Yesenia walked down the hall, exiting the main tent and heading over to the snacks tent. She's checked how almost everyone is doing; everyone except the Latifo's. The entire Circela has been able to afford more things lately thanks to them, selling baked goods and all. Yesenia's jaw tightened as guilt began to cling to her head like a parasite. She still has no idea how to repay them both for their help; maybe giving them better food to eat?

"No, what the hell, we eat magical good food made fresh outta heaven almost everyday," Yesenia thought, shaking her head.

A gift? What kind of gift; a place to stay? "Fuck, all the options are out," she mumbled, frustrated and angry at herself. And before she knew it, Yesenia was standing right outside the Snacks Tent. She straightened her posture and pulled at her collar. Why was she suddenly so scared to see them?

Yesenia inhaled, pulled open the curtain and...

Found Ava talking to someone with a slight glimmer in her eyes.

Who was this?

What is it that he did to make her... her?

Yesenia swallowed as they both turned and noticed her. The glimmer in Ava's eyes immediately disappeared the moment she presented herself.

That upsetted Yesenia.

But nevertheless, she went with what she had to do.

"You guys ready for the next round?" Yesenia asked, awkward and embarrassed. The ginger boy stared at her with his lime green eyes, his apricot tinted glasses shining under the light coming from the lamps and displays of the tent. "Oh, hey Yan Yan!" Caster exclaimed, popping out from underneath the counter and holding a tray of freshly baked cookies. The aroma filled the room, its sweet scent calming Yesenia slightly.

"Don't call me Yan Yan," Yesenia replied hastily. "And are you ready for the next wave? The next show is about to start in 30 minutes."

"Ooh, you guys are gonna start soon? I thought that I missed a show!" the boy said, his voice gentle and sweet, yet excited. "Ah yeah, wanna come and watch?" Yesenia asked, feeling slightly intrigued and amused. "Yeah! And oh, my apologies, where are my manners!" the boy said, getting slightly flustered.

And here Yesenia was, thinking she was being awkward.

"My name's Elliot, Elliot Chesk. You must be Yesenia the Ringmistress that Lavandula was talking about!" Elliot reached his hand out and Yesenia took it, gently shaking it.

His skin was as soft as cotton; white as milk. Yesenia withdrew her hand with slight embarrassment as her hands have always been as rough as rock since her parents died.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Say Ava, is this your friend or something?"

Ava looked up at her with her one empty grey eye. "He was my classmate in highschool," she said blankly. Yesenia's smile faltered, before turning her attention back at Elliot. "Cool. Cool uh-"

"Alright!" Caster disturbed, rising up from the counter once again, with a tray full of fresh cupcakes. He gently slammed the tray onto the counter and wiped his forehead, which was beaded with sweat. "I'm ready if you are, Bossman!" he exclaimed, giving his 10/10 smile and a thumbs up. Yesenia smiled at him and nodded at him. "Yeah, I gotta go. See y'all later."

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

Suyong was found snuggling in a dark corner and they flinched when Yesenia walked by them. They looked at her with concern as she was looking down at the floor with a mixed expression. "Nervous?" Yong asked his sister, unattaching himself from Sun. Yesenia looked up in surprise. "O-oh, hey guys. And nah, I'm fine. Totally," Yesenia said, before walking away hastily. Was she jealous? She was. She couldn't really understand how Elliot could bring back the child in Ava. Even just for a second, and her eyes were back to being black and gleaming. Why? How did he do it? Why is it that the both of them didn't know each other well yet they can get along well, but when it comes to her and the rest....

Yesenia shook her head. It's just been a year. They only know each other for a year. If Eli and Ava knew each other since school, they must've been friends for more than that.

A roar echoed through the halls, disturbing Yesenia's thoughts. She ran towards the back of the stage and found Rosemary tending to Liger.

Blood was leaking out of the back of her tail, and Rosemary bit her lip in pain as Liger forced her palm to the ground. She looked up as Yesenia appeared with loud heelsteps, and she exclaimed in relief.

"Cancel the show, call the others! It's time!"

