In the airship, Hokori’s family stood unnerved by his shapeshifted disguise. It took some tries for him to get it right.

Eventually, his bones protruded into grotesque lumps around his body. His back became hunched, and his eyes and ears strayed further away. One longer leg maintained his janky walking cycle. He sounded more decrepit than the word itself.

Kenkō held back her vomit. Yukino huddled behind her mother. On the other hand, Kakunō could not hold back tears. “Hahahahahahaha! Oh my God, man. You look worse than any youkai I killed back home.” He laughed in the cockpit seat for five more minutes.

Hokori changed back into his original form and stood straight. “Thanks, fam.” He walked closer. “So… is my custom drip ready?”

“They sure are!” He pulled out clothes, sandals, and accessories via runes. “Trust me, man. I did tests with these. I assure you it’s not false advertising. You’ll never wear anything else again.”

He went inside one of the ship’s bathrooms. A confused Haruto stood on its doorstep. “I don’t understand. Each of your Charles Frederick costs a million Geld. The company’s currently under hot water.”

His chuckle echoed outside. “You’ll know once you see a bad guy shoot fireballs at me.” He came out with a confident smirk. “How do I look?”

Unlike his previous loose T-shirt and cargo shorts, his new attire had a different feel. His unbuttoned aloha shirt roared like fire—like his pupils. The maroon color scheme had fit his blood-red corneas perfectly. Yet, it showed colorful flowers.

“Check it out. It’s cooler at the back.” He turned around.

Haruto surprisingly got mesmerized. The back design screamed of the earthly tradition: Day of the Dead. He saw sword-wielding skeletons that freed doves with olive branches. A sacred heart lay at the center. The top parchment scroll read: Libre para matar, and the bottom one read: Libre para servir.

Even his bottom attire burst with emotion. The blue jeans had desert roses aligned at the sides, and tan sandals had “fortuna” and “desgracia” written on the buckles.

Haruto did get confused again. Hokori had bandages on his limbs and torso like a mummy. Because of the unbuttoned shirt, he could see a gray silhouette of a budded cross.

Hokori still had prayer bead anklets, bracelets, and a necklace. He wore a new pair of lensless circular shades, and he suddenly gave Haruto his black Cordovan hat. The front read “hermosa guerra” in bold red text.

He sighed with his eyes closed. “Sadly, boy… I gotta keep up with the act. I need someone here who can fuck my drip up. Brown and tattered is preferable. Believe me that I’ll do my bit religiously.”

“Oh, oh! I can. I can,” Tokino raised her hand. She cast an array around his attire. It now looked patched up and fit for serfdom with a hood.

To complete the disguise, Hokori changed back into his deformed look.

Fifteen minutes later, the family airship approached the traveling circus. The said Pegasus carriage parked outside their transport.

Haruto and Tokino disguised themselves as well. They wore black robes that would electrocute anyone that revealed their faces. They presented the chained Hokori in front. He walked with a hunch.

The leprechaun driver inspected him and cast some runes. He internally concluded his grotesque form was not because of magic. “Just come inside, fellas,” he pointed with a thumb. “Mr. Ficta always loves guests.”

The couple thanked him and went through the curtains. In the much more massive circus inside, the one and only ringmaster bowed with his hat off.

“Greetings, mister and misses.” He stood up. “If you’re wondering why I knew you two were, call it intuition.” He chuckled with closed eyes and mouth. “No need to present the freak you brought before me. We prepared accommodations. Behind bars.” He chuckled again and walked away.

Circus staff escorted Hokori to his designated cage alongside other deformed humans. They could not bear to hear his drooling voice. It echoed louder as they arrived at their destination. One bent a cage’s bars open via runes; none in the room had locks. They pushed him inside as he was sluggish.

After a hard day’s work, one stretched his back and yawned. “Any idea what that thing said to us? Gotta say he’s the ugliest so far.”

“Beats me…” the other shrugged. “All I could make out was ‘rock on my walls.’ Probably just freak drivel.” They had a hearty laugh sharing jokes on the table.

