The young redisu slowly walked onstage. Their hearts were beating fast, but they had to remain as calm as possible. The crowd was still cheering rather loudly, but it had quieted down some.

The ladies stayed in a line, though it broke in half as the second line formed. Even as this happened, there was the small foot-long space between the girls. The first line reached the opposite side of the stage, stopping and facing the kabe; the wall. The second line soon made it to the other side of the stage as well, standing behind the first line. They could be seen through the spaces between the ladies in the first line. The second line faced the direction of the kabe as well. The two lines turned toward the crowd simultaneously. They then got down on their knees and pulled out their fans. Each fan was color-coded to their owner's kimono. By this time, the audience had fallen completely sairento; they were silent.

Levy looked down at her fan. It was orange with white and pink carnations on either side of the bottom, right above where her hands would be. She knew that all the fans were like this. The bluenette glanced over at Heartfilia Lucy's fan. It was pink with white and yellow carnations on either side. She would have looked at the other girls' fans too, but she didn't have time. The other girls were already starting to put their palms on the ground and lean forward in a yumi; a bow. Levy did this too, pointing her hands toward each other in a triangle shape, her knees being the third side.

The yumi only lasted a moment. The ladies rose slowly, still on their knees. They closed their fans after picking them up with their right hand. They bent their elbows slightly, bringing their left hand up to the tip of their fans. Once their fingertips touched the tip, they swung their fans gently in a sakuru; a circle. Rising off their knees, they continued creating circles in the air with their fans. The ladies backed up a step, then stepped to the right, still making small circles. They turned halfway toward the kabe, reaching out their right hand and pointed their fans diagonally toward the front right corner of the stage.

The ladies continued making sakuru in the air. They turned their palms up this time as they did so. Then they faced their palms down again, grabbing the side of their fans and brought it to their chest. They then opened their fans, revealing their colors once again. Then they switched their fans to their left hand, stretching their right one toward the front right corner of the wall again. They pointed their fans toward the audience, then toward the ground. Their right hand came up to their forehead, looking much like a salute. The ladies took their fans in both hands, flipping them up to face the sky. Their palms were facing the audience. The ladies began to bend their knees ever so slightly, rising and then bending again. This repeated a few times.

They switched their fans back to their right hand, making a sort of half-circle while reaching out their left hand toward the other front corner of the stage. They then brought their left hand to their collarbone, their right hand pointing their fans to the front right corner. Their heads were facing the front left corner.

As Levy's left hand touched her collarbone, she could feel her father's jade necklace. She briefly closed her eyes, touching the necklace with her index and middle finger. She took a deep breath, feeling a little calmer. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she had almost missed the next step of the dance.

The ladies turned to the front right corner, their fans facing the ceiling diagonally. They swung their fans slowly around in another circle, bringing it close to their chest again. The ladies had started bending their knees and then rising again. As they did so, they turned in a full circle very slowly.

They then turned their fans to face the crowd diagonally, bringing their left hand to their fans briefly. After a moment, they drew their hand away, their fans still facing the crowd. Once more, their left hand touched their fans. Their left hand was then brought up to their chin as if they were going to eat a cracker. The ladies swung their left hand and fans around in a sakuru, both in opposite directions. Then they faced their palms down, looking like they were resting their hands on a high table. Their fans were spun in a spiral-like circle, their left hand reaching out.

The ladies brought their fans to their chest, bending their knees as they did so. Their left hand was brought to their right as they held their fans, the left covering the right. The ladies took half a step back, then moved forward again. They spun around in a rather fast speed, closing their fans. When they faced the audience again, their left hand held their fans, the right holding the side of it. Their knees were bending, then rising, then bending, and so forth. Then they spun around again, facing the back of the stage and doing the same thing.

The ladies then faced the front left corner of the stage, each hand flat, holding their fans with open palms. They opened their fans again, spinning in another circle, then another. They swung their fans around slowly, twisting it with practiced grace and mastery. They faced the back of the stage again, their left hand going up to their chins. Their right hand was holding their fans over their rear. The ladies bent their knees again, rising slowly and continuing.

They then brought their fans up and around to their foreheads, pointing it at said area. Both hands were on either side of their fans. They bent their knees deeper this time, then rose and spun to face the audience again. Their fans were brought down to face the stage floor diagonally, then brought up to do the same. The ladies twisted their fans downward, then back up. They made a half-sakuru with their fans again, bringing it up above them and to the left. When they slid their fans downward and to the right diagonally, they shook their fans to look like a sort of snake as it slithered across the air. The ladies made another half-circle doing this. They came to their shoulders, then stopped shaking their fans, letting them be still.

