Eye Of The Eclipse - 39 The Face of the Rich

Leaving the tavern, Rob was visibly much more stiff and wary than when they had entered. Without having to ask what the issue was, the twins quickly aligned problem with Rykar’s careless display of the gold coins just from Robs attitude towards him after the exchange.

Taking many more twists and turns than they had in the beginning, they quickly left the back alleys and entered the much busier commercial streets. Despite wanting to lead them around the back alleys for the entire day, Rob’s paranoia kicked in, leading to him seeking comfort and safety in the eyes of the public.

Paying attention to their path while observing everything around them, Rob quickly noticed that the large amount of coins Rykar had pocketed in front of him were making no noise at all within his pants. ‘I have deep pockets’ The line replayed in his head as he stole glances back towards the flat pockets of his pants with a frown before looking away dismissively.

How he managed it wasn’t important at the moment, without having a nearly a hundred coins jingling on him, that made one less target painted on their backs. With or without the laws of the city in place, there were no shortage of those that would gladly relieve the coins from a group of youths throwing around gold and silver so flamboyantly.

Rykar’s blunder made him feel a sense of tension and responsibility towards the situation, causing him to fidget slightly while looking down the quickly widening streets. More and more people were slowly beginning to appear as shops and stalls came into view, yet he didn’t know who or what he should be taking care to avoid.

Contrary to his brother, Loki was walking calmly along the side as he had been the entire day. Long before they had even left the hideout in the sewers, Loki had refrained from saying anything. Not bothering to break silence even in the defence of his brother, he quietly observed while trying to get a feel of Rob.

At the end of the day, the only difference between Rob and the others was that he was with them at this moment. There was nothing binding him, everything could just as easily become another repeat of Chris and Anna. Truth be told, he was slightly disappointed in Chris for disappearing while leaving them in the hands of a stranger.

Watching Rob as he guided them through the crowd, Loki let out a sigh. As the breath ended, a figure flew through the crowd with perfect timing before smashing into his stomach and sending him to the ground without a chance at resistance.

Any remnant air was forced from his lungs as a burst of saliva was forced from his mouth due to the blunt force.

“Mmft… Aaah!”

After a moment of carelessness, a child of no more than years old had run through the crowd before colliding heavily with Loki, sending both parties to the ground. Seeing the fall and hearing the reaction, many people assumed the worst for the child, leading to the crowd around the two quickly parting.

The extra attention only served to add fuel to the fire. The boy got to his knees only to begin wailing after seeing Loki’s face. The wailing became complete hysterics after looking up to find Rykars face staring down hatefully at the source of the disruption.

“What are they?”

“Are they even human?”

“I want eyes like that!”

“Look, their like demons!”

“Don’t stare too long, their skin is just f*cked up”

Rykar froze as the murmurs and shouts from the crowd crashed against him like a torrent. The eyes focused on them warped as the faces surrounding them morphed. Mother, Chris the village youths, father, instructors. One after another, these faces reappeared real time and cast their cold eyes over the boys.

Recovering his breath, Loki as faring no better. Struggling from the ground he made his way into his brother’s embrace as they endured the surging emotions being imposed on them from the crowd around them.

Initially, Rob had intended to leave the twins to their own devices. It had barely been two hours since leaving the sewers and he had already had enough of their shit. However, after blending into the crowd and looking back, the scene before him made his heart clench.

The crowd was no longer anything like the few dozen people it had started out as.

Two boys, barely thirteen years of age were completely encircled buy over a hundred people, taking up the greater half of the street, as they cowered in the centre.

Due to the commotion, more and more people were coming over to see the spectacle, to the point that some people were leaving their stalls unattended due to their curiosity.

“For f*cks sake!” After just a moment, Rob burrowed his way back into the crowd, shoving and barging his way into the centre as quickly as possible.

“Oi, watch where you’re going!” A woman shouted after being pushed out of the way, but Rob acted as though he hadn’t heard a thing. Breaking through the encirclement, he reached the centre only to find a, empty circle as all eyes were focused on one of the sides.

Rob took a deep breath while trying to suppress the sudden anxiety which rose after finding out the twins had already departed. Sweat leaked from his back at the realisation of how stupid his action of leaving two defenceless children in a crowd of hundreds was.

Annoying or not, they were young, immature and clueless as to how the world worked, much less a city where 8/10 people wouldn’t approach you without an ulterior motive.

