Time goes by as Keith began to become more and more at ease. The heartbreak he had faced before was starting to disappear. He had finally come to terms with what was at hand. His personality become more like it was before, carefree and often spontaneous. Under specific circumstances he was more focused than he had ever been in a while. There was no full explanation as to what had come over him to revert him back to his normal self, but having everything thrown out on the table for him had enabled him to draw his attention to more important matters. It was his duty to take part in the wellbeing of the circus and make sure that Felix was well trained so that he too can one day become a top tier performer.
Although as the time had passed, the underlying hatred of Nicholas still remained. He still considered Nicholas to be a close ally and an asset to the group, but he still couldn't let go of the fact that Nicholas can be unpredictable. On the surface of things, it had appeared that Keith was the most to change when Lana first joined the troupe, but what was underneath was the lurking shadow of the sly fox. Nicholas had become cocky and more enveloped in himself than ever before. Since Lana had given him more attention, he had become full of himself in a way. As if he were the king of a castle. This form of arrogance had created a fire within Keith.
Something within him didn't feel right. He felt that Lana was in some form of trap. All he wanted to do was protect her still even though he knew that the feelings wouldn't be mutual. He understood that Lana trusted Nicholas to no end and it was her trust in him that may very well be her downfall. Nicholas had always appeared to be a trickster of some sort to get his way in any way or form. Keith feared that if something were to happen involving Lana and Nicholas, then problems would arise.
What mattered most at the time, was the overall respect that Keith needed to have with Nicholas. Keith needed to put down his own thoughts and feelings for the sake of the others. Even though grudges were created, he needed to maintain his focus. In doing so he had begun to keep himself around Lucas just as he had before. Lucas was his rock and sanity who helped keep him in his right set of mind.
The two were killing time with each other near the main tents. There wasn't anything planned for the day nor was there much to do. All they were doing was playing a card game that Neal had taught them long ago. As they were playing their game, Keith couldn't help but to bring up Nicholas once more.
"I saw Nicholas with Lana the other day."
"Would you just let it go already? Your jealousy is driving me crazy!"
"The guys said that he would pretty much do anything to get his way no matter what it was. What if something happens?"
"And what do you suppose you'll do if something does happen?"
Keith was quiet at first as he laid down a card.
"I'd kill him."
"WOAH!" Lucas yelled in response dropping all of his cards on a crate. "Where is this coming from? I knew that you two didn't exactly get along but this is insane!"
"We only get along because we have to. We are the special group after all. In the end I don't exactly care for him and his arrogant behaviour. The guy is crazy, I mean even I'm scared of what he could do next."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, just the other day he got so pissed off at Xander that he threatened to throw him out of the circus."
"Can he do that?"
"Beats me, but who's not to say that he won't go crying to Nina and make it happen."
"Mama's boy."
"Exactly, that's how he is able to have all of this power."
"So you'd really kill him if you had a valid reason to?"
"Yeah I would."
The idea of killing Nicholas was not the first time that it had crossed his mind. When he had first joined the circus, he had gotten into a quarrel and was not hesitant to strike him down. Keith was stopped by those around them and was almost kicked out of the circus. After that moment, bullying and torment followed. Each day that Nicholas got into Keith's face is a reminder that he once had that chance and almost had it. However as those days come and go, he is also reminded of the type of life he wanted to leave behind. He didn't want to be a known as a killer and yet that's what he was thinking of becoming. The idea of killing Nicholas would make him even more of a murder than he already was. Each time the blood had been spilled was a job, but killing Nicholas was something else entirely. This was for his own desire and deep down inside, he was unsure of if he would be capable of doing it.
The more Keith had thought about it, the more he wondered what would happen if he really did kill him. He wondered what the others would think. There would be no hope for him remaining in the circus. Where he would go was entirely up to him, he was still a kid so his options would be slim. He began to further think about if killing him was even worth it to begin with. Nicholas would be dead, and then what would he do. How would he proceed from then on?
