Chapter Text
#### was a monster, just like the rest of the circus members. they had joined them decades ago—back when the freak circus was celebrating its tenth anniversary—after wandering as a lost monster hunted by humans. It had all started when she accidentally killed an elk near a hunters' camp; to make matters worse, the humans had that same elk in their sights, inadvertently turning them into their next target.
#### had run as far as your abilities allowed, but she hadn't eaten in days—the rainy season had driven all the animals into hiding.
she could hear the sounds of footsteps and gunshots gradually fading away, but the pain was overwhelming; a bullet had struck ther leg, and the adrenaline was slowly wearing off.
#### didn't know what to weep for anymore: having been abandoned by their own family for being "too weak," having to grow up alone, having to learn never to rely on others... perhaps death wouldn't be so bad after all.
#### thought she had glimpsed colorful tents in the distance, but her vision was failing . collapsing onto the ground without warning; gazing up at the afternoon sky and watching the birds fly, #### wished they had been born as one of them—able to soar through the vast heavens. Perhaps, if they were given the chance at another life, they could.
Not knowing how much time had passed, the sound of footsteps getting closer, perhaps they were humans, the last thing she wanted to encounter, but if she were to die that way, if they were merciful, it would be quick and painless.
The world around her gradually darkened and became silent, the last thing heard was a male voice saying something.
"My... what do we have here?"
The one who found #### back then was Ticket Taker, who had been patrolling the area before the circus opened; even though he didn't know her, he felt sorry, he took them to the circus,where she was cared for and restored to health, #### met the other members as well.
Over time, they took her in and gave #### a place among them. starting out as a helper, gradually learning tricks, and Jester even made her own costume in their favorite color.
At first, she were a bit afraid of the doctor, but saw that he merely had a dangerous fascination with medicine and was actually a good guy.
Jester was frightening at first—always watching—but once trust was established, he became almost a maternal figure. Pierrot had welcomed her with a smile from day one. Harlequin had been trouble from the start, making unnecessary comments, yet nothing stopped him from being kind now and then—even if it was in his own peculiar way.
Then there was Ticket Taker; she was very fond of him. He was the one who had saved her, taught her the ropes of the circus, and given her a chance at this life—someone just as important to her as the rest of the group.
C/n never questioned how that freak show had come to be, nor the pasts of any of the members—it seemed like something they truly didn't want to remember, and she knew full well that her place was not to ask or question. It wasn't as if C/n had said anything about their own past, either; for that same reason, she felt useless and undeserving of a spot in the circus in the beginning—yet now, that very place was her home.
She knew the entire group shared a trauma she would never ask about, yet she always felt—for some reason—that someone was missing, even though she knew (or thought she knew) that there was no one else.
As the years went by, you became not just a member, but family to everyone there; you even earned your own tent and your own aerial acrobatics act. From then on, you went from being known simply as C/n to "Skylair the Acrobat."
Skylair tent was one of the most visited, as their act lacked the dark, bloody themes found elsewhere; the circus wasn't recommended for children, yet some adults were foolish enough to bring their kids along—often traumatizing the little ones to the point where the circus had to add warnings to its flyers.
Her act was a dazzling display of color and light; soaring on the bars like a bird free in the sky, she would mesmerize the humans with her movements—without even realizing it, Even the other members would sometimes drop by to watch, without her noticing
But deep down, there was one thing Skylair waas certain of: she cared for every single member of the circus. Yet, it wasn't an ordinary kind of love—and she knew very well how to hide it, because they didn't want to ruin their relationship with them, knowing they might never feel the same way.
Skylair had just woken up and was getting ready for the day; they had finally arrived in the new city, which meant work—Jester would soon be handing out orders.
Just as she finished putting on her outfit and mask, she heard a knock on the trailer door.
"Come in!" she shouted, taking one last look in the mirror. It was none other than Harlequin, wearing that lecherous grin of his.
"Hey, sunshine! Just wanted to let you know that 'Mama' said you and Pierrot are handing out flyers today." Harlequin and Pierrot had a rivalry, though you never quite understood the reason for it.
"Wait, wasn't it supposed to be you and Pierrot handing out flyers this time?"
"Well, let's just say that because of what happened last time, Jester said I wouldn't be handing out flyers with Pierrot anymore." The truth was, the two of them had nearly killed each other again—all because Harlequin kept pestering poor Pierrot about not being able to speak in public... another rule you didn't understand the reason for.
"Okay, let Jester know I'll be heading out soon—I just need to get a few things ready in my tent for tonight."
"Alright then, adiós." Harlequin finally left the trailer but, as usual, forgot to close the door. It was funny how he couldn't come up with any good nicknames for you; there was nothing for him to tease you about, which frustrated him from time to time. Sometimes you’d join in on his silly antics and end up in trouble without meaning to.
