Update time!

Miku sat in the center of her cage, listening to the calliope music.

All around her, she could hear the sounds of stalls being closed up, and of customers muttering to each other. It wouldn't be long before the main act. She figured she'd still be a part of it – Meiko would want to humiliate her.

Sure enough, Ruko and Ritsu came to collect her. They were particularly rough as the loaded her onto the cart.

"I don't want to hear any complaining," snapped Ruko as they threw the covering over her cage.

"Yeah, don't give us an excuse," Ritsu growled. "Consider yourself lucky that watching you wither is the best revenge for Teto."

Miku stayed silent. She knew better than to wonder if the other two even cared about why Teto had been killed. The clowns were all under Meiko's control, blindly loyal fools. Their time guarding her cage proved that.

When the covering was pulled off, Miku was surprised to see Gumi holding it, instead of Mayu. When was the last time she had even seen the girl? She and Gakupo hardly ever stepped within eyesight of the cage, much less right next to it.

Gumi smiled at Miku, holding up the cover with a florish. "Well! That was good practice." Her smile was decidedly unnerving. This was not the same girl who had shied away when Miku had cried out for help.

"You'll do wonderful, Gumi." Gakupo put his hand on his assistant's shoulder. "And with the trapeze artist out of the way, we'll have even more time to dazzle the crowd."

The change in the two was startling. Miku tried to understand it. "From what I remember, your act wasn't all that dazzling." She was hoping for some sort of reaction – something normal – but Gakupo only laughed.

"Ah, but that was before." He spread his arms wide, palms facing Miku. "Now, everything has changed."

Miku stared at the two for a long moment. There was something in their eyes, a strange light that hadn't been there before. It was familiar, however, and it didn't take Miku long to realize what had happened. "Meiko did it, didn't she? She turned you like all of the others."

"We're going to live forever," Gumi said dreamily, "We're going to have forever to figure out the perfect act."

Miku felt suddenly, bitterly angry. "You won't get a perfect act," she snapped, "You should know better. Meiko's never going to let you do anything but play second fiddle to her."

Some anger may have flashed across Gakupo's features, but Gumi just kept smiling that same, unsettling smile. "Well, of course we'll never be as good as her. Just look at the spell she's managed to set up with you and all the others! It's a perfect cycle. It must have taken her decades to perfect it."

Gakupo echoed Gumi's smile, as if picking up on her train of thought. "Oh, yes. And do you know the really fantastic thing? She uses that nickname everyone calls you as the catalyst. From the moment she called you 'little flower,' your fate was sealed. Just as the one before you was doomed when she was called a 'beautiful blossom.' To pack such a spell into such a small incantation … Is truly remarkable."

Gumi smiled with clear admiration. "We'll never be able to match up to her, and we're going to have an eternity to practice."

Behind her, Miku heard a low chuckle. Spinning around, she saw Meiko watching the scene with amusement.

"Even with an eternity to practice," she breathed. "So tell me, little flower, what ever made you think that you had a chance?"

Miku pressed her lips together. She remembered screaming as Lily attacked Teto. She imagined accomplishing so much with just a single word. The slithering was low in her stomach, almost comforting.

Miku woke up the next day to her cage being moved into the sunlight. Everything was being packed up for moving, but something wasn't right. One of the cages next to her was empty. The twins were nowhere to be found.

She turned to Kaito, as if he could give her an answer. He scratched behind his ear with the back of a dirty hand.

"Hello, Miku."

Miku spun around, surprised to see Mew standing by her cage. "Mew," she addressed the other. If the fortune teller was in her right mind enough to call her by her name, the least she could do was return the favor.

"Your aura has changed … Much has been lost, but … Much has been gained, as well. Is that right? Or has it not happened yet …" She began to drift. Miku hurried to respond.

"It's happened. Miki and Lily are gone, but …" Miku shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. "But I know that I have the power to beat the ringmaster, now. Or, at least, I think I do. I just don't know how to use it."

Mew sighed. "You must hurry," she said. "The red string is almost at its end. And you know what happens when you and your soulmate meet, don't you?"

When Miku closed her eyes, she saw bright blue ones. But they didn't belong to either Luka. They belonged to Haruko, the diva before her. They looked imploringly at her from a mass of flowers. And her face was the last thing Haruko had ever seen.

"Yes," Miku said, trying not to scratch at the flowers on her own skin.

