xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus Guildhall, 12:35 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pietro, moving a table and a set of stools overhead with his bare strength, had made a setup in the new guildhall as Bernard and Camilla looked at the table he had prepared.
"This should be good." Pietro said as he picked up another stool and placed it on the opposite side of the table with two seats on the other side that Camilla and Bernard sat in.
"Yeah, this should be fine. Thanks Pietro." Camilla said as Pietro waved his hand and walked away back to the bar, leaving the pair as Camilla placed some papers on the table. "This is exciting..." She said as she turned towards Bernard.
"I guess..." Bernard said in a bothered tone.
"Something wrong?" Camilla said with concern.
"I'm just nervous about finding if any of these newbies got talent... We don't just run a wizarding guild." Bernard said as he took out his logbook of ideas.
"You can probably come up with something." Camilla said with a reassuring smile.
"...Where's my father?" Bernard said as he looked around at the new guildhall, looking for his guild master father. "Old bowling pin knows I would smash a pot over his head if I saw him after the stunt he pulled." He thought with a twitch in his eye.
"I don't know, he disappeared like usual somewhere in the back of the guild with his magic. Probably hiding in his office as always." Camilla said as Bernard scratched his head.
"And he probably used his magic to hide the doorway." Bernard said as he started to shake his head.
"That's normal for him, don't be so upset." Camilla said as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Like we told you earlier, this is a group effort to maintain this new guildhall so just calm down." She said as she locked eyes with Bernard as he sighed.
"I'm trying, I get it already..." Bernard said with discontent in his tone.
"Who knows, maybe we can find you a personal assistant out of these new members." Camilla said with a reassuring tone.
"Not entirely sure I'm interested in one but now that we're getting some offers for new members, I gotta figure out what to do with them." Bernard thought with concerns as he looked up as he put his logbook down on the table. "Come in!" He shouted as someone entered the guild.
She was a beautiful dark skinned woman with long white hair that had some on top standing upward in a bunny ear-like fashion and had a voluptuous form that would give Camilla a run for her money. Dressed in a black open slit gown with a metal breastplate, a long black scarf around her neck, a black tiara-like headband, long white sleeved gloves and a pair of long metal bracers on her legs with no shoes on, she caught the attention of most of the male members of the guild.
"Hello." The beautiful woman said as she approached and sat at the table, opposite of Bernard and Camilla.
"Hi, I'm Bernard and this is Camilla." Bernard said, introducing himself and his girlfriend.
"Who are you?" Camilla asked as the woman spoke.
"Well to be honest, my name is a bit hard to pronounce but people used to refer to me as "Swan" back home so I'd prefer to be called that." The woman named "Swan" said as she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Swan." Camilla said as she raised her hand and the two girls shook hands.
"Few minor questions, if you don't mind; where'd you come from and how'd you find out about Psycho Circus?" Bernard asked as Swan nodded.
"I'm actually an immigrant, I came recently from the Kingdom of Stella from the east after I decided to pursue wizard work outside of the government there. I used to work as a member of an elite force that protected the people alongside two friends of mine but we all decided to part ways and I wanted to get a fresh start in wizarding work." Swan said, describing her story.
"Wow, that's actually pretty cool. I've always wanted to go to Stella, I hear the night sky is great there from all the crystals sticking up from the ground." Camilla said with interest.
"Yes, "Stellanium crystals" is what they're called and Stellanium was actually used to help me make my bracers." Swan said as she stood up and lifted her legs to show her armor. "My bracers can charge up magical energy and I can fire raw power from them when I kick." She said as she swung her legs around.
"Sounds interesting... Just going to jump the gun here, you're aware Psycho Circus isn't just a wizards guild right? It's also a performing guild." Bernard asked as he caught Swans attention.
"Ah! Yes, that's actually part of the reason I came here. Back home in Stella, I practiced a form of martial arts where I applied dancing to combat and I was hoping my beautiful movements can dazzle a crowd or two." Swan said as she spun in place before striking a pose as Bernard and Camilla looked at eachother.
"Another dancer." Camilla said as she looked at Bernard.
"Her makes three counting Marlene and Gigantias routine in the show." Bernard thought as he scratched his chin. "Question?" He stated bluntly as Swan looked at him. "How do you feel about being in a dance troupe?" Bernard asked.
