[43.3] Advertisement Before TikyToky

Caldwell was deeply focused on fixing my clothes while I posed with my arms outstretched for him.

Cyrus leaned on the wall staring at me with an intense gaze, "It's very… Flashy."

Flashy is an understatement.

I had on a bright red outfit adorned with gold jewels that sang in a harmonious melody as I moved.

I smirked, "It has to be flashy to get everyone's attention."

Cyrus glanced at Zephyr who wore a similar outfit to me with a large portable drum. He nodded towards him, "And that?"

Zephyr was laughing maniacally while smacking a drum set, "This is fun!"

I watched Zephyr as he gleefully played with the drums, "That's also to grab their attention."

Zephyr turned to Cyrus proudly, "I'm going to be the narrator!"

Cyrus gave me a glance.

I smiled sheepishly, "He's got a loud voice."

"I can't wait to perform!" Zephyr puffed out his chest, "We've been practicing for several days just to make it magnificent."

The crooks of Cyrus's lips turned up, "I can't wait to see this performance of yours."

I felt my face flush in embarrassment. I turned my head in a huff, "Naturally it's going to be awesome."

Caldwell finally stood up, "I finished the final alterations! Give it a twirl, Young Miss."

I gave my body a little stretch and jumped up and down to test the outfit. The stretchy fabric moved with me and wasn't stiff or uncomfortable. As I swayed around, the jewels clanged together harmoniously.

I grinned, "This is perfect! Good job Caldwell!"

Caldwell rubbed his nose smugly, "Thanks to you, Young Miss, I get to create all sorts of new outfits that I never thought were possible! It's such a shame that my Young Master no longer has the correct build to wear dresses-"

Cyrus cut him off, "So what's the plan now?"

I went over to my bag and pulled out flyers. I shoved them into both Cyrus and Caldwell's hands, "You two pass these out while we are performing."

Cyrus asked curiously, "You're going to perform now?"

I gave him a wink, "There's no time to waste! The competition is going to be starting again soon. If we don't get visitors before we leave, I worry that Felix will have a mental breakdown."

I dragged Cyrus downtown as Caldwell followed with Zephyr in the rear, struggling to carry the drum that was almost as big as he was.

I reached the busiest part of the town and nodded, "Okay. This area looks large enough. Let's set up here."

Zephyr plopped down on the ground beside his drum and pulled out two large drumsticks. People began to realize there would be a show and looked over at us in curiosity.

I suddenly felt my blood turn cold.

WAIT!

What was I thinking?!

I HATE being the center of this much attention!

My body is completely frozen!

Zephyr calmly reached into his shirt and pulled out a mask he had hidden inside. He held it out to me, "Here. Use this."

I took it in confusion and placed it on my face.

I was stunned to find that it fit perfectly.

I glanced at Zephyr in surprise and saw him flush slightly under my gaze. He mumbled under his breath, "I-I only made that for you to hide your ugly face!"

A smile crawled across my face, "Thanks, Zephyr. You're a great friend."

He spat out, "Pah! Who would be your friend!?"

I laughed and rubbed the top of his head before facing the people who were starting to gather, "Are you ready to start?"

"I was born ready." He held out his drumstick and smacked it against the drum with a swift hit. He bellowed out, "This is the story of an ancient warrior and a fairy lost to time!"

He smacked the drum again, causing more people to stop and watch.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I reopened them, I held out my left palm and stretched my right leg in a Natarajasana pose.

From my outstretched palm, a single small ball of light took shape of a fairy.

As the fairy started to fly up from my palm, I balanced on one foot and switched to the Vrksasana pose.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I may not have been a dancer in my time, but I did spend quite a bit of time learning yoga poses in my living room.

So why not use what I know?

I used my memories to concentrate on the "fairy" flying around me. I watched as it drifted along, flapping around me carefully.

I envisioned it in a field, flying gracefully as the fake one flew around the crowd who now stopped in awe. The magic was already enticing as it was, but the fact that I held no wand in my hand and could control it made it that much more alluring.

I bent down to the ground and furrowed my brow.

I accessed another memory I once had of a movie I watched as a child.

From the ground, a cloud of smoke started to rise around me. It took the shape of a crude dragon and charged at the fairy.

The crowd gasped in horror as the dragon swallowed the fairy and continued to fly over their heads as if taunting them.

I forced the dragon to turn back to me and charge. I jumped to the side, avoiding it.

Then I created an ice chunk to rise into the air.

As Zephyr hit the drum, I forced the dragon to attack me while simultaneously avoiding it.

Now, I might be amazing…

But this wasn't easy.

Not only did I have to avoid the dragon dancing around me as it attacked, but I also had to maintain the ice chunk that I was flying on.

It required a great deal of concentration that I didn't quite master yet.

As I was in the air, I felt a strange ping alert me on my peripheral senses. In the crowd, I was certain I felt a familiar set of cold unfeeling eyes upon me.

It sent shivers down my spine.

However, this gaze wasn't from Moni. Whenever his gaze was upon me, it just made me uncomfortable. His gaze made me feel like I was an object rather than a person.

But this gaze…

This gaze was full of pure hatred.

It made a cold sweat spread across my back.

I felt as if I had become a sudden target.

I looked in a panic at the crowd getting larger, when I noticed a woman in a cloak facing me. I couldn't make out her face or appearance. All I could see were those pale, nearly translucent hands that I could still feel clamping on my wrists.

I rubbed my eyes quickly and looked again, but found she was no longer there.

Was I just imagining things?

I landed on the ground carefully, still staring at the area where she was.

Zephyr shouted, "-And that concludes the preview of our art performance!"

Whispers came over the crowd, "Did he say art performance?"

"What does that mean?"

Zephyr continued, "If you liked the show, please consider visiting the Capital Art Museum. The dates for our next performances are on the flyers are being passed around by the molting owl and the blonde-haired brat."

Both Cyrus and Caldwell turned to glare at him.

Luckily, the people in the crowd found the performance interesting enough and rushed over to grab a flyer.

After passing all of them out, Cyrus walked back over to me. "It seems like you are really popular."

I turned my head up to smirk at him, "And what do you think? How was it?"

He smiled back and suddenly pulled me into his embrace. He whispered into my ear, "I think I saw a different side to you that I wouldn't mind revisiting in private."

I felt the heat rise to my face and turned away to hide it, "You wouldn't be able to handle it if I did."

He chuckled, "Would you like to bet?"

Feeling too embarrassed, I pushed him off and headed back down the street, "I'm going home to rest."