"Oh! It's you again! How did you get hurt this time?" He turned around to see the person from his last visit. They walked to him with a bucket of water in their hands.

He felt Chara grasping his wrist tighter. They were standing behind him, glaring at all the people around them. He knew they didn't trust places like these, not after what had happened at home. They hated all the needles and tools laying around on the tables.

"I'm not hurt," he answered the stranger. They looked at him before their eyes shifted down to Chara. There was pure shock on their face.

"He's hurt, but won't come here by himself," he said, placing his hand around Chara. They flinched, but didn't back away from him.

"He's so young..." the stranger whispered, hand raising in front of their mouth. They quickly snapped out of it and patted the white bed next to them, "Please move to sit here," they said with a warm smile on their teeth.

"Sit," he commanded Chara. They casted him a hesitant look. He sighed and lifted them up. They let out a demonic screech that scared multiple people in the tent, causing a bit more chaos. But the stranger smiling to them didn't even flinch, they continued to patiently wait next to the bed.

He settled them on the bed. They tried to squirm their way out, reaching towards the open flap, most likely dreaming of escaping. The stranger chuckled softly and grabbed them firmly. They froze immediately, summoning a knife. He tried to rush to stop them, but wasn't fast enough. The knife cut the bone of the stranger's right arm. He sucked a deep breath, only to hold it in. The silence around the three of them was terrifying.

The stranger slowly moved their eye lights to look at the cut. Then, surprising him and Chara, they let out a lighthearted giggle. They turned to smile at Chara.

"You don't have to hurt me," they cooed, petting their white hair with their bony hand. Chara was stunned, and so was he. Their eyes met, but neither of them could say anything. "It's alright! I won't hurt you! I'll try my best to stop you from hurting, so let me help you," the stranger spoke softly, carefully reaching towards Chara and taking a hold of their left shoulder to examine the huge burn that they had.

"I..." he started to apologise for their actions, but the stranger cut him off with a warm smile on their teeth. It stunned him, making him forget what he had been about to say, leaving him to stutter. "I.. H-he... S-sor-," he couldn't finish it.

"Hey," - the stranger pulled Chara's jacket down to reveal the wound - "he's hurt, and scared. I understand that it caused him to act like that," they said. "It must hurt a lot, here, let me help you!"

"..How can you remain so calm all the time? Isn't this environment scaring you?" he asked, glaring at the stranger. He couldn't understand how one could remain so calm when the place could blow up to ashes in a blink of an eye with no warning.

"I prefer being calm. Being afraid isn't great, that's why I keep hoping. I keep believing that we'll be fine, that they won't aim for us. It would be wrong if they did so, we're the medics after all." Chara glanced at him. They both knew that wasn't set in stone. The two of them had seen medical tents burning to the ground, but neither of them dared to say anything. They knew the stranger already knew that, seeing that they carried another medical tents vest.

It was as if they had heard their silent conversation. "My old tent got burnt to the ground, but it was an accident from our part. I still rather believe that nothing bad will happen, that keeps me calm." He felt his spine shiver.

"Are there any other injuries that either of you have?" they asked, seeming a bit concerned as they studied the appearances of them, trying to find anything that could point out an injury. However, they didn't see anything, so they turned to raise a browbone to him, demanding an answer to their question.

"No," - he shook his head - "there aren't other injuries. Just his shoulder. Once it's done we have to hurry back. The higher-ups won't appreciate us slacking off like this." They scoffed, glancing between the two of them. He was surprised by this sudden change of expression, and didn't quite understand what had caused it.

"How old are you two?" they asked suddenly. There was a gloomy tone in their voice. They were upset, that surprised him. Why would they be upset?

He hesitated to answer. Chara glanced at him, they didn't seem so sure about it either. But still, something inside him pushed the words out of his mouth. "I'm 15 and he's ten," he answered. The stranger stiffed, shock covering their face.

"Why are you here? You're way too young to be here!" There was worry sparking in their eye sockets. He couldn't understand it. Why the hell did they care? Why were they worried? No one was supposed to care, that's what their father had told them.

