Each day went by as did each new performance. Newer members started joining the show just as the veterans were retiring. It started becoming a cycle ever since the death of Neal. Some of the newer recruits were people running away or wanting new lives. Most were people who were down on their luck. They were the types of people who were casted out of their families for being different or forced to live on their own due to unfortunate circumstances. Most of these newer recruits were young children or those in their late teens.
A young boy by the name of Felix had joined the crew. His parents died in a fire and with no other relatives to speak of, he was forced to live on the streets. He was very young and quiet, not wanting to get involved in anything and keeping his distance from the others. Everything was scary to him no matter what it was. It was like he was in constant fear.
Two girls born as twins were recruited into the circus. It was rumored that their parents were unable to afford to have them in their household. They were brought to an orphanage as soon as they were born believing that they would get a better life. At the orphanage they were mocked and bullied for being twins. They ran away at a very young age and found the Sidonia Circus. Nico and Nisha were welcomed as part of the family with open arms. The chipper girls brought sunlight everywhere they went warming the hearts of everyone they met. It was hard to believe that they were ever bullied.
A boy of a strange rarity was something much unexpected. He had pale skin and strange eyes with snow white hair. Caroline diagnosed the child's condition as being a form of albinism, a condition that was uncommon. Xander grew up on his own because he was different. There were those who believed that his had a contagious condition. However, upon arriving to the circus, there were those who shared their differences with the boy. He felt welcomed among those whose skin were patchy or covered in freckles.
These four faces became the newest generations among others. These were the ones who would become the next in line to run the circus. It was now up to Keith and the others to train them well as the next generation. Keith took on Felix to show him the ropes. Although very unsure as to if he would be able to be a mentor, the young boy was eager to start a new chapter of his life. Everyone else had become teachers and guides to the other young recruits. Although, being young themselves and still learning as they go, they all sought to be able to become the best influences that these younger kids would have.
"So your name is Felix huh?" Keith asked sitting upon a crate.
"Yes sir," he replied quietly, his brown eyes reminding Keith of a small rabbit.
"Sir? Nah, just call me Keith."
"Yes sir," the boy looked up at Keith as he glared at him with annoyance. "I mean Keith."
"That's more like it. I guess Madame Nina wants me to teach you knife throwing. Are you sure that you'll be able to handle that?"
Felix shrugged.
"You don't really like to talk much do you?"
In the distance Keith could see Lana walking with Nicholas. He was curious as to what was going on but didn't want to interfere. He watched them closely as Felix was eagerly waiting to hear what Keith had to say next. Keith watched as Lana and Nicholas were talking with one another ignoring the poor little Felix. He couldn't make out what they were saying but whatever it was just said made Lana giggle. She covered her mouth and started laughing. Jealousy came over Keith as he watched the two interact with each other. Felix only watched Keith, too afraid to say anything to him.
Feelings for her had grown as they all started to grow older. To him she was getting prettier each day that passed by. Her long black hair that was tied delicately in a white ribbon dancing with her movements was one of his favorite things about her.
"Keith?" Felix called out breaking the silence.
"Sorry let's just get to work."
Keith started teaching the young Felix how to throw knives the same way he had taught Lana over a year ago. The images of Nicholas and Lana together caused Keith to lose his focus on his training with Felix.
As the days went on the training continued. Felix and the others started warming up to their mentors. They were almost like a part of the group. The night before they were about to reach town, they decided to camp out along the side of the road as per usual. Due to the recent involvement with Keith, he had become completely devoted to training Felix. He had started spending less and less time with Lana considering how she was heavily enthralled with the books she was given. Each town that they had been through was a new book to add to her collection. Some of the books were in regards to the history of the land while others were about useful skills that would help get her by. Through these books and with the help of the others around her, she had become quite valued around the circus. With her growing powers and strength she was capable of doing so much more.
