Chapter 156: Chapter One Hundred Fifty Seven

It felt weird wearing my civilian clothes down to G district. I got  the logic, none of the jerks would recognize me out of my mask (even the  original ones I'd met had seen me in a generic WCP goon costume) but I  felt exposed. Still, having the others and the wolves with me definitely  helped allay my concerns about being vulnerable to attack. Giant  terrifying wolves are a real confidence booster in basically any  situation, and Jin's teeth were about the size of my hand. Plus he was  fuzzy which made him an excellent pillow.

I  consider spamming my wishes before we went down there to give us an  edge, but in the end having them on hand as a trump card seemed like a  better use of my ability. The previous day's wishes had given me twenty  points of Creation from Jessie in exchange for twenty points of Might.  She'd been unhappy with having the lowest Might in the group and she  didn't really use her Creation stat, depending mainly on her Vitality  for healing and control. I on the other hand was falling far behind on  that stat, so I was happy to have a boost.

We  headed for the station again, this time at a more relaxed pace. It was  nice to take our time and just take in the sounds and sights of the  place. We climbed into the metal canister, getting a few looks from the  families in the crowds because of the wolves but not drawing much  attention in the actual G rank conveyance, and we all sat down to  prepare for departure. We took up a pretty decent chunk of space because  of the wolves, but there was plenty to go around, so we weren't crowded  or anything.

The  most amusing part of the day had to be how flustered Celine was. When  we were all interacting in costume it was easy to keep things official,  but since we were out of our masks, this was more like a first date for  she and Benny. The elf girl had a semi-permanent blush on her face as  they sat together, hands folded in her lap, and it couldn't have been  more clear that all her diplomatic training hadn't covered any sort of  romantic entanglements. Benny for his part looked pretty nervous too,  and the sheer awkwardness of the two of them sitting together was so  comical I had to fight the urge to crack up.

It  was probably mean to take so much amusement out of their awkwardness,  but to be fair, Benny never missed a chance to make fun of me when  Callie and I were still dancing around each other. Still, Celine was a  nice girl and I didn't want to pile on so I would keep my mockery to the  ride home when she wasn't around. For now I just sat with Callie, an  arm around her shoulder, and enjoyed my own date. Despite having to keep  an eye out, this WAS a date, so I had to do my best to make sure she  had a good time.

Cark  had been co-opted into escorting Jessie around, which I don't think he  minded. He'd considered bringing Cass, but despite us being dressed as  civilians, this WAS a G ranked area in the WCP. Not exactly the place  for mortal children. He had promised to bring her back some circus food  though, and Jessie was planning to win her a bunch of stuffed animals  and prizes. She and Cass had bonded even more since they'd started  staying with us, and I thought their relationship was really sweet.  After losing her brother it seemed like it was good for her to be the  older sibling in a sense.

As  we arrived in the old fashioned square I headed for Spruce Bunny's  place to get a sausage. While he wouldn't recognize us, he had a decent  idea of goings on down here and could probably point us to the circus.  Plus the use of the word Cavalcade seemed like it implied some  connection to whoever these circus people were. Sure enough, when he saw  us, the masked man lit up. "Well now! Welcome new friends! Such a  variety of guests, and even some hungry looking canine companions! What  can Spruce Bunny get you fine folk?"

I'd  forgotten how intense this guy was, but it seemed more fun than campy. I  passed him a few chits. "We'll take one for everyone. We also heard  from some friends that you know your way around down here, and we  couldn't help but notice your shop's name. We were wondering if you  could give us direction to Cicero Castleton's Captivating Circus  Cavalcade? or is the word Cavalcade in your name a coincidence? We  didn't want to assume." I honestly didn't care either way, I was just  starving. I loved the sausages here.

The  rabbit masked man laughed. "A common question my friend! Have no fear, I  can indeed point you to my cavalcading confederates! For such  wonderfully generous customers a mere directional discourse is simply  the least I might do! Simply follow the main thoroughfare to the east  along the boulevard! Might I interest you fine friends in a coupon for a  free cotton candy?" Left unsaid was the fact that we'd just spent  literally sixteen times what most people would already, but still, it  was nice of him to offer.

We  decided to take him up on it, and then headed down the street toward  the circus, enjoying the sausages. Sarah seemed absolutely thrilled with  the food in particular. "This is amazing! I've never been down here. H  rankers can technically come down but we always avoided it. It can be  kind of dangerous. I'm definitely getting another one of these the next  time I come down here though." She took a huge bite of sausage,  delighted at the flavor, and I had to chuckle at the enthusiasm.

