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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

My Pulse is Clear Rushing in my Ears

Seventeen.

That’s how many job interviews Grian got to only to get denied. He walks in and they realize he’s an Avian. The interview process continues but more cautiously, he walks out and never hears back from them.

It was a process Grian had gotten used to. Despite his above average education nobody could look past his wings. Grian thought that it would all be different, that when he got older people would look past it, but people saw him the same way they saw him in primary school. Just a freak of nature.

Eventually Grian became desperate, willing to work anywhere as long as it put food on the table.

When he saw that a circus was coming to his town he was annoyed by just another loud bothersome overwhelming tourist attraction in Grainsdale.

When he first saw the flier saying “Looking for new management" he laughed at the prospect of working at a circus. Then he thought about it, he didn’t know how long it would be before another job that he had the credentials for opened up.

Sure he’d probably have to travel all over the world but on the job description it said they paid well enough. At this point Grian couldn’t afford to be picky; he just needed a job.

He was able to get an interview, which should be easy enough. He took the bus to the circus, it was relatively quiet because it was the first thing in the morning.

Grian sat on the bus with his bag on his lap, rereading the letter they sent him.

“Dear Grian, I have talked it over with the circus head and he would be delighted for me to interview you. It would be great if you could come in early tomorrow morning before the crowds show up. We will talk about the job and your interest in it. Thanks alot- Hiring Manager Mumbo Jumbo.”

The handwriting was messy and hard to read but Grian had to take whatever he could get. He curled the leather back into its envelope, little red pieces of yarn which had fallen off his sweater stuck to the paper. He sealed it back up, then placed it gently back into his bag.

The bus finally came to a stop and the bus driver said “Stop for the BAM Circus!” Grian grabbed his bag and hobbled off the bus.

For a second he just stood there in a massive tent with red, yellow and green stripes with all sorts of surrounding attractions. It seemed to be a lot more dull in the mornings though, all the booths were closed up.

It was all on top of a large vehicle. The top was the large tent and the bottom near the wheels were large windows and balconies. That must have been where all the circus hands slept. It was well known as the world's largest traveling circus.

It came to most major towns and cities, it was pretty famous too. Grian remembered hearing about it as a kid. He never asked to go though, it was never of interest to him.

He made his way to the blocked off entry way, only one guy was there. He had sleepy eyes, gray hair and wore a sage green bandana. He looked very chill despite his mask covering his mouth.

Grian couldn’t describe it but he was intimidating not in a scary way but in a way where you’d do anything for his approval or even the slightest nod. Grian had just met this man and yet he had the urge to try and make him proud? The man tilted his head.

“Sorry sir the circus opens at 5 PM you are going to have to wait.”

Grian then pulled out the envelope from his bag.

“I have a meeting with Mumbo Jumbo for a job.” Grian explained, the man’s face went to surprise then nodded.

“Right this way.” He said, “ You're going to see him inside the tent. He has a large black mustache, he is hard to miss.”

Grian followed his way throughout the circus, it looked awfully creepy with all the closed stands. He was grateful when he finally made his way to the staircase leading up to the tent.

Then Grian felt it, a pinging of anxiety. A gut in his chest to not go in there. He didn’t really have any other options though. He knew that if we walked out on another interview then he wouldn’t be able to find one for months. He couldn’t pay for rent. No matter how much his stomach was telling him to turn around he couldn’t. That simply wasn’t an option.

He made his way inside the enormous tent and immediately felt overwhelmed. Bulks of circus performers practicing all around him. He couldn’t help but stare, not in amazement but in pity.

These people standing around him were in a similar spot to him but instead of working behind the scenes they had to be the faces of a circus. Grian could only imagine the mockery they received when they went home to their families. That is if they have families.

He looked to his left, a man, lifting up 200 pound weights. His sleeves were ripped off and you could see small dove avian wings popping out of his back. He gave Grian a smile, one that Grian couldn’t reciprocate.

