Chapter 15: The Night Circus

"I knew the consequences would be severe," Seraphina tells me, wearing a white lab coat, as she goes over the file in her hand, "but I have no idea how you've managed to damage this body so much. Your heartrate is ten percent below what it was. Your liver is a bit damaged, but that's the last of your problems. There's some strange activity in your brain – probably because that's the part you use to cast the dream world spell. Honestly, kid. You really should have been warned that this would happen sooner. Learning magic before learning mana control – it's incredibly dangerous. A single casting of the dream world could well have killed you. You probably only survived because of your nature as a fairy. I don't see how a novice human mage would have lived through such a thing."

"Is there a point to this?" I reply, sitting up from the bed I've been taken to. "I already knew overusing magic is behind everything. There's no need to tell me the symptoms or the cause. Just tell me what to do to fix it."

"That insolence again," Sheba whispers from her place on the sidelines, the other unlikable Apostle, Azazel, at her side. "You need to learn how to talk to your elders."

"If respecting one's elders was the top priority, the whole kingdom would bow to you."

The old woman turns to glare at me, her mana flaring. I do the same with my own. That sort of intimidation won't work anymore. Though they're all better than me at absolutely everything, they're nothing compared to Risk. If I can survive being exposed to his mana, I can fight off all other attempts at intimidation. "One of these days, boy, I'm going to-"

"You will do nothing," Xerxes pipes up. He's been completely quiet so far, leaning on one of the walls. He's even more intimidating when he's this close. He can definitely match Risk.

"Why do you defend him?" Azazel snaps, taking a step forward. "He's a foolish brat who needs to learn his place. Ozymandias keeps giving him special treatment because he's one of the fay, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to abide."

At that, Xerxes opens his eyes, casually glaring at the two. He's way more direct than Ozymandias at handling them, and starts applying some pressure using his mana. "I said you'll do nothing, Azazel. Are you trying to go against my word?"

The two other Apostles meet the assault head-on, and now I am feeling a bit uneasy. Are tensions always this high among them? If a fight between these three broke out, a good part of Polaris would be destroyed. If any of the others joined in, they'd be an even bigger threat to the safety of the citizens than the demons.

"Not in here, you don't," Seraphina interrupts, slapping hand against hand. "You were interested in seeing his mana's growth for yourselves, and now you have. Go ahead and leave. You're starting to piss me off."

After a brief pause, Xerxes slightly bows his head to her, then shuffles out of the room, followed by the other two.

"They're never gonna like me, are they?" I ask, and Seraphina offers a forced smile.

"Well, they both had their own favorites for becoming magic knight apprentices, but there was only so much room. Ozymandias declaring you one inevitably meant you were going to be chosen. There are few who can go against his word."

"But Xerxes obeyed you just now."

"Xerxes is old-fashioned. He's a man of honour. Treat him with respect, and you'll be treated with respect in return. That's all that was. I hold no authority over him, trust me. If he wanted to, he could make sure I never find work in Valhalla again."

I sit up, and at that moment, Sheba storms back into the room, holding a piece of cloth. "And put a damn shirt on. You'll catch a cold walking around like that. Bloody fool." She then proceeds to throw the cloth at me, and leaves once more. Weird. What was that about?

"Ah, so her heart hasn't hardened completely just yet," Seraphina mutters, chuckling. "Go ahead and try it out."

I look down at the shirt, which has two slits on its back, and realize it's meant to have wings go through it. "Uh, but how do I even put it on? They're too big."

"That's what all men say."

"It's a good thing you're a healer, and not a comedian. Just tell me."

"You don't see Ozymandias walking around with his wings spread wide all the time, do you? Just retract them. They'll go back into the top of your spine, and come back out whenever you wish to."

I flap the wings a big in an attempt to fold them close, but it's proving to be difficult. I even end up knocking over some stuff on the night stand beside me. Eventually, one of the wings goes back in. The other isn't willingly cooperating, however. "Any pointers?"

Seraphina sits down on the only chair present, crossing her legs. "Do I look like a fairy to you?"

"Helpful as always."

"Well, I did stop you from giving yourself a heart attack just minutes ago, for what it counts."

Finally, I pull the other wing in, then put the shirt over my head.

"There. Now you don't have to tear up your clothes every time they come out. You should thank her. Courtesy goes a long way with her."

I look at her like she's crazy. "I'm not willingly starting a conversation with her." She definitely does have a soft heart, considering what she did, but that doesn't really make me any more eager to be near her. "Why's she like that, anyway?"

