Well, this was awkward.Iyokou Arata sat in the back of Cirque du Noire's Big Top, playing with his fingers nervously as he sat alone in the huge tent. Well, alone with the exception of the waiting audience and one member from the other circus. He tried to ignore her though - the woman was downright scary. Every now and then he would try to look at her, hoping that it was all in his mind and that she really wasn't all that bad - you know, just another circus member with good intentions. But no. No, no, no, no. It was all lies. For every glance he took, she would look up as if on cue, and those eyes... those eyes would pierce his soul and rip it to pieces. He didn't really like that feeling, so eventually the acrobat just kept his eyes downcast upon his lap. It didn't really help though. He could still feel her gaze upon him.
Things got less awkward and more creepy when she decided to talk.
"You're an interesting young man, aren't you?" She smiled, the words coming out sweet as sugar and yet all Iyokou would hear was the sound of needles scraping along a chalkboard.
The purple haired teen scooted away slightly. "Er... I've... I've been called that before, yes..." he replied softly, trying to not look at the devil before him. He assumed that's the only thing she could be, what with all the red she was wearing.
Again, he felt the smile and his skin crawled. The woman laughed, as if nothing was wrong. Did she have any idea how horrible of a feeling she was giving him? "What's your name?" She asked.
"Iyokou."
"Just 'Iyokou'?"
"Well, no..."
Why the hell did she want to know his name? Why was she talking to him anyways? Generally people saw his appearance and left instantly due to either being blinded by the colors or just the strangeness of his outfits. Iyokou preferred it that way - so no one would ever get close enough to infect him with anything weird. But no, this woman, this creature from another circus didn't have the same reaction, and Iyokou wondered what cruel thing he had done in another life to deserve this.
Before the red-clad woman had a chance to speak again, a flash of light came and for a brief moment, Iyokou wondered if his Ringmaster finally decided to join them in the Big Top. For some reason, everyone was somewhere else and he had no idea why. His thought quickly vanished when he smelled smoke and his head snapped up.
The tent was on fire.
The Big Top was on FIRE.
The acrobat quickly stood and looked for an exit, but he couldn't find any. Everywhere he looked flames popped up, and he began to panic. He turned to the woman, who, to his surprise, was strolling along the side of the flames casually as if the fire was a Goddamned meadow.
"What are you doing? The tent is on fire! We have to get out of here!" he yelled, finally looking at her again, and instantly regretted it.
The she-devil looked up at him with her blood red eyes amongst the fire and smiled, and Iyokou wanted to die right then and there.
"So you finally spoke up, Iyokou. It's quite rude to not ask me of my name, though, after I tried so hard to learn yours."
Iyokou was dumbstruck. What was wrong with this person?! It was like the fire wasn't even there for her, and it was all in his head. He knew himself well enough to know that certainly wasn't the case, due to the ear piercing screams of the audience in the background.
"What?! WHAT?! We don't have time for that! There's a fire! We're going to burn alive if we don't get out soon! How can you--" Iyokou was cut short as the smoke filled his lungs and went into a short coughing fit.
The devil looked around calmly at the quickly growing flames surrounding them. "I see. Isn't it a pretty sight? I've always loved the appearance of fire. Don't you?" She looked at Iyokou, who had finally finished his coughing to stare right back at her, eyes wide.
"Wh-what?!" he managed out. Iyokou began to yell at the psychotic devil infront of him, but began to cough once again, falling to his knees.
The devil smiled and moved closer, patting him on his shoulder. Her hand felt like acid. He vaguely wondered if burning alive would be a more soothing feeling than being touched by this... thing. He looked up with watery eyes, filled with smoke, and she smiled once more.
"You better find a way out, my dear. It looks like you're having some trouble." She whispered gently and stood fully, walking over to a tiny area of the tent that had not yet been engulfed in flames. She strolled over to the spot and before she left, she looked at the acrobat.
"My name is Mrs. Puppett. It was very nice talking to you, Iyokou." She laughed gently and walked outside to safety. Iyokou could only see her for a few seconds before she vanished from his sight.
The teen sat there for a few moments, digesting what had just happened and then quickly stood, running over to the area Mrs. Puppett had just gone, but it had already been overtaken by the flames. Iyokou looked around frantically for another opening, all the while thinking, who could have done this?!
His eyes caught sight of one more small opening and ran for it, jumping through the torn fabric of the tent and rolling on the ground coughing while he patted out a few small flames that caught his uniform. He took a few moments to regain himself and finally sat up, panting. He stared blankly at the burning tent. Unfortunately, that last opening had already closed up, and he could still hear the screams of the people still within. Iyokou held his hands to his ears, trying to block out the sounds of their screaming and let out a few choked sobs. Sniffling, he stood up and wiped his eye, looking around for someone, anyone that could help. He ran out from the tent and began to scream.
"THE BIG TOP IS ON FIRE!"
((OOC: Isn't he so useless? =D))
