[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MzIHaGw.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/JgL3zQi.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEwNi4wNjhjOGUuVEdsc1lTQkNiR0ZqYTNkdmIyUSwuMA,,/gritluefdemo.regular.webp[/img][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MyKmatB.png[/img][/center] [right][code] Sometimes there’s no one to blame but oneself.[/code] [code]INTERACTIONS[/code] Britney, [@Punished GN] [/right] It was the morning after… Britney woke up in Edict’s bed. Naked. Her head was banging, she felt sick, and then remembered she went pretty hard last night on the wine, tequila, and whatever else she could get her hands on. You know what they say? Tequila turns you into a demon. She coughed up some stomach acid and quietly snuck her way out the bed towards the fridge. Greyson was already asleep, Linqian dipped… And yet there was satisfaction with what she’s done. Britney was going to talk to Greyson about it later… She knew Greyson wouldn’t get mad if she helped herself to a bottle of water - or three. Britney then received a text… [code]” Hey. You free today? I need to talk to you about…all this…preferably once my head stops hurting…”[/code] [code]Yeah, sure. Name a time and place.[/code] [code] How about one? At the memorial? I’ll bring coffee. Maybe. If I can grip it.[/code] [code]Perfect. I’ll be there.[/code] [hr] Lila arrived at the memorial fifteen minutes early. She was incredibly hungover, anxious, and very much regretting leaving home at all. Yet she felt something here today that was hard to describe. The air itself felt like it hung heavy around it in a way that Lila has never felt. There were so many names on this mural, and Lila still remembered many of their faces. She was so different back then, and she knew that many hated the person she was. Weak. Spineless. The perfect lamb for the wolf to lead astray. Yet they never got to see the person, the strong woman, she became. She pulled her clawed hands down the list as she searched for three code names. She tapped on them in order as she spotted them. Seven-spot Ladybug. Green peafowl. Blood red glider. These were Jaspers best friends, and they hated Lila more than most despite Jasper’s best attempts to make peace. They told Jasper that Lila was nothing more than a flakey, no good, spineless coward who needed a protector. And they were right. Now, Lila was strong. If she wanted to she could gouge out their names with nothing more than a flick of her wrist. She hovered her clawed hands over their name, her hands shaking as the thought danced across her mind. They deserved to be forgotten, relegated to just the memory of the only person who actually liked them. But she could not. Their deaths were honorable. They died saving others, sacrificing themselves so many others could live. Lila knew that they were forgotten among the modern coven and that did a disservice to them, and what they did. They didn’t deserve that, and neither did Jasper. Lila sighed as she walked back to the table and grabbed her coffee and took a big drink from it. Footsteps could be heard approaching. Then came to a dead stop. [color=f4eb93]””... Lila, what in the world?”[/color] Britney said as she walked over. She was wearing a black checkered shirt, black jeans, and black boots. She gently caressed Lila’s wings, before saying, [color=f4eb93]”You can’t undo this, can you?”[/color] Lila began to try and speak but the words were stolen from her. She looked at Britney, the mural, the ground, back to Britney, back to the ground and finally back to Britney. She shook her head as she pulled her wings in close behind her back in a vain attempt to hide them. She looked at the ground as she threw her arms out. [color=DA70D6]“No,”[/color] Lila paused as she felt a small tear well. [color=DA70D6]“the Maiden told me I could learn how to hide it but she’d been, been missing since Kari’s.”[/color] Britney took a step back before saying, [color=f4eb93]”... The [i]Maiden[/i] should be sealed. Did you tamper with the seal at all?”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“That what I thought,”[/color] Lila said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the ornate elephant that they had thought the maiden was sealed into, [color=DA70D6]“but she’s been with me even if she’s sealed in here still,”[/color] Lila paused as she put it down on the teller, [color=DA70D6]“this feels empty, Britney, I don’t think the maiden was sealed in this.”[/color] Lila grabbed her arm with her free hand as she took a step back. [color=DA70D6]“I’m so confused Britney.”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”I mean Apparitions don’t have weight, so- oh you mean metaphorically,”[/color] Britney grabbed the elephant and then threw it on the floor. It shattered and there was an awkward silence. [color=f4eb93]”... Yeah, she’s not in there.”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“If she’s not in there,”[/color] Lila frowned as tears welled and flowed. Lila threw her arms wide before they fell back to her feet, [color=DA70D6]“then where was she sealed?”[/color] Britney looked at the ground… [color=f4eb93]”She has to be inside you.”