WHEW! I DID IT! Okay all my work and lack of sleep has resulted in this wonderful (and long) chapter which I am very proud of! This is the part many of you have been waiting for!...No, not kinky lemons! You'll have to read and see! (As if the chapter title hasn't already given it away though) HAHA! Thank you guys so much for your reviews! I can't believe I'm at 49! I feel so loved I don't know how I could possible say how much! Hehe, but look at me! I'm sleep-deprived and giddy, I should probably introduce the chapter before I break into an Irish drinking song. So now, with much pleasure, I present to you: chapter 8!
P.S: I DO NOT OWN 'MAGIC TO DO,' 'MUNGOJERRIE & RUMPELTEAZER,' OR 'ONE IN A MILLION.' These are just three songs used in this chapter and there have been alterations and edits to them all!
Chapter 8
Showtime
"Go away Mr. Sun," whined Demyx in a childish mumble, rolling over in his bed away from the window to avoid the sunlight coming in. With all the places they visited and the many different time zones the sleep cycle of a circie was always a mess, which was why they always had evening shows; that way they'd always have at least a day to rest.
Demyx was still on Olympian time which was just one big mess none of them had been able to follow too well. Most of the time they'd just choose random numbers and wait for people to show up at that time, unaware that 12 Juno 452 Rey meant 2:15 in the morning from their old mental clock. Being half asleep wasn't good for business as they found out after performing in an almost drunken manner, though entertaining the audience none the less.
Unfortunately the sun was not feeling merciful and would not let him go and he rolled over and off of his bed, landing on the floor with a thud. He looked around and realized he hadn't come back to his room last night and thus one of the others must have brought him back after the drunken festivities. Spry as a teen, he was surprisingly hangover-free, though his memories of the event were a little fuzzy.
The others were still not awake, he learned, as he walked into the common car to find an early afternoon breakfast; Luxord and Xigbar were actually still sprawled out in the room. As he passed by them he got distracted from his thoughts of breakfast and got a rather malicious idea, hurrying by quietly towards the girl's car.
Riku opened one eye when he heard Demyx's shrill laugher and the coarse swearing of both Luxord and Xigbar, followed shortly after by what sounded like a stampede down the hallway before the door flew open and the three ran off the train.
Now he knew it was wrong to let Demyx get beaten to a pulp by the two for whatever he'd done to them, but there was a problem…it was early and he had barely gotten any sleep, so by no means was he going to get out of bed for at least another hour. His hour was cut short though when his door opened and in came Axel, laughing his head as he crossed to the bed and flopped down beside it.
"Axel Renée Almanza if you don't get out of here right now I swear I'll—" but Axel ignored his threat and put his hand on the back of his head, pushing his face down into the pillow to effectively silence him, "What happens when you give Demyx lipstick, eyeliner, caramel, and chocolate syrup." There was a muffled answer from Riku but Axel shook his head, "No! Not kinky pole dancing!" Axel declared, getting to his feet and pulling him out of bed, literally dragging him out of the room and to the hall.
Riku was about to turn go into 'homicidal pissy mode' when Axel finally let go and he stood up, but when he saw out the window he completely forgot about the awakening and burst into laughter. Two uniquely, for lack of a better word, decorated circies were chasing a giggly Demyx across the grounds.
"You know…it's going to be hell trying to get them to work together tonight," Riku pointed out. The circies were a relatively forgiving bunch…after a few months.
"Think we should start now?" Axel asked, looking at the one accurate clock on the train, which hung above the entry door to their car and changed with the world. It was already past noon and it would be another 8 hours until the show, but that wasn't a lot when you counted in how much time it typically takes to run three practices, set up the entrance, test tech and instrumental equipment, listen to Vexen gripe in the background, and then finally get themselves ready.
"You wake the others, I'll go save Demyx," Riku said, giving a round about answer of 'yes' to Axel's question.
"Aw, how come you get the fun job?" Axel pouted.
"Because the last time you tried to help Demyx the president's shoopuf got killed," Riku answered shortly.
"It wasn't my fault that big anteater got in my way."
"Three times."
The short reply was enough to convince Axel he had a point and so he gave up, heading down the hall to wake up the others. "Axel," Riku said, stopping him and holding out his empty hand. Without a word Axel gave him back his lighter, grinning a bit before heading off again.
