Part 1 of this story: Like Clockwork AT 00:00 - A New Discovery p1She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in as if she wasn’t currently standing on stage. Just as she let out her breath again, she could feel the heat of a spotlight turning on, illuminating her presence. When she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by the incredible size of her audience. The whole school was gathered here. Not only that but a lot of family members of the students had come as well. This was to be expected, of course, seeing as the school year was coming to a close. Her final school year before she would enter the New Stepolis Academy. As such, it was tradition for the last year students to organize a variety show.For a moment, it seemed as if time had stopped as all eyes were upon her. The audience waited with bated breath in silence for her to begin her performance. This was nothing new of course for a ballerina such as herself, but she had never danced for such a large audience, not to mention the fact that she was doing this part of the show solo. For just that moment, she felt as if she had forgotten everything she had practiced…But then the orchestra started playing its music, and everything returned to her. She put up her arms and began her ballet dance. She smiled as she performed her first few pirouettes. She just let her body follow the music, just as she had done for many years ever since becoming a dancer. She was dressed in a white dress and she had a white, winged headpiece in her hair. After all, she was performing the famous ballet The Angel of the Forest.She simply floated across the stage like a river. Each twirl, each step and each hop were all carried out just as she had practiced. Everything was going so smoothly that the audience couldn’t help but watch in awe.Then the tone of the music shifted. Where before it was calm and flowing, it was now a lot more intense. As such, her dance also shifted. After all, this was the part where the angel was plagued by an intense storm. She danced to all corners of the stage, as if looking for shelter. The music only grew more and more intense until finally the crescendo happened, where she bent down and curled herself up into a ball. The audience appeared to find this all very exciting!After this, the music calmed down again, going back to how it was before. As such, she peeked up from her pretend cowering and carefully stood up again. When she deemed everything safe, she simply danced on again as she had before the storm while the land slowly healed around her. Once again, she simply floated across the stage like a bird until the orchestra’s song was finished. She made one final pirouette before bowing. Instantly, the whole audience burst out into clapping and cheering.“Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Bridget Harrison!” came the voice of one of her classmates, who was the announcer of the show.Bridget simply rose again while panting profusely, a broad smile plastered all over her face. This was her moment. All eyes were on her and she adored it! Everyone was clapping and cheering her on. Her show was a success! She bowed a few more times until the curtains started closing again. When they were fully closed she let out a sigh of relief. It was over.Suddenly, she felt someone dive-hugging her from the side. “That was amazing, Bridge!” came a familiar voice.“A-Akita! You almost made me trip!” Bridget laughed.“Sooorry,” Akita chuckled before addressing the other people that were now entering the stage. “Prepare for the next act, people! Don’t forget to tighten the net, and make sure the backgrounds are all in place!” she commanded. Bridget had known Akita since they were just six years old when Akita transferred to her school. It was Bridget who decided to befriend the overly shy Akita. Over time though, their friendship blossomed into something more than that.Bridget just smiled at her lover. As always, she had her blonde hair in two pigtails and she had tied her vest around her hips. Something that stood in stark contrast to Bridget’s own fancy get-up for the show. “You’re really giving this your all, huh, Miss stage manager?” Bridget grinned.“I’m perfectly happy doing this. Means I don’t need to get up on the stage,” Akita laughed as she got out her checklist to see if everything was in place.“Oh, come on. It’s really not so bad! It’s amazing really,” Bridget smiled, placing her arms over her chest.