Music IS my life...

Claire glanced back at Des, shaking her head as she tossed the phone out the window. She turned around again as her eyes closed. "Relax, Des. Let's just enjoy the ride then once we get there then we can worry." Trevor nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm surprised there isn't anyone out here. But it makes it alot easier to get there." Trevor sped up slightly.

Claire opened one eye, looking at the speedometer then to Trevor. "Speed demon, just because there aren't other cars doesn't mean there aren't cops. Now back it down." She closed her eye again, hearing Trevor sigh then the car slow down.

Dezka scrunched up tighter then leaned to the side and began to drift off. After a while of sleeping she awoke to Claire and Trevor bickering about the cars speed. She turned and sat up, rubbing at her eyes she looked out the window to see the view went from city to forest. The trees were all a feint yellow and brown colour, it all seemed a bit too up lifting almost like the calm before the storm.

She could make out the lake a few kilometers away from where they driving, she turned around then fixed up her coat. Her hand tapped against Claire's shoulder to get her attention, instead of speaking she wrapped her arms around the seat and Claire then rubbed her face against the head rest.

She looked to Trevor and laughed "Speed up a bit. The Cirques next show starts at three thirty five." she gazed to the clock in the dash board of the car and frowned "We've only got thirty minutes left.", she sagged back thinking about how far they were from the Cirque but most of all she thought about how sad 'the voice' would be.

Claire shifted, leaning against the door as her chin rested on her arm that was propped against the window. She watched as the trees passed, her gaze looking up at the sky which didn't seem as dark and forbiding as before.

She turned her head to look at Des, sitting back and softly resting one hand on Des's arm. Setting her head on the head rest, she looked out at the lake. Trevor sighed and mumbled, "Yeah, relax." He sped up a bit, following the road.

"Relax, Des. We're going to make it. But I'd like to be alive when we get there." She smiled and turned sideways to look back at her. "Des, relax. Worrying doesn't help anyone. And it'll give you wrinkles." She laughed softly and reached out with one finger to poke Des's forehead lightly once.

"Why is everyone telling me to relax? That won't help us get there." she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. She giggled softly as Claire poked her head. She moved forward the poked Claire on the arm, "We have three days left before the final show. What do thinks gonna happen before then?" she placed a finger on her chin and thought "Well we've already been ambushed so we can cross that off.".

She sat back and began to fidget with her guitar, 'You shouldn't mess with it too much. It did take me a while to re-tune it after the last accident.', she thought back to when she was eleven and messed with the guitar completely "That won't happen again. Don't worry.", she strung a low note that caused a slight ripple of energy to float outwards.

She watched as the ripple moved about then died away "That's neat.", she did it a few more times until the voice interrupted 'I suggest you save your energy.', she stopped playing then placed the guitar back and slowly re-charged the energy she had used up.

"The sooner you relax, the sooner we'll get there." She smiled at Des's pout before softly poking at her arm in return. "That's a good question. Hm. Well, yes, that's true. Which means we also have three days to recharge and practice and recharge some more." She smiled a bit more and leaned her side against the seat.

Claire tapped the drumsticks against her thighs absentmindedly, not really using her magic to play. She watched out the window as they got closer to the Cirque and the lake. "Trevor, less than twenty minutes. Come on, we can't miss the show."

Trevor sighed. "Will you both relax? We'll be there soon." He turned off at a side road and continued to drive. "See, we're almost there. Now chill out."

She looked out the window as the Cirque came into view, she laughed as Claire also began to test his patience "Come on Trevor we have seventeen minutes left." she tapped his arm "We're going to miss the show because of you." she fell back and laughed to herself.

She looked around then sighed "I don't like practicing all the time." she looked to her fingers and her short nails "It hurts.". She gazed around then began to play on her guitar softly, after a while she broke out into heavier notes then kept a steady rhythm with scattered deep notes. She stopped playing and paused for a second then began a barrage of bass notes. She voice laughed as he recognized the rhythm 'I love this song.', she nodded in agreement then opened her mouth to sing.

The voice quickly interrupted and sang in a much deeper voice, almost sounding like the group whom sang the song she was playing 'I've looked straight into your eyes, And turned my head for the last time, Because I was scared to leave these walls in ruin, Like the fate of those who trust in themselves, We are alone and AFRAAAAIIIIID!!'. She looked around as she laughed, then sang in her soft voice "I know you are the one we left behiiiiind,Yet somehow we are the ones who are aloooone,You're the one we left behiiiiind,You're the one we left be-" she stopped playing and the two shared a laugh together.

