The show must go on

The thing about Asmodeus, Colette thought to herself, was that when he got an idea into his head, there was no stopping him.

Half her main performers were missing, but the show rambled gaily along towards opening time, with a few paltry tricks keeping the thin crowd entertained before the doors officially opened. Tumblers and roustabouts swarmed to and fro in a dazzle and clang of skirts and mechanisation.

A few carefree moments trickled by, though Colette's mind was humming busily under her calm visage.

"Sir?" There was a tug on her sleeve, and she pulled out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

The little tumbler Marie was standing there, skirts a little muddied and a suspicious basket slung over her arm. It growled quietly, and Colette quirked an eyebrow.

"I was to tell you that the others are en route."

"The missing Family members?" Colette scanned over the crowd's head for her most trusted circle of friends. Asmodeus should be back soon, or possibly not--he might stay to witness the triumph of the damage he'd caused, whatever it was. Colette didn't know the entirety of the little family's plan, but she knew enough to be worried about the ensuing wrath that Jacque could very well rain down on them all. Unless she got to him first... She shook her head. "I suspected no less."

"Actually, sir, the other audience members." Colette frowned. Indeed, a few carriages were pulling up in the distance, and from the path a few people were picking their way across the mud and flattened grass.

"How...?" She stared, taken aback. There weren't just a few; a crush of people was swiftly approaching out of the near-dark. Their show was airing later than usual; they typically made use of as much natural light as possible to save fuel, but tonight they were introducing a few pyrotechnic elements that required at the very least semi-dark to be at all impressive (to reenact the burning zeppelin, of course, with a few dramatic twists thrown in just for the hell of it.)

She had assumed Asmodeus would be as a thorn in Jacque's side, but not to cripple his show as entirely as seemed evidenced by the throng of displaced circus-goers.

They carried with them a peculiar scent of animal refuse and sulfur. Colette sniffed unhappily, hiding her pleased yet apprehensive inner emotions.

"They'll stink up the place something awful. Jacque should be relieved to see them go." Colette gave the little tumbler a small smile. "You should ensure that Marguerite's beasts are waiting safely for her when she checks, or you may wake one day to find your legs being eaten by lions."

The girl darted off and Colette neatly rolled her hat along her arm. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a real circus. Seating will begin immediately."