Chương 79: The Yosten Phantasmagoria

Littered with cups, chairs, and fallen tarps, a massive field stood nearly vacant. It was hard to believe that just a day prior, thousands had packed this space in a roaring sea of cheers and chants, and in a few more days, they'd all be back. Only two figures remained, their loud voices cutting through the howling wind from the oval stage up front. Above them, a large red banner read: The Yosten Phantasmagoria"King of clubs!"

A young Evel excitedly proclaimed, his gaze fixed intensely on the fanned cards in front of him.

"And you're sure?" The man holding the cards raised an eyebrow. He wore a wide grin, surrounded by a thin beard and a thick twirling mustache. His dark oak hair matched his wild style, seeking to escape from his tophat. Evel's mentor, Julius.

"A trillion percent. You're not getting one over me again." Evel huffed.

"But I'll tell you right now, I've already moved the king of clubs to the top of the deck." Julius insisted.

"Liar."

"Hoh! That's not a nice thing to call your mentor."

"Just reveal the card already." Evel urged. Julius scoffed, then snapped his finger over the cards. Then, he revealed the top card of the deck. The king of clubs. Evel's eyes widened. Darn it! He'd been tricked again! But Julius wasn't done yet. He turned the top card face down, then snapped one more time. With his grin widening, he pulled out the bottom card of the deck. Again, king of clubs!

"H-how?" Evel involuntarily took a step back. He watched so closely this time, and had been absolutely sure he had caught all the tricky shuffles and sleight of hand.

"I'll tell ya when you turn ten." Julius nodded.

"I'm already ten." Julius scrunched his face.

"No, no. You can't be ten. If you were, then that'd make me 35. Ya calling me old, kid?"

"No..." Every time Evel called him old, which admittedly was pretty often, the lesson would abruptly end. Although he did enjoy Julius's angry reaction, he really wanted to learn how this trick worked.

"... Maybe." But he just couldn't help himself. Julius recoiled, his face full of shock and disappointment.

"How dare you, child! Kids these days have no respect for their elders." Evel giggled, "Wrinkly Rick always says the same thing." Julius collapsed the cards into his hands before putting them away in his fancy metal deck holder that they'd bought him for his birthday. Taking a sharp breath, Evel focused as his mentor prepared to leave.

"Can I finally be your assistant for next week's performance?" Julius raised an eyebrow.

"Hah! You?" Laughing to himself, he turned his back to Evel, walking off the stage with large, exaggerated steps. Upon reaching the base of the stairs, he called out.

"Hurry up! I wanna have a nice warm dinner before it gets too dark!"

"Screw you!" Evel yelled back. He was already more than capable of becoming the assistant! No matter what trick Julius did, Evel was really quick and could always keep up. The only tricks he struggled with were tricks like magician in the box, where he needed to lift up large wooden crates. Although he didn't need to actually carry Julius's weight since the trick relied on him sliding through the bottom of the floor, he still needed to carry the large empty boxes, which were just a bit too large to get a good grip.

Still, for almost every other trick, he was more than ready! Julius audibly sighed.

"If you're not home before dark, I'll curse ya!" Evel lowered his eyelid and stuck out his tongue. Without waiting for a response, he turned and bolted in the opposite direction, taking the door that led into the main building. Most had already returned home, but like Evel and Julius, a few liked to stay behind. Others were forced to stay behind to avoid any robberies.

Robberies basically never happened anyway, since they took all the valuable stuff home, but according to Wrinkly Rick, it was important to do it just in case. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Thinking of the old man, Evel knew exactly where he was off to next. Evel skirted through a few people and arrived at the small room connecting to his office. As he approached the door, he heard a few loud coughs – proof that the old fossil was actually there.

He knocked and took a step back.

"Come in." The surprisingly robust voice was muffled by the door. The moment he opened the door, a strong smell of sea salt washed over him. Evel scrunched his face. It always took a second to get used to the candles. Rick hung over a messy desk, filling out various forms. Evel didn't really understand what any of the papers were about, but apparently, they were really important. So important that the old man has pretty much only worked on these papers since he retired a year ago.

"Good evening, Wrinkly Rick." The now-bald, shiny-headed old man didn't retort. It had been a long time since he had bothered to get angry at the nickname. It was probably because he could no longer deny the truth of his wrinkly-ness.

"Evel." He acknowledged.

"Sit down." He complied, sitting on the wooden stool on the side wall. He faced a massive painting, one that hadn't been there a few days ago. It held a grand mountainous landscape at night. A streak of green and purple filled the skies, illuminating the surroundings. Below it, was a caption that read:"A Serene Silence" - Vinch"Squabble with Julius again?" Evel didn't reply, captivated by the beautiful scenery. He also didn't hear the sound of Rick getting up from his seat and walking to stand beside Evel.

"A copy of one of Vinch's works," Rick smiled, placing his hands on Evel's shoulder.

