Friday 22 June 2007, Dublin, Ireland
"I spent the summer days in Dublin rehearsing for when I was going to perform, I didn't want to look bad, itwas also a week to relax at the start of the holidays, I was able to enjoy the time in Dublin, having fun withCroix, where we played games, talked, from time to time also caught up with each other since therelationship was still very much on, but the time was approaching, the internet had already announced thatmy World Tour had begun and I was starting to get ready to leave for the airport, perhaps a little worriedabout my mum Laura who had become very depressed over the last few days, very much because of thesituation of her mum Bernadette who was very ill, I was worried about that too, but I wanted to keep my headdown and hope that she would get better as I didn't want the inevitable tragedy to be just that."
Suitcases ready, wow, everything full of new clothes that we bought especially for the tour, I'm all excited with all this in hand, I start to leave the room and go downstairs, there Croix and my mum were waiting for me, which I went up to my girlfriend, giving her a kiss as usual and my mum giving me a pat on the head.
"Come on girls, the tour has to start" said Mum Laura and I'm so happy and excited about it, I'm finally going to be back on stage, it's going to be so good.
"I'm so excited, after almost a year Shiny Chariot is back" I say with a twinkle in my eye.
"Keep your spirits up girl, we're going to keep going like this, let's go to the car and I'll say goodbye to you" We nod.
We walk to Mum's car and there, leaning against the car, is Mrs Jordan, so the two adults are in the front seat and we're in the back, the car is leaving the house and the way is to the airport, I'm barely waiting, I'm already getting the ticket paper and I'm very excited, looking at the road around us, the various destinations on the journey.
"Are you ready to fly first class Chariot?" I nod my head in agreement.
"I've never been so ready" I say to Aunt April.
"This is going to be amazing, Chariot, us in first class enjoying all the luxury, imagine how perfect it would be, it must be like a dream, like having a spa on an aeroplane" I can only imagine.
"It's a pity that this first journey will only take less than an hour, but even so, enjoy your time at the hotel" we certainly will.
The landscape goes by and I'm happy looking around, as the city appears, then disappears, as the airport is a little way away, not too far from home, you can hear some planes passing close by when we're there, the car arrives at the airport car park, Mum parks and we get out of the car for the first part of our journey.
We walk through the airport, start to do the basic check-in things, everything goes smoothly, our flight will still take at least an hour to start, so we arrive very early and go to a snack bar to wait for everything.
[...]
It's time to get on the plane, we walk towards the boarding corridor and there I'm hugged very tightly by my mum Laura to the point where she's even leaning on a broom to get closer to me in terms of height, I can feel her getting very emotional, crying for a while, which I found very strange, I'm only leaving on my tour, I was expected to leave.
"I wish you were here so much, so you could be with Bernadette, so she could tell you how proud she is of the girl she was able to help get here, her proud daughter... Chariot, do your best, give it your all on this tour, go for it, I love you, most importantly, take care of yourself" She's crying a lot and I can feel a few tears coming too.
"Thanks for everything Mum... I'll always remember you on this trip, I'll always try to keep in touch, I'll have a successful tour, that's for sure" I say to her, who smiles at me and pats me on the shoulder.
"That's what I'm sure you'll be able to do, that's my girl" I get all emotional
I wipe away Mum's tears and hug her once more, then I wave to her, leaving with Croix with all our papers in hand, now it's time to board, when we show our documents we're quickly released, we go through the metal detector and everything, which we continue along the way, which we get on the plane, and by the nine witches look at these seats, when we sit down there's already an enormous comfort.
"It's like I'm a queen here" I say as I sit down.
"Chariot, less, don't get too excited in first class, the flight won't even last an hour" that's why I'm excited.
"Exactly, we have to make the most of it" I say as I comfort myself on the plane.
The view from the window is also spectacular, you can see the wing of the plane from here, it's still stationary, just waiting for all the passengers to board, and more people are joining us, I'm so happy about this, I can't wait to start travelling around and doing my tour.
Soon the stewardesses were arriving and they were offering us a lot of things, and my eyes lit up at the lobster on offer, which I was keen to get, even though it wasn't very different from the food we used to eat at home when we used to eat prawns and crayfish.
"Look, we can say that we've eaten lobster on an aeroplane" I say as I pick up one of her legs and put it inside.
