Phillis Circus - Animal cages
Was he... was he brushing her off?! Moira was certainly batting her eyelashes hard enough that it was a wonder her eyelids didn't just fall off. Or was she being too subtle? Yeah. That had to be it. She was being too subtle. After all, the comment 'I'm single' could mean anything.

With the animals being summoned away they finally managed to get up, Syed in particular wheezing away as he tried to regain his breath. "Y-yeah..." he just about managed, clutching at his chest. "Yeah... we'll," he swallowed, "we'll go."

They were approached by a particularly important looking blonde man, who immediately told Abram to get a move on before pretty much walking off. The way he held himself, along with the way he was dressed... he had to be high up in the hirachy. He didn't even give them the chance to speak.

Once Abram had excused himself, leaving everyone staring in his wake, Syed turned to Xan. While Xan was quite a reserved woman at the best of times, to the point where it was entirely unsuprising that she held back... the look on her face implied there was more to it than that. "Hey, you okay?" Of course, she nodded but said little more.

"Ey, so they're all headin' in there, right?" Moira cracked her knuckles, looking to the big top. "That means we'll have less people in our way when we look around, right?"

"I doubt they'll leave anybody alone, though," Syed cocked his head to one side, "if they have got anyone. I haven't really seen any unmarked tents or anywhere they aren't letting the public in either. If anything..."

The pair exchanged looks - Moira's more confused than understanding - before looking back to Lute and Xan. Only to realise Eric was missing... again.

Gods damnit that man had some familiar habits. Only without the bros. Syed facepalmed with a cringe, while Moira just flicked her wrist dismissively.

"Either way there's probably more people in there now than flies on a shit," Moira said succinctly. "So where next? Should we follow him again or what?"

Morris: Circus

Whoa, the man practically lifted him up with just a hand! Although he should have anticipated that level of power seeing how muscular Abram was, being plucked by the collar was a startling but fun experience for Lute. “Oh wow, can you do that ag- Oof!” Asides from effortlessly slinging lanky white-haired boys off of the ground, the animal tamer apparently packed one helluva back slap too. The virtuoso felt like one of his ribs got dislodged.

Just a bit more before Lute was about to start yet another bout of cuddling and poring over Pandu, a man with an intimidating aura entered the area and recalled Abram. With a mere gesture, all of the beasts moved away from them and made for the big tent. “Bye, have fun!” Lute made a mental note to check in on the main performance once it started, and then redirected his attention to his comrades once Abram and his ‘children’ were out of earshot.

“I’ll go follow sir Coil in case he, er, goes on a milk shake rampage and destroys his bowels again,” Lute chirped and ran after Eric. “Hey, wait up!” He managed to catch up pretty quickly and tapped the older man on the shoulder as he hadn’t really gone that far yet, “could you wait for everyone else? But, now’s as good a time as any to ask which place seems the most suspicious to you. We can start off there.” While he waited for Eric to respond, the virtuoso glanced over at Moira, Syed and Xandra. Yes, they can do their own method of investigation, but he hoped that someone accompanied him. To be honest, the man didn’t look so good. Probably had another upset stomach or something.

Phillis Circus: Big Top

“What’s going on here?”

Estelle and Aria’s body froze on the spot, not having walked more then two steps away from Crispin’s pain filled body before being confronted by the cold stare of someone looking directly at them, silently watching and analysing them. She blocked their exit from the dead-end entirely. The woman stood up straight, her body posture absolutely perfect and head held high, as the blonde, pigtailed woman looked down at both Estelle and Aria, and most especially Crispin. The man had been nothing but a nuisance since the moment he had arrived, and these other two, the clowns… she didn’t recognise either of them. She was absolutely certain she knew every single member of their circus, from their most senior members down to their newest recruits, but these two clowns… neither looked familiar in the least bit. And their activity so far had been…



“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Isabella asked, her cold blue eyes shimmering with the reflection of the stream of lights hanging along the ceilings of the tent.

“We were just… er…” Estelle stammered, looking first towards Aria, and then down at Crispin. Like the man they had seen earlier who had terrified Crispin enough to run, this woman… was terrifying…!

“AH! ISABELLA! You is here!”



A loud, burly voice shattered the tension within the dead ended section of the Big Top, almost forcing Isabella and the others to jump. Turning to look over her shoulder, the acrobat’s traditionally cool and composed eyes grew wide with fright as a giant freight train of a man started barrelling his way down towards them, scooping the blonde woman up into his arms and squashed against his chest, sucking the air completely out of Isabella’s lungs. She sputtered as she felt strands of chest hair press against her lips.

“A…bram… get… off… me…!”

“I be looking for you all day and not find you!” Abram laughed jovially. “Where have you been, little one? Not avoiding poor Abram I hope? Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Phillis Circus: Big Top

On the floor, Crispin coughed and sputtered in the midst of Abram's arrival. Was that - oh nuts, he just spat blood over one of the magician chicks' replacement hats. If they weren't going to kill him already, they were going to kill him now. Curses, why was he always stuck with such terrible luck!? "Haaaa..." He sat himself up, shivering and struggling throughout. He reached back for the fire stick behind him as he did so, and used it as a cane to eventually stand himself back up.

"Ahem! Weeeeell, turns out that was a flop!" The firebreather coughed as loudly as he could muster, making sure Bella's attention was turned to him once Abram finally let her loose. "Bella, please tell Tammie honey that uh, I'll be sticking to schedule tonight. Erm." He coughed again, this time unplanned and slightly bloody. At least he turned his head to the side. Except - his eyes widened. Ohhhh nuts - not Cammie's cape...! His eyes shifted back to Abram. Hopefully his mutts wouldn't sniff out the owner of this blood or something. Right? They wouldn't go that far, would they?

And now they were staring. If his face wasn't already numbed from Estelle's backhand, he would feel himself burn up even more than he usually did.

"That'll be it, we'll all be going now, thank youuuu and see you guys in a bit!" With that, Crispin moved forward, yet again trying to grab onto the two girls' wrists as he did so - though Abram and Bella weren't so quick to let him slide by. The firebreather however preferred keeping his spine in tact tonight... "Please guys - gotta practice - or we won't be ready for the show tonight? Eh? Eh?"

