Happy update day!
Miku tried to sleep more in the truck, but no dream was as clear as the last. Sometimes she'd catch glimpses of Luka's smiling face, or of their hands entwining together, but the images were so brief that they were almost wishful thinking.
Finally, she was woken out of a dreamless sleep by sudden, blinding light as the truck was opened. Teto's shrill voice cut through the air.
"Okay guys, let's go! We only have a few hours until showtime!"
Miku covered her face with her hands, her throat growing tight when she felt a new flower on the palm of her hand. She didn't want to open her eyes to see it.
There was a commotion around her as the clowns picked up and moved the props and tents around her, chattering amongst themselves. Her cage was moved onto the ground again, and she finally looked around.
They were in the middle of a field, not unlike the one that she had followed the music to on that fateful night. All around her, people were working on getting things set up – Mayu was helping Cul pitch her tent around her makeshift stage, Mew was calmly carrying her table and crystal ball to her tent, and in the distance, Lily had her arms full with Miki's banner as she made her way to the contortionist's tent. The clowns set up games and other booths, and as the field gave way to forest, Miku saw Gakupo and Gumi stringing paper lanterns up among the trees.
Despite all of these perfectly innocuous actions, Miku felt uneasy. The large tents went up with ease, even though the tops of them were impossible to reach. Tent poles and paper lanterns seemed to appear on their own, always when Miku's eyes were elsewhere. Mostly, everyone seemed to be moving faster than possible, just enough to be noticeable.
In the center of it all stood Meiko, watching calmly. Her lips were moving, and although Miku didn't know what she was saying, she could guess why the circus was being set up so quickly.
She smiled when she caught Miku looking. Miku shuddered and looked away.
When the tattered brown tent was set up, Miku saw that all three peepholes were uncovered. She looked down at the flowers blooming on her skin and her stomach lurched.
By the time the sun began to set, everything was ready. The clowns wheeled the cages into the brown tent quickly. Meiko and Mayu followed.
"Ready for your debut?" Meiko looked down at Miku and laughed. "Don't worry, little flower. You won't say anything embarrassing to our guests, because you won't speak until the main act starts."
Miku's throat went numb, and she didn't even try to make a sound. Instead, she glared at Meiko, suddenly feeling angrier than she had ever felt in her life. It was so foreign, it almost felt like it was coming from someone else.
If Meiko saw it, she didn't take it seriously. She laughed and swept from the tent, Mayu at her side. A few moments later, that haunting melody started up.
Miku huddled in the corner of her cage. Soon the people would come, guided by the lanterns. She didn't want to see them when they came to stare at her. What she really wanted to see was Luka again. After everything she had experienced, she had to believe that they meant something. She closed her eyes.
It wasn't Luka she saw when she dozed, though. It was Meiko. She was looking at Miku and laughing, but the sound wasn't entirely cruel. "You're coming along well, little flower!" She opened her hand, and a daisy bloomed, floating above her palm.
Miku huffed. She held open her own hand, but there was only a small burst of leaves. She had been hoping for a red rose, one to match Meiko's beauty. "I'm never going to match up to you, big sis!"
Meiko opened her mouth and screeched.
But it wasn't Meiko screeching. It was Kaito, in the cage next to her. Miku jerked awake in time to hear the screams from the other side of the tent.
A curious eye peered into her peep hole. Miku turned away, wrapping her arms around her legs. She didn't see any pity in that eye.
"Oh, gross. Check this out!" One eye gave way to another, and Miku closed hers. Part of her was afraid to go back to sleep – a story was forming, between all of the dreams, and not a very pretty one. But she longed for Luka's blue eyes, her gentle voice. She wanted to see her again.
Meiko was still screeching. But the sound, atonal and hideous even in her beautiful voice, slowly began to take the form of words.
"How dare you? How dare you?" She was in a fury, hurling items across the room without touching them. Miku ducked to avoid a heavy lamp.
And there was Luka, finally, but it was not a happy vision. The beautiful woman was sobbing, on her knees. Blood trickled down from a gash in her forehead. "Please, understand! We never wished to deceive you! My darling, my red rose …"
"I'm nothing to you!" Meiko screeched. "You gave up your right to call me 'darling' the very second you laid hands on her! I renounce you both, as lover and as sister!"
Luka stumbled to her feet and started forward. She didn't get far before a heavy vase shattered on the top of her head. She went down, pink hair staining red as her beautiful blue eyes fluttered shut, her face going slack.
"Luka!" Miku started for her, but before she could, there was a tremendous pain in her temple.
She jerked awake, breath whooshing out of her in a silent gasp. Her hand went to her aching temple, but instead of finding blood there, there were fresh petals. Another flower had bloomed while she slept.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, her chest convulsing in silent sobs. She had hoped for sweet dreams to take away the pain of those leering eyes, but they had only presented her with more nightmares. And they were more than just her imagination, she was sure of it.