"Please, Chariot, just don't go getting the lobster and playing around, we're in first class, we should behave ourselves" That's a bit of a bummer, I'll get the lobster tongs out and make a point of playing around.
"Look now Croix, I'm the bizarre lobster, boo" I say to her, who keeps wiping her face and I even see a few smiles coming from the other people on the plane.
"By the nine Chariot witches, you really don't know how to behave, do you?" It's going to be difficult, we have to be more cheerful.
I continued to eat, I waved to some people, I think they must have recognised me as Shiny Chariot, at least I hope so, well today the trip is going to be very good, my girlfriend is trying to behave like a classy girl, she knows where she came from, I don't hide the fact that I'm an adopted daughter of a Cavendish who was once a poor girl from France too, that's part of my journey here.
[...]
The journey was like the blink of an eye, I got off the plane and we headed out through the arrivals hall and there I could already hear a crowd of people, as I got closer, posters everywhere, they were waiting for me, it was a whole crowd, they knew I was going to arrive here in London today, lots of children with their parents together, the airport was getting crowded and I was getting closer with my suitcases.
"The Shiny Chariot has arrived in London!" My fans said.
I approach everyone, taking photos with my fans who are using their cameras and mobile phones, I think I've taken photos with everyone and I'm even posing, while Croix is waiting.
After this fan session, I leave with my suitcases and we walk through the airport with a bit of a security escort, which we follow to the exit, where there is a Mercedes waiting for both Croix and me, they leave our suitcases in the boot of the car and then I sit down, amazed at such luxury.
"I feel like a Croix celebrity, I just never thought it would be like this" I say excitedly as I get into the car and still see a crowd at the airport.
"That's the weight of fame, and maybe it's also my fault for telling you that you were going to London today, so I made a point of calling your fans here" Ahhh now it makes perfect sense that you're here.
"Was it you?" She was always keen to attract attention.
"I have to keep the hype for Shiny Chariot alive, well now we're going to the hotel, today's not over, it's just the start of your world tour, all the luxury in the world, everything paid for, we're just going to make the most of it" said my girlfriend and I nodded in agreement.
The car is as comfortable as an aeroplane, I feel like I'm on a throne, I love sitting in luxurious cars like this, while the city can be seen out the window and it's all daylight, the cars passing by, going about their routine and I'm here in the car, like I'm nothing, everything is so beautiful.
It doesn't take long before we arrive at the hotel, the car stops and we get out, the place is beautiful from the outside and they take our suitcases, then we're taken care of by the hotel workers too and they put them in those trolleys with the suitcases
"Oh, they're here" said one of the waiters.
"Chariot Du Nord and Croix Meridies, welcome to our hotel, I hope you enjoy our service" said another of them and they were very welcoming to us.
I've never had such a queenly welcome, so I walk down the corridors to reception and the key to our room is given, I'm anxious, we're taken by one of the servants, he leads us to the lift, which we look at in amazement, even Croix herself is impressed, I haven't seen such luxury since I lived in the Cavendish mansion, even so it's a different luxury, the Cavendish house is more like something old, this is modern luxury.
"As you can see, even our lifts are luxurious enough to give you a good experience here, and now we're going to take you to one of the rooms on the roof" that's a lot of luxury.
The lift arrives and the corridor is simply different, there's even a security guard here, wow, I look at him a little scared, but he waves at us smiling, so we continue on our way to the room and as we open the door, wow, look at the size of this, it's not like any other, there's even a swimming pool in this place.
The worker then leaves and tells us about room service when we get hungry or need anything, so I run to the bed and throw myself on it and wow, this is soft, it's like I'm throwing myself on a flowery field, and it smells marvellous.
"Ahhhhhh, look at this Croix, we're in a luxurious room" I say excitedly.
"We've finally arrived, we can rest a bit as we have our presentation on Sunday" said my girlfriend and I pulled her by the arm as I approached the bed, making her stand right on top of me.
"Or enjoy the best time possible in these luxurious rooms" I lean my face into her, who smiles and gives me a kiss.
"We've got all the time in the world, Chariot, we'll be able to do whatever we want" she said, then got off me and didn't even think about making out, Well, I'm going to see what's in this utility room.
