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The Magician's Assistant (AlphaZero and Seraphina)

xXSeraphinaXx

xXSeraphinaXx

Super-Earth
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Ophelia stared up at the old theater with a sense of dread and unease. Ten years of hard work ended up getting her absolutely nowhere. Four years of high school were spent studying hard and missing chances to make friends and then six years of college to get her Master's played out the same way. It would be logical to think getting a Master's degree would get someone where they wanted to go, but Ophelia was forced to find work through a temp agency instead. She was almost thankful she had few friends, it meant she didn't have to hear about everyone else's success stories.

The red head stepped forward through the double doors at the front of the old building, her boots kicking off some of the ice and snow from the weather outside as she stepped into the warmth. "Hello?" Ophelia called out, hazel hued gaze searching for any sign of other employees. The sheet of paper in her hand just said to report a the theater as an assistant, and she wondered if she was going to be working in the office with the manager. Not exactly what thousands of dollars toward a Master's Degree in psychology was supposed to get her, but it would pay the bills for the time being.

Slowly she walked farther through the seemingly empty building, peering around corners and hesitantly calling out for an answer. "Hello?" Ophelia was starting to get irritated. Didn't they know she was coming? "I'm here from the temp agency! Hello?"
 
Jack Flynt dug his watch from the pocket of his waistcoat and flipped it open, scowling at the time. He had told the temp agency he needed them to have someone here for ten, it as closing fast on eleven which wouldn't give him much time to get the new girl briefed on the show before starting.
A cluster of small light fly down the narrow backstage hall towards him and quickly circled him, high pitched vocies chattering rapidly at him, "Someone in lobby? Said the agency sent her?" The lights all bobbed up and down in the air in unison as if nodding. Jack sucked his teeth for a moment, feeling mounting frustration, "Alright, go upstairs, wake Gorn and tell him to start doing the lighting checks. I'll go collect the new girl."

It wasn't long before he was shouldering open the backstage access door into the lobby and stepping out onto the faded red carpeting. At 32 Jack stood a little over six feet tall with a wirey frame and sandy coloured hair, the sides tied back into a loose tale at the back. He was already partly dressed for show, a white dress shirt with black slacks and a matching tailcoat, his sleeves rolled up to expose a collection of odd symbols tattooed on his forearms.

He stalked up to the redhead standing there and scowled slightly, "I told them I needed a brunette....." He muttered to himself before giving her a longer look ,"Eh.....look to be about the same size as the last girl. Other than the boobs, but that's not a big deal...." He continued to mutter before turning on his heels sharply and charging back towards the door "Comeon New Girl, we need to get you dressed and dolled up before the kiddies get here for the afternoon show."

One of the flying lights zipped down from the rafters above, "Go get the costume out and make sure it's ironed, I'll be bringing her back shortly to get into it, she'll probably need help lacing it up so make sure there enough of you around for that." He snapped and the light zipped away just as quickly as it had appeared.
 
Dressed in a simple, but professional, black pencil skirt and white button up dress shirt, Ophelia didn't see what the man addressing her could be so clearly irritated over. She was dressed in a professional way, how had she already given him a bad impression? Her hair? Ophelia grasped a tendril of the red waves between two fingers and then looked down at her chest. She wasn't exactly chesty, but she did have a nice pair. She was far from being flat. Feeling rather insulted, she turned a glare to the man in front of her. At twenty-five, Ophelia had met her fair share of jerks, but who she assumed was her new employer was starting to get close to taking the crown. He didn't even bother to introduce himself, let alone ask for her name. Their interactions hadn't even spanned five minutes and she was ticked off.

She was ready to protest the rude greeting when he commented on getting her dressed before the kids arrived for the afternoon show. "Show?" She blurted, eyes narrowed. She had NOT signed up to do anything regarding a show. Obviously not getting an answer, the man started talking to someone that was not Ophelia. A light grabbed her attention, a small speck that she would have thought was perhaps floating glitter getting caught in a ray of sunshine if she were outside. Was he talking to that? Then it was gone.

