A Brilliant Show

The ceremony was thankfully quick.

Throughout it, Lorelei was thinking, once again, about the other world. Did they have long ceremonies like these there? At the very least, she hoped there were not as many stairs. These musings spared her the speeches of the event, a blessing she was more than happy to have. Before she knew it, she had reached the intermission before the dance.

To avoid another confrontation with Sophia, Lorelei found herself near the corner of the waiting area. From there, she saw the dazzling shades on all of the women. The newest debutantes wore different flowers on their dresses, thus representing the potentials in their futures. Lady Holly Islan, the oldest of the women present, wore an ensemble of green that fit well with her tanned skin. Lorelei avoided looking near Sophia lest the woman use that as an excuse to bait her, once again.

To avoided being blinded by all the colors, Lorelei looked at the area they were in. The place was openly large, with the black floor painted in a mural. The colorful mural was meant to depict the spirits living in harmony together, regardless of the differences. Golden lines connected the spirits together in the largest tree of connections.

At the other end of the room was a harpsichord, which would play the music they were to dance to. The beginning of the dance was choreographed, and every noblewoman received the choreography several months in advance. It was not uncommon, especially with the debutantes, to practice their dances together. Such events allowed the women to both form connections and show off their skills.

The second part of the dance was a free form, where the women would dance as long as they wished to. This time allowed for a few women to stand out against the others. Some of the dances seen today would be talked about for some time. This tradition was what had gotten Lorelei so popular among the nobles in the first place.

Suddenly, the harpsichord played its middle C, the sign for the women to get into position. Every woman was meant to stand diagonal from each other, sort of like a checkerboard. The debutantes, being new to this process, waited in the wings for a space to take.

Once Lorelei was in her position, she noticed a spot next to her. Looking to the wings, she saw the young Lady Sakura fidgeting with the hem of her light pink dress. Her shawl kept slipping as she frantically searched for a spot. Remembering the feeling all too well, Lorelei waved, smiling kindly. Relief took over Sakura's features as she moved next to Lorelei.

After looking to see everyone in a good position, the musician started the practice piece. This was meant to ensure that everyone dancing was properly prepared for the main set. It was rare, but Lorelei had seen women pulled out in the past. One of those women, Yasmine, was on her other side. A commoner by birth, as she recalled, her culinary skills got her adopted into the nobility. No matter how hard it was said that she'd prepared for the Dance of Spirits that year, Yasmine had simply been too far behind. This year, that was certainly not the case.

Turning to Lorelei as she danced, Yasmine smiled, giving a little wave Lorelei knew wasn't in the choreography. Since when did Yasmine pay attention to her? Lorelei would have to ask Sara about it when she returned. She hadn't been doing that too much lately.

The musician ended the piece, looking at the women. He then looked at his assistant, who had been the one to watch them for mistakes. When he nodded in approval, the musician started. He clapped four times to set tempo. Every noblewoman present clapped the same beat. The musician began to play.

Other than Sakura inching a bit too close to Lorelei, the dance went smoothly. When he finished the choreographed set, everyone stood in silence. After two minutes of this, which had some of the younger attendees getting antsy, the musician played the middle C once again. Grinning, he started a peppy tune, kicking off the free form.

No one ever knew what the free form music would be, so the women practiced with all genres of music. Hearing the joy of the piece, the dancers twirled in glee, smiling freely. Even Lady Sakura, who was so nervous before, flourished with the music.

Lorelei found herself if a trance of twirling movement. As she danced, she didn't pay much attention as Lady Holly left the dancefloor, setting the example for whoever else wished to stop. After thirty minutes, only Sophia, Lorelei, Sakura, and Yasmine remained. Yasmine and Sakura had begun to dance together, twirling each other in a synchronization that spoke of the effort that had gone into their training. Lorelei knew that this moment would be spoken of by the women across the empire, since that was just how far Yasmine's fame pulled. It would be an excellent boost for Sakura's reputation.

Eventually, Sakura and Yasmine went off the dancefloor together, leaving Lorelei with Sophia. She didn't miss the daggers Sophia shot with her eyes. Ignoring her, Lorelei fell deeper into her rhythm. The free form was always wonderful for Lorelei, and it made the whole trip worth it. It made her feel closer to the spirits, and the lights around them made sure that she only remembered the good parts of the night she had met her favorite.

Suddenly, Lorelei felt a compulsion to take a sharp right, narrowly missing Sophia. The crowd gasped. That had to have been intentional. Moving further away, Lorelei was trying to enjoy her dancing further when Sophia did a jumping twirl, her leg barely missing Lorelei. Had she lost her mind?

