Alex Reynarde

> "Defenestrations, good sir!"
>
>

Alex Reynarde is a member of the Circus of Secret Stars. Alongside his sister, Maria Reynarde, they are known by their stagename in the big-top: the Foxtrot Duo.

## Appearance

He has the physical appearance of a roughly 14 or 15 year old teenaged boy. He has blue eyes and a small face and soft demeanor. He has messy and thick silver-white hair down to his cheeks, and is often wearing his suit made for him by Miss Taylor. The suit is gray and features two black squares diving his whole torso in four squares like a chessboard. He wears a a variety of ties over this, often sky blue or black in color. Sometimes he doesn't wear the jacket, or wears a tiny version of it, along with a scarf bandana.

Like his twin sister, Maria Reynarde, he wears an ornate mask in the appearance of a fox or wolf; the most common version is white, with one eye ringed in black.

For many of his combat acts, he wields an extravagant axe. It's made of metal, but has a vaguely brightly-painted-wood look. A long ribbon is coiled around it. The axe is Dreamcrafted and weighs nothing but has no additional enchantments or properties. The ribbon is Dreamcrafted to be light like a ribbon, but bladed, capable of delivering flesh wounds.

He is described as friendly, though with an observing, mischievious face and always with a light smile, only ever neutral during times of worry or concern.

## Personality

In a very childlike way, a first meeting with him will involve trying to befriend you. He's optimistic and jokes around as much as possible, making it difficult to tell how serious he is at any given moment. Extraverted, he always rips people away to do something. In some ways, he is a mirror opposite of his sister, except for their mischievious behavior. In the circus, they're known for pickpocketing guests. He spends much time reminiscing on past memories and is always in search of new ones, by forming them with other people. He feels remorse for some of his actions, including failing to fulfill promises.

Despite his criminal tendencies and seeming devil-may-care disregard for other people's comfort, he is quite empathetic, and is one of the only few members who helps out Oliver and Ven, tutoring them personally. He also likes to mess with people for his amusement, often as punishment for not paying him attention. For this he is sometimes labelled obnoxious and impish. The only other thing that interests him is adventures, especially the classic story kind.

Like many of the other members, his behaviour is a side-effect of spending hundreds of years in a circus, and he often drives new people away who can't adjust to his intense charisma. He is described by Oliver Cloudsmith as being like a eager dog.

## Role

### In the Circus of Secret Stars

Outside the big-top, he is a clown. His job is to brighten faces before they go to the big-top. But inside, he along his sister are sometimes the opening act. They ride on a tandem bicycle performing stunts, competing against other members in sportslike gladiator events, through which they tell one of the Acts or Chapters of a long story, before other member's acts pick up where they left off at in some cliffhanger. Though they are skilled at the quasi-combat of the circus, in which they battle captured monsters from the world, they usually aren't assigned by Ringmaster Oskaar in those acts.

### In Book 1: The Circus of Secret Stars

He is the one who personally recruits Cosette, after he encounters her wandering the forest and senses some magical power within her. He teaches her some tricks but decides her time isn't right to join, by deploys a fairy to watch over who reports years later that she is suffering from domestic abuse, at which point he visits her dreams.

When Oliver Cloudsmith and Ven Betalli arrive, due to Ven having similar dreams from Alex's sister (which Ven mistakenly thinks is Alex) Alex immediately tries to befriend both of them. He is disappointed when visiting Oliver in his dreams because he doesn't have much inherit magic and tells him he is not ready for the circus, unlike Ven who was officially invited via dream.

After hearing Oliver's goal for joining the circus and his determined attempt in the big-top in the wake of Oskaar's trials, he and Maria decide to help them. The Duo tell them the only way to win is to cheat. They also try teaching them some art, such as acting and playing music. They give them challenges to train, exposition about the other members, and shelter in their own tent, the interior of which is just their personal Dreamland, constantly changing to their whims just like with the other Children's tents.

However, during this, Oliver suspects they have an ulterior motive, as many of their tasks involve inadvertent errands and digging deep in the backstories of other members, bringing up old and pain disrupting some of their lives in ways that seem to benefit the Duo.

Alex starts to become friends with Alex and Ven, and he and sister often cheer them on. At one point, they even duel.

Over the course of the book, Alex starts to become seriously concerned about Oliver, warning him when he tries to go into the Dreamworld alone, whereafter he wanders into a lost child's dream chasing the spirit of a dog, drug traffickers and other criminal mages trying to hide from authorities, demons, random people's malovelent spirits, and Sandmen, and even his own grandmother. However, Oliver starts to lose trust in the Duo, especially after Ven reveals he's been self-sabotaging, particularly in their fight against Maggie, due to his preferrence his old life back on the streets, something that baffles Olly, who then later regrets his lack of empathy, because without the help of Ven or the Duo, his actions end up making things harder for himself, resulting in Rex getting his wing cut-up.

## Trivia

* His true age is estimated to be hundreds of years old, according to the tally marks in the Hall of Members under his portrait. He is near the older side relative to the rest of the members, having joined just after the Founders.
	+ Many of the other members assume this is one reason why Oskaar is unreasonably lenient towards him.
* Since members of the circus often change their names to accompany the changes in languages in the world, his first name, as a Fayish-born (somewhere in what is now known as Ephea), is Faedamer. His sister's name is Faederella. According to historians, many names were variations of this name.
* Many of his jokes or behavior is stolen from people he's known. He tells their jokes to remember them, to ensure their soul doesn't die due to being forgotten, since he does not know their true fate.
* He and her sister are born under the Sign of Gemini, granting them special powers, but also curses, such as separation anxiety and telepathy.
* The Foxtrot Duo's Dreamkin is a large fox-like creature named Jinx.
* They have a mysterious bomb in their tent
	+ Olly and Alex:
		- "Why don't you get rid of it"

"I'm not touching that"

"Me neither," Maria said.

"Can't you change your tent so that it no longer exists"

"That's the same as touching it, just indirectly. I'm not touching it."

"Yeah, it can also move it in a really weird way," Alex said, "We're not sure if this planted by another circus member, a guest, Oskaar, or ourselves."

## Quotes

* Ugh, I'm so tired.

Good thing you're in this bed, because then now you can, using the bed, go to sleep.

You mocking me? \*fights him then sleeps

Aw, you love me so much to stay mad at me.

* They have a mysterious bomb in their tent
	+ Olly and Alex:

"Why don't you get rid of it"

"I'm not touching that"

"Me neither," Maria said.

"Can't you change your tent so that it no longer exists"

"That's the same as touching it, just indirectly. I'm not touching it."

"Yeah, it can also move it in a really weird way," Alex said, "We're not sure if this planted by another circus member, a guest, Oskaar, or ourselves."

And that's the brains, and that's the heart of the operation, and I guess that's the liver, or it could be the skin. Maria, find out which is which while I give them a tour of the gallbladder or our operation!

Can't, it's gonna have diarrhea in 24 hours.

How do you know that dog's gonna get that in 24 hrs?

I know its digestive system better than I know my own. I might have it in 24 hrs. Or not. I don't know. But I know it will in 24 hours

Maggie's thin smoke

Can you not use the word clunky?

Alex starts using it heavily.

This is a high-grade clunk right here, but this here is low-grade clunkitude

"I have a bad feeling about this place," he said, staring up at the rotten heads on pikes. "But I can't place a finger on it."