Archive of Our Own ^beta

Demlena placed the blanket next to the grave, smoothing it out, and placed her basket on top. She looked around to see that no one was around. She had arrived early trying to make sure she had time alone. When she was satisfied with the lack of people around she opened her basket to pull out stuff to clean the gravestone. She made sure to remove dirt, cleaning the gravestone a little. she looked over the planted flowers, she had only planted half of them and always wondered who planted the others. Once she was happy with how the grave looked she settled on the blanket reading over the gravestone.

                                                                                      Bren

                                                                            17 years old

Demlena sighed, it was so much easier back then. It was just her, the parents, and her older brother. He was three years older than her but the two were close. He watched her while her parents worked around the yard. One of these days changed her life forever. their parents were in the backyard and Demlena age 7 and her brother age 10 were playing in the yard. At some point, some kids down from the street came up to their yard. The kids didn't like Bren and started to yell at the two. The yelling pulled the parents to the front yard but before they could do anything the leader of the kids threw a stone at Bren.

Mother tried to stop it but she wouldn't make it in time. Bren brought his hands up to protect his head. He didn't feel anything hit him and opened his eyes to see the rock floating in the air. Everyone looked around till they looked at Demlena who was only watching the stone.

Bren moved over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She flinched and blinked up at him causing the rock to fall. She smiled up at him "Did you see that Bren?"

He nodded, "Yeah..." he looked at the rock again. "how did you know you could do that?"

She shook her head "I don't know. I just didn't want the rock to hit you."

her mother moved over to them "I'm glad you two are safe." She hugged the two close looking up to see Father watching them before turning away.

a few weeks later Mother sat down at the table while the two were eating to look at Demlena "Demlena...sweety...You know how me and your father work hard to provide for you both?" Demlena nodded as she put more food in her mouth. "We were wondering if you wanted to help with that?"

"I don't think that is go-" Bren was able to say before Demlena finished her food.

"I want to! I'm a big girl. I can help."

Mother smiled "That you are. I'll tell Father and we'll start working on that right away okay?"

"Okay." Bren frowned but went back to eating his food.

The parents set up a showing for the ringmaster and just threw pillows at Demlena that she had to keep away from herself. She found it fun and wanted to go longer but Ringmaster had enough, agreeing to let them travel with the circus.

they packed what they needed, and sold what they didn't. with that the family started to travel from place to place. Bren was glad to be away from his bullies but didn't like that Demlena had to work.

They had a schedule, though Bren tried to get her out of it. Demlena had two shows every three days. their parents had wanted more but the ringmaster refused to do more than that. In exchange, the parents told her to train so she could do more but when he could Bren snuck her out to play.

Some months later Demlena was crying on her box, it had been titled that after she started using it to wait for her family's return. but they wouldn't be returning, not tonight, they had already told her that. That was why today instead of sitting calmly like always she was crying..

She heard a knock on the box and removed her hands from her eyes to see a person standing there in front of her with a mask on and a hood covering their head.

The person waved at her and then lifted an arm into the air. Did a one-handed cartwheel landing in a kneel position with their arms out in a tada position. Demlena giggled quietly. They then reached back until their hands were flat on the ground and kicked themselves up into a handstand. Demlena clapped at that. They finished by coming down into crouch pushing up into a backflip and landing on their feet with their hands up in the air again in a tada position. Demlena clapped and cheered for them.

"That was amazing. You're wonderful," she said as she kept clapping. The person took a bow. "What's your name?" the person pointed to their mask "Yeah you. What's your name?" the person again pointed to their mask this time with a little more emphasis "Mask? Can you not speak?" Mask shook her head "Oh okay, I'll try and keep it to you yes or no questions okay?" Mask nodded her head "So you said your name was Mask?" another nod "Are you wearing that to keep a super secret identity" Mask stared at her before slowly nodding Demlena gasped "Okay I'll keep it a secret and tell no one." she then bounced on her box "since you can't speak we should make up our own language. then we can speak all the time and I can show it to Bren and he can join in too. " Mask nodded and that is what they did for the rest of the day

Some of it was easy, a nod for yes and head shakes for no. Since Mask had a lot of flexibility they had more range for more things. Demlena had joked that 'I don't know' should be a spin not thinking that Mask would actually do it but when she later asked her a question and Masks spun it only made Demlena giggle knowing the true meaning of that. They made different signs for different words all through the day. It took up so much time that Demlena didn't even remember she had been left behind. It was the most fun she'd had in weeks.

It was a week after they met that Demlena was able to introduce the two "Come on come on you have to meet her" Demlena said dragging Bren along behind her. She was supposed to be in practice but Bren convinced the parents to go out on a date night and leave him behind so she has the night free.

"I'm coming. You pulling off my arm will not speed us up anymore" Bren said with a laugh.

"But it's important," Demlena said with another tug of his arm. Eventually, the two made it to where her meeting spot with Mask was. Mask was already there waiting for them. She waved as they entered the tent they decided to hang out in that day. "Mask, this is my big brother. Bren" she held her arms out as if showing off a prize and then turned to her brother "and this is Mask. She's amazing. she can do so many cool things" Demlena gasped and then turned back to Mask "do the thing the thing you showed me when we first met"

mask nodded standing up putting a hand above her head she did the one-handed cartwheel into the kneeling and tada position Demlena and Bren both clapped.

"That is very impressive," Mask clapped twice "I didn't quite catch that?"

Demlena giggled "That's mask's way of saying thank you." Bren looked over at Demlena "She can't speak. but don't worry we came up with a super cool language so she can still talk her own way"

"I see." he turned back to mask "You're welcome, we were going to spend the night having fun since our parents are away. I would like to offer you to join us but I don't want to interrupt your practice."

Mask shook her head before she waved one hand as if shooting off a fly, she then closed her eyes and rested her hand on her hands to the side as if sleeping but the bottom hand opened up and she mimed stretching. She then held up one finger

Bren looked at Demlena who smiled "She said no it's okay she practices for an hour after waking up."

"you got all that from her movements? it's very impressive how much work you to put into this"

"yeah we put a lot of thought into this for example" Demlena then turn to mask with a small smirk "What's 200,000 times 1 bajillion"

Mask stared at her for a moment then seemed to sigh before doing a quick spin Demlena laughed at her. Bren looked between the two of them

"that stands for I don't know"

Bren nodded "Just don't do that too much you don't want to make her dizzy "

"Okay," the three spent the night together. Bren started to learn some of the movements the two had come up with. He was happy to see Demlena had made a friend her age.

A year later while Demlena was happy to spend time with Mask her family seemed to be fighting. her parents and Bren were always yelling at each other, that she didn't really understand what they were arguing about. Most days Bren would drag her from the house slamming the door as they left.

she wanted to ask about it but Mask kept stopping her and so just let the arguing go on in the background. their parents started to act weird, they started to give Demlena and Bren different food for dinner but Demlena never complained since she got more food than normal.

it wasn't the only time their parents were weird about food between her and Bren. Once Demlena entered the house rubbing her stomach. She had just finished training for the day and was hoping for a snack since she trained through lunch. She entered the kitchen and saw a plate of food on the shelf. She pulled a fork out of the drawer and went over to the food. She took a fork full and blew on it. She opened her mouth to eat when suddenly her hand was hit and the food and fork hit the floor.

"What do you think you are doing?" She looked up to see Mother looking down with her hands on her hips.

Demlena rubbed her hand "I was just hungry" she muttered.

Mother sighed, "Well this is for your brother." Demlena nodded slowly, he had been eating separately now since the fighting had become and everyday thing. It seemed like he wanted to spend no time with their parents, and tried to make Demlena do the same. Mother picked up the plate and got a fork herself "Let me give this to him. Then I'll come back to make you food okay?" Demlena nodded, "now go sit at the table." As the two were parting she heard Mother mutter "We don't want to lose that one by mistake."

even with this weird interaction, she didn't think anything of it. She had a lot of training, which seemed to increase with each argument her brother and parents had, but she got to have fun with Bren and Mask. Mask was good at finding places for them to hide so no one would bother them. With the two of them, she thought she could get through anything.

But then Bren vomited then fainted when the two were playing. The ringmaster brought him to a doctor since their parents were out on a date that night. The doctor agreed that something was wrong with Bren but couldn't find out what.

The few days Bren was at the doctor's mask bothered her during training and only seemed to leave her alone when the parents were around. Demlena was so happy when he was let home but Bren could only stay in his room.

The parents wouldn't let her in the room but mask helped her sneak in. He was supposed to be resting but as time went on he got weaker and weaker. a week after he had come home Demlena was bouncing in place when Mask came into the room she moved over to her "Ready to go see Bren?" Mask shook her head "Oh do you have something else to do?" mask shook her head again "Oh...well...when will we go see Bren next?"

Mask placed her arms in an x shape and Demlena gasped "What do you mean never?" Mask pointed to herself, did the x again, pulled her hands towards herself then pointed at Demlena. "But why! Why won't you bring me?" Mask just shook her head then said nothing. Demlena teared up "I thought you were my friend, I thought you would help me see my Bren. But you aren't. Your just some evil person who likes to lead people on like a coward.'' She then stomped off to try to get to her room herself but when she got in she looked up to see her mom frowning at her while handing Bren food. Once it was placed on his lap she grabbed Demlena by the arm and dragged her back to her practice.