Riku rolled his eyes and put the lighter back into his pocket before setting off to help Demyx while attempting not to laugh at the caramel/lipstick/eyeliner/chocolate-syrup decorated Luxord and Xigbar.
As Roxas drew closer to the circus he realized something shocking: despite the fact that he and his older brother Sora had come an hour prior to house opening, there was already a large crowd of people gathered around the big top entrance and the area on the outskirts of their setup was littered with cars and bikes. There was a much bigger turn out than he'd expected and the after opening crowd hadn't even shown up yet!
"Looks like your friends are very popular," Sora commented as they tried to make their way to the front of the crowd. He was originally going to come at a later time with his friends but reconsidered suggesting it to them, for fear they disapproved of the circus still. Sora was a leader of the followers and kept them happy by sticking to the status quo.
"Ah! There's our little guest of honor," Vexen said, beckoning Roxas to them when he finally made it through the mob of people. Lexaeus was with him by the entrance as well, the two keeping the audience from entering…actually Lexaeus was doing that. His size served as a wonderful intimidation factor.
The people who heard Vexen's comment looked at Roxas oddly, they all knew who he was and was alarmed that he knew them. Roxas didn't care though, he wasn't here to please the towns people, he was here for the circies, "There are so many people here!"
"Incredible for our first actual show here," Lexaeus comment. Like the others, he too had taken a shine to Roxas though not nearly as willing to show it.
"Do you guys need any help out here?" Roxas asked, wondering if he could be of any use.
"Nah, we're fine here. Gorillas are good for keeping guests in line," Vexen said, quickly taking it back though when Lexaeus turned on him with a look to kill. "The others are in the back getting ready, you can head on in if you want," Vexen said, opening one of the doors for him. Everyone outside tried to look in and catch a glimpse of what awaited them, but there was a second set of doors inside that blocked their view.
Roxas went through but when Sora tried to follow Lexaeus stopped him, "Sorry kid. House doesn't open for another hour."
"Roxas!" Sora called after him, sure he would fix this.
But Roxas merely grinned and said, "Sorry Sora, you heard them." He was delighted to be able to pass and his brother wasn't, and when Vexen shut the audience out with the doors he went through the other set and into the big top.
He took notice of another circie when, upon setting foot onto the floor, rose petals materialized and fell around him and he looked up to see Marluxia smiling at him from the skywalk above the lights. Marluxia was a very friendly and very feminine man with feather cut brown hair falling to his narrow shoulders. He was responsible for visual effects and lights, though he was a talented illusionist and occasionally performed, he was happier and more comfortable doing the backstage work. Why he may come off as shy, he was actually quite talkative and impossible to get to shut up once he warmed up to you.
"Careful up there!" Roxas advised, watching him lean over the railing of the skywalk. He panicked when he slid and fell over, falling to the ground. A few feet from the ground he disappeared into rose petals and that was when Roxas reminded himself that he was an illusionist, it was his job to make people think opposite of what is happening, and he looked back up only to see Marluxia sitting on the skywalk with a catty grin.
Roxas applauded him and Marluxia took a bow before returning to work without a word. Roxas bid him good bye and headed for the door hidden behind one set of bleachers, inside was the back room where all the circies waited and hung out while they weren't in the act. The far wall and the right one were all well lit mirror and counter space which was covered in stage make up, body paint, hairspray, and other products used to prepare themselves. Near the door, pressed back against the wall were two large standing closets in which were all of their costumes, accessories, and trinkets used for their decoration. Pushed against to remaining wall were two couches, which obviously had seen better days, but comfy none the less, with their fronts pushed together to form one long wide couch.
Now while Roxas had seen them rehearse he'd never seen them in costume and was shocked by the unique attires. The first he noticed was Demyx, whom was sitting on the countertop right across the room from him, painting his eyes a lively green. His top was skin-tight spandex which was understandable; if he was flying through the air he needed as little resistance as possible without going naked. It was sectioned into four parts by two white lines that crossed over his heart; left arm green, right arm gold, left side gold, right side white and the back was the opposite. He also had shorts on, the left leg green, and the right gold, with green and gold jester like tights reaching right below their end. His costume hurt Roxas' eyes with the many different switches in color.
