Cursed Concert
Neither of them had time to rest quite yet, not with the main concert less than a couple of days away. There was still plenty to look into to make the even more significant event work out, leaving things to be little more than a flurry of motion.
Of course, coming to terms with what they had learned after their last performance made it difficult for their minds to keep up with everything else, but both girls had managed to at least keep everything together to ensure they were still able to keep to the original plan. They were both thankful that both Jhez and Xwyhr had also been occupied the entire time, there is no way they would have been able to confront those two after everything. Axln was still processing in her head just how Jhez fit into her future, and Lyun was at a loss in how she might even discuss anything here with Xwyhr. The girl had been completely right, predicting that she might find more opportunity from the other world.. that’s exactly how her future had panned out. Such considerations were even more awkward than considerations in disclosing about a certain broken promise, but both issues stacked problems for her. Instead, they were free to focus their attention to more relaxed circumstances.. if you considered life and death terms that would be the foundation of the hopes for their entire existence at all relaxing. It at least was a more important use of their time at that point.
Despite the odds being stacked even worse than before, the plan was even easier. There wasn’t even any concern about Axln having some social exposure, that was perfectly fine to her. There were worries about the significance of the curse, but even their previous tests had exemplified that they could address that as well with their plan. The Aftermath of the plan had an absurd number of concerns, but Mheridz herself was quite a worry. This time, there was no Holi to dispatch for constant surveillance. Countering all of the strategic mind Mheridz had inherited would be a sizable feat with no assurance of success. They even knew the woman was especially gifted at memorizing history, that was only going to make everything even worse. However, they still had amassed quite a number of advantages, it would be only fitting to make use of all of their resources.
Both women went to meet up with Ezhyrae, who had her ersatz running around making sure everything was already organized. Right on arrival, both Axln and Lyun found a package dropped into their arms.. a dress each that imitated their previous look but on this side. They even lost each other quickly in the rush of activity, finding themselves in a dress before they could blink. Much of the visual plan was the same, although dark elements were used in place of holos to generate appropriate camouflage. Equipment was a complication, considering everything came from the academy instead of a local supplier, but there were plans for that as well. Axln knew her only hope was to be unpredictable, and right now it was her advantage. Even if Mheridz could accurately predict what had originally happened, she couldn’t predict what had changed. Axln knew this because she herself wasn’t very creative, she strongly doubted Mheridz had instead gained such a trait. Every single deviation from the original would wreck Mheridz’s entire assembly beyond recovery.
“Wow, Kori, you look amazing. It’s even pretty difficult to tell that you’re you, I bet your mother wouldn’t even recognize you.” “That’s not exactly the parental direction I’m worried about, but thanks. The foundry will be making key use of the wardens, who would be handling security directly. We need everything we have to ensure no one could spot us before we’re done. This time too, I’ve worked on a decent enough escape plan.. one that would even ensure our equipment makes it back with us.” “You lost your equipment the last time?” “No, we just ended up having nothing to worry about. I hope things go so well again, but I would hate to simply leave everything to chance.” “But.. chance is…” “Forget it, I don’t want to hear it. Just make sure our equipment gets in position, we’re going to be leaving right away.” “Yup, everything is ready, you go do you. I’ll be on call if you need anything more.” “Thanks, it’s good to know we have people we can count on.” Ezhyrae smiled at Axln’s compliment, not having actually expected it. Ezhyrae couldn’t even recall if Axln had ever said anything like that before, it didn’t feel quite like her. Axln usually just had everything under control comforting people that they had nothing to worry about. This.. this was something new.
After a few more checks, the two girls felt confident that it was time to begin at last. Everything was in position, so it was time for their grand performance.
Mheridz discreetly adjusted her instrument, making sure her own disguise was going strong. Illusion instruments would be invaluable, especially in misdirection. Blending in would be key in being able to locate her targets, as it would give her an opportunity to approach without giving them a chance to react. Illusions were especially handy at throwing her target’s guard down without causing due panic in the general public. She had them pincered too, the entire community was currently shielded against rifts. Sure, Axln could probably open a hole in that protection, but not without raising an alarm first and even then such would take some time. Sure, they might have recently evaded her as things stood.. but she hadn’t especially been alarmed by their brief visit during the otherworld performance. Doing the reverse in turn was completely viable, as that would bring them through the void without disturbing their fancy clothes.. but doing so would neglect the equipment they would require. Quite honestly, they needed to coordinate both, while she personally only needed to find one or the other. She had assigned the wardens to track down the equipment in question while personally scouting for the two individuals, it would be far easier that way. Most notably though would be that they wouldn’t be capable of escaping quite the same way, Vael being on guard through the process if they switched over like that.
