I tried to update this earlier, but my Internet was being a little B**** to me...
Anyway, there will be two separate endings to this: a sad one and a happy one. Like a 'happily-ever-after' typical ending. Cause if I just left it at the sad ending, then I feel like I just sent these characters to their death. And if I only have a happy one, well, that just ruins 'DWC' completely!
So, having both is good in my eyes.
Sad will come first, so look forward to that one!
I have started on my next vocaloid project as well, but I won't tell you guys just yet ;)
EDIT: I just noticed that I forgot to add in the real Chapter 12. So I have now put it in where it belongs. I'm sorry for this lost chapter. It's there if you wish to read it. If not, then there is no fuss there. Again, I am sorry for this :(
Until next time, enjoy~!
Chapter 15 –
Aaron shakes Marita awake harshly as Slate walks into the tent. "Well?" Aaron asks as he looks up at the young man.
"Lucinda is distracting the others." He replies. "If we hurry, you two can make it, but I can't say the same for the other one."
"The other one, was she betrayed to the circus like Marita was?" Aaron asks. Marita opens an eye and looks up at her brother briefly before nodding off to sleep again. "Come on, this is no time to be sleeping. Get up you silly duffer."
"Senz wasn't betrayed by anyone." Slate answers. "But she was betrayed by someone she did trust."
"Who was that?" Aaron asks as he manages to get Marita's attention as she remains awake.
"Me." Slate replies as he peaks out of the tent.
Aaron looks at Slate with worry before turning to his sister. "We have to go." He says.
"Go? Go where?" She asks.
"Away from here." He replies. "It's our parents, Marita. They sold you to this place."
She looks up at her brother in shock, before turning to Slate who was standing near the tent flaps. He nods his head as she looks down, feeling deflated and empty. Aaron helps her to her feet, but even then she wouldn't move. The sheer shock rang though her body, paralysing her, as she begins to slowly come to terms with what she had just heard.
The circus was just as dangerous as the hospital.
"Where do we go?" She says as she regains her senses. She stumbles forward slightly as Aaron turns to Slate for an answer.
"There's an abandoned asylum in the middle of a red lake, the centre of a swamp which is right next to the Dark Woods." Slate says. "I'll lead you there so that you can escape and get to that place."
"Why an asylum?" Marita asks. "Why not go to a different town?"
"I made a promise," Aaron replies. "That when I could, I would come back and save anyone who was trapped here, like you would have been if it weren't for Slate and Lucinda."
Marita nods her head as the three of them slip out of the tent. There was no sign of anyone walking around at night, nor was there any sign of Lucinda. They creep to the edge of the circus where two figures were sitting down, waiting for them.
The pair look up as they hear the sound of feet pounding on the ground, as they hind behind a tree each, before noticing Slate. "Slate!" The girl whispers as she runs out of her hiding spot and hugs the young man. He looks down at her as the boy joins is older sister.
Slate pulls them aside then and speaks to them softly, all the while Marita and Aaron standing behind him, looking back at the circus nervously. "Now listen here you two," he says. "This here is Aaron Slur and Marita Young. They're brother and sister, before you ask Viv. You'll be going with them, okay? When Aaron says its time, you'll return to come and save everyone."
"We'll be like superheros, right?" Nick asks. "From the comic books; the good guys."
"We don't have to wear those silly costumes, do we?" Viv asks, pulling a face at the thought.
Slate smiles briefly at them. "Nick; yes, you'll be hero's to everyone you save. Viv; I don't think any sort of costume is necessary."
He turns back to Aaron and Marita as he looks back at the circus. "Who else are we waiting for?" Marita asks.
"Lucinda." Slate replies.
They remain where they were for another minute before the circus beamed to life, lights turning on in every direction, as the sound of shouting could be heard. They could see people running with chains, ropes and clubs, all looking deadly and angry. Off to one side was Lucinda; chained up and being dragged away from the five who were waiting for her. She looked beaten and bruised, as she was lead into the grand tent.
"No." Slate whispers as he watches her disappear. He turns to the others before bowing his head. "We have to go."
"Go? We can't just leave her here!" Aaron says. "We need to go and save her."
"We can't do that." Slate replies. "If we do, we'll just be jeopardising you're sisters safety. Do you really want that? Both Lucinda and I knew that it was dangerous, but we went ahead and saved her, we saved both of you." He places a hand on the man's shoulder as he continues. "This just gives you a stronger reason to come back and save everyone, right?"
Aaron's face turns stern and serious as he nods his head. Slate begins walking ahead of everyone, Marita holding onto Viv's hand as Nick follows behind the two girls, Aaron coming up at the back. They ran into the forest, the light from the circus illuminating their path, as they weave though trees and jumped over fallen longs and roots sticking out of the ground.
