The Kingdom of Fiore, a country on the continent of Ishgar, home to nearly seventeen million people and in a world filled with magic. Within this kingdom are the guilds, organizations held together by a common trade for men and women of various ages to work towards making their goals a reality, with the most prominent being the wizard guilds.
Using their magic to meet the requests given to them by those who need assistance, the wizards of Fiore are known far and wide for their various exploits such as the Sabertooth guild, the Lamia Scale guild or the controversial Fairy Tail guild. But our story doesn't focus on them or their members, our story focuses on a lesser-known guild of magical entertainers and the young man who helps them perform their acts of wowing audiences using their abilities. This guild goes by the name of Psycho Circus and our story begins a mere month after a myriad of new members had just joined... And four days after a certain young man said, "I'll be back in a day."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hemlock, 8:06 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The town of Hemlock, a small business village filled with shops of various types, set besides a large mountain range known as Caymen Rock and a river coursing through it known as Nereid Lake. With the various brick buildings strung about the town, the most notable structure within it is a massive building in the shape of a green and purple circus tent with four similar towers attached to it with a symbol of a smiling jesters face on the primary front tent.
In front of the building was a stone path leading into the town with an overhead gate that read "Psycho Circus" in bold letters. Nearby from the massive guildhall for Psycho Circus, in-between the woodland trees, was a decently sized red and yellow tent that was next to a large object with four wheels under a tarp and a mailbox that had the names, "Camilla and Bernard," on it.
Inside the tent, the inside being bigger than what it appeared on the outside, was a large white walled living space with a kitchen, dinner table, a dresser for clothing, a bathroom and a large bed in the center of the room. On the bed was an attractive young woman with long brown hair, dressed in a green tank top and black shorts that exposed much of her legs. Drool coming out of her mouth and her hair messy, the young woman scrambled around the bed, struggling to sleep as the blanket barely covered her body.
"Bluiggghh..." The young woman mumbled in her sleep as she continued to twist and turn before she begun to open her eyes. "Haaaa..." She yawned as she looked at the drool on her pillow as she wiped one of her eyes. "Ugh... Another day of rough sleep... Dang it, Camilla..." The young woman named Camilla thought as she got up from the bed.
Walking away from the bed, Camilla went behind a changing curtain as she undressed and readied herself for the day ahead. Fixing her hair as she walked out from behind the curtain, now sporting a red tank top with blue shorts, a grey coat tied around her waist by the sleeves and a pair of brown boots, she started to do some stretching.
"Okay, okay..." Camilla said to herself as she walked around the tent house before bending forward and proceeding to do a handstand. "One... Two..." She counted as she proceeded to do handstand pushups. "Gotta make this quick... Before the crazy four eyes makes too much noise." Camilla thought as she proceeded to get some minor exercise.
After several minutes and several dozen handstand pushups, Camilla shifted back to an upright position and walked over to the front door, exiting the tent house. Rubbing her shoulders, Camilla went through the giant front doors of the guildhall tent as she looked around.
A massive indoor space filled with small tables and stools, a large bar adorned with many drinks and a pair of stairs leading to upstairs hallways with multiple rooms. While normally quiet in the morning, Camilla looked on with slowly rising annoyance at the peculiar sight of a young woman with short black hair, a white cowgirl hat, glasses, a green top, pink miniskirt, white sandals, a white lab coat-like jacket and screaming into a megaphone.
"Double time!" The glasses wearing woman said into the megaphone loudly. "Keep it up! Don't stop even to breathe!" She continued to shout.
In front of her was a myriad of man-sized plush dolls in the shape of stuffed cats with buttons for eyes, using their nub-like hands to hold cleaning supplies like brooms and cloths to sweep the floor and to wipe down the tables, respectively.
"All the tables better be clean! And the floors need to be free of dust! Even the slightest speck will be seen by "you-know-who" and when he comes in, he's gonna slam a plate over your heads and then sic a beastie on you! A failure on your parts reflects poorly on me as the second in command so don't dillydally!" The glasses wearing woman said in a chipper tone as the cat plush men proceeded to start working faster and more frantically.
"...Daphne..." Camilla thought with frustration as she approached the glasses wearing girl named Daphne from behind as her hand started to glow a bright yellow.
"I see you slacking off back there! And that's not allowed, or else the boss man is gon- baaahh!" Daphne continued to bark at the plush men until she suddenly felt pain in her lower back as Camilla stood behind her, her hand in a fist covered in a round yellow orb. "What in the- ah! Oh hey, boss lady!" She said whilst clutching her back as she looked up to see the tired expression of Camilla.
"What did we tell you about treating the staff badly? And claiming you're in charge of anything besides following a certain someone's requests?" Camilla asked as Daphne tried to get back to her feet.
"Ow... Well, at least you didn't punch me any harder than the last time... Ow..." Daphne said whilst clutching her back.
"Ahem..." Camilla coughed to grab the attention of the glasses wearing woman in the cowgirl hat. "What did we say?" She asked once more.
"I wasn't threatening them!" Daphne said in her defense. "I was encouraging them to work harder with negative reinforcement. Plus, as his personal assistant, I should be the one in charge of the day-to-day stuff when he's not around." She said with a smile, sure of herself.
