(not all of these "introduction chapters" will be in chronological order. Aka, not the exact order people joined the circus. I will clear up the timeline later on)
[This chapter has mentions of Congenital insensitivity to pain and anhydrosis (CIPA) {which means a person can't feel physical pain}. I did some research on the matter, but I'm NOT an expert and I may get some things wrong. Please do your own research on the subject]
{Trigger Warning: self harm, blood, needles}
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Mario was a mistake, even among other mistakes. The bullies at school and the grandparents who raised him never failed to remind him of that. He never met his father, and he killed his mother during his birth. Then there was the whole pain thing, which was the source of most of his bullying. He just couldn't feel physical pain, no matter how hard he tried to.
Doesn't matter if it was pinching, hitting, cutting or anything else, he just felt numb. Even when blood was flowing from wounds down his skin, he couldn't feel pain. Just numb, with the thick warm liquid flowing down his cold flesh. He wanted so badly to feel something other than just his blood on him.
That didn't stop the feeling of his blood from being intoxicating to him though. He was really, truly messed up. Mario knew he was a mistake that even other mistakes would hate, as he had already been shown that by the kids from school and his "loving" grandparents. He knew exactly what he was, and had accepted it long, long ago.
Since he was old enough to get them, Mario started getting tattoos. They littered his body as his failed attempts to feel pain, but he didn't mind. The feeling of the needle pushing into his skin and ink setting into his skin felt nice to him, and he loved the many pictures he had chosen to decorate his body with. He knew people judged him because of his many tattoos, but he didn't care. He was used to being judged by others.
But one day, Mario discovered something that felt different than anything else he had tried. Something that was addicting to him, something that could make other people fear for their lives. And that thing was fire, hot, burning, and dangerous. It didn't make him feel any physical pain, but the feeling of fire on his skin, burning it slightly, felt amazing to him.
People judged him even more for his love of fire, and some even feared him because of it. Mario didn't care, it didn't bother him anymore like it did when he was a child. He was used to being alone, to hearing harsh rumors about him that could make others cry. Besides, they might be right to feel that way about him.
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Mario lived in a small house, one his grandparents used to own. Once his grandmother died, his grandfather moved away and left Mario the deed. Well, he left the deed and Mario took it so he had some place to live. His grandfather would never be kind enough to leave Mario something as valuable as a house on purpose but he couldn't get it back now.
No one ever came to the house, except for the mailman or the occasional sales person. He didn't really invite anyone though, so he never expected people to come. He was perfectly fine being alone, and he never really found himself wishing for others. Sometimes he wondered if there were people who would understand him, but Mario didn't plan to go looking for them.
Needless to say, when a knock at the door came and Mario opened the door to see a pink-haired girl wearing a green suit with a matching green beanie, he was surprised. She held a flyer in her hands, one that held images of what looked to be a circus. He raised his eyebrow at her, curious why she came.
"My name's Bri, I work at Cirque Utopia. We're passing through this town, and we heard about you and your love of fire. I'm here to offer you a job opportunity where you can work with fire and get paid for it. We'll be here for 5 more days, so if you don't show up to the circus we'll assume you don't want the job." She explained, glancing around. The way she stood and talked made it seem like she was always busy, and perhaps she was.
"What exactly is the job? What would I do? What's the pay?" Mario asked, curious. He didn't really have a job, mostly doing small part time stuff that he could never keep for long. So a job offering to let him use fire and get paid for it was an opportunity he'd be foolish not to consider, but he knew he shouldn't blindly take it.
"A variety of stuff, like dancing with fire, eating it, doing tricks with it, and just generally working with fire. The job title is fire entertainer, so basically you just gotta be entertaining for an audience. I'll give you routines to practice and do during the show, and you can do whatever in your off time. The pay depends on how many people show up and how good you did personally, but the median is about 35,360 dollars excluding the money we would take from the paycheck to pay for your equipment, and living expenses. You'd have to live and travel with the circus, but we'll provide you a place to sleep and live." Bri told him, checking her phone and seeming slightly disinterested.
"So I have five days to go to the circus before you leave to accept the offer?" Mario asked, Bri nodding in response. Mario thought for a little while, wondering if it was really worth it. He looked back at his house he lived in since he was a child, and grinned at the thought of leaving it all behind. "I'll take the job then. I just have to pack a little, so I'll meet you at the circus tomorrow?" he said, to which Bri agreed. The girl then left after giving Mario the flyer so he could find where the circus was, and he immediately closed the door and went to pack.
Over 30,000 dollars to use fire as he pleased? He'd be crazy not to take the job! Not to mention he got to travel around and finally leave the dastardly place he called "home". Sure, he will eventually get kicked out considering he was a mistake and because of that he would only ever be able to make mistakes, but he will have a good amount of money to live off of whenever that happens.
Mario grabbed his long hair, tying it back into a ponytail and he wondered if they would make him cut it. It was most likely a fire hazard, so it would make sense if they wanted him too. Mario figured that if they asked him too he would cut it, and he would try to do anything else they asked of him until he saved up enough money to not care whether he was fired or not.
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The next day Mario stood outside his house, completely packed and ready to join Cirque Utopia. He looked down at the box of matches he was holding and slowly took one out of the box. Lighting it against the box, he watched the small flame flicker for a few moments, before throwing it through the open doorway of his home. He watched as the flame grew, grabbing onto the many things inside the house and spreading it's bright and deadly heat everywhere it could reach.
Mario grinned widely, a satisfying feeling coming about as he watched the place fall and burn, smoke beginning to rise from the fire inside. Grabbing his bag, Mario turned and walked away towards the direction the circus was supposedly in. He began to wonder what kind of people would be there and what they did at Cirque Utopia. He didn't even know what Bri did, though he assumed it was some kind of management thing. He smiled slightly as he kept walking.
YOU ARE READING
A Performer's Tale
FanfictionA traveling circus is something many know of, even if not many experience it. But one travel circus is known well throughout many towns as a beautiful show that sells tickets for cheap. What no one has noticed, or if they have noticed they have not...