Looking back at Bren in his bed was the last time she saw him. later that week Bren died. The week between his death and his funeral any time she saw Mask standing to the side she glared at her before turning away. When she went to the funeral she looked around for mask but couldn't see her there.

The week after the funeral the circus moved on to the next town. No matter how much she begged her parents to stay in town but they dragged her out of town. The training times decreased but the show amounts increased. The only time she really had time for herself was at night. At first, she spent the night looking at the stars but after a week she missed mask.

She started to look around when she could but never saw her anywhere. One of the days she had gotten away from her parents and had hidden in the ringmaster's office she had some time to ask him about mask. While the ringmaster told her mask still worked for the circus but wouldn't tell her where she was.

as the shows increased so did the danger. She asked for them to make it less dangerous but they ignored her. She was worried when they started to throw knives. She heard that they were going to try fire next and she was worried about it because she knew there were some things her wind couldn't block. like water or dirt. She was worried that natural things couldn't be stopped.

when they ignored her and still shot fire at her Demlena tried to stop it but it just went through it. Demlena cried out in pain when the fire went through her wind. She fell to the ground rolling around, she could see someone come over to help but couldn't tell if it was her parents or the staff that helped them.

She was brought to the doctor and slowly healed there. It put a stain on the circus but the ringmaster refused to move till she was able to. Eventually, she was healed but had burn scars all over her body.

The whole time she was at the doctor her parents never came to visit her. The ringmaster was the one who brought her back and she was so thankful. The first few days her parents still hadn't come home.

She was asleep when they arrived home. The slams of the door opening and closing woke her. She left her bed to find her father stomping around the living room and her mom sitting at the table.

She smiled as she saw them "Father-" she froze as he turned to glare at her.

"You!" She cried out in pain when he grabbed her arm over where some of the burns were. He pushed her into the kitchen. Demlena looked over at Mother who sighed "Do you know how much money you made us lose?"

"I-"

"Since you were too lazy to block the fire, we had to pay back everyone for the failed show." He took a step towards her and she took a step back.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize, just work harder!" He punched her in the face and that was the last thing she heard or felt before everything went dark.

When she came too she felt someone shaking her shoulder. She pulled away from the pain and looked at the person in front of her. She didn't know who he was but he had a guard outfit.

"What?"

She started to look around but he held her head lightly to stop her. "I wouldn't, are you hurt?"

"I...no..." she brought her hand up to her head to rub it when she noticed blood splashed over it. She looked down at herself to see more blood. He tried to stop her but she pushed his hands down and looked to her right to see her mom slumped at the table, a pool of blood under her. Demlena screamed and then the darkness surrounded her again as she fainted.

When she next woke up she was back in a room at the doctor's. She looked down at her hands to see they were clean. She rubbed her fingers together before the door opened and a guard walked in.

"How are you doing?" He asked as he sat on the chair next to her.

"My head hurts, and the burns..."

He nodded, "I'll tell the doctor. Do you know what happened last night?"

"I...mom is..." she hugged herself.

The guard held up his hand, "Let's just start at the top okay?" She nodded and slowly told him about what happened after her parents arrived home. "And that is all you know?"

She nodded, "And then I was woken up...and mom..."

"Do you want to know what happened?" She nodded slowly. "We don't know for sure what attacked them but it took out the door. You know about your mother but your father was found dead outside on the yard, he looked to be fleeing." She started to cry harder and he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Demlena would have been a suspect but she had been out cold the whole night. The blood that had splattered on her and the wall had left an imprint that would have been impossible if she had moved at all. she heard that people thought Mask did it but she never heard why. she didn't belive it thinking they were just using their fight as proof.

She had to stay in town for a month until she would be allowed to leave so the circus had to leave her behind. When she was no longer being held by the guard she was put into the orphanage.

She was passed from foster parent to foster parent. Sometimes she would freak them out, sometimes they would disappear. As she was passed from house to house she also changed different towns. In each town she went to she checked for her brother's gravestone. She had never been told which town it was.

This was her life until she aged out of the system. Before she knew it she was out on her own. Her only saving grace was the money her parents left her.

~*~*~*~

Demlena blinked at the ceiling as she lay in bed. She didn't know what she would do with her life. She had come to this town since it was only next to the last place she lived. She had spent some money on an inn to stay a week or so. She was still looking for the town her Bren was buried in but this was also not the town. She spent the morning just laying in bed until her stomach grumbled.

on her way to some place to eat, she noticed some people following her. She frowned and started taking random turns hoping to lose them but they seemed to keep pace with her. She took a turn and her eyes went wide as she saw she had just turned into an alleyway.

"Now then." she turned to face the three men that were now blocking the entrance. "We saw how much money you had." Demlena backed up until her back hit the wall. "We want it."

"i...I don't have it."

the leader frowned, "you shouldn't lie to us."

"I...I'm not."

He looked at the guy to his left. "make her talk."

Demlena shook her head but before she could say anything he punched her in the face. she blinked and between one blink and another, they morphed into her father. her breathing picked up as her body started to hurt all over along her burns. She crouched and curled into herself trying to protect herself from the fathers inching closer.

she didn't know how long she sat there curled up. she heard a crash and looked up suddenly to see the men were gone. The alleyway mostly looked the same, the only difference was a notebook open to the first page laying in front of her with a pen next to it.

she stared at it when suddenly words started to form on the top of the page. 'Are you okay?' She just stayed there watching the book when suddenly there was another line 'Don't worry you can write in this book it's magical.'

She took the pen carefully looking it over before picking up the book carefully. 'Who are you?'

there was a moment and Demlena was worried she had done something wrong when there was another line. 'My name is Malre. I saved you from those guys. And left this book so we could talk.'

Demlena frowned before quickly writing 'Why?'

'You're a very interesting person.'

that only made her frown grow 'How do you know me?'

Once again the message took a little longer to appear. 'I use to watch your show. I wasn't strong enough to protect you at that time but now i am.'

Demlena frowned, she wondered if it was someone who went to multiple when they stayed in town for a long time or someone in the circus. it was so big she didn't know everyone. 'Where are you?'

This time the message appeared on the page slowly as if the person was taking their time to write it out. 'I'm really shy, so I'm hiding.' if that was their reasoning now it must have been their reasoning then as well.

'Oh okay....' She looked at the book for a moment. 'why do you want to protect me?'

'I learned about you when I was younger. I've heard what happened to you and I want to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Demlena looked at her hands the burn marks still visible even years later. if they hadn't seen the incident they must have only been a fan. "you know what happened?" she wondered if they would tell her what town they lived in maybe they could help her.

"Yes. About your brother."

Tears came to her eyes as she read that line. She wiped them quickly, "It's been so long since I've seen his tombstone."

"You should go back then, I bet he would be happy about it."

Demlena sighed "If only I knew where that was." there was a long moment where nothing appeared and Demlena slowly wrote "Malre?"

"NO ONE TOLD YOU WHERE HE WAS BURIED?" the letters came on the page and she just stared at them for a moment.

she slowly wrote "No"

"HOW COULD THEY—" the words trailed off as if the person had stopped writing. Demlena pulled the notebook into her lap as she waited for more writing. Since she lost both Mask and Bren she hadn't had anyone that cared about her. She knew it wasn't smart but she was willing to give this person a chance. eventually, the person's words came up again "Sorry...I'm just mad at all the adults."

"I'm an adult now, you know?"

"you should have been told. well let me fix that. he was buried at Orilon "

Demlena's eyes went wide "Really?"

"don't forget this book." was the last thing Demlena saw before she closed it and ran off to the inn to collect her stuff and find out where Orilon was. It took her a few weeks to travel to get there and through it all she got to know Malre better through the book. they took turns asking questions and Demlena was having so much fun she didn't even notice most of the travel.

As soon as she got to the town she rushed to the graveyard looking at each one until she found his. Once she did she fell to her knees lightly touching his name, tears coming to her eyes "I found you." she whispered.

She spent hours there just crying and whispering to the tombstone. when she felt like she had no more tears she looked at the notebook to see a new line was there.

"You take your time. I got you a room in the inn."

"thanks, I'm so glad it's intact." she spent the rest of the day there then followed Malres directions to the inn. once she had eaten food and got comfortable on her bed.

she brought the notebook out to see another line "What are you planning to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you'll stay here for sure but you can't just spend all your time in the inn."

"No, I guess I can't."

"Then why don't you get a job."

Demlena frowned, 'I don't know if I should look for a job.'

'Why Not? There Doesn't Seem To Be Anything In The Way.'

'Well...I have to say I'm not that good at anything.'

'Don't Say That. I Know For A Fact You're A Good Dancer.'

Demlena smiled, 'Bren told me that.' She left the pen touching the paper for a moment. "How did you know I danced well?"

Malre's reply took a moment "When you spent time in my town I snuck backstage and caught you dancing." Demlena smiled and was about to write something but then there was another line "So maybe try something with that?"

Demlena held the book closer 'Do you really think I should?'

'Yes, Go And Do It, You're Good At Dancing. Do It! I Command You.'

Demlena chuckled at that 'Well then I might as well since I'm being told.' She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I should sleep. today has been a lot."

She smiled as she saw 'Good night' right before she closed the book. She placed the book on her desk and cuddled into bed a weight lifted from her shoulder.

~*~*~*~

Three years went by quickly. Demlena had grown her hair long since she liked how it looked when she spun when she danced. She still talked almost all the time to Malre. Malre had also bought her a house near the graveyard on the outskirts of the city. Demlena had tried to fight her claiming she had her own money but Malre told her to use that for food and things she wanted.

