Happy Sunday!

Luka was walking home from school. The streets were very busy, but she navigated them easily, weaving between other pedestrians and stopping at crosswalks. And, as Miku watched, a voice began to narrate the scene.

"Luka walked home from school, just like every other day. And just like every other day, no one noticed her. It was as if she wasn't really there at all."

It was true, Miku realized. Not a single pedestrian spared a glance in Luka's direction. Miku couldn't imagine anyone not looking at that beautiful pink hair, or those captivating blue eyes. But no one did. The voice continued to speak.

"There's a reason for this. The life Luka lives isn't really a life at all, you see. She is destined for one thing and one thing only: to go to the Dark Woods Circus. She isn't noticed because nothing else matters in her life besides that end. It's what she was born to do. And it's what you were born to do too, Miku."

The voice narrating the scene sounded far too much like Miku's own.

Miku awoke, whimpering. For a moment, she didn't recognize her surroundings. She looked around the truck, at the fast food bags that littered the floor and the empty driver's seat, and remembered everything.

She had fallen into an exhausted sleep sometime in the afternoon. Now it was night, and she looked around the cab of the truck, expecting to see Lily sleeping somewhere in it. Instead, she saw Lily through the back window, sitting in the truck bed with her back to Miku.

Miku opened the passenger side door, easing herself out of the truck carefully. Her legs still ached from disuse, and probably from the magic that caused flowers to bloom from her skin. She had to cling to the side of the truck as she made her way to the back.

Lily was staring up at the stars, and made no move to greet Miku, or help her as she struggled to pull herself up into the truck bed with her. She seemed determined to just sit silently.

Miku was the one who finally had to break the silence. "… How far did we drive?"

"Far enough that I felt comfortable stopping," Lily retorted. "But … Not far enough for you to get your panties in a bunch."

Miku remained silent at that. She looked up at the sky. When was the last time she had really seen the stars? The time between being rolled out of the freak tent and having her cage covered was too short. She thought they had never seemed so beautiful.

"Miki and I used to stargaze, you know."

Miku looked over. Lily was looking down now, running her hand absently over the blanket she had spread out over the truck bed. "Yeah. We did it all the time, ever since we were little kids. We'd sneak out of our rooms after we were sure our parents were asleep, and spend hours in her backyard. She'd point out all sorts of constellations — I'm pretty sure she made a lot of them up — but I never minded it." Lily sighed. "Sometimes, my dad would come into my room in the middle of the night and find me gone. That meant punishment, of course, but that was okay. I'd have done anything for her, even then. And now she's gone." Lily looked at Miku directly for the first time. "All because she was so interested in you."

Miku felt a clicking in her throat when she swallowed. "What do you know?"

"Not fucking much," Lily grumbled. "Just that she'd been mumbling in her sleep about saving you for about a week … And I wanted to be able to do that for her, at least." She clenched her fists. "I didn't even know if I was going to go through with it … Then I heard that fucking clown talking about her, and I didn't even think. I just did it."

"She was a good person." Miku swiped at her eyes. "She's the only one who ever called me by my name without me asking her to."

"What happened to her?" Lily looked at Miku with hard eyes. "I think I deserve that much, don't you?"

Miku thought Lily deserved so much more, but the information was all she could give. "She brought me food and water every night," Miku explained. "She always did it when I was sleeping. She probably didn't want to talk to me – didn't want to get in trouble."

"But she did," Lily said, sighing.

Miku rubbed at her temple, shuddering as her fingers brushed against the petals there. "Yeah," she said. "I didn't mean for things to end up like this, but she did. She told me about … About the first Miku and Luka. And how Meiko put together the circus, starting with Kaito, moving onto the twins … and finally, how the divas cycled."

Lily huffed. "That's why she died? Just because of that? You could have figured that shit out on your own!"

"Not all of it," Miku said, "And – And there was more. After she told me that, I started thinking … People have been telling me, since I got here, that my name has power. And, considering all that the first Miku could do … I started thinking they might be right."

"And?" Lily's hands were clenched into fists at her sides.

Miku took a deep breath. The feeling of magic was still in her stomach, although it still felt faded and weak. She wondered if it was because she had used so much of it on their escape, or if it was because the circus was a natural help to such things. Still, she had enough to do something simple. She spied a small branch on the ground, near the truck, and called out to it. "Come to me," she whispered. The branch floated and made a wobbly path towards them, eventually landing in Miku's lap.

"Holy shit," Lily said, her voice awed.

"I started practicing after Miki told me that Miku was a mage," Miku explained, "And, eventually … I told Meiko to shut up, and she did. Just like she used to take my voice every night, I did the same to her, for just a second. And … I started talking about Kaito. I said things that I didn't even know, and Miki didn't tell me, but … I think it was her talking to me that unlocked it."

"And Meiko must have known that you had help," Lily said quietly.

Miku nodded gravely. "She must have realized almost immediately.

The trapeze artist squared her shoulders, taking a deep breath. "Tell me what happened." Lily stared at Miku in the eye.

"Do you really want to know?" Miku felt herself whispering. She didn't want to relive this.

Lily clenched her teeth. "I feel like I have to."

Miku sighed. "Meiko … Brought Miki into the tent. She had her in … this spell, I think, where she could only move her eyes and her mouth. I tried to help her, but Meiko had stolen my voice, and by the time I managed to get it back, it was too late." Miku looked down at her lap. "She admitted that she told me about the cycle … And told me to tell you that she loved you. She knew what was going to happen, even then. Teto came in and did the job. It was fast."

She looked up to see how Lily was taking it, but the blonde had turned away from her. "I'm sorry, Lily. If I could have died in her place, I would have." And as she said it, she knew that it was nothing but the truth.

"Yeah, well, wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one gets filled first." Lily swiped at her eyes. When she finally turned to look at Miku, they were full of anger. "We can't change what happened … But we can avenge it." She gestured to the stick in Miku's lap. "That magic you have … If you train it, do you think that it could be any match against Meiko? Do you think you could beat her?"

Miku opened her mouth to respond, but it was another voice that answered. "Silly! Of course she can't."

Mayu walked out from the shadows, holding an axe.

... I think this chapter speaks for itself. Let me know what you think!

- Jillian Maria