Lina and the clowns jumped into action at the sound of the whistle. They pedalled their way onto the stage. The people began to laugh right off the bat at the wobble of the carriage. One of the tiny clowns popped their head out and sang, “Clowns for sale! Clowns for sale! Oh, I’m for sale!” She fell out of the carriage surprised.
“Clowns here! Clowns here!” Another clown held out one of her friends and waved them around. Their acrobatics were impressive and comical. The crowd was dying. “Clowns for…” They shouted meaningless things as the carriage circled the stage. “Clowns for your cupboard! Clowns for…” It was absurd. And the people ate it up.
Suddenly the carriage of clowns crashed into… The stage light revealed the big snake. The Sky Eater! The clowns screamed and ran away from the snake, which began to chase them. The crowd laughed at their antics. Grabbing hold of the Sky Eater’s tail, one of the clowns screamed, “I got it!” Soon the clown was being dragged around like a rag doll. Finally, one of the clowns produced a pop-mouse out of her pocket, and the snake went stiff. The pop-mouse chased the snake off stage, along with the clown holding on to its tail. Pop-mouses are monsters around the size of a raccoon with the appearance of mice. They weren’t precisely natural enemies of the Sky Eater, but it was a monster most predators avoided because of its one and final attack, which was to pop. The pop was magical and shot off mana needles around a five-meter radius, which wounded or killed anything unlucky enough to be near it.
The clown the Sky Eater dragged off stage was Lina. As soon as she stood up, Silva screamed, “Take it back to its pit.”
“Come on, Nona, I’ll take you back.” Lina guided it out of the tent. A Sky Eater, the monster of legends, was used as a stupid add-on in a comedy skit…
Silva turned her attention to the dancers. “You’ll be going next. The crowd will want to see you after the clown show.” The men nodded.

***

I noticed a subtle magical disturbance… It was so slight I could’ve mistaken it for a fly buzzing in the air - to give an analogy. I activated [look-a-look] and discovered an incredibly obscure type of magic descending from the ceiling like feathers and taking root in the unsuspecting audience. It was so faint, I could barely see it with [look-a-look]. “This is…” It took me a moment to realise what was being done. “No wonder this show’s so popular.” My gaze climbed to the catwalk on the ceiling. They were well hidden in the darkness, but I could make out their energies with [look-a-look]. Anka, Laureen, and Hedda, the three hooded figures I’d seen earlier. Laureen was the one casting the magic. It was a type of curse magic that caused nostalgia. They wouldn’t even notice unless they possessed certain abilities… But once in effect, they’ll constantly feel the need to return to the carnival throughout their lives. And they’ll bring their children and grandchildren along to be brainwashed for generations to come. “Hmm…”  Though the amusement park appeared to be a dazzling land of fun, much darkness lurked beneath the surface.

The dancers were followed by the ventriloquist, who was operated by a puppet magician. Yes, the magician controlled the ventriloquist who controlled the puppet. The audience was amazed when this was revealed at the end. It was absurd! But finally, it was the acrobats’ turn. I stood near the entrance to the stage, and when the twins passed by, I smacked one of  their butts and gave them some encouraging words, “Good luck out there.” His rump was firm and looked fantastic in the jumpsuit. For an instant, I got their attention, and before they entered the stage, they gave me an intrigued look. The bracelet was working. Unfortunately, I also got Blementine’s attention, who frowned at my inappropriate behaviour.

A drummer beat out the rhythm in the dark. And they mixed their incredible acrobatics with a flavorful dance. Blementine showed off her strength and flexibility, holding the brothers on her shoulders at moments… When the drum beats reached their climax, the stage went dark. And when the  lights came back on again, Blementine was on a tight rope, high in the  sky. Two silk ribbons also appeared hanging from the ceiling. Blementine  demonstrated her martial arts, embellished with artistry while keeping her balance on the rope. The drums began again. The brothers twisted up the ribbons. Their grace and flexibility were on full display as they expertly ascended into the air. I could’ve watched them forever, but  alas, the show needed to end. And when they reached the top, they  grabbed Blementine and tossed her back and forth while descending back to the ground, where they did one final balancing act.

I blocked their path when they returned backstage and cheered, “You guys  were great!” I needed to get close to them by any means.
One of them wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled, “Thanks. I’m glad you liked it.” He was so close I could feel the heat emanating from his broad chest.
The other one - the one I probably smacked - got so close to me that my shoulder brushed against him when I turned. He scanned my face. I watched his eyes slide from my collar, up my chin, to my lips, my nose, and finally, he peered into me. “Who’re you? I haven’t seen you before.” His smooth voice inquired.
“I’m new.”
“I see…” They frowned sympathetically. “Sorry.”
“Ah… On the plus side,” I smiled, “I got to meet you guys.”
“Bravis, she’s an idiot.” One said to the other, and I frowned.
“Yeah, looks like it.” His brother responded. “But I thought you liked idiots.” He smirked at his brother.
“You’re the one who likes idiots.” His brother shot back. In response, his brother punched him. “Ah, stop. That hurts, asshole.”
Bravis stared straight into my eyes and said, “He likes idiots.”
“I’m not a… wait, should I be one?” I was confused…
“She’s wondering whether to be an idiot.”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Ah… that’s…”
“She’s hitting on you.”
“No, she’s hitting on you.”
I’m hitting on both of you, I thought.
“What are you idiots doing!” Blementine yelled at them. “We have to help the mime.”
“Oh, we’re coming!” Bravis yelled back.
“You guys have more?”
“Yeah, we work as kuroko for the mime drama.” They said before brushing past me.
“Ah…” Their warm skin made me tingle all over.

