In Search of Kasena (ONC 2024) | ✓

Chapter 11

Niel was sure he was dreaming. Or, at least, whatever was going on seemed like a very weird dream.

He watched, more confused than ever, as Alarie's familiar face started distorting, slowly melting into a different one, her long white hair shortening and turning copper red.

Kasena. He recalled the first time they met, and the glimmer of hope he held that he ran right into the person he was looking for—and how that glimmer got extinguished once he realized no disguise could be that good. But whatever just happened was beyond his wildest dreams.

"Your party trick is as fascinating as ever," Kardin said sternly. Once he was Niel's—probably ridiculous—dumbfounded face, he said, "Don't worry, I believe my sister has a lot of explaining to do."

That finally broke him out of his stupor. "Yeah. You can start by explaining what the hell is going on here," he said, pointing at her face.

Kardin cleared his throat. "You see, Mr. Sarfort, my sister is what some people would call... a shapeshifter."

"You're a what?" he croaked out, turning to Alarie—no, Kasena.

"I have the power to change my appearance at will," she explained. Her voice was different than before, a little higher-pitched, perhaps. Was that how she always sounded like?

He remembered the tournament, which now felt ages away instead of mere days. "That guy... Rohan... he was right." She painted his accusations of having magic as utterly ridiculous back then, and he was quick to dismiss them too, but maybe there was more to his claims than he initially believed.

"Oh, no, no, no, he didn't really know anything. I'm completely sure he didn't see a thing. His accusation was just a lucky guess. Of course, he couldn't prove it either way, and my powers wouldn't help me cheat in any way. Regardless of how I look, I can still defeat him in a duel fair and square, just like I already did." She scoffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a motion he'd seen many times before, but couldn't attach to this new face in front of him.

"But then... what about that woman with the scar? The one who was supposed to be helping Kasena?"

"That was me. I came up with that look to confuse you a little. I'm glad to say it worked," she explained with a satisfied smirk. Once again, he tried to reconcile such different faces in his head, but he couldn't.

"So you were just using that look to sell the jewelry with that boy and mess with me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Oh, no, there is no boy. That was also me," she stated plainly.

"What?" Just how many different people did she pretend to be in the short time that he'd known her? Niel thought about everyone he met recently. He could probably rule out all the people he met while he was with her. Probably.

"You'd be surprised how much you can get away with if people focus all their attention on only one detail."

Niel turned to Kardin, still in shock. "And why didn't you tell me about this?" What was even the point of sending him to find his sister if he wasn't going to tell him she can change her appearance in a matter of seconds?

"I apologize," Kardin said. "We try not to discuss her powers in any way. No one outside of the family even knows about them—except for you now, of course. But I have to admit I was also surprised. The last I remember, she wasn't able to keep her facade for too long, so I didn't expect her powers to be this good now."

"I've been practicing a lot over the past year," she explained, her tone indifferent.

"So you've been planning this for a while?" Kardin asked her, his serious gaze interlocking with hers.