In some parts of Arcadia, people believe in something called the Devil Bird. They believe hearing the cry of this bird is an omen that signifies death is coming. Like death can be predicted by the whim of some animal. But it did make me think about what exactly that means for people. It’s almost like a form of shock therapy or association. They hear the call of the Devil Bird and their time is up. The sound means something to them, like the sounding of the Circus music, or the ringing of a school bell, or an alarm in the morning.
But where do we get these meanings from? These meanings are drilled into us from the day we are born. The school bell becomes the schedule every child is forced to live by each and every day. The alarms people set to wake up for work in the morning double as the sheepskin they wear as the toddle off to their office monotony. And the circus sounds draw in those seeking to escape from their lives for just a short while.
But why?
Because I planted it there. I told them through their beloved advertisements and their planted conversations that this music meant they could forget life and enjoy something for a moment. Jut like I planted it in my Unnaturals minds that the very same music means SHOW TIME.
And that’s exactly what the Devil Bird is. People thought it was folklore, like something passed down through the tales of gossiping women, like Drewitt before he showed up in Olympus, but when they went searching – SHOCK HORROR – they found a real life devil bird. And it was a species of OWL.
Don’t you think that’s funny? That the very thing that people have been trained to associate with death is the very symbol that Malakai Midnight runs his cult using? That they believe in the return of the Devil, and all along the humble OWL is the Devil Bird they use to scare their recruits into staring into the jaws of death?
I take umbrage with that. I do. I’m far from perfect (don’t tell Ajax I said that), but I am a man of principle. I planted the idea of the circus Music meaning escapism for one simple reason. Credits. I want to be RICH. I want to remember what it is like not to scrape together to afford this big top. But Malakai doesn’t care about money. He has no business to keep running. He plants those thoughts in peoples heads because he wants them to live in a constant state of fear.
But what sort of life can the Midnight Owls truly lead if they look over their shoulders every waking moment of the day fearing that Death is coming for them?
There is a different way, Owls. A way where you can be happy. I’ve seen you all, you look like you’d fit right in my charming band of undesirables. Leave him and join us.
Welcome to the freak show, let us show you the way.