Archive of Our Own

“Salutations my dearest Rean…”

To anyone else, the flowery greeting would have been ominous enough, but months after meeting the infamous debaucherous prince, Rean thought he was accustomed to Prince Olivert’s flourish and antics.

He thought wrong.

The ominous greeting descended into ominous text, about spreading joy and happiness in these turbulent times and how that translated to Rean and his friends needing to put on a play for a group of children in a certain out of the way border town.

But not just any play, no. A hero show. With costumes and battles and triumph over evil!

The request was titled “Let’s Go On with the Hero Show!” Next to the title, Rean could almost picture a sort of red flag that told him no matter how busy they were and how far from the designated city their Erebonian tour took them, time would stand absolutely still until this request was fulfilled.

“Towa,” Rean called to the captain, trying his hardest not to let his exasperation show. “Can you call the others up here?”

And that was how, five minutes later, the ten students of Class VII found themselves in the conference room in the midst of a Discussion.

“No.” Jusis’ opinion on the matter was simple. “We have far more important things to do with our time.”

“We can’t just ignore a request from his Highness,” Laura said calmly. She was the only person other than Millium whose first reaction wasn’t to try and bail, though she appeared no more enthused by the idea than her peers.

“We can and should in this case,” Machias countered.

“There’s no rule that says we have to run every single errand we’re sent.” Fie agreed. Evidently, only Rean could see that ominous red flag that said they did.

“Aww but it sounds so fun!” Millium said. “And Prince Olivert may be a weirdo but he doesn’t usually do things for no reason.”

“No, no. I think he is just being a, er, weirdo this time,” Elliot sighed. The details of the request had been fairly sparse, but there was nothing resembling a reason for the show hidden in the words.

“So we’re in agreement then?” Jusis said quickly. “All in favor of pretending we never saw this?”

“Aye—

“Guys, no.” Rean objected. “I know this request seems a little unorthodox—

“A lot unorthodox,” Fie cut in.

“Okay, a lot unorthodox, but we can’t just ignore it,” he continued. “If we’re getting this kind of request, it means these kids are looking forward to this show. Times are tough for everyone right now. Supply lines are cut off, travel is restricted. There is so much fear and uncertainty. If a little silliness is what it takes to make people forget their troubles even for an hour or two, who are we to run away from it?”

Silence followed, and everyone immediately looked away. Not because they were particularly moved by Rean’s speech, or felt guilty about their reluctance, but because of course, Rean had a speech prepared. And somehow this one felt even cheesier than normal.

A heavy sigh. Then,

“I agree with Rean.”

All heads swiveled to the speaker. Alisa’s face was red and her expression was cross, but she didn’t retract her words. “It’s not that I don’t think this is a colossal waste of time and energy. But, you know, we can’t let everything be serious all the time. It might be f-fun.”

“Alisa,” Rean smiled.

“Yeah!” Millium agreed pumping her fist in the air. “Your faces will start to look like Jusis and Machias’ if you don’t let loose once in a while!”

“What’s wrong with how I look?” the two of them shouted in unison, and then immediately looked away from each other.

“So we’re doing this then?” Laura asked.

“I guess it could be a good experience,” Emma said thoughtfully.

“Worst case, we’ll agree to never speak of it again,” Gaius said with a resigned smile.

“Right,” Rean agreed. Now there were six of them in favor of the show (or at least, not openly opposed to it). Rean looked at his remaining four classmates. Fie shrugged. Elliot smiled sheepishly and nodded. Eight then.

“Jusis? Machias?” They probably would be able to organize the show with eight people, so if Jusis and Machias really wanted to sit this one out, Rean wouldn’t force the issue. But he didn’t feel too comfortable taking time out for this without their approval at least. Class VII was a team, after all.

“Fine. I can tell when I’m outnumbered,” Machias said. “But on one condition. This conversation does not leave this room.”

“Huh?” Rean blinked in confusion as realization dawned on the faces of those around him.

“Oh. Yeah, totally.”

“Can you imagine what would happen if Vivi found out about this?”

“Forget Vivi. What would happen if Dorothee found out?”

“Rex can’t know either.”

“Or Munk.”

“Okay, I get it, I get it.” Rean sighed. He hadn’t really thought about the hows of the request yet, so he hadn’t wanted to discount calling on the other students’ talents entirely, but…yeah, Machias was right. The fewer people who knew anything about this, the better.

“We probably will need to tell Towa though,” Rean said. “And Instructor Sara. And Princess Alfin.”

“Then it will be your responsibility to make sure Towa doesn’t tell Angelica and the other two don’t tell anyone.” Machias replied simply.

“Alright, deal.” One of the two was feasible at least.

“I have a condition as well,” Jusis said. “I agree to go along with this farce if,” he pointed directly at Rean, “you agree to play the lead role.”

As clamors of agreement rose around him, Rean briefly wondered if it was too late to backpedal and pretend he’d never seen the request.

Despite the Discussion that took place, it quickly became apparent that agreeing to the hero show had been the easy part.

Dividing their roles was something else entirely.

Despite his reluctance to commit to the part, Rean’s casting as the lead was decided unanimously, though after some further debate, of which Rean had no say in, it was decided that he should be the villain.

Why?

“Cause it’s more fun that way!” Millium said crossing her hands behind her head happily.

Emma’s role was determined easily enough as well. As a member of the literature club, she had some writing experience, so she would provide the script for the show. Nothing too complicated, just a simple generic hero confronts villain and wins scenario, but the details and general dialogue would be up to her. It would be unfair to expect everyone to be able to adlib on the spot.

“Rean as the villain…” she studied Rean carefully with a small smile on her face. “That does sound like it would be interesting.”

It would also (hopefully) keep the script free of any cheesy friendship speeches as well. Hero shows were blatant enough without Rean adding a personal touch.

Elliot and Gaius got off easy as well. Elliot would provide the background music and any ambient sound effects, and Gaius would use his spear backstage for wind effects. It had already been determined there would be a need for wind effects.

Elliot liked the challenge. Gaius agreed as soon as the word “backstage” was uttered.

The real challenge however, was determining the heroine.

“Why does it have to me?” Alisa slammed both palms on the table, her face as red as her skirt.

“You’re the one who said this’d be fun,” Jusis reminded her.

“I meant the whole experience. I don’t actually want to be in it.”

“You were also the one who said we should have a heroine,” Machias noted.

