Nearly six years to the day after the death of Ellie Gibbs, Kiara Nurse was found oversleeping. Minnie, who was the daughter of the servant Vicky, opened, with careful moves, the creaking and cracking wooden door of Anna's bedroom and found the little blonde treasure a mess on her own bed. Her feet were on the pillow. Her head was resting on a ball made of rolled-up-blanket. The strands of her golden crown were stretched out and up and very wildly and some were wrapped around her ears or held in her mouth- which was wide open and leaking. It had been a very good night's sleep for her. It would have been perfect had the awakening not been so rude.

With a loud clang, Kiara found herself seeing maddening colours before she had even opened her eyes or realised that they had been closed. When her head finally stopped ringing, and she had rubbed the Sandman's gold off her eyes, she looked and saw Minnie standing tall with a proud grin and wielding two cymbals- still wobbling in her hands from the clash. With a tilt of her head and a little "hmph", the older girl dropped the plates straight on the floor making another ruckus of clanging and banging and shimmerhapping as they rocked and spun and finally settled. If she was strong enough to lift even one of the two, Kiara might have done so just to give whacking her waker a go.

Up and at 'em little sister! It's a beautiful morning, no?

As one would expect, Kiara was very angry and so she began gesturing at the older girl, saying things like "what was that for?" and "you are the worst!" while lamenting the fact that no one had taught her how to gesture profanities (yet). Minnie did not pay very much attention to the specific movements since she was confident- quite rightly -that she knew the gist of it well enough. Instead, she contented herself by laughing. Then, when the girl's tirade was over, she promptly grabbed her by her arms and said...

Silly girl, I am only following your orders!

With utter confidence, Minnie bent down towards the girl, brandishing a torn-off excerpt from her own notepad which read...

- Fake sleep until Mama goes shopping with Darius.

- Meet up with Master Smith and help him with concert preparations.

- Wait until Master Smith leaves.

- Final rehearsals of all the songs.

- Final meeting with others (Check up on their progress).

- Get dressed with Master Smith's costume.

- Hijack concert and make Lady Gibbs adore me.

- Reward helpers with unlimited toys and outings.

Kiara's grimace quickly turned into a look of unadulterated terror as she began panting heavily and flailing her arms about as Minnie remained in entertained silence. After a seemingly endless handful of moments, Kiara finally calmed down enough to give a discernible gesture, "what time is it now?" and, without a visible shred of sympathy, Minnie made the panic even worse. With crossed arms and a raised brow she replied saying...

Master Smith is already out of the music room.

The ensuing look of agony was so visceral that, to Minnie, the voiceless girl's scream was almost audible. She might have laughed at such a face had Kiara not immediately leapt out of bed, shoving her off the mattress and onto the terribly solid floor in the process. In a pitiful hurry, young Kiara scurried to and fro and from shelf to shelf in a desperate bid to get dressed in clothes suitable to be seen in, to go running in and then to easily discard. Fortunately, there was no need to worry about finding a mask since she always wore one, even in sleeping and eating; her mother, Anna, had gotten her a handful of really soft, clingy ones which covered her eyes with dark lenses and did not cover her mouth or nose.

When she had gotten out of her nightgown and into a dress- and she had gotten her coat, and pocketed her notepad -she rushed straight to the door, grabbing her sister's arm as she went as if to say "hurry up" but Minnie was unmoved.

Scarf.

With one step already out the door, Kiara made a sharp turn and mouthed an inaudible "right" as she went back to scurrying about. There was scarcely time to pick a nice colour to go with her dress so she simply grabbed the first scarf she could get her hands on, spent a rough ten-to-fifteen seconds covering her hair with it and contented herself with the fact that, however awful it looked, it would be taken off very soon. With that done, she rushed towards the door again, grabbing her sister's arm as she went as if to say "hurry up" but Minnie was still unmoved.

Shoes.

With one step already out the door, Kiara let out a fairly-audible grunt as she made an about-face turn towards her pair of shoes neatly and reliably tucked away into the same corner as always (no need to search for those). Although it was a pain to put them on while standing up and hopping onwards, she was in far too much of a hurry to decide whether or not taking the time to sit down and put them on properly would be faster. With that done, she rushed towards the door again but as soon as her hand grabbed hold of its knob, Minnie interrupted, saying...

Gloves.

It was hard not to realise that Minnie could very well have said all these things at once or at least not waited until after the shoes were on to point out the gloves. And Kiara did realise these things and so her grimace returned in force. More angry than panicked, she snapped off her shoes and went back into the deep of her room to get a pair of gloves before heading back towards the door. However, this time, before putting on her shoes, she stopped, formidably face-to-face with Minnie, wearing the sort of face which said "anything else?" in a fairly ferocious fashion.

