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[b][u]Phillis Circus: Big Top - Somewhere Backstage[/u][/b]

“What? No, no, no! I’m not letting you go again!” Eric’s eyes widened in fright at what his niece was asking him, his hands quickly snatching onto hers and clasping them tightly. “I lost you once before, I won’t do so again! Not in here! This place is dangerous, isn’t it? Those two people…” The two people Eric were referring to was clear. “They’re kidnapping people, right? To perform for them. Like you… what if they try to do so again? I can’t let that happen, Balti, I can’t-!”

Eric’s plea was cut short upon the stern look his niece gave back to him, and the particular way her eyebrows contorted. Eric was slow to pick up on what she was trying to say, but he finally got it once Balti started to nod and smile. “Oh, oh right. Yeah, you’d just do the same as what you did before. Right. But still… I can’t let you go again, Balti, I just can’t… why would you even want to stay… here… oh…”

Finally the gears inside Eric’s mind were beginning to turn, and he started to clock in on the reasons Balti wanted to stay behind, to finish exploring the Big Top. And for that, he couldn’t disagree with her. Again, he felt ill at ease with letting her go away from him… those two, and every other performer of this circus was trouble. It’d be irresponsible, plain stupid to let Balti go off on her own, because even despite her talents it was still risky. She got kidnapped once before, it was possible the circus might do so again. But then his niece started to reemphasise the need for Eric to head towards the stage and again, slowly but surely, the cogs inside his brain came to the reason why…

Those two were headed there, and the majority of the other performers would likely be in there as well. That’s where the smell of that acrid smoke was coming from, and the sounds of shouting and screaming. Eric knew now what he had to do, and indeed, it meant he had to let Balti go. He couldn’t bring her with him to an even more dangerous place like the stage… and he couldn’t abandon it either. Neither the Guilders he had befriended on the way here, nor the nefarious villains behind all this. He drew as quiet as his little niece, his expression solemn and serious. He turned, looking in the direction of where the performance stage lay. 

“Balti,” Eric’s hand fell on top of her silky black hair. “You be careful, okay? First sign of trouble you see, you run. And here,” From inside his jacket, Eric pulled out two distinct pieces of equipment, throwing one into Balti’s hands. Communicators. 

“I took these from one of their tents I was exploring through. If you get into any trouble, you call me right away, okay? Stay safe, Precious!” 

And with that, Eric broke off into a dash towards the Big Top’s performance stage. Balti’s eyes followed her uncle’s back until he disappeared around a curtained bend, and then lowering down to the communicator he had given her. She rolled her eyes.