Their ears still ringing, our duo were still determined to finish their quest. They walked past a small pond. Seriri the mermaid was swimming in it.

She was enjoying not being eaten. Boy, did she love not being eaten. If you gave her as much money as she likes not being eaten, she would have to move to a bigger pond due to lack of space. She also likes not being beaten, that may lead to being eaten. And that would not be nice if she would be eaten. Even if she was beaten in a harmless Puyo Puyo battle, those Puyo could still knock her out. Who knows what will happen next? Her therapist told her that all eating a mermaid does is give the one who ate them indigestion. But you can never be sure, he's a therapist, not a doctor. What does he know? Oh no! Here she was worrying about this again. Her stress levels were a bit unhealthy, she needed to relax a bit. But what if someone came by and challenged her to a stressful Puyo match. That'd be terrible!

"Hey, Seriri." Arle kept walking by. Seriri waved back.

Puyo match averted. Just kidding.

Chapter 4: After and Before

It was pitch black in the circus tent until the spotlights shone on the backstage curtain. The curtains opened, revealing: Pierrot balancing on a ball twice her size. She pulled out four juggling pins to juggle them as she rolled her ball into the center of the tent. Once there she held one hand still to catch the pins.

The first one landed just fine, but when the next one collided the earlier one turned to a special bright red and black colored dust. The last pin didn't turn to dust. Pierrot grabbed the handle and slammed the pin into her palm, it was a microphone coated in dust all along.

"Laaadies aaand Gentllleman!" Pierrot turned on the microphone. "Welcome one and all to the..." A pause for a turn the light projected logo. "Puyo Puyo Circus! I'm your host: Pierrot!"

*A week ago, at the auditions*

"H-hey, Sil!" Amitie greeted her classmate and the pink bird next to her rather awkwardly.

"Amitie..."

"Are you still you still mad at me?"

"Yes." Pierrot said as uninterested as possible.

"You've been asking that at least three times a day. Stop asking me!" This suddenly got loud. Hohow Bird's just wondering what just happened.

"Okay... Then I'll leave now."

"No, you can still audition. A promise is a promise." Pierrot sighed.

"Wicked, are you sure?"

"If you have the talents the circus needs. Hohow Bird and I will judge you."

"Ho Ho!" The bird screeched loud.

"Thank you for that..." The harlequin muttered. This is the biggest downside having him work for her, surprisingly enough.

"So what can you do special to amaze or at least entertain an audience?"

"Ehm… I'm wicked good at casting fire!"

"Ho-ack! No fire please!" Hohow Bird shielded his face.

"The circus is fireproof, Hohow."

"But I'm not, Silvana. Neither is the audience come to think of it."

Pierrot remained unimpressed at her classmate's proposition. But the bird had a point. Even if she didn't want to admit it. It might be best not to play with fire spells.

"Casting fire isn't enough, Amitie. Can you do something special with it?"
"I don't think so… Not yet anyway…"
"Can you cast something else?"
"Let me think… Ooo, I can cast ice spells!"

Amitie said so enthused. Hohow gulped.

Pierrot thought about it. "Can you sculpt the ice as you're casting it?" She came up with on the spot.

"I can sure try!" Amitie sculpted by circling around one spot, creating what's sure to be her magnum opus.

Pierrot and Hohow looked closely at the uneven, ugly looking, vaguely humanoid frozen statue without a clear face.

"Wa Ho Ho! That's pretty amazing." Hohow was honest in that, and no, his glasses aren't tilted.

Pierrot was less optimistic but still impressed. "Amitie… I think you got something here." It was impressive that Amitie could make any shape with something thought of on the spot. Amitie fist pumped happily. "But that's not enou-"

"What's it supposed to be?" Hohow Bird interrupted his boss earning a frown in his salary.

"It's Sil without her mask!"

Pierrot froze in place. Does she know? It made her forget to be offended. "B-but that doesn't look like me, at all."

Amitie scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, I don't know what you look like. So I tried a face of another friend!"

That relieved Pierrot so much. She took another look at the sculpture. "Ah, Who's? Raffine's? Lidelle's?... Klug's?"

