I am aware that I haven't updated in a while .
Sorry!!

"Okay, now swing your body with the trapeze." Natalia instructed. Luke did what she said, throwing his body with the swing of the trapeze. "Now throw your lower body over the bar." Luke gained more momentum for a moment before pulling his legs up and bringing them back over the bar, "Now bring up one leg..." He put one leg over the bar, bending his knee over it, then put his other over too; he let his lower body hang, and held out his hands,

"I got it this time! Jump, Natalia!" it'd been two days since Peony promised to keep Luke's identity a secret. He'd been practicing on the trapeze almost nonstop for the past two days, almost skipping meals. He'd learned how to jump from bar to bar cleanly (he was now working on doing a flip when he jumped) and he'd almost perfected swinging around the bar to support himself over it instead of hanging under it. Now he was working on quickly getting to hanging upside down and catching someone and tossing them to the next trapeze.

"Are you sure?" Natalia asked,

"Positive. I've really got it this time." Luke assured. Natalia patted her hands into a small bowl of ground chalk before taking a step back and getting ready. When Luke's swing came close to the platform again, she bounded off and leapt into the air like a ballerina. Her hands grabbed his wrists, and Luke clamped his hands around her wrists as well; he tightened his legs on the bar when the added weight hit him. He faltered slightly, his legs almost coming off the bar,

"Are you alright?" Natalia asked,

"Y-yeah, yeah, I got it." he assured.

"Alright then." Natalia swung her legs to get the momentum of their swing up, "Let go...now!" Luke released her wrists a second too late, and Natalia's fly through the air wasn't as graceful as it usually was; however, she caught the next bar none the less.

"How was that?" Luke asked, feeling the blood rushing to his head,

"That was good." Natalia smiled, jumping to the next bar, and then to the opposite platform, "You're getting a lot better, New Guy." Luke grinned as he reached up for the bar. After grabbing onto it, he straightened his legs and pulled them from over the bar, hanging straight down again. He worked up another swing and jumped to the platform. He stumbled on the landing, but caught himself on the big-top support pole that the ladders were attached to.

"Natalia, New Guy!" Anise's voice called, "Time for lunch! Come down!"

"New Guy?" Natalia asked,

"Be there in a minute." Luke responded. He climbed down from the trapeze, watching the bars get further away as he climbed down. After getting to the ground he stretched his arms over his head.

"I was wondering who the new addition to this circus was..." a man's voice said.

"Huh?" he looked to the entrance to the tent to see a man standing there. He had a triangular beard, large bushy eyebrows and brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail. "Uh...I-I'm sorry but you can't be...in here." Luke stated semi-awkwardly. He'd never told anybody to get out of anywhere before. "You have to leave."

"I was just scoping out the competition." he responded, "My name is Van."

"Van...?" Luke mumbled, "I'm Luke."

"How long have you been here?" Van asked, walking to the middle of the ring where Luke was standing,

"Just a few weeks."

"You look like you've got a lot of potential, you know."

"R-really?" the redhead asked hopefully, "Yeah...that's what the Ringmaster told m--"

"New Guy! What the hell are you doing?!" Luke was abruptly thrown back, and Van jumped away, avoiding a sword and a fist.

"I see you two still resent me, Erika, Asch."

"Get out." Asch ordered flatly, sword raised.

"Asch! Erika!" the rest of the troupe ran into the tent, "Van!?" weapons were suddenly out, the whole troupe standing between Luke and Van.

"What are you doing here, Van?" Anise demanded, "Spying?!"

"Just seeing your new addition." he responded.

"Van...You're not welcome here." Tear said with a bit of difficulty, "You're part of the God's Circus. Leave."

"Th-the God's Circus?!" Luke yelped, jumping up, "Y-You didn't say you were from the God's Circus!" Van merely smirked,

"Wipe that smirk off your face." Asch ordered.

"Get out Van, or we'll make you leave." Erika added. Van chuckled in response.

"I can see that I'm not wanted." he stated, then turned and left.

"Asch, Erika." Jade said, "I know you two are angry, but you have to calm down."

"I am calm." Asch muttered before storming out of the tent.

"I'll...I'll go with him." Natalia said before jogging after him.

"New Guy!" Anise exclaimed, "What were you doing talking to Van like that?"

"I-I didn't know!" he argued, "I thought he was somebody from town!"

"What?! That's Van Grants! He's the main actor in the God's Circus!" she said.

"I didn't know!" Luke was yelling, "I didn't know who he was! I didn't know what he wanted! I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to talk to him, but how was I supposed to know?!"

"Easy, New Guy." Guy sighed. He shook his head, "Yeah, you didn't know...but you do now. Don't talk to him anymore, alright?"

"Fine...!" he said, almost exasperated.

Practice was uneasy for the rest of the day, Asch's already short temper was practically gone, and Erika seemed to be easily angered as well.

"Why're they still so mad?" Luke mumbled to Tear as practice was drawing to a close.

"Asch was once part of Van's circus," Tear explained, "But he left after only being with that circus for a month, and came here. He's never explained why he left, but he obviously doesn't like Van now."

"What about Erika, then?"

"The biggest thing is that the God's Circus' financer, a man named Mohs, absolutely hates her." she said, "Peony has said that Mohs once tried to kill her."

"What?!" Tear shrugged,

"I don't know if that's true, but..."

"Why?"

"Nobody knows."

"Hm..."

Jade cooked dinner that night and Guy and Anise did their best to try and lighten the gloomy mood over the troupe by cracking a few jokes about how Jade might have been drugging their food with experimental medicines. These jokes cheered Erika up a bit, but Asch was determined to scowl angrily at everyone and mutter under his breath. As everyone finished dinner Peony stood.

"As I've come to understand it, Van came to our circus today."

"He was trying to figure out our new act." Anise told him. Peony gathered a small stack of paper and threw it at Luke.

"New Guy, look at these. These are the God Circus members." Luke looked down at the pile of photos. The top was a picture of a blonde woman. 'Legretta. Sharpshooter Extraordinaire'. The next was a pink haired girl who appeared to be about Anise's age, 'Arietta. The Liger Tamer'. The next a white haired man with small glasses; Luke recognized him as the man that had been attempting to spy on them back near Barluu, 'Dist. Creator of Mechanical Wonders.' The next one looked somewhat like Ion, though a gold and red masked covered the boys face. 'Sync. The Daredevil'. Next was a large man with purple hair, 'Largo. The Strong man.' The last one was Van, 'Van. The Cosmic Swordsman'. Luke decided to help lighten the mood by making a comment criticizing the circus.

"Cosmic Swordsman? Really?" he asked.

"I think they were running out of interesting names." Anise giggled.

Luke grumbled under his breath, wondering if he would be able to survive that long..........

DU DU DUNNN The God's Circus is now known!!!