A somber atmosphere dominated that Sunday night. It wasn't caused by the dilapidated shanty town far in the background, nor by the mish-mash of street urchins gathered together. Though haggard, malnourished and battered by old bruises, they sat silently in a circle and tried to keep quiet.
If they came here hopeful, now they were horrified if anything. The eeriness was caused by the botched performance of none other than Leonardo.
Donning a pitch black cloak that melded with the surrounding shadows, his hair was waist-length and colored red like a pyre. His face was concealed by a half-rotten ebony bark mask. It covered the entirety of his head. Formed as if from two palms clutched together over his face, one painting his side white, whilst the other —stygian black— swallowed all light.
The only thing revealed behind the demonic mask was his iconic pair of amber eyes. Instead of a mouth hole, he drew a crimson flame drawn from blood that seemed to burn in concert with his piercing gaze.
Frankly, Leonardo realized a little late that he might have overdone things. Originally just planning to use a plain mask to conceal the shameful bruise from last night's adventure, he then figured he might as well bring a cloak. Then, the mask didn't fit well with the cloak, so he made a brand new one.
Then, he figured he'll just remake his whole identity. Hence, he spent another hour on Vita magic to alter his hair length and color. Now that he spent this much time, he decided he might as well go the full mile, so he adjusted his height as well.
Perhaps captivated by his first time doing it, he lost track of his priorities entirely and assumed a whole new persona. Now, he was unrecognizable even by Fino who stood barely a few meters away. Sana originally wanted to have a proper look at her savior, but someone completely different came...?
She knew as if through instinct that it was the same person, but even with it being dark last week, the images in her head simply did not overlap. Leo didn't intend to reveal his identity to her just yet, so Fino himself was masked and told in advance to keep quiet, lest he exposes Leonardo.
"I am Prometheus."
Announcing suddenly upon arrival, Leonardo seemed to have manifested in their midst without anyone noticing. His appearance startled everyone, and Leo almost broke character trying to get them to quiet down and not flee.
As for why he went with that name, it was basically a whim to satisfy some childish dream he had. In Greek legends, Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and offered it to mortals. The grim punishments aside, he figured the narrative fit well with his story. Unlike his hero, he didn't intend to get caught, so the thought of having his liver feasted on by a bird didn't scare him… that much.
Every child dreamt of playing a hero at some point, and Leo was no different.
He couldn't associate directly with the orphans, so he would use this character to organize the local thieves into a well structured hand of the underworld. He would gift them the knowledge necessary to make ends meet, and perhaps even prosper.
At least, that was the original plan. His plan to give a crash course and leave went completely to shit no further than half an hour in.
"There's the murderous sow! Luca died near their shack. She and her brothers must've done it and hid the body!"
Deep footsteps resounded as a crowd approached in the dark. Led by a teenage boy, five adults bearing torches and clad in light armor forced their way over.
"Guards!" The urchins exclaimed in unison and split like the red sea. If they weren't so fearful of retaliation, they might have scrambled off already.
As the arriving strangers made it into the middle of the crowd, the unarmed teenager pointed at Sana, "She's the one, father. I saw her with Luca before he died!"
As if on cue, the guards wordlessly surrounded Sana in a half circle. Though they didn't wield swords yet, it wasn't any less threatening. Sana fearfully backed away next to her brothers and huddled together, their faces pale and resigned.
"Moorish girl, you're accused of slaying a trainee port guard. For this crime… you and the bastards will hang."
As if simply going through the motions of making breakfast, he pronounced the foreigners to death there and then. Were it in Valetta, a proper judge would have to hear them out. But here in the proverbial jungle, no one would bat an eye even if they sentenced a whole family to death.
(( Clap! Clap! Clap! ))
"Impressive. O'… How impressive of chief Garon! A brutish thug and your son bully young girls in broad daylight, this I understand. But… how is it you have the face to go along with this nonsense?"
Suddenly stepping out of the darkness and allowing himself to be illuminated by their torches, even the guards seemed startled by his disguise. This being the closest thing they saw to a devil, they immediately snapped to their sword sheathes.
Leonardo seemed unperturbed. He came close to Sana and stood before her.
"Your son's words bear no truth to them. She took no part in slaying the young guard."
Enunciating his words clearly, he sized up the guards with overbearing confidence, and then overlooked the crowd.
"Lesson number one, little urchins… there is strength in numbers. Fear is contagious, but you mustn't give in. There's five of them, and fifty of you."
"Who the heck are you, brat? Take off the mask this instant or you'll burn for heresy!"
Ignoring the guards' insecure ramblings, he continued to address the crowd serenely, as if entirely unperturbed by the threat of five looming swords.
"In absence of reason, they will use force to divide you. They can't conquer you straight on.
"Now, you don't know this girl, so it's understandable for you to let them drag her away, viciously rape her and then hang her corpse in the morning.
"It's also understandable for everyone else to ignore it when it happens to you. When you are dragged out and beaten — just because you were starving.
"When your quilt was confiscated even as your legs froze in the cold…"
Pausing his words, he sprinted forward to begin a sudden attack. Slipping beneath a guard's sword, he pincered his arm with two quick jab, disarming him. Before the sword even dropped, he caught it in an off-hand and struck another guard's wrist, stealing his sword also.
Dancing fluidly amidst the scrambling amateurs, he seemed unhurried even as they struck with lethal blows - to no avail. As if a chasing after a stream of water, their strikes always failed to collide, coming just short of biting into his flesh.
It took barely thirty seconds, and combat ended. Groaning, some guards held their bleeding arms whilst others groveled on the ground. They each carried skin deep wounds. Not too deep to maim them, yet just debilitating enough to end their frail resistance.
Walking among them, Leonardo remained quiet amidst their groans. Retrieving their swords, daggers and other valuables one by one, he tossed them in a pile then faced the crowd again.
Somehow, the chief of the port guards wound up becoming a podium for the boy. With a foot pressing down on his throat, he immediately silenced the man's groaning.