As promised, this is the second chapter.
Next chapter to be released on December 27th.
I do not own DGM. Enjoy.
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Chapter 2 – THE SIGHT(ing of a show)
As the first part of the meeting drew to a close, the stadium emptied and the royalty with their Supports took refuge in a hidden room under the platform. Lavi was told to follow. He entered the guarded room and saw plush cushion lined couches and chairs lining the outer ring of the chamber. A vast table of food was laid out along the far wall. It was ignored in favour of the royalty lying down until the 'real' meeting started. The Supports were left alone.
"Ohhh, my feet…." the girl said as she sat down and removed her shoes.
The Asian teen grunted and made his way to the soba sitting on the table wanting to get his fill as soon as possible.
The ridiculous marcher stood at attention by the door, ignoring the others, or trying to. He couldn't hide the look of disgust at them for not appearing professional at all times.
"Why are you all so deplorable outside public eye?" the marcher asked.
"They cannot see us here and we have always made sure that we, the Supports, are friends," the girl said, smiling and still rubbing her feet. "My King asked me to try these new shoes and I have to report to him they are… really bad…"
"Why would you do that?" the marcher asked, insulted that she would speak back to her King.
"Well, he asked me to test out the design, and I am always honest with my King when it comes to our Wind Riding gear he asks me to test out. Otherwise, the people could get hurt. Oh! My name is Lenalee," she said.
"Kanda," the Asian teen barked from the table.
"Chaoji," the marcher said.
"Who the fuck are you?" Chaoji asked, breaking Lavi from his thoughts in the shadows.
Lavi was going to answer when he realized that Chaoji was not looking at him, but at the doorway where the last support was juggling four balls in one hand seemingly without a care in the world.
There stood a white haired clown, his face hidden behind a white mask with red lips pulled into a smile, the eyes painted closed and the realistic human nose painted red. There was a black tear running down the left side of the mask, leading to a small crack marring the lower left part of the jaw. On his head was a lopsided, twisted, golden crown.
"Ah, right, you've never met him. This is…he usually goes by Crown Clown, but I just call him Crown." Lenalee jumped up from the couch she was sitting on, leaving the shoes behind. She went over to him and kissed both his cheeks. He dropped the balls he was juggling with a heavy thud and held his cheeks.
"Oh stop it. I know you're not actually embarrassed."
Crown sulked and picked up the juggling balls and bowed to her, taking her hand and pressing it to the mouth of the mask.
"Oh you're so funny," she said, curtseying and holding out her hands for a dance. Crown took the position of the female dancer and the two began to waltz with Lenalee providing the music via singing. Lavi noticed that Kanda wasn't doing anything other than watching, as if this were not out of the ordinary.
"What is a stupid clown doing here? Hey! Get out! This room is only for Supports, not for lowly circus scum like you!" Chaoji said, making his way towards the white Support, his hands rising to form fists.
"Hey! I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lenalee said, seeming unconcerned that it looked like the Clown was to be beat up.
"He shouldn't be here. This room is for Kingdom Supports only. He isn't."
Lavi was surprised when Lenalee realized that Chaoji really wanted to fight she backed off, giving them room. Chaoji threw a wide punch that Crown dodged. Chaoji threw a second and Crown dodged that with ease. The white figure began to seemingly continue to dance around the punches thrown at his face and began to retaliate. He would throw his juggling balls at Chaoji's body and it wasn't until then that the melee fighter realized how heavy they really were.
"What the hell? Hold still you joke!" Chaoji yelled from the ground, clutching his shoulder.
Chaoji jumped up and brought his hands up again, attacking the clown. Crown Clown bounced around, collecting his juggling balls and slipping them into his pockets, still avoiding Chaoji's fists.
Chaoji threw one last punch with a yell and punched the wall, leaving a massive dent. "Stay still!"
"Enough!" a voice boomed. Crown Clown spun around, bowed and did not move.
There stood the King of Red. His robes were now straight and his bottle half empty. He looked angry and it seemed to be directed at Crown.
"What is going on here?" he demanded.
Kanda stepped forward, bowing his head. "Well, this idiot provoked the joker. He was defending himself."
Crown did not move.
The King of Red advanced towards Crown and grabbed his neck, hoisting him up with only one hand. "What did I say? Do not cause trouble! Was that not clear?"
Crown shook his shoulders and held his hands up in a surrendering motion. It looked like he was laughing, but Lavi noticed that the King's eye flicked towards the clown's right hand and watched for a second.