Finally the monster of a man stepped aside and allowed the runt and his two new 'companions' through. Looking over his shoulder, Crispin smiled brightly and waved at the duo (with Estelle's hand still in his grasp) before pressing forward - then immediately dashing into a different curtain, a different direction entirely from where the other performers were recently situated.

Once again, Crispin dropped their wrists, only to hold his hands defensively before him in the event that Estelle tried to beat him a third time. "Look, look, I'm sorry I spooked ya, but I'm not a pervert. GREAT, now that that's out of the way - you two - brand new, right? Look--"

Were those... voices... from beyond the fabric walls? They seemed almost panicked, yelling at distances to reach one another. Stuff like "did you find" or "look blah blah blah." ... ... ... Yeah they were searching for someone. Crispin couldn't tell quite who, but perhaps this confusion could be used to his advantage. Their advantage, if these girls were in his same situation.

"Look, if you're in cahoots with the triplets, fine, then go ahead and rat on me. But whether you are or aren't - and especially if you aren't - I'm telling you, this place is bonkers and you should bust your butts out of here as fast as you can before you get holed up like me."

One of the girls protested, wanting to question him more about what exactly he meant by that, but with more voices arising from behind him, Crispin wasted no time. "Now hurry and get out of here! Follow this hall straight to the end and take the right curtain in the following two rooms! That'll be the exit. I'll stay here." He continued pushing them into another curtain - a long hallway with some shelves and supplies. The very same one Trixie and Lucien were still huddled up and hiding in.

Phillis Circus: Tent

“Could you wait for everyone else? But, now’s as good a time as any to ask which place seems the most suspicious to you. We can start off there.”

On the plus side, Eric responded positively to Lute's request and didn't move any further. This allowed the others to catch up at an unrushed pace without losing sight of the quirky uncle. On the other hand... he didn't seem to even acknowledge Lute's presence in the first place.

Eric stood before a tent that was a ways off from the rest of the tents designated for its guests; they were much nearer to the outer perimeter of the circus with its main tall fencing as opposed to towards the center. A mini-fence had been setup to block off employee-only tents from all the others, though Eric was growing desperate enough to start snooping around through them. He'd seen a few employees make their way to the big top, including some from this section, and if luck played in his favor, no one would be back there to catch him.

But now, he wasn't even actively searching. His mind stared blankly at one particular tent, shorter than the rest but bursting with much more light within. It glowed a warm golden and red, thanks to the surface's striped design - as well as the particularly weak lighting inside. Plus, on top of the entry flaps being completely shut (unlike all the others), there was a sign with an angry "KEEP OUT!" in the middle of them.

Hmmm... was his niece, perhaps...?

Eric opened the curtain and was met with a faceful of purple flowers.



"...huh. No Balti." Upon realizing his niece was not kept inside this tent, Eric then promptly stepped back out of it.

Phillis Circus - Tent
"What're these things called again?"

Moira appeared by the door just as Eric turned away once more, holding the curtain open. She hadn't looked inside the tent yet - instead, she was squinting at the flowers which hung around the entrance. "Am somethin', I think. Ama... cha...? Fuck, I don't remember."

She was broken from her reverie when Syed leaned over her. "Let's be quick, we'll be in trouble if they find-" He froze, his gaze fixed on the picture at the end. He remained there for five seconds or so, his eyes slowly widening. He suddenly felt cold right to his core.

"The circus owners and I... we just have a bad history. That's all."

By bad history, he had assumed it to be hostile. Amy was a blunt person after all, if someone annoyed her she let them know. But this... with the dolls, the pictures, all in her likeness and equisitly crafted... this was something altogether more sinister.

That could be why Amy refused to come.

Syed pushed past Moira silently - his now piercing dark eyes flicking from one likeness to the next. Moira was initially suprised by his actions, although once she too had began to glance around the room she stepped into the threshold after him. "Fuckin' hell," she murmured, pinching her nose against the pong. "Was she his girlfriend or somethin'? Talk about ex complex."

The mage didn't respond. He didn't understand. He didn't understand anything bar how this creeped the hell out of him. They had travelled with Amy for well over a year, the thought of anybody having a damned shrine dedicated to her felt warped, twisted, fundamentally wrong. She wouldn't like this. He knew she definately wouldn't like something like this. It would hurt her. And there was a bad history... maybe they already had somehow.

"Why would... would someone have something like this...?" he whispered, eyes wide as he looked back to the others. Electricity began to spark involuntarily across his body. He wanted to burn it all, he wanted to wipe this horrible hurtful thing off the planet. But he couldn't, they weren't supposed to be here, they were supposed to be under cover. He grimaced, gritting his teeth...

Sure enough there was a crack as he lost control, and suddenly arcs of electricity began lashing out, tearing cushions, dolls and paintings apart alike.

---

Phillis Circus - Big Top
Poppy hurried into the preformance area, dodging out of the way of the various people setting up and practicing. She had lost track of the time again! Well, of the boss' time. She had her own time, and it suited her very well indeed. But sometimes you had to go by other people's clocks. Especially when it involved work.

Although time was a very fluid thing. She didn't understand it too well, but she found it very interesting. Tick. Tock. Round and round the hands go. Counting down day after day after day after day after-

She was staring into space again. Oh dear. And thinking of, she had lost one of her hands again. Double oh dear. "Um," she said flatly, glancing around for it. She'll never get any practice done at this rate!

Meanwhile the hand scurried off across the floor, weaving between the various feet that filled the area.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

Aria stared wide-eyed as the giant of a man swept the blonde woman into his arms into a crushing hug. She was quite thankful of the guy's entrance- she wasn't sure she could've thought up a convincing enough lie to fool the woman. In the back of her mind she also wondered whether Moira had met this man yet- he was totally the Berserker's type, wasn't he?

"That'll be it, we'll all be going now, thank youuuu and see you guys in a bit!"

