Controlled fires light up the inside of the tent. Three big circles are arranged to hold the upcoming acts. Benches on elevated platforms are packed to the ends. A man dressed in full red with shiny gold pins steps in the middle circle.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our show! If you have never seen us before, make some noise!", the ringmaster speaks with a booming voice.

The tent erupts with loud cheers.

"Wow! We have a lot of first timers with us! You are all in for a treat! Please welcome our first act: our nimble tightrope acrobats!", he points upwards.

There's a man on one side and a woman on the other on the second highest platforms. The man and the woman nod to each other as their signal to start. They start walking on the tightropes.

Echo, Helena, and Taki are in awe as they walk confidently on the thin cables. The blue matching partners forward flip over to their opposite sides and keep walking as if nothing happened. The crowd applauds their work. The acrobats make it to their sides to begin the next routine. They climb the highest platforms on their respective sides.

"How is my lovely Echo?", Narcissus asks.

"It's so much fun!"

"Did you know that I can do all of that stuff, plus more?", he brags.

Her head tilts. "Really?"

"I can show you how to do it if you like."

"I would like that." Her stomach grumbles. "Sorry about that. I'm going to get some food and be right back."

He grabs her by the wrist. "Echo, my darling, don't leave your seat. I don't want you to miss the entertainment I paid for."

Echo doesn't want to argue with him and sits back down.  "Okay."

The black-haired friend who complimented her dress taps her on the shoulder. She turns and sees two wrapped meat pies by her side.

"Look at that, Narcissus!"

Echo takes this chance to scarf down the small meat pies.

"Nothing is happening. What are you pointing at, Michaelis?", the demigod is annoyed.

"My fault! My eyes aren't so good", he bluffs.

She wipes the crumbs off her face with her arm and cheers for the acrobats.

The male acrobat grabs a metal bar attached to the top of the tent and he raises his arm to the crowd for them to cheer.

"What's he going to do?", Helena asks Taki.

"We'll see!"

The acrobat steps backwards and runs off of the platform, using the momentum to swing. Halfway through, the woman throws him the next bar.....

and he jumps to grab the bar successfully to swing over to the woman. The crowd applauds.

The woman takes the swing and runs off the platform. She jumps with a forward flip, catching the bar with her hands. The momentum carries her to the other side along with the applause. The acrobats clap at the crowd to hype up their final act. Everyone, except for Narcissus, joins in.

The man runs with the swing off his platform and he flips with his strong legs hanging onto the bar with his arms outstretched. The woman swings over. She flips midway. The crowd holds their breath. 

The guy catches her before swinging back. The crowd cheers and Helena is relieved as the couple make it back safely. They wave their hands and bow before leaving.

"Whooo!", Helena cheers.

"Amazing!", Taki yells.

"So cool!"

"Great job!", Artemis claps.

"Onto our next act! You may have seen jugglers before, but not like this! Watch them as they juggle sharp swords that can cut a man in two!", the ringmaster announces.

Three jugglers come out with swords. They start juggling two swords and they start throwing them higher and faster. Two of the jugglers look at each other and throw one sword each at the other person. The jugglers catch their swords and keep juggling without breaking the rhythm. Then the three of them throw swords and juggle continuously.

Helena whistles to Taki's surprise.

"Wow! You are so cool!"

"Can you do that too?"

"Nope! Whistle for the both of us!"

Helena gives him a warm smile before whistling again.

Something brings his attention back to the stage. Fire. The jugglers juggle the flaming blades between each other. The crowd cheers them on as they continue.

They finish their act by throwing the flaming swords up into the air.....the blades plunge into the center of the circle. The trio finishes with a bow to thunderous applause. The ringmaster returns while clapping.

"Bravo indeed! Onto our next act. You all know of the strongest man in the world, Heracles and the impossible tasks he completed with his mighty strength! Prepare to witness similar and almost impossible strength! Please welcome, Thebes' own, Prince Iphicles!"

Takashi and the others are surprised to hear that. A lively tune is playing as Iphicles runs out and waves to the crowd. People from his gym cheer for their coach. In a guarded section for royalty, a pair of twin boys are seen with their mother. 

"You got this, father!

Show them all!"

His wife blows him a kiss. The prince of Thebes smiles as he waves to his family.

"Coach! Show them what you can do!", Taki yells.

Iphicles recognizes Takashi and gives him a thumbs up.

"Come on, Iphicles!", Echo gets fired up.

Narcissus grasps her hand. "Echo, please save your voice. Don't want it to go out too soon."