“I didn’t mean me!” And she hadn’t actually suggested their hero should be a heroine. She had just completely innocuously mentioned that if they were two casting two lead roles, it would be fair to have a boy and a girl.

“Why not have Millium play the heroine?” Alisa looked at their youngest classmate. “You’re the one excited about all of this.”

“Yeah, but nah, no thanks,” Millium didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve never seen a real hero show before. I wanna be in the audience!”

“That’s not fair!”

“And not happening,” Jusis fixed Millium with a look. All of them were going to help out in some way, and they were going to like it. “But, fine, let’s say we do cast this child as the heroine. Let’s say we do put her up on stage. Let’s say we personally sit down with her and drill her until she memorizes the script word for word. Tell me Alisa, what are the chances that she sticks to it and doesn’t decide to ham it up and summon Airgetlam in front of everyone?”

“Absolute zero,” Alisa hung her head. There was no arguing with that logic.

“Aww I wouldn’t do that,” Millium laughed. “Probably.”

Definitely no arguing.

“But why me?” Alisa was not about to give up that easily, though. Rean had to admire her tenacity.

“I think it would suit you, Alisa,” Emma said with a meek smile. The other girls nodded.

“You know, Angelica once mentioned you had a magical girl phase.” Fie added slyly.

“I so did not!” Alisa sputtered. “And every young girl has one of those!”

When the only response that greeted her was blank stares, she frowned. “Oh like none of you ever had that phase where you liked to put on frilly dresses and pretend you had magical powers and shout out attack names?”

“Nope.” Fie, the former jaeger, replied casually.

“Never tried it but it sounds cool!” Millium, the intelligence agent, exclaimed.

“Ah, I never really had to pretend I had magical powers, per say,” Emma, the witch, laughed nervously.

“Well, not really a magical girl, but I guess I did like to pretend I was Saint Sandlot or one of her honorable knights when I was little. Does that count?” Laura, the honorable knight, offered.

And with that, Alisa sank back into her seat, defeated and resigned to her fate. But not before giving the guys of Class VII a venomous glare. “And I suppose you’re all going to tell me you’ve never had a hero phase either?”

No one met her eyes. In truth, every single one of them did go through that phase, and various other phases, but no one was about to admit it. But in order to placate the increasingly mortified Alisa a little, Rean said,

“Yeah, I kinda sorta get it.”

She wasn’t fully convinced, but it was enough for now.

“Just give it up, Alisa,” Rean said sympathetically.

“Yeah, yeah. Personally, I think this is the perfect chance for you to have that experience, but fine, whatever. I’ll do it.” Her hand was carefully positioned over her mouth.

In the interest of advancing the topic, the others silently agreed not to point out that they could see the corners of her lips twitching upwards and that she wasn’t doing a particularly good job of not appearing excited about this whole thing.

After some further arguing and complaining, the roles were finalized. Rean and Alisa were the leads. Emma was the writer. Elliot would provide music. Gaius, wind effects. Laura and Fie would choreograph the fight scenes. Jusis and Machias were to be the villainous Rean’s monster servants. Celine (not yet informed) would be Alisa’s talking sidekick. And Millium would narrate.

“Is that really okay?” Elliot asked.

“Her enthusiasm would help pump up the audience,” Jusis explained. Then under his breath muttered. “Because it’s not like we have any to spare.”

And that was that.

Then came the next challenge: costumes.

“It’s too last minute to make something from scratch,” Emma pointed out.

“We can stop by Ymir and Roer,” Fie pointed out and turned to the leads. “Do either of you two have anything we could use?”

“Umm,” Rean and Alisa looked at each other cautiously. They didn’t. They definitely didn’t. If they did, it was an unspeakable topic.

“I suppose I do have a dress that could work…” Alisa cracked first. “Or well, I’m sure there’s something Sharon could quickly fix up.” It was too late to make their own costumes, but never too late to ask Sharon for some assistance. She’d need an hour at most.

Fie nodded and looked at Rean. “And you?”

“Um…I can check, but I think I may need a better idea of what kind of villain you’re writing me as.” The heroine’s appearance was easy. Alisa had already provided an image during her ineffectual objections. But with the villain they could go in any direction. A grotesque monster. A suave gentleman. Duke Cayenne.

“I guess I was thinking a demon prince?” Emma said, cheeks reddening slightly. “Demon Prince Rean has a nice ring to it.”

“Huh, it does,” Elliot agreed.

“We’re using our real names for this?” Rean asked.

“Sure, why not,” Fie shrugged.

Magical Girl Alisa and Demon Prince Rean. Yeah, it was as good a name as any.

“So there you go. Any Demon Prince outfits?” Fie pressed.

Rean closed his eyes and pictured his closet at home. If it was an evil demon prince, something black or dark blue would probably fit best. But it couldn’t just be something as simple as a pair of pants and a dress shirt. He needed something longer. And edgier.

It would have to be that.

“Yeah,” Rean realized he was nodding. “I think I do have something. A jacket from a costume.” He hoped the unintentional emphasis he’d placed on the word “costume” wasn’t picked up. Fie raised an expectant brow, but didn’t say anything.

“That just leaves the monsters,” Gaius turned to Jusis and Machias.

“Let’s make them look super grotesque!” Millium said.

“Eh, I think it’ll be enough if they just wear all black and masks,” Fie said.

“Works for me.” Machias said with a shrug.

“Whatever,” Jusis agreed.

“Kay…can they be grotesque masks at least?” Millium asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Laura chuckled and added grotesque masks to the supply list.

“Alright, where to first then? Ymir or Roer?” Elliot asked.

“I think Ymir might be better,” Rean said. “All we need there is my outfit. For supplies we’re better off looking around Roer. And if it turns out my costume needs work done, we can ask Sharon. That’s okay, right Alisa?”

“Sure.” Alisa knew Sharon would have no objections, especially once she learned what this was for. “Oh actually,” she suddenly said. “I thought of something else that might be good to use in the show. When we see Sharon, remind me to ask her for the keys to the storeroom.”

She wouldn’t say what it was, but her eyes were shining.

The reminder turned out to be completely unnecessary, because that was the first thing Alisa said upon seeing her maid, and then running off into the penthouse apartment, jingling keyring in hand.

“It’s wonderful to see all of you again,” Sharon curtsied politely, unaffected by her lady’s hastiness. “What brings you to Roer?”

