Chapter Six: Acting Skills
Kera and Martina turned around to see a large man running towards them. "Oh, so my efforts haven't been wasted after all," murmured Kera, smiling. "Are you going to give us a reward for helping to douse the fires?"
The man looked confused. "No, I just wanted to ask you two if you have any urgent business to attend to."
The two girls exchanged glances then shook their heads. "That's great!" said the man. "My name is Andor and I'm the director for a troupe of travelling actors. We travel around the country performing various plays for people. Would the both of you like to be actresses?"
"Huh?" Kera and Martina stared blankly at Andor. "B-but why are you asking us? We don't have any experience at all," said Kera.
"It doesn't matter," said Andor, smiling genially at them. "I just need to have someone who knows magic to join my troupe. A priest I met just now told me that the both of you are skilled in magic. Don't worry, the pay is good. If you manage to act well, the pay would be even better."
At the mention of money, the eyes of both girls lit up and they nodded quickly. No, they weren't as money-hungry as Lina but they were looking for a job that paid well. "But I'm not a sorceress," said Martina. "Do you still want me to join your troupe?"
"Sure," said Andor generously. "I'll need all the help I can get. May I know your names?"
"My name is Kera and she's Martina," said Kera, gesturing towards Martina, who nodded. "We'll be glad to join your troupe."
"Ah, I'm so glad," said Andor. "I've been trying so very hard to get a sorceress to join. Thank you, Kera and Martina."
"Don't mention it," said Martina, grinning gleefully.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And so, Kera and Martina immediately joined Andor's troupe. The rest of the actors welcomed the two new, not to mention beautiful, additions. Being the only actresses in the group, Kera and Martina were treated like queens. Andor was also very glad of the fact that it cost very little to feed Kera. However, Martina was another matter altogether. The princess insisted on being treated like one and most of the cast was glad to comply. However, Andor was not pleased to see that the green-haired girl was costing more than she was worth. To get back at her, he made her act in most of their plays as a poor wretch who had to look for food in dustbins. For the experience, he told her to survive on her own for a week without any money to buy food. After the week was over, a dirty, but humbler Martina came crawling back to the troupe.
Meanwhile, Kera provided all the special effects needed for the production of the plays. She created all the dramatic flashes of light, the slight quaking of the ground, even the lightning during a make-believe storm. Of course, she was always careful not to hurt any of the actors whenever she cast her spells. A few times, she also acted when a character that could fly was required. Not long after Kera and Martina joined them, Andor's troupe became famous and they were invited to various countries to perform. The salaries of all the actors rose exponentially, especially Kera and Martina's.
Nonetheless, there came a rumour about another Clair Bible. To add to that, Martina overheard something about Lina and company being in a neighbouring town. To Andor's dismay, two of his most necessary performers immediately asked him for permission to resign. Nevertheless, he graciously let them leave with all the money that they had amassed over the few months. There was a tearful farewell as the troupe soon left for another town.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kera took charge of Martina's fortune since the princess was sure to squander every last gold coin. As usual, they booked a room in an inn and Martina bought several disguises for herself. Over the last few months, she had consulted one of the actors in the troupe and had learnt the secret of cursing a person. She was determined to make Lina suffer by cursing her with the curse of Zoamel Gustav. Personally, Kera had some doubts about this method but did not want to spoil Martina's mood so she did not mention them. In addition, Martina also hired a host of bandits so that Lina would not get away without a fight. Now, in order for the curse to work, Martina needed an item of Lina's. That was what the disguises were for, she told Kera. Now, all they had to do was to wait for Lina to arrive.
They didn't have a very long wait. Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadiss came into town two days later. Martina dressed up in one of her disguises, complete with glasses and a mask, before going to meet them. At the same time, Kera waited at a nearby roof to aid Martina's escape. Everything was going as planned. However, the one thing that they did not expect to happen was Xelloss' appearance. "What are you doing here, Kera-chan?" Xelloss asked as he suddenly appeared beside her.
Surprised to say the least, Kera very nearly fell off the roof. She was about to cast Levitation when a strong hand grasped her arm and pulled her back onto the roof. "Can't have you falling from such a height now, can we? You might injure yourself," said the trickster priest.
He seemed to have forgotten that Kera knew magic, so Kera reminded him by casting a few flare arrows at him. "I can take care of myself, thank you," she said as he brushed the fire-arrows aside as if they were nothing.
"Of course I know that," said Xelloss, still smiling at her. "I just didn't want to let you waste your energy, that's all. And you still haven't answered my question."
"I'm waiting for Martina to get something from Lina, then help her to escape," replied Kera. It was no use hiding any information from Xelloss, since he would find out sooner or later.
"Why, thank you for the information," said Xelloss. "Maybe I can help you with that."
"How?" Kera asked skeptically.
