4. Welcome to all

Summary: The Carnevale Di Felicità finally opens, and Catoleya, Braso and Leolio decide to check it out. From playing at the games booths to seeing the Acrobat soar above them during her performance, the trio of friends know that this will be a day they won't forget.

Characters: Ringmaster Asthar, Ariela, Zael, Catoleya, Braso, Leolio, Jirall, Callista, Yurick, Zael

Carnevale Di Felicità.

Catoleya, Braso, and Leolio had dreamt of it ever since they started hearing about it weeks ago. It seemed to be the most optimistic thing they'd heard of in ages, ever since their parents died of the illness. None of them wanted to think of the possibility of sickly orchids growing on their own skin. They didn't want to see it ever again, but they were forced to as they tried their best to keep their distance from dying people in the streets, kicked out from their homes because people feared of being infected by them. That happened to them when their parents got infected-and once their parents were dead, they'd been wandering the streets since.

It was terrible to be alone with no family, but they still had each other. And now...

"Braso, Leolio, get up!" Catoleya shook them awake, and the two boys slowly sat up on their makeshift matresses. "The carnival opens today at noon! We have to get over there soon if we're going to get to all the good stuff there first!"

Braso let out a groan, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "Do we have to go now?" he complained. "I'm hungry..."

"And that's exactly why we should go now! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can eat candy apples and cotton candy and popcorn and more candy!"

"Really?" Braso immediately got up, pulling Leolio to his feet as his eyes lit up with excitement. "Let's go!"

Leolio laughed a little, doing his best to push messy blond hair out of his face. "Food really does motivate you a lot, Braso, doesn't it?"

Braso nearly blushed a little of embarassment as Catoleya let out a few giggles. "Shut up!"

Ringmaster Asthar was pleased that many, many people had already shown up at the entrance to the carnival. Looking at his pocketwatch, the hands read three minutes to noon. He might as well open up just a little early-his carnies were thankfully awake enough to be all smiles, after all, and why not get a head-start on all the fun that would await the customers and carnies alike?

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" The crowd immediately turned towards him, their eyes sparkling with complete anticipation. "I bring welcome to all of you, to the Carnevale Di Felicità, our carnival of happiness! It is with our great pleasure that we hope to bring smiles to all your faces, young and old! And now..." With a gesture of his hand, the gates opened and the people let out a cheer. "We wish for all of you to enjoy the wonders our carnival has to offer!"

Some of the guests went running straight into the depths of the carnival after the gates opened, as they had already bought tickets from the Ticket Keeper. Others, however, such as Leolio, Braso, and Catoleya, had to line up to get their tickets first before entering the carnival.

The Ringmaster felt someone tap his shoulder, and he turned to see Lowell, with a grin on his face.

"Ringmaster," The Icebreather started, "Syrenne and I have been thinking-does a bet between all of us carnies sound good?"

The Ringmaster raised an eyebrow. "And what sort of bet is this?"

Lowell merely grinned wider. "Whoever has the least amount of tickets at the end of the day has to do the errands tomorrow of whoever has the most amount of tickets."

The Ringmaster beamed at this. It would make things fun for the carnies, he supposed-and make them want to do their very best to please the crowds.

"I suppose that would make for good motivation, Lowell." Asthar finally answered, grinning a bit. "Spread the word to the others."

"Where do we go first? Where do we go first?"

"Candy!"

"Games!"

"Carnies!"

The three children all looked at each other, before Catoleya spoke up.

"Okay, I'm sure we can do all three. I say we decide like adults," She spoke, with a tone mocking a schoolteacher. "Rock, paper scissors will decide this. Okay?"

Both boys' eyes blazed with determination, wanting to either go to the games or get candy first.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Catoleya got rock.

Braso got paper.

Leolio got scissors.

The three children stared at each other, as it meant that they all beat each other in some way-which meant it was a tie.

"W-we can't leave it like this!" Braso groaned, shaking his head. "Oy, I say we do a rematch!"

Before Leolio could pipe up in agreement, a few laughs had the three averted from their little discussion, just long enough to see a nearby game booth. A man stood behind the booth's counter, his long, wavy ash-blond hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a dark navy blazer with amber-gold shoulder pads and matching buttons, with a white, collared shirt underneath. He appeared to have a bit of a smug look on his face as he spoke.

"Instead of having difficulty deciding, how about a game?"

Leolio's eyes lit up at the word game and he immediately rushed over to the booth, looking up at Jirall with expectant eyes.

"A game?" Leolio repeated. "What kind of game?"

Braso and Catoleya exchanged glances. Once Leolio was interested in something, there was no getting out of it...

The older man smiled. "Any game you want. The higher the stakes, the better the prizes will be. The higher the difficulty, the better the prize will be if you win..." He gazed at the three children with some sort of sinister gleam in his eyes. "Do you wish to play? The difficulty is determined by how many tickets-two, three, or five tickets. And the higher the difficulty, the better the prize..."