In the shock he was in, he couldn't accept the worry. So, instead he gave a blunt answer: "Are you finished with him? We should be already going." He didn't give himself a change to regret it, not even after seeing the stranger's pained look.

"I'm finished.." they said. Then they patted Chara's head and gave them a warm smile, trying to hide their pain and worry. "You were really brave. I'm proud of you." Chara's eyes widened, but they couldn't choke a single word out of their mouth. They didn't know how to respond to a praise, they'd never gotten one before.

"You too. You're doing amazing by staying uninjured," the stranger told him. His reaction was a mirror of Chara's.

-----

Cross stared out of the window in the newcomers tent. It was dark outside. The ocean of lights had drowned out hours ago, but Cross was still awake. He couldn't fall asleep again. There was a gloomy and suffocating atmosphere around the circus.

When he had been still living in the city, he had always thought that circuses were fun and full of entertainment and funny clowns. They were colourful and full of laughter and breathtaking performances. Everyone would smile and laugh, gasp when the trapeze artists flew from trapeze to another 15 metres above the Ring. There were carnivals with games and rides and more amazing performances. There was music playing from the Big Top. There was a Ringmaster everyone loved. There were amazing props and fire shows.

But.. Why wasn't this circus like that? He hadn't expected anything like this. He hadn't expected being surrounded by pain all the time. He hadn't expected to have such a cold and dark, yet somehow enchanting Ringmaster. He hadn't expected people to fear the Ringmaster, or despise and hate him. He hadn't expected so many secrets he maybe couldn't figure out. And he definitely hadn't expected to be fighting for his life.

How had something that was supposed to be so beautiful had turned into something dark and twisted? He couldn't quite understand that, but well, what did he know about the circus after all?

-----

Lust spun around the mannequin over and over again. He bit the pen he was holding. It was past midnight, but he couldn't return to his own tent anymore. The curfew had already begun, but it wasn't as if he had been even planning on returning to his own tent tonight. He often spent his nights in the costume tent.

He was currently working on Cross' casual outfit. He wanted to get it done before the sunrise, so he could give it to Cross. He made a mental note to himself to also make spare pockets incase Cross came across Ace.

Because of Ace Lust had a whole drawer with a locker for spare pockets that he could just sew on when needed. There was a separated locker for everyone since they all had unique trousers. The drawer was obviously hidden from Ace himself because Lust was afraid he would do something to it if he knew.

Lust let out a sigh and glanced at the mannequin. It was starting to look like it was supposed to, but there was something still missing. He just couldn't quite figure it out.

It was too plain. A black, sleeveless turtleneck and white shorts with some black lines in them. He had already added white bandages to the arms for more details and long, black boots. But that wasn't enough. It needed something more, like, something over the turtleneck. Then he got an idea.

It obviously needed a jacket. Some kind of jacket that looked like it belonged to Cross. It was so obvious he hadn't even thought about it. He had completely forgotten about it.

Now he had to quickly design and make a jacket in just a couple of hours. It was starting to look like he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, but well, wouldn't be the first time he spent the whole night making clothes instead of sleeping.

-----

The air was surprisingly warm when Cross stepped out of the newcomers tent. The atmosphere however was cold. It made his spine shiver. He wanted to just turn around and go back to the tent, but he knew he couldn't. He had to go find Killer.

There was a quiet wind whistling around, pushing the leaves on the trees surrounding the tents. The rustling the leaves was drowned out by the music that kept echoing through the circus.

Cross was surprised to see how many skeletons were outside, rushing from place to another. Some of them he recognised, but many were left unidentified. There were also skeletons in some kind of uniforms that didn't really seem fitting in the circus aesthetic, which made him confused. Those skeletons also had very different emotions, rather curiosity, amazement, boredom and annoyance.

