Onay put on the mask. It was white, drawn with an odd shade of red that settled Claire off. Now, with the lights turned on, she could admire the work that had gone into it. Claire doubted it had been dont by the hand of an imaginator, nobody would risk such a bad headache.

The forehead displayed attacking horns with a slight relief, downward, the hollow sockets of a wrathful wolf, and Claire guessed Onay was able to see through that dark cloth. The fangs had small spaces between them to let the sound reach the ears of the threatened, but it was hard to carefully mark where the leader's scratched lips actually were. Hair did not flow by it's sides, but actually stood up in two large greyish gourds. Claire almoust wanted to chuckle at the thought of Onay with long hair, but she was still holding back tears from the large effort it had taken her mind to imagine someone's insides turn outsides.

-I believe it's a challenge when someone trie to do something to a thing they can't see,- Onay resumed the training.- So now you need to trey to change my face. I won't care if it goes wrong, but you should try to tell me how you want it to see if it works well.- Onay's voice was still as proud and confident as ever, but there was a glint of doubt. Nobody could control another person's ability, specialy if not even the imaginator could control their own.

Claire didn't open her mouth to speak. She remembered Onay's broken eyes, how their iris seemed to be torn appart from several places only to decide to break the edges. She would fix that, filling the pale blue irises and joining them together. Onay twitched, but stayed in place. Claire could only imagine the expression of pain, frowning so hard eyes closed, mouth opened in an animalistic way as if to defend, resembling the mask, but Onay stopped her.

-Don't focuss on that. You'll see my expressions later, but this only guides you away from your objective.

Right. The sliced cheeks. Almoust as carved as the mask, burried down like an old burn mark, but Claire knew that was not the case. The skin was pulled appart and weak in between, so she decided to pull it together again. That would probably make the same injuries in other places... Claire decided to create new skin, if that was posible. Cells, energy, she was never good with biology, she only knew about dyes. She would make Onay's face worse, sickening, and almoust rotten- She could not think this or it would happen.

Claire settled on thinking of another person, perhaps a model she had seen on TV who she no longer remembered perfectly, and added Onay's hair. The model's blue eyes were a different colour than Onay's, but at least they were complete. The model's skin was slightly tan, compared to Onay's pale face, but Claire guessed it would be no problem as long as the leader was fixed.

Onay took off the mask before raising some fingers to pass through the new soft cheeks. They frowned, but did not seem to look for a mirror. Claire should have guessed from before, Onay didn't want to be as pretty as a model. They just wanted to be back to normal. Claire guessed that was before an accident, or perhaps even before the building incident.

-Well, we now at least know you can do this.- Onay took a moment before speaking away, their eyes slightly above the ground, not fixed into any point.- Yet I need to know if you want to be a weapon.

-A weapon?- Claire chuckled. It was an odd request, but she understood what it meant. She was so confused she even dropped her mental discussion about being treated like a tool for Onay's aesthetical objectives.

-Everyone here is aware that there will come a day when we will have to fight. We won't be hidden forever, and even that way, many are stirring their feelings to rise up. Nobody want's an irresponsible leader, but I don't know how much I can keep the position. Some are more powerful than me, and with darker feelings. I can't allow an army to attack the city, but if I'm replaced, there will be nothing for me to do.

-How were you chosen a leader?- Claire wanted to avoid the question, concentrating more on how the place was organized.

-Depends. If I'm willing to give it up, it's peaceful, but if someone tried to take my position by force, it would be a bloddy scene. It's not such a powerful place, but it's a strong one. From here, people think I'm stronger than them, and follow orders. I need to make sure I don't oversaturate their trust by kkeeping them happy, but I also have to make sure they all work, they all grow, and nobody takes advantage.

Claire chucked. She knew little of politics, but this sounded like an odd way to rule, a fair one not many used.

-A spy from the city will come back tomorrow. He is a friend, but we must only wait until we recieve news to know if we must prepare for battle or remain in peace. For many centuries we've managed to be in peace, hidden, but now the whole world knows about us, and a battle is inevitable. So do you want to serve in the war?

- Let's hope the day I fullfil this promise never comes. But I do.