Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

A loud roar came from the crowd. Apparently, the butterfly was a crowd favorite.

She stepped down from the dais and walked over to the edge where the platform met the Sky Walk.

Olivia didn't have to take her shoes off. She wore black suede boots that matched with the black bodysuit she wore. They were much better suited for walking down the glass Sky Walk than Helene Cordera's high heels had been.

Olivia took a deep breath. She brushed her golden-brown hair back, squared her shoulders, and stepped onto the Sky Walk.

Olivia had better balance than Helene did. She had made it almost half way down the Sky Walk when a gust of wind from out of nowhere hit her.

It would not have been that disruptive except that Olivia had butterfly wings that caught the gust like a sail and threw her off-balance.

In any normal situation, she could have just fluttered back into place, but her right wing was torn and she was unable to fly.

Left with a single wing, fluttering uselessly in the breeze, Olivia flailed about and fell onto the walkway. The force of her fall catapulted her over the edge of the glass Sky Walk.

As she fell, Olivia reached out and, with one hand, caught onto the ledge. She swung her body and tried to catch the ledge with her other hand but missed the connection.

Unable to hold her body with mere fingertips, she lost her grip and fell.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!" She screamed as she fell from mid-height directly into the pool below.

SPLASH!!!

Her body sank deep into the pool.

For a moment, there was silence as the audience watched with horror.

A minute later, her body rose up. Her face broke through the surface and she gasped for air.

The crowd drew a collective sigh of relief as a group of workers rushed over and helped her out of the pool.

Drenched and completely disqualified, the bedraggled Olivia Faraday was escorted to a chair nearby, her remaining wing dragging behind her, broken and useless.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. It is with great regret that I must declare Contestant number 2 disqualified from the Physical Round of the Avgo Pageant. However, we still have five remaining contestants."

He turned back to the six still on the platform.

"Our next contestant is Bethany Dresden, the red phoenix!"

The crowd roared its approval. This woman had also come with her own groupie.

Bethany Dresden stood on her dais, preening and posing for the visuals which focused in on her every feature. Her body was clad in a gown made of the softest red feathers. Her feet were black bird claws.

From her glittering red eyes to her glorious mane of red hair crowned with a dozen golden antennas; she looked every inch a beauty queen.

"Bethany. Are you ready to take a walk down the Sky Walk to claim your position on the platform below?"

"Absolutely." She said with full confidence.

"The stage is all yours." Lorem Ipsum replied.

She stepped down from the dais and walked over to the edge where the platform met the Sky Walk.

Without hesitation, Bethany stepped on. Her face was triumphant and confident. For any land-lubber, this would be terrifying. For a bird like her, this was like child's play.

She had strong bird wings, in any case. There was no way for her to fall from this height.

At the moment she got almost half-way down, the same gust of wind that caught the butterfly Olivia also hit her.

Candi glanced around. That was the spot that jutted out away from the shelter of the building next to the Sky Walk. There would always be a gusty breeze because it was unsheltered.

Bethany flapped her red wings to regain equilibrium and hovered for a moment as she fought the strong wind gust. With a forward diving motion, she broke free of the wind and landed safely back down.

The remaining part of her saunter down the Sky Walk was uneventful and she stepped off the walkway onto the platform with a big grin.

The crowd gave a loud cheer. She was the first one to step onto the platform with the grace that a beauty queen needed to have.

As Bethany took her place on the second dais at the bottom, all visuals returned to the platform at the top.

"Next up, we have Jenna Natoli!"

A voice over began reading the background for Jenna as her dais moved forward towards the front and began spinning around, showing her body at all angles.

"Jenna. It is your turn to take a walk down the Sky Walk. Are you ready?"

"Yes." Jenna gave a snarl, swinging her fist into the air.

"Take your position." He extended his hand towards the Sky Walk.

Jenna leaped from her dais and landed directly onto the edge of the platform. Without bothering to preen or pose, she slumped onto all four paws and ran down the Sky Walk at quick sprint.

