The group had decided to go back to the theatre room with snacks in hand. The Red Enigma had thought it best to test their equipment by putting on some of their past recorded works. The seating had been arranged for them to be in a group in front of the stage. Since the other guests had yet to arrive, the three royals had decided to join them. Elizabella had wanted to join to be with her old friends again.
Prince Maxen had remembered to bring Elizabella's share of snacks since he had long noticed that she had not eaten on the ride over. He wondered how long she can go without eating but knew she might be embarrassed again if her stomach started growling. The thought of how they first met in school made him smirk as he realized how funny it had been.
Leader had been sitting down first in the middle seat in the front row when Elizabella had sat next to him. Beast had sat next to Elizabella, not caring what anyone else said. Seeing her sit down with her friends, Prince Maxen gave her her share of snacks and sat down behind her. She politely received her snacks and shared some with Leader as he was the only one there who did not go to get a snack. Prince Zander sat next to Prince Maxen, right behind Leader, and threw him a malicious stare. Leader did not seem bothered with his gaze, but Elizabella felt it and made her feel a little defensive and felt her eyes change colors.
She quickly calmed down while taking a few slow deep breaths and pretended that nothing was wrong as she continued to look forward. Beast had felt something and frowned as she unabashedly turned her gaze to Prince Zander and noticed his hateful expression. She would have said something if Darian, who was sitting next to her, had not forced her to pay attention to the front.
"But he-" said Beast quietly before being cut off by Darian.
"It is none of our business. Focus on the front," said Darian as he kept his gaze on the front and grabbed Beast's arm from turning around again.
She sat down obediently but not before she crossed her arms and harrumphed while looking forward. She decided that she would not say anything, for the time being, making Darian, who was sitting next to her, sigh in relief. When the group had been seated, Leader took out his CD and pressed the center as the lights dimmed and the audio began to buzz, announcing that it was on. The stage became lit as the hologram function began to whir as the scene started to show people in different poses and costumes for the title.
"Alright, everyone, we are testing to see if the machines work so that we will watch a few videos with different settings to make sure everything is working. First up, the musical ad for 'The Radiant Cirque,'" said Leader as he pressed his CD again to start the video.
The holographic people disappeared, and only one remained. Prince Maxen quickly recognized her to be Princess Aphra as she stood in a loose white dress. Her hair was mint in a ponytail with braids that loosely swayed when she moved. Her face had a mint-colored mask as they matched her flat shoes. The audience saw her walking alone while playing a few low, long notes on her sparkly white, electric violin. Her steps led her to a big, dark cage where the circus people seemed to be wanting to get out.
There was a soft light above them where one could see their dilapidated looks as they waited to get out. The RingMistress was also standing boredly inside behind the closed door. Suddenly, Beauty came and quickly opened the cage, setting the people free. Once Beauty opened the door, the RingMistress began to sing.
Beast was dressed in the traditional red tailcoat with gold trimmings and accents. The tailcoat hugged her figure while she wore black fitted pants and long black boots. On her head sat a black top hat with a red satin ribbon. Her hair was long, loose, and she wore a black mask over her amber eyes that shone brightly under the light. Her voice was hypnotizing as each word escaped from her red lips.
The circus people had dispersed and began to leave while performing their acts behind Beast and Beauty, who seemed to dance lightly like a butterfly. Beast moved as if she were on a catwalk with confidence as she swung her cane around from one hand to the other and would dance a few steps now and then. The drumbeat made everyone dance in rhythm while blowing fire from their mouths or juggling on long stilts. In the background, you could see contortionists bending their bodies to the extreme while they walked on their hands. Above their heads, people were swinging on rings or balancing on the highwire.
Everyone seemed to move in a choreographed dance, with Beauty moving with her violin and Beast singing right behind her. They continued to dance in march while moving towards three white silk strips that hung from the ceiling. The music turned more ominous and slower as Beast was the only one that followed Beauty forward. The rest watched on in anticipation as the two girls continued to the silk strips while Beast hummed melodically as the scene turned dark and stoic.
