AN: Yeah, I decided that Circus was ready, and Fantasy, not so much. How do you feel about a 10,000 word one-shot? Or should I split it into chapters?
This seriously has to have some kind of record for most character appearances. It certainly has the most characters of anything I've ever written!
Nico di Angelo smiled as he approached a tanned, blond boy standing outside the circus field.
'Hi, Will.'
Will grinned at him, and Nico felt skeletal butterflies flutter in his stomach.
Stop it, di Angelo, this is not a date. This is just two friends hanging out!
'Hi, Nico! Here's your ticket.'
Will handed him a slip of paper. Nico examined it.
'The show doesn't start for another 2 hours? Why did you say it was important that I was here at 4:30, and not a minute later?'
Will stared at him in disbelief.
'The sideshows, of course! The weird and wonderful stuff before the actual circus?'
Nico shrugged.
'I've never been to a circus.'
Will gaped.
'You poor deprived child! You really need to get out more!'
Normally, Nico might take that as a bit of an insult. But Will's light, teasing tone made it clear that it was anything but, so smiling (Will's happiness was infectious), he followed the taller boy through the gates.
'Seaweed Brain, you've got to go and double-check all of your equipment.'
'But Wise Girl, I wanna spend time with you instead!'
Nico and Will looked at each other with raised eyebrows, as they listened to the bickering voices coming from the caravan. They didn't mean to eavesdrop...they were pretty sure anyone within 20 yards could hear the man and the woman.
'If you don't ensure that everything's fine and your act goes smoothly tonight, revenue will decrease, and I'll have to spend more time sorting out the finances and the accounts to keep the circus afloat. Then, I'll have even less time to spend with you.'
They could practically hear the pout in the man's reply.
'So you only care about me because of the money? I'm so hurt, Wise Girl!'
They could definitely hear the roll of Wise Girl's eyes in her voice.
'Come here, Seaweed Brain, and I'll show you just how much I care about you...after you check over your stuff for the show! Safety first!'
Suppressing laughs, Will and Nico walked past the bickering couple's caravan.
They stopped in front of a trestle table laden with bizarre metal objects and bottles of perfume and oil. A strong floral scent permeated the air.
The green-eyed, brown-haired young woman manning the stall smiled at them.
'I've got some lovely perfumes and oils, all-natural and handmade from plants. Are you interested?'
Will and Nico stared at a metal object resting on the table. It resembled a music box fused with an old-fashioned phonograph.
Will, by far the more extroverted of the two, pointed to the strange object.
'What is that?'
The woman shook her head, shrugging.
'Frankly, I have absolutely no idea. I didn't make it, the fire-eater, Leo, you'll see him in the ring later on, did. He calls it the Valdezinator, and he says it's a musical instrument...'
Will pursed his lips and turned to Nico.
'Do you reckon I should buy it for my dad?'
(Will's dad had a bit of a thing for musical instruments, and always wanted more to add to his collection and his repertoire.)
Nico stared at the Valdezinator sceptically, but before he could reply, a woman yelled loudly.
'STOLLS!' The perfume-and-oil- selling young woman was scolding two clowns perched on the roof of the caravan behind her. She was also covered in glitter. 'Travis Stoll, you are so dead, you stupid, immature idiot!'
The slightly taller clown nudged the other one, who was holding a large bucket.
'See, I told you, Connor, Katie totally likes me!'
And the two clowns fled, jumping off the opposite edge of the caravan.
The young woman, Katie, looked absolutely furious, and ran off, leaving a trail of glitter behind her.
Will and Nico just stared.
'We should get our fortunes told.'
Will pointed to a garishly coloured tent.
Nico rolled his eyes.
'It'll just be some psychic bullshit. It's a waste of money, Will.'
The other boy pouted.
'I know, but it'll be fun!'
Nico sighed and shook his head, but his expression softened and he followed Will into the tent.
A young woman with curly red hair and freckles, and vivid green eyes, almost eerie, sat at a low table inside.
'Welcome, gentlemen. I am Madame Red. Place $7 on the table and we can begin.'
Will slipped some notes onto her table, and she placed them in her pocket and pulled out a deck of tarot cards. She handed them to Will.
'Shuffle these, and focus on the aspect of your life you would like to know about.'
Will glanced briefly at Nico, a light blush staining his cheeks.
The cards shuffled, he returned them to Madame Red.
She spread them out on the table.
'Choose three.'
Will turned one over, and Madame Red glanced at it.
'Strength. For patience, compassion, and of course, strength.'
He turned over another.
'The High Priestess. Non-action. Potential.'
He turned over a third card.
'The Lovers. The meaning should be clear.' She glanced over at Nico, and they both reddened.
Madame Red turned to Nico.
'I do not believe you would like your fortune told. Nor do I foresee that you will require it. I wish you two much happiness. Your path may not always be an easy one, but you will have the strength to walk it.'
They both shivered, still blushing.
This Madame Red was really rather disconcerting.
She knew.
'Grover, I thought you told me there was no animal cruelty in your circus!'
A young woman in a long green dress with flowers in her hair looked angrily at a young man with curly brown hair and wispy chin beard. Behind them, there was a large elephant, being tended to by a bulky young Asian man.
The man with the beard (assumedly Grover) held out his hands and walked closer to the young woman.