When she hit the one spot where the wind gust blew through, she turned her body into the wind, giving it her aerodynamic profile.

The wind passed around her harmlessly and she growled with triumph, leaping forward onto the second half of the walkway.

Again, the crowd went wild. The cougar was beautiful to behold, walking down the Sky Walk and the crowd loved her.

With the ease of a lean and muscular predator that lived on tree limbs, she moved forward and stepped off the Sky Walk, taking her place on the third dais next to Bethany Dresden.

Once again, the visuals returned to the top of the platform and zeroed in on Lorem Ipsum's face. Without the distinguished silver goatee, he looked a bit odd, but he was merely the announcer. The real talents were the women of the pageant.

"The next contestant is Valeria Marakesh!" Lorem Ipsum announced amidst the cheering of the crowd.

The voice over began reading the background information for Valeria as her dais took her forward and began spinning in front of the audience.

She held her large black wings out in a grand and glorious backdrop, showing off her gorgeous figure in a pale white form-fitting sheath.

"Holding the number five ball, she is ready to join her pageant sisters down at the bottom platform."

Valeria Marakesh was a raven. As such, she had the same advantage as Bethany Dresden. They both had wings and were not thrown off by the height of the Sky Walk.

Without waiting for Lorem Ipsum to ask if she was ready, she stepped off her dais and went straight for the Sky Walk.

This competition was made for one such as Valerie, with her large wings and affinity for heights.

Plus, with Olivia eliminated so early in the game, there really was no competition for the dais. All the remaining women had a spot. The only thing they had to do was walk down and claim it.

Without hesitation, Valeria Marakesh walked down the Sky Walk in the same manner as Bethany did.

At the point where the Sky Walk jutted out, she folded her wings and tucked them tightly to her body so they did not catch the gusts and throw off her balance like it did for both Olivia and Bethany.

She had learned that from seeing the large cat brush off the wind gust with her sleek body.

In no time at all, she had joined the other women on the dais below.

Once again, the visuals swung back up to the top.

"The number sixth spot goes to Anaïse Paroles!"

The same monotonous voice over began reading the background information for Anaïse Paroles as her dais swung her forward and began spinning.

Her semi transparent body gleamed in the sunlight, causing everyone to oooh and aaah'd, even as part of the crowd lit up in blue lights to show their support.

"Anaïse will attempt to make the Sky Walk. Are you ready Anaïse?"

Anaïse Paroles nodded and stepped off the platform. She made her way to the Sky Walk with a steady determined stance.

Candi observed her walk with interest.

Anaïse Paroles wore no clothing let alone shoes. Her bare feet had to be able to grip onto the glass walkway, but glass on glass was a difficult feat.

Candi had no idea how she was going to attempt this.

Apparently everyone else was also quite curious, as the visuals began zooming in on her feet rather than her face.

She stepped off the platform as all the other contestants did, but then something curious began to happen.

Her first step sounded like a crackling hissing sound, as if ice was melting. As she picked up her foot, she left a clear imprint onto the glass walkway.

She was, in essence, melting a slight top layer of the glass with her own silicone feet to maintain traction.

The crowd ooh'd with delight. This was a novel method for walking down the Sky Walk and it impressed the audience.

It was ingenious.

Since Anaïse's feet were stuck to the glass walkway with each step, there was no issue walking downward. She quickly joined the other five women on the lower platform, taking the fifth spot.

There was only one dais left on the lower platform.

The visuals swung up and zoomed in on Candi's face. Without wings, four paws, or glass feet, she seemed to be a candidate that would have the same issues as the fish-human Helene Cordera.

It would be, at the very least, entertaining to watch.

The visuals panned back over to Lorem Ipsum's face. He grinned, showing off all his fangs.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a final contestant for the Avgo pageant. She is a unique one. This is the very first time that a human female has ever been allowed entry into the very exclusive Avgo pageant."

"Coming in at number seven, we have Candace Farrah!"

The visuals zoomed back onto Candi's face.

The crowd went wild!!!

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