A/N: Hiyas everyone, I'm alive! I do have to say, spring break was a little too short but I only have a month left for the semester, so it's crunch time in April (already have exams this coming week and after that it's only 2 weeks to finals). Got chapters ahead of time but I am so ready for summer break at least to be done with school for a while. (3/20/24)
Anyway, I have a question for you all. If you could name Uno, what would u name it as? It's an idea I got for a side story.
"Wait, he PROGRAMMED a singing voice?" Ace exclaims. "Are you for real?!" Angel looked at Ortho, agreeing with Ace's statement. If that's the case, then why would anyone even put in the effort to sing?!
"Hah hah hah!" Lilia laughs. "I see the Ignihyde housewarden's reputation as a technomantic engineering savant is well-deserved. He gets some inspired ideas."
"That's p. legit, actually!" Cater adds, impressed with the development. "Programming voice synthesis software and posting songs you make with it has taken off gib time. I'm a fan of electropop stuff, myself."
"I got no idea what any of you are talkin' about," Grim says with paws crossed, sighing.
"Really, Grimmy? You've never seen a virtual idol before?" He shakes his head. "What about you, teacup?" He asks her and she shakes her head. "Here, lemme show you a clip," he says as he types something on his phone. "Let's see..." He taps his phone, letting it load for a bit. While the phone is loading, everyone gathers around him, trying to see the video. "Ah, hold up. Gotta sit through a commercial without skipping to watch this for free."
The phone shows a forest, with someone walking towards the camera, while the camera shows the person's outfit, consisting of pure white long pants, and a white blazer with pins of two birds on one side of his blazer and what looks like a magical pen with a red gem on the other side. Underneath the blazer was a blue sweater, with various designs and colors, a pattern of red drops, white squirrels, yellow zigzag lines within the blue, making him feel natural as he casually walks in the forest, ignoring the dirt underneath him. She sees that the camera cut off right below his nose, showing a smile on his unseen face as he faces the camera. "I'll share a secret without you: this is no ordinary drink. It's a magic wishing drink! One sip, and all your wishes come true," he says as he carefully raises a can towards his lips and drinks it, only for light to flash and the scene around him sparkles, the camera panning out to see his face as he smiles at the camera. She looked at the boy in the video, seeing that he had a black beret, with short black hair, the delicate features of his face looking a bit familiar to her. "A loving red with a sparkling pop. Red Apple Soda, on sale now," he says as he holds the can up, smiling at the camera.
"Ooh, that's the drink commercial people have been talking about lately," Cater comments as he watches it. "I gotta stay on top of the latest hotness! I'll drop by the school store later and check it out."
"Ah, that Neige fellow in the commercial there- he came up at a recent housewarden meeting," Lilia adds. "He's going to be appearing at this year's SDC, you know."
"What?!" Ace exclaims. "That guy's a major celebrity! And he's showing up for THIS?"
"This competition's attracting some serious heavyweights," Deuce says as he focuses on the person in the commercial. "Now I really have to up my game..."
"If I make it in, do you think I could get a selfie with Neige?" Cater excitedly asks.
"You're a shameless fanboy sometimes, Cater," Ace sighs.
"Look, Neige is THE hottest Magicammer out there," Cater emphasizes. "If I get my chance, you bet I'm taking that shot. Pun intended. And If I could get Vil and Neige in the shot together with me? I just KNOW I'd go viral."
Angel watches the interactions, thinking about the person in question. That guy seemed familiar. Where did she see him though...? She thinks back, trying to figure out when she has met someone like him. The only thing that comes up was before break when she was looking for a gift for Crewel at that store she found with Grim and she ran into a person named Neige, but she quickly shook the thought away. There's no way she casually met a celebrity doing something simple as buying a gift, and then gave her advice on what to decide. It was probably someone who looked like him. She thinks. I mean, there's no way that a celebrity would just wander around in a vintage store without anyone noticing him. Besides, now that I think about it... She thinks back, remembering how they were wearing a mask, covering their face. Yeah, there's no way the Neige I met in the store is the same Neige in that commercial. What are the odds of that happening? At least a one in a million chance. Grim jumps up, trying to get a better look at the phone. "Hey, Cater! Can you hold your phone lower? I can't see the screen at all!" He huffs.
"I could project it on the wall for you, if you like," Ortho suggests.
Suddenly, a door is slammed into the wall, shocking everyone as they look to see where the noise came from. Everyone eyes look towards the lounge doors as three figures stand in the doorway, looking at the group, but everyone could only look at awe at their what is assumed to be dorm uniforms. Each of those dorm uniform consisted of what looked to be a large purple robe, perfectly hugging their body, almost looking like kimonos as they stand proudly in front of the crowd. The things that stood out was the red rope wrapped around their waist, along with the golden intricate embroidery on what looks to be across their left chest, but what the main thing was that the sleeves were long, but as they stood there, the sleeves only added to their elegance as they move their arms, not letting it bother them in the slightest. Underneath the robes was what looked to be skin-tight black clothes, almost as if they were wearing tights that covered their legs and shirts that tightly clung to their arms, stopping right at their wrists. Upon closer inspection, everyone realizes that the three in the doorway was Rook, Vil, and Epel, in that order, but each had their own rendition of their outfits. For Rook, instead of the brown hat he wore, he instead donned a wide-brimmed purple hat with a black feather, and his robe reached his knees, with the black gloves on his hands reaching his wrists. For Epel, his outfit was simple, only stopping about a few half centimeter before his knees, showing off his legs while also giving him a innocent look. However, the main attention grabber of the three was Vil, who stood proudly in his outfit, his robes reached down to his feet, with a crown adorning his head, and his hair perfectly tied to support it, but instead, showed that he was truly royalty as he look at everyone in the room, with a glare, and everyone shivered, some even looking at him in awe, swooning, or even being intimidated by him. "Silence, spuds!" He shouts, and everyone become quietly instantly. As he said this, the room shone brighter as they enter, blinding everyone as they look at the three.
"Whoa, that's bright!" Deuce says as everyone tries to cover their eyes, not letting the light get in their eyes. "What's with the sparkles?"
"I'm seein' stars over here!" Grim exclaims as he rubs his eyes.
Epel sees the group of people and give a glance at Vil and Rook. "..."
"I find it difficult to believe that anyone on this campus would be ignorant of who I am, but courtesy dictates an introduction all the same," Vil says confidentally. "I am Vil Schoenhiet, housewarden of Pomefiore." Angel's eyes widen at the statement. THAT'S the guy who's famous?! But he's so rude! "This year, the headmage has assigned me a duty..." He starts. "To select entrants to compete in the Song & Dance Championship. We will now begin the ensemble auditions. Rook, take it away," he says.
"Oui, Roi du Poison," Rook says with a smile as he looks at the crowd. "I am Rook Hunt, vice housewarden of Pomefiore. A pleasure to make your acquaintances," he introduces.
"Oh, hey, it's the weirdo who was takin' audition applications," Grim whispers. "That guy's a vice housewarden?"
"We will have each of you perform the assigned set piece," Rook announces. "You will be evaluated separately for singing and dancing. The auditions will be in group of three. Come inside when your name is called."