On his left was a girl, her hair was brown with yellow streaks. She wore a red cloak like little red riding hood. She stood alongside a wolf, and Grian at first jumped back. But to his surprise she seemed to have it under pretty good control. The girl bent over and petted its fur then pointed at a hoop. It was like she could talk to the animal, it ran over and jumped through the hoop. Then came back to receive further pets from its owner.

“We should probably practice at least once with the fire.” A man said. Grian wanted to look over but suddenly-

PLING

A knife brushed past him barely avoiding him. It instead went into a wood board with a man strapped to it. He had black hair a black eye and a broken tooth. He had such a big smile though as if he hadn’t almost just died.

Grian turned around, a ginger girl seemed to be the thrower of the knife. She wore short green overalls and her hair into a braid. She looked harmless though, you’d never expect her to be able to throw knives at such a persican.

“I’m sorry! Didn’t see you there!” Her voice was that of a girl from a fairytale, so gentle but she had a certain fierceness to her.

”Be careful next time.” Grian said, he shot her a glare. She could have killed him! Wasn’t the circus scared of lawsuits?

Then he saw him, a man with a glorious black mustache and shaky hands. This was defidently the man that he’d communicated with. The two of them made eye contact

Mumbo retained the same expression, still nervous. He then lifted his hand and waved.

Grian walked over to him cautiously in case that girl wanted to throw another knife at him.

“Your Grian right?” He asked, he didn’t seem to have any immediate reaction to him being an Avian, this was good.

Grian Mumbo's hand, which was weirdly sweaty.

“Oh sorry about that, my name is Mumbo, I'm the hiring manager. I said that in my letter, didn't I?”

“Yeah,” Grian said.

”Oh my bad, anyways follow me this way.” He said. He led Grian to an office.

The office was interesting to say the least, The walls were vertical crimson and black stripes with a dark turquoise trim. There were shelves filled with various trinkets, bobble heads, circus merchandise, books and photos.

Mumbo sat down at the desk, it was dark brown and had stacks of paperwork. Grian sat at the chair across from it. He couldn’t help but fidget with his hands, he always got nervous at interviews.

“I am going to be completely honest with you, this is my first time doing an interview, I was hired like a month ago.” Mumbo said, “So if I do anything wrong my apologies.”

“No, it's fine.”

“The ringmaster used to do all the interviews himself before I came along.” Mumbo explained. “Speaking of which the ringmaster said that he will be here in a moment, he's going to kinda be hovering over us, just to see how im doing.”

As if perfect timing, the door opened. A blonde man with a black bandana wearing all green came in. He had watery blue eyes and a certain smirk.

“Oh Martyn, what are you doing here?” Mumbo asked.

“Oh I just wanted to offer tea. That's all.” Martyn said.

“Aren’t you supposed to offer it later?” Mumbo asked.

“No well I thought it would be good to get it out of the way. The ringmaster suggested it.” He gave a weirdly sinister smile. It was weird how they all referred to the ringmaster as his profession and not his name.

“I wouldn’t mind tea.” Grian knew from previous job interviews that if you were ever offered a beverage you should take it. It gives you time to pause, it also is just polite.

“Okay I will have it for you in a couple minutes.” Martyn left and Grian and Mumbo sat in the room.

“Can I just say your application was very put together, it was easy to read.”

“Thank you?”

“I don’t know, is that something that Hiring Managers say?” Mumbo asks.

“Aren’t you supposed to ask me questions?”

”Oh yes! Thank you for reminding me.” Mumbo grabs out his stack of paper and pulls out a salmon colored sheet. “Eh-hem, how did you find out about this position?”

“I saw a flyer in town, it said you guys were looking for a manager."

”Oh that's lovely, okay next question. What could you bring to the BAM circus?”

“I’m very hardworking and very focused. I’m a great problem solver and I’m a quick thinker.”

“Oh those are great qualities! What would make you different from our other potential applicants."

“Are there other applicants?" Grian asked, he was confused.

“Totally,” Mumbo said but you could hear the fakeness in his voice.

”Uh I’m an Avian,” It was the only thing Grian could think of.