"Eh..." Had she walked into a nut house? Was her employer crazy? Ophelia quickly followed after him as he was already charging back toward the door he had entered through. "Hey!" Reaching out, Ophelia grabbed the edge of his white dress shirt. "I was sent her to be an assistant? I'm not supposed to be doing anything for a show..." Her tone was filled with tightly controlled anger, "And my name isn't 'new girl', it's Ophelia Griggs..." She snapped indignantly.
 
"You are indeed here to be an assistant Ophelia Griggs. But not some administive floozy. There is magic to do and children to wow and a magician needs an assistant to perform."

Jack lurched to a sudden stop in the hallway and shot a glance backwards at her, "Seriously? Ophelia? Who the hell calls their kid that these days? Where your parents Shakespeare junkies? Or did they just decide they didn't like you?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer and instead charged on ahead down the corridor.

More of the floating lights began to fill the air, most flying in gorups, Shiney and bright in rainbow colours, "Hussel Hussel Hussel. We need to make sure we're ready when door open. Are the trolls prepped yet? Good. And Gron? Well tell him he'll have to work on the fly it's not my fault she's late!"

He hung a sharp left and flung open a door into a small dressing room, a vanity dominating the far wall. A collection of the lights zoomed acorss the room as he entered carrying a costume on a hanger.

Briskly Jack pointed towards the hanger, "You'll need to change quickly. The Fairies will help with the corset if you need it."

With that he vanished back out the door.
 
Oh he was infuriating. A magician? She was going to be a magician's assistant? Ophelia rolled her eyes. Stupid magic tricks and squealing children? She settled to follow the magic man, but his sudden insult of her name brought her to a halt when he did. "Excuse me?!" Completely caught off guard she stared at him with wide eyes and parted lips. Her own personal issues with her parents aside, he didn't have any right to insult them or her. Ophelia made the mental note to have a chat with the temp agency as soon as she was finished her first day on the job with the magician and his magic scams.

Following him again, she glanced over her shoulder as she saw more of the shining flickers appear around them. Did he just say something about trolls? She was convinced. She'd entered the land of the crazy.

They entered a small dressing room and she held back a frightful scream when a costume came floating by on a hanger, held by none othr than the lights she'd seen around them. She didn't have time to question him when he mentioned fairies because he was already gone.

"F-fairies?" She stared at the still floating lights and blinked in disbelief. "Have I been drugged?" She asked to nobody in particular. Hesitantly she stepped forward, grabbing the hanger from where it floated and trying to get a better look at the 'fairies' that were supposed to help her. "Is this a joke?" She asked, "Some sort of reality show?" She glanced around, looking for some sort of hidden camera. "There's no such thing as fairies..."
 
Almost in unison the floating lights, Fairies, let out a collective laugh, "She's handling it better than some of the others." Said a vocie seeming to come from the collection of little floating lights.

"The last one ran out screaming when she saw us."

"The one before her was very good. Just took everything in stride and kept an open mind."

"Jack was more paitent with that one. So many comming and going lately."

Again they all giggled in union, "Time to stop waiting around time to get dressed deary!" Another one chimed in.
 
You're going nutty, Ophelia...You're about to have a conversation with mythological creatures! "Others?" Ophelia questioned. "Well I would think they would be coming and going! This...this Jack you say...He's an ass...." She snapped, pulling the outfit off the hanger and looking at it closely. "Do I really have to put this on?" She groaned, her eyes closing with frustration. There were "fairies" talking to her and she was about to help a rude man do a magic show. She was starting to really regret her life decisions.

Glancing at the fairies, she frowned. She had to get dressed in front of them? Ophelia knew she didn't exactly have anything to be ashamed of, but she still felt uncomfortable at the thought of a bunch of little dancing lights helping her dress. She hesitated for a few moments longer before she started to pull off her dress shirt and skirt, "This is humiliating..." She mumbled bitterly, holding the fabric up in front of her. As quickly as she could she got herself situated in the costume, letting the fairies help her when absolutely necessary. The corset was more difficult to put on than she expected. When they were finished she felt light headed. Fairies had just helped her get dressed.

