Eurydice leaned against the wall of the Hearst Castle Visitor’s Center, trying to decide if a look through the binoculars would be worth a quarter. Anaera sat cross-legged on the ground, contemplating the best way to liberate all the archaeological treasures in the so-called castle to return them to their nations of origin. Eurydice decided that she’d rather have a cup of tea than a look through binoculars at something she’d just seen close up. She bought a nice cup of something minty at the glorified snack bar and sat at the table with the fewest people around it (since none of the people around happened to be young, attractive males). "Being a woman is much better than being a man or a mouse," she told herself as she leaned back in the chair and soaked up the rays of sunlight that lanced through the overcast sky. She closed her eyes, sipped her tea, and reviewed the last few months with a small smile.

~~ switch to black and white for flashback sequence ~~

Eurydice scampered from Anaera’s hand to the floor in her tiny mouse form. Anaera turned to the curious audience and asked, "A mouse isn’t a very good assistant for a magician, ne?"

The young locals of this part of Konan dutifully answered, "NNOOO, Master Naer!"

"Watch, then!" Anaera cried in her suitably impressive magician’s voice. She then dropped a brightly colored cloth on top of Eurydice and said some nonsense syllables. She waved her hands over the cloth and it transformed before the eyes of the wonder-struck audience into a pillar of gemstone colored butterflies. Underneath the illusion of butterflies, Eurydice changed to her human form, enjoying the tight fit of her green leotard over her once-again-feminine body. The illusory insects swirled around her one last time before flying out the four exits of the tent, displaying the Guardian in a flamboyant pose.

As Eurydice helped Anaera set up the illusions for her "magic" act in the Konan Traveling Circus, she reflected once again on how unfortunate it was that the lycanthropy hadn’t stuck. If Anaera had retained that ability, Eurydice could have been the star of the show, with her rare, tamed beast! Oh well! She did love the leotard, at least!

After the show, the two women went to their private tent to try and learn more about Anae’s new sorcerous abilities. They had come to the conclusion that the gods were as imperfect as ever. They had realized through practice that the magic did not have to be restricted to Tiramisu and illusions - that was just one of the ways the "sorcerer" had refined the abilities. They were also less sure that it was a sorcerer and not a very butch sorceress. Eurydice thought that the new powers were more like those of sorceresses from some world she had read about. It seemed most likely that Anaera had merely carried out the execution of the sorceress and inherited her powers. If that were true, then there was far more to this new magic than dessert.

"Enough thinking, Eurydice!" Anaera called over to her. "I think we made enough money to last the rest of the Game. And I’ve honed my illusion magic as far as it can go. And I'm tired of holding up the illusion of being a man! I say it’s time to ditch the freak show, take a long nap, and then do some serious training."

"I guess so," responded the Guardian mouse. "I’ll break it to the ringmaster and..." Eurydice sighed. Anaera was already asleep!

~~ return to full color and present time ~~

Eurydice sighed once more as she tipped the cup upside-down over her mouth to get the last drops of tea. Anaera had had some very odd dreams while she slept (for a month, at least!), but all she would tell her Guardian so far is that she thought she had awakened one time under the stage at Woodstock, but that had to be another dream. All Eurydice knew was that she had gotten very good at charming the local animals with her instrument while her Otaku snored away.

Eurydice left off thinking and stood up. She allowed herself a full stretch and then went to rejoin Anae by the binoculars. Sure enough, the world’s oldest Otaku was napping like a toddler, curled up on the ground with her new Hearst Castle sweatshirt as a pillow. "Some things never cha--" Eurydice cut herself off as she noticed something that had changed. It had been so subtle and gradual she had hardly noticed. It was only now with tea-clarified thoughts and vision that she noticed what had occurred while they traversed Konan. She realized now why Anaera hadn’t been using "no da" very much at all and why her aura had never been strong and easily suppressed. Chichiri was never her bishounen! They had all assumed he was because of the aura and the dreams, but...

Chichiri had only been a person that connected Anaera to Konan so that she could easily travel to and from that world. Anaera was really the Otaku of some other bishounen!

"I think I had better ask Nae-nae about her dreams when she finishes her beauty sleep..."