--Second Day of the Festival of Darkness--First Week--

The endless sky is gloomy and dark with thunder and lightning, but the festival atmosphere is cheerful and bright. Sonata felt like she’s going to faint after the whole preparations as she slumped on the bench, even her best friends Claire and Gabriel are slumped as well—the other Mail-Hunters also exhausted from their hard works. “I can’t believe that we have to work on the Festival of Darkness! This is ridiculous!” Claire exclaimed, seeing how Sonata flinched. “This is worse than Festival of Lights, but at least we can rest during Festival of Light!”

“Yeah, I know, we’re just tired because of the preparations,” Gabriel agreed, he’s weary of all the preparations and everything that happened yesterday. “Why did they have to choose a month like this? The weather is miserable because of the rain!” he complained, feeling his coat become wet. “The weather is always bad this time of the year, especially with this month because of the rain,” Claire shrugged, looking at the sky before she sat up on the bench beside Sonata and Gabriel. “I think it’s better to stay indoors until the rain stops.”

“Agreed!”

“Do you want to go back home, Claire?” asked Sonata, she knew that she’s not the only one who feels exhausted because of her duties as a Mail-Hunter—but they’ve been working nonstop since yesterday and today they’re going to be busy again. Claire sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead. “You’re right, we have to rest before we enter the festival grounds... at least we got our paychecks, right?”

Sonata looked at the time on her wristwatch, it was almost eleven o’clock in the morning. “Besides, this is our monthly salary. We deserve it. Now that you know how much is our salaries, we should return home and rest,” he smiled as he handed all their paychecks to them. They’re too stunned and overwhelmed by the amount of their paychecks. “And, I just want to go home and sleep... this Festival of Darkness is going to be hectic as the week passed.”

They were so stunned by the sudden generosity and kindness of Lloyd that they didn’t noticed that someone was watching them from afar, making all of them turned around to see who was it, but they saw nothing. Lloyd knitted his eyebrows together, he always has his eyes on everything he witnessed before he could miss it. There he saw his apprentice Vincent drove his vintage motorbike towards him, stopping his motorbike across his mentor. “So, what do you got, Vincent?” Lloyd asked, watching him pulling up his goggles from his eyes. “Well... I think that there will be a huge crowd in the festival grounds today,” he said, seeing his master nodded. “We might be busy later on today.”

“Indeed... we have to prepare for that, is there any more?”

Lloyd asked, curious. “Yes, I have more,” Vincent said, he went up to his master and whispered something to him. “I think that the seven candidates wanted to use this festival to gain popularity among the voters. They will start campaigning as soon as they enter the festival grounds...”

“So that means, they’ll be using this festival as their stage?” Lloyd whispered, knitting his eyebrows together—he started to get suspicious because these seven candidates wanted to gain his trust—especially when Lloyd is the Postmaster-General himself. He doesn’t want any of the Prime Minister candidates to win because they’re all incompetent and corrupt, especially when they want to gain trust from him for their votes. “What else do you have?” he asked, showing interest.

Vincent folded his arms, before he explained. “We received information about this certain organization—Kafka’s Circus, children are mysteriously disappearing from each regions in Canaria; whether in Aria, Sonnet and Canon; in a manner correlating to the troupe’s movement. The police are investigating about it, but it seems that they are not doing anything about it...”

“What about their leader?” Lloyd asked, his curiosity aroused. “According to some sources, he’s a former circus performer who became rich after he founded his own circus. Kafka isn’t his actual identity, it’s just his pseudonym and I haven’t found out his real identity yet,” said Vincent, scrunching his eyebrows. “With that being said... we need to investigate about this matter, Master Lloyd.”

“You’re right, we need to find out what’s happening here,” Lloyd agreed, he’s quite surprised from how fast the events are turning—after the defeat of Cabernet Husk creature and defeated the anti-government organization like Reverse; leading to their leader’s death sentence and disbandment--he didn’t expect they encounter another problem. "We shouldn’t underestimate them because they’re going to use this festival, and we need to know where are they came from.”

“Exactly,” said Vincent with a nod, he knows how sharp Lloyd is. “Here are the name of the members in Kafka’s Circus,” he spoke, handing the folders to his mentor as Lloyd receive it.