***

The finale was an orchestrated martial arts fight between the ringmaster, a slew of monsters, and Nia. It was a beautiful ender for the show, showing off some of the ringmaster’s fancy skills. Powers like [all-stage] which allowed her to walk on air; [fire-breather], which  allowed her to exhale fire; [mirage-works], which allowed her to create  illusions of herself; and [ring-reflect], which bounced back her opponent’s attacks. She had other powers, but they weren’t displayed.

When the show ended, Marmar showed up out of nowhere and said, “We have to clean the seats.” The people were filing out and had left a lot of garbage.
“Oh…” I sighed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me along…

***

It took us forever to clean up the mess. My back and shoulders were sore, and I wanted to crash on a bed.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking: goddess, I still need to sneak into the cellar…
“What are you doing just standing there!” Marmar yelled. I turned to  her, utterly tired. She was holding a bag of garbage. “I’ll show you where to dumb these.” Behind her were even more piles of garbage bags filled to the max. My head dropped off my shoulders, splashed on the ground, and I died. “What’s with that face!” She yelled. In a calmer tone, she added, “Hmm… After this, I’ll treat you to some of my wine.”
I looked at the piles of garbage bags and remembered, “Oh, I do need to know where to dumb those… I took one of the bags to your trailer.”
“What? Why would you do that?” She questioned as she grabbed the bags. “I’ll take these three. You grab that one.” She motioned with her chin. “You think you can handle that much.”
“Okay.” I grabbed the bag and whined, “I didn’t know where else to dumb it.”
“Well, I’m going to show you.” She yelled.

They used one of the empty cages as their dumpster. “We pay the city to empty this every month,” Marmar explained. “If this fills up, you can use that one too.” She pointed at the adjacent cage as she tossed the bags in.
“Oh, okay.” I threw in the bags I was holding.
“Alright,” she exclaimed, dusting off her hands. “Now we need a shower.”
“Oh, I could use one. Where do we shower?”
“In my trailer. Where else?”

***

When I came out of the shower, the trailer door was open, and the starry light of the night was falling on the floor. I threw off the towel I was wearing, put on the baggy shirt she’d given me, and popped my head out the door. She was sitting on the deck chair in her panties with her saggy tits out, enjoying a glass of wine.
“Oh, you’re out,” she smiled when she saw me. “Come on, take a seat,” she gestured to the chair beside her. “Bring a glass.”
“Oh… sure.” I got a glass from the kitchen and joined her in front of the trailer.
She poured me wine and asked, “So, how do you like it.” The corners of my lips dropped off my face. “Hahaha…” She laughed. She filled up her glass again and smiled, “You’ll get used to it.”
I don’t want to get used to it, I thought. “Oh, this is good.” I hummed, tasting the wine. “What is it?” It had a metallic taste to it that I found new.
“Tuneberry.”
“Oh…” I scrutinised its murky purple colour. “Gwawleon?” Tuneberry ghouls were monsters that lived in Gwawleon.
“Yeah.”
“How did you-”
“Don’t overthink it. It’s not like the ones you’d buy in the shops. I mixed in some grapes because there weren’t enough tuneberries.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Reem gave me some berries, and I thought I’d make some wine. Since I didn’t need it for anything else.”
“Well, it’s good.” I took another sip. “But you could’ve filtered it a few more times.”
“It’s just grapes and tuneberries. What’s the point of wasting it.”
“Hmm… I guess…”

***

It was painful, but I kept myself from drinking too much. Every time she went to pour herself some, she’d offer me more, which I repeatedly refused, and so she’d shrug and continue on her own. I watched as the murky  liquid flowed into her glass. It created very few bubbles and rippled against the edges, and it’d never quite settle; she’d pick it up before it could. And it’d swirl and crash in tandem with her drunken, jerky hands…

Finally, she was tired and asked for help to get to bed. “Be a dear and help me up.”
“First, give me the glass,” I said, taking the glass and the almost empty bottle.
“Oh, okay.” She replied much too slow; the glass was already in my hand, and I was already halfway through the door.
I shook my head as I walked to the kitchen. I put my glass in the sink and saw that hers still had a drop of the fluid in it… I didn’t have the  heart to spew it into the sink, but I couldn’t drink it either, lest it affects me tonight and ruins my plans… I carefully poured it back into  the bottle and put it back in the cupboard. Then I splashed water on my face. I didn’t wipe it off but let it dry on its own… I needed to stay awake, so I could get the two bottles I left in the cellar.

When I went back out, she was already asleep. “Hey, get up,” I shook her and put her arm over my shoulders. “Up. Up.” I demanded.
“Oh, okay…” She burped. I helped her wobbling legs back into the trailer and let her crash on the bed. I yanked the sheet from under her and tucked her in…
I looked at the clock and thought, “Reem should be asleep by now…”