"On the night of the Funtom Company's third anniversary," Ciel reads from the newspaper as he props his feet up on his desk, "a charity play is to be performed for the poor children. The programme: Hamlet. Quite a big write-up, isn't i-"
"That's awesome!" I say, clapping my hands together. I remember reading a summary for this episode since Netflix didn't have the OVA, so I don't know what happens other than something about a Shakespearean play. Ciel looks at me in shock, before coughing.
"Yes, I suppose it is 'awesome.'" He says with a smirk, and Sebastian raises a brow. "I thought you just said it's a big write-up-"
"Nevermind that," Ciel says, taking a sip from his tea.
"Nevertheless, I have great admiration for my young master's love for mankind," Sebastian says with an 'eat-monkey's-feces' grin.
"Love for mankind?" Ciel scoffs, and I look at him, eye twitching.
"I don't care if you're doing this for the publicity, Ciel. Just remember not everyone is as fortunate as you, and this is a rare treat for them. Make sure the children enjoy it," I bluntly state, causing Ciel to become flustered.
"I-I never intended it for it to be tha-"
"Whatever," I take a sip of the strawberry lemonade. "Wow Sebastian, this is pretty good!"
"Thank you, Ivy." Sebastian replies with a smirk, and Ciel's brow twitches. Since it has become summer, Sebastian has been making colder drinks to combat the humidity.
"Fun fact, in Romeo and Juliet a line goes 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' The rival theatre was called 'The Rose' and had a sewage problem," I say with a laugh, and Sebastian smirks.
"I remember that play, sometime in the summer of 1595..." Sebastian blankly remembers, and my eyes widen.
"Woah! How was it?" I ask, and Sebastian looks at me with a smirk. "It was a masterpiece, of course. I must say I had a little help with William though..."
"What do you mean?" Ciel asks, more like demands, Sebastian.
"Well, William Shakespeare and I struck a deal. I provided him a theater and fame in exchange for 1/4 of his soul," Sebastian states, and Ciel arches a brow. "1/4?"
"The rest was taken after he died. If I took 1/4, that would make him technically dead so he could see Supernatural forces that humans can't see at all. How do you think he could have created Puck?"
"Because Shakey was a baller!" I state, and the two men look at me with confused expressions. "Baller?" Ciel echoes, and I sigh. "Nevermind..."
"Nevermind all that drabble, the theater company I hired performs this play, so I don't pay any mind to it." Ciel says as Sebastian pours him some more tea.
"Young master!" Mey-Rin exclaims, busting into the room. "Mey-Rin, what's the matter?" I ask, and she pants for air.
"There was an accident! The ship the actors in had an accident, and they won't be here in time!" Mey-Rin says, as Ciel frowns.
"The performance is in 3 days and I cannot cancel it as it is so widely advertised..." Ciel sighs, and a light bulb dings in my head.
"You know, they say if you want something done well, why not do it yourself..." I say, "so I think we should all be the actors in the play!"
"But, Hamlet will be so hard to memorize in 3 days, I don't think we'll have time to memorize it all," Ciel says, and I think.
"I have an idea for a play...but I need to write the script down quickly before I forget." I say, because technically the book isn't written yet.
"You're going to write a play? Would you prefer me to do it?" Sebastian asks as I stand up, dusting myself off.
"No, I got this." I say, and Ciel sighs. "Sebastian, this is an order. Make sure the play is a success and does not fail the Phantomhive name."
"Yes, m'lord." Sebastian replies with a bow as I turn to Sebastian."Sebastian, please get me some parchment and place it in my room," I say as I walk to my room quickly, picking up my skirts to move quicker.
Once I arrive in my room, I open it to see stacks of parchment paper on my desk, fountain pen next to it.
Damn, Sebastian is fast. Not freaky-fast Jimmy Jon fast, but pretty fast.
Closing the door, I look at the paper as it floats over to me. "Alright, let's start," I say aloud, as a pen hovers over the paper.
"The Wizard of...Uu," I say aloud, as it is written in sprawling cursive on the top of the paper. I can't exactly take someone else's future book, can I?
The character names will have to change as well...
8 hours later.
"Finished," I say to Sebastian as he quirks a brow. "That is quite a feat, weaving a story in 8 hours. Well, for a human that is."
"Oh shut it, besides I vocally wrote it and the story is from my childhood. Changing the names and some of it was the hardest part."