“Heh, and that is why YOU are the one up on stage and I’m not,” Akita giggled as she was crossing things off her list. She had always been a bit of an enigma. When faced with a crowd she would go all quiet and observant, but when alone with Bridget she was the life of the party. Even more interesting was the fact that she was seemingly handling this stage manager role pretty well, even when asked to talk to so many people at once!“I guess you’re right… I’ll get you in the spotlight one way or another though,” Bridget teased.“Yeah yeah. At our wedding you will,” Akita laughed, causing Bridget to blush furiously, before turning around to the side of the stage, where a group of four classmates stood ready for their show. “Are you guys ready?” Akita asked.“Of course, Akita!” One of them replied, giving her a thumbs up.“Good luck out there, guys,” Bridget winked at them while hopping off the stage herself.“Thanks, Bridget,” the guys said in unison. With that, the four entered the stage and got themselves into position. Akita herself hopped off the stage as well and she started giving signals for the curtains to open again.“Ladies and gentlemen, can you believe that a man can fly from rope to rope? You will now! Give it up for the acrosquad” the announcer cheered as the curtains opened once more.As the four guys started on their acrobatic performance, Bridget just leaned in closer to Akita. “Seriously though, everything is a success so far, and it’s all thanks to you,” she said.“Pshaw!” Akita huffed, “All of you are the ones performing, you know. I’m just shouting things at people and drawing checkmarks on a piece of paper.”“It would have been a huge mess without you though,” Bridget smiled. “You’re so much more organized than any of us.”“Tell that to my mom when she’s nagging me to clean my room again,” Akita laughed.“Oh, just take a compliment when you’re given one!” Bridget giggled, bopping Akita on the head. Akita had always had trouble accepting compliments. She was far too modest for her own good, or so Bridget thought at least.“Fiiiiine,” Akita laughed as a blush now appeared on her face as well. She tried to hide it though by signalling for the spotlight to turn on and focus on one of the acrobats in particular. “So are you ready for the academy?” she asked, obviously changing the subject.“I sure am! I’m especially ready for the part where we get to share an apartment together,” Bridget teased.“I was ready for that years ago!” Akita grinned, her face now only growing redder.The two just smiled at each-other lovingly for a moment before Akita leaned in for a kiss. Something that Bridget eagerly accepted by embracing her girlfriend in a hug. They had done it often enough throughout their relationship but to this day, the gesture hadn’t lost its excitement and meaning to them at all.“Well, look at that, sis. They’re at it again,” came a sudden rather shrill sounding voice, causing Bridget and Akita to halt their kiss.“You’d think one of them would have eaten the other’s face by now,” a second, almost identical voice said mockingly. Bridget knew these two voices all too well. Without breaking her hold of Akita, she turned to the side and frowned at the twin girls that had approached them. They were almost completely identical and often wore the same outfit, with only minor changes to distinguish between the two. However, the main defining feature to distinguish between them was the colour of their eyes. Zexa had hazel eyes while Xeza’s eyes leaned more towards gray. They themselves, however, liked to refer to them as gold and silver. For today’s performance, they appeared to have chosen white ball gowns.“Zexa, Xeza, hey there,” Bridget stammered, trying to put up a fake smile. In her embrace, she could feel Akita tense up.“What a wonderful performance, Bridget. Don’t you think so, sis?” Xeza said.“Why yes. I was sure she was going to fall off the stage, but she proved me wrong,” Zexa teased with a very audible snide in her voice.Bridget’s eye twitched momentarily but she composed herself again. She still kept one arm wrapped behind Akita’s back while turning to face them fully now. “Are you ready for your act?”“Of course we are,” the twins replied together in perfect unison.“Uncanny…” Akita muttered softly, but loud enough for both of them to hear.“You know, sis, I always wondered about something,” Zexa said, turning to her twin with a rather wide grin.“What is that, Zexa?” Xeza asked, bearing the same wicked grin.“How could someone as talented as Bridget fall for someone who’s got no talent whatsoever?” Zexa giggled.Xeza held a hand over her mouth, pretending to be surprised. “My, that’s such a good question! I don’t know, sis,” she said. “But it does explain why she doesn’t have an act of her own. They don’t want her to embarrass the school.”Next to her, Bridget could feel Akita tense up even more. It seemed she was even balling a fist. “Knock it off, you two! Why do you always have to be so rude!” Bridget snapped. She could feel her blood boiling at these insults.