Somehow they had managed to convince the two circus performers to let them through without having to use too much effort- perhaps Estelle had been too quick to slap the guy silly? He had been mighty suspicious though. What did he mean by "join the circus" anyways?

A chorus of voices roused up in the tent, shouting incoherently. Had they lost something or someone? She didn't quite think they would cause quite a commotion for this strange guy.

[i]"-this place is bonkers and you should bust your butts out of here as fast as you can before you get holed up like me."

Wait, bonkers? Could he have information they were seeking? She tried to ask what he meant, but he only shushed them and pushed them in the direction of another set of curtains. Aria frowned determinedly, not willing to let their only clue slip by.

"Oh no you don't. You're coming with us."

With a quick glance around to make sure nobody was watching, she cloaked them three within an illusion to hide them from sight before yanking Crispin with them into the curtains only to see Trixie and Lucien looking unsure whether to flee or fight and even more confused when the curtains seem to have been opened by nothing. She quickly threw the illusion over them as well, quickly but silently moving the way towards the exit the way Crispin had motioned them. The clown disguise she had dropped for now, not seeing the need to keep up the other one any longer and also not wanting an excuse for Lucien and Trixie to tease her or Estelle like they probably would. If they didn't know that the clowns earlier were here and Estelle, she wasn't going to tell them.

"We're leaving for now. This guy might now something," She gripped the firebreather's arm tighter, pulling him along. "So we're going to talk outside, where we won't be so conspicuous."

Morris Circus: “Shrine”

Ignored, again. Man, this dude sure knew how to give the cold shoulder. “I don’t think we should be in this area,” Lute sighed as he followed Eric along with the rest of the group. Thankfully there weren’t any people this side of the circus to see them trespass, and although Lute wasn’t foreign to doing lawless acts, he still had a feeling that they should keep from doing suspicious things so long as they could. “And nobody’s listening to me. Surprise, surprise,” The virtuoso mumbled to himself as Eric and Syed entered a vibrant red tent. He shook his head then stepped in after them.

His first reaction was that it was all too same everywhere. The scents, the flowers lilting down from the ceiling, not to mention that maddening shade of red; it was too much all at once. Lute covered his nose and the scowl on his lips with a hand, the other one fanning the air in an effort to get this heady odor away from him. “Talk about weird,” He mumbled as his eyes took in the neat rows of dolls lined up after another, discomfort visible in his features, and mustered the nerve to approach the far left of the tent. Porcelain ladies with vivid wedding gowns adorned this part, complete with a motley of blurred pictures fanned out above them. ‘Remind me why we’re here again? This place screams crazy, pal. Better hightail it out of here unless, y’know, you like dolls? And, speaking from experience, I know you don’t. Unless you’ve had a change of heart, now that would be something,’ Delilah murmured and the virtuoso turned towards his companions, spurred to leave before the owner of the tent caught them rifling with his/her possessions.

“That’s sick,” Lute’s eyes widened as he approached the painting. He didn’t realize that Syed was glaring at it, nor did he feel his own face twisting up in disgust. A by-the-book approach would have him leave the tent as soon as possible, but personally… He shook his head. It wasn’t good, forming an emotional attachment to the mission, and yet when he thought of his sister garnering this same sort of attention… Nobody should have to go through this. When ribbons of electricity slashed through the items in the tent, the virtuoso didn’t make a move to stop the destruction, only wringing his arm when a stray bolt grazed past it before hotly crashing into a glass doll. “Are you finished?” Lute evenly asked Syed when it looked like he had calmed down, and then turned for the exit. “Let’s go. We can’t have any of the staff apprehending us for property destruction and,” He paused and then added, “when we find out who made all this, it would be satisfying to see their face.”

Without further words, Lute returned to the field and walked towards Eric and Xandra. “Is it time for the main performance yet? Let’s go check out the other tents over there,” He beamed and directed them towards the other plainly-colored tents. Now, these ones hardly looked special and were probably only involved as dumping places for supplies, but it didn’t hurt to be sure. Lute disappeared inside the biggest one, darkness spilling out from within when the tent flap was raised, and the sound of someone hitting the floor immediately resounded.

Phillis Circus: “Shrine”

Xandra followed the rest of her companions into the strange tent that Eric had discovered, and was taken aback just as much as the others had once she saw the contents inside. Even the usually calm and composed metallurgist was rendered unnerved and shocked by their surroundings, and the meticulously designed tributes that had been arranged inside that were all neatly displayed as a shrine to… to Amy. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t even find the words for it. Her mouth went dry, and her free hand trembled.

"Fuckin' hell," Moira remarked in her trademark fashion. "Was she his girlfriend or somethin'? Talk about ex complex."

"Why would... would someone have something like this...?" Syed’s whisper trailed off into nothing, as errant sparks jolted from his body and struck against various items within the tent’s interior – scorching painted reliefs and shattering some of the smaller dolls.

“That’s sick,” Lute glared, shaking his head at the disturbing scene laid before them. After Syed’s display of anger, the virtuoso turned towards him, speaking with as much composure as he could muster. “Are you finished? Let’s go. We can’t have any of the staff apprehending us for property destruction and… when we find out who made all this, it would be satisfying to see their face.”

Everyone had something to say. Everyone, that was, except for Xandra. She simply couldn’t summon the words. Nothing more then a simple nod towards Lute, and then a turn to walk towards the tent’s exit. They couldn’t afford to grow… distracted by this disturbance. They still had an important mission to fulfil, afterall, and this… emotional distractions like this led to mistakes. And with a number of people all missing and subject to who knows what fates, they couldn’t allow themselves to be distracted. Even then… even then it was hard. She hadn’t known Amy for long, but it was long enough for her to hate and detest this. What she and the others had seen within that tent only helped to serve as added incentive to unravel whatever peculiarities were lying in this circus.

“We should be quick,” Xandra finally said, taking a huge lungful of air as she watched Lute enter another tent. “We don’t know how long we might have before someone returns, and… wait. Where’d Eric go?”

“What?” Syed replied, his eyes blinking in confusion and his head swivelling from side to side, searching for the man, who had now suddenly disappeared. Of all the things that could happen…!