She passed by the graveyard every day on the way to work. She was becoming popular as a choreographer, no one seemed to know about the shows she did as a child. She yawned as she woke up looking over to the book that was open on her bedside table and had a new line on it.

'How Are You This Morning? Did You Sleep Well?' Malre's words were loose with bigger spaces between the letters than normal. Demlena chuckled to herself, she knew that Malre's words were only like that when she was tired.

Her smile grew as she sat up rubbing her eyes before picking up a pen. 'I'm good. I had a nice night knowing you were watching over me.'

'You say that every morning.'

'It's true.'

'You sound like you're falling in love with me.'

Demlena chuckled before shaking her head writing her next line quickly. 'No, it's nothing like that.'

'Ha ha ha, don't worry I'm just kidding.'

Demlena sighed a breath of relief as she got up to change putting on a dress. She grabbed her bag, packing up the things she knew she would need today. She then picked up the book, turning the page over to write something only to find they only had three pages left. She frowned sitting on the bed once again, 'Malre there is a problem. My book only has three pages left. What are we going to do?'

'Don't worry i'll take care of it Demlena.'

'What do you mean?'

'I can reset the book. The pages will be nice and clean.'

'What about what we already wrote?'

'Do you want to keep it?'

Demlena flipped over the old pages and looked at all the old conversations she had with Malre: about her family, about her job now, about her life before as well as about her powers. Her eyes landed on one of their first conversations.

~*~*~*~

Demlena was bored one day when her eyes landed on her book. She opened it slowly, looking over the pages from their first few weeks. while they had talked a lot during her travels once she had come to Orilon she hadn't written again. The last line was still Malre's goodbye. She picked up the pen slowly before bringing it to the book.

'Malre?'

'Yeah. what's up? I figured you wouldn't write to me again.'

'I...I'm sorry. I...just don't know what to write. I...I mean...why would you want to talk to me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I'm just me."

"And I think you are interesting."

"i..." Demlena let her the pen trail on the page. just staring at the book.

Malre saved her from coming up with something by changing the subject 'So what did you want to write to me about?'

'Oh. I was wondering since you wouldn't let me see you. What do you look like?'

'Well, I put my Hair in a bun all the time. I also have the same eye color as you. I tend to wear darker colors than you which just shows how much cooler I am than you.'

Demlena rolled her eyes at that, 'you sound so conceited.'

'Well I am the better of the two of us.'

Demlena frowned at that 'Yeah I guess you are...'

These next words came big and rushed 'No! I didn't really mean that you just need more self-confidence.'

Demlena thought about it. It was something she needed to work on, the years of working for her parents made her doubt everything about herself. She looked over what had been written earlier then frowned, 'Hey that doesn't tell me much.'

Malre's reply took a moment to come. They were a little shaky as if she had been laughing while writing, 'Ha, okay then. We'll do more questions for question.'

Demlena was confused for a moment, 'Don't you know a lot about me already? I wrote a lot on the time I was traveling.'
Another long pause, 'While I do know what you told me about, I don't know much else." the next line seemed to hesitate before adding "I have questions about thing you didn't talk about.'

Demlena thought about it for a moment before smiling. She started this conversation because she was bored and this would amuse her. 'Okay, so I ask the first question, right?'

'Yes?'

'How did you get backstage to see me dance that time?'

Once again the answer seemed to come slowly "I don't remember too much the only thing I really remember was your dancing. I think someone brought me there?'

'Oh.' They went back and forth with questions after that, making the day fly by. Demlena only ate that day when Malre reminded her to.

~*~*~*~

Demlena smiled slightly as she started to flip through the book some more, her eyes landing on one of their other conversations that was midway through the book. Her smile grew a little more when she started to read it.

~*~*~*~

'Hey. What's wrong?'

Demlena was currently sitting on a park bench just looking at the lack. the book was in her lap but she didn't write anything in it. after reading the page she gave a look around she couldn't see anyone. she looked at the page again before slowly writing, 'I didn't get the job.'

'Is that all?'

Demlena rubbed her eyes, 'it was the fifth time I've tried out for something. So far I only got the first job. Maybe I'm just not cut out to dance.'

Malre's words came squished together, 'Look, I know you don't want to hear this, But I don't think you are cut out to do dancing on a stage.'

Demlena rubbed her eye. 'You were the one i should get a job dancing. What do you mean?'

'I said a job dancing, I didn't say it had to be on a stage. Because of your past with the stage you always feel uncomfortable on the stage. Even if you can remember all the steps you look really nervous up there.'

Demlena sighed, she knew it was true. Whenever she was on stage she felt like they were watching her as the untouchable child and not herself. 'You're right when I'm on stage I feel like they only see me as a circus attraction.'

'I thought as much.'

'Then what should I do?'

'Well, there is a job called a choreographer. It is where you plan the dances for others but you don't dance on stage yourself. That way you can still dance but you don't have to worry about the audience looking at you.'

Demlena smiled, 'really?'

'Yeah, so try for that one. You'll have a tone of success with it I just know it.'

~*~*~*~

She turned back to the last page she was writing on, 'Well I would like to look back on them from time to time, like if there is a time you can't talk.'

'I'll always be able to talk to you.' These letters were lower on the line and that only brought the image of Malre frowning to her mind. Over the months she noticed that Malre's handwriting changed with her emotions. If she was happy the words were close together as if she was trying to get everything out as fast as possible. While if she was sad or mad they were bigger than her normal writing, as if she was shouting as she wrote. 'But don't worry I'll save the conversations and you can ask me to mail them to you okay?'

Demlena smiled 'thanks.'

'Since we've taken care of that shouldn't you get going?'

Demlena looked at the clock. "Oh my god," she noticed it was ten minutes till her next job. She shoved the book into her bag and ran out the door making sure it was locked.

~*~*~*~

She stretched as she left the building. Even though she had been dancing for a few hours she still only felt a little tired, over the few months her endurance had grown and she found now she could dance for longer hours than she could before. She pulled the book out and sighed when she didn't see anything written by Malre. She walked by a TV store hearing the news "The thief strikes again. Taking this time one thousand dollars worth of gems." Demlena looked at the TV, stopping to watch it.

'Do you watch TV?' she wrote in the book slowly, she didn't know if Malre would answer her, though she had so many times before.

'Not to often. is this about the Theif the news is talking about or something else?'

Demlena looked around again but there were tons of people walking around this time and she couldn't tell if anyone was paying attention to her or if it was just luck Malre asked about what she just saw. 'Yah how did you know?'

This message seemed to come quicker than Malre's normal messages, 'Lucky guess.'

she gave one more look around before shaking her head and deciding to believe her 'Yes that was what I was talking about. She seems interesting.'

'You think the thief is a female?'

'Well...I hope she is.' Demlena bit her lip, there was a bit more she was hoping for as well but she didn't want to talk about her right now. 'There aren't that many good female villains.'

'Really? do you want to be a thief?'

'Why? I don't have anything I want to steal.'

'But let's say you need money for your classes? Or other things for your work? Would you think of using your' the last two words were scratched out as if Malre had miswritten them 'being a thief?'

'I don't know, I have money from my parents. And from you since you won't let me pay for stuff.'

'I guess.' This time the words were droopy

Demlena smiled shaking her head 'But if I didn't have either of those I think I might, small things you know. Stuff that wouldn't be missed.'

'I see.'

'Why do you ask?'

This answer also came quicker than normal, 'I was just wondering since you liked the thief.' Before Demlena could write anything another line from Malre appeared, 'You should go eat. Don't forget it's in a week.'

Demlena smiled, ever since she told Malre the date of her brother's birthday Malre always reminded her when it was coming up, it made her happy to know she wasn't the only person watching and waiting for the day.

~*~*~*~

It was the date of Bren's birthday today, as such she made sure she didn't have any work today so she could visit her brother's grave. She did the same thing she had done the last two years; she was having lunch near the headstone telling him everything that had happened since the last time she had been there. The book was open just in case Malre wanted to add something though she hadn't said anything yet. It had only been two weeks since she had been to the graveyard so she didn't have that much to talk about. When she had finished talking and started eating, that was when Malre spoke up.

'Since it's his birthday why don't you dance for him? Since he loved it so much?'

'Oh, you're so right.' She finished her food quickly and stood up whipping her clothing clean. She started dancing, humming her own tune as she did. The dance she made up was of all the new moves she had learned since she last danced for him. It had been a few months since then, so she had a lot to show him, making the single dance last a good thirty minutes. When she was done as an extra bonus for her brother she used her powers to lift herself a little off the ground. The highest she could go was a few inches off the ground but she still felt it was an accomplishment. She bowed to Bren's grave but was surprised when she heard clapping. She turned quickly to find a man there.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes!"

"If you must know, my name is Almar."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was taking a walk and saw you dancing, that's what first drew me in" Demlena blushed but he continued. "But now I'm wondering about what you are doing right now," he pointed at her feet.

Demlena looked down to notice she was still floating a little off the ground. She lowered herself before looking back at the man, "You mean lifting myself off the ground?" Almar nodded "I have the ability to control the wind."

"and what do you plan to do with those powers?"

she crossed her arms "I don't know, haven't thought about that yet."

Almar nodded, "is there anyone you look up to right now?"

she took a step back "Why do I need to tell you that?"

he crossed his arms "you don't have to but the guards will ask you next."

Demlena watched him for a moment before picking up the book for support "I guess the thief."

