(Miku's P.O.V.)

They're gone. The both of them. They just . . . disappeared. They left without even saying goodbye.

Len said he would never leave without me, yet he left without a trace nearly a month ago. Is that how it truly is? No matter how much you love someone, you throw it all away when the chance at freedom shows itself?

"Shhh, Honey, no," Luka soothes me as I cry into her shoulder. She runs her long fingers through my hair as she continues to stroke me as a form of comfort. "Don't think like that. I'm sure Len has his reasons for leaving."

"What could possibly be reason enough for leaving someone you love?!" I cry as I shake even harder. I don't care to be strong right now. If I want to cry so hard that I'm trembling then I freaking will. No one who has never had the person they love abandon them for no apparent reason has the right to judge me.

"Maybe he and Rin are looking for help?" Luka suggests. The hope in her voice is slight, but it's enough for my ears to catch.

"Who would want to help us?" I sob. "Who would ever see us as people? Only our own kind can love us."

"What do you mean by 'our own kind'?" Luka asks me. "Certainly you don't think that we and every other person on earth are totally different species."

"They treat us like we're not people, Luka," I answer as I slid my head from her shoulders to her chest. Luka responds by holding me in arms and rocking me. "Besides, some of us really aren't people. I was mutated, remember? How can I be a mutation and still be human?"

"DNA means nothing, Miku," Luka says as she starts rubbing my back. "No matter what you are on the outside, it's who you are on the inside that makes you human. It's the little girl that exists inside you that hasn't been touched by the doctors I always hear so much about."

"They practically succeeded in stripping away our humanity," I state.

"But it came back when you meet everyone here and grew to love them as family," Luka responds, and I can't say she's wrong.

"Still," I sniffle, "why would they leave so suddenly like that? Why not at least tell me where they were going first?"

"Perhaps they were afraid you might try to talk then out of leaving?" Luka suggests.

I shake my head. "I wouldn't have told them not to go," I claim.

"Can you say that as fact?" Luka says in such a way that it's like she's asking me to not lie to myself.

"No," I admit.

Before Luka can respond, I hear the crunching of approaching footsteps. Looking up, I'm surprised to see Mayu walking towards me. I have never seen her face so blank before in my entire life. Not even when CUL died had Mayu looked so drained. Mayu tried to speak, but her words kept getting caught in her throat. When she managed to get the words out, they stumbled on each other. It took Mayu three times to clearly say what she wanted to commute.

"There's a man here, Miku. He says he needs to see you. He says . . . He says Len sent him."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At first I'm in disbelief, but the proof is right there. How else would anyone know Len's name and what I mean to him unless he has meet Len? My nerves are on edge, but I maintain a cool aura as I walk with Mayu and Luka to the man.

"How did he get in here?" Luka asks, doing her best to walk with the ground too uneven for her crutch.

"He says," Mayu said slowly and quietly. She knows if we get caught with him there will be hell to pay. "He says he is the circus freak who escaped from this very fairground years ago. He says he was amazed to find out that his escape hatch was still there."

"Wait," I say, "he used to be like us, but he got away?"

"Not so loudly," Mayu rebukes. "Yes, that's the case, and since then he has dedicated his life to ending the Dark Woods Circus once and for all."

"How?" I ask.

"You might not believe this," Mayu says, her tone cautions, "but the majority of people think that the Dark Woods Circus is wrong. Only the wealthy enjoy it, really, or people who want to feel better about their own lives. In all actuality, all that's needed is one last push to get Dark Woods Circus in the talks of being shut down. I mean, the truth is the subject has been debated over for years."

"One last push?" Luka and I look at each other. "What kind of push?"

"The only defense the Dark Woods Circus has for itself is that we aren't people," Mayu replies. "If an interview with a circus freak can circulate, then everyone who is against this will be encouraged to fight while others who were previously neutral might join the action as well. That's why this man is hear. When he heard Len's story, he said he had to interview you specifically. He thinks what has happened between you two can sell as a tragic love story between star-crossed lovers."

"It is tragic," I agree, "but star-crossed lovers?"

"You possibly can't be telling me you don't think that term describes you and Len," Mayu says in a tone that suggests she would roll her eyes had they still been in her head. "You two meet in a psych ward, fell in love without knowing it, have been using each other as a reason to live in this hell, and been kicked around by fate. Regardless, you two still love each other and all that shiz. The man thinks that if the world knew your story the Dark Woods Circus will have no choice but to shut down."

"Our story can't really be that powerful," I whisper.

"It's not the story that will set us free," Mayu says. "It's your undying love for the boy sown to his twin sister that will."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You must be Miku," a man with white hair greets the second Mayu, Luka, and I walk into the tent. To my surprise, it was me he addressed with such confidence.

