Disguises || REWRITE

Chapter V

TW: depictions of a panic attack starts at "it smelled just like the forest" stops at "and then it stopped"

—

"Yes. What he stole was merely a container of energy. It serves no real value to Paradise," Terris's soft voice served to calm y/n down slightly, though Mira was still very much on edge. "That's... Reassuring," y/n breathed, crouching down to pet Mira. "Indeed," Terris nodded, looking at y/n with a small smile. "Now, I must ask, how did you find yourself in the museum?" y/n stopped petting Mira for a moment, staring at their shoes instead.

"I was... I was in a group of civilians, and we made it to one of the ports that were taking people over to the islands," They began, clutching at their sleeves. "The ship hand said that they couldn't take any more survivors, and that we had to go to the other port, all the way across Paradise,"

"One of the kids in the group was a tour guide, and he offered to take us to the port," Terris stayed silent. "He led us through the forest, but we stopped halfway through to rest," y/n took in a shaky breath. "We slept through the night, but when I woke up, I-" They stopped, regaining their composure. "They- they were all dead. A group of zombies found us, and the only reason I didn't die with them was because of this stupid jacket," y/n suddenly felt itchy, like bugs were crawling under their skin. Their fingers twitched until they couldn't take it anymore and pulled the jacket off, tossing it to the side. "I walked through the rest of the forest alone, until I found the museum," y/n pulled the jacket back into their grasp, twisting and fidgeting with it. Mira rubbed up against their leg, and they took a deep breath, calming down. "I found the room with the decoy and stayed there for a bit, until that guy came in and snatched it. The chaos caused me to fall right as the yellow girl... Tyra? Came through the wall,"

"Hm," Terris hummed in understanding. "I'm sorry to hear that," They said, their tone suddenly soft and sweet. y/n sighed, digging their nails into their arms. "Yeah..." y/n's eyes trailed to the door that Tyra had left through, wondering where she had gone. As if on cue, the door opened, revealing Tyra and two others. The one to the left of her had bright orange skin. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she wore a form hugging top with black shorts. She pushed a few strands of her hair back, smiling. The one to the right of Tyra had green skin. He had shaggy hair, bordering on a mullet. He wore baggy cargo pants and a large windbreaker. Beneath his eyes were prominent bags and he seemed to have a permanent 'I-don't-care' expression on his face. He stared blankly at Terris.

"Where's Tess?" Terris asked the three guardians. "He's still resting," "His legs haven't reformed yet," The orange and green people spoke in unison. Terris chuckled while nodding. "I see," their soft voice echoed throughout the room. "Come down, there's someone you should meet," they beckoned.

As the three guardians stood in front of them, y/n couldn't help but feel uneasy. Mira hid between their legs, her ears flat against her head as she analyzed everything around her. Mira was a pretty friendly cat. She loved Katerine and would try to greet every stranger she met when y/n took her on walks. She only ever got like this if something was actively hostile, so it didn't make any sense why she was so upset.

y/n eventually decided that Mira was just on edge from everything she and y/n had been through. They wanted to trust these people. They were the guardians of Paradise, after all.

"So tell me," Terris's soft voice broke y/n's concentration.
"How did that jacket stop you from dying?" they asked slowly, raking their eyes over the discarded piece of clothing.
"I, uh," the words got caught in y/n's throat. Images flashed past their eyes. The blood on their face, the grotesque groaning of the monster before it burst, the damp air, the cold ground, the smell of rot and soil, they all happened at once, hurting their head. The world blurred around them, perception suddenly stuck in tunnel vision as they stared at the muddled pink of their jacket. But then it stopped. The world cleared up as they felt a purring next to their leg. It was Mira. y/n took a deep breath, clutching their arms. "I think..." they whispered faintly. "I think the jacket makes me look like them," their voice was raspy and strained, unwilling to talk about the wretched jacket any longer.