It was still some time for Lana to adjust to her surroundings as Keith was with her every step of the way. He showed her the tips and tricks of the circus as she began to slowly warm up to those around her. For a while she only spoke to Keith and kept herself away from everyone else. But as the days went on she was able to sit down and talk with the others.
Nicholas was very friendly with her just as Lucas was caring towards her. Jack didn't really speak to her a whole lot but when they did he was straight forward with his words. In the end she related to each individual in some way or another as they helped her live within the circus. Each one of them taught her how to function properly and taught her new life skills. She became rather fond of playing with hula hoops when she and Keith were together and became rather good at tricks.
Keith kept his promise and had snuck behind the adults' backs and decided to take it upon himself to train Lana on a circus skill. It was decided that he was going to pass on his knowledge of knife throwing to her in the middle of his secondary training.
All members were required to pick up a secondary skill in the off chance that they were unable to perform the first. For example if a knife thrower was unable to perform due to the lack of knives or no usable target, then they would resort to their secondary skill. Keith was learning how to do the trapeze with a top tier performer Eleanora.
Keith had taken Lana away from the main tents and brought her to a secluded area. He was very excited to pass on his knowledge to someone else, especially in secrecy. Since her arrival, Keith had been around her mostly for her own comfort and sake. Lucas took a notice to this considering how the two of them used to be around each other all the time.
He placed a large teddy bear on top of a crate and pulled out the knives from the sheaths along his sides. He calmed himself and focused on his target. After taking three deep breathes he threw the knives with each one hitting the bear. The knives formed into one singular line showing Keith's accuracy was impressive. Once he had pulled the knives out of the bear he placed Lana a few feet away from it as a starting point. All he wanted to see was how well she would be able to throw the knives.
"Ok, now I want you to grab the knife by the hilt with the blade pointing towards you. When you feel ready, throw it at the bear. Try and aim for its head if you can."
He stepped away from her and watched in silence. Her form was loose and shaky. She threw the knife at the target hard. The knife flew out of her hand and struck the crate just below the bear.
"Not bad, you at least kept it straight," Keith proclaimed walking towards the knife.
The two continued training with each other until Keith started getting hungry. He was proud of Lana's progress as she had appeared to have a firm grasp on the concept of how to improve her accuracy. She went from hitting the crate to striking the stomach of the bear in the matter of a few hours.
As the two walked back, Lana made a note of how sore her wrist was. Keith instructed her to keep stretching to improve her flexibility. He suggested that it was a good idea to stretch all parts of her body anyways considering how she might be asked to train under someone else. She was concerned when Keith had mentioned it.
"Our training is supposed to be a secret. Anyone learning a new skill typically has to get trained under a top tier performer."
"Top tier?"
"The ones who go on stage, come on I've told you about it you dork!" he proclaimed shoving her gently.
She giggled slightly as she continued, "So how come you're teaching me?"
"I dunno, maybe because I wanted to," he said shrugging off her question.
They made their way to the kitchen tent where they found Lucas proudly inside with an apron on. He was busy preparing the dinner for everyone as he chopped vegetables for another one of his stews. He was whistling a happy tune when they walked in. He stopped chopping at their arrival and happily greeted them. Lana sniffed the air and smelt the warm stew being prepared.
"Stew again!" she shouted with glee.
"You like it huh?"
"Yeah, it is way better than the nasty stuff the noble gave us," she quickly responded.
"Noble?"
"Wait you were living with a noble!" Keith shouted.
Lana realized what she had said and covered her mouth. She began shaking her head and her eyes became wide. She immediately regretted what she had started and began to run away from them. As she quickly ran for the exit, Nicholas and Jack had entered blocking her way out. She feared for what was going to happen realizing that she had not informed anyone what her past was.
"What's going on here?" Nicholas asked concerned over the girl's behaviour.
"I dunno, she said something about food from a noble and began freaking out when we asked," Keith replied.
"Whatever, Madame Nina wants to speak with you and Lana. She also wants you Lucas to make sure preparations are made for Mr. Sidonia's return from the ship," Jack interrupted.
Nicholas and Jack guided Lana to the performance area where she was standing with a young slim woman dressed in all white. She was something like an angel. Kind yet stern, graceful and yet strong. She was very intimidating. Not far behind the three was Keith who was more than curious as to what the meeting was about.
"Lana my dear, have you met Eleanora?"