"Wait and see…" was his cryptic answer. "This should be interesting…"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As she had planned, Martina suddenly ran in front of Lina and asked if Lina wanted to exchange an item she owned with a special gold coin that Martina was offering. While Lina and the others were still confused, she grabbed one of the gems on Lina's costume and dashed off into a narrow alleyway. Gourry quickly followed, intending to get the person to return the gem to Lina. However, Lina didn't seem very concerned about the theft and an explosion soon explained why. The cunning sorceress had placed some kind of spell on those gems that caused them to self-destruct when someone stole them.
Meanwhile, Gourry and Martina were tangled in a heap. "Hey, are you all right?" Gourry asked, shaking Martina by the shoulder.
When Martina opened her eyes and saw that beautiful, flowing blond hair, half covering a finely chiseled face and those crystalline blue eyes, she promptly fell in love with Gourry. The green-haired princess sighed and blushed as she realised that he was still holding on to her shoulders. "Hey, Gourry, are you all right?" Lina asked as the other three walked into the alley.
"I'm fine but the girl… huh? When did she turn into a rabbit?" Gourry said when he discovered that the mysterious girl had disappeared, leaving a green-furred rabbit in her place.
"Well, since you're done playing, shall we go look for an inn?" Lina asked.
"Sure," agreed Gourry, still scratching his head in confusion.
For one moment, she had been staring into Gourry's handsome face and the next, she was on the roof of a building looking down into the alleyway. Turning around, the disorientated Martina saw Kera and Xelloss. Now even more confused, Martina asked, "Wha-what just happened?"
"Xelloss teleported you here," answered Kera, who seemed unhappy for some reason.
Xelloss smiled at her and Kera scowled at him. Martina glanced at both of them, then remembered what she asked Kera a few months ago. Well, it didn't matter now, because she was in love with Gourry Gabriev. No! Gourry was her enemy's travelling companion! How could she fall in love with her enemy's friend? Wait… If Lina was no longer around, Gourry would be free to be with anyone and that meant he could be with her, Martina!
"Yes! That is the plan! That is what I shall do to win back my fiancé, Gourry!" Martina said, thinking aloud.
Kera and Xelloss sweatdropped as they watched Martina go through several strange poses. "What is she doing?" Xelloss asked Kera.
"I have no idea," replied Kera, shaking her head. She walked forward and tapped Martina on the shoulder. "Uh, sorry for interrupting you, but can we go back to the inn now, Martina?"
"Sure," said the princess happily as she held onto Kera's hand.
"Levita-" began Kera.
"Allow me," interrupted Xelloss.
He then teleported the two girls back to their room and vanished without a word. Blinking, Kera stared at the space where Xelloss just vacated. That Mazoku had her all confused. What was he intending to do? Was he being kind to her on purpose? Why did he help them so many times?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"KERA-SAN!" Martina shouted for the third time.
"Huh? Wha- what?" Kera said, shaking her head to clear all thoughts of Xelloss. "What is the matter, Martina?"
"Look there! Lina Inverse is coming to this inn!" Martina said excitedly, beckoning Kera to join her at the window.
Kera did so and saw the familiar group of four travellers entering the inn. "Oh. How convenient for you, Martina," she said. "Er… Martina?"
The green-haired princess was dancing around the room in ecstasy with stars twinkling in her eyes. Kera sighed and sweatdropped. Not again, she thought. The girl's a total nutcase. However, it would be amusing to see how her half-baked plan worked out. Maybe that was why she tolerated her for so long. Well, at least Martina had some sort of plan to make Lina suffer. What about herself? She claimed that she also wanted revenge on Lina but didn't know how to go about doing it. Face it, Kera, she told herself mentally. You're a failure just like Martina, only in a different way.
Kera took another glance at Martina, then looked away, sighing once more. She certainly did not want to end up like that. Nevertheless, Martina might come up with an idea that was not completely idiotic… if she stopped talking about Zoamel Gustav and stopped falling for almost every guy she met. When that happened (if it did happen) Kera would be able to use it to her advantage. In the mean time, it was time for dinner. Martina was about to step gleefully out the door when Kera pulled her back by her cape, saying, "If you go out like that, they may recognise you. Zelgadiss would certainly recognise me too."
"Oh! I forgot about that," said Martina. She went to her pack and immediately took out two dresses, wigs and glasses. "Here," she said, handing one set to Kera. "If we put these on, no one would recognise us, Kera-san."
"They certainly will if you keep calling me Kera-san," said the brunette sorceress as she reluctantly took the disguises from Martina. "And are the glasses really necessary?"
"Of course they are!" declared Martina. "In fact, they're the most important part!"
"All right, then," said Kera, sweatdropping.
~ ~ ~ The End of Chapter Six ~ ~ ~
Now I'm starting to deviate from the original Next story line. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. And I didn't know that there was already a show called Slayers Extra. Honest!
