BlackLynx17: Man I'm watching all the Rocky's and I'm getting so pumped up! I might just write a boxing fanfiction! I saw Creed with my Dad and right after I told him, Dad I want to be a professional boxer. He only laughed at me, hahaha.
Thanks for reading everyone and all your reviews! I hope you enjoy!
I missed church. Uncalled for. I'm sure I'm not the only one though. I open my eyes slowly and get ready for the brand new day. I know what I'm doing before I know myself, if that makes sense. I'm going to go see them again, I have to. I want to. My life is set for me already, I know what is going to happen. I see the big picture, but now I'm seeing all the small details. They are only here for a month, let me enjoy this month before becoming like everyone else.
The floating circus is right where we left it, the ticket stand alone underneath it covered up with a blanket. I walk behind the stand and look up, wondering how this works. Do I need another ticket or did I just stan-
"AHHHH!" I yell as I start flying upwards.
I land where I was last time on me feet and take a breath to calm myself. I don't think I'll ever get use to that. Nothing is locked in the circus, but a lot of places are dark meaning no one is in it. I walk around the tent and find the training grounds, the storage rooms, and soon the sleeping grounds. It isn't a train, but a lot of the carts lying randomly everywhere, some connected to each other. Each has names and drawings painted on them; I look for Wendy's and find it near the end connected to Lucy's and these girl's name Levy and Juvia.
It is ungentlemanly like to knock on a woman's door so early in the morning, this is the circus though and I cadn't stop myself from doing it anyway. Three knocks, I hear some groans and moans coming from behind the door. I hear footsteps next before the door opens, Wendy appearing it this white nightgown, probably the plainest thing I've seen her in, with her hair a mess.
She blinks and looks at me, yawning before turning back in her room. She leaves the door open so I assume that meant I can come in. The cart is larger on the inside than it was on the outside, her room being a blend of pink, blue, and white as clothes and books and paintings were everywhere. I close the door and she falls back into bed, closing her eyes.
"Not a morning person?" I ask.
She moans and scoots over, patting the spot next to me.
"Sleep, give me two more hours." She mumbles.
Sleep? In the same bed? With a girl? Before marriage?! I take a step back and bump into the door, stepping on a plush toy. She turns back around and opens an eye, giggling lightly at me.
"You get embarrassed easily, don't you?" She asks.
I say nothing but blush at her bold invitation.
"Fine, lying on my bed is softer than the floor. Do whatever you want, just give me two more hours." She says turning back around, but still leaving me enough space.
She falls back asleep just like that while I'm in her room, unsupervised. There is nothing I can't do that wouldn't be considered rude and I have half a mind to drop the bag of clothes and leave. I stay though and sit on the floor, picking up a book and hoping it isn't something private as I start reading. It is the history of a place called... Era. Hey, this is a book about my town. There is a bright red check mark on the spine of the book for some reason. I start looking at other books, if they weren't fairy tales they were traveling books with red checks on almost each and everyone of them.
I don't notice the hours pass by, I start hearing movement outside though and Wendy starts waking up herself. She yawns and stretches, rolling around in her bed before opening her eyes and spoting me lying on all her stuff plushes.
"I told you the bed would be softer." She says.
"Your toys were enough." I say placing her book down.
She yawns again and stands up, running her hands through her hair. She walks around her room, tidying up a bit as she reaches for her clothes. I stand up and get out of her way, finally taking her invitation on the bed when she isn't sitting on it.
"What's with the checks on the books?" I ask.
"It's for places we've been. Each book gets a check when we've held a show there." She yawns banging on the door at the end of her room.
"WAKE UP!" She yells before walking back towards me.
"You've been to that many places?" I ask.
"Oh yeah, it's easy with our home being able to fly and all. Have you ever been places?" She asks.
I look down, "no. No one ever leaves Era."
"I used to think the same way, at my hometown. I mean it's hard to leave your family and friends, making it so easy to leave when you have none."
I look up, but she is out the door calling my name after her.
"Come on! Might as well introduce you to my family! Wake up everyone! Come on!" She calls out.
I follow after her outside and saw her circus comrades all come out of their rooms, most dressed in pajamas, actually all of them. I see the ice man from yesterday and the electric guy, the one with the green hair who yelled at me and Erza next to a man who wore a mask over his whole head. I don't remember seeing him yesterday, I blink and he seems to stare at me before looking away.
"Hey look whose back!" Natsu says stretching his arms out wide in the air.
There is a mark on his shoulder, a red one of a Fairy. There seems to be a mark on all of them, I remember seeing one yesterday on ice man and this morning on Wendy. She yawns and greets everyone, smiling before barking orders.
"Listen up, this guy right here is Doranbolt. He's the one who saved our assess yesterday!" She announces.
