These drabbles are added here to give some insight into Cordelia's life in the carnival once the main stories are over, and to show her relationships with those she often associates with that I may or may not have had a chance to explore in the form. All of these one-shots are cannon to her story. I try to focus on mostly different characters for each one-shot, however there are some repeat characters throughout.
Bad First Impressions
“Now what are you doing up on my stage missy?”
”Your stage? Your stage? Look here, new guy, this is my stage. I perform in an hour, and you are not going to get in my way. Shoo with you.” Cordelia responded, tapping her footpaw and crossing her arms.
The other viscet, the male, shook his head “I think you got that wrong, sugar. This is my stage. And I perform in an hour.”
Sugar!? Cordelia huffed “I am not your sugar. Or your darling, or your sweetheart, or anything of yours. You got that?”
He rolled his eyes and turned around without saying another word, setting the stage with, oddly enough, buckets of water.
“Listen, punk.” Cordelia stepped over there, standing beside him as she tried to look intimidating “This is my stage, it’s always been my stage, and I expect you to remove your props at once.”
“You’re a pretty bossy broad, you know that honey?”
“And you are a very rude… man!” Cordelia responded, flustered.
He chuckled “Well, neither of us want to really be here, right? You were tricked into this too, right? I heard you used to be a quiet, sad little mouse. You’d hide away until you performed and then you’d scurry away again. You think you can get to doing that? Scurrying along I mean?”
Dante, the male, had been there for the last couple of performances the previous year, but he hadn’t watched Cordelia, and she hadn’t watched him. He didn’t stay through the other months, and they hadn't even met yet. At least not until today.
“Excuse you! You can’t just come in here and do what you want--”
Dante straightened up, turned around, and smiled at her.
“Are you a spotlight?” he asked suddenly, that smile still on.
“Wha-?”
“‘Cause, little missy, let me tell you. Your ego is blindin’ me here.”
Cordelia visibly paled, her mouth hung open in surprise.
“How… how dare you speak like that to me!” She hauled back, slapping him across the face with a force to be reckoned with before storming off the stage.
“Well ain’t she some kind of firecracker!” He said with a laugh before stooping down and getting back to work.
---
His performance had ended up on that stage that evening, it was too inconvenient to get everything moved, so they simply moved Cordelia’s performance back, giving her a shorter first performance that evening. They promised to have it sorted out for her the following day, but it didn’t really improve her mood.
When the night was over, and many of them had gathered for a meal, Dante joined and sat only a couple of seats away from Cordelia, much to her annoyance. It wasn’t long before the two of them were at it again, arguing about that stage while the others were simply trying to eat in peace.
“How about the two of you save the drama for the stage, eh? Fight up there, and we can sell tickets!”
Many of them laughed-- though Juliette was thankfully not one of them. Cordelia would not have forgiven her that easily.
“Yeah, we’ll sell tickets! Fire-breather versus siren! It’ll be the show of the century! They’ll fight, or they’ll bill and coo. Either way, the tickets will be done and sold.”
Many of them groaned, knowing that was about to get him the wrong kind of attention.
“Excuse you?” now her anger was turned from Dante to the other carnival worker. “First of all, the absolute nerve of you to even suggest something like that. And also… who invited you into this conversation?”
Before she could scold him more, he simpered off to lick his wounded pride, and the rest of the crowd started to follow suit-- not wanting to invoke her wrath upon themselves by saying the wrong thing when she was fired up. She turned back to look at Dante, who at least had the decency to look sheepish.
“And you-” she began again before letting her expression soften “Let’s just… try not to do this again ok? Let’s try starting over.” she held out her paw “I’m Cordelia. I’m a singer.”
“...and a siren?” he responded as he took her paw reluctantly “I’m a fire dancer.” he added “And my name’s Dante.”
“Yes, siren.” she said as she shook his paw “No worries, it won’t work on you. Workers are safe.”
He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding “Good. Bram told me differently. I’ve avoided your shows.”
Cordelia laughed “Oh, that sounds like Bram alright. It’s nice to meet you. You should come sometime. I actually really like fire dancers, we’ve not had one here. I can’t wait to find time to go to one of your shows too.”
She noticed they were still shaking hands, and she carefully removed his from hers “Now I’ll leave you be. But we’ve started over, right?”
Dante nodded.
“Good. Then I’ll come to your show tomorrow.”
And with that she slipped off out of sight, leaving Dante there, suddenly thankful that someone was able to get on worse of a side with her than he had managed. He had to admit, the girl could hit hard.
Merry-Go-Round (and Around)
“So, Mr. Callaghan. What’s your answer?” Mr. Dark grinned to Rordan as he gestured to the carousel before them. Carmen, the man in charge of manning the carousel and keeping it in working order tapped the controls impatiently with his paw as the both awaited Rordan’s response.
“I refuse. You can have someone else do it. I’m sure Juliette would be willing enough, and she likes to draw a crowd anyway.”
Mr. Dark sighed “She can draw a crowd without help. But if I send you out there, after a ride on the carousel, you’ll be able to lure so many to the carnival.”
“Then, why don’t you?”
“I… highly suspect the carousel doesn’t work on me.” he responded “But it will work on you.”
“It won’t.” Rordan responded “Because I’m not going to step foot on that thing.”
Carmen groaned audibly. There were so many other things he could be doing right now. Like sleeping. It was too early to be up fooling with this contraption. He didn’t complain past that though, complaining wasn’t going to do him any good.
“Just find someone else to do it.” Rordan said as he returned Mr. Dark’s icy stare.
