Chapter Text
“Attention, everyone!” The Ringmaster was standing on a table, while the other members of his circus were sitting somewhere around the corners of the room, watching what the man was about to say.
“I’m glad that all the members of my wonderful circus are finally present! But there is one important fact, we need to start performing. After all, the audience is waiting for us.”
“You’d better get down from that table. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s barely standing, and I have no intention of looking for a new table for our corner,” Cerlien spoke up, stretching out on the floor with Miz. The Ringmaster stepped down from the table and sat next to the women.
“Could you at least pretend that you care? This applies to you too, Kion,.and you, the other one.”
Kion was sitting in the corner, drawing something on a piece of paper, barely paying attention to the others.
“In case you didn’t know, my name is Antoni,” the man said sharply. It was clear that he didn’t like the Ringmaster. “But I have to agree with you, earning some money would be useful.”
The Ringmaster stood up from the floor, drawing everyone’s attention except Kion’s.
“Finally, you’re starting to speak wisely!”
When Antoni was about to snap back, the Ringmaster glanced at Miz, who shook her head, signaling him not to. Meanwhile, the Ringmaster climbed back onto the table.
“I think you really want to fall off that table,” Cerlien said, no longer stretching this time.
“So then, I have a plan that will attract an audience.”
This time, everyone focused on the Ringmaster, even Kion, who had seemed uninterested before.
“First of all, Antoni, you won’t be the main face, because you’re terrible at it.”
Miz placed her hand on Antoni’s shoulder, smiling at him. The acrobat only rolled his eyes at the Ringmaster’s words.
“Second, we need to find better clothes, and I’m sorry, girls, but you’ll be getting the more… how should I put it… revealing ones.”
The silence in the room was heavy. Thankfully, Miz decided to break it.
“Um… are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable in that…”
The Ringmaster stayed quiet for a moment, then looked at Cerlien with a gaze that clearly said, 'Explain it to them.’
Having no other choice, Cerlien did so.
“Simple logic. Hot women sell more easily. A pretty simple, though not very moral, way of making money.”
“Exactly. Quite easy to understand,” the Ringmaster added.
Antoni stepped forward, catching the Ringmaster’s attention.
“Even if that’s true, we don’t have to do that. After all, as you keep saying, we’re the best circus, and the best don’t use tricks like that, right?”
The Ringmaster stepped down from the table and approached the acrobat.
“We are the best, but others are blind. And this is an easy way to open the audience’s eyes.”
Miz stepped between her boyfriend and the Ringmaster.
“Listen, Ringmaster, I respect that you want to help us, but… maybe we should do this differently. I don’t want to undress in front of other men.”
“And I don’t want to see them naked. That would be disgusting,” Kion added.
The Ringmaster watched the first rebellion of his minions. It irritated him, and the amused expression on Rose’s face didn’t help.
“Fine then. I have another plan.”
The Ringmaster stepped away from Antoni, and a smile immediately appeared on Miz’s face.
“See, sweetheart? There’s no need to get upset right away. All it takes is talking,” the acrobat said to her boyfriend, holding his hand.
Cerlien walked up behind the Ringmaster and hugged him from behind.
“Exactly, no need to get upset, darling.”
She was clearly enjoying teasing him.
“Are you really going to tease me now, when I’ve just experienced my first rebellion?”
“Maybe…”
Seeing this, Kion decided to go outside. He had no intention of watching that.
---
The whole crew was now standing in front of an old, abandoned building. The windows were shattered, and the walls had lost their original color.
“So what is this place, and why are we here?” Antoni asked. The Ringmaster had suddenly told them to be ready to leave within five minutes and then led them here.
“Come inside and see,” the Ringmaster said as he entered through the doorway where the doors should have been. After him came Cerlien and Kion, and then the lovers.
They saw a terrible mess, glass and empty alcohol bottles were scattered everywhere. In one corner there was a small stage full of holes and rotten planks; against another wall stood a destroyed bar. Chairs and tables lay broken on the floor, and graffiti covered the walls.
“Wow, so you brought us to another dump instead of our shack? Amazing,” Cerlien commented.
Meanwhile, Kion walked around the room, examining everything more closely.
“This is no dump. From today on, we’ll be performing here, at least for now,” the Ringmaster replied.
Miz stepped onto the stage, but one of the boards beneath her broke.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Antoni rushed over and helped her pull her leg out of the hole.
“Oh yes, thank you for your concern,” she said with a smile. A light blush could be seen on both of their faces.
The Ringmaster watched the situation, hoping their affection would end soon. He was tired of hearing their sweet talk 24/7.
He clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
“So, today we’ll be cleaning this place and promoting our upcoming performance.”
He pointed at Kion.
“You’ll draw the flyers. Put the date, time, and place on them. Understood?”
“Aye aye, captain!” Kion raised his hand in mock attention and went off to do his task.
“The rest of you will clean this place.”
A groan escaped Antoni’s mouth, but he said nothing and instead started picking up pieces of glass.
“Um… I don’t want to be rude, but what are we supposed to clean with?” Miz asked.
“Oh, right, I almost forgot. You’ll probably find everything in that storage room,you know, brooms, mops, and other necessary things.”
Meanwhile, Cerlien walked over to the bar and ran her hand across the counter.
“ i will take care of the bar,” she said, then went to get a cleaning supplies
When Cerlien returned from the storage room, she noticed the Ringmaster sitting on the bar counter.
