She recognized the mystery man immediately, though he was facing away from her. He had the same slouch, the same mop of unruly black hair, the same oversized coat that nearly dragged on the ground behind him.

Her heart tensed. “That’s him!” she whispered into the bag. “That’s the man I saw on the roof last night!”

“I thought you said he was on the street?”

“He- No- Well, yes, but-“ Lapis huffed, annoyed. ”Nevermind!"

As the mystery man disappeared into the crowd of slowly shifting bodies, a thought lodged in Lapis's mind: Zephyr disappeared under the stage, and that man came out. They both have the same glow around them. They look nothing alike, but...

Curiosity overpowered her anxiety—she had to know for sure. Taking an anxious breath, she stepped toward the raised stage, grabbed one of the shimmering curtains surrounding the base, and quickly pulled it open, looking underneath.

Nothing.

The space under the stage was small, and cramped; wooden beams formed a spiderweb of support structures, along with a strange contraption at the center that likely operated the trap door. The rest of the space was empty, and notably, there was no sign of Zephyr, or the blue light that surrounded him.

Dropping the curtain and stepping away, Lapis looked toward the mystery man. The top of his head was just barely visible now as he headed up the north road, the blue light around him shimmering.

Zephyr never shows himself off-stage… maybe he doesn’t have to. If he can look like someone else… Become someone else…

She sighed, annoyed. You've got to be kidding me.

Steeling her resolve, she turned and took off after him.

Though the crowds were dispersing, a significant number of people still filled the streets, all slowly filtering back into the village. Lapis fought her way through them, weaving around groups of people and bumping shoulders with strangers as she tried to slide past them. Waves of anxiety rushed over her, but she forced them down. She focused on the glowing man ahead of her, but he somehow seemed to be increasing the distance between them without even trying. Lapis cursed under her breath.

“Dammit!“ she grunted as she pushed her way around a cluster of people stopped in the middle of the street. To the left, her eyes caught on a narrow alleyway between buildings. She wasn’t terribly familiar with this side of town, but maybe she could slip onto the side roads to get around the crowds. It was that, or keep pushing through the dense mob of villagers, all apparently determined to walk down the narrow road as slowly and annoyingly as possible. She glanced up the street and saw the glowing mystery man in the distance, the blue light being the only thing keeping her from losing sight of him entirely. Steeling herself, she darted toward the alleyway—and collided with someone, knocking Dave’s carrying bag off her shoulder.

“Ah! Lapis!” the little skull yelped as the bag hit the ground, Dave spilling out of it and rolling onto the stone pathway. Lapis stumbled from the collision, regaining her footing before reaching out for Dave, nearly grabbing him, until a wayward shoe kicked him away. Dave’s muffled shouts quickly faded as he bounced down the road like a toy ball.

Stifling a scream, Lapis chased after her him. Having no agency over his own movement, Dave continued being kicked through the crowd by inattentive passers-by. Lapis’s heart pounded in her chest as she raced after him, dashing between people when she could, and shoving others aside. Adrenaline coursed through her, and she could hear her heart in her ears; Dave’s skull was the only part of his body remaining, and while she didn’t fully understand how his curse worked, if he was crushed or destroyed somehow…

She didn’t want to think about it.

Pushing her way through mobs of villagers, Lapis finally caught up to Dave, swiping him off the road just before a passing man’s boot threatened to kick him even further away. Ignoring the swearing from the group she had just shoved through, she cradled Dave in her arms and pushed her way off the road and out of the crowd.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she stumbled into an empty alleyway, leaning against a wall to catch her breath. Her body trembled as she slowly slid to a sitting position, hands shaking. She carefully set Dave in her lap, dusting the dirt off his white skull with her sleeve.

"Dave...?" she asked shakily.

“Wow! I hated that!” Dave said abruptly.

Lapis stifled a laugh. At least he was in good spirits. She turned him over gently, looking for any damage.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Me? Pssh. I’m fine. Takes more than a few kicks to the head to keep Dave down!”

“You could have been crushed. What would have happened if your skull had broken? Would you…?”

“Oh. Um. I’m… not sure, actually,” he said quietly. “…But I’m okay! See? Still in one piece!”

He wiggled back and forth, nearly falling out of Lapis’s grip.

“Agh! Careful!” she yelped, holding him tighter. His carrying bag was gone at this point, lost to the streets and trampled underfoot. She might be able to find it if she went looking, but the thought wasn’t tempting with so many people still walking around. She’d have to carry him home and hope no one asked any questions.

Dave let out a small sigh. “…Do you… still wanna go after him?”

Lapis poked her head out of the alleyway and down the street. No sign of the blue glow she had been chasing. If she ran, she could potentially catch up to him, but she had no desire to head back out into the post-concert crowds and risk dropping Dave again. Her heart sank over the missed opportunity.

Then again, she had stumbled onto something interesting tonight. It seemed like the mystery man and the bard Zephyr could very well be the same person. Was he a Mirage? Did the glow around them both have something to do with it? And why could Lapis see it when no one else could?

Her mind raced with possibilities, and she had to know for sure. While her attempt to chase him down tonight had ended in disaster, there were two more performances left.

Two more chances.