The latest chapter! Yay!
Luka sat in her living room, still in her school uniform as she leaned over her homework. The clock ticked loudly, but that was the only noise in the small house. Other than the dog sleeping near her, she was alone.
But that changed when, suddenly, Miku wasn't floating above her anymore. She was sitting next to her, and instead of sitting at a kotatsu, they were sitting at a wooden table in a small kitchen. Luka's features matured, turning her into the mage from long ago, not the unsuspecting school girl who bore her name.
"Are you sure, darling?" Luka reached across the table, entwining her fingers with Miku's own. Her warm hands were a comfort, even knowing that this was a dream.
"I'm sure," Miku heard herself respond. "I don't want to hide anymore. I love you, Luka."
"And I you." Luka pressed Miku's knuckles to her lips. "But Meiko … She will not be pleased. Her temper …"
"Will remain in check, I'm sure. Mostly." Miku felt a smile stretch across her lips, words pouring from them against her will. "After all, she's my sister. Temper or not, she'd never do anything to hurt me."
"Little flower! Wake up, little sister, wake up!"
Meiko's tone was cheerful, almost that of a giddy child. Miku felt dread eating away at her stomach before she even opened her eyes.
The ringmaster was standing before her, a wide grin on her face. Miku opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Meiko had never taken her to the main tent for her act, and her spell had never worn off.
Miku glared at her silently. She wanted to tell her that she wasn't afraid, even like this. Meiko could kill her, and she wouldn't care. With the flowers blooming all over her skin, it was only a matter of time, anyways. What mattered was the fact that she had disrupted the ringmaster's horrid cycle. That would make any torture inflicted on her worth it.
If Meiko got even an inkling of that, it didn't bother her. She was in high spirits, laughing at Miku's expression. "Such sisterly love! I'm glad you're awake, little flower. I have a surprise for you." She clapped her hands. "Mayu! Bring her in!"
Mayu came in, shoving a wide-eyed Miki in front of her.
No! Miku threw herself against the cage bars when she remembered that she couldn't scream. Miki's only crime had been to show her kindness, and she didn't deserve whatever fate Meiko should have been inflicting on Miku.
"Well, that got your attention, didn't it?" Meiko laughed. "You're fond of this one, aren't you? She is quite pretty, although I don't think she's your type." She took a strand of Miki's long red hair between her fingers.
Miki didn't move from where Mayu had deposited her. Her body was unnaturally, impossibly still, frozen in space. The only thing that moved were her eyes, frantic and full of fright.
Meiko leaned forward until her face was mere inches from Miki's. "Foolish girl," she said with mock pity. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out? Speak now, Miki."
At the command of that echoing tone, Miki's lips were unlocked from the paralysis still forced on the rest of her body. "Please, don't hurt me," she whimpered.
Meiko only laughed. "Hurt you?" She turned to Miku. "Now, why would she think I'd do something like that?"
Miku's grip tightened around the bars. She tried willing her magic into use, but without her voice, it was no use. She had no idea if she was powerful enough to stop Meiko, but she had to try.
Meiko continued on, as if unaware of Miku's struggles. "After all, have I given anyone in this circus cause to fear me? Mayu, do you feel threatened by me?"
"Of course not, Miss Meiko!" Mayu giggled.
Meiko turned to the cages with a wicked grin. "Rin, Len, what about you?"
Rin copied her grin. "Never, Miss Meiko!"
"Never," Len echoed, although he seemed to be musing on the word more than answering the ringmaster's question.
Meiko turned. "And Kaito, do you have anything to add?"
Kaito grunted.
"I didn't think so," Meiko laughed. "And, of course, we all know little flower's opinion."
She's my sister … She'd never do anything to hurt me. Miku felt tears threaten the backs of her eyes. Had the former owner of her name believed those words? Well, Miku knew all too well where that had gotten her.
Meiko, meanwhile, finally turned back to Miki. "So why would you believe that I am going to hurt you?" The ringmaster tapped her chin. "Why, unless you've done something to deserve it?"
Miki shuddered. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, that sounds very genuine, after you betrayed me." Meiko hissed the word. "How many times have you heard me say it? All of the power in this circus belongs to me. To have that taken from me – for even a millisecond – is a crime. In my day, such crimes were not given a fair trial. They were given an execution."
"No," Miki whispered.
"Oh, but your generation, they always want to plead their case. They want to be tried by a jury of their peers. Well, certainly Mayu and Rin would be happy to stand in as your peers. Go ahead, Miki. Plead your case."
"I – I …" Miki licked her lips. "She asked me about the divas before her. Their dreams. I thought she deserved to know."
"She deserved to know." Meiko hummed. "Tell me, Miki, just what did she do to deserve it? Has she done some great, charitable act that I don't know about? Broken a new record? Done something extraordinary?"
Miki squeezed her eyes shut.
"And, of course, you never thought about what I deserved. Not even after I took you in all those years ago, when you were just a scraggly, underfed thing with bruises all over. I took in you and your little blonde friend, and never once asked for anything in return."
Miki winced at the reminder of Lily, a tear slipping down her still cheek.
"But, no," Meiko sighed. "It's all about what little flower deserves, is that right?"
Miki opened her teary eyes. She gazed at Miku, and there was a moment of perfect connection, perfect clarity. Fear, guilt, and forgiveness travelled in that gaze. Miki's eyes softened, turned from fear to resignation.
Then, Miki turned to the ringmaster. "I … I may not know what Miku deserves," she said finally, "But I know … She doesn't deserve to be kept in that cage. No one does."
A bit of rage might have come across at the sound of Miku's name, but it was quickly swallowed by contempt. "I think we're ready to convict. Does the jury have their verdict?"
"Guilty!" Rin cheered.
"Guilty," Mayu said, a small smile on her lips as she pulled a long knife from her skirts. "Shall I carry out the sentence?"
Miki avoided looking at that knife, staring directly at Miku instead. "If you see Lily after all of this, tell her I love her … Tell her I'm sorry."
Miku shook her head wildly. She threw herself against the bars, struggling against them. She had never felt more helpless in her life – death would be better than watching this.
Meiko took no notice of this exchange. Instead, she caressed Mayu's cheek gently. "Oh, my dear … That is too cruel a punishment."
Miku paused, and Miki's eyes widened. For a moment, Miku saw hope bloom on the contortionist's features.
The ringmaster laughed. "Teto! It's time!"
The red-haired clown appeared at the tent flap, apparently having waited there. She held a butcher knife in one hand, not quite as fancy as Mayu's, but surely as sharp. She moved forward quickly, crossing the tent at a supernatural speed.
In the extremity of her terror, Miku unlocked more magic than she had ever dreamed was possible. The words ripped through her stomach like fire, carrying all of her will. "No! Stop!"
But the clown girl had already reached her target. Although the knife flew from her hand at Miku's words, hitting the far end of the tent, it was covered in blood.
The same blood that gushed from Miki's throat.
The contortionist went to her knees with a gurgling cough, clutching at the wound with desperate hands. Her eyes went wide and glassy before she fell, face first, into the dirt. Her body jerked a few times before becoming still, lying prone in a spreading pool of its own blood.
"No, no, no!" Miku threw herself against the bars, again and again. And as she sobbed and carried on, she heard the laughing voice of the ringmaster.
"See? Teto gets the job done quickly, my dear. Much kinder than you would have been. We will save you for someone special … Like little flower, if she continues to misbehave."
So ... I don't have much to say in this author note. I'm pretty sure this scene speaks for itself! So I'm going to let it. I can't wait to hear what you have to think about it!
- Jillian Maria