Markus eventually went out with Leo and Sam. Even though he was really conflicted with the information he had just received, he couldn’t give up the chance to be outside and explore the city. It was much dirtier than he imagined. Garbage bags lined the dark alleyways, the dirty air from the factories filled the air and gave the city a smell of rust and broken dreams. Three homeless people had come up to them and asked them for money, each time Leo gave them some money and told them to spend it wisely. The men thanked him each time. They continued to watch till the three of them reached a large building. Markus could only assume it was a mall and was very eager to go inside.

The mall was absolutely gorgeous. The biggest chandelier Markus had ever seen was hanging in the center of the room. It glittered and shined as light danced from each crystal, illuminating the room. He giggled and looked at the stores. Some sold cakes and other pastries that made his mouth water; some sold toys and other gizmos that Markus was dying to play with. He looked towards Leo and Sam. They were in the bakery, getting some treats for the three of them. He knew it was for them because when Leo got sweets it was always a big box full of everything. He always wondered how Leo and Sam had so much money; he had never seen them get paid. While the two of them were in the bakery, Markus decided to explore the toy store. There were so many options; he didn’t know what he wanted. Stuffed bears, action figures, remote control cars, planes, the list was endless. He searched the whole store before finding the perfect toy: A large stuffed bear. Now it wasn’t like huge or taller than him but it was big and huggable. Just how he liked things. He picked up the bear and gave it a good squeeze, it was super soft. He put it back in place and ran out to get Leo and Sam, wanting to get his toy now before someone else took it. The two of them were already coming towards the toy store, the pastries in a neatly wrapped box.

“Did you find something you like?” Leo asked sweetly. Markus nodded and dragged them into the store and to his teddy bear. Sam looked at the price tag, he whispered something to Leo. Leo rolled his eyes.

“Is this all you want?” Leo asked, “You can get one more thing if you like.” Markus shook his head.

“That will do just fine.” He said contently, grasping Sam’s hand. “We can go get ice cream now!”

Sam and Leo looked at each other. They said nothing and went up to the register, paid for the bear and put it in a bag. Markus gripped Sam’s hand tightly; he knew what was coming next. He was going to meet his parents.

His real parents.

He wasn’t ready for this. He just wanted to go home, so, he put on his cutest sad face and yanked Sam’s hand. Sam looked down at him.

“I changed my mind.” He lied, “can we just go home?” Leo sighed louder than he wanted to. Sam death glared him.

“Sure kiddo.” He said, smiling. “We can go home.” Markus smiled happily and hugged Sam. Sam picked him up and carried him back to the car.

The moment they got back to the circus tent, Markus ran into his room and started to set up his teddy bear. He didn’t have a name for his new toy yet but he was still thinking. He decided to place him in the corner of his bed, that way he could grab it easily once he went to bed. He scurried out of his room and peeked in on Leo and Sam. They were kissing. Markus decided this was a good time to barge in, so he did.

“Alright break it up.” Markus ran in between them, “We don’t any of that mushy gushy stuff here.” Leo laughed and rolled his eyes; He put Markus on his lap and kissed his cheek.

“Well too bad, we love each other and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Leo teased, kissing Markus’s cheek again. Sam laughed and sat next to Leo. He kissed Leo’s temple, then Markus’s. Markus wiped it away, giggling.

“Gross!” He joked. Samurai chuckled and hugged him tightly. “You should get to bed kiddo. We have an extra-long show tomorrow and you’re gonna need all the sleep you can get.” Markus nodded and left the room, he hid behind the door. Wanting to listen in on their conversation. Leo sighed and fell back onto the bed.

“Did we do the right thing?” Leo said worriedly, “Shouldn’t we have taken him anyway?” Samurai laid next to him.

“I think we did.” He said, turning over and holding him. “Besides, he doesn’t have to know about them if we don’t want him to.” He turned over and pulled Leo into his chest. “We did the right thing Leo.” Leo nodded, nuzzling into Sam’s chest. Markus left after that, he didn’t want to see them kiss anymore. He went into his room and changed into a large t-shirt, grabbed his teddy bear, turned out the lights and went to bed.

In the afternoon Sophia, the lion trainer, pulled Markus aside.

“I got a very important job for you Markus.” She whispered. “I need you to go ask the ringmaster if the plans for the new tent have been made. Okay?” Markus nodded and ran off to find the ringmaster. He was normally in his office at this time so he checked there first. When he walked in he immediately ducked as a beer bottle flew over his head and smashed against the wall. He slowly lifted his head. His eyes meeting with the ringmaster’s.