Lucas on the other hand, had pushed himself to take over the kitchen and maintenance since the main stage hand had left the troupe. He was quite the skillful person himself in the sense where he was able to solve most problems that were at hand. He was able to fix many things that had broken and was able to prepare a meal with barely anything to cook with. Xander was around him as often as he could, just so that he too could one day be like Lucas.
Keith was often jealous of what the others had made of themselves. Even Nicholas was a respectable leader of the troupe. He had become the true face of Sidonia as Madame Nina herself had stepped into his shadow. She was driving him to be the main force of the show. Jack always remained secluded regardless of the situation. He never really wanted to get involved much and it never really bothered anyone. He was always listening to what Madame Nina had to say and remained by her side as an errand boy. It was as if he had become a form of servant for her more so than what he was before Neal's passing.
As they sat around the fire trying to keep themselves warm, Keith took notice to Lana burying herself once again in a book. She was taking notes as she was going, meaning that this was one of her newer books that may help her on her journey. Nicholas sat next to her talking away as Felix and the twins were enjoying the moment with their teachers.
"Lana would you put the goddamn book down for once!" Nicholas proclaimed.
She glanced at him and closed her book. She put it in her bag and placed it at her side. Keith noticed something shining behind her as she had moved the bag away.
"Hey Lana, whatchyeah got there?"
"Oh this," she turned around and pulled out a rapier, "Nicholas gave it to me. He thought that since I was trained with a sword then I should have one of my very own."
Nicholas smiled and put his arm around her, "Gotta have some way to protect yourself without going all berserk."
Keith glared at Nicholas as Lana only chuckled in response. The evening continued and soon everyone retired for the night. The next morning, they had arrived in the town where Keith was from. As per usual, everything was set up in a secluded ground outside of the town.
Madame Nina had pulled the top tier performers aside to brief them as to what was going to occur during the performance in the next couple of days. She wanted to test the younger recruits and their devotion to the circus. She wanted to see how far they would go for the circus. It was requested each one of the top tier performers to verify their skill level of pick pocketing. The plan was to have the recruits wander through the benches and pick pocket almost all of the audience members during Lana's performance. It had become clear that as she performed, her movements captivated most people and allowed them to have the perfect opportunity to try out the plan.
Keith had informed Felix of what was going to happen as soon as the others separated. He wasn't excited to pick pocket at all. He wanted nothing to do with the plan. However his desire to remain with the circus outweighed his fears.
"If I have to remain here, then I will do whatever it takes."
"Why the sudden change of heart?" Keith asked cleaning off the lenses of his glasses.
"Because this circus means everything to me. I only want to help it in any way or form that I can. If that means stealing, then I will do it. I don't believe that it is right, but if this is something I must do to keep being here, then I want to help. The circus is my home."
Keith was intrigued by what he had to say. He knew that Felix was happy to be a part of the troupe, but he never realized how far he would really go to remain here.
"Very well, do you know how to pick pocket someone?"
Felix shook his head no.
"Then we have a lot to work on if you're going to succeed."
Keith was determined to show Felix everything he had learned about being a thief. From how to sneak around and go unnoticed to being able to gather the goods and leave. He had faith in Felix's abilities that he would be able to do it.
It was finally show time. The younger recruits were dressed as normal citizens among the colorful costumes. Felix was entirely scared to take part in the plan. He kept shaking as Nico and Nisha were mocking him for being so scared.
"Scaredy cat, scaredy cat," they chanted simultaneously.
"Nico, Nisha, that's enough," Keith sternly said to them.
"Oh yeah and what are you going to do about it!" Nico shouted.
"We ain't scared of yeah!" Nisha replied.
Keith jokingly raised his daggers and threatened the young girls.
"Keith that's enough," Nicholas ordered as he approached the group.
Keith knew that he didn't want to start any further troubles and stood down.
"Tch," he replied as he slumped over to Lucas' side.