His "friends" know what he actually means. Michaelis tries to say something, but fears what he could do to them. His friend lays a hand on his shoulder to let him know he feels the same way.

"Okay", she almost quiets down.

"I just want your lovely voice to remain."

His "sweet talk" makes her nod in agreement.

"When it comes to lifting, Iphicles is the most serious about it when he's training his clients. The Prince of Thebes shall now demonstrate a few tests of power and strength", the ringmaster continues.

A group rolls out some barrels and a high bar for the act.

"These are not just ordinary barrels!"

Each barrel displays a different weight: 12kg, 20kg, 50kg, 100kg, and 120kg.

"Iphicles will lift up each barrel and throw them over the high bar. He needs your help to motivate him through. He says he can do it within 1 minute!"

The rest of the crowd is astonished, but his gym goers yell out.

"Don't let us down, coach!

It's light work for him. He can do it!"

The ringmaster brings out a small hourglass. "Ready! Get set! Go!"

As soon as the ringmaster flips it, Iphicles launches the 12 kg barrel over the bar with ease. The object lands with a light thud followed by the 20 kg barrel.

The crowd cheers for Iphicles.

Iphicles successfully throws the 3rd barrel without an issue. There's still plenty of time left for him to finish.

The 100kg barrel gives him some tension, but he throws it over before prepping himself for the final one. With the 120kg barrel, he takes his time getting a good grip. With one motion, he powers it up and over his shoulder with all his veins striking about. With a heavy grunt, he launches it.....

Clink! The barrel makes slight contact with the bar, but it passes over before the timer runs out. 

"Iphicles has done it!"

The crowd and his family cheer for him.

"That's our father!"

"Love you, honey!"

"Thank you, all of Thebes! You are my greatest crowd!", the prince bows.

"Such a waste", Narcissus says under his breath.

"What?", the nymph questions.

"He didn't struggle at all with the last one. He could have done it without making a big deal out of it", he tries to cover what he meant.

"That's true, but safety is what he always teaches to everyone."

"Echo, I know what I'm talking about and I don't even need........Sorry about that. You're right. I can't be saying things if I never did it before."

"It's okay. Maybe we can do a session together."

"The session I want to do with you is more personal and private", he seductively tells her.

Echo's crown of flowers bloom larger from blushing.

"But that will come after I reach my goal and after our marriage."

"Marriage?!", she almost screams with happiness.

"You're worth it, my lovely Echo."

Echo clings to his arm.

Just have to drag this out a little bit longer, the vain demigod thinks.

"For his next feat, Iphicles has come to set a new record for lifters everywhere! Witness him lift the heaviest dumbbell in the world!"

Three men come out pushing a cart that has a dumbbell on it. They strain a little bit, but they stop in place. They work together to lift the cart up and the dumbbell rolls.

Heavy thud!

"This is no ordinary dumbbell. This dumbbell weighs 191 kilograms!"

Taki does the math in his head. Almost 420 pounds?!

"No man besides Heracles has been able to lift this successfully, but Iphicles is no normal man! All of his gym goers can attest to his raw strength and power!"

Everyone who lifts at his gym cheers him on as he takes the upper part of his singlet to reveal his upper body muscles. He flexes his muscles as he walks to the dumbbell.

"Cheer him on as he attempts this monstrous feat!"

"Iph-i-cles! Iph-i-cles! Iph-i-cles!", the entire crowd chants.

He crouches down to a staggered stance with one hand on the dumbbell and adjusts his grip properly.

"Thebes, are you ready?!", he yells. The crowd screams.

Iphicles flexes his entire body. Veins strike across his body to lift the heaviest dumbbell in the world. He breathes out and he amazingly powers the dumbbell off the ground and has it at shoulder height. He yells out and powers it up above his head, before dropping it in front of him.

The crowd cheers in amazement.

"That's my coach!", Taki cheers.

Echo goes to yell but remembers what Narcissus had said. She keeps quiet.

Iphicles flexes and poses.

"That's my husband!", his wife proudly yells.

"Incredible! Iphicles just started a new world record! Is there no one who can outperform this man?! Right now, we will have an intermission break. Please come back within 10 minutes so you don't miss the next performance!"

Most of the crowd leaves to get some food and refreshments.

"This is such a great show. I love every minute of it", Helena mentions.

"All of them are amazing", Artemis adds.

Iphicles comes to the group.

"Coach, you were great out there! I didn't know you were going to be an act."

"The ringmaster asked me to be part of the show since their strongman was sick. It brings good publicity to my gym. Plus, I got a good second workout out of it."

