Phillis Circus: Grounds

“Trixie, wait-!” Estelle’s hand shot out to try and stop the speeding pixie prankster, but she was lost in the flurry of crowds around them before she could. Lucien and Lute quickly took off in pursuit, pushing and elbowing their way through to find her at the shooting gallery, leaving Estelle, Xandra, Moira, Syed, Aria and Eric behind. Aria’s eyes glanced to the large ferris wheel that overlooked the entire circus grounds, making the wise suggestion to scope the grounds out from there as well as get the lay of the land, whilst the others could perhaps explore on the ground…

“I don’t mind going on the Ferris Wheel with you!” Eric’s hand shot up with an enthusiastic, eager grin. Estelle meanwhile shook her head with a sigh and pushed the man away, stepping in front.

“I’ll go with you, Aria,” Estelle grinned. In truth, she was disappointed not to be riding the circus’ various attractions from the immediate get go, but that could all come in time. She thought it was just as good of an idea as the illusionist to scope out the entire circus grounds first, before inspecting each individual area, tent and game afterwards. Because if she didn’t at least have a rough idea of where she was going, Estelle would knowingly backtrack about herself over and over again.

And resting her feet after their walk to and from Morris sounded like a good idea too.

“Hey, Aria, should we get some cotton candy first?” Estelle asked.

Behind them, a sobbing Eric rejoined Xandra, Moira and Syed, as the trio decided amongst themselves what they’d do first. Eric was happy to follow their lead doing anything they wanted. He just hoped he could find his niece quickly.

Phillis Circus

"Lute and I challenge you to a shoot off!"

"You're on, Frogman!" Trixie taunted as the two boys caught up with her. She giggled before proceeding further. When she realized that all three of the rifles at the range were unoccupied, she bolted even faster.

"Step right up, step right up," a pink-eyed girl donned in flashy black clothing stood by the shooting range, blankly watching the passersby come and go. The magician's voice was just as low and monotone as her expression, and her arm movements were just as bland. In fact she hadn't even noticed when Trixie arrived until Lute and Lucien popped up behind the pipsqueak.



"Hey! Heeeey!" Trixie called, jumping around and waving her arm frantically in front of the magician, who boredly looked down at her. "We'd like to go up next please!"

Cammie sighed loudly. "Sorry ma'am, you're not tall enough for th--"

"Heeey!" Trixie now she stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a closer look at the magician's face. She didn't even react to the child's antics. "Weren't you the lady at the gate earlier? How'd you get here so fast?"

Cammie sighed loudly again, but otherwise remained unmoving. "I'm not a 'lady,' thanks."

"Ehh? But I totally thought you were--"

"You're still too short for this attraction, ma'am. I apologize. However, your two friends can--"

Trixie was back on her tiptoes, now pointing an indignant finger at Cammie's face - pushing it right against his nose. "Now you listen here, lady! I'll have you know, I am an excellent shot! I've shot tons of bad guys and monsters before and- and just because I'm a little bit short does not mean I'm not good enough for a shooting range!" She dug her finger further against the magician's nose, threatening to slide it right up the bridge and towards his eyes. But Cammie remained unmoved with his deadpan expression. "Now are you gonna let me at it or not!?"

Of all the things that could have thrown Cammie off guard and/or made him suspicious about Trixie's little speech, there was only one: "Ma'am, I already told you I'm not... okay. Go ahead." Cammie flicked his wrist dismissively, looking away from the three guilders. "Knock yourself out, ma'am. Whatever." He continued mumbling to himself, something about the amount of times he's been misgendered that day, though the rest was indistinguishable.

With that, Trixie pumped the air and began firing away at the nearest rifle. "Let's do this! Worst score has to pay for cotton candy! Blam, blam bam bam blam bam!"

She continued firing away at the target ahead of her, taking rapid single shots as opposed to precision. Undoubtedly Trixie was the first to waste all of her rounds, landing three square shots in the target's head and four in the chest. It was far from a hundred percentage accuracy, but it was still enough for her to cheer. Cammie too looked over his shoulder to see Trixie's results, before turning away from her (keeping his eyes on the passersby again) and clapping slowly. "Congrats. Whoo. Well-done."

Phillis Circus
"No, fuck that," Moira patted Xan on the back, shoving her off in one direction. "I ain't sittin' on my ass for an age without a pint in my hand and a friend to drink with. And the friend has stayed at home today so it ain't happenin'."

Eric had rejoined at this point, looking a little upset. And as wary as Syed was, he had to give the man a sympathetic pat on the back and attempted words of comfort. It was pretty much an unwritten rule. "I'm sure we'll find your niece soon. It's probably for the best we stay on the ground anyway, that way we're not stuck waiting for the wheel to go all the way around if we spot her. Besides, have you ever thought what if the wheel detaches at the hinges and rolls away? Because man, I have. Put me off forever."

They pushed through the crowds, before coming to a stop before a collection of stalls, all with a various selection of prizes ranging from small wind fans and bags of candy floss on the hook-a-duck stall - to rediculous hats and masks and massive cuddly toys on the more challenging games.

"Riiiiight," Syed said slowly, his expression quite clearly doubtful.

"We gotta look the part," Moira explained, with that horrifying smirk of hers. She released her steely grip from Xan's shoulder to reach once more for her money pouch, counting out a few coins. "Else we'll look well dodgy, I reckon. So try and win somethin'."

