The day had arrived.

Sera, Aria, Nanok, and Xil’pul only had a few days to practice. But they made it work.

Soon, the sun yielded its place for the moon as the sky turned from a golden glow into a black curtain.

“Are you nervous?” Karl asked.

“Obviously, I’m nervous,” Sera replied as her legs kept on shaking.

“You’ll do fine,” Karl said as he looked at the stream of people gathering in the mansion’s front yard.

Those who came for a free Mana Smoothing Bracelet gathered in rows in front of the stage. Looking at them from the backstage, most had curious written on their faces, but some had annoyed looks as they only came to get the free bracelet.

They should have known better. Nothing came without a cost.

Soon, the bracelet ran out of stock as Karl heard someone being louder than they should at the mansion's gate. He saw Fixa bow toward the people still waiting to get their bracelets. The guy in front of her when she announced the news looked like someone had just stolen his lover. It wasn’t just him. Behind him, many people also had the same expression. Some remained indifferent, while others stormed off as they stomped their feet loud enough for Karl to hear.

Seconds later, when Fixa said something else, those who got their lover stolen beamed again. She must have said that the bracelet will be up for sale starting tomorrow.

Seeing that the line of people was waning while the gathering spot in front of the stage still had space, Fixa shouted.

“Those who gather and watch the play will still receive one Recharging Crystal for their bracelet as long as they still have the introduction paper we will give you at the end.”

The paper she mentioned must be the flyers Karl worked on to promote the agency.

Despite giving one Recharging Crystal for the bracelet wasn’t part of the plan, Fixa's quick thinking sure helped draw in more people, as not all of them left.

It was more of a crowd than Karl thought. There were at least a hundred and fifty people gathered in front of the stage. Much more than he believed. Since it was their first show, Karl thought only the hundred people who low-key got bribed into staying would watch the show.

“Showtime, Sera.” Karl pulled his head back from the black curtain separating the main stage and the backstage. He turned his head toward the Aria, Nanok, and Xil’pul. “Everyone ready?”

All three of them answered with certainty. “Ready.”

“Let the show begin.” Karl clapped as he jumped down to the stage’s side. He wanted to be ready to provide support if anything unexpected happened while also getting a decent view of the show.

He took out his communication clock and signaled. “Three… two… one…”

Fire shot up from both sides of the main stage, drawing the crowd’s attention.

All members of the agency went through the plan. They got enough power in the Idol’s Gears for three songs, but it took too long to recharge or to change to a different set. That was what they had to work with. After discussing which songs to choose, everyone agreed to a simple outline.

The first song would be something that set a tone for what was to come. It had to be a new song, a bold song, a rather intense song that would act as an opening message. “We aren’t a theatre troupe, and we aren’t here to act some plays.”

It was a song that showed their ambition, determination, and readiness to face any challenges.

The piano hit its first key, and spotlights shone toward the middle of the stage. There, with the bright moon barely visible behind the slash that cut the sky above the blood river as rose petals felt like snow, Sera stood. Not as herself, but as her avatar, the idol Tina.

Red light shone from below, highlighting the avatar’s face and figure, and the piano hit the transition note.

“♫ Tonight, the moon has rose in a crimson red

But roses gotta wither, so I’ll live forever instead

And now I can’t get rid of all of these thorns in my head

Bring on the hemorrhaging

I guess I’ll live inside your memory ♫”

It wasn’t the kind of ballad-like song theater troupes used in their plays, nor was it the tale-like song bards sang in taverns. This song was unlike anything the crowd here had heard before. Sera sounded like she was speaking with a certain kind of rhythm as the music played. She was showing something that never existed in Eldoria before. Rap.

Most of the crowd looked at each other in confusion as the lyrics didn’t fit with the music at first. But as the song progressed, the music enhanced the meaning behind the lyrics.

“♫ Red tomorrow, Red today

Dread, sorrow, can’t turn away

Can’t, turn, back ♫”

The music stopped, and so did the audience who were tapping their feet to the beat. As if both the music and the audience were holding their breath and waiting for the singer to begin again. Karl looked at Sera. She had a playful smirk.

“♫ Time, I’ll always be a prisoner to my ambition

As petals fly, I’ll dance your tune but hold your breath,

guess who's running the show?

And when this red runs black, I’ll ask you was I everything you imagined?