‒ Gerard Drakenheim, Gerard, The Promoter, The Assassin

‒ Zofia von Braunschweig or known as Frau Zofia, The Tightrope Walker

‒ Rejik Maribor or known as Rejik, The Fire Eater

‒ Lutz Meister or known as Lutz, The Knife Thrower

‒ Baumgarten or known as Abner, The Trapeze Artist

‒ Carlotta Tournier or known as Carlotta, The Animal Tamer

‒ Saphirian Selvency or known as Saphir, Snake Charmer

Lloyd furrowed his brows, before he narrowed his eyes—he started to feel suspicious and meticulous because these seven Prime Minister of Canaria’s candidates will take advantage to this situation to make themselves popular among the citizens. But why would they abduct innocent children? That’s a bit odd. What’s their plan? “Who are they targeting?” he asked. “All of the missing children belong to different age groups and gender—it looks like they’re kidnapping children who are below eighteen years old, but we don’t really know what’s their purpose behind it.”

Few minutes later...

The Kafka’s Circus troupe has arrived in Welkin Amusement Park with the large carnival tent; it appeared that the troupe had set-up their tents near the amusement park; which is located in the middle of Welkin’s downtown area. It is located beside the fountain park and there’s a lake nearby the amusement park—where many people come and relax in a serene ambiance. People love coming here because it gives them peace of mind away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

But today, things are going to change because of the upcoming festival.

There’s no doubt that the troupe wants to attract attention from the public because they will perform tonight for the festival audience.

Many spectators came here early to watch their performance, including the seven candidates for Prime Minister of Canaria: Alois Geremek, Ferdinand Wulfenbach III, Maximilian Carrera, Charles Rochat, Gustavo de Aragon, Erich Hagen, and lastly Avila Nafaldine. They were all wearing their campaign shirts, having colorful designs printed on their sleeves, and their pants are made of light fabric with matching colored vests over their shoulders. Each candidate wore their own unique style of clothing, but they’re all dressed elegantly and smartly.

Oswald was reading their profiles, he narrowed his eyes as he glanced at them. They have high intelligence, each of them have their expertise in different aspect; especially knowing the other was a politician for most of their lives. "What do you think?" Alastair asked, while Solvine stood beside him as he keep an eye on the folders that placed on the desk. Oswald has an ability to trace criminals back to their homes--he has a special contact lenses that could trace the location on his targets, finding them easily by tracing the location to their residences, offices or hideouts. "Something fishy is going on, where do they come from?" he whispered, these circus troupe sounded so intriguing but there's more than meets the eye--but he doesn't have any evidence. "I don't think the poster could be all showy," he answered, rubbing his chin before he began to open his archives that has datas of people in Canaria. "Also, they came here to perform in the carnival... but with cases of missing children, it is unusual."

Solvine and Alastair nodded in agreement, there's something hidden beneath--and something is going on behind the scenes; Alastair and Solvine know that they must prioritize solving the children abduction case and avoiding human casualty at all cost, moreover the Husk creatures has been not attacking the city in months. "Hopefully I could get any information soon before it's too late," he whispered, all of them then took a long looks at the file of every candidate. The posters and leaflets for the upcoming election held everywhere; but none of them wanted to vote (yet) because it would be a waste of time. "Either way, I'll be examining the candidates' homes and private rooms," he muttered before nodding at them.

The silence goes on until Senja returned with the recent findings and investigation reports, he was checking the children's profiles and has an arched eyebrows after he saw one of them. He glanced to Oswald and looked at the photographs closely, still keeping his stoic expression. "Oz, did you see any of these victims' faces before?" he asked curiously, gaining a glance from his superior. "I haven't seen those names before, why?" Oswald frowned. "They look somewhat familiar, they're the one we had to bring to the orphanage last month."

"Orphanage... Are they...?"

The Ark's Circus has arrived in Welkin City, with the large carnival tent; it appeared that the troupe had set-up their tents near the amusement park; which is located in the middle of Welkin's downtown area. It is located beside the fountain park and there's a lake nearby the amusement park--where many people come and relax in a serene ambiance. Of course, the latter was true--there was a discrimination that Canarian people with Huaxian-descent are not allowed to work, because of the biased and racism--knowing Gerard and the other four members are Canarians (although their backgrounds are pure Canarian, some of them were part of nobility).