Picking up on the shift, the musician switched to a tenser piece. This song was known for climactic competitions in plays, and it reflected unnervingly well in this case. From her angle, Lorelei saw the crowd lean forward in expectation.

Refusing to be outplayed by a lunatic, Lorelei danced around Sophia, letting the edge of her shawl barely tickle her nose. She then flipped back to the center of the stage, the move that had gotten people talking about her after that first year. The crowd gaped in shock. It had been quite a while since Lorelei had pulled that trick off.

In response, Sophia hooked Lorelei with her shawl, a bold move that was could have very well made her lose her balance. Clasping their hands together, Sophia smiled brightly, squeezing as hard as she could. Pushing off from her, Lorelei ran to the other end of the room, her dress and shawl fluttering around her.

Looking at each other in equal hatred, they ran at each other, eliciting mutters of concern from the crowd. Well, except for Lady Holly and the other older women. They had seen this before.

At the last second, Lorelei and Sophia twisted themselves to the side, their shawls touching as they twirled. Their feet ended up right next to each other. They pushed off with those feet, moving themselves as far away as they could from each other with that single step. The two of them landed, breathing heavily, yet still as elegant as they could muster.

The musician changed the music to the final tune. It was tradition for whoever was last to finish the ceremony, and Lorelei and Sophia had been the ones to do it for years. As the two of them would dance together each year, putting aside their differences, the walls would glow with the symbol of the united Spirits, an effect the temple put on every year to show the spirits' faith in the empire.

Lorelei begrudgingly took Sophia's hand. Just as the music hit its climax, Sophia pulled hard on Lorelei's hand, causing herself to slip. Surprised as she was, Lorelei refused to go down without a fight. Holding tight to Sophia's hands, she pulled herself up. Taking control of their movements, Lorelei yanked Sophia to the left, causing her to lose her balance. In the moment, Lorelei failed to notice the rainbow of colors pulsing from around them, climbing the walls slowly.

Trying to take back her control, Sophia pulled back harder than before, and a dying purple pulsed out. This time, Lorelei pulled down on Sophia, releasing one hand to twirl her body into a circle on the ground. The rainbow took control again, and the people stared deeper, eyes wide, at the wonder before them.

Sophia narrowed her eyes at the crowd, and a pulse of the dying purple went through. Cutting her off, Lorelei flung the hand that held Sophia, using the momentum to make Sophia let go. As she stumbled back, the music hit its final note.

Just as the temple had planned, the wall on Lorelei's right lit up with the symbol they used every year, but nobody paid it any mind. How could they, when an even brighter symbol hung behind Lorelei? Taking up the back wall was a rainbow. The inside held gems of all colors. From the symbol, glitter rained down, only to disappear before touching the ground.

The head of the temple grinned widely. "My ladies, it would appear that this ceremony is blessed in more ways than one. The vibrancy of this dance surely foreshadows an excellent year to come!"

His words brought Lorelei to look behind her. The symbol was mesmerizing to her. She felt that it was protecting her from something, which was an odd thing to feel inside the temple. She had seen this symbol before, as well, though she chose not to divulge that.

The ladies streamed in from the side, some offering words to Sophia. Most of them wanted to talk to Lorelei, though. Lady Sakura and Lady Yasmine were the first to reach her.

"That was amazing," Sakura said, admiration glinting in her eyes.

"Yes, it was," Yasmine concurred. "I am quite glad to see Sophia put in her place, for once."

The rest of the day was a blur from there, with many other nobles expressing their satisfaction at seeing Sophia finally lose at something. Lorelei chose not to mention that this wasn't the first time Sophia had been embarrassed. The retention of noblewomen was not very high in regards to Sophia.

At the end, Lorelei gratefully went to the carriage, surprised to see Jason waiting for her. After he helped her in, Jason asked her what happened. She told him everything, from the ceremony to Sakura's shyness to Sophia nearly getting her a visit from the physician.

"As much as I love winning over Sophia," Lorelei said. "It would be nice if people remembered it for more than a day. I wish they knew what kind of person she really was."

"Why don't you tell them what happened before?" Jason asked. "When you were kids?"

"I've tried," Lorelei said. "No one ever believes that she would have gone that far." They sat in silence for a minute.

Lorelei sighed. "I wish someone knew, other than us." She frowned. "It might be more believable if you said it."

Jason chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind and, if anyone asks, perhaps I will tell them. Are you okay with that, Lei-Lei?"

""Yes," Lorelei said. "It's about time someone knew."