Three Figments
Cast:
Cure Egret / Cure Windy, Mishou Mai - age 19
Cure Mint, Akimoto Komachi - age 20
May, 2011
"So, what was it you wanted to show me?" Komachi asks as Mai opens the door.
When they enter Mai's studio, the answer is immediately obvious. Three painting are lined up in the afternoon sun, each depicting a different answer the mystery that Komachi staged at the end of her wedding, and each with a caption painted on at the bottom.
The painting on the left bears the caption "MACHINA" in the image of a bronze plaque framed by large clockwork gears. The background shows the darkened church, while in the foreground a mechanical platform hangs suspended from the rafters, with a trap door visible at the top. The groom stands atop the platform, one hand lowered to pull the bride up. Their outfits have been embellished with Victorian elements, and look a bit more elaborate than the clothing they wore in real life.
The painting on the right bears the caption "ILLUSION" in rainbow colors on a glass-like image framed by two prisms. Like the painting on the left, it is vertically oriented and shows the darkened church, but where the other is focused upward, this one projects downward from the stage. The bride and groom are both there, surrounded by mirrors, with their image projected onto a glass pane inside the church, intimating that they were never actually there. Both the bride's dress and the groom's tuxedo have capes added, and shine with silvered threads, further hinting that the pair are acting as stage magicians.
The center painting is oriented horizontally and bears the caption "PHANTASMA" in block gold letters painted directly over the background. The darkened church is further distorted as it were a mirage. The bride and groom are shown having passed through a portal in the air. The groom's human shape is shown only in outline, having been struck by a beam of light. Within the outline is a cute squirrel-like creature wearing a tuxedo and holding a tiny wand with a heart-shaped tip. Beside him, the bride in her wedding dress is still human, but her hair is both longer and brighter green. Butterfly wings sprout from her back with a green and white pattern that matches her dress, and she carries a rapier with a hand-guard shaped like a mint-green rose. At the opposite end of the scene, the apparent source of the transformational light is a monstrous giant raven.
"Mai... these are amazing! Could I use them? I'm sure I could get my publisher to pay you for them!"
"I don't mind," Mai answers. "However..."
"However?"
"You have to tell me how you did it!" Mai finishes with a smile.