All of a sudden, the very part of the hall that the siblings occupied grew dim. As they looked on in confusion, they noticed two silhouettes in front of faded purple lights that seemed to appear out of nowhere... both with eyes gleaming, beaming at them from their shadows...
“‘Tis the white knight and mint mage, the ones who came out on top at the stage...” whispered the top-hatted one in a delicate coquette-ish rhyme.
“A truly remarkable sight tonight, I would say...”
“And you two are now in luck as of today! For before we stand before you, so without delay...~!”
“We present ourselves to you!”
“‘Tis I, the Nebulous Illusionist, a trickster by trade! The caster of enchantments that leave you swayed! Now open your eyes, who is that you see? Why, ‘tis no one other than I--~”
“A flash of fire to spark the night, blessing the stage with dancing lights! Who is the one who could muster such fiery power? It is none other than he, the Marigold Mage, the one and only--!”
Alyx and Oriel merely stood there, at a loss for words from the flashy introductions that came out of nowhere. The calling out from earlier had their attention alone, but now it seems though they can’t take their eyes off them even if they tried. Was it because they were surprised? Impressed? Or just confused? It might've been the latter, as their eyes shifted toward each other before fixing them back on the magicians.
"Ahh, oh joyous, wondrous, beautiful day! We finally bear the fortune to meet the twins after a glorious fray~," the Gothitelle squealed as she jumped in place, clasping her hands together out of eagerness."
"Indeed we do, and by Tornadus' beard, you bear the might to shake kings, yes you do!" added on the shiny Mismagius, who gave a wink to the twins. Both of them seem to be quite the fans of the two, especially since before the Gallade and Gardevoir could even respond, they were presented a few gifts.
"Oh, uh... wow, I uh..." Alyx was surprised, and not in the bad way either. A little confused, as it's not common for him to receive flowers of all things, to him that would be more of a date gift, but hey, a present is a present, right?
"These look lovely..." Oriel was more eager to accept them, albeit humbly, as she held the gifted bouquet into her arms before her brother did, letting herself bask in the scent of the flora before eying the two. "You have our gratitude, er, Miss Cassie, and Mr. Velius. You seem quite excited to meet us, are you, er...?"
"Fans?" Alyx chuckled as he held his own flower gift under one arm, giving a smirk.
"Ohoho, you catch on quite quickly indeed my shining blade~! You are right, we admire you both and your trade~!" Cassie's face stretched into an elated grin.
"Even 'admirers' would be putting it quite lightly, my good sir! You're both quite the inspiration to us, I'll have you know!" chimed in Velius with a bob of his head. "Ever since your first show on the glowing screens~"
"Haha, well that's cool, I'm flattered, always happy to hear we please the audience," responded Alyx with a pleased grin. Hearing that he puts on a good show, especially with one of his family members (namely Oriel), is what made part of the fighting worth it. Meanwhile Oriel felt the same, albeit with a sheepish flattered blush.
"A-ah, you're too kind, sir... though I agree with my brother, i-it's just the usual routine for us..." Oriel rubbed her arm.
"SHUSH!," exclaimed Cassie as she raised a halting finger."Balderdash, my beautiful seabreeze sage~! Your displays are among all the rage! Ah, it makes me wish we could do more than offer you gifts, yet when it comes to ideas, I'm at the cliffs..." Cassie tapped her chin before raising said finger up, a big smirk popping up as she reached into her coat to pull out a deck of cards.
"Ooh, how about this, if you have a minute! Something exciting for this honored visit!"
"... Card-based fortune-telling...?" Alyx didn't know what to think, scratching the back of his head with a hesitant glance of disbelief. "That's uh..."
"Well, i-it's a free performance, I fail to see why not... in the end, it's just a game, correct?" Oriel debated with a soft smile, in order to have her brother comply. The Gardevoir faced Cassie with a bow of her head in agreement. "We'd be happy to partake. It could be interesting, perhaps even fun..."
"If that's the case, then very well~! Relax as I flip the cards with a spell~!"
Cassie wasted little time showing her graceful talents, flipping the cards with stylish, shimmering cycling flair as a means of shuffling the deck before finally drawing three cards, presenting them out to face the twins. Upon seeing them, however, Cassie seemed a bit shocked.
"Ooh..."
"What're you going on about," remarked Alyx with a quirked brow. "All I see is a picture of a Cubone, a Darkrai, and a Zweilous... what's the big deal?" he interrogated as he overlapped his arms.
"I'm sure there's a meaning to it, brother... care to elaborate for us, Cassie? Velius?"
"Allow me the honors, milady~" bowed the Mismagius as he held up his wand, pointing to the cards one at a time.
"The Cubone is a symbol of loneliness as well as separation. With it being the first card, it seems to remark how you two must've had a past of isolation, whether from each other, or perhaps others...?"
" ... Er... that's..." Oriel looked at her brother, who returned the glance to her. That... was peculiar, but they couldn't help but falter in order to stop themselves from becoming perturbed.
"Uh, didn't you say you'd be looking into our future? Didn't say anything about the past," the Gallade called out with a flat look.
"Fortune-reading is more than just the future, my good sir! But if it upsets you so, I shall carry on!" Velius cleared his throat and pointd to the middle one, the Darkrai.