Syed's eyebrows raised. Oh. Oh actually that made a bit of sense - for Moira at least. Sort of like disguises. They could keep an eye out in the meantime, of course.

Moira flicked a coin into the air and caught it again deftly. With that she stepped towards the nearest stall - a simple looking one, where they had to throw metal rings over wooden poles. The stall owner demonstrated the game, certainly making it look easy.

Wait did her first ring bounce right off?! "Fuck! I threw it right, why didn't it fit?" she exclaimed, aiming her second with the same results. "Woooooooooow. Fuck this!"

Syed meanwhile wistfully looked up to the sillier of the hats hanging from the stalls. Oh, some of those looked really fun. Shame with his luck he had no hope in hell of winning anything, so he initially remained hanging back. He was quite happy to just keep an eye out anyway.

Phillus Circus

“I’ll go with you, Aria,”

So Estelle and Xan were going to come with? Aria nodded enthusiastically, smile widening. A Ferris wheel! It was going to be so cool. Before they could leave, Moira prodded Xan away towards the game stalls, leaving the illusionist pouting in their direction. Ah well, she still had Estelle with her. She linked arms with the girl before anyone could steal the swordswoman away, steering them towards the towering wheel that rose above the tents. Oooh, that particular tent smelled really tasty...

“Hey, Aria, should we get some cotton candy first?”

"Yes! Exactly what I was thinking." She turned abruptly, towards the stall selling all sorts of colorful candies and other fair foods. Cotton candy, hot dogs, corn dogs, poms-on-a-stick, it had pretty much everything one could want to eat. She very much wanted to buy everything, but unfortunately her poor wallet disagreed. Estelle was already out of gald, wasn't she?

"My treat this time," she grinned, handing the gald over to the shopkeeper and receiving two cotton candies in return. Funds were really getting low- she peered into her wallet, inwardly sighing at the meager amount left in there. Hopefully the wheel wouldn't charge extra for a ride.

The wheel was even fancier up close, with lights that she imagined to look very dazzling at night. Even in the day, however, it was rather awe-inspiring and the illusionist couldn't help but bounce on the balls of her feet in excitement.

"Have you ever rode in one of these, Estelle?" She grinned down at the girl, smile growing slightly devious. "I wish Marcus had come along. I've heard these can be very romantic, especially at night."

Okay, challenging the kid to a shoot off probably wasn't the best idea. The guns weren't exactly like her uzis, but she did an amazing job. Lucien gave the girl a pat on the head and grinned, "heh, I'm not sure if I can do the same," he narrowed his eyes at the virtuoso and snickered. "But I'm definitely not losing to Lute!" The summoner turned towards Cammie with a grin. "We'll be playing too," he picked up on the rifles, resting the butt on his shoulder, Lucien shut one of his eyes then took aim.

He missed the target completely... "I erm, meant to do that. Yeah, yeah, just getting used to the weapon." The summoner tried again and to his dismay, most of his shots missed. By the end of it, he managed to hit the target twice in the torso but that was pretty much it.

He wondered how Trixie or Lisette managed to hit targets that were actually moving. Hell, he had a new found respect for ranged fighters. "Ah, I've been bested by the pixie." Dramatically, he grabbed at his chest and winced. "I'm a man of honor though, so if Lute manages to hit more targets than me, then cotton candy for everyone." He nodded his head excitedly. "Maybe we can grab some ice cream too, yeah?" This would definitely hurt his wallet, but Lucien wasn't exactly good at funding and whatnot. If something piqued his interest, he'd most likely buy it.



Look the part, hmm? She nodded her head then gave the upset man a sympathetic smile.

"Eric, was it? Don't look so glum, maybe you can try winning something for your niece? That way you can cheer her up with a fluffy new companion." She nodded her head and hoped he would stop sulking. Despite her earlier suspicions, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Moira approached one of the stalls, the one with the rings, but things didn't exactly go well. Xan approached the berserker then tapped her on the shoulder. "I found something else that might be more to your liking." She grinned then pointed at test your strength game. A man had been talking into a megaphone and challenging people. In the past couple of minutes a guy had tried to lift the mallet over his head, but he ended up with a sore back and a bruised ego.

The mallet did look heavy, but to be honest, Moira's sword looked like it weighed a lot more. "I'm sure you'd be able to win." They were even giving out prizes to those who managed to hit the thing hard enough to make the bell ring.

Phillis Circus

Estelle and Aria walked towards the ferris wheel, the swords-sanless-woman enjoying the pink and fluffy cotton candy treat that Aria had purchased for her with much gusto, clutching on to her cheeks and shaking her head from side to side with a blissful murmur as she chewed it, swallowing and then sighing with a happy indulgence. She would definitely have to pay Aria back for this sometime later when she got more money from Marcus, and treat her to something equally delicious too. As dubious and dangerous as the circus could potentially be, and the seriousness of the current mission she and the rest of the Pride were on, she couldn’t deny that at the same time… she was having fun.

Should she be allowed to feel this way…? She didn’t know. She just had to keep reminding herself over and over again not to get too carried away, and forget about why they had come. People were missing. Lady’s son and Eric’s niece were missing. Wherever they were, they had to find them. And the ferris wheel, on top of offering a wonderful view of the circus grounds, could definitely help them do that.

