"Hey, change that one!" shouted a member of the audience in the second row.
A man in her thirties pushed forward a late teen of about seventeen or nineteen.
"Don't listen to him! He pushed me because I explained to courteously that I did not want to know him!" she said, angered and frightened.
The man insulted her and leered at her body. The Ringmaster thought it most disrespectful. The young girl was pretty, doubtless, but it was no reason to treat her that way. But he could deal with that sex-obsessed lout later. Two of his colleagues had expressed their... dissatisfaction at not having a particular addition to their little family and frankly, their complaints had grated enough on the Ringmaster's nerves. Yet with what he had in front of him, he could work wonders. She was a nice final product to start with, oxymorons be damned. He understood himself and that was enough.
"Thank you for presenting us such a delightful volunteer, good sir!" shouted out the Ringmaster.
"What? No! Let me go! I'm leaving!" said the girl, striding away.
The Ringmaster scowled inwardly. No! He had to act fast!
"Where do you hail from, young lady? I hear an accent," he smiled.
She was too angry, full of fears and strong-willed to be hypnotised easily. She could be but it would take a lot of time. Rapidity was key at the moment. Instead, the Ringmaster thrust a mental charge of obedience. Crude but workable. And on such a simple question as to her lands of origin, she would have the feeling of having answered it out of her own accord.
"New Caledonia!" she answered snappishly.
"Ah, yes, in the Pacific. Tropical island. French oversea department," the Ringmaster explained in simple words to his audience.
His words surprised both the girl and the entire audience. But the Ringmaster's knowledge about the world was great. It even extended to realms beyond this mundane human one.
"In that case, I know the perfect shape for you!" the Ringmaster smiled.
Two puffs of smoke happened. One engulfed the young woman. The second occurred right next to the wizard Ringmaster. The girl was gone, utterly vanished, but the second puff of smoke revealed a small dragon. A hatchling, really. It was of a turquoise color, had a dolphin's tale but more vivid colors upon its neck and head. Its paws were webbed but had bat-like wings too. It looked around, bewildered. Too stunned to do anything. Taking advantage of its bewilderment, the Ringmaster grabbed the baby dragon and presented it to his audience. They all clapped and marvelled at the realism of the puppet. As for the girl changed into a dragon, she could only be paralyzed by fear and conflicting emotions. She wanted to bite the man holding her. She didn't like his smell. She wanted to flee. And why did this man hold her in a place that reeked of awful smells and lights that were harsh and much too bright? She had been human but why did she feel much more comfortable at present?
"Oh, our delightful dragon of tropical isles looks a bit frightened. Let us install a more suitable environment, shall we?" the Ringmaster bellowed.
All agreed with a profusion of clapping. And with a great puff of yellow smoke, a pool of water with sand, with a decor of a tropical landscape, completed it. As soon as she was on the ground, the she-dragon rushed to the pool and swam happily. Everyone was amazed and entranced by the sight. The former girl felt at ease. She felt at home. She loved this place that looked like her home so much. Her home that she missed so dearly. Then some slabs of raw fish, grilled octopus and pieces of mango and coconut appeared and she ate it all with relish. It was so good! So delicious! Another thing she had missed so, so much! And then, bright butterflies fluttered and flitted in front of her and she joyfully pursued them, chasing them with relish. They always escaped her claws but it was not important. They were so pretty to look at anyway! So engrossed was she in the pretty landscape, even if it was make-believe and nice activities, that she was utterly oblivious to the clapping and laughter in front of her. The Ringmaster, for one, glowed with pride. He had thought this one utterly skilfully. He had no small amount of self-congratulating but he felt it was utterly deserved, humility be damned. Yes, direct hypnosis would have been too hard to perform so fast. Transforming the girl and letting her revel in what she missed most of her home so far away had functioned perfectly. To a tee, even. The Ringmaster did not only possess great magical ability, he also knew shrewdly human nature. This girl was tricky but far from unbreakable. He'd work more on her once the show was over. In the meantime...
The audience had adored the show. Getting the she-dragon to, blow fire, move around and pounce about as if in a little dance, while chasing butterflies and wearing collars of flowers had been met with great success. Ideas to keep for later. Then having her swim around the pool and jump and dive and do tricks like a trained orca or dolphin for trinkets of seashells or more treats had been a delight to all. She could only leap as her wings weren’t developed enough for flight, but it had its endearing effect. The transformed human teen had been so happy in her new body, so fixated on being back home and being given little rewards for simple things that she had completely fazed out her awareness of all the eyes around her. Excellent. After much applause and bowing to it, the Ringmaster had made everything vanish and let as magical replica of the teen girl, which he named Orchid, to come and walk away, saying the puppet was utterly ridiculous. Like that, everyone saw her leave the circus and that lout would not bother the Ringmaster's own clone. He had plans for him anyway. As for the actual tropical dragon, she was now secured in a cage in the Ringmaster's trailer, ready to be shown to her new family as soon as the show was over.