"It's me," I whisper as I took a moment too long to remember what I'm supposed to do with the outstretched hand. I can't remember the last time I've ever shoke a hand so I was a little too self-conscious about the action. Am I squeezing too tightly? How many times do I bounce my arm up and down?

"My name's Ian," he introduces himself, "but my friends call me IO."

"IO?" Luka questions.

"My initials," he replies. "Ian Orangutan."

"Wait," Mayu says with realization, "the circus freak with the feet mutated into hands?"

"Yeah," IO answers as if he's not embarrassed. He slips off a shoe, exposing the hand for a foot. "See?" he asks.

"No," Mayu answers as she shakes her head.

Seeing IO's confused face, I explain, "Mayu's blind. Her eyes are made of glass."

"Oh," IO says, his expression telling me he feels like an idiot. Slipping his shoe back on, he says, "Len has told me so much about you, Miku. It's almost like I know you already."

"What has Len said about me?" I couldn't help but ask.

"He says you're the kindest, most considerate person he's ever met," IO answers. "The way he talks about you one would think he was describing a goddess." I blushed at the statement.

"So how do you plan on helping free us?" Mayu asks.

"Simple," IO answers. "Get a quick video of Miku telling her story, film a response from Len, and edit them to a single video to air worldwide."

"Video?" Luka questions, her eyebrows raised.

"I'll explain later," I promise her. To IO, "Should we start filming. I doubt you want to linger long enough to be caught."

"Ah, yes," IO says as he pulls out a piece of black glass from his pocket. Aiming it at me, he says, "Whenever you're ready."

I tell the tiny rectangle my story. I tell how I had survived a massacre, I told how I went to live in a mental institute, I told how I befriended the twins, and I told how when I was convinced he was gone did I realize I was in love with Len. I gave a brief explanation of our lives here in this circus, and, now discovering the tears streaking down my face, I expressed how much I love Len and how desperate I am to see him again. By the time I finish, I hide my face in my hand and sob so violently my shoulders shake. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I look up to see Luka smiling at me.

"Beautiful, Miku," IO says. By the way his eyes are red and his cheeks are shiny, he was crying, too. "If that doesn't move anyone's heart, then I don't know what will."

Wiping my eyes, I simply say, "I just miss him too much. Life without Len is not worth living. I . . . I don't know how much longer I can go without seeing him."

"That won't be much longer," IO says, a smirk on his face. He pinches his thumb and index finger over his black rectangle and pulls them away the same time he separates his fingers. The action causes an image to jump out of the rectangle and float above it. The look on Luka's face is priceless, but I recognize the action from what my father used to have. I think the object is called a cell phone, but I didn't know they had advanced this much since the last time I saw one.

"I'm going to E-mail the video right now just in case I get caught," IO says as he uses his fingers to work on the floating image, "but after that I will call my partner and you can talk to Len."

"E-mail?" Luka questioned. "Call?"

"What the hell is an E-mail?" Mayu asked. "And how on God's green earth do you plan on taking to Len? Are you even sane?"

"Quiet guys," I tell them. "I used to live in the normal world. Believe me, you don't know what's been kept from you."

"Okay," IO says as he begins dialing numbers. "It's ringing," he grins.

On the second ring, an image of a girl with long white hair comes up. I may have known what to expect, but I am still surprised when I see the girl move and hear her talk. "IO?" her beautiful comes out crystal clear as her image is crisp and her movements clean. Phones have improved a lot since I last used one. "Oh my goodness, what the hell are you doing?"

"Not so loud, IA," IO hisses. "I'm still in the circus."

"Why are you calling me while you're still in the circus?" IA growls.

Before IO can answer, Luka walks closer to the image, her eyes wide and disbelieving. "IA?" she calls.

IA makes eyes contact with and sucks in her breath. "Luka?" she gasps.

"You two know each other?" IO and I ask at the same time while Mayu yells, "What's going on? What am I not seeing? I hear a girl but I can't sense her anywhere."

"Shhh!" I snap at Mayu before turning to Luka. "Luka, who is that?"

Luka and the girl raise their hands so that it looks as if they're pressing their palms together. "I met IA five years ago," she explains. "When she learned who I was, she vowed to get me out. This is the first time I've seen her since, and I'm glad to see she's still pulling through with that promise."

"Learned who you were?" I question.

"Yes," IA sighs. "Perhaps I should properly introduce myself. My name's IA Megurine. I'm Luka's little sister."


Author's Note: Just a short and confusing chapter coming through. At least this chapter sets up the next two chapters. Or should I say the last two chapters? Anyway, I know this chapter left you guys with more questions than answers, but it sets what happens next in motion. Basically speaking I'm asking you guys to trust me on this.

There are only two chapters left, and within them this story will unfold and later conclude. Don't worry, the chapters won't be rushed. They might be long, but they won't be rushed.

-Ray