Oh! Your mask!

Immediately, Kiara turned to retrieve it and she instantly hated herself for it- since she was already wearing her mask. With a roll of her eyes, Kiara promptly turned back towards the doors and rushed out, paying no more mind to her co-conspirator. Minnie, of course, ran after her and their run quickly became a race with ne'er a word being said. It is, after all, a sovereign law of nature that when two children are running towards the same place, it is already a race.

Although Kiara had gotten a bit of a head start in the contest, Minnie had gotten an even larger head start on life and so- being a few years older -she was very much taller and very much faster. When they arrived at the kitchen, Kiara was still in the lead but after all the sizzling and hissing and cranking and all the shouts of "no running in the kitchen" were over, they were neck and neck. Kiara managed to regain a bit of a lead in the gallery- which was essentially a maze that she wandered very often and Minnie, not at all. Knowing all the shortcuts, Kiara gained a considerable lead. However, it was not enough of a lead to make up for the result of the final stretch at the western stairwell.

Kiara had gotten in first but she had also gotten tired first as she had sprinted across the gallery in a desperate plea for an advantage. As she was hunched over, panting and sweating all over, Minnie passed over her, giving her a pat on the head as she went. Then, as she ran out of strength even to walk, she held her weight against the railing for a rest and then thought up a final play. As Minnie neared the finish line, assured of victory, there came the very wild and- more importantly -very light Kiara sliding down the railing at an absurd speed. Then something happened which Kiara did not foresee: Minnie got off the stairs and walked out the doorway with ease while she herself slipped off where the railings stopped and fell on her rear and then her back as her opponent continued on.

It was a very brief way from the end of the stairs to the grand hall- where running was seriously not an option and silence was of the utmost importance. With care, Minnie and Kiara made their way backstage where their co-conspirators were waiting for them.

Maybe we should call this off.

Master Smith's already fast asleep!

So wake him up!

There you are! Where have you been?

This one overslept.

Overs- How could you oversleep on a day like this?

Kiara paid his scolding no mind. She was already tired and angry and sweaty and, more to the point, she had gotten a look at the hall and knew that all would soon begin. Her eyes quickly found her costume for the day and she promptly began undressing (she was still a six-year-old among other six-to-eight-year-olds and she had not yet fully learned to fear Medusa). When she lost her coat, the stench that had been kept beneath it was set free.

By the pinky, did you two run here? Someone get the perfume! Honestly what were you thinking, si-

"sister"

Jinx! That's enough of that.

And so, Eddie was as voiceless as Kiara and would remain so until cured- that is what happened, in those days, to a person jinxed.

As Kiara was undressing and redressing with the help of Minnie and Della (all the while keeping her darkly-lensed mask as a matter of course), Tom Jr. walked up to the trio and began wildly spraying at them with a sweetening scent while his other hand covered his nose and mouth with the neck of his shirt (over the mask he was already wearing there). He looked very much like he did whenever he had to clean up dung in the farm and Kiara, though she knew what had become of her scent, could not help but be offended at the treatment.

What? Don't give me that look! I'm doing all this for you!

Becoming even more offended by the excuse, Kiara made a grab at Minnie's copy of the plan and showed it off to Tom Jr. who, nevertheless, maintained his stance and proved as much by snatching the note out of the girl's hand.

Enough of that! Look, I'm happy to help you show off but let's at least be honest about it. I am well aware I am getting nothing out of this and so are you. We both know that if you actually wanted to make Lady Gibbs happy, you'd stay away from her!

Come off it, little brother. Look at these clothes. Master Smith looks more like a Gibbs than a servant. Why would Our Lady do such a thing without a heart for music?

Why does a witch do anything? To cause envy? Greed? Pure bloody chaos? Perhaps she did it on a whim? Back me up Ed! ...Ed? (noticing the jinx) Oh dear- Eddie!

At the sound of his true fate, Eddie felt his jinx lift and his voice return to him.

Thank you.

No worries. (back to Kiara) And today of all days. No, you are far too clever for that. I can't speak for your true intention, but we all know Cornelia is grumpiest this time of year. It would be stupid to actually try and make her happy today of all days.

Or would it be terribly clever? Think about it! If I'm in a good mood and someone joins in then what of it? They can add to my good mood by doing nothing at all! But if I'm feeling horrid, I know only my Mama who can make me cheer up. And she is, by far, the dearest to me!

That is absurd.

Why?

Eddie! You too? What do you mean why? You said so yourself! This is not some mere mortal we're talking about here! This is a demon-ness!

Well I believe in your plan, sister. Always have.

Really?

And he may not be here, but Master Smith would believe in you too. Leastways, in your abilities. He has often called you his prized pupil and by my own ear, I'd say you were dearer to the lyrical than he was.