"The thief? Do you mean the one that's been on all the TV's?"

Demlena nodded, "Yes..."

"why?"

"She seems awesome. only steals from big stores, not smaller ones."

"The thief is a she?"

she shrugged "I don't know but I hope she is."

"you hope she is?" Almar shook his head, "I'm sorry to hear that. You need to come with me now."

Demlena took a step back bumping into the tombstone, she patted the top of it. "What why?"

"While you haven't committed any crimes yet I can't guarantee you won't use your powers in a way that goes against the law." He reached out and grabbed Demlena's arm before she could get away. He started to drag her away despite her struggling.

~*~*~*~

Almar pushed Demlena into a chair. Demlena looked up at him, "what do you want?"

He shook his head, "I want to talk, you need to stop thinking that...thief is cool."

Demlena frowned and shook her head, "why?"

"if you think she is cool, you'll start stealing like her."

Demlena shook her head, "No I wouldn't I have Malre." She held the book up slightly.

Almar grabbed the book from her "Hey!" Demlena shouted trying to get the book back. He scanned through it.

He glared at Demlena and grabbed her arm once again. "How are there two writings in here?"

Demlena pulled on her arm but he wouldn't let go, "I don't know Malre says it's magic. She hasn't explained it to me." He sighed and dragged her to a spare bedroom.

"Stay in there, you'll see my way eventually."

"Give me back my book!"

"I'll be keeping this for a bit." Almar said, closing the door. Demlena heard a click and she tried the door only to find it locked.

Demlena sat on the bed with a sigh. She bounced a little, biting her lip. She didn't know how long it took but eventually, Almar opened the door and she got up walking right up to his face. "Give me back my book!" She glared at him and he sighed.

"Sure you can have it. It's useless; nothing magical came up like you said when I wrote in it. Just to make sure I took care of it."

Demlena's eyes went wide, "What did you do to it?" she said taking it to see what had been written in it was still there but there wasn't anything new from Malre.

"I put a shield on it to turn it off. it shouldn't be able to do anything magical now, so you won't be getting any messages from your friend." Demlena glared at him before sitting on the bed. He sighed, "This is your own fault for looking up to a villain." He said before closing the door while shaking his head, leaving Demlena to her own thoughts.

Demlena brought out her pen automatically and wrote 'I wish I could talk to you.' She was so used to telling Malre everything that even though Malre couldn't write back she wrote to her.

It was then a great surprise when words appeared under hers 'You still can don't worry. Are you okay?'

She wrote as quickly as she could not wanting to worry Malre, 'he didn't hurt me but he isn't letting me leave' She moved to get more comfortable on the bed not knowing how long he would keep her here. 'How are you responding? He said he blocked it from magic.'

'Don't worry mine is the one with magic. Yours is just a plain notebook.'

'oh...' Demlena left it at that, not really having much to say to Malre at this point.

So it was Malre who started up the conversation once again, 'Do you want to stay there?'

'No of course not.'

'Want me to break you out?'

Demlena looked at the books with wide eyes. 'You mean you can?'

"Yeah, it would take some planning though so you would be free by tomorrow."

'Okay.' Demlena didn't like being stuck here for so long but she had Malre to talk to at least. When food was brought later in the night she acted like she was just rereading her book. Eventually, she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, she placed the book closed on the bedside table.

~*~*~*~

When Demlena woke she found the book open as well as the door. Looking at the book to see it read 'Okay all clear.' She found that the whole building she was in was empty. It took a while for her to find the front door but once she did she immediately left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Almar was a normal child but his sister wasn't. When she was ten she found out she had the ability to cause fireworks. When he was sad he would always go to her for comfort. He always liked when she used her powers. She used it often when the two would play together, he would call out a color and she would make a firework to match it. They had fun and there were no problems. That was until his sister started hanging out with a new group of friends.

She was a fool and made friends with a group of kids her age. They would hang out at stores and ask her to show people her powers. She was always willing to show off her powers and smiled while she showed them.

It was one day when they took it too far. Almar never found out if her friends planned it or not. They were hanging out in the center of town when the kids asked her to show off.

She asked for some colors and when she had a few she mixed some up and threw them into the air. they exploded in a mix of colors and everyone clapped, his sister smiled before everyone heard a scream and crashing.

Her fireworks had caused someone to fall out of a building. He had died on impact and his sister was blamed for it. she was sent to jail for murder, he could only see her once every few months.

Even ten years later Almar still hated those kids for convincing her to use her powers. He wouldn't let that happen to anyone else as such he looked for anyone with magical powers and tried to get them in contact with the police.

That was when he laid his eyes on Demlena. He had first seen her dancing in front of a grave. He was confused but stopped to watch the dance; she was pretty good even without music. He was planning to leave when she ended the dance by lifting herself off the ground in a bow.

After their little talk, he took the book with him looking it over. He couldn't sense anything from the book. He skimmed it but didn't bother to actually read it. He took the book out to one of the people who work with the police. He got a seal on it to block however Demlena was talking to the other person. Once that was done he stopped by the house to hand it back to Demlena before leaving again.

He walked the streets looking for crimes to fight and people to save. He took a few hours not even noticing how much time passed him by. It wasn't till the main newspaper called him. He wanted to see them later but they begged for him to come in that night. As soon as he walked into the building he was dragged to the head office.

"So what is this all about?"

"We got a message for you, we didn't know what to do with it."

Almar sighed, "Let me see."

Dear Almar or the jerk who crossed me,

Do you think you can get away with kidnapping Demlena? She hadn't done anything illegal and just because she has powers you decided she will turn evil because she looks up to a person, me. Yes, that's right the person she is always writing to in that book is the great thief that keeps getting away.

Well, I know where my next target is and I'm going to give you one chance. If you can catch me then I'll leave Demlena alone forever but if you don't, you'll leave her alone for the rest of her life.

If you want to find me the place is on the other card I gave the newspaper. Have fun.

From,

The great thief Mask.

Almar's eyes went wide, normally the great thief would strike without warning but this time she left a note. He read it over again when he noticed Demlena's name and the information about the notebooks would only be known by whoever she wrote to. he then turned to the president, "Can I have the other card?" the president nodded. He looked at it and walked out of the place trying to form a plan as quickly as possible.

~*~*~*~

That night Almar was at the location the Mask had told him she was going to steal some gems. It was a well-known museum that was on the edge of a cliff. It used to be a big old house at the entrance to a town but the rest of the town had fallen into the ocean below.

He got there at sundown and looked over their defenses. It was when he was in the middle of checking that the alarms went off. He moved into the center of the museum to see a person almost completely covered with a mask covering their face, the only thing showing was her hair in a bun. She was leaning against a pillar looking at a necklace next to its broken case.

"you!" he shouted, charging towards her. She looked up before jumping onto the broken case, he was about to grab her when a burst of wind pushed him away and pushed her up to sit on the railing on the upper landing. "don't run away." he ran to the stairs as she flipped backward over the railing to start running down her hall.

As he made it to the top of the stairs he looked across the room to see Mask was at the other side of the hall. She placed her back on the wall completely opposite him. He frowned as she crouched before she started to run forward. He got ready to run down the stairs like she did.

but instead of running down the stairs, she ran along the hall beside it until she got to the railing. that she jumped onto before pushing off it using wind to get the height she needed to grab the chandelier in the middle of the room. she then started to climb up to the ceiling.

Almar watched her when he noticed that the chandelier was swinging from her jump and took a few steps back before copying her to barely grab onto the bottom of it. He struggled but was able to pull himself up to the top of it when he saw her swing herself out of an open window. He was just pulling himself out the top window when he looked up to see her standing on the edge of the roof.

Even from here you could hear the waves of the ocean and could see the wind brushing past her. He had thought that Demlena was locked in the spare room but the thief in front of him had the same build and moved similar to dancing.

"Did you really think you could get away?" he said, taking a step towards her.

She laughed "Of course. That's why I made the bet. I mean she is already free I just need you to realize you can't keep her hostage."

he shook his head even if she didn't see him since her back was facing him "She's in one of my spare bedrooms."

she laughed again before turning to him "Yeah sure." his eyes went wide as he noticed she had the same colored eyes that had glared at him when he took her book.

He had thought she only looked up to the thief, but it looked like he was right that she was led astray. "What are you planning to do? I can just find her again." He didn't know what she was playing at but he would go along with her claims she wasn't Demlena.

She crossed her arms, "our deal means you can't. Unless you don't actually keep your promises."

"I do. But you still need to get away."

 She turned back to the edge of the roof. his eyes went wide and he took a step towards her. She looked over her shoulder at him, "goodbye forever." she jumped off the edge and he ran forward. He tried to grab her but she was past the edge and falling before he could. He leaned over the edge watching as she fell farther and farther into the darkness until she couldn't be seen anymore.

he just watched the empty air that the thief had just fallen into, memories filling his mind. He had failed Demlena just like he had failed his sister. "why?" he muttered, shaking his head. How did things come to this?

He lay there until one of the police came up to him, "Sir?" he didn't move until the cop shook him. "sir? Where is the thief?" he sat up but didn't say anything, just waved at the edge. "oh...I see sir. It seems we won't have to worry about her anymore. Right sir?" the cop smiled at Almar, who just shook his head before standing up and walking off.

When he got home the front door was open. He walked slowly till he got to the spare room to see that it was also open and the bed empty. He walked around his place but didn't see anyone else. he closed the door and locked himself in.

