Frederik should have read the fine print on the ticket more carefully when he was invited onto the stage at the circus.

At first, it seemed like a fun experience. A young lady instructed him to ride a white horse under the spotlight, but then the lights suddenly went out. In the darkness, he felt something strange happening to his hips and legs, as if they were sinking into the supposedly solid horse beneath him. A cold breeze brushed across his chest.

Before he could react, the lights snapped back on. The crowd erupted into applause.

Frederik looked down and froze. His favorite shirt was gone, and where his waist should have been, his body now seamlessly connected to the horse beneath him. The saddle, his legs, and even the horse’s head were nowhere to be found.

At first, he thought it must be some kind of costume or elaborate illusion. But as he reached down, desperately searching for a seam and trying to get off, he quickly realized the truth—there was none. His mind went blank as the crowd’s cheers and laughter grew louder, assuming it was just another amazing trick.

After the show, the ringmaster approached the confused centaur. Frederik’s belongings had vanished along with his clothes, leaving him with nothing to cling to. As he protested and demanded to be changed back, the ringmaster simply smiled and gestured to a clause on the ticket Frederik had never bothered to read:

“The circus assumes no liability for any non-lethal alterations to any attendee.”

And since the horse he had ridden was considered circus property, it was, apparently, against the law for him to leave.

When Frederik spoke of his job, his life, his family, the ringmaster only gave a mysterious grin.

“We will take good care of that for you. Now get some rest for the training tomorrow.”

With no choice, Frederik was guided by a staff member to the stables, where he was now expected to sleep.

But as he was led through the circus tents, something caught his eye. For just a moment, through a gap in a curtain, he glimpsed a large glass tank. Inside was a man with a lean physique and pale skin. What truly caught his attention was that, from the torso down, a fish tail with shiny scales extended where legs should have been.

The figure inside the tank seemed to be chatting with someone standing in front of it. It was an older man with a more rugged look. He was also naked, with his two legs covered in thick, curly fur, ending in hooves. A short tail wiggled above his butt.

Frederik stood still for a moment.

Perhaps… he wouldn’t be so alone in this place after all.