"Oh? That'd be interesting." Swan said with interest as Camilla and Bernard smiled at eachother before looking over to where Marlene and Gigantia were.
"Hey! Marlene, Gigantia. Come over here." Camilla said, catching the girls attention as they stood up from their individual tables and walked over to the trio.
"Something wrong?" Marlene asked as her and Gigantia stood side by side.
"No, nothing wrong. I just wanted to introduce you to our newest member; Swan." Bernard said with a smile as Swans face brightened.
"Yes!" Swan said happily in response.
"Gigantia, Marlene, Swan is also an experienced dancer like you both and together, the three of you are gonna be a new Psycho Circus dance troupe." Bernard said as he introduced everyone to eachother. "Just as soon as I painstakingly develop a three girl dance routine..." He thought with secret annoyance.
"Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you!" Marlene said as she shook hands with Swan.
"You have a beautiful headpiece on your head." Gigantia said as she looked at Swans tiara.
"I love your headband!" Swan said in response as she noticed Gigantias jewelry.
"Thank you so much!" Gigantia said in response.
"Looks like they're all getting along." Bernard said as Camilla nodded happily.
"Oh! I almost forgot! Since this a guild of performers, I brought this along as a gift." Swan said as she turned back to Camilla and Bernard. "Requip!" She exclaimed as her hand begun to glow.
Extending out her hand, a magic circle appeared as a large round object came out of the circle. Situated on the ground in front of a table, a large round ball-like object with a metallic color and a pair of angry looking yellow eyes with red dot pupils appeared as the members of the guild looked at it.
"A... Ball...?" Camilla said as she, Bernard and Marlenes eyes widened in surprise.
"My friend back home I used to work with gave me this as a parting gift when I left Stella. He didn't feel like he needed it anymore because he retired from active duty." Swan said as Bernard stood up and walked around the table as he felt the material of the ball.
"Is this some kind of metal? It's really soft somehow though..." Bernard said as he continued to examine the ball.
"It's also made from Stellanium like my bracers. It has the ability to float when you sit on it and with the right amount of practice, you can fly at great speeds on it." Swan described as Bernard looked at Camilla as the two of them smirked at eachother.
"Yo Anatoli! We got something for you!" Bernard exclaimed as he caught the shirtless monkey-like wizards attention.
"What- hello!?" Anatoli said as he turned around until he noticed the large ball with eyes on it. "A new ball!" He screamed as he jumped over the trio of girls as he quickly sat on the ball like he used to do with his old one.
"A gift from our newest member." Camilla said with a smirk as Anatoli, shifting around on the large soft metal ball locked eyes with Swan as his eyes widened.
"Hellooo... The names Anatoli. What's your name, sweet-thing?" Anatoli said as he grabbed Swans hands and held them in his palms in a flirtatious manner.
"Uhhh...?" Swan mumbled to the strange chimp-like wizard with embarrassment.
"This ball is a present from you? I'll treasure it at all hours of the- blagh!" Anatoli said in a suave manner until he suddenly felt choked by the feeling of someone pulling on his neck bandanna.
"Okay!" Camilla said as she pulled on Anatoli to keep him from embarrassing himself. "Excuse him, you pretty much just made his day but ignore his quirkiness." She said with an embarrassed expression as she let go.
"Guh! Hey!" Anatoli said in a complaining fashion as everyone started to chuckle around him.
"Just go enjoy your new ball dude." Bernard said as he looked at his friend.
"With pleasure!" Anatoli said with a smirk as the new soft metal ball floated beneath him. "Oh! It's an automatic one too!" He said happily as he floated away.
"Swan, you go mingle with your new guildmates. We got more work to do. And welcome aboard." Camilla said as Swan nodded and walked away, talking with Marlene and Gigantia. "Off to a good start, right?" She said as she looked at Bernard as they sat back down at the table.
"Yeah, that one was actually an easy one..." Bernard said with a shrug.
"See, it's not "difficult" all the time. Hehe." Camilla said with a giggle as she put her hand on top of Bernards, causing him to blush.
"Oh knock it off." Bernard said as he removed her hand. "Actually... Wait a minute." He said as he suddenly came to a realization.
"Something wrong?" Camilla asked.
"I just realized something. Swan said she was from Stella right?" Bernard said with a questioning tone.
