Chapter Text
Waking up feels like taking a breath for the first time. A jolt shoots up your spine as you feel a new sensation behind your back. Your eyes shot wide open as you sat up in an unfamiliar room.
You wipe at your eyes with hands that feel strangely unfamiliar. Once your vision steadies, you glance down… and nearly choke back a scream.
WHAT THE HELL? ARE THOSE CLAWS???
Sharp, inhuman claws stare back at you where your hands should’ve been.
Your heart aches as you quickly look around. Where the hell are you? The place looks like the inside of some kind of tent adorned with green.
You inspect the furniture scattered around the room. A closet stands off to the side, but what truly catches your attention is the vanity mirror lined with an assortment of makeup products.
Carefully, you try to get off the bed, only to immediately topple onto the floor as the unfamiliar length of your legs throws off your balance.
You crawl your way toward the vanity mirror, your legs trembling beneath you. Gripping the edge for support, you slowly raise yourself high enough to see your reflection.
Black curls frame a white and green marked face. Sharp green slit eyes stare back at you.
Your breath catches as you realize who this was. You know this character. It’s Harlequin. THE Harlequin from that one visual novel game. But why the hell were you… actually him?
The man in the mirror stared back with the same stunned and horrified expression twisting across your own face, an expression Harlequin would’ve never worn in the actual game. Then again, that was probably because you were the one making it.
Crap. This was all just a dream, right? There was no way you were actually Harlequin. You have to wake up eventually. You really got to stop playing video games, it’s probably just all getting to your head.
To test the theory, you slapped yourself across the face, expecting to jolt awake. Instead, all you got was a sharp sting blooming across your cheek.
“…Ow.”
Frowning, you slapped yourself again. And again. Each hit harder than the last until your cheek was probably bright red, but nothing changed. No waking up. No escape. Just the same tent. The same claws. The same reflection taunting you in the mirror.
The realization crashed into you all at once that this was real. This wasn’t a joke.
Your legs gave out, collapsing onto the floor hard as you breathed rapidly. Your claws make its way to cover your mouth as you processed what was going on.
First of all, you’re Harlequin. Second of all, you have no idea how you could even pretend to even be him. If anything, you were the total opposite of Harlequin’s personality. That guy was always spouting some crap when you didn’t even have the heart to hurt a fly. And third of all, Pierrot hates your guts. What if he tries to stab you? Is that even going to hurt? Probably. Very much, actually.
“Okay.. calm down.” You mutter to yourself. “It’s okay. I’m going to be okay.”
Even your voice sounded wrong. It was deeper, much smoother. It was elegant in a way your normal voice could never be. The words that left your mouth sounded far too refined to belong to you.
It took far more effort than it should have, but eventually you managed to stand on your new legs. The unfamiliar height and balance still felt wrong, like you were piloting someone else’s body.
Slowly, you approached the tent’s entrance and pulled the flaps open just enough to peek outside.
The exact same colorful layout of tents from the game displayed before you. Thankfully, it was empty so you could assume that the circus was not open right now
Should you even leave the tent? What were you supposed to do if one of the other circus members talked to you? You didn’t know how Harlequin acted with the others beyond what you have seen in the game, and even then, you doubted you could pull it off convincingly.
Harlequin always wore that smug, shit eating grin. Meanwhile, your current expression probably made you look like you were seconds away from a nervous breakdown.
Just as you were about to retreat back into the safety of your tent, a blur of blue suddenly appeared right in front of you.
You yelped and nearly stumbled backward. Where the hell did he come from?!
“Harlequin, you’re awake earlier than usual. Do you have something to do? I was just on my way to wake you.” the figure asked, adjusting the brim of his top hat with practiced elegance.
Your stomach dropped as you realized who it was. It’s the Ticket Taker. Or rather Bil, as Jester liked to call him.
And currently, he was staring directly at you while you stood there looking like a deer caught in headlights.
You quickly straighten your posture in an attempt to be casual, although you have a feeling that he can sense that something is off about you.
“Oh, uh.. Hey, Ticket Taker.” You greeted awkwardly. Oh yeah, Harlequin definitely didn’t act like this. What the hell are you doing?
You tried to smile the same way Harlequin usually did, but it came out looking more like you were desperately attempting not to cry.
Ticket Taker’s expression didn’t change. Well, it was hard to tell anyways given only one eye was visible and he didn’t seem to have eyebrows.