"I shall make some copies for the volunteer actors, tomorrow we start memorization." Sebastian says, "Ciel has already gone to bed as it is 10:00-"
"Damn it! I thought I could finish by dinner," I mutter, yawning slightly. "Alright, see you tomorrow Sebby."
"Sleep tight, Ivy."
"Ran Mao, what role would you like to play?" Lau asks Ran Mao who is currently perched upon his lap.
"Dunno," she replies as Prince Soma twirls into the room, draped cloth aflutter. "If I were to act, I'd certainly be Ramakrishna!"
"Oh, what a sublime thing that would be to see!" Agni cries as he looks upon his master.
"You can always be in the play, Soma. There's enough roles for everyone here, even if we add some extras." I say, and Soma thinks.
"I want to be a beautiful Princess, who gracefully floats above the ground in a beautiful dress!" Lizzie exclaims, and I sigh. "Sorry Lizzie, there's no Princesses in this play."
"WHA-" Lizzie screams, but Ciel cuts her off
"What is even going on in here!" Ciel exclaims from next to me, turning to Sebastian who is standing behind our couch. "Sebastian, why do we have amateurs?! This isn't some school play!"
Sebastian looks down at Ciel, a smirk on his face. "Originally, charity performances were personally performed by the benefactor of the house. You are a benefactor, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," Ciel grumbles, "but couldn't I be in it and have other actors?"
"Nope, because it's more fun with friends!" I cheerfully say, and Sebastian smiles a closed-eye grin, cracking his knuckles.
"Exactly, besides the lively company we have here today," Sebastian starts, before opening his eyes accompanied by a dark look, "is likely able to receive dramatic training, even if rough."
I shiver at Sebastian's knuckle-cracking and dark look, fearing what will happen. Everyone in the room looks over, slightly worried and confused.
"So," Sebastian says, returning to a normal position. "It goes to say that the young master will perform too."
"Huh?" Ciel asks, and I laugh. "Ha ha! That must suc-"
"And Ivy shall join him."
"Wha?!" I start, turning to Sebastian. "But I wrote the script-"
"Exactly, so you would certainly know best how to make a certain character shine." Sebastian says, holding up the script with a smirk.
-Vocal Exercises-
"Now, repeat after me." Sebastian says at the piano in the room, pressing chords onto it delicately. "A-a-a-a-ahhh."
Sebastian's singing voice was really nice, but it's probably because the damn demon has to be good at everything...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" everyone starts, and I place my hands over my ears to block out the eternal shrieking, but it doesn't block out Lau's sexual-sounding moaning coming from the corner.
Blushing, I turn over to see Ran Mao cracking his foot, and I sigh in relief. Sebastian sweat drops, "No flirting." He says, before turning to me.
"Ivy, I didn't hear you warming up vocally," he says, and I raise a brow. "What? No, I was total-"
"Your mouth was opened like a fish," he says sweetly, and my eye twitches. "Do the notes now."
"Fine," I say, as he presses the key and I open my mouth to sing when-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Spicy curry!" Soma says from the corner as he munches on Naan bread dipped into spicy curry.
Saved by the curry!
"It's really good," Soma says, as Agni smiles at us. "There's some left, would you like some?"
"Yes!" I exclaim, walking over there when Sebastian places his hand on my shoulder, preventing me from moving.
"No." Sebastian says, and I sigh.
-Drama Training-
"A heart is not judged by how much you love, but how much you are loved by others," Ciel says robotically, and I sigh. He definitely needs to put some heart into that performance.
"Young master," Sebastian says, as his brow twitches only once, "please put some emotion into it."
"A-A heart is not judged by how much you love, but h-" Ciel tries again.
"I'm definitely not loving it, and definitely judging it," a dramatic, femininely pitched male voice says as the door swings open. Grell bursts into the room, leaning against the door as he flips his red hair over his shoulder.
He's changed the top vest of his outfit to red, which makes sense since he hasn't obtained the too-small red jacket from Madame Red since he never killed her. "What a terrible, worn-out performance!" He says, flipping his hair over his shoulder.
"You should be rusting for all eternity for that performance!" Grell bellows, and I arch a brow. I hadn't released the play, so how had he gotten to know the characters?
"Grell, what are you doing here?" Ciel asks, as Grell saunters into the room.