It was a week before Almar even thought of leaving his house. Even then he barely went out, only when he needed to. Even a month later he was only slightly willing to go around the town and that was after a lot of convincing. He was walking the street looking at his feet. He bumped into a person, saying sorry he looked up. The person in front of him didn't catch his attention, what did catch his attention was a long loose braid. He walked by the person and followed the braid through town. Right in front of the graveyard he grabbed the girl's arm, she turned towards him and his eyes went wide to find it was Demlena.

her eyes went wide and she shook as she looked at him "Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry for escaping your house."

"....What?" Almar said slowly.

"Malre said she could help me escape and I didn't want to stay in your house. So I got her help but I don't know anything. Please don't hate me I'm sorry, I'm sorry I-"

Almar interrupted her by pulling her along, "Just come with me."

He walked back to his house pulling Demlena the whole way, who barely fought him. He entered his house and threw her on the couch. She sat there silently looking between her hands and him. "I want to talk to Malre."

Demlena's eyes went wide, "what?"

"just write in that book of yours that I want to meet her." Almar growled.

Demlena nodded and quickly pulled out her book writing in her book quickly. It was an interesting sight to say the least. While Demlena wrote she sat curled up pulling herself closer to the book almost, her bangs completely covering her eyes. She looked up at him as he moved closer to read over her shoulder. She frowned but let him see by uncurling slightly.

'So Almar wants to talk to you.'

his eyes went wide as words appeared on the page, he knew she claimed the shield didn't work but he had assumed that was some trick Demlena had said. using the book as an alibi or something to cover for when she was being a thief. 'Well, I don't want to talk to him!'

'Don't be like that.'

'I hate him. He hasn't been nice to you at all. Pushing you around, yelling at you, he even kidnapped you and locked you up.'

Demlena gave him an apologetic smile. 'He doesn't seem too bad. It's probably just the situation he's in.'

'You're to kind for your own good. It's a good thing you have me around.'

'Hey!' Demlena pouted at the book and Almar was surprised by how normal this conversation seemed to be.

"No matter what you say I won't."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Demlena sighed before closing the book and looking up at him. "I'm sorry, as you can see she won't."

 he moved back looking her over carefully. he couldn't figure out what was going on between her and the thief. did the people on the other side give her orders? Or was she working as the thief and not telling them the truth "I see. Then can I ask you a question?" Demlena nodded slowly but pulled the book close to her chest. "what happened after I gave you back your book?"

"Well..." she held the book a little tighter as if he would take it away, "I talked to Malre and she said she would get me out. So we talked till I fell asleep. When I woke up she had unlocked everything and I just walked out."

He frowned he didn't know if he could trust what she was saying. everything he has seen up to now could all be an act, "but I put a shield on it."

"Malre said hers was the one with the magic. Mine is just a plain one."

"I see." He watched the book carefully, he didn't understand anything going on. The two were silent just staring at each other. Eventually, Almar sighed looking away, "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"for pulling you around and locking you up." even if she was the thief he didn't have a right to lock her up like he did. her personality and the book made her seem more vulnerable than others to him.

"oh..."

he crossed his arms and took a step back from her. "you just...you're like my sister."

"I am?"

"her power was the ability to cause fireworks. but she was convinced to use them and caused someone to die because of it."

"I wouldn't do that!" she stood up as she shouted.

He frowned, "she didn't mean to either, but you could be tricked to do something."

"And who would trick me?"

He pointed to the book she was still holding close to her chest. "she would." Demlena shook her head and curled around the book and he sighed again. "you don't believe me?" she might have already been tricked into being a thief.

"Of course not, she cares for me."

he shook his head, "This won't go anywhere till I can talk to Malre."

"she doesn't want to though," she whispered.

"yeah," he walked over to his front door, "so I won't keep you here." he opened the door for her "Maybe...we could talk again?"

Demlena bit her lip but slowly walked over, "really?" she asked, looking between him and the outdoors.

"yeah. I will see you around?"

Demlena looked at the book for a moment before giving him a small smile "Yes." she waved at him before leaving. He leaned against his doorframe watching as she walked down the street. She turned the corner and he was about to go back inside when something landed in front of him.

He looked down only for Demlena, or a person who looked like Demlena, to stand up, grab his shirt and push him back into his house "What do you think you are doing?"

He blinked at her "Demlena?"

"Of course not. You just saw her walk down the street" she pointed behind her.

"I...but...you look..."

She shook him a bit "I'm her twin Malre, now what are you doing?"

he grabbed her hands so she would stop shaking him "I don't know what you're talking about."

"you lost. I got away. you were supposed to leave her alone."

"You got away?"

Malre nodded, "Yeah. I was the thief and I got away" Suddenly it made sense why the thief looked like Demlena, he wondered if Demlena herself know her twin was the thief and that is why she knew the thief was a woman. But there was something more important he was wondering about.

"How did you survive?"

"What..."

"you jumped to your death."

she stared at him for a moment before letting him go. She used wind to blow him back "I slowed my fall before I hit the ground and just walked away."

"But...you said..."

She crossed, "You were supposed to not go near Demlena again. If you did that we wouldn't see each other so goodbye forever seemed to fit."

"oh..."

"With that, you should leave Demlena alone and I-"

"Wait" he grabbed her arm and she turned to glare at him "you need to stop talking to Demlena." He didn't know how much Demlena knew but he would do his best to make sure she wasn't used like his sister was.

she pulled her arm out of his grip. "what are you talking about?"

"You will lead her to evil." Malre laughed at that when she saw him frown her laughter grew. "It isn't a laughing matter."

"oh, you're being serious. That makes that even funnier since I'm the one keeping her from evil."

"There is no way that is correct."

Malre glared at him, "Don't believe me? then let me tell you what I have done to keep her safe."

~*~*~*~

Malre had no memory of a family, her parents had given her up as a baby. She grew up in the orphanage and no matter who she was introduced to no one wanted her. She had spent so long here that she was given her own room. She spent most of her time in her room and away from the other children. Their noise was too much for her at times, and she found caring for kids annoying.

She was seven when their paths crossed. Malre sighed as she walked along the wall, looking at the posters. She was there simply because the circus wanted to look better by filling the seats so they gave their extra tickets to the orphanage. She wouldn't normally go to this but the other option was cleaning which she really didn't want to do.

She was just walking around waiting for the main show to begin when she saw an interesting poster for one of their sideshows. "The untouchable child" the poster was a green vortex with things like knives and chairs bouncing off it.

Malre looked at it for a while before shrugging and going to the side stage. There was a group of people waiting so she pushed herself close enough to see but not to the front. It was taken so long that Malre was considering leaving before the curtains started to open.

There were two adults talking about how they found out about this power and Malre looked between them only half listening. She was about to leave when the two raised their arms to the left. Demlena skipped to center stage and waved at the audience. Malre's eyes went wide as she saw Demlena, she had seen that face every day in the mirror so she knew they were twins. She looked at the adults on the stage wondering how they knew each other. She felt her heart clench when Demlena called the adults helping her mother and father. Malre could barely breathe the rest of the show.

Once the curtain was closed the rest of the audience left heading towards the main most likely. Malre stayed there just staring at the curtain, she didn't know what to think of everything. She had been given away but they had kept her twin. She heard a cheer from somewhere behind her which broke her from her trance. She turned to leave, deciding to skip the main show to just go home. As she passed the wall of posters she looked upon the one of her twin.

She stared at it for a moment before pulling it down and brought it back with her. It took a while to walk home but she used that time to think and try to clear her head. She wondered if her twin knew she existed, she wondered if their parents ever thought about her.

It took her an hour or so to walk back to the orphanage and she just went to her room without saying anything to anyone. She folded the poster and placed it into her pillowcase knowing even if someone came into her room they wouldn't look in there. She then flopped onto her bed falling asleep.

The next morning she woke up but then just stayed in bed staring at the ceiling still thinking about what she had learned yesterday. That was her twin, and those were her parents. She didn't know how she felt about this whole situation. Why had she been given up while they let her?

Was it because of the power that she had? She looked at her hands studying them as if that would give her the answer. She lay there for a while before letting her hands fall back to her chest with a sigh. She tried to remember what movements were done during the show, but most of it was a blur.

She looked at the far wall before lifting her hand up and waved it at the wall, imagining wind blowing the paper off the wall. She felt an energy flow through her before the papers fluttered. Malre sat up staring wide eyed as the paper settled down.

She copied the motion again and when the wind blew the pages again. She stood up and did it again and again, each time it happened she got madder and madder. There was no difference between the two of them so why was she abandoned.

She spent a week passing her room. She knew the circus would only be here for a few days. She had to make a decision about what she wanted to do. She could let them leave and forget all about them. She could go with them and try to reconnect with her family.

That night she was woken by shouting. As soon as her eyes were open she started coughing from the smoke filling her room. She had to leave her room through the window because her door was hot. As soon as she was out of the room she just lay on the ground trying to clear her lungs. She watched as people rushed here and there, checking on each other. She frowned as no one came over, a few looked over to her but moved on to someone else without checking on her.

She frowned and rolled onto her back. She looked around before her eyes landed on the circus tent in the distance. She lost where she lived but she had a chance for a new one. She looked back at the burning building a moment before standing and turning towards the town.

