The line outside the Theater an der Wein was starting to spill out into the street, requiring the accompanying roads to once again be completely closed. The restaurants across the way from the theater, seeing an opportunity, had opened up little stalls outside of their restaurant, trying to attract customers by offering free samples and advertising they had televisions set up to watch the show.
The inside of the theater was absolutely gorgeous, lending a strong classical feel to the entire event, with a high circular ceiling with a floral pattern with portraits of the nine muses across each petal. There were also multiple stories of red-velvet, boxed balcony seats arranged in a semi-circle manner pointing towards the stage.
The stage itself was similarly as elegant and impressive as the rest of the theater. Situated in front of it was a large orchestral pit, currently empty, as this was a magic show, but it was understood that in a normal stage setting, the music they made would be able to be heard even in the highest balcony seats. The stage was framed by a golden ridge, and unlike most stages that were satisfied with a plain, red velvet curtain, their primary curtain instead displayed a mural depicting a classic greek scene of meeting. The curtain was clearly rather old, some of the colors having faded from it, but the majesty of it still remained.
Drake popped out from the side of the stage, the audience cheering loudly as he took center stage, taking a bow. “Ladies and Gentlemen!” He proclaimed, loud cheers unbecoming of the location they were performing in erupted out. “Last week, in the midst of more shocking revelations, our five wonderful contestants were tasked with finding their muse in the diversity of our world. Tonight, we will see this inspiration come to life!”
“But first,” Drake smiled, “I would like to offer a humble thank you to our glorious hosts this week, Phian and Andrea!” From the opposite side of the stage, Phian and Andrea walked out, Phian in their slightly more masculine form, wearing a classic black tuxedo. As they waved at the crowd, it could be seen that they had two glowing tattoos, one on each of their hands. In their left, a glowing yellow dragon’s head; their right, a shiny red koi fish.
Andrea was wearing a modest black dinner gown. The two stopped about halfway to center stage, Phian taking a bow, while Andrea gave a polite curtsy. “They helped make our time in Europe absolutely splendid. The ANGA production team hopes you continue to enjoy the show, and we’ll be seeing you at the afterparty,” He gave them a wink, as they walked back offstage.
“Well, That’s all from me,” Drake smiled at the audience, “We hope you’ll enjoy the show!” He gave a polite bow, before walking offstage once more.
The mural slowly began to rise.
~~~
Kacie’s Performance
For the very first performance of the night, the stage was set up like a scene from a classic greek tragedy.
Against the back wall of the stage, two rocky outcroppings had been constructed on either side of the stage, each a sheer cliff face with pointy rocks near the bottom. Floating in the center of the stage was a wooden rowboat, the wooden floor boards somehow rippling with a water-like effect, as Martin, wearing a plain white toga, hummed to himself.
From the rocky outcropping on the lefthand side of the stage, the haunting melody of ‘Ocean Lullaby’ by Henrik Astrom began to play. From the rocky outcropping, the upper half of Tetra popped out. She looked mostly normal, wearing a rather damp black t-shirt and her normal black fingerless gloves. Her tattoos and her triangular head slowly pulsed a deep emerald shade of green.
From further along the outcropping, an emerald mermaid’s tail flopped over the outcropping, the scales of which glistened in the harsh theater lighting.
As she continued to sing, Martin’s head turned, his eyes appearing glazed over, as he ever so slowly began to steer the rowboat towards the rocky outcropping, a smile appearing over Tetra’s face as she continued.
Suddenly, from the rafters, a shape flew out, grabbing Tetra’s head and giving it a yank, the head quickly turning from green to its more natural blue. Martin seemed to shake his head, whatever spell he had been under seemingly disappearing, as Tetra’s mermaid body confusedly fumbled around, rubbing where her head had been just moments prior.
The shape landed on the other rocky outcropping was about the size and shape of a turkey, with jet black feathers. However, on its front there was the pale stomach and chest of a pale girl attached, her modesty was being protected by several conveniently placed outcropping of feathers.
