Week 2 vote goal #1 - 195

The next few days were a whirlwind that didn't give Olivia time to worry or stress over anything, because it was all she could do to keep up with it.

Liv by day, Lumi by night.

With three days of rehearsal left until festival night, Olivia's days were filled with singing, music and dancing, all of which would have been a dream come true, had it not been for a few certain individuals that came with it.

Despite Naomi's protests, Aurelia had, indeed, named Olivia as the lead Starsong and allowed Jason's creative control over the score of the entire performance. He hadn't been as happy as Olivia had hoped, but given his knowledge about Cryo's vision... she could understand why. He didn't try to explain his lack of enthusiasm to her, but he didn't have to.

Ericka, on the other hand, was anything but empathetic towards him.

"Seriously," she grumbled to Olivia at least six times on the first day alone. "You'd think the boy could find at least a little gratitude in him."

"Shh, Ericka," said Ariel, laying a calming hand on Ericka's arm as she turned her attention to other things. "May I say that you've truly worked a masterpiece with this dress?"

"Oh, I know I have," said Ericka with a wink. "It seems to just sing when Liv's wearing it, too. If nothing else, that Shadowspeaker woman made at least one good decision about all of this. I mean, the dress isn't completely done yet but when it is...!"

Taylor was a Starlight-sent blessing for Olivia. She spent so much time, patiently going over the script, the cues, the various atmospheres they were attempting to create in each scene. Even without everything tied together, Taylor's words painted such a picture in Olivia's mind that she could visualise the whole thing almost perfectly.

In the rare few minutes that Olivia got a breath to herself, she made a habit of hiding in the set piece construction and sticking sparkles to everything, including herself, though that was completely by accident.

Because someone else had allocated herself to set construction, too.

"This is kinda great," said Ella, waving her arms across the white-painted board as Olivia sat herself down next to her. "This is like, world's biggest canvas! It's taller than I am and so much wider."

Olivia grinned. A quiet suggestion about the possible addition of a full set backdrop and Ella's artistic talents had seen Aurelia inviting Ella to do just that. "Can't just draw whatever, though. Gotta keep it in regulations and all that fun stuff."

Ella shrugged. "You, Liv, have clearly never heard of the fun that is spray paint. I was going to add glitter, but you seem to have stuck the entire supply to your hands."

Olivia just stuck her tongue out.

Not everyone was happy with Ella's appearance. The majority of the performance group seemed unnerved by her presence. Several people moved away when she approached, glancing at the pair of guards assigned to Ella like they weren't sure whose protection they were supposed to be ensuring. Aside from Olivia, only Jason, Ariel and Taylor seemed to treat Ella without any reservations.

Olivia was grateful for them, at least, but every time someone else hurriedly turned away or avoided a conversation, it still hurt to see the way Ella's lips tightened over her smile.

At night, Banshee had her hands full with Manifested, and afterwards, she would accompany Cryo to some various part of the temple, engaging in confusingly vague discussions. It didn't leave them a whole lot of room for sleep, but somehow, they managed to get at least five hours a night.

The first night, he asked her what she thought the Core Chamber might have been designed for, why it was so central to the temple but not central to the city itself. He talked cryptically about particular songs and music the first civilisation had seemed to favour around festival night, enough so that Banshee caught on: he was talking about Songstresses.

The second night, he mused about the Starlight Hall and the Skyshrines, going on about something he'd read in the ancient Speakings from the first civilisation. Apparently, Luminaries used to have an active part in festival night, though he hadn't yet been able to work out what.

The third night, he flew them up to the Celestial's Eye lake. There, they stood atop the waterfalls and stared out across the glowing city for a long, long time. Cryo occasionally asked her questions, such as why she thought the city was a particular shape, if anything looked out of place.

She didn't quite know where he was going with it all, but she knew there was a plan going on inside that head of his, and that was enough for her.

And before she knew it, the day of the festival had arrived.