Rean wasn’t particularly eager to explain. He already had the awkward “we’re putting on a hero show—with costumes” conversation with Towa and Instructor Sara, a conversation that was received with a shaky smile and hysterical laughter respectively, and somehow, knowing that Sharon’s reaction would most likely be a merry grin didn’t make it any easier to hold.

But he would have to be the one to explain because Jusis and Machias wouldn’t, and Millium would only make things sound more ridiculous than they were.

Rean envied the others who’d stayed on the ship to work on their respective assignments.

“We’re putting on a hero show,” he said quickly. “With costumes.”

“How wonderful,” Sharon replied with a merry grin. “Would I be correct in assuming you and Lady Alisa are playing the leads?”

“Y-yeah,” Rean should have known Sharon would already know everything. “We stopped by to pick up some supplies in the city and Alisa said she had a dress that could work as a magical girl costume.” Though it seemed like that wasn’t what Alisa had run off to get.

“I see. Please wait one moment.” Sharon turned around and walked into a nearby room. Not even a minute later, she returned with a dress laid out in her arms.

“Magical Girl Costume” was probably the only way to describe it. It was a short pink and white dress with frills and red ribbons, and in no way resembled any sort of dress a young woman would just happen to have lying around in her closet.

“D-did she already have that prepared?” Machias sputtered.

“Did you know we were coming?” Rean had to ask.

“Certainly not,” Sharon assured them with her infamous unreadable smile. “It is simply my duty to have any outfits that suit my Lady’s interests ready for wear at any time.”

Before anyone could question that, Alisa reappeared, shoebox in hand. “Good news,” she said. “I found the—AH!” Her voice caught when she saw the dress in Sharon’s hands.

Rean, Jusis and Machias pretended not to see the gears in her head turning as she tried to come up with an explanation. Millium didn’t pretend but her mouth was covered by Jusis’ hand.

“Sharon! You found it. Great,” Alisa’s eye was twitching. “The dress from last year’s costume party. Which was hero-themed.”

“Yes, Lady Alisa,” Sharon played along without missing a beat. “I have the shoes and accessories laid out in the other room for you as well.” Accessories included a red mask, large red hair ribbons, a choker, and a staff with a heart at the tip. The shoes were a pair of elegant white boots.

“Great.” Alisa seethed.

“S-so what’s in the box?” Rean quickly tried to change the subject. “You were pretty excited about finding it.”

“Uh, right,” Alisa gave Sharon a look, which the maid took as her cue to leave, into the previous room where she would fold and pack up the dress. Alisa opened the box and tossed Rean, Jusis and Machias each a small silver compact. She kept a fourth one, this one pink, for herself.

“A battle orbment?” Rean asked turning the item over in his hands. It did greatly resemble a first-generation battle orbment, but when he opened it up there were a couple of key differences. One, there weren’t any lines connecting the slots. Two, there were seven slots instead of the six early models had. Three, all seven slots had a different color quartz, one of each element, but Rean couldn’t tell what any of these quartz were. They also couldn’t be taken out.

“What’s this for?” Jusis asked, lowering his hand so Millium could see it as well.

“Back when my grandfather was in charge, he used to work on various personal projects, to see what sorts of things could be done with orbments. This one isn’t related to combat or weapons development, so he was never able to get it approved for production, but we have these working prototypes. I give you,” Alisa paused dramatically, “the SFX Orbment!”

The others stared.

“The what?” Machias asked skeptically.

“The SFX Orbment,” Alisa repeated. “See, it looks like a battle orbment and you have one of each elemental quartz inside. These are real quartz but they were refined using a special process so you can’t cast any actual artes with them. Instead,” Alisa turned around and aimed the orbment into the large empty room, “you press one of the quartz as though you were casting and...” She pressed the fire quartz and a fireball shot out.

Except it wasn’t a real fireball. It was a ball of red light the shot straight ahead and then broke apart upon hitting the wall and fizzled out in a flash. Nothing was burned and the others just stared.

“Pretty cool, right?” Alisa said proudly.

“Yeah!” Millium quickly grabbed the one Jusis had and began examining it.

“Hey be careful with that,” Rean warned.

“It’s fine, they’re perfectly safe,” Alisa said and to demonstrate, she launched another fireball, this time directly at Rean. He braced himself for the impact but all he felt was a light pressure on his chest before it broke apart and disappeared like before. “See?”

“Please warn me before you do that.”

“This is so cool!” Millium said. “Is it all of the basic artes?”

“Mostly. Pressing any of the individual quartz will create a light show of the lowest level arte associated with that element, but there also are a couple of combos that create some of the flashier artes. I don’t remember all of them though.”

“This is still really impressive,” Machias admitted.

“Yeah,” Rean agreed. “We could use these to add some special effects to the show.”

“Yep,” Alisa said, and held up the pink orbment in her hand. “And this one also has a special combination programmed in. I don’t remember the exact order right now, but it’s the heroine’s finishing move.”

“Make sure you figure it out quickly. Laura and Fie will need to choreograph it,” Jusis said.

“Leave it to me.”

Alisa packed up the orbments, and placed the shoebox into the bag Sharon showed up to give her (no one reacted to these timely appearances anymore). Her costume was ready, the SFX Orbments were ready, now all they needed to do was pick up the other supplies on their list.

“Oh wait, didn’t you need to check your costume, Rean?” Millium asked.

“Er, right,” Rean had forgotten about that. Or rather than ‘forgotten’, he already knew there were no adjustments necessary, but that wasn’t something he wanted the others to know. “Sharon, can I borrow an empty room to try this on?”

“Certainly.” Sharon led him into the room she’d taken Alisa’s dress from and closed the door. “Please call if you require any assistance.”

It wouldn't be necessary, Rean knew, and quickly shed his clothes to put on the outfit he’d brought. Skinny jeans, a long jacket with torn edges that barely covered up his chest (maybe he could get away with putting on a white shirt underneath), high boots, chains and lots of belts. Accessories included a choker, noise cancelling headphones and repurposed snowboarding goggles. In other words, something that in no way resembled any sort of outfit a young man would just happen to have lying around in his closet.

It fit perfectly too.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to get away with claiming it was something from last year’s costume party. He wouldn’t try either. Rean believed in not drawing attention to it and praying his classmates wouldn’t either. It would be a futile effort, he knew, but he would hope for the best anyway.

