Thera

After a sharp turn, the glider slows down. The buildings come into focus. They are all identical one-story blocks with white stucco walls.

The glider stops in front of a building like all the others. Large windows are filled with mannequins in ball gowns with fabric draped around them. A small sign hangs over the door with the name Luxury etched into it.

When the outer shell opens, Circe shoos Meda out in a rush dashing past her towards the boutique. Meda stumbles on the sideway. A hand grabs her elbow to steady her. She looks up into Azure’s stormy blue eyes, and her breath catches. The skin he touches tingles as Meda feels a flush rise to her cheeks. He releases her quickly with an alluring smile. Meda turns away embarrassed to be caught blushing.

Azure extends his arm to the boutique.

“Shall we?” He asks.

Refusing to touch him again, Meda walks into the shop.

The shop is lined with elegant long dresses. Some are sequined and beaded. Others are flowing and lacy. All are too formal for Meda’s taste.

Circe is standing on a circular platform surrounded by mirrors. A young woman with purple hair is scanning her with a plastic wand similar to a metal detector.

The woman looks back at Meda.

“You can wait over there.” She says pointing to a row of chairs near a show window. The woman examines Meda’s closer.

“And don’t touch anything.” She snaps annoyingly.

Meda stares at the woman. Her purple hair is tied back in a bun revealing pointy ears. Her matching eyes are slightly slanted and ageless.

With a gentle shove from Azure, they sit on the two farthest chairs. Azure leans back and rests one ankle on the other knee ready to wait patiently. Meda fidgets in her chair, not sure if it’s the lavish dresses or Azure’s closeness making her nervous.

Azure leans into Meda.

“Elfin.” He whispers.

Meda turns her head with creased brow. Azure laughs quietly. He jerks his head towards the purple haired woman.

“She’s Elfin.”

Not knowing what to say, Meda just nods staring back at Circe.

The woman is on the platform examining Circe’s face. Stepping off, the Elfin walks to through the rows of hanging dresses. After the woman disappears, Circe spins around to Meda and Azure.

“This is so exciting. I’ve never been fitted for a personalized formal gown before.” She squeals with excitement.

Meda forces a smile, not feeling Circe’s enthusiasm but her own anxiety for the upcoming banquet.

The woman returns to Circe with three dresses hanging over her arm. She escorts Circe to a dressing room and hangs the dresses up before shutting a bouncy Circe inside. The woman turns to Meda.

“Next.” She announces.

Glancing at Azure, Meda walks to the circular platform and step up onto it. The elf retrieves the wand and starts gliding it over Meda’s body beginning at her right foot. When she gets to Meda’s hand, she slaps it up having Meda stand with both arms straight out to the side.

Looking at Azure in the mirror, Meda sees him stifling a laugh. She turns her head in his direction as the wand continues to move over her right side.

“Find this humorous?” She asks.

His trademark smirk that Meda has already come to adore appears on his face.

“You fidget as if you don’t know your own beauty.” He says coyly.

Meda’s cheeks blush. She turns around and avoids Azure’s reflected gaze. The woman smacks Meda on the back with the wand.

“She may have beauty, but her posture is atrocious.” She proclaims to no one in particular as she moves to Meda’s left side.

She swipes the wand all the way to Meda’s left foot without farther incident. The woman steps on the platform grabbing Meda’s chin. She tugs Meda’s head back and forth.

“Strong cheekbones. Striking eyes.” She murmurs. She lets go of Meda’s chin and steps off the riser. “I can work with this.” She announces favorably before vanishes into the rows of dresses. Meda watches her go to avoid glancing at Azure.

Hearing a door open, Meda sees Circe walking out her dressing room. She is wearing a gown with icy blue lace over a satin underdress. She is glowing with adoration. Meda smiles at her warmly.

“It is beautiful.” Meda says.

Circe nods with tears in her eyes.

The woman returns from the rows with only one dress. She looks over at Circe and shakes her head.

“No Next one.” She tells Circe.

Circe’s face drops. She turns back to her dressing room dejectedly.

The woman strides to Meda handing her a flowing teal gown.

“That’s it?” Meda asks looking at the dress. The fabric is soft silk chiffon with delicate draping.

The woman nods.

“It will go perfectly with your bone structure and eyes.”

Meda smiles at the compliment.

“Plus it will add the feminine qualities you are lacking.” The Elfin woman adds.

Meda’s smile fades into a sneer. The woman ignores Meda’s reaction.

“Now try it on so I can make the proper adjustments.” She orders pointing to the door next to Circe’s dressing room.

As Meda walks to her dressing room with her dress in hand, Azure stands and approaches her.

“Andromeda…”

“Meda, please.” She interrupts.

“Meda, I have an errand to run while in the Square.” He says uneasily. “I trust I can leave you two unattended while you finalize your selections.”

The tone of his voice is filled with concern but Meda notices how hard it is for him to abandon his duties. His errand must be important.

Meda nods.

“I will look after CC. Don’t worry.”

He gives a quizzical look at Circe’s nickname but nods back slowly. His eyes are beaming with thanks. He leaves the shop at a brisk walk as Meda watches him go.

