A/N: This was supposed to be for Halloween, but I finished it late. Sorry about that.
It's based on the song Dark Woods Circus. :)
Vistarion. An old, dull city toward the southern end of England, far from the most exciting place to live. Many a citizen dreamed of leaving the grey skies and old brick buildings like birds flying south for winter: to the north, or further east, or even to an entirely different country. Somewhere with festivals and cheer and brightly-lit streets, somewhere with excitement.
But with their financial troubles, or relatives who wished to stay, or whatever misfortune they carried, nobody ever seemed to leave for good.
As if caged, they stayed in this grey city, prisoners to the monotonous lifestyle. Festivals, circuses, dances – all but unheard of in Vistarion. Work and stress filled the days as they dragged by without energy.
So naturally, when a circus arrived in town, it attracted attention.
"Excuse me…"
The young girl jumped up and down, trying to peer above the heads of the crowd. Music rang throughout the town square – a cheerful tune, accompanied by the sound of hooves against the cobblestones. It had to be that circus everyone had been talking about. Mavis wanted to see for herself.
"Found you!"
A hand seized Mavis's, tugging her away from the crowd, toward the surrounding neighborhoods.
"We have to go home, Mavis. The others will be waiting for the groceries."
"But Zera, it's the circus! Don't you want to see?"
Zera glanced back at the excited crowd gathered in the town square, her expression briefly softening. "Yeah… but the groceries are important."
Mavis stared at the crowd, then back at Zera. "Five minutes. Then we'll go home."
Behind them, the clattering of hooves ceased, the volume of the music lowering. Without waiting for a response, Mavis pulled free of Zera's grip and headed back into the square, darting between chattering people until she reached the front.
Zera hesitated, shooting a worried look down the street, before sighing and following Mavis.
"Woah…" She halted next to her friend, eyes wide as she gazed at the spectacle before her.
Right in front of the two was a brightly-decorated cart, "SPRIGGAN" painted in bold letters on the side. Behind it lay countless other carts, similarly-decorated – but the horses were what really caught their attention.
Two beasts led each cart, their coats and manes pure white, black hooves glinting in the afternoon sunlight – but most strikingly, a golden horn protruded from the forehead of each horse.
"Unicorns…" Mavis's eyes sparkled.
She was abruptly snapped out of her trance as the door of the carriage in front of them burst open with a shower of confetti.
A dark-haired man in a suit stepped out, smiling widely. His laughter echoed across the square, silencing the crowd, all eyes settling on him.
"Ah, you're here, you're here!" His eyes swept the crowd, the grin still plastered on his face. They settled on Mavis and Zera for a brief moment, before darting away. "Tonight, we will be showing…"
"That guy gives me the creeps," Zera mumbled.
Mavis kept her eyes fixed on him. "Shh!"
As the man spoke, introducing himself as Zeref, brightly-dressed performers filed out of the surrounding carriages, tossing flyers and candy into the crowd. The hands of children and adults alike reached up to snatch the paper and treats out of the air.
Zera peered at the flyer that had drifted into her hands. "Huh…"
"The show begins at ten o'clock tonight!" This time, his eyes remained fixed on Mavis and Zera. "Drop by and see us…"
The crowd murmured among themselves as Zeref and his performers retreated into the carriage and drove away into the distance. As the last carriage turned a corner and disappeared from sight, Zera grabbed Mavis's hand again and tugged her in the direction of their street.
Mavis smiled brightly. "Are we going to the circus tonight, Zera? It looks like fun."
"I don't know. That guy was pretty creepy."
"But these sorts of things never happen around here! We can't miss what might be the only circus we ever get to see!"
"I know…" Zera sighed. "We'll see if the others agree to take us, okay?"
She shook her head, trying to clear it of such negative thoughts. Mavis was right: it would be fun.
Pale feathers reached out in the darkness, brushing against the face of the unconscious woman.
"Do you think she'll be alright?"
"Of course she will, Larcade. We have a show tonight."
"I know, but…" Worried dark eyes stared into the pitch-black, slowly adjusting to see the curtain of scarlet hair spread out across the hay. "After last time…"
"He knows she won't try it again." The other's voice held a hint of sadness. "At least… I hope she won't. It never ends well."
"It never does, Invel."
The white wing brushed aside strands of red hair to reveal a trail of amaryllis tattooed down the woman's arm.
Mavis hummed to herself as she packed her small purse – a water bottle, her wallet, her phone…
Precht, Yury, and Warrod had eagerly agreed to take her and Zera to see the circus – probably because they wanted to see for themselves what was causing so much commotion around here. The air almost seemed to crackle with excitement.
"Mavis! We're going!"
