....
"You're sure this disguise won't be caught, right? Don't forget where he will be going." Zephyr asked, his face filled with concern.
"This is the third time you've asked this question. And my answer still stays the same. No one would be able to know it's a disguise. Can you at least pretend to have trust in me?" Leira asked, as she carefully adjusted the human-skin mask on Raven's face.
With the help of the mask she herself created and some of her abilities, she changed some of Raven's features to make him appear like an entirely different person.
"Not even Merlin would be able to notice anything amiss even if he stood before our Lord, at least not for one month," she added.
"One month?!" Zephyr exclaimed. "What happens after one month?"
"After one month, all the disguise will come off, because that's the longest it can maintain itself without me being there to reinforce it," Talia answered. "So we will only have one month, unless he's able to leave that place and meet up with me."
"That seems unlikely." Zephyr commented, his expression filled with concern.
This plan was already dangerous as it was. But with the deadline, it became even more risky. He couldn't even imagine what was going to happen if the disguise came off before success.
"Maybe we should wait a little longe-" Zephyr tried speaking, but as he saw Raven raise his hand, he stopped.
"And we're done." Leira smiled. She picked a small mirror, showing Raven his face in the reflection.
Raven looked at his reflection in the small mirror.. Leira had done an incredible job with the disguise. He barely recognized himself. The mask fit perfectly, and the subtle changes she had made to his features were astonishing.
She had made him look less handsome and slightly more ordinary looking, but that was exactly what he wanted.
"Now there is only one last thing to change."
Leira put the mirror aside and picked up a small box that contained. She opened the small box, revealing two dark contact lenses.
Although many people in the world had deep blue eyes, Raven's eyes held a unique shade of blue that only he possessed. It was also one of the defining traits which had often helped the Gods find him in the past.
Leira carefully placed the contact lenses onto Raven's eyes and stepped back to admire her work. The transformation was finally complete.
Raven blinked a few times, adjusting to the sensation of the contact lenses on his eyes. The dark color concealed his unique shade of blue, making him almost unrecognizable. Leira's attention to detail was impeccable.
Zephyr, who had been observing the transformation silently, let out a sigh of relief. "You look completely different. Even I couldn't have recognised you like this."
Raven nodded. This was the first step of being able to freely move through places. The success of their mission relied heavily on this disguise.
Leira's voice broke the silence. "So when are we leaving?"
Zephyr answered. "If possible, before sunrise. It would be best to avoid anyone in the neighborhood seeing us leave this house."
Raven's gaze met Zephyr, and he nodded. He walked toward him, and tapped his shoulders, pointing towards the chair before Leira.
"Me as well?" Zephyr asked, slightly surprised. "But I thought..."
"You thought you'll be hiding in his shadows so you don't need to disguise?" Leira burst into laughter. "And that's why, thinking shouldn't be your job. Do you think no one would be suspicious when a young boy travels alone to such a place?"
Leira grabbed Zephyr's wrist, pulling him closer. She made him sit on the chair and started working on his disguise as well.
"I remember how you called me old. Should I make you look like an old grandpa?"
"Try it if you want to get beaten." Zephyr flicked Leira's forehead, warning her.
"Is that a challenge?" Leira pouted, her expressions shifting from amusement to serious.
"It's not a challenge." Zephyr sighed, realizing that this girl could actually do something like this. "I promise I won't taunt you for at least one month. Just don't mess with my disguise."
"Make it two months and you got a deal." Leira chuckled as she started preparing a mask.
"Fine, two months it is," Zephyr agreed. Anything was better than having to pretend to be an old man, all because a girl messed his disguise.
Zephyr and Leira continued their back and forth as the disguise was applied on Zephyr, carefully hiding any traces of his true identity. Leira's expertise in creating realistic disguises made it nearly impossible for anyone to recognize him.
While the two continued, none noticed that Raven wasn't there anymore.
....
In another hall, Raven stood before a larger portrait on the wall. In the portrait, there was a woman, smiling brightly. And next to her, there was him.
He looked a lot younger in the portrait, his eyes filled with innocence. As Raven stared at the portrait, it was impossible to know what he was thinking about.
After a brief period of silence, he went down to the store room, where a lot of old books were kept. And amongst those books was a small diary that even Zephyr hadn't noticed before. The dairy looked similar to the dairy that Zephyr had read, but it looked slightly newer.
Raven pulled out a small lighter from his pocket that he had picked up from the kitchen. He carefully flicked it open and lit the flame, gently touching it to the diary's corner.
As the pages caught fire, Raven watched the flames dance and consume the words that held countless secrets and untold stories within them.
The fire slowly started spreading out through the store room, engulfing everything in its path. Raven left the store room, leaving the fire that kept spreading.
