Chapter 29 : Cirque du Stellar

After turning on all the stealth systems on the jet spaceship, Kaizo's team went towards the circus. The path is crowded with people, vendors and various street performances. The place is filled with many glittering lamps. Crowds' noises filled the street. Laughter everywhere. Rum excitedly looks around as she walks.

"Careful! You don't want to get left behind and lost around these crowds," said Aeosa.

Lorelei laughs. "I'm not a toddler. I won't get lost."

After walking through the packed street, they arrived at a circus.

Cirque du Stellar, a travelling circus that settled at Planet circus not long ago. Since it was a travelling circus, it's not the biggest circus band at planet circus. However, it offers pieces of entertainment, taken from various places that it has traveled before. Giving it the spotlight as the most diverse circus at planet circus.

"So this is the place," said Kassim.

"Fancy," said Samyang.

"Hello there. You must be Aeosa," said an alien.

The alien is skinny and tall. His face painted white like a clown and he wore a flashy red suit. Few feathers decorates his top hat.

He chuckled. "I've heard about you from Mercury," he adds as he offers his hand.

Aeosa takes his hand and gives a firm handshake. "Hello. I'm Aeosa. These are my friends. I'm sure Mercury has informed you about us."

"Oh yes. Hello everyone. My name is Phoenix. I'm one of the talent scouts here. Very pleased to see you" said Phoenix as he gives a bow. "Come now to the backstage. We've been expecting you."

"We?" Lorelei asks.

"Oh yes. I've informed everyone that you're coming for an audition."

"Phoenix is the one who gives us recommendations to the Circus owner. Helping us gain trust for them to hire us," Aeosa explained.

"Yes. And we're always welcoming new talented members." Phoenix suddenly turns to the team. "I know you're not here for the circus. You need to be careful. News travels fast here. Our tent is not thick enough to hide what you say," he warned.

"You know what we're here for?" Kassim asked.

"Not exactly. I don't know exactly what you're looking for here. But Mercury already told me the gist of it. She's a very good friend of mine, you see? If she says I can trust you then I'll trust you," said Phoenix.

"I appreciate it," said Aeosa.

Phoenix holds Aeosa's shoulder. "I heard you've helped her a lot. Thank you. She's always been like a sister to me."

"You think of her as your sister now since she rejected you?" Aeosa asked.

Phoenix nervously laughs. "It was a long time ago. She talks about me?"

"Yep. Stubborn bird of the sun," said Aeosa.

"SHE REMEMBERS ME!" Phoenix exclaimed. He laughed even more. "HAHAHAHA. Did she say anything else? Does she miss me? Surely she missed me."

"I'll tell you more if you do me well, brother," said Axion as she wink.

"It's a deal then!"

Samyang stares at Aeosa. "She's good at this," he said as he nudged Kassim.

"We're here," said Phoenix as he unveiled the tent's curtain.

The circus backstage is crowded. People bustling here and there, trying to find the perfect makeup and costume. Phoenix led them to the center of the circus. Different kinds of performers prepare themselves. Training for the upcoming show.

"As expected from a planet circus. This place is grandeur," said Aeosa as she looked up.

Lorelei chuckling. Excited by the colorful circus.

"So, what's your speciality?" Phoenix asks.

"I am personally confident in my singing. But I'd like to try aerial acts," said Aeosa.

"Ooohhh, brave! And you?" Phoenix asked Lorelei.

"I'm definitely flying on that trapeze," said Lorelei.

Phoenix chuckled. "You guys really liked the extreme one, aren't you?" He looked at the rest of the team.

"I can juggle," said Samyang.

"Simply juggling won't be enough, young man. But don't worry! You can learn more with us," said Phoenix.

"I- Uhh… can help with the lifting backstage?" said Gorgi, unsure.

"Nonsense! I think you have talent. Don't worry! We will find your inner talent, together!" said Phoenix excitedly as he held Gorgi's hand.

"Uhh… okay…." Gorgi nervously replied.

"And lastly…." said Phoenix as he stared at Kassim.

