Page 96 of Ovation

“Dad?” I ask Zeydan, and he smiles, and the four of them part. I can see my grandmother and father behind them. They are both in what I’m guessing are their godly forms. Gigi looks like herself but on steroids. She’s almost too beautiful to look at, and she radiates a sereneness that makes you want to bow down in her presence. She has glossy, white fairy-like wings. My father, on the other hand, looks like he’s had a glow up. All his features have sharpened, and his form flickers between that and a hooded being that when you look too closely inspires pants-wetting fear. He holds a scythe and has black fairy-like wings.

My mother walks right up to him and throws her arms around him. “Marcus,” she murmurs with relief, and I smile as they kiss like they are the air each other breathes.

“So I’m assuming it worked?” Xavier asks, slinging an arm around my shoulders. “I knew it would.”

I consider smacking him, but I’m too darned relieved to bother. “Yup, you were right,” I say, giving him a kiss instead.

He smirks smugly, and I hear his mother scoff behind me.

“Well, now that that’s all done, don’t you have a circus to run?” William asks after the three of them hug my grandmother tightly.

“Jesus, Dad, pushy much?” my father jokes, pulling away from my mom.

I hold up a hand and wave at the six of them.

“Is this a permanent thing now? Because it’s kind of hard to look at.” All of their glows dim, and they return to their normal forms. Five of them are fully clothed, but we all turn to stare at my dad, who is completely naked. He looks down at his body and gives us a sheepish grin as I shriek and put my hands over my eyes.

“Sorry, it’s going to take a bit to get used to these powers.”

Cronus chuckles, and I’m assuming he clothes my dad, because I feel someone pull my hand from my eyes, and when I look, he’s grinning at me, fully clothed.

“Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?”

“Let’s agree here and now never to get naked in front of one another again,” I tell him, and we shake on it while everyone else laughs at us.

In the end, the great and scary Syndicate was actually a bit of a letdown. Most of their troops were robot soldiers Deinera contributed to the cause, unbeknownst to her husband and the rest of the Pleasure Bot Industries board. The only live beings were the ones we captured. It was decided to let the Galactic Council deal with them. We handed them all over, minus Smith, and I doubt any of them will see the light of day again.

Smith was tortured repeatedly, and in the end, my father and Brannock gifted him to Sanshia, and she turned him to ash with a flick of her wrist. She seemed a lot happier after that, but she still doesn’t want anything to do with Ember, and we respect that. Maybe one day it will change, but we will make sure she is loved and cared for until that time.

“The Syndicate really was pretty lame—a group of disgruntled beings gathering and bitching about all the wrongs that had been done to them. They had no real plans except getting the orb,” I comment to Cas as we watch the kids climb all over my grandparents and parents. They returned with us to the circus when it was time to leave. Chloe has fit into the mix like a dream. She accepted me with no trouble and I’m already in love with her, as are the rest of my family. It was such a relief after all the other stress.

“It really is, though they would have been a problem if Vivax managed to get her hands on the orb,” he replies, wincing as Jack tugs on my dad’s now super long hair. He’s kept it that way, and I keep seeing him swish it around like some kind of historical romance novel hero. Bubby and Mom seem to likeit though. You think he would learn to tie it back around the children, since I’ve seen Bastien grab hold of it like that too.

“I don’t understand how any of them thought she would share the power with them though. It was obvious to anyone with half a brain that she was going to be a dictator, and I’m sure they would have all ended up dead if they hadn’t caved to her plans,” I murmur.

“Cas, come on, we need to finish getting ready, and I need someone to rub oil into my chest,” Silac calls. “I hate feeling it on my hands.” I smirk as Cas gives me a kiss on the head and pulls away, hurrying to help Silac and Tirrian oil themselves up for the first act.

“How are you feeling?” Ghosie asks, wrapping his arms around me from behind, and I sigh, sinking back into his fur. One of the first things dad and Gigi did was fix the carevastas and Aaz’axians.

This means Chloe and Ember are now both safe from whatever was killing the Aaz’axian females, and Gigi and Dad promised they are going to figure out a way to rebuild both them and the Una’s races. They did it one time, so why can’t they do it again? It is a work in progress though. Both want to spend some quality time with our families before they disappear to do godly things.

We’ve had reports from Ghosie’s dad that men spontaneously changed back into women, and so did half of the children. It’s been a confusing time for the carevastas, but they are working it all out and happy for the change. Apparently, they are trying to go legit too, and some of our allies are reaching out to them to hire their services. Ghosie has been over the moon and basically tackling anyone who will hug him. I even found Cronus hugging him the other day when they arrived with the rest of our extended family, insisting they needed to see my first show as ringmaster.

That leads us to tonight. I pull out of his arms and smooth my hands nervously over my outfit. It’s the one from the first day—red coat jacket with a black collar and cuffs with gold accents, black booty shorts, fish net tights, and knee-high boots. I have a top hat on my head and the cane minus the orb, but it was replaced with a large dragon eye gem that my mine conveniently gave up and sent along with Zala. She was waiting for the right time to give it to me per instructions from her all-knowing grandmother. Much like the previous gem, this one glows happily in its place at the top of my cane. All dressed up, I certainly look the part. Let’s just hope I can pull it off.

“Five minutes. Five minute call,” someone shouts, warning the performers, and my stomach feels like it’s in my throat.

The staging area is bustling with crew, and my grandpas approach me as everyone else who is not performing files out, wishing me luck. They are going to take their seats in the arena. We have a whole blocked off VIP area for everyone, and the children are wearing glamours so they can attend their first performance too.

“We are so very proud of you, Lila,” John says, grabbing my hands and hugging me tightly.

“So thankful you have come into our lives and made them so much better,” William tells me, also giving me a hug, and I can feel he’s struggling to hold his tears back. Their pride and love fills me with confidence, and I smile as I turn to Eric.

“And for Gigi’s sake, girl, give it a little showmanship.” He waves his fingers and then gives me a quick hug before they turn me around, and I face the stage door. I swallow nervously as I hear the rumbling sound of the audience, but then the lights go down, and the room falls into a tense, anticipatory silence.

I take a deep breath before teleporting to the middle of the dome and striking a pose that should make Eric’s little showman heart sing as the spotlights light me up.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Galaxy Circus.”