"My esteemed guests, I bid you a gracious welcome to an evening of intrigue, where the veil between the ordinary and the extraordinary shall be lifted before your very eyes." A magician stood in the center of a stage overlooked by several verandas, his shoes clacking loudly, and his long black coat fluttering with each step. His top hat twirled in his fingers as he pulled it off of his head, taking a bow towards the audience.
The crowd erupted in applause, like hundreds of guns going off at once. They weren't tourists, rather devoted regulars. They had come to know of Lumière Croft and his illusionist antics. Their applause was their excitement- their expectation for a show that would exceed all others, including his previous endeavors. Fathers and daughters, mothers and sons- they were all equal as audience members with hearts caught up in anticipation.
A little girl, holding her mother's hand, settled in the front row of the seating area, letting out excited squeals as she sat down in her seat. Each time she would beg her mother to take her out to the show hall to see the magician, she would sit in her seat each time realising that she had grown a little taller. This performance in particular, she had grown just tall enough to see over the railing without her mother's help.
It was a special performance to her.
"Do you want me to lift you up again, darling?" The mother looked down on the little girl with a soft, pitying look. She had grown used to the process. However, to her surprise, her daughter shook her head and smiled, her gaze never averting from the magician center-stage.
As the little girl and the countless others in the audience watched on, Lumière pulled out a white handkerchief from his breast pocket and held it up.
"To any one of you, this may look like any ordinary handkerchief." Lumière grinned as his gaze rose to the veranda which hung high in the show hall. Standing at the front of the crowd on the top row, a woman dressed in a fancy black-and-yellow lace dress stared down at Lumière with a disapproving gaze. Her sapphire eyes watched as Lumière directed his hand to point towards her and spoke out once more. "However, it's actually something our lovely Madame, the host of the show, has kindly donated for the sake of my silly little trick. I'm quite sure it's worth double what I make in a month. Isn't that spectacular? Let's give her a round of applause!"
The Madame was forced to avert her gaze in embarrassment as the crowd directed their excited gazes towards her and applauded. The firecracker-like symphony of clapping continued as Lumière raised the hand that held the handkerchief forward.
"Well, there's some worth in this handkerchief being so absurdly expensive."
The more Lumière drew their attention back and forth, the less they would have been able to focus on, and so as the handkerchief in Lumière's hand became enveloped in bright crimson flame, their surprise was amplified. As embers filled the air, Lumière's gloved hand filled with a wriggling white mass, and when it dissipated, a dove sat perched in the center of his palm.
Surprised gasps escaped the lips of onlookers. "You see, the reason the Madame pays so much for these fancy handkerchiefs is because they're actually birds in disguise!"
As Lumière declared this, his gaze fell upon the little girl who sat in the front of the audience, staring with excitedly wide eyes at the bird that flapped its wings in Lumière's hand. Lumière smiled at the young girl, whose expression took on a look of brilliance after realising she had been noticed. She reached up her tiny little hand to wave at Lumière, who waved back with his free hand in return.
Then, Lumière took off his top hat once more.
"Of course, we can't just have animals running around in the show hall!" He declared, placing the dove inside of his hat. Then, he reached his hand outwards and snapped. Out of his sleeve, a long black-and-white rod- a magician's wand appeared. He spun it between his fingers before tapping on the rim of the upturned hat twice. "Now, it's just a matter of waiting a few seconds…"
He looked back up at the audience, who stared right back at him with anticipation. Lumière smiled at them and raised the hat outwards towards them. "Isn't it marvelous, my dearest guests? With the power of this hat, even I can make living creatures disappear!"
When Lumière glanced down in his hat, the feathery-white dove he had anticipated had disappeared. In its place, however, a rabbit with a soft-white glow around its form wriggled slightly in the center of the hat. He reached into the hat and pulled it out with one hand, holding it against his chest and stared down at it. The crowd, in response, began to cheer even more. Lumière was not so amused.
'Where the hell did you come from?' Lumière's brow twitched. 'Is this one of Ms. Lavant's pranks? Shouldn't an attendant of the show hall dissuade herself from interfering with its performance?'
His act unwavering, Lumière raised the rabbit up in the air and declared while shaking his head. "That wasn't meant to happen!" However, with the inflection of his voice, this was passed off to the crowd as a bit of humour. When Lumière looked down at his arms once more, the rabbit had disappeared, as if it had never existed at all.
'So even the rabbits disappear without my needing to do anything?' Lumière was slightly confused. 'I'll have to talk with Ms. Lavant later…'
As he spoke, a string-quartet began to play a captivating piece in the background, suspended below the stage. The volume of the droning strings began to swell, and the rhythm of the bass kept the swing of the piece in constant motion. After a short while, the crowd had lost focus on Lumière, and now paid full attention to the quartet. So, Lumière ignored his introspections and continued with his performance.
