Chapter 21: Burned

....

"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.