*+*+*+*

When the rather late lunchtime of festival day rolled around, Olivia found herself looking for the right word to describe how she felt.

She sat in the Starsong dress at one of the corner tables in the performance hall, poking at her lunch in front of her. With the list of stuff she'd had to get through, Ariel had ended up bringing Olivia's food to her. The Cloudspeaker had walked in, sat Olivia down at the table, covered the Starsong dress in a blanket and in that soft yet stern voice, told Olivia that her performance duties could wait until after she'd had some food.

Olivia stabbed at the salad again, trying to find the motivation to bring the fork to her mouth. After the last hour of rehearsing Starsong's dances in costume, she'd kind of just forgotten to eat.

"Hey, Jase?" Olivia asked.

"Yes?"

"What's the word when you're so tired that you're way past exhausted but you're not actually dead yet?"

Jason smirked. "I don't think I've ever quite found one, but if there were a time for it, now seems appropriate."

Olivia thought about it for a moment. "I've got it. We're exhaust-dead. Geddit? Exhaustded."

The look Jason gave her just sent Olivia into a fit of giggles.

After she recovered, she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Okay, okay. But seriously, let me check. After lunch, we have a few more things to finalise--mainly those pieces we altered for Starsong's role yesterday--and then it's sort of... go-get-ready time?"

"In so many words, yes," said Jason. "The performance will end before the auroras begin. I know I've mentioned it several times before, but--"

"I know, I know," said Olivia, waving a hand in his direction. "Stay on script. Melody. Whatever peaks your Skypillar taller. I don't just freestyle it when there's other people involved." She grinned. "Unless I think they can handle it, of course."

Jason turned his eyes to the ceiling. "Just because I can handle it, Shadowheart, that does not give you permission to do so during the performance."

"But that's how we found our best piece!"

At the sound of the door to the performance hall opening, Olivia swivelled her head around to find Ella entering the room, flanked by her two usual Spiritpillar guards. Another group of people who had chosen to bring their lunch back to the performance hall leaned away from Ella as she walked past them.

Ella's eyes flicked to them as she passed, but she remained otherwise silent until she reached Olivia.

"Hey, Ella," said Olivia, standing up to meet her. "What's up?"

"I need to talk with you about something," said Ella. She leaned in closer. "And not where templeboy can hear us."

Olivia glanced at Jason. "Back in a sec."

Olivia and Ella walked to an unoccupied corner of the room, her two Pillarguards following close behind. Even though Ella attempted to shoo them away with a hand, they simply set their expressions firm and remained exactly where they were.

"Ugh. I hate this." Ella tugged the end of a pigtail. "Liv, I need a favour and I don't know who else to ask."

"Shoot."

Ella bit down on her lip before she spoke. "Melissa woke up from her coma."

Olivia's eyes went wide. "Really? When?"

"Last night," said Ella. She swallowed. "She's here at the temple today. I need to see her."

Olivia glanced at the Spiritpillars. "And... they won't take you?"

"None of the Pillars will let me near her," said Ella. "They all think I'm a threat to her, that I might snap or something around her--but I just need to see her. For the sake of my own sanity I need to see her." She wrung her hands together. "I just... I need to face what I've done. I didn't get the chance the other day and I thought I could wait but if she's here, on festival night, it... it just feels like fate. It feels like Starsong and Skypillar have given me a chance to face what I did."

Alarm bells were ringing in Olivia's head. Something felt off. Not about Ella's plea; that was genuine. But for Melissa to have finally woken up only last night. For everything to have been so perfectly placed...

She couldn't let Ella just proceed without precautions, but she couldn't deny her friend the chance, either.

Olivia turned to the Spiritpillar guards. "Has Banshee made you aware of her new code phrase yet?"

"She has not," replied the Spiritpillar.

"In the Shadows of the Frozen peak, Skypillar's song may yet be heard," said Olivia, trying to sound like she wasn't just pulling random buzz words out of her butt.

