I wasn't always a skeleton hiding behind a black veil. I used to be like any other human with pale, white skin and long, raven hair that drew in suitors from miles away. There was also the fact that I belonged to a prestigious family, so I was expected to pick a suitable suitor for their sake. However, I decided to stray from that path and run off to join the circus, freeing myself from my responsibilities to travel the world. I was drawn to the circus for its merriment and wonder, from its dexterous jugglers to its exotic animals to its dazzling performances.
One man in particular caught my eye, the one who called himself Edgar the Magnificent. He was a magician who could do more than pull a rabbit out of his hat. With a wave of his hand and a flick of his wrist, he could perform unthinkable feats such as spitting out frogs, making a coin appear inside an apple, or even piercing a needle though his skin without bleeding a single drop. He had been searching for a lovely assistant for quite some time, so this was the chance I needed to join them. We spent endless hours together practicing, talking, and getting closer over time, and it didn't take too long for us to go from magician and assistant to a magician duo.
I did learn one odd quirk about Edgar. He would never 'like' or 'try' anything. If he was interested in something, he would go at it wholeheartedly with passion burning brighter than the sun. This did mean practicing hundreds of times to get an act down perfect, but I didn't mind. Seeing the smiles from both Edgar and audience as applause broke out at the end made our efforts more than worth it. It did lead to some strange hobbies though, his most prolific one outside of magic being his book collection. You almost needed an elephant to drag a wagon full of his books. There were books ranging from magic to alchemy to folklore to ancient texts. I'm not sure where he got half of them from.
Regardless, at the time I didn't think a second thought of it. I was too busy being young and in love to consider my lover to be anything less than perfect. I loved running my hands through his choppy, black hair, gazing into those soft, blue eyes, and holding his thin, rugged hands as we looked up at the stars. We spoke sweet nothings every chance we had and wrote poetry while sitting right next to other under the cool shade. We were touring all over the world with our circus as our wings.
Everyone in it had welcomed me with open arms, letting me do as I please as long as I worked hard doing it. The women assisted me with dressing and makeup, the men would help carry props I needed for the performance, and the rest were wonderful to have a nice chat with over a cup of tea. Even if some customers would sneer or snicker at the performers for their oddities, I accepted them for the kind people that they were. The ferocious lions or the massive elephants didn't intimate me either, since I knew they were gentle, tamed beasts underneath it all.
Unfortunately, traveling to such foreign places can leave you more vulnerable than you might imagine, and one year a plague spread across the circus. People were breaking out in blistering rashes and coughing uncontrollably with fevers hot enough to melt steel. Despite our efforts to contain the disease the best we knew how at the time, which would be laughable by today's standards, the elders were the first to succumb to the disease. Since I volunteered to take care of the sick, I put myself at the highest risk, yet I couldn't simply watch my fellow companions die. There were rumors of a doctor who had cured the disease in one city, so we did what we could to last until we could reach them.
Then, by the time we reached our destination and began our search for the doctor, I fell victim as well and was forced to rest in bed while everyone else scrambled to keep everything together. Edgar stayed at my side and cared for me day and night, refusing to rest until my condition improved. I smiled and painfully fought back my coughs to avoid worrying him, which only caused them to retaliate the moment he left to get something. My sore, tired body told me I wasn't going to live through this, and once I accepted this, I was able to be at peace.
"You'll be fine without me," I murmured as I raised a weak, trembling hand to hold his. "I know... you'll be a legend someday. Just keep going... and I'll always be with you."
And with that final farewell, my hand fell limp before he could grasp it. He cried and screamed out my name, shaking my lifeless body that was trapped in an eternal sleep.
I don't know how I'm aware of what occurred afterwards, perhaps I had been watching over him as a spirit and merely forgot, but the remaining circus members were able to locate the doctor a day later and survived. Since the circus was left with a skeleton crew, they knew they had to find new people to recruit and poked around for more rumors. Eventually, they discovered a legend going around of a 'city of monsters' known as Gradmid, and from there they were able to find out its supposed location. They thought a city of monsters was at least worth investigating since they had nothing else to lose, so they set sail to its destination.
Meanwhile, Edgar had drowned himself in despair, drinking and weeping over the loss of his love. His magic was useless if it didn't grant him the one thing he wanted most, so he consulted his books for a possible solution. Many of them discussed topics on communicating with the dead and the like, yet when he attempted to gather the ingredients and perform the rituals, they all ended in failure. Despite this, Edgar wouldn't give up that easily, and was prepared to give up his soul if it meant reuniting with his beloved.
