"Let us congratulate... Teamthe Pink Dumpling Royal Guards who were constantly surrounded by chaotic black flames! They are the champions!!" exclaimed Principal Damia, Astrologer of Stars. Behind her stood a giant statue of herself, with Aiyia held up in its right hand and Wakaka cradled in its left, reminiscent of the iconic Lady Liberty holding a torch and the declaration of freedom. I highly suspected there was some creative license taken with the sculpture, but I didn't have any evidence of her visiting America.
Meanwhile, Emile and I suddenly appeared, holding hands, looking up at the statue of Lady Liberty.
It was as if Emile and I were a pair of peeping Toms, staring at a giant's skirt. Of course, because the statue was made of stone, the sunlight couldn't penetrate through, so all we could see was darkness.
The audience watched Damia, and Damia turned to look at us. I glanced at her, then at Emile.
Emile simply lifted her head and casually said, "Ah, it's black."
...
To understand how we ended up in this situation, I have to start with Emile rescuing me from Eileen's world.
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At that time, Emile was holding my hand as we walked towards the outside of the grayish-white world. I felt a sense of security, but then I heard her making some strange noises.
"Hehe, Molly Ann sweetheart is such a cute little clingy thing. 'It's not surprising that she would like me', hehe, hehehe..."
At that moment, it felt like both the serious version of me and Eileen were seagulls arguing about the meaning of life. We should have just gone to the harbor for some French fries instead of wasting our time.
But it was necessary to set this guy straight. Getting too carried away was not good.
"Emile, listen to me..."
"What is it, my love? Are we discussing when to get married? My suggestion is the sooner, the better. Let's do it today! Since Damia is here, let her witness our unwavering love."
"Hey, don't abruptly throw a proposal into a funny scene. Think carefully in your mind before speaking," I was planning on giving her a little knock on the head, but the memory of the confession in that world made me shy all of a sudden, "Why do you become so radiant at the slightest glimmer of sunlight? The things I just said don't count; they were only because I thought only Eileen and I could hear it. So, did you hear everything?"
"Uh..."
"Did you hear it?"
"Sigh, fine."
Emile pouted, muttering to herself, "She was talking to me through the mental link this whole time, and now she's pretending not to hear. Molly Ann sweetheart is such a devil." I pretended not to hear any of it.
Then we went out, facing the current situation.
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Rewind to over an hour ago...
"Hey, Aiyia, Molly Ann, and Eileen, where are they?" Wakaka whispered.
"I have no idea. Could it be that because it's the finals, Lady Damia suddenly decided not to accept ticket money and forbade anyone from watching?" Aiyia hesitated for a moment. "Could it be that this match is rigged? I remember Eileen winning the previous tournaments..."
"That's impossible, that's impossible. It's Lady Damia we're talking about, the leader of the School of Balancing, the world's number one diviner of the Stars. If even she cheats..."
"You're right, it's Lady Damia we're talking about. If even she cheats..."
They both gasped as if realizing something significant, and said in unison, "It must be difficult to discover!"
"What do we do, what do we do? If that's the case, Molly Ann sweetheart is in danger. Will they silence her to protect themselves..."
"That's unlikely, but they might erase her memory or have her sign some kind of agreement. And if she dares to break it..."
"Wuwu, what should we do? We can only save Molly Ann sweetheart ourselves and let the whole world know about this!"
The flames of battle against the evil organization's boss ignited in their hearts, even preparing themselves to evade pursuit from the world after announcing this news.
"Since that's the case, let's make some plans, like this and that..."
Finally, in the midst of their fervent discussion, and after we disappeared for an hour, the referee announced the result of the competition directly:
"Therefore, because both sides of the competition mysteriously disappeared and exceeded the scheduled competition time by an hour, the ones present are... *cough*," the host paused, then took a deep breath, "the two members of the Chaotic Black Flame-roasted Pink Dumpling Guard! Congratulations for becoming the champions!"
"Hey, hey, this can't be right. Molly Ann sweetheart hasn't come out yet, we won't accept this result! This is a complete black box!"
Wakaka slammed the table and shouted loudly!
"Hey, hey, Wakaka, the host said we won."
Aiyia gently tugged at her sleeve and whispered.
"This is a grand conspiracy, using the name of the Star Diviner Damia to gather young magicians from all over the world at this school, using the excuse of having the world's top magician fulfill a wish to recruit students..."
"Wakaka! We won!"
Aiyia shouted anxiously, but the brewed up emotions weren't easily dissipated, and Wakaka continued indignantly:
"...to accomplish their wicked goals! Damia, you are despicable! We won't succumb to you, we will..."
Before the word "battle" could come out, Damia suddenly appeared behind the two of them and swiftly struck each one with a karate chop. Then she blew air on her own hand and clapped it together.
"Phew, no wonder I could hear my name from the audience's seats without doing anything. Turns out rumors about me were being fabricated."
Damia lifted one of them with one hand, blew a whistle, and suddenly a magic circle emitting a bluish-purple glow appeared on the competition stage. The gigantic Damia statue that had been placed in the academy's plaza appeared here directly.
The statue bent down and held both of them in its hand, with one in the palm and the other on its forearm. It even gave Damia a fist bump and slowly stood up, striking the pose of the Statue of Liberty –
"Host," Damia whistled, "present the awards!"
