Monday.

Another set of performances in full swing from now.

Everybody gathered around the kitchen table, excitedly chattering amongst themselves. Spoons clinked against the ceramic plates as the aroma of the freshly brewed coffee swum through the air.

"Big show today, you guys!" Joel announced, "your acrobat's about to do some crazy things! So if you guys get free early from your performances, you better drag your butts over to my station and watch me in my glory!" he tossed his long hair back, feeling the adrenaline pump through his veins.

"Somebody seems really excited, eh?" Enziel raised a brow, placing a bowl of cereal on the table in front of Elly.

"HECK YEAH I AM!" Joel exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table, causing Latzius to hold onto his coffee cup and cast a quick glare at him.

"I have been practicing my routines fairly well," Irvene smiled, "I'll be walking the tightrope today."

"Woah! So you and Irvene have a combined show?" Zorro chimed in.

"Yeah! That's why I was asking you guys to head on over when all of you are done," Joel took a sip of his latte and leaned back.

A pair of steady footsteps approached the kitchen and stopped, the door opening with a slight creak. There she was, struggling to open her eyes.

"Good morning, guys..." Rachel grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Why, good morning to you, sweetheart! Come on in," Joel gestured to the empty seat beside him, grinning.

She made her way through and sat down, meeting eyes with Irvene.

"You feeling alright, dear?" Irvene passed her a cup, "here, I made you some Earl Grey."

"Thank you,"

Rachel took the floral cup from her, savouring the aroma of the freshly made tea. She took a sip from it, immediately feeling the heaviness from her eyes being lifted just a pinch.

"So, Rachel," Joel began, "whose show will you be watching first?" his lips curved to a teasy, but playful smirk.

"Huh?" Rachel set her cup down, "uhhh..."

"Joel, c'mon, man! Don't confuse her like that. She'll do whatever she wants," Enziel chuckled.

Rachel wiped her upper lip, her lips curving into a half smile. "Quite true."

"So...whuf will you fo when everyfun's busy?" Elly spoke.

"Elly, don't speak with your mouth full," Enziel retorted, "we don't need your food particles in other people's plates."

Rachel let out a low giggle. The stuffing of food in one's mouth, reminded her of...him.

Why- just...why?

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away, returning to Elly with a forced, polite smile.

"Oh well...I...might hang out with Latzius and see if he needs help with anything," she replied, taking a quick glance at him.

"Ah, that'd be really naice! I be tired from transferring props from one place to another by maself!" the fox took a sigh of relief.

"See?" Joel placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, "you'll finally have someone to help you out!"

"Gosh, you're unbelievable..." Latzius mumbled to himself.

"I love you too, sweetheart," Joel smirked.

"...GOD, I HATE YOU!"

🏙️

Later during the day, Rachel found herself in her room getting ready for the day. She put on some nice, light makeup and put on her more casual outfit: baggy jeans & her favourite hoodie. Stuffing her phone in her pocket, she made way for the door.

She could hear it from afar; the afternoon rush coming through. Her heart drummed in her ears as her chest tightened with anxiety. She placed her hand on the doorknob and closed her eyes, taking in a few deep breaths.

Here goes nothing.

She stepped outside and into the hallway. Upon taking a left turn, she could see the lines of people by the ticket counter, forming rows of 2. Little children excitedly squealed and jumped around as one of the employees handed out free balloons. Even seeing such a sight was a delight considering that the Circus had recently opened.

On the other side, she could already see the very few members of the cleaning crew already at work, making sure that every room was spotless.

So this is what working hours look like. She thought to herself as a family passed by her, making their way through Zorro's station or called so as 'The Ventriloquist's Corner.' Its entrance was decorated with crayon graffiti and balloons, with drawings made by children plastered on the walls. The room inside was decent, with ample of seats placed neared the stage. The background had a cardboard cutout of the sun and a cloud in the back, and in the middle of the stage was a seat where Zorro was going to sit and a small table placed next to it.

Woah...Rachel hid behind the wall when she saw a swarm of people coming through, taking their respective seats. The lights then turned off and a single white spotlight fell onto the stool and table where Zorro was already there.

"Well, hello, friends! My name is Funtime Freddy,"

"And I'm BonBon!" he changed his voice to a more squeaky one, moving the blue rabbit puppet with his hand to match the pace of his speech.

"Today, we'll be telling you a story about our visit to the grocery store! We bought ourselves soup!"

"But, Freddy, what were you doing in the clothes aisle if you wanted to buy soup?"

"What?"

BonBon facepalmed, shaking his head.

Soft laughter arose from the crowd which then died down as the show went on.

"Okay, okay, you know what? Let's talk about something else: baseball! Have you ever played baseball, BonBon?"

"Oh, yes! I love baseball, but I prefer golf because I get to hit the ball like this!" BonBon made the motion of swinging his invisible golf club.

A few ooohs! sounded, mainly from the children.

"How sweet! Then golf must be the better sport then, right?"

BonBon stared at him, "Baseball."

"Golf."

"Baseball."

Both of them stared at each other before BonBon latched onto Freddy's face, pretending to attack him as he began screaming.

"HELP! HELP! I'M BEING ATTACKED BY A CRAZY BLUE RABBIT!"

"I won't let you go until you admit that baseball's better!"

The crowd erupted into laughter once again as Freddy continued screaming in the background and fell off his seat, landing on the stage with a slight thud.

BonBon, or Zorro, dragged himself over to the edge of the stage and raised a hand, "I win!"

Everyone then began to clap as the children jumped up and down as BonBon blew them flying kisses while Zorro kept his head down, facing the floor.

