The Jidoor Opera House

[Acteur de la Noir]

Inside the Opera House:

Acteur nodded in response to Sarah's query, his eyes glittering with obvious delight at her earlier announcement--her decision to walk this dark path, and the devotion she had professed to him. "T'is no fault of yours, cherie," he reassured her, offering a gloved hand in case her footing was uneasy. "You needed a moment of rest after your trip. But no matter...let us go reassure the Impresario that all's well, shall we? The show must go on, after all..."

The Main Stage:

Acteur began to open the door that led into the main theater just in time to see the Impresario leaving...and, though his back was turned for the moment, Acteur also saw the new arrival--the man in the silvery-white cloak, with the distinctive wizard's hat. The colors were all different, but all the other features were there...seclude the man's face in shadow, and turn his eyes into glowing orbs of eerie menace, and the uncanny resemblance to Atticus the Fallen would be complete. As he stared through the gap between door and wall, Acteur found himself recalling a key fact--when a person of particular personal strength became a Heartless, their discarded body and soul would become a Nobody of equal potency; with memories and abilities more or less intact...even if their personalities were mere echoes of what they once were, with no Heart to fuel their emotions.

Though he'd never seen this individual, Acteur had heard rumors here and there, in the whispering dark...and surely, the Nobody magi's appearance cemented those rumors...

Quickly, the Heartless puppeteer closed the doorway to a mere slit, throwing a glance over his shoulder to Sarah--who would see that his glowing yellow eyes had widened, and that while the smile was still present on his mask, the chuckle that escaped the mouth-slit was decidedly nervous. "Ah...one moment, my dear. It seems we're not the only guests here, anymore...and if what I've heard about this bloke is true, then he might take particular exception to moi."

Saying thus, the Victorian-inspired trickster stroked his chin thoughtfully, his fertile mind racing. He'd have to play this carefully--open combat might cause the Impresario to reconsider his trust, making it that much harder to carry out the Heartless' plans for this place. All the same, he couldn't let any interlopers upstage him; hence, the dilemma. So what to do? What...to...

Then Acteur paused, his ghostly eyes widening with dawning inspiration. Ah...perhaps he'd found one of the first actors for the Impresario's little drama! All it would take was the right "encouragement"...

[serpentoflore]

Sarah found herself smiling at the mention of one of the actors. She leaned closer to Acteur and spoke in a tone so soft only he could hear it. "Perhaps a bit of music would draw him in without making him suspicious." Her eyes focused on Sai, not sure who it is. "Music can do anything, even look into one's deep desire. Or so I hear." She moved back after, letting Acteur make the decision himself. She was his pupil.

[Sai]

Sai lifted an eyebrow. If the impresario's skill as an actor was any indication of the overall quality of his production crew, then it was no surprise that this opera house was failing. The man was as tranparent as glass, and Sai knew immediately there was more to what he was saying. What struck him most was that he seemed so nervous... why would fear be the motivator? He could understand anger or laughter. Fear...?

The man stepped past him, causing Sai to rethink his tactic. Clearly just asking for the information wasn't the way to go about it. Knowing WHY he was frightened might be useful, but observation was what was called for at this point.

Speaking of observation, Sai froze practically the second he took a step to follow the man. His head turned slightly, and a distinct sound of sniffing would escape from him. He had caught it... if only for a second. He turned slowly, his eye landing right on the door. He sniffed again. The scent was undeniable.

"Darkness..." he noted, then walked in the opposite direction of the impresario. He walked toward the door, one hand slipping into his pocket. Secretly, he was gripping his weatherwand. Time to get some answers for why their gracious host might be nervous...

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]A lonely figure seemed stationed at one of the many red velvet seats of the Opera House; Ultimecia was watching from the audience chairs, her head tilted slightly to one side, curious as to what was to happen next. It was good that her little intrusion with the musician was enough for the Eccentric puppet to go to her aid, avoiding what was to be an encounter with the Nobody Sai... for now.

A good Cat and Mouse Comedy, something she always enjoyed.

Her crimson and black lips curled upward into a smile, reaching down to what seemed a carbonated beverage in an old fashion red cardboard cup with a straw. She held it up, and took a sip from what in this world was called... "Sprite."

Her presence was visible, and she gave off a rather heavy, paranormal, and spiritual pressure, wondering if this would buy the puppet some extra time. If Sai was to take the familiar bait, and looked towards the audience, he would find nothing there, if he would continue forward-- the puppet would sense time slowing down dramatically around him.[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

The Impresario watched his people scramble to assist the exotic newcomers and tried fixing his attention on this situation, blanking out his earlier conversation with Sai. He soon filled his head with ideas to come of the performance. What a show this would be!

"Gently, gently! No need to injure the poor fellows," said he, waving his arms wildly while several men, even Kuja, surprisingly, attempted to lift the seemingly-lifeless man.

"Eh...we've gotta...um...there's just...well done! Yes, fantastic! Someone set out some tea in the stage room!"

[Sai]

Sai had his hand on the door when he felt that presence. He recognized it instantly as the woman that had offered him the advice from before. He blinked, then looked up instinctively, scanning the large audience area. Nothing. Just the sounds of hustle and bustle in the lobby area where they were busy tending to the new arrivals...