The strange beast placed Kacie’s head down on its own rocky outcropping, before using its wings to awkwardly attach Kacie’s head to its vacant neck. As she did so, Tetra started to glow dark red, her face taking a more actively sinister look to it, as a little, digitize metal stud appeared where her little avatar face would have a nose.
Suddenly, the sound of an electric guitar’s riff began to reverberate through the theater, the distinctive melody being immediately recognized as the opening riff to ‘Barricuda’. Martin turned his head, his eyes glazing over once more, as he tilted his boat towards the other rocky outcropping, slowly approaching it.
As the lyrics to the song finally kicked, Tetra’s mermaid body seemed to get huffy, sliding down the backside of her rocky outcropping and disappearing behind it.
Just as Tetra finally hit the pivotal moment of the song, uttering out a seductive, “Barricuda~” Tetra’s siren body popped out from the floorboards, flipping up in the air and grabbing the head off of her alkonost one.
Martin seemed to snap out of his haze, visibly reeling from the strange headless creature in front of him, as Tetra’s siren body climbed up on her cliff top once more, reattaching the clearly dizzy blue head of Tetra, which instantly turned green.
She began chanting some haunting melodies once again, this time a piece known as ‘The Swallowing Sea’ as she beckoned for Martin to approach her cliff, the slightest hint of a green, seashell bra visibly peaking out from her neckline.
As Martin became enthralled once more, the headless turkey like body stamped its foot down impatiently. seeming to hurl invisible explicatives at the siren as she pointed with her wings at her.
The bird flapped its wings, taking to the air and once again taking to the air, plucking Tetra right off of the siren, and flipping it upwards as she hovered in the air, the robotic head landing exactly on her neck stump.
She smiled, continuing to fly up in the air above both rocky outcroppings as she began to play ‘Call Me’ grinning as Martin looked up in the air, clearly conflicted about how he’s supposed to reach her. Just as she was about to belt the title for the first time, she hovered in front of Martin, grinning.
“Call-“
From behind, the siren body had leaped off of her rocky outcropping, tackling the alkonost, pulling both of them into the stage, as Tetra’s normal blue head, clearly dizzy, fell to the floor of Martin’s ship.
Bubbles and waves emitted from the point of the stage where the two bodies had fallen in, Martin, no longer in a stupor, picked up Tetra’s head, the two sharing a mutual smile, as he placed her on the seat opposite him, beginning to row the two towards stage left as she began playing a classic sea shanty.
The curtain closed, both of Tetra’s bodies briefly popping up from the stage and waving at the crowd right before it closed.
~~~
Natalie’s Performance
Natalie and Martin walked out from the side of the stage in their performance outfits, Natalie having her arm wrapped around Martin’s elbow. When they reached center stage, Martin approached the front of the stage while Natalie kept walking towards the other side of the stage. Martin addressed the crowd, “Tonight, we’re going to be showing off a prop designed by my lovely assistant, Natalie. However, for this trick, we’re going to need something that no other performance in ANGA has ever required: A volunteer from the audience!”
Obviously, at such an announcement, the crowd went absolutely wild, many people standing up in their seats trying desperately to be picked by for such an honor. Martin continued to scan the crowd, until eventually settling on an orcish looking fellow in the back row, who was led to the stage by some PAs.
The man stood about two heads taller than Martin, and was wearing a bright red t-shirt with some golden shorts. He had a rectangular head, and an underbite that caused the two tusk-like incisors of his lower jaw to stick outwards over his bottom lip. When questioned what his name was, he responded with ‘Eric’.
“Well Eric,” Martin smiled, pulling out a crisp twenty Euro banknote from his pocket and straightening it with a snap. “How would you like to play a game for some money tonight?” The audience cheered wildly, as Natalie finally returned from offstage, wheeling in the prop she had designed two nights ago.
The prop looked a bit like a ’T’, with a wide central cabinet where the assistant would clearly step into, the top of which extended outwards to either side slightly beyond the dimensions of the primary box. On top of this box, three additional boxes, each the same size and shape sat, the middle one sitting dead center on the table-like board, while the other two were equidistance from it.. The front of the box featured a door that only covered the assistant’s top half, the picture on the front showing off an assistant performing a front double biceps pose.