Claire laughed as Des did, turning straight in her seat. "Ok, you two, quit ganging up on the driver. Or you can get out and walk." He looked in the rear view mirror at Des and nodded seriously.

Claire nodded and turned to glance at her. "Yeah but the more we practice, the easier it will be on your hands because they'll be used to it." She smiled and shrugged, turning back around. "We're getting close." Trevor nodded. "Another two minutes, maybe less."

She turned around as Des began to play, tapping at her thighs softly as she listened. She laughed soflty, "Des, leave your mind alone for a minute. We're here." Trevor stopped a few seconds later. "Yes, we're here." He turned off the car and got out.

Dezka hopped out of the car and stood with her arms outstretched into the air above her, she took in a deep breath "Ahhh. Fresh forest air." she began to walk as she remembered how much time they had left. She dug into her pockets and pulled out a small wad of money.

She stood by the small podium at the entrance to the big tent, a funny looking clown sat there and sold people tickets as they came through. She looked over at him, he was wearing a realy high pair of loose fitting jeans and a black, red and white striped shirt with a small flower on it, his face was decorated with white paint and a big red nose on top of his own and his hair was a messy red afro.

She smiled to him, the voice in her head broke out into laughter which in turn made her want to laugh but she controlled her urge "Three tickets please.", the clown spoke in an exaggerated tone "That'll be $50." he stretched out his hand as she put the money into his palm and took the tickets from him.

Claire shut her door and walked around the car as Trevor locked it. She jumped as the horn went off, assuring them it was locked. He laughed and she glared at him. "Did that on purpose," she mumbled and walked past him and over to Des.

She eyed the clown for a few seconds then turned to Des. "We all ready then? Come on, Trevor," she called and looked over her shoulder at him. He sighed and moved to stand on Claire's left. "See, we made it. You both worry too much." He shoved his hands into his pockets and followed them as Claire linked her arm with Des's and headed toward the main gate.

Dezka walked along side them but stopped as a little bot tugged at her coat, she turned to him angrily "Yea, what do you want?", the boy in the blue shirt, shorts and a base ball cap smiled back to her then stretched out his hands "A man told me this was yours.", she took a small packaged from his hand. A small brown package that was it nothing else not name no letter nothing.

She shook it slightly and heard something rock inside it "Woah, this suckers gotta be big.", she tore the lid off then glared and what was inside, a small black phone identical to the one she had thrown out of the car not too long ago except this one had two 'D's engraved into it, one 'D' was black and had a red line through it, the other was White and had a blue line through it. She smiled then dug the phone into her pockets and looked around suspiciously.

She caught up with the other two and showed them the phone "You guys, i realy think someone is following us around." she started to look a bit worried. She turned looking more serious, a clown jumped up beside her then squirted water into her face and ran off, she glared to Claire and Trevor "Don't you dare laugh.".

Claire stopped a few paces past Des when she stopped and Trevor walked to the gate in front of the large white and red striped tent. Claire looked back at her and the little boy before going to stand with Trevor. She crossed her arms loosely, one hand resting under her elbow which held her drumsticks while the other was raised as she examined her nails, waiting for Des to catch up.

She raised her eyes as Des walked over, looking worriedly at her. "What do you mean?" She took the phone and turned it over in her hand. "Yeah I think you may be right. But if they are, how the hell did they beat us here? There we no cars on the road, no one tailing us." She glanced from Des to Trevor, both now looking worried. She handed the phone back to Des. "Let's just get inside and find our seats. We can worry about all this after the show."

She took her ticket and handed it to the guy at the gate, Trevor doing the same and followed Claire inside. She stopped just inside the tent, her eyes going a bit wide. All around the edge of the tent were bleachers; long wooden seats with about six rows to sit. In the middle of the large tent were wood blocks that were made in a circle on the ground. There were three in all, each holding different pieces of equipment for the different acts. A ringmasters stand, a cage for a lion, a tight rope, a large pool of water. And several other pieces.

Most of the bleachers were already filled with people and a ringmaster was coming from behind a curtain. A tall man with a top hat and suit, white and red striping on it to match the tent.

"We better get to our seats, looks like they're ready to start." Claire led them toward an almost empty set of bleachers and sat down in the second row, Trevor taking a seat on her left.

Dezka tried to forget about it all, she followed up behind Claire and Trevor, handing the clown her ticket she turned towards the and caught up quickly. Before entering to see what it looked like after all these years, she turned to look for anyone whom might have been watching her 'You're just being paranoid. Let's get inside.', she shook it off then stepped inside.