He brought the clown down, pulling his face close. "Behave. I will not say it again."
Crown bowed again and stayed that way until his King left. Lenalee seemed to take that as a sign of the next meeting was about to begin. She reached into a bag by the couch and pulled out slightly beaten shoes, sliding them on.
"Oh, that is so much better. A little old, but I'm not sure how much longer I can wear these."
Lavi piped up and said, "Why don't you try just wearing them longer? Breaking them in?"
Lenalee whipped around. "And who are you?"
"Ah, I never introduced myself. My name is Lavi and I'm an apprentice Historian under Bookman." Lavi held out his hand to Lenalee who shook it.
When he turned to Kanda, Kanda frowned deeper and proceeded to ignore both Lavi and his out stretched hand. Shrugging it off, he turned to Chaoji who said nothing as he shook his hand. Lavi noticed the glare from him as well. The handshake was returned by Crown who had stopped bowing, but it was accompanied by a small shock that surprised Lavi.
"You really are a trickster," Lavi said, holding his own hand and spotted the toy in Crown's hand.
Crown said nothing.
Lenalee took the lead and everyone followed her to the next room. In the centre sat another table, a long black table cloth draped down, hiding the underside from view. An enormous spread of food sat in the middle of the table a small distance away from the pen and paper that lay in front of each seat.
Each monarch had already claimed a seat and had just settled in as the Supports took their places on the wall behind their designated ruler.
Crown pranced over to his King and sat in his lap, arching his back and throwing out a laugh. King Marian seemed to growl and shoved Crown off his lap.
"Ah!" Crown yelped in surprise.
The Red King immediately pinned him down with his a boot. A wheeze was heard under the table.
"You are staying there."
"Ah!" Crown yelped again, clearly being stepped on harder.
"You know the rules and you broke them. You get no chances, you know your place." The Red King settled into his seat, enjoying his foot rest.
There was no sound from Crown.
Lavi grew concerned.
"Why does the Red King abuse the clown guy?" Lavi asked, leaning over towards Lenalee, the one he figured most likely to speak.
"Tell me what you think is happening," Lenalee said.
"Well, it's pretty obvious that the Red King is stepping on Crown and not letting him get back up. I'm afraid he might break the guy's ribs if he presses down too much."
"It looks that way, doesn't it? What else?"
"Well, Crown is clearly either insane or used to the abuse."
"Or both," Lenalee said.
"Or both."
"But I know that Crown actually means a lot more to the King than either let on."
"Why do you say?" Lavi was intrigued.
"Just the way they act. The King beats him up all the time, but I remember one incident where someone touched Crown without permission and all hell broke loose. It was an accidental bump on the shoulder and when the King found out…well…it didn't end well for that employee. There is a saying that in the Red Kingdom the bark means nothing to the bite."
"Isn't the saying 'all bark and no bite?'"
"Exactly, it's the opposite in the Red Kingdom."
"Huh…but that doesn't make sense. Why would the Red King beat Crown down only to turn around and do that? How do you know that King Marian actually likes Crown?"
"Because he told me. I was super worried about the King doing all that violent stuff to Crown and he said it was fine," Lenalee said but Lavi interrupted.
"Crown speaks to you?"
"Of course! The King would never intentionally harm Crown apparently and hell be unto thee that touches, let alone harms Crown." Lenalee said.
Lavi was storing all this information away to record later.
"Who is the Crown Clown?" Lavi asked.
"Dunno. He just showed up next to the King one day. No one knows where he really came from."
From there, Lavi just watched the meeting, taking down the topics discussed, who was for what and why.[1]
When all was said and done and the monarchs dismissed their Supports, the Red King rose and dipped down to grab Crown by the back of the neck and hoist him up.
"Get out of my face," he snarled.
Crown nodded, tripping as he left the room. Kanda withdrew silently and Chaoji stormed out once he was dismissed. Lenalee said that she was going to explore the Red District with the spare time they now had.
"I rarely get to see the Red Kingdom since I'm so busy with my King. I also love it there."
Lavi followed her.
Lenalee took the lead, having seen the town before and giving Lavi a tour. She pointed out bakeries, clubs and streets. It was evident that she really did like the district.
"Oh! I need to stop in here. I want some cupcakes and cookies." She ran into the smaller than most bakery and was out before Lavi could decide if he should wait or follow.
"Wow, that was quick."