Callie  took a bite, savoring the flavor as well. "Agreed. Not the best thing  I've ever eaten, granted, but it's up there in terms of quality for  mortal food. I don't know if rabbit guy made this but if so he's a  culinary genius. Best cooking I've ever had." I made an affronted sound  at that and her eyes widened. "Oh, I mean...in terms of street food.  Obviously I love your cooking sweetie, I'd rather you make dinner for me  than anyone else."

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I  gave her a suspicious look, but decided to ignore that, taking a sulky  bite of the admittedly fantastic sausage. "Anyway, I kind of understand  how we missed the circus now. We were avoiding the big flashy main  streets. Like you said, the marks were out of the way. Even the Moon was  down an alley and out of the way. Still, I'm excited to see what the  main parts of the G district are like. I've never been to a circus  before. I've read stories about them though, and they're supposed to be  lots of fun."

Callie  gave me an exasperated look and leaned up to give me a kiss, before  leaning down and snagging a bite of my food. I gasped but she just  chewed it up rapidly and swallowed it before I could really react. She  gave me a vindictive grin. "What? Your cooking is better right? This is  just some random street food, you wouldn't begrudge your girlfriend a  bite of that?" Before I could take a revenge bite she shoveled her own  remaining bites of sausage into her mouth and gulped it down.

I  held the rest of mine up in the air away from her. Granted the extra  foot of reach didn't effect people with our physical abilities but it at  least kept her at bay. Despite the absurdity I couldn't really hold it  against her, since I was laughing almost as much as the others. She  pouted as I held it away and buried herself in my side, and I took the  opportunity to scarf down the delicious food before she had a chance to  go for it again. I put my arm around her shoulder and continued down the  road.

I  looked at the others. "How about you guys? Ever been to the circus? I'm  pretty sure Benny hasn't, if there was one near our place growing up I'd  have heard about it." I paused. "Though you did have all sorts of weird  rich people hobbies, so maybe not. Still, you probably would have told  me, right?" Aside from my best friend though, Jessie and Callie both  grew up in other parts of Velan, and who knew what the hell Elves did  for fun, not to mention the members of our group who grew up in Rajak  itself.

Jessie  nodded. "Yes, actually. There was a circus that went through town when I  was younger. It was a mortal thing, but still lots of fun." Her face  was wistful. "Alan took me. I ran off and got lost in the house of  mirrors and he spent the entire night running all over looking for me.  By the time he found me I'd cried myself to sleep. He woke up me up and  saw how scared I was, so instead of yelling at me for running off he got  me an ice cream cone and we rode the ferris wheel. That was a really  good night."

We  all smiled at the happy expression on our friend's face. Even since  she'd gotten back the hope of reuniting with her brother she'd become a  lot more willing to talk about him. The memories of her life growing up  with him became much less painful in retrospect when she learned they  might not be the last she would make. We all encouraged her to talk  things through because sharing those memories with us helped her open up  to us in the present too, and we were more than happy to learn more  about her.

She  shook off her wistfulness. "Anyway, I've never been to an Ascendant  circus. I can't wait to see what kind of things they have here. I bet  the food is pretty great, and the games are probably crazy. Where are  you guys headed first? I know we're mostly splitting up to do our own  thing. Tony and I are going to check out the midway and play some of the  games. I want to see if I can win something fun for Cassidy."

Benny  and Celine were apparently just going to head over to take in the  acrobats, and Sarah and Martin (who none of us were actually sure were  dating or just close friends) were going to see the animals. They  weren't kept in cages or anything since the circus has a tamer, so you  could actually interact with them. Callie and I were planning to take in  the Big Top, where all the main acts were going to be. They had a  separate tent from the acrobats, and it would be the place where we  could get a good idea of what was going on the easiest.

We  weren't sure where the Jerks were, and we arranged for any of our group  who ran afoul of them to post to a scan ring chat room we'd set up if  we ran across them. The description we gave the others was distinct  enough that no one was worried we wouldn't be able to recognize the  Jerks. We'd heard they were "laying siege" to this place, but who knew  what that even meant. The Jerk version of a siege could just be winning  all the good prizes so no one else was enjoying the games much.

Finally we came around the corner and saw  Cicero Castleton's Captivating Circus Cavalcade. The massive rides and  tents and animals were lit by colorful and constantly shifting  incandescent bulbs as we saw hundreds of people milling about, enjoying  all the amenities the circus had to offer. Callie turned to the others.  "Alright everyone. Make sure to keep an eye on the wolves. This is a G  ranked circus so we can bring them in, but don't let them get into any  trouble. Other than that have fun. We'll see you all later." And with  that she grabbed my hand and dragged me off into the crowd.

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