"Arle's. She surprisingly fit." Amitie's answer took Pierrot by surprise again. Now it's an insult.

"D-don't know her. As I wanted to say before Hohow interrupted me. I think that..." Pierrot paused as she pointed at her statue(?). "Thing is not enough. You need something else." Pierrot was honest. A one trick pony gets old unless that trick is just that amazing.

"She could be a clown or assist me with me Acrobats. Ho Hmm."

Pierrot rested her face in her palm at her employee's suggestion. "Hohow… I don't think Amitie is athletic."

"Nope, I'm not." Amitie, rather helpfully, agreed in a peppy tone.

"But even if she was, your wings aren't made for catching hands."

Pierrot forgot to address the clown part. She really wanted to get to the next person.

"Can you work the spotlights?"
"Yep!"
"You're hired. Get out. See me after school for details."
"Yay!"

Amitie left happily. Pierrot had still a low opinion of her, but she was sure couldn't screw this up.

"Next!"

*Present*

Amitie did her spotlight thing flawlessly. Everyone could sleep safely tonight. She kept the light on Pierrot and her ball. "For our first act, we have a soaring hero with a wide appeal[?]. Our own acrobat:"

Pierrot pulled out a needle did a backflip with two somersaults landed with her arm widened in the air. She popped her ball revealing fan favorite: "THE SUPER FOWL FRIEND, HOHOW BIRD!"

Mr. Bird wore some really tight, really dark blue overalls with a diamond-shaped belt buckle and very ruffly blue buttoned-up blouse. The tailor insisted that the handsome bird at least unbutton two so his chest feathers popped out. But Hohow didn't feel comfortable with that.

*One climb to the trapeze accompanied by a drum roll later...*

Hohow held the trapeze bar in his wings. It's the only one installed at the moment. All he has to do were some flips, tricks and not break anything. Can he do it?

Hohow jumped, keeping a tight grip. On the third swing, he began circling around the bars. He did that for two more swings. At the top of the swing, Hohow launched himself without using his wings to the other side. Catching the bar with his talons, standing still like a house bird. He took several bows. "Ho Ho! Thank you! Ho Ho!"

Pierrot climbed the pillar Hohow was facing while carrying a bag. Once up there she announced. "And now he will juggle..." Pierrot comically rummaged through the bag. "these water balloons with his sharp talons!" Hohow switched back to hanging from his wings and began to swing.

*Past*

"I'm sorry Teacher. I don't think there's a place for ventriloquism in a circus."

"Are you kitten me?" Popoi swayed.

"Oh, hush you." Ms. Accord jested she rubbed Popoi's chin. It was enjoyed.

"It's pretty impressive, Ho Ho!" Hohow puts his thoughts out there. Pierrot silently nodded in agreement. "I gotta learn that superpower!"

"Well lucky for you, birds have it easier than humans when it comes to ventriloquism." Ms. Accord explained.

"Ho Ho." Hohow whispered to himself, that answer satisfied him, simultaneously practicing not moving his beak while speaking.

"We'll see you in class tomorrow Miss Pierrot."

"Don't be late." Popoi added. Next up was Akuma.

*Present*

Hohow had been successfully swinging back and forth, juggling five balloons for about three minutes now. Everyone watching was impressed. But this act had to end sooner or later. Hohow threw two where he started.

He kept two balloons in his clutches. The last one he caught his beak. The balloons remained intact. Hohow stopped swinging once again. He had fun they'll love his abilities.

Down below Pierrot had her microphone in her hands. "That was Hohow Bird's improbable juggling act!" She heard three pops above her. She flinched a bit and then she was wet. How did that happen? Pierrot got angry and shook her fist at Hohow. It's all part of the act folks… I think.

Hohow flew majestically flew back to behind the curtain. Flap Flap. Flap Flap. Flap Flap.

"And now introducing from parts unknown, his abilities are sure to AMAZE YOU! Now I'm making a dash backstage because. I. wanna. live. Bye!" Pierrot hastily dragged her soggy self out of the center. Behind the curtains, she yelled something. "Please give warm welcome to… VENTO VERDE!"