[/color] Britney said as she raised her head. Lila scoffed at the thought. How would the maiden be inside of her? She then thought back to the sealing and the copious amount of alcohol they all drank, and the thought of a failed sealing only grew in her mind. [color=DA70D6]“Normally I like it when a women is in me but not like this,”[/color] Lila tried to joke through the sadness, [color=DA70D6]“How did she get inside me?”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”... Maybe you were naked and tripped and she sli- Okay, okay, I’ll be serious,”[/color] Britney shook her head as she had a seat next to Lila, she grabbed the cup of coffee, and just shrugged as she took a sip. [color=f4eb93]”I wonder how you got this like that… I mean, the Blind probably interpret you as a normal gal but wouldn’t it be nine different kinds of fucked up if you were a One-Eye-Open and just saw a half-bird, half-woman walk in!?”[/color] She laughed before she took another sip, and stared at the cup. [color=f4eb93]”... I must have made a mistake when sealing her. I mean, I did flip the fuck out when your eyes rolled back and thought she had Abscised for a second there - that’s not an excuse but still...”[/color] She shrugged. [color=DA70D6]“Yeah, I’lol just go around and giving people their kindling at the sight of me,”[/color] Lila chuckled as she shifted her footing and adjusted her weight. Why was she laughing, trying to make this conversation easy? Britney fucked her over. Britney took away the simple life she had, maiden and all, and made her into this monster. Put these murderous thoughts in her mind. Britney did this. And she wasn’t even sorry. Britney deserved to… Lila pushed these thoughts down. While she felt those feelings herself, she knew those were not her own once again. The maiden was once again trying to play with her emotions. Lila would not allow it. [color=DA70D6]“I.. want to be mad at you. I want to feel angry,”[/color] Lila looked down at her hands, [color=DA70D6]“I suppose… to some extent I am. But I don’t think you intended for this to happen, you were trying to help me and we were drunk. I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t hate you for trying to help me, I’m a bit upset and I’ll be upset for a while at the end result, but I do not want to hate you for it. Is there anything that can be done to get her out of me?”[/color] Lila asked as she looked around at anyone nearby. She watched to see if anyone reacted to her form. Britney sighed, blinking slowly, before opening her eyes, [color=f4eb93]”No, I should have been the responsible one there, Lila.”[/color] She began. [color=f4eb93]”First, we gotta figure out the nature of this. Is she still Adjoined to your soul or is she just sealed inside of you? Because if it's the latter, we just gotta break the seal without killing or permanently disfiguring you…”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“I don’t know which way it is, how can we figure that out,”[/color] Lila asked. [color=f4eb93]”We can contact Stormy, and see if he can ward away the Maiden like usual,”[/color] Britney shrugged. [color=DA70D6]“He used it at the festival,”[/color] Lila said as she sat down, [color=DA70D6]“I was there, right in the middle of the aura. It was like the maiden just…retreated inside of me. She did not go away.”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”Like she was outside of you?”[/color] Britney asked. Lila shook her head. [color=DA70D6]“She used Emily’s words and actions to come out of me, and as she did I felt myself being pulled deeper and deeper into myself away from the light. When Stormy popped his aura, it was like the opposite. I felt the maiden retreat from the light allowing me full control. She did not leave me, she retreated somewhere deep within,”[/color] Lila paused as she began to realize what she was saying. [color=DA70D6]“With that thought in mind I think you sealed her inside of me.”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”Well, if she can leave your body at all, then she’s not sealed,”[/color] Britney shook her head. [color=f4eb93]”But, that’s not important, it is simple; we just need to draw her out again, and then we can seal her, and then we can have Jack chuck her into the Void, and that's that.”[/color] She started awkwardly laughing, [color=f4eb93]”Maybe we can go on an adventure throughout the All-Verse to find the [i]Booby Maiden.[/i]”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“Not leave my body, but like take over it. She wasn’t trying to leave my body, she was trying to control me to bring her sick twisted plans into our realm,”[/color]. Lila paused as she thought over Britney’s plan. [color=DA70D6]“I would look good as a Booby Maiden. I love them very much.”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”I mean the booby-[i]bird[/i], you horndog,”[/color] Britney laughed, before it turned awkward. [color=f4eb93]”Look, I’ll do some research and talk to some people and we’ll see if I can devise a way to fix this before it gets out of hand.”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“If that pink mist was a taste of what is to come The Maiden wants things to get out of hand,”[/color] Lila said as she flapped her wings on accident. [color=f4eb93]”… And who gives a damn what she wants?”