Fortunately Kairi pulled his eyes away when she saw him and came over, "Roxy, hey do me a favor and tie this please," she said, turning around. Roxas looked at her and found it a little easier to follow: she had on a short, white, strapless dress with many ruffles at it's base and a red and gold corset over top that which laced in the back, with two long black gloves that reached a few inches above her elbows and was embellished with white ruffles at the wrist and end. Roxas tied the ribbon in the back in a bow but assumed he'd done it incorrectly when she sighed.
"You'll have to forgive her Roxy," Roxas looked back and saw Riku come in. Since he was ringmaster Roxas had thought he might dress a little toned down but he was wrong; he too was eccentric in black pants with white pinstripe, a red tuxedo like jacket with tails, open with a black un-tucked button-up shirt underneath. He had his top hat in one hand, with two playing cards, the joker and ace of hearts, tucked into the band around the base. "Kairi is horribly self conscious, though she doesn't need to be, and is under the impression that if it isn't cutting off her oxygen then she's fat," Riku explained, coming over and redoing the corset tighter.
"Tighter," she said shortly, ignoring his comment about her being self conscious.
He shook his head and reached past her to the counter, picking up a red choker with white ruffles along it's base, "You're pregnant," he reminded her, making it clear he wasn't going to let her tie it any tighter. Kairi sighed and pulled up her hair so he could tie on the choker for her, and she didn't make any further argument.
Larxene came running in next, right to the mirror by Demyx and hurrying with her make up. She was decorated in a white, spandex, short dress, whose straps tied around the back of her neck and left a keyhole right above her chest, and green and gold horizontal stripe tights. Her costume was made to compliment Demyx's since they were a duo act.
"You know you wouldn't have to rush if you spent less time in the shower," Demyx commented, but as a result she pushed him over.
"Women," Luxord sighed from where he sat on the back of the couch. His costume went right along with his act and was more reasonable than the others. He was wearing a fitted white shirt with a high collar and zipped up the front. On his right shoulder was a red graffiti heart and on his left side was a black graffiti spade. His pants were many white and red diamonds and there was a black club painted over his right eye.
"Where are Axel and Xigbar?" Roxas asked, noticing that he still hadn't seen two of the circies.
"Well Axel's here, but Xigbar is probably just now getting out of the shower and realizing someone stole his clothes," Axel said as he came in, with an armful of clothes which obviously belonged to Xigbar. He dropped them on the counter before going over to the couch and sliding over the back of it so his feet were still propped up on the back though the rest of him was lying on the space created by the two couches put together, "So nobody be surprised when he comes in here naked."
Roxas came over and leaned the back of the couch, "Now why'd you go and do that?" he asked with a smile.
"Because I could," was his answer. Axel was wearing a black muscle shirt with a semi-high collar, and a red arm band around his upper left arm. His pants were similar to a red and black checkerboard, but from the upper portion of either leg was a white strip of material, hooked to a small metal loop before going around the outer of his leg and hooking to a metal loop on the lower portion of the other leg. He grinned and sat up, grabbing the front of Roxas' shirt and pulling him over the back of the couch to land by him.
"So, how's the line outside?" Larxene asked as she went over the closet and rummaged through a box in the bottom for something.
"What line?" Roxas asked. Everyone looked over at him then, and he smiled and said, "There is no line, just a huge mob of people trying to get in early."
They were relieved to hear this, assuming at first that 'what line?' meant there was nobody there, "Had us worried for a second there," Riku said before taking up a small brush and a capsule of black paint, using it to draw in a little spiral at the end and a little below his left eye.
"Your dad is a real lifesaver," Kairi said what they all were thinking.
"Ready to put on a show?" Roxas asked, sitting up and looking at the rest of them. He was so glad he'd been able to help them, though actually they'd helped him far more than he had.
"Life is a show Roxy," Axel told him with a grin, "We're just giving others a break from theirs."
Finally everything was ready. The bleachers were filling quickly as more people showed up after the big top opened and sat in anticipation of what was waiting for them. More than three-quarters of Twilight Town must have been there, Roxas thought when he came out of the back room to find his brother and his seat as the show was about to start. It didn't take long to find Sora; he was sitting in the ground level box seat right centered by the entrance.
"What's wrong with these seats?" Sora asked as soon as Roxas sat down beside him.
"They're too seat-y," Roxas said, wondering what his brother could find wrong with the best seats in the house.
"That girly man at the entrance said Riku wanted us to sit here, there's got to be a problem with them or something," Sora explained.
