Wrestling the Kraken

Dante

Dante

Dante walked aimlessly through the city, needing some time to clear his mind. He found himself approaching the theater. Staring at the building from across the street, he noticed that the signage that lured patrons in from the street, promising them a show they'd never forget, had all been taken down. A new allure would bait the hopefuls, taking all their coin.

It had been a good run and if he was honest with himself, it wasn't all misery. He enjoyed being part of the flow that kept the show going, enjoyed being part of the magic that the audience was imparted with.

Early on he had decided that he was going to do more than just approve decisions, sign papers and collect profit. While he couldn't entirely get away from the responsibilities of networking and cocktails, especially when they were already set up by his father, he did enjoy a little creative freedom. He had been the one designing and directing the shows. That is, until Vivanne managed to squeeze her way through as his assistant. His father thought it was a perfect idea. He thought all her ideas were perfect.

The thought sent a rush of boiling blood under his skin and he had to turn away from the theater. The circus landscape had been changing, evolving recently over the years and his father failed to see that. He managed to convince his father to drop the animal acts, when a wave of protests sent alarm throughout cities. Instead, he encouraged his father to focus more on the aerial acts and acrobats, booking theater locations. They still kept some tents for other tricks. Acts like the flame thrower, fortune teller and the contortionists were all still popular and kept the business going for a while. Lately, his father seemed to lean towards Vivanne and her ideas.

Their circus had been suffering a slow, silent death, hidden by a layer of grandeur to mask the ill sight of decay. Some deeds just couldn't be erased, such as replacing your star aerialist with the one she beat out during auditions. Now he understood why. Ever since that incident with Lily, they had been chasing their tails trying to stay afloat. Ever since Lily, he saw the true nature of how his father conducts business. No one says no to him and no one gets in his way... or mine.

He had always planned for the business to fail, ending up in a heaping pile of smoke, all in his elaborate plan to spite his father. In retrospect he could see why he took so long. He loved it- the creating, the designing and the storytelling... and he would miss it.

Dante continued walking onward, no destination in particular. There were simply too many thoughts driving his mind. He took the city in, likely for the first time, he considered.

They had changed cities so often that they all started to look the same. He had cared less about the sights in the past and more about the results of his shows. How would this city respond? He began to notice through the reactions of the crowds, how each city had its own pulse, its own personality with likes and dislikes. He had known the cities by the variations in responses. He weaved his own magic into the shows and the audience would spread it throughout the city upon returning to their homes.

In that sense he was threaded into the very fibers of all the places he had visited. Not by laying down roots, but by giving a piece of him away. This time as he looked around, he realized that now, for the first time in his adult life, he would need to lay some roots. This city might be as good as any. He just needed to take care of his father first. If he had his way, his father would reside within a prison cell with nothing left but the aftertaste of his sins, leaving him to at last taste freedom.

Off to the side, there was a bin with a glass door. He looked inside and reached for a newspaper. The headline read: Fox Hollow Sale Listings.