Okie, all of the characters belong to Namco.
Except for Erika, she is MY original character.

/Thinking\

"I don't wanna inherit this...stuff." Luke told his parents, standing from the table in the Drawing Room where he'd been sitting, "I want to see if I could get an actual job. Y'know, become something!"

"You will become something, and that is a Noble of this country," his father barked, "And I will hear no more of this."

"But--!"
"No more!"

"Then--...Then...Then I'll run away!" Luke yelled defiantly, refusing to let his dreams be destroyed so easily, "I'll run away and make something of my life, and it'll be more than just sitting on a fancy chair and distributing orders!"

"Don't be ridiculous," his father told him, "You wouldn't last a day outside the city walls."

"Yes I would!" he argued, "I've had good sword training! I'll do fine! I'm leaving!"
"I've heard enough of this."

"You'll see!" Luke yelled at his parents, "You'll be sorry when I'm gone!"

"Luke, honey," his mother, Susanne, started, "Please--Think about what your older brother would say if he was still here--!"

"My brother ran away because of dad too!" Luke exclaimed,

"Susanne," his father ordered, "Responding will only egg him on further."

"I hate you both!" Then the Noble's son ran out of the drawing room, running to his room and throwing some clothes in a bag. After grabbing his trusty sword he took off out of the manor.

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

"Stupid parents...they don't even try to understand me...!!" Luke grumbled, kicking a rock in his way as he left the capital city, Barluu. His waist-length red hair somewhat messy from the sloppy brushing he did in an hour earlier in an attempt to tame it. "Wonder where I should go... now...?" He noticed a large shape in the distance...a silhouette of some sort. /Hmm...\ Upon getting closer he heard faint music playing, and his eyes lit up in realization. "The circus, alright!"

Outside the huge yellow and red striped tent was a large board. On the top, in huge blue letters outlined in white, it said 'The Amazing: Cirque de Auldrant'. Just under the words a small teal-and-white...creature in a maroon top hat rode on the head of a flying rappig, holding up a small magician's wand enthusiastically. Below the flying rappig was a man with sandy-gold hair wearing a white top-hat; he was pointing forward, out of the poster, almost commandingly. Under him it said, 'Directed by: Ringmaster Peony'

Around the thing and Ringmaster in the poster were seven other people. A blonde boy who was illustrated flying through the air with the words 'The Amazing Flying Gai' under him. A man with chestnut hair with both arms raised to his sides, a pillar of water on his right side, fire on his other, 'Master of Fonons' was written in the water, 'Eternal Sorcerer' in the fire. A girl with black and aqua hair, both of her fists clenched. One was surrounded by crackling electricity, the other by fire, 'Charming Sorceress' over her 'Crouching Tiger' under. A woman with blonde hair and a boy who faintly resembled Luke with crimson red hair swinging on trapeze, stretched between them, as if they were holding up the letters, said 'Trapeze Artists Extraordinaire'. A girl with long brown hair standing triumphantly on a thin wire, 'Tightrope Master' drawn hanging from the wire under her. A surprisingly young girl with black pigtails stood atop the head of a huge tan doll; the words 'Tokunaga Queen' held up under her by five other dolls.

"Wow..." he murmured, staring at the seven performers on the poster, "Wonder if maybe...Yeah!" the boy excitedly looked for a way into the large tent.

----

The boy walked into the large tent, looking around in wonder at the mass expanse of space inside the tent. He had no idea what 'Auldrant' was, but it was a cool name. Huge spiked tops of canvas striped with yellow and red created the huge tent which gave shelter to all under its spiked tops. However the many stands were empty, it was like an off day....and the performers were only training; however even the training was amazing. All of the people currently in the ring he recognized instantly from the large board which stood outside the tent.

At the top he watched the trapeze swinging back and forth through the air freely. A nimble girl with short blonde hair swung back and forth easily on the trapeze; a boy with long dark red hair soon followed her. He hung from the trapeze by bending his legs over the small bar, and caught the girl by the wrists when she jumped to him. Another girl with long brown hair, and an obviously ample bosom, strolled easily along a thin rope suspended up near the top of the tent; she did a flip, landing on the wire with ease.

