[img]http://i.imgur.com/2uDBgEK.png[/img]

[b][u]Phillis Circus: Big Top[/u][/b]

The battle was over, and the day had been won. The Pride were victorious, and yet… it certainly didn’t feel like a victory. The Circus and its performers had all been defeated, yet such a victory felt hollow. Perhaps it was true that the circus had been behind the disappearances of a number of people, but for Estelle, they didn’t really know that, at least not definitively. And whilst it was of course probably true, Estelle couldn’t shake an uneasy hinting suspicion that perhaps not all of them were behind it – that some of them had been left in the dark of the whole sordid affair, and were just as much victims as themselves and anyone who had gone missing. She grimaced at both the thought and her exhaustion, slumping down into one of the only remaining seats still standing in the aisle that she, Trixie, Xandra and Aria were at, taking in a deep breath. 

The circus had been utterly destroyed and brought into ruin, and it was because of the Pride that such a thing had happened. She could only hope that their actions this afternoon had been justified, because if they hadn’t, the guilt would haunt Estelle forever. 

“A shower and a nap sounds good,” Estelle chuckled, softly. “And you’re right, we should probably make sure Amy doesn’t knock that woman into a coma. We also need to find out what exactly happened here. To make sure that… that whatever it is that was happening here… we were right to do this. If we weren’t…”

[img]http://i.imgur.com/8mPMSWF.png[/img]

“I’ll go find us a telephone as well,” Marcus piped up from their side, carrying the fatigued Lucien with him over one shoulder, plopping him down to sit on the edge of the stage with his feet dangling over the end into the pit. Xandra joined him, cradling her ruined arm, feeling ready to almost pass out. “I’ll call Lady and arrange for some assistance. I think she’d also be able to get in touch with the Empire authorities for us, so they can take over the investigation and press any charges.”

[img]http://i.imgur.com/yWeW5Rr.png[/img]

“Balti!!” A high pitched scream echoed across the Big Top’s interior. Running across the tent, Eric raced as quickly as he could with his arms and legs flailing to try and reach his precious niece once more. He didn’t get far before suddenly tripping again and slamming his face into the ground. Groaning in pain, he pushed himself up with his hands to try and find out what he had tripped over, recoiling in fright to see a certain tired lion lying down, licking her paws and staring straight at him. Eric jumped back onto his feet, and then began running again, as far away from the disinterested Lidya as possible. Across the tent, Elena quietly trudged to Petra and tried to soothe her own wounds, raising her trunk in the air and tooting a trumpeting sound of sadness. 

The battle was over.