"Those weirdly dressed skeletons are from the delivery company. They're here just to deliver what the Ringmaster has ordered. Like food, materials for the props, gadgets and costumes, some health supplies and such. They come about once a week, sometimes twice, depends on the Ringmaster's orders. I suggest you just ignore them if you see them. They know where to bring the stuff they have brought, and the Ringmaster watches them from the shadows, incase they try to do something dirty." Cross turned around to see Lust next to him. He had heard the jiggle of handcuffs and recognised the sweet voice to identify the speaker before turning around to look at him.

Lust was tired. It was obvious. Cross had felt it the moment the designer had stepped out of his tent. And Cross saw the tired smile the other was giving him. It made him furrow his browbones. He was worried.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you really look like you need some sleep," Cross informed him with concern painting his face. He could feel very well how tired Lust was, and that definitely wasn't pleasant because now he felt as if he was about to pass out any second.

"I hear that quite a lot," Lust chuckled. He then raised his eye lights to look at Cross. There was pure excitement behind the tiredness. "I finished your casual outfit! You have to come try it on!" He clapped his hands together, making the handcuff chains jiggle as they hit each other.

"Already?" Cross' eye sockets widened. He hadn't expected his outfit to be ready so soon, especially since he hadn't seen any fancy machines in the costume tent during his visit, which had lead to the guess that Lust was making everything by hands.

"Yes! It's done and ready to be tried on!" Lust flashed him an exited, but tired smile. "C'mon! I want to see you try it on. I need to know if it's good or if I have to make a new one!" He took a step back, towards the costume tent, with a hopeful look in his eye sockets.

-----

Cross stepped into the costume tent after Lust. This time the atmosphere in the the tent was way more comfortable than last time. Cross tried not to think back to it, instead focusing his eyes on the mannequin Lust had pulled up with an exited, yet nervous smile on his teeth.

"Here! Do you like it?" There was hope peeking in Lust's eye sockets as he glanced between Cross and the mannequin. He was really nervous about the reaction, knowing he would have to remake the outfit if Cross didn't like it.

Cross stared at the mannequin, speechless. He didn't know what he had expected, but what he had got was amazing. It reminded him of his current clothing, but at the same time it was different. It was his style, which surprised him a lot.

Lust was peeking with anxiety. He wasn't sure if Cross' shocked look was a good or a bad sign. "I-is it good.?" he asked while nervously fidgeting with his bony hands, studying Cross' face to see if there was any readable emotion that would tell him if he had succeeded or not.

"I-," - Cross had to take a moment to think, Lust's breath hitched - "It's amazing!" he breathed out. Lust perked up immediately, relieve filling him. The designer was finally able to let out the breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding.

"That's great!" he cried out excitedly. "Now you have to try it on to see if it fits, and if it does fit, you can start wearing it." He pulled a curtain open, revealing a fitting room. He pushed the mannequin inside it and started to chivvy Cross to go in. He was sparking with excitement, not wanting to wait to see Cross wearing the outfit.

Cross chuckled at his excitement. "I'm going, I'm going!" He pulled the curtain shut after him and took another look at the outfit, thinking what he should put on first. A smile crept on his teeth, he didn't remember when he had last gotten a new outfit since he was really keen on his old one, but now seemed like the perfect opportunity to change. He needed something new after all these years. Plus his old outfit was really worn and almost torn from some places, there were even some old, barely visible bloodstains. He definitely needed a change.

-----

Cross took a look at himself through the mirror in the fitting room. He was taken aback by how well the clothes fit him. (He should have been expecting that after Lust took his measurements.) Even his Chara seemed to be impressed, which kinda surprised him since they were usually trying to be against everything he did.

Lust was outside the curtain, pacing around. He was excited, yet nervous at the same time, not being able to wait to see Cross in the outfit he had stayed up all night making.

Cross opened the curtain. Lust immediately spun around with sparkling eye sockets. He took a moment to study the outfit before he lit up even more. "It looks great, doesn't it?" he exclaimed, seeming really relieved. "Do you like it?" he asked, face dropping a bit with concern incase Cross didn't actually like it.

