X2.2.3 – Don't Jump

"You boys really like to clean toilets, huh?" joked a musician as he placed his trombone on the floor and sat at the table.

The children's third escape attempt had failed, and they had been cleaning outhouses for months now.

"I remember when I used to try to escape," said a short woman with red hair and freckles, "I sneaked out one time and wandered around this dangerous world full of parasites for several weeks. Let me tell you—I came back literally crawling to Big Bucks begging him to take me back," the whole table erupted in laughter. "I was more than happy to clean those latrines."

"It's not right," said Roa, standing up, staring at everyone with an angry look. "It's not right what the circus does. Not to the people it kidnaps, nor to the spectators who are forced to watch the show like they are part of some—ransom."

The band members exchanged looks for a few seconds.

"Kid—you think the world is any more just outside of this place?" asked one.

"He's right, you know? Yeah, I mean—most 'normal' people are forced to work under the threat of losing their homes, their health, their ability to care for their children. The whole of society is one big—ransom. Think about it," said another as the crew nodded. "If you don't go along with the system, the system will punish you with the one thing everyone at this table has in common."

"What?" asked Rosso.

"Poverty," the trombone player said. "No one's really free, are they?"

"Well—maybe the ones at the top are," said someone else.

"At least you don't get randomly kidnapped or robbed in society," Roa blurted out, slamming his hands on the table.

"You don't? Politicians worlds over say that taxes are for basic goods and services, and yet, they wage wars nobody asked for, destroy entire nations, and make a killing as they raise their military stocks' value. They run public debts to the stars to funnel money to satisfy lobbyists who got them in power in the first place. They benefit from the destruction of the climate, to grow their bank accounts," said another. "They already robbed you of the biggest thing you own—your future."

"Also—they may not kidnap you physically, but they certainly force you into complying with all sorts of things. You are forced to go to school to learn what they want you to learn, you are forced to work jobs you don't like, you are forced to go along with their atrocities to not lose your—spot in the system. And believe me, there will always be some other hungry mouth that will want to take your place."

"Well, that doesn't make it right," Roa said.

"No—but it is what it is," said one.

"No—it's not what it is. It's what we make it, damn it. Your compliance allows the system to function the way it does. Default World wouldn't even exist if we didn't just all—comply," the Sunflower said. "We create the Default, with our actions—or lack thereof."

"Kid, you see these funny-looking people sitting at this table? Donzo, the magician—he was homeless. He lived on scraps he found in garbage cans. He's not eating garbage now, is he?" said the trombone player.

"Well—I mean," Donzo said, staring at his plate of goop, causing the others to laugh.

"It may not be gourmet, but it isn't literal trash from the street, is it? And that woman there," he pointed to the short, red-haired woman, "Kalia is an orphan who spent her whole childhood being thrown around in the foster system of her advanced, rich, progressive, modern, civilized society. She never had a family—until she came here."

"Yeah, but—" Roa said.

"And me? Don't forget about me. My name is Stalto. I had to eat, but had no money, so sometimes I stole—until I got caught. I spent my teenage years in juvenile detention centers. Then one day, the circus came, brought its usual chaos, I escaped—and never went back. So, you see, we're better off here than where we came from--why would any of us leave?" he explained as the others nodded.

"It's not perfect, but it's better than a lot of what's out there," said a young woman's voice from behind Roa and Rosso.

They turned around and saw the blue-haired girl from Madame Solstice's wagon walk past. She smiled and winked at the Sunflower as she held a plate of food in her hands.

"Well, at least we should be given a choice," Roa turned back to the rest of the crew, "I need to find my girl. She was kidnapped by the Lord of Default World. And our friends are waiting for us. An important revolution has begun against the Old Order—the Greatest Fight—and we can't be wasting our time—entertaining," Roa said.

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"Damn, your girl is cooked, kid. Plus, aren't you a bit young for a girlfriend?" said Stalto.

"I'm five-thousand years old, I think," Roa answered, causing the others to laugh.

"The Lord is the most powerful man in Existence. Only the Dreamer is stronger, supposedly, and that might just be a legend. You best get yourself another lover," Kalia said.

"And another fight to pick. There's nothing great about fighting the Lord, or the invincible Old Order," said Donzo as he shoved a spoonful of goop in his mouth. "Not even Madame Solstice dares to go against the Shadows. You should do as she does—if you can't beat them, join them."

"I will never be on the side of the ones destroying Nature and keeping the people in chains," the Sunflower flipped his plate and walked off. "Cowards!" he screamed half way across the tent.

"The kid's got some fire in him," Kalia said, shaking her head. "Poor thing. His soul must be in constant agony."