Mew nodded. "I wish you luck, Miku. This cycle … It disrupts the natural order of things. Perhaps, I could see a linear path again, if … if …"

"I'll try to help you," Miku whispered. "You've helped me, after all." She was grateful, but couldn't help shuddering at the thought at all those who had already helped her, and paid the price.

Mew suddenly gave a small, strangely lovely smile. "Ah … I wish I could see. A future with you succeeding … Is not something I can imagine. Because my powers come from someone who can't imagine it, you see?"

"The ringmaster," Miku said.

"Yes." Mew sighed. "But I wonder … If that's really the cause. Or maybe, is such a chapter impossible for me to see … Because none of us will be left to see it?" Mew looked at Miku with wide eyes, her voice nearly a whisper. "Destroying the ringmaster … Destroys her magic, as well. And we all live in its shadow. Can we survive in the sunlight?"

Miku looked down at the flowers on her skin. She thought of all the people living in the circus, good and bad. And she knew that she wouldn't change her decision, either way. No matter what happens … I have to protect Luka. Even if the sun was to vanish, and every star was to fall from the sky.

Maybe Mew's powers allowed her to see this, or maybe she just read it on Miku's face, because she nodded as if she understood. "Good luck, Miku." Mew turned away just as the remaining clowns began loading up the truck.

Miku ran a hand through her hair, ignoring it when several strands of teal fell away from her head at the gesture. She had more important things on her mind.

Luka was close. She knew that.

Miku thought of the cycle of divas, one right after the other. Girls whose souls were all entwined prisoners of their own destiny. Was it even necessary for them to have a life before the circus? Miku didn't think so.

She could have just as easily been a golem, a doll made out of mud, but that wouldn't have been as fun. Meiko wanted to crush her soul. She wanted to crush Miku's soul, the first Miku's and Luka's, again and again.

Miku didn't need a long, drawn out plan to break Meiko's soul. She just wanted her gone. She wanted Luka safe. Putting her head in her arms, she tried to put the pieces together to do just that.

"You're here, you're here!"

Rin's shrill voice rang out through the crowd. Most of the passerby seemed intent on ignoring the two strange twins, but she had caught the eye of the only one that mattered.

Luka shrugged her backpack up her shoulders and walked towards the two twins, as if in a trance. She didn't notice how they stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder. She didn't pay any mind to the way their linked hands never moved.

"Tonight, we'll be showing the sad fate that some of this world carry," Rin intoned.

Len picked up on her train of thought. He didn't follow the script as well as his sister, but he got his point across. "Drop by and see her," he mumbled. "Drop by and see the girl who waits in the dark, dark woods …"

"The Dark Woods Circus!" On cue, Rin thrust a flier at Luka with the one real hand she had. The pink haired girl looked down at it with a curious expression.

"A circus in the woods?" She looked up at the twins, curious. "Is it fun?"

Rin grinned widely. "It's so fun! Come see for yourself!"

Luka returned the blonde's smile kindly. "Maybe I will." And, as she spoke, Miku could hear Rin, clumsily singing Meiko's song from the main tent in a high pitched voice.

"Deep in the woods …"

Miku blinked, expecting to be blinded by sunlight as the truck was opened. But she had somehow managed to sleep through travel and unloading, and now she was back in the freak tent. Her dream, clearly, had needed to be seen.

Rin and Len were climbing back into their cage with awkward, gangly movements. Ruko held the door open as Ritsu held their fake clothing in a bundle, complete with a set of fake hands locked together.

Rin grinned at Miku when she saw that the other was awake. "Jealous? We got to see someone veeeery important to you!" She laughed. "Of course, you already know that. It's how these things always go!"

"Blue eyes …" Len mumbled, looking up at Miku. His own eyes seemed more alert than they ever did before. "It is her turn now."

Miku looked Len dead in the face. "Len, do you hate me?"

Rin scoffed, butting in. "Of course he hates you. Miss Ringmaster hates you, and that girl we gave the flier to. Isn't that right, Len?"

"Right …" Len frowned deeply, as if in thought, but he absently reached across their stitched torso to take Rin's hand. Rin squeezed it and smiled.

"It doesn't matter. You're almost done, anyways. Then you'll just be beast food! I hope the next one is less of a nuisance than you."

Miku swallowed hard and turned away. She thought of everything she had tried to plan on the drive over. It all seemed very useless when she realized she'd have to finalize those plans before tonight.

So! The stakes have been raised! We only have three chapters left for everything to resolve itself ... What do you guys think is going to happen? I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

- Jillian Maria