Lana only shook her head no. Eleanora crossed one leg over the other and gave a graceful bow towards her.
"I am Eleanora the Angelic Acrobat."
"Pleasure to meet you," Lana replied quietly.
"I'm sure you are fully aware of how we do things around here by now right?" Madame Nina asked.
"Yeah, Keith told me," she said a little louder.
"Good, then I want you to be training under Eleanora here and learn aerial acrobatics with her."
"I hope to work well with you. I feel that we will have a great time together."
The group headed back to where Lucas had returned and had finished preparing the stew for everyone. They all grabbed their bowls and sat at a table with each other. Lana kept silent which concerned Keith.
"Hey, it's going to be fine. You'll do great Lana!"
"No that's not it at all. It's…"
"What," he asked quietly.
"It's just that the longer I stay somewhere the more it hurts."
"Huh?"
Lana began to explain what she meant referring to what she had mentioned earlier. They learned that there was something unique about the girl, but she refused to tell them what it was. When she was born, people came to her house and attacked her parents. The doctor who helped with the birth escaped with Lana and had begun to raise her as his own. A few years later, the people who had attacked her parents had crashed into their home and killed the Doctor and his wife.
In fear, Lana had made her escape at a very young age. She had lived on the streets until a Noble of a wealthy merchant company had found her. She trusted the man and wanted to believe that he was going to help her live better. However, she ended up being a slave to him and was trained to be a future bride of his. She was forced to cook and clean. She was tied to a piano and forced to learn how to play and tethered to horses to ensure she would become skillful. Within the mansion there were two others she had become friends with. However the day finally came where she had escaped and left her friends behind. She fled to the streets with people constantly going after her. Some of them were Hunters wanting to kidnap her and bring her to the underworld or they were the noble's men trying to retrieve what was lost.
When Lana had arrived at the circus she wanted to keep to herself for as long as she could because she didn't know how long she would remain with them. She felt that becoming friends with the people around her will result in her conflicts becoming theirs. She was afraid that they would die because of her.
Keith reassured her that everything was going to be alright by patting her back and giving her a large smile.
"That is quite the history you have Lana," Nicholas said grabbing her hand.
She was shocked at first but looked up at him with her jaw slightly dropped. Keith became aggravated at the sight. He didn't like the way he was touching her at all.
"Don't worry everyone here has a grim history. That's what makes the Sidonia Circus so special. We are here to protect each other because of that. I have an idea, I could teach you how to fight?"
"Really?"
"Yeah of course. I can teach you how to use a sword in no time. In fact I'll be your second skill teacher."
Keith jumped up from the table with fists of fury ready at his sides. Lana was scared as she witnessed the happy boy turn into an angered being. She knew of this side of Keith but never imagined that she would see it. However, the fight that was going on between the two boys was imminent. At this point it had become obvious that the two of them shared feelings for Lana, feelings that went beyond what the others held on to. Nicholas was always the one who considered himself as the alpha. He never let anyone take away something once he had set his eyes on it. Knowing this, Keith was infuriated with him not wanting to let Nicholas have his way.
He stood before the others and glared at Nicholas. His lip was furled revealing his snarling teeth. Nicholas knew right away what was going on and sat there with a sly smile on his face. He wanted to poke the beast further to see exactly how far he would go.
"Keith?" came the quiet voice of Lana.
The little voice snapped him out. He turned towards her and saw the fear in her eyes. He knew that nothing he did would be able to help him. He admitted that there were some form of feelings developing towards Lana due to the connection that he felt with her. However, the thought of Nicholas spending time with her disgusted and angered him. He knew that Nicholas had feelings for Lana as well but felt that he didn't deserve her.
Although being very good friends with Nicholas, Keith had also felt unnerved by him. There was something not right that sat within his stomach. It was almost villainous in a way. On the outside Nicholas appeared to be a normal teenage boy, but it was almost like a poisonous snake was residing in him. If something wasn't going his way, he was sure to take any means necessary to make it work for himself and himself only.
Keith sat down and continued to eat his stew. The conversation continued as Lana had agreed to their arrangements. Lana was going to learn how to fight and defend herself from the hunters and the noble's men. While she practiced with Nicholas, she had to make time to practice with Eleanora and learning her circus skill from her. As she was supposed to have the two training sessions, she still wanted to practice her knife throwing skills with Keith. The confliction was starting and it was unknown of what would become of the friendships.