"Yes! It looks really amazing!" Cross smiled. Lust's smile returned and Cross inhaled the bright mood in the tent, it was really great. He was happy that his reaction could make someone so happy. "I'm really impressed with what you came up with." Cross continued pouring gasoline to the fire, hoping it would keep the happiness up. It did.

"I'm so glad you like it! You can go ahead and take your old outfit to your own tent and keep it by yourself if you want to," Lust said, smiling. He seemed really satisfied with the results of his hard work.

Suddenly the tent flap opened and the warm happiness was drowned by coldness. It faded to fear and uncertainty, leaving Cross longing for the previous atmosphere. He took a deep breath, almost chocking on the bitter emotions that had filled the tent. The Ringmaster, who had just entered the tent, seemed to take a notice of his reaction and smirked smugly, seeming satisfied.

"Ringmaster..!" Lust seemed nervous, he was trembling. "I-I just finished Cross' outfit.. A-and you c-can take a look at him to s-see if it's suitable for t-the circus..!" he stuttered, making a quick gesture towards Cross while giving an anxious grin to the Ringmaster.

Nightmare hummed and moved his attention back to Cross, walking to him with few long steps before he stopped in front of him. He grinned before taking a moment to circle the monochrome skeleton, studying the details of the outfit, even taking a moment to brush his neck with one of the tentacles, making him shiver under his touch.

"Is the locket supposed to be a part of his outfit?" the Ringmaster asked from Lust. It made Cross immediately grab the golden coloured, heart shaped locket that hung around his neck. He would rather die than give it up.

Lust peered between Cross' bony fingers to see the locket. He seemed hesitant, but nodded, locking eye sockets with the Ringmaster, trying to sound as firm and confident as possible. "Yes. Yes, it is. I took it in notice while making the outfit," he answered after noticing how protective Cross seemed. Nightmare raised a browbone, leaning closer to Lust, making the other gasp back, but a tentacle went to grab behind his back to stop him from backing away.

"Are you sure?" The Ringmaster's smooth voice sang. There was a cold, mockingly friendly look in his cyan eye as he looked at Lust, who was frozen under his touch. "Are you sure?" He repeated the question after not getting an immediate response, this time it was angrier. Lust flinched before nodding firmly.

Nightmare scoffed and backed away, letting Lust fall to the ground on his knees. He turned to look back at Cross. "I don't think it was supposed to be a part of the outfit, but fine. I'll let you keep it," he stated coldly, making Lust immediately raise his head to look at him with wide eye sockets, clearly shocked by the statement.

Cross nodded slowly, but didn't let go of the locket. It was really important to him and he wasn't about to let the Ringmaster take it away from him. There was also no way he would let the Ringmaster inspect his locket, not only because it was important, but because of the picture inside. No way he would let the Ringmaster see it.

"Lust, you better start preparing his show outfit too. He might need it in a few weeks already. And the Winter Wonderland show that we'll do again this year, just like every other year." Nightmare moved his SOUL-piercing eye back to Lust. The designer nodded.

"But we didn't have the Carnival of Hopes and Dreams this year-," Lust was cut off by a whip lashing his way, hitting his left arm with a loud snap crack. He let out a wail and moved his right hand to cover the hurting arm. Cross was terrified. The whip had felt as if it had been made out of metal and it had left a minor crack in Lust's bone.

"The Carnival of Hopes and Dreams was a disaster last year. We won't be doing that ever again. But the Winter Wonderland was a success, we'll be doing it like it has always been done," the Ringmaster snapped, connecting the whip back to his belt as if he hadn't just used it to hit someone with no mercy or shame. It disturbed Cross, but Lust, sadly, seemed to be already used to it.

"I have to continue my patrol," Nightmare informed, turning on his heels. "Lust, continue working. Cross, go find Killer and do as he says." He turned to look at Cross, "And I want to see you later today. Don't forget about it." And with those words he left the tent, leaving Lust and Cross alone.

Words: 3417

[20.6.2022]

Cross' outfit appeared in the first chapter, but I'll put it here as well.