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

As members were beginning to enter backstage, Yesenia ran the opposite way, occasionally stopping and shouting orders at the others to help Rosemary or shoo the audience away.

"EVERYBODY OUT, OUR LIGER IS CURRENTLY IN LABOR AND OUR SHOW IS CANCELLED! OFF YOU GO, SHOO!" Yesenia yelled, her face as red as a tomato and her steps as loud as ever. "What's going on, what's happening?" Caster said, running in with Ava and Eli at his tail. "Liger's about to become a mom- I need help- I-" Yesenia said, panicking as she watched only a few of the audience leave. "HEY!" she yelled, her throat sore as ever. The Latifolia's and Elliot jumped back, startled by her volume and anger. The audience finally paid attention to her, and they turned towards her, their expressions confused. "GET OUT, PLEASE! OUR LIGER IS CURRENTLY IN PAIN GIVING BIRTH, SO WOULD YOU MIND LEAVING? THE SHOW'S CANCELLED ANYWAY."

The crowd gave out a few "dawhs" and "boos" before exiting the tent. Once the seats were all empty, Yesenia turned her back towards the entrance and began to march hastily back. "A-am I still supposed to be here?" Elliot asked. "JJ!" she yelled, ignoring Elliot. JJ flew up towards her and she heard Elliot yelp in surprise. "Yes ma'am?" he said, also surprised to see himself summoned in front of a human. "Seal the entrances of the tents. All of them. Put up signs saying the show's cancelled due to an emergency. Make sure no one gets in, and if there are intruders they aren't allowed to get out, understood?"

JJ nodded, still staring at Elliot. He then disappeared from sight and Yesenia continued to make her way towards backstage. "Liger's giving birth already?" Caster said, following her. Yesenia began to undress, taking off her jacket and untucking her inner shirt. "Yeah, I assume we all heard that roar from backstage, didn't we?" she said as she took her hat off and threw it behind her back, making it disappear into thin air. She thrust her hand up in the air, a maroon cane in her grip. "What do you need that for?" Caster asked, pulling Ava along with him. "To cut the cords."

"How are you gonna cut the cords with a wooden cane?" Elliot asked.

"You'll see," Yesenia sighed.

They were close to reaching backstage when Yesenia finally came to her senses and realised the amount of magic she exposed towards Elliot.

"Well shit," Yesenia sighed. She stopped, causing the three people behind her to bump into her. She turned around and ran her hand through her dark, curly hair. "Elliot," she said, taking deep breaths and sighing as she went. He looked at her, his hand tightly wrapped around the handle of his bag as if clinging on to it would save his life. "Promise me- no, promise Ava-" she breathed, patting Ava on the shoulder. "Promise her that you won't leak out whatever you saw happen in the circus just now. Not me, summoning our circus ghost; not me, making my hat disappear; and not me, making a cane out of thin air," she closed up on him, their faces nose to nose. "Understood?"

Elliot looked like he was about to faint, when Ava put her hand on his shoulder and he calmed down. He nodded obediently, and the four of them went in.

The scene was despicably nightmarish. Blood stained the floor as Liger continued to roar in pain. Rosemary was switching from being another liger to a lion to a tiger to a wolf; but no matter how hard she tried, she was never able to pry her hand away from Liger's grip. Yesenia watched in panic as Dem, Yong, Sun, Leirence, Albie and Naora tried to pull Rose from Liger.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Liger was never going to let go until her 5 cubs were born.

"That ain't happening anytime soon," Yesenia mumbled. She hurried over to Kanye and Fortuna, their eyes wide with slight horror and trauma. "Has at least one baby been born yet?" she questioned them. Fortuna tore her eyes from Liger's genitals and rubbed them. "N-no. The head isn't even completely out yet," she said, looking back at Liger. Yesenia pinched her nose bridge before watching in surprise as Elliot adjusted his glasses calmly and approached Liger. "Fascinating... so you guys actually do have a real liger!" he said, kneeling before Liger calmly. Yesenia watched in surprise as he positioned himself in front of Liger's genitals and began to rummage through his bag, taking out a pair of scissors and some tissue.