“How is it?” he heard Machias call from the other room.

“Looks like it fits just fine.”

“Can we see?” Millium asked.

“Uh, sorry, I already started changing back,” Rean quickly threw down the headphones and goggles and unbuckled the jacket. It would be better to present it when Alisa was in her costume as well. They could have each other’s backs then.

Rean put his costume away with a sigh. And here he’d thought he’d never have to wear this outfit again.

Despite that, between everyone’s efforts and Alisa’s SFX Orbments, he was almost starting to look forward to this.

Even though no one would be the first to admit it, a sense of anticipation and excitement spread through the rest of Class VII as well. The idea of the hero show was still silly to most of them, but it brought back fond memories of the school festival and their concert.

Emma found herself really getting into the story of Demon Prince Rean and Magical Girl Alisa, especially after she saw their outfits and knew how to picture them. Writing a short script was very different from her usual projects, but it was enjoyable and she especially liked seeing how far she could go with the dialogue and still be able to hear her friends’ voices reciting it.

Laura and Fie were really impressed with the SFX Orbments and the others were really impressed at how fluid and skillful their mock fight was. It was decided that Rean would use Jusis’s fencing sword and Alisa would use her heart-tipped staff for the direct combat portion of the battle, since court fencing was already meant to give an elegant show, so Jusis ended up assisting with the choreography as well, mainly on Alisa’s side since she was the one fighting with a toy.

The SFX orbments paired of well with Gaius’ spear-generated wind also, letting the lights angle and fly in various directions. It gave the battle a nice touch of chaos one couldn’t typically have in a controlled theater environment. And Millium took great pleasure in figuring out every single combination programmed into the orbments. And using Rean as her test subject.

Elliot’s composing was where there were the biggest snags. The energy of a hero show was very different from the calm classical music he preferred, and it was difficult to think up a tune that worked. There was also a limit in what a violin could do in terms of sound effects. In the end, he came up with a low melancholy theme for Rean the would grow louder and more chaotic as he postured (according to the script), and a simple but bouncy tune for Alisa which would hopefully be enough and could be supplemented by the audience’s cheering.

They all really hoped there would be cheering.

The other challenge was Celine. Celine reacted to the play and her casting with all of the opposition and irritation they’d expected, but no amount of pleading or bribery could sway her.

The solution to that came from an unlikely source; Princess Alfin. They had put off telling her about their plans long enough. She reacted to the play with all of the excitement and teasing they’d dreaded.

“How exciting!” Alfin squealed. “Leave it my brother to come up with something so fantastic.”

Fantastic was not really the word they would use.

“And, and how is it? I take it Rean is the dashing hero that will make the children’s hearts throb with excitement?”

“Er, no that’s actually Alisa’s role,” Rean said. “I’m the villain.”

“A Demon Prince,” Fie clarified helpfully.

“I see,” Alfin nodded. “So then you will be the suave rogue with some poor defenseless maiden in your grasp.”

“That’s not in the script,” Rean told her.

“It probably should be though,” Emma realized. “I think it’s fairly common for an audience member to be captured so the hero could save them.”

“Then if you need someone to fill that role, I would be more than happy to assist,” Alfin’s eyes shone.

“Are you sure?” Rean asked.

“We could just grab some kid from the audience,” Machias pointed out. He didn’t point out that Alfin was also considerably older than their target audience, and would probably oversell it. Mostly the latter.

“Your Highness, it’s not a secret that you’re onboard the Courageous, but it’s too dangerous for you to be out in the open,” Laura tried. Ideally, she would stay onboard the ship, but they all knew the chances of that were nil as soon as they approached her.

“It’s fine, we’re not heading into enemy territory,” Alfin said. “And I’ll wear my school uniform to minimize my chances of being recognized. I can even add glasses; I’ve heard they work wonders! And all of you will be right there to make sure our Demon Prince Rean is the only one who lays his hands on me.”

“Don’t phrase it like that,” Rean said. But she did have a point.

“Will it be too much trouble to add a kidnapping to your script?” Alisa asked Emma.

“No, I think I can work it in easily enough. I have to write Celine out anyway.”

“Huh, how come?” Alfin asked, her smile falling.

“We cast her as Alisa’s sidekick, but she’s not interested. It’s probably better not to push it,” Emma laughed nervously. If they asked again, Celine promised claws.

“Well that’s no fun,” Alfin placed her hands on her hips. “I’ll tell you what. As a thank you for letting me participate in your show, I will convince Celine.” She winked mischievously. “Please leave everything to me.”

When they next saw Celine, grumbling under her breath, she informed them that she’d changed her mind about participating.

The appointed hour arrived.

If there was any enthusiasm the surfaced during production, it immediately shriveled up and died when it came time to actually perform the show. Particularly for the actors involved.

Because there was no way around it. A hero show was really, really childish.

“I hate you,” Jusis told Rean. Behind his blue demon mask, his eyes were narrowed into a cold glare.

“For once we are in agreement,” Machias, in a red demon mask, said.

“At least you guys have masks on! I have to go out there like this!” Rean’s request to put on a white shirt were vetoed, making the outfit even more embarrassing than it already was.

“It came from your closet,” Elliot reminded him sheepishly. “I think the real question is why you have something like this to begin with.” It wasn’t a question Rean was going to answer. He needed to maintain some shred of dignity after this.

He looked over at Alisa, who refused to make eye contact. She was in costume as well; adorable, being the first word that sprang to mind, but the cute magical girl effect was ruined by her venomous glare and furious blush.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she grumbled.

“You’ll be fine,” Laura assured her. It was easy for her to say. She would remain backstage the entire time.

“You worked really hard,” Emma said, with a touch of pride. It would be her script they would be following.

Speaking of, Rean and Alisa wanted to cry when they first saw it. Which wasn’t to say it was bad, it was really good for its purpose. The problem was just that; it was written for a Sunday School audience with all of the over-the-top nonsense that entailed. But all requests to tone it down were denied. Because this was how a hero show ought to be.

With their preparations focused on the show itself, it came as a relief for the members of Class VII when they saw their stage. It was a simple outdoor stage covered up by curtains and with an impressive backstage area, where Gaius and Elliot could hide out and covertly fill their roles. The stage was also large enough that none of their practiced choreography would need to be reworked.