Skylair smiled at the memories and sighed, but then, upon reflection, realized that laziness had caused her to neglect setting up some of the tent attractions, as well as her responsibility to put up some of the food stalls. "Ugh, so much to do in ten hours... that’s what happens when you left things to do later...''
Stepping out of the trailer and stretching to start the day, she thought, "Okay, where do I begin?" Skylair decided to set up the trapeze and the aerial hoop; these would be the night's performances.
Off she went, hauling boxes up and down, occasionally ordering the Fools to help her. As much as she loathed humans, she couldn't deny they were clever—creating so many forms of entertainment. Skylair remembered being captivated by the aerial hoop the very first time Pierrot had introduced it to her; she used to even compete with Harlequin to see who could spin the hoop the longest—he’d always claim he’d win, yet he always ended up losing.
When Skylair checked the time, she saw that an hour had already passed. "Right... flyers... here we go again." Leaving the tent—and the Fools to finish setting everything up—she went to meet Pierrot at the exit, spotting the red-clad clown from a distance with a stack of flyers already in hand.
"Hey, Pierrot, ready to start the day?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood; neither of them enjoyed interacting with the public outside of performances—humans could be... ignorant and rude.
Pierrot simply nodded. "Not really, but at least you aren't Harlequin." Skylair chuckled softly, seeing the relief on the clown's face. "Well, shall we?" Taking some of the flyers from Pierrot, the two headed toward the town center, accompanied by a few of the Fools who were already scattered throughout the town.
"Come see the Freak Circus—you might be amazed, or might be terrified!" Skylair shouted the silly catchphrase she had come up with herself, inspired by the way some people left wanting to come back, while others just wanted to run away in fear.
Even so, within a few minutes, she noticed the differences among the humans: some would stop, take the flyers, and read them with curiosity, while others simply took them without even reading them, tossing them straight onto the ground or into the trash. This infuriated her; the flyers didn't come cheap to produce. Sometimes, when the circus finished its run in a town, they would send the Fools out to collect any intact flyers so they could be reused.
Just as some humans would look at them with sidelong glances—expressions of disgust, curiosity, or sheer suspicion, Well, their height wasn't exactly "normal"—in quotes, of course; she was the shortest of the crew, being a bit shorter than Ticket Taker, yet taller than certain humans.
Skylair liked to call humans "sinners," an affectionate term she used for these beings of darkness. Of course, that applied only to the adults; she liked to call the children "little lambs," since their souls were not yet tainted
The acrobat simply felt sorry for Pierrot; since he couldn't speak, he was like the Fools—unable to talk, merely trying to hand out the flyers..
She had split up from Pierrot—thinking, "Surely he can manage on his own for five minutes"—and headed down a different street. After some time, having successfully handed out all her flyers and feeling proud of herself, the acrobat heard a commotion across the street, right where Pierrot was. However, assuming it could be anything—and knowing how humans loved a scene or a scuffle—she ignored it.
As she went to meet back up with the red-clad clown, she saw that Pierrot had finished distributing his flyers—or so she assumed, since he wasn't carrying any anymore. She also noticed something on his cheek... and something odd in his expression. "Weird..."
"Hey Pierrot, are you done? I've finished up; shall we head back to the circus?" Pierrot looked at her as if lost and simply shook his head "no," gesturing for her to go on ahead. She understood, but before walking away, tried to ask, "Hey, hmm what's that on your cheek?" Pierrot glanced at her, then looked toward a spot down the street, ignoring Skylair question and walking off, leaving her there confused and without an answer. ''Or just leave me in the dark, ouch'' He had never reacted or done that before, but that's okay—maybe he had something more important to do.
Heading back to the circus alone felt really strange; usually, whenever she and Pierrot—or Harlequin—handed out flyers together, they would wait for each other to finish so they could return as a pair. It was too quiet for her liking, and that look of his... it had been really odd, but she decided to brush it off. "Skylair, focus—you've still got a lot to do."
Upon reaching the entrance, she saw the Ticket Taker tidying up as usual and greeted him. "Oh, good morning, Skylair. I see you're done handing out the flyers. There are a few things I need you to take care of for me, if you can-" He stopped abruptly, glancing around before looking back at the acrobat. "Where's Pierrot? Wasn't he with you?" he asked, still scanning the area for the red-clad clown. "He stayed behind in town; I don't know why, but he told me I could head back without him," Skylair explained, though she didn't quite understand it herself. "Hmm, strange, but alright... Here." The Ticket Taker handed her a sheet listing tasks he needed the acrobat to handle around the circus—checking the attractions, the stalls, and so on. She simply thanked him and went on her way.