"Hi Doranbolt!" The circus chants at once.
I smile politely and bow to them all.
"Apparently they don't say hi in Era, but bow as a greeting." Wendy tells them.
Everyone all starts to awkwardly bow at me and I can't help but snort.
"Bowing is a sign of respect, not a greeting Wendy. He's saying he respects us when he bows." The masked fellow says.
"Yeah, he's right." I say scratching the back of my head.
"Huh? How come you never told me Doranbolt?" Wendy asks.
I grin and shrug; she pushes me lightly before walking up to Lucy.
"You already know Lucy, this right next to her is Levy."
A really short, timid looking girl with short blue hair and a beautiful smile. She waves towards me.
"And Juvia."
She has a darker shade of blue hair and a certain emptiness to her eyes. She nods, nothing else though.
"And this is Gray, you saw his performance last night." Wendy says touching the naked man's chest.
"And Erza, and this guy is Mystogun. He didn't show himself last night, then Laxus, he performed also, and Freed, and-"
She starts walking by each of her friends standing outside in the group, talking and explaining little things about them. I try my best to pay attention and learn everyone's name, there is just so many of them. Half of them start leaving before she finishes, probably hungry, and finally Erza puts a stop to Wendy.
"Enough Wendy! He's obviously not going to remember everyone!" Erza yells.
Wendy pouts, "he could have. Didn't you Doranbolt?"
"Um, Erza." I say pointing at her.
"Mystogun." I say after.
"Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Mirajane, Elfman, Gajeel, Laxus, Freed, Max, Olivia, Cana, Gildarts, Levy, Juvia, Alzack, Bisca and Lisanna." I recite, pointing everyone out.
I get a round of applause.
"See! Doranbolt's smart!" Wendy says.
"People from Era usually are." Mystogun says walking over towards me.
What's the deal with his mask? I don't his his face at all, not even his eyes, only a few strands of dark blue hair sticking out. He reaches his hand out to me, it completely bandaged up from his fingertips to his elbow.
"Nice meeting you Doranbolt, thanks for helping last night. As you can see I was in no position to play." Mystogun says.
I shake his hand lightly and nod. "No problem."
"There's no reason you should be here anymore though, so quickly excuse yourself and leave."
He left right after that, taking the ring leader Erza with him. What-... what was that? Before I can even begin to ponder Wendy walks over to me and grabs my hand, dragging me back into the circus tent as everyone else follows.
"So, what are you doing here Doranbolt?" Natsu asks.
"I was returning the costume from last night." I tell him.
"Came hella early too, it was ridiculous. As soon as I let him in I fell right back to sleep." Wendy says.
I blush lightly, about to explain that I wasn't trying to be rude or do anything indecent by staying in her room, everyone starts laughing though.
"You'll learn in the circus Doranbolt that just because the sun is up doesn't mean it's time to wake up." Natsu says.
"When the tent is on fire that does mean it, isn't that right spit fire?" Gray asks teasing Natsu.
The two of them start fighting and I watch.
"Do I stop them?" I ask, rolling up my sleeves.
"Nah, they fight all the time. We all fight all the time, explaining Mystogun's hand. You'll get used to it." Wendy answers.
Their kitchen is a mess hall, dozens of tables lines up against each other while five people cooked in the small kitchen. It is a battlefield as people try to get food from the chefs. Wendy walks me over to an end table and sits me down, the two of us waiting for the crowd to die down.
"So Doranbolt, what did you really come here for?" She asks, blinking at me.
I blink back at her, "what do you mean? I told you, to drop off the outfit."
"And you did. You could have left anytime after that, so why did you stay?"
Honestly. "I don't know."
Wendy grins widely at me, "you'll figure it out soon enough the longer you start hanging around us. Thank you for your honesty though."
Why did that just feel like a quiz? She is just asking me a simple question... catching me on my lie. More people pile up on Wendy's table and start talking loud and obnoxious, sharing food with one enough and occasionally tossing it at each other. Wendy stares at me most of the time, her eyes amusing while the smile never leaves her lips. I try smiling back at her when I could, but everyone kept calling for my attention. So many questions about Era and our culture. It isn't much, I tell them, this town is nothing special.
"But you are all geniuses! That's hellah special coming from the town I came from." Natsu says.
"Yeah, and those keys you played on the piano. Mystogun has been trying to teach us to play for years and I'm still not that good." Gray says moving his fingers.
"I figured you'd be snooty with how smart you are and all." Gajeel mumbles.
"That's rude Gajeel, you're acting like those people who think just because we're circus people that we're instantly freaks."
I flinch, being one of those peoples in the past; I'm glad that mix us is finally clear now. These people aren't freaks, they are just like everyone else with a more colorful mouth and clothes.
"Bad news everyone! The numbers aren't looking so well!" Erza announces walking in, signature top hat on her head.
