Disclaimer: I do not own Kaleido Star, nor do I own any of its characters other than the ones I've added in myself.

Chapter 8-The Amazing and Mysterious Threat

After a long while of flying above a treeless field of nothing but plains, Fool finally happened upon the tent of Theatrical Camp. He flew inside to see everyone practicing what they were good at. He spotted Leon and another woman practicing on the trapeze. The woman had just jumped towards Leon, and he leaned forward to catch her when…..

" Leon! You must return to Kaleido Stage!" Leon's eyes widened as he stared at the Fool who had just flown up in front of him. He missed his chance to catch the girl, and she began to fall towards the ground.

" Catch me you MORON!," She shouted. Seeing that he wouldn't be high enough to catch her, used his feet to keep himself up on the bar while he reached down to her. She grabbed his hand and held on until he swung forward and tossed her towards the nearest trapeze. Fool once again took the opportunity to get right in front of him.

" Leon, Kaleido Stage needs you. You must return at once."

" LEON!," The female who was now coming towards him once again shouted. " Catch me this time!"

" Wait!," Leon shouted before she could jump from her trapeze. " There is an urgent matter at hand, and I must go." He let go of his own trapeze bar and began to roll in a midair circle all the way down to the ground where he landed gracefully on his feet. " I thank you for letting me perform here, but now I must go." The members of Theatrical Camp watched as Leon walked out on them. They didn't find it very surprising. None of them thought he would stay to the end anyways.

That afternoon, a welcoming ceremony was held at the stage for Suzette. Sora came as well, telling Kalos that they had gotten someone to watch the 'unconscious' Karai. Everyone stood onstage, and before them were Kalos and Suzette.

" Everyone, this is the newest member to the stage, Suzette Kamioshi. Karai Ran was also supposed to be here tonight, but due to an unfortunate accident, she's unable to attend this welcoming. Whenever she's better, Sora will introduce her to everyone here."

" I-I will?!," Sora asked. Kalos looked at her sternly and nodded. " Oh, um…yes I will!"

" Now go meet everyone!," Kalos said, lightly pushing Suzette towards the crowd of people on the stage. All of them were staring at her. It was as if they were waiting for her to say something important or something.

Feeling extremely nervous and not knowing what else to do, she just smiled and waved to everyone. " Hi!"

" Hi!," Some of the said back to her. One of them ran forward to Suzette, an angry look crossing her face.

" Hey!," She yelled, pointing at Suzette. " This is the Sapphire Diva! She entered the circus festival before Yuri and Miss Layla, and won!"

" Um….," Suzette said, backing away nervously. " Is that….a problem?"

" YEAH!," The girl shouted. " It means that now I have YOU to compete with too!"

" Calm down May," Sora said, walking over to her. " It's alright."

" Yeah….," Suzette managed to say, although still nervous. " I…I didn't really come here to compete with anyone or anything…."

" We'll see about that!," May said, smiling. " I can't wait to see how my skills compare to yours!"

Kalos smiled and walked off. Everything would be alright. Suzette would probably fit in just fine. After he left, the other Kaleido Stage members said hello to Suzette and welcomed her to Kaleido Stage. Then, one by one they left, until only a small group of people was left onstage.

" So she's the one you told us about at practice Sora?," A girl with purplish hair asked as she approached Suzette. A girl with orange hair walked towards her as well. Those two and Sora were the only one's left on stage with her. May had decided to leave with the rest earlier.

" Oh, um, yeah. She's been helping me a bit. Suzette, these are my friends, Anna…" The purple haired girl raised a hand at her named mentioned. " And Mia." The orange haired girl took another step forward.

" So," Anna said to Suzette. " What has our Angel of the Stage been telling you about us?"

Suzette laughed nervously. " Well, she hasn't exactly mentioned you guys yet. There's been so much going on with what happened earlier today and all…."

" Stop being so nervous!," Mia snapped. " Listen, we're not gonna hurt you or anything…."

" Right.," Suzette said, now feeling like a complete idiot for being so nervous around Sora's friends. If she could handle meeting the famous Sora Naegino, why couldn't she keep her nerve around Anna and Mia? There was no reason why she couldn't. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself, and tried to stand there calmly.

" Is it true that you're the Sapphire Diva?," Mia asked, taking another step towards Suzette. Still trying to keep her composure, Suzette took one step back. Then she nodded, still unable to shake her nervous feeling. Mia smiled brightly at her. " I heard you did an act called the Sapphire Illusion that was pretty awesome. I'd like to have seen it."

" Yeah," Anna agreed. " It sounds so cool. You think you could perform the act for us, here?"

" Well," Suzette said, now seeming a bit calmer than she had been. " Maybe."

