The Jidoor Opera House

[Secondary Characters]

Hearing the two mysterious newcomers speak, the Impresario's mind began working once more, and he turned upon the magician with forlorn eyes, and a gentle smile built up.

"Maria was my star...so graciously beautiful, elegant and an all-around wonder to behold...but she was also a diva, of course...though not as bad as some..." The man looked about his stage crew and actors once more, who had yet to leave after he dismissed them and growled.

"She was taken from here, by whom I could not tell you, though I do surmise that it was a man who has had his eyes on her for years; it's apparent he finally managed to whisk her off."

And then Acteur stepped up and spoke of his connections, and the Impresario turned to watch as the puppeteer ticked off the representations of his future cast of colorful people. The Master of the Theatre could have yet again squealed with glee, had he not embarrassed himself enough already. He simply cleared his throat and folded his hands together and smiled again.

"That is perfect," he said, and raised an eyebrow. "And you say these are but few of many? And they are diverse...as you indicated...by the Triad I must confess I'm flattered; a cast fit for this House indeed."

He stroked his chin thoughtfully before continuing, and walked back to the throne prop and sat, leaning back and kicking a foot up onto the rest.

"In all honesty I've been wishing to perform something new; something catchy, daring and just...well, original."

[serpentoflore]

Sarah smiled at the thought of 'original' being used so vaguely. "Then perhaps we shall decide once the actors appear?" She didn't know who Acteur would bring, but it would hopefully work out like he wanted it to be. "After all, such a grand show cannot be decided before the actors have arrived." She could feel the need to play her piccolo growing, but she held back because she knew Acteur would not want her to be doing unnecessary actions.

[Gabranth]

Gabranth still in his frustration with a immanent landing ahead was desperately trying to activate the manual controls at least enough to pull out of a nose dive. Across the way he could hear the smashing and yelling of Hercules trying to figure out how to get power to the consoles. The yelling he could of done without, but he was helping even if it was only a little.

In Hercules' wire swapping, he must have hit something correctly. A small screen to Gabranths left started to flicker on and off sporadicly. This was due to Gabranth smashing his fist into it. To his surprise it was part of the control console for the flight controls. Using this when able to see it he was able to unlock the flight stick, although landing he would still have to do by sight.

Gabranth turned to face the back of the ship where Hercules was, covered in wire he shouted to him. "Hercules brace to something sturdy, our landing is going to be rather rough." From there he turned to his controls and sat ready as he began their decent.

[Acteur de la Noir]

Acteur kept his silence as he heard the Impresario's tragic tale regarding his star performer, head dipped low in what appeared to be a mournful gesture. Of course, with the expressions of his mask being at least partially controllable (it was a mask, after all), Any debate on whether his sympathy was genuine was theatrical or sincere would remain inconclusive--especially since, with his head lowered, the lanky puppeteer's glowing eyes were hidden beneath the brim of his hat. Of course, if one took his evident love for the performing arts into account, Acteur probably did feel badly for the stagemaster's plight.

Then, as the Impresario steered the subject towards his desire to try a new kind of story, Acteur de la Noir perked up at once, his ghostly yellow eyes glittering with interest. When Sarah suggested they wait until the cast was assembled to decide on a proper theme, the puppeteer stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps," he mused, "But it couldn't hurt to have a rough idea beforehand, now could it? Hmmm....let me see, here..."

After a few moments, the eccentric performer/magician snapped his fingers, the gleeful note in his voice matching thw curving grin on his mask. "Ah, here's a thought! Two lovers, hailing from backgrounds of distinguished heroics, exploring their relationship...amid the backdrop of a grand war betwixt Light and Dark." He paused, a hand-sweep momentarily changing his smile to a thoughtful frown. "Not original, you say? Ah, but here's the rub..." Another sweep of the palm returned the smile to his mask. "Our pair of stars need not be on opposing sides...they need only remark on the war around them with candid frankness, while the war itself is exaggerated to an effect most comedic. Over-the-top performances by the "villains," florid, self-humiliating speeches by the "heroes"...tongue-in-cheek comedy, mingled with the subtle undercurrent of sincere clashes of ideals!"