Before Roxas could say anything the lights went down and then out completely. The audience quieted and for a moment that's all there was, quiet. Then they heard it: a piano playing slowly from the wall of instruments and filling the space with an unfamiliar melody. Blue lights came up slowly and outlines of people became visible on the floor, one playing the piano and then the drum began beating itself. A spotlight materialized on one of them, Riku whom was sitting on a chair in the center. He grinned and put his hat on, leaning forward to the audience in front of him as if he were going to tell them a story. Then he sang, right in pace with the melody Demyx provided on the piano:
Join us, leave your fields to flower,
Join us, leave your dreams to sour,
Join us, come and waste an hour or two
Do-da-le-do
Journey, journey to a spot ex-
Citing, mystic, and exotic,
Journey, through our anecdotic review
We've got magic to do,
When he said it the other circies, whom had been still up until now came to life in some sort of flourish or unexpected trick, while Riku remained where he was. He tipped his hat to the audience and continued:
Just for you,
We've got miracle plays to play,
We've got parts to perform,
Hearts to warm,
Kings and things to take by storm,
As we go along our way
He held the note as long as Demyx did before standing up and out of the light, and as soon as he did Larxene came running over and jumped over the back of the chair, landing on her toes on the seat, singing in her much higher voice:
Intrigue! Plots to bring disaster.
Axel tumbled in at her feet, adding:
Humor! Handled by a master.
Larxene jumped off the chair and landed straddling his lap, joining him in:
Romance! Sex presented past orally.
Riku came back behind the chair, grinning as if to let the audience know this was meant to be amusing:
De-da-le-de.
Demyx had left the instruments as they contntinued to play the melody on their own and jumped onto Riku's back, taking his hat and putting it on his own head:
Illusion! Fantasy to study.
Xigbar grabbed Demyx and pulled him off, dropping him in the chair as if to put him in his place:
Battles! Barbarous and bloody.
Riku took his hat back and held it out to the audience, welcoming them into their act:
So join us! Sit where everybody can see!
And with that all the circies scattered from the chair and the lights came up to reveal the full of the circus, each circie running off to a different section of bleachers and jumping up at the audience and further enticing them:
We've got magic to do!
Just for you!
We've got miracle plays to play!
We've got hearts to perform!
Hearts to warm!
Kings and things to take by storm,
As we go along our way
After that they ran up into the audience, interacting with greetings of all sorts for a few moments before running back down to the main floor, repeating:
We've got magic to do!
Just for you!
We've got miracle plays to play!
We've got hearts to perform!
Hearts to warm!
Kings and things to take by storm,
As we go along
The music quieted drastically and Riku finished with:
Our way
While the others echoed with:
Magic to do…
Then it got loud again and they all ran back to their section of bleachers, everyone finishing with:
We've got baubles, and fables, to portray,
As we go along
And Riku closed with:
Our way
And the lights faded out.
God the uproar from the audience was indescribable! They'd never seen anything like this before and the sheer boldness and delight they were watching was enough to bring them to their feet with applause. This was what they'd feared for so many years? Shouts and cheers of praise filled the area, overpowering the music.
When the lights came back up the circies were gone save for Riku whom raised his hands to request they settle down, though they were all overjoyed to see their opening had been a success. It took a few minutes but the crowd finally settled, "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and congratulations! It looks like you aren't disappointed that you chose to go against the ministers word," there was much woofs and cheers of agreement and he continued with, "We promise not to let you down, but that's just a sticky disclaimer none of you are interested it. So! Let's start things off right then shall we?" he snapped and there were two screams, immediately followed by two figures swinging through the air. The floor lights faded and a green glow filled the air, revealing Demyx on one of the platforms and Larxene on the other. They both rolled over the safety bar and back to the platform, tempting fate and miming overly dramatic at what the other was doing as Riku gave their introduction:
Demyx and Larxene,
Are a notorious couple of cats,
As knock about clowns,
Quick change comedians,
Tightrope walkers and acrobats
But they are incurably given to rove!
They both dove out into the air, and it looked like suicide until they grabbed onto separate trapeze, swinging forward at the other and their feat drew much response from the audience.
If the area window was found ajar
And the basement looked like a field of war
If a tile or two came loose on the roof,
Which presently ceased to be waterproof
It was Demyx or Larxene,
And most of the time it's left at that.