“I’m sorry Markus.” He slurred, “I’m not in the greatest mood right now.” Markus slowly stood up and walked towards him.

“Sophia wanted to know if the plans for tent were completed.” He mumbled. The ringmaster looked at him and rubbed his face.

“Tell her to shut up and wait!” He yelled, taking another swig of a mysterious brown liquid. “Tell her that and to never ask about it again!” Markus nodded quickly and ran out of the room, back to Sophia.

“What did he say sweetheart?” she asked sweetly.

“He said to shut up and wait.” He said, panting a little. “He also said never bring it up again.” She nodded and ruffled his hair. Markus nodded and ran off to the fighting arena; he hoped he could catch Leo and Samurai practicing. He crept in through the arena doors and sat down quietly on chair, watching them. They, again, made it look so effortless. The smooth parries and thrusts they made, they fabulous flips and tricks they would perform as they fought. It was truly magnificent. It was as if a beautiful painting was being made, each thrust and parry the strokes of the brush. Markus always watched in awe, always until they spotted him.

“Come on old man.” Leo teased, “I thought you were faster than this!” Samurai scoffed and jabbed at him.

“I am fast.” He retorted, “I just don’t want to waste my energy on your weak techniques!” And at that remark, the fighting got more violent and more erratic. It was harder to find a pattern in their fighting once they got to this point; most audience members thought the two of them hated each other. The two of them ran with it of course, teasing, cursing and dissing each other harshly as they entertained the crowd. People loved it and would always clap the loudest when those two would start fighting. They kept this up for hours before finally noticing Markus and by then they were so close to him that if Sam had done one more jab he would’ve stabbed Markus clear through the chest.

“Hey Mark.” Sam said awkwardly, “I didn’t see you there.”

“Yeah, you almost killed me!” Markus shouted. Leo laughed and put his sword away.

“And you wonder why we don’t want you in here.” Sam nodded and put his sword away. He picked up Markus and kissed his cheek.

“Do you wanna go eat those pastries we bought yesterday? We got you-“

“One of everything” Markus finished, “And yes, I would like that.” Sam smiled and grabbed Leo’s hand.

After they had indulged in the pastries, Leo and Markus went back to the arena to train and this time, they remembered to lock the door. Markus huffed and went to hang out with his snake Robert. He was the only snake the ringmaster allowed in Markus’s room. He went into his room and looked at tank that Robert was in. Robert was curled up in the corner of the tank, he looked as if he was sleeping. Markus lightly tapped on the glass. He didn’t move. Markus sighed and slumped onto his bed. He was bored. He was never bored, he usually had something to do but none of them had a show until later in the night so he was bored. He didn’t want to read his book, or talk to Sophia, or play with his other snakes. He was just gonna be bored. So he thought about life.

He thought about his parents.

He wanted to know what they were like. If they had a lot of money or were just happy where they were. He wanted to know why they had given him up, wasn’t he a good kid? He had seen countless babies with the homeless and they had nothing to begin with and yet, they took care of the baby. This is why he couldn’t understand it, why would his parents get rid of him? If they loved him, why would they leave him? He jumped out of his bed and snuck into Leo and Sam’s room. He wanted to see if they had anything from his parents. He looked through all their drawers, the whole closest, the secret chest they thought he didn’t know about, and the three other chests they thought he didn’t know about. He checked everywhere and there was nothing. He sighed and sat down on the floor. A piece of the floor shifted. Markus looked at it and pushed down on it. He broke it. Leo was gonna be mad. He looked inside, there was nothing but dirt and burnt sheets of paper.

“Oh this is hopeless!” He cried aloud, falling back onto the floor. There was nothing here. They had nothing. He left their room and went into animal keep, Sophia was normally there and so he decided to talk to her.

Sophia was sitting on a stool in the way back of the keep, cleaning her dagger. Markus didn’t know why she had the dagger but thought it was best not to ask her why, she was known for telling long stories about the simplest of things.

“Hey Markus.” She said sweetly, putting her dagger away. “What are you here for?” He sat down on a large pile of hay and looked up at her.

“What do you know about my parents?” He questioned. Her lips became a thin line once he asked the question.

“Why are you asking me?” She asked. Markus shrugged and shifted in the hay.

“I don’t know. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about lately.” She nodded and stood up.

“Ask Leo and Sam about this.” She said, going for the door. “This is a topic that I’d rather not discuss.” And with that she left, leaving Markus on a pile of hay and a tough decision to make.