“Rude?” Xeza asked.“Us?” Zexa finished, placing a hand over her chest and feigning ignorance.“We’re simply stating the truth, you know,” Xeza nodded.“Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Acrosquad!” the announcer suddenly called out. It appeared that their act was already finished. This prompted Akita to wordlessly turn around with an emotionless glare and enter the stage to prepare it for the next act.“Akita…” Bridget called out after her but it appeared that her girlfriend had decided to stoically move on. Angrily, Bridget turned back to the twins. “Why do you ALWAYS do this?! Even today?!”“Especially today!” Zexa sneered.“Indeed. This IS the last day of school, after all,” Xeza nodded.“We don’t want you to forget about us,” Zexa finished before the two just started laughing again. Their shrill, condescending laughter always managed to greatly annoy Bridget and Akita.Bridget just could not understand these twins. They had always been bothersome to Akita especially, probably because they thought she was an easy target. After all, she rarely talked back. “You two are the worst! As if YOUR act is anything special!” She just blurted out.For a moment, the twins looked genuinely hurt by that comment, but they quickly resumed their mockery.“Now is that really any way to say goodbye?” Zexa asked, once again pretending to feel hurt.“Especially to your dear old friends,” Xeza mused.“Oh cut it out already. Your nagging isn’t going to work on me,” Bridget huffed before turning around. “Why do I even bother…” It was true. Bridget had befriended the twins at one point, when they had just entered high school. However, she soon cut them out as friends when she began to notice that they were harassing Akita. Sadly, that only spurred them on to increase their teasing…“Is that really true?” Xeza wondered aloud.“I don’t think it’s true,” Zexa giggled.Bridget closed her eyes, trying her best to just drown out their shrill voices. Something that was quite difficult to do, even with years of experience.“Hey! Get on the damn stage, you two,” came Akitas sudden voice again, causing Bridget to look up at her. She still had that emotionless glare on her face. It seemed that she was finished setting up the stage.“Ah, excellent!” the twins said in unison again. They entered the stage and passed by Akita on either side, who tried to remain unphased by them. They then took their positions on either side of the stage.Wordlessly, Akita hopped off the stage and just gave the signal to the announcer.“Ladies and gentlemen, we use mirrors every single day, but I do believe you have never seen a mirror as amazing as this before! Give it up for the Mirror of Wonders!” the announcer cheered.When the curtains opened, the audience was greeted by the curious scene of a bedroom… twice. Each an exact mirror of the other, and each containing one of the twins. The two proceeded to mirror each-other’s movements exactly, pretending to wake up and go about their day. It seemed that the audience was quite intrigued by it all, judging by their clapping and occasional laughter.Bridget didn’t care enough to look though, as she had far more pressing matters to attend to. “Akita… are you okay?” she asked.Akita had closed her eyes, obviously trying very hard to force down a tear but failing. “I told myself I wouldn’t let them get to me anymore…” she muttered.“Akita…” Bridget spoke softly as she hugged her lover tightly. “They’re lying, you know. You are talente-”“Are they though?” Akita huffed, tears now fully streaming down her face. “They’re right, I know they are. I’m nothing special…”Bridget frowned at that. “How can you say that? You can do things with maths I never even thought possible! Your organizing has turned this show from a mess into a success! You’re a wonderful person… and I’m proud to call you my girlfriend,” she stated firmly.Akita looked at Bridget and opened her mouth to say something again, but nothing really came out. Sometimes, Bridget really wondered what went on in that beautiful head of hers… Then Akita just rubbed the tears out of her eyes and gave Bridget another tight hug., The rest of the show went by well enough. Akita had seemingly been able to get past the twins’ teasing for now and did her job as stage manager exceptionally well, and Bridget could only be proud of her. By the time the final act had ended, Akita turned to her lover.