Seraphina glances at the door, as if to check no one was there, then looks back at me. "Alright, I'll tell you. Don't go around gossiping about this, though. That goes for the idiots trying to eavesdrop, too. You can come in, by the way."

The door opens, and Obi sheepishly pushes his head through. "You sensed us?"

The Apostle rolls her eyes. "I heard you chuckling. Now get in and close the door. Jonah probably would have relayed the message to you, anyway."

Pushing the door open, Obi lets Yukiji, Snow and Raksha in. Snow immediately comes to my side, while Yukiji hides behind Raksha, who refuses to openly show any worry.

"Are you okay?" Snow asks, then awkwardly reaches out and pats my head. What's he doing? This is only allowed when I do it. When I look into his eyes, I see only confusion and wonder there. Does he not know what to do? Ah, of course not. What would a former slave know about visiting people you care for in hospitals. If any of his former friends got sick, they either got over it naturally or, and this is the most likely scenario, they died. Few owners would have been willing to invest in a slave beyond purchasing them and providing them with the bare minimum stuff required by a human to stay alive.

I lean into his touch a bit, and smile. "Yes, I'm just fine."

"Really?" Yukiji speaks up, still standing off to the side. Not a fun of crowded rooms, indeed. "You'll be better?"

I nod, then give Raksha a look that's both judgmental and teasing. Go ahead. Show concern. You know you wanna.

"You're an idiot," he deadpans, then looks away, chin held high. I'll break down those walls yet.

"If you're quite done, I'd like to say what I have to say," Seraphina pipes up, and we all look at her. Obi starts checking the back of my shirt, poking at the slits. I smack his hand away a few times, but he keeps at it.

Snow turns toward her, posed like a soldier. "S-Sorry Miss! We'll be quiet!" He's a second away from saluting her. I assume that's how he was forced to address his owners before, if he ever had any.

"The reason Sheba is so grouchy," Seraphina finally starts, glaring at Obi, who seems ready to start making noise, "is that being an Apostle was never her desire."

"But who wouldn't want that?" Obi asks, and both Raksha and I smack the back of his head. Seraphina's glare intensifies, and he shrinks back. "Sorry. I'll behave."

"If you don't, there'll be a punishment."

The idiot smirks at her. "Do you promise?"

Seraphina stands up, suddenly holding a piece of orange fruit, and walks over to him. Obi is too confused to react, and gets the fruit shoved into his mouth. He starts coughing right away, tears forming in his eyes. "S-So bitter."

"As I was saying," the woman continues. "Sheba was always good with mental magic. Throughout her youth, she used it to attract hordes of people to the taverns she sang in. There wasn't a man in the capital who didn't want to see her perform. She was happier back then, I believe. One day, she entered the Siren's Song competition." That'd be the most famous singing competition in the kingdom. Even some foreigners come to participate. The winner is guaranteed eternal fame, as well as an audience with the king, who would give them their prize. "Sheba got pretty far in the contest, but got distracted by a man she met. The two fell in love, so she started shirking her responsibilities to be with him. Her family kept warning her he was no good, but she didn't listen. A heart in love for the first time is a force of nature. There was no stopping Sheba from seeing the man."

"So she eloped?" Obi asks, and Seraphina holds up another piece of that same fruit. "I'll be quiet."

"She did not elope. In fact, she had plans to move in with the man, and gave him the key to her house. The day before she was to sing in the finale, she returned home to empty rooms. The man had stolen everything and left. Sheba's heart was broken, and she spent the whole night screaming. The day after, when she got up on the stage, she was unable to sing. The screaming from the night before had cost her her voice, and she ended up losing the competition. She got into a drinking habit during the following years. It wasn't until Ozymandias found her that she changed. She's still a grouch, sure, but at least now her life has some meaning."

The room is silent once she finishes the tale. I wasn't expecting that. It's hard to imagine the critical Sheba doing those things. I can't help but look around after learning all that. These four people – even Obi, to an extent – are people I care about. The more people you care about, the weaker you are. Am I going to end up like that – screwed over by my feelings just when I'm close to my goal? Do I stay with them, or take a new approach?

"Well," Seraphina speaks up again, "I believe that's all. You lot can go now. Oh, and you should accept Aisha's offer of training. Something tells me you lot could use the training." She gives me a wink, then shoos us out of the room.

"So, that was awkward," Obi comments. "You guys wanna get dinner? Your treat."

I roll my eyes, then glance outside the window. The sun is starting to set. If we're gonna train, we should start moving now. "I won't force you to do it if you don't want to," I tell them, then turn to Snow. "Except you. Sorry, but you've gotta get ready for the trials. We've had too many distractions already. There's no telling when the third one will start, given the unusual circumstances this year's Festival is being held under."