“…Are you feeling alright?” he asked after a pause.
Oh crap.
You forced your face to relax. Smiling wasn’t going to do you any justice. “Of course!” You answered a little too quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
The words sounded smooth enough in Harlequin’s voice, but the nervous crack near the end completely ruined it. He continued staring at you in silence.
You suddenly became painfully aware of every little thing you were doing wrong. First it’s your stiff posture, then the awkward smile twitching on your face, and the fact that Harlequin probably didn’t flinch like a startled cat every five seconds.
For a horrifying moment, you wondered if Ticket Taker somehow already knew.
Then he gave a small hum and adjusted his coat. “You’re acting strange today.” He remarked calmly.
Your soul nearly left your body.
“Me? Pfft, strange? As if. I’m like, totally normal and stuff.” Okay, now you were definitely trying too hard.
Ticket Taker stared at you. You stared back.
A painful silence stretched between the two of you as your brain rapidly searched for a way to recover from whatever the hell that sentence was supposed to be.
“…And stuff?” He repeated slowly.
You wanted the ground to swallow you whole. Harlequin would’ve said something clever. Something smug and sharp that would’ve left the other person irritated or intrigued. Instead, you sounded like someone trying to imitate a cartoon teenager.
You quickly crossed your arms, hoping confidence alone could save you.
“I’m simply in a good mood today,” you said, attempting a more composed tone. “Must I justify every little change in behavior?”
There. That sounded more Harlequin-like. Hopefully.
Ticket Taker narrowed his eye slightly, clearly unconvinced.
“Well,” he said carefully, “usually when you’re in a ‘good mood,’ you’d have several knives buried deep in your back. And right now I don’t see any of that.”
“Say what now?”
The Ticket Taker gave a slow nod, like this was a completely normal and casual conversation.
“You’re always bothering Pierrot, are you not? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. You do it quite often.”
You gulped. How fantastic. You knew Harlequin liked to annoy Pierrot but you didn’t know he did it so often to the point where it’s expected to have knives stabbed in his back??? Was it almost everyday? Oh dear, someone get Harlequin in check.
“Oh, Pierrot. Right, love that guy ahaha..” You let out a weak laugh.
“No you don’t.”
“Okay right, I don’t.”
You may as well give your face another slap for how disastrous this conversation was going. Knowing the Ticket Taker, he was probably going to report your strange behavior to the Jester. And you do NOT want to mess with the Jester.
“Anyways, I’ve come to your tent to let you know what’s going to be happening today. As usual, you’ll be handing out flyers in the town with Pierrot.”
Ah right. Pierrot and Harlequin were usually the ones that passed out flyers for the circus. Wait a minute, weren’t the humans always rude to them? Does that mean you’re going to get beat up too?
Despite the fear of potentially getting beat up, you force a smile again. “Got it.”
Ticker Taker reached into his coat and pulled out a neatly stacked pile of flyers, pressing them gently into your arms.
Obviously it was the same flyer from the game. The Freak Circus, with an illustration of a circus tent.
“Pierrot’s already in town. I suggest you go do your fair share of work.” he said before walking off.
You watched as the Ticket Taker disappeared into the purple tent. Oh yeah, you’re going to be in the hot seat now. He is DEFINITELY going to tell Jester about you. And then Jester is probably going to talk to you later.
Nevermind that. You’ll survive and you can deal with that later. But out of all of the characters, why specifically did you have to be Harlequin? You could’ve reincarnated as one of the background characters like the Boss, one of the fools, or even the MC. But no, life decided that it’s your turn to face the consequences now.
You stepped out of the tent and made your way toward town, clutching the stack of flyers tightly against your chest.
As you walked, you mentally rehearsed different ways to advertise the circus.
“Hey there! If you come to our circus, prepare to witness wonders beyond your imagination!” No. That was kind of corny.
“Take my flyer, also please don’t beat me.” Okay, now that was just embarrassing and Harlequin would never say that. He’d probably rather throw himself into traffic than say that out loud.
Ugh, whatever. When you get there just pass them out, you probably won’t have to say anything anyways.
Once you got there, you’d just hand the flyers out. Realistically, you probably wouldn’t even need to talk much anyway. People would just take them and leave, hopefully. Or maybe they’ll yell some insults at you and attempt to beat you up.
The moment you stepped into town, eyes glanced at you from all directions. Some intrigued with interest, and some with absolute hatred and disgust.
