Lost Destinies

↳ 14: Nothing Goes Exactly As Planned, Ever

The disguises worked like a charm on airport goers.

"Oh my fairy godmother. Is that Eloise Diamond?"

"The Pea Princess is here. She's here, right now, breathing my same air—"

"Eloise! Can I get your autograph?"

Lindsay played the part astonishingly well. She took on a rather snooty voice and badgered Bear and Claude constantly about her allegedly tight schedule and the state of her latest nose job, waving pretentiously to fans and posing for several pictures. Claude had crowds of gushing fans as well, and he lifted his voice an octave and put on an impressively accurate Rosish accent to play the part. Ramona was crossing her fingers no one would look too closely at his face through all the layers of makeup. Bear seemed to be the most hesitant about all the acting, but he mostly had to nod along with whatever Lindsay said and scribble things down on his notepad.

Ramona watched everyone around them carefully, trailing after the main attraction side-by-side with Minerva and Penny in matching bodyguard uniforms. Every muscle in her body felt tense, as though something might go wrong any moment. She found comfort in the familiar routine of observing her surroundings, counting cameras and sweeping her eyes across exits, elevators, and ventilation ducts. Certainly, though, what stood out the most was the theme of the whole place—the commercialism behind the FastTrav company itself.

It was harrowing to see such illustrious propaganda on display. Every corner the thieves turned was peppered with promotional posters and sprawling murals of legendary fairytale moments. Crowds funneled through a large walkway painted completely with scenes of little cottages and tranquil farmland disrupted by the enormous boot of a giant, a twirling beanstalk snaking up the opposite wall. As they entered the security hall they stepped into a world of glass slippers and castles and coils of hair flowing out the window of tall towers. It was difficult not to feel a wave of disgust at how people's lives had been twisted into legends and marketed as attainable if only one paid a hefty fee. Despite her better judgment, Ramona found herself scanning for an exaggerated depiction of her own life. None was to be found, and she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or slightly offended.

Lindsay slowed in front of a wall displaying an imposing woman and her two daughters, looking upon an instantly recognizable Cinderella trying on the notorious glass slipper before the prince. Ramona watched her face slip, melting first into heartbreak before going stony and eventually resuming her composure and returning to character. The illustrations weren't kind to Madam Amata and her family. Alexis and Lindsay were depicted as trollish girls in frumpy, unattractive dresses, watching their stepsister with disdain, and their mother was painted wiry and much older than Lindsay had described her, with a large, crooked nose and gray hair pulled into a tight updo. While her character was probably relatively true to the stories, Lindsay's actual appearance was nothing at all like the mural and in fact the only resemblance she bore to it was dark hair and narrow green eyes. It was no wonder police had never recognized her.

Claude touched her lightly on the shoulder, pulling her gaze from it. "Eloise, love, we can't be late now!" he chirped in his close imitation of Ruby. His eyes said everything he couldn't in the moment.

Lindsay turned up her nose. "Right. We've got to waste time going through security like common peasants. I'd nearly forgotten."

Ramona exhaled lightly. She couldn't afford for Lindsay to be distracted.

"Who do I have to talk to to get some travel service around here?" Lindsay hollered, fanning herself with a lace hand fan that matched her lavender high-low cut dress. Minerva had copied Eloise's preferred style to a T, right down to the gem-encrusted heeled boots. Claude cleared his throat.