Of course, she even had a defensive advantage. Knowing that the goal was to put on a performance that would draw the attention of the foundry itself, she knew precisely which plateau would present the most tempting stage. Normally, it would even be strategically defensive too, giving an even greater advantage and protection.. except she had already taken control of the area. Axln would probably have a plan with which to clear away her resources, but she wouldn’t expect illusions. Even better, if Lyun reacted by switching to science, she even had matching holos ready. There would be no escape. However, even despite that.. everything was conspicuously quiet. She had the entire perimeter under surveillance, hearing nothing was really leaving her on edge. She had expected that Axln would have been capable of fleeing discovery, not that silence would have reigned.
Suddenly enough, she spotted two ordinary people just walking through, her gear reporting the presence of active illusions. Setting off one of her traps, the illusion faded.. revealing two ordinary ersatz going for a walk. Ah, a feint, that was rather clever, but she could easily keep up. Suddenly she detected four hundred groups of two ordinary people walking in the presence of active illusions in the area. This wasn’t bait anymore, it was a mask. The entire collection wasn’t even walking with any set purpose, it would be too much to go through each of them individually. Stupid Luna would have planted them all here overtime, and that ersatz had way too many friends to cover individually. But it also didn’t help that she had played a hand, they would know she was around. However, in all consideration, it was generally inappropriate to make use of illusions around the foundry. She made a few quick calibrations to her instrument and set off a wave burst that disrupted all illusions in the area, which then included her own. Scanning the surroundings, she quickly spotted her targets, two rather flashy individuals with dresses that made them stand out more than most.
In a flash of lightning, she was there, all reasons for guises lost. However, illusions not yet played would still serve their use. Throwing forward a few of her spheres, the illusionary figure of a few great lizards appeared, a design which would leave Lyun panicking while everyone else would remain unimpressed. Lyun however had instead broke out in laughter at Axln having almost tripped while compensation for heels she couldn’t see when she had suddenly instead compensated for heels she could see while walking up a flight of stairs, having her stumble. Lyun hadn’t even noticed the lizards in the process, but had stopped at the ominous approach. Then, just as suddenly, she waved as the two of them.. disappeared? The hells, what? They didn’t rift away or anything.. and there was no active illusion. She would have joined them if this was a cause of stopping time… Did they switch worlds? That would be foolish, they would be caught just as easily on the other side. However, nothing else made sense. Certainly then this was an act of desperation, the girls weaving between worlds in a desperate struggle to evade both. However.. that was not Lyun’s panic face. Everything was going exactly according to plan, just not her plan.
“Ma’am, we’ve confronted a growing assembly of ersatz who seem to be putting something together, similar to what you’ve described. Their numbers are making them difficult to approach for questioning, and the growing crowd seems to just be making things even more difficult.” “Wait, where are you?” “The commercial district, the main parking lot of the mall. It seems they blockaded a large portion of the lot for their own purposes.” “Wait, what? That’s the exact opposite side of…” “Oh, the two people in question have even just arrived on site too, dressed exactly as you had reported. They.. they are already getting things going, and the crowds here are only growing larger. Do we have authorization to impose force?” “No, you fool, that would only instigate a riot. You’re going to have to dismantle the situation peacefully. Don’t worry, I’m on my way.” The warden’s voice faded as Mheridz ended the call in a hurry. How.. might that have happened? There were no signs of anyone blazing across the community, there is no way the two girls would have covered such ground within such a short time. All of the equipment had appeared so unexpectedly too.
This was honestly such a huge terrible waste, too. All of this work, all due to end in a horrible failure at the cost of an innocent life.
“Thank you everyone for joining us today, I’m performing today for you as Snowbell and I’m here today with my companion, Mixer Deajae. Our stage and equipment have literally been brought here thanks to our supporter for today, the well established Ezhyrae and her considerable finances. As thanks for being here to support us from the very beginning, Ezhyrae has asked for us to share her wealth, being as thoughtful and considerate as she is.” At that warning, a whirl picked up, tossing around a vast collection of black dust all over the place. It was faint traces of the absolutely pure ersatz Lyun had personally procured, it was like a fountain of gold dust.. and it was in no small quantity. A massive crowd rushed forward to attempt to receive their share of the wealth.. the traces fading into the crowd almost instantly. Once the dust was gone, the crowd then turned towards such a generous gathering, realizing this was no small event at all if the promoters were that generous. With the crowd’s attention returned to her, Lyun picked up her kellegno once again, ready to begin. Axln had even taken that opportunity to prepare during the commotion, she was actually ready to go before her crowd was. Taking initiative, she set the music and got things going. Her crowd was completely captivated, between a curiosity of such a performance and a wonder if there would be more free giveaways if they just stuck around. As word got around to the free giveaway, the crowds grew, the mall itself turning inside out as its entire occupant body went out to the lot. Wardens in the area were driven even further away as the crowds displaced them.