Snow gets tensely nervous for a few moments, but then the look in his eyes starts to change. He slowly goes from timid and frightened to full of determination. The speed of the change is quite scary, actually. "Okay," he tells me, and I start walking toward the entrance. Raksha follows suit, but Yukiji seems a bit hesitant.

"There'll be cake if you go," I offer, and her head perks up like a puppy's, after which she runs ahead of all of us. Snow goes with her, and the two get into a race. Good. Kids are supposed to be doing stuff like that. I never had many chances to, but that's what Kieran does. This is how their lives should be. There should be no nonsense about killing people or winning trials. They're just kids. Even if Snow did pass the third trial, and wound up being the one winner who happens to be the Child of Light and Shadow, what could he possibly do to help us? Even with decades of training, it's unlikely he would get to Risk's level, and that doesn't even include his associate, Juno. To beat those two, Xerxes and Ozymandias are needed. There's no doubt about that. This whole festival is pointless.

On our way to the palace entrance, I see a red-haired guy in his late teens watching me from his spot, where he's mingling with some of the castle staff. He smiles in a way that makes me think he's up to no good, then turns around and leaves the hallway, confusing the women he was talking to. What was that about? Excitement at seeing the new magic knight? I hope that's as far as his interest goes. It would suck to have yet another person to juggle around.

"Nice of you to join us," Aisha says sternly as we approach her and Marcus, who's looking all sorts of mad. I point at him, then raise a brow at Aisha. She rolls her eyes. "He's mad you were the one chosen to go to Rook. He wanted to show off his skills too, the idiot."

"It was nothing enjoyable. I assure you of that." I don't think I'll ever stop looking over my shoulder, fearing I'll see those yellow eyes staring down at me. "Besides, I doubt your magic would've been a good match. You probably would've died." Not true. His magic would be amazing to have for support. The arrows would have been impossible to dodge while cloaked with illusions. Risk probably would have died. Still, there's no point in Marcus going out to fight them. He'll only get himself killed, from what he's shown so far.

"So, where are you taking us?" Obi asks Aisha, giddy as always. She looks at him like he's a filthy maggot who dared fall onto her boot, then walks through the castle door, followed by Marcus. When we exit, I see a large carpet lying on the ground.

"I was told to explain as little as possible," the girl explains, sitting at the head. "To be honest, I think he just likes the attention."

"Who does?" Obi asks, sitting too close to her for her liking.

"The man who's been teaching me magic. He says he's got something every beginner mage can profit from."

Raksha immediately starts pouting like a child. "I am no beginner mage." He still gets on board, however. How long can he keep going, anyway? His mana isn't all that at the moment.

"What's got you so tired?" Marcus asks him. Obi then whispers something into Marcus' ear, pointing at me as he does it, and the two start laughing like a bunch of children.

I give them my brightest smile. "Raksha, if those two speak again, please blast them off the carpet."

"Will do."

The two idiots shut up at that, and start pestering Aisha instead. That said, I'm completely free, because Snow loops his arms through mine and clings to one side of me.

"I don't like heights," he whispers. "I don't like them at all. Are we gonna fall? Does she know how to fly?"

Yukiji glares at him, then forces her way between Raksha and I, and clings to that arm. Oh, brother. "Coward," she hisses, and Snow puffs out his chest.

"You're the one scared of needles."

"I don't like being stabbed to have my blood stolen. Insane!"

"You're also scared of lizards!"

"I'm not scared of them. They're just gross."

"Like this?" Snow puts a finger up his nose, then starts bringing the biggest booger I've ever seen toward Yukiji, who immediately lets go of me and moves behind Raksha.

"Control your children, Jonah," Raksha tells me.

"That's enough," I say, gently pulling Snow's hand away from myself. Get that thing away from me.

Ultimately, he wipes the booger on the underside of the carpet as it takes off, and doesn't stop holding unto me as we fly. Yukiji does the same with Raksha. We're a married couple, aren't we? A middle-aged, pre-divorce couple with two kids who're impossible to deal with. Why did I sign up for this? I'm too young to spend my life this way.

Aisha starts taking us to the suburbs, but on the opposite side of Polaris from where I live – or used to, anyway. She lands in front of a large tent, and we start climbing off. Obi is the last to do so, hesitating. What's that about?

"A circus?" Marcus asks, exasperated. "I'm not big on clowns."

"I dislike tomfoolery altogether," Raksha nods along.