"I'm not surprised, we barely had half a house last night." Laxus says scratching his neck.
"I don't understand, why is it that people didn't come? We advertised enough, even gave them a taste of the magic. Why is that Doranbolt?" Natsu asks.
Suddenly all eyes are on me and I gulp heavily.
"Yeah Doranbolt, why didn't people come to our show?" Wendy asks lightly.
"Well, um, most of the people here don't like change. It doesn't help that mostly all the adults tell their children that circus people are the devils. To be honest, they just don't know anything about you all. That's why. We've never seen a circus for probably over a decade, maybe even more. I'm nearly twenty and if it wasn't for school, I probably would have never known what a circus was." I explain.
"Wow. Smartest people in Fiore and yet they don't know what a circus is. Amazing, the irony." Natsu says shaking his head.
"Well then that should solve it right? We just need to reach to the people and show them we aren't the devils." Lucy says.
Juvia snorts, "more like demons with the way we destroy things."
The mess hall erupts in laughter until Erza yells out.
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY! If we don't make enough to AT LEAST PASS BY, then there's no point in being here." She says.
"Aw! It's only been a week though!"
"I haven't been sightseeing!"
"This sucks!"
Wendy looks at me with a sparkle in her eyes.
"There's nothing else we can do everyone if we're poor." Erza shrug, "unless... ideas?"
"Yeah, let's force people to come and steal from their wallets!" Natsu says punching his fists together.
"Yeah. Then let's never come back to this place again, super." Gray cheers sarcastically.
"I don't see you coming up with a better idea!" Natsu yells, breathing fire.
"Alright boys, how about we ask the genius in the group how to solve this small problem?" Lucy suggests.
Everyone looks over towards Mystogun, I'm a little late as I look at Erza first. Is Erza not the ring leader? I'm surprised that no one is looking at her despite being the leader of the entire circus. The mask man doesn't look all that smart, but more ominous and strong.
"No comment." A low voice answers.
Everyone sighs out in disappointment.
"What about Doranbolt?! He's smart as well!" Wendy says looking at me with those sparkling eyes.
I gulp at the sudden attention given to me and start wracking my brain for ideas. There is only one that I can think of, but the chances of it working is less than 1%, no, less than 0.1%! No way in a million years will it work because these people were from the circus! They aren't welcome in a town like this and, and... I can't just say nothing.
"You can always do what you were doing before, advertising and catching people's curiosity. That's what led me to you all. There's only one smart idea I can think of, but there's no chance it'll work." I tell them.
By my surprise, everyone starts laughing out. I blink, feeling left out. I want to be let in on the joke, I know I probably won't truly find it truly funny though.
"We have experience with defying the impossibles, lay it on us." Natsu grins.
These people... they have done things, defied the impossible as they say to get to where they are today. Nothing was given to them when they were younger, things were expected but they all surpassed those expectations to get to be true to themselves. They all must have left people down, done things that would seem like a sin here in this town. Never before did I feel so left out in a group. Everyone was the same in Era, everyone had greatness, here though these people were on a different level. I could never achieve their level because, in all honestly, I didn't know what I wanted to be. I didn't know who I truly was other than what I was raised to be. I know I am Doranbolt Gryder but... did I love being myself?
Maybe this is the reason I'm hanging around these people instead of studying at home and being at church like other students, because I don't know who I really am. Maybe I'm here because I feel like if I stay around them, I can figure it out. No one here in the circus is useless though, I can tell they are a tight knit family who all play an important role and if I want to fit in and stay here I'll have to start playing the part myself.
"Well here in Era the most powerful influence is the Council; they are the police force for the entire country of Fiore. The church would have to be second, we aren't going to mess with them though unless it's our last resort. Basically whatever the Council says is the truth and if they deem you all friendly, entertaining, and good then all the lies the churches has been preaching won't mean a thing. If the Council says you're entertaining, people will be less scared to see you all perform." I tell them.
"That doesn't sound impossible at all!" Gray says.
"Yeah, very 'possible' if you ask me." Natsu grins.
"That's a horrible idea, it won't work at all." Mystogun says.
The mess hall turns silent.
"Way to ruin the mood Mystogun." Lucy says.
"He's right, the Council will never meet with you all and even if they do, they'll just do it to humiliate you. The Council doesn't like the circus, they're the reason why we don't know about the circus to begin with, plus they absolutely hate wizards. You all would be marked before you even entered the gates." I tell them.
"It's worth a shot though, right Erza?" Wendy asks.
I blink, was she not listening to anything I just said?
"You said we'd have to leave if people don't start coming, and if we don't do anything then we'll have to leave anyway. It's worth a shot, right?"
"Are you serious?" I ask.
