Curiosity bloomed once again among the audience.
-------------------------------
The audience's enthusiastic response onstage greatly encouraged Aglaea and the others standing below.
Aglaea spoke again, her voice soft and elegant.
"Also, thanks to the support of Miss Furina, the remaining performances will, of course, be given with free tickets."
"All expenses will be sponsored by Miss Furina."
As soon as Aglaea finished, the crowd's excitement grew even stronger.
"So the free tickets came from this patron."
"How generous!"
"If it were not for that free ticket, I never would have come, and I would have missed such a wonderful performance."
"Three cheers for Miss Furina!"
"I can't wait for the next show!"
This round of applause was wholehearted, sincere.
Though called out by Aglaea and briefly surprised, Furina had already collected herself.
She cleared her throat once, rose with composure, a hand lightly pressed to her chest as if acknowledging an audience, and bowed with the calm dignity of a queen receiving her subjects.
The blue-and-white hair swayed with the motion, and the corner of her mouth curved into a charming, confident smile.
"Ahem, to be able to witness such a splendid performance is reward enough."
"To help more people feel the power of theatre, this small support is merely a prelude for letting that charm spread."
Furina's tone carried a natural, innate sense of the stage.
The moment she opened her mouth, she captured the audience's attention completely.
"Praise Miss Furina!"
"You are beautiful and kind!"
"Thank you for your generosity!"
The applause rose again.
Furina soaked in the praise, lifting her chin slightly, even waving gracefully in response to the loud cheers.
"Miss Furina truly has a natural stage presence," Phainon said, a note of envy in his voice, for in such moments he could not help but feel a little shy.
Hyacine covered his mouth and stifled a laugh, "Who would have guessed that in private she's actually an adorable little blueberry cake."
Back onstage, after enjoying the cheers for a while, Furina spoke once more.
"But next time, you must come with even greater expectations, alright? The stage of the Okhema Theatre deserves your most exacting gaze, and I, Furina, believe the troupe of the theatre will not disappoint anyone."
Amid the cheers, the evening's performance finally came to an end.
The audience left reluctantly, and before going, each person queued at the theatre's snack shop to buy a little something to eat.
They did this as a way of thanking the troupe for the free tickets and for the memorable play.
The warm scene heartened everyone at the Okhema.
That night, on the local social media, those who had seen the drama began to exchange impressions.
After the initial discussions, more and more people found themselves drawn into Arcadia's world.
One belated discovery in particular quickly became a new focal point.
The grey-haired traveler.
"Isn't the lead of this play called Arcadia actually the grey-haired traveler?"
"And the Titankin's story is part of the traveler's experience."
"We almost overlooked that guy."
"Even though the play only gives us tiny fragments of the setup, the fact that he can traverse time and space proves the traveler is not an ordinary person."
"Right, when the Titankin suffered her tragic fate I kept thinking, could the traveler save her."
"Honestly, at that moment in our hearts we had already assumed the traveler could intervene."
"It's fascinating, only a short play, but it has so many points to think about."
"What a delightful surprise."
"The different Titans' settings and the worldbuilding, I'm really looking forward to more."
"Is Heart of the Spring set in the same world, I wonder."
Those conversations took root on local social media and, before long, drew even more people to see the show.
Okhema's premiere had perfectly achieved its purpose.
…
Late at night, inside the theatre, the celebration dinner had just ended.
A group clustered around Mydeimos and Phainon, cheering them on as they competed.
Their contests had ranged from arm wrestling to holding a one-legged stance for as long as possible, the games inventive and wildly varied.
Both stubborn competitors were determined to persevere to the end.
In a quieter corner, Aglaea was on the phone with Castorice and Cipher.
"Aglaea, you are so cunning!" Cipher's voice was lively, "I just saw the local social feed, the reactions are so good! They didn't even wait for us to return!"
"Cipher, what you said, this is really-" Castorice chimed in.
"Hmph, Castorice, you have to speak for me!"
"Ah…" Aglaea listened to their cheerful voices with a softened expression, and said quietly, "Alright Ciphera, stop complaining, did you really read the script I sent you properly?"
"We only glanced at it," they answered.
"I did read it carefully, Aglaea sister," Cipher replied.
Aglaea smiled inwardly at Cipher's reply, knowing full well Cipher would read it properly.
"Once you return, we'll start intensive rehearsals," she told them.
"So don't envy others, you'll have your own moment to shine."
Aglaea added, "Heart of the Spring, you two must perform it well."
"Don't worry, Aglaea, but you must introduce that patron sister to me when you can," Cipher said mischievously.
Hearing that, Aglaea pictured Cipher covering her mouth and grinning. The little rascal.
Aglaea smiled, "When you come back I'll introduce you to Miss Furina, you two should get to know each other."
"Hee hee!" Cipher gave a wicked little laugh, then hung up satisfied.
On the other side of the room, the contest had concluded. In a strange competition of who could drink the most water, Phainon had narrowly defeated Mydeimos.
"Yay!"
"Little Phainon won!"
"Poor Mydeimos!"