Lightning struck the center of the circus. Where did it come from? Wouldn't you like to know? The point is that the lightning left something behind.

It was a short humanoid creature on his knees. He wore a light green trench coat with white clover buttons sewn on the left side on his chest area and a bigger one on the back. He also had a goggle-less pilot's cap covering up everything on the side and back. The front of his face, however! Same deal, it's covered up by a bootleg Fūjin mask with horns. The hands were also covered up, five fingers, but it looks a bit off. Underneath were some more normal but unnecessarily stylish clothes.

All four corners of a bedsheet of a high thread count were tied to Vento's wrists and ankles with another clover sewn into it. He got off his knees and stood on his feet. His body language was a bit stoic. He pointed his finger to the sky. Lightning struck some hoops floating through the air. Setting them on fire.

All of the sudden the bed sheet grew more bulbous. Vento levitated off the ground toward the fire. Don't worry the suit's fireproof.

*Past*

A few people who came tried and failed to impress Pierrot. Pierrot began to wonder if she misunderstood circus business. Or maybe she just jaded.

One thing she was sure of was that all she had so far were two people she's not too fond of. A bird brain and Hohow. And she'll be stuck with them… "Blegh." She wanted at least two more. Preferably multitalented and not annoying.

"Next!"

A head popped out from behind the curtain. It was "Lidelle?" She was the last person Pierrot was expecting.

"H-H-Hi, Miss Pierrot." Lidelle spoke meekly. "I accidentally discovered a trick in bed."

Pierrot silently chuckled to herself. It was slightly nostalgic the innocent way the imp said it. "Go on. Show it."

Lidelle nodded before she shook out a blanket out of one of her sleeves. She put it flat on the ground and made it levitate.

"Ho Holy ROC! How on Primp did she do that?"
"Huh."

Hohow and Pierrot respectively uttered their approval. The latter figured it out and saw a lot of potential in it. "She made it float with wind magic. Very creative. You're hired!"

Lidelle was taken aback. "But I only wanted to show it off to give you an idea. I-I wouldn't be good in circus life..."

Pierrot translated it in her head. "You have stage fright don't you?" Lidelle made a non-verbal meep. After the small shock wore down she gave a small nod confirming Pierrot's guess.

Pierrot got to thinking, got what it takes. 'How can I convince her to work for me?' Her eyes widened and she snapped her gloved fingers in realization. She could tweak it a bit… "What if I told you I could help you curb your stage fright?"

"…I guess I wouldn't mind."

*A quick break to the present…*

*Break over!*

"All you need a full body disguise, a different posture to put up, a different persona and a phrase translated into a foreign language to make it sound cooler than it is like I did." Pierrot's intention was to wrongly say that only the last one applied to herself. But the wording made Lidelle misunderstand the clown.

'Is she as insecure underneath that mask as I am?' Lidelle wondered. It made sense to her.

"I wanna join." Pierrot's eyes lit up. But Lidelle wasn't done speaking. "But I thought your last name was Pierrot, not your stage name."

Pierrot's eyes widened and cursed herself. She must learn to keep her lies consistent. Because how she got the name Pierrot came from a foreign dictionary.

"...Aaaaand it just happened to be my last name too." She lied through her teeth. Lucky for her the mask does not show that.

"Hey, Ho Pierrot." Hohow had not been listening for a while, he was flipping through the borrowed circus book. "Hey Silvana, this guy looks like you." He showed off the page.

"Pierrot [pee-uh-roh]
a male character in certain French pantomime, having a whitened face and wearing a loose, white, fancy costume…" Pierrot gave Hohow a mean look of annoyance. But by now Hohow knew how to ignore it.

"… … …Well! I'm not changing my schtick. And I'm keeping it the name. The stage name that is." She caught before it could be questioned. 'I'm glad I pronounced it right all this time.' She silently thought to herself.

"Anyways Lidelle, I'll help you. See me in my caravan after school tomorrow." 'I need to prepare that spell again…'

*Present, no fake out this time*

Vento Verde took several bows for all the tricks he did. Enjoying the attention and overjoyed that he pulled it off. He made three thunderous teleports towards the curtain before he disappeared.

