The girls weren’t allowed much time to rest, not after a performance at that level. They had slept through takedown, but with dinner quickly on approach it was time to get going.
Sryine was possibly the one with the most energy remaining, not having done terribly much beyond her normal augmented abilities, overall leaving her feeling rather under accomplished. She was fully aware just what intensity would have been demanded by the degree of reshaping.. everything.. that Vwyx had undertaken. The fact they were incredibly high up as a result probably had not helped in the least either, even if she knew they were both better at dealing with concerns like heights and flames while augmented. This wasn’t just a simple divide of the ground, a major chasm as she had made before, this was instead recreating a complicated structure into a gigantic revision, all while occupied and ensuring the safety of everyone inside, followed by a similar reversal. Riyxia had told them to make an augmented scene, to have Vwyx really reshape the stage, but Vwyx really might have taken things a bit far. Riyxia though.. wasn’t any better. In fact, Sryine was rather certain Riyxia was even worse. More than splitting her essence a half dozen times.. sure Sryine knew that Riyxia would most likely be able to do several times more while augmented, maybe even as much as a hundred. That wasn’t just a hundred, that wasn’t even just a thousand. One of the first things she had done upon waking up was to uncover an audience count.. just over fifty thousand people had been seated for the presentation, with several thousand more staff who would have been present working around the seating area at the same time. All of them had individually gotten their own star, Riyxia had linked well past fifty thousand different objects all at once.
“On the bright side, I think that’s probably somewhere close to my limit. I mean, that whole thing had me pretty wiped out, I think eighty thousand probably would have been it for me. That means I can achieve about ten thousand times my normal ability while augmented, a pretty useful figure to be aware of, right?” “Seriously, that is not the kind of situation where you discover your limits, why did you think that…? What’s this?” “Liyuzhe dropped off a letter during the presentation, it was even her two friends who had made a scene back there, challenging us to amp things up. We should have expected to get their attention in the process, considering they would be interested in exactly the sort of thing we were promising.” “Successor, that’s a bit of an unexpected title, wonder what brought that on.” “I’m suspecting Liyuzhe found out that her Khyzae had died somehow. At least that means I won’t be confused for Khyzae anymore, but now it seems that they will be holding me up to a strong sense of obligation to carry her will forward.” Riyxia took the note back from Sryine and put it back into the pocket of her still-sleeping body. Riyxia was certain the three intruders hadn’t shown up to cause a mess, they were instead unwilling to let such a performance progress half-heartedly. Rather than sabotage everything, the results were well beyond estimate, Liyuzhe had actually done them a favour.
“Oh, good, someone is actually awake. Actually, I should have expected to at least get to talk to Riyxia, but it’s great that Sryine is doing well too.. or ‘at least’, I guess Sryine is probably the only one actually officially awake. Anyway, we’ve already got a lineup of people who want to book time for their own meetings, to get an opportunity to get a piece of their own star, as the word on the street is going. Do you know what price those stars are going for now? I’m pretty sure that if one of them got a personal autograph, it would sell for several times more. Ayzherie is almost a cherry at this point, she’s gone so red. At this point, rather than the hunters being your support, your popularity is now supporting the hunters, a lot of the provisional resources for the hunters has already been increased as a result. Even your presentation skills have begun to take hold of a high merit, there were more than a few questions about if any of you would be open to some stage productions for some live plays coming up. I had a number of requests too asking to see if the doll used had the ability to sing, and if her owner would be willing to stage a few songs for their concerts.” Jwyexzn had a gigantic clipboard filled with notes, clearly having become remarkably busy in the interim. Sryine didn’t like it, everyone was keeping busy, everyone was doing useful things, she wanted to pitch in too.
“Sing? I don’t know, maybe? I don’t even know the first thing about concerts though.” “But I do.. a few things at least. Some of my original illusions, back even before the flame, had been all about concerts. Remember, it was a projected concert that had originally gotten us tangled into the hunters in the first place. Jwyexzn, what would your clients think about maybe a small show at one point from an illusionary concert staged by an artificial girl? Actually, we shouldn’t promise anything until Riyxia at least has time to turn that beautiful voice she’s been using into something that commands a compositional melody. I’ll get back to you on that once we have any updates.” “Do I get a say in this?” “You would, but I’ve known you enough to know you wouldn’t ever turn down a sensible bout of obligation and would love the opportunity to challenge your limits.” “Great, more things to learn.” Riyxia sighed, her shoulder-slump being an obvious dramatic. Being a doll, none of such actions would have been an automatic response, she had very obviously done such intentionally.
