Disclaimer: Vocaloid owns The Dark Wood Circus both song, lyrics and plot which I'm borrowing for the use of this story. The characters featured here belong to Soul Eater.
Dark Wood Circus
By Lilith Shiro.
I want to die,
I want to die,
get me out of here please,
but I feel like someone said to me,
"That'll never happen"
_ Miku Hatsune, Dark Wood Circus.
Whispers all around; gossip in the air. Have you heard about it? Everyone has; it's the talk of all town! The fliers have been passed out, the posters have been glued to the walls and stapled to some posts. Innocently painted with smiling faces and colorful balloons.
The Dark Wood Circus, it read, the colors catching the attention of a girl who passed by; her dark blue eyes enthralled.
She pulled her uneven pink hair back and then looked around until her eyes landed on a woman who was dressed in a strange way. A shirt that was red with black stripes. On her head was a cowboy hat. She was dressed just as random as the poster.
As she approached she noticed the looks everyone gave the strange woman. Some took the fliers from her with trembling hands, other pointed from afar and laughed while mothers made sure to keep their children at a distant. The woman turned to her once she was close enough and the young girl looked at her in wonder.
Two heads. How did she not notice that before? Two heads were joined into one body. The stitches that marked where one side ended and the other started where horrible to look at. Done almost messily or in a hurry.
The head on the left was of a girl with sunny blonde hair and baby blue eyes. She was smiling at her with true happiness. Her face was alive with rosy cheeks, eyes shone with a light she couldn't describe but made her smile back, although her smile was more of an awkward grimace. Then the little girl looked at the head on the right.
This one had dark blonde hair which was more brown than blonde. Her dark blue eyes in comparison to the other where blank with emotion and her lips were twisted into a frown. Dark circles marked under her eyes and the hat she wore didn't help. This made the young girl pause for a second and grip the paper in her hand.
They suddenly turned their heads to the side and walked away, back to their carriage which was responsible for the fliers that scattered all over the town and with a wave of their hand they said goodbye without as much as a single word.
She blinked in surprise and looked down at the paper the woman left in her hands scanning the inviting picture of the circus before smiling a bit and running back to her house to her mother.
She was going to see this circus no matter what.
It didn't take a genius to know that they were laughing at her. Their howling laughter was louder than their name calling. She could feel their stares burning holes on her body, both with horror and curiosity. On instinct she raised her arms and covered herself, even though it was useless, and continued to sing to them. For them. She didn't have a choice here.
She knew that her appearance was more distracting than her song. She always had a pretty voice, or so 'he' said. She, blinded as she was, just wished she could give them the same looks they gave her. Disgust would be painted on her face permanently.
But no, the blindfold prevented that from happening. Oh, but they could see her perfectly, the deformity of her legs which were no longer human but that of a goat. Her dress, once as pink as sakura petals, was a disaster; the tail was ripped in most parts and the thin satin was full of holes and worn. Her hair was longer than she remembered too, falling past her shoulders yet some strands made into two limp pigtails.
Her only source of warmth was the light that shined down on her grotesque form. She could only feel that and anger; rage at those who dared to laugh at someone just for kicks. Why do they look at me like that? She wondered, although the answer was so obvious.
Pretty soon after her song had ended the sounds of laughter started to become distant. A relieve sigh escaped her pale lips as the people started to walk away yet was short lived as the previous group let the next enjoy the show. Peals of laughter than wasn't coming from the crowds was heard and she recognized it as one of the other attraction's voice. Innocent and childish. Ignorant by choice to the predicament they were in.
"This is so much fun!"
The lights were blinding. The moment she stepped out of the darkness of the woods she was overwhelmed with the sounds and smells surrounding the circus. She had been too curious about this place, so much that she had disobeyed her mother and snuck out of her house in the middle of the night.
While she walked around she noticed that it was lively with the town's people walking around, laughing and smiling, children who parents have carelessly left unattended ran around looking at the animals that were in cages. Some surrounded the stands to buy sugary treats and popcorn for the show.