“You are? Oh you are!” It's like Mumbo had just noticed his bright multicolored wings. “You're just like Jimmy.”

“What.”

“Oh sorry if that's offensive, we just have another Avian here his name is Jimmy. But that is so cool.” He said.

The door creaked open, it was Martyn with tea.

”Here you go, I will stop bothering you two now.” He then left. Grian decided to sip the tea, it was super hot but he didn’t decide to show it on his face. He didn’t want to be rude.

”Ah yes, next question, what experience do you have?”

“I went to college for Human Resources and also I helped manage a train station a few months ago before I was let go.”

“Okay good to know.” Then silence came, Grian expected Mumbo to ask another question but he didn’t.

”Well that's all I needed to hear. It sounds like you're a good fit.”

“Seriously?” Grian was shocked he’d never had such a short interview before. Maybe life was finally turning around for him. He got a job and could probably stay at it for a year and then leave and use his experience somewhere else. Somewhere where he fit in better.

”Yep.” Mumbo said he gave a nervous smile. Grian would of been concerned but it seemed to be Mumbo’s normal state.

When the tea finally cooled off Grian took a sip. The tea tasted- well he couldn’t remember what it tasted like. It just tasted off, let's say.

“What about your ringmaster? Wasn’t he going to stop in.”

“Oh he’s been listening this entire time.” Mumbo said it so calmly. Grian was a little weirded out.

“Why?”

“Oh just to make sure I was doing alright, but Martyn coming in with the tea was the thumbs up to hire you.” Mumbo explained. Grian should have been a bit more skeptical, technically they gave him the job before he even mentioned his experience. But at this point Grian was just happy to have been hired for a job.

”So when do I start working?”

“Oh quite soon.” Mumbo said he had that nervous look in his eyes. Grian looked a little closer perhaps it wasn’t natural maybe he was scared of something or someone.

Then Grian felt it, it was like something was in his stomach trying to get out. He gagged a bit trying to swallow it down but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

He coughed out, and splats of crimson came out of his mouth. All over the desk.

“I-Im sorry I don’t know where that came from. I can clean it up.” Grian said quickly, his voice came out a lot weaker than he intended. Like something was pulling inside of him.

“Don’t worry, it's fine.” Mumbo said.

Then another red splatter came out of Grian’s mouth. That was odd, that had never happened to him before.

“Could I go to the bathroom? I'm so sorry.” Grian asked, he defidently lost the job now. He gulped trying to get the pain out of his stomach. What he wasn’t expecting was Mumbo’s response.

“”No.”

Grian had been told no before, but never to such a simple request. He was in pain now and he didn’t know what to do. He was also in shock because it sounded so cold and abrupt.

“Please I need to go to-“ Grian started to plead, he choked out more blood.

“Don’t fight it like I did.” Mumbo said, his voice was so eerie so creepy you could still hear the nervousness but dimmed down a bit.

Grian no longer cared about the job, what he did care about was his survival.

“It was nice meeting you.” He said his voice was hoarse and he was barely able to speak. He made his way to the door. Grian twisted the knob. It was locked.

No, no no no no no.

He started to bang but it did nothing. He then spit out a bit more blood and then glanced at Mumbo.

Mumbo looked scared again. His pupils were shaking but he still stared at Grian.

He needed to stop this somehow, Mumbo knew something, he was the cause of this. Grian walked his way over to Mumbo.

“Let me leave!” He yelled and his voice barely came out.

Mumbo looked like a scared wet cat. His face was sweating and his breathing intensified.

Mumbo leaped out of his chair, only now was Grian reminded of how tall he was. Despite this Grian still lunged at him, Grian punched him in the face.

Instead of fighting back he backed up trying to create as much distance as possible between himself and Grian.

Grian didn’t let this happen though, he had Mumbo back in front of the wall. Mumbo’s eye was swelling, but Grian was able to punch him in the arm too.

Grian continued to cough and want to fall over from all of this.

He was so focused on not going out without a fight that he didn’t notice the door creaking open.

