Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters
"Desperate men, do desperate things." Wally agreed with the woman on the other phone. He chuckled at her response. He nonchalantly tossed the knife in the air, catching it between his fingertips. From the corner of his eyes he saw movement in the window. He studied the people walking by but not really seeing anyone.
"Black isn't giving me much trouble," Wally answered after a pause, they were near a town so this was one of the few times he could call his mentor on his personal phone. All the other times, they had to rely on a radio to communicate with anyone. "I should be able to manipulate him easily if he wants to keep everyone from know his secrets. And since he enlisted Ruby's help, we have him in the palm of our hand too. Black just went to him with the information I gave him. Do you have anything on this N character?"
"Still going through all his records," He could hear ruffling in the background so he knew she was going through a lot of files. He knew that with a crowd as large as this circus, it was difficult for her to gather as much information as she would like. But they needed to, if they were able to keep control of this circus.
He nodded as she spoke some more. His instinct took over and threw the knife, pinning a fly to the wall. He sighed at his nervousness and continued to go over everything, "Everyone is going into town today so only a few people are still her so I can search without much question. But damnit, I searched everywhere for that damn treasure and with White making it harder…"
"Don't worry, I know you can handle this," She said despite the direness of their situation. "You're the mastermind, after all. You'll find a way to make this show work for you. Just don't get yourself discovered. Tansy misses you, so come back safe."
"I miss her too," Wally sighed and went back to his work, lighting a match for a candle.
Ruby cursed at himself, how could he have been so easily trapped so soon? He had Silver cover his tracks well enough so unless they dug deep, they shouldn't be able to find anything about him. Yet here Black was with enough blackmail to tie his hands. Black stood in front of him with his arms crossed, daring Ruby to go against him. Now he was pulled on two different directions, needing to help both Sapphire and Ruby.
"You're a police," Black said it more as a statement than a question. "And since you were sent here undercover, you must have some idea where the treasure is. Together we can find it and help White by saving the circus. Sapphire's going to help too so we'll have this finish by the end of the week!"
"Leave Saph out of this," Ruby snapped. "She is not going to find out that I deceived her and ruin everything I've been working towards. I came here to win her back and taking this case was the only way I could do that. I'll only help you if you keep this from Sapphire."
"Fine, but you'll have to promise me that you won't tell White about this either. I don't want to… worry her," Ruby saw through the lie immediately. If only Ruby could find what Black was trying to hide so that he could counter blackmail him. The first place to talk was probably with White. He couldn't do that since Black never left White's side most of the time.
"I don't know why you want me to do this," Sapphire held onto Ruby's arm as she leaned a little too far to see into White's trailer door so that she would've fallen is she wasn't holding onto him. She saw White going through several things and Black was trying to keep her organize by collecting all of the flying paper and staking them on the table.
"Black," Ruby set her aside and walked into the trailer. "I want to speak with you about something. This thing I found in the wagon with all of the props has a strange engraving on it. Maybe you can help me find what it means."
"I don't want to leave White when she's in the middle of planning this," Black hesitated, looking at White who was so caught up in her own little performance, she didn't notice Ruby enter. He knew that she was a focused person and when she got so caught up in her work, it could be hours before she came back to the real world. And it was his job to help her through this and keep her organizes.
"I'll help her!" Sapphire volunteered, just as Ruby had told her to do. Ruby had predicted Black would react like this. Ruby was always so good at reading people and predicting their reactions but sometimes she hated that about him because he could also be so ignorant over their feelings.
"C'mon Black," Ruby grabbed the man's shoulder a little too roughly, just for the pleasure of it and dragged him away. He gave Sapphire a nod as the exited and she did so too. She looked out the window until she saw the two disappear. She then went to White who was making a sketch of the new posters she wanted to make for the circus.
"Do ya need any help?" Sapphire asked as she went to lean over White's shoulder. It was only after several sketches and erasing, did White answer her.
"What do you think of it?" White leaned back so Sapphire would see the poster. It was of Missy who stood in the center, holding a mask over half her face and holding a diamonds in her other hand, as if toward the audience. "I wanted to re-name to circus to Circ du Gems because of the legend, gives a little mystery to this circus to attract people to it. Missy portrays her character as pretty mysterious character so I put her on the cover. I'm sure she won't mind. Every show has a gimmick, and I'm thinking mystery."
White put her head down to add more things into the background but then it came back up, "Where's Black? What happened to this room? There's crumpled paper everywhere on the floor! Tell Black to clean this up while I go get more colours for this."
"Wait," Sapphire went to stop her before she was out the door. "I wanted to ask you some things. I've noticed that Black has been acting a little weird lately and I wanted to know if you've noticed anything. Since he works with the animals, it might have an effect on them."
