The Circus of Shadows

Chapter Three: Faded

Eliza swiftly led him out of the maze. It was almost as if the environment were bending to her will. It made Richard doubt the entire tangibility of the maze. Had it all been an illusion? Richard shook the thought off. Eliza led him straight outside into the packed circus. Instantly, Richard's eyes found Artemis, Wally, and M'gann standing near the exit; arms folded, looking worried. "Hang on," he called after Eliza as he ran over to his friends.

"I've tried establishing the mental link again but I just can't get through to him…wherever he is, he's under some kind of mental block. This isn't good," M'gann was saying, just as Richard ran up to them. "Hey, listen, something came up, but I promise I'll be okay; it'll just take a few minutes-". It took him a few seconds to realize no one was paying attention to him. They were all continuing their conversation. There was a sharp pain in his arm as Eliza's pointed fingernails dug into his skin. She yanked him away from the group.

"Y'know, you're making it extremely hard to keep my veil over them. Interacting with them isn't helping. If someone's alerted to you and I's presence here tonight, everything falls through. You'll never see her again," Eliza said with venom in her voice.

Richard swallowed dryly. Things had to be serious, and it was time for him to be serious too. This situation was deeper than he thought. He just wished he had his suit. His escrima sticks. His mask. Going into this blind was one thing, not being prepared for it was another. He felt…unprepared. Anything could happen here.

Eliza still had a sharp hold on his arm as they moved towards the main circus tent. Would Samantha be inside…? Why was she even involved in a circus in the first place? He shook the thought off and silently hoped that Eliza would provide him with some answers.

As they passed, Richard noticed a massive banner that was being put up outside the tent headlining the main event for the evening:

"Tara Blake: The Flame Dancer!

One Performance Only!

Come Marvel As She Defies Nature!"

On the black, white, and orange banner was a portrait of a woman who couldn't have been much younger than Richard- she was beautiful, too. Dirty blonde hair curled and flowed to the bottom of her spine, and complimented her bronzed skin. She had the physique of an acrobat, and a face with a brilliant smile and sea-green eyes that brought life to the banner. It had been the first indication of what layed inside of a circus tent that he had seen upon his arrival earlier that evening. But something about the banner stuck out to him.

In Tara's hand was a flame. Her fingers were curled around the ball of fire just as Samantha did when she did the same with her own powers. Was it possible that there were more people out there like her? The same genome existed, but in others?

"Could you possibly walk any slower?" Eliza called out after him. Richard realized that he had lingered too long on the banner. "Sorry…I was just…looking," he said apologetically as he chased after her. Despite the crowds upon crowds of people flowing into the tent, people seemed to stay at least four or so feet away from Eliza and he at all times. It was as if they were in a bubble of sorts. "We're on a schedule, Grayson; and trust me. You'll see soon enough."

She took off into the tent, her deep purple cloak billowing after her. All Richard had for guidance was the purple hood she still wore over her head. "Could you possibly run any faster?!" He mocked after her as he entered the tent.

What he had seen upon his first inspection of the circus was a skeleton compared to this. It sent shivers down his spine. The entire tent was filled to the brim with people sitting in the stands that reached to unbelievable heights. The tent almost seemed to be bigger on the inside. On the circus floor was the main ring.

On one side was a massive rope net, and above it, trapezes and a tightrope, with several landing platforms. It was like home…but darker. On the other side were platforms and trampolines used for gymnast tricks. Off to the side of the ring were several sticks with white ends that Richard recognized to be the ones that were used for flame twirling.

It was then he realized that his reminiscing was getting in the way of the task at hand. He glanced up to see a frustrated Eliza looking at him from a ways across the tent. She gestured for him to hurry as she took off again. With a heavy sigh, he bolted after her through the dense crowd that seemed to mindlessly avoid him.

Eliza took a seat in the front row and gestured for him to sit next to her. Once he did, the pair remained silent. Richard finally decided that it was time for answers.

"Who are you? Because you're not the same Eliza as before." He said.

Eliza sighed, as if she knew this question was going to come eventually.

"I can't tell this story when it's this loud around us," she began. Richard was about to propose another meeting somewhere more private when she laid a hand on his own. Immediately, silence filled his ears. Everyone around them still bustled to and fro- mouths were moving, but nothing was coming out of them. You could hear a pin drop in the midst of a crazy busy circus. Slowly, Richard noticed his vision beginning to blur and fade. The only clear things he could see was himself, the bench they sat on, and Eliza. She took her hand off of him.

