Twisted Wonderland

A Lot to Prepare

In the Mirror Chamber, the Housewardens and Headmage meet.

"All housewardens are present, then?" Crowley asks.

Vil folds his arms. "Malleus isn't here yet."

"Sorry about that." Lilia steps forward. "I knew where he was up until lunch break. But once school let out, poof, he was gone."

Idia's floating tablet glows a bright blue as he speaks. "He pulls this every time. It has to be on purpose, right?"

Lilia shakes his head. "I wouldn't say that. Time just flows a little... differently for us fae. And if I might add, he's got quite a streak of bad luck when it comes to these things."

"I know just what you mean!" Kalim laughs. "Jamil gets onto me all the time for forgetting to attend meetings."

Lilia chuckles. "As his vice housewarden, I'll be representing Malleus today, with your leave."

Leona scoffs. "Who cares if that pretentious punk is here? Can we get this meeting started or what?"

Crowley clears his throat. "I now call this assembly to order. We've spent quite a while preparing for the National Arcane Academy Culture Fair. It takes place in less than two months. Management Committee Chairman Rosehearts, your progress report, if you please."

Riddle steps forward. "Yes, sir. If everyone could refer to the papers I handed out at the start? Applications are still open for student admissions and presentations from magical academies nationwide. Vendor booths for food, drinks, and crafts are limited in number and all fully booked."

Kalim hums. "The food and drinks part I get, but what's this about crafts?"

"That covers arts club products: clothes, pottery, engravings, paintings, and so on." Riddle informs. "They'll be selling some and exhibiting others. We also had applications for live painting and independent films."

"Ooh, that all sounds delightful!" Kalim smiles broadly.

"Moving on, regarding the venues for speech contests and research presentations." Riddle continues. "We plan to install three stages on campus for this event. The red stage will be on the sports field. The blue stage will be in the gym. And the purple stage will be in our largest spot, the coliseum. We are still accepting press coverage applications for all presentations, both from domestic and foreign sources, but..."

"What is it, Riddle?" Kalim asks. "You look pensive."

"There's a musical presentation on the Purple Stage called the Song & Dance Championship. We've been flooded with applications from external media outlets to cover this program. To what I would call an excessive degree."

"I imagine so, yes." Azul adds. "Song & Dance Championship, or SDC for short, is a global-level competition between the most talented singers at schools in every part of the country."

Riddle tilts his head. "Considering that it's categorized as a musical presentation, I was envisioning something more along the lines of a simple choral contest."

Vil waves a hand. "That's all the SDC actually was, back when the culture fair first started. But as time went on, it came to encompass greater and greater varieties of musical expression. Now dances and other such productions fall within its purview. It's been changing steadily over time. Nowadays, it's a music festival widely regarded as a gateway to the big leagues."

"The audience votes for the finalists in real time as well. This keeps the event from feeling staged. There's no small number of stars who got their start here." Azul smirks to Vil. "Incidentally, Vil will be participating this year. Small wonder the press is swarming the event."