After that they let go of their bar and swung over to the other's Larxene flying over Demyx, and they both grabbed simultaneously. When his trapeze reached the platform, Demyx let go of the bar, letting momentum take him to the platform, but he did not step off. He put a foot on before letting himself fall backwards just as the trapeze came back down, grabbing onto it and swinging back away from the support beam. Larxene mimicked him though rather than grab her own bar, Demyx pulled himself up and hung upside down as his trapeze swung over to her side and he caught her wrists before swinging away. On their trip back Demyx let go of his bar and Larxene, grabbing onto what had been her bar while she took his and they swung to opposite sides again.
The audience held their breath as they tempted fate so lightly, making it seem so easy despite the obvious danger. They were kept entertained by their tricks for several minutes until they finally stopped, jumping off their trapeze and to the platforms. The audience applauded as they slid down the beams to the ground, coming together in the center and taking their bows.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Demyx and Larxene," Riku said and they took a second set of bows, blowing kisses to the audience before scurrying off behind the bleachers. "Well seems you certainly enjoyed that," Riku said, sitting on the stool they'd used for the opening earlier, "Somebody finish this sentence for me: blank, blank, and bears, oh my…Oh I see. You aren't spirited enough to answer yet," Riku sighed, sounding disappointed. The audience however didn't know he really wanted a reply, after all, they were not use to audience interaction.
"Lions and tigers!" several people shouted.
Riku nodded, "Bingo," was all he said before two huge male white lions came running and roaring through the entrance, and three large white tigers came from behind the instrument wall. They ran up and surrounded the stool he was sitting on, snarling viciously. There were screams from the audience and the large cats dove at knocked him off his seat, and they all lunged at him when he was on the ground. The audience couldn't see with the cats obstructing their view and several cried for calls of help. Both Roxas and Sora got out of their seats and Sora was about to jump in to help but suddenly all the cats backed off and the audience saw Riku was gone, and in his place sat Kairi.
Despite the horrible shock they'd been through, and how some of them still remember who she was, they applauded the trick. Roxas and Sora sat back down and Roxas noticed a few rose petals where Riku had been, letting him know Marluxia had played a hand in his disappearing act. He'd seen Kairi's act before and was more interested in how his brother was reacting. Here was his ex-girlfriend, whom had left him for someone he now knew and seemed ok with; at least he gathered as much when he had to practically pull Sora back when he tried to get up and help Riku.
He really didn't seem to phased by seeing her again, though he really didn't appear to be watching the act. Roxas recognized the absent minded stare, letting him know his brother was off in his own little world. The act ended and Kairi and her cats earned a hearty round of applause from the audience before they left through the main entrance.
As soon as the audience settled down Riku came back to the floor, getting quite a lot of praise for his disappearing act, "Wonderful weren't they? You didn't hear this from me but the lions snore," he said but the two lions bolted back into the circus, snarling at him until he apologized.
As the lions left for a second time and the audience's laughter subsided Riku introduced the next act, "Speaking of snoring let me introduce to you our next act. Presenting to you: your very own, Luxord!" Roxas noticed him clear his throat and put a hand to it as the lights dimmed he was a bit worried but assumed it was nothing as he watched his leave.
When the audience saw one of the local high school teacher come into view as the lights returned to normal there was a mixed reaction of confusion and surprise. Their shock was furthered when he began his act with a bang, drawing out a deck of cards and throwing them to the air as they shuffled themselves, flying with no visible assistance.
While Roxas too was delighted by the act he couldn't help but wonder when Axel was coming on. Almost as if irony was waiting for him to think that, he felt something ping him in the back of the head. He looked back and saw Axel standing in the corner back by the entrance, out of the line of view of the audience and beckoning him over. Roxas got up, grinning at the fact his brother was too distracted by the show to notice him leave. He followed Axel out before asking, "What's up?"
"We've got a problem," Axel said shortly, grabbing his hand and hurrying off around the circus. Roxas followed but was confused, what could have happened to make Axel so panicked. Around the back of the big top was a door leading to the back of the bleachers near the back room where the circies waited between acts.
It was clear that something was wrong when they got into the room, soundproofed of the music outside but quite as well on the inside. Everyone looked up when the door opened and all at once they started talking, trying to explain something Roxas couldn't quite piece together. Axel shut the door quickly to keep their noise in and Xigbar fired a shot into the wall to make them shut up, "Quiet!"
