Lian rushed back into his thoughts, frantically sifting through his doubts wondering where he had gone wrong. Wondering that despite his suspicions and his thinning carefulness, he had still fallen into what appears to be a trap! Where he did he go wrong he wrong, he kept wondering, his knees shaking as shadows grew taller from the walls around him. Leo’s bright blue eyes quickly grew dimmer as he proceeded to peer through Lian’s own. After taunting Lian with a devious grin, he reached his hand slowly towards him and wrapped his fingers around his with unnerving conviction.

“What’s the matter? I need help. Won’t you help me, yes?” Leo’s lips cracked open with a heinous smile, his hands trembling in excitement.

"A trap!? Yes?! YES! YES! This a trap!" Laughed Leo aloud, his grip tightening.

“Your trap. Yes?” He whispered all of a sudden.

An ominous laughter hovered just above Lian, only growing louder, strangling even, something reminiscent of the Enigma itself.

Leo reached his other hand towards his head and weaved his short fingers into his short blonde hair.

“You see, this is the first thing you have learn in New Dwarden. Don’t trust anyone. Yes? Don’t trust me.” Leo laughed madly, his voice growing disturbingly higher.

Leo wisped his left hand in the air, casually removing the entirety of his blonde hair in one swoop. To Lian’s surprise, he didn’t have horns, scales, or anything scary-like, he simply has unkempt brown hair, no more scraggly then his.

“Maybe he isn’t so monstrous.” Thought Lian, his heart easing off his chest.

Leo’s transformation began. First, he removed a handful of false skin from the lobes of his ears, then he peeled off his fingernails. After staring closely at Lian, he finished his deception by removing a pair of large contact lenses from his eyes. Leo stood before Lian no longer a little boy, but instead a brown haired creature with large yellow colored eyes -about an inch larger than what Lian considers normal- with an iris that resembles that of a frog and a cat combined. Despite his unkempt hair, his skin appeared smooth and meticulously cared for, like that of an amphibian; as made evident by the momentary gleam from the lights above.

While Leo was indeed missing his ears and fingernails he did however have a small hole where his ears would’ve been and fingers that appeared as if fingernails were never even a part of a grander whole. Lian found a shred of comfort in the idea that perhaps the creature before him wasn’t too outrageous in appearance. He thought that at the least, most of his body appeared human enough as opposed to a lemur-frog or giant.

“Not everything is a lie here Ezekiel. Yes? You have to understand there is a reason in you being here.” Said Leo.

“Ezekiel! Did Granas set me up?.” Thought Lian, his skin shook cold at the thought of the betrayal.

“How did he know…” continued Lian.

Leo rolled up his pajama sleeves and began creeping ever closer to Lian with nothing but clear mischievous intent. His ankles trembled in excitement with every happy-go-lucky step. Lian staggered his posture, frantically scanning his whereabouts. His heartbeat escalated alongside the voices all around him. As he looked through every possible exit, he noticed they were blocked by numerous menacing silhouettes; darkened silhouettes ranging from short, tall, wide, and even animalistic in stature. "

"What's the matter, got something to hide!?" Spoke a thug firmly far behind Lian. The thug’s comment was met with a unison of laughter.

"Good Job Leo...ya shrimp!" Yelled another thug in the background.

"Yes…” Mumbled Leo.

“Now where's Ms. Black? Yes? I signaled to her that this one was special. Yes?" Requested Leo loudly, feeling somewhat slightly annoyed.

"Shh! She's coming now...shut-up..." Whispered another grunt nervously.

"What's a freak like you to do to cheat and skip puberty?" Whispered yet another grunt towards Leo left.

“I’m only eighteen and i’ve got back hair making sweet sweet love to me bleedin' nyeck!” The voice continued.

"..." Leo only mumbled Leo to himself in anger.

"Shhh...she's here...pummel the kid a-bit so it looks like we did something..." Whispered the voices again.

Out from behind Leo arose an intimidatingly tall woman breaking through the numerous silhouette behind. Lian focused his gaze on the woman emerging from the shadows. She was no older than her late twenties. Her demeanor was sharp and aggressive, yet she wore an elegant mix of dark leather armor and silk clothes that covered her from neck to toe. Lian can only compare her get-up to something he would see in a superhero movie or even some far fetched fantasy game. While somewhat ridiculous because of all the belts, Lian doubted that the practicality was anything but useful.

“I wonder how you smell…” the woman said, her nose began quivering.

"You did signal this was one interesting did you not little Leo?" Gestured the intimidating woman at Leo, her pointed gloves poking towards at his quivering lips. L

eo simply nodded his head in submission as the woman approached. Each step she took towards Lian silenced the mysterious crowd around him ever more. She appeared merciless yet lawful. Her face fiercely young yet smug. Her eyes locked on Lian yet ready for anything around her. Her hair was short but long enough to wave to the right, her eyes sparkling hazle accompanied with a paralyzing wide gaze, and her posture encompassed power with military routine. Lian thought her appearance was deceptively thin and curvy, as everything about her screamed dangerous and more.

Lian noticed something strange, as she walked past Leo, she hovered her head over his, gently smelling the top of it while Leo froze stiff below. Like a snake teasing an already dying mouse, she simply shook her head in disapproval, disgusted for reasons unknown. The real prize, was only a couple feet away.

“You smell nice… really nice...” Spoke the woman seductively, grabbing the silver necklace around Lian’s neck.

“Yet you wear the cross…” She looked at him with scorn

The woman walked behind Lian and smelled his hair once more. One-by-one, her fingers wrapped around Lians shoulders. Lian could feel her chest touch the back of his head as she encroached ever closer for one more sniff.

“My name is Salem. What is yours?” She whispered behind Lian.

“E-- ezekiel.” Lian struggled to respond.

"Ah… Ezekiel. For the sake of interest, we are going to be switching the formula a bit. No punching, no running, no killing. Let's just talk in a more civil manor... . My name is Arc Commander Salem but some call me Ms. Black. " She said with an unnerving gruff.

It was at that moment Lian felt a strong tug in the back of his head, shortly followed by a sharpening sensation of pain. Lian stood straight in discomfort, narrowly missing the woman’s chin cautiously hovering above.

“May I keep this?” Asked Salem.

“What!” Responded Lian nervously, his eyes shifting, too scared to turn around.

“Ezekiel! May I keep this!?” She quickly presented herself in front of Lian with a lump of his hair in his hand.

Salem’s hair was long and black, without a curl in sight, her eyes were a pearly green, her nose was small and thin, and her lips were a plump crimson bold. Lian was intoxicated by her beauty; only something felt wrong. Her military guise began giving way.