'A magician's first course of action is to distract. This is my first principle, one of many meant to achieve certain goals.' A grin curled up Lumière's lips as he extended his hand. As he snapped his fingers, the quartet stopped the crescendo tune, enveloping the show hall in a slow, serene drone. As the notes fell, so did the gazes of the crowd fall to see the mist that gradually cloaked the performers in a haze, the bare movements of their bows the only sense that they remained.
Seeing this, the audience erupted with gasps of surprise and confusion.
"My esteemed guests, you may have grown to believe that a show is best viewed alongside an exquisite musical performance. I too, have accepted this fact of show life. However, in recent times, the industry has been very tough. The funds are just not what they used to be." Lumière let out a visible sigh, bowing his head while raising his hand towards the quartet cloaked in mist. "Sadly, we just can't afford to hire these amazing, brilliant musicians as we have in the past. Mr. Crusch, our Cellist, Ms. Adeline, our Bassist, and Mr. And Mrs. Haugard, our Violinist and Violist- well, it's time for us to bid adieu to them."
In response, the crowd began to murmur and let out their dissatisfaction.
"I know, it's a shame!" As Lumière spoke towards the audience, the platform underneath the stage where the quartet had been playing became clear once more, the haze vanishing. The bows, suspended within the air, continued to ring out with brilliant sounds, the music taking on a more mellow, somber tone. It wasn't like the previous performance, which enthralled the hearts of all watching. No longer was it majestic, encapsulating. Now it was just saddening.
"My esteemed guests, I've just realised that it really isn't the same without these four!" Lumière cried out, a dramatic, pitiful smile on his face. "An instrument is just that- a tool by which the hearts of the performers share their truest skill. If left to the instrument alone, aren't we doomed to listen to this sorrowful droning forever? If only there were some way to keep them by our side, enlightening us with their beautiful talents!"
Lumière removed his hat once more, and swinging his arm forward, tossed it to the audience member furthest to his left.
"I ask you now for your help!" Lumière glanced up at the Madame, the host of the show hall, who sat high above him. Her gaze was full of disapproval and annoyance. This only pushed Lumière forward, knowing that every slight he could direct towards her would satisfy his heart even more. He had no fear that she would kick him out of the show hall either. His popularity was his shield- her greatest benefit. "Anything you might be able to spare- if we all work together, then perhaps there's some chance that we can bring these great talents back once more! With your help, we can continue to enjoy things as they've always been!"
'The Madame can afford to pay the musicians just fine. Do these lies make me a thief, or was it just misguided greed?' Lumière chided inwardly. 'Well, it's not like I don't deserve additional compensation for bringing smiles to all these people.'
The members of the audience, moved by the somber melody of the empty quartet, found themselves reaching into the pockets of their coats, their handbags, and their trousers. Quickly, the top hat that was being paraded around began to be filled with multi-coloured notes, glimmering metal coins, and the shoddy jewels of the wealthy that could afford to be rid of them.
"My dearest guests, you really are the most generous sort of people, aren't you?" Lumière noticed the little girl at the front of the audience once more. He watched as she begged her mother for the spare coins she kept in her handbag, and then as she subsequently placed the handful of glimmering metal pieces into his top hat. If he could look her in the eyes once more after seeing that, he would have had no heart at all. Even Lumière had shame, even if his actions didn't show it.
After the top hat had been passed around to each audience member, it was returned to Lumière by an attendant. It had nearly been filled to the brim with an assortment of valuable wares and banknotes.
'It does pay off, being such a horrible person…' Lumière chided internally as he set the top hat to the side.
"My dearest guests, it seems we may be able to continue as usual. Your generosity really does amaze me. I would like to thank you all, personally. I hope we can continue to put on wonderful shows for you all." Lumière directed the attention of the audience to various spots throughout the hall with his hand. Nestled in between the audience members, the quartet members suddenly stood up, illuminated by the stage lights that snapped to their locations. As the audience spotted them littered throughout the crowd, they began to cheer and let out aweful praises. "I'm sure our wonderful musicians agree with this sentiment. It looks like they've decided to return and play for us once more. I really wonder how they can do such a thing, but no matter how many times I ask them to tell me how they perform such an act, they won't ever budge. As they say, a magician never reveals his secrets. It's truly a shame."
The crowd filled with laughter once more.
'That's why I would never call myself a magician. Holding so many secrets is a painful endeavour…'