At that last comment, Kiara took another look at her costume and gave Della a nudge. After more than a few irksome moments of trial-and-error gesturing, Kiara managed to get across, "What did you do with Master Smith?" and so Della conveyed the message to a very confused Tom who calmed himself and replied cordially.

Resting comfortably on his own bed, just as you asked. The frying pan worked a charm, by the by.

Thank you.

Nevermind me. (after a pause) It's not too late so I'm asking one more time. Are you sure you want to do this?

When the question was laid before her so precisely, all her doubts melted away and she sat upright with a triumphant smile and gave a firm nod.

Alright then! Let's show our Lady what you can do!

And so the curtains were drawn and the Gibbses and their guests- Darius and his nanny, Anna, among them -looked stageward with anticipation as the proud lyricist they saw lifted up his hands and began. This was how the illusion was made. As a matter of course, she kept her darkly lensed mask but it was worn beneath Smith's own full-faced, concert mask. As for height, John Smith, even for his age, was an unnaturally tall man. Fortunately, he preferred to sit when he did concerts and so when it was found that Kiara, standing on the stool, looked about the same height as her tutor had been sitting on it, the rest of the scheme fell in place. His coat was long and thick enough that no one would notice the difference from behind and since his back was usually turned towards the audience (as the lyrical custom demanded) there was little fear of any of them noticing that the lyricist's arms only went as far as the coat's elbows and that the forearms and hands were made of wood. It was Eddie who carved the arms as well as the legs which were tied to the chair so that it would look like someone was sitting while Kiara stood as tall as she could. And since the lyrical strings were wrapped around Kiara's actual wrists, she could play with very little hindrance. Believing all things to be set, Kiara moved to begin. Then, promptly, she froze.

No... no... please... no...

When it first occurred to her that she would not be able to practise on the lyrical before it was moved to the hall, she didn't think too much of it. She lamented the loss of practise time but she was ultimately confident in her abilities and so pushed on. However, she was fresh from waking up and she had spent much of her time since waking up in a frightful rush; two factors which generally did not produce good decisions. So, she unfortunately forgot one of the most pressing reasons for her needing to be the last person on the lyrical before the actual performance: John Smith had a habit of locking his lyrical whenever he had finished a session. Granted, the coat she was wearing was his coat and so it did have the key, but, in order to use it, Kiara would have to let go of the sticks, take out the key and hop off the stool. The situation might have been saved had the thought occurred to her while the curtains were still down, but now that the performance had begun, and all eyes were at her back, she could see no remedy.

What's happening?

Is she choking?

Not possible. Come now, sister. You can do this.

Why.... why today.... I- I practised so- I practised so hard.

The Gibbses and their guests were only a little bewildered when a minute passed by and nothing happened. Then the lyricist's arms fell off "his" elbows. Kiara had struggled in vain to hold on to them but one tends to lose one's strength when one is in the midst of unrelenting sadness. Confusion and fear overtook the hall until one Master John Smith rushed into the room in clothes simpler than his concert ones. With ne'er a word being said between them, Master Smith, Madame Anna, Lord Gibbs and Lady Cornelia all came to the same understanding of who had taken over the stage. It was Anna who moved first. She let go of Darius' hand and rushed over to the stage. Seeing this, John went to lower the curtains again and when it was finally lowered, they both approached the little Kiara, removing the concert mask from her face and revealing her darkened eyes.

Beyond the curtain, James and Cornelia had their own, more polite, race to get to the stage and, unfortunately for everyone involved, Cornelia got there first.

You! Of course, it's you! You insolent wretch!

My Lady, please. I do not think-

I don't remember asking your opinion, servant!

Good sir! Good sir! Please forgive sister!

Yes! Yes! Good sir, please! She was only trying to make our Lady happy!

(scoffs) Me? Happy? What a load of rubbish you've been telling these children. (kneeling down to meet Kiara's masked eyes) What was your real plan then? To humiliate me in front of all my fellows?

My Lady...

(to Smith) Save it! I'm talking to her! (to Kiara) Yes you! Always trying to make me look bad. From the very day you were born you-

Cornelia! Leave it alone. She is but a child. And... and a worthless servant child at that. No need to waste your feelings.

The children were clever enough to know, in part, why he said what he said but it was no less disheartening to hear- and from him of all people. Even Cornelia was altogether saddened by the comment, but for quite a different reason. Ever so briefly, Kiara saw tears form on the very edges of the Lady's eyes in the very moment before she looked away, collected herself and returned to her noble posture.

(to James) I will return to our guests and tend to them as long as I can. (to John Smith) You, Master Smith, ought to get ready. The show must go on after all. (to no one in particular and, thus, everyone) And you. Keep your pet out of my sight.