"That was your second workout?", Helena asks.

"Yes it was and I'm going to rest tomorrow. That dumbbell was no joke. It took all of my muscles working together not to pull anything."

"I knew you could do it, coach."

"Appreciate that, Takashi. Do you feel better now?"

"Maybe a break was what I needed, but I will be at your gym tomorrow to kick it into high gear."

"As expected. Right now, I'm going to relax with my family. See you tomorrow!"

He goes to the guarded section and embraces his waiting family. His wife whispers in his ear while placing his hand on her belly. His eyes turned eager to make that request happen. He and his family leave with the guards.

"Mom, I have a gift for you", Helena tells Artemis.

"You do?"

Helena gives her the stag plushie. The goddess gives it a tender touch.

"Do you like it?"

"Thank you, my child", the goddess hugs her.

Helena hugs her back.

"It doesn't hurt as much to see this now. Is this a good sign?", Artemis clutches the plushie to her heart.

"It is", Taki assures.

"This is one of the best gifts you have ever given me. Thank you......I wonder how Echo's date is going", she looks around to find her on the other side.

Echo sees them and waves happily. Helena waves back.

"Looks like she's having fun. That's good."

"It really is."

The goddess doesn't use her hearing to respect her friend's privacy.

"Since it's intermission, I'm going to get some food. Be right back", the nymph tells Narcissus.

"Okay. Take your time."

Echo walks away and Narcissus whispers something to his friends. His friends are shocked by what he's asking them to do....

Echo munches on a pretzel and finds his friends are sitting on both sides of him. "Excuse me. May I be next to him, please?"

His friends don't respond to her because of a threat Narcissus had told them. Michaelis taps an open spot right behind Narcissus and she reluctantly takes it.

"I'm sorry, Echo. I'm not feeling well. Must have been something I ate", while not looking back at her.

"I'm sorry. Would you like some herbs to take care of that?", she asks with concern.

"I already had some. I just don't want you to get sick."

"I pray you feel better, my love."

"Your words are already helping."

He hides his scowl from saying things he would never actually say to a person.

The ringmaster returns.

"Ladies and gentlemen! You have seen our nimble acrobats amaze you with their tricks; our professional fire sword jugglers; and the amazing Iphicles complete feats of strength! For our final act, you shall witness a man who has control over the creatures of nature. Please give a warm welcome to our lion tamer and animal specialist!"

The lion tamer walks out without a whip as a large lion in a cage is wheeled in by one of the workers. The lion walks around in the cage and growls. Inside the big circle are arranged hoops.

"There is nothing to fear! I have raised this lion since it was a cub and we are the best of friends."

He walks close to the cage and the lion looks like it's ready to pounce which worries everyone, except for Artemis.

"I will control that beast in case it gets worse", she whispers to Taki.

The lion tamer confidently opens the cage and the lion pounces on him. The crowd expected the beast to maul the man, but it instead nuzzles and licks him.

"Awww", Helena adores.

The man gets up after putting a hand on its nose. "His name is Alexios! He may be a big cat, but he's still a large kitten to me", he rubs his mane to the lion's joy. "Alexios, give them a big old roar!"

An almost thunderous roar that makes the audience jump. The lion tamer walks in front with a hand behind him at all times. The creature follows him onto a platform in front of arranged hoops.

The lion crouches low and leaps forward through the hoops. The crowd applauds. 

The tamer spreads his hands apart vertically. The lion opens its large mouth, displaying all of its sharp teeth. The tamer puts his head in the mouth and nothing happens. The crowd is astounded.

The tamer takes his head out and closes his hands. Alexios closes his jaw. The tamer raises both hands and the lion stands up on its hind legs. The tamer gets out a bucket of fish and tosses one at Alexios. The lion swallows it up like it's nothing. The tamer feeds him a few more times before getting him to jump through some hoops.

"He has a good relationship with Alexios. He respects the creature and it respects him back", the huntress whispers.

"Still, you are the real master of nature", Helena whispers back.

"That may be true. I will pull a Taki and cede my role just for tonight."

Taki laughs which makes Helena laugh until she snorts.

The lion tamer approaches Helena, Takashi, and Artemis with Alexios sitting behind him.

He looks at Helena. "Miss, would you like to participate in my act?"

Her lavender eyes widen. "What?"

"I ask for your participation in this act. Don't worry. I won't ask you to do something too dangerous."

"Go for it. It might be fun", Taki encourages.

"Sure. I accept."

"Splendid! What's your name?"

"Helena."