She gazed around to every piece of equipment and to the ringmaster, her jaw was slightly dropped in awe. The voice spoke at the same time as her "This place is amazing.",'This place is amazing.', she stared at the man for a while and instantly recognized him, Jacques Bu Ghatti, he was a well known, famous actor, clown and comedian and was now in charge of the Cirque du Azreon.

She nodded to Claire and followed her onto the bleacher, she sat down on Claire's right hand side and smiled brightly towards the crowd of people and the stage, the voice began to get realy excited and eventually began to shake slightly. She gazed down to her vibrating shirt and laughed as she ran a hand over it "Calm down, you're gonna hurt yourself.".

Mister Jacques Bu Ghatti stood atop a small podium holding a cane in his hands, he looked around and waved to everyone then spoke with a semi-French accent "It is good to see all of you here. I already recognize most of our frequent guest, but there are also some faces which I have never seen before. So thank you for taking your time and coming out here to see our show. And may you enjoy it as much as we do.", he bowed slightly then tapped his cane against the ground.

Sparks flew out of the ground along the entire stage area, as the sparks died out a man was standing in the center of the stage. He wore a nicely done up black and white tuxedo with a small bow on his neck, in his hand he held a large hoop. The cage behind him opened up and the mighty beast stepped out of it and hopped onto a small stand where it crouched down. The man held the hoop up and turned slightly showing it to the crowd then he pointed to the lion and spoke with a booming voice "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Xyoliath, the lion.", the crowd screamed in response.

Claire smiled, glancing to Trevor then to Des before back at the ringmaster. She leaned back slightly at the surprise of the sparks, smiling and blinked. Leaning forward again at the sight of the new male, she mumbled, "So cool." Her eyes went wide at the sight of the lion and her mouth opened slightly, rolling her eyes as the crowd screamed. "A lion, too cool."

She watched the male picked up a coiled whip next to where he stood and let it snap against the air. The lion gave a quick roar at the snap of the whip before jumping gracefuly through the large hoop the male held. He landed on the other side and turned around, crouching before jumping back through it at another crack of the whip. He took his place on the small stool and crouched again. The male turned and bowed to the crowd, rewarded with a round of applause.

Dezka screamed slightly along with the crowd, her jaw dropped in awe as the lion obeyed the mans orders and jumped through the hoop. The man bowed to the crowd and laughed maniacally, he set the hoop on fire with lighter he dug out from his pocket, he snapped at the lion with the whip once more. The lion glanced to the hoop then roared, the man sighed "Alright alright.", he tossed the hoop upwards.

The lion jumped into the air and in front of everyone's eyes it morphed, its snout turned into a beak, its mane turned from fur to feathers and it's front legs became that of a birds, it's back ripped open as two large eagle like wings spread out wide. It roared again then dashed through the hoop and flew above the crowd kicking up a great jolt of air as it flew past Dezka, Claire and Trevor.

It stopped for a few seconds and stared at the three, the voice inside her head spoke softly 'only other magical creatures can see what you truly look like.', she gazed at the creatures eyes and tried to make out her reflection in it's hues. The figure she saw was distorted but before she could make it out the bird-beast flew away and stood beside it's master.

Claire's eyes widened even more as the hoop was set on fire. She laughed softly at the lion as he roared and the hoop was thrown into the air. Her eyes went even wider, if that was even possible, as the lion shifted. "A griffen," she whispered. She leaned over to Des and whispered again, "Is that griffen safe here?"

She ducked as the griffen flew over the crowd, raising her head as it hovered over them. "What's it staring at?" she whispered to Des, her eyes never leaving the creature. She raised a hand is it flew away, her hair being pushed back at the wind it pushed up.

The male cracked the whip and the griffen morphed back into a lion, sitting back on it's hind legs for a few seconds before it bowed. The whip was cracked and the lion backed up into the cage which closed behind it. He turned and bowed lowly to the crowd, a large round of applause coming from around them as an explosion happened under the male's feet. A bit of smoke surrounded him and when it cleared he was gone.

Dezka looked to Claire and whispered "I think it saw the voice. He did say something about magical creatures being able to see each other." she scratched her head then spoke again "I did see something in it's eyes though." she shrugged it off and watched as the man vanished with a poof of smoke.

She looked to the other side of the stage and could make out three familiar looking faces, she squinted in an attempt to make out who they were. She leaned back quickly and gasped then tapped Claire on the shoulder and pointed towards the three "Isn't that those creeps from yesterday?". One of the three figures noticed her pointing towards them and gestured for them to leave, the three got up and headed for the nearest exit.

