Chapter 22: To the North (II) Villain Maker

Kilian stretched, feeling his whole body aching from the short walk from the Mansion to the town, he groaned and lazily sat up In bed.

It was still early morning, but even though it was winter, he was enjoying the warm rays of the sun coming in through the window.

In general, he was simply happy he was no longer confined in that awful house anymore.

He was not going to let them get away with it all this easily, no he would play the long con, plan, and ruin the house until no one would want to mention the name again.

Dante was sleeping soundly, his body lying in a weird diagonal way across the bed with a leg dangling over the edge of the bed and an arm covering his face.

Last night was a blur, and Kilian blushes slightly, annoyed with himself to get swept up by simple lust so easily.

He got down from his bed, feeling the cold floor under his feet, and shivered, walking over to wash up.

Last night's bad decisions had made a mess, and he made sure to wash as much as possible, so as to not smell of sweat or have any stains. He really missed showers.

Dante moved, and Kilian smiled to himself walking over to the side of Dante's bed, lightly running his fingertips up over Dante's arm. It was well defined by the trained muscles, and the skin was tanned and slightly rough.

The arm moved away from the face, and a pair of blurry eyes looked up at Kilian. It was as if they didn't really see him at first, and a hand moved up to touch Kilian's cheek.

Kilian stiffened, sometimes Dante was simply too innocent, like a puppy that was too trusting and caring he thought.

He leaned into the hand so it cupped his cheek. It was warm, and he knew where it had been during the night, it made him smile while watching how the reality was hitting Dante.

The hand started trembling slightly, but it didn't move, almost as if it was afraid too, and his eyes shot up fully, staring back into Kilian's eyes, while a faint rosy color spread over the cheeks.

'Seriously… He is too cute' Kilian thought to himself, still keeping his cheek in the warm palm, while giving Dante a knowing smile, making sure he knew that Kilian was not going to pretend last night had not happened.

Yet no one said anything, and after an uncomfortable amount of time, Kilian stood back up and started to get dressed.

"We need to get supplies, and figure out transport".

He said the words clearly, brushing over what had just happened.

It seemed that Dante took the out, and replied.

"Yeah… I know some places, ill ask around and find a good price".

Kilian grabbed his cane when he was ready, ignoring the lingering pain still in his legs, and walked downstairs to meet Stella.

It seemed she had already been up for a while and gotten them all some supplies for the trip, at least enough that would last them to get to another city.

So all they needed now was transport, and Dante had left to talk to some people he knew, so all they could do was wait for him to come back.

Kilian skipped breakfast pretending he wasn't hungry, so they could save at least a little bit of money, and pulled the half mask out from his bag. Plus he wanted to spare some money for someone.

The blood had been washed off, and the leather strap that held it to the face was still intact.

The inn was mostly empty, with a lot of the patrons mostly coming in at night for the bar, and no one seemed to have taken notice of him yet, so he got up to leave.

"I need to meet someone, I will be back by noon".

He grabbed several large silver coins and got up leaving Stella to eat her breakfast.

The streets were bustling with life already, and many merchants had set up stalls along the roads and city blocks.

He felt free, unfortunate, but free, and it was an exhilarating feeling to be able to use his legs and walk out between people without getting scornful looks and without being trapped in a chair.

He wanted to meet them. The kids who he had met on his trip to town last time.

The streets were vaguely familiar, and he soon found the book store, and from there were able to find the alleyway, where the kids had been.

Just like last time, he stood between the entrance to the dark narrow alleyway and the main street. He played with a few coins between his fingers and it didn't take long before several pairs of eyes peeked out at him.

There were more kids than he thought, and soon they slowly came closer, as if waiting to prance on him to take the glittering metal from his fingers.

"Stop!"

A kid yelled, making all the other kids halt, making way for a kid with black hair, that walked up to Kilian.

"This is our benefactor I told you all about".

The eyes lit up on every kid present as if they went from eying him as prey to eying him as something holy, and they all took a step back to give more room.