Natalie climbed into cabinet, slipping her head into central cabinet while sticking her hands into the other boxes, her pose matching up with the pose on the front door of the cabinet. A PA quickly ran off from the side of the stage, pulling out a step ladder, which Martin used to be on more eye level with Eric, and be able to easily access the boxes that Natalie’s various limbs now resided in.
“So,” Martin smiled, closing the boxes and sending Natalie into darkness. He produced a flat blade, lying it against the table top and sliding it quickly under all three of the boxes, eliciting a squeak from the central one. “The game’s rather simple, find the head, and win the prize.”
Martin grabbed the three boxes, going slowly as he shuffled the boxes around, a giggling noise being heard as the boxes slid around the table. Martin stopped moving the boxes around, gesturing for Eric to select a box.
“Uh… This one?” Eric grunted, pointing at the one to the left side of the cabinet. Martin grinned, as he opened the box, revealing Natalie’s smiling face inside.
“Congratulations!” Martin smiled, as he unlatched the other boxes, revealing Natalie’s right hand where her neck would normally be, and her left hand where her right hand would be. He hands Eric the twenty dollar bill, the crowd cheering for his success.
“Now!” Martin grinned, as he closed all three of the boxes once more, pulling out the distinctly colored one hundred Euro bank note, slamming it down on the table and getting another squeal from Natalie. “How about we up the stakes? This time. You’ll win if you find one of Natalie’s hands?”
Eric look confused, the game seemingly have been made easier, “Uh… Sure?”
Martin smiled wickedly, as he once again grabbed Natalie’s boxes, this time going all out. His hands moved like a blur, as the three boxes quickly rotate around the table. This bit went on for quite a bit, until finally Martin’s hands abruptly stopped, each box once again over a spot that matched up with the pattern below.
Eric’s eyes were still spinning slightly, as he shook his head. “Uh… That one!” He pointed enthusiastically at the box in the center.
Martin smiled, as he opened it up, revealing Natalie’s head, her own eyes still spinning around. “Oh… I’m so sorry Eric… But I’m afraid, you were never going to win this one,” Martin grinned, as he opened up the other boxes, revealing that they too contained identical copies of her head, in a similar state of dizziness.
Eric laughed as the audience applauded. “Now!” Martin clapped his hand together, “Why don’t you help me with this next step? Because this cabinet’s still got a few tricks up its sleeves.” Martin instructed Eric to grab his side of the table portion of the cabinet, and slowly the two of them began to rotate it, Natalie’s heads going around in a circle, while her lower half stayed in place, tapping its foot nervously.
After several rotations, Martin walked down from his step ladder, Eric continuing to twist the table until he commanded him to stop, maintaining the orientation the table had. With a flourish, Martin opened up the box, revealing inside a thick twisted rope. It seemed as though Natalie’s arms were stretched out around her body, starting from her shoulders, down to her waist, and then back up bonelessly to meet up with the other heads.
Martin slid his finger down the rolls of her arms, eliciting several giggles from Natalie’s three heads, before closing the door once more. “Alright Eric, one more task, and you can go back to your seat. Now, I just need you to let go.”
Eric grinned, as he released the table, Natalie’s head screaming slightly, as the table began to rotate back to its original orientation. Thankfully, the spinning naturally slowed down.
The astute viewer would have noticed that the boxes containing Natalie’s heads seemed a little closer together, as Martin instructed Natalie to duck down. The assistant obliged, her heads popping down into the central cabinet, as Martin opened the door, revealing how Natalie had changed.
Natalie now had three heads atop her shoulders, the poor things fighting for real estate slightly as they rubbed practically cheek to cheek. “Ladies and Gentlemen, a lovely round of applause for our volunteer, Eric, and my newest Kefalus assistant, Natalie!” Martin clapped his hand, as the two took a bow, the curtain closing once again.
~~~
Olive’s Performance
Olive and Martin smiled as they walked out onto the stage. Both of them were already transformed, their noses completely missing, as their eyes had merged together into a single large eye that took up a majority of their foreheads. Two PA’s rushed to meet them, carrying a large brick wall stand-in. On the back wall of the stage, two large projections began, showing off the live feed to the audience and causing a small bit of recursion.