With everything moving quickly, Sryine became aware that they just didn’t have the opportunity to sit around anymore, but she knew the two sleeping performers weren’t yet ready to wake up. There was nothing else to do about it, she walked over to Vwyx and gently picked her sleeping form up, carrying her all the way out. Sryine wasn’t even especially strong by nature, so she had to supplement her strength by tapping into her crazy-side. Riyxia followed suit, picking up her own body to carry her out, something she had already pulled off once before with another form. Jwyexzn followed along, catching on that the girls were ready to keep going. Dinner had its own accommodations, something which had changed at the last moment. By far the most influential people in the city, the city government had arranged for a sudden banquet at the city hall, with the express request of having three girls in attendance. No one else in their group would be invited, though that obviously allowed a certain doll to attend too if the owner wished. To alleviate any inconvenience, the remaining members of their troup would be provided with a dinner for the road, a free meal of a quality many of them had never experienced before, even if the banquet would have probably been even better. Having a head for such news, Jwyexzn had even caught wind just how much expense was going into this banquet, and just how few people would be attending. With only seven others present for the dinner, Sryine had no idea what a 150 Qeld plate of internationally imported delicacy would possibly taste like, but it seems they would be finding out.
City Hall wasn’t very far away either, leaving very little room for more sleeping. Vwyx at least woke up mid-way during the bus ride, but Riyxia admitted that her own consciousness still remained elusive. Having arrived at their destination, with little more room to wait, Sryine took initiative on the situation for an instant and immediate remedy, dropping a frigid haze of cold mist onto Riyxia’s sleeping body. Riyxia awoke with a start, glaring at Sryine for the dramatic resolution, only getting a shrug in reply. Of course, that wasn’t the most dramatic resolution they had seen so far that day, and it was also convenient that Riyxia didn’t need any explanations on her sudden awakening. With Vwyx generally aware of their situation, the four figures left the bus and made their way into the city hall building, Riyxia having decided that she might as well take the doll along with her for this impromptu trip, rather than leave it to someone else’s responsibility. The moment they walked into city hall, all four of them instantly found themselves separated, each personally getting attentive care in formal decor. Riyxia and Sryine quickly found themselves thrown into a very formal elven dress, Vwyx and the doll likewise thrown into a similar human dress. For the most part, the distinction was a historical formality, kind of a cultural thing mostly affecting patterns and material, but it did leave Riyxia with an odd contrast. A slender heavy dress for her doll, a complicated light dress for her body, a foreign concept in either case for someone as unfamiliar to such formal dresses as she was. The dominant color at least appeared to have been chosen to match their individual styles, none of them could even recognize their own selves in the mirror beyond that minor familiarity after everything was done.
Just as suddenly as they had been divided, they had suddenly found themselves returned together, the subtle shimmer around the others being the only thing stopping them from initially wondering upon who the pretty strangers at their side might be. The doll at least remained an unnatural beauty that couldn’t be hidden, not by its design, and even though that left the doll with the shimmer and Riyxia with nothing, it was simple enough to grasp who the fourth unfamiliar member might be, the small and pretty elf in an elegant purple tone. Red, Blue, Purple, Green, not even the style of their dress matched, even among the elves or humans. Vwyx was left with simple velvet layers in what was visibly the heaviest dress present while Riyxia’s doll was adorned in a soft cotton spiral of tassels and flare that was clearly also the dress with the most body. Sryine wore a satin dress with quite a number of intricate cuts in some almost alarming locations, while Riyxia herself wore a shoulderless lace dress that somehow seemed to be designed for someone even smaller than herself. Even everyone’s hair had been restyled, the effect leaving a tremendous amount of body for everyone except for the doll, who simply had a lot more formal composition to her hair. Add on the variety of makeup for that final finishing touch, leaving all four with only a short time to come to terms with their circumstances before the doors they found they were actually standing before started to open, revealing the banquet hall on the other side.