Keith was wandering through the grounds in search of Felix. It was time for their training practice. He walked through the light snow that had fallen on the ground ensuring that he kept his eyes out for any ice. Lana was with Felix as the two were trying to stay warm. She invited him into her tent to read some of the books that she had been studying.
As the time went on, Lana had become more enthralled in history. Sharing it with someone was something she highly enjoyed. It enabled her to get her thoughts together more clearly than before. As Keith entered, he saw her sitting on the bed with Felix on the ground eagerly listening to every word that she had to say.
"Burying your nose into another book I see," Keith proclaimed upon entry.
Lana looked up from her book and happily greeted him with her usual kind smile. Felix did the same and got up from the ground.
"You know me, I just can't really go a day without reading through the books."
"I swear you must have read some of these books at least three times or more."
"I just don't want to miss anything. Anything can be some sort of clue."
"You really are something aren't yeah."
"Get out of here," she said with a grin on her face.
Keith and Felix left her alone to be trapped in her work and headed towards an open area. Keith had once again set up a target at a far distance away from Felix. He pulled out a white cloth from his pocket and calmly approached him. Felix was very unsure as to what was going on but didn't bother asking any questions. Keith gently covered Felix's eyes with the cloth and made sure that he was unable to see at all.
"You want me to throw these knives without seeing where I am throwing them?" Felix questioned looking around to try and figure out where Keith was standing.
"Exactly. You need to be able to improve your range and abilities if you ever plan on reaching my level of expertise. Just be thankful that you didn't have to go through the training that I did."
Felix lifted a piece of the cloth to see where Keith was, "You're training?"
"I had to figure out how to do this stunt on my own. No one was around to help me."
"What do you mean, I thought the old ringmaster was your teacher?"
Keith lowered his head in respect, "He had passed before I was able to pick up on anything else," he lifted his head, "but you are in luck because I am here to teach you."
Keith pulled the cloth down and grabbed a hold of Felix's hand. He gently placed a knife in his palm and stepped back away from him. He knew from his own experience that throwing knives while blindfolded was entirely different than throwing them normally. Without the line of sight, you needed to rely on your other senses to be able to determine where you need to throw and verify when it was safe to throw.
In the past months Felix had become quite skilled at throwing knives. He learned the skill at a slower rate than Lana had, but had still progressed tremendously since his arrival at the circus. Keith was confident that Felix will succeed in achieving this stunt.
He watched as Felix prepared himself and stood in his normal stance. With his arms folded, Keith watched in silence and let Felix try and figure it out himself. Felix took a few minutes to himself to try and figure out where to direct his body. With a nervous effort, he threw the knife straight ahead. Keith watched as the knife nearly hit the target. He expected this much at the level Felix was at now. He didn't think that he would hit the target on the first try. However little to Keith's knowledge, Felix had already grabbed a new knife. His response was faster and he managed to hit the target.
"Impressive. I knew you wouldn't be able to get it on you first try. But on the second try, even I couldn't do that."
Felix lifted his blind fold and smiled at him.
"Just next time make sure you know what is going on in your surroundings before you throw a knife. What if I happened to be standing in your line when you threw it?"
Realizing his mistake Felix apologized for his actions, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to. I just thought that maybe if I kept going then maybe I would get it."
"It's fine, but how did you know the knives where right next to you anyways?"
"I heard them rattle when you put them down, and I figured it would be safe to throw a second knife because I didn't hear the rustling of your shoes."
Keith was amazed by the natural talent that Felix had. He never would have thought that Felix would be able to pick out his surrounding that quickly by using nothing but his sense of hearing.
As Keith continued to instruct Felix, Nicholas appeared on the scene with Jack. Keith tried to ignore them the best that he could and continued on with his training session. However, Nicholas had other plans in mind. He had grabbed the little bit of snow that was on the ground and packed it together to form a ball. With the snowball, he aimed for Keith's head and made his throw. The cold snow hit Keith along the side of the head.
"What the hell Nick!"
"What, I'm just trying to have a little fun," he said with a sarcastic tone.
"And I'm trying to have a training session with Felix so beat it."
"Oh come on, don't tell me that you're no fun and all work."
