The Moon's Fangs | 1
42 | oasis stroll

The following morning was dedicated to planning, which was far more extensive than I imagined. We went over all kinds of details, especially hypothetical scenarios where Reks perceived we might get separated.

After going over the initial layout of the plans, he made sure we both had it memorized. Then he created made-up scenarios of possible problems that could screw with the plans we made, then made sure we had those memorized as well. By the time he felt satisfied, I was convinced my brain would fry.

Not long after getting the things we needed together, getting changed, and eating something quick, we made our way through Asylum.

There was still a lot of damage from yesterday’s astralquake. Many members of the community were cleaning and fixing the damage they could. Baze still had a crew out, despite their obvious exhaustion.

A few of the citizen’s conversations revolved around Nolan and wondering if he would stay true to his word tonight. Some were speculative, but the majority were hopeful.

Once we reached District Two, Reks had us disappear in a tight back alley to glamour-up. He slid on Shion’s ring on the opposite hand of his gate ring.

Reks’ appearance altered into a completely different person. His midnight-black hair shifted to a warm caramel while his black eyes adopted a shade of moss green, skin tone lightening to a warm beige. His wolfish features altered into something much softer, going from sexy assassin to chill surfer vibes in a bizarre ripple.

When Nox scanned him, even his identity card read under the identity of Piren Voa, a twenty-year-old male born within a high-ranking generational family.

I followed suit, sliding the glamour bracer over my arm, securing it on my bicep. Just as Nox activated it, I felt a pulse of energy shutter through my body. A new appearance rippled over my skin, camouflaging me to look like the twin sister of Piren Voa.

Upon activation, both glamours registered each other just as Shion promised, and I could see Reks for who he truly was under the guise. The glamour turned into more of a ghostly afterimage to us, and only us.

“This is so weird.” I said, noticing even my voice had changed. My nose crinkled from the strange sultry accent emitting from my lips.

Reks laughed, and the friendly tone of belonging to Piren was equally bizarre. “Try not to act surprised every time you speak. You’ll give yourself away.” he winked, leading the way back to the main street.

Since the orleizen guard were now uppity about waypoint breaches on the surface, we decided to play it safe and walk through the cave’s exit. Reks and I thought that if we did use his gate ring to warp to the surface, it might cause The Circle to request a higher military presence at the gala, which would only make things more difficult for us.

The guards didn’t bat an eye at our fake IDs and our desire to go back to the surface. It was as if common guards were trained to not question any high-ranking citizens belonging to the surface.

Purple, green, and yellow treetops enveloped this side of the mountain, masking the entrance to Asylum from any wandering eyes. A sweet floral scent wrapped itself around me like a warm welcome to the outside.

It was hard to not look back over my shoulder at the cave where I knew thousands of people yearned to know what that felt like for themselves. The little girl named Isolet came to mind and I fought the sudden ache in my chest.

“Destination?” A guard posted next to a grounded waypoint asked.

“Rivertail.” Reks answered in Piren’s neighborly tone.

We had already done our research on which destinations were still active after yesterday’s incident, and found out Rivertail was a popular waypoint destination among the locals living on the surface.

The guard must have heard the request a thousand times, what with the anticipated look in her bored expression. She linked up our destination, then nodded to us when she finished. No other words were exchanged between us before Reks and I stepped through the waypoint.

Reks immediately planted a hand on my back to keep us moving the second we stepped out of the waypoint and into the inner city of the empire. If he hadn’t, I would’ve stopped to stare indefinitely at the view. To any onlookers, it might have caused suspicion if we were caught gawking at sights we should already be familiar with.

A river canal forked off into thinner streams that snaked through the inner city. Behind us, it gave a wide birth that bent through the whimsical forest of pinks and teals. Despite being in the inner city, trees were healthily dispersed, pinpointing popular paths and scattering feathery leaves and flowers throughout the walkways and in between homes and businesses.

With this up-close view, I could make out the intricate detailing in the alcoves the rivers wound through, and the stunning sculptures of amberite serpents atop many of the buildings.

The serpents’ heads were not only pointing up to look towards the Fates, but were also angled to also face the one of Sio, carved from iridescent opalite atop the citadel straight ahead, where the forked rivers came back together in the elevated front to create a large pool of water before splitting off around both sides of the structure. The citadel was quite a long walk away, but even still, I caught the glimmer of red in the cobra’s inanimate stare.

The aesthetic between the surface and Asylum were at complete odds. It was staggering to see the contrast up close and personal.

Even the people were in opposition.

Compared to who I’d met in Asylum, the differences were borderline striking.

Many of the people taking a stroll around the river, coming and going in and out of upscale homes and shops were roughly the same shade of warm beige tan, if not darker. Hair color and styles were a wide variant, and many we passed by shared the same mossy green eyes as our glamoured ones. Others had dark deep-sea blue, honey gold, or rich hazel.

Their clothing styles were somewhat similar to what most wore in the first two districts, with differences in quality and layering.