"Woah woah woah what are you doing," Yesenia said straightforwardly, carefully making her way towards Elliot and also avoiding drowning her boots in blood. "I'm gonna be helping your liger deliver her children," Elliot said calmly. "Do you have gloves by the way?" Yesenia summoned a pair of white gloves at the sound of a snap and Elliot took them from her, wearing them and flexing his fingers.

"Uhm, a-are you sure what you're doing?" Yesenia asked, her tail now flicking around and leaving heavy slash marks on the surface of the floor. Elliot looked at her calmly and smiled. Even the neon in his eyes seemed to have dimmed a little. "I've helped my pet dog deliver pups before so, yeah, I know what to do."

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

Yesenia didn't really know how long it took and what time it was, but all she knew was that it was night, and that almost everyone was starving; everyone but her.

Caster and some of the members offered to help get food or cook, but Yesenia refused, for all she knew was that eating during a labor was rude, gross and disgusting as you are also keeping watch of the newborns and the genitals of the patient; she was watching the genitals with some of the members and she was currently in pain with an empty stomach but with a brain that was making her lose her appetite.

Liger has so far birthed 3 cubs and Demo was trying to clean them as gently as he can whilst Rosemary was still, and unfortunately, stuck being under Liger's strong grip.

Her armpits were sore from all the pulling and tugging of the member's attempts to get her away from Liger and she has been stuck in a weird yet painful posture for who knows how long.

Yesenia wasn't entirely sure which one of her friends looked more on the verge of death: Rosemary or Liger.

Rosemary kept moaning and grunting complaints of wanting Liger to let her off the hook, but apparently Liger wanted company.

"But she has a shit ton of company around her-?" Copper questioned. "Oh, I don't know! She wants me by her side throughout the whole process," Rosemary said, translucent green tears and sweat staining her face.

"Well I want you by my side..."

"Whady'ou say?"

"NOTHING!"

"UGH! This is taking forever!" Nickel moaned, rubbing his eyes. Liger let out a roar and Rose looked at Nickel with a slight malevolent look.

"She said, 'why not try giving birth yourself?'"

Nickel blinked and swallowed, returning to a corner.

Yesenia cracked her knuckles and got up from her tail, which was curled into a spiral stool. "JJ!"

JJ poofed into existence, a glowing ring of light surrounding his head. His eyes were a light shade of red, and Dex was growling. "How's Liger doing?" he asked, his voice inconsistent. Yesenia yawned and flapped her wings, her horns melting slowly around her head and her halo on JJ's head. "Three cubs have been born but two are still struggling. Eli's trying his best to deliver the cubs as safely as possible.

"Anyways, any intruders here? I'd like to punch some people-"

"Can I come along?" said a chorus of voices. Yesenia's eyes widened in surprise and found the juniors gathered around her, their eyes wide with excitement.

"Unfortunately for you all, no, no there doesn't seem to be any intruders around," JJ said, Dex letting out a bark. He stroked Dex and the Juniors slumped, their excitement gone.

Yesenia once again looked around the backstage. Liger's cage was lying open, and here she was on a weave of soft, golden vines, giving birth. Albie's arms and legs were partially rose gold; Rose was still in an uncomfortably weird position; Elliot was still playing doctor here and Ava was being a very fascinated nurse; Democratis was tending to the newborn cubs; some of the juniors were deciding on more creative names for each cub; the boys were all either staring at Liger, her swollen belly or playing cards which were levitating all due to Fortuna's desperation to not wanting to watch; and the rest were staring up in the ceiling or playing with their own powers.

At this point Yesenia's eyes were immune to blood and her stomach was killing her, so she decided to head out for food.

"Anyone hungry? I'm in the mood to get food," Yesenia asked, tucking her shirt in and taking off her gloves. Copper and Kanye were the first to spring up from their seats, and after that they were followed in by Caster, Yong, Lorelei, and Leirence.

"Soooo whaddya guys wanna eat?" Yesenia asked.

"I want fast food," Albie said, skin surfacing on her patches of gold at the speed of a snail. "I agree, I want fries!" Kanye piped up.

