There was a distinct silence in the air as the crowd watched the box in the center ring. The box had initially jumped a bit and caused an audible clatter when it first appeared, but now it was silent and still.
This stillness went on for so long, that the crowd had begun to think that their eyes were playing tricks on them, but then it started fidgeting again, and this time there was a noise.
"Hey...does anyone else hear...a buzzing sound?"
A huge swarm of ice white locusts came flying out of the box and rose into the air, gathering into a thick cloud of insects that began to fly around the upper part of the tent in a circular manner, unnerving the crowd below. Eventually, all of the locusts began to gather at the exact center of the tent, forming a huge ball of insects.
"Why are they just flying around like that?"
"I think they're looking for food."
"No... they're looking at us!"
The locust ball suddenly burst like a firework as a streams of the little buggers began to fly downward and towards the crowd, causing some of the weaker willed and insectophobic members of the crowd to scream and move. But before, the locusts got close enough, a sudden and strange flute-like sound pierced through the buzzing air and caused the locusts dead in their tracks.
The locusts just floated there as if they were suspended by wires, giving the onlookers an up close and personal look of the encroaching swam.
It also caused Zhen Liu to momentarily flinch.
"Are you okay?," Jin Fang asked in concern.
"Yeah I'm fine, just...aether nosie," Zhen Liu grumbled while picking at his ear. Apparently the next performer was someone trained in sound based aether arts. However, as the art wasn't directed at him, Zhen Liu eventually managed to ignore
"Huh? Who's that guy?"
"When did he get into the stands?"
The next performer, and the reason why the locusts had stopped flying towards the crowd, was a man with fine facial features and olive skin.
The man was dressed head to toe in bright, billowing, strikingly colorful robes that served as a sharp contrast with the locusts that were crowding the airspace. Held between his hands and lips was a strange looking copper flute that had the vague look of an oversized locust. However, the sound this locust produced was much more pleasant to the ears. Although, it was only one note being played.
While the rest of the crowd continued to keep their eyes in the mysterious insect charmer, Zhen Liu's eyes were more focused on the locusts, rather...what was controlling the locusts.
'Huh...those are a lot of aether threads...'
Zhen Liu's eyes were still in "aether sensing" mode, so he could see that all of the locusts were connected via threads of aether that, when he followed the path with his eyes, were all connected to the performer, but not the flute itself. Unlike the dancer, this connection seemed a lot more...quiet and a tad incidental.
'This insect charmer's kind of aether control feels less practiced and more...instinctual? What's the point of flute though, unless...'
The insect charmer maintained the same note as he made his way down the stairs, moving with deliberation every step of the way. All eyes were on him as he took his final steps onto the center ring.
Once the charmer had entered, the true performance began.
"FWEEEEeee, fuuuu, ruuu, duuu"
The charmer began to change up his melody at this point, a break from the monotony of a single note, which in turn caused the locusts to stop their midair suspension and fly towards him. More specifically, the space above his head.
As the charmer played his next few notes, the swarm of locusts had begun to move in a very strange way.
First, they had taken the form of a solid sphere, then they had taken the shape of a cube and then finally a star. It was a slow process, but the shapes were made perfectly in time with the notes that he was producing. It was as if the locusts were dancing with the song.
'Huh...Pied Piper, eat your heart out.'
In Zhen Liu's eyes, it appeared that as the charmer changed his tune, the threads of aether connected to each locust would begin to vibrate and change colors in different ways depending on the tune. It reminded him of a high tech puppet show in a way.
'I guess the flute is moreso meant to control him then the bugsoh
After a few more oohs and aahs from the crowds at the shape formations, the charmer began to pick up the pace a bit, changing from a few slow notes to a full blown song and dance. As he did, the locust swarm began to split into two groups and take on two separate shapes as they slowly descended to the ground.
"Whoa. What's happening now?"
"I don't know, but this song sounds familiar..."
"Wait, ain't that this...Boledo's Waltz?"
"It is...huh? When did two more people enter the ring?And I know that a waltz is playing, but why are they doing it here?"
"Those aren't people...those are locusts!"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the two swarms of locusts had taken the shape of two humanoid figures, one in a suit while the other in a dress, and had begun dancing the aforementioned "Boledo's Waltz".
While the waltz was a straightforward dance, the fact that two swarms of locusts could do it under the charmer's behest was rather impressive. Especially to Zhen Liu, since he could see all of the aether threads working overtime.
'Yeah, no way in hell one could consciously do something like that unless the aether control of...can I say god? I guess Aether Saint would be more accurate...'
The charmer and two swarm dancers finished the waltz to the song's completion and once it was over, the charmer had the two dancers bow towards the audience, who proceeded to shower the performance with applause.
At some point during the applause, the charmer and two dancing swarms simultaneously stamped the feet's and disappeared into smoke like the ice weaver from before. But this time, instead of a mysterious box or a person appearing from the smoke cloud, rather silly and joyous music began to play.
'Oh damnit...that better not be what I think it-'
"Huh? What's with the pie?!"
"That's not a pie...that's a cream covered...clown?"