"Coming, Precht!" Mavis hurriedly zipped up her purse and slung it over her shoulder, hopping down the steps to where the others awaited.
She flopped into her seat in the car, Zera next to her with her seatbelt already fastened. Mavis barely had time to fasten her own before the car began crawling down the driveway, pulling out onto the road.
Zera glanced at her as the car began moving. She still had a bad feeling about this, but decided not to say anything – after all, the others were excited for the show. Why rain on their parade?
"It says on the flyer that they came here all the way from Spain!"
Still blabbering excitedly, Mavis hopped out of the car, followed shortly by the others.
The tent loomed over them, a red-and-white giant against the grey sky. From somewhere deep inside, faint animal-like noises could be heard – the whinnying of horses, the squawk of an unfamiliar bird.
Yury checked his watch as they strolled toward the tent. "It's nearly ten. We should hurry."
The entrance gaped before them like the mouth of a dragon. Shivering and pulling their coats more tightly around themselves, they hurried into the tent.
Only pale lights strung along the walls illuminated the passage. Near the entrance was a ticket booth, the dark-haired girl seated inside staring blankly into space.
She looked up, startled, as Precht approached her. "Hello, sir. Do you wish to see the circus tonight?"
"Yeah. Five tickets, please." He fished through his wallet and dropped the cash onto the desk.
Still blank-faced, the young woman tore five tickets from the reel and handed them over. "Enjoy the show." She turned to a curtain behind her. "Juliet, show them to their seats."
A shorter girl immediately burst from behind the curtain, a bright grin on her face. "Right this way, please!"
Juliet led them to seemingly the only empty seats in the tent – in the back row, far from the ring. With most of the seats occupied, Mavis and Zera ended up having to sit far from Precht, Warrod, and Yury.
The audience chattered amongst themselves, making it difficult to hear anything else. Zera cast another glance at Mavis, who grinned in anticipation.
A few sharp gasps and cries rang out as smoke erupted from the center of the ring, billowing upwards in a dark cloud. Gradually, a figure became visible in the center – unclear at first. The two girls knew who it was before the smoke cleared.
Zeref's voice boomed across the tent. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to thank you all for coming out to see the Spriggan Circus tonight!" He waved his arms to calm down the crowd. "Don't start applauding yet! You have yet to see the fantastic spectacles we have in store for you tonight! I've travelled to every continent – searched every hidden corner – for the creatures you are about to see! Without any further ado, may I introduce: the first display of tonight!"
A whip cracked against the floor, prompting two unicorns to dash out from backstage, trotting around the ring.
Mavis turned to Zera. "Look! Think they're the same ones from earlier?"
"Probably." She watched as the whip cracked, the unicorns retreating backstage and two pegasi taking their place.
Countless spectacular creatures followed the pegasi: a gryphon, a phoenix, even a small dragon. The following was underwhelming by comparison – things you would see at any circus: a trapeze performance, a sword-swallower, a fire breather.
As the trapeze act drew to a close, assistants dressed in black pushed covered cages from backstage. The audience eyed them with curiosity and excitement, murmuring amongst themselves, the performers suddenly ignored.
"And now, what I'm sure you've all been waiting for." Zeref beamed up at the audience. "The final act, the main attraction of my circus – the freak show!"
A growl could be heard from one of the cages, obviously displeased with that title. A few audience members laughed.
Smiling, Zeref headed toward the first cage and tore away the blanket covering it. The audience's laughter quickly changed to shrieks and gasps.
Before them stood a creature with two heads – a purple-haired one smiling sadly, and a sharp-toothed one wearing a manic grin. The latter's cackling rang throughout the tent, taunting the audience.
"Look, Neinhart! They're scared!"
The other one gave a small snort of laughter, nodding his head.
"Cool…" Mavis whispered.
Zera frowned. Something seemed off about those two – and it wasn't the mad laughter.
"As you can see, Wahl and Neinhart were born very close," Zeref explained. "One could say they're quite… attached."
Neinhart shot him a brief glare, but Zeref didn't seem to notice, simply strolling toward the next cage and revealing it with a quick swipe of his hand.
A young woman with scarlet hair lay on the floor, supporting herself with her arms. It was no wonder she found it too much effort to stand – her lower half appeared to be the legs and tail of a goat.
"Now, some of you may ask how Irene here came to be. Truthfully, I have no clue!"
A bitter smile spread across Irene's lips. She began to sing softly – an eerie tune, but the lyrics couldn't be heard.
Zeref paused, an expression of rage and horror briefly flashing across his face. He spoke again, raising his voice. "See, I found her when travelling to the east of here…"
As his speech continued, Irene's voice rose in volume, competing with his, until the lyrics were clear.