She stopped and observed the dance of two circus performers. A woman with a beautiful face was dressed in a long and flowing green dress, her black hair tied back into a ponytail, twirled gracefully despite how hard it looked to walk in those long platform shoes and carefully grabbed the hand of her partner to make him dance too. Her smile was kind and from what she saw the woman lived to make the kids happy for they yelled in surprise, girls commenting on how pretty she looked while the boys wondered where they could get those kind of shoes. However she didn't only attract the attention of the children.
The women among the audience looked miffed at the attention she was getting, nasty insults being thrown around while she danced both loud enough to be heard to barely audible enough for even her to hear. The child was sure the dancer heard them, though, because the smile on her face soon grew weary and sad.
The male performer looked at all of them bitterly and a frown on his handsome face that she wouldn't have been able to notice for his strange aquamarine hair was settled down by a blue top hat and hid his face a bit from view as he danced. He wore a blue blazer on top of a white formal dress shirt, a lighter colored star on his left shoulder, his pants however were blue with black stripes. He finally took his partner's hand and drew her in closer protectively against the nasty glowers and lewd glances she was getting.
For a moment they seemed lost in their own little world before he had to pull her away so they could entertain more people.
The pink haired child made her way to the entrance of the tent and with a last glance at the dancing performers she went inside.
She had never appreciated the food that had once been given to her before.
She idly remembered the taste of good food. The way actually warm and recently made soup tasted, the way the sugar in a cake would make your taste buds sing from just a small drop of it; even those new soda like drinks, which she had never been fond of because of their bubbly sensation, seemed like a better option that what was given to her now.
The soft tap of a plate brought her back from her thoughts. The putrid smell that reminded her of rotten egg and the slippery feeling of spoiled ham was ignored as she chewed down on the well deserved food. She ignored the sound of tinkling metal as her cage was locked once again.
There was a lot of food on her plate, which meant she did a good job today in her performance, She recalled the days where she had been given little to nothing form missing notes, messing up songs and when her voice had broken due to a cold. She didn't get any food those weeks, sometimes even months for messing up.
A small part of her had hoped that she would die from the lack of nutrients in her body.
How foolish.
Letting her back rest against the cool metal she bit her lip and felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes as memories over took her.
Their bodies where too resistant for their own good. Immortal children stuck in the horrible forms that he had forced upon them. She could only dream of the time she used to have normal legs, she knew that they hadn't been too thin nor too fat, just perfect for her body. She remembered, a small hiccup making it's way past her lips, how it once felt to be normal.
She wondered, if she could ever escaped, would her parents still accept her? Were they still alive? Together even? She remembered her mother's scathing words and her fathers pathetic excuses. She knew they didn't love each other anymore, they only stayed together for her and for the fact that a separation would be a scandal. Women, her mother had told her, did not get separated from their husbands, it was taboo. If she was gone.. No, if she was there like this, would they leave her? This would be the last straw that broke them apart. They both could go on as if they never met each other if she was there like this sold as a simple animal and forgotten.
Alone.
She flinched when footsteps began to sound again and she waited, tense, for whoever it was that was here would hurry up, laugh, and leave. When they finally stopped in front of her cage, she held her breath for a moment and she gasped when someone pulled at her blindfold until it came off and she could see again.
The light was too bright, having been in the darkness too long for comfort with that blindfold made her blink and rub her eyes a few times before she adjusted to the gleam. When she could, after a while, she saw that in front of her were the two blondes who shared a body.
It had been a while since she's seen them. The skin around their eyes and mouth had long since started rotting, and briefly she wondered if her face was like that too, from the decades that they had been trapped here. Elizabeth or Liz, the head with the almost brunette hair, had been the one to pull her blindfold away. It was in her hand, laying there innocently before she left it fall to the shirt ground.
The sunny blonde named Patty, who had been smiling the whole time while the two girls shared a moment of pain, broke the silence with a laugh; a bright grin that stretched on for miles made the skin around her face pull at the rotten skin and made it fall off like old skin. It was so pure and innocent; so happy it seemed impossible to tell what she was truly feeling as well as it was painful to look at.