Of course, how can Xinglan not getting angry and frustrated? Even Suona and Suiren got mad because of this--let alone Senja who is half-Huaxian.

It wasn't long until the troupe began setting up their tents; they were preparing for an evening show, where the seven candidates will be attending tonight. As usual, the clowns performed their skits and tricks for the audience, entertaining the crowd. They were gathering attention from the public; as if nothing happened recently. Lloyd was eyeing on them from the balcony window and got suspicious because he knew they never would appear here so suddenly. Why did they come to Welkin's Amusement Park during the festival? Are they trying to hide something?

Lloyd was wearing his civilian attire; consists of white collared formal dress shirt, black vest with long light green tied ribbon tie around his collars and wears dark gray pants tucked into his black knee-length riding boots--he also wears long dark purple inverness cape with white accents and wears dark purple cape; he kept his cane with him on his hand.

Alastair ended up dressed in light violet formal dress shirt with black trench coat buttoned with silver buttons, red ascot tie around his collars and wears a black pants tucked into his brown boots. He kept his bangs of his sandy-blonde messy short hair wasn't slicked--so it just fell loose on his crystal-blue eyes and he has fair complexion--still wearing his frameless glasses with strings; he folded his arms as he can't stand wearing this type of clothes--which was forced by Lloyd who insisted that they needed to disguise themselves as commoners. "If this is what we've agreed upon--then it is what we'll do," Alastair said, grumbling at Lloyd before they started walking towards the tent that they have to visit the large circus tent. "Relax~! This won't hurt at all~"

Lloyd cooed at him playfully with a smile, making Alastair rolled his eyes and sigh--before they both entered the tent with the large carnival banner hung in front of them. They have to go through several booths before they reach to the entrance of the tent. "Urgh... I can't keep this undercover... this is too loose..." Sonata grumbled, feeling annoyed with having to disguise herself like this. "It'll be alright," Gabriel said in comforting tone, patting her head gently with his hand--so does Claire who patted her best friend Sonata's shoulder. "Relax, just act natural," Claire reassured her.

Sonata was curious about the circus for a moment, until she was surprised to see Chase is here and she went petrified upon seeing him and she began to hide behind Claire and Gabriel. "What a peculiar-looking clown," said Oswald, raising his eyebrows as he watched the man in a gray face paint appeared. He turned to see the other candidates for Prime Minister watching the troupe's rehearsal performance from their seats, enjoying themselves. But no one else realizes that the Ringmaster is their ringleader, but there's no way to identify them because of the mask.

Xinglan also suffering while had to endure the discrimination, Senja also got the same treatment as he saw poor Suona had to endure the treatment; being stared at in silence by the troupe's members and Suiren being watched by the bodyguards. Lloyd glared at the troupe members who stared at his subordinates in silence, slamming his cane with force before he walked alongside his Mail-Hunters. The crowd was terrified, and Solvine didn't seem to care despite how frightening his superior is from the outside.

They can still hear the sounds of merry-go-rounds and other attractions being operated as the troupe began to perform again. It appeared that they performed their act again in the middle of the carnival midway while people are gathering around them to watch them in awe.

"Strange... one of their limbs has prosthetic legs," Senja noticed with concern, he can see that their leader is using a pair of mechanical prosthetics on his feet; it appeared that he can move around freely without any problem--but it's still odd. "The trapeze artist too, his right arm is prosthetic."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Mathilda pointed at various acts they can see in their vicinity-like the trapeze artist swinging from the bars of a giant net, while the knife thrower throwing knives at a target placed in the center of a ring of fire, where a man catches the knives thrown at him. The tightrope walker was walking on a thin wire high above the ground between two buildings, making it look like she's flying in the air, making everyone watching her in awe; and the snake charmer was taming snakes like a trained performer, which is making the children in the crowd scream and yell because of how dangerous and frightening it looks.

Everyone in the tent is awed by the performance and they are amazed at how talented these people are, except for the Emissaries who are undercover. Sonata feel uncomfortable by the fact that most of the performers have artificial limbs and some of their limbs are missing completely and they were thinking that they were born with that disability like them. The Mail-Hunters examined the people around them, everyone seems to be excited to be there.

"Sonata, Claire, Gabriel. Investigate this circus in the inside--and then infiltrate them without no one noticing."

