𝖫𝗒𝗇𝖾𝗍𝗍𝖾 𝗑 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾r - 𝖡𝖠𝖢𝖪𝖲𝖳𝖠𝖦𝖤 𝖢𝖱𝖤𝖶

Chapter eight: Performances

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆.｡.:*╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.

        You rose out of bed, feeling a mixture of excitement from being able to work again and the potential stalker thing you had going on. You got yourself ready and checked your pocket watch at 9:00 AM. You shoved it back into your pocket and left the house.

 You creaked open the large doors slowly, looking inside the opera house. You saw most people already there, Lyney, Lynette, and some of the other crew members. You smiled slightly and closed the door behind you, the shut echoing throughout the place. You saw some glances at you, the others working hard to set up the place. Lynette waved at you, and you waved back, going up to her.

        "Hey, good morning." She nodded in response, gesturing you to a pile of boxes filled with confetti next to the machines they had to be put into. You nodded and got to work, stuffing the machines densely with the confetti. The hours passed and everybody was working hard to get things finished. The place looked amazing as you high-fived a few people.

The performance was about to start, and everyone was backstage, putting on their colored masks. You took a look at yours before putting it on. One side was white and the other blue, with each side having a bit of the other color on it. You slid the mask on smoothly before the performance started. You were standing off to the side as you watched. The stage was dark before a large light flickered over Lyney, who was standing in the middle.

        "A magician's greatest skill, is making things disappear or appear. The possibilities are endless. " He started, he then takes off his hat, shows that it is empty, and makes it hover in the air. He taps the hat making playing cards fall out, and summons a white pigeon as he puts it back on. You're very impressed by his tricks, wondering how he'd been able to make it float in mid air.

        "But this isn't what you came for, these little tricks? You've seen them all before. " At some point, you tuned him out, and a blonde man in the middle of the audience stuck out to you. You couldn't tell much of his features in the dark, but you saw he had a floating companion with him. You also noticed he was definitely a foreigner with those clothes. You'd heard about someone named "The Traveler" and assumed it was him. You'd heard stories about him fighting dragons and saving regions from destruction, praised for being a hero and being known all throughout Teyat.

        "I shall make my sister vanish completely right before your very eyes!" You heard Lyney exclaim loudly to the audience, and your gaze shifted from the foreigner to where Lyney was looking. You watched as Lynette jumped into a tank of water hanging from above the stage and the hatch above shut. You were nervous for her safety but trusted them as professionals.

        "It's actually quite simple. She'll just turn into air bubbles and float right out of the top." He smiled, his smile vanishing as he saw his sister bang against the glass.

        "Oh no.." He said, and when you tuned him out, you looked up at Lynette, who tried opening the hatch from inside, mortified. The audience was getting uneasy, worried if something had gone wrong.

        "An amateur magician would be getting very nervous right around now. " He smiled at the crowd. "Hehe, luckily it's me on stage! So let me show you what a true virtuoso can do..!!" He snapped his finger, and, in an instant, small air bubbles began to appear inside the tank. The air bubbles covered Lynette, and as they disappeared, all that's left were her clothes.

The audience gasped, and you breathed out a sigh of relief, genuinely worried. Lynette comes out from behind the curtains when Lyney calls for her and the audience is, once again, surprised how she managed to come out perfectly dry.

Lyney then moved to his next trick, which involved picking someone from the crowd. Lyney pulled out a machine which he claimed would randomly pick one of the audience members to participate in the next trick.

        "Ah, let me see... Row seven, seat three. Congratulations! You now have the chance to experience magic firsthand for an entire minute!" A blonde woman stood up. She was taken to a wooden box. There were two colorfully decorated boxes on each side of the opera house, one onstage and the other in-between the rows of seats in the aisle where people normally walk through.

Lyney then asked the audience to count down from a minute as the two entered each box. As the number dropped to the mid-twenties, a loud bang was heard. You flinched at the loud sound, trying to locate it to no avail. The audience members didn't seem to be affected, continuing their countdown, you glanced at the other crew members, who looked just as confused as you.

Lyney exited out of the wrong box for a second right before the countdown ended.

        "Uh... Whoops! That doesn't count!" He said a crew member was helping him shut the doors to the box quickly. As the number dropped to zero, Lyney magically swung open the doors to the box on the other side of the opera house and you turned on the confetti machine on either side, dispersing a calculated amount of confetti. Lyney stood with his arms stretched out on both sides happily, impressing everyone with his magic. Everybody gave him a huge applause, except, the other girl still hadn't come out yet, and the audience was getting confused.

        "Why hasn't she come out yet?" "Did something happen?" You heard whispers among the audience. Suddenly, you heard a large crash, and you whipped your head in its direction. You gasped at the sight. The large glass tank filled with water that Lynette had been previously in for the last trick had fallen on the wooden box, crushing the nearby crew member to death. Whispers amongst the crowd about the missing girl had begun, and people looked at Lyney for answers.

        "Is this... part of the show?" "Mr. Lyney, you're going to use magic to fix the stage now,          right?"

        "What happened..." You heard Lyney whisper under his breath before a loud, commanding voice took over.

        "This performance is over! Medical staff, with me. Gardes, secure the scene, and detain all the performers. Seal the exits. No one is allowed in or out at this time!" Neuvilette shouted, standing up from his seat.

         "Yes, th—that's right! If this was just an accident, then we must investigate the cause. But if this was all part of some scheme, then... then those accountable will not escape the judgment of the God of Justice!" Furina yelled with unease.

Some time passed and you saw Lyney and Lynette talking with the Traveler and his floating companion. You were still backstage and went in front of the curtains, walking over to another crew member to discuss what happened.

        "Hey...any idea what happened?"

        "Not sure, I'm honestly just really freaked out of my mind."

        "I'm sure we all are, though. The rope looks a little burnt. Do you perhaps believe this was some scheme or plan for murder?" The man in front of you shrugged.

        "Who knows? I feel bad for the guy who got crushed, though; he didn't deserve it." You nodded in agreement.

        "I know...his family will be devastated." You sighed.

Some more time passed, and you saw a few crew members being asked questions by the Traveler. Pretty soon, the audience had left, and you all started to take off your masks and the decorations. As everybody was about to head home, you saw Lyney and Lynette leave early, saying goodbye to everybody. Lyney looked like a mixture of sadness and disappointment. You overheard the Hydro Archon accusing Lyney of murder, so it was understandable.

        "Hey, goodbye guys." You waved at everybody else, who was still cleaning up. They waved back, and you closed the door behind you. You laid in bed that night, thinking about the entire day. With the Hydro Archon accusing Lyney of murder, there was for sure going to be a trial, which meant the trip to the other regions would be delayed once more. You sighed while going to bed.

 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆.｡.:*╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯.⋆｡⋆☂˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.

Next chapter soon!!