"My upcoming play-senses tingled, so here I am, ready to save the show! And you, Ciel, need more heart. You should definitely be the Tin Man. The honesty about not having a heart is not being conveyed at all! They must reverberate with sadness!" Grell complains, striking a pose.
"Show him how it's done!" I say, snapping my fingers in a Z formation.
"You know it!" Grell shouts back at me, as a spotlight from out of nowhere shines down on him.
"A heart is not judged by how much you love, but how much you are loved by others," Grell says dramatically, and the spotlight dims.
"Wow, acting must be so important to you," Ciel says flatly as Grell shimmies over to Sebastian. "No! The only important thing to me is love from Sebas-chan!"
"No." Sebastian's baton thwacks the back of Grell's head multiple times. "I will kill you without a second thought."
"Oh! Hit me harder Sebas-chan! Ohhhh!" Grell moans out, causing Sebastian to immediately stop and back away quickly.
"Still, a man with such good theatrical actions should be allowed to stay longer," Sebastian says, wiping off his baton as Grell blushes.
"Oh! I knew you always believed in me!" Grell gushes, literally kissing Sebastian's feet.
"Stop kissing my feet, you're lip gloss is ruining the leather," Sebastian says, kicking Grell in the face. Grell falls backwards dramatically, landing in a red heap.
Everyone starts talking and ignoring Sebastian, and Sebastian gets a scary look on his face. The candles blow out, and Sebastian's honey-red eyes seem to glow.
"None of you know how to take things seriously, so I suppose we'll be doing this the hard way..." Sebastian says, cracking his knuckles threateningly. I squeak as everyone screams, horrors of what Sebastian will do terrifying them extremely.
"Once upon a time, in Kansas on a farm, there was a girl named Destiny. She loved her pet rabbit, Dodo, but she wished for adventure and life outside the farm." Finny shouted robotically from the side of the stage, nervously sweating.
"Dodo, we're home!" I skip onto stage, looking at the Phantomhive stuffed rabbit in the basket I held. Ciel had no boundaries when it came to promoting a product...
"Aunt Emma! Uncle Hank!" I call out, and a neutral-faced Snake steps out with a grumpy looking Elizabeth. Snake is wearing a plaid brown dress, an apron tied over his waist, and a silver bun placed in his hair. Elizabeth is wearing a fake black beard and is wearing a size-too-large plaid shirt tucked into brown pants.
"Welcome home niece, says Aunt Emma." Snake says calmly, causing some of the kids in the audience to laugh.
"I think that's a boy!" A little girl giggles loudly, causing all the other kids to giggle. "Yes, welcome back. How was your visitation with Miss Gulp, our landlady?" Elizabeth says with a sigh, and I grimace slightly.
"Absolutely horrible! She's practically a witch! She says Dodo should be cooked for dinner since he's a rabbit!" I say, and Snake looks at 'Dodo' in my basket.
"Oh, well it is a rabbit...says Aunt Emma," Snake says. "Yes, my...wife is correct. Times are hard enough as it is on our farm, and if we need to we might need to eat Dodo, though I would prefer not to-" Elizabeth says, and I shake my head frantically.
"Ugh! You guys don't get it, I'm leaving!" I say, slowly running away from them as the backdrop shifts to a painted field of wheat. Mey Rin comes out in a wheat costume, wiggling to-and-fro.
"Wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat-" she says softly, causing the kids to giggle and point.
"Oh, I wish there was a place we can go far away from here, full of goodness, where evil is always defeated. You suppose there is a place like that?" I ask, stroking the rabbit. "There must be, I'm sure of it. Of course, it's not a place you can get there by boat or train...it's beyond the moon, beyond the rain."
Sighing, though I hate singing and Sebastian roped me into doing it, I inhale.
(Play Annapantsu 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow')
"Somewhere, over the rainbow," I start, looking at the crowd as they are silent. "Way up high..."
"There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby
Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue.
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."
"Wheat, wheat, wheat, wheat-" Ran Mao starts again, wiggling randomly. The audience chuckles as I smirk slightly, until I see Sebastian's glare from the side of the stage. The smirk vanishes, as I look at the rabbit in my basket. While writing the play, I knew if I made it exactly as-is I would affect the future, so I had to make the play like this.
"Someday I'll wish upon a star, and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops...
That's where you'll find me..."
"Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow, why can't, why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly, beyond the rainbow,
Why can't I?" I finish, and the audience applauds as Ran Mao bows. I exit just as a ringing sound echoes from the side stage as Sebastian enters riding a bicycle, wearing a long black wig pulled into a bun, an ugly brown blouse and a black skirt. The scene shifts again to show the farm house, Snake and Elizabeth stepping out.
Sebastian rides up to them, before getting off his bicycle. Finny steps out onto the side of the stage.
"While Destiny was away from the farm, the woman named Miss Gulp has come to speak to Destiny's guardians!"
"Mrs. Emma and Mr. Hank! Your niece's 'Dodo' has bit my leg!" Sebastian scolds in a high pitched voice, crossing their legs and tapping their foot. "That rabbit is a menace, I'm calling the sherrif and having it taken away and made into a stew!"
"But is the rabbit really hurting anyone? You must've provoked it somehow, says Aunt Emma," Snake informs in a high-pitched girly voice, and Elizabeth nods. "Certainly."
"There's anti-rabbit biting laws here. After all, this is America! Your whole farm can be seized!" Sebastian exclaims, causing Elizabeth to sigh. I walk onto stage and comically jump back.
"What are you doing here, Miss Gulp?!" I ask, and Sebastian looks at me, and I can't tell if he's play-glaring or actually doing so.
"I want your rabbit gone! It personally violated me!" He/she shouts, and I shake my head. "You can't! Dodo is innocent!"
"I'm sorry, Destiny, but Dodo has to go, says Aunt Emma," Snake says, and I shake my head, holding the basket close to my chest.
"I'm never letting you take Dodo, you old witch!" I shout, as Sebastian steps towards my threateningly. "Give me the rabbit, girl!"
"No!" I shout, running off stage with the basket. The scene changes on stage as everyone steps off as it changes into the scenery of a room as a bed is pushed onto stage. Walking onto stage again, I place the basket onto the bed as reach under it, pulling out a suitcase.
"We've got to go, Dodo. There's nothing here for us in Texas anymore! Miss Gulp is going to take you, and I want adventure. This kills two birds with one stone, right?" I say, as the sound of wind begins to generate.
"Oh no! There's a tornado! Dodo, we've got to get to the storm cellar...but that's a 20 minute walk from here!" I shout, as the kids in the audience start to get nervous.
"Run Destiny, run to the shelter!" A little boy with a cockney accent shouts, and I look frantically out the cut out 'window' by the bed.
Bard, who is a stagehand, holds up a cutout of a tornado outside the window, twirling it fast to make it appear as if it is spinning.
"Oh no! The tornado is approaching quickly, I don't know what to do!" I shout, as I begin spinning with Dodo's basket in my arms. The backdrop changes into a more colorful one, as I collapse onto the bed and pretend to fall asleep.
Pretending to wake up, I stand up and brush myself off. "That tornado passed awfully quickly, Dodo. Let's go outside," I say, exiting stage right as I run to the other side of the stage behind the background as the scene shifts, appearing on the left side as I step back onto stage. The backdrop changes to a forest village, with houses of candy.
Looking around in amazement, I walk around slowly. "Woah...where am I?"
"Welcome to the wonderful land of Uu, fair stranger!" Agni says, wearing a navy blue suit and holding a Funtom lollipop in his hand. "Where am I...?" I ask, and he smiles.
"In Uu, of course! I am the Midget Mayor of this town-"
"Munchkin," I whisper, "a munchkin."
"Ah, I mean a munchkin!" Agni covers up, sweating nervously. "And you have done us a great deed! Come out, my midge-"
"Munchkins," I whisper, and Agni shakes his head. "I mean Munchkins!"
From the right side of the stage, Mey-Rin, Tanaka and Bard step out. "Welcome to Uu, stranger..." Bard says, scratching the back of his neck as he scrambles for his lines.
"Yes, you have killed the Wicked Witch of Yeast!"
"East..." I mutter, nearly laughing. "Ah, the Wicked Witch of the Yeast is dead!" Mey-Rin claps before Agni can recite the correct line, and I nearly choke from holding in laughter. I suppose it's the Wicked Witch of Yeast now.
"Erm, I don't believe I could kill anyone! How would I ever kill someone if I just got here?" I ask, as Tanaka smiles.