Maybe it’s best if you talked to the ones that looked like they wouldn’t punch you just for speaking to them. You spot a young woman dressed in a white dress. She looks pretty nice.
You walk up to her and hand out a flyer with what you think is an appropriate smile on your face. “Um hello… Care to visit our circus?”
She looks at you up and down before scoffing and turning away. “Don’t speak to me, freak!”
Okay, well at least you tried.
You tried again, going up to person to person. It was a 50/50 with some taking your flyer, and some insulting you and walking away.
“HEY! Get out of here, weirdo!”
You glance to the source of the yelling to see a man slap another clown.
“Ever since you guys showed up, people have been disappearing! Go back to whatever hellhole you crawled out of!”
It was Pierrot. He sat on the floor silently with a small frown on his face. You admit it was kind of cute, but wait he’s hurt and some dude is yelling at him. Should you do something? This is something that happens in the game, would it be bad to intervene when the player is the one who should be the one interfering?
You sit there for a moment before deciding to just go do it. You can’t stand to see Pierrot like this, even if he hates your guts. But maybe doing this kind gesture will make him not hate you as much.
You walk in between the man and Pierrot. “H-Hey! Don’t talk to him like that! He’s- I meant we’re just trying to do our job.” You couldn’t help but stutter when you saw the scowl on the man’s face. He looks like the kind of guy who could smite you with one hit.
“Ew, another one of these freaks? You guys are polluting our whole town with these flyers. Get lost!”
Just as you were about to say something, another person steps in. You recognize them immediately, it was the MC. You could tell by the barista uniform that they’re wearing. Huh, so it really does follow the storyline of the game.
“Stop it! No need to be violent! They’re just doing their job!” They yelled. “If you keep this up, I’ll call the police.”
The man rolled his eyes. “Screw that! Open your eyes. I hope they take you too!” He scoffed before disappearing further into the city.
They then looked at you and Pierrot pitifully. “Are you two okay? People can really be hotheaded these days.”
For a moment, neither you nor Pierrot responded. Well it’s not like Pierrot could anyways, he wasn’t allowed to speak.
Your head was still spinning from getting yelled at by a stranger, while Pierrot slowly rose up from behind you. You can feel his eyes staring into the back of your skull. You slowly turned to look up at him, both of your eyes making contact. You had no idea what he was thinking from his neutral expression. Was he confused that you stepped in to help him? Well, Harlequin would’ve never defended him. The sudden gesture must be surprising to him.
You offered him an awkward smile.
“We’re okay.. I think,” you say hesitantly, before glancing at the red mark on his cheek. “Well, he isn’t.”
The MC’s expression softened immediately. “Be careful around here. Some people really don’t like the circus,” they said, pulling out a pink bandaid before handing it to the taller clown. “I’ve got to go to work. Be safe!”
And just like that, they hurried down the street. That doesn’t happen in the game, they would’ve stayed and helped Pierrot up and talk to him. You were kind of expecting it to play out exactly as how it would’ve in the game, but you guess because you intervened it didn’t quite go exactly as planned.
Beside you, your coworker silently stared down at the bandaid now sitting in his gloved hand. His clawed thumb brushed slowly over the tiny cat pattern.
“Uh… Do you need help putting that on, Pierrot?” You point towards the bandaid.
Pierrot slowly turns his head to you, his expression unchanging. You felt a drop of sweat roll down your neck. Up close, Pierrot was even scarier in person and he was definitely much taller than you. Was he going to hurt you? Please don’t.
Then to your surprise, he places the bandaid in your hands, looking at you expectantly. Oh, he wants you to put the bandaid on him. You couldn’t help the small but genuine smile that graced your face as you peeled the bandaid. “Hold still..”
He leaned down just slightly, letting you press the pink cat bandaid on the red mark on his cheek.
“There.”
Pierrot didn’t respond. Of course he didn’t. But instead of immediately turning away or glaring at you like you committed a felony like you half expected, he kind of stood there. Just looking at you. It was hard to read his expression, but it felt much different from earlier. It felt a lot less hostile.
You laugh awkwardly. Maybe you shouldn’t have helped him because now he was just staring at you and you didn’t even know what to do in this situation. Even so, you figure it’d be best for you two to pass out the flyers together just in case anyone tries pulling that stunt again.
“We should hand out these flyers together so we don’t get attacked...”
He nods slowly, and then you both continue on with your job.
Hopefully everything goes smoothly when you get back.