Martin grinned, as he took center stage, Olive standing slightly in front of the brick wall stand-in. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, Olive had some ideas for some wonderful optical illusions. However, due to the format of the show, we realized that they won’t play out quite as well to our in-theater audience. So for the best enjoyment, we would recommend watching the above streams for this one.” He took a little bow, as he situated himself next to Olive, who was standing happily in front of the brick wall standee, the camera zooming in so that the only thing visible was Olive and the brick wall.
“So,” Martin went into explaining off screen, “as it’s already well documented, Monoeyes have historically struggled with depth perception, as their monocular vision prevents them from accurately gauging the distance between objects. We are actually able to emulate this pretty well, if you’ve ever watched a non-3d video, that’s essentially what a Monoeye would see. For instance, watch this:”
Martin hand peaked in from the edge of the camera view, as Olive stood perfectly still. The wall seemed to shake slightly, but otherwise, the image looked exactly the same on the live feed. The audience applauded loudly. “Now, that probably looked like nothing happen, however, if we were to get a different perspective…”
The camera feed suddenly cut to an instant reply of what just happened, situated directly behind Martin’s shoulder. Across the way from him, a PA helped him lift up the wall. As they slowly, barely moved the wall forward, the view offered a completed undisturbed view as Olive’s depth completely disappeared into the wall, the older assistant having managed to completely flatten herself against it.
“Of course,” Martin smiled, the camera cutting back to the front facing view, with Olive smiling proudly as a pancake on the wall, “that was just an example where we left the camera still. There’s actually some more fun things we can do if we let the camera move around," Martin reached up, peeling Olive off the wall like a sticker, and gently laying her down on the ground facedown.
The camera suddenly cut to an overhead view looking down. The floor of the stage was a uniform black color, with the Olive face down directly in the center, with Martin craning his head up at the camera. “Try and figure out what’s going on before we cut to a better angle,” He grinned, looking forward once more as he began to slowly walk around Olive.
At first, nothing appeared to happen, Martin simply walking around Olive like normal, but suddenly, it seemed like Martin was slowly growing smaller, Olive remaining perfectly still in the center of the camera’s view, as it suddenly took him longer and longer to walk around her. The in-person audience once again clapped loudly. “Alright, figured it out yet?” Martin asked.
The camera cut to more neutral view, revealing that Martin was still very much the same size, it had actually been Olive who had grown larger and flatter, taking up most of the stage, while now only being about as thick as a piece of paper. She smiled, her hand attempting to wiggle slightly, only managing to introduce some wrinkles into her form.
“And finally, another unfortunate side effect of the monocular vision is that they struggle a bit with the idea of projecting images onto non-flat shapes,” from offstage, a PA passed Martin a large orange beachball, about three feet across. “Luckily, we can demonstrate one of the many possible ways that might look.”
Martin place the large beach ball on Olive’s foot, slowly rolling it up her body, her flat form instantly sticking to the plastic, as she was balled up by Martin effortlessly. He took extra care to pass over her body in a manner that meant he wouldn’t have to step on her.
After about a minute of rolling, he finished his labor, resulting in a now flesh colored ball about three feet wide, a giant eyeball smiling with some clearly visible crow’s feet. “*Phew*!” Martin exhaled, “Well, we hope you enjoyed this slightly educational magic performance,” Martin grinned, getting spooked slightly as the Olive ball suddenly started hovering, several fleshy tendrils now extending out from her back, as she patted Martin’s head with one of them.
Martin smiled, winking at the camera with his giant eye, “It truly seems that magic is in the eye of the beholder.” The curtain closed as Martin gave a hug to the giant eyeball creature that was formerly his assistant.
~~~
Dahlia’s Performance
The stage was bare once again, save for a single, small wicker basket that sat dead center, completely unmoving. It had a purple and gold aesthetic that radiated an aura of royalty.
From offstage, Martin walked on, wearing his normal outfit and carrying a large purple pillow and a clay Pungi. He placed the pillow about a feet away from the basket, blowing into the Pungi and eliciting a squeaking noise that caused the basket to shake slightly and give the audience a spook.