They finally learned a purpose for this request as well. The hero show was part of a new amusement that had been scheduled to open around the time the war began. Fear and uncertainty put a hold on those plans, but the situation in this town had begun to improve recently as it became more apparent that it was just too out of the way for the Noble Alliance to bother with it. Emma and Celine had also noted upon arrival that they couldn’t sense anything unusual. So the town’s leaders decided to go ahead and open the amusement park as much as they could, to bring some cheer into the citizens lives. The hero show was part of the opening day.

That didn’t tell Rean why they had to be the ones to do it, but it was something.

It also meant they had a decent audience for their show. Mostly kids and their parents, but also anyone else who wanted to see what was happening. The Courageous and Princess Alfin’s immediately blown cover drew plenty of curious onlookers.

Machias initial condition had also gone unfulfilled and among the audience, they could plainly see Towa, Sara, George and Angelica.

“I-is it too late to change our names?” Alisa asked. “Something like Demon Prince Kou and Magical Girl, I don’t know, June or something?”

Emma shook her head. “I have no objections, but Millium…” Millium was already on stage, pumping up the audience and had already thrown out their names several times.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Machias sighed, and took his position behind the curtain stage left with Alisa and Celine. Rean and Jusis stood on the other side. Millium stood on the left side of the stage as well so when she glanced backstage, she met Rean’s eyes and the two of them exchanged nods.

“Alrighty! Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls!” Millium yelled, signaling the start of the show.  “It’s time for the main event. Time for you all to meet our champion of justice. The adorable and righteous Magical Girl A—

“Ahahaha!” A maniacal laughter filled the stage. A low ominous tune began to play. A cold wind blew in from stage right.

“Oh no! What’s going on?” Millium gasped dramatically.

“Magical Girl Alisa,” the words were uttered mockingly and the black-clad Demon Prince strutted onto the stage. “Champion of Justice. How foolish. There is no magical girl here. This is my show. I—” dramatic pause, and turn “—am Demon Prince Rean, evil prince of darkness.”

Sometimes Rean really hated his lot in life.

The enraptured audience was silent as he walked around commenting on his evil ways and evil plans. What was it Emma wrote? He liked to spread chaos and kidnap beautiful young women to sacrifice to the Demon King. Because if there was a Demon Prince, there was a Demon King. It made sense.

“So many potential sacrifices before me,” he grinned. “Come forth my servants. My left hand, Machias.” Demon underling Machias rushed at Rean’s call, in a hunched over walk, arms swaying with each step. “My right hand, Jusis.” Jusis followed suit, also hunched over but his posture decidedly more rigid. Divergent characters or a bad case of stage fright? Hopefully, the audience couldn’t tell.

“Look carefully, my servants,” Rean continued. “Feast your eyes on all of this young blood before us. Perfect offerings for our Lord, the Demon King. Go! Bring me a beautiful young maiden!”

The went forth, rushing off the stage and pretending to examine the children and argue amongst themselves over which girl to grab as the kids shrieked and laughed. Of course, it was already scripted that they would capture Alfin who sat in her place with a bright expectant smile.

Except, “capturing Alfin” proved a little more difficult in reality than in practice. In practice, the role of Alfin had been played by Fie, because Alfin wanted to play her role authentically and not know what to expect. That was fine, except with Fie, they could grab her arms and drag her while she pretended to resist before pushing her onto Rean. Fie had been fine with it and insisted on the more realistic approach.

But doing that to the princess?

Machias and Jusis had a rare moment of mental agreement. Time to adlib.

“Y-You! You are coming with us.” Machias hovered over Alfin menacingly. The demon underlings were supposed to be silent roles, partly because there wasn’t much for them to do except laugh maniacally once in a while, but mostly because Machias and Jusis were not the best actors in the world.

Neither was Alfin.

“Oh no!” she gasped. “Me?”

“You’d better come quietly,” Jusis said woodenly. “Or we’ll have to hurt you.”

“Oh no! Anything but that!” She stood up and Machias decided to chance it and lightly push her towards the stage. Alfin seemed to have caught on that they were reluctant to really play the bad guys with her, but like any good hostage, she tried to resist and escape which the underlings handled by hovering around her with their arms stretched out. All the while Alfin cried out pitifully for help. The audience was very entertained. In a pitying way.

Then on stage, Alfin decided to trip so that she could fall into Rean’s arms like she’d wanted to. It was only her timely playful wink that stopped Rean from breaking character.

“I have you now, my pretty,” He announced and whipped her around so that one arm was wrapped tightly around her.

“Oh no! What are you going to do to me?” Alfin pretended to cry. “I’m so scared!”

“No need to cry, Princess,” Demon Prince Rean said suavely. “Or rather, you should cry! Cry tears of joy for you have been chosen as tonight’s sacrifice. Mwahahahaha!”

“Oh no! Demon Prince Rean has captured this beautiful maiden,” Millium narrated enthusiastically. “Someone has to save her! We need Magical Girl Alisa! But where is she?” Millium looked around in an exaggerated manner, encouraging the audience to do the same. “I know! The heroine always appears when she’s called! Shout it with me! A-li-sa! A-li-sa!”

The audience, including the hostage, joined in the chant as Rean and his underlings looked around dumbfounded. Then…

“Unhand that maiden, you fiend!”

A cheerful tune started up, a guest of wind blew in from stage left, an SFX fireball was launched towards Rean (he dodged), and the pretty heroine elegantly twirled onto the stage, her scepter out in front of her. The audience went wild.

“Impossible!” Rean said.

“To bring tears to a young girls and then laugh! You have some nerve, Villain,” Alisa shouted. “But you won’t get away with this, for I am the heroine who fights for love and justice and a future without stupidly dressed demon punks like you!” That last part was adlibbed. Alisa just had to get her own jab about that outfit in. She twirled again and faced the audience, with a smile, a wink a V-sign over her eyes.

“I am Magical Girl Alisa! The dazzling heroine is here!”

Two SFX fireballs launched above her from opposite ends and exploded in a fizzle of light. They’d been launched by Jusis and Machias who used Alisa’s big speech to slowly position themselves on opposite ends of the stage.

The audience went wild!

Rean found himself at a loss for words. He had already seen Alisa’s speech and mannerisms in practice, but back then her energy had been forced and failed to hide her embarrassment. But now, there was none of that uncertainty, only a genuinely passionate and battle ready heroine, having a blast on stage. Rean thought he would have to be the one to carry the show but Alisa commanded the spotlight. She flashed him a knowing grin. He returned it. He couldn’t let her have all the fun.