Pausing for a moment, Acteur tilted his head to one side as he looked at the Impresario. "So tell me, Maestro...how does that thought strike you?"

[Secondary Characters]

"To be perfectly honest, it sounds ridiculous, though not at all terribe. I daresay that this is the first fresh, original idea the Opera House has seen in several years, the last idea being 'I Find You Inhospitable, My Little Moogle'. It was terrible, and the audience loathed it."

The Impresario clapped his hands together and furrowed his brow in a look of contemplation. Looking first to Acteur and then at Sarah he gave them a sly grin. "I think we've got the premise for a show. Now all we have to do is come up with a story, characters and plot...and then assemble our actors and set."

[Hercules]

Hercules nodded when he heard Gabranth's order and grabbed a nearby pole. Who knows why it was there, but it was, and it was attatched to the ship, so he made use of it. Gripping tight, he looked up to the cockpit.

"Land this thing, Gabranth!" he called up, trying to bolster the man's resolve. He knew if anyone could, it would be the man bragging all along about the airships that he had commanded. "Keep it in one piece and I'll buy lunch!" he joked, trying to keep HIMSELF from breaking down a bit. After all, they were free-falling toward a mass of earth that could potentiall kill them if they reached terminal velocity and didn't slow down.

"I hope you weren't just blowing smoke..." he muttered, gripping tighter...

[serpentoflore]

Sarah seemed to enjoy the fact Acteur was doing so well in presenting the Impresario with something amazing. "I shall work on the music with whatever we have available. Not only does a good stage need a story and actors, but the music that fits the mood." Her mind vaguely wondered if she would have to use the piccolo for that music, but it mattered not at the moment. All that mattered was the Impresario falling more into their cause.

[Acteur de la Noir]

Acteur nodded vigorously--first in agreement with Impresario's assessment of his concept, and then in agreement with his newfound protege's observation. "Truer words were never spoken, cherie," he remarked brightly. "Music, setting, cast, plot...only when all of these elements are combined does a truly worthy performance have the chance to form!" A pause, and the eccentric puppeteer dipped forth in a gentleman's bow, courteously tipping his hat to Sarah. "And with you as part of the orchestra, we'll have a full range of melodies available for this play!

Rising from his bow, Acteur turned to address the Impresario, whipping a hand to his jaw and stroking his chin with those skeleton-thin fingers. "Now then, lets consider some of the other requirements, non? Story and cast, for example--they may prove intertwined. After all, haven't the greatest of actors ended up having a certain degree of influence on their roles? But that's yet to come...first, let's see if we can't conjure up a story to fill out the premise, eh?"

Saying thus, the enigmatic eccentric began to pace across the stage once more, tilting his head this way and that as though considering multiple possibilities. "As I say, the story that unfolds should follow the clash between the war of darkness and light--two empires, perhaps, each lavishly devoted to their respective elements. Such is their devotion that the key figures in these empires--those who shall make up the cast--are often caricatures of the archetypes one associates with such matters. The wicked, spiteful queen of darkness, for example...or the overzealous, grandstanding champion of the light." Shrugging, Acteur went on. "Now then. As the story unfolds, it shall depict not only the struggle between the two kingdoms, but the lives of those involved. It shall be comedy, of course--the absurd, over-the-top performances of the cast and the madcap dialogue shall see to that." Another pause, and the puppeteer hummed thoughtfully. "But! As we progress further, there may be glimpses of faceted, complex personalities beneath all the caricatures--the hint that, were these fools able to see past their grandiose struggle, they might find more in common with one another than they might think. Another pause, and he snapped his fingers gleefully. "Indeed, that might be the very climax of the play--as the battle between this absurd lot reaches a crescendo, it ends up spiraling out of their hands...and thus, for the final, fleeting act, they must work together for a common purpose!" The puppeteer raised his hands, the conductor signaling the curtain fall. "And what happens afterward...shall be left ambiguous."

