A Runaway Performance (2)

Flowers made from green and red fire bloomed under a sea of water, releasing sparks that glowed like the stars. Earth sculptures of people from my world danced along the currents of the wind. Rings of steel linked and unlinked themselves in complex configurations before simply disappearing into thin air. Of course, with my illusions, all these impossible scenes were child’s play. However, to my growing audience…

“OMG! What the heck was that?!”

“There has to be some kind of trick! Magic can’t do that!”

“What the hell?!?”

“Pretty…”

…it was wildly entertaining. With each new illusion, the cheers and hollers were so loud, they created a shockwave. I had to make a (fake) little platform to make them easier to see from the back stretching onto the street. Some of the cars driving by did yell and complain, though mostly at the other vehicles parked in the lane watching the performance.

Starting early was definitely one of the better choices I made. By the time the white dwarf reached its zenith, I had collected over three hundred reales – on the higher end for a street show. If I kept this up for a few more hours, I could easily make five hundred. Though, if I’m streaming, I can earn ten or twenty times that amount.

Honestly, I had no idea what that blue box was telling me. The start notification became a bit more legible, or maybe less corrupted, but that’s all I had. I wasn’t even sure where I was streaming to, or who was watching. There was a faint feeling, but it wasn’t from some great beyond, or actually relevant at all to the stream. No, it was the familiar mana of some stalkers, surrounding me on all sides. None of them came any closer though, like they were waiting for something or someone.

Oh well, doesn’t matter either way.

Noon came and went as the spectators thinned out – either tourists exploring other parts of the city, or citizens going to grab their lunch. Only about forty to fifty stuck around, waiting for my next act. I didn’t mind taking a break, but it seemed like my uninvited guests had other plans.

“Hey you,” a person stepped out from the crowd, into the empty bubble around me. It was the captain of that group yesterday. Once again, his clothes were higher quality than the lower castes he tried to emulate. However, this time, his shiny blue hair screamed nobility, or someone who worked for them, though his personality made it rather obvious.

“Why hello there!” I enunciated. Wow, deja vu. “May I ask why you decided to step in?”

“You already know–" he began to speak, but he was quickly cut off by a racket of jeers.

“Get out of there!”

“He was just getting to the good part!”

“Boo! Boo!”

“Well, you heard the people. Unfortunately, you’ll have to come back at a later time,” I sadly said, shaking my head with my arms raised.

“Huh? What the hell are you–”

“See you later, mon ami.” I gave him a hard shove out through the lovely path the gracious spectators opened up.

“Wait a–”

“Well, that takes care of that.” I dusted off my hands as the gap closed. “Now, without further ado–”

“I SAID WAIT A DAMN MOMENT!” The captain broke his way through back in, lunging right at me. An elementary maneuver, easily dodged with a swift step to the left.

“Ah! Welcome back! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“STOP. BEING. SO. DAMN. COCKY!” With each word, he grabbed, tackled, pounced, and jumped. And to each, I twisted, slid, twirled, and bowed, evading him every time. It was a dance between a student and his master – the student chaotically stepping all over the place, the master adapting without trouble. You could almost hear that cymbal choking to a jazzy beat against our discordant moves.

“You seem to be having a spot of trouble there. Need a hand?” I grabbed and pulled, spinning the captain in a pirouette straight into another pathway. In reality? I just rammed into his back. No need to overcomplicate things, even if it hurts a lot.

Oww…

“Woo!”

“That’s our Jester!”

“I thought it was real for a second.”

“Me too!”

The audience was none the wiser, clapping and cheering as I took a bow. Obviously, it was completely real, but I never turned down an opportunity for free donations. Oh, another fifty? Thank you very much.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Unsurprisingly, the captain marched his way back for the third time, a bit worse for wear and extremely livid.

“Ah! I see you can’t stay away for long! Now, how can I help you–”

“SHUT IT YOU BASTARD!” he screamed, his face growing redder by the second. His voice dropped low. “You’re coming with us.”

As soon as he said that, the other lackeys emerged from the crowd. There were eight in total: four I recognized, and four I didn’t. The former was the captain, mage, and two subordinates. The latter, judging by the mana swirling through their bodies, had to be mages.

And none of them can see through my spells.

“Hmm, what to do. What to do,” I pondered, ducking under one of the subordinates flying overhead. They were even worse than the captain, tripping over their feet before I did anything. It made for amusing entertainment though, given the chorus of laughter.

Meanwhile, the other five began to chant a spell. I tried to understand what they were saying, but the words were utterly incomprehensible, even to my active auto-translator spell. However, I could see magic circles appear in front of their rings, wands, or staves: three green and two blue, probably a combination wind and water spell.

And as expected, once the mages finished, the air swirled around, growing stronger and stronger. It took on a greyish sheen, trapping me in the eye. Water flew around like a razor blade, cutting anything that tried to break out.

“ Remember, don’t kill the guy!” the captain clearly said as the walls began to close in. He was smirking, embodying the essence of ‘I got you now’.

So, how was I going to get out of this? Well…

The hurricane collapsed in on itself, dissipating as fast as it appeared, leaving a slight smog hovering over the area.

“Make sure to grab him, boys! And clear up the fog mages!”

“Right!” “Yes, sir!” With another green magic circle, the mages summoned a breeze. The subordinates walked towards center stage, but they quickly stopped, dropping their mouths wide open.

After all, I was standing there, completely unharmed, dusting off my sleeve.

And in reality?

I wasn’t even on the stage.