106 Witnessing Another Form Of Magic

Sarah suddenly posed a question, "Aria would you like to come to The Hub with me again?"

Altair hesitated only a moment before she replied, "That would be nice." Even though Sarah had strange tendencies to dress Altair up like a doll she still enjoyed her time out of the mansion. She wouldn't mind the minor inconvenience if it meant she could enjoy a day as nice as the one she just had. She imagined it would be even more enjoyable when she would be able to move around freely herself as well.

Altair would quickly come to change her mind.

Once back in the mansion, since Sarah took over everything that the others were in charge of, she was never more than a few meters from Sarah. She was also unable to be parted from the bear that was bought for her as well because whenever she would set it down someplace Sarah would swoop in and put it back on her lap. Whenever that happened, Sarah would also say something along the lines of "Your hands must be really weak to accidently drop your teddy bear like that" and pretend that Altair didn't intentionally put it away.

Stacey would also brighten up when those words would say as she agreed with Sarah's sentiment.

It all caused Altair's face to darken, not that the women in the room seemed to notice her expression.

Sarah wound up sleeping in the same bed as Altair that night. Altair really couldn't convince her otherwise. Even when she tried to point out that Noel or Stacey could just keep an eye on her at night or have another servant do it; Sarah stubbornly refused by saying it was a mother's job to make sure their daughter was cared for properly.

It was a good thing that Altair's bed was far too big for her with the two of them on it. Altair had assumed she would have a lot of breathing room even with Sarah there which was why she eventually relented under the vigorous appeal by Sarah. It wouldn't be the first time she had slept in the same bed as someone else but it had been a long time since she had to. Because she had slept alone for so long after coming here she had gotten used to it and didn't want to give that up. She actually found it surprisingly that she did relent to Sarah's fervor.

What caught Altair by surprise was that Sarah actually squeezed up next to her and wound up hugging her the entire night. It was like Altair was Sarah's teddy bear. Consequently, Altair was unable to be rid of the bear that Sarah got her because Sarah had wrapped her arms too tightly around Altair that she couldn't toss it to the side.

The day following that came with a new surprise as well. Some medication was delivered by Renald's orders to have Altair take it every morning without exception. The pill wasn't very big this time. Compared to the horse pill she had to take before it was actually quite the joke. Altair took it under Sarah's supervision even though she knew that it wouldn't help her health at all, acts had to be thorough.

Until the day that Renald came with the rain water he promised Altair, Altair was subjected to Sarah's whims and fancies. They didn't get go shopping before the day Renald arrived but Altair found it increasingly more difficult to refuse Sarah's requests. A request that she was completely adamant against just the day before she would begrudgingly give in to the next day and the day after that she wouldn't even resist.

On one day, while Altair watched Stacey and Sarah in a heated discussion about what to put her in, Donel came into the room carrying an unadorned box. He quickly bowed to them before he explained the contents that were in the box while setting it down. Altair didn't know the titles that he was saying and was thoroughly confused.

Donel had even set the box down in a spot that allowed Altair to look at its contents while he was explaining them to Sarah and Stacey. Altair only saw several small rectangular objects covering several books that were, presumably, stacked on more books in the box judging by the size of the box itself.

Once Donel had finished explaining the contents, Sarah looked at Altair with warm eyes while Stacey was nearly losing herself to her excitement. Sarah didn't hesitate to instruct Donel to put one of the shows on. While doing so she moved Altair over to a couch that faced towards the center of the room and helped her onto it.

Donel then walked to the side of the room with one of the small rectangular objects and proceeded to push it into the wall. A Holoscreen appeared before him and with a few quick and short movements the lights in the room dimmed into darkness as the curtains closed over the windows. With a few more movements the view changed completely before Altair.

Centered perfectly for the couch they were sitting on, as if it was placed there for this sole reason, their surroundings melted into a completely different view. A show started to play with a cheery and upbeat tune that engulfed Altair and the couch she was on. It was like she was part of the scenery that was being played around her. Even if she looked to her right or left it would show more of the scene that was played right before her eyes. It was far different from watching a movie at the theatre, instead their entire surroundings changed to match what was being played.

The cheery tune showed off the characters, one of which had a familiar outfit that Altair recognized, of the show in bright colors and flashed the title of the show, Miracle Dancing Magical Girl Arneli Arnessa. It even showed off vibrant effects and breathtaking visuals that stunned Altair but this was just the tip of what she was in for.

Once the actual shows started, Altair was quickly sucked into the story. The story itself was nothing special, a perfectly acceptable children's show for kids under the age of eight. The show touted itself as being able to teach the nation's young girls the importance of friendship, teamwork and love. It didn't actually do a good job about any of these things as its romance and friendship were rather forced at times, especially when it became obvious as the heroine befriended the villain to end the conflict.

None of this mattered to Altair in the moment though. It couldn't be helped considering this was the second show she had seen and it was overwhelming in its level of immersion for her. She had been absorbed into the show that she had forgotten the fact that she wore the same exact outfit as the main character did after her transformation scene. More than that, she even lost track of time completely.

Sarah wound up having to place lunch in Altair's hands when it came time in order for her to mechanically feed herself.

When Sarah realized that Altair was so focused on the show she told Donel to fetch her when dinner was prepared before trying to tell Altair and left to do her own business. Altair was too absorbed in the show to even notice she had left.

It wasn't until Sarah had Donel turn off the show after a later episode when it was time for dinner that Altair realized what she had done. She felt deeply ashamed of getting lost in a story and its world while completely forgetting what she was doing.

While she was eating she thought back to the shows content how the show portrayed its Magic to the viewer. She then had an idea: 'This world has such shows for entertainment but couldn't they be used as inspiration for new Magic?' Under this thought, Altair justified her reason to continue watching the show.

After all, to her, this was her chance to get new insight into types of Magic that her world had never even heard of before. It would be a potent weapon that she would be able to utilize and she… couldn't stop her mind from following the story for even one second instead of focusing on the Magic that the show was supposed to be about.

She vowed that she wouldn't let that happen again!

After dinner she had Donel start the next episode, she still had a few hours before she had to take a bath with Sarah so she was determined to pay attention this time.

A few hours later she was in the bath while hiding her face in her hands.

Altair passed the rest of the week in the same way. She was wholly incapable of focusing on just the magic and kept getting distracted by the characters and the story of the show. Even after finishing out the week and having seen over fifty episodes of the show she was still nowhere near the end of it. She was also unable to stop herself from wanting to see the next episode so she would never replay a previous episode, which would have less of an impact on her when she was watching it.