"And by telling them that "you-know-who" is gonna beat them up with one of his pets, it's going to make them work better?" Camilla said with her arms folded. "You have no authority. You have no control. The only thing you know how to do is get under everyone's skin." She thought with annoyance.
"They don't want to disappoint him. Ain't that right?" Daphne said as she walked over to a blue cat plush man who was wiping a table and smacked it on the head lightly with her hand as Camilla sighed as she looked at the cat plush men, who stopped to look over as well.
"He also said that these plush cat things of yours are to be given fifteen-minute breaks every few hours because it's not good if they get tired while working." Camilla said towards the plush men who looked at Camilla with bright expressions forming on their faces before she turned towards Daphne once more, squinting at her. "Don't even know if these things can breathe or sleep but he said they have to be treated like members..." She thought.
"Well yeah he did say that... But I considered having them working harder with only five-minute breaks every couple of days would be more efficient for the guild upkeep!" Daphne said in response as Camilla shook her head as the happiness from the cat plush men proceeded to fade into sullenness.
"...I'm telling "you-know-who" when he gets back." Camilla said as she walked towards the bar. "Whenever that will be..." She thought with frustration at a certain someone's lack of presence.
"Hehe... He..." Daphne laughed as sweat begun to form on her face. "You... You aren't really, are you?" She said with worry.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus guild, 11:34 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As Camilla was wiping down glasses, standing next to her was an overweight woman with curly dark brown hair and sporting a white and pink striped dress with a black belt around the center and a massively large beard on her face that was moving on its own in the shape of a pair of arms. Holding a glass and shaker between the hands made of hair, the woman was making a drink, vigorously shaking the glass and shaker.
"You want to give it a good shake for a solid few seconds Harriet." Camilla said towards the bearded woman.
"Five, four, three, two, one!" Harriet said as she stopped shaking the drink and proceeded to pour it into a cocktail. "And the finishing touch!" She said as another hand made of her beard hair formed and stretched behind her, opening up a jar of cherries and taking one out to place into the cocktail glass. "Perfect?" Harriet asked towards Camilla.
"Good work." Camilla said as she pushed the drink over to the man in front of the pair.
Sitting at the bar was another large individual, a bald male with a handlebar moustache wearing a simple outfit of a pair of dark slacks with suspenders over a dark blue button up with a black tweed suit jacket over it. Examining the drink before him, he proceeded to look at the drink mixture inside as Camilla and Harriet looked on with expectations.
"Hmmmm..." The bald man muttered before taking a sip. "...Sufficiently done." He said while looking at Camilla, who sighed in relief.
"Bout time! This was the fourth attempt!" Harriet exclaimed with a frustrated expression forming on her face as her bearded hair arms folded. "Seriously, Pietro. Cut your sister some slack!" She said towards the bald man.
"Cocktails are an artform that I hold a deep respect for and will not be served poorly done mixtures. Family or not, I will not budge on that stance." Pietro said with a serious expression in his eyes.
"Least I didn't have to make the stupid cocktails this time..." Camilla thought while looking out at the busy guildhall.
The inside of the Psycho Circus guildhall, a two-story tent that appeared way more structured like a building internally was packed with a variety of unique individuals that comprised the members of the wizarding guild. Men and women dressed like clowns and acrobats, sitting around the various white tables or casually chatting while leaning against the walls as the cat plush men who acted like custodians passed by to clean up, all sporting the signature guild logo for Psycho Circus: a smiling clown face with a peace symbol hand. In one area of the room stood the request board, a signpost lightly covered in flyers of jobs for the members of the guild to make money by using their magic as a small crowd of Psycho Circus' members were looking around on it.
"A measly twenty thousand Jewels to take care of someone's ferret?" A male acrobat member of the guild said while looking at a specific flyer.
"You want to tell the "Clown Prince" about that one, sounds up his alley." A female clown member said behind the male acrobat.
"Eh, it's easy money. Doubt he needs a ferret around him with that fox and crow of his." The male acrobat member said as he took the flyer.
"Haven't seen him in a hot minute... When he comes back, don't mention I haven't been practicing my show routine, I don't want to make him mad." The female clown member said towards the male acrobat as they walked away from the small crowd looking for work.
"...It's still a good week before the next "Ultimate Carnival" show and people aren't practicing because you're not here..." Camilla thought, overhearing the conversation near the request board as she shook her head in frustration before glancing upward to the upper left side walkway.
Sitting on a big and round grey ball with a pair of yellow eyes on it was a young man with lightly tan skin and not wearing a shirt. With a well-toned body that had a sixpack of abs, he wore a pair of baggy white pants that were tucked into black ankle cuffs with bare feet, a pair of black arm guards that covered his wrists and forearms and a yellow bandanna around his neck. With a face similar to that of a chimp with his red and yellow spikey hair and sideburns, he had an aggravated expression on his face.
"We need to talk..." The chimp-like man said to two individuals.
In front of him was a man with extremely long black hair that was reaching down to the floor covered in white and black body paint and make up, wearing only blue pants, black shoes and holding a red axe guitar. The other one was an immensely obese man with a black mullet and pale skin with a cape and black trunks with matching boots. All three with one thing in common, other than their guild logos; none of them were wearing shirts.
"What do you want, Anatoli?" The makeup wearing man said with a disgruntled expression.
"You got any snacks?" The obese man asked as the two other shirtless men looked at him with disbelief.
"No! And what I wanted to say was that you guys need to start wearing tops!" The chimp-like man named Anatoli said towards his fellow guildmembers.
"I do wear shirts! But this is how I look when I perform!" The makeup wearing man retorted.
"I don't care Vidaldus!" Anatoli said as he jumped off his ball and approached Vidaldus. "It's mentally screwing me up that there's so many shirtless dudes in this guild now! We were perfectly fine with just me and I have a condition! What's your excuse!?" He said, getting in Vidaldus' face while pointing at the obese man.
"Look, if you have a problem with what I'm wearing, we can take this outside!" Vidaldus exclaimed angrily. "Kain, you want in on this?" He asked towards the obese man.
"I'm not allowed to fight at the moment..." Kain said with a solemn expression forming as the other two shirtless men looked at him with confusion.
"Why not?" Anatoli asked as Kain turned towards the bottom floor of the guildhall and looked at a small boy sitting at a table dressed in clown makeup and wearing a black and yellow striped hat, a blue coat with black spots, black pants, curved shoes and holding a white voodoo doll-like toy.
"...Because as long as Abel has my Mr. Cursey doll and a piece of my hair, I can't do anything!" Kain said with a depressed expression as he fell to his knees. "Just because Mr. "Clown Prince" has us involved in the shows clown display, I've done incredibly dangerous stunts and Abel forces me to do them because he has that thing that controls my body!" He said with tears forming in his eyes.
"Oh..." Vidaldus said as he and Anatoli walked over to the upset Kain, the pair putting a hand on each of Kain's shoulders.
"You could just ask "you-know-who" to tone down the mind control." Anatoli suggested.
"He's said it to Abel six or seven times!" Kain complained loudly.
"Could you guys tone it down up there?" Camilla shouted from behind the bar as the three shirtless men looked down at her. "We don't need any more shouting in the guildhall." She continued as the three men made embarrassed expressions as the other guildmembers looked at them.
'"Sorry."' The collective of Anatoli, Vidaldus and Kain said in response.
"This is your final warning!" A new voice chimed in as the shirtless trio looked over at the opposite second floor walkway.
Standing across from them was a man that looked like a white chicken with a red comb and neck waddle, dressed in a yellow apron-like shirt and dark pants with the Psycho Circus guild logo on his neck. Standing next to him was a young girl with yellow star-like eyes and a red bob cut with a cat ears headband and wearing a tight black long sleeve dress with long black socks and shoes.
"You mess around in the guildhall; the security team is going wreck you like last time!" The chicken man exclaimed as Anatoli rolled his eyes.
"In other words, you kick the chicken's butt and I make everyone poop themselves, hehehe." The star-eyed girl with the cat headband said with a smirk as the chicken man turned towards her with a disapproving expression.
"The hell are you talking about Kawazu?!" Anatoli screamed while pointing at the chicken man. "You barely do anything around here but lay eggs!" He screamed as Kawazu blushed with embarrassment.
"For four thousandth time, I don't crap out the eggs for my Egg Magic!" Kawazu replied in anger.
"Pffff." The star-eyed girl sputtered in laughter.
"Oh, come on Mary!" Kawazu said towards the girl next to him. "You're on the security team with me and Camilla, don't mock your teammate!" He shouted.
"Ugh, don't like, shout in my ear, you fried hen!" Mary complained as she stepped back from Kawazu as Camilla put her hand over her face.
"...I didn't need help in the "security" aspect of running this place, why did you leave me in charge of those two...?" Camilla thought, mentally grumbling as she was bothered by a certain person's decision to give her people to look after as Anatoli jumped back on top of his ball.
As his body glowed with a slight aura, a purple magic circle appeared beneath the ball as it began to float into the air with Anatoli riding on it. Zipping past Vidaldus and Kain, Anatoli was now floating high above the guildhall floor, approaching Kawazu on the other side of the room.
"If you're looking for a fight, I'd be happy to oblige!" Anatoli said with a confrontational smirk on his face.
"Looks like I need to show you why I am a part of the security team for Psycho Circus!" Kawazu retorted as the shirtless monkey-like man and the white chicken-like man started to angrily press their faces against one another.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Mary said, hoping to start a fight.
'"Battle! Battle! Battle!"' The clowns and acrobats of Psycho Circus chanted as Kawazu and Anatoli started to glow from their magic building up.
Suddenly, however, the chanting stopped, and the two animalistic men proceeded to widen their eyes as they heard the sound of glass breaking, prompting everyone to turn their heads in the direction of the bar. With her hand covered in a layer of yellow energy, the guild members shuttered with nervousness at the sight of Camilla's angry expression as they noticed she had just crushed a glass in her hand before shifting her attention upward towards Kawazu and Anatoli near the second floor.
"...If you guys want to fight so bad... Want to take it outside against me? I could use the wakeup call..." Camilla said with a twitch in her eye and an extremely threatening smile on her face.
"Uh?! Um, he-hey!" Anatoli muttered in fear as he quickly threw his arm around Kawazu's shoulders. "So, buddy!? Ho-how's it hanging?!" He said with a stutter as Kawazu started to sweat.
"Ye-yeah! We-we should just talk out our problems! No need to get violent! Am I right?!" Kawazu exclaimed as he stretched his arm around Anatoli's shoulders, acting like close friends. "We certainly don't want to give Marlene in the infirmary too much work, yeah?!" He continued as Anatoli nodded.
"Awwww... I was hoping to see some dumb animals fighting." Mary whined as Anatoli and Kawazu glared at her, some of the guildmembers snickering in response with laughter.
"You alright?" Harriet said towards Camilla as she used her magical beard hair to pick up the shards of glass from atop the bar.
"Not really... I haven't had a good night's sleep in days..." Camilla muttered as she took his right hand and proceeded to rub her eyes with her fingers. "That's the last time I let him talk me into letting him go hiking up Cayman Rock by himself." She thought as Harriet dumped the glass into a nearby garbage can.
"Speaking of "animals," where is the "Clown Prince."' Harriet asked with her beard turning into two hairy hands and making air quotes.
"Been a few days since the boy's been in the guildhall." Pietro said.
"If he doesn't arrive in the next twenty-four hours, I'm going to break his nose... Again..." Camilla thought, not bothering to answer from how sleepy she actually was.
"If you wanna take a nap, I can handle the bar duty. Go force that one girl with the glasses and cowgirl hat to waitress." Harriet said as she looked out at the rest of the guildhall to look for Daphne. "Where is she right now?" She asked.
"My guess is the infirmary helping Marlene do an inventory count." Camilla replied as she took out a cloth and started to clean one of the drink glasses. "One of you mind grabbing her by the back of her lab coat and dragging her down here to do some work?" She requested as Pietro finished his drink.
"I'm free, I don't mind." Pietro said as he stood up and walked away from the bar, heading for the stairs to the second floor.
"Thanks." Camilla said as Anatoli floated on his ball to the center of the guildhall, still several feet above the ground.
"Oh, can I come? If she starts fighting back, I can help by punching her!" Anatoli exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles at the thought of hitting Daphne.
"I don't think "you-know-who" would be too fond of you beating up his personal assistant." Pietro commented as he looked up at Anatoli.
"I want to her to apologize for calling me a "monkey man!"' Anatoli shouted angrily. "Just because I eat bananas for breakfast, and I am skilled at balancing does not make me a primate!" He continued as he looked down at Pietro.
"...Swan ever say yes when he asked her out?" Harriet whispered towards Camilla with a smirk on her face.
"Nope." Camilla replied while still cleaning the glass.
"All I'm saying is that we have to avoid making a mess, aggravating a certain young man's heart is- hmmm?" Pietro said towards Anatoli until he suddenly heard a noise.
"What was that?" Anatoli said, also hearing a sound coming from above the big top as everyone looked upward.
Suddenly, a hole opened up in the top of the tent of the guildhall as everyone's eyes widened as what appeared to be a young male was falling towards the ground. Startled, Anatoli put his arms up in a frantic manner to catch the person careening straight towards him, but the excess weight of the pair caused Anatoli to slide off the top of his ball.
"Waaah!" Anatoli screamed as him and the person that hit him fell towards the floor as Pietro outstretched his arms to catch them both.
Managing to catch Anatoli and the other person that fell through the big top without them hitting the floor, Anatoli's yellow eyed grey ball also fell towards the ground immediately after.
"What the heck?!" Camilla exclaimed as everyone looked down towards Pietro, holding the two males over his shoulders.
"Ow! Ugh!" Anatoli grunted as he was laying across Pietro's left shoulder.
"You alright?" Pietro said towards the shirtless wizard as Camilla and Harriet quickly rushed out from behind the bar.
"No, I'm not! Some douchebag just landed on- huh?!" Anatoli exclaimed as he turned his head and recognized the person who fell on him that was on Pietro's shoulder.
"What on- ahh!" Camilla said as she approached until also spotting the familiar person on Pietro's shoulder, causing everyone currently in the guild to look in shock.
A familiar young man with shaggy, ashen hair and a relatively average physical build. Dressed in a white shirt with drawstrings around the collar, a dark orange jacket with a black hood, dark green pants, black and white shoes and a black beanie on his head with a familiar smiling clown logo on it that had four circular pins attached to the right corner of it. The beanie sporting man, who was incredibly recognizable to the members of Psycho Circus, was practically lifeless on the large mustachioed man's shoulder.
'"Bernard?!"' The members of the guild exclaimed in surprise as Anatoli quickly got to his feet.
"How'd he come through the ceiling like that?!" Harriet shouted as Pietro quickly shifted the unconscious young man into carrying him in his arms.
"Infirmary! Quickly!" Pietro said as he quickly ran towards the stairs.
"Move it! Move it!" Camilla said as the acrobats and clowns moved out of the way as they went upstairs.
Rushing through the hall, the majority of the guildmembers followed behind Pietro and Camilla as they reached the infirmary. Quickly opening the door, Daphne and a young woman with long, wavy turquoise hair and sporting a yellow long and loose sleeved shirt, a black miniskirt, black boots and a black cap on her head with scaley skin, fangs sticking out of her mouth and with black sclera and yellow swirl pupils in her eyes, turned towards the people entering room.
"Yo! "Scale-face!"' Anatoli screamed.
"Marlene! Emergency!" Camilla shouted as the lizard-like woman.
"Whoa! What's going- Bernard?!" Marlene said until she noticed a friend of hers being carried in the bald and mustachioed man's arms.
"The boss man?!" Daphne exclaimed in similar surprise.
"Here!" Marlene said as she motioned for Pietro to place Bernard on one of the single person beds in the infirmary.
Placing the unconscious Bernard in a seated position, Marlene proceeded to remove his orange and black jacket and placed it on another bed next to the one he was on before laying him flat on the bed with his head on the pillow. Lifting up his left hand slightly, Marlene proceeded to place two fingers on his wrist to check his pulse.
"How's Bernie doing?" Anatoli asked as he, Pietro, Camilla, Vidaldus, Kawazu, Mary, Kain, Daphne and the various other members of the guild were circling around the bed.
"His heart rate is normal... Let me see." Marlene said as she lowered Bernards hand and proceeded to lift up Bernards shirt slightly.
Moving it up past his chest, the members of the guild looked down towards the area around where his heart was and stared at a particular protrusion. Glowing brightly was a round white gemstone sticking out of his body as Marlene examined it with her eyes.
"His Lacrima pacemaker seems to be alright... The magical energy it's giving off seems to be the same as usual. I even see some of that one weird thing of his sloshing around in there." Marlene said as she rubbed her chin, some of the members being relieved to hear that.
"That's the pacemaker the boss man has?" Daphne questioned as she looked at it. "This's the first time I've seen it, I've only heard about it through convos around the guild... I can practically feel the magic radiating off that Lacrima... It's generating so much power. Oh, my goodness! That much energy could fuel so many of my experiments!" She thought as she stared at the pacemaker as she stretched her hand towards it.
Before she could touch it, however, Camilla reached her right hand forward and clutched at Daphne's wrist as the glasses wearing woman shifted her nervous expression towards the intense glare the head of security for Psycho Circus was giving her.
"Don't even think about it..." Camilla thought with hostility as she looked at Daphne who proceeded to pull her hand away from Bernards pacemaker.
"What happened to him?" Marlene questioned towards everyone.
"He suddenly came crashing through the roof." Anatoli replied while shrugging.
"How'd that happen? I thought he went hiking or something?" Marlene said towards Camilla.
"A hike that took four days that he said would only be for a single day..." Camilla thought as she put her hand on her head, annoyed.
"Only way to find out how is to wake him up." Mary said as she approached the bed. "I'll use my Virus Magic to stimulate his bowels and then he'll wake up to poop!" She said while putting her index and middle fingers of her left hand near her forehead.
"No!" Camilla exclaimed as she grabbed Mary by the wrist and pulled her left hand down.
"Oh! I'll play a heavy tune! That outta wake the guy up!" Vidaldus said as he pulled out his red axe guitar, ready to play it as he started to tune it.
"Not that either!" Camilla shouted towards the guitarist. "Look, everyone out! I think it's best that Bernard just gets some rest." She suggested as she pointed towards the door.
"Well, you heard the head of security. Move it." Kawazu said, putting his hand on two of the clown members of the guild, motioning them towards the exit. "And you help too, poop girl!" He exclaimed towards Mary as she formed a mischievous smirk before helping Kawazu escort the guildmembers out of the infirmary as Pietro, Marlene and Daphne approached Camilla.
"Keep me posted on Lil' Bern then I'll pass it along to the guild master." Pietro said as he walked out of the room. "You two coming?" He asked towards Marlene and Daphne.
"I'll go after the boss man wakes up because I need to ask some questions about a couple of projects I had lined up and- pahhahghafh!" Daphne said with a slightly greedy look in her face until Marlene came up from behind her and placed a cloth over her mouth that had a salve over it.
Struggling for a brief moment, Daphne started to fade from consciousness as she slumped onto her knees, Pietro then picking her lifeless body up and placing her over his shoulder.
"Thank you for that." Camilla said with a plain expression on her face as Marlene walked over to a trashcan to throw out the coated cloth that she used to knock out Daphne.
"Soooo... What do want to do about him?" Marlene asked with a slight blush on her face as she shifted her eyes in the direction of the unconscious Bernard.
"Not going to be like the last time all four of us were in the infirmary together, is it?" Pietro said with a raised eyebrow towards Camilla.
"No, I just think he needs to rest. So, we should all get out until he wakes up." Camilla said as she motioned for the last of the people in the room to finally step out. "Yeah... "All" of us." She thought with a different motivation in her head.
"Very well." Pietro said as he and Marlene walked out of the room with Camilla following behind them.
As they walked out of the infirmary, Camilla stopped short from the door and watched as her fellow guildmembers walked away down the hall. Whilst still inside the room, Camilla then proceeded to close the door before standing back with a yellow aura of magical energy radiating off her body.
"Hopefully I can manage at least a few hours..." Camilla thought with a pair of tired eyes as waved her right hand through the air.
As she waved her hand, a series of hexagonal patterns proceeded to appear over every corner of the walls of the room, covering the infirmary in a glowing yellow layer. Walking over to the bed where Bernard was laying on, Camilla looked at his body and noticed his shirt was still up before proceeding to pull it back down.
"Better check." Camilla thought as she looked over at his right wrist and spotted a brown bracelet made of stone, removing it and placing it on the stand next to the bed.
Pulling down on the collar of his shirt slightly, Camilla spotted a necklace around Bernards neck that had four golden coins in-between two damaged and corroded silver keys hanging off the string. Removing that as well, Camilla also proceeded to remove Bernards beanie and placed it with the rest of his items.
"There..." Camilla said aloud to herself before shifting her attention to a nearby storage closet. "And now... A blanket." She thought as she walked over to it and pulled out a bedsheet.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus guild, 12:59 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
With the infirmary still covered in yellow panels, Bernards bed was now completely covered by a single bedsheet as there was two large mounds stick up from under the sheet.
"Mmmm..." Bernard grumbled as he started to open his eyes. "Where am I? It's dark in here..." He thought as his vision was still blurry but noticed he was under a blanket.
Sitting up, Bernard pulled the blanket off his body slightly as he scratched his head, not noticing the feminine arms wrapped around his waist. Looking around, Bernard recognized the room as the infirmary of the Psycho Circus guildhall before turning his head, preparing to get out of the bed.
"How am I here- guhh!" Bernard thought until suddenly smacking his head against something that formed around the bed he was sitting on.
Originally invisible, Bernard suddenly noticed the appearance of a large yellow see-through panel appearing in front of him, surrounding the entirety of the bed he was on. Confused, Bernard pressed both of his hands against the panel as a certain young woman with her arms around his waist sat up behind him with a disgruntled look in her eyes.
"What the? A barrier box?" Bernard said as he lowered one of his arms slightly, lightly pressing against the arms around his waistline.
"Guess who..." Camilla said from behind Bernard as the young man's face turned a sickly shade of blue before slowly turning his head, finally noticing the attractive yet agitated girl behind him.
"He-hey, Cami- laaaah!" Bernard said with sweat starting to drip down his face until he was suddenly cut off.
Using her strength, while both were still sitting on the bed, Camilla proceeded to lift Bernard slightly, tossing him backwards. Using the momentum, Camilla threw Bernard into another panel on the opposite side of the bed, causing the back of his head to collide with the panel.
"Gufh-fm... Uhj..." Bernard grunted as the jolt of pain from getting suplexed into one of Camilla's magic panels caused him to fade into unconsciousness once again as Camilla shifted his lifeless body back onto the bed, resting the bruised back of his head onto the pillow.
"Another hour or two, I need some sleep." Camilla said with half-closed eyes at her lifeless bedmate, proceeding to lay down next to him with her head next to his on the pillow. "I don't know if that suplex was enough of a punishment for me though, personally..." She thought as she looked at Bernard for a brief moment before her eyes trailed down towards his exposed neck. "...Eh, a couple of unexplainable hickeys might be enough..." Camilla thought as she smirked slightly before puckering her lips and inching towards Bernards neck.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus guild, 2:18 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple hours later, once again stirring in his sleep, Bernard started to wake up a second time, clutching his head with his hand as he looked up at the ceiling of the guildhall infirmary and the barrier box that it was encased in.
"Ugh... God, what a migraine..." Bernard thought as he felt a slight throbbing pain in his head and not noticing the small fresh marks on his neck.
Turning himself over onto his side to rest from the fatigue, Bernard weakly noticed the presence of the woman who slammed him against one of the sides of the box: Camilla, who appeared to be asleep on her side with her back facing him. Nervous, as if not to disturb the beautiful yet dangerous girl, Bernard sat up slowly as he inched over to her to see if she was asleep. To his surprise, however, Camilla's eyes were slightly open before she turned them in his direction.
"Ca-Camilla?" Bernard said with hesitation in his tone as Camilla slowly sat up and yawned.
"...Not enough..." Camilla said to herself while looking at Bernard, now crawling towards him on the bed as he backed up slightly, his back now pressing against one of the panels of the see-through box around the bed.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Bernard said in protest as Camilla threw her arms over Bernard's shoulders into a tight hug. "Wh-whoa!" He muttered as Camilla quickly jerked Bernards body to force his head back on the pillow as he now stared at her, a blush forming on his face as it appeared she was attempting to rest some more with her eyes closed. "He-hey... I cou-could use some context as to why I am in the infirmary, please!" He said as Camilla opened her eyes slowly to look at him.
"...Says the guy who lies about a "one day hike" and then makes a scene by crashing through the roof?" Camilla said with a bothered tone as she inched her face closer to his, Bernard trying to back away slightly to no avail as her tight hug on his upper body rendered him unable to get very far.
"...Oh... Right..." Bernard replied. "I did say it only would've been a day..." He thought with embarrassment.
"And it took four days for me to even allow you to go up the mountain without supervision..." Camilla said with a twitch in her eye. "You kept prodding me..." She thought with an exhausted look on her face as she looked at Bernard.
"Well... I wasn't completely alone... I had- ow! Ow! Ow!" Bernard said with a sheepish tone until Camilla lifted one of her hands and proceeded to pinch Bernards nose with great force.
"...Your strange pets do not count as "supervision."' Camilla said before releasing her hold on Bernards snout.
"Okay, okay... Sorry." Bernard said with an apologetic tone as the two continued to lay on the bed. "I don't think it's going to help get any forgiveness if I tell her I didn't have any luck up the mountain..." He thought, intent to keep quiet on a personal failure.
"I got a little worried, you know..." Camilla said while looking at Bernard as he winced.
"...So-sorry..." Bernard replied.
"That all you're going to say...?" Camilla retorted with half-closed eyes as she got even closer to him, the tip of her nose now pressing up against his own.