Running out of patience, the elfin woman hurries Meda into her dressing room. Meda strips out of Circe’s dress and slips the gown on over her head slowly to evade tearing the fabric. She hears a muttered conversation on the other side of the door indicating that Circe has tried on the second dress only to be denied. She hears the door next to hers slam illustrating Circe’s irritation.

Turning back to the mirror, Meda freezes at the sight of her reflection. The dress hugs and drapes in all the right spots making Meda’s straight figure more hourglass.

A knock at the door shakes Meda out of her shock. She opens the door and walks out. The woman motions Meda to the platform. Once Meda is on the platform, the woman circles around her grinning approvingly.

“Yes. This will work exquisitely.” She comments.

She pulls out what looks like a pencil from her bun. Tapping it on her mouth, she examines Meda. She leans in and aims the object at Meda’s waist. A UV laser shoots out of the stylus as the woman draws unseen lines against the waistline. She moves around to Meda’s back and lifts the sleeve on Meda’s right shoulder tightening Meda’s collar. She draws another line. She repeats the process on Meda’s left shoulder. She steps back envisioning her alteration with the laser pointer to her mouth again.

Taking it away, she announces, “Done.”

Meda hesitantly gets off the platform and walks to her dressing room. Once she reaches her door, Circe’s door opens.

She steps out in a pale pink silk gown with a multi-layered petal skirt. Blue sequins lines the trim of each petal and the three-quarter sleeves matching the color of Circe’s eyes.

Circe stops with widened eyes.

“Meda, you look incredible.” She yells.

“So do you.” Meda exhales.

Circe beams back with a small curtsey jokingly. She plays with the petal skirt obviously in love with it. Meda laughs.

The woman beckons Circe to the platform as Meda enters her dressing room. She undresses slowly, not wanting to tear the fabric and craving the elegance it makes her feel. Reluctantly, she places the gown back on the hanger and pulls on her borrowed dress. Grabbing the hanger, she walks out her dressing room.

The woman is finishing her last adjustment to Circe’s dress as Meda reaches them. Circe turns only her head to look at Meda.

“Lilith will not be expecting us for another hour. We should go shopping for mundane clothes.” She suggests with a mischievous grin.

“Sure.” Meda says as she walks back to the waiting chairs. She stares out the show window looking for any sign of Azure.

Once Circe is finished changing out of her gown, the two girls exit the boutique waving a farewell to the unfriendly elfin saleswoman.

They turn right on the empty sideway. The shop next to Luxury is a jewelry store with sparkling gems decorating the show window. After admiring the selection, the girls continue on down the strip of shops. After passing a nail salon, they arrive at a shoe store.

Circe grabs Meda’s arm pulling her into the shop.

“We definitely need shoes.” She exclaims.

The store is completely empty; there are not even employees around. Expecting rows of shoes, Meda stands around confused. Where shoes would be is only vacant space. Along all three walls are doors with full-length mirrors between each door. In front of the doors are cushioned benches.

Circe walks to a bench motioning Meda to the one beside her. Beside the bench is a small scale attached to a monitor at waist height. Following Circe lead, Meda slides off her flats and steps onto the scale. A list of shoe styles flash on the monitor’s screen. Getting acquainted with the technology, Meda scrolls through the list until she spots the word “formal”. She touches the screen hesitantly highlighting the word. The screen goes blank as the door in front of her opens. A rack of shoes all in her size slides up. She looks over at Circe who is standing in front of her own rack. All of the shoes are different varying in color, height and style.

Meda watches Circe grab two pairs of shoes and place them on her bench. She goes back to the monitor and taps it. Her rack drops back behind the door as another rack appears.

Meda focuses on her own rack. Not seeing anything she likes, she goes to the monitor and taps it like Circe did. The rack disappears replaced by another. She grabs a pair of black open toed high heels.

“You should stick to closed toed shoes for this occasion.” Circe advises from her bench.

Meda places the shoes back on the rack disappointedly. After scanning the rest of the rack, she taps the screen for another.

Meanwhile, Circe sits on her bench trying on her selection of four pairs of shoes. She puts on the first pair sticking her feet in the air to admire them. Then she walks around the bench and across the store treating it like a catwalk to gauge how they feel. As Meda stares at her third rack, Circe makes another round with a second pair.

In the middle of Meda’s fourth rack rests a pair of ankle strap Mary Janes made of bronze lace. She pulls them from the rack bringing them to the bench. Their six-inch heel worries Meda as she puts them on. Copying Circe, Meda laps around the store only stumbling once.

“Oh, those would be perfect.” Circe calls out putting on her final pair.

Returning to her bench, Meda takes off the heels hoping she has an opportunity to practice walking in them before tonight.

Picking the pair of purple pumps, Circe runs the shoes under the monitor. Then she places her hand over the screen. Meda imitates her. A cloth bag slides out of the monitor. Placing the shoes in their bags the girls walks out the store.

The girls continue to walk away from the gown store exploring more of the shops.

“Where did Azure run off to?” Circe asks finally notices his absence.

“He said he had some errands to run.” Meda replies looking back toward Luxury to see if he is there. “I thought he would be back by now.” She adds with concern.

Circe shrugs. “Stuffy Azure will be fine.” Her eyes light up with an idea. “Let’s find some accessories to go with our gowns.” She says bouncing at Meda’s side.

After one more glance down the street, Meda turns and follows Circe.