"Got a killer deal on it yesterday."

"Is it a real place?" Evel took a sharp breath. Yosten was a pretty flat area, but near the outskirts of the city there was a tall hill in the distance. But the hills in the painting were over ten times taller! And there were like twenty of them!

"Earth's Maw, far northwest from here." Evel's lips drooped.

"Isn't west where Ultor is?"

"Yes, but if you trace the shared border northward, you'll eventually get to a mountainous neutral zone that no empire has claimed—Earth's Maw. They say it's an area not worth claiming, filled with monstrous beasts and violent Danger Zones." Rick paused, letting out a few rattly coughs.

"Then, if you go even further north, you'll arrive at the Intervallum kingdom."

"What about even further north?"

"A never-ending horizon of water. They call it the ocean." Evel narrowed his eyes.

"How can it never end?"

"I don't know, I've never left Yosten." He patted Evel's shoulder a few times before returning to his desk to finish up with his work.

"But once I retire from this circus business, for good this time, I'll use all my saved up Riak to go there. First, to Earth's Maw, then to the ocean."

"Take me with you!" Evel exclaimed. Such a wondrous place was somewhere he'd have to visit one day!

"Sorry, boy, I've only saved up for myself. If you really wanna go, you'll have to work hard and save for yourself."

"Mentor won't even let me." Evel pouted.

"And that's why you're here." Rick mused. He nodded. Rick sighed deeply before focusing back on the form in front of him."Alright, you can stay here until you get over it or until the hours are up. Any longer and I'll personally kick you out myself, got it?" Evel's face lit up. Now, this was someone who really understood him!

"Will you do another lesson on mathematics?" Rick shook his head, not bothering to look up from his desk.

"I'm not gonna waste my time teaching you, then have to repeat the lesson to Julius all over again. We'll just continue the weekly lessons."

"It's not like he shows up anyway." Rick groaned.

"Quit yer yapping if you're gonna stay. I need to get all this done by tonight." A part of him wanted to retort, but the bigger part of him also didn't wanna get kicked out… With a huff, he took out the deck of cards Julius had gifted him and began practicing. The next hour was filled with the sounds of shuffling cards, pen on paper, and the crinkling from paper being moved around. Rick leaned back on his chair and yawned loudly.

"Are you done?" Evel asked, cleaning up the cards from the carpet. He had gotten a little distracted and had played games for the majority of the time, but he still got some good practice in, so all in all, it was a productive day.

"Almost. That also means it's time for you to go."

"I'll walk with you home, I'll show you a secret card trick I came up with myself." Rick shook his head.

"No, I still have some unfinished business. And before you ask, it's not something a kid like you would be interested in anyway. Even more busy work."

"But—""We'll see each other again tomorrow, boy."

"I'm w—""Evel."

"Fine." Rick opened the door and watched Evel closely as he stepped out. The moment both his feet were out the door, the door slammed behind him. Evel crossed his arms. First, Julius wouldn't tell him the trick, and then he wouldn't let him help in the performance. Now, even Rick, the one he always hung out with whenever he was mad at Julius, basically told him to scram too. It was so unfair.

Just because he was a little younger, they never had him involved in any of the important decisions, nor did they allow him to help out in the performances. Even when he offered to take on an easy role like serving the drinks, they said he was 'not old enough.' If nobody was gonna respect his wishes, why should he respect theirs? Rick was probably hiding a big secret anyway and just didn't want Evel to find out.

Maybe he had saved up enough money to go to the ocean for both of them, but wanted to keep it a surprise. Evel giggled maliciously. Or maybe Rick secretly had a girlfriend? Or maybe… As his ideas got wilder and wilder, Evel knew he absolutely had to stay and figure it out. Evel's eyes darted around the bigger room connected to Rick's office before settling on a hanger of costumes. This one in particular had mostly clown and ringmaster costumes. That'll do!

Sneaking into the vibrant velvet tailcoats, vests, and baggy clown clothes, it took Evel a while before he got comfortable. In the end, he rearranged the costumes to put all the baggy clown ones to one side, then hid right behind those, leaving only a small gap near the bottom for him to peek through. For the next few minutes, not much happened. He immediately started regretting his decision, itching from the ruffled texture of the costumes brushing against his skin. Worse than that was the boredom.

He had nothing to do, and the only entertainment he had was counting the seconds between Rick's spurts of coughing. Just as he was about to give up, he heard the door creak open. But it wasn't from Rick's room. Instead, it came from the door that led outside. Evel remained absolutely still, controlling his breathing the best he could. He'd get in so much trouble if he ever got found out.

From behind the clothes, and low on the ground, his vision was heavily obstructed, but he could still see the beige turnshoes clacking on the wooden floors.

"Rick, they're here." He recognized her voice immediately. It was Marie, one of the staffers, who was usually responsible for selling the food and drinks during the performances. And her voice was laced with fear.