Such crowds might have come for the kyumu, but they became perfectly willing to stay for the music. Lyun and Axln even put on an elemental display for their audience, a super-charged mixture of frost and shadow that swirled a continuous design around them like an endless surge of fireworks. The shadow weave was a simple and plain undertone, but the frost dancing was in an endlessly decorated creativity, a thrilling burst of abstract visual arts, more impressive in its intensity than its design. Quite rightfully, the two girls were packing Kyumu to make the whole thing happen, and it was more than a little evident that such would have been required. More than that though, it was still another resound of talent that came with it, proving to everyone that talent like this wouldn’t have come cheap either. This was a quality they would have expected to pay dearly for just to simply get admission to attend at all.. but instead they had been gifted simply for being willing to listen. Quite a number of the crowd were already shouting promises to become lifelong fans, and a good number of the audience were trying to figure out when and where the next performance might possibly be.
“Thank you everyone for listening to our performance so far. Once again, please call me Snowbell, my support being called Mixer Deajae. We have a special guest to introduce to you too, our esteemed host has come here in person. Let me introduce you to our financial host, the esteemed Ezhyrae. Let’s hear your applause for all of her generous contributions.” Lyun couldn’t even continue if she wanted to, the roar drowning out even the sound of her augmented voice. Ezhyrae stepped up on the stage, taking a bow for herself. She was really quite embarrassed, knowing she was being grandstaged by the very one who had technically created all of that wealth for her, but she knew she had a role to play as an icon of such wealth. When the roar of the crowd faded enough, she stepped back to allow the other two to pick up where things had left off. At this though, it wasn’t Lyun who picked things back up, but Axln who had her own voice amplifier handy.
“Alright everyone, I bet you’re all having a blast, but I would have to agree that this concert still hasn’t brought enough to really show how special it is. After all, these songs, you’ve probably all heard them a million times already, I bet at least one of them was playing in the mall just today. Why hear something you’ve already heard when you could be fulfilled by something unique and original. So from here, instead of playing more of those same old songs, I give to you a rhythm straight from the Terran Mythos. I mean, why be ordinary, when you could be extraordinary. That’s what this is all about, am I right, am I right?” Axln was walking around the stage addressing the audience, pointing to distinct areas of the crowd with her closing statements, her circlet being a prominent helper in locating appropriate locations to point towards to incite the largest reaction. The crowd cheered their reply, they were loving this. Lyun herself nodded, ready for this next part while Axln went pack to her own post. Not only did Axln then begin to play a melody taken straight from her Aestean collection, but Lyun herself began singing with a perfected Aestean accent, making the whole thing feel exceedingly exotic. A good number of the richer members in the audience began even wondering if they would ever be capable of affording the sort of ticket price a paid version of this concert would have demanded of them. This may rightfully be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them.
Mheridz showed up around this point, seeing how far along things had already progressed. Well, at least she hadn’t missed the worst part, but there was no way to get any closer. Interrupting the whole performance wasn’t even an option either, not after such a presentation. She was quite honestly as stuck as the other wardens at this point, but she would at least have a brief window to react. She knew she had four people to arrest at this point, the two girls, their manipulated host.. and the one criminal who had yet to act.
Eventually, the two girls continued the concert unto its ultimate conclusion, getting constant ongoing praise and another round of requests to extend for just another song or two. However, the last song did still eventually conclude, bringing the concert to an ending. From there, the crowd started to fade as the girls rushed to pack everything up in their remaining opportunity. However, while the two of them were otherwise occupied, a member of the crowd made their way backstage and located Ezhyrae. The two girls jumped at the sudden scream that erupted, their desperate fan having drawn a small Arbalestae and was holding it to Ezhyrae to keep her hostage. The same fan was already struggling to shoulder one of their used kyumu canisters, the guy obviously intent on a desperate get-rich-quick scheme.. one that was very obviously not well thought out.