"Ho, ho, ho!" He says, and we all turn to a cardboard cutout of a house with legs poking out from beneath it, purple slippers wedged over his toes.
Soma's legs, to be precise.
"Oh no! I landed my house on top of her, it was an accident, I swear!" I say, and Agni shakes his head. "Do not worry, the Wicked Witch of Yeast is now dead, and the midgets of the Yeast are now free!"
This is too funny!
"Thank you!" An excited Mey-Rin chimes in. "Yes, and we will give you something to express our gratitude, Wanda, the Good Witch of the South will give you a wish!" Bard says, as someone begins to be lowered from the ceiling in a light blue dress.
"Yes...I am Wanda, the Good Witch of the South." Lau says with a calm voice, a fake eyelash beginning to fall off his closed eyes, puffs of smoke leaving his mouth.
He was high at a kid's show!
"Nice to meet you! Can you possibly send me home?" I ask and he shakes his head. "No can do, but I can tell you to steal those shoes off the dead bitc-"
I cough loudly into my hand, covering up Lau's swear. Though I swear extensively, I prefer not to do it in front of children.
"Isn't stealing bad?" I ask, as we both walk over to Soma's feet.
"Not if they're dead or unconscious or have debt!" Lau lectured. I shrug, taking the shoes off Soma's feet and placing the slippers on my feet.
"There is a rumor that the Wicked Witch of the Yeast had magic in her amethyst slippers," Mey-Rin says, and I look at the purple slippers. "At least they're pretty..."
"But, there is one person who can get you home: The Wizard of Uu!" Lau says, and I arch a brow. "There's a wizard too?"
"Why, of course! Now, if you follow the yellow brick road, you can get to his castle," Lau says, pointing at the ground. "Alright, thank you everyone!" I say, as I follow the 'path.'
The audience applauds as the curtain goes down, quickly setting up for the next act. Sighing, I walk to the side of the stage as Mey-Rin passes me a glass of water.
"Good job, Mey-Rin!" I say, taking a gulp of water, "You were pretty great."
"Oh, you think so?" She asks, blushing. I nod, "Definitely. Who is playing two roles?"
"Well, I know Elizabeth is going to do one since Madame Red was...well, red today and felt ill, so Madame Red has a smaller role," Mey-Rin stated, and I nodded in understandment. "Alright...the curtain is going to rise any minute now, I must go!" I reply, as I step back onto the stage as the curtain began to rise, revealing a field with a scarecrow.
"I'm off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Uu..." I sing to myself, as I walk closer to the scarecrow. "What a small scarecrow, I thought scarecrows were supposed to be larger, oh well..." I begin to walk away, but suddenly a voice comes out of nowhere.
"But at least I'm a cute scarecrow!" It says, and my eyebrow twitches.
"Where did that come from?" I ask aloud, looking around stage.
"It's the scarecrow!" A kid calls from the audience, and to humor them I look at the scarecrow.
"Why, scarecrows cannot talk. Why would it possibly be a scarecrow? I must be going crazy..." I say, putting my hands on my hips.
"Ugly scarecrows cannot talk, but a cute one can!" It says, and the 'scarecrow' lifts its head up, revealing Lizzie's face. It was painted with a pink circle on each cheek, and her nose was painted with a triangle colored pink over it. Shifting so it stands up tall, you can take in the patchwork dress she wore and the sunflower on her black bowler hat. Her pig tail curls were altered to make them look shorter as they barely peeked out of her hat, covered slightly with some straw. Straw also came from the underside of her billowed sleeves and were hemmed under her dress.
"This is quite strange, I've never seen a talking scarecrow before," I note aloud, looking her up and down.
"That's because most scarecrows don't feel like talking!" She replies, "They're too dumb to make those decisions."
"What makes you so different? Do you have a brain or something?" I ask, and she sighs.
"Sadly, no. But I'd quite like one, but I can't get one because I can't get off this pole!" She says, and I look at the pole she's standing on.
"Well, I'm currently going to the Wizard of Uu, and if he can get me home he can probably get you a brain!" I say cheerfully, and she squeals.
"Oh! I'd like that very much, please help me get off!" She says, and I set the basket down as I walk behind her, lifting her up from behind and onto the ground.
"Woah! This is strange," she says, wobbly standing up. "You'll get used to it, now come on! Let's go find the Wizard!" I say, picking up the basket as we intersect arms.