Sonata looked at her mentor, confused and startled after hearing what he said. She knew that Alastair and the other Emissaries know what's going on and they had to take advantage of the situation. But, she nodded with determined eyes and went together with her teammates. "Ah, yes... but how are we gonna sneak out from this place? This place is locked," Gabriel commented with a puzzled look, they're too busy with the other things related to the festival and Mail-Hunting job. "Don't worry, we'll back you guys up!" Suona said happily, standing between Xinglan and Amaris who were all prepared for this moment.

The six of them went to the basement to perform their plans: While Xinglan, Suona, and Amaris sneaked into the Hall of Audience to gain permission from the guards that Claire, Sonata and Gabriel aren't there because they have go into a mission and their superiors ordered them to have a field trip and enjoy the festival. "Will it work?" Sonata whispered, feeling worried that their plan won't going to work; while Claire knew how Amaris would lie without getting herself flushed--because Suona and Xinglan won't act suspicious either, she would trick anyone with her innocent and casual presence.

They're just in time to deliver several packages to the circus, but it was not that easy to get past the security guards on the premise of the place. "For the love of Empress--are you, asking me to wear a clown suit?!" Gabriel gasped while seeing the uniform in front of his face, from the information that the organization is secretly hiring children to find the materials and substances. "No, I was just showing you this clown suit, dimwit," Xinglan grumbled, looking irritated before he started rambling on to Gabriel.

"Why didn't you say that earlier?!"

"WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT?! WHY WERE YOU TOO BLIND TO NOTICE--"

Both of them got smacked by Amaris and Claire, their expression a grimace--while Sonata and Suona are giggling at their antics. "That's enough, both of you. Get into the room and start to look around for some clues. We'll help you to get into the circus staff room. Once you're in, start to eavesdropped them and steal something without letting them noticed," said Claire as she folded her arms before directing her gaze on a map to take a look at her surroundings. "Alright, let's see. Gab, I want you to take a package to the security room--as for Sonata... find the missing children from the circus tents. Get in--GET OUT--when the coast is clear, find a way to contact them and the other trio will get them out," Claire said in a strict tone, knowing about how their missions will start.

After the group dividing their missions, Gabriel tried not to cringe as he had to hide behind the costume racks at the backstage of the circus, where all the costumes and props are kept--most likely to help him hide himself. He turned his head from side to side and his eyes were monitoring the circus tents for any possible children may come out from the tents. Good thing he doesn't have to wear those awful costumes. With both of his thumbs, he pressed each sides of the buttons of his vintage walkie-talkie and started whispering. "I've got in. Over,"

"Alright, good job, Gab. Let's hope our plan will go well, the others had been informed to back us up."

Vincent was standing outside the carnival while he kept his arms crossed, the Delivery Express Mail-Hunter already parked his vintage motorbike hidden so no one found it. He was ordered by his mentor Lloyd to investigate the situation regarding these seven candidates because of his special gift—which is sensing emotions from everyone else and movements.

He felt uneasy and suspicious about the whole thing, wondering why would anyone kidnap children from their homes? What’s wrong with this world...? He shake his head, before he noticed the troupe members had artificial limbs on each of their bodies—these people are disabled obviously. These men are not normal humans—they’re actually marionettes. No wonder they have their own way to entertain themselves... He realized. The idea gave him an unpleasant feeling inside his stomach, but he couldn’t deny the fact that they are talented artists.

Vincent sneaked into the back alley behind the amusement park and then he hid himself under the trash bin. He heard footsteps approaching down the stairs—so he peeked out from the shadow of his hiding spot. It was one of the troupe members, Gerald Drakenheim, he spotted a tall man with the blonde hair coming towards the garbage dumpster. When Drakenheim opened the lid and pulled out a bag, he dropped his arm and turned around-looking directly at Vincent who was standing there. “What are you doing there?” he asked, surprised by the sudden appearance of a stranger.

Vincent quickly moved closer to Drakenheim, then he whispered in his ear. “If you ever see me again, run away.”

It made Gerald shivered, stepping back from him and ran off—Vincent hummed before he checked the contents of the plastic bag: five small boxes wrapped with thick paper. He took the box and stuffed it in his pocket, before he began to walk away.

