ToH- Round Three Prologue

Being a twelve-year old living on the streets of New Orleans was definitely a unique challenge for young Mark. He appeared old enough to be qualified for any job, and so he had recently finished cleaning up the lounge of a strip club. Arms shoved full of plastic bags, Mark steadily made his way to his former house in the French Quarter. The young dingo ignored the odd stares and crinkled noses he got while walking through the busy streets. He knew he smelled like liquor and whores. He didn't like it either.

The number of people on the streets eventually depleted as he drew nearer to the residential area. The brick walls were ribboned with vines and the faint sounds of rustling leaves almost played the melody to a song Mark knew. Kicking his feet to the rhythm, he soon saw his old abode on the horizon. The front door was double-bolted as usual so the boy walked right past it and towards the back entrance by means of the side alley. Since the houses around here was so old, they were built very close together.

Finally squeezing through with all his items in hand, Mark smiled at the familiar overgrown courtyard. It was several peoples' backyard, but you could barely do a thing to it with its crawling vines and one huge tree breaking the mossy concrete in the middle. Mark approached the magnificent tree and scratched its soft green bark with his pinky.

"At least I can always count on you, aye?" He smiled, but his peace was abruptly interrupted by the sudden opening of the back door.

"Marky!" The voice of his sister cried alarmingly. Mark immediately turned and set the bags on the ground. The little girl sprinted to him and clung to his neck, burying her face in his fur.

"What is it, Victoria?" He held her tightly, crouching down to be at her level.

"Mama got really hurt this time! She's bleeding on the floor and not moving! Marky, I'm scared!" He could feel her warm tears run down his back and gently pushed her away.

"I bought a new first aid for you guys, help me find it." Mark spoke quickly and rummaged through the plastic. Luckily, it was in the first bag he grabbed and he immediately ran inside.

Making it to the stuffy living room, Mark found what had made his sister so distraught. His mother lay on the carpeted floor, a bloody patch on her temple and a hole in the dry wall above her. The young boy fell to the floor and put a hand to the woman's neck. He sighed in relief.

"She's alive; she's still breathing. Mom! Mom!" Mark lightly shook his mother's shoulders and she let out a pitiful cough. Opening her brown eyes, the woman found her children sitting over her protectively.

"M-mark..." She weakly raised her hand to touch the boy's concerned face.

"I'm here, Mom. Victoria, help her sit up so I can clean the blood, kay'?" Mark forced a smile which quickly faded when he noticed the purple shade on Victoria's arm. He put a gentle hand on it and she winced.

"New?"

Victoria nodded her answer and allowed her mom to hook an arm around her neck for balance. Clicking open the white box, Mark applied the disinfectant to the woman's cut forehead.

"I-I'm really sorry you had to come home to this, Mark." The mother spoke with faint breath.

"Where's Dad?" He replied sharply.

"He left after Mama fell down." Victoria answered somberly. The boy relaxed his muscles and continued washing the red stain away.

"You know moms aren't usually treated like this, right?" The woman barely spoke above a whisper and smiled.

"I know. You've told me enough times." Mark smiled back and patted the wound dry.

"Women are to-"

"-be treated with love and respect. Men are to be chivalrous and kind. You like that quote, huh Mom?"

The woman laughed under her breath and stroked her son's head.

"I just don't want you to forget, sweetheart..."

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The dingo had only recently woken when he was told to gather at the edge of the woods. Judging from the condition of the sky and slight crisp breeze, it was late evening. Quincy raised a confused eyebrow at the smoldering bits of tarp and wood as he walked.

"The heck happened while I was out?" Quincy asked no one. He shrugged and continued walking to the blackened forest. With all the evidence of a fire, it was shocking the forest hadn't gone up along with the Tapestry.

"Your 'girlfriend' and her damned angel friend lit the place up like the fall of Rome." Cerberus crossly mumbled.

"What's got your goat, dog-breath?"