"Give it up for Helena!", the tamer yells to the crowd.

The crowd cheers for her. The tamer offers his hand and helps her over the barricade. "Don't worry. I will bring you back to your boyfriend when I'm done."

Helena blushes a deep red in silence. Taki didn't hear what he said because of the crowd, but Artemis caught it.

"What did he say?"

"It's nothing. Just that he will bring her back."

The tamer leads Helena close to Alexios and the lion is larger up close. She gets a little scared, but she hears some motivation from Artemis and Takashi.

"You can do it, Helena!" "You're braver than you know!"

This gives her the encouragement she needed to follow through.

"Have you ever ridden a lion before?", the tamer asks.

"No, I haven't. Wait. I'm going to ride Alexios?!"

"He's a gentle creature and won't go too fast while you're on him."

The tamer motions to the lion and he lies down on its stomach. Helena puts one leg over and is fully on the lion.

"For my next trick, Helena will ride Alexios through a hoop....that is on fire!"

The hoop was laid on fire as soon as he said it.

Echo, Taki and Artemis are caught off guard, but the goddess relaxes to Taki's surprise.

He thinks of why it could be........The flames must not be real.

Helena gets scared, but the tamer whispers to her the truth which calms her down.

He turns to the audience. "Helena needs your help! Chant her name and give her some motivation!"

"He-le-na! He-le-na! He-le-na!"

Echo joins in and Narcissus allows her to chant. The tamer raises his hand and Alexios gets up on all fours with Helena on top. The tamer's hand falls. Alexios runs towards the flaming hoop. Helena grabs onto his mane and body so she wouldn't fall off.

Alexios leaps through the hoop with Helena holding herself close to the lion's body. The lion lands on the other side and the crowd cheers.

"I'm proud of you!", Echo cheers.

"That's my child!", the huntress claims.

"Whoo!"

The tamer offers his hand and helps Helena off. They do a bow before she returns to her seat.

"You were so cool out there! I wish I was as brave as you are", Taki tells her.

"Thanks, Taki. I have a good support system for that."

"Would you do it again?"

"Yes, without the fire this time."

The tamer leads Alexios to his cage and closes it. He throws the rest of the fish into the cage for his friend to eat as he gets taken away.

"Another hand for Alexios!"

The crowd cheers loudly.

"Lions are not the only thing under my control. I have bears that can do an unusual trick. Their names are Astro and Basil!"

At that moment, Artemis crouches down to make herself even smaller. Taki wonders if hunting bears with Orion is causing this reaction. He gently pats her back.

Astro and Basil are brought to the stage and the big brown bears are larger than Alexios. Astro has a large birthmark of a star on his back to set the two apart. The crowd is wondering what kind of trick the bears are going to do.

Two large balls are thrown out near the bears. The tamer motions with his hands and the bears get ready.

"Astro and Basil are actually twin brothers and they have a favorite game", he releases them from their cages.

The tamer throws a ball at Astro. Astro throws the ball back at the tamer. The tamer then throws it to Basil who does the same thing.

The crowd was amazed by how well it was going. The bears seemed cute and less threatening while they played catch. The tamer throws a ball at Basil and Basil throws it to Astro this time and they pass the ball back and forth.

"So cute!", a woman exclaims.

The tamer motions with his hands again and the bears stop. The tamer throws the second ball into play and each of the bears instinctively climb on top and balance themselves perfectly on the balls. The bears then stand up on their hind legs and "travel" around the arena.

"Wow!", Helena's eyes got big.

The bears return to the tamer and hop off. He motions with his fingers at them. Astro and Basil get off the balls and face each other. They hold their paws together and begin "dancing" as music played. The crowd awes from the wholesome moment.

The deity of the hunt is still averting her gaze away from the bears.

The bears finish their "dance" and the tamer leads them back to their cages. He throws in some melons and the bears eat their fill while leaving.

The tamer bows in front of the clapping crowd. Helena whistles to show her appreciation.

The ringmaster comes back out. "Ladies and Gentlemen! That was our show for tonight, but we will have more for the next few nights so tell your friends and family! You were an excellent crowd!"

All of the performers come out and bow to the audience.

"Bravo! Bravo! Encore!", Echo claps.

"Encore would be for the end of a concert, not a circus", the vain demigod "corrects" her.

"Oh....Well, can we see them again? It was all amazing. I'm thankful that you were my date to this."

Narcissus holds her hand. "Unfortunately, I have some business to take care of. But how about we have lunch at noon tomorrow at the inn? I want to get to know you better."

She smiles. "I would like that."