“Maybe you could help with the cleaning, oh great Ringmaster,” she added the last part with irony.
“Sorry, but I have to supervise you,” he replied.
Cerlien began wiping off the dust and throwing old, empty alcohol bottles into a trash bag.
“So where did the idea for this place come from?”
The Ringmaster looked at the stage for a moment, then back at Cerlien.
“I used to come here a lot, back when this place was full of life. And now it’s just standing here empty, so it would be a waste not to use it.”
Cerlien didn’t comment and continued cleaning the bar.
Kion approached the Ringmaster.
“I made the flyer.”
The Ringmaster took the piece of paper from the boy. In the middle there was a drawing of a circus, and next to it everyone from the circus, at least that’s what it looked like. Of course, there was no information on it, but what could he expect from a child?
“Give me the paper and the crayons. I’ll do it myself.”
Kion took his drawing and went to fetch the drawing supplies.
“You could have at least commented on his drawing positively. You’re breaking the child’s heart,” Cerlien said as she finished wiping the dust off the cabinets and the counter.
“Don’t exaggerate. He shouldn’t fall apart over words like that. The sooner he becomes a realist, the easier life will be for him,” the Ringmaster replied.
She only looked at him. She didn’t have the strength to argue with the man’s worldview. At that moment, Kion returned with the drawing supplies.
The Ringmaster took the crayons from the boy and started making flyers. After about five hours, the entire place was cleaned, and a stack of flyers lay on the counter.
“Good job, everyone,” the Ringmaster’s voice echoed through the hall. Everyone turned their attention to him, and the conversations between the workers fell silent.
“Now it’s time to talk about the next steps.”
Everyone moved closer to listen to his plan.
“So, Kion and Miz, you’ll hand out the flyers. Antoni, you’ll try to fix the stage,at least make it safe so no one gets hurt. Rose, find some better clothes for us.”
Miz and Kion obediently took the flyers and left the building.
“And you’ll be supervising us?” Cerlien asked.
“Of course,” he replied.
After that, she left the room as well, leaving only him and Antoni.
“So why are you just standing there? Get to work,” the Ringmaster said as he sat down on the floor.
“And you’re the one saying that?” Antoni replied.
The Ringmaster looked at him.
“Do you remember who saved your girlfriend?”
Antoni didn’t answer. Instead, he took tools from the storage room and began repairing the stage. He used planks from broken tables to do so.
---------
When Antoni finished his work, Cerlien was already back inside the building.
“Will that repair hold our weight?” she asked, slowly placing one foot on the stage.
“I think so? Honestly, I have no idea.”
The Ringmaster stepped onto the stage.
“It’s fine, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Cerlien sighed and then stepped onto the stage as well. At that moment, Kion and Miz returned from handing out flyers. When the boy noticed the repaired stage, he immediately climbed onto it.
The acrobat walked up to Antoni and kissed him on the cheek.
“Good job.”
The man smiled in response.
The Ringmaster stomped his foot to get everyone’s attention.
“Tomorrow will be our first performance. Remember not to mess it up.”
Excitement could be heard in his voice.
“This will be the beginning of my circus. Remember to be proud, you’ll be the first to experience all of this.”
Miz raised her hand to ask a question. The Ringmaster looked at her, waiting for her to speak.
“Everything sounds fine, but how are we supposed to know what to do? There were no rehearsals and, you know…”
The Ringmaster pointed at the bar counter, where papers were lying.
“There’s the performance script. You have one day to learn it.”
Cerlien walked over, picked up the papers, and started reading.
“Wait—we only have one day to learn the entire script? Without any rehearsals? Don’t you think that’s a bit irrational? Especially since one of our partners is a child?”
The Ringmaster stepped down from the stage and took the scripts to hand them to the others.
“Then you’d better start learning them right now.”
Cerlien finished reading the script.
“Looks like you weren’t just supervising us,” she said, smiling at the Ringmaster.
---
The day of the performance arrived. The whole crew was ready to go on stage.
The Ringmaster was wearing a yellow-and-black shirt and plain black jeans. Cerlien wore her red dress, the one she used to wear when she still worked at the bar. Antoni and Miz wore matching outfits—simple red shirts with bow ties and black shorts. Kion wore a T-shirt and simple shorts.
“We look decent. Where did you get these clothes?” the acrobat said, spinning around and examining her outfit.
“At a second-hand store. Pray that this performance works out, because my savings are running out,” Cerlien replied as she tied her brown hair into a bun.
“Why am I the only one without a shirt?” the boy asked, looking at himself in the mirror. His dark brown hair was now styled to the side.
“And do my hair really have to be done like this?”
Cerlien placed her hand on Kion’s head and started messing up his hair.
“You don’t have a shirt because there wasn’t one in your size, and your hair doesn’t have to be styled like that. I don’t even know whose idea that was.”
The Ringmaster waited for the conversations to die down before starting his speech.
“So, I hope you’ve familiarised yourselves with the script. If not,too bad. I’m counting on improvisation.”
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
“So from the start, the plan was to force us to do the show without a script?” Antoni said, while Miz was fixing the black bow tie on his neck.
“Of course not. I’m just lowering my expectations. If I were you, I’d have learned it,” the Ringmaster replied.
A sigh escaped Miz’s lips. Everyone was already getting used to the Ringmaster’s ego.
When the time of the performance came, the entire crew was hidden behind the curtain. The voices of two people could be heard.
“Everyone ready?” the Ringmaster asked.
Everyone nodded.
The curtain opened.