They had just finished breakfast and Alondra decided that she was going to act like a little miss nice just to get his trust, she was going to follow him all day, she honestly did not want to become his friend because she was just really anti-social. She was now sure that he was a Cúzelník which was what where she came from was what they would call a monster with magical abilities, maybe he was a magician before becoming a monster or ghost. Many of the Cuzelik's were mostly very powerful and rich; she just couldn't understand why The Feared was in hiding and why he had taken interest in her. Obviously, most of the Cuzelnik were undercover but with a bit of tease arch she could easily identify the ones in her kingdom, the reason most of them were so rich was that they could manipulate anything and anyone to their desire. They had been walking in the endless hallways for a long time, his house seemed very odd with the tea room, her room, the guest room, and everything else she had seen and she wondered what other things were hiding at the house.
"Can I follow you all day please?" said Alondra, grinning the best she could. She had to trick him to learn more about him and know what he was up to. He had picked her for a reason and she needed answers, anything could happen.
"I prefer you not to, I'm going to do some important stuff that isn't suitable for you to follow," he said while he looked at a strange-looking painting while they were walking in the halls to who knows where. His eyes and hair were shimmering as always and his suit was still on, maybe he was going somewhere important but where could a monster or ghost be headed to? Maybe to do something reckless, there had been many incidents containing ghosts and monsters. That was another reason she needed to be careful her ex-fiancé (at least for now) had been attacked by monsters and ghosts. Maybe that's why she liked The Feared and loved living with him.
"Awwwww please let me go with you!" she said trying to beg in a more babyish way now that in the morning she had tried the friendly personality but he still didn't give in that much as she liked him too.
"How about you practice for our duel, huh?" he pulled a sword out of the painting he had been looking at earlier. The sword looked quite shiny and beautiful but not sharp. "It can be a bit dull so you may have to sharpen it, or you can do whatever you would like. You now have 8 hours until our duel so use them wisely instead of trying to follow me " he smiled and started to walk away until he magically vanished.
She hadn't touched a sword in such a long time and so she decided that maybe she should practice but first she had to make her sword stronger and easier to cut. She placed the sword on her finger pushing it in lightly. No blood. She then filed the sword with a wet rock making it sharp and strong. She then practiced all afternoon but there was no sign of Fabian. Then out of nowhere there was Fabian and had appeared right in front of her while she was about to take another swing, he stopped the sword and made a little cut in his finger that bled a lot.
"I see you finally decided to file that sword," he said as he sucked out the blood of his thumb without making a fuss or complaining.
"That's right, and it's ready to cut necks! Also don't you think blood is disgusting?"
He chuckled "Well that's lovely, also have you decided what to wish for?"
"I think I know but I will only say when we are on the battlefield"
"I guess I'll do the same, how bout we head to the arena?" a smirk became visible on his face, and then with a snap of his fingers, he transported them into a big white room.
Alondra looked above her and the ceiling had a painting showing a woman enjoying riches and pleasure which surely looked like heaven but the other half of the woman was crying and was old, wrinkly, very skinny and suffering. It was very terrifying.
"Did you paint this yourself?" She honestly thought it looked pretty neat, but she didn't imagine him with paints and brushes painting a mural.
"No, an old guest painted this as a last gift to me, she insisted to paint this." It looked like they had been really good friends and he talked about her with admiration. "We were really good friends but she decided to end her stay but as the last wish was to paint this and to tell all of my guests that the painting is named 'Nothing is what it seems. That always causes shivers down my spine."
"Well she's a really good artist that's for sure"
"Was and she was passionate about art" he said as he smirked.
They both stayed looking at the ceiling. It was kind of terrifying because it looked so real.
"Do you want to commence the duel?" He said as he took out a green contract with a purple feather. It was probably a contract to promise to complete everything promised of the duel, she had seen in one of her books that purple sheets and pens were magical contracts and promises that if not completed could be punishable by death but she had never heard about a green pen.
"Sure, but what is that for?" She just wanted to make sure that she wasn't about to sell her soul to some monster,
"It's to make sure you are willing to give your soul and body in this duel and if I win I can make my dream a reality. I will also sign it, but before signing it you need to wish for something" she grasped the pen and glanced at Fabian for one more time then she read the paper before finally signing it. She felt a weird sensation once she signed up as she had just done a life-changing decision that was no good. Then Mr.Feared took the pen and signed then the paper elevated to the ceiling like a balloon also his eyes were now fully dark green, including his white area.
"Let us begin."