“Oof!”

“Luke, did you fall over yourself again?” Moira asked, trying to peer into the pitch black tent after Lute. The sound of someone hitting the floor immediately resounded again, followed by a long succession of curse words and shouting from a certain irate older woman and the rapid-fire apologising from a meeker, younger man.

Xandra’s widened eyes stared at Syed. Accident or no, their noise was likely to attract attention…!

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Estelle didn’t feel entirely comfortable with herself and Aria being dragged away by the strange perverted man in the backwards baseball cap yet again, but she immediately hushed up once the two senior members of the Circus arrived. The first woman, pretty and attractive but with a dead stare matching that of the long haired man who had stumbled upon with Crispin earlier gave her the chills. And the large, giant of a man who followed after didn’t help much, even if his laughter and embrace of the blonde woman seemed warm and kind. Estelle could feel both herself and Aria were pushed as close to the edge of detection as possible, and couldn’t see a way out. This… this could end oh so badly…!

But the strange pervert had saved them, if only to lead them to another private area. As Estelle readied her fists, the man began talking, and for once, she gave him the chance to speak. She didn’t really understand or trust him, but they were once again unafforded the time to think or rationalise what was going on before the sounds of more people close to discovering them was upon them. Estelle and Aria had managed to survive being discovered three times by now, but their luck could only last so long… and perhaps it was that a brief retreat for now, and a regroup with the others, might be wise.

She smiled as she noticed Aria grab Crispin’s arm and tugged him forward with her. The man knew something, as deranged and potentially perverted as he was… and from him, the Pride might be able to find some answers as to what was going on.

And then, Lucien and Trixie!




“S-s-supersis?!” Trixie squeaked with confusion as the clown disguises melted away from the running girls’ bodies. Lucien chuckled as he saw them approach, and even gave a hearty clap, ignorant to the sounds of impending performers, thrilled instead with the clever, sneaky duplicity the girls had devised. “Neat, neat. How are you guys? Find anything ou-!”

“Later!” Estelle silenced, grabbing onto his and Trixie’s arms and pulling the two with her as she and Aria followed the lead Crispin had given towards the exit. They didn’t have the time right now.

“Hey, hey, isn’t this that funny guy from the restaurant?” Lucien asked, smiling and waving back at Crispin. “The one who the head chef was always beating up, yeah?”

“Shh!” Aria glared. Her current illusion had helped to render the quintet invisible to any nearby onlookers, but it took a great deal of her magical stamina and concentration to maintain, especially after prolonging the illusions of her and Estelle in their clown garbs. So much so that she couldn’t extend it to do the same for their voices, and even then her illusions wouldn’t mean diddly squat if they ended up running into someone-

“Yah!” Estelle shrieked, hitting something solid and tumbling backwards with a grunt, onto her butt. She dragged both Lucien and Trixie down with her, as Aria and Crispin suddenly froze. Walking out of one of the curtain’s walls exits to the side and into their corridor was a blonde haired man with goggles draped around his neck, a man who now stopped in place and looked down the empty corridor with confusion, his eyes looking over the invisible Guilders.

“…huh.” Max cocked his head to the side. “I could swear I felt something just run into me…?”

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Long Corridor

Estelle had fallen down. Estelle had hit Max freakin' Powers of all people and then fell. down. But... Max wasn't doing anything? Huh? And the girls didn't look like clowns anymore? Huh? And there were... two more of them hiding in the shelves? Huh?

Oh man, maybe this was a rescue squad. Pretty neat! He had absolutely no clue whatsoever about what was going on or how Max couldn't see them, but leaving the hot redhead (and the other two whoevers) on the ground like that wouldn't do them any good. With Aria's help, Crispin pulled the three up without bumping into Max a second time and, once they snuck passed the human cannonball, Crispin yanked on Aria's and Estelle's wrists as he charged to the end. Trixie held onto Estelle's other hand, while Lucien the prankster's.

As they charged towards the exit Crispin had directed the two formerly clowned girls, they were met with an incoming blond girl. Luckily she was super spaced out for whatever reason as she walked towards them - or at least that's how Crispin knew she was like - so the firebreather slammed the curtain and took the guilders into the next room over.

It hit him then. Wait, didn't that robed guy wave at him earlier? Did he recognize him or something...?

Oh. Oh! That lovely black fringe, the runt's pigtails, a sharp grin - and sexy red hair that could only belong to a heart which burns with a passion as fiery as his...!

If Crispin stared any longer as wordlessly as he had been, he was sure to receive another slap to the face in an instant. And possibly fall that much more in love with her. The firebreather shook his head to snap out of it.

"You guys were the ones at Los Paraisos, weren'tcha? You must have a knack for finding kidnapped people... seriously." He clasped his hands together and lowered his head. "I cannot thank you enough for coming all this way to help me out. Help us out. Unfortunately," his hands dropped, "the main show starts soon, ya see. If someone's already missing and I go poofin after you guys, that'll stir up more drama than it needs to right now. I may actually be castrated this time and"--he shivered--"that's not really something that's on my bucket list."

But Aria had dragged him along with them, slowing down their progress, before Estelle made the mistake of waltzing right into Max and risking their detection even further. So now with more people coming to the Big Top, they probably had to hide. Hide long enough to avoid everyone else searching for their missing star... and hopefully not thinking Crispin is behind anything.

"But you guys... you're guilders too. You deal with this stuff. Help me help you help me while we're still safe!"

Lucien stepped in. "So let's talk plans then, yeah?"

Crispin nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. How many of you are there?"

Trixie began counting fingers but gave up once she ran out. "A lot."

"Not all here, then. Uhhh. Okay. How about this: while the others are busied up searching for--"

Voices arose from just outside their curtain a second time - likely more performers entering the Big Top. Crispin grunted before taking off into the next partioned room behind him, motioning for the others to follow them. But as they pressed further down, there were more and more voices behind other curtains. Crispin continued to lead the room away from occupied room to the best of his ability. By the time it sounded relatively safe, they had traveled far from the exit the firebreather initially directed them.

