(Ok, I'm going to let you know (Even if I know it sounds like a major excuse), I'm working two jobs over these next two weeks so my replies might be more infrequent, but I promise I don't want this to die and I'll try to reply at least once a day :) )
"Yeah, you can," Cole replied, slowing down as he reached into the bag and pulled out Itzal's donut. He handed it to him and smiled, following the god's way towards the shop and hoping that it had what he needed. If it didn't, who knew what they would have to do to get the sword disguised. It would take too much of Itzal's power for him to conceal it, and the only other thing that came to him was maybe finding a sheath for it and wearing it on one of their backs. Then it could pass as maybe just a toy.
(Alright! Thank you for telling me! :)
"Thank you." Itzal accepted the donut and took a small bite, a little smile appearing on his lips. "This is almost better." He sighed happily, savoring the taste. It tasted amazing, and he was really glad he had gotten it. A few bites later, he was standing in front of the shop door. After a second of hesitation, Itzal grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. It only took a couple of steps into the shop to find out that the shop was the perfect place to find a real charm. Itzal glanced around, then started towards the nearest shelf. Picking the real charms from the fake ones was something only a god could do at a glance, which meant Cole couldn't help. It was unfortunate, but having Cole actually test every single one would be too slow.
Cole followed Itzal in, trailing behind him as he pulled out his other donut and started eating. As a human, there was no way he could help his friend, and so he decided just to wander around instead. He turned down a different path than Itzal, making sure he stayed relatively close and just studied the different things they sold in the shop. After all, it was the first time he had ever had reason to come into a shop like this.
Itzal scanned the first shelf, his dark eyes scanning each of the charms. He was looking for something that gave off a slightly silvery aura, but so far there was nothing. Itzal took an absentminded bite of his donut and turned the corner. The charms nearest to him didn't have anything, but farther down, he saw something. His heart skipped a beat and he hurried towards the charm. Even as he got closer, the charm didn't lose that silver aura. "Cole, I think I found one!" Itzal said softly, hoping Cole could hear him. He reached out and grabbed the charm, which was a small, amber gem set in silver on a silver chain. The metal was warm and slightly tingly against his palm, another thing only gods could feel. It was real.
Cole wandered the rows, picking up things and studying them before putting them back down. Nothing stood out or looked special, it all looked mostly like rocks; set in rings or necklaces or just on their own. Whatever this charm was, it was clearly only visible to gods. "Is it what we need?" He asked, hurrying back to Itzal and studying the charm in his hand. To him, it looked no more special than a gem on a tarnished necklace, but from the look on his face, he knew it must have been a big deal.
"Yeah, I think so." Itzal cradled the charm in his hands for a few more seconds, then nodded. "Let's get this and get back to the room." He sent a quiet thank you to Zoe, wherever she might be, and headed towards the counter at the front of the shop. "Hello, I'd like to buy this."
"Eh?" The person behind the counter looked up from their magazine. "Oh, okay." They stared at the charm in Itzal's hand for a few seconds, then told them the total. Itzal barely hid a smile– if this person had known the charm was actually magic, they would have asked for way, way more. At least it wouldn't cost Cole too much money.
Cole followed Itzal with a soft smile, waiting by his side as the cashier rattled off the total. Thankfully it wasn't extremely expensive, and he was able to pay the person easily as he set the bills on the counter and nodded to him. "Thank you," He said, glancing over at Itzal with a look of excitement in his eyes. Hopefully, this charm would work to conceal the sword, otherwise, they were down to only a few other options on what to do.
Itzal kept staring at the charm, which earned him a weird look from the person on the other side of the counter. But there was a part of him that was afraid it would disappear if he looked away. The person opened their mouth, maybe to tell him it was fake, but Cole set down the money and they decided against it. Itzal finally managed to tear his eyes away from the charm to look at Cole. "Finally," he said softly, hope written all over his face. "Let's see if this works, eh?" He pushed the door open and stepped onto the sidewalk, holding the door for Cole.
"Let's hope it does, otherwise that's just an expensive necklace," Cole replied, smiling softly at the look of hope and excitement on Itzal's face, "Back to the hotel I'm assuming?" He stepped out of the store, stopping on the sidewalk as he glanced around and focused on his friend, waiting for agreement so they could start their walk back. The charm still didn't look like anything special, and to say Cole didn't have doubts was a pure lie.
"Yeah. That wouldn't be good." Itzal pressed his lips together. There was almost no chance he was wrong about the magical properties of the necklace, but he was still a bit nervous. "Yeah. We should try it as soon as possible, just in case." He curled his fingers around the necklace and started towards the hotel, making sure Cole was with him. The edge of the necklace bit into his palm, reminding him that the necklace still existed. Please, Itzal found himself praying, please let this work. And please let those beings stay away for as long as possible.
Cole didn't waste any time, walking alongside Itzal but slowly pushing the pair to walk ever so slightly faster. Mostly it was because he wanted to see if the charm really worked, but also because there was a sinking feeling in his gut. Like something wasn't right. Maybe it was just from eating the donuts too fast, or maybe it was signaling the beings were back. He didn't want to risk it either way, and so he smiled at Itzal and motioned to the charm, "So, how long of a spell or whatever do you have to do to get that to hide the sword? Is it complicated?"
Itzal noticed that Cole was walking faster, but he simply matched his pace. It was understandable that Cole wanted to get back to the hotel as quickly as he could. Itzal himself was itching to get back to the sword. "It would take longer for a mortal to do it, but since I'm a god, it won't take as long. It's not that complicated, I just need to concentrate really hard." Itzal explained, looking over at Cole.