Or the man that entered the room.

He only realized this all when he felt it, an arrow impelling his neck.

He fell to the ground immediately and puked out his last huff of blood. Then he collapsed on the floor. He must have been sprawled out. His eyesight faded as he caught one last glimpse of the fading light.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

This Will Be the Death of Me

Grian rested his head on the back of the metal bars. Turning his head away from the door, his only real form of contact with anyone.

It didn’t make sense to Grian, he died, he remembered dying.

After he was shot by that arrow he passed out. He expected to never wake up again to never see the sun. But instead he woke up in a cage. A cage wagon decorated to the brim with circus decor.

He had a bed, a private place with a bathroom but everything about it all felt so horrible.

Grian couldn’t help but rethink the interview the way that the tea came directly after he mentioned being an Avian. Maybe that was the circus’s intention to kidnap him and make him into an act in their horrible horrible show.

At first when Grian got there he screamed for help, he would claw at the bars just trying to get out of there. It had been a week since he first woke up in the cage. He’d lost all his energy of trying to get out. He sort of accepted his fate.

It wasn’t all bad, one of the performers brought him food three times a day. He would try and start conversations with him but Grian just wasn’t having it. He would either yell at him or just not speak at all.

So as he sat back turned to the metal bars he expected the day would be like any other. Skizz came in, he was the guy with the ripped off sleeves who was lifting the weights when Grian first arrived.

He gave a strong smile like the person he just came into contact with hadn’t yelled at him the last time they’d spoken.

He was weirdly kind, the sort of kindness and forgiveness Grian wasn’t used to.

“Great job G man!” He said. Grian had no clue why he landed on the name ‘G man.’ Or what made him think the two of them were on a ‘nickname basis.’ Or even what he did to deserve this man’s praise. He had not a clue nor did he have the guts to ask.

“You went an entire day without screaming. That's a new record for you.” He said with a smile. Grian processed that information for a second.

An entire day? Was he screaming all that much where they were keeping track? Was there somebody watching him or hearing him?

Grian finally turned around to look at Skizz, he wasn’t holding a plate of food. No, in fact he was holding a key?

Skizz bent over to be eye level with the cage.

“Are you ready to start your job?” He asked, smiling. Grian took a deep breath.

“What job?”

“You applied to be a manager here, no?” Grian hadn’t processed that that job interview was genuine. He didn’t think that he’d actually have to manage the circus. But with the way that Skizz sounded and the genuinity in his voice, Grian couldn’t help but think that maybe he was telling the truth.

“Oh don’t worry, you still have your job!” Skizz said, “We here at the Bam circus are very forgiving! You should see what Tango did when he first got here.”

Grian didn’t speak but Skizz found a way to keep the conversation going. “He's like, set the tent on fire! It was crazy. We had to spend the entire day putting the fire out. But he eventually warmed up to the idea, get it warmed up?” Skizz then started to laugh at his own bad joke.

“Anyways, let's get you out of here.” Skizz said.

Grian thought through his movements very carefully. He knew that he couldn’t beat this guy in a fight even if he tried. He could try and fly away but the room only had one exit, the door that Skizz would always come in through.

He had to try and escape later, that was his only option.

Skizz twisted the key on the door and it swung open. Grian stood up and walked out. He thought that he’d be relieved to touch the ground again but no he wasn’t. He was more scared, there was a reason he was still alive. He didn’t believe that it was to manage some circus.

“Follow me, Scar wants to talk with you.”

“Whose Scar?”

“The ringmaster of course.”

Grian followed him, throughout the halls. There weren’t any windows, just doors leading to other rooms.

When they finally came to a stop Grian was in the same office he was hired in.

The same office he was killed in.

He glanced over and saw blood stains on the carpet. Blood stains that he puked out. Where they're going to kill him over and over again.

“He should be here in a minute.”

“Are you going to leave?” Grian asked, he knew damn well that as much as Skizz annoyed him he would do anything to not be in this room alone.