He took a deep breath, tugging at his pink collar to allow some air to brush against his sweaty throat. "It's getting stuffy here. Hang on a sec, another exit should be around this corner somewhere. Might be better for us to catch a solid breath. If we're lucky, no one's comin in that way, so..." Crispin scratched the top of his cap. "If only I could remember where it was. There's one by here, I swear."

The firebreather peered through the curtain directly behind him, which had a large albeit unnoticed "KEEP OUT!" sign that kept the curtained door pinned to the fabric wall. But that didn't stop him from checking it out anyway.



Crispin huffed. "...well, this ain't the exit." Upon realizing this, Crispin promptly stepped back out of the room and poked into the next curtain.

---

Meanwhile, outside the circus' "shrine"... with Lute having fallen over and Moira tumbling down in succession, the duo began to stir up more noise than was at all necessary. A circus worker - a magician stepped away from his workplace by the shooting range, to be replaced by a clowned-up coworker.



As Cammie weaved his way through the building crowd, he of course overheard some unfamiliar voices from beyond the fenced off region. Lo and behold, there were four strangers hanging around an employees-only area - and especially that one tent that absolutely no one but the ringmasters themselves were allowed into. To make matters worse, this group wasn't even dressed in any proper attire! They looked like common guests, snooping around for gods know what.

Phillus Circus-Big Top

Aria could swear her heart skipped a beat when Estelle shrieked and fell, having slammed into the man- the partner of the girl who they had bumped into jut earlier. He looked noticeably confused, glancing around the hall and obviously not being able to see their little group. She gave a small sigh- She had nearly dropped the illusion for a second out of surprise, and it was getting very tiring to hold it up.

They managed to sneak past the blond man, before Crispin grabbed onto Estelle and Aria's arms and pulled them down the hallways with Trixie and Lucien hanging onto Estelle's side.

"You guys were the ones at Los Paraisos, weren'tcha?"

Wait, Los Paraisos? So they had seen him before! With a sudden burst of recognition, Aria stared at the grey haired man in surprise. Wasn't he the one in the restaurant they went to? The one with the screaming and very angry chef whose restaurant burned down? She was quite certain he had been their waiter that night. How did he end up in a circus here? Though curious, she suppressed the urge to ask. Perhaps when they were in the clear.

She didn't quite expect the scene when Crispin checked behind a set of curtains for the exit, however- what that woman having a tea party? Each to their own, yes, but... Something about the whole scene was just kind of weird to her. Maybe the circus really was as bonkers as the guy had said it was. They quickly shut the curtain on this room, before heading down the hall again.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?"

Aria couldn't help but pipe up quietly after a minute. They had opened quite a few curtains by now, and none of them had been the exit so far.

Phillis Circus - Restricted area
"Are you finished?"

Syed remained standing in the middle of the small tent, sparks jumping from his body. Nonetheless he nodded from behind his hands. Lute was right. On the one hand he was ashamed by his display - he was hardly the type to lash out. But on the other he was so angry, and he didn't really know how the others were remaining so calm.

Or maybe they weren't, as Moira spat on the floor on the way out as they followed after Lute. Speaking of... crash!

"Why didn't you just wait for a light?!" she exclaimed, before somewhat hypocritically stepped in after Lute herself. Of course, she promptly tripped on the exact same thing Lute did a minute ago. Although at least unlike the Virtusio it was only the once. "Argh! Fuck!"

"Shhhh!" Syed hissed, placing a long index finger on his lips as he stood shillouetted at the doorway. They were never going to get anywhere if they didn't have any light. He could provide that. However Xan tapped him on the arm...

A girl in a dress was staring at them, with possibly the most scathingly blank look known to man. How long had she been there?! Was it her from the gates? She sure looked like her. Oh boy. Please don't come any nearer please especially please don't go near the other tent oh Vayu please...

She withdrew once more. Syed remained frozen on the spot for a moment longer, not really daring to move or even breathe til he was sure the girl wasn't coming back. When she was far enough away, he flicked his hands and began to cast for a light. It wasn't enough to explore, but it was to help them get out of the tent again easier. "Come on! We've been spotted, we've got to go now."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Moira spat. She looked down at the box she rested a hand on. Ah, it looked like old, damaged performance equipment. Nothing really unusual there. She stumbled through the stark shadows, before finally locating Lute and grabbing his wrist. "I ain't gettin' kicked outta here til we found Lady's kid. She'll beat the shit outta me if I don't."

And with that, they ran. Not exactly the sort of thing an innocent person would do, fleeing the scene of the crime. But then again... they weren't exactly innocent. There was still no sign of Eric, wherever the hell he had gone. Or of any of the others. At least until they spotted a man who looked kind of like Eric, stepping into one of the public tents...

...The fortune teller's tent.

Phillis Circus: Fortune Teller's

“Owww, my knee!” Lute sobbed as Moira dragged him out from the tent. He seemed to have tripped over a broken unicycle and skidded a ways off from where he started. “Sorry, sorry!” The virtuoso added as they hurried from the crime scene, awkwardly attempting to bow while limping after his comrades. Apparently they had been spotted thanks to the noise he made. As if it wasn’t enough that their cover and allotted time for the mission was put at risk, he just had to create yet another ruckus!

“Siiiirrr!” He screeched and jumped after Eric, and entered the dark tent quite spectacularly with his flailing arms and high-pitched cry. The interior was quite small, and sparsely decorated save for the lone table in the center of the room. “Okay, where is he?” Lute sighed and stepped in, glancing at the walled off places further back where Eric might have went. He didn’t realize that there was a woman standing by the corner of the tent, her face covered by the same light blue cloth as her clothing. The virtuoso, despite having Delilah to call on in times like these, shrieked in surprise when he was exactly in front of the woman, jumping back and raising his arms in the air.

“I’m sorry! I’m not trespassing! I-I’m just looking for someone!” Lute exclaimed before slowly lowering his hands, “er… Just how long have you been standing there, ma’am? Also, have you seen a man wearing a trench coat and… He’s kinda odd, just wafting about everwhere with this dazed look in his eyes.” The virtuoso found himself averting his gaze from the lady since he had nowhere else to look but her eyes, and he wasn’t one for eye to eye contact like that. He stared at the table instead.