Keith and Lucas were cleaning up as Nicholas had taken her to start her first fighting lesson. Keith was gloomy as Lucas tried to stay positive. As they cleaned, Keith kept sighing over and over again. The more he did it, the louder he got. It kept going on until it had gotten on Lucas' nerves.
"What is it now!?"
"I don't like the idea that she is with him. I just don't know what he plans on doing," he said slumping over in a chair.
"Sounds to me like you're jealous."
"WHAT ME! No…there is no way that I am jealous of him. Nope, not at all."
"Keith."
"Ok…maybe a little."
"Well, maybe just try and talk to her. See how she feels and go from there. Then you'd at least know."
One of the other younger troupe members came running into the tent. He was completely out of breath and shaken up. He tried to speak but was unable to gather his words enough to make any sense.
"Calm down Matt, and slowly tell us what's wrong," Lucas calmly said to him grabbing a hold of the boys shoulders.
"The…the…the stage…it collapsed…the new girl…she was there…was trapped….but…."
Keith quickly jolted up from his chair, "Lana what! What happened, trapped. But what!"
"You have…to go see, come with me."
Matt began running out of the tent again with Keith and Lucas right behind. As they got closer, they saw the destroyed stage. The catwalk of the stage had given out and collapsed, leaving those on the stage helpless to the calamity that would have befallen them. Keith was really worried for Lana and pushed Matt aside. He ran right passed him as Matt had fallen to the ground.
Keith's eyes were wide at the destruction that was before him. He couldn't see Lana anywhere in the rubble. Everyone stood in horror unsure of what to do. Nina ran to the scene and began directing people to jump onto the stage and remove the beams to uncover those who may have been caught.
Just as everyone began making their move, the rubble began to move. Some people were weirded out by what they were seeing, others grew more concerned believing that it was collapsing further onto itself. What was happening was a wonder that no one ever would have thought to exist.
The beams were pushed off of the pile as a large figure rose from the rubble. Everyone was scared at the sight of the creature that was standing before them. There was a large skinless being with bones covering its body like armor. It resembled a female and stood ten meters tall among the copious amount of steam rising from its body.
In the large space where the beast had been was Eleanora and Nicholas alive and well. They were holding onto themselves to protect their body from anything that would fall.
As the beast stood tall, steam rose from wounds that were caused by the beams. Everyone was too scared to approach the creature. They had no idea what it was or where it came from. The beast collapsed onto its knees as it looked like it was going to lose consciousness.
Just as it was about to fall over, the body began to reduce in size. The bones began to disappear and the flesh became normal flesh within a gust of wind. When the beast had hit the ground, it had turned itself into a small girl. She was limp as she collapsed to the stage floor.
"LANA!" Keith yelled as he made his way towards the stage.
Just as Keith reached the stage, Nicholas had already grabbed her and held onto her. All of the troupe members were amazed at the sight they had just witnessed. They were unsure of what to make of the situation. Madame Nina was the only one who seemed to be excited by the new find.
"Nicholas, take her to Caroline immediately. I will take care of her from here. I want everyone to clean up this mess. We are heading out tomorrow the minute that Neal gets here from the ship."
Everyone was speechless but followed the orders. Even Keith was reluctant to believe what he saw.
"Unbelievable. When she said that people were after her because of a gift, I never imagined that it was something like this," said Keith as a shiver was sent through his spine.
"I didn't even think, people like her existed. I've only heard about them in fairy tales," Lucas proclaimed.
"I remember hearing the story about the old king of the land," said a young lady who was helping them move a beam. "They said that his family were unique beings among many clans. Referred to as the guardians of the land because of their powers and therefore dubbed as rulers. They were titans. However, LeBlanc was concerned for the kingdom. He felt that the current king was going to destroy the land and what it was using his powers for evil by means of manipulation. LeBlanc was a man of technology and used that to his advantage. He developed a rebellion and discovered a way to defeat titans. He over threw the king and began to rule the land under his own beliefs. All those who were known titans were captured and detained for fear of anarchy and chaos. It wasn't long before they were believed to be wiped out entirely by other means as well."
"But that's just a story right. I mean there really is no such thing as titans, right," Keith stammered looking over at Lucas for reassurance.
"You all saw what I saw. I'm starting to think that maybe it wasn't a fairy tale."
