It was his expedition in name alone. He offered nothing to the expedition but his family’s expensive wine. Beyond the dangers, I was relegated to being unaccounted for in the roster that Cleed gave him. That was the nerve of the north at work…

Hypseau finally let me rest. I got some gray, tasteless gruel and water too. My bed was a stack of hay, but after that ordeal, I would have collapsed onto any pile that wasn’t dirt or brick. To my surprise, the burly clowns knew how to treat a wound and bandage it up. I conjectured that the pain would have been agonizing had I not drank Hypseau’s vile concoction. Though my shoulder still tingled, the bandages had stopped me from bleeding onto my attached body parts anymore.

I woke up on my own accord in a pile of hay that wasn’t blocked off by metal bars. I was outside on the other side of the tent from the beach. I looked up at the clouds, the sun was high in the sky on a clear day. I decided to enter the tent because I could hear loud commotion. There was speaking and movement, but it didn’t sound violent, more like a busy day. I got up, walked over and moved the thick cloth of the tent out of the way. The ring was littered with clowns, acrobats and tigers. In the middle of the ring, there was an acrobat hanging by a trapeze bar. He swung from side to side grabbing acrobats and tossing them to the opposite platform. Below there were clowns both tall and small. One small one, in particular, was riding on the back of a tiger up in the stands. The polkadot and the stripped clownesses I had become accustomed to were juggling innumerable pins back and forth with fluid grace. As a tiger chased a clown right in front of me, I saw who I was looking for in the middle of the commotion - the ringleader.

I walked over with my stomach, mind and thirst all sated. He was in off to the side of the net underneath the acrobats. He had his bandana over his head and was spinning around, waving his arms at nobody in particular.

“Hypseau!” I exclaimed over the background growling, conversation and assorted madness.

“Who told you my name, Acot?” Hypseau did not stop his twirling, he continued to emote in circles with his face covered.

“So I’m not a prisoner anymore?” I asked him - I ignored his question.

Hypseau stopped spinning and took his bandana down. He took his top hat off his head and put it over his chest.

“What do you think we did with your arm?” He asked, he began snickering.

“I’m a clown now, right?” I sighed and put my hand up.

“No, really, what do you think we did with your arm?” He began spinning again.

“Dusted it down into chalk to sprinkle on food.” I guessed.

“That’s closer than you give yourself credit for! Hahahaha! Come with me, let me show you your new ball!” Hypseau put both his hands above his head and began walking past me towards the door.

We went back outside of the tent. To our left was a small barn that I had chiefly ignored on my way to the big top. Hypseau looked for a key from his waist. He then felt around his jacket with his hands until he finally looked inside his inner pocket and got out a small golden key. He then played around with the lock and struggled with it. Frustrated, he threw the key out into the wilderness and went back in the tent. I waited there in the open air. I admired the palm trees and thick brush that surrounded the backdrop behind my stack of hay. I now realized that I could have made a run for it away from the circus, but I also feared what the unknown had for me. I wasn’t positive my injuries would allow me to hold myself up in the wilderness.

Hypseau came back out with a large sledgehammer. He brought it up over his head and it came crashing down on the lock and it plummeted to the ground along with the hammer. He then picked it up again and smashed the door off the hinges, barging the barn open. Inside, there were various odds and ins of the circus. Costumes, hats and wigs on one side, pins, bars, reigns, and balls on the other. In the middle though, there was a large, tie dye ball. It was colored in spirals of reds, blues and greens over the white of the large sphere. It stood about up to my waist and was over an arm’s length across. Hypseau got up behind it and kicked it over to me. I stopped it with my hand. It was rubbery, but it had little give; it was firm and heavy.

“This is compliments of our guests at the tea party. You were chosen to be our newest clown.” Hypseau said in a matter of fact way.

“This is what I get in exchange for my arm?” I said, I almost grinned at the prospect.

“I have it on good accord that your flesh was delicious.” Hypseau retorted. I was stunned. What a ghastly proposition. “I only got to taste a sip of your blood, but you, you resilient black dragon tamer, your mana is tempered!”

“I suppose then that I’m thankful that you didn’t take the blood from my throat.”

“If my sexy clowness had taken more kindly to the crybaby, that would have certainly been an option for you.” Hypseau said and paused.

I looked back down at the tie dye pattern on the ball. I looked back up.

“I’ve practised mana for a long time, mostly for combat, though.” I replied.

“Enough to slay dragons, if I got it right.” Hypseau said pursing his lips and taking a step forward toward me.

“I d-didn’t even tell you about Thraga either…” I was stunned, it was like he was deciphering my story from thin air.

“We make our tea special here at sans Kilter.” Hypseau began smiling, I could feel my heart begin to race. “Our herb is… modified. Your mana tells me a lot about your secrets.”