“Fine, fine. I will find someone.” Mr. Dark agreed “Though I may very well need you to look after whomever I pick. I trust you wandering around town without a chaperone, even after a carousel ride. Not so sure I trust any of the others to behave.”
“When you find a willing participant, come and get me. Until then, I’m going to finish my breakfast in my wagon.”
Mr. Dark glanced to Carmen “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes or less, don’t worry about shutting the big girl down just yet.”
Carmen had no clue who Mr. Dark was going to manage to convince in the next fifteen minutes, but he would wait in the meantime. Perhaps he would read a comic book or two as he waited…
True to his word though, it was less than fifteen minutes before Mr. Dark returned with one of the younger girls in tow.
Somehow, Carmen didn’t think this would end well as she came into view.
“So, if I do this favor, you’ll let me ride the carousel? And here I thought it was broken this whole time.” Cordelia tilted her head in confusion as she looked between the carousel and her boss. “I’ll be honest, I’m not fond of going into town to advertise, but I do want to ride it. So that’s the deal, then?”
“Just hop on.” Mr. Dark cooed. “You’ll have fun, and then going into town won’t seem too much like a chore anymore. It’ll make you feel… like a kid again.” he pursed his lips, trying to keep back the laugh beginning to bubble up.
“I…” Cordelia worried her lip a moment “I… suppose it couldn’t hurt.” she finally said after a few moments of consideration “I have always wanted to ride one of these, this one never seems to work but… I suppose it would be nice to test it out.” she furrowed her brows “It… it does work, right? And it’s safe?”
Mr. Dark smiled brightly “Why of course, young Cordelia. You’ll be in great hands with Carmen here. He knows how to work it like an old pro. Don’t you, Carmen?”
Carmen put down his book and nodded as he grunted a yes.
“See? You’ll be just fine.”
Cordelia looked back to the carousel. Her eyes lit up with excitement and she stepped up onto the device. Mr. Dark watched as she settled onto one of the horses and held on tight. Soon enough the carousel began to move backwards, slowly at first and then faster.
All too soon for Cordelia, it stopped. She felt a little disoriented as she stepped down.
“That barely lasted any time at all, but you could see i was growing dizzy, couldn’t you?” she questioned Carmen, her voice unusually quiet and small. “It was fun though, maybe next time I’ll--” she stopped “Is everything… bigger?” her eyes widened as she looked up toward Mr. Dark, and then looked to her paws.
“What did you do to me?” she demanded as she stomped over to her boss “I’m a CHILD!” as she raised her voice, it was becoming shrill. He scrunched his face as he tried not to plug his ears at her continued screeching at him.
“Oh, did I forget to tell you the carousel was magic? Huh, whoops.” Mr. Dark replied “I guess I thought you knew. It can reverse or speed up time for anyone on it. I thought someone would have told you by now.”
“No!” Cordelia yelled loudly at him “No, darn it, of course they didn’t! What TALKS about those kinds of things!” she said a few other choice words as she frowned up at him.
Gosh, Mr. Dark was extremely tall right now.
“You had better fix me or I’ll--”
“As soon as you get back from town. We had a deal.”
“I--” Cordelia huffed “I can’t go into town like this! I’m a child!”
“Which is why I’m watching you.” Rordan said as he joined them. He looked to Mr. Dark “I could hear her from outside of my wagon. You really riled her up.” he looked back to Cordelia, who was glaring daggers at him “Don’t give me that look, what are you, five?” he chuckled “Oh wow, actually, I guess you are.” he could see the fire in her eyes, and so he bent down “Sorry, I didn’t know he was going to pick you.” he glared up at Dark a moment before focusing his gaze back to Cordelia “Let me help you out though, the quicker we get back the quicker you get back to normal. Sound ok?”
Cordelia’s eyes lit up as Rordan smiled to her “O-oh. Okay…” she managed out. He held his paw out to her, and she took it with little complaint. While her adult self would have never done so, she was different as a child. And right now, her child-self was fairly enamored with him. He was always the type she loved as a child. With his reddish-brown fur, kind and bright blue eyes, handsome hair, and a bit of facial hair-- as her child-self, she was nearly willing to do anything he would ask her to do without trouble. As long as he was there with her, that was.
She followed beside him silently as they strolled into town, eyes wide as she watched everyone who was so much bigger than her pass by. She blushed nearly every time she looked over to Rordan.
“Youch!” She grimaces as someone stepped on her tail. This wasn’t unusually, but it hurt so much more when she was the size of a child.
“The nerve, they didn’t even apologize!” she grumbled under her breath, causing Rordan to chuckle “it isn’t funny!”
Rordan tried to school his face “Sorry, hearing someone as young as you are right now say “the nerve” of someone is a little amusing.”
Cordelia pouted a little, looking away, but she didn’t say anything bad in regards to him, even if she wanted to. Just a little. Mostly, she forgave him after a few second of pouting.
“Right, I gotta advertise. Wait here.” she cleared her throat and stepped over to someone “Visit the carnival!” she yelled up. They chuckled and continued on.
Cordelia grumbled, but continued on to the next person “Hey, you, up there!” they looked down to her and cooed at her small, cute size “Yeah, you. Go to the carnival!” the viscet ruffled her mane, told her she was adorable, and slipped off as well.
Similar things happened several more times before Rordan stepped over to her and hefted her into his arms like an actual child. She frowned at the treatment but said nothing as she blushed at his closeness. Her child self couldn’t handle it.
