"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
An old man with a high-pitched voice said out of the blue.
A boy with pale skin, black hair, and a pair of dark hollow eyes jolted in surprise as his momentary, half-formed thoughts shattered into a million pieces.
The old man continued without receiving a reply from the pale-looking boy.
"You see, I believe that the Devil exists, and so do demons and fairies. They are very much alive, breathing the same air as us, and probably lingering nearby without us even noticing.
Indeed, they are. Why, you ask, do I know such things? Well, I'll satisfy your curiosity. It's simple, really. When thinking about the existence of entities like them, you can't think like a mundane person. It requires a more sophisticated mind like mine to think outside the box and see from an outer perspective."
The pale boy, Stark, was still dazed, seemingly confused by a thousand different things.
But the old man showed no sign of stopping.
"Now, look here, boy. Think of a person who doesn't believe in what he hasn't seen with his own eyes. Suppose he claims that demons and fairies do not exist simply because he hasn't seen them.
Wouldn't that be truly hypocritical? Indeed, it would, without a doubt. Just because you don't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Would you say that the air you breathe doesn't exist just because you can't see it?
There are things that must be felt and perceived passively to truly understand their existence."
The old man looked at Stark knowingly, as if he had more nonsense to spout, but was abruptly interrupted.
Stark rubbed his eyes and pressed his temples before saying, "Wh-where am I?"
"Hah! Yes! Yes, indeed! Yes, my boy!" The old man suddenly seemed more excited than before, as if, for the first time in his life, somebody actually understood him.
"That's right. That's right! There, you get it! I knew you'd get it. Great minds think alike. Just because you don't know where you are doesn't mean you don't know where you are. You might not know where you are precisely but you do know where you are, exactly.
It's not like you've seen the whole world or know what it looks like, but you believe it exists and live in it. Yes, yes! You're really smart—just like me. Well, probably a little less than me, but no matter. Now I just can't help but ask...
What is your name, boy?"
Stark was confused, even more so after hearing the old man's nonsensical rambling. But he was a bit surprised to find that he understood the last part.
"Stark… Stark Arriate," he said, his voice barely audible.
Wait, was his name Stark? Stark Arriate? He didn't remember. He did not know. Or rather, the more appropriate explanation would be that he couldn't confirm whether what he remembered was true or not. He recalled the name, but he didn't know if it was his or someone else's.
It was as if, just a moment ago, he had all his memories within his grasp, but then, all of a sudden, they shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving only a few fragments behind while the rest were swallowed by the abyss.
"Arriate… Stark Arriate… Arriate… hmm… hmmm…" The old man looked puzzled "Even I, as great and all-knowing as I am, have never heard of a family name like this. Are you perhaps from a forgotten noble family? Surely not. But then again… surely yes? I don't know...
In any case, what are you doing here, in a place such as this? Are you perhaps lost? Maybe you're a scholar from a famous academy, wandering the dark forest for research purposes? That's plausible."
The old man studied Stark for a long moment, then suddenly gasped as if he had just realized something.
"Oh, it can't be, can it? But it is, isn't it? Oh, gods… Oh, ooooh! At last! I have waited for so long, so very long!"
The old man looked at Stark and said, "You're one of them, aren't you? A Researcher. You are, surely! It all makes sense now. You're one of those scholars under Madam Isabella, aren't you? After learning about my greatness and wisdom, Madam Isabella simply couldn't help but want to hire me as her research partner, could she? isn't that right? It probably is! Highly probable. So she sent you to recruit me! That must be it,
Oh, oh gods… when Have I become so well-known? And even without me noticing? Oh, who cares, at last! At last! Of course, I knew it, It was inevitable! I knew It from the very start!!"
The old man laughed in mad delight and continued rambling on and on.
Stark, however, could not understand anything. Nothing made sense. Everything felt like a blurry dream. Everything was dark and engulfed in gray mist.
However, just right then, suddenly, he realized... something. His body straightened as he stood upright, his eyes darting around as fragmented glimpses of broken memories began forming into something vaguely vivid.
He stood up—only to get hit in the head by something hard and fall down abruptly, in the next moment as the ground beneath him shook slightly.
He landed right on his bottom, a sharp pang of pain surging through his back. Just as his half-formed thoughts had started piecing themselves together, they shattered once again without warning.
He was confused all over again. However, all of a sudden a dull ache radiated from his head, as if his mind was being overwhelmed.
To his surprise, Little by little, the pain worsened, intensifying with every single thought that formed in his mind.
As if… the more he thought, the more it hurt. As if… if this went on any longer, his head would burst, and his brain would spill out all over the place.
He thought of stopping all of his thought processing—to make his mind go blank. But the human mind never worked that way. It always did the things it wasn't supposed to do.
The moment he attempted to silence his thoughts, countless more half-formed thoughts arose from the depths of his mind.
Where am I? Who am I?
Stark? Stark Arriate? Is that me? But… who is 'me'?