There was a brief silence before Demyx explained their predicament, "Guess who's lost his voice."
Roxas looked at Riku, who was sitting on the couch by Larxene, he looked in a foul mood and nodded to confirm what Demyx had said. "Well you can make it through the rest of the show right?" Roxas asked, not sure just how bad it was.
Riku scowled and opened his mouth to say something but it came out as only air. "Translation: it's lost, not playing hide and seek Roxy," Larxene said and Riku patted her on the head out of gratitude.
"Can't one of you sing instead?" Roxas asked, looking to each of them for an answer to the problem.
Some laughed, others rolled their eyes and shook their heads, Riku just slouched against Larxene. "What you heard in the opening was the best of our singing Roxy, and it sounds crappy if we go solo. Plus up next is supposed to be the big number before intermission," Axel told him.
Roxas voiced the first idea that came to his head, "You could just do the rest of the show without vocals." But that idea was instantly shot down, as they said now that they'd started it they couldn't just stop halfway through the show.
"Guess we'll just have to cut tonight short…" Xigbar said with a sigh. This was a sure sign things were bad if he was throwing in the towel. The others nodded in disappointed agreeance and Riku hung his head, obviously feeling very guilty and Larxene and Demyx comforted him to let him know it wasn't his fault.
"I can sing," Roxas blurted out and every head turned to look at him.
"How well?" Xigbar asked but Kairi pushed him, "Does it matter? We're desperate anyway!"
Roxas almost regretted saying it, stage fright already bubbling in his stomach, but he couldn't let their show fall apart when they'd come so far, "I don't know what I'd sing though…" he said.
Riku got up and jumped over the back of the couch, picking up a stick of eyeliner and going over to one of the mirrors, writing something before moving and turning back to Roxas so he could see: I saw what you'd been writing in that notebook, Demyx can come up with a tune for one real quick and the other instruments will take care of the rest. You did say you sometimes thought about them with music after all.
Roxas was intrigued by the idea but… "I've never…"
When Roxas said that, Riku wrote more and the stepped back to show: Never met a circie before this month but that's turned out well now hasn't it? There was a silence from Roxas, clearly uncertain and Riku wrote one more thing: We trust you Roxy.
Roxas read it and smiled, "Alright, I'll do it," he said, immediately overwhelmed by a wave of thanks and hugs; clearly canceling the show would have devastated the circies far more than imaginable.
Luxord got word from Marluxia to draw his act out with a wave of rosebuds falling from the air, which he quickly incorporated in his act as if it meant nothing at all. Meanwhile Demyx quickly thought up a melody for what Roxas had planned, and the other circies got him ready appearance wise. Just by taking some of the body paint to the clothes he had on Larxene managed to add an all new circie twist to it.
"So what do I do when I get out there?" Roxas asked, nervously looking to the others for advice. This wasn't exactly his usual comfort zone, performing in front of over 1,000 people, most of which knew him.
"Luxord should be finishing his act when you go out. Marluxia let him know something was wrong so he should be able to help the transition. We come in randomly, and will just have to improv with what you say," Demyx explained while painting the hem of his pants, "Just have fun and everything will be fine."
Roxas nodded but was having difficulty calming down. Axel noticed and put his hands on his shoulders, resting his chin in his head, "You'll do great," he assure him. Roxas smiled and nodded, feeling better now.
The circies finished their work and sent him off as Luxord's act came to an end. There was a brief silence before Demyx looked up to Riku sitting on the counter with a grin, "He'll thank us."
"Or he'll hate us," Riku added. It had all been just another act, and they'd all been in on it from the start. This was their way of thanking Roxas, he wanted to be a circie and even if they couldn't grant him that they could at least let him in on the fun.
Outside the crowd was applauding and cheering Luxord as the act came to a close with all of the cards returning to his extended right hand. Sora was over the fact that this was his former teacher and was absolutely captivated by the whole act, getting to his feet to applaud him. It was then that he noticed his brother was missing and grumbled, "Roxas," as he looked around the area for where he could have gotten off to. It was Luxord that told him.
"What say? Up for another familiar face?" Sora looked back just in time to see Roxas coming out as the lights turned a blue hue. Sora wasn't the only one who recognized him and the rest of the audience murmured twice as much as when they'd seen Luxord come out.