I look at the sheet and there's a bring-your-own-food service, we can even choose the menu, there's even a masseur that we can bring here, that's amazing, I loved it, except that the masseur is saying that he can only appear for guests of legal age, what a bummer, there's a bring-your-own-food service, I look at the menu and it's very diverse and best of all we don't have to pay for the food, we can also make a personalised order, wow.
[...]
Sunday 24 June 2007, London, England
"I hadn't had luxury like that since I was a child, I was very anxious at the time and it was even moreluxurious than the Cavendish mansion, which was only luxurious because it was old, very different from thehotels I stayed in on this world tour, but anyway, I was very excited and happy to introduce myself, it wasdifferent from Alan's bus where my back hurt from sleeping on that hard mattress inside, apart from the factthat there was space and privacy for me and Croix to enjoy ourselves in other ways, apart from the fooditself, it was all magical for me, I was old enough to understand and enjoy these things and that made itbetter, but of course I didn't forget the most important thing."
It's nine o'clock at night, the time hasn't even made me realise that I'm about to introduce myself, I'm going down the lift with Croix, we already have people waiting for us outside cheering us on, I'm making a point of waving and even taking photos and lots of them, I'm walking until I get to the car, the same Mercedes that picked us up from the airport, I'm watching the sky start to darken.
"I'm dying of anxiety Croix, the show's about to start" I say excitedly.
"Shiny Chariot is only an hour away from appearing on stage, how are you?" I'm extremely excited about it all.
"I'm just waiting to see how it turns out" I say happily.
It's very close, you can see that there's a crowd of people queuing up at the stadium, it's a stadium itself, so I get out of the car and walk down the corridor, taking lots of photos, waving to people, I walk down the corridors, very excited about everything, until I get inside and there I part company with my girlfriend.
"Go on Chariot, introduce yourself, I'll prepare the Dream Fuel Spirit" Meridies says and I hug her.
I'm just not going to kiss them so that they find out we're having an affair and things end up for the worse. I go to my dressing room and I can already see a huge difference compared to the others, and I can see that my clothes have improved a lot, but before I do that I sit down in the chair and a woman comes up to me.
"No, not at all Chariot, you should shower first and then we'll start putting make-up on you for the show, grab that towel straight away and go take a shower, after you've showered put on a dressing gown and we'll quickly wash your hair, everything to make you look perfect for the show" said the girl and I got up from the chair.
Well, as soon as she says that, I go to the dressing room shower, I huff and puff and come on, it's time to shower, I'd already showered before I came here, I don't know why I should shower again, but well, those are the rules, so I take off my clothes and get into the shower, letting the hot, relaxing water fall over my body
I just keep thinking about how this show is going to be I never imagined it would go this far, not even when I was presenting with Alan, it was as big as it is now, to the point where I even have to take a shower, which I do by washing my whole body very quickly, I've already had a shower before, so I get out of the shower with my hair wet and in my dressing gown and I'm already approached to go to the hair washing chair.
"This has already made it much easier to get your head wet, we have to make everything perfect today Shiny Chariot, the children will like to see this, a clean stage entertainer ready to rock" she said.
"Wow, all this to introduce you, I had a shower at the hotel before I left here" I say, sitting down as they wash my hair.
"How many hours ago?" Not long.
"It's not even an hour since I took a shower" she shrugs.
"Well, whatever it takes to make you smell good for the stage has to be done, you didn't wash your hair and I could tell" Yeah, it wasn't dirty, so there's no need to wash it, but staying like this is also relaxing, I like it when they wash my hair.
They're even starting to do my nails in the meantime, I just don't care much for them, but they'll still do a manicure, so I'll keep my hands relaxed and let them do whatever they want, it's the kind of treatment I didn't expect, even on my feet, what do you mean, I'm wearing boots all the time, it doesn't make sense to have a pedicure, well at least it's all up to date.
[...]
I'm ready, it's been a very relaxing hour, my nails are perfect, I'd only stopped cutting them a while ago because I use them to scratch Croix's back, well they're beautiful now, but they'll soon be full of torn skin. I look at myself in the mirror and I'm lovely, my make-up is very simple, but at the same time it gives off a Shiny Chariot vibe, I'm also looking perfect in this outfit and I'm even lighter, so I'm getting up and getting ready to start performing.
"Perfect, we've done an excellent job, now it's up to you Shiny Chariot, kick ass" said the beautician.
