What Lies Beneath His Pelt?

CHAPTER 21: THE DAY AFTER

Present Day...

The room was brightly lit and my reflection stared at me from all the corners of it, from the floor to the walls and even the ceiling. I sat in the middle of it on a throne, at ease with what I was seeing.

Something heavy was on my lap and I saw that it was a huge pair of scissors resting on it. The blade was shiny and sharp, the handles were a crimson red. I gingerly picked up the scissors and was surprised to see that it was light now. My fingers fit the handles perfectly. As I inspected it, a phrase written in loopy handwriting appeared. I read it out loud.

“Decisions are to be made for a change to occur.”

As I said those words, a strong breeze blew. I looked at my reflections only to find that King Fino was behind me. I looked back just to check but saw no one and when I looked back to my reflection, he was still there. He had placed his cane under my chin as if trying to choke me.

My hand went to my neck but felt nothing but in my reflection, the cane was there.

“Come home now, Calum, you do not belong here.” The reflection of King Fino mused. I simply stared at it. My reflection, however, looked scared and King Fino pressed the cane to my reflection’s neck.

“Calum, I am ordering you to come home!” King Fino looked feral in the mirror. I clenched my fists.

"You are free to make your own decisions now, Calum. Will you allow him to continue controlling your life?" I said to my reflection. His eyes widened.

"You found a family who truly accepts you no matter what or who you are. Why are you staying with someone who doesn't?"

"NO! YOU BELONG TO ME! I TOOK CARE OF YOU!" King Fino screamed. I smirked.

"Did you really care for me? Or were you just grooming me and using that so-called 'care' to control me?"

"NO!" King Fino shouted. All the mirrors shattered.

"Calum! Come on, get up!" Ciara's voice came. I opened my eyes.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled as I buried my face into the comforter.

"That won't be enough. King Fino is already making his way towards the castle." She mused and that caused all of the sleepiness to disappear.

"What?" I hissed as I looked at her, feeling my annoyance flare up due to my PCS (or pre-change syndrome which usually occurs a week before the full moon and is characterized into three phases: the easily annoyed phase, the 'f**k it, I'm touch deprived' phase and 'I need food every hour' phase) but stopped when I got a good look of her.

She stood straight and regal, completely different from the girl I was with yesterday and the day before that.

She was wearing a red asymmetrical silk robe with large sleeves that covered her entire hand. It had chrysanthemums, pine cones, and mountains embroidered on them with gold and black threads and a thick belt wrapped around her waist emphasizing her hips. She wore black lace Victorian-style boots and her crimson hair had turned black. Her hair was up in an elaborate bun with braids adorning the side and she wore minimal make-up but even though it was a simple get-up, she still looked beautiful. A gold diadem with red gems adorned her head and a choker with a crescent moon pointing upwards resting on a lotus flower pendant graced her neck.

“Oh wow. It’s my first time seeing you wearing formal attire.” I mused, my annoyance completely gone.

“Yes, well, royalty is coming for a visit, I have to look the part.” She continued but sighed. Her entire composure fell.

“What’s up? Why do you look so down?” I asked as I tried to approach her but she raised a hand to stop me.

“Calum, what did Liam tell you when you came here?”

“A lot, so I’m not sure….” I started but stopped then the memory I needed started to replay in my mind.

"How did they know I was coming? My grandfather assured me that no one would know."

"And do you trust your grandfather?" The question was innocent and easy to answer but at that moment, I couldn't give a response.

"Was he the one who asked you to fetch me?" I settled with asking a question in return and unlike me, he replied immediately.

"No. We didn't know you were coming, to be honest, we were just alerted when you boarded the Tamagmine. We thought it was kind of odd, sending you, the best priest, in a city filled with vengeful Fabukage, without us being informed. We thought of informing King Fino but our General disagreed and told us to just act like we don't know."

"Well, whoever those Kagepus people are, they already know I’m here.”

I looked at her, eyebrows raised. I wanted to piece together all of the information but my mind was still muddled from being woken up.

She gave a sigh.

“Calum, King Fino is coming here for a casual visit I think, to check your whereabouts. Callan informed me earlier. You need to hide."

"Hide? But why would I do that?"

“My Caelestis, did I hit you too hard in the head that you can’t piece together s**t?” That was her fourth outburst and I was tempted to call her out on it but held my tongue.

