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Yet, despite all that, the locks undid themselves, and the door slowly slid open. You’d expected it to be met with immediate resistance, but were quickly proven wrong when each and every piece of furniture placed in front of the door suddenly started levitating towards the back and sides of the bar.
In the dark doorway, stood a tall woman with long, dark hair and an even longer flowing robe. As she strode in, the bar’s candlelight caught her pale, grayish skin and the fraying, dark purple edges of her robe. On either side of her head, her hair turned from black to gray, cascading down her shoulders and bouncing slightly with each step. A sort of winged cape trailed behind her, with colorful peacock feathers attached to the end of it. It wasn’t until she was completely in the room that you realized the candlelight hadn’t caught the reflection of her eyes. And then, all four of them opened.
Four eyes. Wide, unblinking and beady swiveled around the room, taking in everything and everyone all at once. They seemed to shudder with impatience, but that was just a general feeling that you got. The eyes were arranged in a diamond pattern in the middle of the woman’s face, and you were struggling to see whether they were just part of a mask, or if she was some sort of mutant.
Hmm. Nope. Definitely a mask. You could see a bit of her nose peeking out from under the unusual piece of eyewear.
You opened your mouth to speak, but the strange woman beat you to it.
<span class="mu-b"><span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">“Who dares summon me?”</span></span></span>
Her voice was very loud and very verbose, echoing through the bar as if she’d been speaking into a microphone. No one said anything as her eyes panned across the room, until finally, Elsa raised her hand.
<span class="mu-r">“I dare. Thanks for coming, Sarah.”</span>
“Sara” sniffed disdainfully at Elsa.
<span class="mu-b"><span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">”You will refer to me as the ‘Terrible Eye’, mortal! And for your sake, I do very much hope that you have not summoned me here for a matter so trivial as exchanging pleasantries.”</span></span></span>
Elsa nodded.
<span class="mu-r">“Straight to business, then. Terrible Eye, this is Sophie. She’s currently in a bit of a pickle. The kind that involves you losing your soul as a form of collateral in a demon contract. Care to take a look?”</span>
The Terrible Eye’s features shifted slightly, betraying her interest in the matter. One of her eyes remained fixed on Elsa, another on Sophie, and the remaining two examined the ritual circle created on the floor.
She made a dismissive sound and shrugged slightly.
<span class="mu-b"><span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">“I see you have prepared the bare minimum for a ritual of this size. Am I to understand that you do not wish the entity who owns this contract to sense your duplicity in this matter?”</span></span></span>
<span class="mu-r">“That’s right. Think you can swing it?”</span>
(Cont.)
