NOCTIFER

Orphaned at birth along the outskirts of Bergen, Castiel had nothing, not even a name when he arrived under the care of the traveling circus known as Pandora's Secret Pendulum, having been mistaken for cargo during the boarding procedures when they departed from their sell-out show. Arriving in the next town with Castiel in tow. Had it not been for his yelp for rescue during the incident which left his eye a topic for attention, the chances of discovering the boy would have been slim. Only being found after he received a wound from one of the animal acts on board leaving a scar over his right eye and seemingly deforming him. With the already hectic schedule as tight as ever, rather than stop, the head showman opted to bring the boy on as a part of their grand traveling act, despite his infancy. Thus, the silver-haired stowaway was taken under the wing of the entire troupe, with the myriad of mystical cast members regarding him as one of their own. Growing up along the circus cast Castiel began to embody the art of performance and soon enough began his apprenticeship under the showman himself. Despite being abandoned he had acquired a carefully curated family, if Castiel had felt he did not belong the thrill of the road had crafted a place just for him. Rather than allow the boy to mop, he was taught the ropes, learning to roll with the punches and make it look flashy!! Dealer decides the hand, play your cards right, and you might just wow the crowd!![break][break]

Prelude

Early life was a mesmerizing dance within the vivid confines of a traveling circus. Raised under the big top's vibrant canvas, his days unfurled amidst a tapestry of acrobats defying gravity, jesters weaving laughter, and animals evoking wonder. Yet, behind the shimmering façade of mirth, Castiel's responsibilities cast a shadow unique to his reality.

Castiel has no memory of his birth parents; he only knows he was abandoned, and has thus never desired to know of his true lineage. He was found by his adopted father, a circus cast member, somewhere along the outskirts of the city of Bergen. The traveling circus who discovered him opted to take the deserted child along with them in hopes of a life of thrill and promise, rather than one of solitude. After all, the alternative was an orphanage. But alas, there was no time to make stops for some random kid, the show must go on!

From the tender age when most children's laughter was their only commitment, Castiel was thrust into a dual role of performer and caretaker. The spotlight often found him as a miniature clown or assistant to whichever act lacked the budget, his innocent scarred face hidden beneath white makeup and a red nose, a poignant homage to his adoptive father and the troupe's ringleader, Argos. The audience's laughter became both his applause and his solace, momentarily drowning the haunting silence of his parent's absence and abnormal childhood.

The only love he recognized came in those who took notice of him. Argos had simply found labor to exploit and thought little more of the boy than you would give thought to a cog in a flawless machine. They had never even bothered to name him, only addressing him by makeshift titles born from his oddly white hair and feminine features despite being a growing boy. As such, his earliest memories of his days with the troupe start with his stage name "Snow White" which he would go by for the first few years of his adolescence. Up until it was brought to his attention by an audience member after a closing show one night, a nun from the neighboring city of Oslo, that his name was quite strange and peculiar. Then again, nothing about the acrobatic freaks and fortunetelling geeks was normal, though he would never trade a sense of normalcy for the carefully curated family he had come to know. He had never noticed how strange it was for him to grow up amongst people society labeled as cast or characters, nor did he see any wrongs in the way he was treated. His smile perpetually painted on even long after the curtains drew on each closing night. Nothing truly ever faced him, nothing the circus upbringing hadn't already sensitized him to.

Beneath the transient glamour, his life bore a solemn weight. As the circus's young guardian, he attended to the needs of the troupe – tending to animals, mechatronics, mending costumes or repairing equipment, and even consoling hearts bruised by the demanding life on the road. The night's end was a quiet return to his caravan, where loneliness whispered in the darkness. Argos love came in the form of knifing words and constant correction, though Castiel found the verbal onslaughts to be comforting whispers in the wind, but the emptiness still remained.

Despite the darkness that threatened to lunge out from the corners of him as the journey progressed, the circus's influence remained imprinted on his essence even into his adulthood. The resilience he honed under the big top became the backbone of his company. His ability to see beyond the superficial, to fathom the depth of human suffering due to his own internal agony at abandonment, transformed him into a beacon of hope in a world overshadowed by shade and an even more excellent act for Pandora's Secret Pendulum. The circus, with its contrasting shades of joy and sorrow, had woven a complex tapestry that shaped Castiel from a child masked in makeup to a man bearing the weight of saving humanity, one smile at a time.

As Castiel grew, he blossomed into a versatile performer himself. He seamlessly blended into different acts, from juggling to tumbling and acrobatics -- even when his father introduced a more modern take on the performances with the inclusion of mechatronics and props he learned to work with those too. Doing so with a smile, his presence an embodiment of the troupe's soul. Through the laughter and the applause, the circus taught Castiel the art of resilience and adaptability. He learned to find joy even in the face of challenges, and his interactions with fellow performers granted him an acute sense of empathy. The unique perspectives of the circus's eclectic cast enriched his understanding of the world, fostering a genuine curiosity about people's stories.

The circus remained his sanctuary, a realm where innocence flourished, and the weight of the world was but a distant rumor, becoming his crucible of character, forging resilience in the fires of adversity. The smiles he crafted for the audience masked an ache he couldn't voice, breeding a quiet strength that would later define his life. His unique upbringing nurtured within him an unparalleled empathy – a keen awareness of the masks people wore and what they truly desired, a show to distract them from the forces both external and within which clawed away at hope, giving way to despair. The show must go on![break][break]

Prologue

The crowd was enraptured, their applause a thunderous crescendo. Ringing in his ears like the symphony of a rolling storm Castiel absorbed it all through arms stretched wide, yet again, another sold-out show had dazzled those who bore witness to the fantastic spectacular troupe had to offer. But then, as if a gentle breeze had woven its way into his consciousness, his eyelids grew heavy. The very spotlight that illuminated him seemed to soften into a surreal, dreamlike glow. His once-defiant posture began to falter, and his hand, still raised in the midst of a spellbinding gesture, trembled. In an instant, his eyes closed, and his senses surrendered to slumber's embrace. When his eyes blinked open once more, he found himself in unfamiliar territory. The crowd's cheers were a distant echo, and the vibrant tapestry of the circus had dissolved into nothingness. In this surreal limbo, his thoughts danced between the vivid memories of the show he had orchestrated and the haunting obscurity of his current surroundings.

Was this a dream? A manifestation of his own uncertainties? The silence around him held no answers, only the lingering echoes of applause and the ambiguous spotlight remained, its beam casting an ethereal glow upon him as if drawing him back to the center of an unseen stage, leading him to a small pop-up window on display before him.