Kilian was amazed at how they seemed to work as one entity, with no kids that didn't know their place, and no one said anything as the black-haired kid gave Kilian a piece of paper.

"The scrawny curly-haired kid in the back knows how to read and write, she is from an… unfortunate family, but we had her write this for you".

The kid stood proud, as if being able to provide Kilian with a written statement, was all he had waited for.

Kilian gave the kid a smile and placed all his coins into the small hand, then he took out his mask and put it on.

"From now on, this is how you will see me and remember me, I am no longer a Heathgrave so call me…"

Kilian hesitated, he felt like a villain from one of the many superhero stories from his old life and thought that a special call name would be better.

"Call me Joker".

He pointed to his face that was now halfway covered by a broken white mask with two small holes for eyes.

He could see all their faces lit up again from amazement, and the kids were intrigued. He knew these kinds of kids were not looking for a hero.

No, they would never trust someone with seemingly good intentions, so a villain he would be to them, since the things he needed from them was very villain-like indeed, and he knew they were not stupid to think that the information they provided him was for any kind of good cause.

"That is so cool".

He heard a small boy with a brown hat state. The face was muddy, covered in dirt, and the clothes were mere rags, like most of the rest.

Kilian smiled, a smile that was shown as the mask only covered the top of Kilian's face, and it seemed to make the rest of the kids smile back.

Kilian kept the mask on, and addressed the black-haired boy.

"What is your name?"

The boy didn't reply at first, seemingly embarrassed.

"He doesn't have a name, but we call him Soot" Another kid quickly yelled out.

Soot stood there and looked away as if he no longer felt cool in front of their benefactor, almost ashamed of the name.

"That is so cool".

Kilian said in a soft voice and placed his hand on the young kid's shoulder, giving him a nod.

They must really respect you to give you a name. Correct?

"Yes… Yes, we do! Soot gives us food, and keeps us warm"

Several kids joined in all nodding and agreeing.

"Then it is a fine name is it not?"

Kilian looked down at Soot, who reluctantly looked up and nodded.

"If you all want it, I can name you all next time I come by. So when that time comes, let me know who wishes to have a name given by me, I will think of some carefully".

Again he was met by eyes that were lit up with excitement, and he looked down to address Soot.

"You too, if you want".

"No… I...I think I like Soot...now".

It seemed as if the boy had accepted his name, and Kilian could see his ears were turning red.

"Alright, my two accomplishes and I am leaving this town, we are heading to the north, however, we will be in Trishbane in 3 days and stay there for 3 days as well., if you need to get in contact, I am sure you have ways?"

The kids changed from excitement to dejected looks, hearing the news, but Soot nodded and said.

"We have ways to stay in contact, what did you want from us for this payment?"

He was referring to the silver coins in his hand, and Kilian knew he had mentioned he would pay forward.

"Since I am leaving, this is to keep you going till we are able to get in contact again, use it on whatever you want"

Kilian continued when he saw the boy was confused and knew they didn't trust free money.

"I may need you all soon, but I can't very well use some scrawny kids who are starving to death, now can I?"

In all honesty, he had simply come to give them money, feeling guilty from leaving so soon after establishing a deal with them, a deal they were relying on to survive the winter that was already here.

He just needed to give them a reason to take it.

"It will just hinder my work if you pass out or are not strong enough to do the work, call it an investment for myself".

Soot nodded and placed the money in his small pockets, and Kilian felt something pull at his heart. Seriously, he was blaming Dante's softness to be rubbing off on him.

They parted ways and Kilian took the mask off when joining the bustling streets again, walking confidently down the street with his cane.

Eyes looked his way, even though he was no longer dressed well, his looks still held eyes wherever he went.

He walked past another alleyway when a strong hand grabbed his arm, pulling him into the dark, and pushing his body up against the wall.

A pale hand with long perfectly etched fingers covered his mouth to keep him from yelling out, and Kilian looked up into a pair of golden eyes.

They were almost shining like gold, and he forgot the situation he was in for a brief second while staring into them.