“Of course not.” Skizz said, “Unless he asks me to leave, I doubt that he’s a pretty chill guy.”

So the two of them waited until the door swung open. It was so swung so harshly it hit the other side of the door clearly damaging the paint.

A man walked out. He had tan skin, dark brown messy hair stuffed into a ponytail. His uniform was a black shirt with a turquoise vest, he wore a red ribbon. His pants were a fashion monstrosity, black and crimson vertical stripes.

His face was lined with scars, similar to his arms and what Grian could assume his entire body. He held a cane made of bamboo.

“Well, Hello there!” He said, he extended out his hand not carrying the cane. “My name is Scar.”

Grian was hesitant but shook his hand, his hand was cold which didn’t match his overall vibe.

“Thank you so much for taking the job!” Scar said, "It's a lot harder to find a manager than you’d think, especially for a circus.”

Grian winced back, from his interviewing experience it seemed pretty easy if they were the first place to hire him.

“Um yeah,” Grian said, he didn’t know why nobody was talking about it. “What happened?”

“Uh what happened when?”

“Whta happened when I got this job?”

“Oh you died.” Scar said this so casually in the same cadence you’d discuss the weather with somebody.

“How-wait! How am I still here?”

“Oh! Did you die before I explained everything?” He asked Scar then took a second. “Oh my god that's why you weren’t replying! I just thought you were being quiet but after I shot you I explained everything. I guess you didn’t hear me!” Scar started to laugh.

Grian could feel anger rising in him but he knew damn well he didn’t stand a chance acting on it. If he did anything Skizz would be able to knock him unconscious and he’d probably be forced to live in the cage for the rest of his life.

“The reason why you're still here is because this circus is magical! It gives all those who die on its grounds everlasting life!” He said.

“Okay. Wait so I’m still alive?” Grian asked.

“Uh well, sort of.” Scar said. “Look it's hard to explain but technically yes, if you die again your body just resets.”

“So I’m immortal now?” Grian asked. He had a lot of trouble following all of this.

“Yep, and you will be for the rest of eternity.”

“So I can just go back to living my life?” Grian asked, “But without the fear of dying?”

“Nope.” Scar said, “You can’t leave the circus.”

Grian faltered back a bit, he wished that it was something he misheard.

“Your blood spilt on the circus grounds, that's a binding contract, you can’t leave its general domain.” Scar explained. “You alright there?”

Grian had a shadow cast over his face and he felt so upset. He would have to spend the rest of eternity managing a freaking circus! He stared down at his shoes, the same pair of shoes he wore on the day he came in for the job interview. He would have fallen over if it wasn’t for Skizz standing alongside him.

“Don’t worry G it gets better, like if you're here for long enough then the binding rope will loosen.” Skizz explained.

“Whats that supposed to mean?”

“Like the longer you spend here the more distance you can get away from it. After a month you’ll be able to leave the vehicle and the tent and go slightly outside.”

Not being able to go outside for a month was a perk apparently.

“Also you don’t have to age! You get to stay young and hip forever.” Skizz said, Grian was unable to wash the dread out of his eyes. Scar could see that he didn’t seem to extend empathy though.

“Skizz will you show him to his room, oh and Grian you start working tomorrow.” He gave a smile. A smile that felt genuine but Grian doubted it.

Skizz walked Grian out of the room into the hall. He walked alongside him.

“Another great perk is that you have to get a roommate! You get to have a best friend that you spend every night with!” Grian had not a clue why this was such a perk, maybe Skizz was just trying to make him feel better. All Grian could hope for was somebody quiet, somebody who wouldn’t disturb him or bother him.

They finally made it to a hallway lined with signs with various names on them. Grian was thankful that apparently the rooms only housed two, he didn’t know if he could handle more than that.

“So how do they pick the roommates?”

“I’ts purely based around the most recent person to die. But if you die with someone they tend to pair the two of them together, that's how me and my best friend Dipple Dop got paired together.” Skizz explained, Grian prayed that Dipple Dop was just another nickname Skizz had come up with.