"Haaah… haaah…"
A few involuntary, ragged breaths escaped his mouth. He clutched his head with both hands.
"Haaah… haaah…"
He shut his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth.
"Don't listen to anything what the clown says. He is weird and annoying. Ignore him," a soft voice resounded from his left.
A girl stepped closer towards him, knelt down, and asked, "Hey, are you okay? You look paler than before..."
" Agh… my head hurts… can you?… please help..."
He glanced to his left where the girl had been a moment ago and abruptly realized that she was now standing five steps away from him.
He didn't linger on this for long. He closed his eyes again, grabbed his head with both hands, and gasped for air.
"Haaah… haaah…"
"Oh, a headache, you say? I see, I see. Well, no matter. Mr. Shin can fix that. He's good at all kinds of things. I'm sure he can fix it. He is a all powerful magician after all, he can help, can't you, Mr. Shin?" The girl spoke.
After a long silence, another voice emerged from the darkness. It was calm and collected, yet arrogant and prideful with a touch of amusement:
"Ha ha ha, yes, yes, of course I can. That will be easy. Too easy. To a man such as myself, this is nothing. I will help him. Now, everyone step back, I will use magic."
After a moment, Stark felt two cold, lifeless hands touch his cheeks, forcing his head to go upright.
"Now, boy, look. Open your eyes and look. Look straight at me, my eyes, and free yourself from this treacherous headache you got. Look. look."
He wasn't inclined to obey this mysterious man's command, but at this point, he felt it was his only option.
Slowly, he opened his dark, hollow eyes—and met another pair of shiny light blue ones.
These eyes weren't just strangely alluring; they were ominously hypnotic.
Then, He faintly heard someone chanting something in a language he did not know:
"Agro~ Viatra~ Vertigos~
Agro~ Viatra~ Vertigos~
Agro~ Viatra~ Vertigos~"
However, Just right then, Before Stark could take in what was happening, he suddenly felt as if he was being sucked in, as though he was being swallowed by those light blue depths.
They reminded him of the ocean—constantly shifting, forming, and reforming, just like the ever-drifting currents of water.
They were dazzling and boundless, like the infinite blue horizon.
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and the pain in his head subsided slightly.
His breathing slowed, his rapid heartbeat gradually calming.
After a while, the mysterious man, Mr. Shin released him and returned to a corner, sat atop a wooden box.
Stark was now somewhat composed. He let his eyes dart around the space he was in.
He realized he was inside a wooden carriage which was moving at a moderate pace, shaking slightly from time to time.
Inside the carriage, there were four other people:
An old man with rainbow-colored hair, paper-white skin, and a nose as red as blood.
A girl with silky black hair and brown eyes, wearing a white tunic, with a sharp sword stabbed through her chest and jutting out from her back.
A man with blond hair and golden eyes, bare-chested and wearing only short brown trousers, staring intently at a black onyx-scaled snake coiled around his arm.
And lastly, in the left corner, there was a man sitting on a wooden box, leaning forward with interest. He had black hair, dark red eyes, a top hat, a black coat over a white shirt, a yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, black trousers, and a pair of white gloves that held a black cane.
Stark who was shocked by a thousand different held his breath and composed himself with all his willpower. He looked at the mysterious man, Mr. Shin, and asked in a hoarse voice that was intended to be calm, "W-Where am I?"
"Ah, ha ha ha, I suppose you wouldn't know, would you? We found you lying unconscious on the road, after all." He laughed and then added, "But, even I don't know where we are right now, nobody knows, maybe somewhere in the dark forest. But what I do know is where we're going."
He paused, then dramatically declared, "We are headed to Hignstead, the City of Wonders."
Stark was at a loss for words.
In the end, he stammered, "Who… who are you people?"
"Who, us? Oh, okay! Let me see... I guess I will start with myself...
I am yours truly, the humble yet not-so-humble, The ordinary yet extraordinary magician of the Big-Heart Circus Crew, The Glorious, The Glamorous and The fantastical Mr. Shin Asukah!
And... That old man there is the clown, Mr. Fiar. That girl is our stunt performer, Miss Sia. And that… that creature is the beast master, Edmond. He doesn't talk much. And, well, that's about it."
As he pointed them out, the girl from before interjected in a calm voice and said indifferently, as if she did not care, "Why is it that we don't get an introduction as flashy as yours?"
"Yes, indeed! It is cruel—too cruel! I demand an introduction that meets my standards. This just won't do! No, it won't! Never, no!" the old man, Mr. Fiar, added after her.
Stark was dumbfounded.
"Circus? What… circus?"
All of them turned to look at him at once.
Only Mr. Shin spoke. "Ohhh, I guess I should've done this sooner, hah. Oh well, whatever. Better late than never."
He looked at Stark with his dark crimson-red eyes and traced his top hat side-ways with his right hand and then spread his arms wide.
"Welcome, Stark Arriate! Welcome… to the Big-Heart Circus! Where everything is done with a big heart!!"