Lucas tried his best to talk it over with Keith. For a while Lucas had seen that Keith was behaving more differently than ever before.
"What's eating at you?" he asked.
"Nothing, I've told you before."
"That there wasn't nothing. Talk to me."
"I'm sick and tired of Nicholas. He always thinks that he is just better than everyone else just because he is the ringmaster and practically Madame Nina's son."
"Are use sure there isn't anything else?"
Keith pouted and didn't respond.
"Oh come on, you and I both know that there is something else you are hiding in that small noggin of yours. It's about Lana isn't it?"
Keith turned away from him trying to avoid the conversation.
"Look, I don't know what the deal is between the two of you, but I would just give it up already man. She thinks of you as a brother. There is no way of getting past that."
"I have to perform," Keith said with irritation as he began to make his way towards the stage.
He performed his stunts with the anger firing his every movements. His throws were fast and strong. The blades stuck into his target straight with every throw he had made. He called upon Lana who would be his volunteer, a new feature to his act.
Since Lana has accelerated healing far beyond a normal human, she volunteered herself to become part of Keith's act. If a knife was thrown at her and hit her she would be fine the minute the blade was pulled out. Granted the reaction from the audience would be a different story. They were prepared to take whatever risks needed to put on a great show.
She was tied up to the circular target and blindfolded. Keith was also blindfolded in the process which was something unknown to Lana. The audience began to whisper in fear of what the worse outcome would be. The fixture that Lana was tied up on was spun around by a stage hand. With the creaking of the boards she was placed on, Keith imagined where she would be at what time.
Just as he normally had done before, he took in a few deep breaths and focused on the target that was before him. His first knife was thrown and landed in between her legs. The crowd screamed the minute the knife landed on the board. When it had become apparent that she was unharmed they went wild. The next knife was quickly thrown along with another right after. The knives landed on each side of her body. The crowd continued to cheer yet again at the sight.
Anger was still within Keith as he was trying to maintain focus. So far the performance was going great. However, his final throw was not as lucky. He threw the knife without focusing fully on the target. The minute he had realized that his throw was sloppier than before he called out to Lana.
"TILT YOUR HEAD LEFT!" he shouted as his arm was still following his throw.
She quickly responded, trusting his instincts. The very second she had moved, the knife landed in the spot part of her head was in. The knife clipped her ear causing a small trail of blood to trickle down. Thanks to Keith's instincts he was able to determine where the knife was going to land.
He pulled off the blindfold and started feeling regret. He let his emotions get the best of him during the entire performance. Although he knew that Lana was capable of healing, he still was angered with himself for putting her at harm's way. When the two walked back to the wings, she tried to reassure him that she was fine and even thanked him for what he did. He continued to try and calm himself down as the others went on to do their performances. With Lana by his side he was able to relax a little more after countless apologies towards her.
It finally came time for Lana's performance and for the pick pocketing plan to go through. Earlier on, the others had went within the bleachers up high and awaited for their cue to proceed. Nicholas anxiously watched them from within the wings with Madame Nina to see if the plan would work out.
Lana grabbed a hold of the fabric and had begun to lose herself in the music. Her majestic moves captivated the audience members as per usual. Keith watched as the young recruits started to move. He carefully kept an eye out for Felix but soon lost him in the crowd. He began to feel more anxious the longer he couldn't see him concerned for his student.
Partway through the performance a loud yell could be heard from within the audience.
"Damnit," Nicholas shouted.
"What the hell is going on here!" on older man yelled. He had stood up from his seat holding onto Xander's wrist.
Keith had some relief come over him when he knew that it wasn't Felix. However, the situation had become serious as their plan had failed.
"What is the meaning of this?" He continued to shout.
At this time the music had stopped playing and all eyes were on the man. Lana stood before the stage and watched in horror. Keith didn't know what to do. He didn't know if he should run up to the man and grab Xander, or if he should wait. He kept looking back to Madame Nina to see what they should be doing but she remained still. She only watched in silence as if the scene playing before her meant nothing.
