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Shining Blossom
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Upon saying that, she turns away, tears pricking her eyes again. “It’s not your fault, it’s… it’s… I just should’ve been better.” She lets out a shuddering laugh and clutches at her chest. “Never good enough, haha…”
>Let the others feel their loss but dont allow them to blame roderick, you or themselves. The enemy who did this was beyond retribution this day, but that will not always be so.
“It’s not your fault either, Mina. It’s Bakoth’s. He’s the reason for all of this, don’t blame yourself.”
All those words seem to make her do that hollow laugh even more. Shaking her head, she says, “Heh… I appreciate it Tanna. I trust her Eve, she isn’t that monster.”
Evel’yee doesn’t seem as convinced however, she continues to look at me distrustfully.
>I also think it's time to explain the mental compulsion, but be tactful with what you say because you are not convincing Evel’yee to go against her so it's better if you don't say anything that can make her turn against you. Lastly having just experienced the satisfaction of the fulfilment of your compulsion share this understanding with Evel’yee
“You still feel it, don’t you?”
“What bullshit are you spewing now?”
Holding the box a little higher towards her, “Even knowing what this thing did to you, you still want to open it.”
“No… no, you seriously can’t be… after everything?”
I see Evel’yee visibly stiffen, even she knows it’s crazy. “I’ve got a similar compulsion, I know what it’s like. Unnatural, but I can’t turn away.”
She’s breathing hard now. I can see it in her eyes. “Yeah? Yeah, I do mother fucker. I wanna open it and kill the thing inside, tear it apart for what it did to me. You gonna get in my way?”
Is that how she’s going to justify it now? I can work with that.
>explain that you seem more resistant to his influence than others, and request that neither Mina nor Evel’yee touch the box for fear of what might happen to them.
“No, no! I’m absolutely not looking to get in your way. Actually, I really want to help you with that! Whatever Bakoth was doing to you almost made you do something self destructive… just imagine what he’d be doing now if I wasn’t keeping him silent.” It’s a little manipulative, but she does kind of need me. “As I said before, I’m keeping the monster inside silent, I want him dead too. Also, if I was being controlled by him, wouldn’t he just do what he was doing to you before?”
“STOP… bringing it up.” She snarls at me. She seriously looks like she wants to let her bow loose, her fur is bristling and her hold on the string is shaking. Did I push the wrong point?
Mina bends down slightly to get level with her. With a quiet voice and making note not to touch her, she simply says her name. “Eve…”
A tense moment passes, the two of us just waiting for what she’ll do until she finally snaps. “FUCK YOU! FINE! GODS DAMMIT! Dammit… all to fucking hell… fine.”
Evel’yee lowers her bow seemingly defeated, all the aggression in her little form dispersing quickly. Putting her bow away, she looks up at seemingly nothing. With a sad and self-loathing smile, she shakily says, “Man… man I am SUCH a fucking tool. Just ALWAYS getting yanked around constantly, aren’t I? Like my role in life or something, haha. Pathetic.”
“No… that isn’t…”
“Hah, don’t pretend you weren’t a part of that little stunt with the charm earlier.” She says a little sharply, but there isn’t any real malice behind it. Even still, Mina recoils slightly. “Look, I get why you did it, it just… sucks. Everything about this is such fucking trash. Gimme a sec.”
Evel’yee places her back against the wall and slides down until she’s sitting. Taking a deep breath, she then pats her fist against her collarbone and shakes off whatever bad emotions existed. After a moment to compose herself, she trains her eyes towards me. “Well, fuck it. Guess you gotta hold onto it for now, eh? Wouldn’t be safe otherwise.”
I quietly nod my head at her, a moment of silence passing until I hear Mina speak up. “I don’t mean to ignore all that… but I’ve got a lot of questions Tanna. That monster’s still in there, just suppressed by you somehow?”
“Er… yeah. I kinda genuinely don’t know how I’m doing it to be honest, but I am.”