"Yeah, what about it?" Camilla replied.
"Wasn't there some issue in Stella awhile ago? Before the Alvarez war?" Bernard said as Camilla shrugged her shoulders. "Some guy in the government stole a staff or something and ran off to Stella and tried to start a war between Stella and Fiore?" He continued.
"I don't know, I haven't heard anything about that." Camilla said, unsure.
"Hmmm... She said she was a government worker for Stella originally... That meant she was on the enemy side if a war did break out..." Bernard thought as he begun to grow concerned. "Ehh forget it, I'll ask her about it all later." He said as he begun to think before stopping and getting back to the matter at hand. "Let's see who's- guh?!" Bernard said until he was suddenly caught off guard by the loud sound of a guitar being played.
"Yeeaahhhh!" The voice of a loud screaming man from outside the guildhall roared as the shouting man walked inside, the majority of the guild turned their heads towards the door with their ears covered.
Oddly dressed in just a pair of blue pants, grey boots and holding a red guitar with an axe handle base, a skinny man had appeared that was covered in white paint over his skin and black mascara on his face that made him appear like a heavy metal rocker. A large mane of dark blue hair that stretched to the floor and with a wide grin on his face, he wildly strummed his guitar with a pick as he walked up to the table that Bernard and Camilla sat at.
"Yeeeahhh!" The skinny painted man screamed as he flipped around his guitar and grabbed the other end, slamming the axe-like end of his guitar into the table and startling the Psycho Circus couple.
"What the- hey?!" Camilla complained as she and Bernard jumped backwards from their seats.
"Making an entrance is the best way to start an interview! First impressions are everything!" The skinny man exclaimed as he pulled his guitar out of the table.
"Are you crazy?! I'll never be able to bust that out!" Bernard shouted in annoyance as he looked at the mark left in the table as he fiddled with it.
"You're more concerned about that instead of nearly getting an axe to face?!" Camilla said as she looked at her boyfriend.
"S-sorry! Forgot... Look, just put the guitar down and have a seat!" Bernard said before turning attention to the long haired guitarist.
"Don't mind if I do." The guitarist said as he sat down with his guitar still in his hands.
"...Really hope he doesn't start playing again..." Bernard thought as his eyes twitched upon looking at the guitarist still holding his guitar.
"What's your name and why do want to join Psycho Circus?" Camilla asked.
"The name's Vidaldus. Vidaldus Taka, the "Lord of Roooocccckkk!" The man named Vidaldus said as he screamed once more as his voice reverberated throughout the guildhall, causing several people to clutch their ears once again.
"N-nice to meet you... Vidaldus? Was it?" Camilla said as she and Bernard put their hands over their ears to stop the ringing noise attacking their eardrums.
"And I thought Tavios screams were bad..." Bernard thought as he picked at his ear. "So, how'd you find out about our guild?" He asked as Vidaldus casually strummed chords on his guitar.
"Looking for a new line of work that would fit my mold." Vidaldus said as he looked at the pair.
"What was your old line of work?" Camilla asked.
"Assassinations." Vidaldus said plainly as Camillas eyes widened.
"Blagh! Cguh!" Bernard coughed in response.
'"Assassinations?" Like... Of people?" Camilla asked in a concerned tone.
"Yup." Vidaldus said bluntly.
"...Elaborate, please?" Bernard asked with a worried expression.
"Years ago, me and some friends of mine were a part of a group of professional assassins called "Trinity Raven." Top tier work for the dark guilds until we all decided to go our separate ways. Broke up and become "solo artists."' Vidaldus said as he continued to strum on his guitar.
"...Well this interview is going to very bad places..." Camilla thought as she bit her lips and forced a smile on her face.
"Our leader in the group stayed in the assassins business while the other guy got involved in slave trade. Got a big old ship for carrying girls across the ocean to high bidders." Vidaldus continued as Bernards eyes widened at the description of the last person.
"...Slave ship?... Wait... He's not referring to the guy with the owl head and jetpack is he?!" Bernard thought as his face begun to nervously sweat.
"Hey?" Camilla said as she bumped her elbow into Bernards side to catch his attention. "Everything okay?" She whispered.
"Not really..." Bernard said in a worried tone. "If I let this guy in the guild and he finds out I'm responsible for putting a friend of his behind bars, I'm dead meat..." He thought as he shivered with anxiety. "Question?" Bernard asked as he caught Vidaldus' attention.
