The audience scrutinized the angles and features of her face between the two visuals of the top ranked Avgo Female. The first time Candace Farrah showed up, she was also clean-faced and a bit windblown.
She had no makeup on then either, but at that time, no one paid much attention to her because the big money was on the other much more glamorous looking Avgo Females.
As she began to rise in the ranks, they began to notice her more and more and she became an instant overnight celebrity.
Her graceful ballet gestures, exclusive designer clothing, and noble regal looks began to be copied by all the great designers of the fashion industry.
Showing up at this event without any makeup was a huge invitation for everyone to zoom in, inspect and deliberate on her newest style.
This must be the new trend of wearing makeup that did not look like makeup.
The Avgo was a huge event. It would be impossible for the two Designer Princes to allow her onstage without makeup on.
Obviously, this had to be lipstick that looked as if there was no lipstick, mascara that did not look like mascara, the palest color blush possible, and skin-color eyeshadow.
This was what the top ranked Female Avgo looked like, 'almost' unadorned. Even her clothes were from the day before.
But it couldn't be.
This was her performance day and that was just traveling clothes. It had to be a similar outfit that was also white.
So white had to be the latest new craze color!!!
And even with nothing to enhance her looks, she still looked stunning. Like a fresh young flower that was barely starting to bloom.
This was their next Empress in all her simplistic glory.
The crowd roared their approval.
From the stage, Candi looked out into the glare. The lights were so bright, she could barely see the crowd at all.
She was all alone on this stage that was supposed to have been filled with seven Princes. They had rehearsed this a dozen times together but now it was just her so she was going to have to improvise.
She could hear the crowd being quieted down by the stage hands, and as she took a deep breath to center herself, the music to the performance began.
Candi raised her hands above her head and looked up into the ceiling.
As the first strains of the cello began, she started counting.
5
4
3
2
1
Right on time, the rhythm of the bongos began to beat.
She began moving to the choreographed patterns that Lucas had created for her to dance.
At the point where the bongos were joined by a reed flute, Candi reached out and pulled from what should have been stage bushes, the hands of Prince Lucas.
A lion's roar filled the stage auditorium, part of the sound effect that had been added to the music that Lucas had chosen with such great care.
Since Lucas was not there, she improvised, hoping the audience would be able to guess that she had just teased a lion out of his lair.
From the other side of the stage, there would be another lion. The roaring of that second lion also filled the stage as Leonardo would have prowled towards her.
Between Lucas and Leonardo, she was supposed to have danced and parlayed, fighting for dominance.
Since they were not there, she closed her eyes, visualized their presence and danced her rehearsed steps. The music along with her visualization sent her mind the cues she needed to keep dancing.
It began to seem real to her, as if they were there with her.
3
2
1
Another sound began, and the splashing of the ocean could be heard.
Candi reached out and grabbed onto the phantom hands of the mer-twins as they emerged from their ocean depths. Sashaying through the make-believe waters, she moved with her mer-princes as they frolicked along the waves lapping the shoreline.
Together with them in her mind, she danced, swaying along with the steel drums of the tropical beaches as a golden red sun sank slowly into the azure depths.
2
1
A wolf howled in the distance, along with the distant clap of thunder. At the second thunder clap, Slate would have shown up, the manwolf of her fantasy.
Strong and powerful, he would have tried to dominate her. She continued dancing through the hunt, the chase, and finally, the submission as he grasped her and raised her above his shoulders.
Since he was not there, she improvised, throwing in ballet moves that looked as if she was dancing with a male wolf.
2
1
Harps began to join in, alongside the tinkling of crystal bells as her beautiful blue butterfly appeared.
She jumped into the air, landing within his imaginary arms and together they twirled among the flowers, tasting nectar, tasting each other, fluttering, prancing.
As she danced alone among the imaginary flowers, her eyes began to flood with tears that she could not hold back.
She was sick with worry about them all but she had to grimly finish this one task.
She had only a few minutes left of this performance and then she would be done with this Avgo Event called Magic and Illusions.
It was a joke of an event because she did absolutely zero magic and illusions. All the magic was supposed to have been done by the Princes themselves as they appeared in illusions of their mothers' lineage and danced with her.
It was supposed to seem as if she was the one doing the magic, but without them, she had nothing but empty dance moves along with some powerful music.
3
2
1
From above, there was the phantom red bird that was Byron. He swooped in, fluttering here, fluttering there, touching her on the shoulder, kissing the top of her head.
She danced with him among the green fields of wheat and barley, soaring on the gusting lilac winds. And as the ending built up, culminating into a thundering explosion of sounds, she was supposed to be lifted up into the sky and exit through the ceiling.
As she reached up for the phantom red bird that was Byron, a pair of hands reached down and pulled her up.
A real pair of hands!
Candi opened her eyes and tried to see who it was that had grabbed her hands at the exact moment that Byron had practiced with her.
She could barely see through her tears, but there was no mistaking the long red hair or his red-brown eyes.
He was levitating above her using his magic and looking like the red bird that they had practiced.
"Sorry I'm late Darling," he whispered as he levitated her up into his arms.
"Hang onto me and let's finish this dance, shall we?"
She nodded and gripped her arms around his neck.
And in perfect sequence, exactly as they had practiced before, he flew with her up and out of the stage.
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