LJNT

Giselle

"I can't believe I finally get to see Lyra dance in person! This is-This is just-the highlight of my entire LIFE!!"

Tanya was bouncing up and down in her seat energetically while Janelle, Nico, and Pyrrha sat patiently. Lyra had a big performance tonight, one that would be airing for the weekend. She was starring in the famous ballet Giselle as the lead role! Lyra had been busy for the past couple months prepping. Needless to say, the team had to go to see her dance. Everyone was super excited to finally see her dance.

"Yes, I cannot believe we will finally see one of her actual performances," Janelle retained her poise, yet she had a sense of repressed excitement. "It feels surreal that Lyra is on our teams at times. She feels so...normal when she is with us, I suppose. I forget my place sometimes. With you as well, Pyrrha."

"Well, we're not any different from you all," Pyrrha chirped modestly. She was dolled up in her formal clothes, just like Janelle. The other two teammates...had not gotten the memo. While Tanya had tried, she didn't have anything super nice, Nico had just gone in a hoodie and some sweatpants.

Needless to say, Janelle had scolded them immediately.

"That is simply incorrect," Janelle disagreed. "I am just a girl from a village, you two are celebrities. The only reason we are sitting in these special box seats are because of you two."

"Are you complaining about sitting up here!?" Tanya smacked her head in confusion. "It's so nice!"

"No, but-"

An announcers voice sounded through the large room, making the four quiet down. The announcer did the usual, telling them to silence their cells and locate the nearest emergency exits before finally announcing the ballet.

The orchestra in the cockpit began to play a melody. It was a beautiful song, and the curtains slowly opened to reveal a village. In walked a boy in a peasant top and pink tights, accompanied with finery and an attendant. The boy hid his riches before walking to the door, knocking. After a moment on cue with the orchestra, the door opened, revealing Lyra.

It took everything inside of Tanya to not scream out in surprise.

Lyra was dressed in a golden peasant corset and a white, flowing tutu underneath it. She wore pink tights and her usual golden pointe shoes. Her hair was tucked into a prim and proper bun, a far cry from her usual long and free flowing hair. As she emerged from the door, applause broke out in the audience.

The rest of Team LJNT was in actual shock, while Pyrrha didn't even seem to notice the difference.

Tanya was...utterly baffled.

Janelle was trying her best not to show it, but even she found it strange that the girl she had come to known was even capable of wearing such an outfit. Janelle had known of Lyra previously, but she had never seen her in a performance. Now that she really knew what Lyra was like, well...it was overwhelming, to say the least.

Overwhelming couldn't even begin to explain Nico's situation.

Nico's jaw was practically to the floor as it hung open from shock. She had never seen or heard of Lyra before they had been on a team. Seeing Lyra in, well, actual ballerina attire, was...mind blowing. She looked so elegant and refined, words that Nico had never thought she'd ever associate with Lyra. Even seeing Lyra at the dance was different from this. At the dance, Lyra had seemed normal, interacting with students casually. Here, she looked so...so regal, so elegant.

It was honestly blowing Nico's mind.

"That's really Lyra!?" Tanya was so, utterly confused, just like the rest of her team. Janelle at least tried to hide it; the other two did not. "Back when I didn't know her, this was so normal. But...now that I know her, I know that this is wrong in every way imaginable! My brain is so confused!"

"Shh," Janelle scolded in a hushed tone, her eyes glued to Lyra as the ballerina began dancing across the stage. Lyra looked so elegant as she danced on pointe. None of the other three knew anything about dance, but they could tell it was difficult. Yet, Lyra didn't wobble one bit. Janelle frowned. "...That is really Lyra?"

"SEE!??"

"Shh!" Janelle warned once more before turning to her other wide eyed teammate. "Nico...Are you...alright?"

"U-U-Uh....sure?" Nico just blinked once, her mouth still hung open. How did Lyra seem so different? Nico knew Lyra wasn't particularly elegant in any way, shape, or form, yet Lyra managed to look like she was in this ballerina attire. It was oddly similar to how Lyra managed to fake being alright when Nico knew she wasn't.

Lyra danced on stage, and from what the team could guess, it was showing that Lyra's character, Giselle, was falling in love with this royal guy pretending to be a peasant while ignoring her best friend's advances. At one point, Nico was just confused because some lady in royal robes was crowning Lyra with some necklace or something. There was a festival where Lyra had to do these crazy twirls. Nico felt sick just watching Lyra go so quickly. Two other ballerinas danced, probably to give Lyra a break. While they were good, Nico had even less of an idea what was happening since Lyra wasn't on stage.

After that, the jealous peasant got...well, jealous. He revealed that the royal dude was royal and engaged to someone else...and Lyra looked...heartbroken before running to her 'mother'. Nico had never known Lyra could act...but perhaps Lyra wasn't really acting. Lyra would never get the chance to have a crush on a boy and run to her mother; perhaps that's why Lyra was truly heartbroken.

Eh, Nico was reading into it too much.

Lyra stood back up, her hair out of the prim bun it had been tied into. While her hair was matted by hairspray, it was still a much more natural look for Team LJNT to see.

Which made it all the more disturbing when Lyra's character began to hallucinate on stage.

She had a mad smile on as she relived her happy moments from the play, dancing wildly before collapsing and dying. It was unnerving for Pyrrha and everyone on Team LJNT. The curtains closed, and everyone glanced at each other uncertainly.

"This seems...a little too familiar," Tanya sighed, a worried look on her face. She wasn't the only one who had such concerns; even Pyrrha looked worried.

"I've never seen her as Giselle before," Pyrrha folded her hands in her lap, a stressed look on her face. "She...She performs so well. That...scares me."

"She didn't tell us that her role in this was so...so..." Tanya struggled to find the right word.

"Coinciding with herself?" Janelle frowned, and Tanya nodded. Nico didn't know what to do; she was disturbed and intrigued at the same time. Pyrrha sighed once more.

"...She doesn't realize the similarities," Pyrrha tried to explain. Nico just shook her head.

"...O-Or maybe she d-doesnt want to see."

The music began to start again, and the curtain rose. Presumably Lyra's grove was on the stage, not helping to ease the tension throughout Team LJNT. Lyra began dancing with another boy when a blood curling scream echoed through the room.

The show stopped, the music ending when the orchestra began to panic as screams began to echo throughout the theater. Lyra glanced around, confused on stage. Everyone tried to figure out what was going on down there when Nico finally saw it.

It was a man with long braided hair and menacing golden eyes, not unlike Lyra's. This mysterious guy wore a black hood, though white cloth was visible underneath his cloak. However the most striking thing was his long scorpion tail that protruded proudly above him.

The tip glinted with violet danger, and he plunged his tail into a helpless bystander, killing them instantly.