9. Adjusting

Summary: Count Arganan is forced to adjust to a lot of new things. Two of said new things is the fact that he has to deal with the Gurak twins, the Illusionists who keep screwing with his mind. Not exactly a great thing when one wants to sleep. Thankfully, he might have someone he can trust.

Characters: Illusionists Zesha and Zepha, Count Arganan, Strongman Dagran

Arganan was tossing and turning in bed. It was nice to be able to have his own tent instead of sharing with one or two of the other carnies, he supposed. At least he had a little privacy in here if not anywhere else. The food was...well, it was better than nothing, for sure. It didn't light a candle to what he had eaten in Lazulis, when he was still healthy, powerful...

He shook his head, ridding himself of that memory. Right now he had something to focus on-that was his staying alive, trying not to get himself killed by the other carnies here and to find a cure for the illness that he and many, many others in the entire Empire were suffering through.

The second part was most likely the most difficult part. That he was sure of. As soon as he had arrived, Calista obviously still didn't trust him and he didn't blame her for that. Same went with Zael. The Illusionists obviously hated him/liked him to the point that they would verbally offend him, and he was sure Syrenne gave him the evil eye at least once already, despite this being only his first night here.

In other words, he definitely was not welcome here. Not really, anyway.

In conclusion, in order to survive being around these other people (most of them strangers, one of them his niece, two of them very creepy Gurak) he would have to make sure not to cause any fights with them, try to at least mutually get along so they could all work together.

...Yes, that was not going to be easy. Especially with probably half the people here already hating his guts.

"Such a bawdy, bunch backed canker blossom you are." Zepha's voice drawled out of nowhere. Arganan's one good eye widened, sitting up in bed to see none other than the Illusioinists standing side by side, grinning and staring at Arganan. "Lying there, weak, deformed..."

Zesha grinned, disappearing before reappearing right in front of Arganan, chuckling as he pulled off Arganan's eyepatch in a heartbeat. Arganan got out of bed, trying to grab the eyepatch back, but Zesha threw it to the side before he could. The red-auraed Illusionist laughed. "He is deformed, crooked, old and sere," The red-aured Illusionist declared in agreement with Zepha. "Ill-faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere; Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind; Stigmatical in making, worse in mind."

Zepha laughed a bit in agreement. "True, true..." He made direct eye contact with Arganan. "You are just as pathetic as the rest of us, Count." He murmured, mockery lacing his speech, the two twins bursting into laughter.

Arganan glared back at the twins. He knew his place, but he had to say it to them. "I am better than you." He whispered. "I am better than you, thou whoreson, senseless villain..."

Zesha looked rather offended at it, his eyes flashing with rage as he shouted the next insult.

"Frailty, thy name is woman!"

Arganan just snapped right there. "I am no woman!" He roared back, grabbing the red-auraed Illusionist by both shoulders and ramming him against the nearby desk, sending a few papers flying. Zesha let out a scream, punching him in the face, the two ending up grappling each other on the floor.

Arganan did not hear Strongman Dagran enter the tent, but did hear him yell "Wait a second! Stop!" as well as some struggling noises afterwards. Arganan's vision cleared after Zesha was wrenched off Arganan by Zepha, the two twins glaring at Arganan as they both vanished into thin air. Arganan looked up to see Dagran extend a hand to him.

"You okay?"

Arganan nodded, grabbing the younger man's hand and letting him pull him up.

"Better after you came to help, yes. Thank you." The older man managed.

Dagran held him by both shoulders to steady him, looking to the tent entrance. "What happened exactly between you three?"

Arganan sighed, brushing Dagran's hands away with his own metal and flesh ones. "They barged in and started an insult war that I was doomed to lose. That was what happened."

"Yeah..." The Strongman winced, looking to Arganan again. "They...do that a lot. Trust me, they're not the greatest guys to be around if you don't get their kind of humour and wit. I don't understand sometimes why the Ringmaster let those two be around here."

"Yes. I should have known, first time when I saw those two." Arganan muttered in response. He made eye contact with the Strongman. "You can go, if you want."

Dagran nodded, his golden eyes dulling slightly. "Yeah. I'm going to go practice." He turned, approaching the way out of the tent before he turned to make eye contact with Arganan. "Hey. If you ever have any trouble, just come see me, Count. I don't mind."

Arganan blinked in surprise, but nodded. Dagran seened to grin slightly, before walking out of the tent. The older man let out a sigh, going to retrieve his eyepatch. As he bent down to pick it up, he got a good look of his reflect in a nearby mirror, which rested on the table. He glared at the scarred side of his face, before gripping the eyepatch firmly in his hand and adjusting it onto his face.

He did not want to think about the past, no matter how much his own appearance reminded him of such. He swore never to go back there again.

And maybe, just maybe...finding the cure for his sickness and having Dagran as a possible accquaintance in this freak show would help him get over it.

Author note: Thank you to everyone who has been reading Carnevale di Felicita so far! XDDD Over 500 views and 14 reviews as well as 4 alerts and 1 favourite-I really appreciate it! XD

So, I was thinking...for the next chapter, possibly, I will have it as a backstory for one of our carnies, their past before Carnevale di Felicita and how they joined up. So...you readers can vote on which backstory will be put up first via your reviews! (Yes, anonymous readers that don't have an account, you don't have to cry out in vain over being unable to vote via a profile poll) So...vote on which carnie's backstory you want to see first! Thanks! XDDDD

People you can vote on for backstories: Illusionists Zesha and Zepha, Fortuneteller Mirania, Firebreather Yurick, Icebreather Lowell and Strongwoman Syrenne, Strongman Dagran Ticket Keeper Ariela and Tamer Zoran, Clown Zael Gamemaster Jirall and Acrobat Calista, Ringmaster Asthar and Contortionist Therius, Count Arganan