"Five tickets, then." Leolio cut in. "We're going to get the big prize!"

Catoleya gaped at Leolio. "Are you crazy!? What if we lose!?"

"We won't lose!"

Gamemaster Jirall smirked as he watched the three kids dispute among themselves about whether they want to play. He figured it was a good time to goad them on...

"Are you too scared to play a simple game? How unfortunate..."

Leolio and Braso both turned towards Jirall, determination burning in their eyes as they shouted.

"We won't lose!"

Jirall smiled a bit. "So you want to play, then?"

"Yes!"

Jirall's smile went wider. "Perfect." He slowly walked over to something that was covered with a large piece of cloth. He paused, before suddenly pulling the cloth away to reveal a large, round and colourful wheel. There were words written on each part of the wheel, ranging from Candy to Tissue to Prize of the Day.

"This," Jirall spoke, his tone of voice getting darker, "Is none other than the Wheel of Fate. You only get one chance, one chance to spin this...and where it stops, no one knows." He let out another chuckle, before speaking again. "Whatever the arrow points at is what you'll get. Are you sure you want to take on this challenge and see what fate has in store for you?"

"YES!" All three kids yelled at once. Catoleya even rushed up to Jirall, slapping five tickets into his hand before rushing back to the others. Jirall blinked in surprise, before regaining his sinister grin. Getting kids to play his carnival games was getting easier-and would help him not lose the bet that was going on for today among the carnies.

"Perfect." Jirall gestured to the Wheel of Fate, his smile getting a bit wider. "Which one of you dear children would like to spin the wheel?"

"Me!"

"No, me!" Both Catoleya and Braso nearly got into a dispute again, but Jirall cut in before it could happen.

"You there..." He gestured to Leolio. "Why don't you try?"

Leolio blinked a bit, surprised that he had been chosen. "M-me, sir?" He half-stammered, trying not to sound too nervous.

Jirall merely nodded, smiling back at him. "Why not?" He gestured to the wheel with one hand. "Just give it a spin. Who knows, you might be lucky and get the best prize of the day..."

The young boy paused, before nodding. He walked over to the lever beside the wheel, before pulling it down with all of his might. The wheel spun, one, two, three times, many times, until it finally slowed down. The arrow passed the prize of tissues, passed the prize of candy...and went slower and slower until...

The arrow landed on Prize of the Day.

Catoleya, Leolio, and Braso all stared at once, their mouths gaping open like frogs catching flies. Jirall chuckled a little bit, grinning a less sinister grin.

"You won the prize of the day! Congratulations..."

Those words were what got the three jumping and hooting for joy. Jirall smiled, before stepping behind the wheel for a moment. He then came back out, giving Leolio a very, very large bag of candy. "Share this with your friends, alright?"

Leolio gaped at the large bag in his hands, before nodding, grinning at him. "I will, mister! Thank you!"

Jirall smirked as the three children rushed off. At least he knew he wouldn't be the loser of this bet...

"Okay," Braso spoke up as the the three walked around some more, grabbing pieces of candy with their little hands and shoving the candy into their mouths, "So, what next? We got to play games and eat candy, so does that leave carnies?"

Catoleya nodded, flipping her hair with one hand. "Yeah, it does. Where next?" She paused, before snapping her fingers. "Maybe we can go see the Acrobat! I heard she's a really popular act!"

"The Strongman is so cool, though!" Leolio spoke up, grinning. "I heard he can lift a lot of weights! That he's the real thing!"

Braso paused, before glancing at a tent. "Maybe the Illusionists...?"

A chorus of screams rang from the tent, followed by Zesha and Zepha's maniacal laughter and harmonized, haunted chanting.

"Double, double...toil and trouble...Fire burn and cauldron bubble..."

None of the children wished to get nightmares from the act, so they immediately opted to skip the Illusionists and go see the Acrobat instead.

When they arrived at the Acrobat's tent, they were surprised to see the Illusionists, the two Gurak twins sitting at opposite sides of the large stage in front of them. There were two poles with small platforms attached to them, probably for the Acrobat to stand on, and there were also various coloured ribbons hanging from above. the floor below was the purest white, like snow. There was also a trapeze that hung in the air, devoid of anyone using it.

Zesha seemed to smile as the crowd began to form in the section of the tent where the visitors sat.

"Gather, gather 'round..." He crooned sweetly, gesturing with an arm. "A story is to be told to all that come and gather here..."

Zepha mirrored Zesha's smile, glancing briefly at Catoleya, Braso and Leolio. "This is no story to haunt the young ones...not intetionally, at the very least..."

Once the crowd had sat down, the two brothers snapped their fingers, the light in the tent dimming as they chanted together.

"Let the show begin."

The lighting then brightened up-not back to normal, but bright enough so that everyone could see what was going on at the stage.

