Chapter Five
Mikhaela finished her therapy appointments. The convention was getting set up, and she was done with patients for the day. Being a trauma therapist meant that it was imperative to relax forcibly if necessary.
She laughed, shut everything down, and locked everything up. A small spell would keep everything secure when she left.
Mik got in her car and headed to the hotel hosting the convention. It would be fun. A handful of local companies were participating, and it made for a more intimate experience. Helen had called every day that week to make sure that Mik’s showstopper was still planned for Friday night.
Mik smiled and continued her travels until she reached the vendor parking lot. Technically, she was working for Tiberia Games at this event, so she was abiding by the rules.
She entered the convention space, where booths were up, screens were being set in place, and gaming zones were being tested. Mik headed to the Tiberia booth, where she got her pass and instructions for the evening events. Myro looked at her. “Thanks for doing this.”
“It lets me blow off steam.”
“Well, you do it well.”
“And you take what I am representing very well. I thought all of you elves were skittish about wild magic.”
He shrugged. “Breen and I are more flexible than others. You aren’t a danger to us, nor is Nyssa. Tradition doesn’t make for practical application.”
“Have you told the higher up?”
“No. They will learn when they learn. For now, you are an asset to our association, and Helen likes you. That goes far.”
Mik smiled and looked at Nyssa, then waved at Dina. “Ready to hang around a bunch of nerds and weirdos for the weekend?”
Myro muttered, “Hey!”
“Well, I know a bunch of the elves are going to be here with ears out and shoulders back. They can run around, and no one will know they didn’t come out of the pixie queen game.”
He laughed. “Right, and they have enhanced pack members, so no one knows that they are any different than we are.”
Nyssa was standing there as the blood djinn in all her glory.
Mik looked around, shrugged, and pulled her tunic, trousers, special boots, and makeup out of the ether, putting them on her precisely.
Myro grinned. “That is an amazing outfit. I have seen some copies of it on fan sites. There is going to be quite a contingent here this weekend.”
“Yeah, well, it is one of Helen’s more intriguing designs. All beta with a little bit of fun.” She held her hand out, palm up, and a small, glowing figure crouched and then sprang up and out, filling the room with a spiral of light.
She looked at Myro with a serious expression. “That was the fun.”
He laughed. “Right. Well, Helen is going to be here tonight. Do you have the surprise ready?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve got it.” She grinned. “None of the others need to put themselves out if they don’t want to. How is Poppy doing?”
“Expanding and cranky.” The voice from the adjoining room was wry as Poppy walked through the door with Breen fussing behind her.
Poppy stopped and looked at her. “Holy shit. She designed it after you.”
Dina looked up from her tablet and smiled. “Language.”
Poppy paused. “Sorry, Dina. I just... I know that Mik was the template for the chaos mage, but I wasn’t expecting her to look exactly like the character. Can you do the robes?”
Mik shrugged, and the black and silver robes covered with embroidery formed on her. “Ta-da!” She swirled in a little dance and went up on pointe. She took a few precise steps, twirled, and returned to the flats of her feet.
Poppy grinned. “That is amazing and adorable.”
“Just because you are enormous, doesn’t mean the rest of us are.” She smirked. Her makeup had a built-in mask. Her hair was wild and silver-grey. The transparent silver of her eyes matched. She used contacts at work.
She smiled. “We weren’t able to get the theatre for the surprise, but I did make arrangements to take over the lawn.”
Myro grinned. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Polly and I took some classes together way back when.”
Myro looked at her. “Sure. What classes were those?”
“Cooking for survival. She was just out of school, and I was tired of ordering out.”
Breen chuckled.
Mik looked at him. “Do not say you are a fan of eating in. There is a child present.”
Breen’s eyes went wide. “You are psychic?”
“No. I am a trained therapist. Your expression warmed, and you looked at Poppy with a speculative gleam in your eyes.”
Poppy sighed. “Yeah, he does that. It’s amazing that he still works for Antonio.”
Breen shrugged. “I like it, and there is a lot less thinking when I do the motion capture. I can save all my brain power for dealing with Poppy. I need it.”
Poppy snorted. “Most days, it is just two squirrels wrestling for a gummy bear.”
Breen grinned.
Myro snorted.
Mik looked at Nyssa, who was supervising Dina’s homework on her tablet. “So, do I have a flutist?”