While on the ground, a man with shoulder length chestnut hair summoned huge geysers of water from the ground around the edge of the ring with little more than the point of a finger. Behind him stood a girl just slightly shorter than him with black and light-blue hair; with the thrust of a hand she froze the geysers, leaving towering ice pillars in their place. A little girl with black pigtails rode atop the head of a huge doll-like creature; from her place she directed the movements of six other creatures not to unlike the one on which she stood. She made them dance, do cart-wheels and flips; all in unison.

"Ah! Look out!" a boys voice cried. Luke turned his head upward just in time to be able to dive to the ground, and out of a path of danger. A boy, only a few years older than him with short golden hair swung by on long red ribbons; it almost appeared as though he was flying through the air. He had been flying straight at the noble's son, unable to change his path; the most he could do was call out and hope he was heard. As Luke watched him fly with eyes widened in amazement the blonde slowed his flight, allowing the large ribbons to run through his hands. The boy descended rapidly to the ground where he landed deftly, before quickly jogging to Luke,

"...woah..." the boy muttered, looking up and seeing that the ribbons were tied to one thick wire which connected to a platform at the top of the tent. Despite their sheen, the large red strips of cloth were almost as thick as curtains, appearing strong as well in order to support the blonde through his various acrobatics.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, offering Luke a hand. The blonde was only wearing loose white pants with a miniature maroon vest around his shoulders; on the back in navy letters it read 'Cirque de Auldrant'; however other than that he was shirtless. The boy had impressive muscles, most likely from an extensive workout routine.

"Y-yeah...I'm fine..." Luke agreed, taking his hand and standing with the blonde's help. He brushed off the front of his white jacket as the blonde continued speaking.

"Sorry bout that," he explained, scratching the nape of his neck, "I didn't see you there."

"Th-that was amazing...!" Luke told him appreciatively. "How did you...? Where did you...?"

"Hahaha..." the blonde chuckled softly, "Hey, hey, calm down ok?" he told Luke, extending a hand, "The name's Gai; Gai Cecil. Or: 'The Amazing Flying Gai'."

"I'm Luke." he introduced, shaking his hand, "Luke f-....Just Luke."

"Well, alright Luke." Gai agreed, folding his arms over his chest once again, "Welcome to Cirque de Auldrant. Sorry to say but the Circus is closed. Today's a training day for the cast, so..."

"W-wait-- can...Can I join this...this thing?" the boy asked hopefully.

"Join the Circus?" asked Gai, tilting his head to one side,

"S-sure! I-I'm really strong. I can do anything--just try me!"

"Woah-woah-- calm down, Luke." Gai told him, laughing lightly, "Easy. First why don't you meet the other circus members?"

"Who?" the blonde turned back, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Oi! Everyone! C'mere for a minute!!" Slowly, the six other circus members walked to them,

"Who's your new friend, Gai?" asked the little girl.

"Fresh meat?" scoffed the other red-head, "Good, Erika's been running out of things to punch." The older black haired girl rolled her eyes, shooting a glare at the boy.

"Asch!" the blonde girl scolded softly, hitting him the shoulder.

"Now, now," the chestnut haired man told the black haired girl softly, patting her shoulder, "Don't worry; I'll take care of him." That comment caused the crimson-haired boy to edge slightly away from him.

"Everyone, c'mon." the blonde asked,

"All of you be Quiet! Now!" the little black haired girl yelled. Everyone fell silent in an instant,

"Thanks, Anise." Gai told her in a quiet sigh,

"No problem." she assured, giving both Luke and Gai a big grin.

"Okay, okay, okay. Everybody, meet Luke." The blonde introduced, pushing Luke forward slightly. The boy raised his hand nervously in greeting, waving at the people as he tried to swallow the lump that formed in his throat

The circle of people consisted of the tightrope walker with long brown hair. She wore a full-body jumpsuit, the sleeves and legs of which were made of maroon felt. The torso was colored white, with the words: 'Cirque de Auldrant' written in neat navy colored caligraphy across her rather large bosom which almost threatened to tear open from its confinement. She appeared to be a nice enough person...

