Tenchi-Kaibyaku Opera Incident

The **Tenchi-Kaibyaku Opera Incident** was a tragedy that happened during a meeting of the two leaders of the Panmagdorland Unity. The meeting was held in the New Lhogor Royal Opera House, while attending the Tenchi-Kaibyaku Opera, an opera storying the Seykan mythological creation story. The incident happened on the 14th of August 170 IE, only several months after Empress Thea's ascension to the throne. Although the opera was Seykan, the opera house - hence its name - is located in New Lhogor, Magdorland, New Magdorland.

## Prelude

### Backstory

A new monarch has assumed the throne in the Empire of Magdorland, and quite a young one at that. After Empress Thea has gotten used to being the empress of New Magdorland, her Royal Advisors arranged a meeting so she could learn to lead the whole of the Panmagdorland Unity. The plan was to gather Empress Thea and Emperor Jayden of Seyko to talk over an opera in the New Lhogor Royal Opera House, one that would tell the tale of the Seykan creation story to please their Seykan visitor.

Empress Thea, being the music and drama-hating empress she is, hated the idea. However, because of the diplomatic urgency, and how the invitation had already been sent to Seyko, she was forced to attend it. She wore a light grey dress, decorated with several crystal clear jewels, a necklace of the same colored jewelry around her neck, and she cut her hair short as her grandmother liked to do. She sat on the top seat, presiding over her subjects below. Near her seat, was where Emperor Jayden was, along with a coffee table between them with a tea kettle and two cups, surrounding them were two sets of guards, three Magdorishmen, and three Seykans. The two were given golden binoculars to watch the opera more closely if they pleased.

### The Opera

The opera that was played on the meeting was titled "Tenchi-Kaibyaku", meaning the "creation of heaven and earth" in Seykan. The opera told a tale of a primordial couple of a creator god and goddess, Izanagi and Izanami, creating the world. They created many smaller gods, the most revered among them were the storm god Susanoo, the moon god Tsukoyomi, and the sun goddess Amaterasu, all of which are now used to name Seyko's governmental bodies. The opera was a mix of mythology and musical. Flutes, drums, cymbals, cellos, and violins were used. The majority of the opera was played by actual Seykans, but there were many that were Magdorish.

## Events

### Arrival

The Tenchi-Kaibyaku Opera was attended not only by Empress Thea and Emperor Jayden, but also by many government officials and politicians. In total there were 298 people not including the two sovereigns, making it 300 attendees in total. The opera was played by 30 actors and actresses, as well as 45 musicians accompanying the act. The opera was set on 7 PM, on the 14th of August 170 IE, though many of the people invited arrived up to three hours in advance. Emperor Jayden and Empress Thea were among the last to arrive, with Empress Thea being indeed the very last.

The building which the opera took place in - the New Lhogor Royal Opera House - was covered with gold and quartz pillars. The inside was decorated with red carpets made of fine wool and silk. The attendees were given gold covered binoculars to enjoy the opera. Their seats were dependent of their social hierarchal place, with local politicians seated in front of the stage and Empress Thea and Emperor Jayden seated atop everyone else. The place was dimly lit, with the brightest areas being near the stage. The opera actors wore and extravagant traditional Seykan clothing while they sang on the stage, while the musicians wore black suit with a white shirt inside, as well as bowties tied to their neck. Not long after, doors were closed and some lights were turned off, the show is about to begin.

### Hypnosis

A while has passed after the show has started. Izanagi and Izanami have created the land, youkai and kami. Izanami, bearing the Kami of Fire, Kagu-Tsuchi, died in childbirth. Her now heartbroken husband, Izanagi, ventures to bring back his late wife. He stumbles upon the land of the dead, Yomi no Kuni. Izanagi steps inside and searches for his wife. And surely enough, he finds her, rotting away as a mindless undead corpse within the cave of the dead. Izanami glances to her living husband, and sees no more than a trespasser that has seen too much of her accursed kingdom. She commands the souls of the dead to kill Izanagi, which causes Izanagi to flee. During this chase scene, a very quick-tempo violin solo was played by expert Magdorish violinist Franz Faulan.