"Once upon a time," Zesha spoke, his voice echoing through the tent, "There were two revered beings in the ancient times. There was a serpent of the darkness and a dove of the light. THe two kept balance over the land that they roamed upon, and everything was perfect."

The Acrobat came soaring downwards from above, holding onto the trapeze with both hands before letting go, flipping about int he air and gripping onto one of the several hanging silk ropes. The Contortionist slithered onto the stage without barely any notice, his body writhing and moving as if imitating a real snake. The Acrobat was clothed in white, while the Contortionist work black. Zepha had even made Therius' hair look black with an illusion spell, as dye was expensive and would eventually damage the hair), while Zael put black makeup on Therius' face to look more like serpent skin.

"Both of these creatures," Zepha continued, "They both possessed different abilities. The dove had the power of light, accompanied by flight. The serpent had the body to roam the land and its waters, accompanied by all darkness. They accepted the fact that they had their differences, but one day the serpent's feelings of contentment blossomed into jealousy, as he dreamt of roaming the skies for many eons."

Therius, was in a chest stand, flipped backwards to end up in a back bend, gazing up at the soaring Calista with an envious look in his eyes. He then twisted himself so now he was supporting his entire body with one hand, the other hand grabbing one of his legs to pull it forward. The other leg stayed back, making some sort of perfect split. The crowd marveled at this, before Therius stood on both hands and flipped forwards, supporting his body with both hands again as his legs intertwined together and tilted to the left and right in the air, before he began to writhe about again.

Calista, meanwhile, was still flying about the tent, leaping from one silk rope to another. She appeared to pretend to let go of the rope, only for her to catch herself by using her legs to wrap about the silk ropes before she could lose reach of them, the crowd hooting with amazement.

Zesha smiled, before his voice turned to sound like Calista's own. "One day, the serpent was curious. And so he spoke to the dove."

"Little dove, charming dove," Zepha started, his voice sounding like Therius' own, "Won't you come closer to me, so I may gaze upon your brilliance, your beauty?"

Zesha responded in Calista's voice. "And why should I? You gaze upon me day by day, is the sight of my flight not enough for your eyes?"

"Please, I beg of you, only this once and I shall never ask it again."

"...very well, serpent, I shall."

As Calista seemed to spiral downwards ever so beautifully, that was when Zepha spoke up with his normal voice again.

"And that was when the serpent struck, determined to bring her down as his jealousy overwhelmed him. He decided that if he couldn't be able to fly, no one should..."

Therius immediately flipped into the air, his arms wrapping about Calista's waist. The two went spiraling upwards now, Calista leaping from one rope to another in an attempt to shake Therius off. The Contortionist climbed upwards, now wrapping his arms about her shoulders, but eventually with a twist, a pull, a cry, Therius plummeted downwards...

The crowd screamed, fearing for the Contortionist's life, but that was when Therius managed to lean sideways, ending up in the safety of the net instead of hitting the ground. The crowd seemed relieved, and then Zesha spoke.

"From that day on...the serpent and the dove would live in an imbalance towards each other, forever fighting, forever struggling to rebuild a balance between each other and the world again..."

The crowd cheered. Calista flipped, landing on the ground perfectly as Therius came to stand beside her, the two bowing.

The end of the day just came far too soon. Visitors left, leaving the carnies to clean up and figure out who lost the bet.

"Ringmaster," Dagran spoke to Asthar, "Calista's obviously won this bet...she's got the most number of tickets...and we counted everyone else except for Therius and Zesha and Zepha-Lowell's counting right now."

Asthar nodded, glancing at the other carnies quietly before speaking to them. "I just want to say congratulations, all of you, for another successful day. And," He gleefully smiled at them, "We even have enough money left over to save for any...future emergencies or the like, which is good."

Some of the carnies tiredly cheered a bit, obviously exhausted from the day.

"Ringmaster!" Lowell shouted. "Therius lost!"

Some of the other carnies laughed a bit to themselves at this, Therius obviously looking unamused by his loss.

"So," Jirall spoke, looking at a list of chores, "That means Therius will have to go out and buy supplies himself tomorrow, on top of his other duty of sorting out the wardrobe area again..."

Calista paused, before speaking up. "Actually," She started, "Perhaps I can accompany Therius while he is getting supplies? I mean," She paused, before finishing, "I'm sure he would need a hand..."

Asthar nodded. "Very well, then."

Some of the others-Zael, Jirall, and Zepha-looked disappointed at hearing this, but they knew they had their duties to do so they stayed quiet about their dissatisfaction.

Tomorrow would be a day to restock, practice, and clean up. And then the day after, they would hit the road again.

Author note: ...I am aware that it's been a long while since I updated this fic...(sweatdrop)...sorry...Also, I learned how difficult it is to write out a carnie act scene (specifically with Calista and Therius)...

Hopefully, though, the next update to this fic will come a bit sooner and thank you for all your patience and reviews so far!