Lost Smile and Strange Circus

thirteenth half

After having a talk with the fire-breather Daigo, Noah was completely entranced by the miraculous structure of the burning flower. All while staring at it, she remembered the plants she had been tasked to look after, all by Oddman, the one she was most suspicious about at the moment, although, she still trusted him the most.

She rose from a sitting position and dusted her dress, her red scarf billowing out around her as the wind blew all of a sudden.

As soon as she finished taking in the reflection of her sour expression in the water, Noah ran towards the tent wherein Oddman showed her the flowers he called "the flowers of Chera".

That name had always, always given her a warm feeling, but she couldn't point it out. That name was making her feel something she never did before; a warm, comforting feeling somewhere in her mind and the heart no one believed she had.

But she knew, now, through all these words, that she had a "heart". Beating, speaking, longing and thirsting for emotions she had been missing out all her life. She had a heart that wanted to tell her what she should do, she had a heart that screamed out, telling her there was something more to her existence.

Her humanity was telling her that she wasn't just a dud thrown to a back alley, or that she wasn't just an old-time criminal who kept knives under her sleeves as a habit. This circus told her that she had yet to know what tears tasted like.

The brunette was dashing off to the tent, not knowing why she was in such a rush, and not knowing why she had this heavy, heavy presence on her mind as well, bothering her, speaking to her. Silently.

All of a sudden, she was stopped abruptly by a cracking voice, that seemed as if it belonged to someone who has been adapting too much personalities that he didn't even know which was the right one anymore.

It was broken, together, split, attached, caged, free, dark, bright, heavy, weightless, depressing, overjoyed, falling apart, perfectly concrete.

"Well, well, little lady on the run. Would you like a little gun?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm going somewhere. I'm looking for Oddman."

Wait, no. She wasn't even looking for Oddman. She was wanting to see the flowers of Chera. She was aiming to get another glimpse of the crimson-colored petals that shone as the glass enclosed them.

But was she looking for Oddman? Did she want to confront him? Did she have a hidden desire to ask the skull-faced individual about whatever was going on, and was she feeling a little confused about whose hand to hold once more?

Maybe. Maybe not. She hoped not, for, as she looked into the dark, black eyes of the clown without a face, save for pupils and a wide, fanged, red mouth, she felt unkown emotions stirring inside her, and the clown could only snicker as she stared at his tall figure.

His aura was drawing all her deepest wants out of her.

"Oddman, Oddman, Oddman, the taker of children
Oddman, Oddman, the traitorous evil,
Oddman, the shatterer of promises~"

He sang, and Noah's blood boiled at how lowly he spoke of Oddman.

"Don't say that about him, he's kind! He helped me, he reached out a hand to a kid like me who was rotting away at the back alleys of a trashed town!"

Words more vulgar than her usual cup spilled out of her mouth, and Noah had to muster all of her pride just to keep herself standing.

"Aw, c'mon. I was just joking. Actually, as a clown, I love to see children smiling. If you frown like that--"

"Robertti. Stop that, you're scaring her."

"Oh, speaking of the devil, the literal devil!"

"Even I won't grant you any mercy if you keep on with this."

The air temperature dropped a few degrees, getting a cold sweat out of Robertti, the clown without a face. The three faced off for a moment, before Robertti finally went away, and back into bushes where he could hide his colorful clothes miraculously.

Noah turned to Oddman's towering figure, not wanting to let him know that she was having suspicious thoughts about him. Although, as always, Oddman, with his extreme perceptivity, striked a conversation.

"I'll tell you everything, Noah."