• [Kert]

    I stood outside Ellor Ella’s, leaning against the ruined building. It was already midnight and yet the stars weren’t visible. Even the moon’s glow was dull. I crossed my arms, thinking. Lucifer said he wasn’t at the circus when the incident happened. He was only seven so his father was the owner that time. The day after that, his father disappeared. Circus members took him in and raised him to be what he is today. And out of those whole twenty years, not one person came to their show.
    I shook my head. Lucifer knows nothing other than that. All the performers say that he isn’t a murderer and the accident was really just an accident. But they never found the person that committed the act. Did he do it? Or was it his father?
    I think back, when I was observing the area on the stage. I try reciting the surrounding. Thousand rows of red chairs. Dusty, webbed, and ripped. The ceiling is wide and orange. It was plain and empty, so no designs to hide behind for sharp shooters. The big round stage in the middle is always lit during shows and since it was placed in the center, it’s obvious for the audience to see a performer pull out a gun during an act. So maybe the murderer was one of the audiences? No, it would be obvious for others sitting around them if they shot.
    I jolt forward. “Of course!” I turned and ran back inside Ellor Ella’s. When I reached the stage, the performers were glaring at me but I paid no attention to them. I headed for Lucifer. Someone tried to block my way but Lucifer held them back and waited for me.
    “When the show starts, does the curtain to the second stage stay closed?” I ask him eagerly. There was a second stage that indented into the wall at the back. No one in the audience would pay attention to it. “Well?” I say as Lucifer didn’t respond.
    “Uh, y-yes” he says, surprised at my question.
    “Who is allowed to go in there?”
    He hesitates. “Just the musicians”
    “How about the performers?”
    He shakes his head. “No, we all come out as one. Nobody enters or exits it” he eyes me. “Why?”
    “Because…just because! Now, who were the musicians that played when your father was the owner?”
    “Well…there are a lot but they’re all dead now”
    My jaw drops. No way, so I’ll never know who did it? I shake my head. “Who were the two victims?”
    “There he goes again!” Revillia places her hands on her hips and sneers at me. “Will you just forget about it? It was all an accident! You—”
    “Quiet” Lucifer says to her without taking his eyes off me. “One was a performer, a Juggler. His name was Fran and he was the strongest in the show”
    “Why would the strongest be a juggler?” I ask.
    “Because he juggled heavy weights. One thousand pounds” he says. I gasp with awe. “Now, the other victim’s name was Palivier. Everyone avoided him because he claims he could do magic, black magic” he clears his throat. “Is that all?”
    “No. Do you know where their relatives are located?”
    “They have no relatives. Well, not in this town anyway. Both of them were new here. They came alone”
    I paused. “Did they know each other?”
    “Well…” he thinks. “It looked like they did when they first came to town but after that, they avoided one another”
    “Strange…”
    Lucifer nods in agreement. “Yes, it is. Those two were quite abnormal. They even had the same kind of sword”
    “Swords?”
    “Yes. I saw it once. It was long and thick with a strange red design on it. But what was stranger was the color of the blade—black!” he licks his lips as lowers his gaze. “They looked demonic, they really did. My dad referred to them as the Lords Black Knights—”
    My eyes widened and I automatically grabbed Lucifer’s shoulder. “Black knights? They were black knights?! What did they look like? Did they have dark armor? Was there a girl with them—”
    “What, do you know them or something?” Revillia asks. “Because really, you’re not going to get anywhere with just—”
    “Be quite!” I barked. The tone in my voice silenced her. “Do you know how important this is? No, you don’t! Now, this is the first clue I’ve come across so I need to know more about them now” I huffed. She and Lucifer gulped. I took a breath and sighed, letting go of Lucifer. “Sorry” I say, embarrassed at my over reaction. “It’s just that I need the information. For me, my friends, and…Anysa”
    Lucifer’s expression softened. “I understand, but that’s all I know. I swear” he was telling the truth. “But, since my father knew who they were, he must have something to do with their deaths since he disappeared after it happened”
    I stared at him, shocked. “Now you choose to believe that your father could be the murderer?”
    He nods. “Yes” the performers start to argue but he raised a hand, making them stop. Then he starts walking towards the second stage. “Aren’t you going to follow?” he says to me.
    I hesitated before going with him. “Where to…?”
    “My fathers study room”

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