Lost Smile and Strange Circus

ninth half

After visiting the flower of Chuhera, Oddman led Noah to a different area in the circus.

There was a pond-like design, with a select few plants surrounding the rim.

There was a statue of an angel with hollowed eyes and a welcoming smile, and someone was in the middle of the pond.

Instead of having two legs, the pink-haired woman was floating on a tail, most similar to that of a fish. She had ears which were more similar to flippers than the human conch, and her eyes were closed.

They weren't necessarily shut by her; the lids of her eyes seemed to naturally cover her irises. As she sang a very beautiful tune, Noah couldn't help but inquire,

"Oddman, is she a mermaid? And is she blind?"

The aforementioned man only nodded, the direction of his gaze still focused on the mermaid.

After a few seconds of listening, the brunette turned to her companion again.

"Her song is so beautiful. What is this ability?"

Oddman chuckled.

"Noah, this isn't some kind of superpower. Angeletta's voice is just very... Powerful. It draws me in and warms my heart everytime I hear it." he patted Noah's head. "Makes me stop to listen everytime."

"Yeah. It reminds me of the dream..."

"Dream? What is it about?"

The girl was quiet for a few seconds, the only sound to break the silence being Angeletta's singing.

The man in violet and gold robes knelt on one knee and faced Noah, who wasn't sure if he was looking at her because of his bone head.

He exuded a fatherly aura, that of which Noah had never felt before. She had lived alone, in the alleyway befriending thugs and mice, and what a father was, she hadn't lived enough to know.

But here one was, looking at her, and convincing her he was going to listen.

They met a little while ago, but she felt quite comfortable around him. The girl didn't know why, but Oddman seemed to be lying somewhere in the back of her memory.

Yet she shook it off.

"Well... In the dream, there was a woman. She carried a baby in her arms and she was singing something."

Oddman was quiet.

"She was singing something which, if I remember correctly, sounds familiar in a way."

"I see. What would happen next?"

"... The woman would disappear, and the child was left crying. I would always want to and try to reach out to the child and comfort her, but... The dream always ends when I try to."

The both of them did nothing but to stare at each other for a little while.

No one was intent on breaking the silence, yet, a different voice rang out as the song stopped.

It was a bell-like, soothing voice which could only belong to someone.

"Oh, hello there, Oddman. Is that the new human girl Rebecca was telling me about?"

Noah was suprised. The mermaid was blind, but she could actually see them.

Just as she was about to ask, she noticed that Angeletta was inclining her head in a way that her ear was toward them.

"Y-yeah. My name is Noah!"

"I see. What a beautiful name; the child of the ark."

Angeletta gestured over for Noah to go to her.

"Come here. Let's sing together."

The brunette panicked, looking back and forth at Oddman, then the mermaid.

"But--But I can't sing--"

"It's okay. I can see that you have a talent unpolished for producing melodies."

Noah went quiet, then walked over as Oddman nodded at her, telling her to heed the all-seeing blind mermaid's call.

As the child left, a certain cat-headed circus member stepped up from behind Oddman.

"Hehehe... You've gotten close huh?"

"... That's none of your concern, you stalker."

Billy giggled with six voices, his two faces showing individually.

"We shouldn't get attached to humans like this, right? You should be the one to know it the most."

"Shut up. You're annoying."

"And you're scary. Hehehe..."

The beaked man sighed, tapping his cane on the ground. Billy took this as a sign to start leaving.

As he disappeared, Oddman sighed once again.

"It's different this time. I've... Changed."