"Don't get too excited. The Veil works better with a physical connection, although I'm quite good at veiling people from a distance. It's more difficult, but its still possible. I'm just lazy sometimes. It was a bitch getting that maze to work the way I wanted to earlier… Now that I can actually focus, what do you want to know?" Finally, Eliza pulled back the purple hood that had been draped over her, revealing a blonde head with a deep purple streak in the side, and green eyes. Only slight physical features had changed about her, but for the most part, she still appeared to be the girl he had seen at Samantha's funeral.

"Start from when Sam went missing."

She sighed in preparation for the story she was about to tell.

"After Sam went missing, I decided to take a semester off from Gotham U. I was too distraught. I couldn't focus. I knew she was still out there. I just had…a feeling. I ended up going back home and taking a break. Then, all hell broke loose when the League announced that the Reach drink was giving people strange powers. I had drank the stuff as much as Sam did. If she had powers, I knew there was a chance I maybe had something too. So, I answered the call and went to Star Labs in Gotham to be tested. The scientists said no genome was detected…When in all reality, I was the one manipulating their minds to make them think I had nothing. I had everything. On my own time, I learned I could get into people's heads; change what they see, what they think, and what they feel. I could bend the reality around them into hallucinations and illusions. I was scared at first…it was too much power."

Richard gave a heavy sigh. That was how Sam had felt at first. He also felt slightly stupid for not considering the fact that Sam's roommate may have developed a powerful genome as well. From what Eliza was conveying, her power was extremely strong, and easily abused.

"But then, I learned. I grew stronger. I became a vigilante under the name Pathmaker. I cleared the streets, all the while searching through minds for anyone who had any trace of Samantha. No luck," Eliza continued. Richard interjected.

"I never saw anything about you on the news, or through my sources- I know when a new vigilante comes to Goth- ohhhh. I see," Richard said. Eliza had been clearing memory as she'd been searching them.

"There you go, Dick. Now you see. This went on for months, me looking for her…Until her funeral. It hit me hard, when I got that phone call. It hit me harder that I wasn't allowed to know what happened to her. But I knew I'd get answers soon. When I went to the funeral, I saw you. I've known Samantha my whole life, and I knew you and her were tight back in school. But something about you was…calling to me. You acted a way during the funeral that no one else was. Like you knew the truth. I'm sorry to say, but I looked into your mind. I saw it all. Sam. Her powers. Nightwing. The Light, The Reach- all of it. I knew you in a blink of an eye. This is why I trust you with all of this today, because I know you can help me get her back."

Richard nodded in acknowledgement. "Okay, but that still doesn't explain how you know she's in this circus."

Eliza looked down at her shuffling feet. Richard noticed she was wearing green converse. "Let's just say Sam wasn't the only one who ran away to join the circus."

Just as Richard was about to ask for further detail, the crowd around them came back into focus. The volume returned, blasting his ears due to the sudden volume change. "It's starting!" Eliza shouted over the crowd.

A ringleader appeared and began with an introduction of the night's performer: Tara Blake. As he announced her name, a spotlight appeared on one of the trapeze platforms, revealing the girl from the posters. She held an unlit fire stick in her hand. She leapt from platform to trapeze and back again, with absolute grace. She would have fit in just fine at Haly's Circus.

Her hand grazed the surface of the fire stick, setting it aflame instantly. The crowd cheered. She performed leaps and bounds all the while balancing this flame carefully in her hands, with her feet, and even balancing it on her stomach. She was incredible.

Then came the fire.

Purposely, Tara dropped the fire stick into the net below, casting it ablaze. The hair on the back of Richard's neck stood on end. This was the final act. "Just keep watching," Eliza said softly.

From the tightrope above, Tara Blake gave a short bow. Tara then jumped from the tightrope and into the flames below. The crowd went from a roaring cheer, to an odd, worried silence. Minutes seemed to tick by.

From the net of fire, an enormous phoenix erupted from the flames and soared into the sky. Richard had only seen that phoenix once before, and it was the exact same.

The flaming bird dissipated when it reached the tightrope, revealing Tara standing on the rope once more. The crowd stood and applauded the trick as Richard stood at the floor, his hands balled into fists. None of this made sense.

The lights faded out.