"The Abyss Pokemon, Darkrai, symbolizes omens, whether you're enduring them, or have yet to face them yourself, might be coming your way in the near future," the Mismagius clarified, noticing the siblings' reactions. "Er, you alright, milady...?"
Oriel tried to hold back a gulp. Omens... She knew Darkrai was commonly known as the envoy of nightmares, which is what she has been dealing with lately... this was hitting a little too close to home for her. To shake her from her stare, Alyx gently patted her back before glancing back at the magicians.
"Uhh... riiiight. Why don't we just get to whatever the two-headed lizard means?"
"As you wish~" The wand's fire stone gestured to the Zweilous. "The card for the future, it represents potential turmoil between those that are dear to you... friends, family, lovers... if the two of you are not careful, there might be a divide amongst you, or perhaps even yourselves. That's what it means."
"I..." Oriel was already a little put off by how spot-on the first two cards were... this really did feel like a prod into her head, and the meaning behind the dark dragon didn't feel particularly surreal. Meanwhile Alyx gave a hefty sigh, feeling how uncomfortable her sister was. Thusly, the Gallade gave Cassie and Velius a flat look.
"So you really think that's gonna happen, huh?"
"Well, it's a possibility, but then again it IS fortune-telling, so perhaps it has set its course, or it could be a mere possibility. Regardless, i--" Velius was cut off by Alyx before being sarcastically responded to.
"I beg your pardon, sir...?" Velius tipped his head in confusion. "I DID say it was fortune telling, after all. Moreover, t'was little more than a free-showing, it could be nothing more than possibilities rather than certainties, I assure you."
"Hrmph, I guess so, but still..." Alyx pouted as he noticed Oriel still looking a little unenrved. She seemed to be relaxing now, but his side-stare did not go unnoticed by the showy enchanters. Cassie was quick to prance up and make the apology first.
"Errr... uh, okay, sure, thanks for the apology I guess? I guess I shouldn't have been so snarky, it just seems to be bugging my sis, that's all."
"Oh it is quite alright, your reaction is fair! She is your sibling, why wouldn't you care~? 'Tis admirable for you to show worry for your sister, you're a very good brother to her, mister~" Cassie giggled; if her mask didn't hide it, she would've winked at him. Alyx could only quirk a brow, while Velius floated over to Oriel with a sheepish look of his own.
"Anyway, uh..." Alyx interjected while rubbing the back of his head. "Was that it? Uh, anything else you two needed?"
"Hrm..." Cassie tapped her chin as she looked off up in the corner while leaning next to Velius. "Not that I can think of..." A soft nudge was adminsitered to the ghost.
"Ah, o-of course, yes, one more thing!" The shiny mage whipped out a pad and pen, smiling as he presented himself to the siblings.
"Huh?"
"You... you desire our signatures? Truly...?"
"Absolutely, milady! I'd love them! If it's alright with the two of you of course~!"
This was a nice return to flattery for the two of them. Feeling a blush coming on, the brother and sister suppressed it before happily taking the notepad and writing utensil, marking their own names into the paper before handing it back to Velius proudly.
"There ya have it bud."
"OH RAPTURE~!" Velius spun in the air excitedly as a fire burned in his eyes.
"Hah, what a ham..." Alyx smirked, before hearing his stomach rumble. Oh yeah... lunch.
"Uh, look, as fun as it's been with uh, you two, we're supposed to meet up with the rest of our team to grab a bite to eat, so... why don't we meet up some other time, huh?"
"Oh absolutely, do not let us keep you!" Velius nodded sharply, clutching the notepad to himself.
"Yes yes, please, go and on and nourish~! For now we shall let this memory flourish~" Agreed Cassie, while waving them off. "Ta-ta~!"
"Uh, yeah, sure, ta-ta to you too, bye," Alyx waved half-way before making his way over to the foodcourt. "C'mon sis!"
"Ah, o-one moment brother!" Oriel approached Cassie with clasped hands, smiling up at the taller Gothitelle.
"He doesn't seem to understand how your kind works... how you read futures with the stars and all. So forgive him for being skeptical, but your fortune-telling, your future-reading overall... it was, ah, remarkably accurate. I would like to call on your assistance should I have any other questions... is that fair to you, madame?" The Gardevoir pleaded with clasped hands, while Cassie sported another cheerful smile.
"My newly-found friend Oriel, you have my word! Just call by name, and I'll flock to you like a bird! Now go on, meet with your brother! There shall always be another time to meet up together~!"
"Ahh, m-my gratitude! Farewell," and with that, Oriel hurried off after Alyx, leaving the two magicians to talk amongst themselves.
"You're most welcome my friend~ I'm always willing to help 'til the end!"
"And how!" chortled the ghost. "You've done excellently to assist me with the courage to see them, I believe we've left quite an impression, did we not?"
"Oh how I agree! Their smiles were fulfilling to see! But if I may say..." Cassie smirked, leaning over to her friend.
"Now come, now that it's said and done, why don't we walk around? Surely there's a soul or two that are willing to talk abound~"
"Cassie," Cooper whined in his nerdier, true voice, rolling his eyes with a strained laugh.
"So sorry, 'tis habit after all~"
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(( asks are now opened back up, and the cast has expanded! ))