Phillis Circus: Fortune Teller's Tent

The woman inside the fortune teller’s tent slowly turned, her body shifting to face Lute’s direction, the face beneath the light blue veil betraying little thought or emotion as she simply faced the flustered and flailing man. Normally, a person would have been shocked to see someone burst into their room and be taken by surprise, demanding to know who they were and what it was they were after. But not this woman.

The reason being, she had already seen this happen before.

“Welcome,” The woman began, her voice lilting with warmth and surety. “My name is Elisa.”

The woman turned again, showing her back to Lute as her hands continued with the operation she was performing before his sudden entry. Lifting up a teapot, she poured the hot liquid into two cups, and finished her preparations. As she delicately placed the pot back down again, she carried the two cups on a tray and sat herself back down at her table located in the centre of the room, placing one cup on a saucer in front of the empty chair opposite her, and taking the other for herself. After slowly lifting her veil up off her face, she sipped on the warm tea, and smiled at the taste.



“Well, Lute,” The woman began, her hand motioning to the empty chair. “Sit. Drink. We can talk about your friend… and your future.”

Phillis Circus: Approaching the Fortune Teller's Tent

“You said you saw Eric go in there?” Xandra asked, following after the others as they quickly moved to escape the restricted section of tents as fast as they could. With the noise they had made inside, the look from one of the circus’ employees and the disappearance of their new companion Eric, a hasty retreat was in demand. The further they could get from the scene of the crime in which they had ruined that bizarre shrine to their friend Amy, and the quicker they could find the easily distracted Eric, the better. Syed managed to spot a man matching Eric’s appearance enter a nearby tent, and it was that which they dashed towards first, with Lute taking the lead and sprinting slightly ahead of them, entering the tent first whilst the others ran to catch up.

But then all three of them came to a screeching halt as something big and powerful crashed into the ground before them. Xandra, Syed and Moira all jumped back in startled surprise, Moira sharing another expletive as they did, their eyes slowly trailing up, up, and up at the strange curiosity that had interrupted them.

Standing on long, spindly sleek and black mechanical limbs was a man dressed in a black and grey bodysuit, an almost completely smooth black helmet with visor obscuring their face. A red glowing bead of light moved from the centre of the man’s visor, moving slowly in turn over Moira, Syed and Xandra, the man beneath silently considering all three, as the image they witnessed projected on the inside of their visor zoomed in closer and closer, to such depth, precision and clarity it could even register the sweat dripping down Moira’s face.



Finally, after a time, and still saying absolutely nothing, the man on stilts continued to walk on, its legs stomping on the ground one after another as it resumed its particular duties.

“That…” Xandra exhaled suddenly. “…was different. What was that?”

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top

“This whole place is full of whackos, yeah? Hey hey, maybe I should use one of my summons and go join her teaparty!” A small snicker escaped Lucien’s lips as he and the others discovered the peculiar teaparty occurring in the room on the other side of the partitioned curtain. Fortunately he was quiet enough that the woman inside, absorbed as she was in her fantasy world, didn’t notice. Moreso when Estelle shot her hand out around his mouth and pulled the mumbling man away with a quick shh!

“Don’t forget, we’re trying not to be caught!” Estelle grimaced when they got further away from Guinevere’s room. After a quick scan of their nearby surroundings and feeling confident that there was no one else around, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Her eyes turned back in the direction where they came from, and the ominous room they had witnessed. The strange, regal and beautiful older woman who had to be in her mid thirties at the least, playing and hosting a tea party for a bevy of stuffed toys… she didn’t know what to make of it. Estelle absolutely adored and loved stuffed animals, and would probably happily do the same thing as the woman if she had the chance even now, but there was something very disturbing about doing it at the woman’s age… and something else as well. Something Estelle couldn’t put her finger on. What was it?

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Aria asked after they, following Crispin’s lead, began to quickly check rapidly opened and closed curtains one after the other to little avail.

The youth in the baseball cap waved his hand back at Aria, flashing a confident and determined grin, insistent he knew what he was doing, but Estelle couldn’t be quite so sure he did. “Sure, sure, I know, just give me a sec, yeah?”

Following the comments from earlier, Estelle had remembered Crispin as their chef from Los Paraisos, but that just filled her with even more confusion. Why would a chef at a fancy and ritzy island as Los Paraisos be here, at a circus like this?

“So what was your plan?” Estelle asked, focusing once more on the situation. “You got cut off, earlier.”

Phillis Circus: Big Top

Trixie held her breath throughout their brief time seeing Guinevere, and she let it all out with a huge huff once they backed out. That was... quite something else. "Is this something adults like to do by themselves or something? I hear Ames talk to herself sometimes, buuuuut..."

"Nah," Crispin shrugged off Trixie's curiosity as he peered into another room. He motioned for the others to follow him, quickly but quietly. Where he was leading them, there appeared to be no voices. "I'm pretty sure it's just Guin. Pretty sure." Lucien joked about bringing his own summons to the tea party or something, though Crispin decided against asking what on Ddaear he could possibly mean by that. Did he... did he want to die?

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Aria giggled from the back.

From up front Crispin rolled his eyes, though he tried to keep his tone level. "Sure, sure, I know, just give me a sec, yeah?" Another curtain opened, revealing yet another relatively long hallway with one other exit. The firebreather bit his lip. "Every exit we've passed by so far has been inaccessible. Redhead's right - getting caught right now would end extremely badly for all of us. Particularly me. But I mean that for all of us."

"So what's your plan? You got cut off, earlier." Estelle followed up. The group pressed forward into the hallway, closing in on the opposite end. Crispin could only pray it was an exit untaken.