Dina put one thumb in the air. She looked up. “Technically, I am a piper today.”
Mik smiled. “I know. You will be splendid.”
Dina grinned. “You know just what to say.”
“That’s my thing that I do. Pays the bills.” Mik grinned. “Did you want to dress like a game character?”
“The temple priest?” Dina smiled hopefully. “The red one?”
Nyssa chuckled.
“Yup. Can do. This will become a permanent costume, so you are going to lose the school uniform.”
Nyssa smiled. “Not a problem. She has others.”
Mik brought up the image on her phone, showed Dina, and made sure that was the one she wanted. Once that was settled, she hummed and wove the existing fibre into flowing silky robes, a metal and jewelled collar, and wristbands. The stomacher was bronze and had the same glass jewels.
Dina’s smile was wide, and her hair was in a series of connected ponytails, each with a glass jewel on the holder.
Nyssa blinked. “Wow. I need you to do my hair.”
“Find a character image, and I will fix your hair.”
They looked online and got the vaguest of images, but Mik looked at Nyssa. “Hold still, or this will hurt. I am not used to casting up.”
Dina giggled, and Nyssa stood still.
A whisper of sound and Nyssa’s hair was arranged in a swooping cascade of connected ponytails that formed a web down her back. Mik flexed her fingers. “Done. Tip your stylist.”
Dina looked at Nyssa. “Wow. You look stunning.”
Nyssa would have blushed, but she couldn’t get more red. “Thank you, Dina. You look lovely yourself.”
Dina smiled and twirled.
Myro chuckled.
Mik looked at him. “Dude, I have seen you dance with an ice cream cone. Every girl spins when they have the dream dress on. The next step is to get heavily armed and kick in the door and take care of business.”
Dina giggled. “And then dessert!”
Mik grinned. “I knew I liked you.”
Poppy chuckled and rubbed her abdomen. Myro and Breen immediately knelt to put a hand on the bump. Poppy grinned. “This is them twirling.”
They laughed and got the rest of the character costumes on their respective wearers.
When they got the notice that the opening ceremonies were beginning, they filed to the elevators and prepared to head to the main floor.
Myro asked, “Do you need guards?”
Mik shook her head. “Nope. We aren’t scantily clad, and our audience is younger than most. They will wait for the meet and greet.”
Myro and Breen got into an elevator with Poppy and Dina.
Mik looked at Nyssa and the others who were portraying characters from Helen’s video game. The elevator chimed, and they walked through it, turned, and faced the doors. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering the field of battle. Elbows in, and watch your six.”
They laughed and went down the fifteen floors, taking a deep breath in and exhaling as one when the doors opened, and the roar of recognition was unmistakable. Excited kids had a certain pitch.
She muttered, “It’s too late to run.” And she didn’t know whether she was talking to herself or someone else.
They stepped out, the roar followed them, and then the convention attendees followed. The opening ceremony was waiting.
The Tiberia booth was slammed with a crowd twelve people deep. The organizers were wild-eyed as they spoke to Myro, apologizing for the spot they were in. Myro asked a few questions, and from what Mik could gather, one of the floor managers was a huge fan of the Pixie Queen.
Mik watched as Antonio came over and apologized. Myro smiled and said that they were doing fine. The enormous crowd surrounding them was keeping them warm.
The kids were waiting patiently, and others helped manage the crowd as everyone wanted a picture with their favourite characters.
Mik was glad that her character didn’t have to smile. It made things go so much faster as little mage after little mage stood with her, arms crossed and looking into the camera or the phone.
Myro looked at the crowd and grinned then looked at Mik with a grin.
She scowled in character and stood back-to-back with another mini-mage, and then she knelt with a bunch of them. The parents looked on happily, and she stifled the laugh. Each character had equivalents in male and female for game play, and the chaos mage was invariably female. That meant Mik.
The characters in Riot were all power characters. Strong poses and nothing icky. Tiberia was trying to do a whole-body respect movement in all new games. It helped Poppy’s coding and left her all the time in the world for debugging.
Myro walked over and told everyone that the character photos would wrap up in thirty minutes and resume the following day.
Mik watched Nyssa pose and grin with kids. She was allowed to smile. Her character was being introduced in the next update. Sample play was being offered in the gaming hall, and after they tried to play, they came to get a photo with their favourite characters.