"Now why would you make yourself known, then fail to present yourself...?" Sai muttered, his hand leaving the door to turn and walk towards the audience area, to the place that he most closely sensed Ultimecia's presence. He strode through the seats, completely unaware that he had been distracted from the scent of darkness.

"You offered me a clue to my goals before... are you leading me to his favorite seat now... are you giving me more clues still?" he questioned, his wand held tightly in his pocket just in case that scent made itself known first...

[Hercules]

When the actors and the impresario rushed out, Hercules backed off to give them some space. They took Gabranth off to be taken care of, and he was left standing there with a bewhildered look on his face. He sighed, shaking his head a bit and hoping his companion gets better. He then looked to the obvious leader of the group.

"So... uhm... we sorta crash-landed out here..." he said, pointing over to where their ship was half-sunk in the water. "We were kinda hoping you'd have some supplies or something... so we can get back in the air..." he looked around, taking in the area around him. "We could... work it off, if anything..."

[Secondary Characters]

The Impresario soon had a mischievous grin playing on his wrinkled face and he advanced close to Hercules, his hands folded in a wicked manner.

"Work it off, you say? Repairs will take time, I'm sure...which gives you plenty of time to aid me and my newest investors in bringing about the show of the century, my boy!"

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]'He catches on so quickly,' The woman chuckled to herself, in an alternate time, where she was quickest, and everything else had stopped. She scooted by the Nobody, brushing her clothed fingertips against his sleeve, taking her time, simply because she could. The witch walked up the stairs to the stage, and disappeared through the curtains.

Now, the only thing she was giving out was a sense of paranormal activity, one that Sai couldn't pick up... but maybe the puppet could.

-------------

In actual time, Sai felt something brush against his sleeve in a matter of milliseconds, and if he walked a few paces toward the center of the room, he would find a cardboard cup filled with ice there, near one of the seats. Upon further examination, he would find something etched upon the plastic of the seat's arm rest, appearing to be a sketch of a mirror of sorts, with a question mark etched underneath it. [/glow]

[Sai]

The nobody looked at the seat a moment. It was marked, quite clearly, by the only drink cup in the entire area. Frankly, it looked a smidge out of place, being possibly the most modern thing here. If it had been a glass, he might have written it off as trash, but time-displaced objects like this... subtle.

He approached the seat, and found the etching fairly quickly. He produced from his pocket a small notepad and a cheap ballpoint pen. As he quickly sketched the image into his notepad, he couldn't help but reminisce the time he discovered the invention in his hand. He rememembered feeling so excited about this amazing inkwell-less quill, and how pleased he was that he could carry it anywhere with him and take notes on the fly. It had literally opened up an entire area of study formerly cut off to him, and it made him quite ecstatic...

Sai wondered quietly if Daphne knew about the ballpoint pen? The technology they employed was rather... mixed, so why shouldn't she? Then again, while they had high-tech devices like a spectral analysis engine, they also employed knights in steel armor rather than lighter, more cost-effective kevlar or other such things designed to prevent damage not only from knives and swords but firearms as well. Then again, they had computers, so pens had to have been-

"Focus..." Sai whispered to himself. Slipping his pen into his pocket, he looked at his sketch once more. It was exact, so there shouldn't be too much image degradation. A mirror with a question mark. What did it mean? What if he got Daphne a pen as a gift? You know, for holding onto the notes in his absence? He knew where he could find some nice ones made of metal and had leather grips...

Sai shook his head a bit and stood up, looking around. He resolved to solve this mystery first, before he'd move on to seeing the scientist again. He'd start by interviewing the cast members...

Irony would have it that he'd run into the half-naked feather-man first. "Kuja, was it..." Sai asked as he approached, then held out his drawing. "What can you tell me of this image?"

[Hercules]

Hercules nodded curtly at the man's suggestion. "If that's what it takes to get the ship repaired and us underway. You see... I need to rescue someone..."

Hercules proceeded to fill the impresario in on everything that had happened. He spoke with such passion and fire that many of the others in the lobby would be drawn to listening. He told of how an evil witch had turned his love to stone, and how he now faced an odyssey of greek porportions to find her and bring her home at long last. However, this crash landing was in the way, and until he and Gabranth were back in the air, his love, Megara, would be forever trapped...

Ironically, it would call for some applause at the end, this tragic tale, which left Hercules blinking and confused. "No, no... that's not a made-up story! I mean if we don't get moving soon, Meg could be trapped forever!" he tried to explain, realizing he may have been a smidge over the top in his telling of the story...

[Secondary Characters]

By the end of the Greek Tragedy the Impresario's eyes were red from crying so hard, and he raised his hands high at the end, clapping dramatically and bowing low.

"Bravo, bravo!" he cried, gesturing for everyone to join him in applause. "Such adventure, vigor...you speak with much gusto, Mister Hercules! I think you'll make such a fine addition to the Jidoor Opera House and," that is when a thought came to him. His eyes reverted back to those mischevous, narrow little slits as he grinned.