"Have you ever rode in one of these, Estelle?" Aria grinned down at Estelle, as the two walked onto one of the wheel’s empty carriages, the door held open by a smiling attendant and then closed shut with a lock. As the pair sat down in opposite seats, looking at each other and outside the windows, Aria’s smile grew slightly devious. "I wish Marcus had come along. I've heard these can be very romantic, especially at night."

Estelle’s cheeks, filled to burst with cotton candy, suddenly became lodged in her throat, the hapless girl choking from Aria’s sudden comment. Her hands and body wretched and shot out wildly from side to side, as she struggled to eventually swallow it whole with a loud gasp.

“M-M-MARCUS? ROMANTIC?” Estelle sputtered with wide blinking eyes. “Wh-wh-wh-wh-what do you mean by that?”

Her cheeks grew bright crimson, and Estelle had to avoid Aria’s eye contact by looking out through the windows as the rotating wheel continued to ascend their carriage.

“How… how is this romantic?” Estelle asked with confusion. “I mean, stars can be pretty nice to look at, but… how are ferris wheels romantic?”

Then, Estelle’s body suddenly bolted upright in shock, recoiling with surprise. Aria, who had been watching Estelle during this time with a delighted smile, followed the swordswoman’s gaze outside, and her reaction mimicked Estelle’s in the exact same way. Although they had been talking about ferris wheel romances, neither of them had expected the aptness of finding two people sitting on one of the ferris wheel’s massive supports, one of them a man with long, messy blonde hair and goggles draped around his neck, the other a girl decked in the exact same matching black garb as Sammie the gatekeeper, to be kissing on top of it. They just stared silently as their carriage rotated up, around, and past them.

“Er… ah… er…” Steam blew out of Estelle’s ears, and she collapsed back into her seat.

Morris: Circus Grounds

The range attendant, at first, didn’t let them pass due to height issues. Okay, so this one’s not a lady. He did look exactly like that girl at the gate earlier, so maybe they were twins? Lute knew he should be more concerned about the stuff Trixie said about her experience with monsters and all that, but to be honest the guy didn’t even seem to hear what she said, much less react to it. “Sorry about people calling you with the wrong pronouns,” The virtuoso couldn’t resist but say something to the blasé employee before hightailing it to the farthest rifle.

As expected, Trixie got quite a few headshots. “Wow, that’s amazing!” Lute gaped as he examined the smoking holes on the poor target’s face area. That looked painful. “And hey! That’s mean! I’ll definitely beat you! Mark my words!” The virtuoso responded as Lucien took on the next rifle. Fortunately, the summoner ended up with two shots. Two! Hahahaha! While there wasn’t a guarantee that he can do better, Lute felt at ease knowing that at least someone seemed to be as unskilled as he was.

“My turn!” The virtuoso picked his next shot and out of the three of them took the longest time to empty the bullets. He took a warming shot just to see if he could actually handle the rifle, and then began what was an awful round of sadness and misfire. At the end, Lute hit three parts of the target… Or probably two and a half seeing that the last one just nicked the shoulder, while one bullet was in the waist and the other was smack dab in the center of the torso. “Aw. Guess we’re splitting, then. I still have a few of my money left, don’t worry!” Lute stepped back from the range then ushered his friends away as the other passersby took their turn. “Let’s get that cotton can- Oooooh!”

Right beside the sweets stall was a booth with a large aquarium on the ground. It had various small fishes swimming in it, and a bevy of plastic nets small enough to be handled with one hand hung from a wall. Unlike the food-oriented stops near it this kiosk was almost unvisited, which was probably why Lute saw it and flocked over immediately. That and he liked fish.

“Okay so uh… How much? And and and, if I catch some it means they’re mine, right!?” Lute, not remembering they had a mission or that he left Trixie and Lucien behind, hollered over at the attendant who was fixing something behind a pile of boxes.

Phillis Circus
"I found something else that might be more to your liking." Xan suggested. "I'm sure you'd be able to win."

Moira span furiously away from her horribly failing game to look back to the Highstriker. Oh. Yeah, she had seen that earlier. And to be honest... she didn't really fancy it today. Any other day and she would be all for it. But right now? Something or rather someone was missing, and she really didn't feel up to her normal bolshy self.

"Well yeah probably, but look at all the shitty people the guy's roundin' up," Moira shrugged dismissively. "It probably ain't even a challenge. Look at 'em! No, I gotta game to finish."

She turned back to the stall, where the stall owner was now cowering in a corner. "You throw hard, love," he groaned, his eyes darting across his stall. The large crack in one of the sticks. The ring now embedded in the wooden backpanel. And worst of all, she still had one ring left. He stared, wearing the expression of a terrified man trying his best to maintain excellent customer service regardless. A hero in his own profession. "One more!"

"Yeah, and this baby's gonna win me a prize," she whispered loudly, touching the ring to her lips for good luck and leaving a bit of a red smear on it. Then suddenly, she swung her arm back...

...And the ring slipped out of her grip, flying at a terrifying velocity before miraculously striking the Highstriker right on the bell. DONG! An absolutely tiny little girl, no more than five years of age let out a cheer, her father having just helped her tap the hammer on the stiking pad. She had done it! She won!

Well, Moira had done it for her. "Cor," she said in mild amazement. Even Syed blinked a couple of times, before turning back to the others from his position looking out over the crowds. Which was a job better suited to him than most at ground level, really. "Blimey, I think that was the Gods' will, right there," he breathed, clutching at his pendant. "Don't you think?"