“Look, I just woke up and I have no f*****g idea what you’re trying to imply so will you be kind enough to tell me?” I snapped as my annoyance flared once again. Her eyes hardened. I knew she was going to scream but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened them, she had on a fake smile but she still spoke.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how slow your mind works in the morning. To put it simply, your grandfather is the only person who knows you came here, no one else. Don't you think that was kind of odd? Plus, when you disembarked, Liam said you were followed by the Kage Opus that had tools that were used to incapacitate werewolves. They wouldn't be that prepared if they knew you were coming right? I think your grandfather asked them to hunt you down."

"But I'm not a werewolf!"

"No. You're an energy wielder cursed by the Hadansmuto who is similar to a werewolf. But that's not the point!"

“What is it then? I don’t get it! If you’re worried, I can present myself to him!”

“No, i***t! If he finds out you’re still alive, he’ll find a way to disrupt our peace!”

“Look, it’s early, do you think I can understand all of this vague information?” I shouted, losing my patience. Her nostrils flared.

“Calum, why didn’t your grandfather let us know you were coming here in the first place hmmm? Because it’s a secret mission? He knows we’re descendants of the Hadansmuto, he knows the power we hold, and as cruel as he is, he still respects us and will not do anything to sever the ties. He also knows that if your people will know you are cursed, it will bring trouble to his kingdom and he doesn't want that." I looked at her eyes, searching for the sincerity and truth in them.

“So you’re saying, he sent me here to be ambushed by his men and kill me? How can he make sure that I'm-” I paused. Liam’s voice echoed in my head once again.

"No. We didn't know you were coming, to be honest, we were just alerted when you boarded the Tamagmine. We thought it was kind of odd, sending you, the best priest, in a city filled with vengeful Fabukage, without us being informed.”

"Won't he know I survived? If his men did not call him, he'd check-" I started when realization dawned on me.

"s**t. So that's why he's here."

"Yes. He couldn't ask us directly if you're here because as far as we know, we weren't informed."

"Wait. I thought Liam said the Tamagmine registered my name? And what about the gate? They asked for my information!"

My head was spinning but I tried to focus.

"Nope. The Tamagmine did not register an Calum Vallejo. Liam only said that to keep you at ease. When you flew from Opeure to Liastarus, all of your data was removed. We checked it." She snapped her fingers. Stapled pieces of paper floated towards me.

The paper was a list of travelers who boarded the plane at the time of my departure. I took out my boarding pass and looked for my name.

The seat where I was supposed to be was blank. I checked the immigration log and my name wasn't there as well. I flipped to the next page that had the list of people who rode the Tamagmine and once again, my name and ticket number weren't there.

I finally went to the last page that documented the list of people who went through the toll. I couldn't find my name or Liam's.

"What about the CCTVs?”

“We asked for it but they claimed that it was under maintenance during your arrival.” I caught her word immediately. I had to ease my grip on the paper as I was this close to tearing it to shreds.

“How did this happen?"

"It was easy to alter the airport and Tamagmine data but the toll was really difficult because you have seen the scanning it did right? That's why we had to use the special entrance exclusively for the Regno to bring you in."

I rubbed my temples with my fingers. Ciara kept quiet.

“I see. So I'm guessing you took care of those who chased after us?"

"Memory alteration is a handy skill. It's a good thing Lils is gifted with that. Grace had the foresight that was why we were able to know all of this."

"Okay, but what about those who attacked us in the forest?"

"Those are the real Kage Opus. The same organization that took Edmund and Victor. We're still trying to see if any of the Regno from the other cities are controlling them. As I said, a rebellion is brewing in Daemomachi and we're trying our best to not give away too much of how we plan to go with this."

"I see. However, we have a problem. Sergeant Aoi. He saw me. What if-"

"Oh, remember the coat you wore? It's laced with a disguising spell that altered your appearance. As for me, they don't know the true face of the Princess so…" She simply shrugged.

"Okay...so where will I go?"

"To the Silvaten apartment with us." It was Edmund who spoke when he entered. Grace and Lils were behind him.

I wanted to ask why they were joining us but decided against it.

"Okay. But what about Victor? Do they know about him?"

"Nope. The Daemomachi Regno is a private Regno. Now go. I estimate that we only have ten minutes or less before your grandfather comes."

I simply nodded and got up, putting on some jeans and a sweater.

Ciara touched the wall. A portal opened.

With another snap of her fingers and a ring appeared. It was black and when I grabbed it, I noticed that there were words scribbled on the inside in red. I tried to read it but Ciara tapped me.

"Wear it now." And I nodded. At once, my lower back felt lighter, my hearing was not as sharp as usual.

She ushered us into the portal and before it closed, strong winds filled the room and then darkness.