Illyana was completely mesmerized as she watched Ivory twist towards the stage, then stop suddenly and hang upside-down by her ankle. Even she could not help but let out a small smile as she saw that her friend was unharmed. It was quite a thrill to see, and she wondered whose idea it had been to incorporate that element. 

She tried her best to follow Ivory's movements as she detached herself and weaved through the silks, dancing first just outside of them and then within. She began to loose sight of her, glimpsing only flashes of her skin and costume, until she was completely out of sight.

Geralt took his cue with ease, and didn't even have his eyes on Ivory as he folded into a cloak of shadow and reappeared just in time to switch with Ivory. His eyes had been on Lucien, who was watching the show with his arms crossed from backstage, completely composed.

Geralt stepped from between the silks, pushing them aside effortlessly as he did so that they waved enticingly behind him. The crowd hung in silence for a moment as all faces looked down on him and he relished in their captivity. A huge smile split his face and he held out both arms in welcome. It was then that the crowd erupted into applause, and the whole tent reverberated with their shouts of pleasure and awe.

After a moment, Geralt held up a hand and the crowd slowly came to silence once more. [color=crimson]"Our Winter Fairy, ladies and gentlemen, let us have another round for her fantastic feats of daring, strength, and pure elegance."[/color] he held his arms out once more as the crowd began to clap again, and a few men shouted. The applause was shorter this time, and when it was over, Geralt took a step forward to the edge of the stage.

[color=crimson]"Now, I will not presume to waste my audience's patience with idle jaw flapping. You all came to see something...magical, did you not?"[/color]

This statement was followed by even more vigorous applause and louder shouts in the affirmative. It had been a long time since Geralt had performed for an audience this large, and he felt even his icy heart begin to thaw as they called for him. After all this time, a full house still had a way of wooing him.

[color=crimson]"Well, with a response like that, I definitely cannot refuse you,"[/color] he said once he could be heard. [color=crimson]"I am sure that you all know who I am, thanks to our illustrious host, but I promise you that I will spend the next half hour or so getting to know each and every one of you..."[/color] He let this statement hang in the air for a moment as he looked around the audience, meeting eyes with several members, mostly women, before he returned his attention to the crowd as a whole and took a few steps back to center.

Sensing the silks on either side of him, he glanced at them, turned around in a full circle and followed the line of the cloth all the way up to where each one was attached to a heavy beam in the ceiling. He had planned this little trick out in advance, but had not told anyone in the troupe, preferring not to hear a counter-argument to his plan.

[color=crimson]"Well,"[/color] he said, as a few chuckles rippled throughout the crowd, [color=crimson]"we simply can't leave these here, can we?"[/color] he asked, turning to the crowd. A couple clapped in response, but mostly they were hanging on the edges of their seats, waiting to see what he would do. Just how he liked them.

He stood between the two silks as he rolled up his sleeves, then held his arms out at his sides, palms up and elbows bent. He flexed his fingers a couple of times, took a deep breath, and snapped. Sparks flew from the ends of his fingers and immediately caught the silk on fire. It burned quickly and efficiently, the flammable cloth catching at lightning speeds as the fire ate the silk all the way to its zenith at the very top of the tent. Ashes drifted down from the ceiling to land on the stage, but not a single fleck of gray touched Geralt. A perfect circle of clean wood surrounded him, but he brushed his shoulders off anyway.

[color=crimson]"I clearly didn't think that through,"[/color] he said, and the audience chuckled once more as he looked around himself in mock dismay. Slowly, he turned his face back to the audience as his crooked smile returned and he shrugged, [color=crimson]"Ah, I have just the thing for this."[/color] He squared himself in the center of the circle, gracefully brought one of his legs up, let it hover for just a moment, then brought it down as if crushing an unwanted insect. As the sole of his wingtip connected with the stage, the ash was swept away from him in an instant, as if a typhoon had just blown in behind him and pushed all of it on to the dirt floor.

[color=crimson]"There,"[/color] he said, and the crowd broke into applause once more, [color=crimson]"Now we can really get started."[/color]

From here, he took the show on the usual tour. Since he had them captivated already, there was no shortage of people who wanted to volunteer as his assistant. He began with the card trick, then moved on to a series of sleight of hand and illusionary demonstrations to keep them interested. The crowd was too large to pass his case around, so he spent a little more time on the fire portion of the show and made a bit more of a show of revealing the card. He did add a couple of animals to his coat trick, including a snake, which he credited to Aurel's performance and elicited a few laughs. He added a short segment in the middle where he hypnotized and audience member, asking them to do several menial tasks and in general make a fool of themselves, to which the crowd reacted quite well. Once all of that was finished, he ended with his trademark levitation trick, moving the volunteer off stage and a little higher than he would in his standard act. This was always a crowd-pleaser and the best item to leave them on. When he was finished, he stood center stage and disappeared as the lights flickered amidst raucous applause.

He appeared again next to Lucien, who had positioned himself and Cora with the best view of the stage while still hiding from the crowd.

[color=crimson]"The reviews are bound to be just marvelous, if I dare to dream,"[/color] he Magician said aloud as he leaned over Lucien's shoulder.

Cora had watched the entirety of the show with bated breath, especially when it came to Ivory and Geralt's parts. She simply couldn't take her eyes off of the man, though she did steal a glance at Lucien when the silks caught fire and began to burn. She could see that his expression was tight, it was clear that he was displeased, but as always, he maintained his composure.

She had been so amazed by the entirety of the act that she hadn't been expecting the man to show up next to them after it was over. A high-pitched squeal of alarm exited her, but she clapped her hands over her mouth to silence it as she realized that it was only Geralt. She saw both his and Lucien's faces twitch momentarily as they heard this sound escape her, but she looked over with wide eyes at Geralt.

[color=00a99d]"That was incredible!"[/color] was all she could think to say.

[color=crimson]"Thank you, my dear, I cannot tell you how glad I am that you enjoyed it."[/color] Geralt said with a slight bow. Though he had recovered quickly, the shriek that Cora had let loose pierced his mind like a hot dagger. It did not seem to effect his parasitic companion, Geralt knew there would be complaints if it had. Very curious...this girl had many talents that were yet to be revealed.