"Alright then, fast food it is. From where tho?"

"MCDONALDS!" Everyone cried in unison. Yesenia smiled and shrunk her wings, a warm feeling of love burning through her chest. "Right then, may I get your orders?"

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

After paying the cashier the gang exited the restaurant, holding giant bags of steaming aromatic food. Yesenia watched as Caster led the way, happily chatting about with Sun. The guilt she felt this early afternoon returned, and she lowered her head as she continued to plan how she could repay him.

"Perhaps a nice birthday gift could pay him?" she thought.

"But what gift..."

Yong approached his sister, carefully adjusting his grip on the bags he was holding.

"Hey," she looked at him, slightly alarmed.

"O-oh. Hey."

Yong inspected his sister. Her hair was slightly wet; eyes were as black as ever...

"Is... something on your mind?"

Yesenia looked at her brother and smiled. If she could, she would've run her hand through his fluffy porcupine hair. "It's fine, brother. I-I'm fine."

They continued to trudge through the dry roads of the city, their shoes knocking on the floors.

"I'm not a kid anymore, y'know," Yong said gently. Yesenia continued to stare straightforwardly and sighed, exhaling a gust of light steam. "I guess not, huh."

"Tell me about it. You looked as disturbed as you were earlier."

"Am aware of that."

"Seen weird stuff? Had a fight with pops?"

"Not like that."

"Then... what?"

Yesenia breathed heavily, with Lorelei and Leirence at her tail. They were listening in on her conversation intently, curious to know what was bothering their friend.

"I've been... feeling guilty," Yesenia said, sighing.

"What for?" Lori said, making the Yong siblings jump.

"Lori!" Leirence exclaimed. "No, i-it's fine, Lei," Yesenia said.

"What's all the ruckus here?"

The small group turned to find Caster, the Paris siblings and Copper looking back at them in curiosity. "What's going on?" Kanye added. Yesenia smiled and raised her arms in protest. "Nothing's going on guys, it's alright."

The other group looked at them and then looked at each other with pure suspicion. "Well... if you say so," Sun said.

They began to journey back to the circus. As they did so, Yesenia and Yong slowed, and once out of earshot, they resumed their discussion.

"Caster's been helping us a lot, and so has Ava but you see, I can't pay them back. All the options are taken out. I've already given them a place to stay, I've already fed them well- You get the idea," Yesenia rambled, slightly shaking the bags of McDonalds in her hands. "You know that you don't always have to pay people back for their good deeds to you, right?" Leirence stated.

"That's... not how me and my sister were raised to become, Leirence," Yong explained. "We were taught that it's an ungrateful and selfish act towards the kind."

"That is... true."

"Perhaps we can bring them on a shopping spree? Get them some better clothes or something? Their fashion sense is kinda wack (no offense)," Lori suggested. Yesenia's eyes lit up the moment the idea was implied. "Hey, that's actually a great idea! Thanks Lori!" And as if she had important errands to attend to, Yesenia ran off excitedly towards the circus.

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

By the time everyone returned to the circus, it was almost the devil's hour, and Liger was finally a mother of 5; Rosemary was free from her grip; everyone had McDonalds.

The 5 cubs all laid beside their mother, all 6 of them resting. Dem and the others that stayed behind had already cleaned and washed, so the place was as clean as before.

The members decided to leave the mother and cubs in peace, and decided to eat outside and around the stage, just like the good old days.

As they passed their food around, Elliot began to ramble aloud about his curfew. "Ohh, my parents are so gonna kill me! I'm not usually late to go home, they won't even believe me if I told them I was helping to deliver liger babies!" He nervously opened up the wrapper and took a small bite out of his fillet burger. "And they're also going to ground me for eating fast food!"

"You'll be fine, Eli. If you just enter quietly enough..." Caster said, his mouth full with fries. Ava took a small bite out of her burger, her eyes closing to savour the rich flavours of the combination. "Don't provoke him, brother. And it's not useful anyway." Caster pouted and went back to eating his food.