White sat back and tapped her chin as she thought back to the previous day, "He has been acting weird I guess that guy might have something to do with it. I really don't know but I'm sure he'll tell me if it's really important and I already asked Wally to look into N for me. He seems to know a lot about these things and he told me that N has been known as a violent protestor. Black was just trying to protect me."
"Everyone seems to tell Wally everything," She said a little sad that others in the circus didn't trust her as she did them. Most of the original performers retires already and the new connections weren't as powerful she thought they were. "But I was really wondering about his past; if he might've gotten into trouble"
"Black? Of course he doesn't have a dark past. I'm sure Black's just trying to protect me," She said softly to herself more than anyone, as if Sapphire didn't say anything. White didn't seem to believe in her own words though but quickly switched emotions to happiness. "Now, come and show me your new routine."
White took Sapphire's arm gently and led her out of her office. "I'm usually not one to go into other's business but I was thinking about you and Ruby teaming up for a performance. I'm thinking 'Lost Lovers' or we can retell the legend of this circus, have Black lend his lions. I just thought with the connection you two have, you two would be perfect for the part."
"No," Sapphire snapped but White didn't seem fazed by that. White just continued to walk through the camp, helping other performers as they walked. Sapphire knew that White wasn't ignorant and could tell her hesitation. "I'm not gonna' team up with that man!"
"I really don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do," She said with exaggerated sadness. White had been in charge of the circus long enough to know that she was trying to guilt her into the act. She breathed in deeply, sure that she could convince White to not let her do the act.
"I'll just get Pearl and Poppy to do it. Think of what she could do with her Fire Dancing! But then again, Pearl never did an act without Dia but I'm sure it'll work." White's eyes glowed as she imagined the act. She quickly pulled out her notebook from her bag and sat on a large rock to sketch a rough storyboard for it. The sketches weren't that impressive but she could see the emotions in them.
White noticed that Sapphire was staring and remembered that Sapphire hadn't watched her work before. "I always wanted to be a playwright so that kinds of blends into this. I want to tell a story, create an experience that no one will forget. Now let's go, and you can show me your routine again."
Sapphire nodded and went to where the trapezes were set up. She stopped though when she saw there was wrapped present on the platform. There was no tag and she was curious and the emerald wrapping paper. The platform wasn't that tall so she could easily reach it and leaned against it.
"Someone has a secret admirer," White teased as she looked over her shoulder at the gift.
"It's not addressed to me," Sapphire said quickly. "It could be for anyone really."
"Who else could it be for? You're the only trapeze artist here so it's obvious meant for you. Now open it, I want to see what it is."
Sapphire sighed, thinking that she might as well. She tore away at the paper and saw that it was a tome. She flipped through the pages and saw that it was in fact a magic book. Her first thought was of Ruby since he was a magician but what use would it be to her? He should know that about her at least and that only made her think that the gift was meant for someone else.
"Can I see that?" White took the tome and her eyes furrowed at it. Her voice was a little hesitant as she said, "This is the tome I sent Black to get for me. I'll just take this to my trailer! I'll see your routine later. Good luck with Ruby by the way."
White quickly ran off to her trailer, leaving Sapphire behind in confusion. She closed the door behind her threw the tome onto her desk. It was the magic book from the shop yesterday and she wondered how it came, wrapped as if it was a present. She held her breath as she opened the cover but let out the breath when she read the typed note tucked in the cover. Hope this help you, from a friend.
This must've been Black's apology for yesterday and she sighed in relief. She sat at her desk and flipped through the tome, trying to memorize as many of the tricks as possible so she could have an edge of the killer. If she knew the trick before he came back, she could stop him and save the lives of her performers!
She took the cup of coffee on the desk she assumed Black left for her and took a dainty sip.
Missy paced her trailer, thinking of the killer. She couldn't stay any longer if the police got involved and they were bound to come sooner or later. She bit her bottom lip, trying to think of another way than to leave and not have them unravel her illusion. She didn't know if she would be able to create another life for herself.
Forcing herself to stay calm, she sat at her vanity, trying to think over everything. The police could come and ask questions she couldn't answer. More importantly, the killer was interested in a legend she had created. She had made a deal with the previous owner that he didn't tell White about when he sold her this circus.
She forced emotions from her body and sat straighter. She would have to leave or else he would find her.
"Running away again?" Missy looked up sharply to see the killer in her mirror. Her body froze as she swallowed heavily. She wished that she wasn't wearing that mask so that she could read his emotions more easily. She tried to hide her emotions as best as possible and looked at his figure in the mirror. "Just tell me where the treasure is."