"The plan? Right, the plan. Lessee if this works first." Reaching the end, Crispin stood to the side of the curtain. He covered his face with one hand, and with the other, he reached around to tug it back slightly. Trixie walked up to peer out of it, but Crispin shoved her to the side so he could peek outside himself. With his head outside, he took a deep breath through his nose before popping back in. As before, he closed the curtain promptly and turned to the group. "Nice to have some air for once. Try being in this rut for longer than a few hours and I guarantee you'll want to strangle yourself. Anyway! The plan."

Crispin clasped his hands together, looking outside a second time before speaking again. "I'd go along with you and find a way to break out of here, but it looks like one of the other unlucky folks managed to sneak out from under their radar. No doubt now it's one of tonight's stars." He flicked a thumb towards himself with a grin. "I'm the other one."

"Yeah yeah," Trixie yawned loudly, twirling a finger around one of her pigtails. "Who cares about that, what's the actual plan?"

"Hey, I'm getting to it! Geez, hard to please, arentcha?" Crispin barked back. He sighed and looked back to the others. "Anyway I'm already at the prime of their suspect list. If I leave too, they'll for sure hunt me down and - probably do illegal things to me. Like dress me up funny and then castrate me. Illegal things. I don't know how far the other star will get tonight before she gets caught - or even gets away. It'll piss off everyone if she's not back in time for the show, but they're too desperate for funds to call it off if one person gets away.

"Now, I don't think most of the others around here who are stuck like me are fighters. These performers... they're too strong for any one person to take on. Have you seen Abram? He can choke you to death with his fingers. And Bella? Her stare is like a knife to the chest already. I wouldn't dare trying to start something up by myself." Crispin grinned wider, biting his lower lip for only a moment. "And that's why I'm not doing things alone.

"I take it you're... guilders, right? Or mercenaries? Hired help? You four alone would be great, but if there's seriously even more of you out there"--Crispin was starting to get excited, now motioning even more wildly with his hands--"then you guys could stick around for the big show and help me pull something off. When it's time for my solo, I can start a super crispy rebellion and set things on fire. It'll freak out the audience and the others who've been holed up here for gods know how long - but you guys can help me fight off the others before we all make our escape. How's that sound?"

Lucien nodded at every sentence of detail. "Yeah yeah, that sounds about good. Although - there'll be a lot of people in the audience, I'm sure."

Crispin shrugged unevenly. "Talk to your other friends about making sure the audience members and other peeps who'll be escaping get out okay. Okay?"

"How do you know it'll work?" Trixie popped up with her hand raised.

"Uhhh. I don't. I'm hoping you guys will make it work. Please?" The firebreather suddenly flinched. He leaned to the side, to look over the group's shoulders at the curtain far behind them. Still closed. "Nuts! Someone's coming this way. Now's your time to get out, I'll keep them occupied." Crispin maneuvered behind the others despite whatever protests they had and began to shove them out of the exit curtain collectively. "I'm counting on you guys to help make this work. Please, please! If this doesn't work, I'm so so so dead. Along with everyone else stuck here in my position. Please!"

He pushed out Trixie last before 'slamming' the curtains shut behind them. "Oooh, hey Max! Just got done checking this section, haha. Uhh, nooo star here, have you checked the other room........"

It wasn't long before Crispin's voice became inaudible entirely. The group of four were left alone now outside the big tent, in a secured area fenced off from the guests. A few other tents hid them from view, though a quick peer around them would reveal that their location was facing the pathway with tents scattered on both sides - including the fortune teller's tent.

However, before they could decide to move on, not one but two stiltmen came wandering by high above the staff-only tent tops that surrounded the four guilders, including one that Moira's group had ran into. Rather than resume scouting out questionable activities within the premisses, the two met up with one another and began discussing something from a height too far for the guilders to hear. (Hint: really geeky things that had nothing to do with the circus or their patrol.)

Phillis Circus
It felt uncomfortable, that was for sure. Being inspected in this way. Who the hell was that? Security or something?! Moira wiped her brow.

"That... was different. What was that?"

"Fuck if I know," Moira shrugged. "Probably best if we keep away from-" She was cut off by the wierd, quiet squealing noise eminating from her partner's throat. She turned slowly to look towards him scathingly. Oh no.

He stood with his eyes transfixed on the stiltman, his hands tensed and close to his jaw and a large, goofy smile on his face. How awesome is that?! He had never seen anything like that before. And Moira knew fully well what that look meant. Sure enough he started rabbiting on to himself in technological terms Moira didn't understand again, and began to walk forward after him.

"Oh no you fuckin' don't," she hissed. These machine men were people they should probably be avoiding. Especially with his actions in particular in the restricted section. "Sy!"

He glanced back to her. "Just let me have this." Moira just folded her arms. Well, he hadn't managed to pull her yet. Try it.

As such, it suprised her so much when he did - a small spark of electricity at his feet betraying how he was pushing himself onwards with some effort - that she found herself just going along with him anyway. Which was probably for the best, because he sure as hell couldn't keep that up. No longer needing to pull at her, he just started jogging instead.

"Excuse me!" he cupped his hands around his mouth and called as he chased after the stiltman, who had by now met up with another stiltman. Oh my word it was getting better and better. "Sirs! Or... or misses, it's kinda hard to tell from down here... I uh..." he came to a stop a short distance from them, and immediately began fidgiting with excitement. Which only became more evident as they both looked down to the gangly dark-skinned man in the stupid brightly-coloured hat. To be fair he was shouting a fair amount.

"Those suits are awesome! Um, can I ask how they work? Are they comfortable? Is that magitech too, like the dodgems? Or is that me getting a bit too excited, hehe..." he rattled on. Gods damnit he looked like a kid in a sweet shop.

Moira simply turned away, hands on her hips and she looked around herself. The last thing she wanted was to get closer to these guys, but here they were. Of course, neither of them had any idea how close they were to the others. Instead she simply looked back to the fortune teller's tent. Hopefully Xan was alright looking after Lute.

Phillis Circus: Fortune Teller's Tent

Elisa gently put down her cup and nodded at Lute before producing a set of oddly-marked set of cards from her sleeve. After a great deal of shuffling, she finally arranged the cards facedown, and the solemn aura surrounding the fortune teller urged both Lute and his noisy familiar to remain silent. The woman leaned back and gestured calmly with her hand, her face as smooth as stone as she said, “Pick three.”