He returned to the place where Zephyr had just finished his transformation. Even Leira had transformed herself into a woman in her mid thirties, carrying completely different features.
Raven didn't wait in the room. He gestured for them, telling them that it was time to leave.
As Zephyr and Leira joined Raven, they quietly exited the house, wanting to avoid drawing attention from the neighbors.
However, Raven's keen senses detected something peculiar as soon as they stepped outside. He caught a glimpse of someone looking out a window in the distance, but when he turned his gaze towards it, the figure hid behind the curtains.
Raven changed his course and headed towards the house where he saw the lights still on.
Zephyr, filled with curiosity, followed closely behind him. When they reached the house, Raven lightly knocked on the door, but there was no response. He stepped aside, gesturing for Zephyr to handle the situation.
Zephyr's shadow separated from him and slipped through the crack under the door, unlocking it from the inside. As the door swung open, Raven entered the house, finding it similar in structure to his own but devoid of the lingering scent of blood that usually covered his home.
With calm and measured steps, Raven walked down the long corridor until he reached a closed door. From the other side, he could hear a voice urgently speaking, demanding someone to pick up.
"Pick up! Pick up!" The person on the other side of the door kept saying.
Raven pushed the door open and entered the room. There, he found a man with his back turned, engrossed in a phone call, seemingly waiting for the other person to answer.
Startled by the sound of the door opening, the man turned around and was met with the sight of three strangers standing before him. The youngest among them appeared to be just sixteen, yet he felt the scariest as he stood calmly, looking at him with an amused smile on his lips.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" The man exclaimed, trying to show a strong front. "Get out of my house, or I'll call the Knights!"
Raven glanced at the phone in the man's hands. He didn't say anything, but his silence had a meaning of its own.
Zephyr appeared next to the man, snatching the phone from him. He tossed the phone to Raven.
"What are you doing?! Return it to me!" the man called out, but before he could continue, a shadow closed his mouth.
Catching the phone, Raven glanced at the number. Being a citizen of Camelot, he was easily able to recognise this number. He handed the phone to Leira. The call was finally connected. However, it was Leira on the call now.
"Ah, yes. I wanted to register a complaint. I've lost my cat. Can you send a Knight to find it?" she asked, pretending to be completely serious.
The person on the other side scolded her for wasting their time before cutting the call.
As the call was cut, Leira crushed the phone, tossing the broken pieces away.
"It was the Knights," she told Raven, who didn't appear surprised, as if he already knew it.
Meanwhile, the man, still silenced and fearful, struggled fruitlessly to free himself from the shadow's grip.
For a moment, there was only silence. The air felt heavy. Even Zephyr didn't try to speak anything, simply looking at Raven.
After a period of silence, Raven gestured for Zephyr and Leira to step out of the room for a moment.
Zephyr and Leira didn't question him. They simply stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them. The shadow still remained behind, keeping the man restricted as Zephyr knew that Raven was actually no stronger than a mortal without breaking a seal.
Once the door was closed, only Raven and the man remained behind. The man couldn't speak as his mouth was closed, yet his eyes were pleading to be freed.
Raven walked toward the window. Through the curtain, he was able to get a clear view of his house. For quite some time, he remained near the window, just observing the house.
The shadow removed its hand from the man's mouth, following Raven's gesture.
As soon as the man's mouth was freed, he first took a deep breath before speaking, "We have no enmity. I just found it suspicious that people were coming out of that abandoned house. If you let me go, I won't inform anyone! I promise I'll act as if none of this happened! I'll completely forget everything that happened tonight."
He didn't try to yell as it was useless. Even if a neighbor could hear his yell, before they came for help, he could easily be killed. The only option he had was to convince the boy who appeared to be the leader of the group.
Raven turned around, his lips carrying a hint of a smile. But behind that smile, a trace of sadness was visible, as if he was trying to hide it behind his smile.
Raven stepped closer to the man, who remained confused as to what the boy was doing. He stopped merely a meter away from the man, dropping to his knees.
Seeing Raven on his knees before him, the man was even more shocked. Why was such a powerful person on his knees before him? However, the moment Raven raised his head, the man froze.
Looking at this scene, he couldn't help but remember another familiar scene. Just a few months ago, something similar had happened when a young boy was sitting just like this in front of him, pleading.
"You... You are..." The man's face went pale as he tried speaking. But the shadow once again closed his mouth.
The man's pupils trembled. He had thought that this boy had come here because they didn't want anyone to know about them living in the house. But now he realized that it was just an excuse.
The truth was something else! The boy was here for another reason! Even if he hadn't seen them, the outcome would've been the same!
The man struggled even more fiercely, but before the shadow, he was weak. In this moment, he felt their fear that was like nothing before.
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT