"Ladies and Gentlemen of all kinds! Please take your seats in an orderly fashion. The show will begin in three minutes!"
That was the one thing KuliKuli could hear clearly as that voice echoed louder than the rest. When they followed the crowd toward the big show, it led them halfway around the large tent at the other side, where they found an entrance into the biggest stage around. It became clear to them why the layout was structured as if the pathway and performers were outside of a circular structure, for that was the shape of the interior stage with several dozen rows of benches surrounding the middle. Only one large pathway intersected in the middle from one end where they entered the room and toward the other end. There, it seemed the path entered through a short entrance with curtains covering it from any wandering eyes. So many people were pushing through and dispersing into the benches around the room, too many for KuliKuli to manage if she and her friends weren't holding hands. By this point, she was beginning to scrunch up her face and hiss in pain, with Felix not taking notice for once as he was in front of her. It came to show just how noisy this area seemed to be, dozens and dozens of voices full of wonder, gossip, or other casual forms of short conversation under a familiar or unknown language to her. It was loud enough for Janette to cover her ear, so the noise would be amplified to a stronger degree for someone with better hearing such as a Nekomata.
Being the one in front of the group, Janette led her friends around to the other side of the stage before finding some free seats at the second row closest to the stage. They each sat down carefully before being forced to scoot closer together when more people arrived. In a short minute, people were beginning to squeeze through just to find any seating area. Toddlers and small children would have to sit on their parents lap, a family of dwarves began to argue with a pair of gnomes over some unknown dispute, although when KuliKuli noticed the dropped food beside the boots of who she assumed was the father dwarf, she could assume what had caused them to argue and curse at one another. There were so many people around, so many different looks and faces that she could not help herself. With a quick glance toward the opposite side of the stage, she tugged at Felix's arm and motioned forward for him to spot the same pair of large feathery creatures sitting at the bench with neat little cloaks hiding them from the neck down.
"Master, what are those?" She asked, giggling when she saw how quick they would twitch and flick their heads. "They look funny, like large birds!"
Felix leaned in close to hear her before turning to his left and asking Janette the same question. She shouted something back into his ear for him to relay the message as he turned back to KuliKuli. "She says they're Avian, something about the same family as birds?"
"Can they fly?" She questioned back, now more curious than ever. They were perhaps taller than she was, their eyes seemed incredibly large and with giant grey beaks that curved downwards off their brown feathered faces, looking somewhat like a large nose from far away.
Felix shrugged. "I don't know, maybe?"
"They look funny!" She snickered while waving at them.
Felix pulled her arm down. "It isn't nice to stare."
"Why not? You stare at me when I get naked in be-"
He quickly covered her mouth and looked around, relieved that the surrounding noise would stop anyone from eavesdropping. "I mean it is not nice to stare at strangers, they could take offense... to..."
He paused and looked ahead as he had spotted a bulky green figure who looked like a strong muscular human, but with green skin and a large underbite with tusks emerging from his bottom lip. He blinked and couldn't help but stare, this orc had just removed its hood to reveal his shiny green dome, bald with a short black pony tail at the rear side of his head. He was brought back when KuliKuli giggled and covered his eyes with her sleeved paw.
"Master, it's not nice to stare, remember?"
Felix looked up at her as she delivered a coy smile, he was caught by his own advice. He smiled back and adjusted himself in his seat as suddenly the torches surrounding this room went out. The audience quickly grew silent, some of them worried at the apparent darkness as the room had been doused in a pitch black setting. But the darkness was short-lived as soon there was an array of light flowing through the curtains and illuminating the pathway through crystals decorating the sides around the stage, each holding a different scheme of color. Reta leaned in close when one crystal shined in a blue aura, each crystal igniting in order, one by one until they had lit up around the center stage.
Many voices gasped in awe when this glowing ball started to form, emitting a soft hum throughout the room.
"What is magic? Is magic the source that gives and takes life, or is it the energy that surrounds all? Can it be tamed, corrupted, altered, manipulated? Is magic something we can envision, is it a compound that we have yet to comprehend? Can it be a tool? A weapon? A source of fuel? Is it one of those things or all of it at once?"
As the voice continued to speak, the sphere of light had grown three times its size, leaving everyone in the front rows to feel uneasy as it appeared that the growth would not end soon. With each passing second, the sphere would levitate higher and expand further and wider, fortunately the aura surrounding it had reached a fine point where it was neither too bright nor too dim but rather somewhere in the middle, with the voice echoing around the room and making it difficult for anyone to find its source.
"Magic is a most peculiar thing in of itself, its origin remains unrecognized regardless of how many scholars state otherwise, purely a source of dispute for philosophers and scientists to argue amongst themselves. Until eventually, some of the best mages and druids of our time joined together and discovered what we now know. In over a century of study, speculation, and theory, we have learned that magic can be divided in two distinct forms: the magic of the creation and the magic of the creator. The magic of the creator is balanced by two sources we call as light!..."
The sphere started to glow like a pulse, humming louder in sync with what the voice had said.
"...and dark!"
Now the stage had grown dim as the white light began to manifest into a darker tone while still keeping an aura surrounding the sphere. It looked as if the dark and white energy were fighting for control, each part splitting into opposite sides before the ball suffered a rift down the middle. It parted into two shorter spheres, one emitting a bright white and the other maintaining its dark dim light.
"The light enhances the form of life as we know it, the dark takes from the form of life to thrive. One form supports all we have, the other takes its resources from others to benefit itself. To give and to take, to heal or to steal, the outcome of remains under speculation with no clear resolve, no laws of nature to bind it down. Fascinating, isn't it?"
The voice giggled briefly, cut short when the two spheres began to return to their normal yellow glow before merging into its large form as one. This time, the spheres would split into four sections, forming four smaller spheres of light and leaving everyone wondering what would come next.
"Then there is the magic of the creation, translated into the four elements that we recognize."
Each sphere started to spin around in a rapid motion until they became a blur, the humming noise had grown into a sharper whirring effect before each ball began to manifest a different color of brown, blue, white, and red.
"The elements of water, fire, earth, and air. To change the air currents around specific objects or around ourselves, taming the ferocious nature of fire to change or halt its spread, manipulating the current of the river to move in reverse, or even shifting the ground from where we stand! In just a century under this study, we have learned to harness this magic and have come to compete with the feats of our gods!"
Just then, a tremor shook the ground beneath everyone, rattling their seats for the added effect. KuliKuli gasped and lifted her legs up, grabbing onto her friends with a paw around their arms. The four spheres had begun to rotate around in a pattern, spinning around an imaginary center and gaining speed in its momentum. The voice began to laugh in a more malicious manner, cackling before calming itself and clearing their throat.
"Please, remain calm. We wouldn't hurt you. After all, we are here to entertain, and that's the thing is it not? There is so much we have learned about magic itself, and yet it feels like the knowledge we have amassed is but a mere drop in the ocean from what we have yet to know! Magic is light and dark, power and knowledge, arcane and alchemy. Magic is everything we ever knew and beyond. Magic obeys only the rules we invent, but falls under no rules of nature that we know of. Magic is just too much fun..."
By this time, the four spheres had begun to descend lower and lower before the crowd gasped and muttered amongst themselves when its glow had revealed a hidden figure standing at the center of the stage. This man seemed to be the origin of the voice that had been lecturing everyone. The quick bursts of light from the rapidly spinning spheres depicted a man in a fancy top hat with a curved brown mustache revealing a pair of white teeth under his grin. He raised his white-gloved hand and shot the four spheres upwards as if he had hurled something heavy from his waist and thrown it over his head. The four spheres continued to rotate high above, spinning closer and closer together while the whirring noise rang louder and louder as it soared to the top, looking like it was about to blast through the roof of the big top until-
Blam!
They crashed as they spun close enough to collide with each other, rupturing into a wide cascade of tiny reflective water droplets scattered across the roof as if they were the stars in the sky. The crowd had shouted in awe, most of them laughing in relief before everyone jumped at the feel of a spray of water falling over them. It was like a quick mist splashed over their heads, with Reta rubbing her eyes and Janette brushing her dress to wipe the water droplets away. Everyone was left smiling and staring at the center stage as the man stood up proudly and performed a bow with his top hat in his hand, wearing a red coat with black boots reaching under his knees, and white pants that looked baggy and loose around the thighs. The sides of his hair was patted down around the side and back of his head like a ring where his top hat would settle, evidenced by the way his hat fell into place around it as soon as he wore it again. His hazel eyes gazed across the crowd as he chuckled and threw his hands down in a playful display of modesty as if telling everyone to quiet down, only to contradict that very notion when he scooped his hands up again and again to signal for the audience to clap louder.
"Tch." Reta scoffed, keeping her hands on her lap and finding his behavior irritating. "Such a basic display of Genki Mizu."
The man on the stage tilted his head in retaliation, his smile waning by how the corner of his lip twitched. It looked as if somehow, he had managed to hear her remark despite her low voice drowned in a chorus of applause.
"Do you know how long that took for me to get right in the rehearsal? Often I would find the last part to be nye impossible to achieve, so when I would raise the orbs up high they would just go pop! Like a balloon! Now imagine four large bursts of water splashing around me, leaving me in a sopping mess! I get wet enough in my sleep, thank you very much!" The man chuckled and shook his head, wiping the sweat off his brow and slapping his knee. "I hope I have managed to exceed your expectations for our show?"
He lingered on the question as the crowd began to grow quiet after a minute had passed. He raised his arms wide apart, his eyebrows lifted as if he were surprised and paired with that smile and mustache, he looked silly to just be standing in that pose waiting for them to respond. Several members of the audience chuckled, perhaps out of amusement and others out of uncertainty, but the man did not appear to be phased. It was not until he broke the silence with an audible chuckle that he removed his hat and pressed it to his chest before running his hand along his patted hair.
"I kid, of course. You expected a good show, how could I have the gall not to deliver? This was but a mere introduction to what lies ahead, ladies and gentlemen are you ready?"
"Yes!" Most of the audience shouted back.
He shook his head and cupped a hand behind his ear while turning his head aside. "I must be going deaf because I can't hear but a whisper in this crowd. Are! You! Ready?"
"YES!!!" More members cheered back, with most of the children screaming their reply as loud as they can.
At last, this response satisfied the man as he turned and held his hand out to the other side of the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, let us begin the show!"
Everyone rose up to their seats and threw their hands in the air as a pair of slender figures jumped onto the stage through a flurry of high flips. They were barefooted with their hair tied back into a pony tail, wearing skin-tight clothing in matching purple colors. They landed opposite of each other on different sides of the stage, each looking human in appearance but rather tan in their complexion. Their expressions looked focused, they didn't waver due to the uproar from the crow, they began to perform a strange dance with coordinated movement in their limbs. They pressed their elbows to their ribs, moving around with concentrated movement that mirrored the other despite them having their backs to each other, and then suddenly they raised their palms and the ground started to quake. Women screamed and kids squealed as their seats were lifted by the ground beneath. It happened in a pattern as they raised each row of seats one by one, eventually lifted the seats where KuliKuli and her friends sat. She and Felix held each other tight, with Janette squealing in joy and Reta gripped onto her seat as they were lifted ten feet higher. The rows from the far back were lifted higher, descending by a few feet for each row based on how close they were to the stage.
During this performance, a pair of gnomes skittered onto the stage holding a wooden tub of soapy fluids between them. They sat it down with a wave flowing out from one edge, set in front of the top hate figure who people assumed was the one in charge, the ringmaster, who rubbed his palms together before dipping his hands inside. He swooshed and mixed them around before raising his hands up, keeping them sealed tight before his fingers parted away until only his thumb and index fingers pressed together by the tips, forming a circle in between. There was a surface of something shining in that circle, he lifted his hands over and threw his head back with a deep breathe before breathing through. A bubble started to emerge and grow larger and larger, to an abnormal size as many voices squeaked and gasped aloud. This man blew a bubble large enough to mirror his height, and when he was satisfied he let go and held his hands wide apart as this bubble levitated over his head and into the air. He got back to work and repeated this trick numerous times until there were four large bubbles hovering in the air.
That was when everyone spotted of what took place over their heads, as high up above stood four wooden platforms suspended by tight ropes hidden in the dark, that was until someone began to illuminate a path of yellow flowing lights buzzing around. Felix recognized them as glitterbugs, small insects that use there body to shine bright and travel in swarms, often native to wetlands such as swamps and rainforests, but known to migrate into grass valleys for mating season. They served as a natural source of light if kept sealed in a glass jar with pockets of air for them to breathe and be fed through, but tonight they were set free to naturally hover up high instinctively while their combined glow allowed the people to see the performers bent with their hands to the ground and their knee up high as if waiting for their cue. Once the bubbles rose high enough below them, they launched themselves off their stands as they audience shrieked in fear. They knew what they were doing, the confidence and look of concentration in their performance reflected their history of this dance as they pointed their hands down in a diving stance before piercing through the surface of each respective bubble before being swallowed within. Now, all four performers hovered inside each bubble of their own, waving their hands and legs in a funny dance, mesmerizing everyone else when they were accompanied by a flurry of beams shot through from the ground below.
It was not magic this time, they were fireworks sparkling and shooting across. But when the audience held each other expecting the fireworks to explode, they were left in awe as each rocket was racing around the edge of the entire room, zooming behind the row at the back as if they were sentient. KuliKuli's eyes danced around the stage, searching frantically before spotting more dancers which had joined the stage while her eyes were focused up high, and it looked as if they controlled the rockets with their arms extended, pointing at them and spinning their bodies around in a similar motion.
This stage of the performance continued on, adding more and more of a light show before eventually the performers began to grow tired a few minutes after. The ringmaster seemed to keep watch of something under his coat, peaking down at his chest from time to time before finally closing his jacket and waving his arms up in a digging motion. It signaled the others to end it quickly, as each individual within the bubbles took a matching stance where they held still before pressing their hands through the top surface and spreading just enough for them to descend. They had to maintain that stance while the rockets continued shooting out until their spark went out. The gnomes quickly mopped the wet mess they left after heaving the tub back inside, and the ringmaster stayed at the center tapping his foot until the dancers made it to the floor, popping their bubbles and performing a curtsey for the crowd.
"Wasn't that lovely?" He asked with a raised voice, waiting for the dancers to exit the stage. "I still remember the day I questioned it as a child myself, saying man can fly and we don't need wings to do it or your fancy science malarkey! They said oh you cheeky so-and-so, you empty-headed little thing, it won't ever happen in your lifetime but here we are! You saw it for yourselves, no wings, no strings, just a dash of magic and a touch of creativity. Never let them make you doubt yourself here."
He pointed at his left temple, spinning around slowly for all sides of the crowd to see and understand. Someone screamed while others jumped off their seats, with several human children pointing onto the stage behind the man. The ringmaster chuckled and pretending to be clueless, parting his legs and pressing a hand to his mouth with wide eyes as he looked outward.
"Oh good grace, whatever is the matter? Why are you pointing at me like that, is it my hat? My mustache? Ah I see, it's the coat, is it not?"
"Behind you! Behind you!" The kids cried out, pointing madly at the snake slithering towards his direction.
"What, my behind?" He turned around, keep his head fixated to the audience while patting his rear. "Naughty naughty, staring at a man's behind like that!"
Some men chuckled at the comment while the woman began to panic and shield their eyes once the snake reached his boot and hissed. This time, he couldn't ignore it as he glanced down and slapped his hands to his sides.
"Ahh, there you are." He said so casually, bending down to scoop up the snake by the neck as it hissed and bared its fangs. "I thought I had lost you, darn thing is always slipping into spots where he shouldn't."
With his free hand, and cupped the snakes body and ran it down to the tail, straightening the creature before giving it a quick spin. Now people were quiet, leaning into their seats while he spun the poor creature once, twice, and then flipped it behind him away from view before catching it in his palm. He banged the bottom end onto the stage floor with a hard bang, now wielding a green staff with a snake head at the top.
"Whoooaaa!" Several furry creatures in the crowd were speechless, having just observed this trick with their eyes and being in disbelief. One who looked like he had the body of a man and the head of a leopard went and pinched his muzzle to confirm that this was real.
"Now, for the next trick I would like to request for a volunteer amongst you. And I must apologize but no children for this one, please." He explained, combing the tip of his mustache as the loud groan of kids of all races was echoed throughout the stage. He held out his staff and pointed it outward, waving it from left to right while pressing the front of his hat down to cover his eyes. Felix and KuliKuli looked around as several adults raised their hands and shouted out for his attention, hoping to be the lucky pick of the litter.
Felix turned to see Janette was contempt with the show, clapping her hands with glee but not daring to raise them and volunteer. Reta seemed stoic yet curious with her arms crossed over her chest, she didn't seem bored but rather held a look of focus in her eyes as if she were analyzing something or was deep in her thoughts. No matter, when he turned to his left he was met with the matching gaze of his partner as she squeezed his hand with her paw, still hidden under her long sleeves.
"I thought you would want to jump in." He chuckled nervously, regretting his words as soon as they escaped his mouth. He had half a mind to hit the back of his head in retaliation for that foolish question, but was shocked by the answer he received.
"Nah." KuliKuli replied with a smile, "I like it a lot, but I know you want me safe."
He smiled back but noticed a sharp contrast from her facial expressions and the shaking of her paw. "Kuli, you're shaking."
"I know." She laughed while pulling away, "I like it but..."
She stuttered and licked her lips while appearing uncomfortable in her seat. He raised his brow and reached out to hold her paw again, keeping quiet until she was ready. She looked up into his eyes again to respond.
"I like it but my body doesn't. It-It's like... I-I want to run away. I know it sounds silly, but something about seeing his magic makes me feel like I want to run far from here, and I-I can't explain why-"
"You there!" The ringmaster declared, pointing his staff out to the right of the crowd. People began to turn their heads and grow silent, an uncomfortable chill climbed up her spine as KuliKuli turned around to see him with his staff set on her. Felix came to that realization a second after, with Janette muttering something under her breath.
"Oh no," She whispered, while Felix felt his heart begin to sink.
KuliKuli swallowed nervously, knowing that all eyes were on her.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of all kinds! Please take your seats in an orderly fashion. The show will begin in three minutes!"
That was the one thing KuliKuli could hear clearly as that voice echoed louder than the rest. When they followed the crowd toward the big show, it led them halfway around the large tent at the other side, where they found an entrance into the biggest stage around. It became clear to them why the layout was structured as if the pathway and performers were outside of a circular structure, for that was the shape of the interior stage with several dozen rows of benches surrounding the middle. Only one large pathway intersected in the middle from one end where they entered the room and toward the other end. There, it seemed the path entered through a short entrance with curtains covering it from any wandering eyes. So many people were pushing through and dispersing into the benches around the room, too many for KuliKuli to manage if she and her friends weren't holding hands. By this point, she was beginning to scrunch up her face and hiss in pain, with Felix not taking notice for once as he was in front of her. It came to show just how noisy this area seemed to be, dozens and dozens of voices full of wonder, gossip, or other casual forms of short conversation under a familiar or unknown language to her. It was loud enough for Janette to cover her ear, so the noise would be amplified to a stronger degree for someone with better hearing such as a Nekomata.
Being the one in front of the group, Janette led her friends around to the other side of the stage before finding some free seats at the second row closest to the stage. They each sat down carefully before being forced to scoot closer together when more people arrived. In a short minute, people were beginning to squeeze through just to find any seating area. Toddlers and small children would have to sit on their parents lap, a family of dwarves began to argue with a pair of gnomes over some unknown dispute, although when KuliKuli noticed the dropped food beside the boots of who she assumed was the father dwarf, she could assume what had caused them to argue and curse at one another. There were so many people around, so many different looks and faces that she could not help herself. With a quick glance toward the opposite side of the stage, she tugged at Felix's arm and motioned forward for him to spot the same pair of large feathery creatures sitting at the bench with neat little cloaks hiding them from the neck down.
"Master, what are those?" She asked, giggling when she saw how quick they would twitch and flick their heads. "They look funny, like large birds!"
Felix leaned in close to hear her before turning to his left and asking Janette the same question. She shouted something back into his ear for him to relay the message as he turned back to KuliKuli. "She says they're Avian, something about the same family as birds?"
"Can they fly?" She questioned back, now more curious than ever. They were perhaps taller than she was, their eyes seemed incredibly large and with giant grey beaks that curved downwards off their brown feathered faces, looking somewhat like a large nose from far away.
Felix shrugged. "I don't know, maybe?"
"They look funny!" She snickered while waving at them.
Felix pulled her arm down. "It isn't nice to stare."
"Why not? You stare at me when I get naked in be-"
He quickly covered her mouth and looked around, relieved that the surrounding noise would stop anyone from eavesdropping. "I mean it is not nice to stare at strangers, they could take offense... to..."
He paused and looked ahead as he had spotted a bulky green figure who looked like a strong muscular human, but with green skin and a large underbite with tusks emerging from his bottom lip. He blinked and couldn't help but stare, this orc had just removed its hood to reveal his shiny green dome, bald with a short black pony tail at the rear side of his head. He was brought back when KuliKuli giggled and covered his eyes with her sleeved paw.
"Master, it's not nice to stare, remember?"
Felix looked up at her as she delivered a coy smile, he was caught by his own advice. He smiled back and adjusted himself in his seat as suddenly the torches surrounding this room went out. The audience quickly grew silent, some of them worried at the apparent darkness as the room had been doused in a pitch black setting. But the darkness was short-lived as soon there was an array of light flowing through the curtains and illuminating the pathway through crystals decorating the sides around the stage, each holding a different scheme of color. Reta leaned in close when one crystal shined in a blue aura, each crystal igniting in order, one by one until they had lit up around the center stage.
Many voices gasped in awe when this glowing ball started to form, emitting a soft hum throughout the room.
"What is magic? Is magic the source that gives and takes life, or is it the energy that surrounds all? Can it be tamed, corrupted, altered, manipulated? Is magic something we can envision, is it a compound that we have yet to comprehend? Can it be a tool? A weapon? A source of fuel? Is it one of those things or all of it at once?"
As the voice continued to speak, the sphere of light had grown three times its size, leaving everyone in the front rows to feel uneasy as it appeared that the growth would not end soon. With each passing second, the sphere would levitate higher and expand further and wider, fortunately the aura surrounding it had reached a fine point where it was neither too bright nor too dim but rather somewhere in the middle, with the voice echoing around the room and making it difficult for anyone to find its source.
"Magic is a most peculiar thing in of itself, its origin remains unrecognized regardless of how many scholars state otherwise, purely a source of dispute for philosophers and scientists to argue amongst themselves. Until eventually, some of the best mages and druids of our time joined together and discovered what we now know. In over a century of study, speculation, and theory, we have learned that magic can be divided in two distinct forms: the magic of the creation and the magic of the creator. The magic of the creator is balanced by two sources we call as light!..."
The sphere started to glow like a pulse, humming louder in sync with what the voice had said.
"...and dark!"
Now the stage had grown dim as the white light began to manifest into a darker tone while still keeping an aura surrounding the sphere. It looked as if the dark and white energy were fighting for control, each part splitting into opposite sides before the ball suffered a rift down the middle. It parted into two shorter spheres, one emitting a bright white and the other maintaining its dark dim light.
"The light enhances the form of life as we know it, the dark takes from the form of life to thrive. One form supports all we have, the other takes its resources from others to benefit itself. To give and to take, to heal or to steal, the outcome of remains under speculation with no clear resolve, no laws of nature to bind it down. Fascinating, isn't it?"
The voice giggled briefly, cut short when the two spheres began to return to their normal yellow glow before merging into its large form as one. This time, the spheres would split into four sections, forming four smaller spheres of light and leaving everyone wondering what would come next.
"Then there is the magic of the creation, translated into the four elements that we recognize."
Each sphere started to spin around in a rapid motion until they became a blur, the humming noise had grown into a sharper whirring effect before each ball began to manifest a different color of brown, blue, white, and red.
"The elements of water, fire, earth, and air. To change the air currents around specific objects or around ourselves, taming the ferocious nature of fire to change or halt its spread, manipulating the current of the river to move in reverse, or even shifting the ground from where we stand! In just a century under this study, we have learned to harness this magic and have come to compete with the feats of our gods!"
Just then, a tremor shook the ground beneath everyone, rattling their seats for the added effect. KuliKuli gasped and lifted her legs up, grabbing onto her friends with a paw around their arms. The four spheres had begun to rotate around in a pattern, spinning around an imaginary center and gaining speed in its momentum. The voice began to laugh in a more malicious manner, cackling before calming itself and clearing their throat.
"Please, remain calm. We wouldn't hurt you. After all, we are here to entertain, and that's the thing is it not? There is so much we have learned about magic itself, and yet it feels like the knowledge we have amassed is but a mere drop in the ocean from what we have yet to know! Magic is light and dark, power and knowledge, arcane and alchemy. Magic is everything we ever knew and beyond. Magic obeys only the rules we invent, but falls under no rules of nature that we know of. Magic is just too much fun..."
By this time, the four spheres had begun to descend lower and lower before the crowd gasped and muttered amongst themselves when its glow had revealed a hidden figure standing at the center of the stage. This man seemed to be the origin of the voice that had been lecturing everyone. The quick bursts of light from the rapidly spinning spheres depicted a man in a fancy top hat with a curved brown mustache revealing a pair of white teeth under his grin. He raised his white-gloved hand and shot the four spheres upwards as if he had hurled something heavy from his waist and thrown it over his head. The four spheres continued to rotate high above, spinning closer and closer together while the whirring noise rang louder and louder as it soared to the top, looking like it was about to blast through the roof of the big top until-
Blam!
They crashed as they spun close enough to collide with each other, rupturing into a wide cascade of tiny reflective water droplets scattered across the roof as if they were the stars in the sky. The crowd had shouted in awe, most of them laughing in relief before everyone jumped at the feel of a spray of water falling over them. It was like a quick mist splashed over their heads, with Reta rubbing her eyes and Janette brushing her dress to wipe the water droplets away. Everyone was left smiling and staring at the center stage as the man stood up proudly and performed a bow with his top hat in his hand, wearing a red coat with black boots reaching under his knees, and white pants that looked baggy and loose around the thighs. The sides of his hair was patted down around the side and back of his head like a ring where his top hat would settle, evidenced by the way his hat fell into place around it as soon as he wore it again. His hazel eyes gazed across the crowd as he chuckled and threw his hands down in a playful display of modesty as if telling everyone to quiet down, only to contradict that very notion when he scooped his hands up again and again to signal for the audience to clap louder.
"Tch." Reta scoffed, keeping her hands on her lap and finding his behavior irritating. "Such a basic display of Genki Mizu."
The man on the stage tilted his head in retaliation, his smile waning by how the corner of his lip twitched. It looked as if somehow, he had managed to hear her remark despite her low voice drowned in a chorus of applause.
"Do you know how long that took for me to get right in the rehearsal? Often I would find the last part to be nye impossible to achieve, so when I would raise the orbs up high they would just go pop! Like a balloon! Now imagine four large bursts of water splashing around me, leaving me in a sopping mess! I get wet enough in my sleep, thank you very much!" The man chuckled and shook his head, wiping the sweat off his brow and slapping his knee. "I hope I have managed to exceed your expectations for our show?"
He lingered on the question as the crowd began to grow quiet after a minute had passed. He raised his arms wide apart, his eyebrows lifted as if he were surprised and paired with that smile and mustache, he looked silly to just be standing in that pose waiting for them to respond. Several members of the audience chuckled, perhaps out of amusement and others out of uncertainty, but the man did not appear to be phased. It was not until he broke the silence with an audible chuckle that he removed his hat and pressed it to his chest before running his hand along his patted hair.
"I kid, of course. You expected a good show, how could I have the gall not to deliver? This was but a mere introduction to what lies ahead, ladies and gentlemen are you ready?"
"Yes!" Most of the audience shouted back.
He shook his head and cupped a hand behind his ear while turning his head aside. "I must be going deaf because I can't hear but a whisper in this crowd. Are! You! Ready?"
"YES!!!" More members cheered back, with most of the children screaming their reply as loud as they can.
At last, this response satisfied the man as he turned and held his hand out to the other side of the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, let us begin the show!"
Everyone rose up to their seats and threw their hands in the air as a pair of slender figures jumped onto the stage through a flurry of high flips. They were barefooted with their hair tied back into a pony tail, wearing skin-tight clothing in matching purple colors. They landed opposite of each other on different sides of the stage, each looking human in appearance but rather tan in their complexion. Their expressions looked focused, they didn't waver due to the uproar from the crow, they began to perform a strange dance with coordinated movement in their limbs. They pressed their elbows to their ribs, moving around with concentrated movement that mirrored the other despite them having their backs to each other, and then suddenly they raised their palms and the ground started to quake. Women screamed and kids squealed as their seats were lifted by the ground beneath. It happened in a pattern as they raised each row of seats one by one, eventually lifted the seats where KuliKuli and her friends sat. She and Felix held each other tight, with Janette squealing in joy and Reta gripped onto her seat as they were lifted ten feet higher. The rows from the far back were lifted higher, descending by a few feet for each row based on how close they were to the stage.
During this performance, a pair of gnomes skittered onto the stage holding a wooden tub of soapy fluids between them. They sat it down with a wave flowing out from one edge, set in front of the top hate figure who people assumed was the one in charge, the ringmaster, who rubbed his palms together before dipping his hands inside. He swooshed and mixed them around before raising his hands up, keeping them sealed tight before his fingers parted away until only his thumb and index fingers pressed together by the tips, forming a circle in between. There was a surface of something shining in that circle, he lifted his hands over and threw his head back with a deep breathe before breathing through. A bubble started to emerge and grow larger and larger, to an abnormal size as many voices squeaked and gasped aloud. This man blew a bubble large enough to mirror his height, and when he was satisfied he let go and held his hands wide apart as this bubble levitated over his head and into the air. He got back to work and repeated this trick numerous times until there were four large bubbles hovering in the air.
That was when everyone spotted of what took place over their heads, as high up above stood four wooden platforms suspended by tight ropes hidden in the dark, that was until someone began to illuminate a path of yellow flowing lights buzzing around. Felix recognized them as glitterbugs, small insects that use there body to shine bright and travel in swarms, often native to wetlands such as swamps and rainforests, but known to migrate into grass valleys for mating season. They served as a natural source of light if kept sealed in a glass jar with pockets of air for them to breathe and be fed through, but tonight they were set free to naturally hover up high instinctively while their combined glow allowed the people to see the performers bent with their hands to the ground and their knee up high as if waiting for their cue. Once the bubbles rose high enough below them, they launched themselves off their stands as they audience shrieked in fear. They knew what they were doing, the confidence and look of concentration in their performance reflected their history of this dance as they pointed their hands down in a diving stance before piercing through the surface of each respective bubble before being swallowed within. Now, all four performers hovered inside each bubble of their own, waving their hands and legs in a funny dance, mesmerizing everyone else when they were accompanied by a flurry of beams shot through from the ground below.
It was not magic this time, they were fireworks sparkling and shooting across. But when the audience held each other expecting the fireworks to explode, they were left in awe as each rocket was racing around the edge of the entire room, zooming behind the row at the back as if they were sentient. KuliKuli's eyes danced around the stage, searching frantically before spotting more dancers which had joined the stage while her eyes were focused up high, and it looked as if they controlled the rockets with their arms extended, pointing at them and spinning their bodies around in a similar motion.
This stage of the performance continued on, adding more and more of a light show before eventually the performers began to grow tired a few minutes after. The ringmaster seemed to keep watch of something under his coat, peaking down at his chest from time to time before finally closing his jacket and waving his arms up in a digging motion. It signaled the others to end it quickly, as each individual within the bubbles took a matching stance where they held still before pressing their hands through the top surface and spreading just enough for them to descend. They had to maintain that stance while the rockets continued shooting out until their spark went out. The gnomes quickly mopped the wet mess they left after heaving the tub back inside, and the ringmaster stayed at the center tapping his foot until the dancers made it to the floor, popping their bubbles and performing a curtsey for the crowd.
"Wasn't that lovely?" He asked with a raised voice, waiting for the dancers to exit the stage. "I still remember the day I questioned it as a child myself, saying man can fly and we don't need wings to do it or your fancy science malarkey! They said oh you cheeky so-and-so, you empty-headed little thing, it won't ever happen in your lifetime but here we are! You saw it for yourselves, no wings, no strings, just a dash of magic and a touch of creativity. Never let them make you doubt yourself here."
He pointed at his left temple, spinning around slowly for all sides of the crowd to see and understand. Someone screamed while others jumped off their seats, with several human children pointing onto the stage behind the man. The ringmaster chuckled and pretending to be clueless, parting his legs and pressing a hand to his mouth with wide eyes as he looked outward.
"Oh good grace, whatever is the matter? Why are you pointing at me like that, is it my hat? My mustache? Ah I see, it's the coat, is it not?"
"Behind you! Behind you!" The kids cried out, pointing madly at the snake slithering towards his direction.
"What, my behind?" He turned around, keep his head fixated to the audience while patting his rear. "Naughty naughty, staring at a man's behind like that!"
Some men chuckled at the comment while the woman began to panic and shield their eyes once the snake reached his boot and hissed. This time, he couldn't ignore it as he glanced down and slapped his hands to his sides.
"Ahh, there you are." He said so casually, bending down to scoop up the snake by the neck as it hissed and bared its fangs. "I thought I had lost you, darn thing is always slipping into spots where he shouldn't."
With his free hand, and cupped the snakes body and ran it down to the tail, straightening the creature before giving it a quick spin. Now people were quiet, leaning into their seats while he spun the poor creature once, twice, and then flipped it behind him away from view before catching it in his palm. He banged the bottom end onto the stage floor with a hard bang, now wielding a green staff with a snake head at the top.
"Whoooaaa!" Several furry creatures in the crowd were speechless, having just observed this trick with their eyes and being in disbelief. One who looked like he had the body of a man and the head of a leopard went and pinched his muzzle to confirm that this was real.
"Now, for the next trick I would like to request for a volunteer amongst you. And I must apologize but no children for this one, please." He explained, combing the tip of his mustache as the loud groan of kids of all races was echoed throughout the stage. He held out his staff and pointed it outward, waving it from left to right while pressing the front of his hat down to cover his eyes. Felix and KuliKuli looked around as several adults raised their hands and shouted out for his attention, hoping to be the lucky pick of the litter.
Felix turned to see Janette was contempt with the show, clapping her hands with glee but not daring to raise them and volunteer. Reta seemed stoic yet curious with her arms crossed over her chest, she didn't seem bored but rather held a look of focus in her eyes as if she were analyzing something or was deep in her thoughts. No matter, when he turned to his left he was met with the matching gaze of his partner as she squeezed his hand with her paw, still hidden under her long sleeves.
"I thought you would want to jump in." He chuckled nervously, regretting his words as soon as they escaped his mouth. He had half a mind to hit the back of his head in retaliation for that foolish question, but was shocked by the answer he received.
"Nah." KuliKuli replied with a smile, "I like it a lot, but I know you want me safe."
He smiled back but noticed a sharp contrast from her facial expressions and the shaking of her paw. "Kuli, you're shaking."
"I know." She laughed while pulling away, "I like it but..."
She stuttered and licked her lips while appearing uncomfortable in her seat. He raised his brow and reached out to hold her paw again, keeping quiet until she was ready. She looked up into his eyes again to respond.
"I like it but my body doesn't. It-It's like... I-I want to run away. I know it sounds silly, but something about seeing his magic makes me feel like I want to run far from here, and I-I can't explain why-"
"You there!" The ringmaster declared, pointing his staff out to the right of the crowd. People began to turn their heads and grow silent, an uncomfortable chill climbed up her spine as KuliKuli turned around to see him with his staff set on her. Felix came to that realization a second after, with Janette muttering something under her breath.
"Oh no," She whispered, while Felix felt his heart begin to sink.
KuliKuli swallowed nervously, knowing that all eyes were on her.