"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wondrous Wizard of Uu!" We chant, skipping off stage as the curtain closes to change scenes. The audience applies as I wipe off a sheen of sweat at my hairline.
"Dang Lizzie, you're heavier than you look..." I say, and she smiles innocently. "I've been told the hairspray adds at least 10 pounds!"
I sweat drop at her remark as Ciel steps out in his tin-man costume. It was basically a small barrel painted silver and a funnel wrapped silver plomped on his head, over a silver wig and a silver eye patch. His pants were silver and so were his shoes.
"I feel like the fattest man alive in this," Ciel says with a sigh, as Lizzie gives the barrel-man a large hug. "You're still adorable Ciel!"
"Uhhh...thanks?" he says, and I start snickering. "We'll have to roll you off stage in that costume," I say, and he sweat drops.
"Way to ruin it, Ivy..." he grumbles, walking onto stage and getting in position for the curtain to rise.
"All right, let's do this Lizzie," I grin as the curtain rises and we skip onto stage.
"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wondrous Wizard of Uu!" We sing, passing by Ciel who was hidden by a bush.
"Help..." someone whisper-states, and I stop. "Scarecrow, did you hear that?" I ask, as the person behind the bush repeats "help."
"I think I did..." Lizzie replies, as we walk over to the bush and move it aside, revealing Ciel in his tin-man costume, awkwardly in a reaching-downward position.
"Oh my gosh! You're all rusted up!" Lizzie says, and Ciel sighs. "Yes, I obviously am. Can you perhaps get the oil can by my foot? While I was reaching for the oil can, I rusted up quickly. This is because I am made with cheap metals, not the sturdy, durable metals used in Phantomhive toys."
Shamelessly promoting himself again...
"Of course," I say, taking the oil can and 'oiling' his limbs. He limply swings his limbs, before setting them down. "This helps me a lot, thank you!" He says with a robotic tone, "Now, I can finally go off to do what I was going to do before I rusted!"
"And what was that?" Lizzie asks, and Ciel sighs at the cheesiness of the next line-
"A heart, as mine has been stolen." Ciel says, and Lizzie and I gasp. "That's horrible! We're going to the Wizard of Uu to get me home and the Scarecrow a brain, would you like to come with us? He can help you find your heart!" I ask, and Lizzie nods.
"Yes! Please come with us. If the Wizard can get me a brain, he can obviously get you a heart!" Lizzie testifies with a stern set of nodding, and Ciel sighs.
"Alright, let's go." Ciel loops his arms, and the hardest part of the play begins: Ciel skipping alongside us in his bulky costume.
"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wondrous Wizard of-" we chorus together, as Ciel trips over his feet and face plants into the ground. I let go of his arm, and the audience of children giggle and laugh.
What do we do now?!
Lizzie and I look at each other with wide eyes. "Oh, uh, I guess we didn't oil him well enough!" I nervously laugh, as Lizzie frantically nods.
"Oh darn, this is *cough* always happening to me," Ciel waves off, as we help him stand up again.
"Here we go!" We walk off stage as the curtain lowers, everyone preparing for the next act.
"My ankle...really hurts..." Ciel says, as Sebastian stands over him. "Young master, would you like me to examine it?"
"Yes." Sebastian has Ciel sit down on a bench, proceeding to lift his feet up, rolling up the silvery pants to reveal a swollen ankle.
"Gah, I must've twisted it..." Ciel says, frowning.
"Who can fulfill your role?" I ask, and he sighs. "I shall continue with this, but I have a suggestion..." Ciel says, and I arch a brow.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Now, here's the plan-"
"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Uu!" Our trio choruses, as I roll Ciel as we walk across stage. The kids in the audience giggled at the pitiful state Ciel was in as I fought my own laughter.
"Rawr~" A voice says from the side of the stage, and we all look around bewildered. "Where did that come from?!" I ask aloud, as Grell steps onto stage. His red hair was splayed in a ponytail, and he wore a lion costume and fake whiskers.
"I'm the King of the Jungle! Quiver before me!" Grell boldly states, wildly shaking his touche.
The kids in the audience giggle, and Grell makes a face at them. "Hey! I'm scary!"
"How rude! You cannot willy-nilly scare everyone who approaches you!" I scold, taking a step closer to Grell as he quivers.