Lloyd observed the circus from the auditorium's balcony, where he could monitor any suspicious movements and activities with no one realizing where he is. "There has been rumors about you, Oswald... not just me," he said with a casual smile, turning to see Oswald who was standing beside him with his deadpan expression. "Some say that you're an Archmage, the only Master who managed to become the executive director--a master in using knowledge and intelligence--quite a contrasting difference with Alastair, Senja, Solvine, Mathilda and Suiren. After all, the Masters hold high status--so people adored them as the heroes of Canaria; you're one of them because of your unparalleled precision and wisdom."

Oswald stayed silent, before letting out a sigh. "Master Lloyd, you're saying too much and you seem a bit too hyped up for this festival," said the young Human Resources Director, Lloyd was starting to get restless due to the upcoming election (and he was so lazy in voting who will win for Prime Minister candidate and what'll happen to Canaria) for the upcoming election held. For Lloyd, he prefers a leader that's firm and strong, but a good friend and someone he can count on. "I'm talking about you, Oswald... unlike you, nobody knows who am I--nor knowing my background well."

Lloyd is a very mysterious individual, nobody know his background and origins, it's possible he has sealed his true name--something normal because anyone who works in the National Postal Service usually did that. He is eccentric individual with no fixed intention (for now), even Oswald doesn't know how he managed to hold his position that long in the National Postal Service--even with the high votes and approval of many officials.

It is true, nobody has ever asked any questions about their identities, but Oswald isn't sure if they're even aware that the organization they're running is their headquarters. He never showed his weaknesses nor fears of anything, unlike the rest of his peers. He even knows something more than the other Masters.

"Come to think of it, in the National Archives... My records was placed a bit differently with the other Masters, something that seems too obvious," Oswald quietly murmured with a stern and strict look, he's been keeping an eye on the seven Prime Minister candidates as they're making use of the atmosphere; to become more popular among the citizens and he mustn't fail. Especially with how can Lloyd keep his secret no one noticed so far. "Besides, you can't say you're a man of the night--despite your ability as someone who knows how to judge people. But, your genius intellect and knowledgable mindset beyond everyone's comprehension is something admirable."

Oswald has been wanting to archive Lloyd's background for the purpose of keeping an eye on him, though it wasn't that easy--before suddenly, Oswald snapped himself away from his thoughts after hearing the sudden noise on the backstage. "I guess you are hiding some deep secrets, too," he commented. Lloyd just stood there while giving him a sideways glance. "You talk big and almighty, Oswald, but you're not powerful enough to back up your theories. Be careful."

Oswald could sense that Lloyd was smiling warmly, but behind that smile--there's no telling what kind of intention behind that. "Now, shall we begin the investigation?"

Sonata was keeping an eye out for the situation, looking around for suspicious behavior among the troupe members. She saw the Ringmaster walking passed her and he went into a dark corridor; the young girl couldn't help but relieved that he didn't notice her presence. 'This is creeping me out...' she thought, before she froze to see a caged Husk creatures inside a wooden cage--which piqued her interest in great confusion. Sonata shook her head a few times and kept her eyes away from the Husk creatures that started to attack the cage and rattled it, growling at her.

Sonata take out her vintage walkie-talkie from her hoodie pocket, pressed the button with her fingers. "Sonata here, I found strange things at the main tent... I need Suona, Xinglan and Amaris to back me up," she asked in a tone of asking for her teammates to bail her out. When she approached the cage, the Husk creature started to snap its jaws at her which made her furrowed her eyebrows. "Airen Husk... No, the cage is different... It looks like the creature is starving itself to death," she whispered, staring at the weak Husks that wailing around as if it was desperately hoping for help.

Sonata decided to go to the archive room, where it contains a list of its members names and addresses. Fortunately, she managed to find some info after scanning some papers from the drawers; she received some emails from Gabriel to report his findings. Gabriel reported that all of the other circus members are moving around with suitcases and carrying them with caution; he also spotted some of the women dressed in white robes taking food and clothes out of the tents and putting them into a wagon filled with hay and donkeys. As he noticed a label on one of the crates; that it was labelled 'To: Kafka' and he tried to investigate where it's taken--trying to eavesdrop to find the hideout where the Kafka's circus member resides.