Confidently I walk down the corridors to the stage, standing exactly on a platform that will rise when I'm called, I've rehearsed my numbers a lot so there's no mistake, this is going to make the audience very emotional, which is already starting to play an opening song before my performance begins and with the right to a narration and the voice is my mum Laura, how marvellous.
"After almost a year without her, the hope of the witches, that missing sparkle in our hearts that would bring back faith in magic, the scarlet-haired witch is back! She who showed us that our magic is believing in ourselves! Shiny Chariot!" I'm carried up the platform and amidst the smoke billowing from the sides I appear on stage and I'm overwhelmed by all the people shouting at me and clapping their hands, well it's time to shine.
"Welcome to the marvellous world of magic! Believing in yourself is your magic!" I say this as I make a spinning motion and raise my hat, and with it come effects that are much better than I imagined.
Lots of lights are appearing and causing a shower of magic around me as I dance across the stage and hear some clapping, which is playing one of my theme songs, going very calmly, with the magic starting to show a landscape that I'm making with my movements, and with that I'm looking across the stands and I pick up my Shiny Rod and stand up to say the words.
"Noctu OrfeiAude Fraetor!" The first word, transformed into a bow with the arrow shooting towards the sky.
The arrow then splits into several which, with the help of Croix's machine, create a dome of magic that surrounds the stadium, causing a bright golden light to fall with the effect of the magic as if it were rain, reaching the surroundings, impressing everyone who looks, as fairies appear from the audience, the effects coming together, how interesting, as Croix said.
I start to dance, which attracts all these fairies that have come out of the crowd, and we start to dance, forming a circle that gets bigger and bigger, with my steps, and then we all hold hands, and at that point I take my broom and stand on it, with the fairies holding on and making a trail, exactly as rehearsed.
We pass very close to the audience, creating a real train of fairies and it's magical how many there are, creating a huge trail and then a puff of smoke comes over the stage and a darkness takes over the place, it comes in the shape of a dragon, now it's the part where I've improved everything in relation to the fight against the dragon.
"The Noir Dragon is back to terrorise magic! We can't let that happen!" I say as I head towards the stage and the dragon heads towards the audience.
Passing very close, it even seems to be real, which frightens people, but the fairies protect it, the dragon devours some of them and I return to the stage and watch the fairies fight it, many are devoured, others are stunned, and I use the first word to start creating an arrow.
"Quickly, we need the help of everyone believing in magic to defeat the evil Noir Dragon" I say to the audience, which causes a magical effect of something golden coming towards me.
The arrow starts to form and with that the Noir Dragon stops attacking the fairies and comes towards me, only I keep aiming the arrow and only release it when I get close enough, which is what happens, he gets in my face and when he's hit he ends up crumbling into a kind of golden explosion which I get out of the way of and ends up turning the stage into a forest full of life and with that people start clapping.
I dance to the music, arriving with the creatures and keeping the rhythm, while the audience claps along, the theme becoming calm and peaceful, my movements all having a marvellous effect that follows my trail, it's beautiful, I don't know how Croix did it, but this machine for creating effects is better than the others, it even has a more magical air.
[...]
I've just performed, I finish in style and there's a lot of clapping, I'm really tired, but it's all wonderful, I never thought I'd be able to reinvent myself and be able to perform at a high level before, but look at this, everyone is loving seeing me, people are shouting my name, it all makes me emotional, I really couldn't have imagined it and the closing song just helps everything.
"Thank you so much, thank you so much! I thank all of you from London! Thank you for your wonderful presence!" I say, bowing to the stage and then the curtain comes up.
I was really tired, the performance was really hard, but look now I'm doing marvellously in everything, I'm leaving the stage and going down the stairs back to the dressing room, when I get there I get a hug from my girlfriend, she congratulates me on the performance I've done, I'm really impressed, I've outdone myself today.
"Chariot, you were perfect, marvellous, the performance was impeccable, everyone loved it, I could see it here and we did it successfully, if you carry on like this at the end of the tour we'll make it!" She said excitedly.
"Look, I just let go and relaxed, as I always do, took a deep breath and felt as if the stage and I were one, so everything flowed as expected" I say relieved.
"Well, the people who saw that must now be feeling unique, that's for sure, you've just shown what you're here for, now let's go, it's time to go to the hotel, tomorrow we leave here for our next stop" said my girlfriend.