Coming to a stop--presently with his back turned to the Impresario--Acteur de la Noir shrugged grandly, looking over his shoulder with his cape draped behind him. "Just a rough outline, milord. Critique it as ye shall."

[Gabranth]

Spiraling downward, their ship gave off a red hue through the sky as it broke this worlds atmosphere. As they spun to the surface Gabranth scanned the front shield of the ship. Vision slightly blurred from the decent and shaking, he looked for a smooth landing spot. Hitting a few buttons and switches as hit starts the manual landing sequence.

Noticing a small town on they're way down north by northeast a short distance away from the shores. Readying himself for impact he began to straighten the ships course steering Mcducks ship in it's tailspin towards the waters. "Water Hercules!" Was the only thing he shouted through his iron visage. Leveling the ship at it's best, Gabranth quickly removed a single hand from throttle to reach to the back of his seat and remove a single sword. He used this to put a steady leverage on the throttle hoping enough time was left for himself to brace for the impact.

Sword in place Gabranth turned from his seat just moments before the landing in the ocean. He grabbed Highway Star from his seat and made a last ditch effort to run the hallway to Hercules' position. Seeing him holding on to a steel pole for support, he ran towards him in an almost panicked state. "Hand!" was all he shouted as he made a short leap towards Hercules. This however was to no avail. Upon his leap towards Hercules this had made it's contact with the waters, coming to a very hard and abrupt stop. With his leap short, Gabranth could only watch as Hercules seem to be pulled away as he himself was hurled at the helm of the ship.

Gabranth made a very quick turn to try and unleash Hatred in hopes to stop some the impact. This was to little use. With such a short distance at the speed. It would only cushion his impact rendering him unconscious, and in a sinking ship.

[Secondary Characters]

The Impresario twiddled his fingers together for quite some time as the Heartless Puppeteer spoke, and as he did ideas came pouring into his aged brain; an excellent future was in store for the Jidoor Opera House, and he could have hopped in excitement. So he did.

"I am positively taken by these grand suggestions, and fully authorize you to do whatever is needed; I wonder, though, how shall you obtain that ridiculously colorful cast of yours?"

He paced again, one hand folded behind his back, the other scratching his chin. "Now...a parody within an epic. That is truly remarkable. And you say these parodies are fleeting mirrored images of the cast you speak of? Hilariously absurd, Mister De La Noir, and I love it. And you..."

The Impresario now turned on Sarah Appleton, pointing an old, bony finger directly at the girl's nose. "You say an orchestral masterpiece is hidden within your petit little head? Excellent. I expect only the best from travelers of the Rift."

[serpentoflore]

Sarah listened to Impresario, completely comfortable with his decision. A gloved hand reached for her glasses, noticing a small speck on them. She blinked, it was getting bigger. She felt heavy, as if her limbs had given up on her. "I'll be right back to continue our meeting." She spoke, barely able to bow in her current condition. Walking towards the door at a slow pace, the feeling merely got worse. She had barely made it to the door because she couldn't even put on her glasses. Managing to open the door slightly, her back leaned against it. "Come on..." She spoke, pushing herself up from the door.

Another step or two lead her to the ornate decorations next to the door. She couldn't see them with her glasses off, of course. She pulled her arms up again, but they didn't move far. Dropping her glasses in the process, she bent to pick them up. She didn't make it far before her body then began to fall towards them. In a vain attempt to keep them from breaking, she leaned to the side. 'What's...going on?' After a few moments, her eyes shut, her mind shutting down along with her body.

----

Sarah found herself in a room that held what looked to be the gilded gold birdcage. However, she did not expect it to still be intact. Hadn't she destroyed it? Hadn't Acteur freed her from the typical light of the Sun? A hand began to fist, pushing her body up to go and destroy the cage.

'Whoah, now....' would whisper a soothing voice, 'is this what you truly want? Limits are sometimes there for a purpose, you know... as warnings, and guidelines.'

Her hand stopped a moment, turning around. "Of course it's what I want." She could feel her hands starting to twitch. "Who are you to tell me what I can or can't do?!"