He laughed manically. “You are too late Magical Girl Alisa! I have already captured this girl and she will be my sacrifice for the Demon King’s revival.”

“Not if I rescue her first!”

“Ah but you have to deal with my servants. Machias! Jusis! Attack!” Rean and Alfin moved to the side so the Alisa could begin her battle with the underlings. Celine made her appearance at this moment as well.

“Be careful Alisa,” the cat called out. “These are Demon Prince Rean’s strongest henchmen!” Celine felt awkward about speaking freely like this, but as Class VII had figured, no one was particularly alarmed. In a show like this, it was easier to imagine someone else was providing the voice backstage, than think a cat was talking.

“That’s okay! They are no match for me!” Skillful twirls and kicks dominated the fight as Alisa, Jusis and Machias pretended to take swings at each other, shout generic battle lines, and use their SFX orbments to make the fight more colorful. The SFX Orbments enthralled the older audience especially, who could feel secondhand embarrassment at the scenario but were genuinely impressed by the light show.

After letting the battle continue for a while longer, Alisa finished it off by fake-kicking Jusis off one end of the stage, and SFX Aerial-ing Machias off the other. With that done, Alisa flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically, and then pointed her scepter at Rean.

“Your servants have been defeated. Now release the maiden.”

“Tch.” Rean grimaced but instead of releasing Alfin, he covered her eyes with his hand and whispered into her ear, “Pretend to faint.”

“Oooh,” Alfin swooned and he felt her body go slack in his arms. It was somewhat moving to know how much she trusted him.

“Oh no! What have you done?” Alisa gasped.

“Don’t worry, the girl still lives. I have merely taken her soul. You may have defeated my servants, but if you want to save her you have to face me!” He took a quick step behind the curtain where Jusis handed him his sword, and Princess Alfin woke up and left his grip. Jusis explained in a whisper that she would stay hidden until Alisa defeated Rean.

“I will never lose to you!” Alisa said and held out her staff.

Finally, the big battle scene. Rean and Alisa had practiced this part the most as they had to match each other’s pace and contend with the risk of using a real sword for one of the combatants. There had been a few injuries in practice, but they had all been small enough to seal with Tear thankfully. But this battle wasn’t just a sword fight. Rean and Alisa had their SFX Orbments as well and launched various spells at each other. The music sped up and the audience cheered.

“You fight well,” Rean said as they locked weapons. “It’s a shame we cannot be friends.”

“I make it a goal not to befriend creepy demons,” Alisa remarked.

“A pity.”

“Yes.” At that Alisa knocked Rean’s sword downwards, and then slid it offstage with her boot. As the Demon Prince grasped the situation, Alisa jumped back and aimed her staff at him. Here it was, the big finisher.

“It’s over, Demon Prince,” she said in a dangerous voice. She moved her SFX Orbment to the staff’s base so it would look like the next attack came from it. The way she could skillfully hide the orbment from view told Rean just how practiced a move this was for her.

“Now! Magical Love Attack!” She pressed a certain combination on her orbment, and a giant heart shot out. Rean braced himself. Like all of the SFX Orbment artes, it was harmless, but unlike the other artes, upon hitting its target, this one swelled in size before bursting into a dazzling light. It was pretty, but a little bit blinding. Rean was grateful for his goggles.

After it disappeared, Rean fell to his knees. Alisa walked up to him.

“Let this be a lesson to you,” she said. “Where evil appears, Magical Girl Alisa will always be there to save the day!”

The audience cheered.

Alfin ran onstage and jumped onto Alisa pulling her into a big hug.

This should have been the finale. Alisa would have made sure Alfin was okay, given a quick monologue to the audience, Millium would have made a closing narration and then all of Class VII would have gone on stage to take their bows.

“But it would be so boring to end things off here,” a certain voice laughed. “Not when the threat of the Demon King still looms.”

Rean and Alisa froze, and stared at each other with wide eyes.

They knew that voice.

What is he doing here?

How?

Were we set up?

What do we do?

In times of crises, Class VII found they could communicate mentally just by looking at each other. Okay, that probably wasn’t it, but any face in Rean’s field of vision easily wore an expression that said one of those things.

It wasn’t just his voice they’d heard. Just as Class VII was about to finish up the show, a smoke bomb was dropped onto the center of the stage and as it cleared an unmistakable white cape came into view. The cape was attached to an unmistakable ruffled white outfit that clothed a man in an unmistakable white mask.

Phantom Thief B? Bleublanc?

“It is I!” Bleublanc announced theatrically. “The Demon King!”

What was left of Rean’s thoughts ground to a halt. What.

“You thought I was sealed away, powerless, and the plans for my revival were halted. But ‘tis not so.” Bleublanc walked around the stage, reveling in everyone’s stunned silence. “For you see, this beautiful maiden’s soul was so pure and powerful, it beckoned me.” It was at that moment that Rean and Alisa realized that Alfin wasn’t standing by them anymore, and instead by Bleublanc. Her face was neutral and she maintained her composure, but there was an unmistakable flicker of fear in her eyes. “Now I am back and this world shall fall to darkness!”

The audience murmured in confusion. Rean could pick out a few fragmented whispers, mostly letting him know that the majority of their viewers still thought this was part of the show and that they thought the show had lost its plot. He could see Towa, Angelica and George in an alert battle ready position, ready to make a move either to attack the intruder or protect the civilians. Sara was gone.

Rean also locked eyes with Alisa. She was very visibly confused and frightened, and Rean noted that she was completely unarmed up on stage. So was he, but Jusis’s sword still lay a few feet away and given the opportunity, he would grab it. Jusis had already picked up on this intention and crouched in front of his sword, ready to slide it over to the Demon Prince when needed. Backstage, Laura, Emma, Fie, Gaius and Elliot did have their weapons. But they too had no opportunity to attack.

Millium watched the development from her podium. She recovered first.

“Oh no!” she gasped. “The Phantom Thief Demon King is revived! The world is in danger! And Magical Girl Alisa is too tired from her last battle! Is this the end?”

Phantom Thief Demon King.

Yep. The show definitely lost its plot.

“Come on guys!” Millium shouted, and Rean wasn’t sure if that was directed at the audience or her classmates. “Our heroine needs help! Energize her with your voices! A-li-sa! A-li-sa!”