Amid the cheers, Mydeimos belched loudly and glared at Phainon, "When did you get so good at drinking?"
"Burp," Phainon hiccuped, "I'd been on a diet for a while, now I'm drinking water every day."
"That's ruthless," Mydeimos grudgingly raised a thumb, "But that counts as cheating, you had prepared, burp, I object, let's do a sauna contest one day, see who endures the heat longer, ha."
"I will not lose," Phainon immediately retorted.
"Okay, you two, go rest already," Tribios said, as they looked at each other, hiccuping, and headed to the restroom.
The moment the door closed, two large sounds came from inside.
"Ugh!"
"Ughh!"
Anaxagoras clapped a hand to his forehead, utterly exasperated, "What is the point of this sort of contest?"
Hearing the vomiting sounds, Hyacine mused, "Maybe it's masculinity."
Anaxagoras replied with a helpless sigh, "So why is drinking water something to be so stubborn about?"
Hyacine was left speechless.
Eventually, Phainon and Mydeimos emerged from the restroom, both pale and shaky, looking as if they might faint.
"Come sit down, Agy and Furina are back," Tribios said as he helped them to their seats, "It's perfect timing, we haven't had a chance to watch the latest episode of Honkai: Star Rail because of rehearsals. Shall we watch together?"
"Yes," several voices answered in agreement.
"We still haven't seen the next episode of Xianzhou!"
"I'm a bit excited for this one," someone added.
The suggestion was met with unanimous approval.
When Aglaea and Furina returned, they happily agreed.
The theatre's lounge happened to have a giant screen, ideal for a group viewing.
With snacks and drinks set out, Furina sat among everyone holding a soft Pegasus plush, staring at the screen in a daze.
It had been a long time since she left MiHoYo, and she found she missed everyone more than she expected.
Soon the screen flickered to life, drawing them into the struggle between the general and the star wolf.
They watched intently, calling out in wonder or delight from time to time.
As devoted fans, their love for Honkai Star Rail did not diminish.
In the blink of an eye, over an hour had passed.
Though it was already late, no one felt sleepy; instead they were exhilarated.
"Yanqing's character arc is completely perfect."
"Jiaoqiu is so well realized."
"Every time I see General Feixiao, I'm intoxicated by her beauty, she is so beautiful."
"When Xianzhou appears, the clever maneuvers and mind games are written with such depth and realism."
"A perfect finale."
"And it leaves thrilling hints for what comes next."
"The philosophical ideas buried in the setting are getting more and more interesting."
They continued discussing long after the episode ended, particularly moved by the matter of character arcs.
"That's always been a huge obstacle whenever I wanted to create a new script," Anaxagoras said, stroking his chin, thinking aloud. "A great story needs a character arc, but the length of a play determines the scope of that arc, making it hard to freely craft."
"So many famous plays are born out of myths and legends, because with recognizable elements audiences can identify and invest without effort."
Tribios nodded in agreement at Anaxagoras's observation.
Aglaea murmured, "Arcadia also uses classical elements. Titans and similar settings, though their powers differ, still give the audience recognizable points to latch onto, and they can slip into the story."
"Creating a character across such a long span, from nothing to fully realized like Yanqing, is extremely difficult," she added.
A hush settled over the group.
They all knew that character development required space. The longer the piece, the more could be placed within it, but the real difficulty lies in seizing the audience's attention from the very start.
"Can Okhema Theatre do it one day?" Phainon wondered, referring to crafting such a character.
"Someone complete, born from nothing, accepted and loved by audiences," Aglaea said, shaking her head. For now, she was already content with Okhema's present state.
But people always want to climb higher.
"I don't know, but as long as we work hard, we can make it," Tribios encouraged, clapping her hands, "Look, we just took a solid step tonight. The audience loves a story that differs from traditional theatre. If we keep at it and become famous, maybe everyone will want to watch a character grow with us."
Aglaea snapped out of her reverie at Tribios' words, grateful, "Teacher, you always say such encouraging things."
"Let's work hard together."
Hyacine chimed in energetically, "At least things are getting better now."
"Create a cross-era theatre character, make Okhema's name famous around the world," Mydeimos clenched his fist, determination in his voice, "No matter how great the difficulty, we will overcome it."
"You all, are you going to speak?" Anaxagoras lounged on the sofa and said lazily, "I only want to topple the stale, boring theatre system."
"Hee hee." Tribios smiled and looked at Phainon who had been silent.
"Little Phainon, why aren't you saying anything?"
"Me?" Phainon scratched his head, answering simply, "I haven't thought about it much. As long as everyone stays together, that's enough."
"There will be opportunities," Furina said suddenly, her voice earnest.
"Maybe, after we finish Heart of the Spring, all these wishes will pop into being at once."
The wild notion left everyone momentarily stunned.
Then Aglaea laughed, "May it be so."
Furina fell silent, but in her mind she was already thinking that once Heart of the Spring was finished, it would be time to find a way to get closer to everyone at the theatre, and perhaps bring them into MiHoYo.