"Oh, no, no, no, I am not here to stop you, rather..." the voice came from a mist that stood just infront of the very chair Sarah had gotten up from, "To reason with you, Sarah... or Hecate? ... what is it you wish to be?" - to the musician's dismay, she was looking at a familiar form, standing there with a bright piccolo in hand. Herself, "I prefer Sarah."

"I threw away that identity. It was forced on me." Her voice came out, shaking a bit. "I want to be free of this cage and I will be free of it!"

Forced...? Weren't there good times also?" this bright version of her smiled, tilting her head to the side to fix a little at her glasses. Her hands soon returned to holding the piccolo of light, "Papa and Mama bought us one of these at the age of five, do you remember that? We used to play it all the time, at first, trying to immitate the Canary? Mama used to laugh at that..." she looked down to her piccolo, smiling a bit, "I think thats why we grew to love this instrument so much... because of Mama's laugh."

Her eyes narrowed, as if something had hit a wrong chord. "They never wanted me to be anything but their tool." She grasped the cage in her hands. "It was this they wanted me to be in. Their little cage of winners!"

"Oh, come now~" Sarah giggled, sitting down to polish the instrument, " They wanted what was best for us, and just wanted us out of trouble... if that was the case, why did Papa cancel our show, and forced us to stay in bed when we were sick? Mama was so worried! Remember when we got the chicken pocks, and we were so scared!" she had a soft look to her, " Papa put a red glove over his head, and used a yellow cup as a beak, and told us 'everything is going to be alright, my little chickety' and took all our fears away with laughter?"

Sarah's eyes became even more hostile at the thought. Her hands tightened, tossing the cage to the ground. It shattered beneath her. "Go away you stupid caged bird!"

nstead of a small version of Sarah being, was on the ground, injured and broken, in place was the familiar Canary which Sarah grew to love over the years. The voice continued to echo around her, though, " That Canary was us, in a way...that is why we loved him so much." Sarah, the other one, walked passed Hecate, and picked up the injured bird in her hold, looking down at it with tears in her eyes. She rested the bird on her lap, and looked up to the other, " Will you end up shattering us as well... with all this hatred?" .. she looked down at the bird, who was now resting there, chocking on its final breaths... it was trying to make noises, but not even a sound made it out.

"It's not a bird." Sarah spoke, feeling her presence in the area fading slowly. "This isn't a cage... but what... What is it then?

----

Sarah's eyes slowly opened, unsure of where she was at the moment.

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]Sarah would find herself on the floor, Backstage of the Opera House. Her head would be resting on something soft and warm. If she were to look to her side, she would find a woman's gold colored eyes starring back at hers. A bit more examining, and she would find herself resting her head on the woman's lap, and a wing of the woman would be rested upon her form, like a blanket.

The witch seemed almost demonic, with her hair appearing like horns to her sides, and shell-like ornaments hanging from them, giving off a soothing 'tingling' sound whenever she made the smallest movements.

"It must be exhausting..." spoke the one called Ultimecia in a sultry voice, "... to repeat the same tune, is it not?"[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

Sarah blinked, the person unfamiliar to her. Was she still dreaming? She cautiously examined her situation. "What... Are you talking about?" She spoke, beginning to move up slowly. If the woman attacked, she would have to be prepared to counterattack her. If she was a friend, then Acteur would come soon, wouldn't he? If not...her piccolo was still in her pocket. She checked, glad it was still there.

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]The woman was already standing, as she looked at Sarah, her eyes seeming curious for knowledge created by anomalies even she herself, could not predict. She gave her a thoughtful look, as she crossed her arms, holding lightly at her elbows.

"Darkness..." Ultimecia spoke, turning to look at the girl with the corner of her eye, "...is in balance with light. The audience will be bored, if no balance is struck. A repeated tune that is apparent on your body."

The witch closed her eyes before opening them again, starring at the ropes and sandbags, "A composer must appease all ears, must she not?" [/glow]

[serpentoflore]

This person did make sense. Sarah felt her body sit back down, exhausted still. "Well, you are correct on pleasing the audience." She conceded, he hands settling to her sides, her knees on the ground. "Still, what does it mean for this performance?"