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“Announcing the presence of Riyxia Ymheqxhya with her human-like doll commanded by her own will, accompanied further by Vwyxzrihqaeli Bhyiqiexhaez and Srynihxaezhiyl Maexiqhezyhr.” The door attendant announced their arrival by full name, something of a surprise to those who were announced. Riyxia noticed she was the only one announced without the usage of her full formal name, something she was thankful for even if it was only further suspicious. As the four of them walked into the room, Riyxia’s doll was the only one capable of looking backwards and notice the door attendant put away a letter with a crescent moon emblem. Oh, now that explains a few things, more generous gifts from distant friends. If Liyuzhe wanted Riyxia out of what she was doing, it would be kinder if she in turn also started to mind her own business. They might have only just learned that she was Khyzae’s successor, but she’d been doing this whole ‘successing’ thing in all truth for quite some time now, she could fully well take care of herself. However, despite initial concerns, there was no evidence that Liyuzhe or her friends might even be in attendance for this meeting. With only a small handful of support staff, hiding would have probably been out of the question anyway, so it appeared they had returned to their own matters at last. This opportunity had been constructed for them, it was their own responsibility to not blow it.
Still walking with her spectre, Riyxia was quickly intercepted by three unfamiliar people and hounded into a conversation. Sryine and Vwyx each ended up with two such similar individuals of their own to confront. Vwyx was talking with a male human and a female elf, Sryine faced the exact opposite. Riyxia faced the exact same as Sryine, just with an added male human in the pack. It seemed the seven were chosen delegates of the governing board, and not simple choices in that either, but possibly the seven most influential members of the board. The male human before Riyxia was actually the head of the entire board, the highest authority over the entire city. Having held their professional position over their own identities, none of the girls actually caught on to anyone’s name in the process. None of the delegates did anything from a personal perspective in fact, everything was ‘in the interest of the city’, quickly devolving into generic small talk as everyone settled in with their entrees. Sryine quickly came to the conclusion that 150 Qeld of food wasn’t even worth 150 Qeld, though Vwyx was famished for anything that tasted even remotely better than the typical hunter’s fare. Riyxia found no favourites in the food provided, nothing present able to compare to the mintleaf she always craved, but found the opportunity to try something new at least appreciable. Of course, her doll wasn’t even open to a dining experience, not even being made for the capacity. Having been given the opportunity to satiate any initial hunger, conversation evolved into matters of greater interest.
“Well, it must be said that today has definitely been the beginning of something new, the dawn of a new era as I recall it being phrased. I for one find it fascinating how authentic you had managed to engineer such a doll with such a decorative realism and proper expression.” “Oh, uh, you could just say I’ve had a lot of personal experience working with related materials.” For a moment during the head official’s speech, Riyxia wasn’t certain if he was talking about herself or the doll actually introduced as a doll, technically they were both dolls after all. “I should probably let you know as well, it was Vwyx here who had actually produced such a finished work, I’m just the one manipulating it.” “Hey, I helped!” “True, Sryine has been a key contributor for a lot of our inspiration along the way, a true entrepreneur at heart. She still remains our manager of all matters fiscal, which means that most matters of business would go through her first.” Riyxia turned the attention of the table towards Sryine, who instantly went quiet once she noticed all eyes were on her. That proved it to Riyxia, this really was a matter of opening a business opportunity.. and with the very city itself.
“Having discovered such a great opportunity, the three of us had come together open to some pretty wild dreams, something you might recall from our presentation. Bringing the stars closer, bringing them into reach.. it’s been something people could have only considered an impossibility, but I’m certain we’ve overcome such boundaries at this point. Potential however remains useless unless it’s properly used, so even if we now have the potential to leave Celese, we’re still left with the obstacle of requiring the.. resources to complete the research required to apply such potential. Everything is a matter of exploration and application, discovering new horizons, maybe even starting with smaller experiments to discover such larger applications. In that, we’ve been discussing that we could certainly be open to certain ideas that might involve our unique abilities and bring us closer to such a discovery. However, we understand that it might be challenging for others to properly understand something they have no experience with, so it might be easier to instead negotiate an exchange, say to provide services and have resources returned in kind.” Riyxia interrupted her speech at this point, to take another bite of her food. She knew it provided an opportunity for everyone to consider the weight and meaning of her words.