"W-what now?" She asked, her mind becoming somewhat numb as the moments ticked by. At the very least the fairies were more pleasant to be around than their friend Jack. Ophelia straightened the jacket of her costume and stepped towards the dressing room's door, opening it to peek out and look for anyone else. "What happened to the other girls? Did they just quit?" Ophelia asked over her shoulder, her voice hushed as she set her gaze on the bundle of lights.
 
With the door cracked several of the farries went flying out of the room towards whatever task had been assigned to them. One lingered behind, perching gently on Ophelia's shoulder.

"Jack had gone through a few assistants. He had one for a few years...but that ended badly. After that he started going to the agency. There where a few nice ones. We stuck around for a few months and was really nice, had no trouble adjusting at all. But she found a better job and moved on. Most of them just have trouble accepting what they're seeing."

The small lite dipped upwards than back downards as if it where shrugging, "For what it's worth you're doing better than some of them." The farie darted forwards through the gap in the door, "Comeon. Jack is waiting."
 
He had one for a few years? Ophelia frowned, wondering what went so badly. Knowing it was none of her business she let the thoughts slide off into the back of her mind. Her gaze shifted to look at the small light on her shoulder, finding herself uneasy again. When she got off she was going to need a stiff drink. "Well....when you need a job...I guess it makes things easier to handle?" She laughed nervously, her voice cutting off with a groan. She DID NOT want to go see Jack again, sure he'd have some other way to insult her.

Following the fairy, she slipped down the hallway and in the direction Jack was waiting for her. She was led to what looked like an area behind the main stage, she could see curtains and ropes all around that could control what the audience saw up front. Crossing her arms Ophelia stopped a few feet from the grumpy magician, "Now what? Are you going to pull some rabbits out of your hat? Make balloon animals out of thin air?" She was bitterly teasing him, but she didn't really know what else to expect. Growing up she hadn't been taken to magic shows or the theater. And in her mind, other than just meeting fairies, magic was a big hoax that people used to scam others for their money.

"I don't see why you need an assistant..." She added, "You have fairies running around....wouldn't they just be the stars of the show..."
 
Jack rolled his eyes are he teasing about rabbits, "Oh please, that's amateur shit. I got much more interesting things up my sleeve." He picked up a top hat from a prop laden table and tossed it to her Frisby style, the hat sailing smoothly through the air towards her.

"Its kids today so things are gonna be pretty simple. Props on the table are lined up in order, when I say so you'll need to come back here and grab 'em. Get volunteers from the audience. Probably cause some very confused hormonal reactions in how well you fill that get up out."

He let out a sigh and slipped his watch from his pocket, taking a quick peek at it before continuing on, "The farries have their place in the show, but having a human presence helps to keep things grounded for the audience. If they where dragging things out on to stage all the time they'd loose their impact. The Trolls working the lobby, people thing it's just special FX make-up."

Beyond the curtain he could hear the cheer it the crowd and the swell of music from speakers, "This shit is gonna blow your mind. Just make sure your tits don't pop outta your top when they do." He said with a wink.
 
She caught the top hat as it came cutting through the air towards her. Examining it for a moment she placed it on her head with a momentary grin, listening to Jack as he explained what was going to happen. His comment about her costume made her fluster, her eyes shifting away when his attention shifted to his watch. Nerves were starting to collect in her belly and she realized she'd never been on a stage for anything before.

I knew he said something about trolls earlier... She thought to herself as the crowd started to get louder.

Ophelia glanced back to Jack and her lips twisted in wry smile, "I assure you, boss...My tits, as you so charmingly put, will not be popping from my top..." Even after she said it however she looked down at her cleavage, rolling her shoulders just to make sure she would in fact stay decent while dealing with the kids. She had more questions than she could count and her head was a mess of confusion, but she just wanted to get the show on the road before she got too freaked out.

"Well then- Jack..." She stepped forward and paused next to the curtain. "Let's get this show started? Unless you have other directions to give me? Certainly I can't screw this up too bad?"
 