Hypseau began to furrow his brow, he had become agitated. He took the sledge hammer again, he struck the ball, it flew off back into the barn and bounced back out. He had let go of the hammer, so it flew off onto the ground opposite the barn. I, again, stopped the ball.

“So, Acot.” He paused as he huffed, “Our circus is a business. In that sense, it’s a giant fucking circular mess. They send us ornate-flooding crystalline talc and we ship them back abyss crystals. We use the talc to make the herb to make the tea, right? We use the talc to make the herb to make the tea for the clowns who do the tricks and start to sweat so we can take the sweat and make the crystals. It’s simple and easy.”

“And so because I have tempered mana…” I started to conjecture.

“Yes, sure, whatever.” Hypseau rolled his eyes as he put his hand on my shoulder. “The point is, I’m going to give you a bucket and some tea and you’re going to balance on that ball. Whatever liquid comes out of you as you’re learning how to do it goes into that bucket.”

I nodded and looked at him straight in the eyes. He smiled and began to walk away.

“Oh, and Acot, learn a trick or two, Lisle has a thing for agile clowns. Ahahahahahaha!” He laughed as he walked off.

I was left with the ball. My first order of business was finding out how to get on top of it. As I had anticipated, my lack of arm made stabilizing the ball and hopping on unviable. I took a deep breath and I studied the ball, I paced around it, admiring the color, shape and size of it. Though a talented clown may have been able to, I wasn’t about to jump up and catch my balance on top of it. I couldn’t shake the feeling of knowing Hypseau would be back. It blocked my thinking about novel ways of balancing on this ball. My gut told me to at least physically try and mount the ball so that my captor would leave my person be. I was sure enough that the other guests at his table were not as fortunate as I was. I took it upon myself to begin jumping over the ball. I got a running start and leapt over the ball, touching it with my hand as I was over it. I repeated this a couple times before I saw Hypseau coming back around. I waited until he got close.

“How positively boooooooring!~” He spoke in a drool voice.

“I can’t wait to get into the circus, I’m sure there’s never a dull moment.” I said, trying to hide my bemusement.

“Drink the tea first, I can feel you being pathetic from inside the tent.” He sighed as he held above his head and subsequently dropped an empty, metal pail to the ground.

In his other hand was a purple thermos. He threw the heavy, slender tube at me and I almost caught it. It began to drop as I lurched down to grab it before it hit the ground.

“I also brought you a rag, but just understand that any liquid that comes out of you goes into that bucket.” Hypseau began snickering again. He burst out into a full-fledged laugh as he turned his back and began to walk away. He stopped and turned back around.

“It’s good mana practice, too!” He exclaimed so that I could still hear. He turned back around and began playing with his hat as he walked.

I took a pause. I put the thermos on the ground and opened it clenched between my feet. I picked it back up and took a sip. That chalky, putrid mess slipped down my throat again. I winced as I put the top back on the thermos and set it to the side with the pail. I felt the sun shine down on the back of my neck as my vision began to become blue and blurry. I ran at the ball and stuck my hand down onto it as I jumped over. Immediately, I could feel my mana pulsate as my hand made contact. I quickly turned around and jumped onto the ball with both feet and my hand on top of the ball. I felt my mana as an ethereal structure keeping me steady and, even as the ball rolled underneath me, I kept on top. I tried to get up to my feet, but my one arm made it hard to balance and I had to jump off again. I looked over at the pail and decided to spit into it. I did so and looked back at the ball.

I took a deep breath and ran over to it again. I took my hand and placed it down on the ball and took my legs and flew over the ball. My mana was coordinated with my movements. I took a couple of tries, but I was able to balance with my legs above me on top of the ball with my one hand for a second. I fell back down as I lost my balance and my back hit the side of the ball which propelled me forward on my feet back on the ground. I took a deep breath and decided to spit in the pail again. I did so and took another sip of the ring leader’s tea.

It was almost sunset as the sun was low in the sky. This was all I could make out of my environment, anyway. My backdrop was almost black as I was focused only on the tie dye ball which had stopped with a spiral directly facing upward. I had just finished the thermos and I was nearly done with the water that had been provided for me. Like when I trained with Thraga, I hadn’t eaten today. I had the strange feeling that those red sparks that emanated from the clowness who gave me my water may have been directed at me. It didn’t matter though, I had a bucket half filled with sweat, spit and a bit of blood mixed in. The rag had just been rung out so it was mostly dry. My raggy shirt was off and rung out next to the rag too. I rolled my neck and focused even more intently on the ball. I took a running start and jumped at the ball. My muscles ached, but my mana cushioned my movements. I outstretched my legs as I planted my hand on the ball. I directed it downward as lightning in the direction of the spiral on the top of the ball. I looked back behind me at the circus tent that was seeping blue mana up into the sky. I plopped

back down onto the ball as my tripod of legs and arm caught me. I stood up on the ball and began walking backwards. I got to the barn and touched the roof. I then began walking on the ball backwards towards my haystack. I got about half way and then jumped off.