“I don’t think that’s working, Cordy.” he said “ They think you’re cute, if a little pushy. But they think you’re just being a silly kid.” she started to open her mouth to argue, but he continued before she could get anything out “To them, you look like a silly kid. Let’s try something different though, ok?”
Cordelia tilted her head “Like what?” she questioned.
“I’ll heft you up onto my shoulders, and then you start singing. They’ll follow, and we’ll get out of here far more quickly.”
Cordelia grinned “Oh, wow, that’s really smart Mr. Callaghan!”
“Why thank you. Ready?”
Cordelia nodded, and he changed his grip so he could easily lift her over his head and onto his neck.
She settled quickly, leaning against his hat carefully so that it wouldn’t fall off. He tail still dragged the ground, but not enough to get stepped on. That was a definite plus.
“Now go, sunshine. Do your stuff and knock ‘em dead”
Cordelia squealed in delight at the nickname before she began singing. As expected, a crowd began to follow them back. Afterward, they slipped away from the crowd quickly, back toward the wagons.
“Reckon you can do that again, little bit?”
She shook her head, but before speaking Juliette snuck up and yelled “Oh god, you’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!!” she squealed “Give her to me! I want to hold her! I can take her back to town!”
Rordan tried to pull her down, but Cordelia hissed and held on more tightly, wrapping her tail around him too “Do not give me to her. I’ll never forgive you!”
It ended up taking a tickling match to get her down and into Juliette’s arms.
“Oh, we’ll have so much fun Cordelia!” she promised.
Cordelia watch with sad eyes as Rordan slipped off, leaving the two of them to it.
“But… I wanted…” she sighed “Whatever, fine, let’s go.” she said, pouting. “But for goodness sake, will you put me down already?”
Juliette chuckled, but did as Cordelia requested. Before the little one could slip away however, she gripped her hand tightly “Alright, now let’s go.”
With a grumble and a sigh, Cordelia followed beside her with little argument. She couldn’t have made it far anyway, if she had tried to run with her tiny baby legs.
When they reached the town again, Juliette nudged Cordelia lightly “Alright, come on, sing. Then we can head back. Like you want.”
Cordelia pouted “I don’t want to.”
Juliette chuckled “Come on, little noodle. Sing.”
Cordelia shook her head.
“Come on, don’t you want to go back?”
Cordelia sighed and finally began singing… but it was not at all what Juliette would have expected.
♪ Farewell an’ adieu to you fair Spanish ladies,
Farewell an’ adieu to you ladies of Spain-- ♪
“Cordelia!” Juliette hissed out after a few moments “You are not singing sailor songs, of all things! Not at your age!”
Cordelia crossed her arms “But aren’t I a year older than you or something?”
“I don’t know, but right now you most certainly aren’t. Sing something that doesn’t come out of the mouth of a mariner!”
Cordelia rolled her eyes and belted out a wordless tune, mostly to annoy Juliette without actually going against what she told her.
Juliette rolled here eyes and began to lead Cordelia back as another crowd followed them back.
When they arrived back at the carousel, Carmen was waiting with Rordan. Apparently, Rordan had spent his time convincing Mr. Dark he couldn’t possibly keep his siren as a child forever, even though she was good for attracting business from the town.
She quickly ran off after being aged back appropriately, Juliette following behind.
When they were back in Cordelia’s wagon, and when she was done venting about the situation, Juliette finally spoke.
“You do know you wrapped your entire body around Rordan, right?” when Cordelia didn’t answer, she continued “And that you were like… enamored with him the entire time?”
Cordelia’s face heated quickly “N-no way. No way could that be true.”
Juliette snickered “I think the little you had a crush~” she held back a bout of laughter “Does that mean adult you has a little crush too~”
Cordelia scrunched her nose “No. Not in a million years.”
“Whatever you say… Sunshine.” before Cordelia could get a hold of her, she ran out of the wagon.
Cordelia stood at her door “How did you even hear about that?” she yelled out at Juliette’s retreating form.
“I have my ways!” was apparently the only answer Cordelia was going to get from her friend.
A Siren's Song is Sweet and Long
Lucrecia quirked her lips up in a facsimile of a grin “So, Mr. Dark, still running this drab carnival?”
Mr. Dark raised an eyebrow as he looked to his esteemed “guest”. Intruder, was more like it. “So, this is your… son I take it?” Mr. Dark ignored her question, and focused on the young man a few feet from them.
“Why, yes, this is Thelemite. He’s a very wonderful boy.” if a little too angry most times, but she didn’t mention that. “So, back to what I was saying. Still wasting your time with this, when you could work with me instead? Perhaps we could strike a deal?”
Mr. Dark snorted in a very ungentlemanly fashion.
“I don’t make deals with anyone who doesn’t have a soul.”
Lucrecia laughed “Oh, that’s rich, coming from you…”
With the distraction of the carnival master, Lucrecia didn’t even notice as her “son” began to slip away. There was something, or someone, calling to him. He could feel it visibly tugging him forward just a short distance away. He could dear singing in the distance, and it practically mesmerized him as he drew closer. He joined the crowd, not even noticing that the entire group of people were silently mesmerized. He was a little more aware of his surroundings than any of they were. Instead of being practically put under by the singing… it just made him extremely happy. It was an upbeat tune, and he could feel it reverberating in his chest as a happy rhythm. He grinned brightly as he bounced along to the music.
Cordelia was surprised as she saw the young, spiked viscet bouncing in the crowd. People so very rarely moved at all during her performances.