Yukiji tugs on my shirt, so I look down at her. "Animals don't belong in cages."

Snow pipes up after hearing that. "There's animals? Are there tigers?!"

I take a deep breath, then ignore all four of them, and turn to Aisha instead. "Why're we here?" I briefly meet Obi's gaze before she responds, and he lightly shakes his head at me. Something's wrong.

"We're here to learn," Aisha explains, and then the curtain serving as the entrance to the tent pulls open, and the red-haired guy walks out. He's about as good-looking as Marcus from this distance, and the fact that his shirt is revealing his chest and abdomen Is giving me all sorts of out-of-place thoughts. Great. I needed another distraction.

"Nice of you to bring them," the guy says, stepping aside and gesturing for us to enter. "If you please."

"Not before you tell me what's going on," I respond, ushering the two kids behind me. Raksha himself takes a step forward, putting himself between them and the guy, who's got an eerie smile on his face.

"Quick being a jackass, and just tell them," Aisha tells him, walking into the circus tent.

"Ah, but mystery is such a fun thing to maintain."

"Tell them now, Luck. You won't get them inside by playing around."

Sighing, the guy pulls out a piece of paper with something written on it. "I'm doing this only because Ozzie asked me to. He wanted it to be done away from the other Apostles, which is why this is the place I chose. I'll be putting one of these talismans on each of you, and each one of them will have a different side-effect. It takes a group of at least five to start the spell, which will last for a week. During that week, you lot are going to learn to live with those side-effects, which will be less than desirable. Then, once the talismans come off, you'll be that much better at overcoming the same difficulties brought on by those talismans when you're faced with them in your regular lives." He gestures toward me – of course – once he's finished. "You, for instance, I was told to teach about mana control. That's why your talisman will make your mana run wild, rendering you incapable of any magic until you learn to channel and control some mana. Once the talisman comes off, you should be able to control yourself a bit more."

I look around once he's finished explaining. There are no magic knights or guards around us. There's nothing indicating an Apostle's involvement in this. "First off; How do we know Ozymandias is really behind it? You could be tricking us."

Luck nods along, eyes closed as he smiles brightly. He pulls out a little pouch, then throws it at me. In the attempt to catch it, I get hit in the face.

"Smooth," Marcus whispers, but Obi doesn't join his jokes this time. He's still tense and unnerved, which is making me unnerved, making me unnerve the kids and Raksha. Picking up the pouch, I open it and peek inside. Dust? Why's there dust in this? It's such a weird color, though. Flipping the pouch upside-down, I start shaking the dust out. Only when it starts falling does it reveal itself to have the colors of the rainbow.

"Butterfly dust," I venture a guess, and Luck smiles even more.

"Very good. You know to whom it belongs, of course."

"I'm not following," Marcus says. I don't look at him as I explain.

"This is from Ozymandias' wings. He never would've gotten it by force. It's legit. Ozymandias gave it to him as proof of his involvement." I don't like how good he is at anticipating my thoughts. I need to get something over Ozymandias already. Everyone else, I can deal with one at a time, but he seems untouchable so far. He's like a more powerful, more experienced version of me, and I don't like it. That makes the gap between us that much harder to fill.

"If that's not enough to convince you," Luck starts again, "ten how about this proposition? You're a talented lot, so I'm feeling generous. Agree to this, and do as much as you can to help with the devil threat, and all of you will become high-ranking magic knigths, regardless of how some of you do in the last trial."

Now that's confusing. He can tell I'm not making sense of it, and it's entertaining him to no end. He's just grinning there, waiting for me to figure it out. The Apostles are the ones to choose the magic knights. I didn't see this guy before, and the only Apostle I've yet to meet is Nanami, who's a girl. He's bluffing. He has to be. I turn toward Obi to see if he can clue me on, since he seems to know something about this circus.

"They train the hidden agents here," he explains, and I immediately turn toward Yukiji.

"Is that true?"

She shrugs. "Maybe. I wasn't trained here, though."

"The ones trained to kill are taught elsewhere," Obi reasons. "I was always better at spying. She was kept in the palace the whole time, but I hardly ever got to go. I say we turn back, kid. I don't like the smell of that guy."

He's talking about Luck, and I share his sentiment. There's something off about the guy. He's expecting us to play on equal footing without giving us all the cards. "Who are you?" I ask, and he bows to me.

"Asking is all you had to do. It's nice to meet you guys. I am Luck, the king."

All of us react with open surprise. He's joking, right? This has to be a joke. I didn't hear anything of a succession, and this guy's too young to have been the king during the time I was a kid. Also, there's no way the king would be out here, in the middle of the suburbs, doing the work an Apostle asked him to. That's just not how things work.

