122 CHAPTER 121 DISGUISE

"How is it, any better?" Kira asked, checking the side to make sure the clip was in place. She smelled of olive, mixed in butter and it gave his stomach a comforting tug. It was unique to her alone, as the rest of the people he had seen choose not to wear any perfume.

"Yeah, I think so," Ham breathed under his teeth and rolled his eyes when the girl held the girdle behind his waist and pulled them.

"I hope you can blend well with the people, try to avoid questions as much as you can." 

"Ha-ha, I really wish it were so easy. Your people ask a lot of questions."

"Just try to avoid them. I will make sure I want them off as much as I can. You must avoid eye contact too. And don't point at anything or anyone. The people of Miens find that as a threat and challenge."

"Oh," Ham chuckled at his reflection with both amusement and awe. 

Kira had painted his skin pink and had drawn the dark lines all over his body. It looked awkward, but was the only perfect blend they could find. They hadn't joined the rest of the people since they returned three days ago. Kira had insisted that they make him blend, or the people will be divided when they realize that he was a human. That's the funniest part. The people of Miens thinks that the human race has been extinct by Lord Vortex himself. 

"Avoid drawing attention to yourself as much as you can."

"That's the fiftieth since I stopped counting, of the things I am to avoid. I can't even remember number one."

"Don't smile at anyone. That's number one and the most important of all."

"But you still haven't told me why it was the most important."

"I did, and I think you have forgotten that again. I will not repeat the reason, anyway. It is not as important as the rule." Kira said, picking up her pipe as she examined her handiwork.

Ham wanted to laugh. He knew the reason why that rule number one was the most important. The people of Miens take smiles as a sign of friendship, especially the female folk. Kira had warned him to avoid smiling at anyone unless they were at a party or some festival.

"So where are you taking me?" Ham asked.

"To find a way for you to get back to your world. If there is one." She looked away from him and lighted the dark pipe, placing them on her lips and sipping the smoke. Her gray eyes said that they did not believe Ham yet, but were willing to trust him even though they barely knew each other. 

"But why, Kira?"

Kira looked and stared at his reflection in the mirror. There was a question in her eyes and confusion too.

"I mean," Ham turned away from the mirror to face her, "Why are you doing all this. Why are you helping me?"

"Get over it," She said, looking away, "This is not because of you. I really want to make sure Boze was not playing some tricks or something. We believe that humans have been destroyed since time immemorial. If Boze was the one playing the tricks, then I will make sure he pays dearly with his life." She puffed the smoke, then added, "The people have been at peace since I was born and if it happens, you are really what you say you are, then we might just have the biggest problem ahead of us."

"What does that mean," Ham asked. Nothing made sense. How does his appearance in this world change anything?

"I can only make guesses. But we must be sure." She said, leaning away from the table, "We must meet, Clare. She is the only one that can help us."

"Clare?" 

"She is my best friend and the village seeker," Kira explained when she noticed the question in his eyes. "She is never wrong. We must meet her and find out what she had to say about you and the fate of the village."

"Alright then," Ham stood up. Meeting this, Clare, was already making his stomach churn with excitement. If she was the one that can give him the answers he seeks, then he would do everything in his power to make sure he meets with her.

"Try not to forget all the instructions I have given you," Kira said as she extinguishes her pipe.

They walked out of the tent and hit the streets. Ham still could not believe that he was in Saturn, the planet which many years ago was inhabitable and unable to hold any form of life. There were no green trees as one would have expected, just the sands that covered everywhere, making the face of a desert hilarious. They stretched through the distance and did not stop until they were touching the yellow cloud. There was nothing on the yellow sky too. No cloud or moon. Just the face of the sun, spicing everywhere with warm heat.

Miens of different sizes went about their business, each wearing a frown that waded off anybody who tries to come close. They were basically dressed in a brown running robe and pants, with a girdle on the robe, hanging on the waist. Kira had explained once that the dressing code was a way to remind the people that they were one, even though everyone was minding their own business.

"Is this your definition of peace and oneness?"

"Keep your voice down," Kira whispered, without looking at him, "And yes it is. The people had been at war before Lord Vortex destroyed the earth and the war had ceased. This was the only way to keep unity in diversity."

"Unity in diversity?" Ham asked, still not getting the angle from which the girl was coming from.

"Yes. Despite the skin color that ironed us as uniform persons. We are different, in character and in belief. We never were one. And I don't think we would have been if Vudga had not placed this strict rule on everyone."

Ham allowed his eyes to wander. The people all looked the same and both in dressing and in skin color. However, while some of them had their ears hanging upwards, some ears flapped, others had smaller ears or bigger ones. That was the only difference at the moment.

"Vudga." Ham looked ahead. They had broken away from the main street, and the wind van that stood on both sides of the road, made Ham remember their flight three days ago. This was the road they had taken.

"I have heard you use that term," He continued, "What does it mean."

"That's the seat of the Miens throne. We have taken up the name in honor of King Vudga's heroism, which had held the people long after they had been scattered by wars and famine. He had united the people with his strength and had executed anyone who had tried to stand in opposition to his decree."

"That sounds like a tyrant."

Kira groaned as if offended by the words but did not break her eyes away from the street.

"I thought so the first time my mother told me the story. But until I saw videos of what the Miens were doing to each other, I never realized what savior, King Vudga was."

"So the throne of the Miens is Vudga, and the people are also called the people of Vudga?"

"Exactly, Ham." Kira nodded as if suddenly tired

"But…" Ham cleared his throat, "If this Vudga guy had been a mere Miens. What made him so powerful and feared? Every tyrant has something hidden under their sleeves."

"That's the fun part." Kira giggled for the first time since they left their hiding camp, "He is believed to share the same power as Lord Vortex. Some even believe that both Vudga and Vortex has the same bloodline. So when Vortex was destroyed, Vudga, instead of breaking the world like his brother, had united the people in peace and harmony."

Ham bit his under lips and looked at the people again. There was nothing peaceful in the way they walked or the way they carried their shoulders, as if the weight of the world was hanging on them. Crease covered their faces. Sorrow and hunger too. There was no harmony here, just pretense.

"I am still not convinced," Ham said, but Kira was no longer paying attention. She was heading towards the tent ahead, looking proud and frowning. If she had heard the last part of what he said, then she did well to hide them, for the expression on her face had turned stone cold.

There were three Miens standing in the doorway of the tent, folding their pinky hands around their chest and looking blankly ahead. They were almost the same height as the tent or a few feet away. If this were to be Anadan, then Ham would place them on the list of giants whom he had read in the historic book title; Ada pride of Alaocha. Each of the Miens had a black line running their forehead to their nostrils and lips, parting to spread across their ears. Like the rest of the people, the expression on their face was like a barren ground that had never seen water for ages.