"Over here too!" a woman shouted holding onto Nico.
"And here," cried another as they held onto Nisha.
An uproar had overcome the tent. Many people were yelling and threatening the circus. They knew right away that they were behind the massive pick pocketing. Others cried out that it was scheme while a few called out for people to get the knights of the Royal Army. Lana collapsed down to the ground covering her ears. She was trying to control herself in her surroundings. Keith was aware of what was going on as he watched her panicking. He tried to go and help her but was stopped by Nicholas' cane.
"Can't you see she needs help!" he shouted.
"And can't you see that they do to. What are you going to do about that," Nicholas replied with a sly undertone in his voice.
On the stage Lana quickly muttered to herself over and over again. "Stop it, stop it, stop it," she kept saying to herself until finally she lost it. "STOP IT!" she shouted.
Everyone in the tent could feel a sudden shiver up their spines, including those in the wings. Keith peered out and saw that everyone in the audience had stopped moving. They all remained still and quiet. Quickly he and Lucas rushed out and gathered all of the recruits and pulled them back to the safety of the stage. As Keith ran past Lana, he saw a trickle of blood coming out of her nose. The sight was of a great deal of concern to him.
Madame Nina had rushed on stage and started to pull the girl. She was completely emotionless at the sight of what had happened. No one could figure out what caused the audience to fall silent and still. It didn't last long but the confused people stammered out of the tents and ended the show for the night.
In the wings, Lana had collapsed from exhaustion. Madame Nina had quickly brought her to the medical tent where Caroline would examine her. Keith wasn't far behind them after he and Lucas had gathered all of the recruits. He left them in Lucas' hands knowing that he was best at calming people down.
He followed Madame Nina quietly behind after her abrupt request for no one to follow her. Even Nicholas was forbidden to join them in the medical tent. This was a cause of suspicion which prompted Keith to disobey.
"What happened?" he could hear Caroline speak.
"It happened."
"It?"
"Yes, the true hidden power of the royal titans."
"Ok now you are just talking nonsense."
"She yelled out to the audience and they all obeyed."
"Really, she did that? So what you're telling me is that she has the full gift, the one from the legends?"
"Yes!"
"Ok great, now this is just one more power on our hands. What do you suppose we do now?"
"Train her, see how strong it can get. I can tell that this was her first time using it. I don't even believe that the poor child knew she had it."
"I see, so this is what happened to her. I wonder if she strained herself too much by using it. No matter, practice makes perfect I guess."
"This is beautiful. Now the future seems to be brighter with this one."
"Are you really sure that you want to go through with this?"
"What is hers will be mine."
He could hear Madame Nina pull apart the drapes of the entrance and make her exit. He remained silent as she passed controlling his breath in the process so that he would go unnoticed. He continued to listen in to hear if there was anything that Caroline would have to say.
"Poor thing. You have been through enough hell as it is. I can only imagine how dark the future is for you. I regret making this deal with her it was only with Uncle Neal, but it was for the sake of my own protection. I just hope that you will remain safe dear Lana. It won't be much longer now. Let's just hope you survive long enough for us to do it."
"Nicholas," he could hear Lana whisper.
It was at that moment that his world was shattered. He knew truly where her heart lied. He was horrified by the belief that he had lost her to the arrogant prick that was Nicholas. He got up from the ground and made a run for the main performing tent disregarding what he heard Caroline say. Lucas was still inside trying to keep the others calm after what they had been through. They were all quiet and keeping themselves warm as Keith came barging in.
"NICHOLAS YOU BASTARD!" He shouted.
Nicholas was standing before him unaware of what Keith had just heard. Keith had jumped onto Nicholas causing the two of them to fall to the ground. He was on top of Nicholas and grabbed a hold his collar. He threw punch after punch at his face in anger that he had lost the never ending rivalry that was between the two of them. The younger members screamed and started crying at the brutal display that was being shown in front of them. Lucas tried to talk Keith out of it but knew that there was no way of getting through to him. Nicholas only responded with laughter which caused Keith to stop.
