Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the reviews you guys are giving me. Honest.
You know how in shows, when you reach an epiphany or something that ruins your day and then a convenient event occurs of which your companions manage to cheer you up and stuff?
Well I was having one of those moments, or maybe I was starting to have one of those moments- I'm not sure because I was in such a pissy mood as En and Auguston dragged me through Crocas trying to find us a last minute job request to do that I couldn't even think properly.
"I want to go back to the hotel," I muttered under my breath as En literally dragged me around like a potato sack as he went stall to stall asking if anyone needed any help. From the distance, I could hear the faint echo of cheers coming from the direction of the Domus Flau. Or maybe that was just the laci-visions floating around that broadcasted the games.
Auguston had put a hand over my eyes and ears before the host could announce who Sting and Rogue would be facing, even though I knew it was blatantly obvious.
"You are not going to mope around while we're on our first job in like five years," he said bluntly as he helped En push me along, I punched him in the gut before he could make another comment.
"En. No one's going to need help," I said even though I knew he wouldn't pay attention to whatever came out of my mouth. He was still asking around when one lady operating a small flower stall pointed us to the direction of one group of troubled circus performers.
He smirked in victory and I scowled as he all but sprinted towards them, which probably wasn't a wise choice because the moment we were within hearing range, the two troubled circus performers got into a screaming match.
"What do you mean we shouldn't perform anymore?!" Said one guy in striped leotards as he grabbed the collar of this other guy I would now dub Bulky.
"Our beast-tamer is sick and one of our acrobats injured," He growled and then in a small voice added, "and my arm hurts…"
"Well the show must go on, right!" Leotards screamed desperately in Bulky's face. "Come on, it's only two-"
"three!" The guy I assumed would be the snake charmer added almost cutely before shrinking back into his spot next to a pair of twins.
"threeacts we can't do. You can have cake without frosting, 'ight?" Leotards sounded like he was almost about to cry. Auguston and I swapped looks while En looked all the more happyas he all but jumped out of our spot behind a pole, performed a whole gymnastics routine and squished in between Leotards and Bulky.
"Me and my friends can help!" He squealed happily, flashing Leotards a sparkly smile and nudged his head towards Auguston and I who were still hiding awkwardly behind a pole that wouldn't even hide us anyway. I was almost too annoyed to realize his voice cracked a bit, "we're mages!"
They were all staring at the brunette with wide eyes before Leotards finally backed away in surprise, dropping Bulky as he started laughing.
"Mages? Mages! Sorry buddy, but we're a normal people's circus; we'd have to be really desperate to-"
"Shut up, Kelsey. This is perfect!" Leotards cut him off quickly, his eyes already sparkling with new ideas. "Our little circus needed a little more sauceto it anyway!"
En didn't seem to notice the odd way Leotards expressed himself but Auguston and I did and what went through my mind as I watched En carry a conversation with him wasn't pleasant.
"Krued, I want to go back…" I pleaded quietly as I shivered under the glance of the snake charmer and the twins, "noww"
"C'mon, Lilian. It can't be that bad…" He leaned back towards me and whispered into my ear, maybe a little bit too loud because I realized the moment he said my name, the snake charmer's eyes sparkled just like Leotard's as he squealed in an unruly high pitched voice,
"Lilian? As in Lilian Evan? You're Lilian Evan?!" He appeared in front of me and I stared at Snakey uncomfortably.
"The one and only…"
"Wait then you must be En Zato!" Bulky Kelsey shouted all of a sudden, pointing at En with wide eyes before redirecting his shock at Auguston, "and you're that famous Acting Lieutenant Colonel guy!"
"and they're all L'arc Sibyl mages. Wow, Kelsey. Weren't you listening when he introduced him and his friends to us like two seconds ago? Way to dip your donut in the chocolate!" Leotards rolled his eyes like what he just said was something you'd hear every day.
"Aren't you supposed to be participating in the Grand Magic Games, though?" Kelsey asked, ignoring Leotards.
"No one would miss us," Auguston shrugged as I pulled his sleeve in horror.
"Besides, if we help you, our guild will get good publicity while you get to perform all your acts and get show stopper Lilian Evan to host!" En quirked his eyebrow suggestively at Leotards and Snakey, "so how about it?"
"Wow, the way you put it sounds as good as a triple flavored ice cream sundae!" Leotards muttered as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Again, I shivered a bit at his odd word choices.
"With sprinkles." En added without missing a beat, making himself as stupid as Leotards, "so deal?"
No deal. No deal. No deal. No deal.
"Deal!"
Noooo!
"En! Are you crazy?!" I screamed in horror after the circus performers left us alone after briefing us on what roles we would take- which really was just Leotards telling us to go with the chocolate stream. Whatever that meant.
We had maybe one practice with the whole circus before they had to open and really, my mind was too clouded to even pay attention to most of the acts they had because Snakey was too busy giving me cue cards and pointing to random people whilst giving me the most silliest names that I never could've remembered.
