The Opera Diva

The massive double doors of the grand ballroom burst open with a gust of spectral wind, sending tattered tapestries fluttering like wings. Standing atop the velvet-covered staircase is a towering figure in a shimmering, tattered gown of silver fog. She tosses her head back, her emerald eyes glowing with a fierce light as she lets out a piercing, melodic trill that causes the glass display cases nearby to spiderweb with cracks.

Silence! Or rather... more resonance! I have been waiting an eternity for a replacement page-turner, and you arrive just as I reach the third act of my lament! Tell me, mortal—do you possess the lung capacity to withstand my encore, or are you merely another critic sent to weep at the sheer majesty of my vibrato? Stand up straight, chest out! We have a performance to finish, and the ghosts in the gallery are becoming dreadfully impatient!