Three Possibilities
Cast:
Cure Egret / Cure Windy, Mishou Mai - age 22
Cobraja, Mishou Masaru - Mai's husband - age 27
Poisony, Kamaki Poiko - Kiriya's sister - age 29
Kamaki Meiko - Poiko's daughter - age 4
Momoi Michiru - Kaoru's sister - age 22
August, 2014
Including the store, fitting rooms, stockroom, and a small loading dock, Cobraja Fashion Designs takes up only the ground floor of the three story building it inhabits. The top floor is residential space, where Mai lives with her husband. In between is where all of the truly exciting developments take place.
Drawing tables, bolts of cloth, pins and needles and thread. Bits and pieces of every sort of garment. Much of the floor is a workshop, where Masaru and his star designer work hard to create new outfits for the store below. Mai leads her guests through this area without stopping.
The remainder of the floor is her domain, an art studio and, when necessary, a gallery. She opens the door and smiles as she ushers her three guests into a space where three framed and captioned paintings are displayed in a row.
"Oh my," Poisony says, covering her mouth. "Does this mean you were involved with that stunt at the wedding?"
Mai smiles. "If you're wondering how it was done or by whom, you'll have to ask the guilty party. Creating these images is the full extent of my involvement. Of course, if you ask the culprit or any of her henchmen, they will tell you that none of the scenes before you ever happened."
Michiru chuckles. "What a sneaky way to say it."
By Poisony's side, her daughter tugs at her arm. Meiko is still quite small for a girl who is nearly five years old. "Mama, why is it sneaky?"
Poisony kneels down to look Meiko in the eyes. "If I tell you, it will ruin the magic."
"Magic?!"
"Yes, magic. I want you to look carefully at each of these pictures and decide which is most magical."
The tiny girl nods, then carefully looks at each of the paintings in turn.
The first painting bears the caption "PRISMA" and presents a cross-section of a swimming pool with a car in it. The car is a cherry-red convertible, which at first seems to rest with its wheels resting on the surface of the water. Upon closer inspection, it is resting on a surface that is mostly transparent, defined only by a faintly iridescent glaze. The platform is suspended by hooks and wires attached at each corner and made of the same near-transparent material. They can be traced upward in the vertically oriented frame, where they hang from a cloud that is shaped like a closed fist.
The second painting bears the caption "ENCHANTMENT" and presents an isometric view of a rectangular swimming pool with a car in the middle of the water. The car is black and is of old-fashioned make, like something from the 1960s. It does not rest directly on the water. Instead, there is a different magic circle glowing under each wheel. One of the front wheels has an orange circle with flowers in the center. The other front wheel has a light blue circle bordered by feathers. A rear wheel rests on a red circle with a flame icon. The other wheel is not visible. The view is letterboxed at either side, but most of the black space is taken up by four witches wearing with their backs to the viewer. They are wearing individually colored robes and hats: orange, light blue, red, and green, and each holds a glowing magic wand.
The final painting bears the caption "PHANTASMA", which is oriented horizontally. Rather than resting on the surface of the water, this image shows a small blue coupe ramping off the edge of the pool and through a glowing portal in the air. It is clearly being driven by the groom, as the bride leans out the passenger side window with a smile on her face. On the other side of the portal is a cobblestone road that winds off into the distance, where several plush creatures with stubby limbs are menaced by a dark silhouette wearing a horned helmet.
Michiru shakes her head, smiling. "Once again, you show us your peerless imagination. Mai, these are astounding."
Poisony nods. "I agree. I'm no expert, but I am truly impressed."
Mai squats down to ask Meiko. "Which one do you like?"
"The one where they're saving the fairies!"
Mai stands back up. "Now, the problem: We have plans to auction off two of these for charity, and to give the third one to Kiriya and Kaoru, but the auction is going to happen before they return from their honeymoon. As their closest relatives, I was hoping you could help us choose which one to gift to them."