She was still crying when Ruko and Ritsu walked into the tent, their faces covered in greasepaint. The bright smiles painted across their lips could not hide their scowls as they lifted Miku's cage into a wheeled cart.
"Oh, quit your blubbering," Ruko huffed.
"I'll give you something to cry about," Ritsu added in a low voice.
Miku wiped at her eyes with the palms of her hands, doing her best to glare at the two. After she was wheeled out of the tent's entrance, a large cover was thrown over her cage, enveloping her in darkness.
She curled her legs to her chest, trying not to tremble. The disdain in Ritsu and Ruko's voices had disgusted her, and she didn't want to show them any more fear if she could help it.
But when her cage finally stopped rolling, it wasn't the clowns who whisked the cover off. It was Mayu.
"Ready for your big show, Diva?" She giggled, waving her stuffed rabbit against the bars of the cage. "Mimi wishes you good luck!"
Miku looked silently at her, trying to look angry instead of afraid. She felt both in equal measures, at this point, but being angry felt less helpless.
Meiko stood behind Mayu, putting a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "She'll be able to answer soon enough. In the meantime, we'd better give her the lyrics she'll be singing." The ringmaster lifted her hand and waved it. Pain exploded in Miku's head for the second time that evening. She curled in a heap, clutching at her temples.
When the pain finally abated, the lyrics were there. She recognized them as the same lyrics that the diva before her sang. It seemed as though she couldn't think of anything else, no matter how hard she tried.
She heard the voices and footsteps above her head. Looking up, she realized that she was underneath the seats in the main tent. It wasn't long before the clowns began to introduce themselves, beginning the act.
Miku looked around. All around her, the members of the circus were waiting for their acts to begin. Meiko smirked at her.
"You will sing," she commanded. Miku knew that she would have no choice to obey. She was powerless to fight against that powerful voice that she wielded, the one that echoed strangely.
But in case she needed more convincing, Mayu pulled a knife from her skirt and grinned. "Or else," she giggled.
The two of them moved away. Miku clapped her hands over her ears, trying to block out those maddening lyrics. It didn't make any difference, not when they were inside of her head.
She noticed the magician's assistant – Gumi – near her cage. She was talking to Gakupo about their act, but she kept glancing at Miku out of the corner of her eye. She shifted from foot to foot, constantly tugging on her white gloves and adjusting her tights.
Miku opened her mouth to call out to her. "Time," she said.
Gakupo, who had been explaining something in his deep voice, immediately fell silent. Gumi's head whipped around, and both of them stared at Miku.
"No." That wasn't what she had wanted to say at all. She was trying to speak, but the lyrics echoed louder and louder in her head, making it impossible to say anything else. "No, it's – it's dead and gone. That's not – I mean, show must go on, it's time –" She gave up, only looking at the two and hoping they would see the pleading in her eyes.
Gakupo squeezed Gumi's shoulder, and she took a few steps backward, leaning into him. The two of them walked away.
Miku wrapped her arms around herself. If Meiko had done something similar to Haku and Neru, or even Mew, she was beginning to understand why their speech could be so disjointed.
One by one, the acts filtered out to the center stage. Eventually, it was just her and Meiko left underneath the seats. Meiko turned and gave Miku a truly wicked smile. Then, when the time was right, she snapped her fingers, and she was gone.
She heard the audience gasp, and knew that Meiko had reappeared on stage. Hadn't she been so captivated by the same thing, what felt like a lifetime ago?
As Meiko's song came to an end, Teto came and wheeled Miku's cage into the center of the ring. For a moment, she was blinded by the stage lights, all trained on her. But soon, she could make out the outline of countless heads, all turned in her direction, waiting.
She opened her mouth. And she sang.
Relief filled her as she vocalized the words. Releasing them to the air stopped the din in her head, quieted the words one by one. By the time the song was over, she could have sobbed with gratefulness. At least for the moment, her mind was her own again.
There was thunderous applause, but Miku didn't care about it. She could take no pride in a performance like this.
Meiko bid the audience goodnight, and there was darkness as every stage light went out. Miku had a moment of disorientation, almost sea-sickness, and then she could see again. But they weren't the bright lights of the stage. She was back in the main tent.
Meiko stood over her, a gloating smile on her lips. "You performed well, little flower."
Miku wrapped her arms around herself, bowing her head. But, in the back of her mind, her own words from her dream echoed. I'm never going to match up to you, big sis.
Hello, everyone! I was excited to give you guys this chapter, since it has a lot of information. And if it isn't obvious by now (although I thought it was obvious by the fifth chapter, at least ...), this story features negitoro. Sorry if that disappoints anyone? I made it a point to state in the first chapter that this wasn't going to follow the PV religiously, so I never intended to deceive anyone there.
Also, if anyone doesn't know, Miku is singing the song Circus Monster. That's where the lyrics come from, so they belong to CircusP, not me.
Anyways, I look forward to continuing this story! I'll see you all on Sunday, and can't wait to hear from you all.
- Jillian Maria