"AAAAAAND YOU WIN A PRIZE!" the stall owner suddenly exclaimed, shoving the nearest thing he could grab at the berserker. "Why don't you try there next?" He pointed to a temporary structure, where a young blond girl was leaning by the door, the words 'FUN HOUSE' emblazoned over it in glitzy letters. The girl absent-mindedly tucked her long hair behind her ear as she read a book - although they weren't close enough to tell, the book was in fact upside down.

Moira scowled at her prize. Oh fantastic, it was one of those hideous hats. She threw it over her shoulder to Syed, who looked ecstatic and immediately plopped it over his thick curls. Oh, Lucien would love this! "Oi! What about these two!" she pointed towards Xan and Eric. "They wanted prizes too-!"

"THANK YOU, NEXT CONTESTANT PLEASE!" the stall owner shouted as loudly as he could, intent on ignoring both her and her companions. A little money meant nothing if his stall got demolished!

"Oh fuck you then!"

"Not bad at all!" Like he was one to talk, Lucien swung an arm around the virtuoso's shoulders and pulled him close. "Okay, kid, cotton candy on us." He was thankful that he and Lute would be splitting the bill, that meant he'd have some extra gald for later. This place was just filled with all sorts of kooky costumes and wonderful souvenirs. Maybe he'd buy one of those giant animal plushies later, but ehh...it'd be hard to bring the thing along, so maybe he'd settle for a key chain instead. Yeah, that sounded good and affordable too.

Before he could say more Lute disappeared in a flash, appearing by a stall filled with nets and fishes.

"Ah, good luck, pal!" He gave the virtuoso a thumbs up then looked around for a cotton candy stall. "I'll be right back, kiddo." And true to his word, he returned with two cones of colorful cotton candy. "Lucien Maddox always keeps his word," with a gentlemanly bow he passed one cone to Trixie then took a big bite out of his own. He didn't buy any for the virtuoso since he hand't really won the challenge.

The candy melted in his mouth and he grinned. Carnivals were always magical, even if rides like the roller coaster made him feel sick. Lucien peered left and right before one attraction made him bounce in place. "Hey, hey, guys. After Lute captures a new friend we should check out the horror train," it would probably be a kiddy ride, but hey, it had monsters in them and that made Lucien incredible excited. "I double dare you both."

---

Xan noticed the cowering man and gave him a sympathetic smile.

Moira could be intimidating and brash, but she supposed the berserker almost always meant well. She nodded her head at the woman's statement then watched as she focused on the game before her. The ring was sent flying and the sound of a bell filled the air.

"Blimey, I think that was the Gods' will, right there,"

The mettalurgist stared silently before grinning at the happy child. "That was definitely amazing and you made her day too." Oddly, the man still gave Moira a prize. It was like hitting two birds with one stone. She would have congratulated the berserker but she didn't seem too pleased with her prize, so instead she turned to Syed and laughed. "That hat is very unique--"

Moira stated yelling at the poor man and Xan wanted to stop her, but she couldn't deny that the scene before them was pretty comical.

"No worries, we can win prizes elsewhere." She looked around for something of interest. "We can go in that fun house? It looks like an interesting place."

"Step right up, step right up!" Not too far from the blond woman was a man in a clown costume. He spoke ecstatically through a large megaphone. "We have a new maze that'll twist your minds! If you can finish it in a certain number of minutes you all get a prize!" He did a happy little tap dance before resuming his announcement.

"What do you know," the mettalurgist laughed. "Shall we take on this challenge?"

Morris: Circus Grounds

“Twenty a half dozen tries!”

Lute jumped back when the attendant, an enthusiastic lady wearing huge glasses, popped out from behind the boxes with a loud cheer. Gods above, all he wanted was information, not a jumpscare! “Uh… Okay, okay. Here,” He forked over his payment and was thrown a net and a small container in return, then fumbled about for a bit before finally crouching down with the small net poised over the swimming little fishies.

… The virtuoso felt sweat drip down his neck as the woman stared down at him with an overzealous glint in her eyes. Strung up and nervous, Lute ended up missing a totally easy catch on his first try. “Yeah, I-I was just warming up there,” He joked. She hissed back.

In the end, he was able to catch three. It was a disastrous result, and the attendant glared at him like she wished she could slap him back and forth with a net, but Lute consoled himself with thinking that with his track record he was actually lucky to win something at all. “Ooookay I’m- wow, you two. Just wow,” Lute narrowed his eyes at the summoner who was happily munching on a cotton candy and reached out to rip a huge wad off with his hand. “That’s for not sharing!”

"Hey, hey, guys. We should check out the horror train, I double dare you."

“Er,” Lute swallowed his candy and looked at Lucien and Trixie, “You sure about that? Not that I’m scared… It’s pretty hard to get scared of horror thingies when I can hear the personnel coming a meter away, but eh. Let’s do it! I’m not backing down from any dares!” He started walking towards that ominously decorated attraction that caught the summoner’s attention, sensing that this may be a bad idea the closer they got to it and heard the screams coming from within. This ride seemed to be popular…

Phillus Circus

Aria watched with great amusement as the girl's face turned bright red to match her hair as she floundered. Estelle was too adorable, wasn't she? The illusionist plucked some cotton candy off of the paper cone, greatly enjoying the way it simply melted in her tongue.

