Author's Note: This is based on Cirque du Soleil's Kooza. Appropriate warnings are above each chapter and not every chapter will be the same rating, so this is a series-wide rating.
Warnings: Currently, dub!con and one very mean Trickster.
To any outside observer, it would seem Trickster had anything he could ask for. He was the uncontested master of a world where the impossible was commonplace and insanity was everyday routine. In the realm of Kooza, he was a puppeteer and the rest marionettes he handled cruelly. He was harsh, yes, but none had ever witnessed his anger, and it was clear all of them preferred it this way. Who would be stupid enough to openly mock a man that could change space and time with a simple gesture?
Standing on the top of the batlacan, overlooking his kingdom, Trickster passively watched the creatures beneath him from the shadows above. It was only when she emerged that he started from his position, racing down to the ground level to watch her all the closer.
It was all her fault, the little minx. The woman on the trapeze was perfection itself, the single most beautiful creature in his entire kingdom. The red and gold of her clothing clung to a figure so exquisitely formed that he knew he could settle for nothing else. In the end, it was her eyes that were his undoing. Whenever she retired from the trapeze, her eyes burned with a joy so intense that it could ignite even the stoniest heart. After weeks of watching her, he could hold himself back no longer, and strolled up to her after her practice. She looked at him curiously then jumped as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her with a passion that was more possession than romance. At her lack of reaction, Trickster pulled back, sure he had frightened her away forever, but she turned his face back to her own and returned the kiss. It seemed mere moments before they were both screaming in ecstasy and finally she slept in his arms. Holding her close, he thought himself content forever. Then morning came.
Trickster had known she was faithless, but he had not expected her to turn on him. He awoke to find her blowing kisses to one of the nameless acrobats of the realm, not able to catch her eyes except for the same flirtatious glance she gave every man. Every night, she found a different companion, and each night she spent with him made him resent her all the more. He had begun to treat her roughly, attempting to force her to stay, until she pushed him away for good. Her heart soared as much as she did and refused to be tied down to anyone.
Enraged, he left her to her own designs, turning and walking straight into another quiet, shy girl. Her clothes were identical to his former lover, similarly dressed to the trapeze artist but with blues instead of reds, and he could barely look at her. She smiled at him for a moment, then excused herself and walked on, meeting the unicyclist in some far off corner. Her smile was so similar to the one his heart had fallen for that it pierced his heart instantly.
From then on, they had become his newest obsession. Trickster watched as their romance developed, as they grew from shy acquaintances to passionate lovers. Their eyes shone whenever they spotted one another, their caresses so gentle that he sighed to watch them. They were everything he had always wanted with his own love, everything he would never have so long as her heart soared above his own.
It was in this bitterness that Trickster's plan had formed. In his obsession and anger, she began to resemble his former lover all the more. He resented her happiness and slowly decided that, if he could never be happy, he would rip her own happiness from her, whatever the cost.
He found her sitting near the batlacan, feet kicking back and forth idly in her boredom. His movements lit her eyes until she realized it was not who she searched for, and she continued darting them in all directions for the lover she was obviously awaiting. Circling her casually, he moved behind her and grabbed her hair hard, yanking her head back so that their eyes met. She opened her mouth to scream, but he covered her mouth with his hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, little girl. You wouldn't want me to banish your lover, would you?"
She shook her head and he smiled at her coldly.
"Good. Now be a good girl and nothing will happen to him."
The girl got to her feet hesitantly and he allowed her hair to grow loose, grabbing onto her arm instead and steering her into the batlacan. With a gesture, the curtain closed behind them. Trickster felt her shivering beneath his touch and his smile grew all the wider. If he couldn't inspire love, then fear was a perfectly acceptable alternate, regardless of its source.