Standing next to her, the man whom had been summoning huge geysers of water. He had blood-red eyes which were hidden behind thin glasses. His outfit was a high-collared white suit with navy trim, his pants matching in color only lacking the navy trim; as well as white boots with slightly-squared toes, appearing to be something like dress-shoes. A long white and cape with a blue under side hung from his shoulders, the words 'Cirque de Auldrant' written in the middle of the white in blue caligraphy. He held a smile on his lips; however it was more of a smile to mask what he thought than an actual kind gesture.

Next to the man stood the girl whom appeared to be his assistant. She had shoulder length black hair, a lock of hair on the right side of her face dyed aqua. The girl was dressed in a white tank top with a maroon line extending from the right shoulder and swirling across her chest and stomach, as well as white bellbottom jeans. She also wore fingerless maroon gloves on her hands. Keeping with the fashion of the logo, Cirque de Auldrant was written up the outer side of both legs in curved blue writing; with a bit of individualistic flare the words were surrounded by a few blue stars which were outlined in silver sparkles. Unlike her partner, she gave Luke a genuine, kind smile.

Then there was the little girl who assisted Gai in silencing the group. Her short black hair was tied in pigtails by two yellow ribbons. In contrast with the rest of the group, she wore a navy leotard, with long white sleeves which were wrapped with a maroon strip like candy canes. Her lips were curved in a huge smile, and Luke almost feared that her face would stick that way. Behind her stood her army of six huge tan dolls, each one of them said Cirque de Auldrant in a small oval on their chest and back.

And last were the two trapeze artists. The blonde girl wore a maroon spaghetti strap top, and tight navy blue pants; as well as white shoulder-length gloves. The gloves were either to protect her hands or for fashion...he couldn't tell. Cirque de Auldrant was written across her back in blue and white caligraphy which glittered with a few sparkles. She had a kind look about her; however she didn't directly smile at the boy. Her red-haired partner was dressed in a similar color scheme, although slightly different in articles of clothing. A loose maroon tank-top covered his chest, and slightly loose blue pants covered his legs. His hands were covered by fingerless white gloves, the skin on his fingers slightly pale with chalk. He scowled cruelly at Luke, as if he was mad that the boy even existed.

"Alright, this is Tear Grants, the 'Tightrope Master'," Gai said, motioning to the brown haired girl. She gave Luke a small wave,

"Hello," she greeted,

"Hey," he agreed, struggling to keep from staring at her chest.

"And next is Jade Curtiss, 'Master of Fonons, Eternal Sorcerer'." The man chuckled softly,

"Oh how I hate that title...I suppose it's nice to meet you," he said, his voice loaded with fake pleasantness

"Y-yeah..." Luke responded, still somewhat put-off by his fake smile.

"Then, Erika Killira, 'Charming Sorceress, Crouching Tiger'." The girl gave Luke small flick of her hand as a small wave, still smiling just slightly,

"Hey. Nice to meet you," she told him,

"Likewise." The boy agreed, deciding that he would make quicker friends with Erika and Tear out of the group. Aside from Gai, that is.

"Next up, Anise Tatlin, 'Tokunaga Queen'." The girl jumped in the air, spinning in the air once, before landing and bowing. The six 'Tokunaga' behind her followed suit, the ground rumbling lightly under them as they landed in unison.

"Haha! Yup, I'm the best Toku-trainer around," she told Luke, beaming at him once again. The boy looked to Gai, whispering,

"Toku...?"

"Short for Tokunaga." The blonde whispered back.

"Oh." he agreed, nodding.

"Last, but not least, Natalia Luzu and Asch. 'Trapeze Artists Extraordinaire'." The girl, Natalia, waved at him, smiling a little,

"It's a pleasure to actually get to meet one of the people we entertain," she told him,

"Tch," was all the boy, Asch, said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, it's uh...Nice to meet you all," Luke told the group.

"Hey! Why's nobody training?" A man's voice called.