They brought their fans around in a half-sakuru again, then zigzagging them to the left, then right, and so forth, not gaining nor losing any height. It only gained height when the ladies zigzagged their fans upward sharply, the fans stopping above their heads. Their left hand was brought up toward their head, but stayed a few inches away, their hand flat and palms facing them. They twisted their hand around to face their palms downward, then twisting their right hand again soon after. Their left hand was drawn up so that their palms were facing the sky. The ladies twisted their fans a few times, bringing their left hand down to face the floor again. They moved both hands down and to the right, looking as if they pushed away a bothersome dog. Then they did this again on the other side.

They slowly brought their hands over to the right side, twisting their fans up. Then they took a step back, closing their fans and kneeling. They set their fans down where they had originally started. The ladies leaned over and formed their hands into triangles again, bowing much longer this time. As they rose slowly, the wind blew a few petals off the flowers on their fans, gracefully blowing away to wherever the wind took them. The ladies then put their fans inside their sleeves again.

And it was done.

The crowd clapped and cheered, and the men in the front few rows whispered and nodded to each other. They walked up to the stage, smiles on their faces. They climbed onstage, walking over to the young ladies who caught their chui; their attention. They got down on one knee and pulled out their rings. The girls nodded to the men, bowing when they got back up. They let the men put the rings on their fingers, smiling as they did so.

Levy looked over at her blonde friend, who was close to her in line. A pink-haired man with onyx-colored eyes had walked up to her. His spiky hair was styled back, so the spikes were facing behind him. He was dressed in a long black coat with a belt around the waist. There was only one sleeve on the left side. The edges of the coat were a golden color. The coat was closed at the top, but the bottom was open, revealing baggy white pants that came down to right below the knees, black ribbon at the bottom. He was wearing black sandals. Lucy seemed really happy when he proposed to her.

Did she know him? Levy thought. From the look they gave each other, this was correct. Lucky Lucy, she thought. She looked around, realizing that some of the other girls were really happy as well. They were giving the guys that were with them the same look as Lucy and the pink-haired man were giving each other. Levy blinked. How could this be?

Friendships with the opposite sex were not allowed, but some people still decided to sneak out after dark to hang out with others that did the same. If they weren't caught, there was no way to have proof that they met up. Therefore, they couldn't be punished. This is most likely what happened here, Levy realized. She could have done this as well, but she decided not to. Despite how well she acted in public, some of the villagers still didn't have shinrai; trust in her, and as a result, they usually kept a close eye on her. If one gets caught, they all do. It can be very risky, the bluenette told herself. So it was safer for me to stay at homu; home.

Levy suddenly realized that she was being watched. She turned toward a small group of three men who were looking at her and nodding between themselves. All around her, the crowd was still cheering and calling happily to one another.

Levy got really excited. Was one of the men thinking about proposing to her? Did everyone like the performance? She smiled and spread her arms wide, cheering herself. The other redisu looked at her, wide-eyed.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy whispered in a shocked, urgent tone.

But Levy apparently didn't hear her. She also didn't seem to hear the dramatic difference in volume of the crowd's voices. The small bluenette brought her hands to her chest, then spread her arms wide again. As she did so, a burst of magic flew out from deep inside her bosom.

There was a moment of silence. Then there was screaming. People were running away and shouting.

"Monster! Cursed girl! Fiend!"

"Run away, quickly!"

Levy's hazel eyes went wide. She hadn't meant to release any magic. Her mother and father had always told her to keep it a secret. They didn't want anyone to know about this. It was taboo to talk about in public, and those who used magic were taken by the emperor's men and never heard from again. This scared many people because no one but the emperor and a select few knew what happened to them.

"Magic-user!"

"We're going to die!"

"To your homes! Quickly, quickly!"

"My daughter; where is my daughter?!"

Once, an entire town was found to use magic, and the army showed up after learning of this. The area was sealed off from the rest of the kingdom not long after. Those who managed to find a cliff to look down on what remained of the town said that it was completely empty inside. That's why McGarden Okami and Skizuka warned their daughter not to use magic. They were afraid that she would be taken away or worse, the whole village would be eradicated.

"I knew we couldn't trust her!"

"Don't let her small size fool you!"

"Something just didn't feel right in the village after she was born!"

But now she did use magic, and it had to be on the most important day in the Yosei Village. When the emperor hears about a mage, he will send his army to either take her away to meet her unknown fate or destroy the whole village. Levy looked horrified. What have I done?