Juliet Fortuna
The Little Mystic
Joined the Circus on April 1st, 1901
Juliet acts as a stage magician in the circus, though more specifically, she is often called an illusionist. In truth, she is much more than a simple street magician, playing with perspective and sleight of hand. Further, she is much more than a simple illusionist as one might expect the term to be defined. She has the ability to manipulate reality either by invoking temporary objects into the world or warping her surroundings in the manner one might imagine an illusion could come to be, but rather than being just a mere facade, Julietβs invocations are real matter despite their existing duration. To put this to practical use, this allows Juliet to manipulate her environment as necessary without having to worry about people seeing through her abilities like a mirage. There are a few varying limits to her ability, such as the radius around her in which she is effective, which grows and shrinks depending on how distant she is to the circus.
Such a boon comes with its own banes, of course.
Nothing is free, they say. Juliet often has to limit herself, as shaping reality- even in small bursts- can take great tolls on her mind. The more Juliet manipulates her surroundings, the more these false realities seem to imprint on her mind. It is said that Juliet experiences persistent hallucinations that get worse and worse with more use of her ability. She avoids talking about it, though it can be quite clear at times that she is unable to focus as reality takes new forms just behind her eyes.
Her Price:Juliet is considered something of an ultimate companion in that she is unable to surrender or flee from strife without first securing the safety of all of her fellow performers. This can be quite a reckless attitude, causing trouble if one of her companions has fallen and the best option is to retreat. This compulsion has manifested in a number of daemon hunts where a comrade has fallen and Juliet would literally have to be dragged from the battlefield by her troupe.
Why She Joined:Juliet was at a loss for options in her life. After losing her only caretaker, The Ringmaster saw an opportunity to develop a potent magician from the ground up due to her age. Juliet saw her fatherβs business in the Circusβs work. Intent not only to survive in the frontier without a family and to live up to his legacy, Juliet accepted any terms the Ringmaster posed, blinded to any repercussions by the hopelessness of her situation
Her Story:Julietβs history remains mostly a mystery to her troupe, for she rarely talks about her past. That doesnβt mean her history isnβt rich, however. In the end of the period of Americaβs frontier, Juliet was born in the west to a father who was always on the move. With a mother passing during childbirth, Julietβs father was poised to raise his child well, and monetary struggles were something he was sure to avoid. This was more easily said than done, however. In a mass of debt, her father went on the move with little more than a wagon and a pair of horses. With few marketable skills and very little to his name, Julietβs father knew only one way to support his family. He acted as a travelling salesman, selling a faux-miracle elixir, and when Juliet was old enough, she started assisting in his acts.
All went well for a long while as Juliet grew into double-digits, save for the usual troubles that followed a pair that lied for a living. Juliet and her father became immensely wealthy, eating only the finest food, and staying in only the finest inns. Their simple one-wagon project even gained a host of bodyguards. Julietβs father always joked that the devil was on their side, allowing them to get away with anything, but as their fortune accrued so did their enemies. A vengeful family soon came to follow the Fortuna pair, intent on exacting their revenge. Just upon entry into a fresh settlement, Julietβs wagon was ambushed and toppled. A long and bloody gunfight ensued, forcing the minorly injured girl to take refuge in the wreckage. It wasnβt until the zipping bullets slowed that Julietβs father called to her, telling her to run further into the town and save herself. As much as she wanted to protest, she wasnβt one to disobey her fatherβs orders. In her narrow escape, Juliet made it safely away from the firefight, but with nowhere to go and only a small amount of money on her, she took refuge in a strange circus that happened to be in town. Her father would know to find the young girl there. If only she knew that in her flight, Juliet had left her father for dead.
Juliet spent two days loitering about in the circus, sleeping outside the tents before she was approached by someone sheβd later come to identify as the Ringmaster. As if having been there himself, he explained to Juliet that her father would not come looking for her, and much to her surprise, she was offered a place in the circus. In a bout of depression, Juliet had nowhere else to go. Despite her young age, she joined up with the circus, naively accepting the Ringmasterβs terms.