"Oh! Please don't hurt me!" Grell quivers, and I sigh.
"You are the most cowardly lion I've ever met," I say, "aren't lions supposed to be, I don't know, a bit more courageous and fear-imposing?"
"Yes...but I lack courage." Grell sighs, and I put my hand on my hip. "Well, what do you suppose you're going to do about that?"
"Obtain courage somehow! That way, I'll become the most fearful lion in this jungle!" He strikes a flexing pose, and I laugh.
"You should come with us to see the Wizard of Uu! The Tin Man is going to get a heart, and I a brain. If the Wizard can get that for us, he can give you courage!" Elizabeth, as Grell shrugs. "Why not? Let's go!"
Grell links arms with Lizzie, as he starts skipping in large strides around the stage, dragging us behind him.
"Oooooh~! I'm off to see the Wizard, the Wondrous Wizard of Uu!" Grell sings, pulling us all offstage.
"This is the Wizard's palace," Grell announces, as we all step back onto stage. Madame Red sat behind a smoke screen, wearing a large red dress with a large red and gold tiara.
"I am the wonderful Wizard!" She announced boldly, and we all cowered slightly. "What do you want?"
"I want courage," Grell states, stepping forward.
"I want a heart." Ciel glumly is rolled forward.
"I WANT TO BE CU-ahem, I want a brain," Elizabeth says, and I finally stepped forward.
"I want to go home!" I announced, as Madame Red nods behind the smokescreen.
"Alright, the only way I'll grant your wishes is if you kill the Wicked Witch of the West!" Madame Red announces, as the curtains draw to a close.
Preparing for the next scene, I sigh, cracking my back. "It's almost over, thank god. The lights make me feel like a melting snowcone."
"I'm the one trapped in a barrel!" Ciel growls, as the curtains open once more upon Sebastian. He was wearing a long, black cape and a black wig with a large pointy hat laid upon his head.
"Hey! We're here to kill you!" Liz announces, and I nearly facepalm. She skipped a whole bunch of dialogue!
"Okay," Sebastian smirks, "but I highly doubt you can-"
"Ooh! Sebas-chan, you look so good as a woman!" Grell shrieks, blushing heavily. "Please tell me where you get that shade of lip gloss from!"
"Water! That's a witch's weakness, it melts their makeup!" I cover up, hastily grabbing the bucket of water and throwing it at Sebastian. The bucket hits Sebastian in the face, as the water barely flecks onto him.
Whoops!
"It's actually buckets, but oh no, now I'm melting!" Sebastian croaks, as smoke fills the stage as Sebastian 'dies.'
Turns out, when I had let go of Ciel to get the bucket, he had begun to roll off the stage, and we had all been distracted until we heard a large CRASH!
Ciel was on the floor of the audience, unconscious, and I looked at the side of the stage to see Sebastian shrugging; almost as if saying 'well, he's not dead.'
The kids started crying, shrieking how they hope the tin-man is okay.
"Uh, the moral of the story is, that, uh, plans never go right all the time. And if you think everything will work out perfect, it won't always?" I say, as Elizabeth nods hastily.
"And now, Tin-Man's dead." She robotically states as the curtains fall.
What the fuck was that?
The stage hands begin shifting the set back to the Kingdom of Uu as Sebastian stands up, sweeping back his hair from the wig. "That didn't go as planned," he muttered, striding off stage.
"Rise the curtains!" Bard mutters as the curtains sweep open upon the city of Uu as we stand before the Wizard, err, Madame Red.
"Can we have what we want now?" Ciel asks as Madame Red sighs. "I am afraid that I have no real magick, merely scientific discoveries. I can, however, give you these: The Lion a medal."
Soma wheels forward a silver platter, opening it to reveal a medal and other objects. Madame Red withdraws the medal of honor, handing it to Grell.
"Ooh, shiny!"
"This Medal of Valour makes you courageous," Madame Red announces, taking out a stuffed heart toy (courtesy of Funtom) and passed it to Ciel. "A heart for a heartless man."
"I feel emotion, now. Thank you, Wizard." Ciel's monotone voice sounded ever-so sarcastic as I bit my tongue.
"The scarecrow a degree from Harvard," Madame Red hands Lizzie a certificate as she unravels it. "I'd rather have new clothes, honestly-"
"What about me?" I interrupt, "How can I go home?"