Many of the men wore high-collared long coats, fitted and fastened to their chests with a complimentary strap crisscrossed over their chests. Their long coats were a darker shade of the complimentary ensamble they wore underneath. They looked like richer versions of what the orleizen soldiers wore on a daily basis.

The same went for the women. Many dressed like they were about to attend a professional ceremony, wearing fitted thigh-length tunics paired with tights and short-heeled boots while others wore more accessorized versions of what the women in the Asylum wore.

Reks and I planned for this and dressed as closely to their apparel as we could with what had at our disposal, but we still received some discerning glances from those observant enough to notice the differences.

Nox notified me every time a citizen read my fake identity card.

Nosy high ranks. Each one dismissed us with generic satisfaction from the false information provided to them via their own Guides.

“You’d think their Guides would be able to detect when a glamour is in place.” I said under my breath. “I mean, their Guides are supposed to have more access than the common Guides, right?”

Reks flashed me a wolfish smirk only I could see beneath the Voa guise. “Military-grade glamours tend to be high quality and tested before being used on the field, whereas illegal glamours–let’s call them homemade–tend to be the opposite. Homemades have flaws. Deficient coding is a common shortcoming, which causes the glamour to possess appearance flaws or glitch out and betray their position. Lucky for us, Shion made excellent work of coding. However, the military has anti-concealment detectors to deactivate any potential glamours they believe are in the vicinity within a certain range."

As we turned the corner around one of the many homes covered in teal-green vines in full bloom, Reks plucked one of the pale lavender-colored flowers right off with swift grace.

“Does that mean we should be worried about detectors?” I asked, glancing up at two smiling women sitting atop the flora-teemed bridge we passed under. I caught their quick interest in the Piren Voa glamour. I imagined that if they were to see the true face behind the disguise, they’d fall right over the bridge.

He tucked the flower’s stem behind my ear, eyes softening at that moment before leading the way up a set of steps. My cheeks turned hot, and I hoped the glamour at least kept that from surfacing.

He leaned over to whisper in my ear. “I’m a vitiate, my little Stargazer.” a hint of that devilish grin of his surfaced once he felt the sudden heat radiating from my skin. If we weren’t in public, he wouldn’t have straightened and carried on as casually as he did. The faintest of light emitted from his wrists, like predatory serpents, before he slid his hands into his pockets. He waited until we passed a group of people before continuing. “The Lucils made sure their vitiates would answer to them, and not by the laws of they had in place for everyone else. We wouldn't be effective otherwise.”

I considered that for a moment. “But I’m not a vitiate.”

“You’re not.” he agreed. “But when I redesigned Nox, I weaved in traces of Luk within its body. It adopted the rank, in a way.”

Tricking the system.

After walking through the heart of the city, we ascended the last set of garden-strewn steps leading up to the grand citadel. Nervous butterflies took flight in my chest.

Twin structures stood on either side of the citadel. Women entered the left while the men entered into the one on the right.

Reks stepped in front of me, reaching around my neck, and unclasped my necklace. "Jewelry is not masked by glamours."

I grimaced. "They're a dead giveaway if Danika or Nolan sees." I slipped my charm bracelet off. My wrist instantly felt naked from its absence. I touched the pink gemmed earring, glad I wouldn't have to take that one off as I offered my bracelet to him. He'd keep it safe for me, I didn't doubt that.

Reks accepted it and slid both pieces into his pant pocket.

“I can walk you over if you would like.” He offered, taking a step toward’s the women’s line.

“No, no. It’s fine.” I stopped him. “It’ll look weird if my… brother escorts me fifty feet. Double that with that fact we’re both adults in a safe, upscale neighborhood.”

Reks drew in his bottom lip, looking over my head toward the women showing their invitations to an official before being ushered through the entrance.

This was the part of the plan he was most unsure about, our temporary separation.

He slid our invitations out of his pocket and handed me one, then pushed a lock of glamoured hair behind his ear to casually touched the hollow behind his earlobe. He tapped there once. “Remember you can reach me at any second with this. If you need me, I’ll drop everything and find you. I've also taken the liberty of wearing Shion's comm too. If I'm unable to reach you, I'll assume it's Sio's doing, and I'll communicate with Shion since she'll be close to you.”

Past the easy-going green of the glamour, I saw the severity of darkness swirling in his dark stare. If something were to happen, I knew he’d be there for me. Without question. Without the slightest hesitation.

“I know.” my cheeks pinkened with my smile. “Don’t worry so much. I know it’ll be hard to be without me for a couple hours, but I think you’ll survive.”

“Wow.” a wicked smirk surfaced behind the veil, eyes sharpening in challenge. “You’re lucky we’re in public."

My stomach plummeted into a vortex of lava from the sight of him under the glamour, like he wholly enjoyed being provoked by me.

“O-okay, I’m running behind just standing here.” my voice hitched and I adverted my eyes to the line I needed to be in. “Shion’s going to rage if I make her wait on me.”

I turned to leave, noticing how his hand twitched to stop me before regaining control. He pushed his hands back in his pockets, dawning a placid smile as a mixed group walked up the stairs behind us. "See you inside, Loren."

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