"But how did LeBlanc kill off an entire kingdom of titans?" Keith asked.
"Nobody knows. There are no documents of the technology that he used. Those with the titan gift would be dragged out of their homes but nobody knows where or what happened to them. I heard that he used their own powers against them. Maybe forcing those to take his side against the King. Either way, it happened about hundreds of years ago. Nobody knows the full story. "
"So you think Lana is a titan?" Lucas asked.
"Possibly. Like you said we all saw that. That isn't something a normal human could do."
"What's going to happen to her?" Keith grew concerned.
"I'm not sure. But, knowing the Sidonia Circus, I'm sure that things will work out."
In the medical tent was Madame Nina, Neal, Caroline, and the unconscious Lana. Lana was placed in a bed as Caroline examined her.
"She is one of them. After what I saw I am sure of it," Nina proclaimed.
"It would explain what happened when she first arrived. The boys were so sure that she was wounded but I didn't find a single scratch on her. She must have some sort of rapid healing because of her lineage."
"Do you know what this means! This means that she is our greatest ticket."
"You aren't seriously planning on selling her to the black market, are you?"
"No of course not. I have other things in store, we have our deal remember. She is just the person we have been looking for. We will train her and develop her abilities until we can be certain that she is the right decision for us. After all, she is the key to our future," Neal proclaimed.
Everyone was afraid of what was roaming around the circus. No one wanted to talk about it, but the tension was high. Everyone was on edge knowing that there was a human with a more than a unique ability among them. There was no telling what she was capable of. This concerned Keith as he still wanted to be friends with Lana. He wanted to be there for her especially now more than ever. She was about to be shunned by all of the circus performers just when she was getting used to everything.
Lana awaken to Keith sitting by her side. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened. Keith gladly filled her in on everything. When he finished, Lana began to cry.
"You must think of me like a monster!" she shouted through her tears.
"What! Lana you are you, no matter what. You are not a monster to me at all."
"Really?"
"Of course. I mean you have an awesome gift!"
"It's not as awesome as it seems."
"Sorry I'll stop talking."
"No, it's ok. Thanks for being here Keith. You're sure that you're aren't scared of me?"
"I have to admit, I am a little nervous knowing what you can do. It was a surprise and I'm sure everyone feels the same way."
When Lana was well enough, Keith stayed by her side. Everyone was treating her differently now that they knew her biggest darkest secret. They shunned her just like Keith had predicted. However Jack, Lucas, and Nicholas still treated her just the same. They welcomed her to their little fire that they had near the sleeping tents.
"You're ok!" Nicholas said excitedly.
Nicholas had a couple of bandages on him from some of the rubble that had hit him. She was worried for his safety and Keith saw the look she had. He was saddened by her worried look, but tried hard to stay positive for her.
The group began to chat with one another, mostly in regards to Lana's ability. They wanted to know more about what she could do and how she was able to get her powers.
"I was born with them I guess. I've known that I've had them since I was very young. I could do different things, but I can't control it. It comes and goes, which is scary sometimes because there have been times where I wasn't prepared at all."
"Lana my dear," came the cool voice of Madame Nina.
She turned around to see the woman standing behind her with the largest grin on her face.
"I understand everything now. Do you understand what has happened to your parents?"
"My…Parents?"
"Yes, there may be a chance that they are still alive."
The group was surprised as most of them heavily reacted to her. Jack remained still and watched the interaction between the two.
"Seriously!" Lana shouted standing up from her crate. "There may be a chance that they are alive!"
"A large possibility. No one knows what happens to those with special gifts once they are captured. I'm sure if you pick a part the history of our land, you might understand what could be the root cause of everything. Then you might be able to use that to track down and locate your parents. Or at the very least, know what happened to them and the rest of your kind."
She handed Lana a black book. The book was about the history of Rhea. A book that was considered a fairy tale at one point in time but was proven fact after recent evidence. Various documents had been recovered before the current ruler.
Keith saw how excited Lana was and relaxed a little bit more. He knew that things were going to be alright from here on out. Madame Nina vowed to help her find out about the past of her lineage. However, there was something that was troubling everyone in the troupe. It was the idea of her uncontrollable powers. With the assistance of Jack, it was decided that Madame Nina would work with Lana in being able to have full control over her powers. The timid girl had become one of the greatest assets to have entered the Sidonia Circus.