"You know, a couple suspended in the air in a small place looking down in the night view, all alone and away from prying eyes..."

Estelle's gaping made her turn, blinking in surprise at the couple kissing with great gusto on one of the support beams. "Or you could do that, I guess." She muffled the laughter that emerged from her throat, Estelle's face having become even more impressively red. They finally reached the summit and the wheel stopped, the small carriages swinging slightly.

"Ooh, lucky! We got to stop at the top!" She scorched over to the windows? Pressing her hand against the glass to look down at the circus. Woah, they were reaaaaally high up. The circus was spread out under them, all bright colors and waving flags. "Hey, isn't that Lulu and Lucy and Trixie?" Gosh, this was fun.

"Oh, right. Do you see anywhere you want to investigate?" She peered back at the recovering Estelle. Shouldn't forget about the job.

Phillis Circus

Estelle didn’t even register Aria’s question, instead still transfixed with embarrassment the things that Aria had mentioned to her before that, and the couple she had seen frenetically kissing on top of one of the ferris wheel’s supports, of all places. Being alone here at night… under the stars… with Marcus… she… she…

“Er, Estelle, are you okay?” Aria asked, tapping the redhead’s shoulder and bringing her coursing straight back to reality. Estelle’s body leapt up with a shrill shriek and she spun on the spot, still aflush with embarrassment as she looked at Aria and then did her frantic best to avoid eye contact.

“I’m, er, good! Great, even! Ah, yeah, er, hmm… what were you saying?”

Another playful smile adorned Aria’s lips, but she didn’t press the tease any further. As fun as coming on the ferris wheel and seeing Estelle squirm in such an adorable fashion no doubt was, they had a mission to fulfil, and they couldn’t forget about that, no matter what other distractions laid in wait for them.

“I said, do you see anywhere you want to investigate?” Aria chuckled. Estelle’s eyes blinked with realisation and purpose, and she finally remember what it was they were supposed to be doing.

“Oh, oh, yeah, you’re right. Hmm.” Estelle peered out of the carriage’s windows, surveying the circus grounds below. Upon Aria’s mentioning of it again, she could indeed see Trixie, Lute and Lucien entering a big tent labelled with a gigantic, flamboyant sign as “Horror Train”. And across the way, Estelle was almost positive she could see Moira, Syed, Xandra and Eric walking towards a funhouse? In fact, Estelle was absolutely certain of it. No one could mistake the bombastic sound of Moira’s voice.

Estelle flashed a quick glance in the direction of the smooching couple from before. She grimaced as she did so, knowing she’d regret it as soon as she saw them, but then her eyes widened in bewilderment to see that neither one were there anymore, both having vanished completely. That was strange.

Estelle shrugged, and looked back down at the grounds below. The rest of the group were taking on the two biggest tents, aside from the large Big Top in the centre of the grounds. There were smaller tents dotted about the place for smaller, individual act demonstrations, but if anything smelt suspicious to Estelle… it was the big top. That tent was absolutely huge, designed to house and seat an audience in the hundreds, as well as the wide ring ground where the performances were held. That was the next most suspicious looking location to her.

“The Big Top.” Estelle said, nodding towards it. “I think we should go explore that.”

---

“The Fun House, huh?” Eric idly scratched his chin as he followed his companions in the direction of it. Eric had watched with an absentminded silence at the trio’s adventures before, his thoughts affixed to his niece, and the wealth of concern he had for her surged back with greater gusto as they came up to the jubilantly jolly fun house before them. “Me and my niece went on it yesterday,” Eric said. “She absolutely loved it. I think it was one of her favourite attractions.”

“Her favourite, huh?” Syed replied, “Do you think she might have gone back in to play again, then?” It was the hopeful, optimistic guess, although deep in his gut Syed had to wonder. Things couldn’t possibly be so simple, but it could also be a possibility that she simply got lost in the maze, right? …right?

Phillis Circus: Horror Train

Wonderful, wonderful! The boys tied for lowest, meaning Trixie had won - just as she had expected. She fist pumped silently to herself, though when she reopened her eyes, both of them had taken off. What, where they skirting on their duties already? That was lame. She puffed her cheeks and pouted momentarily, only for them to widen into a bright and cheery smile once the summoner returned with cotton candy.

She nommed it immediately following Lucien's bite and let out a loud gasp of satisfaction. "Wowee," Trixie tugged on Lucien's sleeve. "It's so cloudy and puffy..." She continued ripping bites off her stick in total fascination as her eyes loomed to Lute next, as he fumbled with his net at the fish stand. When he turned around and narrowed his eyes at the duo, Trixie merely waved back, still nomming on her delicious treat. "Nice catch," she giggled back between bites.

"We should check out the horror train. I double dare you both."

Horror Train? Trixie gulped as her eyes followed Lucien's. Indeed there was a black-and-purple tent labeled with those same words, though her eyes were more so fixated on its long and hollow opening. Gothic fences blocked off the visible train tracks from the short queue of visitors waiting their turn. A goofy-looking man - who, up closer, was some sort of sad clown with makeup running loose as though he had been crying - stood by the entrance as well, glumly motioning with his hands for visitors to enter the carts that roll in.