After the entire day, I was finally satisfied with my routine. Even without my other arm, I was able to find my balance on that ball. I finally felt my legs again, they were pulsating. My body was utterly exhausted. Without the intention of getting back onto the ball, my mana no longer augmented my movements and I fell to my knees further away from my haystack than I had preferred. I crawled myself over to the mound of yellow straw and collapsed into it. My vision was shining with yellow and blue. My mind no longer raced, I just went over my movements. I felt my balance and my tired limbs. I tried to catch my breath with a deep breath. I fell asleep before the sunset was finished.

It was dark when I awoke. The moon was in the sky and crickets were chirping. I looked up to see that I had my vision back. I looked up at the polkadot clowness tending to my bucket. She looked over and noticed that I had woken up. I flinched back. I had a feeling that this could be an act like any other happening at this circus.

“Honey…” She cooed in her soft accent.

“I-is that enough?” I struggled out.

“Did you even learn how to balance?” She asked me, she kneeled down and I got a good look at her cleavage as she was doing so.

“I, uhhh…” I struggled.

“Do you know what happened to Hypseau’s other guests?” She asked me as she raised her hands above her head and did a big stretch, she audibly yawned at the top of it.

“You’d tell me if I were wrong, right?” I asked, relishing in the breadth of shallow questions that flew around this tent.

“They’re dead and you’re the clown.” She began giggling. “Cry baby cried until the end.” She made an animated frown with her bright red lips and pantomimed a tear with her hand below her eye again, arching her back as she brought her head down to my level.

I sat up, my stomach was upset again. The pit in my stomach grew.

“They did it and you didn’t groan, you didn’t groan when you were giving us all this ornate-flooded liquid.” She said. “Then again, you didn’t groan after you knew, you just shifted. You’re such a good clown.”

“I sure feel like the clown here.” I joked. I had a rustling premonition that I was about to be rattled again.

“So they really use mana for combat?” She asked me.

“Leslie, right?” I asked her in response. I had already answered her question, I had begun to believe that there was a rhythm to conversation around here.

“Yes!” She said, with her face returning to a neutral smile.

“You know, I balanced on one hand on that ball yesterday.” I grinned as I took the moment to stretch.

“You must know multiple elements, Acot.” She conjectured. “We have had combat prisoners before, I have never seen somebody who can refine their mana with such fluidity. It’s disgusting that you use it to kill.”

“I use a knife more often than not.” I retorted. She stared at me. “Look, I come from a bloodthirsty land. They play political games and these games cost lives and livelihoods. I took it upon myself, I decided that these games needed to end. We routed out a problem and now we’re looking for the core that started it all. The corpses that we make ourselves already total fewer than the number that would have been made had we not acted. The difference is that we’re uprooting the tree that’s spreading its eerie mana.”

“All Hypseau is doing is running a circus!” She shouted. She had begun to tear up.

I knew there was an interesting cloud around Hypseau’s connections. This confirmed to me that he was intimately linked with the eerie mana that we were tracking down.

“And he needs ornate-flooding crystalline talc to do it. Huh?” I asked in a somber tone.

“And you need justice before you can sleep, huh?!” She shouted back at me. I could feel her breathing heavy, ready to cry.

I felt my body conjure up neutral mana into my limbs as if I were ready to get back onto the ball. I fell back into the hay - I didn’t think she was about to attack.

She calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes. It smudged her make-up on her pale skin. She contorted her face back into a smile and went to bring the pail back inside.

I listened to the crickets in the otherwise silent night. There were stars out and the moon still shone. I fell back asleep quickly and awoke to see that the ball had been repositioned away from the haystack and towards the center of the brick road between my haystack and the big top. The sun was coming up and I felt sore, but refreshed. There was a new, orange thermos, a

jug of water, a bowl of gruel, an empty bucket and a striped T-shirt near the barn. I got up and began walking over to it.

“Wait!” I heard a shout.

Hypseau and a burly clown came running towards me.

“Why don’t you let us re-bandage your wound first? Ehehehehehe.” he giggled as he bowed down with his hat put up onto his chest.

I spent all day working on my balance. I was quite used to vaulting myself off my hand onto the top of the ball, but now I could switch directions from backward to forward. I could see less and less with each sip of the tea, but I was rapidly getting better at balancing on the ball. The sun was in the middle of the sky by time I was able to go from the circus top all the way over to my haystack and then do a flip off of the ball.