When my time’s finally up, the sun’s falling down

I’ll turn to stone again ♫”

Many in the audience exclaimed their “Ohhhhhhh” as the music once again stopped. It signaled another rap drop. But this time, there was a different reaction.

“♫ Every day is a fight to stay relevant

And it cannot last, so I’ll relish it

And our planet’s vast, but this hole’s a ditch

Ya toss out the past, and you can strike it rich

Nobody asked, but the mask is an alright fit

And this fiction’s no disaster, in spite of it I stay curious. What comes after it.

So mysterious, and yet, I exist ♫”

“I can relate to that.” Karl heard someone in the crowd shout. That woman must have a lot of pent-up frustration in her day-to-day life to be able to relate to this part of the song that fast.

Sera turned toward the young woman and extended her hands at that soon-to-be fan as she smiled.

“♫ Hold on, stay beautiful, stay young

There are blades to be swung yet

Rising soon, regard the moon. Reflected in the crimson sung tonight... ♫”

“She smiled at me.” The same woman blurted out loud enough for Karl to hear. “Did you see that? She smiled and extended her hand to me. There is nothing like that in a play.”

“You’re right. What was that? Now that I think about it, this isn’t a play.” A man spoke.

“I heard the clerk call this a mini-show.” Someone else answered.

“A mini-show? Never heard of that before.”

Discussions soon spread among the audience. It was too mixed to hear what they were talking about.

“♫ Can’t turn back ♫”

The music dropped once again. And the crowd looked at Sera as she took a deep breath.

“♫ Time, I’ll always be a prisoner to my ambition

As petals fly, I’ll dance your tune but hold your breath, guess who's owning the throne?

So, come alive now

Once again, so I can chase you down

We are five seconds away from

The end that’s come

From here on out it’s only just,

Me and this bloodlust

I’d rather just

Fade away...♫”

Louder, stronger, more intense. Sera sang as if she were roaring toward the heaven, as if she were cursing at fate for blocking her way. But no matter what, she refused to surrender.

As the song ended, Karl clapped his hand. And so did most of the crowd.

A good start. Karl thought. They were open-minded enough to a new type of music and something different from what they thought they would get when this was advertised. Good thing they didn’t complain that this wasn’t a play.

Next, it was time for the second song.

The second song would act as a transition, something calm and smoothing. Something the crowd was familiar with. The team went for a song used in heroes' plays in Blue Dragon Country - an elven song.

Softly played sound from a harp started as Sera stood in front of a frozen river as the sun appeared on the horizon.

“♫ From the frost-kissed realms of the far north,

Where the winds of darkness gave birth,

Seven heroes, brave and true,

Stood against the shadow's hue ♫”

It was a song about the seven heroes who saved the world from darkness that sprung from the far North. The unexplored land far, far beyond The Endless Tundra. This was their story.

“♫ In the land where the darkened skies

Met the frozen earth, where evil lies,

They battled on with might and grace,

Restoring light to every place ♫”

Once, Eldoria was submerged in war with monsters as black as the darkest night that invaded from the North. Years after years of war. The war that ravaged the land and withered life itself. Children lost their parents. Parents lost their children. Death and decay corrupted the land until the Seven Heroes were summoned.

“♫ Wraiths of ice with hollow eyes,

And serpents cold as winter's sigh,

Giant spiders, webbed in dread,

Lurking in the shadows spread.

With claws like shards and breath of night,

The heroes fought with all their might,

Dragons that spewed a fiery bane,

Yet their courage broke the chain ♫”

No one truly knew what the Heroes faced in the North. The bards’ stories could only come up with something people have faced down South - animals and monsters corrupted by the darkness. Nothing could escape that corruption, even the almighty dragons.

“♫ By their strength, the world was saved,

From the north's dark, chilling wave,

Now the stars in the heavens high,

Sing their deeds to the endless sky.

In the heart of the forest deep,

Where ancient spirits softly weep,

Their legacy, a guiding light,

For all who face the darkest night ♫”

But the Seven Heroes succeeded. They pushed back the corrupted darkness. From then on, no more darkness or corruption. Eldoria was freed of that threat. Thanks to the Seven, the Era of Prosperity soon followed their victory.

When the song ended, the crowd barely nodded their heads. They were too familiar with this song. Some even looked bored.