The stage lit up with flames and another man came running out, he screamed in a language Dezka had never heard before. He span around two sticks then jumped into the hair and shot fire from his mouth, he landed on his hands sprang up, he was wearing baggy brown pants that were tied around his ankles, his chest was bare and skinny and his skin was a dark brown colour. There were strange etchings spread all around his body that glowed faintly as he shot out a burst of flames from his palms which in turn was rewarded with another round of applause and screams.

Claire shifted her gaze back to Des as the man vanished. "It saw the voice? What did you see then? If it can see the voice, it can see us. Do you think we'd look different in it's eyes than we see ourselves?" She fell into thought, her mind spinning with questions.

She blinked and looked to where Des was pointing to. "You're right! It is! What the hell are they doing here? Didn't they get their asses kicked enough at tryouts?" She stood up a bit as they turned to leave. "Hey, should we follow them?" She looked down at Des.

Her head lifted again as another male appeared. She sat down and jumped a bit at the fire. She blinked, watching the male. "What do you think he is?" she asked Des, eyeing the glowing etchings along with the fire.

Once the male landed on the ground, he held out both arms, the poles stuck into the ground caught on fire as a line of fire from each surrounded him. It spiraled around his entire body before it moved until a tornado like shape. The bottom of the tornado lifted inside of itself, taking the male with it until it was inside out, the male standing on top of it. He bowed to the crowd from his perch, rewarded with more applause and several gasps.

Dezka clapped as the man was raised up by the flames, she watched the etchings begin to glow more intensely "Judging by those etchings...." she thought for a while until the voice sighed 'He's most probably an ancient pyromancer. They used symbols like that to control fire and keep themselves from burning up, well that was before people learned elemental magic. I guess he's a bit nostalgic then.', the voice chuckled at her, "You know a bit too much, don't you think so?", the voice made an agreeing sounds then faded.

She stood up and grabbed Claire, then turned "Let's go after them. They've go to be the ones who are following us around." she hopped off the side of the bleacher and landed in a small corridor with the entrance gate ahead. The gates opened for them and the smell of rain and trees greeted them.

She smiled and stuck out a hand, letting the rain pat against her palm, she turned and smiled to Claire, "Told you it would rain." she stuck out her tongue teasingly then stepped forwards and looked around for the group of people. Noticing the blue car they were driving yesterday, parked underneath a tree, she sighed "I knew it.".

Claire watched the male still and turned to Des as she grabbed her arm. She nodded and stood, grabbing Trevor's arm and pulled him as she jumped down beside Des, Trevor landing next to. "That's got to be it. Maybe kissing that stupid ass wasn't your best idea." She grinned at Des playfully.

She looked outside, holding her hand, palm up, and let a few drops fall onto it. "Yeah, you did. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." She stuck her tongue out at her in return before poking her head out from under the tent. She glanced around, and noticed the car. "Damnit. Knew what?" She glanced back to Des.

Dezka looked back to Claire "I knew that it was them and I knew those creeps were probably the ones tailing us the whole day.", she went up to the car and kicked into the door, her foot left a huge dent. Daniel came walking around the tent and stared at them "Vandalism isn't the way to go." his cold English accent struck her, and she smiled at the sight of him.

He was still wearing the same dark blue coat from before but this time he wore a tight sleeveless grey shirt that hugged his form nicely and loose fitting black jeans. His guitar was still strapped to his back and he almost looked like a male version of Dezka, "It is nice to see you ladies again." he swung his guitar to his front.

Dezka did the same and jumped back slightly then turned to Claire "We can't fight him. We don't have the energy to do it again." she placed her hand on the guitar. He looked to the two then smiled "That was a lovely trick you showed me yesterday. I spent the rest of the night practicing it. Here let me show you." he played a deep chord and his body became cloaked in a dark blue aura, he swung out his guitar just like Dezka had done last night, and it sent out a long blue beam the scraped against the side of his car and smashed into Dezka, sending her flying a few meters away.

Claire scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Figures." She trotted after Des, tugging Trevor's arm once and he followed. She turned around and blinked, glaring at Daniel. "Oh, trust me you're lucky that's all she did."

She crossed her arms loosely, her drumsticks tapping against her arm. "Yeah. See you're all healed up." She glared at him, turning to glance at Des. "Yeah I know that. But how do we get out?" Turning back to the male, she sidestepped out of the way as the beam shot toward them. She turned to look at Des then back at the male.