Who is this boy? she knew he couldn’t be your average mortal, not with him being immune to her siren’s song. She smiled brightly as she watched the boy enjoy her performance. She chose another bubbly song for the next one as well, too enamored with his reaction to her performance to pick anything else. Seeing someone react so genuinely made her heart race with adrenaline, for the first time on the stage in a long time.
“There he is, G.M.! I can’t believe you would have lost my son!” Lucrecia glared to the carnival master, who simply glared back at her. It certainly wasn’t his fault she couldn’t keep up with her own spawn, but he really didn’t feel like arguing with her again. “Is that…?” she looked up to the stage, and then to Thelemite a moment. I’ve never seen him this happy before. In his current state, I suppose he must be a little susceptible to a siren’s song. Huh, interesting.
“Is that a siren?”
Mr. Dark grinned “Oh yes, quite a lovely acquisition, isn’t she?” he chuckled “Not so shabby, for this ‘drab carnival’ huh?”
“Hmm…. lovely indeed. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to sell her to me?”
Mr. Dark shook his head “it doesn’t work that way, nothing you give me would be enough for her anyway.”
Lucrecia sighed, but looked back to her son as the siren finished her last song. She started to walk his way, but before she could catch up he was on his way to meet her off of the stage.
For a moment Lucrecia was worried about what the siren would do, but soon enough she could see she had no ill intentions. She spoke to the boy softly for a moment, causing him to grin giddily, before slipping off again.
Thelemite found his mother moments later.
“Can we come back tomorrow? Can we! Can we!”
When Lucrecia agreed, Mr. Dark groaned audibly. He did not want this woman back, but he couldn’t keep her out without chancing her wrath. He really didn’t want to dance with the devil today, either.
This siren, Cordelia, was all the boy would talk about the next day, and he seemed to stay mostly calm too, oddly enough. He brought a rose to the next performance that evening, and gave it to the young siren-- she was indeed a very young siren barely growing into her powers-- after the performance. She again spoke with the boy briefly, and this time Thelemite convinced his mother to stay for a second performance that evening. She humored him, it wasn’t as if she had other plans, and this time she even spoke to Cordelia for a while before they departed once more.
The last day of the carnival Thelemite stayed most of the day, even before the performances. He stayed for both of those, and before Lucrecia could stop him he followed after the siren once more.
“Miss Cordelia!” he called after her. She stopped and smiled to him as he approached her. “I need to talk to you!”
Cordelia leaned down to be eye level with him. She put a paw on his shoulder, causing Lucrecia to flinch-- but thankfully she didn’t sense the siren trying to use her abilities on her son “Well, go ahead, I’m listening.” it seemed the siren actually had a soft spot for him, oddly enough. Lucrecia would have assumed his lack of seeming response to her abilities would have annoyed her. But young sirens could be unpredictable.
“I’m going to marry you, ok?”
Lucrecia had to hold back a laugh as the siren looked to her with alarm. Lucrecia simply shrugged as if to say ‘this is your mess to handle.’
Cordelia looked back to Thelemite.
“You’re a little too young. So I won’t hold you to it. You can decide when you’re older.”
It was a pretty fine way to handle it, but instead of thinking that over, Thelemite pouted his lip and shook his head.
“I don’t need to decide when I’m older. I already know. When I grow up, I’m going to marry you, and that’s that!”
Lucrecia had to hand it to the young siren, she seemed to be taking it in stride.
“Ok, alright Thelemite. Let me think about it, ok? I have to make sure that’s what I want too, wouldn’t it make you sad if I was sad?”
Thelemite pouted out that lip again but nodded “Ok. Ok. When I’m big, I’ll bring you a big present and ask again. Then you’ll say yes.”
Lucrecia was fairly certain that the siren was getting just a tad exasperated, but Thelemite didn’t seem to notice.
Thelemite leaned up, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as he blushed fiercely. “Momma says you’re leaving, but will come back next year. I’ll be here, waiting on you. You can count on it!”
Cordelia chuckled as she watched the boy scamper back off to his mother.
“I really hope he forgets…” she mumbled under her breath as she slipped away.
Of course the boy didn’t forget, and true to his word he came back the following year. Cordelia of course insisted he wasn’t old enough when he “proposed” with a teddy bear he had won at the carnival. She was starting to worry what would happen when he was old enough. Surely he would lose interest by then? She really hoped. He was such a sweet kid, she certainly didn’t want to break his heart.
Maybe next year, she would always think, perhaps next year he’ll forget. But as the years continued, he always remembered and he seemed to age very little. Cordelia always wondered exactly what he was, but didn’t dare ask. The rest of the workers wondered too, but they were more interested in teasing her about her “fiance” than finding out.
Cordelia had a feeling that even if he did eventually forget, she would never live this down.
Little did she know, it was worse than she thought.
Little, sweet Thelemite had begun trying to convince Mr. Dark (who he perceived as Cordelia’s father) to allow him to take her hand (trying as far as to offer a kind of bribery)
Mr. Dark, at least, had the tact not to tell Cordelia about that particular bit of information.
The Princess and the Thief
“So that’s all you’re after, huh?” Zita looked between Mr. Dark and the young female following beside him. She noticed the other viscet was rather… odd. She had what appeared to be flower petal in place of tufts, and long whiskers that flowed behind her as she walked. She seemed to have small scales in patches across her body, but possibly most striking of all was her long tail. It seemed to be double the length of her body, it must have been awfully heavy, and yet she carried it so easily. She was used to Mr. Dark having interesting company, but she was perhaps the most bizarre of all-- and yet possibly the most beautiful of all. Her beauty and grace were almost… ethereal. There was not a single feather out of place, nor an imperfection to be found on her. Even the way in which she held herself was beautiful.