Pierrot comically pushed three tall, colourful stage magician boxes. She pushed them into a triangle, each box facing the other two. "Ladies and gentleman, now it's time for simple stage magic tricks. Oh, Hohow!~"

The bird flocked on stage. "Now you're speaking my language! Ho Ho!" Mister Bird said without moving his beak.

"You're not supposed to speak here."

"He didn't." A smooth deep voice came from behind her? Nope, no one there. It was Hohow's super-ventriloquism. Hohow tried a Sig impression. "Hey Sil, I've been meaning to tel-"

"INTO THE BOX!" Hohow obeyed. Pierrot feared he'd have too much fun with this. Let's hope the rest of ZigZag Peak doesn't pick up the same habit. It could become a verbal war zone.

Hohow was properly squeezed into box #1. "And now, I, the magical harlequin Pierrot. Shall teleport this big bird from box to box to box to box. This shouldn't hurt." This has the last thing Hohow heard before the slam from the box's door ringed in his ear holes.

"And now…" Pierrot pointed dramatically toward box #1. "Poof!" Smoke came from inside the box. Pierrot opened #1. "He's gone." She slammed #1 shut. And Hohow kicked #2 open from inside. There he was. Closed #2. Pointed at #2. Appeared at #3.

#1, #2, #3, #1, #2, What? He wasn't at #3? Pierrot got panicky. Nevermind, he was at #1. #3, "This is annoying, go in the proper order!" #2, # 3, #2, "GYARGH!" #2, #1, #3. "Okay, if you're not gonna appear in the right boxes. I'm gonna transform you into something that can't fly!" #1, #2, #2. "Okay, now you've done it!" Pierrot aggressively pointed at all three boxes at the same time.

Smoke erupted from all three boxes, blowing off the doors in the process. The doors' corners slammed against each other forming triangle. In the center of the triangle was Pierrot, petrified.

The doors fell and so did the shock. "Y-you can come out now." A green orb wearing a yellow jacket an ace symbol emerged from box #3. "Ladies and gentlemen. We prepared the best for last. Please welcome the amazingly talented: Donguri Gaeru!"

"Riiibbiiiiiiiiiit!" And the acorn frog went to amaze the audience so much it almost stuns them.

*Past*

"So mister…?"

"Ribbiit. Ribbit pop."

"Dongaeru Guri. Did I get that right?"

"Rib-BIT." Donguri corrected.

"Donguri Gaeru?"

"Ribbit, riibbit." The frog confirmed.

"You're the last one, and we're one short on the preferable amount of staff. So what can you do?"

"Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribribbit. Ribbit… Pop. Pop. Ribbit, ribbiit ribbiiit~. Ribbit. Ribbit? Riiibbit!" Donguri listed off his skills.

"Wow." The interviewers said in unison. "And you said the only you're not great at is Puyo Puyo?"

"Ribbiiiiiiit~!"

"Of course! Impress us."

*Present*

Donguri did his amazingly thing, it would have blown the audience away but the audience literally blew the performers away from the force of the applause. But the reason the would-be star of the show didn't, was because: "Good job on the practice rounds, guys. Bet you can't wait to try it for real."

The only ones watching were the staff.

Author's Notes:

Hi! I had to google "could bird be ventriloquists" and I got the answer I thought it would be: Some can. How was your day?

Ventriloquists are a thing in circuses. I researched it. But don't tell Sil she not great at job interviews and didn't think to look in the book.

While writing this the h Arle quin confession on the Puyo Madou and Fever Confessions went up. So thanks, whoever found that out. Which is me. Thanks, me. Now I can't use it as a twist.

Sil's casual outfit and Hohow's circus outfits are references from the same source.

I feel like I'm too harsh writing Amitie. I don't hate her, I SWEAR!

Don't worry, Hohow won't get much more prominence in the future.

Final word: I wished I canned the circus idea and kept Sil in her caravan and have her do Puyo matches to anyone who insults and misunderstands her.

Next up: Lemres and his machine! Hopefully, it's something more fun to write and read than this.