Marita was looking around as she ran when she notices a figure curled up next to a log. She stops running, causing Nick to bump into her as she begins to walk towards the figure. "Marita!" Aaron hisses as she bends over the body. It was a boy, possibly a few years older than herself, curled up in ripped and torn clothing.
She hears a gasp behind her as she turns to notice Slate standing behind her. "Shan?" He says as he bends down before the boy.
At the mention of his name, the boy opens an eyelid and manages to look up at Slate. His hair was in a dishelmed mess as his skin felt cold and almost frozen. He slowly manages to sit up, his lips having turned a pale blue in the cold, as he shivers. "S-s-s-sla-a-a-ate?" He asks, his voice shaking.
"Yeah, it's me." Slate replies with worry. He pulls of his jacket and wraps it around his friend before turning to look up at Aaron. "You're gonna have to take him as well." He says. "Shan is good when it comes to mechanics, but he's almost frozen stiff. He's most likely got hypothermia, so he's gonna be bed ridden for months, just for recovery."
He helps the shaking boy to his feet as Aaron looks over his shoulder, noticing how the shouting had gotten louder. "That's fine," he says. "He can come. But we need to hurry; they're catching up."
Slate nods his head as he looks to Shan, Marita walking back to Viv and Nick who were looking at the pair in worry. "You know him?" Marita asks the twins.
They nod their head as Nick replies. "He stumbled onto the circus by accident. Mr. Peak thought he would serve as an excellent addition to our attraction as he forced the old doctor to experiment on him."
"What did they do to him?" Marita asks with worry, looking at the boy to see if anything was missing.
"Well, that's the thing:" Viv answers. "They didn't want to alter him physically, so they experimented on his psyche. But Shan's has a strong mind, and he managed to escape after three weeks of their mental experimentation."
"Three weeks?" Marita exclaims. "How did he manage for so long?" She asks.
"He's no adapter, not like you, that's for certain." Nick replies.
"But his mind is as strong as that of an adapter." Viv continues.
Marita nods her head as Slate proceeds to carry the boy. He turns to everyone before running off, causing Marita to carry Viv and Aaron to carry Nick just in order to keep up.
They soon reach the edge of the red lake where a woman stands beside the boat. She holds a cigarette in her hand, which was bandaged up, as she looks at the small group running towards her. She frowns as she drops the cigarette and steps on it before turning to Slate. "I thought there was only going to be four." She says.
"Deal with it, Lou, cause as it turns out, I'm coming too." Slate replies as he places Shan in the boat, wrapping him up in the cloth that was covering a lamp and compass.
The woman looks at him in disbelief, before turning to the others then back to Slate. "You're lucky that my boat can hold up to ten people at a time." She says before turning to the small group before her. "I'm Lou, by the way," she says. "Lou Delux. But it's 'Fly' to all of you."
"You don't get to call her 'Lou' until you become special friends with her." Slate says as he narrowly dodges a punch from the woman. "Anyway, we need to leave now before they catch up to us."
Aaron looks over his shoulder again as Marita leads Viv to the boat. Nick follows behind the pair as Aaron looks down at the woman. "Don't worry." She says. "I know who you guys are; Aaron Slur and Marita Young, right? I work in town, and I never really agreed to what was happening to her. I know what I'm getting into."
Aaron smiles warmly down at her before hopping onto the boat. Slate was next to climb into it as Fly pushes the boat a bit more so that the bow wasn't touching the bank. She then jumps in as she passes both men an oar each. "Begin to row." She says. "I'll lead you in the right direction, so you don't have to worry about getting lost."
"Wait." Aaron replies. "You're coming with us?"
"Of course I am." She answers with a scoff. "Slate said that you had a brilliant mind and that you could cure me from my disease."
Aaron turns to Slate angrily, the other man looking away as if he didn't know what had just been said, as Marita asks "Disease?"
"Yeah." Fly replies sadly. "My skin rots and falls off. It was something I was born with, but with age, it's been getting worse. My arms have to be bandaged from shoulder to fingers, whereas so far only my thighs have to be bandaged. I also have to have a few bandages around my chest and stomach."
"It's that bad?"
"Yeah, and it'll only get worse as time goes by."
"That's not something easy to cure." Aaron replies.
"But you'll try, won't you?" Fly asks; desperation evident in her voice.
Aaron smiles. "Of course I will; you're helping us after all. Plus, it's an interesting challenge to take on."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it so much." Fly replies with a sharp bluntness that nearly made Marita laugh. She was sitting next to Shan, who was asleep again and leaning on her. Viv and Nick were sitting opposite her as they whispered among each other. Marita smiles down to herself as she looks up to see the asylum looming above them. Their new home was something that was abandoned, but maybe it could be a sort of haven for her as well.
5 months later…
Marita looks down at the statistics her and her brother had just received from Slate.
They didn't look too good.
"If we don't hurry up, our plans won't happen." Marita says with anger in her voice.
"We can't rush this any more than we already are." Aaron replies. "We need to make sure the others are safe during the process as well."
"Do they even know what you're planning for them?" Slate asks.
Marita nods her head. "I asked them before hand, and they said they were fine with it. Well, more or less along those lines at least."
"That's evil."
"It's necessary if we want to save everyone from that circus." Marita hands the clipboard to Aaron as she leaves to go see how Shan was going with the machines.
As she walks in, a huge steam cloud comes rushing towards her as she begins to cough and clear the air in front of her with her hand. "Shan?" She calls into the room. A head looks up from where the person was crouching as they wave a spanner in the air. "Shan, what's going on in here?"
"Sorry Marita." He replies. "Just finished fixing the nitrogen tanks to each chamber." He kisses her briefly on the cheek before looking at his handiwork. "I give you five chromatist chambers; able to freeze any living being for a certain period of time. Warning: one use only."
"We're only needing to use them once." Marita replies as she looks at them all, before returning her gaze to Shan. "Are you sure you want to go though with this?"
Shan nods his head. "I mean, it's scary knowing that my genetic code will change and I'll end up someone different and new, but I want to save everyone from the circus as much as you and everyone else do."
Marita nods her head as she mulls over the process everyone will be going thought:
Shan's genetic coding would change, that much was true, but the component that would be added is the gene than turns a persons eye blue, but only taking the colouring aspect of that. That blue gene would be mixed with a sample of her own genetic coding, so that the splicing won't kill him, but change him.
Fly's condition now had a cure, but, with her permission, they were going to splice her genes as well and speed up the process. Of course, a part of Marita's genetic code would be added to Fly's as well, just to make sure the disease doesn't get out of hand and to make sure she lives though the process.
Viv and Nick would go though the same process as each other. Their genes would be spliced and altered to enable them to live for an extra ten minutes after a beheading, for both body and head. With the added component of a portion of Marita's genes to make the process work, the idea still worries everyone, including both twins.
Marita, on the other hand, would have her genetic coding altered to something similar to her brother. Whenever Aaron saw something blue, he would smell rotting fish; a response that didn't agree too well with him. Cases like these are rare for anyone, and Marita thought a splicing of her gene with an added component of Aaron's gene would enable her to have a similar response to all blue things just like her brother.
Everyone was soon called to Slate's surgery room, marked by its red door. After the process was conducted on them, they all went though another process to alter their memories. This was something Marita thought up, and altered the stories for everyone. Marita told Aaron that this part was most important for the main reason that it would lead them to seek out the Dark Woods Circus and thus lead them to saving everyone.
With the money that Aaron had saved throughout the course of his studies, he was able to hire some pretend guards along with false patients to make it seem more of a hospital for people who were different.
The five of them entered the chromatist chambers, frozen in time as one would say, as false memories were implanted in their brains, a thin layer to cover the truth and enable Marita's plan to come to fruition.
Aaron watches the process occur every day, aging as the years go by. He and Slate were worried for them, of course. But they knew that Marita's plan would work; her genes would enable the five of them to survive though any hardships.
Aaron plants the necessary clues in the places that Marita had specified to him on a note as he waits for the chambers to open and their false lives to begin.
7 years later…
Fay looks down at her hands, the memories pouring into her mind as she realizes the truth at last.
She was Marita Young.
All of this was her fault.
"Aaron," she says, the familiarity in her voice startling the doctor as he turns to look at her. She looks up at him, tears in her eyes, as she clenches her fists. "Thank you for keeping your promise."
He gasps, tears wheeling in his eyes, as he rests his head on the cage bars. "You're making it sound like I did a good thing." He says.
"Well, you did as I asked." She replies. "I'd say that is good enough."
"But I ended up hurting everyone." He continues. "I'm hated by people I once called my friends. I was even hated by you, my sister." He shakes his head, laughing at the irony of it all. "And to think, this was your plan."
"Well someone had to come up with the good ideas." She scoffs, a sad smile crossing her face. "It is luck of the draw, after all."
She reaches a hand though the bars and touches his cheek.
Before that moment, the idea of such an act would seem revolting and wrong to her.
Now it felt like second nature.
He looks up at her, grabbing her hand and holding it in his own, squeezing it gently, as he sighs. "Well, what now?" He asks.
"What's the next step in the pan?"