She made a few stops on the way to the circus. Her clothing was burned and smoky, and she didn't want anyone to know about her relationship to her family. She knew a few shops that had broken locks that she found by accident. She used the one for a clothing store and quickly went to the backroom where she found a mask that covered her face. She looked into its empty eyes for a moment before putting it on, finding clothes and a hood that matched it.

With clothes changed and a plan slightly formed she left the store and headed towards the circus. She looked for the ringmaster as soon as she arrived, people were walking around and talking since you could see the smoke and light from the fire from here. She found him in the main stage, he was standing on it pointing to people and giving orders. She looked around but couldn't find her family anywhere.

When everyone had left the ringmaster sighed and started to head backstage. She climbed on the stage and started to follow him around. With everything going on, people coming to get updates or telling him new information, it took until he entered his office to sit down with his head in his hands. Before the door could close Malre slipped in. While he wasn't looking she moved to sit in the chair in front of the desk.

It was silent while the two of them sat there before the ringmaster sighed and looked up. When his eyes landed on Malre he jumped slightly. Malre waved at him and he frowned. "Are you lost?" She shook her head and his frown grew, "are you looking for someone?" Again she shook her head, "Is there something you need?" She just stared at him. "Can you talk?" She slowly shook her head, she didn't know if they would figure her out by her voice. He sighed "Do you want something?" She nodded "Something I can give you?" Again she nodded, he started to list off things like food or water and each time she shook her head. Eventually, he sighed "What do you want a job?" She quickly nodded and he frowned "Do your parents know you are asking this?" She didn't even move them and he tapped his desk, "do you have parents?" this time she shook her head slowly. "Alright I understand," she wasn't the only orphan that had joined the circus to gain a life.

"Alright follow me." he led her through the circus, she had to wait as he was still asked questions. By now she couldn't see the light anymore but could still see the smoke. She assumed by now that the fire was put out. She wondered if they cared she left but figured since none of the circus people mentioned a missing child they probably didn't.

Eventually, he led her to a room full of a few other people. "This is the new recruits room." she nodded and he led her to one of the beds that was untouched. "This will be yours. While you are figuring out what your job will be, you will stay here. Once you find something you will move into their sleeping location." she nodded and looked around at the other people in the room. It was a mix of all ages and genders, some didn't even give her another glance while others waved at her.

The first week was busy with finding her place and learning what she needed to know. Because of her hidden wind powers, she found she was a quick learner of acrobats and found it a lot of fun. She had so much fun with it that she didn't even remember about her family for a month, not that she ever saw them that whole time. But one day she was walking with her teacher when they passed Demlena sitting on a box looking out of the entrance.

Malre pulled on Boss' sleeve, when she looked at her Malre she pointed out Demlena. Boss frowned "Oh, they did it again." Boss kept walking while shaking her head. Malre frowned, then caught up with her and pulled her sleeve again. "Oh, have you not met her?" Malre shook her head "Ah. That is Demlena, she is known as the untouchable child. I don't agree with it but the ringmaster loves the act." Boss sighed, "thankfully he has a rule of nothing dangerous" she muttered before looking back at her "She's waiting for her parents. They probably took her older brother out to eat and left her again." Boss kept walking again and Malre stared at her for a while more before running to catch up.

After that she started to watch her family, remembering her goal of joining the circus. While watching them she started to notice some things. She noticed her brother could do anything he wanted whenever he wanted. Her twin on the other hand had to do shows three times a week and practice when she should have been free. They left her alone when they went to town and never brought her food when they came back. Bren tried to help her by giving her his leftovers and sneaking her away from practice to dance but Malre couldn't help but frown at her treatment. She didn't know which of their positions she would want to be in.

After once again seeing Demlena sitting on her box, this time with tears in her eyes, Malre couldn't help but interact with her. It was a short meeting showing off the new trick she had just managed to complete. It made Malre smile when Demlena laughed at it, she frowned when their parents dragged Demlena away as soon as they got back. Demlena was a nice person and Malre couldn't understand what their parents were thinking.

After that, she started to help Demlena have some fun and freedom, sometimes just the two of them and sometimes with Bren. She spent half her time working and half of her time with them. When the parents were around she had to hide herself away but she still watched over Demlena.

This was how life was for a year, and Malre was happy. She had her sister and her brother even if they didn't know the truth. She loved showing Demlena her new tricks and making her laugh with them. Bren watched over the two as they played but sometimes got dragged into it as well. She didn't know the parents but after all she had seen she didn't want to.

Eventually disaster struck, when the three of them were walking and Bren started to cough. The two moved to rub his back before his coughing turned harsher before he threw up. Demlena's eyes went wide while Malre moved closer to Bren waving Demlena to get help. Eventually Demlena came back with the Ringmaster and Bren was brought to the closest doctor.

Malre thought that with Bren staying at the doctor's for two weeks the parents would be busy watching over him and Demlena would have time to relax. But instead, they went the first day and then every day after that it was like nothing had happened.

Malre tried her best to sneak Demlena away but the parents seemed to need her at every moment. It was the toughest two weeks for both of them. When Bren finally came home Malre was excited to have a partner to sneak Demlena away again but as soon as he was back the parents forced him to rest in her room.

With him back though the parents did take time out of the day to take care of him which allowed Malre to give Demlena some freedom. Most of the time they hide under his window until their parents left then snuck into his room to spend time with him.

For a while that was good but then Malre noticed as day by day Bren got worse. That day she decided to not bring Demlena to Bren, worried seeing him slowly die would be bad for her. The shouting from Demlena made her freeze not stopping her from stomping off. Instead Malre climbed up to the acrobats pole to sit and swing slightly, it was where she went for peace and quiet to think. She knew why Demlena said what she did, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Malre sighed waiting till she knew he would be alone before heading off to go see him. She didn't want him to be lonely even if she wouldn't let Demlena watch him waste away.

Bren smiled as she climbed through the window, "did you see Demlena try to get in by herself?" she shook her head, "Are you planning not to help her get in here anymore?" She nodded her head "That's probably for the better." Malre moved over to the chair and sat down. "Thank you for caring for her."

Malre licked her lip, she knew he didn't have long, considering how weak he was now, but didn't want to miss her chance "Of course I would" her voice was scratchy from lack of use.

His eyes went wide, "oh you can talk. I thought you couldn't. Why didn't you before now?"

"I didn't want you to recognize me?"

"How would I do that?" She took a slow breath before removing her mask and hood. He stared at her for a moment before laughing which caused him to cough. She stood up to pat his back, once it calmed down she sat again. "Well, that explains why you got close to us."

She was silent for a moment, "I wasn't planning to at first. I didn't know what to do when I joined the circus, but then I saw how they treated Demlena."

Bren sighed, "Yes, I tried to help her but..." he looked at his hands "I don't have the strength to anymore." He looked over at her, "Well I had a final request for you but I don't think I need it now."

Malre chuckled, "Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad to know someone will care for her. So I can change my request."

"And what is it?"

"You need to be happy."

Malres eyes went wide. She looked at her hands for a moment before whispering "I...I'll try."

He sighed and shook his head, "I will just have to hope Demlena will hear my request." They talked for a little while longer before he fell asleep. She held his hand for a while as he slept. She heard the next day that he fell into a coma that night. Even still Malre snuck into his room each day to hold his hand. He passed away a week later.

The week of the funeral she let Demlena have her space. She stayed nearby but anytime Demlena saw her she glared and turned away. For the funeral, she was close but stayed out of sight so Demlena didn't have to worry about it. She waited till everyone left before moving over to the gravestone to pay her respect.

After that she wanted to give Demlena space but also let her know she was there so she sent her letters but never got a reply. She noticed that their parents had increased Demlena's shows to an unreasonable amount. There was barely any time for Malre to even try to talk to her.

Malre thought she was doing a good job watching over Demlena. she hadn't even noticed when their parents made the show more and more dangerous. She thought they had stayed within the rules the ringmaster left them.

She was waiting outside for the show to end when she heard Demlena's scream of pain. She rushed inside to see Demlena rolling on the ground on fire. She could see others trying to help her though she could see their parents off to the side muttering to themselves.

She wanted to move closer but the audience didn't let her. Instead she ran off to get the ringmaster who could deal with the situation. Malre wasn't able to bring herself to see Demlena at the doctor's. She didn't leave her room the whole week she had people knock on her door but she ignored it pacing her room. She had failed Bren but so did their parents, she needed to get revenge. She spent the whole week planning something as well as writing a letter to Demlena.

She knew the day Demlena was coming back and so planned to drop off her letter on her bedside table. She moved to their front door to listen if anyone was inside. She hears the sound of something hitting something and then a crash.

"You're worthless!" she heard her father shout. She only knew one person he would shout that at. Her hands clenched causing her to crumple the letter in her hand. She tried the handle to find it was locked. She heard stomping around and wouldn't fail her again so she dropped her letter and brought her hands together to blow the door off its hinges.

When it crashed into the wall she stepped in to see what was happening. Mother was sitting at the table, father had walked over to the kitchen and Demlena was leaning against the wall not moving. Malre stared at her ignoring any shouting from the parents until she saw her chest move from breathing. It was then that she actually heard what was being shouted at her

"Can you not hear me? Leave now, this has nothing to do with you!"

Malre turned to point at him "I have everything to do with this!"

Father laughed "Oh so you can talk? Why haven't you done so till now then"

"it would have given me away" She took off her mask and father glared at her and then back at Demlena

"What?"

mother gasped "The other..."

Father turned to glare at her "What are you talking about?"

Malre laughed, "oh did she not tell you about me?" she said bitterly.