There was a sudden shrill, causing Trixie to tense up and drop her cotton candy. The double carts soon rolled out, and the four visitors riding it exited promptly. Well, three of them did - the fourth one remained gripping onto the handbars before her and murmuring. It took all three of them to pull her out of the cart. The clown watched them with a blank stare before, again, glumly motioning with his hands for the next folks in line to take the ride. Some of those who had been waiting ditched immediately, leaving the queue much shorter than it was moments ago.

Trixie gulped again. Lute accepted the dare readily, bringing the other two alongside with him as they lined up. Within moments they were at the front and entering the carts that rolled out from one side of the tent's opening. The prankster straightened her posture, lifting her chin and puffing her cheeks as well. "I ain't scared! We totes got this in the bag!"

She hopped into the front cart with no hesitation and began yapping at the two boys until they entered with her. The cart took off slowly, rolling right back into darkness where ominous, faded laughter rang through the atmosphere, intermixed with the clinking and churning of their carts' wheels beneath. "Not bad, not bad," Trixie said in a hushed tone. "Everything seems to be going--"

"EEEEHEHEHEH!" A giantass ghost popped up in the corner of the room from absolutely nothing in the corner of the room, lightning up the area with a flash of white. Trixie shrilled before wrapping her arms around the face of whoever sat beside her, clinging tightly onto him and obscuring his vision as she continued shrieking.

Morris: Circus

Lute watched as a group of people worked together to pry their friend out of the cart, and the growing unease in his chest flared up tenfold. Normally rides like these would be assigned to the cheerful attendants so the people going in would feel less scared than they should be, but the gloomy expression on the clown’s face did nothing for Lute. If that wasn’t enough, what few made up the line scattered and the three of them advanced to the front, where they were promptly ushered and strapped into the carts. He started to regret agreeing to Lucien’s dare.

“Hey, nothing bad happens inside, right?” The virtuoso asked the clown as he locked them in on the ride. The attendant gave him a blank stare and didn’t answer the question until the ride finally started rolling into the tunnel which portended nothing but darkness and terror.

Once inside the tunnel, Lute and Delilah perked up. The familiar didn’t care much for novelties like these and would prefer seeing Lute scared shitless, but she figured she could lend out a helping hand just this once. Chilling laughter came in from the inner bowels of the tunnel and the virtuoso focused on that area, half-expecting a giant worm to careen out of the darkness and gobble them up. He could barely even hear Trixie whispering beside him.

"EEEEHEHEHEH!"

A blinding flash of light burst on Lute’s blind side and he turned to look, heart hammering away in his chest, when somebody suddenly let out a banshee scream and latched onto him. “Oh Gods, oh no, get off! Ack! T’way with you! T’WAY!” Lute shrieked, both at his unknown assailant and that huge ghost, and flailed about, rocking the cart back and forth, “DON’T GOUGE MY EYES OUT THEY’RE MY BEST FEATURE!”

As the ghost faded back into the darkness the virtuoso realized (with no small help from Delilah) that it was Trixie who was covering his eyes and awkwardly reached up to tap her arm. “We’re fine, haha… Oh fudgecakes,” He laughed weakly as their ride continued chugging on, because it seemed like the room temperature had dropped a few notches not to mention that that awful creepy laugh was back again.

Phillis Circus - Fun House
Urgh, it was only a matter of time til they saw a clown at a place like this. Syed instinctively shrank back a little despite himself, although he did his best to hide his discomfort. Which wasn't very well, really.

Nonetheless this was one of the biggest tents. It was probably a good idea to check it out regardless - outside was too busy to really see anything anyway.

The blonde girl at the door didn't even look up from her book as they approached. She moved a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, although her hair simply fell back forward. It was only when they moved to pass when she spoke, her voice soft-spoken.

"You can win a prize," she said simply, not taking her eyes from her book. Moira and Syed exchanged somewhat awkward looks at the statement. Considering how close and loud the clown was, there was no way she didn't hear him. She then finally looked up, her pale blue eyes fixing on everyone in turn unblinkingly. "10 gald." Upon noticing Syed's perplexed expression at her upside-down book, she held it right up inches from his face. "It's a puzzle book," she explained in the same deadpan tone.

They paid their fare, paying for Eric too since the man was broke. And with that the girl simply went back to her book. Oh. Huh. They guessed that meant they were allowed in?

Upon entry they came across a strange, rotating barrel-like doorway which made it difficult to stay upright as they passed. For once Syed was the one who remained upright, his long legs enabling him to pass with only a little stumble. Moira was much less fortunate. Her heels weren't designed for this shit! "FUCK!" she immediately bellowed, sliding and rolling around in the barrel and taking anyone unfortunate enough to be next to her along with her.

Once that obsticle was finally overcome, however, they were greeted by the sight of an extremely confusing looking area. Stairs branched off in every direction, and any free walls were covered in bright paint and distorting mirrors.

"Right... so it's best if we look everywhere, right? Which direction do you reckon first?" Syed asked, looking back to the others.

Phillis Circus

“Hahaha! Oh, my beauties, you are all so very hungry, da?” A loud and hearty laugh echoed across the circus grounds, as a large, powerfully bare chested and muscular man walked back and forth without a single care in the world inside the lion’s cage. He carried huge slabs of raw meat, dripping in barbecue sauce, draped over his shoulder as he walked towards the fierce animal, crouching down next to it and petting it roughly atop its head, and rustling its mane with great delight. “Oh Lidya, your coat is so lustrous and shiny today! You make papa so very proud!!”