“You two, don’t come any closer. We’re just discussing business, and if I get paid there won’t be any trouble.” “Just put the weapon down, we can do this rationally.” “With all this kyumu lying around? There’s nothing rational about it. Back off, I’m warning you, don’t be using any instruments or gifts or anything. Nothing funny at all, just back away now. Now!” The crazed fan was visibly shaking and on the verge of panicking, not listening to Axln’s rational at all. By this point, Mheridz had even gotten close, witnessing the disaster in the making. Right, this was the moment when Ezhyrae died. The esteemed killer was there shaking, ready to slip up and pull the trigger without warning. However, beyond all probability, the canister being carried bounced, giving off a cloud of dust that caused the carrier to instead sneeze. This process caused them to stumble backwards, with the extremely durable weapon dramatically shattering on impact.. and the individual going completely unconscious from a fall that should have left them only dazed. It was a dramatic stroke of paranormal luck, a complete reversal from the misfortune they were about to experience.
「All elements of spontaneous misfortune have been addressed, it appears as if things are stable from here.」The concert curse, it was going to lead to Ezhyrae’s death.. but instead resulted in the most incredible chain of good fortune that saved her life. Mheridz even walked in at that point, at a total loss for what to say. She had even arrived at precisely the right time to personally convict the person, and the crowd outside had stopped after hearing the scream. The failed murderer would be an easy catch.. so long as the crowds outside didn’t just lynch them. She even saw one of the ersatz nearby had a recording device that was still going, obviously present to capture a recording of the entire concert, the ersatz having spontaneously forgotten to turn the thing off beyond all reason.
“This is the wardens. We heard a scream, is everything alright over here?” “The person there had just tried to murder that woman.” “An ersatz witness.. with a recording device. Oh, and this would be the broken murder weapon. Thank you, I’ll look after everything from here. Ma’am, you appear to still be in shock, are you alright?” The warden who had also happened to spontaneously wander in at the right moment took charge of the situation, got an update from the ersatz, and was already dealing with the situation. Ezhyrae couldn’t even form a reply if she wanted to, shock was quite an apt way to describe how she felt at that point. A few members of the crowd had even wandered in to check things out, murmurs passing back towards the crowd on what had occurred. A failed murder, before all of her fans. It was an outrage.
“Warden, I actually need you to make more than one arrest here, the two women there are wanted convicts, and the near victim here is actually breaking her prohibitions by being here at all.” “I’m sorry to interrupt, I’ve only just made my way here. Did I hear you right, that you could possibly request the arrest of such talented and influential people?” “Talent doesn’t matter against the law, they will still be…” “I’m sorry, maybe we haven’t handled introductions yet, I’m not even aware who you may be to make such stern accusations, and I suspect you equally know little about me either.” “I’m Mheridz, an esteemed member of standing from the foundry itself, and..” “Oh good, me too. I would take it then that this Ezhyrae is not, that’s why there was no protection offered to her.” “Well, no, she’s…” “You may have forgotten, but influential people do matter to the law. That is itself how you have any potential say in anything at all. You yourself have earned that right simply by your standing within the foundry, something you would have obtained because of your wealth and value. Meanwhile this woman appears to potentially have her own incredible wealth and value, and it would certainly be our cause to bring such influence under our wing. The foundry will need to investigate the depth of her financial claim, and if it finds her to be of a weighted fiscal value, she will have earned her own esteemed standing as a member of the foundry. I would be cautious, for if her wealth and value proves greater than your own, her voice and power would then potentially weigh more than yours as well. That could certainly have you pay for restitutions.. let alone endanger your entire standing.” The foundry member had Mheridz go completely pale as she realized the implications of these statements. Mheridz was well versed in her history, she knew exactly how much wealth and power Lyun had made for Ezhyrae, it made the small sliver she created to get her own standing seem remarkably pale in comparison. In fact, with Lyun capable of basically creating money, Ezhyrae could outright be as powerful as she would ever need.
This was an outright fluke of chance if ever Mheridz had seen one. Having drawn the fiscal intrigue of a foundry member so directly.. that hadn’t even happened on their front doorsteps, let alone so far away. There was supposed to be no intrigue without proof, that’s how basically everything worked. Now, the girls would be given an opportunity to actually safely provide proof, even a rift to the citadel would establish their case. It didn’t help that the citadel couldn’t even be considered stolen.. as it wasn’t as if anyone had been able to establish control, even that logic would stand exemplary to Ezhyrae’s value. With nothing to blame Ezhyrae for, she would be in the complete position to enforce a pardon for both Axln and Lyun. In fact, the woman supposedly held an office at the academy.. her standing would force trade to resume there simply by recognition of her wealth. She was even this close, she was absolutely ready to arrest the two girls, she would have won. Instead, she lost, by chance alone. That itself made little sense, not with all of the sudden chain of good fortune, not when this was supposed to be a time where the two girls had suffered the concert curse.
Nothing made sense anymore, this was all totally impossible. There was absolutely no way things could have turned around this significantly, it was beyond all of her predictions, unprecedented in all of history.
Luminaeris 