But there was exactly the plan.

The last song would be their secret weapon to make a lasting impression of intensity and log Sera’s performance into the viewer’s brain. They were going to hit the crowd with something hard.

All light disappeared from the stage.

“Huh? What happened? Is it over?” The audience looked around at each other with confused faces. Karl smirked at their reaction.

“Hit it,” Karl spoke into his communication clock.

Light shot down from both top corners of the stage toward Sera, who was standing in the middle of the stage. There was no background behind her, unlike the previous two songs.

The music started, and Sera hummed.

Yet, it was her hum that drew everyone's attention, as her vocals shifted to a lower tone. If her voice was like a fun-loving, sunshine kind of girl before, now, it sounded like an attractive demoness that would rip out souls with her voice to satisfy her desire.

“♫ Once in a faraway faraway world was a collar that coiled like a snake ♫”

The tempo switched from slow and light to hard and fast as the thundering sound of drum dropped.

“♫ I want someone please, I need someone please. Oh, I listened close as it howled 'n ached

Please don't be angry and please don't abandon me Don't leave me here on my own ('Kay?) ♫”

The music slowed once again. All sound disappeared but the quick but light tap of the triangle.

“♫ It wrapped itself tightly daily and nightly. Only with praise would it loosen its hold ♫”

The drum returned as the audience started to bob their head up and down to the rhythm.

“♫ I placed in the top of my class. There's no one left for me to surpass

Don't I look cute in this dress? I really really must confess, it's tightening 'round my neck ♫”

The background finally showed itself, causing the audience to gasp. It was a giant picture of Sera’s avatar’s face. But it was grinning as the ruby eyes stared into the audience's souls. There was deep, sweet madness and a kind of twisted desire in those eyes.

“♫ Give me your love, all of your love

Give me your love, all you can conjure up

Give me your love, all of your love

'Til you go mad with ecstasy

All of the hurt, all of the ache. Help me escape, take it, oh take it away

Is there no end to this pain? ♫”

True to its hypnotic rhythm, the song made most of the audience couldn’t stop looking at the figure on the stage as if their soul were taken away. One might even call the look in their eyes reverend or love.

“♫ Aren't I a beautiful child? (Hey)

I'm better than her, I'm better than him

Oh everyone come 'round and gawk at perfection.

Meeting you right after school, I'm finally confessing to you

Ain't it too good to be true?

A girl like me in love with you. who's miserable, vulgar, and crude ♫”

The background switched from Sera’s avatar with a demonic smile that captivated the soul to that of a twisted smile that endlessly enjoyed how she was being worshiped by everyone around her.

But no one in the audience noticed. They had already fallen.

Their hypnotized state lasts until the end of the song. Like mindless dolls with their souls stolen.

“Thank you for listening. My name is Tina. I hope you’ll come to my next show.” Only when Sera spoke did the spell break.

It was then, the crowd erupted.

“Lady Tina, one more. Please sing that song one more time. That can’t be the end. Please. One more time.”

One, then two, then ten, then all. Every single one of them acted like a madman whose only desire was to listen to that song once more time. Karl didn’t know whether it was the effect of Sera’s trait [Harmony] or if the song was just that good.

“Um… I… I…” Sera looked toward Karl for help. And his response was obvious.

Karl shook his head. If they were starving, why would he give them food? Let them starve.

“I’m sorry.” Sera bowed. “This is the end of my mini-show. Please come again.” Her avatar disappeared.

“Noooooo.” One of the audience members overreacted and tried to rush toward the backstage.

Luckily, Karl got that cover. A tiny gap opened behind the guy who tried to rush forward as blood dripped down his neck. The slaughtering intent wrapped around his neck like a noose, stopping him from moving further.

“My apology, but the show is over. There will be more in the future. Please come again.”

Karl used a sound-amplifying crystal to make sure everyone got the message.

Sighs rang out as the crowd started to leave the mansion’s yard. Many couldn’t help but look back repeatedly as they left. Shoulders were dropped. But that was the plan.

Moving away with the crowd, Talia gripped her hand hard as her eyes never left the stage.

 

Outro:

First song – “Red” by Mori Calliope.

Second song – I made it up.

Third song – “Love me, love me, love me” by Nerissa Ravencroft.

Also, I have an announcement next. It related to this story and some plans for the future.