The Spiritpillar who'd spoken before gave her an apologetic incline of his head. "I apologise, Shadowheart, but we cannot consider a code phrase valid until we have had it confirmed through certain channels. For precautions, you understand."

She did. That was exactly what she'd been counting on, but they didn't need to know that.

Olivia chewed her bottom lip, trying her best to look concerned. "Okay." She looked to Ella. "I can still get you to Melissa, but I'll have to contact Banshee and organise it for her. I'll do my best to make sure you get a chance to talk to Melissa, okay?"

Ella nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Liv. I really appreciate this."

Olivia opened her arms, and Ella stepped forward into the hug.

"You're gonna be okay," Olivia whispered into Ella's shoulder.

Ella squeezed her a little tighter. "I'm just going to keep telling myself that I trust you enough to believe that."

"I have all the belief in you that you need," said Olivia, squeezing Ella back. "You can borrow as much of it as you need until you find your own again."

Ella pulled away, her hands quickly going to her eyes to wipe away the cause of the damp patch now on Olivia's shoulder. "You've got the Liaiser the temple gave me attuned. If you need me, just throw me a message."

Olivia touched two fingers to her forehead. "Will do. I'm gonna go start organising stuff now."

Olivia walked back over to Jason's table and sat down.

"Jaaase?"

"Oh dear. I know that tone. What do you need?"

"I know we're up to our eyeballs in things to do right now, but could you figure out if Melissa has a schedule for me so I could potentially locate her if need be?"

"Melissa?" said Jason, his hand hesitating over the page he'd been writing on. "Do you mean Andrew's Melissa?"

Olivia caught him up on the situation. "I'm gonna get in touch with Banshee, see if she can't tag along to the Ella-Melissa meeting to make sure things go smoothly."

Jason was quiet for a moment. "For Melissa to have woken today is a coincidence I cannot ignore. I suspect a trap."

"So do I," said Olivia. "That's why Banshee is going to be tagging along."

"And yourself?"

That was a tricky one to answer. If Olivia disappeared today, Jason was going to assume the worst. "I'm gonna go change out of this dress, do my usual thing to communicate with Banshee, then I'll either hang around with her or come back here. I'll let you know what's happening."

Jason's shoulder rose and fell in a slow motion before he pulled out his Liaiser. "I'll see if I can locate any schedule that Melissa might be following, but it's more likely she'll be moving freely between the various activities on temple grounds today."

Olivia stood up from the table. "You're the best, Jase."

He glanced up at her. "Please be cautious. I have a particularly bad feeling that the Serpent may try something today, and given both our close relations to our Luminaries, it wouldn't surprise me if the Serpent attempted to infiltrate the temple and use that against them."

"I'll be careful," said Olivia. "I'll see you soon when we're getting ready for the performance!"

After stopping by Ella's art station and catching her up on the situation, Olivia exited the hall and headed towards the dressing rooms. They weren't far, but she kept up her speed. She figured that she had just enough time before the performance for a quick transformation and escort mission. With any luck, the chance to see Melissa would help chill Ella out from any shenanigans that the Serpent was planning later tonight.

Olivia reached the dressing room and pushed open the door.

As soon as she stepped inside the room, she hesitated. The air felt too still, the world too quiet. Her regular clothes weren't where she'd left them folded on the chair. The drawers weren't quite closed properly, like someone had been looking through them in a hurry. Things had been moved.

Barely breathing, Olivia took a step backwards, her hand already reaching inside her bag for her Liaiser when she slammed into someone standing in the doorway.

Olivia spun around, retreating back into the room as instinct dropped her into a fighting stance. The Starsong dress swirled around her in a shimmer of light as her vision focused and locked down on a tall guy with messy brown hair that... that she recognised from the performance group. Sam, the Skypillar understudy.

Olivia breathed.

"Someone is rather jumpy," he said. "I'm sorry if I startled you."

