Poison Princess

Chapter Eleven: Romeo and Juliet

Chapter Eleven: Romeo and Juliet

What really is family anyway? Is it the people who gave birth to you? Perhaps the folks who are connected to you by blood? If blood ties were really that big of a deal, then why are there so many parents out there, like mine, so eager to throw out their own flesh and blood, just because of some red eyes? Of course, human children aren't exempt from this either. I've met plenty of human orphans as well. They say blood is thicker than water, but what does that really mean? Does it mean that parents and children should always be bonded no matter what? Or is the concept of blood ties merely used as a weapon to guilt children into obedience because they are supposedly of the same blood?

In my experience, I've learned that the supposed sacredness of bloodlines is absolute bullshit. During my time working for the Rouge Fleur Circus, I have met nearly every family dynamic the human race has to offer. Straight parents, gay parents, single parents, you name it. By contrast, I have met parents who love their adopted children who look nothing like them as if they were their own from the very start, while I have also seen those who treat their birth children as nothing more than nuisances.

Even in my own work, I see my fellow performers as a kind of family. We practice together, perform together, eat and talk together- we are practically inseparable. Unlike my birth parents, they were always there for me. I no longer felt alone, or unwanted, or abnormal. As hard as it was in the beginning, being here now, having come so far...I realized that the fellow performers of the circus were more of a family to me than my true parents. Unfortunately, there are those who still use the antiquated excuse of blood ties as a reason to worm their way back into the lives of people whose existences they already made a living hell. When my parents abandoned me with Mr. Fleur on that fateful day when I was 15, I thought I would never see them again. But sometimes, life has a strange way of peeling up old wounds.

In the bustling schedule of the spring season, we were preparing for a show with a brand-new final performance, a flying trapeze act with all of us performing together, while Queen Niveral would perform her Etoile duties and sing atop a deadly thin tightrope. We were in the midst of preparations at the moment, but visitors still milled about in the lobby of the big top, exploring and buying merchandise in the gift shop. I was making my way back to the stage, until all of a sudden, someone bumped into me.

I stumbled back, my legs wobbling, almost about to fall over. I quickly recomposed myself and apologized. "Oh, I'm so sorry-"

The words fell out of my mouth when I saw who I had bumped into. A middle-aged man, quite a bit younger than Mr. Fleur, but not a young man either. His bright red hair was just like mine. And those orange eyes...

Our stares locked with one another, leaving us in silence. I was the one to break it. "Dad...? Is that you?"

An insincere grin spread across his face. "Ly...Lycoris! My little girl...I can't believe you're still here!"

My shocked expression morphed into a frown. "I'm not your little girl. And where the hell did you think I'd be? You were the one who left me here. You and Mom."

Regret swirled in my father's eyes. "I'm so sorry...I should have never let her push me around like that. I should have stood up for you. We divorced not long after you left, your mom's not living in Tobari City anymore. You don't have to worry about her anymore, you can come back home with me!"

A bubbling stew of anger began to churn within me. "Don't try to push all of this onto my mother. You wanted to get rid of me too. I heard you two talking about it back then, you're just as much at fault as she was. How dare you show your face to me now, trying to crawl your way back into my life after what you and Mom did to me? Do you have any idea the things I've had to do, what I've suffered to get to this point? I was your daughter, I was your flesh and blood...and you threw me away like I was garbage!"