Rosso stared at the others, shrugged his shoulders and ran after his friend.

"You alright, man?" the boy from the desert asked his friend as he entered their small bedroom.

"I think I'm getting worst. I haven't slept for days," said Roa, laying on the bed. "My mind is going in circles."

"Same, man" Rosso replied, also laying down. "I'm slowly losing it here, and it's not because of all the crap we've had to clean either—though that didn't help, that's for sure. Something's off and I don't know what."

"Every time we jump, I feel like I lose a little piece of my mind—like I'm slowly going insane," the boy from Earth pointed out as he massaged his temples when the door slammed open.

"Boss wants a word with you two," said the tall clown from last time.

"Now, I know circus life might not be the easiest, but it's up to you both to decide just how hard you want it to be," said Big Bucks Balter in his wagon as the two kids stood staring at him with annoyed looks on their faces. "You can clean all of the toilets of this place for as long as you want until I find your buyer. I. Don't. Care. Just understand one thing—you're not leaving until someone either buys you two, or you've made the most spectacular spectacle even more spectacular. Those are your options."

The boys didn't say anything.

"Are we clear?" Balter said, eventually receiving an unwilling nod from the two who were sent out. "You misbehave, and you get to clean the toilets. You behave, and I will give you progressively better roles in the shows."

"That rotten bastard. The day I get my Gifts back, I'm going to wreck his face," said Rosso. "I don't care how many toilets we have to clean. I want to get the hell out of here. We need to keep trying to find a way out."

"Me too, Rosso. I think, however, we can play Balter at his own game," said Roa as they sat down on some chest laying on the side of one of the wagons.

"How?"

"Well—cleaning toilets suck. So, let's leave our escape attempts only for the best chances. Madame Solstice and her pet cat seem to keep the route the caravan takes to themselves. No one among the crew ever knows where we will end up next until we are already there. If we find a way to leave, let's take it. In the meantime, however, let's make Balter think we are going along for the ride—make him think we actually believe him when he promised us that we would be free if we entertain his crowds," Roa explained.

"I don't get the point," Rosso shrugged his shoulders.

"The point being that he won't expect us escaping if we are compliant all the time. He'll eventually put his guard down. Plus, we need to get our auras working again, so we will need time to meditate and get used to our bodies. If we get better roles in the shows, we will use our bodies more, and who knows—maybe we'll be back to normal at some point."

Rosso nodded.

Weeks turned to months and Madame Solstice's Impossible Circus jumped through several more worlds, hosting shows that wowed multitudes of locals and Free Folk. The two Jumpers spent their free time meditating and most of their days doing their best as the newest members of the crew. One day, as they were helping with the lighting of one of the performances, Roa found himself at the top of the acrobats' structure, some thirty meters up in the air. The circus tent was dark and he pointed the spot light on the singer below, standing in the middle.

"Who is that?" Roa said, recognizing her as the blue-haired girl that was inside of Madame Solstice's wagon.

"That's Indigo. She's the circus' singer and star of the show. Nobody has a voice like she does," said Lhalo and Tutu, two brothers who were part of the acrobat crew. "She can mesmerize anyone with that voice. Some say that she's the only Jumper to ever have survived a world of constant music, and actually befriended the Grand Kami there. That's why her voice is so—sublime. The Goddess of Music herself taught her."

Roa's mind brought him back to Symphony Sublime, where he and Rosso almost lost their lives. The place where he had gotten the magical ocarina from. As the song continued, the boy's eyesight blurred and he began to feel lightheaded.

"Jump," his mind said. He tried to shake the strange thought off, but his heart began to race even faster. "You'll never find your way back to your friends—to her. You already failed at one revolution—why suffer through another?" His racing thoughts continued uncontrolled. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the performance below, but no matter how much he tried, he could not shake the terrible feeling. "Jump—and it will all be over. If you don't, you will continue to suffer."

"You alright, kid?" Lhalo asked.

Roa nodded and forced a smile. A drop of sweat ran down his face and he began to feel really hot.

"Jump," his mind repeated over and over again. "This is your life now. You will never leave this place, you—pathetic, weak, joke."

The boy's hand was wrapped around a thick chord. His eyes glanced down, way below, as Indigo's song was almost over. The people's cheers and claps sounded like thunder, until they began to sound muffled. The Sunflower's eyes were locked with the ground below. His mind brought him back to the day when he stood on the bridge under the rain, back in the place he once called home with Eralay.

"You're still there," his mind said. "You're still there—on that bridge—aren't you? Your life never got any better. And it never will."

His heart was overwhelmed with despair. The noise in his head became deafening. He tilted his body forward slowly as his breath sped up. He closed his eyes and his hand opened, letting go of the rope.

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