Ringmaster Dominus gave the hooded couple a briefcase. “Twenty million greens. I never mind paying my clients handsomely.”

They bowed in front and went outside the circus. The Pegasus carriage flew to the sky.

Haruto and Tokino pulled out their black robes. Inside the airship, their daughter’s eyes showed deep concern. “Is Uncle gonna fight by himself?” she looked up.

He patted her head. “Of course not, Yukino. Wherever he is, we’ll track him down.”

Kakunō concurred by showing Hokori’s coordinates on the cockpit’s holographic screen.

The Pegasus carriage landed in a small town near Novus. The crowd numbered fifteen thousand—not a slow day by any means.

Today’s main event was vampires, a race rarely seen. Their pale skin and icy blue eyes made the crowd sit in shock. Unlike fairy performers, the circus did not have them duel with UV flashlights. Instead, the giant fireflies brightened the stage to eleven. Now, the crowd sat in awe over their smooth complexion.

They performed summersaults and trapeze swinging. The crowd cheered loudly over their blinding coordination. However, as it went on, a boy’s vision turned hazy. He sweated bullets. He gasped for air. As his eyes closed, another luckily stopped his fall. The crowd cheered louder.

On a plank, she laid the sweating boy. “Are you alright?” She wiped his forehead dry.

He coughed and slowly opened his eyes. “Too bright… The lights are too bright, Sis. My skin’s on fire.” He grunted. “Ow….”

She wiped her sweat as well. “I know it is. But we gotta endure. The show must go on for us to have a home. Mr. Ficta needs us.”

Medics carried him inside the performers’ room. One offered an arm, but he shook his head in bed. “I’m not hungry. Thank you.” He smiled faintly.

The vampire sister’s eyes turned red briefly, seeing his pitiful state. However, she took some breaths and left the room. She stumbled upon the open clinic. A sylph performer vomited red on a sink; she lost all four wings—clipped.

She grunted multiple times like a hot knife twisting on her thigh. Vomiting was a less agonizing ordeal. Medics tried casting every array they knew to numb the pain. None prevailed. From afar, a young fairy walked closer. “Mom… Is Mom gonna be okay?” Tears welled up.

“Can’t say for certain, miss,” one shook her head. “Her wings are trying to grow back. Unlike your kind’s passive healing, cold iron makes them wingless forever.”

She gasped with both hands covering her mouth. She saw her mother’s new pair of wings burning and melting. For an hour, it had no end. She ran and bawled in a corner.

Suddenly, she felt a cold hand on her cheek. The vampire showed a warm smile nonetheless. “Here… My little brother baked it for you. We can’t eat such things.” She gave her a box of chocolate muffins. The sylph hugged her with tears and went away.

The sister stood up and went inside the mother’s room. She downed her third vodka to ease the pain in both ways.

She sat beside her and cleared her throat. “This can’t go on, Titania. Your people need you. You and your daughter can escape, unlike me.”

She put her bottle down and hiccupped. “The fuck are you on about, you oversized leech…?” Her droopy eyes narrowed. “It’s not like your bloodsucking empire wants you back.” She drank every drop. “‘Titania’ is nothing but a name. Just bullshit jingoism. They exiled their queen all because another was born.”

She flinched as the sylph threw the empty bottle onto a dresser. She sighed with her eyes closed. “I always thought nonhuman races were more understanding. Then again, I met demons before.” She held her shoulder. “Listen, Titania. I have a plan to get you both out. We can—” Outside the room, they heard the staff screaming and shouting. Before they knew it, one got thrown right through the wall.

They turned to the destroyed hole and saw the disguised Hokori thunderously roar. To think as even deformed, he showcased immense strength. The hallway outside got thrashed. Other staff grunted on the floor. He continued his crusade against more of them; he had the upper hand for five minutes. The sylph and vampire shielded their eyes with all the debris flying.

Another minute in, he hurled a member onto a group. It disrupted their runic casting. He roared again, this time in vigor. However, victory did not see him that day. The burliest of the staff stepped in. With runes on his fists, he pummeled him with ease. His forearms even broke. He howled in slurred agony and curled into a fetal position. As the man walked closer, he moved to a corner in the room.