Once they were in front of the silk strips, Beauty stopped playing on her violin as Beast took it while still humming. Next, Beauty went to the middle silk strip and began to climb to the top. Beast's voice became lower before she crescendos as she continued to sing the chorus while Beauty reached the top.
The drum began to beat like a heartbeat as it began to race when Beauty neared the top. When Beauty dropped while she unfolded with the silk strip, the drum's buildup and Beast's voice stopped abruptly as Beauty stopped near the ground and began to move skillfully within the silk strip. Once this happened, the watching crowd cheered as they celebrated by continuing their performances. Two other performers joined Beauty as they began to move in synch while Beast continued to sing the chorus one last time.
The violin continued to play in the background as Beast finished the song while she vocalized the chorus. The scene ends with a camera shot of an empty circus and the sparkly white violin in the middle. As it ended, the group began to applaud.
"I have to say, I was glad that the circus asked us to perform this ad. They even gave us a spot in their performance that week. Though, I am sure they all only wanted Beauty who could perform the aerial silk with them," said Leader as he turned had pressed his CD, presumably to turn off the screen.
"Who would have thought that Beauty could perform in a circus?" said Beast as she smirked, making Elizabella blush as she cleared her throat.
"I have done gymnastics since I was young. It is so that my dance steps would be more graceful, and I would be more flexible. Before coming to join you guys, I was purely a dancer and did not know how to act," said Elizabella as she hoped that they would not ask too many questions or say too much with the two princes behind her.
"It is fascinating to see that you know how to do the aerial silk dance," said Prince Zander as he had observed and was mesmerized by Elizabella's moves.
Prince Maxen thought that all her moves were graceful and again believed that she felt familiar. He frowned as he wondered why he would feel that way by watching her dance. Had he seen her dance before? All he could remember at this time was Lady Margarette dancing on stage. When could he have seen his wife dance before? He continued to ponder when he heard Beast speak.
"If you think that was special, you should have seen the actual circus performance as she and Leader performed the aerial dance together, though the one who made the intricate moves was Beauty," said Beast as she talked while eating popcorn, not caring how the others would feel with her words.
"…Beast…" said Elizabella speechlessly while turning to look at Beast as Prince Maxen noticed her ears turning red while Leader coughed awkwardly, and one could see his ears also turning red.
"What? All you did in the ad was climb up the silk and unroll yourself. How is that impressive when you two did that romantic dance that you had been practicing all month on?" said Beast as her words, again, made everyone not know how to react.
The Red Enigma thought to themselves that Beast had just blurted out how the love story between Beauty and Leader came to be. In front of her new husband and his family. Who in the group did not know that this dance had brought those two together to the point that even the circus audience could understand that there was chemistry between them? Beast having no filter made everyone there tense.
Prince Zander saw how everyone was acting and knew that this dance must have been very intimate, which made him gloomy. Even Prince Maxen understood that something had happened between them. It made him feel a little funny, but he was still curious to see their performance. But seeing how the two were acting, he thought they would be reluctant to show them that performance. Finally, Leader cleared his throat and took his CD out again.
"By the way, the circus had found out about us when we had done our first sponsored video. Again, I think they had chosen us because of Beauty's solo ad that had been circulating before she had joined us," said Leader as he smiled gently at Beauty, who humbly denied his praise.
"The video would not have done well without everyone here. It was a group effort," Elizabella said shyly as she looked at Leader. "This video is my favorite one that we did together, as it was our first one, we did as a group."
"It is also the first time we see the chemistry between you two," said Beast quietly, yet loud enough for all to hear as everyone froze again while she continued munching on her snacks.
"Remember what we talked about before?" said Darian as he looked at Beast, who stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. "Focus on the front."
Beast frowned as she turned to look at the front, not saying anything while everyone else awkwardly shifted in their seats. Leader sighed and pressed his CD again as a new scene came to life with the hologram function.