“And I… have to take her with me?” Zita sounded skeptical “I don’t see how a primpy little pretty girl like her is going to be able to help me, no offense Mr. Dark, of course.”
Mr. Dark chuckled as he could see Cordelia glaring daggers at the other female.
“You should never judge a book by it’s cover, my dear Zita. By now, you must know my workers are very rarely what they seem outwardly.”
Zita’s pink eyes glinted with curiosity as she glanced to the female beside him, who certainly looked ready to fight her with that expression on.
“I’ll be honest, Mr. Dark, I’m not entirely convinced about that.” Zita replied carefully as she kept an eye on the other female for the time.
Mr. Dark nodded as he looked to Cordelia. Cordelia opened her mouth, and an eerie-- almost otherworldly-- note hit Zita’s senses.
Zita looked up from the ground moments later, not quite sure how she got there, with Cordelia pinning her down.
The other girl looked to Zita, a smug expression gracing her (still somehow perfect) face.
“How did you…?” Zita grimaced “What happened? And get off of me!”
Cordelia grinned at her one more time before stepping away and allowing Zita to pick herself back off the ground.
“My cloak is dirty now…” Zita grumbled as she tried to dust it off “So, what the hell was that for? And how did you even do that?”
Mr. Dark chuckled, making Zita turned to him for her answer and take her eyes (albeit reluctantly) off of the other female. “She’s… quite good at hypnotism.” he responded.
Zita didn’t believe that for an instant. She was sure hypnotism was a farce… but what else could explain what happened? No one ever got the drop on her. No one. Certainly not a prissy-looking princess like the girl before her. She raised a skeptical eyebrow but didn’t argue the point.
“So.” she said instead “Let me get this straight. You want me to steal what you believe is the Fragarach* from some mansion completely surrounded by guards, and probably assassins, and perhaps someone who can supposedly use this ancient, sacred weapon. And you want me to get past all of that…. While dragging around a princess who can, supposedly, hypnotize people? And you also want me to see if I can find the Seven League Boots** in there while I’m at it?”
“Yes, basically.”
“Hmm, ok, glad that’s cleared up.”
“So, you’ll do it?” Mr. Dark asked, though he looked sure of her answer.
“Oh no. Most definitely not. That’s suicide, and stupid. These things are myths, it’s a waste of time. And I know you’ll pay me either way, but I can’t buy anything with that money if I’m dead.”
Mr. Dark chuckled “And that, dear girl, is why you’re taking Cordelia with you. She can… hypnotize the guards while you go in and filch the items. It’s what you’re good at, little thief, yes?”
Zita only sneered in response.
“Besides, I have a gift for you.” Mr. Dark held out a box to her that he had pulled out of his cloak. It was small, perhaps the length of a book and perhaps as thick, but not quite as wide as a book. Perhaps no wider than a human hand, or barely so, Zita mused.
Zita took the box, looking up to Mr. Dark with a questioning gaze. “And this helps me how?”
Just as Zita was opening the box to look, he replied “It’s a hand of glory.” Zita shrieked and dropped the box as she looked at the contents, thankfully Mr. Dark was able to catch it and close the lid.
“It’s a mummified human hand.” The dark carnival master explained “That once belonged to a thief. If you carry it with you, you’ll be able to see in the dark, and be invisible to the eyes of your enemies. With this, you can be the world’s greatest thief. I know it’s not exactly as glorious as the Helm of Darkness, but that object I don’t exactly possess. This, however, does almost the exact some thing.” it was certainly just more grotesque.
Zita did not want to take that thing again. She really did not but… if something like that really worked-- even if it was gross-- wouldn’t it be worth it?
She considered everything a moment, looking from Cordelia to Mr. Dark before speaking.
“I’m going to regret this.” she finally replied, and she grimaced at Mr. Dark’s smug grin “I’m taking this cursed hand… thing tonight. I’m testing it out. If it doesn’t work, I’m going to put it in your morning eggs tomorrow.” Zita threatened, causing Mr. Dark to simply chuckle. “And if it does work, only then will I agree to this… insane plan.”
Without another word she left, taking the box with her. Cordelia and Mr. Dark exchanged looks and shrugged before Cordelia stepped away from Mr. Dark and headed for her wagon “Just tell me if she agrees.” she called back before disappearing out of sight.
Of course, it did turn out to work. Zita was able to sneak directly in front of someone, in plain sight that evening, and steal something right out from under him without notice. She didn’t keep it, the item was of no consequence, it was more important that it worked. And so, that is how she found herself leaving out with an unwanted accomplice the following day.
Things were very tense between the two of them at first. Cordelia was not fond of her new nickname (“Princess”) and Zita just didn’t like having a tag-along-- being used to only working alone. In fact, the two stayed cold and distant toward one another until Cordelia sung them out of a bit of trouble with a particularly nosy policeman a couple days out from their target. Mr. Dark had given Zita another object-- this one to borrow-- a toboggan hat that allowed her to temporarily filter out Cordelia’s voice (of course, she misused this to ignore Cordelia thought large chunks of their travels too) She supposed that Cordelia must hypnotize with her voice, but she still hadn’t believed it until Cordelia had forced the cap on her head and opened her mouth to sing to the policeman-- who walked off without another question moments later.
After that incident, Zita was really starting to believe Cordelia could do as the carnival master had said, and she started to open up-- just a little-- to her. She still, however, called her Princess. She still thought the name suited, anyway, much to Cordelia’s displeasure.