The ringmaster turned toward her, then back to the audience. "She loves to sing. It seems like she doesn't quite know when to stop sometimes. Irene, it's time to stop…" As if to distract the audience, he tore the cloth off of the next cage.
Irene fell silent, glancing to her right. The young man next to her seemed fairly normal – golden hair tied back in two bunches, a faint scar visible across his nose, but he appeared to be an average person.
"To many of you, Serena may appear like a normal man. But he isn't – far from it! The faint of heart may want to look away."
From his coat, Zeref drew a large rat. It struggled in his grasp as he tossed it into the cage, the grey ball of fur landing before Serena.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Serena lunged at the creature, picking it up and biting into it.
Several audience members turned away, the rat's fading shrieks audible even from where they sat.
"That's not all," Zeref continued. "Serena will take a bite out of any meat – even humans. Of course, I don't have any human meat with me right now, so you won't get to see."
One by one, he revealed the cages. Invel, a man with the tail of a snake rather than legs. Bloodman, who Zeref claimed to be a demon. Brandish, a nine-foot-tall woman who had to hunch over to fit in her cage.
Throughout the show, the others remained silent (apart from the occasional giggle from Wahl, which was silenced with a soft "shh" from Neinhart). Serena seemed more focused on his meal than anything else, picking the skeleton of the rat completely clean. Invel, Bloodman, and Brandish watched the audience carefully – their expressions ranging from bemusement to anger. With one finger, Irene traced the pattern of red flowers tattooed down her left arm, as if trying to subtly draw the audience's attention to it.
Jacob, a man who could almost entirely remove his own head. Dimaria, a woman with the pointed teeth of a shark. Ajeel, who had rock-hard patches of skin – demonstrated by Juliet, who swung a sword at his back, getting no result but a metallic clang.
It didn't take Zera and Mavis long to realize that Irene wasn't the only one with flowers tattooed on her skin. Along Wahl and Neinhart's shoulders were roses of ink, red and white with green stems and leaves. A trail of begonia led down Serena's neck. Bluebells had been drawn down the side of Invel's face. Brandish had a string of gladioli inked across her collarbone.
Zeref uncovered the final two cages. August, an elderly man with unnaturally crimson skin, his eyes entirely white. Larcade, who had white wings rather than arms, his feet clawed like a bird's.
Irene's singing became audible once again, filling the air – the same tune as before. She drowned Zeref out completely with her song of a circus: a happy place, one would think from the outside, but inside the brightly-coloured veil of the tent and the costumes, the performers were unhappy.
Zeref turned to his assistants and barked out an order. Quickly, the assistants covered Irene's cage, pushing her backstage as the ringmaster tried to regain his composure. The other eleven were quickly covered and pushed away.
"Something's going on," Zera whispered to Mavis as Zeref began his final speech.
Mavis stared at her. "You mean that song?"
"Yeah. The lyrics make me worry."
"Yeah…" She frowned. "But Zeref seems like a nice guy. There's no way he's doing the things Irene mentioned, right?"
"I don't know, Mavis. I think it's worth checking out."
"Seems risky…"
Zera turned her gaze to the curtains the performers had disappeared behind. "We should at least try. If it's true, we need to help them."
"What were you thinking, child?"
Irene rested lazily on the hay in her cage, unfazed by August's glare. "There's always the chance someone will come for us this time."
"Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to help us," Brandish replied coldly.
Bloodman nodded. "It will only result in more repercussions. You need to stop, Irene."
"I won't. We need to get out of here."
"You know we can't," Larcade whispered. "Why bother?"
Before Irene could respond, she became aware of the footsteps from outside. A young girl swept the curtain aside, stepping in along with another one around the same age. Several of the caged performers gave warning hisses, trying to frighten them away – to somewhere safer.
"See? I told you someone would come one day!" Irene cried triumphantly.
"Shh!" Invel hissed. "Zeref will hear you!"
Zera hesitated, unsure what to say now that she had actually made it here. She stuttered for a moment. "Uh… that song. Irene's song."
"Was it just part of the performance, or was it real?" Mavis asked.
Irene stared down at her feet, silent for a few moments. "It was all true."
Mavis hesitated. She turned to Zera, who stared at each of the caged performers one by one.
"So… were you or were you not born the way you are now? I mean, as… you know." Zera gestured vaguely around the room.
For a few seconds, all of them fell silent.
"We weren't," Neinhart answered.
"Where are they?!"
"Yury, calm down." Warrod scanned the area. "We need to stay calm if we want to find them."
Yury groaned. "We shouldn't've let them sit by themselves…"
"No sign of them over there." Precht approached them with a worried frown.
