The holiday season ended with lots of rain, more in the Willamette Valley than on Mount Greylock, but it was wet, and it was cold. Such is winter when on the top of the mountains or the bottom of the valleys. A thick glaze of rainwater seemed to perpetually cover the ground. It had been over two weeks though, but Evergreen's cloak remained enchanted, always keeping him perfectly warm when it was on his person.

To be completely honest with himself, Evergreen felt much more secure leaving Dad with the four sigils on various parts of the property. Because they were personal sigils, the only individuals who could enter the house without an invitation were blood members of their family, no one else. Being back at school meant that he couldn't afford to worry about things that were out of his reach, with a new term, play rehearsals, flying practice, and his private lessons with Woods to occupy him.

The weeks flew by and the play's four performances over two weeks were scheduled. Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon of the last week of January and the first week of February were selected by Professor Park and approved by the school board. Evergreen found himself at a dress rehearsal with a white toga draped about his bony frame and a crown of laurel leaves adorning his head which was in desperate need of a haircut at that point.

They were within a theater that was located directly above where the commons were in the school. The 5,000 or so seats were obviously tiered and there was a stage with an open orchestral pit located at the base of it. His character Brutus was having an intense back-and-forth with Cassius, Maggie's character. It was during those specific times that Evergreen got a little preoccupied with how pretty Maggie was. Sure, she was no supermodel, but she had an air of confidence, a fierce intelligence, and pristine bone structure. That was all a great combination, to be honest. Sandy Blackbird and Chastity Greenhorn were Maggie's two best friends. They were also in the cast. It was Sandy who was the supermodel. She looked like a tall, young Jessica Alba. Evergreen didn't so much like her personality though as she said several insulting things about him under her breath, so neither she, nor Chastity were what he would consider his friends. They were merely his acquaintances by association.

"Evergreen," Professor Park interrupted. "I'm almost buying what you're selling. You're doing great, but I feel like you can take it a step further."

She was wearing purple robes with golden stars that legitimately twinkled, disappeared, then reappeared when she moved. She leapt from outside of the orchestra pit to the stage in one bound that was quite impressive considering the surface of the stage was exactly shoulder-height for the small, ethnically Korean witch. There was obviously magic involved in the stunt.

"What do you mean?" he challenged.

"I am looking for turmoil, for internal conflict! Don't you have any turmoil in your life that you could channel into this medium?"

Evergreen scratched his head and rocked on his heels. He looked over at Maggie, whose brown hair was done up in a tight braid against her scalp. She was looking at Professor Park with interest. He considered his current situation with his mom being locked away in some far away, unreachable place.

"Turmoil?" he repeated, mostly to himself, "Well, there is s-something that I really want to do, but I c-can't do it yet because I'm too young and inexperienced."

"Okay. That's great, now how does that make you feel?" she asked, trying to get in his face, but unable to, as he had grown to be a whole head taller than she was, in just a few months.

"To be honest, frustrated, helpless, and a little sad." He whispered, suddenly keenly aware that Link, Maggie's girls, and the rest of the cast and crew were all staring at him. For this reason, his face flushed a strawberry pink.

"Evergreen," Professor Park began, grabbing his shoulders with her hands. "Never be ashamed to express yourself, especially on stage. You'd be a damn star if you let yourself go. I'm no seer, but I can see greatness in you. My assignment for you is to find it."

He left that rehearsal feeling a little downtrodden. He had been walked over for his entire life. Dad made all the family decisions, he was talked over at every family function, even here at school whenever Swab gave him trouble, someone else was always there to save him. Even Link and his weird hypnosis voice thing (he still needed to talk to him about that) was more greatness than he knew. Sure, he did magic okay, and there was that one time with Diva when he helped her out, but that was just one instance. If Professor Park wanted him to find his greatness, he needed to find the person he was when he threw a stunning spell that shook an entire room.

"Hey," Diva started, when they sat down for dinner, "Are you okay?"

"I guess." He said. What he really needed was a hug, but he wasn't about to ask for one.

To his surprise, Diva put her arms around him at this point, nuzzling into his shoulder. He was startled by it, but after the initial shock, he let himself get sucked into the embrace.

"What was that for?" He asked when they separated.

"It was just a feeling I had."

"Thanks Diva."

She just smiled and returned to her baked potato and whatever life story Link was entertaining the table with.

It was opening night and Dad was in the audience with a few other parents, but mostly students, faculty, and some locals from the magic island just off the coast of Boston that had been hidden away for hundreds of years from No-Maj folk. Untraceable and undetectable, unless one knew magic, of course. It was called Kehtuhhan Island, meaning "The Sea,'' in the original tongue of the First Peoples who lived in the Massachusetts area.

Dad was excited to get back into the theater. He had grown up after all performing with his drums. Sometimes on stage, sometimes in a room for recital purposes and sometimes in a parade. There were two marching bands that he had performed with during Evergreen's childhood. Evergreen could tell that Dad was bursting with pride, with his son entering show business in this way. Seeing that oozing from his dad was enough to make him feel emotional.

