The ticket stand suddenly popped into existence. A line of people soon appeared, as if also conjured up by magic. Only a few minutes later the circus tent popped up, filling the empty lot like it had always been there.

  Phoebe felt stupid for standing around in line, but trying to sneak into the tent in broad daylight before this many people was obviously not going to happen. She paid the admission fee like everyone else, face plastered with a nervous smile. Surprisingly, they let her in.

  They walked into the tent like robots. Crash! Phoebe glared at Hex as he shattered a nearby funhouse mirror. “I need my wings!”, he hissed, as they hurried away from the scene. Soon they were keeping their heads down in the audience, waiting for the show to start. “Maybe we should’ve come up with a plan?”, Phoebe mused. “Like, anything? I’ve never felt so stupid”.

  Hex glanced at her. “This is an urgent rescue mission. We didn’t have time to wait around. Besides, what else can we do? Bulldoze the circus?”. As she considered the merits of his alternative proposal, the curtain rose.

  “People of Autumnfold! It’s been too long of a while, hasn’t it?”, Jingle Jack beamed under the roving spotlights. “Ladies and gentlemen, humans and ghosts, friends and foes! I am delighted to bring you the Marvellous Menagerie of Mourning and Mirth!”.

  The man’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the crowd. Phoebe and Hex shrunk down into their seats even further, trying to become one with the fabric. His smile widened. “We’ve got a fantastic lineup tonight! So without further ado, let’s begin with a recent acquisition of mine: Count Boogula!”.

  “He’s toying with us!”, Hex swore. “Quick, just use ‘Spooky Maze’!”, Phoebe commanded. “Isolate us all from the audience, then we’ll have him!”. “[Pyjcvwzbx Bxzfw]”, Hex’s powerful magic spread outwards… and then fizzled away like sea foam on the beach.

  “What…?”, Phoebe’s eyes widened as she looked around. The whole floor was covered in some kind of glittering dust… silver. Out of options, she pulled out an unsilvered knife and threw it at the jar holding me captive, but all it did was dissipate an illusion.

  “…Really?”, Jingle Jack eyed the intruders with amusement. “You two thought you could run the show with that? How dull. Still, you may yet have talent as performers…”. The spotlights blinded Phoebe and Hex with their glare. “Join me onstage, you two! Let’s finish this!”.

  After a moment of hesitation, Phoebe strode forward. They were dancing to Jack’s tune, yes. But that had been true from the start. They had only been clinging onto a glimmer of false hope. The audience cheered as she and Hex stepped onstage, facing down Jack. He smiled.

  “Jack!”, Phoebe drew her sword. “You heartless demon! You’ve enslaved my friend! For that, you’ll pay!”. Hex nodded.

  Jingle Jack tilted his head. “Now, now. I can assure you I take good care of all my possessions! And as I’ve said before, ghosts aren’t sentient! Convincing illusions, yes. But no more”.

  “How could you know that?! What do you know, huh? Some random jester?”, Jack twitched. “What if you’re wrong, what then?! How do you intend to pay for your crimes?”.

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  “So high and mighty. You don’t get to decide what’s right, Phoebe”, he replied calmly. “I don’t, either. The crowd decides”. He turned to face his audience. “Isn’t that right?! When one fights on behalf of the people, they can’t possibly lose!”. They cheered in response.

  “Yahhh!”, suddenly he turned and ran towards Phoebe, arms pinwheeling. He sidestepped the awkward strike that came, placing himself between her and the audience. “I am the hero that makes children smile!”. Jingle Jack squeezed a flower on his jacket, shooting a stream of poison at Phoebe’s eyes. Hex’s wings came up to block the attack!

  Jack feigned being blown back. “To think that my enemies would use an evil spirit to aid them!”, he pointed at Hex. The audience gasped. “It’s Hex, the worst demon to ever walk the Earth! Against that kind of power, I have no choice… I must summon the hero who sealed him away!”.

  Jingle Jack unjarred me, commanding me to swirl around him like a shield. Soon words started forcing themselves out of my mouth. “Why did you let her die? You could have saved her”. Phoebe stared at me in shock, lowering her sword. “You… *cough cough cough*!”.

  “You’re making him say that, aren’t you?! YOU MONSTER!!”, her eyes ignited with rage.

  Jack gave a wry smile. “I would never… That must be what he feels, I suppose!”. All I could do was cough.

  Phoebe charged at the man. “I’LL KILL YOU!”. “PHOEBE!”, Hex suddenly snapped. She looked back in surprise.

  “You told me revenge came second, didn’t you? You said saving the ghosts came first! What are you doing now?!”.

  What… what was I doing?

  She looked around in a daze. The audience stared at her in shock. Jack only smiled. Just like the first fight, she was letting her grief control her. Being puppeted around the stage.

  Phoebe gritted her teeth. No. This could not continue. Her admiration, her insecurities, her grief, her anger, her feelings… they had all carried her to this point. But now, she was fighting for something else, someone else. She felt the weight of that burden burn within her veins. Revenge had no place here, she could only hold true to one master. And she chose justice.

  “[Holy Beam]!”, the light cut through the illusions, sweeping over the stage. Jingle Jack was nowhere to be found. “Where is he?!”.

  “Over there!”, Hex shouted, as he saw Jack crawling away through the audience. His garish outfit did not exactly help him. Phoebe quickly swept the beam over him. The light passed through me, Jack, and the crowd harmlessly, destroying only one thing- the jar that held me.

  I burst free and looked down at the crawling worm. “And here I thought you were bad at playing the villain. Maybe you should go back to that after all, Jack”. One eye looked up at me sideways with fear. Then it snapped onto a boy. He was snickering. Making fun of him. The rest of the crowd edged away, not because he was evil. Worse. Because he was pathetic.

  “I’m sorry for what I said”, I told Phoebe. She shook her head. “No apology needed. It’s all this coward’s fault”. “Still… you brought along Hex?”. “Well… yeah. I was pissed”, she chuckled.

  “This isn’t over…”, Jingle Jack glared at us and mumbled too quietly to hear. The disgraced jester slunk away like a rat in the shadows. Whatever. We had more important matters.

  “You said the ghosts are being kept in a cursed mirror?”, Hex asked. Indeed, saving the ghosts was priority number one. Without his twisted collection, Jack wouldn’t have posed a threat in the first place. Time to wrap this show up.