During this violin solo, witnesses explained that several of the audience's eyes glowed green for a brief moment. These people, who did not already, immediately stood up straight on their seats. These people were mostly made up of servants very close to their masters, and these masters are mostly the important ones. The seemingly hypnotized people were then given a knife one by one by a mysterious figure from the darkness. They kept the knife in their pockets then proceeded to lay motionless and cold, without even using their binoculars after. Though servants of important people were caught in this daze, the servants of Empress Thea, however, seemed unfazed.

### The Fire

Izanagi successfully made it out of Yomi no Kuni, but having visited the underworld, the land of the damned itself, he felt unclean. He decided to pay a visit to the sea and took a bath. However, when Izanagi washed his left eye, the sun goddess Amaterasu was born. When he washed his right eye, the moon god Tsukoyomi was born, and when he washed his nose, the storm god Susanoo arose. During this scene, a calming flute solo was played by Jeanne Faulan, a Magdorish flautist who is the sister of Franz Faulan, the musician who played the violin solo earlier.

Unlike the violin, the flute solo mostly went uneventful. Until, in the middle of the solo, when Susanoo appeared, the hypnotized people headed to the nearest politician. All moved in sync, then lifted their arms and reached into their pockets. Grabbing their appointed knives, they pulled their arms back. With the knives, they cut the throats of many innocent politicians, including Emperor Jayden himself. Emperor Jayden was then pushed off his balcony, making a loud sound when he hit the masses below. It was only at this moment that the remaining people alive realized the horror that had unfolded. One of them screamed upon seeing their lifeless partner's body aside them, which led to others screaming as well. This in turn set the room into chaos, many people were running for the door, including people on the stage, while others tried to get a better view to find their loved ones.

Whilst people were in a state of confusion, sadness, and fear, the hypnotized people poured gasoline across the hallways of the opera house, and set the building up in flames. This wreaked more havoc than the state the situation was already in. People were pushing each other left and right, their extravagant, expensive, and most notably puffy clothing did not help in the dire predicament they were in. Many people got burnt trying to find an escape in the gargantuan labyrinth that is the halls of the New Lhogor Royal Opera House. Over time, the building started to crumple down. plywood and wooden planks coupled with fire, dust, and debris rained down on the opera audience below them. Many lost their lives crushed by crumbled concrete. On this event's climax, an outside pillar fell down and split into a thousand pieces big and small.

Several Seykan servants, not thinking about themselves, ran to retrieve Emperor Jayden's corpse, with a sliver of hope that he could be saved. They carried him outside to be given to doctors who came in flying ambulances. During the fire, Jayden's side of the balcony crumbled to the ground. What's bizarre is that the other half, Empress Thea's half, looked intact. In fact, during the whole spectacle, the young empress smirked and smiled as the fire spread around her, her servants staying loyal and faithful behind their monarch. She even had the audacity to take a last sip of her tea, before lightly lifting her dress to stand up and walk calmly to the exit, her company following behind her, the sight of people panicking filled her with excitement.

## Aftermath

A total of 57 people were killed in this incident, in addition to 208 people being badly wounded, and 35 were lightly wounded. Empress Thea, being the very last to leave was hit by a falling pillar outside, in which all of her servants were killed. However, she herself would rise up, covered in blood and dust, and walked to the nearest authorities. After being treated, one of the two ears she had was damaged, leading her to only hear from her right ear and forcing her to wear a stabilizing exoskeleton. She refused to apply an artificial ear, this gave her the title of "Thea the Half-Deaf". After this incident, many common folk protested against Empress Thea, especially about her enjoyment witnessing the incident. The Empire of Seyko, because of the death of their monarch during this event, decides to leave the Panmagdorland Unity, officially cutting their close ties with New Magdorland. The death of Emperor Jayden also caused many more problems, including the coronation of Emperor Jayden's son, Prince Jonathan, becoming emperor of Seyko at the age of 10.