She narrows her eyes at me. I’m being truthful! “Well, it holds some responsibility for killing my friend, and I want it destroyed. But just what the heck was it trying to do? So many weird motives. Why stick around here in the first place? And also it really seemed like it didn’t want me to touch it. It made the rest of my friends align with that goal as well. Why Eve, what did you feel?”
“I ain’t sure about the sticking around part. I didn’t really question it as much as I should have, Roderick seemed insistent. As for not letting you touch it, it must’ve manipulated me not to let you, though it really did feel like it was my own thoughts. Something about it being unsafe, playing with my head like that…” Evel’yee takes out her dagger and starts to spin in it around in her hand. “It had been weird at the time… even Jacob pulled me to the side and asked me why we did that. The two of us went to ask Roderick, but by the time we got to him, it seemed so trivial. And then the days kept passing, and the thoughts more and more vicious. Just constantly dark and sinister, wondering when the thread was going to snap between everyone. But the one about you touching the box, that one was forefront. I knew something terrible would happen if you managed to. Eventually it got so bad that that uh… it’s the reason why Jacob and I attacked you.”
There’s a visible shiver that runs through Mina when Evel’yee brings up how they were manipulated. It’s pretty creepy honestly. As if shaking something off, she turns to me. “Why though? How come that monster wanted to kill me so badly compared to everyone else? Couldn’t it have just enthralled me along with them? And also… what the heck were those other voices from earlier? Not the… I guess the one belonging to Bakoth, but the ones that seem friends with you.”
Evel’yee’s whiskers twitch upon mention of the other voices. “Ah yeah, shit, I kinda forgot. What was that? They were kinda weird, but definitely not malicious like that cunt in the box.”
I’m starting to think my past self didn’t like talking to others very much, I am quickly getting exhausted of explaining things. Winds, could you help here?
>To Evel’yee:
>Please forgive our girl. She was very happy to have you caring so much about her, even if it was just an illusion.
Classical.
Evel’yee’s eyes go a little wide when the message is sent her way. A small smile creeps up though, first genuine looking one in a while. “Haha, alright. I forgive her for the charm, it was for the best. Though did you really feel that way? They’re just some voices that belong to you?”
“Sorry for yelling at them earlier, I wasn’t in the best state of mind.”
>ask about her perspective since she went with a similar but less intense thing as your temporary friend and now is free of it. Ask what what does she feel about it now. And also if she want to do it again sometime. It could be fun.
“I’m not sure who or what they are to be honest? They only came to me recently. And uh… they’re quirky, alright? Right now, they’re asking me if you’d want to be charmed again in the future?”
Her fur suddenly bristles and her gaze turns wickedly sharp. “No. And I ain’t sure how it works, but let them know never to fucking suggest that again.”
Eesh! That was a bit hostile... “Er… don’t worry, they heard.”
There’s some awkward silence until Mina lets out a small cough. “Ehm, about me having not touched it…” I’m dying here.
“O-Oh, sorry Tanna. I guess I’m kind of barraging you with questions. Maybe once we’re above ground? I really do want to get out of here, but I need to… say goodbye to Roderick first.” Her voice carries a shaky tone as she says that.
Evel’yee pauses in twirling her knife and holds it up to look at her reflection. “Yeah, I suppose I do too.” Apparently she doesn’t like what she sees, because she stabs it in between the cracks of the floor and chips away at some dirt angrily. “...Wish my last words to him had been a bit better.”
>That will of course mean we have to part ways with Mina... and get far enough away from her that the others can't track us down and try to steal the box as we sleep. We can't sleep here, either, because it would be best to leave while those two others are trapped in the jail.
>I know we wanted to climb out, but... what about that river exit? If we have the key to that door, we can use that and it will be much harder for the others to figure out where we went, because rivers leave no tracks.
What should I say to Mina’s question about touching the box Winds? I guess it’d help to know what Bakoth said. And also, should I consider leaving them behind? I could pretty easily do so when they go to pay their respects. I remember the river exit being behind some kinda gate. I never did check whether it was locked or not, though I do have a key in my pack. That water was pretty torrential though…
I dunno, I don’t exactly hate them, even if they’re kind of exhausting to talk to. What do you think Winds?
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