Magic's Violence Record

Chapter 2: The Tournament

         Serenade had set an alarm for 7 on the dot. The second she heard it, she practically jumped out of bed. She slept in just her bra and panties, and she figured the same lavender dress outfit would do since she didn't have to work today. After getting dressed, she sat down at a vanity she had bought and did her makeup. It was all old makeup Jen didn't want, but Serenade loved the gift dearly.
She brushed her hair, put on mascara, and a light, almost clear, shimmery lip gloss. After some blush, her makeup was done. She checked the clock. 7:30. Serenade had planned to stop by the grocery store. She was going to buy snacks for her and Rosè, since they'd be there a while.
She grabbed 75$ from her purse. She figured that would be enough for some snacks and the entry fee. Recently, she'd also bought a cute fluffy pink bag. Not like a backpack, but almost like a low hanging drawstring bag without the drawstrings. When she walked out of her room, Jen was groggily wandering down the stairs.

"Good morning.." She sighed. "Do you want breakfast?" Jen said.
"Yes please! I'll need it to do well at the tournament." Serenade says proudly. "Speaking of the tournament, why are there only a few thousand people at the TFT when there's, like, a few googleplex of people in each region?"
"Now that's actually a good question.. and it's quite simple.. Rose is scary." Jen shrugs. Serenade makes a straight face before giggling.

Jen smiled. Still in her robe, she wandered over to the kitchen. "I'll make your favorite today, if it helps you do good." She turned to smile at Serenade.
"Sunny side up?? Really?? Hey.. if you're feeling generous, can you make some potatoes too?" Serenade says, sitting down at the stools in front of the island counter.
"Fine.." Jen mumbles. "What are you planning to do before the tournament?"
"After breakfast, I'm gonna go to the grocery store! I wanna get some snacks for me and Rosè. Maybe she'll really like it and become my friend!" Serenade grins.
Jen raises an eyebrow, and holds back a laugh. "Now.. I don't know about you and Rosè becoming friends. But you do you girl."
"I'm glad you have confidence in me!" Serenade says so happily, Jen feels kinda bad. She was convinced her own naive bubbly persona was going to kill her.
"Listen, Serenade. I've been watching this tournament for a few years now, and this is what you gotta know." Jen says strictly. "You can't be overly nice to people. Because after the tournament is over, if you don't hate them, they'll hate you. Also, don't expect fairness. A whole bunch of extortion, blackmail, and money deals happen all the time. Don't get me wrong, they are illegal. But they don't really care."
"Well, that's ok. I don't actually care about winning. I just care about having fun and meeting friends!" Serenade grins. Jen sighs and nods her head, plating Serenade's food.
She slides her plate across the counter, and Serenade immediately digs in like it's her last meal.
"Don't eat too fast, you'll get sick.." Jen says, giggling.
Finished, Serenade hops off of the stool and places her dish in the sink. She then uses a wet napkin to wipe the yolk and seasoning off of her mouth.
"Okay, I'm gonna go now! I'll see you at the tournament Jen!" Serenade grins, heading out of the door.
Jen sighs and walks upstairs to get ready, carrying her own plate.

By now, Serenade has learned how to make her way around town. She walks out of the complex, to where she is out on the street. She waves at everyone she sees, and walks in the direction of the grocery store.
It was a big store covered in windows. Not wanting to waste any time, Serenade runs inside.

"Maybe Rosè likes strawberries? What if I bought her a bag of frozen dumplings? Or a big cake..." Serenade giggles. She looks around through all the aisles, before finding the fresh fruit in the back of the store. Who doesn't like strawberries? Hopefully this peace offer works... Serenade looks through the strawberries, occasionally tasting, when she hears a laugh from behind her.
"Oh, hi Rosè!!" Serenade turns around and smiles at Rosè, who has appeared behind her without a single footstep. Which seemed impossible, considering she was wearing heels.
"Hi Serenity.." Rosè giggles evilly.
Serenade raises an eyebrow suspiciously. "My name is Serenade! Why are you laughing?"
Rosè holds up a lighter and then uses her hands to motion at the sides of her head while looking at Serenade. Confused, Serenade lifts up her hands to feel the sides of her hair.
They were burnt. The ends were burnt badly, and it made the sides of her hair stand up. Serenade stares at her horrified, before bursting into tears.
"W-Why would you do that? I just wanted to be your friend! I was buying you snacks.." Serenade cries, feeling the burnt sides of her hair in disbelief.
Rosè was expecting her to be mad, not sad. She felt kind of bad. It was hard not to, because Serenade gave off the vibes of a little kid.
"You were like.. actually buying me snacks..? Why? What were you buying me?" Rosè says, not laughing anymore.
Serenade sniffs. "I was buying you strawberries.. They're pink and red, just like your hair. Or frozen dumplings." She holds up the plastic box of strawberries.
"W-Well, you should've! I totally deserve it!" Rosè scoffs, slightly ashamed of herself. In mere moments though, she changes her mind and her look softens. "That's really sweet actually.. Strawberries are like my favorite fruit. Uh.. sorry. I'll help you style it before the tournament." Rosè says, slightly embarrassed. Apologizing wasn't her forte. In fact, she couldn't even believe she apologized.
Sniffing, Serenade wipes her tears and quietly goes to the register to buy the strawberries, Rose following behind her. She shifts uncomfortably, not being used to, nor wanting to follow behind somebody.
"That'd be really sweet... I don't want to look ugly before the tournament..." Serenade says shyly.
"Oh come on, you're not that bad." Rosè practically drags her out of the store, and they get into Rose's limo which was parked in a hidden place down the street.
Her lip wobbling, she limply allows herself to get brutally shoved into the limo as they drive closer to the large stadium, one that could be seen from miles away. Rose takes a left and the stadium is gone. Serenade mopes her way out of the back of the limo as Rose tugs her by the arm inside the hairdresser.
"Hello Rosè! What's the problem- OH MY GOD!" The hairdresser attempts to keep her voice down after seeing Serenade.
The hairdresser's reaction made Serenade's lip quiver as she tried to hold back more tears.
"Serenade, don't cry, it's fine.. She's really good, she does my hair." Rosè dumps Serenade on the floor like a child. "Watch her for me." Rosè walks out, after putting 200$ on the counter.
The hairdresser looks at Serenade, before grabbing her by her hand and placing her in a chair. "How did this happen baby?" She wets Serenade's hair.
Serenade figures Rosè doesn't want her to know what happened, so she lies. "It was an accident with my lighter.." She frowns.
"Right. Okay." The hairdresser doesn't question why Rosè was the one who brung her in. She decides to cut off the burnt parts, but it leaves her with shorter pieces. The shorter pieces still stuck up at her sides, somewhat curled. In fact, Serenade thought it looked kinda cute.
"Hey.. this is kinda adorable!" Serenade grins.
"Seriously..?" The hairdresser says, confused.
"Yeah! I love it, thank you!!!" Serenade smiles, running out.
"I barely even did anything.." The hairdresser mumbles to herself. "Free money I guess," She smiles.
Running down the street, Serenade asks someone for the time. It was 8:42. She was running out of time. Figuring she couldn't do anything else, she followed a crowd and cars in order to find the arena. She had seen a limousine with crowds following it in traffic. It must be Rosè, Serenade figured. And her prediction wasn't off.
Eventually by following the crowd, she spots the arena up ahead. It was huge. It was painted a light metallic purple on the outside with a ring of lights at the top, and it had two separate entrances. One for fighters and the other for spectators, she supposed. She figured that because of the sheer length and thickness of the fan line, and the skinniness of the fighter line.