unable to answer any questions.

To Everyone:

“It was a bliss to celebrate with all of you, especially since I could also a late birthday, it wasn't that far off, 19th June after all.

Thank you for being so generous and loving Olive, Paxton and Natalie, you two for sure drilled holes in me with your questions, but I will answer all of them.

Kacie, thank you so much for keeping your promise and keep Tetra away, you look much cuter that way.

Dahlia, Sweetheart I’m blessed to know you and seriously your reaction was priceless, when I told you that I'm also celebrating my birthday.

Rachel, I know you weren't a participating party anymore, but I seriously am happy you could made it. Hope you loved my unique flavour, you certainly taste brilliant.” -Andrea (@@Jeaune)

 Olive: “Not a worry at all, Dear. I’m just so glad that I could finally get you those presents I promised you. I guess it was rather lucky that your birthday was so close by,” Olive laughs.

 Paxton: Paxton smiles brightly, “I had an excellent time talking to you Andrea. Thank you so much for talking with me about your time as an assistant. It’s definitely helped a lot.”
Natalie: Natalie blushes, “Thank you so much for answering my questions. Sorry that I had so many. It’s just, I so rarely get to talk to an actual source on these sort of things! I had a wonderful time!”

 Kacie: Kacie laughs, “It was no problem really. Although I’m sure if Tetra had an active personality of their own, they’d feel a little sad about missing out on meeting you.”

 Rachel: “Oh, I definitely loved your flavor. Seriously, yours blew Dahlia’s out of the water.”

To all:

“Willkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!

Fremder, étranger, stranger

Glücklich zu sehen!

Je suis enchanté!

Happy to see you!

It is an absolute delight to be able to perform with/for you tonight, and the week to come!” -Phian (@@vanishedmagician)

 Paxton: “Thanks Phian! Your trick was great! And you pulled if off so effortlessly!”
Olive: “Oh, I’m so happy to meet you too, dear. You really should stop by for a cup of tea sometimes. I’d love to hear some of your stories.”

 Natalie: “Phian, I have to say, it’s an honor to meet you. Seriously, I know all about your story, and I have to say, it’s a truly wonderful tale. I thought you did amazing with Andrea yesterday, and I’m looking forwards to interacting with you more as the week goes on.”

 Kacie: “You did a great performance Phian. Seriously, you two were so natural, I almost wonder if you and Andrea had done it before.”

To Kacie: “Have we met before? You seem very familiar.” -Phian (@@vanishedmagician)

 Kacie: “I don’t think I’ve ever personally met you before, Phian, but it’s entirely possible that you may have been to one of my shows or heard my music before.

To Rachel: “I’m sorry to see you go, Any time you wish to visit our humble, little island again, just say the word. We’re actually starting it’s birthday celebration this week. If you wish to come, I'll make all the arrangements.” -Jacob Schutter. (@@James-MacCloude)

 Rachel: Rachel laughs, “No need to feel bad, Jake. It’s just how the competition goes unfortunately.

 The world tour tickets don’t actually come into effect until after ANGA has wrapped up productions, so I absolutely would love to come on out to Mageria to celebrate it’s birthday! I had a wonderful time there, and It’d be really great to interact with your family on a more relaxed timeline! Plus, I’m sure you have all sorts of fun things to do there that I’ve never tried before!”

To Howard: “I do have something to say to you when you arrive.” -Morgana Pendragon. (@@James-MacCloude)

 Howard: Howard chuckles deeply, “Well, I’ll certainly be interested in what you have to say then, person I’ve never interacted with before.” He grins cheekily.

To The Girls: “That is a wonderful place, I know you'll have fun.” -The Schutter Family. (@@James-MacCloude) / To the Girls: “I'm glad to see you in the European wellspring. It is refreshing to see it hasn't changed since I was last there. It feels like it has been centuries, I must go there again sometime.” -Morgana Pendragon. (@@James-MacCloude)

 Kacie: “Thanks everyone! From everything I’ve seen, the wellspring seems absolutely phenomenal. Part of me almost wishes we could perform our tricks there like Phian and Andrea did.”

 Paxton: Paxton smiles warmly, “Thanks for the well wishes! Hopefully things will go smoothly this week!”

 Olive: “Oh trust me Morgana, I know the exact feeling you’re talking about. When I was a young girl, I know hard to imagine, My cousins and me would go on out to Pittsburgh once a month to see interact with our other cousins. The last time I went out there was about a year ago, and I still remember all of the old places I used to check out looking exactly the same.

 Natalie: “Thanks! And it’s great to know that this place has such a long, exciting history!”

To Rachel: “So sorry that you were the one voted out. But at least you get to explore the world! Bon voyage!” -Shannon (@@FlagsOtherSide)

 Rachel: Rachel laughs, “I’m sad to see me go too! But hey! Those ANGA producers always seem to know exactly what to get someone to thank them for our time. I’m sure I’m going to have an absolute blast, and it’ll be especially nice to not have to worry about paying for anything,” she winks.

To Drake: “Nice job picking Andrea and Phian as guests. I love these two already!” -Shannon (@@FlagsOtherSide)

 Drake: “Well, thank you! Andrea and Phian are both extremely talented individuals, and have both been wonderful supporters of the show in the past. So we thought it would be a great time for all involved to invite them out. I’m glad to see that all parties seem to be pretty happy with the arrangement.”