“Ah ok, well then I’ll let you concentrate as hard as you need when we get back to the hotel room.” Cole nodded in understanding, quite relieved when he could see the hotel come into view. When they reached their room he had no clue what to do while Itzal did his thing. With the uneasy feeling in his gut he hated to do anything that let his guard down, but at the same time he was craving a hot shower. Deciding when he got to the hotel is what he concluded.
Itzal's pace increased when the hotel appeared. The longer he was away from the sword, the more anxious he got. A being could pop out at any time, and he wouldn't have something that could kill it. He was practically jogging by the time they got into the hotel. Itzal didn't pay attention to the weird decor as he hurried towards their room. "The moment of truth approaches," he said nervously, stopping in front of their door. They just needed a couple more minutes, and then everything would be alright.
Cole matches Itzal’s speed almost exactly, ignoring the weird looks they got as they ended up almost jogging when they reached the hotel. He counted the numbered doors one by one as they passed them, stopping at theirs. “We’re counting o this charm.” In a smooth motion he pulled the key from his pocket and opened the door, holding it open for Itzal to step in after him.
"Yeah." Itzal went straight to the closet and grabbed the sword. He hurried to the bed and sat down, laying it down on his lap. Itzal carefully wrapped the necklace around the hilt and handle of the sword. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and held his hands over the sword. The magic in the charm sparked, a glow visible to mortals emanating from it. Now, all Itzal had to do was instruct the magic to disguise the sword. His fingers twitched, and the glow spread out over the sword. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the whole sword was glowing lightly. Itzal took another deep breath, then dropped his hands towards the sword, stopping them an inch before touching the sword. The glow soaked into the sword and disappeared, leaving only a slight shimmer.
(Sorry for disappearing! I was gone for the Fourth with friends but I'm here now!)
Cole had planned to take a shower while Itzal did his thing, but one glance at what he was doing and he found himself watching the entire time. He didn't bother to hide his look of amazement and wonder either, just watched until the sword had absorbed the glow and had disappeared almost completely from view. "Wow," He finally managed, blinking to make sure he hadn't imagined things, "Magic is definitely real I guess."
(Okay! You're good! :)
Itzal looked up, smiling at the wonder on Cole's face. "Yeah, it is. This thing should be good to bring around anywhere with us now." He picked up the sword, looked at both sides, then laid it down on the bed beside him. Although he hadn't needed to expend any magic on disguising the sword, directing the magic into the sword and telling it what to do had been challenging, mentally. Itzal let out a breath and leaned back until he was lying next to the sword.
"Perfect," He nodded and then motioned to the bathroom with a tiny smile, "I'm going to go shower quick then if you don't need me to do anything right now." There was more than a chance that the beings could come back while he was showering, but he ignored that chance. Right now was most likely going to be his only chance to do so for a while, before they were on the run from the shadow creatures and whatever they wanted to do with Itzal.
"Alright," Itzal replied, lifting his head slightly to look at Cole. "If anything happens, I'll yell or something." He let his head fall back onto the bed. While Cole was taking a shower, he could relax and let his mind recover. It was probably not the best idea for Cole to take a shower, but Itzal didn't want to stop him if this was the last time he could. His gaze drifted towards the ceiling and his entire body relaxed. Any thoughts he was having at the moment were quickly shifted to the back of his mind.
Cole gave him a thumbs up and slipped into the bathroom, starting on the daunting task of figuring out how to work the shower as soon as the door closed. It took him a few minutes but he got it working and slipped into it, happy with just how hot the water was. Normally he didn't have a preference between hot or cold showers, but this one felt amazing, almost relaxing. Too soon it ended though when he shut off the water, but at least the bathroom was steamed up and warm as he stepped out.
Itzal continued staring at the ceiling, his breaths slow and even. Images floated lazily across his mind: a rare meeting with all the gods… granting a small child's prayer… someone screaming, a being with a sword, blood splashed across pavement– Itzal gasped, blinking quickly to get the images out of his mind. Sitting around with nothing to think about wasn't really working out for him. Instead, he focused on the sounds of Cole's shower. Those were calming noises, though they ended soon enough. Itzal blinked rapidly and launched into a mental performance of one of his favorite mortal songs. All the while, though, he was on the lookout for any of the beings. None had shown up yet, for which he was glad. Then again, that might just mean that they were gearing up for a huge attack later… but for now, he would be glad they weren't knocking on the door just yet.
It didn't take long for Cole to dry himself off and slip back into his clothes, drying his hair as best he could with the towel before finally hanging it back up and stepping back into the room. "Do you need to take a shower?" He asked, running a hand through his hair to try to get the sandy blonde strands to not stick up as much as they already were. With a shower out of the way, he felt much better and more relaxed, much less worried about the threat of the beings coming back as well.
Itzal sat up when he heard the door open. He looked over at Cole, noticing how much calmer he looked. A shower would be nice, and he would probably feel much better after it. But what would happen if the beings came and attacked Cole before he could do anything? He couldn't take that risk. "No, I think I'm good. Thanks, though." Itzal gave Cole a smile and rested his hand on the sword. "Um… what do you think we should do now?"
"Well, we could stay here and rest for however few minutes we have left, or we could go explore the city more. Depends on how long you think it'll stay this peaceful," Cole replied, sitting on the very edge of the bed and glancing at him and the sword, "We do have the luxury of the sword being disguised too now, so if we did go into the city we could always bring it with." He didn't mind either way, knowing that his only request was a nap that he wouldn't get. Not while they were still being chased.
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