Father didn't even look at her, just still glaring at Mother. Mother looked between both of them before turning fully to Malre. "I...we could barely afford to have another child. We couldn't take in two so I got help to sneak you out of the room before Father even saw you."

Malre looked at Demlena as she processed what she was told. She shook her head turning to glare at her "That doesn't matter. It hasn't mattered for a while. I got to meet my siblings and I didn't need either of you anymore." She raised her other arm to point at Mother so she was now pointing at both of them.

"Then what are you here for!" father shouted.

Malre smirked, "I made a promise to Bren. And I plan to succeed this time."

"And...what is that?" Mother whispered. She looked out the window as if she could see his gravestone for here and back at her.

Malre moved the finger pointed at her "You sit" she then looked at Father "and you get a paper and pen."

Father laughed "And why should I listen to you?"

Malre opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. She wished she could shoot something at him when energy flowed through her and left her finger. The bead of wind she created crossed the room and cut his cheek with the speed it traveled. Both their eyes went wide and she stood straighter. "That will happen but aimed for your head, not just next to it."

He nodded and moved over to the counter to grab a paper and pen before moving to the table. Malre moved a little closer but stayed out of their reach "What do you want written?"

"Make a will." The two looked at each other. "Give all of your money to Demlena."

"We don't have any money," Father grumbled.

Malre laughed, "Considering how often you made Demlena work, I know that's a lie."

"Why Demlena and not you?" Mother whispered.

"She worked for it, she deserves it." Malre watched carefully as they wrote it down and signed it. She made them hold it up so she could read it over. She nodded to Father "put it in the safe." he walked over to their closet where they hid it she stared into mothers eyes the whole time.

"There, now what?" she heard Father say with the sound of the safe close. She summoned up another bead of wind and shot it at mothers head. She watched the bead enter her head between the eyes and the damage it caused before turning to Father. Father looked like he was trying to shout but no sound was coming out.

"You get a count to five until I do the same to you." he didn't move so she took a step towards him "One...two..." With that he turned to the front door and started to run. She didn't bother counting more than that. She moved to the front steps watching as he ran through their area, the longer Bren had been dead the farther they moved their area away from the circus. like they wanted to keep Demlena all to themselves. Malre was thankful for it now, it meant no one heard or saw what she was doing. Once he got about halfway through the area she shot a bead of wind at him. She watched his body flop to the ground but didn't get any satisfaction from it, only relief that Demlena wouldn't have to deal with them anymore.

She stood there for a moment before taking a slow calming breath. She turned back to the house and stared at mothers body flopped over onto the table. Then her sight landed on Demlena, she hadn't woken up the whole time and Malre grimaced as she noticed blood had gotten over her.

She looked at her feet only to see her crushed letter laying there. She stood there thinking for a moment before sighing. She knew this situation wouldn't look good for Demlena unless it was obvious another person had been there. Malre left her letter and her abandoned mask, that would place her as the cause of the murder but she didn't have any other identity. She would hate to leave the circus but Demlena was more important. She made a mess of the other rooms taking some of the jewelry that Mother had bought. It would give Malre some money when she sold it and make it look like robbery might have been the reason.

Once she was sure Demlena wouldn't take the blame she left and quickly went back to her room to pack what she could before leaving soon after. She traveled back to the town Bren had been buried. It took her a week to get back to the town. She went right to his gravestone sitting in front of it. "This probably isn't how you wanted me to do it...but I protected Demlena this time." nothing but silence answered her. "Don't worry, I'll keep watching her. I just wanted to update you."

Even though she said that she took a month just traveling on her own. More so to make sure no one could connect her to Demlena. She didn't know how Demlena would react to meeting her again after finding out she was the murderer.

She went from town to town but nothing seemed to interest her. She traveled back to Bren's grave to give it a clean and also tell him about what she had done. As she sat there staring at the gravestone her worry for Demlena kept growing.

Eventually decided she needed to know what was happening to Demlena she went and tracked down what happened with her. She was relieved to know that all the blame was placed on herself. It was hard for her to find exactly where she was living since she was no longer with the circus and the foster system didn't tell where they moved kids. When she eventually found where she lived she waited till the family had left the house to check it over to see what kind of person her foster was.

When she found plans to use Demlena's powers to make money she was determined to not let Demlena suffer like that again. She waited till the man was alone and then tricked him into following her and taking care of him.

She spent the next few years taking care of anyone who had ill intent toward Demlena. She also accidentally grew a reputation as a thief since she had to steal stuff to make money to live.

Time had passed and it had been a year since she last spoke with Demlena and even longer since they spent time close to each other. She looked at the magical book in the window. Now that Demlena was an adult Malre wanted to figure out some way to talk to her but knew appearing as Mask wouldn't be a good idea.

Malre stared at the book for a while longer before turning away with a determined look on her face. she didn't have the money for the book but she would get it. That night she made her way to the building. She had figured her best entrance was on the roof. She used some wind to get up and looked for the skylight she had picked as her entrance.

She collected a bunch of her powers and pushed it through the skylight causing a wind storm in the room. It was her signature but also she hoped it would take them a while to figure out what she had taken.

She took a minute to catch her breath after using so much power before using her magic to soften her landing. She moved quickly to the front window where she knew the book was most likely still located. She sighed as the notebook was still in its stand. She took it and quickly got herself out of there not wanting to give anyone a chance to catch her here.

She kept the notebook hidden for a week to make sure she wasn't caught. Once she was sure everything was fine she bought a normal notebook to test out how it all worked. She spent a while tapping the books together and trying to get them to connect to one another.

She ripped out the page on the notebook she would give to Demlena. She placed her head on the table. She heard a click and lifted her to see the page she had just ripped had connected to the inside of the notebook she was going to keep. She stared at it for a moment before writing a test word or two in her notebook. She smiled as the words then appeared on Demlena's notebook.

She knew which town Demlena was currently staying at so she made her way there. She managed to find her walking along the streets. She followed her along the roofs wondering how she was going to give it to her. She noticed Demlena taking weird turns and then noticed the three men following her.

She wanted to stop them but didn't get a chance to do anything before they confronted her and punched her. Malre saw her starting to curl into herself, she couldn't let any other harm come to her so landed between Demlena and the men.

"Who are you?" the leader growls.

Malre looked over her shoulder to see Demlena seemed to be out of it. "I'm the one who is going to be taking your arm," she said pointing to the man who had punched Demlena.

"and how are you going to do that?"

She used a bunch of wind to push the two who hadn't done anything out of the alleyway. She turned fully to the last man. "now...that arm you owe me."

the man shook his head before running after his friends. Malre wanted to chase after him but instead turned to Demlena. Demlena was still curled up and not paying any notice of anything.

Malre wanted to hug her but she knew it wouldn't help so instead she just placed the notebook for her in front of her with a pen. before pushing herself up to the roof to watch over her.

~*~*~*~

"So you're even worse than I thought. you're not only a thief but you're also a murderer?"

Malre rolled her eyes. "did you not even pay attention?" she shook her head. "her parents were forcing her to do shows to fill their own greed, they even beat her when she failed. How can you say that isn't evil?" she shook her head, "this conversation has little point. Just keep your promise and stay away from her." Before Almar could say anything Malre left his house slamming his door behind her.

Almar just sat there not knowing what to think of everything. It was true that Malre was evil but their parents seemed to be more evil. He paced in pretty much every room in his house going back and forth on what to do. In the end, he decided that no matter what he had to make sure Demlena knew everything.

Once he had made up his mind he headed out into town looking for Demlena. he eventually found her as she was leaving a restaurant and this time kindly asked her back to his place. Demlena hugged her book but after a bit of convincing, she agreed.

After he had got her to sit on the couch he started to pace in front of her trying to figure out what to say when he noticed Demlena picking up a pen.

"do you even know who that person is?"

Demlena looked at him "Well they told me they were a fan of my stuff in the past."

"in the past?"

"something I don't..."

Almar nodded assuming she was talking about the show her parents made her do. He moved a little closer to her, "are you sure that they were truthful?"

"why wouldn't they be?"

Almar sighs before placing his hands on her shoulder to look her in the eye. "she lied to you. she's your twin, I don't know what she is trying to do but she is."

Demlena stared at him for a while before picking up her pen and writing 'are you my twin?' into the book. The two watched the book to see what Malre would write but nothing came up. Demlena was about to write more when the door burst open. They both looked that way to see Malre glaring there.

"What are you doing?" she shouted, using wind to push him across the room. She stomped towards him planning to do more when a gasp drew her attention.

She turned to face Demlena and froze, it had been years since she was standing in front of her like this, her eyes were drawn to the burn marks and she was still mad at their parents for that.

"is...this real?" Demlena whispered behind her hands, if all of them weren't silent it wouldn't have been heard.

Malre looked back at her to see the hope shining in her eyes. "yeah I-" Demlena immediately pulled Malre into a hug crying into her shoulder. Malre was frozen for a moment before wrapping her arms around Demlena, rubbing her back to help her calm down.

Malre looked over to Almar who was just getting up from her surprise attack. He frowned as soon as he saw them, but her glare seemed to keep him silent. she turned her attention back to Demlena as she pulled away to wipe her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

Malre shook her head "It's fine. I understand." she reached out and pet Demlena's head. when Demlena's eyes went wide Malre then remembered Bren used to do it and took her hand back "Sorry."

