When Mavis returned to the door, the cloaked figure that had sent her here in the first place stood with his hood down, doing his best to be unnecessarily mysterious.
“Excellent work, Mavis van Westerly. You have masterfully completed the wallpaper for this old hardware store. And now the fun begins. Are you ready to burn this place to the ground?”
“Excuse me?” Mavis said, stepping back. “Burn it? You want to destroy the hardware store that I just put all this effort into making pretty?”
The figure shrugged. “It must be this way. We must leave no trace of you ever being here.”
Mavis pretended to give an understanding nod. “Oh, right, that makes sense. Nothing says incognito like setting a building on fire.”
Mr Cloak gave a slight chuckle. “You’re not thinking this through. This place used to be the best Cheltenham store for timber. Is it that hard to believe that some hooligans broke in and set fire to a few old logs? Nobody will suspect a thing.”
“I suppose that makes sense. But why get me to put all this effort in to make a good wallpaper when it’s just going to be destroyed?”
“All will reveal itself in time, Mavis van Westerly.”
She crossed her arms, disappointed at the answer. She suspected that there would be plenty of vague and frustrating answers to come if she were to continue on this path. For a moment, she considered asking what came after this place burned down, but she could just see his answer being the same.
As the man lifted his hand and conjured a flame there, Mavis took one final look at the finest hardware store in the Bayside area, wishing there could have been another way.
The flame leapt from the robed man’s hand, hurling straight toward a pile of wood nearby. She wondered what sort of job he’d Ascended from to gain such powers. Perhaps she would have liked her magic more if she could create flames, rather than making pretty wallpapers. It didn’t really seem fair.
What use could they possibly have for a magical wallpaper installer?