Slowly the audience joined in the chant. Alisa looked at Rean. He mouthed, “Play along.”

“D- Demon King!” she stammered gripping her scepter. “You won’t have your way.” The earlier passion she had was gone. Rean couldn’t blame her, this whole situation was way too absurd. More importantly he had to do something, or the Princess, his friends, and everyone in the audience would get hurt.

Alisa was unarmed. No, even if she wasn’t, Bleublanc was too strong for her to face alone. And he had a hostage. Was Alfin his target? Did he crash their show just to bring her back to the Noble Alliance? But why insert himself into the show like this? If he’d just wanted to kidnap her, there had been plenty of opportunities. Rean hated to admit it but if Ouroboros made an all-out effort against them here, Class VII’s chances weren’t too great.

But, no, one problem at a time. For now, it seemed Bleublanc wanted to keep the show going. He would probably play along with their adlibs. They were already playing along with his, after all.

For now, Rean had to get Alfin and Alisa away. How did this plot go? The Demon Prince was sacrificing maidens to revive the Demon King. Why though? He thought about it, but Emma hadn’t written anything about that. Okay, he had wiggle room.

“Fall to darkness? I think not!” Rean stood up and stepped in front of Alisa, silently signaling her to move to the side and watch. He would have told her to go backstage, but she was the heroine of this show so whatever happened, she needed to remain in the spotlight. “This world is mine. I decide what to do with it!” Villains often betrayed each other in these types of stories. He could do this.

“Oh?” Bleublanc grinned. “My little Princeling. Was it not you who sacrificed countless maidens in my name? Do not worry, my servant, you will be rewarded.”

“My sacrifices to you were for your power.” Rean crouched down and held out his hand behind him. Jusis slid the sword to him. “All along I planned to face you and take it for myself. And the girl as well!”

“How interesting,” The Demon King laughed, and to Rean’s surprise let Alfin go, letting her move away. “Stand over there,” he ordered and pointed to a spot in the very back of the visible stage. This way Alfin was considerably out of the way, but she remained visible to the audience and couldn’t simply be evacuated. Bleublanc then pulled out his staff.

“Well my Little Princeling, it seems we must see who is worthy of the Demon King’s power,” he held up his staff with both hands. “Come.”

Real fight or acted out fight? Rean would have to hope it was the latter. He knew the basics of court-style fencing, but against an Enforcer, he didn’t stand a chance without his tachi or ARCUS in a real fight. If this was an act though, maybe Rean could find a few opportunities to “accidentally” miss with his sword.

But it seemed Bleublanc was well versed in stage-fighting and controlled the battle between them effortlessly. The audience seemed more convinced this was part of the show now, and began cautiously cheering Rean along. “A noble effort,” the Demon King taunted. “But a wasted one as well. We all know how stories like this are supposed to end.” He suddenly hit Rean hard between the shoulder blades causing him to fall forward and then crouched down and put his hand over Rean’s head.

“There. I have taken back the powers I’d granted you,” Bleublanc said. “Now you are powerless before me.” He started laughing maniacally and once again moved Alfin to his side.

Alisa ran over to Rean.

“Are you alright!” she cried, acting forgotten.

“Yeah,” Rean said out loud, then whispered. “He didn’t actually do anything. I think he’s seriously just here for the show.”

“So…”

“We’re probably safe. Like he said, stories like this are supposed a certain way. I have a plan. Pretend to reform me. Or something.”

“Okay,” Alisa stood up and help up her staff to the ceiling. “Love Shower!” She sent up another SFX heart to the ceiling, so that that when it burst into a dazzling light, the sparkles fell downwards briefly.

“Demon Prince Rean, I have removed the evil inside your heart,” she said and held out her hand. “Can you stand?”

Rean took her hand and stood up. “Magical Alisa?” he said incredulously. “Why would you help your enemy?”

“You may have done some bad things under the Demon King’s control, but when he appeared, you stepped in to save me and tried to save the maiden he captured as well. I believe there is good inside your heart. I believe that together we can defeat the Demon King.”

Nice segue. Rean smiled at her knowingly and stepped in front of Bleublanc once again.

“You would fight me once again? How foolish! One or two makes little difference against me!”

“Ah but we are not “one or two”,” Rean countered. “Alone we may be powerless and weak, but when we all come together, our strength is greater than yours could ever hope to be. And today, we have a grand audience before us. All of these voices waiting to be heard. Come everyone, shout with your hearts and give Magical Girl Alisa your strength!”

The chanting that ensued was louder than ever, although there was also some laughter about the cheesiness of the speech mixed in. Satisfied, Rean moved next to Alisa and whispered in her ear. “Use your finisher. Hopefully it’ll stun him for a moment and I’ll grab Princess Alfin.”

“Won’t it be hard for you to see as well?”

“The tinted goggles help. And make this seem as flashy and final as possible. We don’t need him revealing another form.”

“You can say that again,” Alisa smirked and stepped forward. Rean slowly moved behind her.

“I can feel my strength returning. No, I feel stronger than ever. Everyone, thank you,” Alisa smiled at the audience. “I will put all of your faith into this one final attack.”

She waved her staff around dramatically. “Super Magical Love Attack!” She emphasized each word, volume rising as she spoke and released another giant pink heart from her SFX Orbment. Unfortunately, a powered-up version was never designed so it looked exactly as before, but it did its job surrounding Bleublanc and Alfin in a flash of light, and Rean seized the move in, grab Alfin by the arm and push her backstage, where Laura caught her and the others immediately formed a protective circle. None of this had met any resistance from Bleublanc.

The lights faded and Bleublanc fell to his knees. “Alas,” he said. “I feel my strength fading. But not to worry,” smoke began rising around him, “where Magical Girl Alisa and Demon Prince Rean next appear, I will return to face them once more. I will be back!” As the smoke covered him completely he laughed maniacally, as expected of a final villain. Less expected was him disappearing completely. Backstage, everyone gathered their bearings and did a quick headcount, pinching each other’s cheeks just to be safe. It seemed he really was gone, and everything was in order.

“Aaaand, there we go!” Millium announced hastily. “The world has been saved thanks to Magical Girl Alisa! Yay!”

From there, the hero show moved onto to its original conclusion, with the final speech and the curtain call. The audience cheered, but it seemed pretty clear that they didn’t really know what to make of that final act.

