Buying A Mask

Stopping his car in the parking lot of a group of small businesses. Damian got out of his car along with Kai and Ari following behind. Looking around at the surroundings, saw that the place was fairly empty with it being around seven-fifteen.

There was a single building lined up with give businesses being wall to wall with each other. Walking to the furthest right building named, "Mask A Lot", the trio entered inside to find a chilly interior.

There were four closely placed isles of masks either on shelves or hanging on the isle. Walking through the left-most isle, Damian saw some typical Halloween-type masks. Seeing Damian instantly walking through the isle, Kai and Ari went around exploring the other isles.

As he reached the end of the aisle, he noticed inside of smelled like someone had lit an incense stick and Damian was a fan of it. Looking around, Damian saw a checkout counter with a few masks behind glass at the bottom of it.

Seeing no employee behind it, Damian figured they were around the inside of the store so after telling the others to pick a mask they liked, Damian explored the second and third isles of masks.

They were masks that you simply put over your head and Damian wasn't looking for that kind of mask. Stepping into the aisle on the furthest right, Damian saw a young woman humming while putting baby face masks on a shelf.

"Excuse me…" Damian said as he waved slightly to get her attention.

Hearing someone call out to her, the young woman with short red hair and a face that shows her adolescence turned towards the origin of the voice while answering," Yes?"

"Could you help me find a mask to buy?" Damian asked as he simply didn't want to ask if she worked here since she was the only person he has found in the store.

"I can just give me one moment"

After putting the final three baby face masks on the shelf, the young woman asked Damian what kind of mask he was looking for.

"I was thinking of getting something that isn't entirely latex. I also don't want one that I have to put around my entire head."

"I see, well I have a few that are to your specifications. They arrived last month so they have new tech integrated into them. I already sold a few already. Come to the front and I will show you them" The young woman said as she folded the cardboard box in her arms and walked with Damian to the check-out counter.

The young woman walked into the back room and came back a few moments later holding around five masks. Sliding three to Kai and Ari, Damian left too to pick from

"These just cover your face, see which one you like." She said as she placed the masks on the counter and gave everyone a chance to look at them.

"These are both made from porcelain so look as much as you'd like."

Observing the left mask first, Damian took note of its primarily white color scheme. There were no other colors, symbols, on it. The only thing about the mask was the giant cut holes in the locations of the eyes and masks. It was a very odd design.

"Using some released technology from the scientists about pandora's box, we were able to receive a mask that when worn makes your eyes and mouth unseeable. Pretty cool right?" The young woman said which sparked Damian's interest in it even more.

Looking at the right mask, Damian saw noticed that it was a menpo-style wolf mask. The color was all black with gold accenting the feature making the mouth and hairs noticeable.

"This mask isn't able to cover the entire face due to the style of mask it is. It makes up for this by having a build-in voice changer which makes your voice lower than normal." The young woman explained seeing that Damian was seriously looking at the design.

Looking between both masks, Damian wondered what he should pick. He simply decided to let Ari and Kai buy their masks first while he thought about the two ideas. Surprisingly Ari picked a porcelain mask that looked like it had no openings in it at all.

If he had to make a comparison, it looked like Shizune's mask from that one show where the main character reincarnated as a slime. After asking making sure the wearer was able to see out of it Damian was convinced it was a great mask.

For Kai, he picked a traditional Japanese Oni-type mask that was white and black. It had tiny horns at the top and fangs that grew out of the set of teeth viewable at the bottom. With eyeholes cut out, Damian saw no problem with the mask's design and he even felt it looked pretty cool.

After they purchased their masks, they waited for Damian who after thinking for some time picked the menpo wolf mask. He liked its design and with the other mask not offering a voice changer, he simply felt it wasn't something worth investing in.

Going through with his choice so he didn't end up rethinking it shortly after, he ended up spending around $100 on his mask.

(You can use your aura to protect your mask from damage but remember another king is able to smash through your aura) Zera said as Damian took the bag with his mask inside and left the store with Ari and Kai.

Getting back into Damian's car, they decided to drive since it was around eight at night.

…

"Damian, have you seen the news lately?" Ari suddenly asked, causing Damian to focus some attention on her.

"There have been a series of murders involving strains where they are find impaled bu arrows of ice. These strains were from all of the grades too, D to A grade."

"You mean the news where it says that one or two strains die at night a few times a week?" He asked as he stopped at a red light.

"Exactly, recently the murders have been moving to this location and the police speculate a king is involved. With how the victims all have ice arrows in their head or heart I think it is the Blue King or a very strong strain."

"Nobody had been able to confirm it though, nobody has seen a blue throne or anyone fleeing the scene by the time the bodies are found," Damian said, remembering some of the news channels he saw a few days ago.

"Maybe the killer was able to flee- watch out!" Kai was saying as Damian instinctually stepped hard on the brakes. With his car stopping hard, he looked out his driver's side window.

Damian saw a man running through traffic while throwing a pale brown light covered his hands. Watching as the man slide over his car's hood before running into a dark alleyway, Damian wondered what his deal was.

"That was a strain, Damian! You saw his hands right?" Ari asked energetically.

"Yes I did, I wonder why he is running through…" Damian said as he began driving again only to pull over to the side of the street.

The reason being was that he was someone jump across the rooftops on the opposite of the street

After a few short seconds the person leaped across the street separated rooftops while holding a dark blue bow. Mid air they had even releasing a shining blue arrow into the alleyway the strain had just run into previously.

"That isn't…" Damian said as he grabbed his mask and put it on, to the surprise of Kai and Ari.

"Why are you wearing that?" Kai asked to which Damian quickly explained the reasoning.

"If it's another king then we will come with you. If they have clansman then we will deal with them!" Ari said as she similarly put on her mask. Not wanting to argue with them, He got out of his car and looked at Ari and Kai as they stood on the sidewalk looking at him.

"It will be dangerous if there are too many of their clansman then retreat." He said with a deeper than normal voice thanks to the mask. Walking behind his car, he quickly opened his trunk and threw a few black zipper-style long coats.

"I had a feeling these jackets would come in handy. I didn't think I would have to wait two months to use them though." He thought in his mind as he looked at them.

"Keep your hood on as much as you can and hide your features as much as possible" Damian said as he dawned his jacket and threw his hood on before zipping up the jacket to hide his clothing more.

"Let's go!" Damian said as he, Ari, and Kai covered themselves in a golden aura and ran down the street to the entrance of the alleyway before entering inside. They saw find the walls impaled with a few ice arrows, basketball-size holes in the ground and traces of blood on it and the walls.

Looking deeper into the alleyway, Damian saw a shadow on the far wall of a man holding a bow, they were looking to the right in the direction of a connecting alleyway. Hoping he wasn't too late, Damian sprinted to the end of the alleyway and turned the corner.