Demyx had taken his place at the piano already and before the audience could question his purpose any further he struck up a higher note chord, looking over his shoulder at Roxas to wait for the opportune time to leave the delicate opening. Luxord backed out of the light and Roxas knew this was his time to shine, he couldn't let it pass by:
You're one in a million, Oh
Now, you're one in a million
Oh…
Demyx had a keen ear and knew this was his cue and sped up, an almost techno undertone taking over the piano while a sitar nearby began playing itself. Roxas really could sing and the circies waiting backstage were impressed! They weren't the only ones, the audience, whom seldom heard him speak at all couldn't believe their ears. Roxas fed off their entertained gazes to get rid of his worry and he picked up the tempo to keep with Demyx's melody.
Sometimes love can hit you every day
Sometimes you can fall for everyone you see
But only one can really make me stay
A sign from the sky
Said to me
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Demyx and Larxene rush forward, leaving the instruments to play themselves as the two twirled a circle around him before flipping away to continue about their own contemporary routine with all sorts of twists, tumbles, and tricks, smooth yet swift just like the music. Luxord followed suit, his cards dancing around him for a moment before scattering all over the big top to fly with no visible assistance.
To see the circies right there alongside him performing to what he created was an indescribable sensation and he loosened up greatly, joining in their fun. That's what this was: it wasn't just a matter of helping them, it was fun!
You're one in a million
Once in a lifetime
You made me discover one of the stars above us
You're one in a million
Once in a lifetime
You made me discover one of the stars above us
I've been looking for that special one
And I've been searching for someone to give my love
And when I thought that all the hope was gone
A smile, there you were and I was gone
By now Xigbar, Kairi, and Axel had joined in the act, each incorporating something the audience would notice, though not competing with the other circies already entertaining. This was a display of all they could do and there was no holding back, yet despite their vigor they kept perfectly with the song as it was sung. Axel actually jumped over him, tumbling backwards once he was on the ground so he was right at Roxas' feet before igniting the ground around him momentarily, winking at him and darting away to continue his own act just as the others did. Roxas smiled and the flames vanished. He was shocked when he heard a change in pitch from the piano and when he looked back he was surprised to see Riku coming out, looking much better and obviously sounding much better when he picked up where he left off in a more spoken and quick rendition of it:
In the beginning I was cool and everything was possible
They tried to catch me but it was impossible
No one could hurt me it was my game
Until I met you baby and you were the same
And when you didn't want me I wanted you because
The funny thing about it is I like the show
I like it when its difficult
I like it when its hard
Then you know its worth it
That you found your heart
Roxas realized what they'd done and was ecstatic! And when Riku stopped his quick tempo lyrical and flashed him a smile he knew it was his now and Roxas picked right back up on key, Riku providing backup accents that Roxas couldn't do:
You're one in a million
Once in a lifetime
You made me discover one of the stars above us
You're one in a million
Once in a lifetime
You made me discover one of the stars above us
Then everything slowed and the circies stopped as the song neared it's end and Roxas finished with a short: You're one in a million. It was then that he heard it. The entire song he'd been so engulfed in what he was doing he hadn't heard the audiences cheers. They were cheering for him, no, not only him. They were cheering for him and the circies as well. Roxas saw them hurrying off as the lights dimmed and was considering returning to his seat until Axel ran over to him, grabbed his wrist and pulled him along with them. Even if he wasn't a circie, and even if he never became one, at that moment Roxas truly felt like he belonged.
WHEW! That was a long one! But I can finally go to bed! Yay! Dearest readers and wonderful reviewers, in case you haven't guessed I'm a busy person but, this upcoming week is going to be a complete mess. I have performances every night this week and dress rehearsals before that, then an audition tomorrow afternoon so my free time is going to be absolutely nil until Monday. Today was my last hope of getting anything done and thus this chapter was finished! I do hope you understand and forgive the time I take off, but I will (and already have begun to) ponder the next chapter when I find the time, and seeing as next week is the beginning of Christmas break I should hopefully be able to get something up quickly. I must be off now, as it is late and I'm very tired. Thank you to all who took the time to read and please review! I will be most grateful and I very much need them with the week ahead of me. Until next time I wish you all the best in all the world!
Your loving bohemian, Mad-TopHat-Ter