Anything he may have said was cut short as the curtain raised and audience cheered. For the next hour Jack defied the very laws of reality and physics with his tricks. One particular moment that thrilled and excited the kids was when he called for a volunteer and varies, who had been sitting in the pot lights at the foot of the stage, rushed out into the audience and surrounded one kid before Ophelia went out to bring the kid up to the stage.

As the show came to a close Jack produced a deck of cards from his pocket and began absentmindedly shuffling the deck as he addressed the crowd.

"Its wonderful to see so many people out here this afternoon. Really is. People like to ask me why I keep doing this, keep with the magic business in the digital age. "
He stopped and held the deck upwards, scattering the cards in an upward arc over his head, and the hung there. He cast a quick glance to Ophelia and nodded to her to join him on stage.

"The thing about the modern day is that science tries to explain everything. People have lost their sense of wonder. So do this job to try and bring that feeling back to the world."

With that said he launched the last card he had been holding into the air. It flew upwards, scattering the rest of the cards out acorss the audience with a power gust of wind and then exploded in a brilliant flash of green. The others followed suit, erupting in a brilliant display of fireworks as the magican took a bow.
 
The hour long show was nerve wracking, not only did Ophelia make sure she was on cue each time Jack needed one of his props, but she was trying desperately to figure out HOW he was doing his magic tricks. She was still skeptical, not believing that he was truly doing magic. Regardless of her beliefs, she did her part. She smiled, winked when a wide eyed boy was brought in for a trick, and played the part of a loyal assistant.

He amazed her. The things he was doing just didn't make sense. Jack was a King in front of the crowd, they ate up everything he threw at them. As the show came to a close she caught his eye, traveling to his side on the stage when he beckoned her. People have lost their sense of wonder... His statement was true, too true when she thought about it. How much the world had changed over the years. Nobody care about magic tricks or shows anymore. They had all moved on to the digital age, where clicks of a button could produce imagery beyond what it ever could before.

Ophelia's gaze was locked on the arc of cards that hung above Jack's head. When he sent his last card up, she gasped, watching the cards explode into flashes of light and magic that rivaled any firework display she had ever seen. It was her favorite part of the show, the sheer beauty and brilliance taking her breath away.

The children were screaming and clapping in the audience, their parents smiling as they started to gather them up to leave. Jack took his well earned bow and as the cheers continued, the curtains started to close. Ophelia turned to the audience with a smile, blowing a kiss for effect to a few of the little boys in the audience. Once the curtain closed, she visibly relaxed, her shoulder slumping. It was exhausting.

"Jack...." Ophelia looked at him with wide, curious eyes, "How?" Reaching out she patted his sleeves in a rush, "What do you have hidden?" She gasped, "There's...there's literally no way that way real!"
 
He had to admit, he took a certain satisfaction from the wide eyed disbleafe his assistant was now exhibiting. She had met her marks perfectly during the show and managed to throw a little bit of her own improv into it had helped. Over all he was satisfied with her and would let the agency know he wanted to keep her around for abit.

When she asked how, Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes at her, "Really? There are farries buzzing around, trolls in the lobby being ushers and my lighting tech is an ogar and you're asking me 'how' I did all that. Open your eyes New Girl. The anwcer is as obvious as your tits are right now."
 
Her lips twitched at the tit comment, dropping her hands from him and stepping back. "It's your costume..." She crossed her arms and grumbled. "I'm still waiting for someone to jump out and tell me this is a joke..." Ophelia added softly, her mood mellowing out. "Or that I'm tripping on some new drug...." She knew the answer was obvious but her life up until getting the job was making it impossible for her to accept it.

It occurred to her that other than his magic, he looked normal and unlike the odd creatures scattered about the theater. "What are you?" Ophelia asked, "You've got fairies, Ogres, and Trolls...You look normal...Human..." She stepped closer, peering up at him accusingly. "Is this magic? Are you covered in scales or have pointy ears?"
 