“Sorry,” He grinned sheepishly, “Still a little iffy with this I’m afraid.”
Martin sat down on the pillow, crossing his legs into a lotus position, as he close his eyes, playing a squeaking melody, as the top of the wicker basket began to shake ever so slowly.
As he continued to play, the wicker basket began to rise, revealing the top of Dahlia’s head, her eyes and forehead completely covered by the lid. However, once it had reached her normal neck length, her neck continued to extend outwards, maintaining the same thickness as her head went skywards. As the song went along, her head maneuvered to the left and right as Martin rocked his body to and fro.
At one point in his complex melody, her head did a circle like maneuver, managing to wrap around itself in a simple knot that pulled taut as she continued to float around, the lump in her neck seemingly not affecting her.
Martin opened his eyes, looking shocked as he suddenly stopped playing. Almost immediately, Dahlia’s head shot downwards, reentering the wicker basket and sealing it shut once again.
“Darn,” Martin smiled sheepishly again, “Uh… That was the wrong song.”
Martin got back to work playing the flute again, closing his eyes once more, the melody clearly a different tempo and with different pitches to his previous song, however the screeching nature of the instrument meant they still sounded rather similar.
This time, the shape that emerged from the basket was significantly larger than the just Dahlia’s head, as it struggling to escape pass the brim of the basket, purple, scaly flesh stretching the rim unnaturally.
She rose up facing away from the audience, her body from the back looking like a king cobra’s, the pattern of two piercing black and red eyes staring back at the audience. From her cowl, her body very quickly tapered, becoming more in line with the thickness her neck had been in her previous transformation.
With a dramatic crescendo in the music, she turned around, a snake’s forked tongue poking out from her mouth as she bared her fangs. Much like with Kacie’s bird-like body earlier in the evening, it almost seemed like her normal human upper half was growing out of the purple, scaly snake’s body, her breasts covered by a fine layer of scales. The other major difference was that she was completely missing her arms, her shoulders merging into hood, which almost looked like a facsimile of her hair.
Martin opened his eyes once more. “Shoot…” he said, as Dahlia hissed at him, folding her hood inwards, effortlessly sliding back into the wicker basket. A purple snake tail whipped out from the basket, wrapping around the lid which had fallen on the floor, sealing the basket up once again.
“Okay,” Martin sighed, smiling at the audience, “I swear. I’ll get it this time,” Martin placed the reed instrument to his lips once more, the song coming out of it this time the cliche’d tune that typically comes to mind first when imagining a snake charmer’s song.
This time, as Dahlia’s normal head once again rose from the basket, she smiled at the audience two fangs poking out, as the basket lid completely covered her hair. As her body continued to raise, the tips of her hands appeared around the rim of the basket, pushing it wider.
Soon enough, the basket was now around the rim of her waist, and Dahlia’s upper half more or less looked completely normal. She was wearing a purple belly dancer’s outfit, but beyond that, nothing else really stood out of note. She tipped the wicker basket to it’s side with her upper body, the rest of her slowly pooling out.
From the wicker basket, about ten feet of purple snake tail slithered out, her upper body slowly rising off the ground until she was approximately the same height as she normally stood. As the music continued, she began seductively slithering around the stage, her own eyes closed as the music enveloped her. She ran her hands up her body, the various tassels of her belly dancer’s outfit wiggling around.
As the music was beginning to die down, Martin stood up on his own, bobbing his head along to the music, as Dahlia slowly began to circle him, using her snake half to constrict him. As the final notes landed, Dahlia reached up, plucking the wicker basket lid from her head and revealing what had changed.
All of her hair had been replaced with tiny snakes. Most of them were black, however there was the occasionally red snake that seemed to nip out from the mass. As Martin opened his eyes, he looked on in shock, as his body began to take a more stone appearance, completely freezing with the flute in his lips.
Dahlia grinned, slowly unwrapping herself from the statue and taking a bow, as she slithered towards the basket once again, slowly stuffing herself in as the curtains closed.