Sapphire Diva?, Sora thought to herself. What are they talking about? And didn't May mention that she's won a Circus Festival before? Maybe I could ask her about that later…..

Suzette smiled and then turned to Sora. " So, they call you the Angel of the Stage, huh? Is it because of the Angel's Maneuver?"

Sora smiled and nodded. "I guess so."

" I got an idea!," Anna said suddenly. " Welcoming party in Sora's room!"

" Oh!," Suzette spoke up. " But Karai is…."

" Don't worry!," Anna broke in. " Boss is gone now. Sora told us that Karai's alright now. We'd like to meet her.

" It's fine with me I guess…," Sora said, thinking on the events that had happened that day. I wonder if Fool's back yet. He told Suzette he'd be back after practice. It's not like him to just up and leave like that.

" HELLO!," Yelled a girl with reddish hair that suddenly burst into the room and ran for the stage. " Sorry I'm late! I just got back into town and heard there was a welcoming tonight."

" Hi Rosetta!," Sora called to her. She turned to Suzette. " I almost forgot! This is Rosetta!"

" Hi Rosetta.," Suzette said, now feeling less nervous than before. She was actually beginning to feel sort of comfortable standing there on stage with Sora and her friends. Although, had that huge crowed of people still been there, she probably would have fainted. The girl jumped up onstage and walked over to Suzette, holding out her hand. Suzette shook hands with Rosetta, and then, suddenly felt as though something was wrong.

The minuet she let go of Rosetta's hand, the stage felt dark, as if something dark and evil was around it. She turned to Sora. The pink haired girl was trying her hardest to stand up straight, but wasn't having an easy time of it. Her whole body was shaking, and she was now holding her head. Even Rosetta seemed distressed over something that couldn't be explained.

" What?….," Sora was now taking small steps towards the edge of the stage, holding her head as she spoke to something that could not be seen. " Angel of the Stage?" She came so close to the edge that she would fall off if she took just one more step. Knowing this, she tried her best to keep stable and not collapse. A force was pushing down on her that was way stronger than the force of gravity, and a voice was speaking to her. You shall be destroyed, Angel of the Stage. You and your partner!

" M-my partner?!," Sora asked. She didn't know who the voice could be talking about, or what it wanted with her at all. " What do you mean?!"

You, and the Fool! When the time comes, both shall fall by the hand of the dark Scorpio!

Suddenly, the force that seemed to be pushing down on Sora was gone. She stood upright, and stared at everyone else onstage. She was alright now. She knew that none of them heard that voice though. It was in her mind, talking specifically to her. Did it mean anything though, or was practice just too long that day?

" Sora, Suzette, Rosetta, are you alright?," Anna asked. Both she and Mia were unaffected by whatever this was, but they did note that something had happened to all three girls just a few seconds ago. Sora was almost on her knees, and the other two were acting as though they were in pain. They all seemed alright now though.

Sora looked to the others. Did they feel that too? Even if so, I don't think they heard the same thing I did.

" I'm alright," Suzette said.

" I am too," Rosetta said.

" That's good," Sora said, not showing the sudden fear that had suddenly come over her. She remembered the Fool's words from earlier. ' Sora, the stage is dangerous now. Stay away from it if you ever want to perform on it again.' Sora didn't like the idea that something was wrong onstage. Fool seemed to know an awful lot about this. I gotta find him! She jumped offstage and ran for the door, almost forgetting to tell her friends where she was going.

She turned. " I'll be going to my room now! It's been a long day and I need rest!," She said. Then she turned and rushed out of the room. Fool, you've got a LOT of explaining to do! She ran from the stage to the dorm rooms as fast as her legs would carry her. She stared at her feet as she ran, willing them to go faster. Suddenly, she was knocked backwards as she ran into someone who was on his way to the stage.

" Sora.," He said. Sora looked up into the face of Leon Oswald, who had been her partner during the Swan Lake performance. " What is your hurry? Has something happened?"

" Have you seen Fool?," Sora asked, disregarding his other questions.

" Yes," Leon answered. " He asked me to come here."

" Well where'd he go?!," Sora yelled. She hadn't meant to come across so forcefully, but something was very wrong at the stage and it bothered her more than anything.

Leon took a step backward before answering. " Sora, he said there was someone else he had to find. He told me to tell you to stay off of the stage until he gets back."

" Leon. I need to know where Fool went. Did he give you any clue at all?"

" No," Leon answered. " He said that it wouldn't take him as long to return with this person though, so you should go wait in your room. They'll meet you there."

" Thanks Leon!," Sora said, running past him now. Fool had better have a good explanation for what's going on here!

That's the end of chapter 8! Oh, and yes, I know that the Theatrical Camp troupe never usually practices, but this will be one of the rare times when they do. If you have any questions or comments on the story, please let me know. I am interested to know what you think of the story.