“Get ready for the final applause, hun,” she winked. She then made sure that everybody else The rest of the show went by well enough. Akita had seemingly been able to get past the twins’ teasing for now and did her job as stage manager exceptionally well, and Bridget could only be proud of her. By the time the final act had ended, Akita turned to her girlfriend.“Get ready for the final applause, hun,” she winked. She then made sure that everybody else had also gathered at the stage again. When she finished up her checklist, she motioned for the curtains to reopen again and for the announcer to hold his final piece.“Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to thank you all for coming to our show! Let us all give one last standing ovation for our performers!” he called. Then, just as he said, Bridget’s classmates started entering the stage one by one, in the order of their appearances.“I’ll be back soon,” Bridget smiled at Akita before joining the others up on the stage as well. The applause was so pleasing to hear, and the smiles of the audience were great to see! Looking around, all of her classmates were enjoying the applause as well to varying degrees. Well… almost all of her classmates. Off to the side, Akita was simply clapping as well. That’s when she got an idea. An idea that would give Akita the recognition she deserved. She strutted over to the announcer and indicated that she wanted to borrow the voice amplifier.“Ladies and gentlemen!” she called out, surprised at first at how loud her own voice was now sounding through the hall. Magic was amazing sometimes. “I would also like to give a huge thank you to Jacob, our announcer!” she said.Jacob laughed and just bowed to the audience.“I want to thank all of our teachers for dragging us through highschool and teaching us so much!” Bridget continued.Most of the teachers were just sitting in the audience but there were a few that stood next to the stage, and they each looked a little flustered!“And lastly…” Bridget said, turning to the right. “Please give it up for our stage manager tonight… Akita!” she cheered, handing back the amplifier to Jacob.Off to the side, Akita looked like she’d seen a ghost or something, shaking her head vigorously. That’s when the rest of the class started beckoning for her to join them. Even Zexa and Xeza joined in, though begrudgingly so. Akita sighed and just as begrudgingly walked up the stage as well herself. The audience cheered while Akita awkwardly waved back, uncertain of what to really do with herself.Bridget grinned and went in for a hug. “Told you I’d get you in the spotlight!” she laughed.“I hate you…” Akita groaned angrily.“I love you too!” Bridget laughed. “We can’t have a ‘goodbye school’ show without you!”Akita just responded with some more grunting noises but it seemed that she couldn’t help but smile as well. Their high school life was at an end.

Next story: LCAT Fragments Of Time 00:10 - A Fated Encounter“Graaaah, what do we do? We’ve not been able to find out anything about that stinking gear all summer long!” Akita groaned as she placed her head on Bridget’s lap.“I know… but I’m sure we’ll be able to find something once we enter the New Stepolis Academy in two weeks. It is a place of knowledge after all,” Bridget reasoned. They were sitting on the base of the grand fountain in Roberta Square, eating ice cream in defeat.“What sucks even more is that the Cathedral of the Pantheon isn’t even letting us in anymore because they think you’re some kind of demon spawn now,” Akita hissed, holding up her ice cream as if it were a sword.“Heh… I actually think that’s quite funny. Imagine that. Me, a spawn from the hells?” Bridget grinned.“Yeah, and me as her personal lackey,” Akita giggled.The two laughed it off for a while more but they soon slumped back into their mood from before. Their mood of despair. How could they hope to find out more about this gear if there’s no text to be found anywhere? Where else could they turn to?“So… Do you think we should just give up for now? Leave it for when we enter the academy?” Akita proposed. When she didn’t get an immediate reply though, she looked up at her girlfriend. “Bridge?”All Bridget did in response was point.Akita raised an eyebrow and followed Bridget’s glare, only for her own jaw to drop at what she saw. Coming from one of the roads leading into the plaza, there was a peculiar looking coach approaching. Coaches weren’t all that common in New Stepolis since it basically placed a giant rob me sign over one’s head. But this was something else. For one, it wasn’t drawn by horses but by camels instead. Secondly, the vehicle itself was almost entirely plated with gold and encrusted with rubies and sapphires. Lastly, there was the presence of two armoured men walking beside the coach and keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Whoever was in this coach must be filthy rich.All Bridget and Akita could really do was stare in disbelief as the coach approached and even stopped right in front of them. The driver then hopped off her seat and opened the door of the coach.