~~~
Paxton’s Performance
The stage had been completely transformed for the final performance of the evening. thin layer of grass covered the stage, as a clear night sky was projected onto the back wall. Martin walked out on to the stage, completely barefoot and in comfortable street clothes.
The sound of ribbiting could be heard, as a tiny gray light flew around the stage, erratically dodging some bright pink frog tongues that shot out from the ground. “Hey!” Martin called out, stomping over to where the frogs were harassing the poor little light. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!” He shouted kicking his feet, hitting nothing as the grass around him seemed to wiggle a little bit.
As Martin calmed down, the little gray light hovered up and down in a seemingly appreciative manner. “Are you okay?” He asked, the pattern of hovering exaggerating once more to mean ‘Yes’. “That’s great to hear,” He smiled, “it’d be sad to see any more magic disappear from the world.”
The gray light flashed red for a brief moment, before flying upwards, hovering in a circle above Martin, some gray sparkles landing on him as he looked up and watched, a confused look on his face as the little light flew down, hiding itself in the grass.
Suddenly, the stage shook slightly, Martin exaggerating his arm movements as the stage began to transform. The grass slowly evaporated, as towards the back of the stage, three daisies near the back wall began to rise. They had an almost ethereal look to them, the clear sign of some conjuration magic being involved as they steadily grew in size.
In front of Martin, something else began to grow, as the gray light reappeared, steadily growing in size until a fully sized Paxton stood in front of him. She was wearing a gray, leafy dress, and had two majestic, gray butterfly wings coming out of her back.
“S-sorry for shrinking you,” She stuttered, looking nervously at Martin, and clearly a little bit flustered as she tried to maintain the various conjurations, “B-but… It’s our village’s tradition that if a tall one protects one of us, that we’re to offer him the chance to join us as an official member…”
“R-Really?” Martin asked, clearly shocked, and blushing just as much.
“Yep!” Paxton smiled, “A-and, obviously there’s perks to joining,”
Paxton concentrated, and from her skin, silver crystals of light slowly began to bleed out, swirling around in the air around them. Soon enough, there was practically a small galaxy of silver particles floating around in between the two. Paxton was clearly doing her best to not appear out of breath, as she closed her eyes concentrating once more, the various little particles coming together into a large soccer ball shape between her two hands.
She gave a weary smile, as she raised the silver soccer ball above her head, clapping her hands together and causing the sphere to burst, showering the stage in a bright firework like effect, the about twenty sparkles falling to the ground, the tiniest hint of a plant’s stem starting to grow out from the stage.
“S-so,” She smiled, taking in a deep breath, “H-how about it? Are you interested in becoming a Pixie?”
Martin looked on in wonder, examining one of the sprouts and giving Paxton some time to catch her breath. He stood up, extending his hand, “Of course I would!”
“Great!” Paxton smiled, her breath having returned to normal. As she shook his hand, a gray light began to slide from her hand, washing over him in a wave of visible magic. As they reached his back, a pair of matching gray wings burst outwards from his shirt, Martin staring in awe, as he gave them an experimental flap.
“N-now,” Paxton smiled, “L-lets go back to the village and get your registration all figured out,” Paxton closed her eyes one last time in concentration, as she flapped her wings, her body lifting off from the ground, the curtain very quickly coming down after she had been hovering for a few seconds.
~~~
Sendoff
Drake smiled as he walked out on stage after the curtain fell for that final time that evening, “Well everyone, that’s our show for the evening. Now-“
He was interrupted, as Martin poked his head out from the side of the stage, “*Pst* Drake, Can I say something?” Drake looked extremely annoyed and reluctant, as Martin walked over. “It’ll be quick, I promise.”
Drake sighed, “Fine…” he handed Martin the microphone.
Martin took the center stage, the crowd clearly as anxious as Drake as Martin took the center stage, “Ladies and Gentlemen. Can we please get another round of applause for our amazing assistants tonight? They’ve put in a tremendous amount of effort this week, and I really feel that that work has shined through in their performances this evening.” Martin started clapping, as soon enough the audience joined in, albeit reluctantly.
Martin then walked back over to Drake, handing him the microphone and flashing him one of his trademark smiles, “That’s all I wanted to say. You can get back to the outro now.”
