This stage costume indeed belonged to Maxe Stone.
Eight years ago, a small, dilapidated theater troupe came to District 3 and set up a small stage to perform a couple of plays. It was there, at the age of seven, that Maxe Stone fell in love with theater.
In this world, drama culture wasn't popular. The theater troupe worked hard for two days to set up the stage but only five people showed up. Evan Stone, Maxe Stone, a peddler passing by who was dragged in to fill the audience, and a beggar who came to ask for food—along with one teacher from District 2 who genuinely liked drama and had heard about the performance.
Of the five people, only Maxe Stone and the teacher stayed to watch the entire play. Evan Stone fell asleep halfway, the peddler left hastily at the start, and the beggar rushed onto the stage during the intermission to beg for food, only to be kicked off by an actor playing a warrior role. He cursed and left.
But Evan Stone saw the look in his brother's eyes as he gazed at the stage—filled with light.
After that day, Maxe Stone began to teach himself drama. He somehow found two books, and every morning, he would practice singing opera in the house, copying scripts, and even learned to sew, making costumes.
The costume on Evan Stone's body was sewn by Maxe Stone himself. At the edge of the garment, there was a tiny blue flower Maxe had stitched.
"Here, I'm returning it to you."
Evan Stone finished washing the stage costume and handed it to Maxe Stone. He looked down at the reflection in the water, and the wounds and bloodstains had mostly disappeared.
The two carefully made their way to the edge of Frost Street, looking toward their home.
The house, once theirs, was now surrounded by police tape, and several law enforcement officers in black-red uniforms were walking around it.
On two stretchers at the entrance, there were two bodies covered by white cloths.
"What's the situation?"
"They're beyond saving," one officer said, glancing at the white cloth. "These two were part of Vick's orders to track the couple. They probably discovered something was wrong inside the house and tried to break in. They sacrificed their lives while fighting the disaster."
"What about the couple? Are they dead too?"
"...No."
The officer looked toward the door, where a man and woman were being helped out by other officers. Their eyes were vacant, their faces pale, and their bodies were shaking uncontrollably, as though their souls had been taken.
"They survived."
"Weren't they the first to be attacked by the disaster? How did they survive?"
"We suspect that although they were the first attacked, they didn't resist. The two officers pulled out their guns and angered the disaster, which led to their deaths..."
"You mean, the disaster was toying with them?"
"That's the idea."
"Any other clues?"
"Almost none... The disaster's ability is very strange. It tore apart most of the house, and there's no valuable information left. We can't even determine from which direction it entered."
"Frost Street is so big, and it just happened to attack this house. Was that a coincidence?"
"Hard to say. Frost Street is at the very edge of District 3. Behind the street is the back mountain, and beyond that is the mass grave where the Gray Realm convergence happened, then District 2... From the route, it makes sense that the disaster could have come from the Gray Realm, attacked District 2, then fled to the back mountain, and then made its way here to Frost Street."
"The crime scene in District 2 was also near the back mountain?"
"Yes, these locations are not far from each other and are aligned on the same path," the officer nodded slightly.
Before they could say anything more, a sharp scream came from not far away.
"Disaster!! Disaster!!!"
Grace Stone suddenly broke free from the officer beside her, as if she had seen something extremely terrifying. She stared at them, screaming and crawling backward. "You won't fool me!! You won't fool me!!!"
As she continued to retreat, she slammed into the officers who were helping Richard Stone. The impact made Richard Stone's pupils suddenly contract.
He immediately curled up, holding his head with his hands, muttering meaningless words, his eyes filled with fear.
The surrounding law enforcement officers exchanged glances, a flicker of helplessness in their eyes... They weren't too surprised by this, and with practiced ease, they bound the couple with ropes and shoved white cloths into their mouths to prevent disturbing others, then headed straight for the District 3 headquarters.
Seeing this, Evan Stone let out a sigh of relief.
Dr. Green had said that among survivors of Gray Realm convergences or disaster attacks, 80% would suffer from mental breakdowns, and most would never recover. Now, it seemed that Grace Stone and Richard Stone were no exception.
For Evan Stone, this was fortunate because the only people who had witnessed him transform into a disaster were four people. Two law enforcement officers had already been killed by the "audience," and as long as Grace Stone and Richard Stone didn't speak out, his identity wouldn't be exposed. He could still walk the streets openly, as Evan Stone.
Of course, this was assuming the authorities wouldn't find out about him later.
"It's still not safe... I need to think of a way to block their investigation completely..." Evan Stone didn't like taking risks, and he certainly didn't like his fate being in someone else's hands. His mind raced, trying to figure out the safest course of action.
At that moment, a figure dashed past him!
"Dad! Mom!"
Maxe Stone shouted, running toward the two figures being taken away, his weary face full of urgency.
Maxe Stone didn't know what had happened. He was just a fifteen-year-old boy. Seeing his parents being taken from the wreckage felt like the world was collapsing.
Evan Stone's gaze tightened, and he instinctively wanted to grab Maxe Stone, but after hesitating for a moment, he quickly followed behind him, calling for his parents as well.
Hearing the calls, the law enforcement officers turned around, seeing the two boys running toward them, then lowered their heads to start flipping through their papers.
"This couple has two children, one is 18, the other is 15."
"We didn't find any bodies inside, I was about to send people to search, but then they showed up..."
"Poor kids."
"..." The law enforcement officers whispered among themselves.
Maxe Stone reached Grace Stone, about to say something, when her pupils suddenly contracted. She somehow spat out the white cloth and stared ahead, shouting:
"Disaster!! You're a disaster too!! Do you want to kill me too?!"
Maxe Stone froze in place.