Claire was keeping an eye on the performance while watching the audience from the balcony as well, she watched how the performers made a stunts that amazes the audience--however; her eyes noticed something odd from them. Some part of their limbs has an artificial substance resembling into mechanical parts; they moved abnormally that she noticed by their dull eyes and their movements--hidden under their colored lenses and thick makeup. Claire immediately take out her vintage walkie-talkie, pressed the button with her fingers.

"Everyone, are you guys seeing what I'm seeing--all of the performers in the tent had either cybernetic prosthesis or replaced their body parts with robotic limbs; they aren't completely human--" Claire notified them, she was making a mental notes of the situation that seems so odd.

"Yeah, we did."

Sonata listened as she was gathering the archives from the drawers and her eyes widened, seeing a folders of Canarian people's pictures; ranging from young children, adults, and teenagers who signed up an application form of joining a circus by their wish or family's permission. Their reason, is because they're in the verge of losing their jobs and it could help them gain money with benefits in the long-term; however, her sharp eyes scanned the pile of folders and she saw the last batch of children's photos were not signed by their family's permission. She saw the children's photos were removed on their names--but kept their date of birth; their birthplaces were written on the labels behind the files and the young girl felt so nauseous and dizzy. They were recruited illegally through kidnapping and replacing them with modified bodies, to prevent a suspicious person from knowing about the situation.

Sonata felt her PTSD relapsed, but she keeps herself calm and collected. Every kind of sadness, depression or even trauma are burdens and it made her relapsed her feelings--she hates kidnapping, knowing how miserable those children must've been; before she realized that she's alone.

Her breathing became rapid and she was not sure where's the exit door. She stared at the exit door and before she could make a move, a hand grabbed her shoulder and she felt her hood was being pulled down--revealing her hair and revealing her face before a familiar voice spoken behind her, almost whispering. "It's you..."

The young teen turned to see the mysterious jester standing behind her, his painted face was covered with clown makeup that was very colorful in various shades and colors. Sonata was wide-eyed, before she growled and extract her nails into a claws and scratch the jester's left cheek--his blank expression didn't flinch or budge a bit, while she was panting. "Don't come close!" she whimpered fearfully as her eyes glared at him, who didn't flinch by her reaction. 'Wait, why isn't he reacting? Did I hurt him?' she thought to herself, it was strange and confusing her--after scratching his face.

"Watch out!"

The jester was about to launch a knife at her, until a gunshot from the flintlock shot and hit the jester's chest--knocking him out with a sleeping bullet. Chase appeared as he rushed towards her, surprising her in the process. Sonata instantly became flustered to see him. "Are you alright?" he asked, Sonata gulped nervously with her eyes widening--nearly turning red after being so embarrassed. "Y-Yes... Why did you--?"

"I'll tell you later. Come, let's get out here! Before anyone finds out!" he whispered as he caught the teenage girl's wrist gently and ran with her, making his way from the staff's exit. Turns out, they were seen by one of the troupe and Vincent was waiting for them to escape--and they managed to escape together. "Great... we escaped..." Vincent murmured in relief as he opened the car door and usher the young girl inside his car.

Moments later, Oswald returned to National Postal Service's headquarters for another investigation on the Prime Minister candidates and Oswald's sudden unexpected visit made the Emissaries startled by his presence. "So, what did you find?" he asked, before looking down to see the results on the screen that appears to be taken from the camera lens behind one of the candidates' own private library.

However, there are noticeable details to notice when zoomed up...

Alastair rubbed the bridge of his nose, everyone's been busy because of the festival's upcoming. As the Prime Minister candidates began their speeches and campaigning at the platform set, Sonata was one of them who gets tense the moment she hears that. "I can't believe they use this festival for political purposes..." Lloyd grumbled, his arm was crossed over his chest with his body leaned against the wall. "Kafka... what's your purpose coming here, other than entertaining the children of Canaria?" he whispered.

When it was over, Sonata felt like she wants to go home.

Sonata was laying on the bench, she felt so damn sick after she followed Xinglan to the backstage of the circus--she ended up feeling dizzy that made her groaning on the ground. “Sonata? Are you okay?” Solvine asked, he patted her back gently. “Urgh... I’m fine, father. I hate the performance, I don’t like those Husks being caged,” Sonata grunted in the most polite way and Solvine brushed her silver-white hair off her forehead, brushing the sixteen-years old’s bangs gently.