"Dammit…"
The sea of people around them made it impossible to pick out Mavis and Zera from a distance. Were they even here? Perhaps they were searching, too. Perhaps they had come out here and, seeing no sign of them, had returned to the tent. How long would it take to find them?
After shaking what seemed like the thousandth hand that night, Zeref wandered around at the entrance of the tent, occasionally stopping when someone – a fan or an assistant – spoke to him. His gaze settled on the three worried men scurrying around, seemingly looking for something… or someone. Hadn't they arrived earlier in the night with two young girls?
The corners of his lips curved up.
"Excuse me, sir." He reached out a hand to stop Warrod, who was hurrying past him. "Are you looking for something?"
"We lost someone," he explained. "Have you seen two young girls around here? A blonde and a brunette, both quite short–"
"I'll do my best to find them." Zeref smiled. "I make it my responsibility to return anyone who gets lost safely to whoever they came with."
Yury sighed in relief. "We can't thank you enough."
"Don't mention it." He turned and headed into the tent, smirking to himself.
"He does… experiments," Neinhart explained hesitantly. "He kidnaps children and…"
"Deforms them," Dimaria finished for him, her speech hard to make out due to the shape and size of her teeth. "Like us."
"He even did some experimentation on himself. It's why he looks so young," Jacob added. "He's been kidnapping children for decades."
August nodded. "There have been generations of experiments like us. When they die, they're simply disposed of and replaced."
Serena stared down at the floor of his cage.
"And the flowers…" Invel glanced around at the others. "He uses them to cover up the acid burns."
Zera frowned. "He throws acid on you?"
"Not often," Larcade said quickly. "Just when we do something wrong. If we mess up in front of an audience, or make him angry, or try to escape…"
Mavis's fist clenched. "We need to get you out of here."
"No!" Larcade immediately stumbled toward the bars of his cage. "You can't! We can't leave!"
"Why not?" Zera blinked in surprise.
"Where would we go?" Invel asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"We couldn't get jobs, or even walk around freely on the streets," Ajeel told them. "People would freak out."
"We'd just be locked up somewhere else!" Wahl exclaimed. "This circus is the best place for us!"
"They could…" Mavis thought for a moment, then brightened up. "They could return you to your families!"
Bloodman laughed bitterly. "If they can find them. If they're even still alive."
"We don't know what happened to our parents after we were kidnapped," Brandish mumbled.
"Father's told me stories about the other members of my family." Larcade's gaze dropped to the floor. "He says they wouldn't accept me as long as I look like this. I'd imagine that the same applies to the others."
Zera fell silent for a few moments. Her eyes widened. "You're his son?"
"We have to call the police!" Mavis frowned. "He's kidnapped kids, assaulted people with acid, and he abuses his own son?"
"Yes!" Irene clung to the bars of her cage. "Please! Call the police!"
"Don't!" August snapped. "There's no other place we can go."
"But if nobody does anything about it, Zeref's just going to keep on kidnapping kids and doing this to them!" Mavis glared at him.
Before anyone could say another word, footsteps became clearly audible from outside.
Neinhart turned his terrified gaze toward Mavis and Zera. "You two, hide! Quick!"
The two frantically looked around for hiding places. Mavis nudged Zera and quickly pulled her behind a pile of crates in the corner.
As the two disappeared behind the pile, the curtains flew open again. Zeref stepped into the room, glancing around scornfully at the results of his experiments.
"I heard that two little girls went missing during the performance." His voice sounded calm, yet held the promise of consequences if he didn't get the answers he wanted. "Have any of you seen them?"
The performers mumbled out their responses or shook their heads.
"Don't lie," Zeref scolded them, still using the same eerily calm tone. "I heard conversation back here. Where are they?"
"We don't know!" Wahl snorted. "We haven't seen them!"
A smack rang throughout the room. Wahl cried out sharply.
"I told you not to lie."
Serena shook his head. "He's telling the truth. We haven't seen them!"
"Try looking somewhere else," Neinhart suggested.
"Have you checked in the carriages yet?" Irene asked. "It wouldn't be the first time–" She was cut off by the sound of another harsh blow.
"There will be consequences if you don't tell me." He paused briefly. "Larcade? You wouldn't lie to your father, would you?" No answer. "Larcade? Be good and tell me."
The response could barely be heard. "I won't."
His voice was quickly followed by the sound of a body colliding with metal bars.
"I refuse to put up with your disrespect," Zeref told him. "Tell me, Larcade, or you're going to find yourself with another branch of dogwood on your back."
