Gilran's old room was simple and even a bit messy. In front of a large window with two pastel-colored curtains stood Gilran's old, ornate desk, on which lay countless documents, and some other documents were even found littered all around the room.
Looking around, Cale's eyes got stuck on a large full-body window next to a wooden wardrobe.
When he stepped in front of it, the Reflection felt like Gilran's — but the former King of Hollows was dead, without anyone learning of his passing, replaced by Cale, who now bore his tarnished crown.
His fingertips lightly brushed across its cold bronze surface.
A strange artifact...
It truly was. While the crown rested on his head, he wasn't a human but a monster. Otherwise, he could never wield a power like Citadel.
When he took it off, the veil of shadow cast by the rusted crown dissipated; in its stead, the suffocating grey eyes were exchanged for a pair of reddish-brown.
His messy black hair had been replaced by soft, wavy brown — Gilran's final gift, a chance at a completely new beginning.
Not even his height or face had remained the same.
Once, his features had been rough and sharp, but now, as Cale traced his fingertips over his reflection in the mirror, he found a more rounded face, even appearing gentler.
Yet the warm features of his face were contrasted by the look of a dead fish in his eyes; if anything, Cale appeared lethargic.
Is this how I am going to look from now on?
He didn't have any strong feelings about his change in identity, nor the life he left behind… not even resentment about the circumstances he was thrown into.
He simply cast a glance at the large bed draped in a soft white fur blanket… Cale was dead tired, and a bed that cozy in the same room as him definitely didn't help.
Alas, he didn't have time to rest yet.
The space conjured by his aberrant ability stirred, and from it, a white raven emerged.
Cale's brows rose as he noticed the changes."What happened to your eyes?"
Moonless wasn't the same as when he had first entered Covenant. One of its eyes was entirely missing, while the pupil of the other had warped into the shape of a crescent moon. His feathers also changed; now, some of them were still white, while others had darkened to a deep black, like a common raven's.
"I've shed it."
The chatty raven stayed relatively silent; he felt like he was looking at a stranger.
The man before him wasn't Altair anymore, yet some familiarity remained — a pair of tired, dead fish-like eyes, just like Altair of the Red Mansion.
Noticing the strange glance that the one-eyed raven gave him, Cale clarified.
"Our contract still stands; how either of us looks does not matter."
With that, he extended his arm. Moonless took wing immediately, circling before landing to perch on his forearm.
But before he would have closed the door behind him, he placed back the bronze crown on top of his head, his appearance changing once more.
It made me remember one of the final things Gilran had said to him about continuing his work down here in the 'second world,' but he was free to do his own thing in the 'First.' He only had to come here every three days.
He was going to hold up that deal as well, just as the one made with the late Shepherd, Fallen Leaves.
Shedding…
It wasn't a completely foreign term to Cale; it was when a newly born Entity fully manifests as one and becomes a native to the fog.
At least according to what we knew.
The terms of the Second and First worlds were still somewhat unclear, but they made it so that the first theories about the Fog Entities no longer held up.
"What did your shedding manifest?"
While Moonless remained silent for a while as it perched on the hand of the King of Hollows, he didn't shed his chattiness.
"It would be easier to show you. Let's just get out of the castle first."
With a flap of its uneven wings, the raven darted ahead. Cale followed, his footsteps echoing through the lavish yet empty corridors.
As he walked through the lavishly decorated yet still empty-feeling corridors of the palace, numerous hollows bowed at the Hollow King passing through, flashing him a wide, faceless smile.
Walking amongst them was surreal. They weren't even real people but empty husks. They felt more like extensions of his own limbs than people of their own.
Stepping outside the palace, Cale was met with the kingdom he was supposed to rule.
From the corner of his eyes, Cale caught the mismatched feathered raven making circles around him.
Without warning, Cale's vision blurred. The world tilted, spinning around him. His pupil warped, twisting into the shape of a crescent moon.
At the same time, Moonless' empty eye socket filled out of nowhere, a reddish brown iris forming together with the rest of the eye.
While getting used to it proved to be difficult and borderline painful, Cale couldn't help but feel his jaw slightly drop.
From his right eye, he saw the city in front of him as he normally would.
However, from the vision of his left eye, he saw a completely different side of the kingdom around him — he saw the city pass by from an aerial view… from the eyes of Moonless.
I need time to get used to it, but this will be a really useful trick to have.
From the eyes of Moonless, the capital of the Kingdom lay out before him.
The city sprawled outward, bustling with life. Children were gleefully playing with each other while their parents talked on the side, only watching them from the corner of their eyes.
Merchants loudly advertised their merchandise, and at some stalls, there could be long lines waiting for the chance to buy.
It was a peaceful city.
But it wasn't real… none of the people in the city were.
Just like the personnel in the castle, none of the people had a face of their own.
All of them were… faceless.
Lifeless.
Fake.
An entire city… no, an entire kingdom of… nothing.