Drake, as well as certain parts of the audience, laughed with relief, as Martin went back offstage. Drake took center stage once more, “Well folks, I want to thank you all so much for tuning in. But now comes the part of the show that almost no-one likes. The part where you, the viewing audience, must vote off one our fantastic contestants, and put an end to their journey towards assistantship.
We hope you’ve had a great evening, and Goodnight Everybody!”
Sorry Voting is closed!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
& Question Corner &
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following questions were answered prior to the nights performance.
To all: “Well, you don't know how much that meant to me, you girls are amazing and wonderful, I promise you to keep in touch, regardless of what is happening, You can ask Drake for my details, he will provide you with them. Also I look forward to grand celebration at the end of ANGA. We all will meet there too.” -Andrea (@@Jeaune)
Dawn and Julia: “T-Thank you…” Julia blushed, Dawn giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Olive: “Oh dear,” Olive is actively sobbing, “I’m just- I’m just so proud of you… *Sniff* You really warmed this old mother’s heart. You betcha that I want to keep in touch. I’m really going to miss you.”
Natalie: “It was really great to meet you Andrea! And don’t worry! I’m certain that we will meet again one day! After all, I’m going to want to make sure to get plenty of info from my primary sources when I write up all the events of this historic season later!”
Kacie: “Andrea, you’re an amazing assistant, and an even better friend! If you ever want tickets to any of my shows, you’ll always be on the guest list from now on. Thank you for everything!”
Paxton: Paxton blushes, smiling at the camera with tears in her eyes. “Andrea… You really don’t know… How much you’ve done for me… I- I don’t know if I’d still be in the competition if it wasn’t for you… For once… I sort of feel like I have a direction in my life that I want to head towards… Thank you… For everything.”
To Kacie: “Actually I do keep copies of other people's heads, and wear them on occasion. Hope that doesn't creep you out.” -Catherine Knight Welling (@@James-MacCloude)
Kacie: Kacie grins, “Well, it’s definitely not normal, but doesn’t creep me out much. I can see why he’d compare you to her then. Just be careful about taking care of them when you’re not wearing them, or else I’m pretty sure Rei would chew you out.”
To Olive: “I am trying to mend my ways, dear. I was a troubled youth. My father at one time loved magic, but something happened and his love for it turned to hate. He made my younger half brother, Arthur, primary inheritor of his estate. Being jealous, I lashed out. When all was said and done, I was left stripped of much of my power, and then banished from returning.
After that, I fell into a bad crowd, until last year, when a certain Humantaur we both know rescued me. Since then, I have been doing much better.” -Morgana Pendragon (@@James-MacCloude)
Olive: “Oh, it’s okay dear. I wish that I could reach through the camera and give you a hug. That sounds like an awful experience. I’m just happy to see that you’re taking steps to better yourself.
And, it might be rude of me to say this, and I only offer because I didn’t hear any reference of it in your story, if you ever need a mothering hand or just another gal pal to talk to, please let me know. After all, it’s just as important to have feminine view points in your life as male ones.”
To Paxton: “Hey my friend, from what I've seen it looks great. I hope you've not over doing it though. I wish I could lend you some of my power. What ever happens I'm proud of you, and hope to see you soon. Just don't hurt yourself girl.” -James Schutter (@@James-MacCloude)
Paxton: Paxton blushes, “T-thanks James! Don’t worry, Martin’s making sure that I don’t go too overboard. We’ve scaled down the trick a little bit, so hopefully I won’t collapse on stage tonight. I-… I really hope you like it,” Paxton gets out the last sentence much quicker than the rest, blushing profusely and looking away from the camera.
To Natalie: “I can understand people thinking being half Fae means you have a small stature. Not all Fae are always small, I myself am over six feet tall.” -Morgana Pendragon (@@James-MacCloude)
Natalie: “Oh! You’re right! I think Calvin mentioned something about Pixies being able to do some rudimentary shapeshifting… I guess that would probably explain it then,” Natalie laughed, “And also, wow! Six feet? That’s pretty tall! You’re much taller than me anyways.”