Everyone's fortune turned for the better once they arrived at Gradmid. The townsfolk were curious to view the attractions, and the odd residents were eager to find a new place to call home. These residents didn't rely on tricks for their performances, and whether it was flame breathing or soaring high into the sky, it was all genuine and therefore much safer and easier to work with. The circus had essentially landed on a gold mine, with the money and workers flooding in from every corner of the city.
As for Edgar, he needed to find out where these people obtained their powers. After the newcomers had gotten comfortable, he started questioning them about how their powers worked and what they had to go to gain it. The answer was always the same. There was a magical tree that would grant one great power in exchange for something they loved, but there was no guarantee the power would be anything good. For example, one man became a literal elephant man, trunk and all, because he gave up his porcelain miniature elephant, and a woman's neck stretched long enough to have her head drag on the ground because she gave up her favorite scarf.
This didn't deter Edgar. His obsession blinded him to anything else but his goal, and it drove him to carry as many books as he could fit in one suitcase up the mountain. It would destroy the collection he had built up in his lifetime, yet in his mind, a lifetime of love was ten times more valuable. Halfway up the mountain, he felt his grip loosen as his body tired from the long journey. Right when he was about to drop the suitcase, which could cause it to fall backwards down the mountain, a black man twice the size of Edgar appeared behind him and grabbed his suitcase.
This startled Edgar at first, causing him to panic and flail about in a sad attempt to retrieve his suitcase, yet the man ignored him and picked him up by the waist with his other arm, carrying the two up the rest of the path. Realizing the man's intentions, Edgar settled down and let the man do his job. He was used to being lifted around like a sack of potatoes by the circus's strong men, so he didn't mind.
At the top was the golden tree everyone had been talking about, and standing at the altar was another man dressed in green robes. I know him now as Cypress.
"Good work, Samuel," Cypress said to the black man. "I can take care of the rest."
Samuel dropped what he was carrying on to the ground, including Edgar, then walked away to disappear back into the wilderness. Edgar rubbed his disheveled head as he regained his footing along with his suitcase.
"You'll have to forgive him," Cypress said. "He means well, but he's not a people person." He then glanced down at the suitcase. "Anyway, would you like to present your offering to the altar?"
Edgar eagerly nodded and dragged his suitcase over to place on the altar, then after being instructed on what to do, he prayed as hard as he could for a miracle. Long story short, a miracle did occur. The tree granted him the one power to grant his greatest desire.
Necromancy. Also known as raising the dead.
Giddy as a child, he rushed to the burial site where I had been buried shortly after they arrived at the city. The circus members managed to sneak away my corpse after he had been hoarding it for months, disgusted by my rot and decay, yet he was able to pressure one of them into giving him the location. The sky darkened as he stood in front of my unmarked grave, rising his arms as he concentrated on his new power.
"Return to me, Lenore!" he commanded. "For I shall grant you a new life!"
A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, sparking my body back to life. My hand, absent of flesh or muscle, rose up from the ground as I dug my way up to the surface. As I was greeted by fresh air, my consciousness slowly returned to me, and with it the realization that I was somehow still alive. I gazed down at my new skeletal body and screamed in terror.
"Edgar, what have you done?!" I shouted, my jaw crackling without the support of soft flesh.
"I brought you back to life, of course! As expected from Edgar the Magnificent!" he said while beaming from ear to ear, unfazed by my appearance. "We can finally be together again! Like we were meant to!"
I stood up and grabbed him by the collar with both hands, glaring him down with my hollow sockets as I said, "Put me back this instant."
He wrapped his warm hands around my wrists, his gaze as loving as it had always been. "I know this is a lot, dear. But please... at least let me enjoy this for a little while."
He then pulled me into an embrace, and I instinctively returned the favor, savoring the moment despite lacking skin to feel. It felt like an eternity since we were this close, and part of me was willing to accept this fate if it made him happy. Once again, I allowed myself to love's fool.
Everyone at the circus was overjoyed to see me, and with my familiar clothes back on I knew I was truly home, but there was one issue. Since a skeleton didn't fit with a magician's performance, not without scaring the children away anyway, we had to consider other options. While I was cleaning around one day, I discovered a crystal ball hiding inside a box, and nostalgia blossomed inside my ribcage. Mindy, one of the elders who passed, had been like a grandmother to me, spoiling me with treats and giving me advice on just about anything. She used that crystal ball to read everyone's fortunes with disturbing accuracy, including my own.
"You will go through great joy and despair," she had said. "But this will allow you to be reborn as a new person, and become a mother to a beast starving for love."
The first part had come true at this point, yet I wasn't sure how the last part would be possible. I always wanted a child, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl, but I lacked what was needed to have one. Putting that thought aside, it dawned on me that such a sentimental object would be perfect. Thus, after probing Edgar for information, I found my way to the tree.
