Here we go!
Miku stared at the entrance of the tent.
Most of the circus members were hidden in the shadows outside the tent – watching, listening, waiting. Kaito, Rin and Len sat quietly, knowing what was to come. Yet, Miku couldn't find it in herself to care about any of them. All that mattered was the person who would walk into the tent.
Can we really make a difference? She silently pressed her palms against her stomach, longing for an answer. Can you at least tell me how all this works?
And she did get an answer, in a stronger voice than the original Miku had ever used before. Her stomach coiled in preparation. Similar vessels house similar souls. If a spell is done right, they can be entwined in the same fate. I wish I had time to explain it better than that.
Miku nodded. She didn't understand the explanation, but she understood why it was so short. After all, she could hear the unsteady footsteps approaching the tent.
The flap opened, and the girl walked inside.
The girl who entered had her brown hoodie pulled over her head, covering her hair and mostly obscuring her features. Still, as she rushed to Miku's cage with a low gasp, Miku could see who was beneath it. How could she not recognize the face? It was a face that haunted her dreams.
She began to cry, shaking. "No," she whispered. Then she said it louder. "No! No!" She couldn't think of anything else to say, now that the moment was finally here. Flowers covered every inch of her skin and she could feel them burrowing into her, deeper, leeching the life from her. She tried to scramble away from the bars, tripping over her legs. She landed in a heap in the center of her cage. This was it. It was time.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. The last thing she saw was the girl's face before she closed her eyes and went still.
Meiko's voice echoed through the tent, magic seeping into the air. "Beautiful blossom," she crooned, releasing the spell … And it hung there, in the air. It didn't reach the girl in the hoodie. Meiko gasped, a sound of shock and rage mingled.
Miku opened her eyes.
The hood had fallen from the girl's head as she turned to face Meiko, her expression blank and emotionless as a doll's. The hair that covered that head was not pink, it was brown.
This is it. Miku began to laugh.
Meiko's eyes darted to her, full of rage. "You –"
"What?" Miku pulled herself into a sitting position. Every part of her body ached, but it was more than the effects of Meiko's magic on her. It was her magic, Miku's magic, preparing itself. "It's not as fun when it's you, is it, big sis?"
"You wouldn't dare …" Meiko's face was pale, shocked. Miku had never seen such fear on the ringmaster's face, and she thought she had never seen anything sweeter.
"Don't worry, I'll be more merciful than you. I'll make it quick … red rose!" The final words tore themselves from her in a copper scream, ripping up her throat like a snake that's finally leapt from its nest to strike. It burned all the way up, igniting the magic left in the air from Meiko's spell and channeling it all into the blank-faced brunette.
Red, yellow, and white blooms sprouted from the brown-haired figure in the hoodie all at once. She crumpled to the ground without a word of protest – which was understandable, since she didn't really have a voice of her own. Miku didn't need her too, had no desire to make a real person suffer. All that mattered was that this blank slate had a similar vessel to Meiko.
Similar vessels, after all, had similar souls. Souls that could be entwined.
Flowers began to bloom on Meiko's skin.
Meiko shrieked, a horrible sound of anguish and anger. She was stronger than the shell in the hoodie, and the flowers on her bloomed slower. But they were much faster than the one's on Miku's own skin. Within a few minutes, her skin would be covered.
Mayu burst through the tent flap. "Miss Ringmaster!" She gasped when she saw Meiko's state. "What do we do?"
But Meiko didn't have eyes for her faithful body-guard. Instead, she shouted as flowers bloomed in a line across her forehead. "Cul! Come quickly, I don't have much time."
Cul stepped into the tent, her face set. "I'm here."
"Miss Ringmaster!" Mayu tugged on Meiko's sleeve. "Please, let me help!"
Meiko turned to Mayu for a moment, anger playing across her features. "Quiet, Mayu." Mayu silenced at once, looking bewildered. Meiko turned back to Cul. "Do you remember what I said must happen, if I were to ever die?"
"Yes … mother." Cul took Meiko's hands in her own. "I will avenge you."
Meiko grinned in spite of the yellow flower that sprouted on her cheek. "Good, daughter. I trust you'll continue this … And find a way for me to come back." She turned and grinned triumphantly at Miku. "You think this is the end, little flower? You little fool."
Cul started forward. "I'll see that you burn …" Her face twisted in rage – and then fell slack, all at once. Her mouth dropped open, a single line of blood falling down her chin. Meiko stared in horror as her daughter collapsed forward.
A familiar knife was sticking out of her back. It was the same knife that had been embedded in Miku's leg.
Miku looked up to Mayu. The girl was radiant, triumphant. Her voice was stolen, but she turned to Meiko with words on her soundless lips. Me! It's me you want!
Meiko screamed in rage, and Mayu's body was tossed like a ragdoll. It hit the tent pole with a sickening snap before falling motionless to the ground.
The ringmaster drew herself up on unsteady legs. "Alright. Alright, then. This is where it ends? I'll kill you, you little bitch." Meiko started forward, but her centuries-old body was withering. She fell to her knees but continued forward, crawling towards Miku, determined to end it.
Miku found that she didn't care if she succeeded. She'd die if it meant Meiko could never hurt anyone else again.