"Nicholas go be a dick somewhere else."
"What was that?" Nicholas shouted grabbed more snow.
"Keith don't," whispered Felix.
"I said, go be a dick somewhere else."
"You really are asking for it aren't you?" Nicholas replied forming another snowball.
"Look I'm always tired of you picking on me, I just want you to leave me alone."
"And I thought we were friends."
"Tch."
Nicholas threw another snowball at Keith. Felix ducked out of the way of the splatter as Keith blocked the ball from hitting his face. He wiped off the little bit of snow off of his face as he began to grow angrier by the second. Nicholas wasn't hesitant to throw another snowball at him. Felix ran to get someone else to try and stop the two. Keith tried to control himself but was beginning to lose patience.
"Little Keith, when are you going to learn."
"Learn what exactly."
"That you will never win anything. I mean just look at you."
"That's enough!" he shouted and charged at him.
Keith went in to punch Nicholas in the face but missed. Nicholas dodged the attack and kicked him in the stomach. Keith landed on the cold icy ground hard with the wind knocked out of him. He regained himself and got up to try again. This time when his swing missed he was prepared for the attack. He dodged the kick and went in for a second strike. The two kept attacking each other as Jack did nothing to stop them. He stood by and watched as the two boys were scrambling at each other kicking and yelling. Even Nicholas got into the fight and become more serious when he realized what Keith was capable of. At this time, Keith was not afraid of holding back.
As the two of them were fighting, Felix had ran and grabbed Lana. He figured that she would be the best option to separate the two. When they arrived she immediately ran to them to try and pull one off of the other. In her efforts to talk them out of the fight, Nicholas had landed a punch to Lana's face. The blow was enough to knock her back onto the ground. Once he realized what he had done, he had stopped fending off Keith and ran straight to her.
"Look at what you made me do you idiot!"
"I didn't make you do that, you did it all on your own."
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" she shouted adjusting her nose to heal. "What the hell is going on between the two of you? You are brothers for crying out loud now act like it!"
"But he is an asshole!" Keith yelled.
"This coming from a smartass," Nicholas replied.
"Enough!" she shouted again.
"Just think about everything the two of you have been through together. For crying out loud, wasn't Nicholas the one who found you Keith?"
"Yeah," he responded quietly.
"And Nicholas, wasn't it Keith who stopped you from getting spotted by knights after a heist?"
"Maybe," Nicholas replied and looked away.
"Both of you have been working side by side together, it's a shame to throw everything the two of you have worked so hard for. Just think about the circus and the troupe. Your selfish behaviours are really what the problem is. Now knock it off!"
"What is the meaning of this!" came the bellowing voice of Madame Nina.
After a short explanation of what was going on Madame Nina was very upset with the two of them. However, with Nicholas considered as a dear son of hers she treated his punishment lightly. He was in charge of tidying up the stage and making sure the equipment was in peak shape for the next performance. Keith on the other hand was in charge of heading out in the cold weather to obtain rations for the next few days.
Lana decided to tag along with Keith and make sure that everything was alright with him. She didn't care too much over Nicholas' actions believing that he was the one who had initiated the fight. They dressed as warmly as they could and made their way to purchase the food.
As they walked Lana tried to speak with Keith on the matters. Although he was reluctant to say anything at first, he knew that there was no way he would be able to not get away with maintaining silence.
"Keith, I now that you and Nicholas never really get along."
"So what."
"It's becoming a problem. Even more so than usual. Most of the times I just look past it and let everything blow over, but this time I just can't." She stopped in her tracks and grabbed Keith's shoulders. "You need to understand that sometimes things just aren't worth it. You have to think of yourself and those around you. Getting into these petty arguments with Nicholas is just feeding the fire. He lives and breathes off of the aggravation of others. Trust me you aren't the only one, I've seen him do it to some of the other members."
"That ass!"
"That right there is what I'm talking about. Yes he can be arrogant and sometimes an idiot. But understand that he is also trying his best to maintain order. He is structured person who is trying to take on the sole responsibility of the circus. He means well and sometimes just reacting in that sort of way as earlier is exactly what he wants. If you just try and let things go, then maybe he'd leave you alone."
