"Quiet, already. We're on in less than a minute."
Apollo sighed, defeated. The ongoing sounds of Trucy's magic show were continuing to be met with excited reactions from the crowd, but it was hard for him to feel too excited himself on account of his nervousness.
He and Athena had agreed to assist Trucy in her newest act; one special trick she'd been working on was easily one of the most ambitious she'd ever attempted, and Apollo and Athena were the only people she trusted to help her pull it off.
Fortunately, their role was relatively simple. They just needed to make their entrance at the appropriate time, follow Trucy's rehearsed instructions, and then they'd be out of the audience's view. That was the hardest part, and from there, it would be a walk in the park.
"Hey," Athena whispered, rather pointlessly jabbing him in the chest with an elbow, "Get ready. She's about to call us in!"
"I knew that..." Apollo muttered, bringing a hand up to gingerly check on the fresh bruise he was almost certain Athena had just created on his chest.
The pair was dressed fairly casually for the show, to their earlier surprise. Considering Trucy's flair for the dramatic, Apollo had expected her to have elaborate outfits ready for them, but instead she'd insisted that they just wear their preferred choice of casual attire to the show. Athena had tied her extremely long hair back into a more traditional ponytail on the back of her head, rather than her usual hairstyle, aiming to ensure it stayed out of her way. Still, her outfit was as familiarly bright as usual.
"OK, we're on!" she whispered, grabbing Apollo's hand just long enough to pull him toward the curtain.
The bright stage lights blocked out Apollo's view of the crowd, but judging by the cheers he'd been hearing, the venue was packed. He couldn't help but grin, proud of his friend's success.
He and Athena waved to the crowd as rehearsed, and they crossed the stage to join Trucy. There was a large box of sorts placed directly behind Trucy's position on the stage, covered on all sides in brightly painted doors.
Trucy continued to hold the crowd's full attention as she issued them their instructions to enter the box through a pair of highly specific doors.
Apollo pulled open a violet door and stepped into the box. It was dark inside. Athena had circled around to the other side to enter her own door, which was a shade of orange not far off from her hair.
"Oof-!" Apollo recoiled, having bumped into someone.
"Hey, watch it!"
"... Wait, Athena? How are you-..."
Apollo trailed off, shaking his head. He didn't have the slightest idea of how Athena had gotten so close to him. Her door was at least several wide steps away, and there were walls in here.
"Let's just keep quiet. This is Trucy's show." he muttered.
The box did a very good job of muffling sounds. There rumble of the crowd and Trucy's voice echoing out of the speakers were both muted by the wooden structure.
After a short while, Apollo heard doors being opened and closed on the box all around them.
"OK, it's coming..." he muttered more to himself than to Athena. They'd rehearsed this plenty of times. There was a moment approaching that would be important not to mess up.
"Wh-Whoa-!!"
For half a second, Apollo thought to scold Athena for her outburst, but he suddenly felt himself lurch to the side as an iron grip grabbed a hold on his arm. He yelped, falling to his side. He waved his free arm, searching for something to stabilize himself.
He was falling.
His mind ran wild with confusion. What was going on? This wasn't supposed to happen, and for that matter, how was it happening? There wasn't room in here to fall over, much less tumble straight into any kind of hole in the stage.
-WHUMP-
Apollo groaned. After Athena pulled him down, they'd fallen onto something. It was fairly soft, at least.
"Hey, budge up!"
"Oh-! S-Sorry..."
Apollo shuffled away, realizing he'd been partly on top of Athena. He tried to get his bearings. What had happened? Were they under the stage? It was so dark in here...
A pale blue light suddenly brought illumination to their surroundings. Apollo saw Athena's face lit by Widget's display just under her neck.
"Apollo, is Trucy messing with us or something?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said honestly, "You think she'd tell me and not you?"
"Well, I dunno..."
Apollo looked around. Their surroundings were very dark. He realized now that he could still hear the rumble of the crowd, but it seemed closer, somehow. How was that possible? If anything, it should've been even more muted from beneath the stage.
He got up and took a step to the side, only to walk straight into a wall. He pushed against it in confusion. It was softer than he would've thought.
"Hey...!"
He turned. Athena had moved as well, and she was pressed up against another wall opposite. There was only room for two or three steps between the two walls. What on earth was this...?
"Now, if you could all direct your attention to my personal favourite, the red door!"
Trucy gestured toward the door in question, which she'd painted to perfectly match the colour of Apollo's red suit. She tapped her baton against the door once, and it swung open.
She blinked.
There was no one behind the door. Apollo and Athena were supposed to step out.
Thinking fast, she instead pivoted on one foot and stepped into the door for herself, pulling it shut. She wasn't sure what had gone wrong, but she'd have to improvise.
Outside, the crowd waited with great anticipation. After a few tense moments, every single door on the box swung open at once. Applause erupted from all sides at the audience saw the box totally vacant. Their cheers and clapping only increased in volume as Trucy reappeared on the stage, entering from the opposite side, just as her assistants had.
She gave a graceful bow and began her next trick.
Athena was hunched in place, her hands clamped over her ears. The applause was so loud, she couldn't stand it. It was like standing next to a set of speakers at full volume.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she saw Apollo watching her in concern. He was wincing from the sheer volume as well.
When at last the cheers died down, she uncovered her ringing ears.
"Wh-What's going on...!?" she blurted out.
Unbeknownst to Trucy or her two assistants, their current location wasn't too far from the stage itself at all.
In the sixth row, off to the left, there was a blond-haired young woman in the crowd, watching the show with a wide grin. On her seat and pinned between her legs was her purse. Inside, the two very confused lawyers who had been onstage were both trying to get a handle on their situation. As if by some kind of real magic, they'd been shrunken down to no more than a few inches in height each. Of course, neither of them knew this, nor were they aware that they were currently inside the young woman's purse, held securely by her knees.
Some fifteen minutes later, the magic show drew to a close. The young woman jumped up from her seat, joining the rest of the crowd in another explosion of applause. She nearly knocked her purse to the floor as she got up, but it narrowly managed to stay on her seat.
Once the curtains were drawn, she gathered up her things and began to make her way out of the row alongside two of her friends, excitedly discussing the show as she went.
A panicked yell escaped Apollo as he tumbled forward. He and Athena both let out strained grunts as he crashed directly into her.
"H-Hey, watch the hands!"
Apollo felt his wrists being grabbed and forced away. His face was heating up in the darkness of whatever this was. He'd thrown his hands out to catch his fall, only for them to come down right on Athena's chest. To his further surprise, Athena's arms relocated to wrap themselves around his neck. She pulled him in close, like she was hugging him especially tightly. It took him a moment to realize that she was trying to help him avoid tumbling around any more.
The tiny room they were trapped in was lurching around, like a rocking ship. The pair still didn't have the faintest idea of what was going on. There was all manner of noise around them. | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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