"Die …" But there was no power behind her words. Her entire face was obscured in flowers. She slowed to a halt before Miku's cage, no more than a pile of withered, brown petals.
Rin burst into sobs. And, outside of the tent, someone screamed.
It all happened very fast after that. The brown tent was the oldest, and without magic to hold it up, it practically disintegrated around her, tent poles falling with a clatter. Miku looked around the rest of the circus in wonder.
Old stalls fell, decomposing. Tents tore themselves to shreds. The ominous circus music started up with a single discordant jangle before falling silent again.
And, all around her, Meiko's magic began to disappear.
Kaito gave a long howl that sounded more and more like human sobbing as he turned to ash. Len gave one sad, mournful look to the clown who desperately tried to crawl her way towards his cage on rotting limbs, much as Meiko tried to crawl her way towards Miku. He entwined his fingers with Rin's as they withered and turned gray.
Most of them have been alive for over a century, Miku's voice whispered. Now, see the passage of time finally right itself.
Gakupo and Gumi, not old enough to shrivel up but stripped of the magic Meiko had given them, clung to each other like frightened children.
There was more – the sound of mad laughter, the scent of burning incense – but it was all fading away. Miku was fading. She looked around, wanting only to find one last good thing to focus on before she left.
It was then that she finally saw her, the girl with the pink hair. She stood on the outskirts of the circus, wide-eyed with confusion and horror. They locked eyes.
Don't worry, Miku wanted to say. I'll protect you until the sun vanishes, and every star falls from the sky. But she didn't have a voice left. She had expended every ounce of energy and she didn't have anything left. She fell forward, the dying sounds of the circus following her into the dark.
"Miku."
It was her own voice, calling to her. Miku blinked whiteness away from her eyes and saw where it was coming from. Miku, the original Miku, was standing before her. Her hair was a bit longer than Miku's own, her facial features less round and more mature. But they had the same eyes. They shared the same soul.
"Miku, thank you."
The older woman came to her then, taking her face in both of her hands. Miku opened her own mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her ancestor shook her head with a smile. "It's okay, Miku. I give you my voice, for I have no use for it anymore. Use it well, alright?"
The mage kissed Miku's forehead. She walked away, into the never-ending whiteness, but just before she disappeared, Miku saw the original Luka. She saw the two join hands.
"Miku? Miku, are you awake?"
Miku groaned and blinked her bleary eyes. Her skin felt raw and abused, in spite of the blanket pressing against it. Pressing too close against it, in fact. Miku gasped and pushed it away.
Her skin was red and inflamed, full of small holes like a pincushion. But it was bare. Beneath the star-decorated blanket, she was really and truly naked, with no flowers covering her. Her hands flew to her face, to her scalp. New hair was beginning to grow there.
"Welcome back, Miku."
Remembering the voice, Miku instinctively pulled up the blanket to cover herself.
Sitting in front of her with a kind smile was an older woman with long black hair that held long streaks of gray. With all of the new lines in her face and the focus in her eyes, it took Miku a few seconds of staring before she realized who it was standing before her.
"… Mew? It's you, isn't it?"
The woman smiled. "Meiko kidnapped me in the 80s. I was a young woman then. Now, I'm returned to my right age … And my right mind. Thanks to you." She reached across the blankets and squeezed Miku's hand.
"Where are we?" Miku looked around. She was in a small bedroom, just wide enough for the bed and single chair.
"My trailer," replied Mew.
Miku sat up more fully, wincing, still holding the blankets to her chest. "The others?"
Mew sighed. "Most of them dissolved into dust. They were taken much longer ago than me. The only ones who survived were Gakupo and Gumi, and they fled. With no promise of power, there was nothing to keep them."
Miku clutched the blanket in nervous fists, asking the question that scared her most. "Luka?"
Mew smiled gently. "She's in the other room."
Miku's heart skipped a beat. "How much does she know?"
"Nothing other than what she saw," Mew replied. "I thought it would be best if she heard it from you … She was worried for you, you know."
Miku shivered. She thought about going out to meet her, then thought of the logistics of wrapping the blanket around herself and thought better of it. Besides, her entire body ached. "Can you … Can you ask her to come in?"
Mew smiled and poked her her outside of the small bedroom. "Luka? She's awake."
Luka stood in the doorway, chewing on the bottom of her lip. "Are you … Are you alright?" Her low voice was even more beautiful in person. Miku wanted to burst into tears at the sound of it.
"Yes … Luka." She shook. "God, I'm so glad you're okay."
Luka's brow furrowed. "I don't understand any of this. Why were you worried about me? How do you even know my name?"
Miku took a deep breath. "It's … a long story."
"I have time." Luka's tone was firm. Miku couldn't help smiling.
"Alright." She sat up straighter still, taking a deep breath. Mew sat down beside her, giving her an encouraging nod. Miku thought for a moment before beginning. "Once, there were three mages …"
So, there you have it! I have to admit, this story could have gone a number of different ways. I had at least three different endings planned. But, ultimately, this is the climax that won out! I'll be wrapping up this story on Sunday, but in the meantime I hope you tell me what you think! Reviews make my day, of course.
- Jillian Maria