"Paris... Coming back to France with everything, I can't wait to see what the people in my country think, I'm going to make a point of presenting everything in my own language, that's sure to attract attention" I say with great motivation.
"Do your best Chariot, I'm sure you and Dream Fuel Spirit will do well, here you've shown that you're not just any Chariot, but a Shiny Chariot" I'm so happy to see my Croix supporting me so much.
I go to the dressing room, where I can already see people celebrating and there I grab my clothes, change into more casual clothes, and look at myself in the mirror all happy, I've done it, I've realised my childhood dream, the dream of making everyone smile, I've been able to do it... This is for you mums, for everyone who supported me.
I leave the stadium and outside the fans are shouting for me, down the corridor to the car, everyone calling me by name and me waving, photos and more photos, as I walk with Croix along the way, which I get into the car and I'm quite shocked.
"I haven't got used to it yet, am I really a celebrity?" I say shocked still processing that much, my mind is full of things right now.
"I told you, we've made it, for witches you've already cemented yourself as part of history, for mundane people you're a celebrity, that's already something great on your part, look at all the fans you've got, if we keep going like this the witch revolution is only a matter of time" That's true, I don't need Woodward that much to get here.
"It's bizarre, but at the same time it's gratifying, my hard work has been recognised, all the way here, what seven years ago I was just a street artist trying to earn my money to study at Luna Nova, today I'm here, inside a Mercedes Benz, leaving a show I did in a stadium in London and going to a luxury hotel, me to Chariot Du Nord, that same catarrhal little girl from Loperèc" I say as the car passes through the crowd.
"It was the stars aligning for you Chariot, you've worked hard to get here and you're being rewarded for your hard work" said my girlfriend.
"A bit of luck too, none of this would have happened if I hadn't met the right people, if hard work was a sign of deserving to get rich then our driver deserved a lot more, or anyone who worked on putting the show together, I don't know the world is too unfair" Croix shrugs and well I want this to help people realise these injustices.
"Welcome to the real world Chariot, you look like you've touched grass now" She can only be mocking me, I know about the cruelty of the world from an early age, I'm the one who's been working since I was 10 years old, having all kinds of experience.
We continued on our way, we arrived at the hotel and there were already people shouting at me, asking to take some photos, which we made a point of doing just for a while, before going up to the room, taking all the photos in the world, then we went up to our room taking the lift.
This whole thing is bizarre, I feel like I'm famous, someone who can't see me has turned up here at the hotel, it's too bizarre, I went up to the room with Croix and with that we went in and I could see that she got very close to me, which I reciprocated by kissing her until we got into bed with me throwing myself right on top of Meridies.
"Ahhhhh, after that exhausting day I've been waiting for this" said the one with the lilac hair.
"Me too my love, now let's do what I've been waiting for as a post-show" I say to my girlfriend.
"Look, you were a show today, also the Shiny Chariot outfit suited you very well, it was so marvellous and perfect, I'm really happy to see how my girlfriend looks so beautiful and also with such a great body" she said grabbing my buttocks and I already made an expression that was more like delivering a message.
"You want to see a special presentation of the Shiny Chariot, I've got one with a special outfit for you too Croix" I say with a mischievous grin.
"Do you have it? Show me that special outfit" She's even biting her lip and I get up from the bed to get my special outfit.
She's going to go crazy over this Chariot bunny presentation, with an outfit similar to mine only more provocative, it's not enough that the original is enough, but this one is special and particular to my girlfriend, I can see that she liked the idea, I can find it and I see her already sitting on the bed with all the desire in the world, this girl must be thirsty.
"Look, it wasn't a London gig that you ended up going to, but from what mum Bernadette told me in themessages at the time, she prioritised the one in Japan because of her health, a lot because she thought itwas close to happening, but anyway, that was the start of the world tour, a real success, performing in astadium, it made me feel so important that I had no idea, everyone was shouting my name, everyone knewwho Shiny Chariot was, things seemed perfect, I didn't even realise that Dream Fuel Spirit was already
wreaking its havoc on everyone watching and that all the time the magic used wasn't from the machine orfrom me, or from emotions, it was what Croix had hidden for the whole tour, knowing that I would refuse tosupport it, in the end we know that I only ended up getting the worst of it and well, I had my share of theblame for that."
See you, world witches...