"Why, my dear, with those amethyst shoes of yours you can go home already. Just click them 3 times and say 'there's no place like home' and then you'll be there." Madame Red smiles as I look down at the shoes.
"No way!" I look up, looking at the others. "I will miss you all, though, thank you for getting me here."
All of us embrace in a hug as the children cheer, before I pull away, closing my eyes.
"There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home!" I click my heels as the stage lights flicker as I activate a bit of magic. My eyes are closed as I spin around, magically poking some holes in bags of glitter positioned over the audience as purple and silver glitter rained down on the crowd. I heard some giggles and 'wows' as they all watched the glitter, rather than the transition of it back to the farm house. Everyone ran off stage as I flopped down on the bed, pulling the sheets over my head.
I stopped the glitter falling as my eyes faded to their normal color as I sat up in the bed, letting out an exaggerated yawn, rubbing my eyes as I looked around.
"Oh my! I'm back!" I cheer, pumping my fists as the children shriek in joy. "But, was it all a dream?" I wonder aloud, standing from the bed as I look down at my feet where the purple slippers twinkled. I gasped, taking off a shoe and holding it up, before grinning at the audience.
"I guess we'll never know."
The curtains fell as the audience clapped tremendously as everyone came back onto stage, and Ciel was sat in a chair without his barrel costume on and was wearing a vest and nice pants. The curtains opened against as we all held hands and bowed, people throwing flowers at us.
"Thank you all for coming to our original production of the Wizard of Uu!" Ciel states from his chair, "If you'd like to buy some of the products used in the show, they are out in the lobby! Once more, thank you for coming!" The audience erupted into cheers once more as the curtains fell as we let out relieved sighs.
"Shall I begin cleaning the mess, young master?" Sebastian asks as Ciel nods, "Certainly. Madame Red, can you help tend to my ankle so I don't have to head to the hospital?"
"Of course, let's head backstage." Madame Red states, as Sebastian picks Ciel up quickly, carting him off. Looking towards everyone who helped, I gave them a big thumbs up.
"Thank you!"
3 months later, unknown exact date
"It's a pleasure to meet with you, sir," I smile as I shake the man's hand, sitting down in the small coffee shop.
"It's amazing to meet with you, I'm still in shock with how wonderful your performance was." The man informs, removing his top hat as he places it besides him as I blush lightly.
"Oh, you're too kind."
"You wrote it as well, correct?" He asks as I nod.
"Yes, I wrote it on a story idea I had," I informed, as he withdrew a notebook.
"Well, I had thoughts on your story, and while it is completely amazing it is strange and whimsical and fairy-like, unlike anything I've ever seen before. There's a sense of wonder that's left unexplored, as it is just a play," he starts, opening up the notebook and showing it to me with sketches and lots of writing, flipping through pages to show me new scribbles and notes.
"I feel like it can be embellished deeper, as if there were more conflicts along the way. Probably no new characters, but definitely more adventures." He adds, as I arch a brow, looking at him in confusion.
"You wish for me to bring back the play? I'm sorry, but that was a charity event." I give a sad smile as he shakes his head.
"I'd like to purchase the rights from you to make it into a book of my own," he informs, "it won't come out for a while, as this will be a side project of mine while I continue working my day job, but until the moment it comes out all rights will continue to be yours. You can continue selling the products, which I assume bring in lots of revenue."
"I see, how much would you be willing to offer?" I ask as he withdraws a checkbook.
"I didn't come from America empty handed to make the deal of a lifetime, so I will give you this..."
My eyes bugged out at the number, which is well over ten million American dollars in the future. While I would never do anything with the play created, this man would do so much more, and be iconic symbols in the future.
"Sure, Mr. Baum," I smile, shaking his hand, "we have a deal."
He signed the check as he handed it to me. "We shall keep in touch, yes?"
"Definitely, write me letters of every development or idea, I'm so glad you will turn it into something more than a play," I grin, "but, I do have two requests."
"Of course," he says, "go ahead."
"One, I'd like 5% of all profits of the story or stories you create revolving around this land to be given to me, please." I smile, knowing that I'd be able to start a hefty bank account for future descendants of my line. He nods, "That's a small amount, are you sure with that?"
"Absolutely, this is going to be your works. And the last one..."
"Yes?"
"Please change Destiny's name to Dorothy."
