Into the Spotlight: A Little Mermaid Remix

Chapter 5

A/N: A base idea for Kayden as Oceania Remembered just with his glasses and not the mask^^^

"Kayden! Where are you disappearing off to?"

Kayden groaned when he heard his mother's voice calling from the kitchen. He'd been so close, literally inches away, from the front door.

And she'd caught him blue-handed.

From the blindingly blue, electric guitar in his hand, and nondescript black bag over his shoulder of course.

On a whim, he illusioned the guitar with a whispered hum, turning it into nothing, cloaking it perfectly.

Not even his mother could see through his illusions anymore, though she claimed otherwise.

"I was going to Lila's house Mom. We're going to watch a horror movie." He lied easily, still not completely believing how easily the truth stayed behind lock and key.

The first few times, lying had been difficult. He'd never openly attempted to deceive his parents before. But after the first few attempts, he realized it was no different than his normal everyday life. All he had to do was extend his list of people he was careful around.

That, along with a mastered look of innocence, always got him through his excuses without question.

Sure enough, his mother gave him a single cursory look, checking for deceit she wouldn't find, because his deceit had deceit at this point, and nodded.

"Try to be back before midnight, would you? Last time you were out far too late."

"Of course. Have fun!" Kayden called over his shoulder. He was already running for the door.

The second he was outside, he did run.

He had to get to the Amphitheater, which was an hour away by bus, and it was four. He'd be cutting things a little close to Lizzie's five o'clock demand.

If I'm lucky she'll be merciful.

*v*

Backstage was silent. The door to his "dressing room" might as well have been the entryway to a vacuum.

Lizzie hadn't been mad when he showed up ten minutes late. She hadn't even noticed because she was so busy lecturing the sound tech guy on microphone placement.

Something about him needing to take his mask off to tape the microphone behind his ear.

He had crept straight by them and hidden in his dressing room, his hood up and everything, with an illusioned face just in case.

The black bag was set on a chair and looked into his illusioned ambery-brown eyes. He always preferred to stand in front of the mirror.

With a single blink and a snap, he dropped all the illusions he'd put into his appearance.

For the first time in six days, he was faced with his true reflection.

Icy blue eyes with mesmerizing white and grey flecks stared back at him. His complexion was unnaturally pale, making his dark brown hair seem even darker, almost black. His glasses gave him an added look of sophistication and allowed his surroundings to have clarity.

But he'd have to take those off in order to put on his mask. The irony did not escape him that he looked the most like himself while wearing a mask. But this mask was more penetrable. It was physical. It could even be stolen and ripped away, whereas his illusions and the rest of his powers, could not. To be extremely technical, Kayden was always wearing a mask, always hiding in some kind of shadow.