CHAPTER 14:

2008, somewhere in the underworld.

"Permanent", Gredam shouted jumping up. "No, no, no don't tell me I am gonna look like one of those freaks forever." Nëomie laid a hand on his cheek again and softly kissed his lips. "I think you're cute this way", she said teasing him. Gredam quickly looked in the mirror again, but then smashed it to the ground. "I don't", he said.

He looked at the pieces of glass on the floor and took Nëomie's hand from his cheek. "Can you fix this?", he asked while pointing at his face. She smiled. "Of course I can, I wouldn't change you without saying it if I couldn't would I?" "Hmm maybe not", Gredam said as he let go of her hand.

He suddenly wasn't so sure about Nëomie anymore. 'Why didn't she say what she was going to do?', he wondered. 'Or warn me about the pain?' He looked at her and saw she was waiting for him to say something. "What?", he said annoyed. He heard the sudden change of the tone in his voice and apologised. "Sorry, but this is just a little to weird for me alright? Last time I saw one of them they tried to kill me and now I look like one of the murderers of my friend. And you didn't even asked me if I wanted in the first place."

Nëomie shrugged. "What if I asked? You would have said no and it's the only way for you to get there." "How can you be so sure about that?", Gredam said. "I mean I am sure when you think about it you can come up with more things. I mean it's not like you planned this months ago did you?" "Actually we did", Nëomie answered. "You did?", Gredam said surprised. Nëomie nodded.

Gredam sighed. "Fine if you promise to change me back at the end I guess maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. But what now, do I just walk in there, pretending to be one of them?" Nëomie nodded again. "And how the hell am I going to get there, or know where the place is in the first place?"

"You look like the higher men now Gredam. To really become one, think like one", Nëomie answered. "Can you be more cryptic?", Gredam grumbled. "Think like a higher man?" He concentrated on the mind of one of these creatures, thinking what to do. 'Kill someone? Spy on the masters enemies? Obey the master's orders? The last thing was definitely important, but how to obey someone who you can't find?' He sighed, "I give up, can you give a clue here?"

"Alright, what are the higher man best at?", Nëomie asked. "Slime at the masters", Gredam said serious. Nëomie laughed. "Yes you are right about that, but first they need to get there, won't they?" Gredam nodded. "They are great at disappearing and reappearing, Gredam. They can be anywhere they want in a flash. All they need to do is send their little transporter over there a message", she said as she pointed to Gredam's wrist.

Gredam looked at his wrist and saw his watched was changed when his appearance did. It looked even more complicated than the previous one he had. He just then realises that his entire outfit had changed. No more jeans and a t-shirt, but a black suit with tie was his clothing now. "Just send this thing a message?", Gredam asked nervous. "You know, I suck with electrical equipment."

Nëomie smiled and gently took his arm. She pulled Gredam closer to her and held his hand out. "Now lets see", she said as she looked at all the buttons on the watch. She quickly pushed on a few of them and a boost of light came out of it. "Hmmm not the right one", she said while she pushed a few others. Suddenly the screen on the watch lightened up and showed a tiny menu. "Now that's better", she said as she saw what they had to do.

She took Gredam's other hand and showed him with his fingers what he had to do to get somewhere. It was fairly easy, even Gredam got it in no time. It was like a navigation system for the underworld in a Knight Rider outfit. "Okay", he finally said, "I can do that".

He swallowed a lump in his throat as he hesitated to take off. "Are you sure he would not notice who I am?" "Positive", Nëomie said calm. "He can't see who you are, the only thing that can change his thoughts is you. You have to be in control. You have to believe you are", she looked at the name on his jacket "Z-JELM 20".

Gredam nodded and looked at Nëomie one more time before pushing the buttons of his watch. "To the master", he whispered. The minute he gave his watch that order he shimmered out of the cage where Nëomie and the other hidden ones were and ended up at a more elegant lair. A much bigger one to. Not only saw he an endless long hallway in front of him he also saw a dozen sideways.

Suddenly a group of five higher men walked past him and one of him grabbed him and dragged him along. "You come with me", he said before Gredam could protest. They quickly walked a few minutes in the hallway before making an abrupt turn to the left. They stopped in front of a giant guarded door. The man in front of the group higher men exchanged a few words with the guards and the door opened.

One of the man still dragged Gredam along with him and they entered the room. On each side of the room Gredam saw guards watching them while they walked forward. They stopped in front of smaller door which was strangely enough not guarded. The man who was apparently the leader of the group knocked on the door and Gredam heard a low man's voice say "Enter". They did so and although Gredam never has seen the demon in front of him he immediately recognised him: The Master.