Samuel was sitting near the tree, carving away at what seemed to be a wooden rabbit. I never met this man before, yet he seemed like an old friend. I admired how he was able to add such meticulous details despite how thick his hands were. I was covering my face with a veil to avoid trouble, but it wasn't every day you saw a woman covered head to toe in silk. Despite how out of place I was, he didn't acknowledge my existence, choosing to continue on in peace.
Then I met Cypress for the first time. His graceful steps carried the wind with him, and the peaceful serenity emanating from his body put everything around him at ease. It was easy to be drawn to him, yet one glance from his cold, sharp eyes would force you away. Who was this man, and why did he seem wise beyond his years?
"Have you come with an offering today?" Cypress asked.
I silently nodded, holding up my crystal ball for him to see.
He then gestured over to the altar. "Place it there and speak your prayer. It must contain your name and offering, but otherwise can be told as you please."
I bowed to thank him before doing as instructed, allowing him to observe without protest. I noticed that throughout this process Samuel would gaze at Cypress from afar, having put his carving to the side for the time being. I recognized those longing eyes anywhere. I had seen them in Edgar all the time. When the ritual was ready to begin, I put those thoughts aside to focus on my objective.
"My name is Lenore DePoe," I prayed. "I present this crystal ball as my offering. Please grant me the strength to continue this life my husband has given me."
The tree's branches shook as if caught in a storm while the crystal ball was transformed into a ball of light, and golden leaves rained down from above as my body absorbed this light. Once the ritual was finished and I was able to bid a final farewell to Mindy, I had gained the ability to view the past through any crystal ball. It was limited to a bird's eye view, but it was possible to pick up on noises if I focused enough. I thanked Cypress, no longer afraid of my rattling jaw giving me away, and left hoping that everything would work out well between him and Samuel.
This new power created an interesting new attraction at the circus. People lined up for miles to have their mysteries solved, ranging from possible affairs to lost pets. Even the police stopped by to have me look into the location of a criminal or missing victim, but since they had their pride, I was paid a generous amount as long as I allowed them to take full credit. I didn't really need the money since I didn't want to attract too much attention anyway, especially from the press. If word got out about a living skeleton, the world might go insane trying to find answers.
Meanwhile, Edgar resumed performing his shows without any issues, yet our relationship gradually grew strained over time. I still hadn't forgiven him for his selfish act after all. As such, we spent less time together, including eating, sleeping, and working in separate tents. Over time, I had come to accept my new life and was ready to forgive Edgar, but for that to happen he would need to apologize in the first place. Being the arrogant man that he was, he refused to admit his wrongdoings and acted like everything was normal. It frustrated me to no end, and soon enough all we did was argue whenever we saw each other.
Our relationship hit its breaking point when he got a new assistant. She was a young blond with rabbit ears and a tail, allowing her to hear and move with the finesse of a rabbit. He insisted there was nothing going on and they were simply coworkers, but I knew better. My hard, rigged body couldn't compete with a woman's warm, gentle physique. After months of dodging around the issue, I summoned both of them into my tent to confront them directly.
"While I hadn't seen anything in my crystal ball, I'm aware you two are planning something," I said, lacing my fingers together with my elbows resting on the table. "You've been whispering to each other a lot lately, knowing full well I have trouble picking up on noises. For the sake of maintaining peace within the circus, I suggest you come forward with the truth."
They both stared down at the ground with guilt written all over their faces.
"I need to tell you one thing about my power," Edgar said. "While I can bring the dead back to life, I can't undo it."
"My grandpa's an exorcist, so I've been talking to him about it to figure something out," the girl said.
My anger was boiling at the point, yet the lack of facial expressions made me appear calm on the surface. "In other words, you two were conspiring to kill me."
"That's not it!" Edgar shouted, taking one step forward with a hand on his chest and sincerity in his eyes. "The problem is even after I die, you'll still be here. You're essentially an immortal being! I couldn't stand the thought of you going through such pain..."
"You could have spoken to me about this instead of going behind my back," I said, refusing to pity him.
He clenched his fists. "How am I supposed to that when you won't even be civil with me anymore? It's like you've lost the love we've shared along with your heart!"
"You were the one who did this to me."
"And this is how I'm taking responsibility for it like you want me to!"
"This isn't how you should take responsibility!"
We argued back and forth for hours like this, while the poor girl who was trying to help was forced to stand there and listen. I did apologize to her later on once I had settled down, but it was clear my relationship with Edgar was over. If I had the choice, I would have rather stayed dead than let it end like this. Edgar then packed up his things and told everyone he was going to travel the world to perform on his own, but claimed to me that he would actually be searching for a way to restore my body completely, convincing himself that my current body was the true culprit for this disaster. I was tired of arguing with a delusional fool, so I watched him leave without another word.