Her Connections:Juliet's demeanor is acceptable to most of the other performers, but when she met Luciel, the two were quite juxtaposing of one another. The Devil Jester's attitude has always offput Juliet to the point where she struggles to befriend Luciel. Often times this ends with simple disagreements and nothing more. Juliet can't really put her finger on her problems with the other performer. Perhaps her showy gambits remind her of her father's facades.
Her Audition:I had seen the mainstage performance, I played some games, and I was all full of stereotypical carnival junk food. All that, and the day wasnβt even half over. There had to be some more interesting things around. I wanted more to do, yet I had no idea where to look or where I was going. As I aimlessly weaved my way through all sorts of varying tents with no particular goal in mind, I caught myself almost tripping over a rock. Stumbling a moment, I paused in my stride, holding just long enough to notice a slow trickle of people gathering into a group between two tents. I approached, intrigued by the whole βback alley-esqueβ ordeal.
It was strange they managed to get performers like this. Perhaps she was one of the carneyβs children. She sure looked like it, but nevertheless, there was already a crowd starting to form around the small space in between two big tops. I couldnβt help but push my way towards the front. I could have sworn there was nothing there when I first looked over here, yet all of a sudden the little girl stood posed before a wagon bearing a moniker inscribed on the side.
The Little Mystic painted across the wood in large gold letters. Needless to say, she was already bringing a small cacophony of hushed whispers to the crowd before her, but what was it she intended to do?
With a snap of her fingers, a deck of tarot cards seemed to explode into her hand from nowhere.
Interesting, I guess, but not really earth shattering⦠It is what followed that had me thirsting for more. One man shifted up to her as she fanned out her cards, accepting one into his hand. The girl motioned for him to show it to the crowd.
The Magicianβ¦ What a coincidenceβ¦ It was a very unique design, looking almost as if it was handmade by the little girl herself. I wish I could have examined it further, but another snap caught my attention as well as the rest of the crowdβs, and when we looked back to the Little Mystic, her fan of cards was gone. My gaze drifted back up to the man holding The Magician. His expression was that of pure awe as his card also was gone. A short bursts of gasps overcame the crowd, but soon everyone hushed up, looking back to the quiet performer for answers. She uttered only two words, simultaneously motioning down to her hip.
βBack pocketβ¦β The elusive instructions were easy enough to understand. The volunteer reached down to the back pocket of his jeans, fumbling to expose their contents.
No card..? More murmurs pierced the air, though this time, there was an unimpressed mood to the chatter. The man spoke up.
βDid you mess something up?β His tone was almost patronizing. I mean, hey, we should give her a break after all. She surely wasnβt as experienced as the rest of the carnies. I laughed a bit.
Poor girlβ¦βNot youβ¦β She spoke up once more, gently flitting her hand to the side in a gesture for the volunteer to step aside. As he did so, the Mystic drew another breath. βEveryone elseβ¦β
Now
that got my attention, and alongside everyone else, I too, began fumbling about for my pockets and withdrawing the foreign object that laid within.
The Magicianβ¦ in all its scrawled glory, perfectly matching what the man once held. βIβll be around all day for moreβ¦β As she piped up I turned back to the performer, but she was making her way around her wagon, leaving my sight behind it. I began looking around at all the other guests, now sharing in an excited commotion. That was my fatal mistake, it seems, for it took only a moment for an uproar to overcome the crowd, eyes all falling back towards the performerβ¦ Or at least where she was- where the wagon wasβ¦ Both the girl and her massive cart had disappeared as if having never been there. I was baffled. There was no way that massive thing could have been soundlessly moved, and I be surprised if the magician could even make it budge herself. Things didnβt end there in this mass of constant redirections, for as people regained themselves,
no one could find their cards?I stood there a long while as the crowd died down. The whole short performance was something straight out of television show- the way everything just stopped existing- the way she manipulated our perspective. I looked around the whole circus that day intent on finding the Little Mystic again, but nothing came of my search no matter how hard I looked. As the day came to an end, I couldnβt get her act out of my head. This circus held so many mysteries. Hell, everything about it was a mystery. As I walked out the gates while the sun disappeared below the skyline, I was left pondering one such mystery unrelated to the performances I had witnessedβ¦
I wondered how they erected all the attractions so quicklyβ¦
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