Demlena shook her head "No...it's fine" She looked at the book Malre was still holding then her own "So you really are the one I've been talking to?" Malre nodded slowly. "why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you only talk to me through a book? We could have talked in person."

Malre sighed, "There were a few reasons. the main one being...I didn't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me? I don't think you could."

"Demlena...we look identical...but I don't have your scars. I didn't want you to be reminded of what happened."

Demlena looked at her feet for a moment before reaching for Malre's hand. "I don't care, I just want to spend time with you."

"you don't." Almar said, pulling the twins attention.

"What?" Demlena asked seeming to only realize he was even there,

"She's a murder. Not only did she kill your parents but also some of the people who fostered you."

Malre and Almar glared at each other while Demlena looked back at Malre. She squeezed Malre's hand a little which made her look over at Demlena "Do you have any proof?"

That made the other two eyes go wide. "what!" shouted Almar.

"Do you have any evidence that she did all those murders?"

"I...no...but she told me she did it!"

Demlena shook her head "then I guess we'll never figure out who killed them." she said with a small smile causing Malre to laugh.

"she's also a thief. I have proof of that!"

"oh, do you? I thought I got away?" Malre said, smirking at him.

"There is the loot you took away with you."

"ha! I've been doing this for years. Do you really think I can be traced by that?"

"but..."

Malre shook her head "This is getting sad." she picked up Demlena's book and handed it to her before pushing her to the front door "This had been...fun...but let's not do this again."

"We aren't done here!" he shouted but the two ignored him, Demlena mostly because Malre wouldn't stop pushing her.

they were down the street before Demlena spoke up again "Are you sure that was okay? what if he comes after you?"

"He can try." Malre looked over her shoulder at his house but kept them walking "as I said, I've been doing my thing for years. It will be very hard for him to get to me." she looked up to see the sun almost fully set. "Why did he pick to talk to you on the day you have an early job tomorrow?"

Demlena shook her head "you're not suggesting for me to go to bed now. there's no way I could sleep."

Malre stopped pushing her with a sigh. "It's probably still a lot to take in. You should still try and process everything."

Demlena pouted for a moment "Fine but you need to show me where you live first." she didn't want to stop spending time with her new found sister and she would use any excuse to do so.

"I...okay..." Malre started to walk towards the street Demlena lived, stopping at the complex at the end of the street. She had picked it because it was close enough to see when Demlena left her house but far enough away to give her some privacy. She walked up the four flights of stairs then allowed Demlena into her place.

"Is this where you live?" Demlena asked and looked around. It was pretty small place, and very bare. It had one main room and she could see two doors leading to a room and a bathroom. The bedroom was only big enough for a bed and a dresser. "no." Demlena said, looking around once more.

"What?"

"nope. you're not allowed to live here anymore."

"and where will I be living?" Malre asked crossing her arms. was Demlena going to be forcing her to leave town.

"I have enough space so you'll be moving in with me."

"...What?"

"you have no choice." Demlena said, pointing to Malre.

Malre crossed her arms, "are you sure." they had talked a lot but had never spent so much time so close together.

Demlena nodded "No choice. you paid for it, you have to live in it."

Malre sighed knowing she wouldn't be able to truly say no to her so just nodded. knowing this would just be the start of how their life would change.

It took a few months for the two to be able to visit Bren's grave. The first few were just getting Malre moved into the house. She didn't have a lot of belongings, but it was a fight between the two on how much of the house she got to keep. Demlena was determined to give her practically every room but Malre refused, making sure Demlena had some place where she could have her own space.

After that it was just the two of them learning to live together. Mostly breaking Malre's from her habit to isolate herself and not talking to Demlena. In those moments Demlena would pull out the book and use that to communicate to her until she was comfortable talking again.

The final distraction was Almar who was still determined to get Malre's for her crime. No matter how much he tried to talk to the two, neither of them ever provided anything of sufficient evidence to do so. He tried to go through the books but they had no information that incriminated either of them.

Even going through the information about their parent's death, the only murder that had any evidence to go with it as all the others have been just missing person cases and no bodies were ever found, but he couldn't find any connection between her and mask since the her now did not exist until she broke off fully from the circus.

Demlena smiled as she straightened at the blanket looking over at his grave. Malre was away getting water for the plants that both had planted around his grave doing their best to give him the flowers he always loved.

"There we go," Malre said, putting down the watering can next to the blanket before stretching a bit.

Demlena looked up at her then look back at the grave with a sad smile "I wish he could have known you, he would have loved you "

Malre shifted from one foot to the other "I actually have another secret to tell you" Demlena shifted more towards her as Malre took a step back. She rolled her shoulders "Been a while since I did this, let's see if I can still do it" With that she lifted one hand above her head, did a one-handed cartwheel, landed in a kneel, and threw out her arms. The two were silent looking at each other before Demlena starts to cry into her knees "Oh God, it's okay" Malre moved over to her side putting a hand on her shoulder "I...I'm sorry I don't know-"

Malre was pulled into a tight hug "I found you!" Demlena cried into her shoulder and all Malre could do was pat her on the back waiting until she got control of herself again "I'm sorry" Demlena said once she finally rubbed the last of her tears.

"What are you sorry about? I don't know how you're feeling right now"

"I'm feeling amazing. I thought I'd never find you again Mask or...would you prefer me to use your new name? I don't know which?"

Malre laughed "I don't care, but Mask is associated with crime so I'd prefer if you didn't"

Demlena nodded "After Bren died I tried to find you but the ringmaster wouldn't tell me where you were besides that you're still in the circus."

"did you never get any of my letters?"

"letters?"

"Our parents must have found them and thrown them out. I was trying to give you space but informing you that I was still around if you needed me. I guess they never got to you I'm sorry"

"Why are you sorry? It was the parents that stopped us from talking. After I found Bren's grave I contacted the circus to see if they knew where you were but they told me you disappeared as soon as our parents died. They claimed you robbed from them?"

"That would make sense. I made it look like that, even stole some of their jewelry" Both chuckled at that, "That was the only thing I took though it all belonged to you."

"I wouldn't mind if you had. but that's also why I looked up to the thief, I was hoping she was mask...well...you."

"you never mentioned looking for me in the book"

"and when you were mask you never told me the truth" Malre leaned back slightly at Demlena's snap "sorry... I just..." Demlena looked at her hands as she fidgeted with her fingers "Why did you never tell me?"

"When I first saw you on the stage I was shocked to find out I had an identical twin. I had been in the orphanage my whole life and yet here I was with a sister. but then I found out your parents were our parents and only I have been given up. The shock turned to anger and hatred. Was there something wrong with me that they needed me to be gone, or were you too perfect to not give away" Malres saw Demlena starting to tear up and grabbed her hands to hold them "But then I came to the circus and I saw how they treated you, I realized the problem wasn't with me or with you or with anyone but our parents. They were the ones in the wrong." Demlena nodded slightly "But even so I didn't know how you would react or how Bren would, I was worried that if I showed myself the slight connection I had to you too would be shattered in an instant as you guys would want nothing to do with me. "

Demlena gasped "That couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm so happy I met you and I bet Bren would have been too "

"I... showed him beforehand... I mean before he died. I didn't want him not to know" She looked at the gravestone with a small smile "he was shocked but was happy I think... I hope"

"I bet he was." the two stared at the gravestone just enjoying the silence for a while "Wait! When did you tell Bren?"

Malre was silent for a moment "I kept sneaking into his room, so he wouldn't be alone...after I...stop helping you sneak in?"

"Why did you get to see him when you stopped me from doing it?"

Malre sighed as she grabbed a sandwich from the basket they brought, handing it to Demlena. She waited until Demlena started eating before speaking again "At that time in our lives I had already lost a home before because of the fire I told you about, and had already accepted that I was not wanted by our parents. but you...this would be the first person you've lost. I didn't want you seeing him deteriorating more than you already had, I didn't know how it would affect you."

The two silently ate their sandwiches. Demlena grabbed for another one but didn't take a bite "I'm sorry"

Malre licked her fingers before grabbing another sandwich herself "About what?"

"about what I said during our fight, the one after you refused to let me see Bren. I shouldn't have said that."

"I'll admit it hurt, but I also understood where you were coming from." They kept eating their sandwiches, letting the conversation shift to something less heavy like when they each figured out their powers and moments they had with their brother.

"We need to find you a job, " Demlena said suddenly.

Malre shook her head "I don't need to find a job. We have enough money"

Demlena looked over at the gravestone with a raised eyebrow "Are you hearing her right now" she sighed and shook her head before turning back to Malre "You've been a shadow for your whole life it's time to step out into the light now. and I want to help you."

"You shouldn't have to worry about that."

"well I am, you have helped me so much, as Mask and as Malre through the book. you can't stop me."

Malre held up her hands "Alright, alright. I won't stop you."

Demlena smiled, "now we need to figure out what you want to do."

"what if I want to do nothing?"

"Mmmmaaalllrrreee"

Malre chuckled, "Alright, well...I did enjoy acrobats when I was in the circus."

Demlena gasped, "Then we can figure out something to do with that." Demlena suddenly stood up "we need to go home and figure this out." She picked up the watering can to give the flowers what they needed. "I'll bring this back."

She rushed off leaving Malre to clean up their mess. After packing everything into the basket, Malre stood up and stared at the tombstone with a small smile remembering her last conversation with him. "you must have some magical power of your own, because I guess it did reach her." With that, she picked up the basket and headed off to chase after Demlena like she always did.