She let another distorted giggle escape her as she clutched at he bars to keep herself from bouncing because it made her sister's face twist in a way that didn't look fun and the stitches on her to stretch to the point they could break, "Wasn't today fun? It's so fun to work in a circus isn't it?" She asked with a small tilt of her head.
A knife to her gut, Liz turned her head away before looking at Maka in the eyes and her hand slipped in between the bars to pick at the diva's hair -tattered and dead; very much like the girl whose green eyes lacked the innocent gleam of a child- before pulling it up to her lips, hand balled up into a fist as the strands slipped away and the blank mask Liz was used to wearing broke for a moment and real suffering sparkled in those blue eyes.
Dark blue eyes watered and shone with unshed tears. Watching the exchange on two of the performers she had come to see had left a knot on her throat and trembling hands that wished for a way to help. Sadness consumed her heart as she saw the groups of people that shunned the rest of the cast. People that cared only of their own needs and their entertainment; so blinded to the fact that the ones in those cages had feelings. They could get hurt. They were alone.
The darkness around her pressed in closer and for the first time the little pinkette took notice of the suffocating atmosphere that threatened to choke her. The air was too cold; the tent made her feel claustrophobic, their laughs were too loud and they just bumped into her over and over in their rush to see the next attractions.
Crying out as one push too many landed her on the ground, she pushed herself up and wiped the hay off of her mouth and clothes, gagging a bit.
Crunch.
She froze. The shadows never seemed darker than now. Turning her head she took in the person that was behind her and let out a silent gasp as the tall man loomed over her, wide white eyes stared her down with unnerving silence, the sound of creaking metal resounding in the silent part of the large tent as they looked at one another.
Her little limbs wouldn't respond for fear had taken over her. His own were too strong anyways, as they held her against him, a hand with a handkerchief tightly pressed over her mouth and a burning sensation made itself known immediately and she trashed in pain; wishing for it to stop because it hurt. It hurt so much.
The last thing she saw was a wide, maniatic grin before she passed out.
"Eh..."
The small sound of a slurp jolted Maka out of her thoughts, green eyes looking away from the sisters and away to the cage settle in another part of the room.
His hair was white. But that was because of the light because when they had been under the sun all those years ago his hair shone silver. Odd guy he was, even before he was taken here. His serrated teeth and blood red eyes were a dead give away.
They called him 'The one who likes to eat things cold.' Or the Blue Cannibal.
To her he would always be Soul, even though her Soul had long since disappeared, the one who had been obsessed over being cool; leaving behind this dusk of a guy that only ate when he was sure everyone was creep out enough. Looking at everyone in the audience for a long while before he leaned down and with his teeth he ripped the skin off of one of the many human parts on his plate as easily as one peeled the skin off of a banana. Savoring both the taste and the looks of utter revulsion and horror.
Right now he was drooling, looking into the emptiness and she wondered if he too tried to recall the past. Their past together before this.
A clank made her turn away from the one she used to love and her gaze landed on two dancers. The boy whose name was Black*Star looked tired, sagging his shoulders in defeat, and completely unlike the first time she had met him. The once hyperactive blue haired boy was taking off his platforms and kicking them away with hatred that spoke volumes. His partner, Tsubaki, placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to sooth him. This would have worked if she herself wasn't as spent as he. Sick of the infernal routine they were stuck with. Looking at each other they're lost in their own world, were dancing was once again a sweet thing to do every now and then and freedom still existed.
A grunt.
Cries.
Strong pain.
The burning was still there but not as bad as before. Nothing compared to the pain she was feeling now. Strong and unwieldy as he continued to do this evil act upon her tiny body.
Thrashing didn't help.
No child should ever feel this. He was too strong and she was just so small. So fragile.
Stop. Let me go please.
PLEASE!
Why is this happening? Why? It wasn't supposed to be this way.
Mommy help me.
I should have listened to you. Why didn't I listen?
...It hurts.
She gasped a bit when she felt a hand pull at her dress and she backed up to see the trapecist's trembling hand reach for her again with a vengeance. His eyes traveled along her figure and she would have been offended if she hadn't known his reason for doing so. His strange quirk.