They finally came to a stop at a room. Grian read the sign and his heart sank.

He must have conveniently forgotten that apparently he’d been the first person that the hiring manager got to interview. The door read “Mumbo” and it had a little mustache doodle on his name plate.

Of course, just Grian’s luck he got stuck rooming with the guy he attempted to murder.

Grian was hoping that maybe Mumbo was like one of those vampires from fairy tales. One that went out during the night times so he’d never have to see him or confront him but to his fear Mumbo was sitting on his bed reading.

The room had salmon colored wallpapers with mushroom patterns, Grian guessed that all the rooms at the Bam Circus had funky wallpaper. Two beds across from one another, each had a desk combo vanity and a closet.

Both beds pretty much looked the same except Mumbo seemed to have decorated his. A couple of carnival plushies rested on his shelf alongside heaps of books.

“Hello.” He said to Grian. Grian skidded back.

”Uhh so this is where I’m staying?” Grian asked Skizz.

”Yep you guys can become best friends now!” Skizz said, smiling not sensing the tension. “So Grian, every room has its own bathroom, one of the perks of being in the circus. There's some spare clothes in your dresser already set out but if you need anything, my room is a couple of doors down. My name is on it.”

Once again Grian wanted to beg Skizz not to leave but he doubted he had much of an option. So Skizz left the room waving goodbye.

So instead he just made his way over to the dresser. A collared shirt baggy brown pants with suspenders was the outfit he came up with. He planned on covering it all up with the red sweater which he thankfully still had.

To his worst fears though, Mumbo approached him. He couldn’t make eye contact but he feared for fury or for anger but he got neither of it.

“I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot there mate.” Mumbo said. “No hard feelings, I understand that you were scared, who wouldn’t be?”

“You're just going to forgive me like that?” Grian asked. “I tried to kill you dude!”

”Where both are immortal it doesn’t matter.” Mumbo said.

Then a horn blew, so loud and so piercing Grian fell onto the ground. Then he heard engine noises.

“Oh that's the sound the cart makes whenever it moves.” Mumbo said. He helped Grian up. “We actually got a room with a balcony.”

Mumbo opened up the door. The balcony was small but could fit both of them. Grian to make his way over then he felt a pulling. Like a string pulling him back. He couldn’t move any further.

“Oh shoot, forgot you just arrived, sorry,” Mumbo said.

Grian could barely see outside, he wanted to say goodbye to Grainsdale but the string pulling him back began to hurt. He wouldn’t get to say goodbye to his town. The next time he would see it would be the next time the circus visited Grainsdale that would probably be about a year. A year away from home.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

I Watch The Ceiling Buckle

Scar stared as the circus grew distant from the town. He could see heaps of happy children with families waving goodbye. He waved back at them.

He mouthed the words “See you next year.” He only stopped waving when the families turned away. He needed to maintain that image.

He was tired, they did the main show in the afternoon because they wanted to get an early start on the road.

Scar made his way inside the tent. He made his way to the center as everyone followed him. He smiled.

”That was great everyone! Another small town blessed by the BAM circus!” Scar said with a smile. “We will have a couple days to relax while we are on the road but our next stop is Echocrest.”

The entire circus clapped.

“I know this has been a long day so let's not prolong this anymore, you are all dismissed.” Scar said.

It took about ten minutes before everyone cleared out, probably heading to the mess hall.

Soon it was just four people in a room.

“Yeah I’ll see you later tonight,” Lizzie said, “Come on Joel you have to go eat.” Eventually Joel left. It had been a frequent occurrence that Joel would linger for too long. Ever since he and Lizzie started dating Joel was practically obsessed with her. Always wanting to hang out with her.

Lizzie always told Scar it was normal that he’d feel the same way too when he fell in love. Scar doubted that would ever happen.

When he finally left was when the three started talking.

”I think that was good, I mean according to Etho we raised our proficiency by like-“ Jimmy started, “Wait I don’t know numbers. But according to him we were able to do a lot in that frame of time.”