“I am not an animal! I am a human being!” His voice was hard to make out.

“Hahahahahaha! No mercy for you, freak.” He concentrated magic on his right. He threw a straight punch faster than sound. However, something even quicker intervened. The vampire sister blocked his fist with a blood sword and slashed his torso. He staggered and walked back.

“Funny, isn’t it?” She dispelled the sword. “I bet you thought someone like me would never defend a human, huh?”

The tall man grinned. “Hahahahahaha! What’s it to you, leech? Freaks are freaks, no matter how you look at them! Don’t give me that ‘beauty on the inside’ speech.”

Her teeth clenched. She walked closer. “I don’t care about beauty, asshole! So what if this deformed man behind me isn’t a saint? He is every bit as human as you are. You can’t change that!” She placed her hand on her chest. “We are all children of the Gods. Remember that as you lay dy—”

The sylph’s eyes widened as she saw a stake lodged near her heart from afar. She turned to the culprit behind the tall man. He held a launcher and laughed. Eventually, they all did.

At that moment, her heart turned black. Her flawless lily-white visage failed to express her ugly rage. She stood and grasped the man’s face. Others gasped and backed away as a head rolled.

The air around them galed violently. What began as needles now felt like knives slicing their flesh. Before long, they felt dizzy and never opened their eyes again.

The sylph continued the deformed man’s crusade onto the hallway. Her kind screamed in fear, and other performers ran away. She only targeted the staff. However, it was short-lived.

A red-haired, hulking man tapped her head in a split second from behind. Ringmaster Dominus clapped his hands over his swift action. “Magnificent as always, Is*a*dar. I expect no less from an exaggerated figure. You’re dismissed.”

He bowed with his eyes closed. “Yes, master.” He disappeared faster than a blink.

Dominus felt the wind reverberate and turned to the performers. “Rest all you want, folks. The show’s over for now.” He pointed with his cane. “Just remember. Imagination has no limits when I concentrate. You’re lucky I didn’t bring G*l*a*esh into reality. Or worse, an Anti-S*i*al. That’d be overkill.” He walked out of the hallway.

They sweated bullets but went back to their rooms. The young sylph transformed from her pixie-like state and kneeled. She shook her mother and checked for a heartbeat; she sighed in relief. However, she saw the vampire sister bloodied on the floor.

She immediately ran for her aid. “She’s still alive.” She heard her faint breath. She took out the stake and healed her without runes. She sighed again, hearing her cough.

“Where’s the human…?” She slowly got up. “Is he okay?”

Her eyes and lips frowned. She shook her head. “They took him in. Mom will be sent in isolation, too.” As she pointed from afar, staff carried the wingless sylph.

That day, her non-beating heart had ached. She walked to the bed and lay flat; the young sylph accompanied her.

She stared blankly at the ceiling. “You know, kid? Sometimes, I wish I aged. Better to be an old fart than a thousand-year-old ‘teenager.’ Bro once yearned such a thing. It took some time telling the truth.”

She could not find the right words to say to the vampire. Still, she sat in bed and comforted her. She spread fairy dust on the ceiling. They turned into soaring Pegasi and rowing sailors.

Even for such little things, it made her crack a smile. For a moment, she thought she had a pulse.

“Thank you….”

In his private room, Dominus made a call via his Pocket Hub. He stole it from a Coelestian mage that begged for mercy. He leaned in his chair. “He’s finally here, Mr. Gankyū. I’m not sure how more I can put up with this act. I’ve been meaning to lay off everyone in the circus.”

The man over the call had a neutral face. He did not even smile. “That’s perfect either way, Dominus. Think of him as neither human nor animal. He is the Gods’ greatest enemy. And so shall I eventually.” He ended the conversation.

He went outside a cottage and looked over the horizon. “Oh, Hokori… How long has it been? I care not that you forgot. But I yearn to see you again.”

He walked over a meadow and whistled Auld Lang Syne. The nearby village was empty.