After the man continued to roughly rub and nuzzle the lion’s head, he suddenly stopped, his eyes blinking with realisation as he noticed the laces of his boots were untied. He tilted his head down, to focus his attention on retying these laces, as Lidya the lion’s nose twitched from the delicious smell of the meat before her. She opened her powerful jaws wide, and leaned forwards, slowly drawing nearer and nearer to both the meat and the man’s head…

“BAD LIDYA!” The man’s fist suddenly swung out, punching the lion fiercely in the cheek and sending it flying back with a crash against one of the cage’s four walls, the force of the blow almost enough to topple the whole metal and concrete cage over and onto said wall. The man stood up, shaking his head with a disappointed tut, and folding his bulging arms over his rippling chest. “How many times must you be told! You need to wait until told to eat, da? Snatching is bad!”

The man walked back over towards the lion, and bending down again, affectionately nursed the sobbing lion, and giving her her dinner. All around, the rest of the circus’ animals either tucked into their lunch or were waiting for their meals to be delivered. All the while, the large muscular man in charge of the circus’ beasts laughed heartily.

---

“Hmm… oh my, this is quite… something…” A soft voice littered with concern wafted from the body of a middle aged woman with full, plump lips, her face covered and enshrouded in her shawl and masked to all who looked at her. The woman, in her light blues robes with fanciful gold embroidery around the shoulders and bosom, twitched her lips with a slight shake of her head in disdain as her hands, reaching over her table, held on to the palms of another woman across from her. A blonde haired woman with the ends of her hair tied into braids, and piercing cold blue eyes and fixed stare, looked back to the fortune teller, silently waiting and listening as she conducted her reading.

“I sense great calamity approaching, Isabella,” The fortune teller spoke with a grimace. “Great turmoil is about to approach and consume your life… something that will shake your resolve and test your strength.”

The blonde woman frowned, but said nothing. She looked down at her palms, and the fortune teller’s hands that gripped them, before returning her gaze to the soothsayer.

“You have known great tragedy before in your life… a great despair. This impending trial… it does not extend to the same reach as such tragedy, but there is no denying that it is great. The anguish and devastation approaching will have profound… longlasting effects… and there’s no way to prevent it. It’s also a lot closer then you would think…”

Isabella continued to watch the oracle. She narrowed her eyes, cautiously watching, as the hooded and robed woman’s body started to move and twitch in agitation at first, and then fright. As she began to witness more and more of the disaster that was Isabella’s future, the more she found it was too much to bear. Clenching her teeth in great pain, the fortune teller started to writhe and ache, groaning slowly at first before emitting a high pitched scream, and wrenching her hands free of Isabella’s hands, standing up from her chair and backing away to one of the small tent’s walls.

Her chest rose and fell with heavy gasps.

“Isabella… it’s… it’s…”

The blonde woman frowned and shook her head, scraping her own seat backwards, and rising to her feet. She looked back to the fortune teller for but a brief moment.

“Thank you, Elisa,” She said, striding towards the exit. “That will be all.”

Phillus Circus

“The Big Top. I think we should go explore that.”

Aria peered down through the glass at the striped tent below, nodding thoughtfully. "That's where the show is going to be later, right? I agree it does wouldn't hurt to check in there." She would certainly prefer that over the horror train poor Lulu was going on. Hopefully he wouldn't be too traumatized; his hair was too close to being white already.

Slowly their compartment rotated back to the ground and the two girls hopped off, making their way to the show tent. It looked no different from the other tents besides the fact that it was much bigger and had more colorful flags on the support beams. She paused when she spotted the entrance flap which had a large sign pinned on and another bored employee standing in front of it.

Employees and staff only

"I guess we're not allowed in until the show is starting," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Do you think we should try and sneak in? It wouldn't be very fun if we got caught, though." She blinked at Estelle, waiting for their leader to make a decision. They'd probably get thrown out which would make investigating much more difficult, and it would be hard to get in unnoticed with the amount of people, both civilians and workers alike, milling about around the tent.

A large muffled crash came from somewhere near the back of the tent, something that the illusionist nearly missed because of all the noise coming from the various crowds around them.

"Did you hear that? I wonder if they're rehearsing in the tent right now?"

Phillis Circus: Horror Train

"DON'T GOUGE MY EYES OUT THEY'RE MY BEST FEATURE"

Lute's shriek only caused Trixie to shriek back at him and obscure his vision even more - until he tapped her arm with a nervous chuckle. Trixie finally pulled back into her seat again and let out a huge sigh. Despite her trembling voice and tiny body, she did what she could to sit as upright and confident as possible. "Hah! Hahaha... yeah, yeah, we're... we're fine! That wasn't bad at all! Haaah... ... ... I wish I had my guns..."

That damned spooky laughter re-emerged as the cart continued to trek into the darkness. Aside from the cranking and churning of the wheels and gears, that voice was all the trio could hear in the darkness, amplified with echoes. As it grew louder and louder, Trixie's trembles worsened to the point of chattering teeth. She wrapped her arms tightly around Lute's. "Something's gonna pop up," she quipped, snapping her head to and fro. "Something's gonna pop up something'sgonnapopup something'sgonnapopup something's-"

"RAGHAHAHAGGAHA!"

"EEEEEEK!" Trixie squealed out again, repeating the same process as before with her arms all around Lute's face. Only this time... there was no monster or ghost. Nothing had popped up at all. The cart had rolled to a sudden and forceful stop, and the room was now shrouded in a grey mist. Fake grass and decorated tombstones now littered the area. But what on earth had...?