The first card was of a hooded old man with a… “Death!?” Even with his middling knowledge of these cards, even Lute knew the Reaper when he saw it! The dude had a lantern, for heaven’s sake! “No, the Hermit,” Elisa corrected gently and separated it from the rest of the pack. Oh. Oblivious or at least politely disinterested in Lute’s blunder, she continued, “I must remind you that the world not only revolves for strangers.”

“Pardon?” He furrowed his brows and Elisa maintained her look of impassiveness. “What I meant was that you must consider yourself as well, for that will lead to the path you seek. The answer is within you. Let go of that which binds you and walk forward into the shadows, trusting in yourself to never lose the way.” Seeing the confused emotion on Lute’s face intensify by the second, the woman sighed and decided to move on to the next one.

‘Ah, now this one should be interesting,’ Delilah thought with maniacal glee.

Elisa managed a small smile while Lute’s face colored the brightest beet. “Ah, the Lovers. The need to remain as you are while you share yourself with another. However, this does not necessarily mean romance, per se…” She murmured after the virtuoso gulped the entirety of his tea down, “it also portends to the advent of a great decision in your life. Once you have made your choice, there is no going back.” Despite the gravity of her words, it seemed as if Lute was still fixated on the other definition of the arcana. Young people and their obsession with intimacy. She rapped on the table once and asked, “Speaking of choices and romance, I wonder whom you will realize held your affection from the start, the wild rose hiding behind the stained parasol or perhaps the glass-”

“Robby and I are just friends!” He shouted so loudly anyone within a mile could hear it, “and Aria’s not glass! More like feathers! Lots of feathers! And knives!”

“If you insist. Let it not be said that I did not warn you, and I hope that when the time for this decision comes, it finds you ready,” The fortune teller moved in to see the new card Lute flipped, but upon realizing what it was she froze. Elisa’s face fell into a mask of worry and shock, and she regaled the curious Guilder in front of her with eyes full of sympathy.

Now this was very bad indeed.

Phillis Circus: Fortune Teller's Tent

Elisa’s eyes widened in horror as she studied the card laid upon the table with great intensity. Her lips twitching, she looked back up, to the confused and startled Lute, and pursed her lips as she concentrated deeply on the meaning of the cards presented. She solemnly shook her head.

“What?” Lute asked, his brow furrowing with concern. “What is it?”

“I… I…” Elisa stammered, trying to find the right words. She knew, ever since her premonition of this moment earlier that morning, that this would be an important, momentous, life changing moment… for this man, and for her, but the cards that Lute had drawn were not at all what she might have anticipated. A combination of cards like this… the implications of this meant…



“Lute.” A voice emerged from the entrance to the Fortune Teller’s tent. Silohuetted against the light outside, her prosthetic arm holding open the curtained door, was Xandra, looking in with a slight, brief curiosity at the furnishings of the room, before quickly refocusing her attention back onto Lute, remembering the importance of their mission; their need to find this score of missing people and, currently, finding Eric. “Did you have any luck? Is Eric here?”

“Eric? Oh, well… no, I don’t think he is, but… I’m kind of in the middle of something here, and…” Lute began to reply, and Xandra drew her eyes down to the table, and the deck of cards resting atop beside the three drawn picture cards. Another quick look at the woman opposite Lute, and the outfit in which she was garbed in, drew a quick scrunch up of Xandra’s nose, before she stepped forward and gripped Lute’s hand, dragging him up to his feet. She didn’t believe in superstitious fortune tellings.

“I’m sorry, Lute, but we don’t have time for this. Maybe later you could continue this, but we need to find Eric, and regroup with the others.”

“But… but…!”

“That might be for the best…” Elisa retreated from her chair, her hands already reshuffling the cards into the deck. She was now walking further away from the two Guilders, shielding herself as best she could as she cautiously looked towards them from beneath her lowered veil. “I’m sorry, Lute. So very, truly sorry. I wish you luck. You’ll need it.”

“N-need it?”

“Keep your eyes and ears alert at all time, and be careful. The future is bleak, but not set in stone. You will be trialled, and face great, future uncertainty… but it might not be the end. Farewell, Lute.” Elisa parted one of the curtains at the end of the Fortune’s Teller tent and vanished, leaving behind a very confused virtuoso and metallurgist.

Phillus Circus

"Now, I don't think most of the others around here who are stuck like me are fighters. These performers... they're too strong for any one person to take on. Have you seen Abram? He can choke you to death with his fingers. And Bella? Her stare is like a knife to the chest already. I wouldn't dare trying to start something up by myself."

Aria didn't quite think that she needed to verbally confirm with the others that there was something wrong with the circus anymore. From what Crispin had told them employees were under strict guard and weren't allowed to leave, and a large majority of performers were in the same circumstances he was in. There was no clue about the missing people to be found, however, which was frustrating since that was what they came for. Still, the circus did seem to be in a situation that they couldn't afford to ignore.

What did worry her was that this would be an unofficial quest that wasn't Guild approved, which could serve for trouble if they did end up causing extensive damage and the circus ended up unrelated the the missing peoples case. She heaved a amused sigh- too late now to back down. She did hate to turn down requests for help like this.

They were promptly shoved out of the tent, with Crispin's voice fading behind them. Before they could start to discuss their last plans, two tall and mechanical looking figures strode out, stopping the group in their tracks. Gods, they looked really creepy- and yet they were so cool.

Obviously someone else had the same idea, racing after the figures and for a lack of better words, promptly gushed all over the figures.

Was that Syed?

Aria blinked, staring at the mage who had popped out of nowhere. Well, at least that means Moira was nearby so they had found two members already.

They trotted up to him, deciding that since Syed had already caught the attention of the weird costumed people there wouldn't be much point in trying to run. If they were dangerous it would hardly be nice to leave Syed, and if not then meh.

"Hey Syed! Something came up so we're regrouping earlier than we had decided!" She gave the man a smile, not wanting to be too specific in front of circus members. "Do you know where everyone else is?"