The crowd was maybe 2,000 people and Evergreen and the rest of the cast were brimming with excitement. Evergreen had never done anything like that before. He never even sang at church or anything, this was a first. He had to agree with Dad's assessment with his stutter waning away. When one is on stage doing theater, they need to be hyper-aware of what they are saying and what others are saying and doing. With that hyperawareness, it was easier to prevent one's mouth from going off without them, leaving them to sputter about, searching for a solid consonant. His stutter wasn't quite as strong as it was that previous year, he had Professor Park to thank for that.

He adjusted his white toga and red sash around himself because he felt like he needed to keep his hands busy. He took off his laurel crown briefly to run his fingers through his own hair. He looked over to Link and Diva and wasn't surprised to see Link setting a firm kiss on her jawbone. This odd time and place for such affection made Evergreen let out a loud, yet brief laugh.

"What's going on?" Link asked, turning around to Evergreen.

"Nothing." Evergreen looked away, embarrassed. "As you were."

Before going on stage, Professor Park gathered the whole cast and crew together. She said a few words of encouragement that Evergreen thought was just what the doctor ordered. She said things like 'make me believe', 'connect with the audience', and 'trust one-another.' She looked toward Evergreen and Maggie and told them to make her proud. Evergreen silently agreed to do so.

He and the rest of them acted their hearts out. Diva started the show as one of the muses levitating above the stage without any wires, Link came in as Jupiter, Lord of the Sky after having drank a potion that literally makes one's skin glow, and then Evergreen did his thing as Marcus Brutus, senator of Rome. The story of Julius Caesar was indeed a tragic one. The man wanted to bring even more greatness to Rome, but he was full of ambition, and many viewed that as a problem. Cassius thought that because of his ambition, the Roman empire would crumble. So, it was decided that he would be destroyed. Cassius and the other senators were then demonized for doing what they felt like was necessary for the good of the empire.

One cannot assume causation, but after Caesar's untimely demise, the Roman empire grew exponentially over the next 1,000 years. Who's to say that if he wasn't thus dispatched, the empire wouldn't have grown faster and larger? This tragedy was widely viewed as a necessary evil. He was a man of great power who had built an extreme dictatorship. If one disagreed with anything that he said or did, they were demonized as well. It has been said that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Any dictatorship could testify to that.

Evergreen's words all came clear and fluid and he made eye contact with Dad for one brief moment and he saw only deep pride there. He kept up his professionalism and stayed in the scene with great care. He was Brutus and he had to let go of Caesar, his best friend. He derived his performance from the loss he felt from the separation between him and Mom. He felt like it went well. He had fake stabbed the short, tanned Aaron Talbot, who was playing Caesar, so many times, that they actually thought it was a funny thing to do, so it took a bit for them not to break character as he was the last to stab him.

They obviously used quite a bit of fake blood during the show. When told from the three perspectives (i.e., Caesar's, Brutus', and Caesar's manservant), a quick scourgify needed to be cast on Aaron's toga. There were quite a few light charms that were cast throughout to simulate night and day.

Dad couldn't go to all of the performances, but each performance seemingly just got better and better. Sunday night came their cast and crew party. It was held in a basement ballroom. Everyone on the cast and crew could invite one other person, so Evergreen invited Andie and Diva invited Glade. The ballroom was done up and decorated like a Roman palace with great marble columns, stone busts of gods and other individuals, and purple banners covering the ceiling. Because the Christmas season was done, many of the fairies were flitting about near the ceiling, making everything glow in the most ethereal way.

"Hey, Evergreen, cover for us." Link requested, as he pulled Diva's hand, the two of them disappearing into a far room that was dark and quite obscured.

"Okay…" he replied after they were already out of sight and earshot.

"They're gross." Andie said, piling snacks on a small plate, "They're what, twelve years old?"

"Yeah. You'd think they wouldn't be in such a hurry." Glade replied, taking a fistful of snacks from Andie's plate.

"Oh no. Who invited her?" Evergreen whined, looking toward the door.

Andie and Glade then looked toward the medium sized wooden door and entering, they saw Aaron entering with none other than Beatrice Gale-Larson. She was smiling and her hair was up in a bun with her wand conspicuously keeping it up and together as if a single tug of the stick would make her hair fall about her shoulders. When Sandy saw her, she beelined over to where she was standing and started talking excitedly together. Evergreen figured that if Sandy liked her, that was good enough for him to avoid her entirely. He figured he'd turn away from them to avoid being too conspicuous.

Evergreen picked up a plate of fries and a strawberry cauldron cake to help himself fade into the background. It was during Julius Caesar that he realized that he loved performing, but to be frank, it was so exhausting. Being the center of attention was still not exactly his idea of fun. He could do or say something embarrassing. It wasn't an irrational fear, it was real, and it came from real experiences. He ended up leaving the party early though, because he wanted to leave it on his terms, not Beatrice's.

A/N: We are so close to this story's climax. Thanks for sticking with me and if you like anything you've read here, let me know in the comments, likes, or anything else like that! Till next time!

-EQ