Mavis moved before Zera could stop her. Her hand flew to her purse, reaching in and drawing out the first object she reached – her water bottle. Stepping out from behind the crates, she hurled it directly at the ringmaster.
Zeref let go of Larcade, his hand darting to cover the left side of his face. He stumbled backwards as Mavis scrambled to retrieve her water bottle.
"Mavis!" Zera rushed out from behind the pile. Too late to drag her back into their hiding place. No time to reprimand her. "We have to run!"
"There you are, you brats…" Zeref rubbed his injured eye and dashed after them.
Mavis leaned forward to gain speed, panting heavily. She turned a corner and fixed her gaze on the set of curtains straight ahead. The stage lay beyond them. Undoubtedly someone would be there. She just had to run a bit further, just evade him for a moment longer…
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her hair, tugging her backwards harshly. Her face smacked hard against the floor.
Mavis rolled over onto her back, kicking and flailing to keep Zeref away. Cursing, he stumbled backwards. She took the chance to stand and run – but no curtains lay ahead, and she quickly realized that she had run down a side hallway.
Zeref reached toward her, trying to grab her before she could escape, but his hand gripped only air. He turned and found the other girl, who had stopped to help her friend, stumbling in the opposite direction, staring back over her shoulder. She seemed slower. He followed her.
Mavis, no longer pursued, stopped to catch her breath. Glancing around furtively in case he was still nearby, she grabbed her phone and called the police.
No matter what those performers said, they needed help.
"It's no use, Irene."
A slim hand reached through the bars of the cage, trying to reach the shining object that lay only inches away from her fingers. It had dropped from Zeref's belt as he gave chase to the two girls – the key to the cages.
Irene shot a glare at Bloodman. "I can reach it."
"Just leave her be." August sighed.
Apart from Irene's grunts and occasional curses, the room fell silent.
"Do you think those two will be alright?" Larcade asked.
"No," Jacob replied. "They'll probably end up like us."
"…They shouldn't have come here," Dimaria muttered.
Ajeel shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they'll be the ones who finally get us out."
"We can only wait and see how this turns out," Invel replied.
Irene reached toward the key, but once again, it slipped further from her grasp.
Zera lay, shivering, beneath one of the carriages parked next to the tent. She could hear the distant chattering and laughter of the crowd around the front of the circus – and the footsteps from inside the tent. Slow, careful, searching for her.
Where was Mavis? Had Zeref found her? Had he caught her? She held her breath as he walked by, her heart racing.
He wouldn't give up until he caught them both. Yet she didn't feel safe in leaving her hiding place; surely he would emerge from the nearby exit at any minute, and it was quite a way to the front of the tent. There was a good chance he could catch her before she made it. She had barely escaped him as it was.
What was that sound in the distance? Sirens? Her face brightened with hope. Had someone finally called the police?
"Zera!"
Mavis knelt next to her, peering under the cart. She grinned. "I called the police! They'll be here soon! Let's go."
Zera crawled out from beneath the vehicle, standing up and dusting herself off.
The police were on their way. They would investigate the tent and find out what the performers had suffered. Zeref would be arrested, and the performers would be taken somewhere safer – somewhere they would be cared for. Maybe they would find their families. Families who would love them, not families like Zeref.
She smiled as she headed back toward the front of the tent, where Yury, Warrod, and Precht would undoubtedly be waiting for them.
Yes, everyone would be safe now.
Police sirens wailed in the distance, drawing closer by the second.
Zeref cursed the two children as he rooted through the box of chemicals, tossing aside glass bottles which shattered on the ground. The contents burned holes in the flooring.
No, no, no. He wouldn't let them arrest him.
Shaking hands finally found what he had been searching for. A dull orange box made of cardboard.
He would die before he went to jail.
Grinning, he struck a match.
Irene's searching hand finally grasped the key as the room went up in flames.
The police came too late.
By the time they arrived, most of the tent was already on fire. People shrieked, running everywhere, some trying in vain to douse the flames.
It took hours to extinguish the fire. Most of the guests left. Five stayed.
For Mavis, it went by in a blur. Firemen arriving. The near-futile efforts to put out the blaze. At some point, someone draped a blanket over her shoulders. And all the time that she sat there, on the cold grass outside of the circus tent, she hoped and prayed that the performers would survive.
They couldn't die now. Not when they had been so close to freedom.
Early in the morning, the last of the flames died out. Not much was left of the circus tent.
Zeref's body was the first they found in the ruins. Then Juliet and the dark-haired girl, followed by a cleaner and a few audience members who had hung around by the stage after the performance.
In the last place they searched, near the back of what had once been the circus tent, lay twelve bodies.
One of them gripped a half-melted key in what little was left of her hands.