For the two hours in between being casted and the start of the stage play, the group huddled on their lines like a pack of hyenas; luckily for them, they were few in numbers; mostly grunts and generic reactions like:" Yeah!" or "Let's go". Except for Lian, who already finished reading the script at a neck break speed thanks to her eyes' recent upgrade.
After the girl reached the end of the text, her chest tightened from a weak, but poignant stabbing pain; it didn't hurt as much as she would have wanted, but it was pulsating when she looked at Arim and Brigit. " C'mon you two, smiling carefree like that; how long did it take to get to that point, I wonder?"
Pondering on it, though, wasn't the best use of the amount of time given to prepare, so she switched to the second part: the costume. Lian slipped easily into the scant pieces of armor that apparently the Union leader wears. Over his light brown skin, Masso wears a sleeveless shirt, with a single pauldron, on his left arm; possible to balance between the different sized gauntlets: the right, a large, silvery arm while the left hides his palm under a sleeve made from a birchen tree bark.
It fit her like a glove; a bit well for Lian's suspicion, who started imagining a mystery to be solved; an enigma quickly solved once she noticed two weavers…working from the stands on Tommen's costume. His hands weren't big enough to fit Ashen's crimson-washed claws, a problem slowly fixed by the girls performing a tandem hand dance; the dance waved up and down, left to right, all in the use of a shrinking ability to fit the piece on Tommen. Giol was also entrapped by their work.
He appeared mesmerized by the girls' preciseness with how the shrinkness wrapped the prop around the arm. "I need to learn that", murmured the lancer, staring intensely at their movements.
Ogda and Lian had their set of questions, more nitpicky though, like "how doesn't the fabric rip" or "could the sleeve break his arm through this method". Normal ones.
Girl 1- "Alright, done. Does anyone else need some help?" she asked, but regretted with a deep frown the second Brigit, raised her trembling, bent, hand.
Maci- " Psst. You ok?", the teen asked, a bit surprised by the display.
Brigit- " Yeah, yeah. It's just…uhm…complications between us. That's all."
The weaver caught that last remark, which made her greenish cheeks bloom in a pale red, while her eyes squinted from rage. " That's all? THAT'S ALL? Is that what you call what you did?" Her nerves were luckily calmed by the second weaver, who gave her a blueish branch with a soothing scent.
Girl 2- " Pamia, take this and take a second to relax, alright? I've got this." She then flew next to Brigit, speaking in a whispered voice. "That got you embarrassed, huh? Don't blame her, though, you still are, and were her first love."
Brigit avoided eye contact, with sweat dripping down her frown. " I don't. I know that it was my fault. Breaking it all like that, not saying anything for weeks…Avoiding her."
The second weaver snickered, accidentally pricking Brigit with a needle. " Amazing. Miracles do happen. Miss Brigantia has grown so much. Guess I was lucky then, right, that our break-up was with a genuine talk."
Brigit- "...Yeah." The two then stood in silence, with Brigit throwing glances at the first weaver, who was shadowboxing from frustration.
Girl 2- " All done." She then stared at the costume with awe and admiration. " Still not close to the real thing, but it's one of our best works. Your mother deserves it. " She then turned to check the rest of the group, happy to see them fitting their roles. " Well then…break a leg, Brigit's friends. And remember, this is a commemoration filled with joy, no sad faces allowed. Talking with you, red-head."
Being singled out jolted Lian's back straight, who wasn't even aware of the dower look on her face. " Right…Right," she repeated, remembering what her role was" for I am Masso of the Platinum Union, here to save the villagers!" she replied, a bit late, but with enough vigor to convince the weaver and pep up the group.
…
Temitayo, Grushie and Scramble arrived with only an hour left on the clock, and were immediately swiped by the villagers who also explained what was going on.
Scramble- " We accept wholeheartedly!", replied with glitter in her eyes the coin firbolg, to the dismay of her family. " But only if I can narrate! I always, always, always-"
Brigit- " But we actuall-"
Grushie and Temitayo shook their heads and said in unison to give up. " You poked the fire; Scramble is a fangirl for theater, so just accept this. It's easier for all of us" replied her coin partner.
Brigit- " But the script…time…an-"
Temitayo- " She's already a third through it. And she does this every night; she's got the lungs for."
A bit disappointed, Brigit accepted the conditions; "What about you two, you're fine with your roles?"
Temitayo- "...Of course, a giantess that doesn't speak and only has to smash things…I think I hit the jackpot. Oh, and can you describe to me this Victor, by the way?"
Brigit turned them around to face a billboard for a recipe book sponsored by Victor with the tagline- " You'll eat healthy, or else…"
Temitayo and Grushie then went through a bag of small rocks and shell patches, each ornate with different models that from an angle looked like a face. " This one" Grushie chose, preparing himself for a transformation never seen by the group.
Temitayo brushed her palm over a yellow patch, with two holes on each side of the object; it then hovered in place, until the girl directed it to land on Grushie's forehead. A bright, but fast spectacle followed, as the patch expanded into a mask that covered most of the coin's body, transforming him into a creature unlike what it was before. His hands and legs expanded, while a brown torso increased Grushie's height. Even his face bent and twisted, to become more humanoid; except for the eyes, as in their place there were two black, deep sockets.