"Oh dear...here comes the Ringmaster..." Jade warned, the touch of pleasantness in his voice not making it seem like quite as bad, "Oh well. You're in for it now, Luke," he said, shrugging his shoulders uncaringly,

"Jade...!" Erika whispered, punching his shoulder gently, "Stop it! Don't scare him!" The man chuckled softly in response,

"Oh fine..." he sighed.

A tall man approached them. His hair was the same length as Jade's however it was sandy blonde in color; his skin a dark tan. He wore a somewhat poofy white shirt, almost like the shirt that a pirate would wear, and baggy blue pants. A maroon cape fell from his shoulders with 'Cirque de Auldrant' written in white, underneath it was written 'Ringmaster' in silver sparkles.

"Haha. What's this?" he asked, looking at Luke somewhat fondly, "A new recruit?"

"Beats us," Anise told him,

"He said he wanted to join us, Ringmaster Peony," Gai told him.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Jade commented, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger.

"Why?" Tear asked Luke, sounding genuinely confused, "I mean...the Circus of all things...?"

"Well...why not?" Luke responded, scratching the back of his head, "I-I mean...I don't expect this to be easy, but--"

"Well let's cut to the chase then," Peony suggested, almost cheerfully.

"D--huh?" the boy stuttered, confused.

"God..." Asch groaned softly, hiding his eyes in the palm of one hand.

"Twenty Questions," Erika muttered to the other performers, seemingly on the verge of laughing, "And....Go!"

"C'mon, Luke. Are you strong?" Peony asked, smirking at him.

"Y-yeah--" Luke started,

"-Athletic?" he asked, right away.

"O-of course I am, but--" he began again.

"-Acrobatic?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm pretty g--"

"-Can you dodge stuff?"

"Wha-?"

"-Let's take that as a Yes."
"Uh--"

"-What about dancing?"

"Well I guess I--"

"-Good."

"Huh-?"

"-Could you hold up another person's bodyweight?"

"Well-- I mean that depends--"

"-300 pounds minimum?" The Ringmaster continued his barrage of questions mercilessly, never giving Luke the time to fully answer them.

"S-sure I guess but--"

"-Do you swordfight?"

"Yeah, I've trained and--"

"-Are you scared of heights?"

"No--"

"-Do you like working with people?"

"S-sure I don't see why--" Luke answered every question as fast as he could, unable to give the Ringmaster a full explanation...however he doubted that the man would even listen to a full explanation.

"-Good. You're in then."

"...Eh?" Luke gave Peony the most confused look he could find as he stared at the Ringmaster.

"I said 'You're in'." Peony told him, putting his hands on his hips. "What else do you want?"

"N-nothing-! But....I mean, is that really it?"

"Sure!" he exclaimed, "What else should I do?"

"Well....uh...." /Physical examination...? Test me on some stuff...?\ he suggested mentally as he scratched the side of his head.

"Yay! Yay!" a high pitched voice squeaked, "Welcome to Cirque de Auldrant! Hooray!" A small teal-and-white animal with huge ears wearing a small maroon top-hat and maroon cape with white 'Cirque de Auldrant Mascot' on the back jumped up to Peony's shoulder. A gold and black band circled his tummy, almost seeming to big for him, "My name's Mieu! I'm one of the Cirque de Auldrant mascots! It's nice to meet you, mieu!" he chirped jumping around enthusiastically,

"Uh...nice to....meet you...?" Luke asked as Mieu halted his jumping,

"Ha. Well, congratulations. You're officially the New Guy." Erika explained, laughing at his confusion,

"Wh-wha--?"

"You're gonna be the New Guy till your first show." Asch told him in a monotone, "Just don't get in our way. Got it, New Guy?"

"Hey--!" Luke started,

"Ok then!" Peony interrupted, speaking as though he hadn't heard anything after Mieu stopped talking, "Gai, show him to the boys quarters and give him a uniform. Standard, ok?"

"Sure thing, ringmaster." Gai agreed, nodding once, "C'mon New Guy. This way." The redhead quickly jogged after the blonde as he left the tent. They headed towards one of two small trailers which were masked behind the tent; the one they were headed to had the names 'Jade', 'Gai', and 'Asch' written on the door. While the other said: 'Erika', 'Anise', 'Tear', 'Natalia'.

