Le Cirque de la Lumière - Phan

Five

The idea of magic has been around ever since the early ages. Perhaps back then it was more commonly believed to be true than it is now, but the idea is all the same.

To the people that believed in it, magic was this untouchable phenomenon, the explanation to the things that they couldn’t explain. However, no matter what unexplainable thing could have possibly happened; magic wasn’t a good thing. If something was impossible in the books of the people, a witch would be appointed, accused of wizardry and they would be burnt to death (unless they were a witch. Then they would survive, but nobody actually knew what they would do if this happened.)

No matter how many ‘witches’ were burnt, no matter how many occurrences didn’t receive an explanation during those ages, magic was something that could not be seen, touched or smelled. But it could be sensed. Perhaps not by the average human being but most definitely by the creatures that created the fears of monsters in the closet or under the bed.

Above everything, however, stood the fact that magic is real. Never have there been great amounts of people that had the gift within them but it could not be denied that some of the legends and fairytales were at the very least partially true.

The gifted people always understood the power that they had and only very few decided that taking over the world would be worth a try. For the most part, these magical abilities have been used for amusement, healing, or not at all.

With the discovery of the gift of magic came also the discovery of the phantoms, the creatures that have been scaring little children for ages by hiding in closets, under the bed and outside of the window.

You see, these creatures were and still are attracted to magic. They themselves came into existence with the magic, for every light casts a shadow.

Darkness is not always harmful. The shade cast by a tree on a warm summer’s day, for example, is a welcome relief from the heat of the sun. It’s when the light goes out that the shadows start to become a problem. What lurks in the dark behind the door? Magic was the light for these creatures of shadow. It was their warmth and their comfort, and to them it felt like home. With a bright enough source of magic nearby, phantoms are calm and harmless. Take away this comfort, however, and you will begin to run into difficulties. The shadows aren’t so harmless after all.

At first, they go rigid. They take on a much more physical form, capable of causing significant damage to the world around them. They lose any amount of calm they have ever had and will do anything to get back to that feeling of comfort and warmth.

The phantoms are creatures of the shadows. Where the magic has left them and where they fail to find it, colours will disappear for the people victimised and nightmares will make them insomniacs. To the average human, they are merely quick movements in the corner of an eye. The flicker in the mirror just as you’re about to turn away. The absolute darkness behind a cupboard that’s been left open a crack at night. Darkness without light causes problems.

A source of magic large enough to attract any phantoms in the area and keep them there over a long period of time was what was needed. But how could you contain magic? Creatures and individuals with magic were never powerful enough to get just one phantom to stay with them indefinitely, let alone all the shadows in an area. Spells were cast, magical objects were created, and large gatherings of people with magic were used in an attempt to attract the phantoms (often broken up by villagers with pitchforks); but to no avail. It wasn’t until many years later that a solution was found.

An elderly French man, harbouring modest elemental powers, followed a little blue light into a forest at night. His name was Gustave Béringer, and what he found there would result in the idea of magic almost becoming extinct in southern England as, after all, there’s no need for any explanation of strange events if there aren’t any happening.