Keith tried to trust Lana's advice but was finding it hard to be able to let some of the things Nicholas has done go. However, what remained the fact was that one day Nicholas may very well become the owner of the Sidonia Circus. If that were to happen, was it worth it for him to stay, he thought to himself. He remembered the good times he shared with the others. In the end, the arrogance of one person was outweighed by the overwhelming compassion from others. The troupe was his family no matter what.
As the two were walking down the street they went to various shops. They picked out exactly what they were looking for and decided it was best for them to head back before it got too dark. As they were walking back to the grounds with full baskets they were cheerfully talking with one another. Keith's mood had completely flipped thanks to the help of Lana.
When the two walked around the corner two men and one woman grabbed a hold of Lana. She stumbled losing her grip on the basket. The two were completely caught off guard by the people and were not fast enough to react. The three people began to tie Lana up with ropes as one of them was prepared for what Keith may do.
"Turn Lana!" he shouted recognizing the people standing before him.
She screamed out for him as he tried to fend off one of the men. Lana was panicking too much to be able to fully focus on transforming. She struggled to get out of the grips and make a run for it as Keith was struggling with the man to rescue her.
Keith fought off the man but failed. The man before him was too strong for him to handle and with the ice on the ground, he was unable to land a direct hit. At this time Keith was unarmed and had left all of his knives at the grounds. The man punched Keith which caused him to crash into some barrels. He had injured his ankle in the process as he watched Lana continuing to struggle.
When Lana saw Keith was injured her fear for both of their safety began to rise. She wanted nothing more than to escape and be able to get out of the situation that they were in. She didn't want to end up like her parents and disappear forever. In her struggle, a gust of wind surrounded her. Keith watched the incredible transformation take form in front of him. He had never seen her transform ever before in the couple of years since he had known her. Her fear had resulted in her instincts fully taking over like they had done so before.
She transformed herself into a large monster like creature standing at a height of seven meters tall. Those in the area began to run at the sight of her. Lana did nothing but grab a hold of Keith and ran. She ran as fast as she could with Keith cradled in her arms just to get away from those people.
When she stopped running she quickly reverted back to her normal self and collapsed on the ground. Keith was still in slight pain from his injury as those near the entrance of the grounds helped both of them to the medical tent. Keith only suffered from a minor sprain as Lana was only tired from exhaustion. She sat in a bed as Keith was being treated. News had gotten around as to what had happened which prompted Lucas to verify that they both were ok.
Lucas came running into the tent frantically wanting to see for himself that they were ok.
"I'm so glad you are both alright," he said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, it was thanks to Lana's incredible ability that saved both of us."
"It was the Hunters wasn't it?" Lucas proclaimed.
It had become an agreement between everyone to hide the Crovus Clan's involvement with the circus from Lana. They didn't want her to think that they were harboring her for her powers. They referred to them as Hunters around her just as she had called them as a child.
"Yeah, they caught us off guard this time. All other times we at least saw them before they came after us, but now it seems like they're getting smarter," Keith replied as Caroline finished the bandage around his foot. "Thank you Lana, I owe you one. There is no telling what could have happened to me if you hadn't gotten us out of there."
"Yeah, but they are still here."
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure everything will be fine. Especially when you have us two!" Keith proclaimed gesturing towards Lucas.
Lana nervously smiled as Nicholas rushed into the tent. He nodded to Keith to acknowledge a form of concern that he had. Keith responded with a nod back as a way of saying everything was fine. However, what Nicholas was really there for was to make sure that Lana was really ok. He helped her out of the medical tent and brought her to her own bed. Caroline left Lucas and Keith alone in the tent and made her way to have some dinner.
"These guys are starting to get on my nerves. You were right all along Keith" Lucas stated.
"You're telling me. It seems like there are starting to become more frequent with each town we stay in. It's starting to get harder to pin point them from the general public."
"So what do you think we should do?"
"I have an idea, and you may not like it."
"Go on?"