"Your names...?" asked Luke,

"Yup, keeps straight whose trailer's whose," Gai explained, "They look exactly alike...And when we move around we would, heh, get them confused. Can't tell you how many times we've gone into the woman's trailer cause we thought it was ours...hahaha... Don't worry, I'll remind Peony to add your name later."

"Thanks." The boy agreed, feeling more and more excited by the minute about actually being a part of something...He had completely forgotten about his parents, whom were back in Barluu and worried about him...Well, at the least, his Mother was worried; his father thought he still needed a reality check.

Back in the tent Natalia and Asch climbed back up to the trapeze, and Tear to her tightrope. Jade and Erika returned to their place in the middle of the ring.

"Oh dear...this won't do." Jade sighed, referring to the slowly melting ice pillars which still loomed over the ring. "Erika, if you would?"

"Sure I guess...I haven't gotten to do any real fighting for a while." the girl agreed, cracking her glove-covered knuckles

"Oh-oh-- Let my Toku-Crew help!" Anise asked, jumping to the head of her original Tokunaga, "Please, Jade? We need the training!"

"But of course, Anise." he responded.

"Dragon...Strike!" Erika called, the fifth fonon gathering in her leg and causing it to glow red. The sole of her foot collided solidly with the ice pillar, the red shooting from her leg into the pillar; the section she kicked shattered into hundreds of shards of glistening ice. As the fonons shot up the center of the huge ice structure they formed the shape of the traditional Oriental-dragon. In a matter of seconds, the fifth-fonon-dragon and reduced whole pillar to a large puddle on the ground, "Tada." she announced, blowing her aqua bangs from in front of her face with a short puff of air.

"Very impressive." Jade complimented, clapping his hands like a spectator.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." she groaned sarcastically, bowing exaggeratedly to her one-man audience.

"Oh, Erika," he sighed, "Really now...Take more pleasure in your work. You're quite good at it."

"Nyeee!" She stuck her tongue out at him while making an unidentifiable noise, "Whatever." Jade sighed,

"How I fell for a girl like you...I'll never know..." he sighed, pushing up his glasses,

"Hey!" she barked, shoulders dropping; she accomplished making herself offended. Jade chuckled softly in response, patting the top of her head,

"Now, now. I've still fallen for you, haven't I?" he asked, resting his hand on her head and brushing the lock of aqua hair from her forehead with his thumb. It refused to stay where it was supposed to, next to the side of her face,

"I guess." she responded in a light giggle, her cheeks turning light pink.

"Awwww! You two are soooo Cute together!!" Anise chirped from atop her Lead Tokunaga.

"..." Erika made a small noise, cheeks turning red as she swatted Jade's hand from her forehead. She sent a small glare towards Anise while the Magician chuckled softly at how easily she was embarrassed. The little girl giggled lightly as her six Toku skipped back to their place to resume their training

"C'mon you two. Get back to work," Peony added. Erika shrugged and took to the task of breaking up any large chunks of ice that Anise and the Toku-Crew left behind. The red had fully faded from her cheeks as she concentrated on her task, reducing the last large chunks to small shards and splinters. Peony walked to Jade, "Now Jade, what've I told you about doing that out in public?"

"Told who about what in public?" Gai's voice asked, "Is someone streaking again?" He and Luke returned with Luke, whom dressed in an outfit which matched Asch's; however it seemed just slightly too big for the boy. While Luke watched Erika breaking down large blocks of ice with four or five punches, Gai walked to the Ringmaster and Magician.

"Luckily, No." Peony told him, "Don't worry about it."

"Care to clue me in?" Gai asked, folding his arms over his chest,

"We were wondering if Erika was stronger than you." the magician informed him, putting his hands in his pockets. The never-faltering fake pleasantness in his voice masked the fact that he was lying.

"Hey, she probably is. I won't deny that." Gai admitted, scratching the back of his head while laughing lightly, "I mean...I probably couldn't do that," he motioned towards the girl's ice-breaking with a nod, "But...Gimme a sword and I'll give you a ton of ice cubes in no time. And that's something I'm pretty sure she can't do."