Rachel smiled to herself, her cheeks hurting from the duration she held it up. Well, now I can say that I've seen a ventriloquist perform real time.

She then pulled back, heading towards the opposite direction towards Ballora's Dance Studio. The dragon peered through the window: she spotted Ballora on her stage, wearing a sparkly blue top and tutu. She moved with such grace and elegance that made her appear almost animated. The fluidity in her movements was unmatched. Her makeup gleamed underneath the faint, blue light but the most astonishing thing was that she was carrying out her performance with her eyes closed.

No way...Rachel's eyes widened, she's...she's phenomenal!

She pressed her ear against the cold glass, attempting to make out what the muffled music playing was, but she couldn't hear much.

"Hey, Rachel!"

Rachel jumped, turning her head back, "Oh- hey, Latzius. You...scared me there," she placed a hand on her chest.

"My bad. You seemed pretty invested in the show, so I ought not to disturb ya."

Both then turned their heads towards the window, "Quite the beauty, isn't she?" Latzius crossed his arms, "she may not show it enough, but she takes her job pretty damn seriously. I must also say, I've never seen all tickets for Ballora's show sold out before until today."

"Wait, all the tickets are sold out?"

"Yes, all of them," he watched as Ballora received a standing ovation from the crowd as she took a bow, "she's amazing."

"She really is."

"Now then," Latzius picked up a box and handed it to Rachel, "we gotta move these props to The Actual Circus."

"The Actual Circus..?"

"Just Elly things. She named it," Latzius informed, letting out a grunt as he picked up the second box.

📦

"So...Latzius, how long have you been here for?" Rachel eyed some of the staff, running around carrying clipboards and some refreshments.

"I've been here for the longest time! I was actually the very first person who joined this place. In fact, I was the one who made the flyers for the advertisements and all. It just started with an idea and a dream, but I'm glad that this place has begun to bloom."

"Wow, that's so impressive! And I assume you're in charge of the...online sales and all of that too?"

"Indeed. It can get a little bit hectic while I'm also juggling the job of ensuring that the security here is top-notch, but I was able to convince some of my friends to join the crew to touch things down a bit."

"Cool! By the way, do you know how...exactly this place came to be?"

"I know just about everything," the duo took a left turn and entered a door with the labelled 'Staff Only.' "From what I've heard, the old couple used to have a daughter who loved the circus, and she even wanted to run her own one day, but unfortunately, she passed away at a very young age, so the couple made this place in her memory."

"Oh my..." Rachel mumbled, turning her head away, "my condolences to them, poor girl..."

"Yeah," Latzius sighed.

They then reached an empty corner and placed the boxes down. From the door next to them, they could hear the muffled sounds of music playing and children squealing and running about.

Today was sure a busy day.

"So if Elly has her own show and all, does Ennard help her out?" Rachel peeked through the small window, trying to eye the children inside.

Latzius told her, "It depends on his schedule, really. The days when he has no show, he helps her out. Otherwise, one of the staff members then supervise and assist her."

Walking out of the door, a middle-aged woman approached the duo, "Hello! Do you happen to know where the bathrooms are?"

"Bathrooms are in the hall towards the left," Latzius extended his arm towards the said direction.

"Thank you very much!" she then quickly rushed off, disappearing.

Rachel watched as the woman disappeared off into the hallway, another question popping in her mind. "Ooh, Latzius. I wanted to ask you this: do you not perform alongside the others at all?"

Latzius gave a low chuckle, "Ah, that," he tapped a finger on his chin, "because I'm in charge of the more...digital side of things, I don't have much of an occupation in this circus act, but! I can assure you that there's a bit of magic in everything I do."

Rachel tilted her head to the side, "Magic?"

"Yes," Latzius smiled, "magic."

Joel's Ring

"I gotta say, the names of the rooms are pretty creative."

Rachel entered through the door, captivated by the room's appearance. Its ceiling was covered by a proper circus tent, supported by some beams which held it up. Peering down the rail, she spotted two stages placed at a distance from each other, touching the walls. There were two tall beams connected to each other by a piece of rope.

The tightrope walk.

Static came through the speakers and a voice spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to another fantastic afternoon where our performers will stun you with their mind-blowing abilities!"

The bright spotlight then moved the stage in front of the guests.

"Please welcome to the stage...FUNTIIIIME FOXY!"

A cloud of hot pink appeared and there stood Funtime Foxy, having magically appeared on stage. He waved at the audience with a big smile, earning an uproar of numerous girls screaming and cheering.
The star of the show wore a sparkly black-sequined jumpsuit (with flared ends) marked with white lining on its lapel. His hair was tied into a bun, his fangs and makeup gleaming underneath the silver light. He looked ethereal.

Dang...everybody sure looks amazing. Rachel gripped the railing, carefully observing the scene beneath her. Meanwhile, Zorro, Enziel and Elly came through and stood beside the duo.

"Hey, guys! We made it on time for once!" Elly exclaimed in a tone audible to his friends.

"Yeah, we couldn't miss the show or our beloved drama king over there would've thrown a tantrum," Enziel snickered.

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Zorro's eyes twinkled, his smile bursting with energy.

"Hey, look, there's Mama!" Elly pointed at one of the towers.

There she was, in her flexible acrobatic fit. She spotted the others from a distance and waved at them with a smile.

"Our first act of the night is a fan favourite: The Tightrope Walk! Let's give it up to our star: BALLORA!" Funtime Foxy announced and the white spotlight landed on the ballerina who waved at the cheering crowd.

This was going to be one memorable night.