"Wazzup?" Vidaldus responded.
"Was the guy with the slave ship named... "Fukuro?"' Bernard asked nervously.
"Yeah. Got locked up, heard he got beat by some guy with a beanie on his head." Vidaldus said as his eyes scanned upward and noticed Bernards beanie. "Hey..." He said as he noticed something that was peculiar to him.
Noticing where he was looking, Bernard quickly pulled his beanie off his head and placed it behind him in an effort to hide any sign of correlation between himself and Fukuro, the jetpacked owl man.
"You're the guy who locked Fukuro behind bars?!" Vidaldus said as he stood up from his stool, prompting Bernard and Camilla to stand up as Camilla begun to glow, worrying a fight was about to break out.
"Oh no! This is bad!" Camilla said as she got in front of Bernard to protect him.
"Looks like I found the right place!" Vidaldus said as he grinned madly as he lifted his guitar high in the air.
"Crap! Crap! Crap! What's he going to do?!" Bernard thought nervously as Camilla readied herself.
Expecting him to attack, Camilla and Bernard were caught off guard by the sight of Vidaldus putting his guitar down on the table in a calm manner and sat back down in his seat. A magic circle appearing underneath him, the paint and outlandish headbanger outfit he was sporting was gone as he was now dressed in the same boots and pants but now also wearing a long white robe over his upper body.
"Excuse me, may I join this guild?" Vidaldus said, now in a disturbingly calmer tone than before, confusing Bernard and Camilla as they both looked at eachother, bewildered.
"Uhhhh..." Camilla mumbled.
"What's going on?" Bernard said confused.
"The interview? I came here to join the guild?" Vidaldus said calmly.
'"He's like a completely different person now!"' Bernard and Camilla thought simultaneously in shock.
"You... You're not here to kill me for locking up your friend from that group you were in, aren't you?" Bernard asked in surprise.
"Of course not!" Vidaldus exclaimed. "My old allies in Trinity Raven stayed in the criminal underworld but I have a bigger dream than that! I want to be a star!" He said as he stood up and picked up his guitar.
'"Huh?"' Bernard and Camilla mumbled in confusion once more.
"After Fukuro was arrested, I thought about looking for the guy who beat him but come to find out, he was a part of a wizards guild for entertainers. I lost all drive for anything like "revenge" as soon as I learned that same man could help make me a music legend! I must join this guild to reach legendary heights as a musician!" Vidaldus explained as he strummed his guitar some more.
"So... You want to join specifically to be in the show?" Camilla asked as Vidaldus nodded. "Bernard?" She said as she looked at her boyfriend behind her.
"...He's not here to kill me... He wants to be a part of the show..." Bernard thought as he motioned for everyone to sit down. "Well... I can obviously tell what you can do." He said as he looked at Vidaldus.
"I prefer heavy metal but I'm also skilled with classical and folk guitar music." Vidaldus said casually.
"Versatile... That's good to know..." Bernard said as he acknowledged Vidaldus' talent.
"Hey." Camilla said as she motioned for Bernard to turn around and talk to her private. "This guy used to kill people for a living... You sure you want him in the guild?" She whispered her concerns.
"...Well... Chester tried to kill me and he's still around. We both hate eachothers guts but nothing bad has happened lately..." Bernard said.
"...True..." Camilla whispered as the pair turned around to look back at Vidaldus.
"Am I allowed in?" Vidaldus said as Camilla looked at Bernard as he rubbed his chin.
"...There should be some members of the acrobats and clowns who can provide back-up instrumentals. This guy could handle the sheet music while I could write lyrics..." Bernard thought as he took a deep breath. "I'm not much of a gambling man but to be honest, a musician could liven things up around here so screw it, welcome aboard Vidaldus." He said as he outstretched his hand for a handshake.
"I won't let you down! It's time to-" Vidaldus said as he stood up before a magic circle appeared before his feet and his rocker attire had returned. "Rooooccckkkk!" He screamed loudly as the reverberating noise broke a few of the glasses behind the bar as Bernard and Camilla looked backwards.
"...First mess of the new guildhall..." Camilla said with a wry expression.
"Don't remind me..." Bernard said as he shifted his head downward as Vidaldus walked away to congregate with his new guildmates.