“It still needs to be better.” Scar said, “We need to kick it up a notch.”

“You say that every time, at this point I don’t think there are any more notches to go up.” Lizzie said.

“We can always be doing more though, They wont be happy unless, unless we try harder the hardest we can.” Scar said.

“Scar I don’t know why you're so worried it's going to work.”

“I know it will, it has to. But none of us are in a position to be taking risks.” Scar said. Scar then glanced around. “Maybe we should head into my office.”

”Nobody is watching us, literally everyone went to the mess hall.” Lizzie said it was clear she was annoyed by him.

“Guys, let's just go.”

The three of them went into his office. It had just the right atmosphere for Scar, a mixture of creepiness but also a tad of whimsy.

Lizzie sat on the desk, then realized she’d sat on a piece of paper and picked it up.

“Grian Carmine.” She read aloud, “who is this?”

“I took your advice and I hired another person.” Scar explained. “He’s going to help with management and stuff.”

Lizzie read the paper quietly. “It says here that he went to college?”

“Oh I didn’t look at all that, we just needed a manager I would have taken anyone.”

“Let me get the paper!” Jimmy ripped it out of Lizzie’s hands like an annoying younger brother.

“Oh a hybrid!” He said, his honey yellow wings gave light eager flaps.

”He’s the third avian hybrid so far.” Scar explained.

”Another avian seriously?” Jimmy seemed pretty happy.

”He doesn’t seem like much of a talker though, he seemed pretty upset to even be here.”

“Do you think he’s going to ask for his soul retracted?”

“Be quiet, I’m trying to not tell people about that.” Scar’s voice came out a lot louder than he intended. “It should only be used in emergencies not for anyone who gets sick of living here.”

Then the room went quiet, a light knocking on the door. Scar fixed his composure, then he glanced at Lizzie and Jimmy waiting for a nod. They both did exactly that.

“Come on in.” Lizzie said.

The door came in with a slight creak. Grian and Mumbo walked in.

“Oh are we interrupting something?” Mumbo asked, “I’m so sorry.”

”No you're good, we were just about to finish our conversation anyways.” Jimmy said.

Weirdly enough Scar was thankful for this interruption. He knew if the conversation lasted any longer it would turn into a scolding session. That's how most of their conversations went nowadays.

It wasn’t mean scolding, it was more of, concerned scolding. “Give yourself a break, You need to work less.” Type of scolding. Scar was sometimes annoyed by how much his friends cared for him. Some part of him felt he didn’t deserve that empathy.

“I’m sorry,” Scar said, “It's just that Grian wanted me to show him around.”

“Oh how great.” Scar said. Only then did he realize that Grian was giving him a slight glare. “Well this is my office, it's where we handle all the management stuff.” Scar explained.

“It's very messy.” Grian said. “How do you get anything done around here?” He was clearly looking at Scar’s paper filled desk. All unsorted, some even crumpled.

The room met an uncomfortable silence.

“Hi my name is Jimmy I’m the circus mascot!”

“You mean the circus clown.” Lizzie said with a slight giggle. “I’m Lizzie, I'm a magician.”

“Like a fake one or-“ Grian asked.

“Nope the circus welcomes all kinds of people! Hybrids and even spellcasters like myself.” She said smiling. Lizzie was always so sweet, from the books you’d read about spellcasters you’d expect all of them to be mean and evil when Lizzie was practically the opposite.

“Where kinda like the three main heads of the circus we control everything. For the longest time Scar actually did the management and the hiring.” Jimmy explained.

“You mean the murder?” Grian asked bitterness reaping out of his voice.

Scar was caught off guard, the conversation felt so chill but immediately it reiterated Grian’s anger. Everyone in the room was caught off guard.

“Anyways I should probably show you to the mess hall next.” Mumbo said sweat trickling down his forehead. He grabbed onto Grian’s hand and tugged him out of the room.

“Tomorrow is going to be a long day huh?” Jimmy asked.

