It's Sunday!
This was different from the others.
Miku wasn't a part of the dream, this time. Instead, she floated high above the scene, looking down at the school building as teens filed inside of it. But, of course, her attention was focused on the girl who sat on the steps in front of the building.
Bobby pins were sticking out of her mouth as she pulled her long pink hair into a messy bun. She was younger than Luka, her face rounder and her frame smaller, but when she looked up to the sun she had the same beautiful blue eyes as the mage … and as the diva who had first looked at her from behind a wall of petals.
A girl on her way into the building paused and laughed. "Hurry up, Luka, or you'll be late!"
Luka only shook her head and hummed. She didn't seem to notice her shadow, growing longer and longer as she sat. She didn't even notice as the shadow obscured everything, growing dark until there was nothing left to see.
Miku woke up to a hand slipping through the bars of her cage.
Miku scrambled into a sitting position, but it wasn't anyone to be afraid of. It was Miki, leaving food and water. The redhead looked at her with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to wake you. It's –"
"No, please," Miku said. "I'm glad to see you again." It had been a little over a week since she had first been wheeled into the main tent, and since then was forced to perform every night. She sometimes saw Miki hiding in the shadows during Lily's act, but she was always too far away to call out to.
By the way Miki shuffled from foot to foot, it was clear that the feeling was not mutual. Miku wasn't used to seeing members of the circus so nervous – not even Haku and Neru, who seemed to take pity on her more than the others.
"You're different from the others here, aren't you?" Miku asked.
Miki stepped backwards, wrapping her arms around herself. "I should go," she said.
"No, wait, please!" Miku leaned against the bars of the cage. "You don't have to answer that. Just … Just don't go, yet."
Miki paused, trembling. "I can't do anything for you," she finally sighed.
"You can talk to me," she whispered. "Like I'm a person. No one else here really does that. Please."
Miki looked around, finally moving back to the cage. She knelt down in the dirt, eye-level with Miku in her cage. "Fine," she said, "But keep your voice down. You almost woke up the twins when you shouted."
Miku glanced over to their cage. She hadn't even thought about the others around her, sleeping. She had been so focused on Miki. "Thank you. Thank you."
Miki looked down and said nothing.
Now that she had her, Miku didn't know what to talk about. She was afraid that the wrong question would send the contortionist running again. Finally, she spoke. "The woman who was here before me … The last diva … What was her name?"
Miki didn't meet her eyes. "Haruko."
Miku bit the inside of her cheek. "Did she dream?" She wrapped her hands around the bars, hoping this question didn't scare Miki off. "Did she dream of a girl with her name and face, like I do? Did she dream of Meiko?"
Miki frowned. "I'm sure she dreamed," Miki admitted. "They all dream. I don't like to ask anymore, I don't …" She trailed off, bowing her head. Miku saw the guilt in Miki's nerves and said the only thing she could think of saying.
"I forgive you," Miku said.
Miki's head whipped up, eyes wide. Miku swore that there was some relief in her features. She pressed onward, not wanting to lose what momentum she had. "But, please, tell me what you know. It's my only hope, can't you see?"
Miki sighed, running a hand through her long hair. "It's … It's been going on for longer than I've been here, and I've been travelling with the circus since I was twelve."
"What's been going on?" Miku's heart was pulsing in her throat. She felt afraid to even breathe, lest she break the connection between them.
Miki lowered her eyes again. "The divas. They get replaced every few months. The names and ages change, some parts of their appearances. But some things stay the same. Someone with pink hair and blue eyes is always followed by –"
"Teal hair and green eyes," Miku finished for her. She felt shaky and lightheaded, like she was going to be sick.
"I'm sorry," Miki whispered.
Miku thought hard about how to proceed. "You said – the names change. Is there something about my name?"
Miki hesitated, than nodded. "I don't think it means anything, you know – it's probably just coincidence. But …"
"But?" Miku prompted her as she trailed off.
Miki sighed. "You asked about dreams. You dreamed about them, then? Luka, Meiko, and a girl named Miku?"
It hadn't occurred to Miku that the girl in her dreams was separate from her. "Yes."
Miki plucked at a loose thread on her sweater. "Those names don't change. No matter what the divas are named … They always dream of Luka, Meiko, and Miku. You have the same name as the original Miku, where all of this started."
Miku shook. "What happened to her?"
Miki took a deep breath. "… Meiko did." She looked up, searching Miku's face. "Understand, I was just a child. I don't know the whole story, but … I know that a long, long time ago, Meiko wasn't like she is now. She was a powerful mage, but she wasn't the only one. Luka was, too, and Miku. They were all connected, somehow."
"Meiko and I … I mean, that Miku … The two of them were sisters," Miku said.
Miki's eyes widened. "That explains … Miku and Meiko must have both been in love with Luka. I think Luka might have started out dating Meiko, but …"
"She loved me … Miku," Miku finished, feeling sick. "In the end, it was them."
"The two of them tried to come clean to Meiko about it," Miki continued. "But she was furious. She … She killed both of them. I think it was very violent."
Miku remembered her very first dream – the nightmare where Luka's face was destroyed. "It was," she whispered.
"That should have been the end, but it wasn't." Miki drew her knees to her chest, looking around fearfully. "Meiko started the circus. At first, she only had one act." She looked to the cage next to Miku, the one that held Kaito.