"Sor- I mean... What do you want?" Bernard said, attempting to apologize once more until stopping himself. "I think your nipple is poking against my pacemaker..." He thought as he shifted his eyes down towards Camilla's chest, her large breasts pressing up against his body.
"Oh no you don't." Camilla said with a stern tone as she took her hands and placed them on Bernards cheeks, causing him to go back to looking her in the eyes. "Explanation first, then you can stare at them all you want." She said with an angry look and a blush on her face.
"...If you and me weren't dating, the context of that sentence would be incredibly jarring..." Bernard thought with a twitch in his eye as he looked at Camilla, still waiting for answers. "Well, uhhh... I was still on the mountain this whole time so it's not like you needed a search party to look for me..." He said as Camilla made a skeptical expression before sighing.
"That's not giving me much relief, you know..." Camilla replied as she pulled Bernards head forward slightly, causing him and Camilla to touch foreheads as she removed one of her hands that was cupping his cheeks and stretched it around his back, tightly hugging him once again. "I saw the bracelet, the pins in your hat and the necklace with the coins. Mind giving me an update on these ones." She asked while removing her other hand on Bernards face and proceeded to poke against Bernards Lacrima pacemaker in his chest.
"The big slime is still in there. The other two I last saw up the mountain before I wound up crashing through the big top." Bernard explained as he put his hand on his pacemaker.
"...So, you're saying they're not here?" Camilla said with a raised eyebrow at Bernard.
"Yeah?" Bernard replied.
"They're not here at the moment... I'll get an explanation later. "Opportunity" is knocking..." Camilla thought as she locked eyes with Bernard. "Your first punishment for lying to me, give me a hug while I nap on my break." She said as she took her hands and grabbed both of Bernards wrists, forcing them behind her back and making him embrace her.
"Whoa, hey!" Bernard said in an attempt to protest as Camilla suddenly glared at him.
"...Sounds like someone would like me to find the guildhall medical expert to join me in clogging your mouth again..." Camilla said before sticking her tongue out at Bernard, causing him to shiver in fear.
"No! No! No! Not again! Not again!" Bernard exclaimed in a nervous manner as he relented, joining Camilla in the hug as they both proceeded to interlock their legs while lying on the bed as Camilla shut her eyes in an attempt to nap. "I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for days..." He mentally complained as he remembered what Camilla meant by her threat. "...Actually... Quick question; how long have I been in here?" Bernard asked.
"Little over three hours." Camilla said with her eyes closed as Bernard made a surprised face, sitting up and breaking away from the hug.
"Wait a minute! You've been in here this whole time with me; you've been on break from the bar for three hours?!" Bernard shouted with an angry expression as Camilla opened her eyes and flashing him a look of discomfort.
"I wanted some sleep... It's not my fault I couldn't get any the past few days because someone's not around to help me get a good night's rest." Camilla said with a bothered tone as she sat up to meet Bernard at eye level.
"Invest some Jewels in a hug pillow! There are shops in town!" Bernard said with annoyance as Camilla's eye twitched.
"A hug pillow doesn't actually hug me back like you do!" Camilla replied in frustration. "You probably had some decent sleep because of your pet fox!" She continued as she got face-to-face with the pacemaker needing young man.
"Do not insult my- huh?" Bernard said in response until suddenly hearing some approaching noise near the door to the infirmary, prompting Camilla to turn towards the entrance.
"Oh, what now?! I told everyone not to come in here until we left!" Camilla thought with annoyance.
"Hey!" A male voice said as a series of loud banging and knocks against the door could be heard by Bernard and Camilla. "Is the kid in there?! You awake and alive!? It's going to be a major issue if you're not!" He continued from the other side of the door.
"Oh, they made it down the mountain." Bernard said as Camilla gritted her teeth before shifting her attention back towards her boyfriend. "I'm awa- plurgh!" He said, about to speak up before a female hand suddenly covered his mouth.
Looking at Camilla as she covered his mouth, the aggravated but beautiful brunette proceeded to quickly wrap her arms around Bernards head, shoving him deeply into the crevice of her breasts. With a red flushed face, Bernard wasn't sure how to respond as Camilla fell backward onto the bed with her head on the pillow and Bernard trapped in another embrace.
"That you, Corvus?! I'm assuming Vulp is with you too?!" Camilla screamed as she tightly held Bernards head and face in-between her chest. "I just want some more time to rest, is that too much to ask for around here?!" She thought, growing even more frustrated by what was currently transpiring.
"Hey that's the hottie brunette!" The one named Corvus exclaimed from the other side of the door as Camilla's eye twitched from that description. "Yeah, the both of us are out here on the other side of the door! Let us in, we need to check on him!" He continued as the sound of tapping against the door could be heard.
"Ye-yeah, it's me!" Camilla shouted. "I have a name, jerkface..." She thought. "Your master is asleep right now! He needs rest so come back later! Both of you..." Camilla said in an effort for the ones outside the infirmary to leave them be.
"Mrughfhg!" Bernard grunted as he started to try and flail his way out of Camilla's hold on him.
"Shhhhh!" Camilla shushed towards Bernard. "If you hold still and make no fuss, I won't punish you like I originally planned, got it?" She said in a low tone. "If they come in here, I won't be able to sleep with one of them being lewd towards me and the other wanting to share the bed with us!" Camilla thought.
"What's up Vulp, you heard something in there?" Corvus said to the one named Vulp on the other side of the door.