All the better. Rean didn’t know what to make of it either. He was just glad everyone was safe and the audience was accepting it as part of the show. His friends wore the same expressions.

“What do you think the point of all that was?” Elliot said afterwards as they gathered their things.

“It couldn’t be a coincidence that he was here,” Gaius agreed.

“Looking back, Sharon had Alisa’s costume already laid out when we’d arrived in Roer. Did she already know about the show back then?” Machias asked.

“Knowing Sharon, she did,” Alisa said wearily.

“But Sharon and Bleublanc are supposed to be on opposing sides right now aren’t they?” Emma pointed out. “Bleublanc is with the Noble Alliance, but Sharon is our ally.”

“They’re still both loyal members of Ouroboros though. Don’t forget that,” Fie said sharply. “But speaking of our allies, did Sara know?”

Sara had disappeared around the time Bleublanc showed up. When they next saw her, she seemed a little tired, but dodged all inquiries with teasing banter about their performance and then offered to escort Alfin back to the ship. Alfin was alright. She’d been a little shaken by Bleublanc’s appearance, but assured them that she hadn’t been hurt and knew they would save her. All in all, she enjoyed the show and was grateful to be a part of it.

She especially enjoyed the part where Rean rescued her.

“She definitely knows something,” Rean sighed. “Prince Olivert too.” Because there still had to be a reason for this whole charade.

“When you put it like that, it sounds like we were a distraction for someone else’s plot,” Jusis scowled.

“Chances they’ll spill the beans if we ask real nicely?” Millium asked. She looked cheerful, but it seemed to Rean than she was slightly annoyed about being left in the dark like this.

“Truthfully, I doubt it,” Laura said. “But perhaps—oh? What’s that?” Laura had been facing Rean, so everyone turned their attention to him.

“What’s wrong?” Rean asked, then noticed Laura’s stare wasn’t aimed at him but the folded up costume in his hand. Or rather, a white card that stuck out slightly from the pants’ pocket. Rean pulled it out, and immediately groaned.

Bleublanc’s card.

“What does it say?” Machias asked as everyone gathered around.

Rean read aloud.

My Friends in Class VII,

Do not think too hard about any of this. I greatly enjoyed your performance and thank you for allowing me to take part.

Please call me if there is ever an encore.

Your Demon King,
Phantom Thief B

“And now my head hurts,” Alisa sighed.

Rean nodded. He was very tempted to take the card’s advice and never think about this again.

But unfortunately, he could not put this whole thing out of his head entirely until he reported the completion of the task. The reward had been decent at least. Prince Olivert all but showered him in mira and sepith. Not that Rean particularly cared about being rewarded for helping people, but they did need to maintain their weapons and ARCUS units.

Though no reward could justify actually having to talk to Prince Olivert about this. At Class VII’s insistence, he tried to ask about the prince’s motives and if there was anything he could tell Rean, because seriously, what the heck happened?

“Hmm, I do wish I could have been there to see it,” Olivert lamented, completely ignoring all of Rean’s questions. “It must have been so exciting. My darling sister in your arms as a hostage!”

“Your darling sister was Phantom Thief B’s hostage for a while as well. Remember him?”

“My rival would never be so crass as to ruin a performance. Derail it a bit maybe, but an artist like him knows the show must always go on,” Olivert assured him, as though that explained everything. “But never mind that, tell me more about the show! I do regret not being there to see it!”

“There is really nothing more to tell,” Rean said in a hushed voice, glancing to the side wearily. He hadn’t forgotten where he was.

“Nonsense! I’ve heard quite a few interesting things. Magical Girl Alisa in her adorable pink dress. And Demon Prince Rean with his belts and chains and bared chest.”

“C-could you not have heard about more normal things? And it wasn’t completely bare!”

“Rean, when this war ends, you must put on a repeat performance for my viewing. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure our Phantom Thief Demon King doesn’t intrude this time. Although that too may be fun. Oh what if I play his role next time? It’s been some time since I’ve been up on stage!”

“W-we’ll see, you Highness.” This was exhausting.

“Good. We’ll need to see if we can find a part for Mueller as well. I'm sure he would enjoy the opportunity as well,” Olivert laughed merrily, before calming down and continuing in a calmer voice. “Rean, I know things got a little hectic, but I commend your ability to think fast under pressure like that. And in your approach to this request. I know it was a little unorthodox—

“A lot unorthodox.”

“Okay, a lot unorthodox, but you and your classmates put on a wonderful show, Alfin had a blast, and the audience went home smiling. I want you to really think about that.”

Rean sighed. His exasperation wasn’t going away any time soon, but Olivert was right. Things had turned out well, and working on the hero show together had been a nice break. And despite the weirdness, or maybe even because of it, it had been a little fun.

“Alright, thank you, your Highness,” Rean said with a small relaxed smile than faded as soon as it showed itself. “But just so we’re clear, no more requests like this.”

“Of course, cross my heart,” the prince laughed. “But I am serious about that encore! I’m looking forward to experiencing the tale of Demon Prince Rean and Magical Girl Alisa for myself!”

He closed the connection immediately after that, his laugh still haunting Rean’s ears, but before Rean could react to that, a sharp voice behind him spoke.

“Why yes, Rean, I too would love to see an enore.”

Rean felt a chill stronger than the one Bleublanc had inspired.

Vivi!

She stood behind him with a wide grin, her arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.

“So that’s what you guys were up to lately!” She said. “A hero show!”

“Yep and it was a great one too,” Angelica called from her seat, chuckling knowingly.

“Y-yeah,” Rean wasn’t getting out of this so easily.

“And you didn’t invite any of us,” Vivi circled around him. “And after all of the support we’ve given you.”

“W-well,” Rean did feel a little bad about keeping everything a secret from the other students on board, though not enough to regret it. But that probably wouldn’t keep Vivi off his back. “I’m sorry?”

“You should be!” Vivi scolded, but then smiled. “But you said you’d put on an encore for Prince Olivert, right? So the rest of us can come see it too, right?”

“Er, I guess?”

“Great! I’ll let the others know asap!” Rean’s mouth could only hang open as Vivi dashed out to the door. Even worse, when he looked over the bridge, the other students all had hungry expectant smiles and teasing eyes.

Only Towa’s smile was pitying.

Rean gulped. Somehow, he didn’t think anyone was going to be forgetting about this any time soon.