'Juniper, there isn't! Hannibal was being abused by another circus before he was rescued! But no zoo would take him because he has issues with other elephants after so long in a circus, so we took him in. He's happy!' He gestured towards the man tended the elephant. 'He loves Frank, and Frank loves him! You can quiz him!' Grover grabbed a very flustered Frank and practically shoved him towards Juniper. 'You'll do fine, Frank, just don't mention the peanut incident!'
Grover was, by now, cowering behind the bigger man.
Will and Nico decided that they certainly didn't want to be around, in case they somehow got dragged in too.
Nico and Will's stomachs growled in unison.
Sheepishly, they turned to each other.
'Food?'
'Food.'
They walked up to a kiosk set up in front of a caravan.
The incredibly beautiful young woman with cinnamon hair and milky skin standing behind the counter smiled at them.
'Hi, what can I get you?'
Before either of them could respond, a Latino elf poked his head around the caravan.
'Hey Sunshine-'
Without even hesitating, the woman grabbed two hotdogs and a can of Coke from under the counter and passed them to him.
He grinned.
'Aw sweet! Love you, Sunshine!'
She smiled at him.
'Love you too, Leo. Now go eat up and get ready for the show!'
He mock-saluted her.
'Yes ma'am!'
Rolling her eyes and smiling affectionately, she turned back to Will and Nico.
'Sorry about that. What would you like?'
That was the weird-machine-building fire-eater?
Figures.
Nico and Will took their seats, having finished their food.
Moments later, the Ringmaster entered.
Unusually, the Ringmaster was female.
Although, she looked like she would kill anyone who dared to suggest that a female Ringmaster was somehow inferior. She had dark hair and dark eyes.
After giving a typical (at least according to Will) opening spiel, she launched them straight into the first act.
The Ringmaster whistled, and two dogs, one that looked silver under the lights, the other gold, ran into the ring.
Nico watched, transfixed, as the two acrobats leapt and swung high up in the air.
The man was blond and strong-looking. Considering his occupation, he probably got more than a few blond Superman jokes.
The woman had darker skin, and appeared to be of Native American descent.
As the man tossed the woman through the air, Nico mused on how much trust there must be between the pair.
They relied on each other to catch them after a jump, trusted each other enough to hang on to the other as their only lifeline so many feet off the ground.
He glanced at Will.
Little did he know, moments later, after Nico had turned back, Will turned to glance at him.
The two clowns entered the ring.
Will turned to Nico.
'Well, it looks like they escaped.'
Nico laughed quietly.
He pointed to the clowns, who seemed to be limping somewhat.
'Are you sure?'
Will glanced at them and laughed.
'Or maybe not.'
Nico couldn't resist.
'Don't you want to become a doctor?'
Will mock-glared at him.
'She's really good.'
Nico looked on, impressed, as a young, curly-haired African-American woman exited the ring, standing on the back of a golden horse.
'You would say that, considering your abilities with horses.'
Nico mock-glared at Will.
Yes, it was true, horses, like most animals, hated him, but did Will really have to point that out? He supposed it was comeuppance for earlier.
Will continued.
'But she is definitely really good.'
The whole audience watched, completely transfixed, as a maniacally grinning Latino man (with a really crazy glint in his eyes- as if he'd had too much caffeine) juggled burning torches.
When he proceeded to eat some of the fire, everyone was completely still and silent.
Nico wondered how many were stunned from fear. After all, this Leo seemed completely high on caffeine. Should he really be allowed around fire?
(It wasn't as if he was fireproof or anything.)
The audience laughed as the strongman lifted the elephant's foot with one hand, grinning and gesturing at the audience like a master showman.
Will turned to Nico.
'Is that the same guy from earlier? The flustered one?'
Nico nodded.
'I guess so...'
'He seems different. More confident.'
'Less red.'
Will laughed at his joke.
The butterflies were back with a vengeance.
Frank put down Hannibal's foot.
Seconds later, the woman with the horse cantered back into the ring, and gracefully leapt off her steed.
The crowd gasped.
Frank caught her easily, and stood there for a moment, holding the smiling horsewoman bridal-style. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He turned bright red and smiled at her.
Yup, definitely the same guy.
A collective aww rose up in the crowd.
Her horse trotted up to him, and snorted, as if demanding his rider back.
Laughter followed.
Still smiling at her, he placed her gently back on the horse, and she rode out of the ring.
Nico, Will, and the rest of the audience were left wondering just how much of that was scripted.
The final act of the night was the escape artist.
The dark-haired young man was locked in chains by a blond woman with curly hair, and placed into a large tank of water.
The audience watched, gripping the edges of their seats, as he struggled to free himself.
He stayed under for far longer than possible.
(Seriously, it was like he was part-fish or something.)
In his anxiety, Will grabbed Nico's hand.
Nico didn't pull his hand away.
The whole audience erupted in applause when he got out of the last padlock, and pulled himself out of the water.
He was certainly very handsome, Nico thought, watching him bow to the audience, still glistening wet, but he wasn't his type.
He glanced at Will.
No, definitely not his type.
'Thanks for bringing me here, Will.'
The blond grinned at him.
'You enjoyed it?'
Nico smiled.
'Definitely.'
The impassive Ringmaster walked past them as they exited the big top.
She glanced at their still-entwined hands, and Nico swore she smiled and winked at them.
You make a cute couple.