Yesenia took the weak attention span and seated herself next to Elliot, slowly unwrapping her burger and staring at the cheese stuck to the wrapper. "Hey uh, thanks for helping our liger. We never really expected what to do when this day came," she said, the guilt in her heart weighing a few more pounds. Elliot ate and looked at her, his eyes full of warmth and kindness. He swallowed and made eye contact with Yesenia. "I suppose it was a pleasure to help. It was also by far the most interesting thing I've done; your Liger gave birth to three healthy girls and two healthy boys," he said, pleased with himself. Yesenia smiled and scraped the cheese off her wrapper carefully. "That's good, that's good."

"Yeah, but do you happen to know who the father is?"

"Thinking about it.... No, we never really knew who mated with Liger. But why do you ask?"

"Well," Elliot said, taking a french fry and inspecting it as if it were a new specimen yet to be discovered. "One of the girls I think -- she came out glowing golden."

"What-?"

"And then another came out as a Silver Tiger, but the colour only lasted for a good few seconds."

"Wait-"

"And then the rest were Bronze liger cubs, but like the first and second the colour only lasted a good few seconds."

Yesenia stared at Elliot, dumbfounded. She was also quite stunned, for she expected normal cubs and not magical ones. "S-so you're saying that-

"That the dad could be some magical lion or tiger?"

"Or liger."

"B-but how is it possible, my ancestors would've educated me on the creatures of the heavens!"
"You can talk to your ancestors?"

"I don't believe it, Liger mating with some godly animal-?"

"Maybe you should calm down first and eat," Ava said quietly, scrunching up her wrapper and putting it aside. Yesenia looked down and realised that she only took a bite out of her burger and never again; the others were finished, some were packing up and some were listening intently on their conversation. Yesenia hastily ate her burger and fries as silence began to fill up in the circus.

She also realised that she hasn't taken her halo back from JJ.

"I suppose you should try and find out who your liger mated with, the father could come from anywhere in the city because Democratis told me that you don't let your Liger go to many places."

"But that's honestly not the big problem.

"The big problem is that who knows what powers these cubs will possess? And gold, silver and bronze cubs? They could be demigod cubs, what if they can make shit explode or destroy the three main cities of Ameritain?"

"First off, language! And second, you said that you take so-called lessons with your, er, ancestors, correct?"

Yesenia nodded, taking another big mouthful of burger. "Then ask them if they are aware of such creatures. Even I'm fascinated by such things. I'm not even the type that goes into myths and legends."

"Heh, welcome to the club buddy," Caster said, joining them.

Yesenia stuffed the remains of her burger and finished off with a fistful of fries, before wiping her mouth and hands with watery mist (Ava and Eli starred with interest). She then stood up and waved her hand, and the remaining trash was cleared. She then looked at Elliot gratefully, her eyes slightly watery and her hair messy as ever. "Oh, how can I ever repay you for your help?"

Elliot smiled warmly at her. "It's okay, you don't have to!"

"No no, I insist. Really."

Elliot looked at Ava for a bit and looked back at Yesenia with a slightly goofy grin. "No, really, it's fine, Yesenia. I like to help people. That's my thing."

The amount of guilt in Yesenia could just explode right now. "W-well... I'll just offer you something." Elliot raised his eyebrows. "Offer?"

"Yeah, you can come to our circus at any time of day, a-as a VIP."

Elliot's eyes shone with excitement and joy. "Really?"

"Yeah! Your tickets can be fre-"

"Nope. Pay up," Yong said, reaching out his hand and making a gesture to ask Eli to hand him cash. Yesenia gave him a huge smack and smiled at Elliot. "Your... tickets! Are free... you still gotta pay for snacks though."

Elliot chuckled and Yesenia caught Ava's eyes shimmering again. "Thanks I guess. Anyways..." He raised his wrist and looked through the display of a tiny, leather watch; it's glass tinted ginger. "I gotta go! My parents will suspect me if I wake up late tomorrow!" He got up, zipped up his bag and ran out of the circus.

"Welp, time to head home," Yesenia said, raising her arm and watching as her halo zoomed back to her hand like a boomerang.