[/color] Britney laughed. [color=f4eb93]”Certainly not me.”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“Nor I,”[/color] Lynn smiled genuinely. The Maiden did give her many useful gifts. She could see so much more, all at once, thanks to the new connection with her crows. As well, she could command them much more efficiently than before. And they reminded her what she commanded them to do this past Friday. [color=DA70D6]“Hey, I feel like while we’re on this conversation I need to have a full disclosure moment with you,”[/color] Lila chuckled nervously, [color=DA70D6]“so do you remember back at the festival when I commanded my murder to shit all over Emily? Well,”[/color] Lila collapsed one wing while the other stuttered to a close, [color=DA70D6]“I spread a part of my murder out across the entire area, city and countryside, and they’re on the lookout for Emily. If they spot her, another part of the murder…tens of thousands of crows will fly to her and shit all over her again. On repeat…..”[/color] Lila paused as she sighed, [color=DA70D6]“and I commanded a third group to shit all over her house, the bushes and trees around it, and every car parked outside. This may make her want revenge. Again.”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”I mean… I doubt she stopped,”[/color] Britney shrugged. [color=f4eb93]”Hopefully, next meeting, we can sit down and talk about how we’re going to deal with her and 8th St.”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“Agreed. I don’t think we can coexist with them anymore,”[/color] Lila smirked, [color=DA70D6]“for what it’s worth I won’t let Emily hurt you. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve now. If she comes after us again I’ll help keep you safe”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”You don’t have to worry about me,”[/color] Britney said, [color=f4eb93]”I’m keeping you safe from harm. I promise.”[/color] Britney got up and walked over to the memorial, gently touching her fingertips against the various names carved into the tree. [color=f4eb93]””... You know, I’ve been trying my best to keep this place looking nice and presentable,“[/color] Britney said as she looked over her shoulder at Lila. [color=f4eb93]”I mean, I feel like it’s the best I can do for them, y’know? They gave us their all, and look what we have to show for it?”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“It hasn’t gone unnoticed,”[/color] Lynn said as she looked over to Britney, checking out the memorial as she did. [color=DA70D6]“It’s weird looking at the names on there, you know? Friends, comrades,”[/color] and bullies Lila thought as she looked at Britney. [color=DA70D6]“The hard part is seeing the added names. Lynn is trying to get us a lead on what’s next but it feels…like we’re always one step behind, you know? ”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”I know we’re all trying our best here to get to the bottom of it, but… whoever’s doing this…”[/color] Britney’s fingers continued to grace the memorial before they came to a stop. [color=f4eb93]”... They’re good. Real good.”[/color] She sighed. [color=f4eb93]”Don’t tell Lynn this, but all things considered, [i]it’s definitely Kari.[/i]”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“She’s already seen a future where she is indeed the one taking us out,”[/color] Lila sighed before taking a deep breath, [color=DA70D6]“she saw several futures. But I know, deep down, she truly does not want to consider that one. If it is, what reason would she have?”[/color] [color=f4eb93]”It’s beyond me, but a lot of people don’t get that it’s been ten years,”[/color] Britney said with a sigh. [color=f4eb93]”I know some people haven’t changed one bit, but [i]a lot[/i] can happen in ten years that can change you for the worse...”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“It’s hard to remember that. It seems everyone left and as soon as we’re all back together again the same cliques formed like no time has passed,”[/color] Lila paused as she walked over to the mural. There were so many names here that she could barely remember, the cruel ever marching nature of time pulling their memories away from her. [color=DA70D6]“That’s an understatement. If it is Kari I can only imagine what might’ve driven her to this madness,”[/color] Lila paused as she held up all her fingers. [color=DA70D6]“Lynn told me the possible futures. There were a few that involved Kari being actually dead, or in hiding, more where Kari is farther wolf for one reason or another, and a final few where she’s trying to stop this from the sidelines for some reason. I am not in the headspace to try and decipher what may be true,”[/color] Lila paused as she lowered all her clawed hands. [color=f4eb93]”Me neither, and we’re going to drive ourselves crazy trying to figure it all out with nothing to really go off of!”[/color] Britney laughed, as she turned to Lila. [color=f4eb93]”But, my logic is that she has the perfect abstraction to catch us when we’re helpless, cover all the traces, and get away… but....”[/color] She trailed off. [color=f4eb93]”... Actually, let’s just honor our fallen, shall we?”[/color] [color=DA70D6]“Yes. I don’t know how but I’ll follow your lead,”[/color] Lila said with a smile.