When they arrived, Zita grew nervous. She gripped her borrowed toboggan hat in her paws as she looked to Cordelia.
“So, the plan again. You’ll--”
Cordelia cut her off “I’ll stay outside, luring the guards out with my… hypnotism while you sneak past anyone who might not be fully under the spell what that… relic of yours.” she repeated the plan that Zita had nearly drilled into her head every time they stopped to eat. “I’ll keep them under my spell as long as is absolutely possible, while you search for the artifacts. You’ll hunt the sword first, and then if you have time you’ll hunt the boots as well.”
Zita nodded.
“And you’re not to go inside, at all.” Zita reminded her “If anything happens to you, Mr. Dark will not be happy, whether I get the item or not. We aren’t risking that.” plus, Zita had to admit she was growing just a little fond of the Princess.
“Understood.” Cordelia replied “Now that you’re done talking to me, put that thing on and pull your… artifact out.”
Zita grimaced, but did as she was told. She slipped the toboggan cap over her head, and Cordelia spoke to make sure it still worked. It did, Zita wasn’t able to hear a thing she was saying. She nodded her head and gave Cordelia a thumbs up before pointing to the mansion-- which seemed more like a castle.
Cordelia began singing loudly, startling many of the guards for only a moment before they began to drift toward her direction, several meters away from the mansion.
Zita watched the shadows of the men move against the landscape before pulling the hand of glory out of her cloak. She took it out of the box reluctantly and held it in her left paw, shivering as she held it a moment. She swallowed down her revulsion and headed around the side of the mansion to enter in.
Cordelia watched her go without dropping a note, and so began her long wait and performance. You have to give it to the new, ameteur thief, she didn’t start to grow worried for her companion until about an hour hit, and she was sure all the men-- including the man who owned the mansion if his silk pajamas were any indication-- were in her impromptu audience. Had one of her found Zita before they were put under by Cordelia’s spell? She was fraught with worry.
Cordelia waited about another ten before going through the crowd, touching each man only long enough to put them to sleep, before she headed toward the mansion. She was still singing, but the men couldn’t follow in their now comatose state.
It was another hour before Cordelia found Zita, leaned against a wall and humming along with her singing. Her pupils were dilated, and her face the most serene Cordelia had seen-- including when she was sleeping. The sword she must have been carrying had fallen to the floor, and the hat seemed to be stuck in a door she had closed behind her a few yards away.
Cordelia tried to hold in her laugh, she really did, but it was just too funny. This high-and mighty thief had somehow gotten her hat stuck in a doorway while escaping with the sword, causing her to fall under Cordelia’s spell. How she had managed to stay in that spot, Cordelia wasn’t sure. Maybe it was lingering effects of the hat.
Moments later, as Cordelia was busting out with laughter, Zita woke up.
“What are you doing in here?” Zita growled “I told you to stay out there! What about the guards!? And for god’s sake, why are you laughing like that!?”
Cordelia pointed at Zita’s head, and then to the door with the hat hanging from it.
Zita could feel her face warm up with embarrassment “Shut up already!” she growled “Just quit, you’ve had your fun!” her ears were probably hotter than a fire by now.
Cordelia finally stopped laughing when Zita grabbed the hat out of the door, grumbling “Now shove that thing on, and let’s find those boots. I’ll start again, just in case, while you search.”
Zita sighed, stuffing the hat back on her head. At least if the Princess started laughing again, she wouldn’t be able to hear it.
The two of them found the boots, but neither were brave enough to try them as they slipped away from the mansion.
They were a few miles out before Cordelia stopped Zita, pointing to the hat. Zita removed it, and grinned to her partner “Ok, let’s get out of here.” Zita said “We’ll talk when we make it to the next town.” she paused “But… those men…? How did you do that? Make them all fall asleep there in the grass?”
Cordelia grinned and shook her head “I’ll tell you when we stop, for now let’s go.”
Cordelia never did tell Zita how she was able to do it, and Zita never asked-- she figured some things are best left not known. There was one thing, however, they did talk about. Zita made Cordelia swear to never tell Mr. Dark-- or anyone else-- about the hat debacle. As much as Cordelia was tempted to share that particular incident, she herself had grown to respect and like Zita, and so she agreed.
As far as Mr. Dark knew, the sword and the boots were recovered without incident. He paid Zita, quite handsomely, and she went along her way again (though perhaps a little reluctantly, she had grown a little fond of her Princess). Cordelia had enjoyed her vacation from the carnival during its season, and had enjoyed the excitement. Besides… the particular magical artifact she had gotten in exchange from Mr. Dark was a definite plus-- the hat that Zita had borrowed was now in her possession to do with as she wished.
And Mr. Dark, oh Mr. Dark was very pleased with his haul. The sword was a wonderful artifact to keep… and it was nice to be in possession of his boots once more.
*the Fragarach is a celtic sword supposedly forged by the gods for the guardian of the Otherworld. It is fabled to be able to cut through any armor, control the winds, and force the truth from anyone that has the blade pressed to their throat.
**the Seven League Boots come from European folklore, and are supposedly able to allow the user to travel seven leagues in a single stride.
You Can't Tame a Siren (But You Can Sure Try)
Carlyle wasn’t an insecure man by any stretch of the imagination. He certainly didn’t visit Mr. Dark’s carnival to scope out the competition. Really, he was fairly certain he had been drawn there to see the dark ringmaster-- for curiosity reasons only he would assure you. There had been rumors of a carnival that could enchant nearly anyone with its magical allure. They had never been near to the same place before, but now they were merely towns apart and Carlyle had to see it for himself.