Temitayo- " Right. Perfect masking Grushie. So this should be closer to that Victor fellow, right?"
…
The bonfire is dimmed down, the rustles from the audience die down, and the moon's light shines right on the stage. Right on cue, as the production crew calculated for.
A small coin rolls onto the stage, making a spiraling course until it lands in the center of the stage; Scramble then leaps on a foot and catches a hat and a cane thrown by the crew from backstage. "Ha, take that, unbelievers!", smirked the firbolg as she took a smug glance back at the actors.
The little trick impressed the villagers, and a few noted it down for further use. As Brigit mentioned, if nothing else, these people were professionals. Then, like clockwork, silence fell not in waves, but a single flap. Lights shined on Scramble, who bowed to the audience and, from the cover of the hat, presented herself.
Scramble- " Thank you, people and entertainers of Kildare. Today marks another year, another passage of time since you were forced to leave your home, your layer. Many of you tried to make a life here in Caer Sidi, but from what I've been told, the majority have grabbed the reins of destiny and went the nomadic route.
Still, once a year, you all gather here, in the temporary care as you say, to remember, mourn and celebrate the passing of the people of Kildare and your village. As a sign of respect for that, and without much further ado, Brigit of Kildare has decided to set up the play, ' The dark flood' for you all. Please, take a comfortable seat and enjoy our amateur, but filled with heart, attempt at a performance. "
Scramble then rolled behind the curtains, leaving a bunch of the Kildare children to enter left and pretend to be their elders. "Oh my, what a good day to fly around and pick up moss and fruits from the trees." Then another replied, in the same forced, hoarse voice. " Yes, yes, quite indeed. Let's put them in the juice barrels afterward and not share it with the children."
The line made a few laugh, while others just chuckled. The narration then started.
Scramble- " It was a day like any other for the people of Kildare; the routine was set, the fruits needed to be plucked, kids had to play hide and seek, and the elders had to deplume themselves of their crusty feathers. But, unfortunately for them, neither was the lucky type to enjoy a boring day. Now, or never ever after.
Child Brigit (played by random kid)
-Let's go guys, we got to play in the fields today and scare off the bungle bugs.
Child weaver Pamia (played by random kid)
-Yay, I get to play with Brigit today!
Childhood friend (played by random kid)
-Let's go, let's go, I wanna catch a bungle!
Narrator - And so, a group of scamps went off to a green pasture, where a nice breeze and the sunny sky ruled over. A short governance, toppled in a second by a rupture in the middle of the valley - the fleeing wind bruised and scratched the children's cheeks. A dark smog erupted into the air, hiding the sky and sun behind a thick, purple cloud. And that was the best outcome.
The warriors of Kildare arrived quickly on scene and tried to blow or vacuum the cloud with their weapons. It worked. For the first wave. Then a liquid seeped into their layer…dark water that oozed of death and malice from the moment it passed the barrier from its world and this.
Dark water (played by Ogda)
Ogda's slime form flattened and slowly entered the scene. Following the narrator's words, he then expanded more and more, until half of the stage was covered by him.
Scramble- And it grew. It needed only a few minutes to grow from a puddle into a pond - then another 10 more for it to become a lake. And from that putrid lake, as if spawned by the deadly water, crawled hands, and mouths and tendrils.
The warriors stood their ground, valiantly fighting the alien creatures. But for each villager saved, another soldier fell to the sheer number and size of the lake. The hands and tendrils captured and dragged the people of Kildare into the abyssal lake, where they would find their final breath.
All seemed without hope as most people rushed to the inter bridges to run for their lives, but the pathways were narrow, and the lines quickly transformed into waves of desperate survivors.
Masso (played by Lian)
-Hold the line and listen!
Scramble- What was? A stranger's voice? Coming from inside the tunnel? Help? Has someone arrived to help them? YES! Dragging carts with supplies after them, the Platinum Union without a name at that time, rushed their way past the flyers and one by one, they entered the attacked layer.
Perren (played by Finley)
-Firbolgs, hear my voice! We'll form a defensive line here, at this bridge pillar, and protect you as you escape. But we need you to follow our lead!
Scramble- The strangers shouted and ordered in large voices, but their words were soothing. And soon enough, a sense of order and shelter wrapped over the terrified villagers. A couple of wounded warriors of Kildare told the behelmeted helpers where to find the lake.
Right after, the sky broke, for the second time that day- A long beast entered the layer from the void: the last and mightiest of the strangers, Ashen. The young and shy Goidel, alongside the grand architect Nizzio stayed to protect the camp; Victor was launched by the mighty one in the direction of another bridge of the layer, while Ashen and Masso flew ahead to see the damage done by the lake.
The last two grabbed two carts and ran as fast as they could towards the village, while stopping from time to time to part supplies and heal the injured. Perren, the duelist and his pupil at that time, Kuelin, the precocious ivory warrior. And unbeknownst to them, hidden in the carts, a little human boy, who snuck in, tired of being left out of the action. Six and half is big enough to punch a diamond firbolg, right?"
End of Act 1