"I can do mostly anything. If you teach me how," said Kassim, indifferent.

"Ah, a confident one," said Phoenix as he walked closer to Kassim with a look of doubt.

"He's a fast learner. You'll be surprised," said Aeosa.

"Really?! Then I will count on you. Now, get in there and show us what you got," said Phoenix. He walked to the center of the circus ground as he clapped his hand. "Okay everyone! Make way! We're having new friends today! Give some space. Let the newcomer show their greetings."

All circus performers stopped their training. They assemble near the audience seat. Giving space for Kaizo's team to perform something.

Samyang gives a starter by juggling 5 balls.

"Impressive!" Phoenix exclaimed. "Let's see if we can raise the difficulty." He wink at one of his performers.

A performer throws a ball at Samyang. Making him juggle 6 balls. Samyang didn't flinch. He stays balanced. The performer adds another ball until he juggle 8 balls. Samyang started to sweat. Before the 9th ball was added, Samyang missed his focus and let all the balls fall. Everyone gives a merry applause. Samyang bowed.

"Impressive! Very nice!" said Phoenix as he gave an enthusiastic applause. "I expect you to learn to juggle while riding an unicycle later," he adds.

Samyang looked at him with a surprised look.

They all looked up at the trapeze platform. Lorelei and Aeosa are ready on two different sides of the platform. Ready to try aerial acts. Lorelei nods at Aeosa. They both jump at the same time. They begin by swinging themself back and forth. Preparing the right momentum for the next jump. Aeosa gives a nod at Lorelei as she swings. They both swing forward and let go of their hand. They do a simple flip in the air before catching a trapeze bar and do a few acrobatic poses. After doing a few more flips and swinging from one trapeze bar to another, they land back on the platform. The crowds cheered and clapped in excitement. Lorelei and Aeosa gave a bow before they climbed down.

Phoenix greets them as soon as they're on the ground. "That was Amazing!" he cheered. "A little lacking in strength, but you have enough flexibility. Your performance gives me so many ideas that I want to try." He turns to Kassim. "Alright then. Last performance. Go pick whichever starting point you like."

Kassim climbed a trapeze platform. Before he came to Planet Circus, he learned all he could about showing a performance. From trapeze act, walk on a rope, and knife throwing. The crowds are speechless. Amazed by his performance.

"As expected, his fighting skills give him advantages here," Aeosa thought to herself.

After showing all he got, Kassim went back to the ground.

"Bravo! Aeosa is right after all. You do have a promising talent," said Phoenix. "You have good strength on the trapeze. Yet I do feel something's lacking. Although I'm sure you can overcome that."

"What am I lacking?" Kassim asks.

"Hmmm… Let's see… you're lacking… grace, lacking...emotion," said Phoenix.

Kassim gives a confused look.

"You're stiff. You didn't show flexibility on your body. You just let yourself swing like a hanged frozen meat," said Phoenix. "But don't worry! Our dancers can teach you how to be more appealing. Also," he said as he walked closer to Kassim. "You need to smile," he adds as he pinches Kassim's cheeks.

The rest of Kaizo's team tried to hold their laughter.

"Happiness is what we're trying to convey to our audience. You should smile more," said Phoenix as he gives an exemplary smile.

"Alright then everyone! Today we welcome our new circus crews. Give a big applause for our 4 new performers and our new backstage handler of course," said Phoenix as he points at Gorgi.

They all give a big heartwarming applause. Welcoming the team in their circus.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Rum exclaimed.

"Yeah. Being part of a circus is really fun," said Axion.

"You know what's fun? Seeing Kaizo could actually smile… Hahaha" said Ramenman as he burst into laughter.

Rum and Axion chuckled. Kaizo grunt.

Ramenman wraps his hand around Kaizo's shoulder. "Don't worry, mate. Your smile is amazing. It'll get better overtime."

Kaizo folds his arm as he gives an unimpressed expression. "Shut it! Let's find a spot for our meeting," said Kaizo firmly.

"Someone is being shy...." Ramenman whispers at Axion with a teasing tone.

Kaizo glares at them only to find them chuckling.