Jack rolled his eyes again, "Christ no. This isn't a glamor or anything. I'm human same as you. Well, not EXACTLY the same. I mean flip a few chromosomes around but the point is, I'm human."

One of the usher usher trolls came lumber into the backstage area and dropped a pair of beers on the table, "Good job out there today Bart. Kids where real excited."

The troll grinned, the look on its face making it clear the creature was not burdened by intelligence but happy none the less to have its job at the theater around more of its kind, than shuffled back off to do some task.

Jack picked up both cans in one hand, managing to pop the tabs one handed in an odd display of dexterity before offering her one and leaning against the table.

"So, easy way to think of it is like this. The world as you know it is only a fraction of what is actually out there."
 
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Why can you--..." She stopped talking when one of the trolls entered the backstage. Her eyes widened and she watched the creature place two beers on the table. His name was Bart and Jack spoke to him like he was just like anyone else. While the troll didn't answer, he did grin, soon leaving to return back to whatever it was he needed to do. She wasn't even looking at Jack when he took both cans of beer, her gaze still fixated on the direction the troll had went.

The thought of a beer was really good. She accepted the drink when Jack offered it to her. "I think I'm going to need something stronger than beer...." She mumbled under her breath. Ophelia took a sip of the beer, peering over the edge of the can at Jack while he spoke. "What else....is out there?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly. "What else...." She took another sip of beer, "Is here?" She finished, gripping the can between her hands. "Don't make fun of me..." She snapped quickly before adding, "Are there dragons out there?" she motioned to the world in general, not the theater.
 
Jack watched as she took in what she had just seen as Bart had come lumbering by. He took a slow sip from his beer, flinching slightly. It was room temperature, the trolls had forgot to put it in the fridge again.

"Yeah dragons are out there. Mostly stick to Europe and Asia. Places with history, they say. They're kind of stuffy docuhebags but you do find the occasional one kicking around this side of the pond. There's one down in Colorado that runs a refuge for werewolves during full moons.". It was easy to forget that to Jack, these things where normal, he'd been surrounded by the supernatural his whole life. But to people like Ophelia, who'd been raised to think they where just stories, the truth was hard to swallow.
 
Her entire body tensed and her vision darkened, "Oh God..." She mumbled, stepping over to the table and resting one hand on the edge to steady herself. Dragons? There were actually dragons? And did he just say werewolves? If there are werewolves...are there vampires?! Her inner dialogue was going crazy again as she fought to process the new information. There were moments where she was handling things good and others where she was on the verge of fainting. Ophelia had never fainted in her life.

She tipped her head back and downed the beer, brows furrowing at the taste. You didn't chug beers, but she needed to try and get the alcohol into her system and sipping a brew wasn't going to do it. Trying to calm herself down before she passed out, Ophelia turned to an easier subject, "How do you do magic?" Easier only because it wasn't terrifying.
 
Jack sucked his teeth for a few moments as he thought, "How do I do magic?"

It honestly wasn't an easy question to anwcer. Thankfully for him he didn't have to at that, least not at that moment. Heavy footsteps echoed through the backstage area and a massive creature rounded the corner, "Ah, there you are." He said in a deep baratone. Behind a rimless pair of coke bottle glasses tiny black eyes moved from Jack to Ophelia, "This must be the new girl that the faries have been chattering about."

Jack took a slug from his beer a nodded, "Yup, Ophelia, meet Gron, our lighting tech."
 
She was eager for an answer. For some sort of explanation. Could anyone do magic like Jack could? Or was he special in some sort of way? He looked like he was thinking over his answer, but before they were able to dive into a discussion they were interrupted by a new arrival. Sophia tensed, eyes bulging as she watched the creature enter. Gron.

"H-Hello Gron..." Ophelia greeted shakily. That wave of vertigo returned and she clutched the edge of the table tighter. "It's a pleasure to meet you....I hope the fairies aren't gossiping about me..." She threw in the teasing comment in an attempt to ease her own nerves.

"How long have you worked here?" Ophelia inquired, thinking that if she just tried to treat everyone like they were normal beings, she could reign in her emotions.
 
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