Keith proposed the idea of repaying his debt with Lana. He knew that the ones that they confronted may not be the only ones present in town. He had finally had enough of everything. He wanted to prove a point to them once and for all. He suggested hunting down the group and killing them. At least the ones who had attacked them. Lucas was shocked by the idea and argued with Keith.
"Keith, I thought you didn't want to murder. I know how you feel even when it is a job."
"I know where you're going with this Lucas and I understand. Yes I don't like the idea of murdering people, but remember I am an assassin first. I always have and I always will be. I will live by the code and when the code is broken I will abide by my duties and do what must be done. Why do you think I was brought into this little special squad of Nina's? It wasn't because I was some charming little boy. It was because of what I am capable of and who I'm connected to."
"But still you are killing someone, don't tell me you actually take joy out of it!"
"To be honest Lucas I do. The idea of taking someone like them off of the street is fulfilling. To continue on using a skill that was taught to me by my parents is rewarding. Like keeping the legacy of them alive. Killing innocent people is where I draw the line, but think of our line of work. These people aren't innocent, and neither are we. Especially when you cross the line and try and hurt one of our own. Now are you with me or not?"
Lucas stared hard at Keith's cold eyes.
"For the sake of our family, I will always be with you. Even if it means killing everyone one of those bastards that try to cross us. Nobody messes with Sidonia!"
That night, Keith and Lucas headed back into the town in search of those who had attacked them earlier. Due to his injury Keith was forced to be carried on Lucas' back. Over the last few months he had grown larger and was unable to sit upon his shoulders like he used to. Keith was normally known as a fast healer, however with what was going on in his mind, it was understandable that he needed the support.
They lurked within the shadows in search for the Crovus Clan members. Keith listened closely to see if he could make out any sounds or voices that may be remotely similar to what he had heard earlier. It didn't take him very long to make out the voice of the female.
They approached a tavern and hid within the alley as the three people were standing near the entrance. They were intoxicated from a failed attempt at Lana and were trying to drown their failure. Keith and Lucas awaited for an opportunity to strike.
"Put me down," Keith quietly whispered in Lucas' ear.
"Are you insane?"
"I'll be fine."
Lucas responded and gently lowered Keith to the ground. Keith crouched down low and made himself more hidden within the shadows. They waited quietly as the group decided to head back to wherever they were staying for the night. As they were walking past the alley the two jumped and each grabbed a target closest to them. They dragged them into the shadows as the third person went in after their attackers.
Keith quickly threw one of his knives at the third person striking their throat. They didn't have a chance to scream or yell before they had met their doom. With blood pouring out, they collapsed down to the ground and tried to gasp for air.
Lucas used one of Keith's knives and stabbed at the chest of the woman. He made sure to close his eyes to not see her as she died. When her body was motionless he pulled the knife out. Meanwhile, the man Keith was with was struggling to try and get away. Keith and firmly planted himself on top of the man and raised his knife up high.
"No one messes with me and the members of Sidonia," he proclaimed as he stabbed the man in the chest.
With his eyes wide, the man soon became lifeless. Keith covered himself up with a cloak as he and Lucas began to make their way out of the alley and away from the dark scene. No news was reported the following morning which indicated that someone from either the Underground community had located the bodies first, or even other clan members themselves had found their dead members. Neither one of the groups would want to be noticed and therefore would want to cover up the scene and keep out of sight of others. As per the usual, Keith and Lucas had gotten away with it without any problems.
Keith arrived at Lana's tent that following morning. She was reading one of her books on a fairy tale as he entered.
"You don't have to worry about those Hunters in this town anymore."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Just don't worry about it."
"Keith."
"Don't worry about it," he replied leaving her in the tent.
He didn't want to inform her of what had happened but wanted to reassure her that she was going to be safe again. However, when the troupe moves on to the next town it was going to be the same story. Keith wondered if he would be able to repeat the same stunt that he had done the previous night. If he were to keep up with his actions, then soon there would be none of the clan members left to go after Lana. Lana would be truly safe if he were to be able to accomplish that, at least that's what he wanted to believe.