The freaking archer ignored me like always as he tested out the somewhat extravagant looking bow they had gave him to perform with. He looked somewhat doubtful as he pulled the string curiously and summoned an arrow and aimed it right by the door just as Auguston entered the room wearing one of the outfits they had given us.
"Shut up, Lilian." He said immediately when he noticed me staring and pulled the small vest down to cover his chest shyly, slouching against a random chair, muttering a horrid, "I will never get to live this down with the regiment."
"C'mon, it's our first job in forever!" En said cheerfully as he put the bow down and examined the arrows, "it'll be fun."
He said this all the while bonking me on the head with the crappy arrow bomb Leotards had given him which got me to glare at him madly as he pulled one apart and stared as the confetti trapped inside it spewed out onto the floor.
"Yeah, fun." I repeated sarcastically and crossed my arms, staring unimpressed at the mess En had made on the floor, "you're cleaning that up."
En flashed me a quick glare before bonking me with another arrow bomb, "I don't need your sass, Lilian. It will be fun."
"Yeah as fun as a kindergarten graduation party," I snorted and pointed at the confetti mess, "this just screams fun."
En looked like he was about to punch me, to which I buckled my knees and got ready to pounce at him angrily when all of a sudden I felt my head knocking against En's with a loud thump. A single hand kept my now aching head from moving as Krued muttered in disbelief beside us, "Not even a week and you two are already butting heads?!"
"She started it," the marksman muttered stubbornly and I kicked him in response.
The little spat didn't go as far as just that because Krued pulled us together again, crashing our foreheads almost a bit too violently. We groaned in pain as the older male went enter colonel mode and made us apologize. To which we did reluctantly.
"Good, now En clean this up and Lilian, be glad we even dragged you out of the Domus Flau." He said in a motherly tone. I scoffed at him as En sulked and went to grab a broom. Glad? Why would I be glad? I didn't even want to leave- "and don't lie to yourself. We both know you would've broke."
I took a step back then, staring at him in shock before what he said finally set into place in my mind.
Auguston was one of the four people who last saw Lily Harvard before she 'died' and he was also apparently one of the few who Master Apollon entrusted with the information of Project Orelohr. He was also the one who dropped her off in the middle of some random street in a bunny costume, mistaking her for some prostitute despite her guild mark. Obviously, he knew more than he let on.
"C'mon, Lilian. Don't act stupid with me. We all noticed Alex confronting you," He crossed his arms with a frown. Examining me in silence and when he finally decided I wasn't going to answer in favor of not looking at him stubbornly. He sighed and grabbed my shoulders in an attempt to comfort me, "Lilian. You need to understand we'rethe ones here for you now. And we're not going anywhere."
I felt my heart plummet at that sentence, snapping my head to stare at him with wide eyes and a mouth ready to retort before I caught myself and shook myself out of his hands.
"I don't like physical contact," I muttered coldly as I grabbed the outfit Leotards had given me with downcast eyes and headed to the washroom.
Behind me, I could almost hear Auguston and En smile as I closed the door shut.
It was true; Lilian really didn't like physical contact. She hated it in fact, despised it especially when it was a member of another sex. They must've thought the girl that had left them was slowly coming back little by little in this broken shell.
If only they knew how much they just shattered my spirit with that one sentence.
Turns out, I didn't need to remember everyone's names because they all introduced themselves before their act anyways. A small thing I was grateful for, since I didn't want to seem like a huge idiot in front of the crowd and cameras.
The circus went on just swimmingly; apparently when Leotards told us 'to just go with the chocolate stream', he meant 'just go with the flow' which was then either translated to have fun with it by us normal folk or as interpreted by the circus performers- don't wait for the host to introduce you, do that crap yourself while madly flipping into the stage through three flaming hula hoops and have an angry gorilla ape chase after you in a pink tutu.
Which was actually what En did.
Yeah I didn't believe it either until I saw it.
How he even got the gorilla ape, I had no idea nor did I have time to really think on it when Auguston gave me the cue and we all- as a team closed the performance with a literal blast.
And I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun.
Cause it was- it really was.
And so that brings me to just how I ended up standing shell-shocked as Sting punched the acting Lieutenant Colonel. Sending him into a tent that Snakey and Leotards were beginning to take down with a groan.
Because that wasn't fun.
Yeah, another filler chapter and cliffhanger. I'll pick it back off the next chapter, I promise!
I'm planning on revising the plot again- to fill up some plot holes and what not. But that would mean more chapters, and so that would lead me to asking...
Which would you guys prefer?
Should Fool's Gold end on a bittersweet note or on a romantic, fluffy, heartwarming, candy filled and fairy tale-like ending?
I'll set up a poll on my profile as soon as possible but bear in mind, I just need a general opinion- whatever the poll results are may affect the ending of this fic and it may not.
Thanks for reading and remember to vote in the poll!