Narcissus and his friends start leaving as Echo returns to her group.

"Did you have fun?", Helena embraces her.

"I sure did! We're going to have lunch tomorrow. He just wasn't feeling too well tonight." 

She hides the fact that he wanted to marry her as she wanted to keep that part to herself.

"I'm glad you're happy, Echo."

"Thank you, bestie! You were so brave out there. I'm so proud of you!", she turns to Helena.

"I was scared the whole time", she admits.

"Still, that was awesome."

They leave the tent to see if there's anything still open to do. They notice that the vendors of the game booths are closing up shop to prepare for the next day.

Helena spots a booth being run by an old lady with "Fortune Teller" on the sign. "Taki, do you want to try it out?"

He remembers his time with the Oracle.  "You go ahead. I will be right here when you're done."

Helena goes over to the booth and pays her the money. "Can you read my fortune?"

"Of course! Please sit and give me your palms."

Helena offers her palms to her and the old woman "reads" it.

"Hmmm. You are a woman with talent and bravery, but one thing is holding you back. Love."

She leans in. "Please tell me more."

They discuss while Artemis and Echo stay out of it. Helena returns to the group.

"How was it?", Taki asks.

She wags her finger at him. "Not going to tell you or else it won't come true."

"It must have been a good one then. This night left me tired. Let's get some sleep. I have a date tomorrow", the nymph's brown eyes twinkle with excitement.

Artemis sprinkles some love dust and the group returns to the camp. Helena goes straight to her tent to undress and sleep. She clutches the lion plushie that Takashi gave her before falling asleep.

I hope what the old woman says is true.

Artemis snuggles her stag plushie and dreams about Orion in Elysium. She imagines him hunting scores of animals to beat her record.

It would be good to see him again. But would he want to see me?, she wonders.

Taki goes straight to sleep and hopes that things will be better tomorrow.

Echo can't sleep a wink as she looks forward to her date. "Breathe, Echo. Breathe. It's just a date....with a man I love. Love? Oh, Gaia. I'm in trouble", she quietly laughs.

-------------

At the inn, Narcissus and his friends are retiring for the night.

"Did you have a good time, Narcissus?", Michaelis asks.

"I did."

His friends are surprised to hear that.

"That's good to hear. I just have a question for you. Why did you treat Echo like you did?", his voice trembles.

The vain demigod shoots a glare at him. "Are you questioning my love for her?"

"It-It's just that I read about how people fall in love and it didn't match with how you treated her."

Narcissus laughs at him. "I'm being lectured by an asexual who knows nothing about romantic love. A book is just one avenue, but I do love her."

Michaelis sees the corner of his lips smirk. An obvious tell he's lying. He musters some courage. "If you really love her, then this is not it. You should see how much she actually likes you. She cared when you were playing sick."

Narcissus nears his face. "Go on."

The red-haired man wants to step in, but he is too afraid of what the demigod can do to him.

"It's alright, Georgios. If you never treat anyone right, don't expect anyone to ever love you", he bluntly tells off Narcissus with a wavering voice.

Georgios' eyes widen in horror.

Narcissus steps back. ".......You're right. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to love. I need to do better when it comes to Echo. I will heed your advice and do better."

Michaelis doesn't see a subtle smirk on his face. "I just want you both to be happy in your relationship."

"I'm thankful that you are my friend. Sleep in tomorrow so I can talk with Echo by myself."

The duo leaves Narcissus to himself. Their footsteps get faint and their room door closes.

The demigod grips the edge of the table to the point it cracks. He hides his aura from being felt by anyone else. He takes a deep inhale and exhales.

"I would have killed him right there for that. Just need to keep up the ruse and he will get what's coming to him."

He pulls out a small statue of a peacock. He remembers the fisherman who bumped into him the other day. He apologized and offered a totem while already knowing the demigod's name. "Just call for her and she will help."

 "It's terrible that I need help, but this will have to do.....Goddess, Narcissus calls upon you for help."

The totem lights up. "Narcissus? This must be very special for you to call upon me for help. What's your request?"

A majestic woman's voice speaks out from the object.

"I heard that you have someone that you want to be rid of and I also have someone just like that. Why don't we work together?"

"You of all people want to work together? If you can guess which one it is, then I will be of help to you."

"Heracles."

The totem is silent........"Let's talk then. I will set up a plan in which we both get what we want without no one ever finding out."

"I already have something in mind, but it can't happen tomorrow because it will be too soon."

"Fine. What's your plan?"

He talks with the goddess about his idea with an ugly smile on his face.