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Sora was distressed. Was I abusing them unknowingly?
They had offered to help and she and Yuri needed the extra hands. It made practicing a lot smoother than if it was just the two of them.
But, when they were helping us, who was helping them?
She brought her thumb up and bit her nail. Should we have offered to help in return? She hadn't even thought about that; they hadn't mentioned anything about their training or if they were having some difficulties.
Fleetingly, she wondered what Leon thought of her after hearing May's assessment of the situation.
She bit her nail harder.
Ken gave her a cup of water and was about to lay a hand on her shoulder when the dressing room door opened. Sora quickly turned around, slightly spilling her water as she saw the newcomers.
"Mute and Alice! I was so worried that—" her mind blanked as she saw their costumes.
With the white background and a matching blue and pink design of a feather on the body of the costume, Sora couldn't help but think that their outfits looked similar to hers and Yuri's…
"You both…look like angels…"
The once caring face of Mute turned hard. "That's correct. Now, if you excuse us."
Sora numbly moved out of the way as the pair came in to put their duffle bags down in the waiting room. She looked over at Yuri who had come over when the pair came in.
He didn't seem too surprised by their costumes.
"Why?" Sora choked out, still in shock at the turn of events. It may be unsurprising to Yuri and even Ken, but for the life of her she couldn't understand why they would copy Yuri and her.
It was Alice that answered her.
"Why?" she asked incredulously, "Because we want to win! We need to win for the sake of not only our dreams, but our entire troupe's!"
"We'll be given the credit of actually doing the Angel's Maneuver," Mute puffed out, "the first pair to try after three years!"
Sora frowned at that information, but she pushed it aside for now. "Did we do something wrong? Did Yuri and I seem ungrateful for the help, because we were—we still are grateful for—"
Alice's short, high pitched laughter interrupted Sora.
"You naïve girl! This has nothing to do with gratitude or ingratitude!" Something bitter and hard entered Alice's once pretty sky blue eyes. "Your maneuver trumped our original plans; we had to adjust just for a shot against Leon Oswald and you two."
"Alice," Mute cut in. With his hand on her shoulder, she stopped and shrugged out of her coat. Mute turned back to Sora, not letting her watery eyes affect him. "We didn't do anything against the rules, so discussing this any further is useless."
After saying that, the two left.
The cup in Sora's hand slipped from her limp fingers and spilled over the floor.
IN
Blankly, Sora stood by the sidelines with Yuri as May and Leon dazzled the crowd into complete silence.
Her hands still trembled from the encounter with Mute and Alice, but she refused to cry about it, no matter how much she wanted to.
Focus, focus…
Leon and May posed on a trapeze, his long silver hair and her dark black hair making magnificent contrasts. The once silent crowd was wild; it faintly reminded Sora of the audience for the Dracula shows.
She didn't like that type of reaction then, she especially didn't like it now.
Is this an audience I want to receive applause from?
IN
Mute and Alice were up.
They swung a few times, getting into sync with each other. In the corner of her eye, silver flitted near her. Her eyes looked to her left to see Leon standing a few feet from her with his coat on, but still in his demon costume.
She looked forward.
Alice jumped off of the swing to grasp Mute's hands. Just as Mute was pushing her upwards, Sora heard a sharp inhale from Leon.
Quickly, she turned to him, seeing surprise flash across his face before the impassive mask came back on.
Is it just me or did it look like he recognizes the maneuver?
She did not have the time to further think on that.
Alice's screaming had her full attention.
IN
Mute and Alice were the only people on her mind as she ran backstage to see them.
"Alice!" Sora called out. "Will he be alright?"
Alice, teary eyed, looked up from Mute on the stretcher. "We didn't mean any harm," she cried out, not answering Sora's question as her own thoughts spilled out of her mouth, "But when Mute and I saw you practicing the Angel's Maneuver, the very move that he and his partner had been rumored to attempt for the festival three years ago—" she covered her mouth as a sob broke up her speech.
Confused, Sora frowned. "Who's 'he'?"
"Sora," Mute weakly called from the stretcher.
When his hand reached up, Sora immediately grasped his hand.
"We let revenge cloud our minds," he continued from Alice's words, "We wanted him to suffer with the knowledge that someone else had done the Angel's Maneuver." His eyes were filled with regret. "He injured someone from our troupe, you see. So what better way to get back at him than to win with the maneuver he was never able to do?"
Sora's heart twinge for their troupe member, but she didn't understand the situation.
"Mute," Sora started with sympathy.
The squeeze of Mute's hand had her stop. "We were wrong, Sora. Please, forgive us."
"Ok," Sora said in a small voice, a tear slipping out.
Mute gave a heart breaking smile tainted with pain. "I never met her, but, from what I've heard, you seem to have a similar heart as Sophie."
Sora blinked, making another tear roll down her cheek. "Who?"
"She was petite, but pretty; I saw a picture in an old newspaper clipping once," Mute rambled as the medication kicked in, making him drowsy. "How Leon had such a person as a partner, I'll never understand," he trailed off, his eyes closing in rest. "It's always…the…nice ones…that…die…"
Sora stiffened from Mute's words.
Yuri called out her name, having been standing by for some time now.
"We need to go."
Sora stood up and waved to Alice.
They walked in silence for a while as Sora worked out what the pair had said to her a few moments ago and what they said in the waiting room about three years ago and the Angel's Maneuver. She also recalled Leon's reaction to Mute and Alice trying to do the maneuver.
I think…I know who 'he' is…
"Yuri," she murmured, "Were Leon and his partner the ones that tried to do the Angel's Maneuver three years ago?"
Yuri paused by the curtain separating them and the stage.
"Yes," he said and then walked past the curtain.
IN
Sora swung to gain momentum.
Her movements were sure, but her heart was not.
Mute and Alice, Leon and Sophie, and then other people like Mr. and Mrs. Pavloff…
"Thanks to you, Kaleido Stage," Mr. Pavloff spat out at Sora after Mute and Alice left the waiting room, "All we have left are tiny fragments of a shattered dream."
Sora's eyes watered as she and Yuri's hands connected and he lifted her up as she pushed off.
So many dreams unrealized, so much strife and hardship within such a callous environment…She didn't know how performers could continue to participate in this so called 'festival.'
Her heart ached as Mute's words echoed in her head.
'…the nice ones…that…die…'
'…die…'
She floated up in the air, but she didn't notice it, nor the exclamations of the audience as she did a part of a maneuver that had not been done before. Tears streamed in down her face, she couldn't stomach to continue.
"I can't!" she sobbed into her hands as she covered her face.
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