Act 2: Upheaval VI - Celebration and Departure

"Candles?" Fluffle repeats. "...I don't see any."

"I'll go find us some," Duma happily says as he stands up from his chair. He then walks up to a group of waiters who are serving drinks to a nearby table. His sister and champions chuckle at his enthusiasm.

"At least he hasn't drunk too much yet," Anna Gawrych—the white mage—says.

"What happens when he does?" Zenobiusz asks.

"He starts bragging."

Speaking of getting drunk, Amber is well on her way to get her first hangover judging by how loud she is. She seems to have stopped drinking however and is sipping on a glass of water instead. Saria might have something to do with that.

As for Florolf, he is currently sharpening his claws on Mihai's lap. Mihai also notices that Doodad, Walter and Lucy have just arrived. A clansman is currently talking to them, surely asking them what they're doing here.

He taps Florolf - "Do me a favor and don't let Amber drink any more."

He puts Lord Carbuncle on the table and goes over to Doodad and addresses the clansman - "They're my friends. I invited them, with Nadzieja's permission. They set up the sound system in the arena."

"Hey, get me another beer, would you?" He calls after the green mage, "I'm still chasing my buzz."

"I'm actually trying something new, so I'll need some space for the cards. If it ends up failing, I'll pick them up and we can just play something, but first I'll put on a little dancing light show with the candles."

"I'll make you some space." Steve begins stacking Konrad's plates so he can hand them off to a waiter, regardless of how much food is still on them or even if Konrad is really done.

"W-What are you--hey, that's not--I'm still eating that!"

In spite of his protests, Konrad makes no effort to actually grab any of his food or the plates they're on. Where's he going to put them? And he can't very well ask the waiter to just stand there and hold them.

"Well, I know what I'm going to have when I'm done," he harrumphs, eyeing the steaks.

"It's eat or perform tricks Konrad. Commit to your artistry!" He flags down a waiter and hands them off. "There, you're all set." He sits back down to wait for the show.

Florolf dutifully ignores Mihai and keeps on eating.

The bearded warrior who stopped Doodad and the weavers from coming in immediately recognize Mihai. He nods at the champion's explanation and says, "Oh, I thought I had seen them before." He then turns to the trio. "How about I find you a table?"

"That'd be very appreciated," Doodad answers. "Thank you Mr. Lowick."

"We promise to get drunk as fast as we can," Lucy jokes.
____________

The people around the table, including the monks, listen to the banter banter between Steve and Konrad and chuckle at the exchange.

"What kind of trick are you gonna do?" Fluffle asks with a grain of rice in his hands.

"Well, I guess I have to now, not that I ever intended to disappoint anyone before I got started."

He smiles at Fluffle and says, "Just wait and see, my friend."

Doodad's deference still throws Mihai off, but he manages a nod and a faint smile in response. He chuckles at Lucy's quip - "Better get on that before they run out of booze."

He excuses himself and goes back to his table, where he notices Florolf dutifully ignoring him - "Anything else I can do for you, just let me know."

"Wow, this better be a good trick Konrad, you are building a lot of suspense."

"I've never seen an old magic trick before!" Saria exclaims, leaning forward to have a good view of Konrad's performance. Amber helps her by letting her sit on her lap.

Meanwhile, Florolf finishes his meal and licks his mouth, now replete. He looks at Saria, tilts his head, and then jumps down the table. He might just be a little ticked off that someone else took his place on Amber's lap.

"Go get'em, Tiger." - he calls after the Carbuncle.

"Huh...alright, since he's going to be a while, I'll just start with the cards first. Just remember that the real show starts when the candles get here."

He fans the deck of cards for everyone. "Anyone who wants to participate, please pick a card, memorize the card before you hand it back, keep it firmly in your mind."

"I'll take one." Steve reaches up and draws a card. "Did you want us to keep it secret?"

The black mage looks at his card in secret and then hands it back. "Right, here you go then."

"I wanna choose!" Saria says.

"I'm picking one too," Amber says. "Volwind?"

"Oh—uh, yeah, I'll take one too."

"Hmm..." Wiera considers her choices. "I'll take this..."

Mihai picks one, looks at it, hands it back.

Taking the cards back, Konrad puts them back in the deck at random. He concentrates really hard, and tries to levitate all the cards as he makes a house of cards with them on the table.

Concentration 18
Konrad focuses as hard as he can on using his cantrip.

Konrad manages to build his house of cards without it falling over. Thankfully, the people around the table next to him are careful not to disturb him during his small performance.

Moving the whole house of cards as one mass, Konrad starts picking away cards from bottom to top, reconstructing the deck, until he has all of them.

"Alright everyone, here are your cards!" By hand, with the aid of telekinesis, he starts flicking card after card to each person who picked one - not with force, just enough to land them near each person.

Concentration
Holds

Steve claps after Konrad has reconstructed his deck and eagerly picks his card back up and looks at it. "Oh wow, it is my card, the 9 of hearts. That's so cool." He shows it to everyone.

Mihai picks up his card. Looks at it. Puts it back down.

"Wow... it's my card," Saria says, very much impressed. "Amber, did you get your card?"

"No..." the teenager replies. "I think you got something wrong Konrad."

"Yeah, my card was the 9 of spades," Volwind says. "And I have the—"

"Wait, the 9 of spades? That's mine!"

"Really? Oh! You have my card."

Wiera smiles and shows everyone her card, the King of hearts. "Yup. Mine is also correct."

"What about you Mihai?" Amber asks.

Everyone looks expectantly at him.

"I got Florolf's card." - Mihai shows them the Joker.