"Stupid male. Where's the rest of your crew at? Hiding from us so they don't get their asses kicked again? I don't blame them, they were way too easy to beat." She uncrossed her arms, tapping one of the drumsticks against her thigh. A large wave of her power flashed into the ground in front of the male, cracking under his feet but not enough to crack completely. "Now, either back off or I'll send you into the earth that spit you out."

Dezka layed on the ground clutching the spot she got hit that was now spewing out blood 'Holy fuck! This kid is something else. How did he do that without charging it in?', she glared at the sky unable to glare at him "Do you even care about me?" she asked sarcastically as she stood. She held her guitar in one hand and the wound in the other, her gloves becoming a stained red.

Daniel sighed "Actually the rest of my 'crew' is right here.", the ground behind him burst out and the two stepped forwards, Chris dusted himself off then fixed the tie around his neck and wiped down his shorts, Rayne just glared at Claire "Red headed bitch..." she mumbled to herself. "And as for their weakness yesterday.." Daniel began to speak again, he slowly drifted off the ground and floated two feet above Chris and Rayne "I changed that with some practice. oh and by the way....", he hunched over slightly as two angel wings burst out his back.

He slammed down on his guitar and shot another wave at them "...you don't scare me.", his wings folded over and began to flap every now and then just to keep him aloft. Dezka looked at him in awe, she pulled down a string and created a small wave that slammed into his then died away "We can't get out now.", the voice sighed 'More useless violence. Time for me to spread 'em i guess.', she looked down and gasped as the wings departed from her chest and spread wide behind her.

Claire rested her hands in her lap, taking a slight step back. Trevor stepped next to her, whispering, "What the hell do we do?" He glanced from Chris to Daniel then to Rayne. "I don't know, yet," she whispered back.

She glared at Chris then turned her glare to Rayne. "Blonde bimbo," she countered. "Trust me, they're still as weak as before. Posers." Her arms crossed loosely and she blinked, looking over the wings. She uncrossed her arms, raising them as she jumped back slightly from the wave. One drumstick flashed in front of her, bringing up a wall that blocked the blast from hitting her. She lowered her arms, the wall flashed before vanishing.

Trevor stood about two feet from Chris as his right hand raised, the large shadow hand appearing once again as he brought it across, slamming it into Chris's stomach, throwing him back several feet as he slid across the ground.

Chris flipped over then jolted after Trevor, he dodged the hand then slammed his own into Trevor's jaw "Raaaahhhh!!", he grabbed Trevor by the shoulders and raised his knee up into Trevor's chin then let him go. He took in a deep breath then covered his ears, seeing this Dezka quickly covered her ears also and yelped "Oh shit!". Chris screamed at the top of his voice causing a rush of wind and super sonic sound to blast Trevor a few feet back.

Daniel stretched out his hand and Rayne took it, he hauled her up, she placed her feet on his chest then kicked off of him at an incredible speed. She put her arms in front of her face and a weird energy covered her body completely, as she came in contact with the ground her body shot through it, digging her way though the earth underneath them. She raised her arms out of the ground and grabbed Claire's feet and held her in place.

Daniel then rushed towards Claire, his hands by his side and his guitar glowed the same blue aura and had the energy beam streaming out of its end. He began to swing the guitar in an attempt to slash at Claire "Time to cut you down to size!!" he smiled. Dezka's feet connected with his face and slammed him away "Don't you touch her you sick fuck.". She rushed after Daniel as her body flared with the red aura.

Trevor dropped back, catching himself with his hands and kicked Chris's feet from under him. He covered his ears, Claire doing the same. Trevor shook off the hit but didn't move.

Claire dropped her hands, taking several steps back as Rayne shot toward her. She tugged at her feet when Rayne grabbed them before glaring down at her. "You stupid bimbo," she scoffed. Stuffing her drumsticks in her pocket, she took a deep breath. Her arms spread to either of her sides before she smacked the together, a large wave hitting Rayne and the ground under her. Claire moved one foot to smack the girl's face with it before jumping away from the crushing earth. She looked down and grabbed one drumstick, twirling it in a circle before the girl could recover as the ground reformed over Rayne. "Don't mess with me."

Claire turned at the voice, the drumstick already raising to bring up the wall in front of her form as she fell to one knee. Her gaze shifted up at Des and she stood, dropping her arm and the wall. Trevor shook off his hit and stood, the shadow hand returning but this time it was a large claw. A second claw followed before a large black beast stood over the male. It glared at Chris before sweeping his hand down at the male with a loud, angry growl.