”I guess so.” Scar replied.

~~~~~~

The next morning Scar tried to take things particularly slow. He was still pretty exhausted from the show the night prior. He woke up at around 9PM, which meant that he slept in past breakfast. That didn’t matter though.

Today was everyone's day to relax and tomorrow everyone would rehearse and the next day, they would arrive in Echocrest and would stay for three days with two shows planned.

The last place they’d visited was Grainvile and they ended up having to stop for about a week because there was an issue with fuel. Also it was noticeably bigger so they were able to get customers for all 6 performances. Scar tried to map it all out in his head but it was still confusing.

Keeping up with schedules was not his forte, performing and giving speeches was.

Scar shared a room with Jimmy, Lizzie used to sleep in there too before they expanded the circus and she met Joel.

Jimmy was a canary which meant that he typically got up before sunrise. When he came back into the room he was fully dressed, he’d probably eaten too.

“You're finally awake.” Jimmy said, he made his way over to his messenger bag and started to clear it out.

“Or maybe you just wake up too early.” Scar proposed. Jimmy responded with an eyeroll.

“Are you going to do anything today?” Scar asked.

“Well of course, Tango is proposing a new act for me and then Scott wanted me to try on the new clothes he made.”

“Wow you're such a player.” Scar snorted.

“No I’m not- I’m just hanging out with two friends.”

“Two friends who both like you.” Scar teased.

”I feel like at this circus everyone likes everyone!”

“You know what I mean.”

“Look I don’t wanna be around you if you’re going to make fun of me the whole day.” Jimmy responded. “Mumbo and that new Avian guy were looking for you.”

”Okay I’ll be down as soon as I can.” Scar replied. He got into a bit more of a casual look. It still had hints of circus whimsy, the colors dark teal and bright crimson red but it wasn’t his performance outfit.

Scar walked through the halls, waving at his coworkers passing by. When he finally came to his office, he was immediately overwhelmed.

“There you are!” Mumbo said. The papers on the desk were all folded and stapled together making the desk a lot cleaner. ”Grian has a lot of questions.”

Grian’s expression was tense; he looked restless and concerned as he held the paper in his hands.

“What do you need to know Gri?”

Grian did not accept the nickname all too well, his face was lined with a scowl.

“Don’t call me that.” He responded. “I tried looking through these papers, specifically this one.” It was a schedule. “It says here we were already supposed to be in Echocrest like a week ago.”

Despite Grian’s panic, Scar tried to remain cool and collected.

“We don’t really follow that schedule all that intensely; it's mostly for pacing.” Scar grabbed it out of his hand. “All that really matters is that on August 19th we make it to Silvercrest city. That is the only one we have scheduled.”

“Silvercrest City?” Grian asked clearly in shock.

“It's our first time going there.” Scar said excitedly, “Its a pretty big deal to go perform in the capitol of Asteria.”

“Yeah I know. How did you-“

“One of the rulers came to one of our shows and suggested that we perform there that's why there is such a specific date.”

“Then what about the places in between?”

“Oh those we need to get to on the way. We have to squeeze them all in.”

“How are we supposed to do that? Theres like-“ Grian took a few seconds to count. “Like twenty all in eight months?”

“Oh yeah.” Scar hadn’t checked the exact number.

“And then we also need to like travel days oh my gosh.” Grian said. “Do we have to go to all of these?”

“Well we kind of promised the towns.”

“Some of these places will take days to get to and there out of our way.” Grian said. “How have you not realized this before?”

Scar paused for a second.

“I’m not that experienced, that's why we have you here!” He said.

Grian took a deep breath. “I can try and make a schedule but we actually have to follow it to stay on track.”

“That works for me.” Scar responded.

He started itching towards the door.

“You're just going to leave?” Grian asked, offended.

“What? Do you need my help with something?”

“No, I just thought.” Grian paused and he was still clearly mad at Scar. “Leave then see what I care.”

So Scar did just that. Some people were more stubborn than others. Upset about death and not realizing all the new opportunities that came with immortality.

Scar knew that Grian would eventually come around, everyone always did. What really mattered was prioritizing the circus.