Laughter? Wait, that wasn't - that wasn't zombie laughter. That sounded pretty human...!

Trixie whipped her head over her shoulder to see the summoner behind the duo snickering mischievously at them. She puffed her cheeks, pouted, then looked forward again, arms crossed defiantly. "Not. Funny."

Morris: Horror Train

Lute gripped onto the side handles of the cart so tightly that his knuckles were a strained white. The ride rolled into a cemetery as the vice-like grip around his arm tightened painfully, leading the virtuoso to wince and about to plead with Trixie to let go when yet another horrible cackle rippled through the chill air. This time, the voice was right behind them.

The virtuoso let out a wordless shriek as he whirled around to face the ghost, but before he could even see it the arms wrapped around his face pulled him back. Combined with the sudden stop, Lute ended up falling backwards on the bottom of the cart, his legs making wild kicking motions towards the source of the noise soon as he was able to raise them. Despite what he believed would happen, nary a floury hand nor a white sheet made its way towards them. Instead, what greeted him when he got up was Lucien’s smug laughing face.

“Yeah, not funny,” Lute repeated what Trixie said and even imitated her pose without realizing it. As they continued glaring daggers at him, the summoner let out a weak chuckle before staring off to the space behind the duo. “Uh, guys? I think you should look at that,” Lucien stammered out but Lute wasn’t having any of it. “Not falling for your joke again, mister,” The virtuoso scowled and took his sweet time to reseat himself, “Raaaagh raaagh, hmmph. Gave me a heart attack, that’s what.”

‘Actually… You should really stop griping and look up.’

When he did, Lute had to blink to ascertain that there was indeed a pair of glowing red eyes peering at them from behind a large tombstone. When he took a second to glance over at Lucien and then look back, it was gone. “Ahahahaha, that’s funny. Why isn’t the cart movviiiing?” By now, his voice sounded more like a whine than a question. Lute decided to peek over the edge of the ride to see whether there was something wrong with the wheels, and when he did so the tombstone in front of him flashed and the next thing he knew he was staring right at those unnerving scarlet eyes. As if having that weird thing hop in from, like, the other end of the room to a meter in front of you in a few seconds wasn’t unnerving, the same effects were popping up one after another until it looked like the three of them were staring back into a cave with a hundred of rabid bats peering back.

The already dim lights died and the eyes hovered closer.

“Waaah! Why is it broken, oh my Gods!?” Lute screeched and practically threw himself over the front of the cart to inspect the rails. Without the light though, he could barely see his own hand in front of his face, let alone that. “Okay, what if we’re stuck? Wait, who am I kidding, we’re not!” When the glowing bloodred orbs were but a maddening few inches from them the cart suddenly creaked and bolted forward, throwing the poor virtuoso against the hard wall beside Lucien as their ride neared its end.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

"I guess we're not allowed in until the show is starting," Aria remarked with a huff, crossing her arms as she nodded to the sign posted at the entrance to the Big Top clearly marking how only Employees and Staff only were permitted. "Do you think we should try and sneak in? It wouldn't be very fun if we got caught, though."

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see this,” Estelle said with a mischievous wink, spinning the side onto its plain blank white side, and striding forth to carefully begin walking inside. “If we’re careful, we might be able to sneak about without anyone seeing us. Also… actually… I just had a great idea…”

Aria’s eyes lit up with understanding, and her lips curled into a sly smile. The idea was sound, and she was glad that Estelle also thought of it. With a flicker of magic and concentration, the familiar forms of Estelle and Aria vanished as a trail of magic drifted from their heads down to their feet, transforming their clothing and appearance from the two Guilders into two, comically hilarious clowns. This should help make their infiltration of the Big Top a little bit easier, at the least.

“Nicely done, Ari!” Estelle said with a clap. “I trust I can count on you to make an illusion of me juggling, if we need to. Because I don’t… juggle.”

Suddenly, a large muffled crash came from somewhere near the back of the tent, something that both the illusionist and swordswoman nearly missed because of the noise coming from the crowds around them.

"Did you hear that?” Aria flicked an eyebrow up towards Estelle. “I wonder if they're rehearsing in the tent right now?"

“Sounds like it,” Estelle replied. “Let’s go take a look!”

She set off with a quickened pace, hurrying towards the sounds of the peculiar noise. As far as clues went, it was a good first start. Their footsteps scurried throughout the big top, and Estelle’s eyes darted from left to right, partially to look out for any other passing circus performers (whilst their clown makeup helped to cover up their facial features nicely, it could still be possible for regular performers to identify them as not being familiar members…), but mostly to gawp at the healthy, vibrant display of colours around them, from the rainbow hued streamers and seats, the other lavishly painted and decorated interior pieces of the mammoth tent. This really was quite something. Estelle was interested in what the circus’ main performance would actually look like. Hopefully they could solve this mission peacefully and watch the performance as well?

“Hmm…” Estelle’s feet screeched to a halt, her head shooting from side to side, her ears twitching as she tried to locate the source of any other strange sound. The area was rather barren as far as Estelle could see… there were props and other pieces of equipment in mid preparation around them, but nobody along with them. Aria jogged to a stop beside her. “This was where the sound came from, wasn’t it?” Estelle murmured. “I don’t see anything…”