Olivia straightened up. Her fingers were still inside her bag, tight around her Liaiser. "It's okay. My fault, lack of sleep is probably making me crazy."

Sam stepped inside the room, enough to be out of the hallway but still blocking the door.

Olivia's gut told her something wasn't right. "Um, well, I was just gonna go get changed out of this Starsong dress then get a few Luminary things done before the performance. Did you need something?"

He didn't reply. He just stood there, watching her and working his jaw like he was trying to make a decision. Olivia took a few casual steps further into the room, making a show of searching for her clothes while innocuously placing a few of the dressing room chairs between them.

"I don't suppose you know where my clothes are?" Olivia asked Sam as he glanced over his shoulder, leaning back into the hallway.

He looked back at her. Stared.

Olivia glanced down into her bag, unlocking her Liaiser.

As soon as the screen lit up, the tension broke and Sam rushed at her.

Olivia darted around the side of a chair and threw it at him. It slammed into his shins, yet it barely slowed him down as he lunged for her. She ducked under his swipe, scrambling across the floor towards the door, but the Starsong dress slowed her down. Sam grabbed the fabric. Out of habit, Olivia reached for her lower back where Grief and Joy would have been sheathed, cursing when she realised her mistake. Instead, she twisted around onto her back and landed a knee square on his jaw, followed by her other foot to his chest before he'd even finished cursing.

Still, Sam didn't let go, grabbing her ankle and pulling her back towards him.

Olivia drew breath to scream. He threw himself on top of her, knocking the air out of her lungs and clamping a hand down over her mouth. She tried to bite him, but at the first graze of her teeth, he readjusted his fingers well out of the way.

She struggled to breathe through just her nose. Her chest was tight, her heart hammering inside her chest. Her bag was still on her shoulder. Viri was still safe--but for how long? Was Sam working with the Serpent? She'd suspected something would happen today, but--

"You were supposed to just black out after twenty seconds," he grumbled, knocking the Liaiser out of her hand and kicking it across the room.

Olivia's head was starting to feel light. She had maybe thirty, forty seconds before she blacked out. She thrashed against Sam as he stood her up, but he held her tight, one hand over her mouth, the other pinning her arms against her sides.

"You're just making this difficult," said Sam. He shook her, forcing her to stop fighting for a moment to keep her balance. "Stand up straight. We just need you out of the way until--"

With the heel of her shoe, Olivia stomped down on his foot.

Sam howled in pain. Olivia pushed him backwards and made a run for the door, clutching her bag close to her side.

Olivia slammed into the wall of the hallway outside, pushing herself off and struggling to keep herself moving, to get as far away as she could. The world... the world was dreamy, her voice silent in her throat. Her head was about to float off. Sounds were buzzing in her ears. The hallway was empty, but it didn't offer any hiding places. There was nowhere she could risk transforming, not here, with Sam following and chasing her down. With whoever had been working with him. It didn't matter if she collapsed in the middle of the hallway and took a face-first dive into the fancy carpet, as long as she did it in front of someone who could help her.

Footsteps chased her down.

Just a little more, Olivia told herself, trying to force her brain to give her those precious extra seconds.

A silhouette appeared from the corridor in front of Olivia.

Please--

The silhouette noticed her, but they didn't come towards her. Instead, they checked the way they'd come with a casual glance over their shoulder.

"I didn't realise it'd be so hard to get her under control, or I would have given you help," came Naomi's voice.

The footsteps stopped behind her. "I'm sorry, I--"

"Get her back to the room before anyone sees," snapped Naomi. "Or I'm gonna have to tell everyone this was your idea."

Olivia couldn't hang on any longer.

She pitched forward and blacked out.

*+*+*+*

A/N - After two books, the festival day is finally here... and things are going wrong at a record pace. 

[[ Vote goal #1 for week 2: 195 ]] ....because you guys completely decimated the first vote goal last week, literally in 24 hours. W H A T  E V E N. 

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