Carlyle was most definitely curious. Cats were, after all, first and foremost curious. While he wasn’t exactly a cat himself, he had a deep connection with them, he may as well have been one.
Could a simple travelling carnival compete with the circus? With his grand show specifically? He was a brilliant, masterful lion-tamer the likes of which the world had never before seen. No, surely a carnival like this one couldn’t compare to even just his show at the circus.
Carlyle had to admit the carnival was more impressive than he expected, though he couldn’t relax as it was, other patrons kept mistaking him for a carnival worker. Though, now that he thought about it, that made sense. He really should have worn more casual clothing. Of course he probably didn’t even have casual clothing to begin with.
He started to wonder about the lack of lions around before his mind started to drift, and his paws began to move of their own accord to a tent not far away. It was just beginning to sprinkle, but that wasn’t why he was headed toward there.
It was a voice.
Her voice, whoever she was.
He stepped into the tent, and the next thing he really knew besides her honeyed voice was the sound of raucous applause and catcalls.
The woman on the stage was beautiful. He was entranced by her even as she turned away from them. Her hips swayed as she stepped away, and then out of the tent.
“Who is that girl…” he found himself saying quietly as the crowd began to disperse.
“Oh, that’s Cordelia. Doesn’t she have the most beautiful voice you’ve ever heard? I’ve come to see her every performance since they arrived! She’s practically magical, when she takes that stage.”
Carlyle only half listened to the teenager talking in his ear. Her name, after all, was all he really needed.
It wasn’t but a few minutes later, and he found himself just a few yards shy of her wagon. He grinned to himself a moment as he thought about his plan again. ”I’ll knock on her door.” he took a step toward the wagon. ”Then when she answers, I’ll flirt a little. Make her swoon a little, sweep her off of her feet with sweet talk.” he took another step, quite ready to give this a try ”She’ll invite me in, and we’ll go from there. Perhaps she’d be ready to leave this dusty old carnival for a real circus…” he mused a little as he stepped up onto the small step ladder up into the wagon. “Besides, she would have a nicer place to live in the meanwhile. This wagon is less than impressive…” Carlyle raised his paw to knock, and then froze “Oh, heck, I forgot to pick up something romantic! Like flowers or chocolate! I’m devilishly handsome, but even I can’t skate by with my looks alone. He pondered that a moment “Or perhaps maybe, but it’s better to play things safe.”
Carlyle was about to step back from the wagon when the door opened suddenly, and a body barrelled into him.
He was a little dazed, having fallen from the steps to the ground, so at first he didn’t hear the apology from the young woman still on top of him.
“--I didn’t know anyone was there, but I should have looked. I’m really sorry! You aren’t hurt or anything are you? Oh god, I didn’t give you a concussion, did I?”
Carlyle finally seemed to catch his bearings “No, no, I’m fine.” he managed to say “But, ah, you do know you’re still on top of me, right?” he blinked his eyes to focus on them, and had to hide his shock. It was Cordelia there. Why it surprised him, when he knew it was her wagon, could be anyone’s guess.
“Oh dear me, I’m so so sorry!” she apologized again. She scurried off of him and held out a paw “Here, let me help you up!”
Carlyle shook his head and stood of his own accord “I’ll be fine, thanks anyway.” he replied “What were you in such a hurry for, anyway?”
Cordelia’s eyes widened “Oh, oh no, this is bad.” she gripped his arm “Come on, new guy, you can help! Sorry to pull you in, but I promise I’ll make it up to you afterward!”
Carlyle didn’t complain, he just let Cordelia drag him around to her planned destination. It was nice anyway, maybe this was his opening. And perhaps it was good that he had not brought flowers, they certainly would have been ruined just now.
“We’re almost there, new guy. You met Bram yet? We’re helping him out at one of the stages. Really, it won’t take long.”
“New guy? She’s said that twice now. Oh, wait, does she think I’m a carnival worker too?” he opened his mouth to correct her, but quickly shut it. It would be a misunderstanding cleared up quickly enough, he could always tell her later.
They arrived at a tent toward the rear of the carnival soon enough. Everything inside looked half-assembled, and a black-and-white viscet in an outlandish costume was moving some heavy boxes about. Carlyle watched as a young woman-- the trapeze artist if he wasn’t mistaken-- dangled from a rope to hang a banner. He looked to Cordelia, his eyebrow lifted in confusion.
“Oh, right. Well… Mr. Callaghan’s five year anniversary of joining us here is tomorrow. We’re going to hold a party after the carnival closes tonight, so when we aren’t doing our shows or other duties, we’re back here setting up. This is the lion tamer’s tent and he’s… retired now. So it’s empty and…” her eyes widened, taking in his costume and general looks in earnest for the first time “Y-you don’t happen to be a lion tamer, do you? Are you the replacement? Oh, I’m really sorry about the tent. We’ll have it cleaned up by tomorrow evening, I promise--”
Carlyle shook his head “Don’t worry about it.” was he in too deep to say anything now? It felt a little like it. Maybe he could just explain he had wanted to be helpful, and he was afraid that if they knew he was technically competition they would throw him out? Oh, yes, that would probably work, he had decided. He would go with that.
“So, what do you want me to do?” he settled on saying, a confident grin resting on his face.
Cordelia smiled brightly “Oh, well, thank you for agreeing to help. I was thinking you could help me set up the ground a little, surround the area in chairs but leave a dance floor open. Then we’ve got some decorating to do. We have someone handling food and such…”
“I can do that. I happen to have a great sense of style. I’m a fantastic decorator!”
