Lady (Y/N) of Valor Tower~SGE~ Tedros

The Circus of Talents

TIME SKIP TO THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL:
"I don't know about this, Ted. What if I can't control it and go into a trance again?" I asked, feeling worried about the potential my powers had for destruction.
"(Y/N) it's going to be alright," He responded, gripping my shoulders lightly and giving me a reassuring smile. "We've been practicing this for months, you know what you're doing— oh, and push comes to shove, we have a failsafe, I've pulled you out before— I can do it again."
I smiled back weakly, trying not to think of the consequences the entire school could face if anything went wrong. "I know, I know. I trust you, and I trust myself. You know what we haven't done in a while though?"
"Kissed?"
I burst out laughing, "Not quite what I had in mind." I whipped out the thin sword I always carried. "En garde." 
"You're on. Prepare to lose, princess." Tedros teased, unsheathing his own blade.
"I'm nobody's princess."
"We'll see about that." I raised my saber up, ready to start the spar.
We circled around a few times, both of us attempting to gauge who would strike first. Eventually, I feinted to the left, making Tedros lunge in that direction while I spun around trying to strike from the back. He however quickly countered and met my blade with his own. Trying to use his height to an advantage, he pressed down, trying to get me into a place where I couldn't return a hit.  Twisting his sword so the point nicked my hand, he quickly disarmed me, but before he could knock me down I dove into a roll towards my fallen sword. I snatched it up and got back on my feet as he turned around.
"You're making this so much more difficult than it needs to be, just give up." He teased.
"Me? Give up? Never." I snarked twirling the blade in my hands. We clashed a few more times, practically dancing around each other until my back hit the wall of the garden; I was standing just to the right of where my balcony hung, and I got an idea. Faking to the left once more, I took the small window of opportunity to dash the few steps to where the rope I used to get down was hanging. I jumped for the rope and swung out in a wide arc over the garden, letting go and rolling back to my feet once I was in the open again. The fight kept going back and forth, until Tedros swept his leg around mine, knocking both of us to the ground with him on top. "Gotcha." He smirked, looking down at me, both of us breathing heavily. "Princess."
I rolled my eyes and leaned a few inches up to kiss him on the lips, waiting until he was distracted enough to grab his sword and roll over so I was pinning him to the floor; both swords crossed over his neck. "Do you now. Princess." I grinned triumphantly.
Tedros just groaned, "Since when can you beat me? I don't think you've actually beaten me one-on-one yet!"
"That's just because Coach won't let us spar in class since the incident before the Trial by Tale. Thanks for that, by the way."
"Hey, I had nothing to do with the 'Chaddick's-flowery-boxers' incident. You shoved me into him— I didn't control what got sliced." 
"Keep telling yourself that, Ted."
***
Finally, the big day had arrived. This would set the tone for every experience I would have for the rest of my career here at the School for Good. I was standing backstage with all the other Circus participants, both Ever and Never. Some were nervously pacing, others were eerily calm. I was checking over my arms and the words written there. They weren't as full as they were during the Trial by Tale— this time only a few spells to get the act started. One to set the lights just the way I wanted them, and one to summon the journal I had written the rest of the details in. That spell would bring it to me and have it floating centerstage. My plan was to create a window to the galaxy, to let everyone see the stars up close. To fit the theme I asked Professor Anenome to create another outfit for me. This time I had requested a cutoff, high-necked, wraparound-style dress with a cap draped over one shoulder like a sleeve. I had paired it with black tights, and tall black boots, and enchanted the whole thing to appear like it was woven from the very fabric of space.
"Are you ready, (Y/N)?" Tedros' question shook me out of my trance, he claimed to have an act in the Circus but hadn't told me what it was, only that he was going after me. I was one of the very last acts, alongside Hester and wouldn't you know it, Sophie.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Evers and Nevers, welcome to the 474th annual Circus of Talents." The magically magnified voice of Pollux boomed, apparently, he was in control of the body tonight— which was a good omen for the success of the entire night. After the welcome was finished, Pollux introduced the first act.
The time flew by as Evergirls sang to the birds, Everboys waved their swords and other weaponry around, and Nevers pulled off whatever gruesome magical talents they possessed. I had full faith that I could beat any of them, with my greatest current competition lying in Hester's demon neck tattoo. Even so, I couldn't bear to lose. "You're gonna have to snap me out of it Ted. There's something I want to try that's probably going to overload my senses."
"Woah, woah, woah, what?!" Tedros exclaimed. "Didn't you just spend all week panicking about losing control? Now you want to lose it on purpose?"
"Just a window isn't enough. I have an idea but it's a little bit risky. Promise me you'll pull me back before I do anything too dangerous."
"(Y/N) I—"
"Promise me."
He ran a hand through his hair nervously, but relented, "Okay. I promise."
Finally, it was my turn. I stepped out onto the stage, the silence dissolving into whispers and quiet jeers. Getting into the spirit of showmanship I raised both of my arms and snapped my head to where I could see the words and froze for a few moments. The whispers finally stopped and I read loudly, "Save for a single spotlight the Theater of Tales descended into darkness."
All of the candles surrounding the hall hissed out one by one. All that remained was a beam of moonlight shining through the glass ceiling. I abruptly struck a different pose and I read the next phrase, "A soft, intense melody played throughout the room" Streams of musical notes wrapped around my arms before floating out into the world, creating the songs they showed. One final sharp position revealed the last phrase: "The journal in which the stars reside came to rise on the stage."