"Ve-ery true." Peony agreed with a satisfied nod, "Erika has her fists, and you've got your sword. Things even out."

"W-wow...! Is she human?" asked Luke, wondering if he should try to break the ice blocks the same way she was.

"Quite," Jade responded, pushing up his glasses, "Say, Gai, why don't you start the New Guy off with training? See what he's capable of, mm?"

"Hey--what's with calling me New Guy?" Luke asked,

"It's a tradition." Peony told him, "We call the guy's 'New Guy' and the girl's 'New Girl' until their first show. Then we call you by name."

"Urggh...." Luke groaned softly,

"Hey, c'mon. Don't punish him for that one little comment." Gai told Jade, "You can't blame him. Heck, I didn't believe she could do that when I first saw it."

"Who's punishing who, Gai?" the magician asked, giving Gai a fake smile, "Me? Punish the New Guy? Oh heavens no."

"I swear..." the blonde groaned softly. Jade shrugged simply and returned to his place, "Okay, New Guy. Training field's this way. Let's go."

"Training?" the boy asked curiously, following him, "Like what? Running laps? Weights?" /This is gonna kill the poor kid...\ the blonde sighed mentally,

"Uh...Something like that..." Gai agreed at length, pushing aside the back flap to the tent.

-----

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!"

"C'mon Luke, you've gotta make it one more lap. You've only done two, just one more! Let's go, c'mon!" His new friend cheered, trying to help him,

"Dooaaaaah!! I see why your circus is so...small!" Luke groaned. He had a total of six-hundred pounds strapped to him, divided equally throughout his legs and arms. Another weight of two-hundred pounds strapped to his back. He had to jog around a large, oval-shaped track outside the tent which was almost as large as the tent itself, "This training...must... kill people!"

"Yup." Gai agreed jokingly as Luke slowed to a walk past him, "And when they die we give 'em to Jade."

"Wh-why...?" The boy asked weakly, panting for breath and unable to raise a hand to wipe away the sweat that drenched his face. His arms and legs ached severely, /And I thought my sword training was hard...God!\ he grumbled. For a split second he considered now running away from the circus. However he decided against it, not knowing where else he would go.

"Other than the 'magician' uh...Jade's kinda an uh..." Gai scratched the nape of his neck as he tried to come up with a way to describe him, "Well...the Dead...he..."

"Is he a 'Necrophilia' kinda guy?" Luke asked,

"No way," the blonde responded, shaking his head once. Luke faintly heard him saying something under his breath as an afterthought; the only two words which caught were 'has Erika'. /?\

"So then what is he?" the boy asked,

"A...uh...A Necromancer." the blonde announced finally, "He takes apart dead people to see what makes them tick, and sometime he tries to put em back together to make a new thing...Believe me, he has fun doing it, too. It's pretty creepy if you ask me."

"Oh great..." Luke groaned unenthusiastically, /I'm partners with a guy who likes to take apart dead people...\

"Erika, Jade and Anise joined this circus first with Ringmaster Peony," Gai explained, "I joined next, and then Tear. Asch and Natalia joined just a few months ago... You're the first one to join since then."

"So what...?" the redhead asked before groaning softly, feeling his arms and legs get heavier and heavier by the second as the weights took their toll. He wondered if he would survive this exercise.

"Erika told me that Anise originally started with one Tokunaga..." Gai told him, voice lowering slightly as if to add suspense, "And Jade made the other five out of all the other people who tried to join this circus but didn't survive this training routine."

"Say what?!" Luke demanded. The boy was somewhat gullible, however who wouldn't believe that Jade was a Necromancer? No one could tell what he was thinking with that weird smile...