"You would like to know if this Megara is still...alive and okay, and see that this terrible witch is taken care of? I have a means of making that possible, you know...but the cost is the same as your repairs. You will take part in my performance. I understand time is of...utmost importance, but my dear Hercules...this has been my dream. You're here now, so my opportunity simply must come first..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[glow=purple,2,300]"Oh-ho?" remarked Kuja, dancing over to meet with the Nobody what accosted him. His arms raised in a dangling puppeteer's fashion he bent forward to peer down at the drawing, his purple lips pursing together for a moment as he pondered, his silver hair and feathers masking his meticulously-calculating eyes.

He soon folded his arms together behind his back and dropped back onto one foot, leaning only on this while his other leg kicked forward, making a "click-tu-chhk!" sound on the marble.

"Hm...can not say I know of such an item, though there are many mirrors here at Jidoor's Opera House; perhaps you should seek out the Impresario for more information, then?"

He soon stepped out of his ridiculous pose and began fixing his hair, which had fallen over his face during the dramatics. "Do you have a hair pin? I need something to hold these gorgeous locks back, but I just can't seem to find any...Act two is going to be soo lost without me if I'm too busy looking..."[/glow]

[Acteur de la Noir]

Offstage:

As he watched carefully from behind the door, Acteur blinked and cocked his head to one side--to Sarah, his posture wouldn't be unlike that of an owl that had just caught a peculiar scent, and was now trying to seek it out. And that wouldn't be far from the truth--for Acteur de la Noir had indeed felt a resonance in his ethereal sense. A very particular form of resonance--the sort attuned to the Darkness. And that other disturbance--that peculiar, nagging feeling that time wasn't quite as it should be? And, above all else, a flicker of similarity between this and the disturbance he'd felt when Sarah had received that visitation?

Such events were rarely coincidence...and for them to be happening now meant either a trap, or an invitation. Either way, Acteur wasn't about to let some unknown variable remain on the loose--not if it posed a threat to his own schemes. With that thought in mind, Acteur turned to Sarah, one of hist ghostly yellow eyes closing in what amounted to a knowing wink.

"I do believe I've picked up on something most engaging," he announced in a theatrical whisper, keeping his voice down lest the Nobody outside overhear him. "Might you accompany me? I daresay it might be connected to your earlier vision..."

As soon as Sarah gave her answer--and if she were to take the hand he offered--the Heartless puppeteer would snap the fingers of his free hand, producing a burst of penumbral smoke that engulfed them both...and, when the dark vapor, laced with glowing purple, faded away, they would no longer be present. The very nature of this spell was meant to conceal the destination of its user...but whether Sai picked up any flicker on his astral senses from this arcane means of transportation--or if the unknown disturbance disrupted his ability to pick up such traces of concealed transit--remained to be seen...

Behind the Curtain:

...But regardless, a similar blast of smoke would ignite in the secluded region backstage, behind the cover of the velvet curtains. And from its depths would emerge a certain lanky figure in dusky Victorian garb--and, if she had chosen to accompany him, the lonely musician whom he was instructing in the ways of nocturnal theatricality. And, if all was as Acteur had hoped, then he now found himself in the presence of the one who was giving off that potent-yet-subtle resonance.

If he did, indeed, behold the witch who had vexed Sai thus, Acteur de la Noir would take off his hat and sweep into one of his grandiose bows, tangled silver-gray hair spilling around to frame the mischievous leer on his mask. "I would say it a pleasure to enter your presence, mademoiselle," he greeted with theatrical elegance. "But I know not thy intent. What be your business here, in this place where all the world is a stage?"

[serpentoflore]

Sarah had held Acteur's hand without even truly giving an answer. What she knew was that he had sensed something. She had felt a little something, but it wasn't enough to solidify into what he probably was seeing. What she saw was an empty space that might house someone. Still, who would be there? The strange woman?

'It's strange, how is he able to see her when I can't? I think...there must be some magic at work here.' Normally she would shun such an accusation to something unknown, but she had given up her normal perspective long ago.

[ultimecia]

[glow=purple,2,800]"There is no place like home..." said the strange witch, in an almost dramatic tone, closing her eyes and opening them again to gaze at the puppet. Time would slow around him, so he would be in the same, quick time frame as herself. "... words chanted by a child...who truly wished to be were she belonged."

Ultimecia walked forward, her bare feet barely making a sound over the smooth, wood surface as she etched closer, "Tell me, Pinocchio, how badly do you wish to become a real boy?"

The witch glanced a little at the paused, confused expression of the musician, "How far would you go...? Would you... be willing to go over the rainbow... to wear red with your purple garments, if not for a moment?" her golden hues slowly turned to gaze into the man's yellow orbs, her smile never fading, her wings flowing slowly behind her, " Seek a world of green, seek your desire, to open doors, true hearts, and..."

The witch stopped herself, choosing her words carefully, "... be able to feel... to truly feel..." she found herself whispering, looking again to Sarah before turning, and walking away from the two, disappearing into a time portal, "...what she is beginning to feel?"

Like that, she was gone, and time resumed for Acteur de la Noir.

** Time Warp to The Emerald City, at The Wonderful Land of Oz**[/glow]