A book slowly rose up to the middle of the stage, magically flipping to the correct page. I spread my arms wide, staring straight forward.
People were whispering again, this time in intrigue. I began to read. "The night sky was shimmering. A dark blanket; bursting at the seams with glowing far away stars." The collective gasps in the theater let me know that behind me, a large window showed exactly what I was describing. Now for the hard part. I placed one hand on the book, made a pulling motion, and swirled my other hand around it, creating a swirling ball of dark purple magic. I thrust my hands forward releasing the energy. With a dramatic swell in the music, suddenly the entire theater was engulfed in sky and stars. Evers, Nevers, and teachers alike looked up in awe. Good, I thought, now I just need to hold on. I could already tell, however, that keeping a hold on my powers was not going to last long. Get ready, Ted. Once the original commotion died down I continued to read, "Planets of all shapes and sizes dotted the endless expanse. Colorful clouds of dust twisted around, creating a contrast with the darkness." I repeated the motion from before and sent the things I had described to lay among the stars. I didn't get to see the reactions from the crowd though, because as soon as the magic left my hands I fell to my knees and my eyes rolled back in my head. Subconsciously, I could feel myself still reading and releasing items from space, zooming out farther and farther until galaxies upon galaxies could be seen. There was just one thing I had forgotten about when I  decided to bring everything to life. The black hole, my big finale was supposed to be a supernova that devolved into a black hole, sucking the entire window into it and disappearing. Everything in the theater would go with it.
I could hear gasps of fear, it must be getting close, STOP! STOP! I was trapped inside my mind, screaming and pleading to break free. Tedros help me. HELP ME! I'm dangerous right now! I'm going to HURT someone.
The gasps turned into screams. TED WHERE ARE YOU? Suddenly I was snapped back into consciousness, Tedros' lips still on mine.
"The fail-safe, (Y/N)! The backup!" He screamed pulling away.
I scrambled to my feet and frantically flipped to the back of the journal where I had written the phrase that would fix everything. I had to talk quickly, the biggest star was starting to go supernova. "But just like any night this one had to end, light returned, and all was still and empty!" I practically screamed as I threw my hands toward the audience. All of the planets and stars and galaxies burst into dust which was then sucked back into the journal. I slammed the book shut, and dropped back to my knees breathing heavily. There was absolute silence for nearly a minute when suddenly the entire theater burst into applause, Evers and Nevers alike were cheering.
Professor Dovey stood up from her seat in the front row, "Incredible performance, both of you! (Y/N) that was some of the strongest, most raw, natural magic I have ever seen, paired with a true love's kiss! Oh, marvelous! I hardly see how anyone could beat this! Lady Lesso?"
Before Lady Lesso could respond, a deafening screech echoed through the theater. "TRUE LOVE? NO! TEDROS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY TRUE LOVE! THE CIRCUS ISN'T OVER YET!" Sophie stormed onto the stage and opened her mouth, letting out a belted high note that shattered the glass in the ceiling causing shards to rain down over the students. She continued singing and a flock of crows dove through the hole in the roof, they were followed by a swarm of wasps. The birds and insects blended together into a moving mass of talons and stingers.
The large metallic circus crown started to move towards Sophie's head and she opened her arms beckoning it greedily. However, before it could land on her head, it paused midair; vibrating like it was torn.
"We have to stop her!" Tedros exclaimed, looking panicked. "This must be the attack Blaise was talking about."
"This isn't the attack— not yet at least. Do you have a quill?" I asked frantically searching for one myself.
"Here."
I grabbed the quill from his hand and scribbled a sentence on my arm. "Sophie's voice went silent, and the creatures she called went back to their places."
Silence. Sophie's mouth was still open like she was trying to sing, but nothing was coming out. The swirl of violent creatures separated and returned outside, gaining sighs of relief from all those in the theater. The Circus Crown finally made its decision and landed on my head. Realizing what had happened, Sophie's face turned bright red in anger, she stormed out of the Theater of Tales, waving an arm to signal all the Nevers to go with her. Riled up from losing another circus, they all followed immediately. 
"Be ready, heroes." Hester snarled as the heavy doors slammed shut. The Evers stood in shock, looking around at the shattered glass and overturned benches.
"This is the attack Blaise was talking about. We need to prepare to defend the school— we cannot attack first. Good defends. We have to wait for them to come to us." I announced climbing back onto the stage. "Everboys, gather your weapons. Evergirls, get your magic ready— it's going to take all of us to win this. Who's with me?"
There was silence for a few seconds; no one had expected the reader to take charge in this situation. "Did you really even have to ask?" Tedros smirked, climbing up on stage. "You heard her lads, we defend Good until the end!" A rousing cheer went up from all the Everboys.
"For Goodness and True Love!" I hollered, trying to excite the girls. That seemed to get them going.
"For TRUE LOVE!" Beatrix shouted, lighting her finger glow. The rest of the princesses followed.
"For true love." Tedros whispered to me, interlacing our fingers.

A/N: So... I'm terrible at updating. But we're getting to the good part, this is by far my longest chapter yet! Also shameless self-promo: I started a Keefe Sencen Musical AU for anyone interested (another x reader)
I'll try to get the next chapter out relatively quickly (apparently the only time I don't have writer's block is in the middle of the night)
Thanks for sticking it out,
Jenna