March Challenge: Post Series
Theme Nineteen- Prestige


Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course...it probably isn't.

    We were ordinary...just five young girls making our way through our adolescence. We grew up in a bustling city of millions; just a few small voices that we thought no one would ever hear. But there was something different about us, no matter how hard we tried to fit in. Makoto was too strong willed and independent for girls her age. Ami was brilliant beyond recognition, an anomaly amongst her peers. Rei was mystical and beautiful -- and powerful-- and a complete mystery to everyone around her. Minako shone bright and fast, too vibrant for most to catch. Usagi was too kind and selfless to be real, and any normal human would look twice at her. But there was darkness in each of us...a hole in which an ordinary life just couldn't fill no matter how hard we wanted it.

The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret...you won't find it...

    Then some thing happened to us. We became...extraordinary. Soon the entire world knew our names, and we decided its fate. We fought for love and justice, but we also fought to understand who we were. It was a game at first, but the reality of our decision, our destiny, pushed hard against us soon enough. By day we became one person, and by night another. Everything was a cover-up, every thing was an act. We fought behind masks and flashy words, but every night we would return home, wondering what was illusion and what was the truth.

That's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.

    Then some thing happened we could not stop either. The world evolved, and we were chosen to lead it. Now instead of its protectors, we are its rulers. Civilization is on the verge of a new era, and we are to guide it forward, but all we can think about is a past lost to fate. We are unsure if we can be who they need us to be now. But they all look up to us; the Sailor Senshi dressed in skirts and boots, the only saviors left in this world. Do they know how much we doubt ourselves? Do they know how many times we've failed? Do they know how much we only want to be like them...normal? We've fooled the whole world. It was the greatest trick of all; turning five young girls into salvation. We want to believe in ourselves as much as they...believe in their hope in us. But how long will it take before the illusion is broken, and the secret behind our fake smiles is known?

What will become of us?

Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it because you're not really looking. You don't really want to know the secret...You want to be fooled.


(Quotes are from the movie, The Prestige.)