For Orchid, formerly Capucine, things were abysmally confused and terrible. She remembered she had been human and bothered at the circus. She had seen amazing ballerina bear animatronics and then... Then, inexplicably she had been an animatronic herself. She had been back hime, in New Caledonia and it was an utter paradise! She'd revel in it! And she was inexplicably, a dragon, but it felt so natural to her! She got to eat the food she had delighted in eating back home! It was fun to swim, chase butterflies and feel the sand beneath her feet again. Well, claws. Because she had claws now. Inexplicably so. So due to some reason, she had seen her home again but as a dragon. And why did it feel so pleasant, being a dragon. And she still was one. How was that possible? And she hated where she was, there! It was a cage and she would have liked warm sand, waves the temperature of a bathtub and flowers to put as collars around her neck and as delicate crowns. And tall green trees, and rich soil beneath her webbed paws and sun on her scales and the dangerous beauty of a volcano in faraway Tahiti and... And... And the warmth of another dragon. The warmth of a bigger dragon's chest cavity. Where did that come from? She would have said that she missed her mother but in truth, any older dragon with parental aptitudes would have been fine by her. And those ballerina bears, were they this couple from earlier too? That was awful. She cried silently, letting her tears splash at her paws. She was alone and so lost.
"Ah, now we can finish what I started."
The trailer door had opened and the Ringmaster entered, all business-like. He removed his coat and accessories and bent down to look at his creation. The starting product had been promising but this... Once grown up, it would be admirable. Yes, he could feel boastful. Except his creation was growling at him.
"None of that, now, pretty missy," he calmly said. "I need a cigarette, but will only be able to smoke one once I'm done with you."
The she-dragon snapped her sharp little fangs but he paid no heed. She might as well enjoy that attitude while she could.
"To cut short, yes, magic exists and yes, I changed you into a dragon. I think you are quite cute like that and shall grow up to be a beautiful dragon and perform impressive tricks. Your place of origin also offers an appealing touch of exoticism. I've regressed you to a hatchling too, so juvenile needs and thoughts should invade your psyche in due time. Increasingly so. If they haven't already. Not that it really matters because I'll hypnotize you. See, there are two male marine dragons in the circus and they have been dying for a little sister to their current adoptive guppy. Will get him to grow up and bring solace to their own lives, they say. So I say yes. Because two angry mated male dragons are a real hassle to deal with, I can assure you. So here's what's going to happen. I hypnotise you, make you fully regress to a young hatchling, impress new memories, desires and tastes in your skull and you live happily ever after with you new family. You already love being a dragon. I can tell. So thank me and show your gratitude by making things easy for me. Sounds good?"
More snaps and attempts at biting. Naturally. He sighed. Always had to be the hard way. Little scaly ingrate.
"I'm not going to replace your personality. I'll just being to the forefront some things you already like, or know. Nothing to fear, really. Oh, and that uneducated lout has been dealt with by me personally, rest assured."
More hisses and probably dragon curses, if her vocal chords had permitted speech. Storm and Typhoon could speak but Tricot Raye, the mate of Storm, could not. Well, there were ways around that. The three would be happy to have her, at any rate. Time to get the show on the road.
It had taken time. Hours upon hours until he could finally relax with a smoke. He had used all his talents on that Orchid hatchling. He had employed his silver sphere and his pendulum, as well as sheer pressing of his hands on her forehead to better offer a conduit to his power. She had resisted, sure. But little by little, she had been broken. Then rebuilding her had been easy. By the time he arrived in the trailer which magically opened to a pristine apartment-sized aquarium with lush plants, gravel, sand and comfortable grottoes, Orchid was soundly sleeping in his arms and Storm hoisted himself up, to gather in his own arms the precious cargo. He looked like a grey orca but his waste ended as a shark's tale. He thanked profusely the Ringmaster. And he cooed at hoe cute his new daughter was. Then Tricot Raye arrived, his yellow and black and a bit of white colors deserving of his name. Below his wait, he had the entire body of something resembling an orca, making a dragon with a centaur-like appearance. As for Typhoon, he kept exclaiming that he couldn't wait to play with her and he promised to take care of her and protect her always. The Ringmaster left the little family all to their bonding. Orchid would still take a few days to get adjusted to everything. It was quite a big change for a little dragon. And he really, really needed that smoke as a personal reward.