"Better get running," Gai told him, "If you even fall over he'll take that as a sign that you're dead. Anise has been saying she could use a seventh--"

"I'm going! I'm going!" the boy exclaimed, suddenly feeling a burst of new energy. He took off at a fast sprint around the track, Gai laughed heartily as he clapped his hands in approval of Luke's effort. /Works every time....\ he sighed mentally. Tear walked from the tent,

"Gai. Peony is saying you should get back to work. I'll watch Luke." she told him,

"Sure, sure..." Gai agreed,

"Why's Luke running so fast?" asked Tear, watching the red haired boy sprint around the track as though his life depended on it. Despite the weights he wore, he was running surprisingly quickly, "I thought all he had to do was walk with..." she heard Gai's soft chuckling, "Gai-- what did you do?"

"Well...I might have mentioned a little something about Jade being a Necromancer and..."

"You said that Jade would take him apart and make him a Tokunaga if he didn't run, didn't you?!" the woman demanded, not finding it funny.

"Hey, he's getting good exercise," Gai told her, "It's what Jade made me and Asch do when we came. Just putting him through a test." Then the blonde walked into the circus tent to resume his 'flying'.

"H-hey...c...can I...stop...now?" Luke asked Tear. He slowed to barely a walk as he passed her,

"Yes!" the woman confirmed, quickly running to him and helping remove the weight from his back. The boy fell back on his ass, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath; he easily ignored the pain that shocked his tailbone when it collided with the ground. His arms and legs ached savagely from the exertion, he knew he'd have hell tomorrow... "I'm sorry Gai made you run like that." Tear apologized sincerely, "When Gai wanted to join the circus that's what Jade forced him to do, then Asch had to do the same...Gai just wanted you to go through what they did. I apologize for--"

"No...ah...it's ok," Luke told her, shaking the weights from his right arm first. "I don't want any special treatment or anything..." /Got enough of that back at my manor...\ "If Gai had to do it, then so do I. That's fine with me."

"W-well I was just..." Tear started, sounding confused as to why Luke had no problem with Gai picking on him, "...This must be a masculinity thing..." she sighed. Luke rubbed his left arm before attempting to get the weights off that arm as well, choosing to ignore Tear's comment. He shook his left arm free of the weights, rubbing his bicep; the strap from the weight had begun to digging into his arm in the middle of the second lap and it had almost cut through the skin by the time he stopped running.

"Ow..." he muttered under his breath, gingerly rubbing the throbbing bruise,

"Here, let me see your arm," Tear asked, holding out her hand.

"Why...?"

"Just let me see." she ordered. Luke held out his arm, allowing her a better look at the bruise. "Hmm...I see..." she held her free hand over his bruise, "Oh soothing melody," she canted softly, "...First Aid." A pale green spell circle appeared under him as green light fell from her palm to his arm. When the tightrope walker pulled her hands away the bruise was gone, and his arm was completely healed,

"W-...Woah! Ho-how did you do that?" Luke asked, genuinely amazed. He poked the patch of skin which used to be bruised, finding that it didn't ache or hurt at all.

"Its basic healing magic," the woman told him simply, "Haven't you seen it before?"

"N-no--C-could I learn how to do this?"

"I...don't think so," Tear told him, barely keeping down a small laugh at his genuine amazement at the simplest of healing artes.

After getting back in the tent, Erika and Anise applauded the fact that he could still walk after that routine, while Asch just folded his arms and snorted something about Gai going easy on him.

"You did very well, Luke." Natalia agreed, "I know you'll do fine in our circus."

"My, my...So the New Guy survived, did he?" Jade asked in his own somewhat-condescending way, adjusting his glasses.

"Ha!!" Luke yelled triumphantly, jabbing a finger towards him, "I'm still alive! You can't take me apart! Hahaha!"

"Hm...?" Jade tilted his head slightly to one side, "Ooooh," he sighed, nodding once and catching onto what the boy was talking about, "That. Yes well...you survived your first training routine..."

"Huh?" He asked, arm returning to his side, "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Well, who said all the people I disassembled were from the first training alone? You'll have to keep up your training ever day," his smile widened towards Luke which only made the boy feel...awkward, "Just you wait...New Guy.~"

Luke decided to stay away from Jade as much as he could.

Tada!

Heh...I got the inspiration for this story while watching the performance of 'Cirque du Soleil: La Nouba' in Disney World.

REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!