Years later, he was found dead in the streets of London, starved, drunk, and alone.
Since I lacked any tears to shed, I continued working at the circus without ever dwelling on the thought of him again. Countless faces came and went, and each time I would acquaint myself with them without getting close, knowing it would be temporary. The only true friend I had was Cypress, who shared my grief as a follow immortal. Sometimes he would stop by for my assistance, other times he would simply come to have a chat and a cup of tea. We weren't intimate, nor did we have any interest. In an ever-changing world, all we needed was someone to remind us that some things would always be the same.
Then one evening, I stumbled upon a young boy who had collapsed in front of the circus. I brought him in, and after he recovered from the initial shock of a talking skeleton, he explained why he came to the circus. After hearing the poor boy had been through so much, for the first time in decades there was an intense emotion surging inside my ribcage. It was as if my long-lost heart was begging me to protect this boy and provide him with the love he deserved. Then I suddenly remembered what Mindy had told me, and it all finally fell into place.
I promised boy who called himself Eddie that I would take him in, and through a long, complicated process I was able to have the child I had always desired. I watched him grow into an intelligent, respectable man who knew how to survive through any means possible. His beast-like nature would remain through his rebellious attitude and dislike for normal humans, but that didn't change the goodness inside his heart. All he needed was a proper push in the right direction, and it seemed that Lagdrygis knew this as well, as it called out to him when his time at the circus came to an end.
I truly did miss the circus, especially when it had been my home for so long. The cheerful laughter, the death-defying stunts, and the sweet smell of popcorn and cotton candy would all become distant memories now. However, if there is one truth in this universe, it's the nothing lasts forever, and so I had to be prepared to move on or be left behind. With that in mind, I moved into a small house to serve as both a place of work and rest, advertising my services in bright, neon lights outside. I'm not sure how Eddie found lights shaped like hands waving over a crystal ball to hang on top of the house, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
A year passed, and I found myself doing reasonably well. The police were my main source of income, as expected, but I did get the occasional customer or two who was curious to see if the rumors of my powers were true. Seeing such people get wide-eyed and fascinated by my results was something I could appreciate again. I had feared I had lost my passion to continue this work, yet it seemed all I needed was a change of scenery. Perhaps the fact that nothing lasts forever is a blessing in disguise.
Eddie would stop by to visit me once a month, updating me on everything going on in his life. It was easily the most exciting part of the month for me, and I would always have his favorite chai tea and sugar cookies out for him to eat. It's funny how Edgar and I used to love earl grey, yet I haven't touched it since I was reborn. Cypress preferred black tea, so there was never a need to buy anything else but those two. I wonder if dogs can drink tea. Either way, I never turned down a visit from anyone looking to stop by for a chat, human or otherwise.
During one of Eddie's visits, I asked, "How are you getting along with Cypress?"
"Do you ya mean?" Eddie replied with cheeks full of treats.
"Well based on what you've been telling me, it sounds like you two have gotten close."
He scoffed. "Me and that old geezer? Yeah right. He's always tellin' me to be nice to people but has to act all calm and mysterious and shit."
"But you're curious about him," I said while leaning where my cheek would be against my hand. "You found out more about him in a few months than I did in a few decades."
He blushed as he swallowed his food, slightly flustered over this accomplishment. "Y-Yeah, well... I'm good like that. He's the kinda guy you gotta be persistent with."
I sighed, recalling the man's past relationships and how they ended. "I suppose he is. His heart is sealed shut because he's been hurt from taking the initiative. I'm sure this pains Lagdrygis so, hence why it continues to surround him with those who can open him up bit by bit, not realizing this can tighten the seal even further with each loss."
"Why would the tree care?"
"Because it loves him."
He quirked an odd eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "Not sure why it would. It ain't a mutual feeling, that's for sure."
"You'll understand when you have your own family someday," I teased with a giggle, causing him to get even more flustered.
I knew with absolute certainty that having Eddie live with Cypress would be the best thing for the both of them. I had fulfilled my role as his mother, and thus Eddie needed a father figure to guide him down a path that I cannot take him. Cypress would become the beast tamer who would use Eddie's skills for the benefit of all of humanity and not just a select few. In exchange, Eddie would be the son Cypress never had, returning the favor by loving and caring for him unconditionally.
If there was one thing Cypress needed the most in this world, it was a family, and as I watched a young girl battle through her final year of high school through my crystal ball, I was eager to see how this family would grow.