“We have halted, as per your request, my lady,” she said, extending her hand.“Thank you kindly, Rashida dear,” came a sultry female voice from inside. The owner of the voice took the coach driver’s hand and let herself be helped outside. Stepping into the sunlight came a young woman who must have been around the same age as Bridget and Akita. Judging by everything about her, she looked like some kind of desert princess. Her silken clothing, her lavish jewelry, and of course the coach itself.The girl smiled broadly as she looked directly at Akita and Bridget. “Excuse me, I wonder if I could trouble you for a moment.” The way she carried herself was so delicate and posh. She certainly knew how to draw attention to herself.Akita had her mouth slightly agape as the scene unfolded before them. Hurriedly, she lifted herself up from Bridget’s lap and sat up as straight as she could as if her school teacher caught her napping in class.“You see, we appear to have lost our way in these labyrinthine streets,” the girl continued. “I was hoping that you could perhaps guide us to the New Stepolis Academy?”Bridget and Akita exchanged a quick glance. Akita knew her girlfriend to be terrible at directions so it was up to Akita herself to help this lady.“You uh… take that street… then uh… you take the fourth left. Then you uh… you take the second right… and then you’re there,” Akita stammered.“Exquisite! Thank you ever so much,” the girl said. She certainly enjoyed using fancy words. She turned her attention back to her coach driver, who herself looked to be dressed for much warmer weather as well. “Did you catch that, Rashida dear?”“I did, my lady,” Rashida replied, bowing her head slightly.“I do believe we would still have been roaming around the city for another two weeks if it weren’t for your help. It is quite the maze in here after all,” the girl chuckled, turning her attention back to Akita and Bridget.“You’re… welcome?” Bridget stammered questioningly. It was clear that neither of them really knew how to act in front of this posh lady.“Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Lavini Providence. I hail from the desert city of Alicendria down south,” the girl said, curtsying as she did so.“Uhm… I’m Bridget Harrison,” Bridget said meekly.“... Akita Hirano,” Akita said, even softer than Bridget had.“Ah, well it is a pleasure to meet you both,” Lavini said.An awkward silence fell as no-one really knew how to carry on the conversation from here. A silence that lasted a bit too long and so Akita just decided to blurt something out.“You’re uh… going to the academy huh?”“Oh, yes, I am! There are other academies that would have been much closer to home but my mother insisted I go to this one and so here I am,” Lavini explained.“Well… we’re actually also going to the academy next week,” Bridget said.“Are you really? Now that is wonderful to hear! Perhaps we could be friends if we run into one another again?” Lavini asked, sounding slightly hopeful.“Well… sure?” Bridget said, sounding slightly uneasy but forcing up a smile.“Why not?” Akita nodded, putting up the same kind of smile herself.“Exquisite!” Lavini cheered.“My lady. We must really make haste. We have a schedule to stick to,” Rashida interjected.“Ah, you are correct. Forgive me but I must be taking my leave again,” Lavini said as she once again took Rashida’s hand who helped her climb back into the coach. When she was seated, she poked her head outside. “Once again, it was a pleasure to meet you. May our paths cross again,” she said, smiling broadly.“Likewise!” Bridget said, a bit too loudly.As the coach started riding off towards the road Akita had pointed out earlier, they could see Lavini still waving at them. All Akita and Bridget could do in response was awkwardly wave back. Only when the coach was finally out of sight did Bridget finally speak up again.“That really happened… right?” she said.“Yeah… I think so,” Akita replied, still in disbelief.Silence fell again. That is until Bridget’s ice-cream fell out of its cone. It must have melted during the conversation with Lavini.Both girls looked from the fallen treat to each-other and back to the ice-cream splatter again… before bursting out into laughter.