"I know what I want," she said as she pulled out a cookie and offered it. "Here, try it. They are so good!"
When he bit into the treat, he agreed.
Lenalee smiled. "It's run by a man named Jerry. He comes here only for the Gathering. When it is the off season here, he returns to the Red Kingdom. I don't get his stuff until the Gathering. I don't know what I'm more excited for when it all happens; seeing everyone or the bakery."
"Seeing everyone?"
"Yeah. It might not look like it, but I actually enjoy seeing Kanda and Crown. I wish Marie had come this year instead of that Chaoji guy, but I would rather Marie stay home and get better. He mailed me right before and said he couldn't go because he was struck down by a flu that he wasn't sure he could shake before coming."
"Well, that sucks."
"It really does, but that's okay. I'll see him soon. My king and I are going there in a few weeks to discuss trade again."
Lavi was going to keep questioning her but a white figure brushed past them and walked towards the centre of the street.
"Hey, isn't that…?" Lavi asked.
"Yeah, it's King Marian's support."
Lavi watched as the clown made large gestures to draw attention to himself. Word spread quickly that he was going to put on a show. A crowd of Red citizens gathered, readying themselves for the performance.
"And introducing, the Clown of the crooked crown! The Red Pierrot!" some shouted.
The Clown made a gesturing motion at himself, confused. Bashfully he stepped forward and bowed, tripping over his own feet. He sprung up right in front of a lady, holding a flower. Her husband leaned forward, took the flower and smiled. The Clown fanned himself as he pretended to faint, but remained standing.
"Crown Clown! Crown Clown!" everyone began to chant.
He stopped and listened, tilting his head. He changed the angle before rolling backwards and people began to roll props into the stage area. The clown began to inspect them thoroughly and seemed to be dusting off things, clearly taking his time until people began to chant for him to begin. He ignored them until he came across the round ball as tall as he was. He snapped his fingers.
The crowd began to drum on any surfaces they could find.
Lavi was thrown off by the events happening. Why were they drumming? Why was the clown stalling for time?
"The louder the drumming, the bigger his first act is," Lenalee informed the confused Lavi.
"You know a lot about the Clown and the Red Kingdom's culture."
"I find it so beautiful and captivating," she said as she turned back to the show.
"Why do they call him the red pierrot when he's dressed in white?" Lavi asked.
"Because he is a pierrot from the Red Kingdom, now hush."
Lavi watched, captivated as if he were a small child again. He laughed as the Clown dropped prop after prop on his head, noting that each action was intentional, there were no mistakes in his performance, matching it to the level of energy of the crowd.
This clown was not only an entertainer, but also a manipulator. Interesting. Lavi jotted that piece of information down, thinking it would prove useful.
The illusion was nearly broken when he was juggling and he was hit in the face by a rock. He dropped the pins and the jarring motion seemed to wake everyone from their trance.
"Hey! Who threw that?!" a large man asked.
No one approached the clown, as if scared. Lavi could hear a child begin to cry and the hesitation of the clown. He got up again and stretched, seeming to not notice the dripping blood down the side of his mask and neck. He found the largest group of children who were unnerved by the breaking illusion and somersaulted towards them, stopping at the last minute and cocking his head. He pointed to his cheeks and made an "Ah! Heeeee!" sound and roses appeared from under the top of his mask, covering the wound. He pulled a confetti cannon from somewhere and set it off towards the centre of the open area.
He had re-established the entertainment for the children. The adults were not fooled and most were concerned. They played along with their children, but knew that the main part of the show was over. They began to apologize to the clown as they pulled their children away to get on with their days. The clown acted appalled by these actions, as if they were tearing his heart out. He began to pretend to cry, even going to stand in front of protesting children, but soon relented as parents promised to return for another show when the clown decided to put it on.
When the square was relatively empty, Lavi could see the moment Crown dropped the act. He removed the rose and dabbed at the blood along the top of the mask. The redhead saw Crown sigh and the clown took off faster than Lenalee and Lavi could follow, but the girl did not seem offended.
"He is done his show. He wants to rest. He will be back when he's ready, not to mention the King might be looking for him."
"What about the whack to the face he just took?"
Lenalee frowned. "Yes, I am worried about that…it looked painful, but I'll ask him later."
"Why not go after him?"
"Aren't you a Bookman apprentice? Don't you know about discretion? He doesn't want people following."
"Why?"
"No one touches the Crowned Clown lest the King hear about it."