"Whatever thing you sent me for payment is beginning to be a thorn in my side. If it's not 'Goat Ladee' this, it's 'Dog Man' that. It's becoming unbearable."

"Gee, I guess you could say Ach'M's giving you some major Hell." Quincy snickered and the demon only gave a loud, discontented groan.  

A small crowd had massed at the edge of the woods when the ringmaster made her usual appearance.

"Good evening boys and girls!"

She's starting the next round rather quickly. The man glanced to his sides anxiously. The people around him looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion. At least he had gotten some sleep from passing out. His pounding head was a swift reminder of why he had slept in the first place. A headache like this was definitely not going to make things easier.

Thinking about his head distracted Quincy from the entire first part of Elly's monologue. However he was forced to pay attention when he saw the opossum pull something extremely bright out of her hat. In reality, it was barely above a tea candle's luminosity, but it aggravated Quincy's pulsing headache. It looked almost exactly like a soul he would've extracted for Cerberus, but instead of being surrounded by fine mist, this was engulfed in a dim flame.

"This, boys and girls, is all you will need for your next round. I believe in Latin it was called ignis fatuus. Your third round shall take place in the forest that surrounds the Tapestry, and it shall start as soon as the sun has finished setting. When you see Smitty at the admissions he will give you the name of your opponent and one of these lights. I don't suggest going all at once, however. Now your light may look different from the one I have here and it may be any variety of color; that's not important. What is important is what happens to it. Once you defeat your opponent, or should your opponent find themselves unwilling to continue and forfeit, your light will glow much brighter. In the morning it will lead you back to the circus grounds, should you become lost. There is one last thing. I can guarantee that once the light is at its brightest it will ward off anything that happens to live in that forest that may want to kill you. But as they are now, like this one beside me, it won't. Let that be your motivation. If I had to estimate, the sun will set in about a half hour. With that being said, I would like to wish you all the best of luck."

"You mean that thing is gonna get brighter? Dammit..." The dingo muttered and rubbed his temple.

Once the woman dismissed them, Quincy had little to do except wander. There was so much hustle and bustle throughout the circus that there wasn't much to do except wait. The dog man decided to waste his time tuning his violin by the Snack Shack. Fiddling with the strings reminded him of when they were used to earn money. It really wasn't all that long ago that he joined this tournament, but it felt like a lifetime. So many lives gone or otherwise torn apart in mere days. Really showed how temporal and fragile people really were. Even Quincy experienced emotions that were rare for him. Sadness. Anger. Sure he was a soul eating dead beat, but it never really bothered him. His childhood quickly taught him to roll with the punches.

Simply thinking took up more time than expected and slowly he got up, careful not to jar himself and send his head pounding. Shimmering stars embroidered the dark ashen sky by the time Quincy made it to the booth.

"Foxcroft." The dingo stated and Smitty looked down at his roster sheet.

"Ah yes. Performing Gypsy." His rubbery paws reached below the counter and came back with a willo'wisp. The brightness made Quincy wince with a sudden headache.

"Aw, it's even worse at night." Quincy grumbled and bat at the dim light. It obediently floated in the motioned direction. Finally adjusting his eyes, the dingo admired it's quaint beauty. It was an opaque blue fire with a white orb inside. The glow it cast was faint, like a child's night light. Enraptured by the mysterious magic, Quincy had to be shouted out of his trance.

"Hey!"

"Uh, yes?" Quincy blinked and turned back to the cat-esque man.

"Your opponent will be Saruwatari Yomi."

The dog man's ears perked and a grin tugged the edge of his lips. "Tall, black ponytail, frayed shirt?"

"That's the girl."

"Well... This'll be fun, won't it?" Quincy didn't bother hiding his smirk as he entered the woods.

"Wait! I wouldn't-" But the man was already gone before Smitty could give his warning. "Eh, he'll figure it out soon enough."

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