Mysticon Origins

Runaway Elf, Part Two

Ten years had passed since Garland Willowbrook took Pyperia under his wing. Within those ten years she became among the best performers in the entire circus. She performed all kinds of acrobatics, trained giant tiger-foz, twirled baton, and even rocked the electric mandolin for the entire crowd. The vast majority of the crowd loved her, as did her fellow performers.

Pyperia's bond with Garland grew quite a bit over the years. Even though, in her heart, she knew that he could never truly replace her late parents, at the very least he was able to fill in the void as a caring father figure. Garland himself was a very eccentric individual, but he was a caring individual all the same. In fact, the majority of the performers were all adopted by him at one point or another, just like Pyperia.

Pyperia had never been happier. Why wouldn't she be? She had a roof over her head, good meals, an exciting life, and a caring new family.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Garland announced. "This we all hope you enjoyed yet another spectacular show! Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end, but don't fret! For we saved the best for last. Get ready for the daring... the bold... the amazing Pyperia!"

As the crowd roared loud with excitement, Pyperia somersaulted right into the air and on the trapeze. She went back and forth from trapeze to trapeze for a fair bit, then swung off and landed on a tightrope, which she walked on with ease. After reaching the middle of the tightrope, she launched right off and dove in fast, causing everyone's heart to race. She landed on a trampoline, which launched her very high into the air, then finally lands on her feet, right at the center of the circus. The crowd let out a thunderous applause. Garland couldn't help but let a small tear escape his eye. He was very proud of Pyperia.

After the show was finished and everybody cleared the tent, Garland opened up a magical bag which sucked in the entire tent and everything in it. After that, they all got onboard his magic circus train, which flew into the air.

While the other performers were chatting among themselves about their next big show, Garland took some time to praise Pyperia for her performance.

"Well done Pyperia! You're a real chip off the old block!" Said a large muscular elf, the strong man of the circus.

"Thank you so much!" Pyperia said. "It was so much fun, first I was like, really high, then I plummeted down, then I was all " Ta Da!", by the end! Aw if only my... parents could have seen me." Pyperia grew a sad face upon that last sentence.

"I'm sure they would have been very proud of you, Pyperia. I certainly am." Garland said as he placed his hand on Pyperia's shoulder. Pyperia smiled at least. There was still pain, but she could still take comfort that there were still fellow elves who cared about her.

Suddenly, everyone's ears perked up at the sound of thunder. As if fate were playing a cruel trick, a terrible storm occurred out of nowhere, and completely engulfed the flying train. The train was durable indeed, but it could only take so much of these powerful winds. Everyone was trying to find cover during all the chaos. Poor Pyperia thought she was going to lose her lunch with all this rocking going on.

Then, at the worst possible convenience, lighting struck the train, which was plummeting to the ground afterwards. "Everyone, brace yourselves!" Cried out Garland, already fearing the worst. Pyperia had never been so scared in her life. She had tried to reach for Garland, only to be knocked out by a stool, which was flying along with other debris as the train was falling. The last thing she faintly heard was "Pyperia!", before blacking out.

***

It had been at least an hour later when Pyperia finally started opening her eyes. She let out an agonized groan. Her head certainly hurt, but the rest of her body was downright fatigued. She took a look at all the destruction. The train was completely demolished. How she ever survived was a complete mystery to her.