"Well... That was an odd hire." Camilla said as she and her boyfriend looked at eachother.
"No kidding... We got lucky he's not here to place an axe between my eyes." Bernard said.
"So now we got a new dancer and a musician in the guild. One is an immigrant who used to work in a far off country that could have been an enemy of ours and the other is an ex-assassin who used to be affiliated with someone you beat." Camilla said as she listed off the new members.
"...Remember how I promised not to let "convicts" into the guild? Yeah, close enough..." Bernard said while shaking his head.
"Well... They don't seem to be bad people. They look willing to work." Camilla said as she looked over at Swan talking to Marlene and Gigantia and Vidaldus chatting with Anatoli, Nole and Andy.
"I guess we gotta look at the positives... Let's just hope that was the height of our "new weirdo" quota." Bernard said as he looked towards the entryway. "Next person can come in!" He exclaimed.
Upon saying that, Bernard, Camilla and the rest of guild suddenly felt the ground shake in intervals, as if someone was stepping hard enough to move the earth itself. Looking forward, Bernard and Camilla noticed the sight an incredibly odd man enter the guild.
He was tall and fat, practically obese in size with pale blue skin and an incredibly large head on his massive frame with long messy black hair. Dressed oddly in a pair of black boots, black kneepads, a black pair of underwear-like trunks, a pair of brown belts in an X-shape over his naked belly and a small blue and yellow cape hung over his shoulders. As he walked through the guildhall, the other members took notice of his large size as each footstep shook the guild slightly as he approached the table with Bernard and Camilla sitting at it with him lowering himself down onto the stool, the force of which caused Bernard and Camilla to jump slightly from their seats as they looked up at him.
"...He-hello?" Bernard said nervously as the fat man sat in his seat.
"How... Are you?" Camilla asked.
"...H-h-h-hi." The large man said in an even more nervous sounding tone than Bernard was using prior, sweating droplets falling off his head in large piles.
'"...The hell's wrong with this guy?"' Bernard and Camilla thought simultaneously with raised eyebrows.
"M-m-m-my na-na-name is-is-is-is..." The large man said as shivered nervously in his stool, unable to speak without stuttering.
"Calm down, you can take your time to speak." Camilla said in a reassuring tone.
"See what you're doing Kain?" Said an unfamiliar child-like voice as Bernard and Camilla looked around for the source of it. "They think you look like a dumb-dumb." The voice continued as Bernard and Camilla pointed their heads upwards to the top of the big mans head, noticing a small figure sitting on top of his the large mans head.
Sitting cross legged on the big man named Kains head was a small boy with red and white clown make up on. With a massive golden-brown hat, a green scarf, blue and black shirt and pants with pointed toed golden-brown shoes, he smiled as he held a small white stitch doll in his hands that had a strand of long black hair sticking out the part where the head was.
"I-I-I know already, Abel! I've never been to a job interview!" Kain said nervously as he looked upward towards the small boy named Abel.
"Don't back-sass!" Abel said as he grabbed the arm of the doll and forced the doll to smack itself in the face. As the doll smacked itself in the face, Kain suddenly lifted his own hand and smacked himself in the cheek as Bernard and Camillas eyes widened in surprise.
'"...Today just got weirder..."' Bernard and Camilla thought simultaneously with bewilderment.
Last time I had any help with this ending narration job, I had an intern who went out to get coffee for me and then came back with cold coffee. I said I wanted "ICED" coffee! Not "COLD AS PISS" and then I fired him... Don't know why I brought this up, just making small talk. With the new guild up and running, it's time for new members to arrive as Bernard and Camilla are in charge of interviewing the new potential recruits. From the Kingdom of Stella, a beautiful woman named Swan brings her dance skills to the fold and formerly of the criminal underworld of assassination, Vidaldus Taka has brought his musical talents to the Psycho Circus and while there is some issues with these new members backgrounds, they were welcomed into the guild with open arms... But what of this fat guy? Kain and his small cohort, Abel? What are their chances of joining the guild? It doesn't look like the new arrivals have slowed down just yet so find out more next time on Menagerie!
Authors Note: (Been awhile but this is a cutdown chapter. The original idea for this chapter would have been so excruciatingly long, it probably would have been too hard to read :T)