“We’re excited to provide an opportunity to enrich a city that has provided us with such a generous home, which is why we came to you before anyone else, but my business-minded associate here has made it exceptionally clear the reality of our circumstances, that we really couldn’t afford to turn down the most generous offers, no matter where they might come from. The three of us also aren’t exactly capable of fulfilling all the wishes that might come our way, so we will have to carefully hold the value of any offer in complete consideration, to understand the most economic way to reach towards our overarching goal. This is why we feel it’s important to have such a business specialist with us, every step of the way.” Riyxia’s spectre was actually the one finishing the long winded speech for her, as she just simply continued to enjoy her provided food. She was practically alone in this, Sryine having dropped her utensils in shock, and Vwyx having paused halfway to another bite. Everyone else was staring squarely at Sryine, a glimmer of business propositions flashing over their eyes. Riyxia knew Sryine was feeling unaccomplished of late, feeling the need to prove she could do more, it was a perfect opportunity. It had absolutely nothing to do with revenge for a cold awakening.
Riyxia continued with her food as all seven of their hosts turned their complete attention to Sryine, flooding her with business offers decorated as business opportunities. Only faintly paying attention, Riyxia’s smile widened as she heard Sryine get into the thick of the matter, her fiscal negotiative mindset in full swing. Initial offers escalated dramatically more in their favour, and even the seven hosts started to almost compete with each other over her favour, pushing for even better offers. Offers began in the thousands, shifted into the millions, and eventually escalated into the billions, a point when even Riyxia started to find it difficult to maintain her own composure as she ate. Vwyx herself had only resumed her own eating in an effort to avoid her own inclusion in everything, almost as an escape from all of the numbers. Vwyx herself had noticed the appearance of cells in the hands of their hosts quickly in the proceedings, many of these offers and requests thus most likely stemming from beyond the banquet itself. This proceeded through the entire banquet, and even haunted Sryine as the three girls tried to dismiss themselves. As it stood, the three girls were even returned all of their old stuff while being allowed to keep their new formalities and an ensemble of related supplies, conveniences for future business exposure. Riyxia wasn’t certain how much she liked the idea of going home in her dress.. either of them, much in the same as the other two, but at least they would be going home in a private vehicle from a provided driver.
Liyuzhe looked up from her work to notice the major buzz all across the news suddenly, in the public space, in the business space, even in the rogue spaces of society. She couldn’t help but smile at how well things seemed to be going on that side, almost as well as things were going for herself. Even as only a successor, Liyuzhe could see quite a lot of her old friend in this new version, a sure example of just how much of Khyzae went into the creation of Riyxia, though she was also quickly noticing a number of differences as well. Riyxia was far too soft, far too generous, far too interested in helping and trusting others, she was almost like an innocent younger sister to a much more skilled older sister. She was especially a younger sister with a far worse grasp in proper introductions, too.. a matter Liyuzhe had needed to deal with personally before it had sparked even greater problems. It was the truth, the older sister was actually gone, unable to provide the much needed wisdom to the younger sibling. ..actually, she was under-appreciating Khyzae’s ability with that statement, not even death would stop her friend.
Khyzae would still be shaping and influencing Riyxia’s actions even well beyond the grave, but that was only further reason for Liyuzhe to do her part in instilling wisdom to Khyzae’s successor as well. Riyxia would need a strong role model, someone to show her the resolve required to make dreams happen. Fortunately, it was a lesson Khyzae had taught them well, Liyuzhe could think of no better role model still alive today that could pass such a message on than herself. Besides, with her advantage in the progress of her own dream, it was all too clear which dream would resolve first. Even so, even if Liyuzhe still felt she could afford to wait on such smaller matters, that popularity could come after an absolute success, not even Khyzae had pulled off this level of a global perspective before passing away, Liyuzhe had to at least give Riyxia that much credit.
It was in fact due to their work this day that the three girls became world renowned celebrities, the three most popular people in the entire world. However, having been delinquent at providing a suitable introduction, the greatest inconsistency was in the public title given to the three girls, a matter that itself sparked an almost endless debate.