Cordelia grinned genuinely at him “Then that’s fantastic! Let’s get to work.”
Carlyle set to work beside her, feeling genuinely happy to do so… for some reason. Why did he enjoy this so much? Maybe it was Cordelia’s presence-- she had such a sweet disposition. She was quite a bit tamer than her friend Juliette, but she seemed so genuinely happy that it just brought a smile to Carlyle’s face as he worked. Or perhaps it was just the atmosphere created by working on a surprise party. He might not have known this Callaghan, but he was lucky to have friends (employees?) that loved him this much.
Carlyle was perhaps a little put out when Cordelia mentioned she had to slip away for another performance.
“But you can keep decorating.” she practically pleaded with her eyes “I’ll be back soon. Please?”
Carlyle felt a pull to follow, just the thought of hearing her voice again brought a warm feeling to his chest. He didn’t want to disappoint her though, and fought the urge to go. He worked on the decorating until she returned, and all was said and done.
“And now we just have thirty minutes to wait, and he should be here.” Cordelia told him “We can relax until then. The others should be bringing the refreshments soon. And the entertainment as well.”
Turns out the entertainment was a viscet with a banjo that… had brothers playing other instruments? That was quite strange, but Carlyle had seen stranger here. He took that in stride as they began playing. He turned to see this Callaghan man, and watched as they all congratulated and greeted him. He stayed to the sides, out of view, but Cordelia joined him soon enough.
“New guy.” She said as she tugged at his arm “You can’t just stand around. Introduce yourself! Eat some food! Have fun!”
He didn’t know it, but Cordelia liked him already. He seemed like a strong male, perhaps a little too quiet-- and certainly confident. But she thought he could perhaps make a fine friend, he hadn’t gotten angry at her for toppling him, or roping him into the party preparations.
“I--” Carlyle grinned after a moment, offering his other paw “Would you like to dance with me?” the men were playing a light-hearted melody, and there were several viscet dancing around together.
“I suppose I could, good sir.” Cordelia responded “But just one. I have to go back on stage.”
Just one turned into several dances. Cordelia enjoyed his playful banter, and his light flirting, nearly as much as she enjoyed his slightly over-the-top confidence. His type of personality was easy to like. Confident men in general were easy to like, but there was something about him.
Cordelia might have spent the rest of the party bouncing between him and Rordan if she wasn’t practically pulled by Juliette up onto the stage.
Carlyle watched as she stood in front of the mic, but his mind seemed to dull again as she began speaking-- something that didn’t escape Juliette’s notice-- and didn’t escape Cordelia’s notice either. She was so used to that look-- the mindless adoration-- that she knew exactly what she was looking at.
This man, this Carlyle, was not a member of their carnival.
Her heart plummeted as she watched Juliette pull him from the tent.
Cordelia only sung the one song before trying to catch up with the two of them.
“--ask for my help, and I didn’t see the harm--” Cordelia heard him respond to something Juliette said as she tried to follow. They were ahead of her and walking away, Juliette’s paw encasing his arm. Cordelia knew from experience that her grip was to be reckoned with.
“--though you were a carnival worker, but she knows better now. You were wooing her all night for--” she lost it again, frustrated, she picked up the pace.
“I watched her performance earlier--” he replied, and Cordelia felt her heart grow heavier. She hadn’t exactly been so terribly interested in him romantically that she thought of a relationship right away, but it hurt to know that again another man grew interested in her only after being exposed to her abilities.
“--You can’t tell her that--”
Cordelia sighed audibly “It’s ok, I already saw him at the stage.” she responded “Hey, Carlyle. Thanks for helping us out, but perhaps you should head on home. If Mr. Dark sees you here, he’s bound to get rather upset. That carnival is closed, and we aren’t supposed to have outsiders here after hours.”
Carlyle grimaced, feeling guilty about it. He shook his head though after a moment “Right, yeah, I guess I should. I can always come back to--” he noticed Cordelia’s frown “Or, perhaps I should head out.” he grinned after another moment though, and stepped over to Cordelia. “It was a pleasure to meet you, though. I don’t quite understand why you’re so upset about all this, but I do apologize for not being completely honest with you.” he took her paw in his and pressed his lips to her forepaw.
Cordelia swallowed the sudden lump in her throat-- his confidence was so not fair. It was entirely too appealing.
“Perhaps I can make it up to you. I’d hate to have such a beautiful young woman so terribly upset at me. And I’d hate never seeing that smile of your again.”
Cordelia blushed bright crimson, but couldn’t find words to reply as he dropped her paw, and then lightly planted another kiss-- this time on her cheek.
“I bid adieu to you, beautiful flower. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive a gruff lion-tamer like myself.”
Cordelia watch him turn and leave, his strut confident and assured. She put her paw to her cheek where he had kissed-- the area warm and very much crimson.
“I…” Cordelia said after a moment “What was that about?”
Juliette, who had watched the exchange in silence, laughed now, “that was him hitting on you, and you falling straight for it.”
Cordelia shook her head. “Yeah, well, thankfully he won’t be coming back. He’d be a hard man to say no too, as sweet and suave as he is. And I think we both know that can’t happen.”
Juliette chuckled “Well, I mean sure, a serious thing couldn’t happen. You couldn’t trust his feelings were genuine but… you could track him down after the fall you know. A summer fling might be fun~” she teased.
“Jules!” Cordelia tossed a bag from the ground at her, which only caused Juliette to laugh harder “That’s not even funny!”
As she often did when she riled up Cordelia, Juliette ran off quickly back to the safety of the party.