With his fist still raised high in the air he stared at the bloodied Nicholas confused.
"What's so funny?"
"Why you of course. Have you finally come to terms as to what is going on around you? I mean look at you! You really thought that you stood a chance? There was no way in hell that she was ever going to go for a guy like you. And don't even get me started on the little secret sessions you two were having for a while there."
Keith dropped his fist and listened.
"You think that you are this all great performer and teacher, but in reality you are nothing. You are nothing but the poor son of the sick twisted assassins. Admit it, you take joy and pride in the work and the legacy of your parents each time we go out."
"That's enough Nicholas," Lucas shouted.
Nicholas pushed Keith off of him and continued to speak.
"You come into the circus all moody and sad when your life is all of sudden turned around by the ray of sunshine. Then things went all crazy when a girl came. You started acting all defensive and moody again the minute I got involved. Your petty behaviour had actually drove Lana towards me. I win Keith. I win."
"Nicholas!" Lucas shouted.
"No Lucas, he's right," Keith replied quietly.
"That's right big shot, I'm always right," Nicholas said walking away.
Later that night, Keith was alone in his tent. He was reflecting on the words that Nicholas had said to him. The blood on his knuckles were proof that things were not the same and that they never would be.
When he first joined the circus, he vowed that he would never take part in any crimes. However with the latest changes to the circus he was ordered to proceed in the dastardly actions again. It was his duty to fulfill.
With Lucas acting as his sanity, he was almost granted a somewhat normal lifestyle. He wasn't as angry and didn't take things seriously. He lived a carefree life no matter what. Then she had arrived as a part of his life. She was fragile and scared which reminded Keith of himself during the darker times before Lucas. It hurt him knowing the things that she had been through. He vowed to himself that he would keep her safe no matter what it took without realizing that it was costing him his friendships.
He had become distant from the others. He was angrier and even resulted in lashing out at poor Felix at times. It was his job to be a teacher, a form of guidance for the next coming generation of performers. He began to think that he was unfit for the job in his current condition. Every word that Nicholas had stated was correct. He was a pathetic pitiful being with nothing to live for.
"Keith are you still awake," came the sweet voice of Caroline.
He greeted her at the entrance trying to wipe away and tears that may have formed.
"Lana wants to be with you if that's alright. Her condition has improved, but she will still be resting in the medical tent for the night."
Keith eagerly went to see her. When he arrived, he saw her lying in the bed of the medical tent with the warm covers over her.
"There you are. I was wondering when you'd be showing up."
"Sorry that I wasn't really there for you."
"What are you talking about?" she asked sitting up.
"For when you collapsed. I should have been there."
"Don't worry about me. In fact I'm more worried about you. You've been acting up. Look if you have something to say then say it. Remember no secrets between partners."
He looked up at her with a bit of hope in her eyes.
"Lana, I've been meaning to ask you. Do you have feelings for Nicholas?"
"FEELINGS! Oh geez, maybe I don't know it's really hard to say. I mean we have kissed a couple of times before, but I don't know it's awkward a bit. Is that really what you wanted to know?"
His heart sank once more, "Yeah it is."
"You know Keith, I'm really glad that you're here. It means a lot to me. And just having you be so concerned for my wellbeing and everything makes me feel kind of like a sister. I mean all of the stuff we have been though and all of the things you've taught me. You are always looking out for me. It's really nice to have someone like you in my life."
"I'm glad that you're in my life too," he replied with a hurtful smile.
Keith spent the night at Lana's side. He was hurt and held onto a lot of resentment, but he still managed to sleep. He felt that if he were to continue this never ending pursuit, then he would surely drive himself crazy. It was time for him to let go and live their lives as they should.