"Guh!" Camilla grunted in realization as Bernard finally managed to pull his face out from betwixt her breasts.
"Arghhh!" Bernard groaned as he managed to get some air.
"Hey, that's the kids voice! He ain't asleep!" Corvus exclaimed from the other side of the door as Camilla put a hand on her face.
"Ugh... Fine." Camilla said while Bernard was on top of her.
Snapping her fingers, the magic yellow panels covering the infirmary started to disappear until the room was back to its normal state. No longer blocked by their presence, the door swung open as two non-human creatures appeared on the other side of it. One of them was a large bird-like creature with black wings, black talons, a black beak, a fan shaped tail with a purple chest of feathers and a pair of large yellow eyebrow-like tufts on top of its head. The other was a large foxlike creature with dark blue fur, grey paws, a large tail with a grey tip and an x-mark on top of its forehead. Both of them sporting a collar that had a tag in the shape of the Psycho Circus guild logo hanging off of them.
"Oh, thank the stars, you're- hey!" Corvus said as he looked into the room and spotted Bernard on top of Camilla on an infirmary bed. "You both look like you're about to do the nookie!" He asked as he flapped his wings to take flight as the fox locked eyes with Bernard.
"What the hell are you saying?!" Bernard screamed in annoyance as Camilla still had her hand on her face.
"We're literally in the guildhall, we wouldn't have gone that far..." Camilla said with an annoyed tone as she shifted herself out from underneath Bernard, sitting on the bed as Corvus flew over and perched on the bed frame at the end of the bed.
"Then explain the hickeys!" Corvus shouted as he pointed his right wing at Bernards neck, the young man's eyes widening in confusion as he suddenly reached his left index finger towards his neck and poked around for spots of pressure.
"Wh-wha!?" Bernard muttered in surprise as he looked at Camilla, finding some spots where she left him a few "love bites."
"Don't be so shocked, it's just a couple pecks on your neck." Camilla said towards Bernard with the same tired eyes she's had all day. "Like I said already, that's the most we're going to do in the guildhall." She continued while glancing at Corvus.
"Good, because if something like that were to happen... I want to be there to record it... With my eyes." Corvus said with a perverted expression on his beak as Bernard and Camilla looked at him with annoyance.
"Stupid pervert bird Celestial Spirit thing." Camilla muttered as Bernard noticed the fox approaching him, jumping on the bed to join everyone.
"I'm not a bird, I'm a crow! At least you got the "Celestial Spirit" part right." Corvus exclaimed in anger towards Camilla as she folded her arms under her chest.
"Hey Vulp." Bernard said as Vulp nuzzled his cheek against Bernards face, the young man just accepting the fox's affectionate action.
"...You should've been doing that with me, you know..." Camilla commented as she looked at Vulp with a relatively jealous expression on her face.
"You want me to rub my face against your cheek?" Bernard replied with confusion as Vulp's tail, transforming into a furry hand, stretched over towards the nightstand near the bed and picked up Bernards beanie, stretching back over to give Bernard the opportunity to grab it. "Thanks." He said as he petted the fox like an owner towards their dog before putting on his hat. "Now I feel a little complete." Bernard thought as Camilla poked him on the shoulder.
"Well, now that the gang's all here." Camilla said as Bernard, Corvus and Vulp looked at her. "Which one of you would like to explain why a four-day hike wound up causing a hole to be made in the ceiling?" She asked as Bernard looked at Vulp and then at Corvus.
'"...Yeeeeaaahh..."' Bernard and Corvus said in unison with tired eyes.
Well, well, well... Look what we have here, ladies and gentlemen. Doth mine eyes deceive me? It looks to me we are back in action in the world of Earth Land, and we return to our friends in the guild of wizard entertainers known as Psycho Circus and its beanie wearing, overworking, sweets loving, semi-prudish, handicapped show manager with a surprising knack for magical creature taming. With their story set to continue- seriously, what the fuck happened with Bernard falling through the roof? I thought he was on a hike up the nearby mountain!
Authors Note: (I have become so burned out on Pokémon that I seriously needed a break from writing it. Hell, back in February to April of 2023, I wrote close to 15 chapters with some coming out within days of each other, I've earned a bit of a reprieve to do something else. Let it be known now that Wannabe, the Pokémon fanfic, is NOT cancelled, it's just on a break until I get some mojo going to go back.
Meanwhile, however... I guess I can say this to old readers and followers of my work: welcome BACK to Menagerie, in the form of "Book II" of our tale chronicling the adventures of Bernard O'Halloran, a young man with a physical handicap who started this tale with zero magical ability who later became the owner of several magical creatures at his beck and call, and the semi-respected manager of his family-owned wizard guild, Psycho Circus. To new readers who are reading this chapter for the first time, I apologize if reading this seems confusing as it is a CONTINUATION of the previous story. If you wish to follow along more easily, look up the first series of Menagerie on my page and read there to get all the backstory and information for this sequel fic. I will also apologize in advance for any grammatical or structural issues if you're reading (or re-reading) through the first Menagerie, as it has been a long time since I last skimmed through it to check for issues that should have been proofread. It's been over two years since I last wrote for it, and I was more inexperienced back then as a writer. In that time period, I've also updated my name. I hope all of you have a good day, enjoy the first chapter of the sequel and once again, I thank you for sticking with me.)