She droped by to say "Hi" to the Doctor; he’d wave back, though he was usually too engrossed in his experiments. His tent was always the emptiest, given everyone’s shared fear of doctors—a fear the acrobat could somewhat understand, considering the spine-chilling things he did in there. Yet, when he wasn't experimenting, she'd keep him company, listening to him explain the workings of the human body. they didn't understand a word of it, but paid attention anyway, and seeing him like that filled her heart with happiness—though, as always, kept those feelings locked deep inside.
Also say good morning to Jester as he handed out orders to the other Fools around the circus, chatting briefly about the last book he’d lent her. As a member of the circus, she tried to take an interest in the hobbies of every circus member; Skylair, for instance, loved hanging out in the kitchen with Pierrot, learning new recipes and making sweets for the stalls—whether they were laced with drugs or not.
As for Ticket Taker, Skylair pastime involved helping him arrange his mirror tent, setting up a different layout for every new city. There was one mirror, however, that they always steered clear of; it felt as though someone other than Ticket Taker was watching her from the other side. and Skylair also spent time sharing tea with him.
Then there was Harlequin; as mentioned before, the two would occasionally wreak havoc on the circus, and they shared a mutual love for fire tricks.
*They were a perfect family.*
As she finished her tasks, she saw the red clown heading back to the rear tent; he was acting strangely, glancing around—"suspicious..."—but she returned to her work, finishing up the night's sweets since Pierrot wasn't there to help her this time.
Half an hour later, she saw the red clown emerge again, this time carrying something in hands; there was still a pink thing on his face, but ... "Is he bleeding?" she whispered, though her attention was drawn away by a noise behind her—one of the Fools had knocked over a boxand when she looked back, Pierrot was gone. Something was clearly wrong, but Skylair didn't have time for that.
A few hours later, the circus was about to open. "Well... showtime," she said to herself, adjusting her outfit and hat to hide her horns and look presentable. Skylair act was the last of the night, but she had to keep walking around the circus in case something went wrong. Pierrot had returned a few hours earlier; something in his gaze had clearly changed—and this time it was much more apparent, almost as if he were obsessed with something, not to mention he had ignored her for the rest of the afternoon.
The acrobat wandered the grounds, occasionally helping "sinners" find their way around the circus or searching for lost children, among other tasks. Each member was focused on their own scheduled performance, so they rarely crossed paths outside of those times, given that the shows ran back-to-back with only half-hour intervals between them.
At one point, she even swore she saw Pierrot peeking into Harlequin’s tent—someone she hadn’t seen since that morning, either.
Things were getting stranger by the minute, but then again, it was a freak show anyway; Skylair also saw people running out of the Doctor’s tent screaming—the desperation of humans always made her laugh.
She had gone to check on Ticket Taker, but he wasn’t there; it was time for his act, after all. The night was becoming a bore; normally, Pierrot and Harlequin’s performance would have ended by now they would talk about their plans for upcoming performances or whether they wanted to buy something new—trivial matters. Yet, once again, everything was very quiet, even with the voices of the visitors filling the entire circus.
She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed the time; the performance was just ten minutes away. "Shit!" She had to hurry. Skylair headed to the tent, seeing it fill up with visitors; thank goodness she’d arrived in time to get everything ready—she was almost set to be the star of the show.
"Welcome, my creatures of the night. I am Skylair, the acrobat. I hope you enjoy tonight's performance."
Doing what she did best, she performed her tricks—including dangerous stunts no ordinary human would ever dare attempt. The audience's shouts ranged from fear and surprise to sheer wonder. Spinning and jumping from hoop to hoop, as if flying in the sky. almost and hour later, Finally, she descended from the aerial hoop with a somersault, landing perfectly on the ground before thanking the crowd.
"Thank you for coming, and have a good night. Be careful, my little monsters—you never know what might be hovering in the shadows." and vanishing in a puff of smoke, drawing applause from the audience.
"Finally," the day was over; it was time to meet up with the others—dinner time was already approaching.
But the strange thing was that she hadn't seen Pierrot enter the kitchen; Skylair went to check, but when she opened the tent flap, she found no one there—and no one had even started dinner yet. "Shit, they're leaving it all to me." Deciding to grab the pots and ingredients, the acrobat began to cook. "I wonder if they'll want stew?" She simply shrugged it off; she didn't have the energy to cook a complex meal, being exhausted from everything she’d done that day.
cutting up the human meat, put it in the pot, and waited for it to cook; the process took at least an hour. Once finished, she set everything on the table and waited for the others.
Thirty minutes passed and nothing—no one showed up, not even Harlequin, who was usually the biggest glutton. "What on earth is going on...?" Skylair simply started eating alone, deciding to leave the food on the table in case the others appeared.
That night, she didn't see any of the members; everyone seemed to have vanished into their own tents. Skylair simply returned to her trailer and went to sleep, with no desire to read or train or anything else