Adzima pov
After waking up, I went to Falco's room and knocked on his door to see if he was indeed resting. I immediately doubted him and confronted him when he opened the door while still wearing sunglasses and his cap.
Adzima:"Do you always wear sunglasses and your cap when you go to sleep?"
Falco:"I've been up since earlier, waiting for you to wake up so you wouldn't doubt my words. As for the sunglasses and cap, it's because I don't like other people seeing my face"
I took a close look at him and noticed that he was only wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck t-shirt and trousers. He had already removed his jacket, gun holsters from his trousers, and even his military boots, but he was still wearing his black gloves. I was intrigued as to why he always covered himself entirely, but I didn't question it because I knew I didn't have the right to. We then got ourselves ready and contacted the others to gather. The earth-shaped hologram then shows videos and images from a circus performance.
Falco:"The person we will recruit this time is a magician"
When Artha heard the word magician, he immediately sighed.
Falco:"Her stage name is Ardnahc"
Fian:"A magician, huh? That would be interesting"
Unlike Artha, who seemed uninterested, I got excited when I saw the videos and images shown on the hologram.
Adzima:"Oh, I love magic, this is going to be fun"
Everyone immediately smiled when they saw my reaction, even Falco smiled slightly, and that made me a little embarrassed. Meanwhile, Artha remained uninterested.
Artha:"What's so interesting about magic? It's just a couple of simple tricks to deceive the audience"
Adzima:"That's exactly the point. People like mysterious things, and when they don't know what kind of trick is being used, they become intrigued to see how it works. There are also people who watch magic shows just for fun"
Artha:"That's ridiculous, Adzima. What kind of people enjoys being fooled?"
Falco:"Why don't you come with us and see for yourself?"
Artha:"Okay, even though I'm sure this will be really boring"
Falco:"I highly doubt that, Fian. You come with us too"
Fian:"Yes!"
When Fian heard it, he became excited, and we immediately headed towards the circus show displayed by the hologram.
When we arrived, we went directly inside the circus tent, and it turned out that the circus show had already begun, so we decided to grab a seat and enjoy the show first, even though Artha was still grumbling. We, who had just watched the show out of curiosity at first, gradually became more engrossed in it, and even Artha stopped grumbling and began enjoying the show. At least until we noticed clapping hands in front of us, which jolted us awake. And it turns out Falco was the one who did it.
Falco:"Why are you so engrossed in the show?"
Adzima:"Sorry.... "
The host of the show then presented the next performer, Ardnahc. We were surprised when we discovered that Ardnahc is Galuh. Artha immediately jumped up and prepared to call Galuh, but Falco stopped him. Strangely, despite the fact that they both rose up to block the view of the other spectators, no one scolded them.
Artha:"What?"
Falco:"Not now professor"
Artha:"Why? Isn't she the reason we came here?"
Falco:"Look around you"
As he asked, we looked around and noticed that the spectators around us had already turned into dried corpses, and others had turned into skeletons. Some of them appear to be wearing old clothes.
When we witnessed that, we were all shocked since we could still hear clapping and cheering from the dead audience.
Fian:"What exactly happened here? Where did these noises come from?"
Falco:"This is no ordinary circus, this is Circus Illusion. If you get caught up in the illusions, you will be trapped here for eternity. That also applies to the performers"
Adzima:"Doesn't that mean Galuh is also trapped here?"
Falco:"Yes"
Artha:"So, what are we waiting for? We need to get her out of here as soon as possible"
Falco:"Like I said, not now"
Artha and Falco then sat back down, and we watched Galuh's magic show until the end, and she went backstage. The lights in the circus tent suddenly went out, and Falco nodded at us.
Falco:"Now"
We quickly ran to catch up with Galuh, and when we did, Artha suddenly hugged Galuh from behind.
Artha:"I really missed you, Chandra"
However, Artha's body was suddenly thrown by a powerful yellow energy. Galuh then turned towards us, and she immediately restrained our bodies with the same yellow energy, preventing us from moving.
Adzima:"Galuh, What are you doing? We are your friends"
Fortunately, Artha, who had been thrown earlier, was not restrained like us, so he could move freely. Artha then attempted to approach Galuh again, but Galuh continued to use her yellow energy to throw Artha away. But Artha didn't give up, he extended both hands towards Galuh so he could touch her even though his body was still being pushed by the yellow energy. Galuh then tried desperately to remove Artha's hand from her body, but when she couldn't, she threw various objects at Artha with her yellow energy, forcing Artha to let go of his hand.
But, despite being injured by the objects that Galuh threw at him, Artha did not let go of his hand and instead moved closer to Galuh. Artha didn't care about his injury; he suppressed the pain in order to get closer to Galuh. Artha then instantly hugged Galuh again and whispered softly into Galuh's ear.
Artha:"I'm sorry..."
The items thrown by the yellow energy stopped flying immediately after Artha whispered that, as did the three of us who had been restrained by the yellow energy, and we were finally able to move again.
Galuh then returned Artha's hug and cried on his shoulder, apologising.
Galuh:"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm really sorry"
Artha caressed Galuh's back while trying to calm her down. Meanwhile, I was captivated by the lovely scene, and without realising it, I leaned my head on the shoulder of someone next to me. The romantic moment continued for a while until Fian pretended to cough in order to attract our attention.
Fian:"Cough, remember the situation, guys"
Artha and Galuh immediately broke their hug, and their faces flushed.
Artha:"Sorry..."
I giggle a little when I saw their reactions, but Fian then looked at me.
Fian:"You too, Adzima"
I didn't understand what he meant at first, but then I realised that I was leaning on someone's shoulder, and because Fian was close to Artha and Galuh, that meant I was leaning on Falco's shoulder.
Adzima:"So-so-so-sorry"
I blushed and hurriedly moved away from him.
Falco:"It's okay, princess, I don't mind"
Falco simply smiled at me, while Fian burst out laughing when he saw my reaction. Galuh then asked Artha a question.
Galuh:"Is he Adzima's boyfriend?"
My face flushed even more after hearing that, while Fian laughed even louder, and Artha shrugged in response to Galuh's question.
I instantly turned my face away from them so they wouldn't see my reddened face, but then I realised that we weren't in the circus tent anymore, but in the middle of the forest, and the circus tent had vanished without a trace. After seeing my confused expression, the others also realised the same thing.
Artha:"What the hell?"
Falco:"Finally, you realise it, we have been removed from the circus since the moment Artha and Ardnahc hugged earlier"
Adzima:"What? How?"
Falco:"As I said before, the circus is a Circus Illusion, so anyone who becomes aware of the illusion's influence will be tossed away, and they will seek out new victims"
Falco:"That's why, even though I was able to track down the circus, I had a hard time stopping it"
Artha:"So that's why you prevented me from acting hastily earlier?"
Artha:"We will be immediately kicked out if we make even the slightest mistake, and we will not be able to save Chandra"
Galuh:"Thank you for saving me, guys"
Adzima:"That's not necessary, also, we are assembling a team of people with extraordinary abilities to save the world, Will you join us, Galuh?"
Galuh:"Yes, I will"
After hearing Galuh's answer, we immediately returned to the mansion.