"You can believe me or not; It doesn't matter. The thing you do have to do is walk inside that tent and receive your talismans. The more of you there are, the more talismans I can create, and the more talismans there are, the stronger they are." He claps twice, then turns around and prances into the tent. "Chop, chop."

Raksha is the first to follow, no doubt still determined to get stronger. Of all of us, I've got the least amount of reasons to hate the king. Obi and Yukiji probably hate him for not doing anything to stop the training of assassins and spies, while Raksha has to hate him for allowing the djinn to remain imprisoned in the forest. Snow most likely adores the guy, because the current king is the one who banned slavery, saving Snow from a life of whippings and servitude. He's done no good or bad thing for me, which he's aware of. Of course! That's why he's trying so hard to paint a picture of himself to me; He wants to make a great impression. Good. Now that I know his motives, I know how to respond.

I walk in right after Raksha, the two kids behind me. "Will you be joining us, Obi?" I ask, stopping briefly. I continue walking when I hear his footsteps getting closer, and we enter the tent, where we see Luck being attacked. A man wearing all black is slashing at him with two daggers, but the king has no trouble dodging them. In fact, it looks like he's dancing around the assailant. Finally, he gets bored, then pulls out a playing card. The assassin gets too close to him, misses with his attack, and gets his throat cut by a graceful move of Luck's hand. Puking out blood, the cloaked man falls to the floor, and Luck sighs in disappointment.

"Sorry you had to see that. Oh, don't look so scared! That's the last one for today; I promise."

"You can't possibly know that," I snap. "People know you're here. You need to get out. You're putting all of us in danger."

He waves me off nonchalantly. "Don't be silly. Everything is just fine." The nerve- "You see, I'm the one who hired him."

Raksha lets his composure drop after hearing that, which is an effect his royal highness seems to be good at having on people. "What? Why would you do that?"

"Well, being a king is just so boring. All I do most days is sit around reading and approving documents. I hire at least two assassins a day to have a go at me. It keeps my life from getting too boring. They are starting to get sloppy, though. Must've gone through all the good ones." He sighs again, then walks off to the side instead of toward the middle of the circus. I follow after him, stopping by Raksha.

"Watch them from the back."

He stays a few feet behind then, so that we're sure Yukiji and Snow have a shield from both the front and the back. Luck is up to something. There's no way he's doing this just out of boredom. He is nothing like I expected the king to be. I always picture him as a doddering old fool, but this man is neither old nor doddering. He even has magic! Wasn't the king supposed to be powerless? How did those rumors spread in the first place? Did he spread them himself, so that he can surprise the people he meets? Yes, that does seem like the sort of thing he'd do, but it would be odd for Ozymandias to help him with that.

We only stop walking once we enter a dimly lit room, where Aisha is already sitting. There's a round table there, surrounded by just enough chairs to seat us all. Luck immediately pounces on the table, landing with the grace I've only seen in Yukiji before. He is good with both magic and actual fighting; There's no doubt about that. This guy is dangerous.

"Would you please be seated?" he asks. "I only have a minute left before Ozzie starts being a pest again."

We all take the seats, not wanting to openly dispute the king. However, I do still have a question. "Does this mean the third trial won't start yet?"

Aisha is the only one who doesn't look at me with surprise. She probably already figured it out herself. Luck himself seems amused that I'd ask that. "Of course not! I can't have the participants be in anything other than tip-top shape. Is that all?" I nod, and he smiles again, taking off the vest he's trying to pass off as a shirt. I look away, and happen to glance at Raksha, who is blushing himself. At least one good thing came out of this day; I know what Raksha's preferences are now.

Luck's mana starts changing as bit, and the smell in the room becomes sickly sweet. The mana inside him starts coming to the surface of his body, releasing an odd pink smoke. Enjoying every minute of it, the king starts waving his hands around, making cards appear and disappear from one hand to the next. He rolls a coin from finger to finger, then encloses it in his fist. Once he opens his hand again, the coin is gone, replaced by a talisman. He slowly gets off the table, practically crawling toward me, then reaches forward and kisses my forehead. My heart starts beating a hundred times per second as he pulls away, and I can't see him holding the talisman anymore. Is it in place?

Luck grins at me, clearly enjoying my embarrassment. I worriedly look at Raksha, but he doesn't seem to mind the situation one bit. In fact, he's as red as I am.

One by one, Luck goes around the table, doing his best to make the situation as theatrical as possible. Once we're done, he gives me a wink, then leaves the tent.