"Alright. You'll be coming along with me though, along with our main attractions to give the council a taste of our 'magic." Erza says.
"Were none of you listening to me?! They hate wizards!" I argue.
"Well there aren't any wizards here, only circus people!" Gray cheers.
These people... they never see the negative side of things... just, just how was the possible? I don't understand, I don't...
"So Doranbolt, tell me. How do we get in a meeting to see the Council?" Erza asks.
I gulp, "well there's a waiting list. The more important you are, the higher you'll be placed. It could be 50/50 for you guys though, depending if the Council wants to ridicule you or ignore you."
"And if it's the ignore?" Laxus ask.
"Then," I search my brain for the answer, "you'll either have to do something really stupid to catch their attention or... I got it." I say.
I regret saying that though.
"Never mind." I correct shaking my head.
"No, what were you going to say?" Erza asks walking over.
"Nothing." I tell her shaking my head harder.
"Doranbolt! Tell us!" Wendy whines.
"I can't!"
"Doranbolt!" Everyone yells after.
"Fine! I know someone from the inside who could get you a meeting!" I yell out to them.
Everyone blinks at me.
"Well that great."
"It's not because if things end badly then my reputation and career will be over." I tell them.
The room suddenly turns dead silence.
"This is the true Era, all they truly care about are their reputation. If he's seen consolidating with us then he can kiss his bright future goodbye. He'll be consider a circus freak just like us for hanging out with us, he's probably risking it right now being around us. I bet no one knows you came here, huh? Aren't you supposed to be a church right now?" Mystogun asks.
My eyes widen in surprise, it is more about the fact that he knows so much about Era though than the fact he is trying to call me out. I stand up, wanting to defend myself, but there is nothing to defend.
"He's right, no one knows I came here and I'm not trying to do anything to reveal that fact. If anyone did find out, then I'd be seriously in trouble. That's the reason I didn't want to say anything, because there's a huge chance once I reveal I'm your friends that my life will be over." I tell everyone.
I can't tell what they all are thinking about me right now in their eyes; everyone here wears the perfect poker face. Natsu is the one who speaks first, clearing his voice as he stands up and leans over towards me.
"If that's true then why are you here Doranbolt?" He asks.
I take a deep breath and look down at my hands, "I don't know. All I really know is that all this time I was looking for, something that I didn't have in my life and just... I had a lot of fun last night." I mumble at the end.
Wendy starts giggling, breaking the heavy mood in the room.
"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I had fun yesterday too." She says.
Erza clears her throat, catching everyone's attention, "st least we know we're good at what we do."
All at once laughter fills the room and I quickly slip out, making my way back home. I don't belong here. Though what Mystogun said was messed up to bring me down like that, it still is the truth. That's all I'm thinking about right now which is why I didn't reveal my insider. I don't care about my future though... maybe I did more than I realize.
"Doranbolt?"
I turn around and spot her walking after me, her eyes filled with wonderment.
"Where are you going?" She asks.
"Home, where I belong."
Her eyes furrow, "if you took offense to what Mystogun said then he didn't mean it. He-"
"Wendy, everything he said was true back there. I'm exactly like that, everyone in Era is like that. I'm no different at all."
"Well that's not entirely true, you came to our performance yesterday as well as a hundred of other people. Not everyone in Era is like how Mystogun described them as."
She has one up on me.
"Didn't you come here for something Doranbolt? You thought you were alone, you thought you were the only one with doubts about your future, but yesterday that was all broken right? When you saw all the other people? When you saw us? You came here for a reason, remember? So why are you leaving?"
"I don't belong here."
"You know what I think? That you actually don't belong at home. I think you like here better."
I turn around and start walking off again. That isn't true. I'm extremely lucky to be born at the place I am, to be as smart as I was and have all these opportunities that I have. I'm lucky. People would kill to be me right now, so what am I doing here risking it all? What am I thinking? I wanted to see something different, I did. I don't have to come back, I shouldn't have come back...
"Why are you leaving Doranbolt?!"
"Why do you care so much Wendy?!" I go off on her, "you don't know me! You barely know me! I've met you probably three times, exactly three times in fact and what?! Why?!"
She blinks and smiles, "I thought I told you already. I like you. We're not so different Doranbolt, in fact we're closer than you think. You maybe trying to hide it, I noticed it the minute we met though. You're just like us, huh? A wizard?"
I don't know what I'm more surprised about, the fact that she once again confessed to me or the fact that she was accusing me to be a wizard.
"What are you talking about?" I ask.
"Wizards have a smell, a scent of magic; that scent is on you Doranbolt. You maybe playing stupid or you might not know your magic yet, but you do have magic."
"Thank you for the performance, this is goodbye now though." I say turning away.
"Doranbolt!" She calls after me, but I hear no footsteps running after me as I finally leave.