Perfectly tailored suit with white ornaments stitched into it and a clown collaring that stuck out like a sore thumb. The male whined a bit before he let himself fall into the ground because he could not come in and fix the awful state of her dress. The asymmetry that haunted him at every waking moment and plagued his night with nightmares.
However she was jealous of him. Quirk or not, he was still normal by appearance's she would give up anything for that. To be normal again.
"Now, now children back to your cages."
Freezing in place, the ash blonde haired diva snapped her head in the direction of the smooth voice, the type of voice that was trusted with the innocence of child and was so sure it would be take cared off. You would be wrong to trust this voice. Now she knew.
He stood tall and proud near the flap of the tent. His hand turning that screw stuck in his head and making that awful creaking sound while he tsked like a disapproving parent. A lab coat fluttered around and she gazed at his most horrible experiment. Himself, having covered himself in stitches for the sake of science and to satisfy his insane thirst for treating everyone as a test subject for his own selfish gain.
The reaction was instant. They all seemed to go back to being themselves the moment they laid eyes on him. Their memories, all happy, were taken away by this insane man and only the sight of him brought some type of hope that they could ever be free to take it back. Soul's eyes would focus, Black*Star's back would straighten and Tsubaki would hold her head high. Kid would ignore his impulses long enough to stare at the ringleader with calculating golden eyes. Both sister were angry and their vicious eyes told the way they would kill him if they ever got their hold on him.
Even she felt some strength. Like she was standing proud in human legs.
"Tomorrow will be a busy day. You need to sleep."
Only to have that same hope crash and burn every single time he smirked and their shackles, bonds and cages seemed more and more indestructible, inescapable.
Because even if they were to escape. Even if the day that this mad man was taken and they were free, who would want freaks such as themselves as children? Children that even the Lord that they once prayed to would turn his back on. Who were not even worthy enough of the title 'human.'
No one would.
"Damn you!" Liz screamed, bringing herself forward and falling along with her sister because even though years have passed that memory of having her own body to move around with freely was still fresh and it still stung like a recently ripped bandage.
"You bastard!"
They want to die. Since years cannot touch them. Immortal little slaves to this infernal place.
A young girl with ashy blonde hair tied in pigtails walked side by side with a boy whose red eyes shined with joy at being together with the petite but cute Maka he had been courting for almost 4 years now. They would have fun at this circus.
"I want to die..."
The deformed diva.
"I'm hungry.."
The beast who loves to eat things cold.
Two orphaned girls celebrated their companionship at this circus, the colors, the smells, the fun. The taller one was dragged along by the younger sister, the innocence in her eyes was bright and the confidence in the older sister's stance was incredible.
"This is so fun."
"Quiet down, Patty.."
The unfortunate sisters who shared one body.
A kiss. Hand in hand walking and basking in the love they felt for one another. This lovely couple was in the circus, hoping to leave behind the stress of feuding families. Subjects that fell on deaf ears to these two. As long as they were together forever, no?
"I'm tired Black*Star..."
"Tsubaki..."
The ones cursed to dance forever around the circus.
The world was disgusting. His father refused to learned that and it irritated him to no end because no matter what his father did not even try to understand his view. Nobody did. Just take your pills, Kid, they said. He wouldn't because he would find the perfect balance. He swore he would.
"Everything... Perfect."
A perfectionist forced to live in a world of asymmetry.
"We cannot die."
This place is hell for them. An eternal limbo for disobeying? Had they all been bad? Who knew. No matter what the reason they are stuck here in this circus. Forever.
So come, come to the Dark Wood Circus.
The cries of a worried mother resounded all over the town. But no answer.
The circus was long gone and with it the traces of who she had been before. The little girl walked silently and unseen on the street. She knew they were looking for her now but couldn't bring it in herself to care. Raising her head the little girl looked up at the sky and let the light wash across her face. The dead dead skin peeled off around her eye and it stung. It bled.
But she just grinned.
... It's fun.
AN: Come on, you all know I suck. Haha. Anyways. I felt like I needed to remake this story from scratch and this actually sounds decent. *lies* If you all think this goes in the M category because of that 'part' please tell me. I wouldn't like to be reported or anything. ._.
Anyways, I hope you all like it!
Review.