"Him?" Miku asked.
"That's what Lily thinks," Miki explained. "She's thought a lot about how the circus started … Just not about why. That's what keeps me up at night." Miki shivered, breaking for a moment. "Anyways, I think Meiko might have known him when she was still … Normal. I don't know the full story, though. It's not like I'm going to get it out of him."
In his sleep, Kaito growled. Miku suddenly felt tears prickling the back of her eyes. She thought Miku – Meiko's sister, the girl she dreamed of – must have known him, as well. "I think you're right," she whispered.
"The twins came after … I don't know how long. I don't know what they were like before, but I think they must have been just a couple of curious kids, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they're like this."
Miku looked at the two, sleeping sitting up, leaning their heads against each other. Their hands were clasped together in their shared lap. Despite everything, Miku felt pity for them.
"After she had them, she started her plan. The cycle of the divas started. She kept travelling, kidnapping people when she saw fit. She … warped them, changed them. Lily thinks she must have been doing this for centuries." Miki shuddered. "Mayu is the latest addition. She was added about a year after I came here. I remember her coming into my tent – she was so sweet, with that little stuffed rabbit clutched to her chest. But, the things I've seen her do …"
Miku tried getting her back on topic. "You say they've been doing this for centuries," she said. "But Meiko, Kaito, the twins … They don't look old."
"They don't age," Miki said. "Not the ones Meiko's changed. I think it's a side-effect of her magic. That and the way their thoughts … warp. I mean, you've heard them talk. They're all either sadistic or just … vague. Or both."
Miku looked at the girl. She said she had joined the circus when she was twelve, but she looked like she was at least eighteen. "You age."
"So does Lily. And Cul. Gakupo and Gumi, too." Miki shuffled awkwardly. "Meiko didn't have to use any magic on us … She didn't steal us away. We came with the circus willingly."
Miku felt her jaw drop. "Why would you?"
Miki sighed. "Well, I don't know about Cul, honestly. I don't talk to her that much. Gakupo and Gumi … You saw their magic act, right? You know that what they do is all … sleight of hand, stuff like that. Not real magic."
"Not like Meiko," agreed Miku.
"Right. Well, they want to. I think they're hoping that, if they stay loyal to the circus, she'll give it to them. Even if it means … being like all the others here."
Miku stayed silent a long moment, trying to digest this. Finally, she spoke quietly. "What about you?"
Miki sighed. "Lily and I grew up together … Our family lives weren't good, and we always relied on each other. When the circus came to town, she was hooked. She loved the adventure of it all. She decided to stow away on one of the trucks, and I … Didn't want her to leave me." She looked down at her knees. "I still don't. That's why, even after everything … I'm still here."
"You love her," Miku said.
"She's everything," Miki said in a quiet voice. "She's all I have."
Miku felt like she understood, but how could she? All she had were a few dreams of a long-dead mage … And a more recent dream that didn't quite fit.
"I had a strange dream before you came," Miku said, startling Miki out of her thoughts. "It was of a girl … I think she must be my age, maybe a year or two older. She's in high school, I could tell by her uniform. She had pink hair and … beautiful blue eyes."
Miki looked up at her, her eyes wide. "What was her name? Did anyone say?"
Miku remembered immediately. "Luka."
It was hard to tell in the darkness of the tent, but Miku thought that Miki's face got a little bit paler. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know. But I think I know why I dreamt about her. She's not like the Luka that I dreamt about before, is she? She's … She's alive right now."
Miki nodded, face solemn. "Oh, yes. She's somewhere in the world … And we're getting closer every day."
"The red string shortens," muttered Miku. "The last diva … Haruko … She must have dreamed of me, too. Is that right?" Miki only nodded, silently. Miku thought of that poor, unsuspecting girl coming to this circus, watching the acts. She imagined seeing her in the crowd as she sang. She imagined her sneaking into the tattered brown tent after all the lights had gone off …
She thought, I can't let that happen. And a voice deep in the back of her head whispered, Not even if the sun was to vanish, and every star was to fall from the sky.
Kaito shifted and uttered a snorting growl. Both girls jumped, turning to him. His eyes rolled beneath his pale, bluish eyelids, but in the end he turned on his other side, snoring lightly.
Miki had grasped the bars of the cage in shock when he had made noise. Now she released them, getting hastily to her feet. "I can't stay," she said, her voice full of fear. "It's – I shouldn't have –"
"It's okay," Miku assured her. "Thank you, Miki." Her heart went out to the redhead. If they had met in other conditions, Miku thought they would have been fast friends.
Miki brushed at her knees, trying to remove any traces of dirt. At the entrance to the tent, she paused and looked over her shoulder. "Good luck … Miku." Then she was gone.
Miku sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. As she did so, she noticed something off. She held out her arm and stared at it in the dark for a long time, trying to convince herself of what she was seeing.
Among the yellow petals, a white flower had bloomed on her skin as she was talking to Miki. By the time she woke up the next morning, it was joined by others, dotting her skin with two colors instead of one.
So, here we are! This is a big chapter, in terms of information. And we've reached about the halfway point in the story! I hope you're enjoying it so far. I can't wait to hear what you think of this latest update!
- Jillian Maria