Breaking through the other side of the original encirclement, Rob hurriedly chased in the direction which people had been staring in when he had arrived.

By now, Loki was being dragged with almost no resistance as he was supported on Rykar’s shoulder. Most of the time, his feet weren’t even touching the ground as Rykar barrelled through the swaths of people.

Still delirious in anxiety, panic gripped him as Rykar squeezed on his Loki’s shoulder with enough force to bruise. Still winded from the collision, Loki was in no better shape as he stared at the faces around them without even the bearing to pull his hood back over his head.

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They were running with no sense of direction. Nowhere to turn to and no one to escape with, the only thought for Rykar was to find a safe and quiet place. The rest was a complete blur.

As his mind cleared, he found himself huddled in the corner of a warm looking room. Along the sides were masks and costumes of all designs. Feathers, scales, gold, crystal and silk seemed to naturally unfurl from the stands and displays along the walls.

Still clutching Loki, he turned to find an elderly man smiling warmly at them from behind a counter on the far side of the room. The vibrancy from the outfits formed a strange contrast to the whitewashed walls of the store, yet when paired with the sunlight, it was difficult to describe the atmosphere as anything but welcoming.

“Looks like you’re having a rough day boys.” The voice of the man was just as warm as his smile however the twins felt no safer than they had before.

Despite the grandeur of the store, there were no other customers. It was weirdly quite yet somehow the silence was once again calming, rather than unnerving. Loki shrugged off his brother before taking a look around as his heart slowed its pace and his eyes lost their previous glaze.

“If you’re calm enough to feel thirsty, water is just on the side. Help yourselves, help yourselves.” The man chuckled, waving his left hand as the he watched the twins slowly coming to themselves. “Don’t be so weary, you came in of your own accord and you can leave in the same way.”

“Own accord?” Loki asked slightly confused.

“Ah, by your own free will. Or at your own choice if you will. As long as you’re within my store, you’re a customer first and nothing less.” Gesturing to the water and then to the rest of the store, he maintained a friendly smile. “Welcome to The Face of the Rich. Or The Face, if you will.”

During his introduction, Loki and Rykar had made their way over to the table at the side before taking small sips from the small porcelain cups filled with water.

“so this is a… costume shop?” Rykar asked while stroking the sleeve of an exaggeratedly furry jacket. He couldn’t help but think of how stupid someone would look once they actually put it on.

“You’re not wrong, but you’re not right. I sell outfits which cater towards the identity people want to be seen.” The man paused for a moment as he simplified the words in his head. “Many rich people don’t feel rich until they look rich. This Is the identity they want others to see.”

“If a poor man walks through the street in rags, he will be mocked and dismissed. However, if the same man was no richer, yet wore golden jewellery and magnificent furs, the same people would treat him with respect and due diligence.” The man smiled while slowly walking over to the twins before taking the coat off the rack.

“Tell me boy, what was the difference between the first time and the second time the man walked down the street?” He asked. With well-practiced movements, he wrapped the cloak over Rykar’s shoulders then ushered him before a nearby mirror.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Rykar was slightly dazed. His opinion of the clothing seemed to slowly warp as he straightened his back and relaxed his shoulders.

Watching from the side, Loki’s eyes glittered as he mulled over the question. In his head, the clothing was the obvious answer, but it didn’t seem as though the question was as straight forward as it first appeared.

“The clothing he was wearing.”

“How much the clothes were worth.”

Rykar answered first but was quickly followed by Loki. Drawing his eyes from his own reflection, he looked into the old man’s eyes via the reflection of the mirror while Loki did the same from the side.

“Two very similar answers, but they are both equally as wrong as each other.” The man chuckled and removed the cloak from Rykar’s shoulders before continuing.

“The man was no different the first time and the second time he walked down the street. He was worth just as much in either situation.

“He would go back home to the same family, eat the same food, sleep in the same bed and return to the same job in either case.

“He would be the same poor man with nothing to his name, and clothes don’t change that.”

For the first time, the smile on his face dropped as his eyes turned vacant in melancholy. The sudden pause only gripped the attention of the twins even further as their minds spun, rapidly trying to use this pause to figure out the answer to the question before it was given to them.

‘The difference was not in the man, but the people around him. These people constructed an identity so far fetched and broken from reality simply due to what they could see at a moment’s glance.

“That’s what I sell at this store. I sell that first glance. I sell whatever you want people to see. I sell the face of the rich.”