"I don't have any money!" She slammed her hands on the vanity and turned sharply but knew that it was only her imagination haunting her. She was slowly losing herself by pretending to be someone she wasn't. Her haven was crumbling around her.
She couldn't go back to her old life! She would have to run and create a new identity for herself again.
Missy tried to calm herself by humming a lullaby as she pulled out a wooden box from under her bed. She frantically placed her golden earrings into the small wooden box. Her humming stopped mid note when she realized that she didn't have any more jewelry. She sighed and shut the wooden box. She needed more before she was forced to leave this place and make a new life for herself. She didn't have anything more to give away for money.
She could on and do more readings but that wouldn't be a reliable occupation in this day and age. It relied on other's superstitions too much and today that was a dying ideology. She guessed she could go to a fishing town where fishermen were more superstitious but that was a long way and she didn't have the money for the trip.
She pulled the small waste bucket from beside her desk to take the ripped pieces of the note she took from the Jack in the Box. She couldn't leave anything of her behind and it would be safer to just burn the pieces. Her heart stopped when she couldn't find them. She quickly dumped the contents of the wastebasket onto the ground and scurried through the loose paper but she couldn't find it.
Where was it? It was the only thing connecting her to this circus and she needed to disappear again!
"Missy?" There was a knock at her door and she scrambled to hide the papers again. She just placed the waste basket back in place when Dia opened the door. She composed herself easily and sat at her vanity again, shuffling her tarot cards.
"Is there a problem?" She asked him calmly despite the raging emotions she repressed.
"No, I was just checking on you. I wanted to thank you for taking care of me again. You've been pretty quiet lately and Pearl and I am worried about you. If there's anything you want to talk about, you can tell me. Please tell me what's on your mind."
She sighed, it was obvious that Dia knew more than he was letting on and she wondered just how much he knew. It was possible that he was only pulling at straws right now and he only knew that she had a secret. She hated having to deceive him and leaving this circus with so many problems.
"I'm just a little worried about my sister," She admitted to him. "She hasn't contacted me for a while and I wonder if she even misses me right now."
That's because you didn't tell her where you were going, she chided herself. She winced at own thoughts but looked up when Dia knelt in front of her. He placed a hand on her cheek and tried to give her a reassuring smile. "You know, that's the first time you've told me something about yourself. I want to help you but you need to help me too. If anyone's bothering you-"
Missy's hand went instinctively to her cheek and Dia felt his fist tightening. "Who've hurt?"
"No one!" She said quickly. "I'm just worried that my sister will fall in with the wrong crowd. I wish that I can speak with her again."
"That seems simple enough," He nudged her chin up to look him in the eye. He knelt over her and placed his forehead on hers. "We're almost to that hotel where I met you and that's our next performance. We can stop there after the show and go visit your sister. Will that help?"
Missy didn't say a word and just stared down at their joined hands. He was truly trying to help her but it wasn't possible for that to happen. She didn't want to return to her family despite her worry about her sister. She couldn't tell him that though and nodded. Her heart ached when he smiled at her, lighting up a small space in her heart.
"Watch out Sapphire!" Pearl cried and Sapphire stumbled back when little balls of fire almost burned her. Poppy quickly pulled back on the strings so it didn't hit Sapphire and dipped the flaming poi in a bucket of water, steam rising from the water. Poppy stopped immediately and started to apologize to Sapphire quickly.
"It's alright, you just didn't see her," Pearl assured her. They had just started practicing their new routine when Sapphire walked by. Sapphire just smiled and tried to calm the woman, knowing that Poppy wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone. "But let's start from the beginning! These drawings White gave me are a little confusing. What am I supposed to be doing in this scene?"
Sapphire looked over his shoulder so she could see what was written and told him bluntly, "You're supposed to kiss her."
Pearl blushed and turned to Poppy who turned the same shade as her namesake flower. She was saved from commenting when another performer called to her. She bide them both good bye before running to help the other performer. She smiled warmly at him and he found himself smiling back at her.
"I never seen you smile like that before," Sapphire noted. "I guess that's why White wanted you and Poppy to do this act. It's going to be the big opening so how is it going so far?"
"It was going find but now it's just going to be awkward," Pearl huffed and went to study the routine again. "I don't know why White didn't just get you and Ruby to do this act. He's an actual magician and you're good with the animals. It would fit the story better than to change it to a clown and fire dancer."
Sapphire mumbled something beneath her breath and absentmindedly took the fire poi Poppy left. She flinched when the two metal spheres clicked together and sparked to life. She quickly placed it into the bucket of water, placing a hand over her heart. She chastised herself, she knew better than to use circus equipment she wasn't trained for.
She felt someone's hands on her hips and she turned to see Ruby looking worriedly at her. He frowned at the defiance in her eyes and turned to Pearl, his eyes pleading him for privacy. He nodded and Ruby silently thanked the man. Ruby turned back to Sapphire who entangled her fingers, keeping her eyes lowered.
He had been helping Black with the lions when he saw Sapphire go a little too close to fire and his heart stopped at the thought that she would die in a fire. He was so relieved when he saw Poppy pull back on the poi's, just barely missing her, his legs turned to water. He just wanted to take her into his arms and protect her despite the protest she would most likely give him.
"There were sparks on your clothes. I didn't want your clothes to catch fire." He explained but didn't take his hands from her hips. She scowled up at him and easily turned her body so she wasn't in his arms. She shook none existent dust from her body so she could keep her hands busy. She bit her lips when disappointment clouded his eyes but he masked it with optimism. If only she had as much faith in their love as him.
How much patient did this man have? How long would it be till he gave up on her? Would it break her heart when that did happen, proving that there was still a little hope in her heart. She didn't know what scared her more, the hope she held or him leaving with her heart.
"I really don't want to deal with this," She told him honestly. "I don't know if I can take anymore so just leave and break my heart already instead of bleeding me out slowly! I can't take this anymore, your constant presence and the guilt I feel! Just go and be with May!"
She turned to run but he grabbed her arm, turning her back and she saw the clear rage in his eyes. "How many times do I have to say that I love you? Do you think that I'm really that stupid? I know what's in my heart and it's only you! I love you and I don't know why you can't believe that after everything I'm doing to win you back."
Sapphire couldn't answer him and turned away. Something caught her attention though: the smell of smoke. Poppy was the only performer that used fire and she left her poi behind so it couldn't be from her. Black came next to them and noticed the smell as well. He had been working with Ruby on a costume for the animals when Ruby suddenly bolted to Sapphire.
Musha seem to notice it too for the small lion jumped off Black's head and ran in a familiar direction. Black cursed, recognizing that it was from White's trailer. His heart stopped when he saw that Musha was heading towards White's office. He ran before his mind could register the fear or the reason for it. He had to get to her before anything happened to White!
He cursed when he came to her small trailer and saw that it was ablaze. What was it with this killer and fire? Everyone was gone for the day and he wished that he was there by her side. He should've been there by her side but he failed her, now she was in danger. If protecting her from his past wasn't hard enough, there was a killer trying to pick them apart one by one.
"White!" He called into the smoke. He wasn't sure if she was in there but he couldn't take the chance. He tried to open the door but that only accomplished burning his hand. He crashed through the door, clutching his throbbing hand as the door splintered under his weight. He covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve as heat rushed toward him.
The inside was aflame and his eyes stung by the heat. He immediately saw White slumped on the ground by her chair. He was glad that she was on the ground so that the smoke couldn't reach her. He gathered her to his chest and felt relief when he felt her soft breath on his neck.
Black cursed when he went to the door and it caved in. blocking it in with flames. He pulled her closer to his body, trying to protect her from the flames. She was much too still for his likely and fear took him over. He needed to bring her outside before the smoke got to them both. He need both of his hands to carry White and began to panic.
"Musha!" He called and the lion who was trailing at his feet and the creature jumped onto his head.
He felt himself calming and cleared his head, closing his eyes, seeing the scene and calculating his options. He took his whip and with a quick turn of his wrist, the whip moved like snake, wrapping around one of the lower wooden planks of wood at the bottom. He pulled with all his might and the piece came loose, causing the other pieces to come loose as well, freeing the opening. He brought her outside, not noticing the firemen surrounding them, putting out the fire.
"C'mon White, come back to me." He collapsed onto the ground and placed her on the ground. The other men came around them and he had to fight back the urge to pull her out of the paramedics' reach but knew that they were only trying to help. He stared down at her smote covered face and he wanted to wash them away.
"Let me help her son," One of the men took White and Black nodded. They did a quick check up on her and Black held her breath as they went over her. Black held her hand the entire time and followed them into the ambulance, yelling for Wally to take care of the place while they were going. "I'll call you guys when we reach the hospital!"
Just finished reading the X and Y chapters of PokeSpe and I have to say that X is really giving Silver a run for the number three spot for my fav guy character in PokeSpe. Though I like him without his hat better than not.
I pretty sure I use Silvia's OCs too much but I can't help it! I just wish that she'll write more of them so I can portray them more accurately. Her OCs are Tansy and Poppy by the way.
Review if you liked.