[indent][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xTNKsa5.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/t8CcqOy.png[/img] [hider=Mood Music][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhDH7AefqYc[/youtube][/hider][/center][right][h1][color=f49ac2]Edict[/color] & [color=7ABBFF]Layla[/color][/h1][/right][right][sub][hr][color=f49ac2]Mentions: [color=00ff98]Stormy Carson[/color] & [color=6644ff]Jack Hawthorne/[@Blizz],[/color] [color=f4eb93]Britney Williams/[@Punished GN],[/color] [color=silver]Sloane Farris/[@Atrophy],[/color] [color=C67C12]Leon Richoux,[/color] [color=#FFFFFF]P[/color][color=#0862FF]R[/color][color=#FF0D0D]A[/color]/[color=#FFD700]T[/color][color=#FFEB7F]C[/color][color=#FFFFFF]G[/color][color=#E2BD88]I[/color]/[color=#147FB5]S[/color][color=#40A626]T[/color][color=#B3845B]C[/color] NPCs |[/color] [color=f49ac2]Direct Dialogue: [color=ffffff]In collaboration with [@Estylwen][/color] |[/color] [color=f49ac2]Location:[/color] Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District [/sub][/right][hr] [/indent]Edict stared down at her pale, innocent face from behind dark glasses. His intentions were cold and dark; nothing any worse than what normally surrounded the girl. Unintentionally, through his desire to manipulate, he’d found a target with whom he had no real past. Layla had been a little girl: She hadn’t had the chance to wrong him in a way that she understood. What did she deserve that people like Sully or Leon deserved? What Auri or Sloane or Ashley deserved? But it had to be done; something had to give in the situation he was in now. She either had a grudge or something deeper, but he needed to know everything before he could make a judgment. He had no clue what he was actually walking into. Edict’s smile curled up around his face, perfectly curated to mimic empathy and compassion. His hand extended in a friendly way, patting Layla on the shoulder with a directive motion toward the haunted house. As he did, he pulled out his phone and rattled the text message to Linqian he had intended to. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/w52qnh0.png[/img][/center] His phone clicked, and he moved his hand away from Layla as they began to walk. His first instinct was to give the same disclaimer he’d had the decency to give Linqian. [color=f49ac2]"A couple of things are going to happen at once, Layla. I’m gonna show you what happened at the Church, and at the same time I’m gonna give you a bit of a boost. Think of it like an energy drink: You’ll feel more alert, but also more relaxed… I know it sounds weird, but I promise it’s pretty cool.-"[/color] Layla nodded along as they walked. [color=7ABBFF][b]”O-okay.”[/b][/color] Edict gave the girl a smile and a reassuring nod as they began to walk through the crowds the further they got into the actual event space. Of course he wouldn’t tell her what the process entailed; about how he’d be learning every point of stress he could, about how he’d be scrubbing and combing her memories for information in order to form the perfect string of spells catered to give her the best kind of high she could ask for. [color=f49ac2]"Now, it’ll last about four hours. We’ll probably either be wrapping up or already departed by then, so if you like the feeling I’ll top you off again before we’re done. However, I’ll warn you that after you’re done, it’s gonna feel like hell. Worse than when you started, maybe. But, I’ve heard people say the four hours is enough time to experience some level of clarity where they were able to make changes in their lives. I think it’s worth it if you can push through the adverse ending.”[/color] Bullshit. It was heroin, it was amphetamine, it was the poison one crams into their veins through the webbing in their toes because they can’t show the injection sight to the public. It was the little death, the pain of withdrawal that left you feeling empty and worthless without the glowing pink center to give you that second hit. If she wasn’t a naïve girl, she’d have sprinted away then and there. But he never framed it like it was the end of the world. For a strong person, someone like Linqian, it wasn’t. It was the weak and the desperate that clung to Edict like a piece of flotsam in the storm. His eyes began to curl with pink smoke, Channeler intaking Pink Lux from his own mind. The Pink Lotus unfurled its waterbound roots, beginning to crawl across the space between them in bundles like wide arms that caressed Layla’s emotional field like a mother swaddling a newborn. Even the gentle uplifting pressure was enough to make him feel safe… And, he was asking permission. Nothing bad ever happened with someone’s permission, right? [color=f49ac2]"Are you ready?”[/color] A brief hesitation. What was she signing away here? Layla's bottom lip stiffened. No, no there was no time for hesitation. She felt cold, uncertain, yes. But Mr. Devola could be trusted. He could be [i]trusted[/i], right? A shaky breath. She could feel pressures already. Not in a bad way. Poised, more like. Waiting to be let in. [color=7ABBFF][b]“I'm ready.”[/b][/color] She said softly, having no idea what she was walking into. Internally, she relaxed. It was like any resistance she held was released as she stood as still as possible. Edict took a long, deep breath. The words didn’t ring through the air so much as echo through her very mind. [color=f49ac2][b][i]”Pink Lotus’ Guiding Principle: Power Word Assess.”[/i][/b][/color] The tendrils felt the flickering resistance as Layla released herself to him and his intentions. And as Mr. Devola would begin his examination, several stress points would pop up, hazy in their numbers, but taking focus at a closer look. The Void. What appeared to be kindness turned into ultimate betrayal as Layla watched Jack lure her and Void into a trap. The pain of having to fight friends - Stormy, Jack, Britney, Auri, in a desperate struggle for survival. The pain of being unheard and misunderstood when she said it would get worse, much worse, if they took Void from her. The hot, biting sting of hatred in Layla as she pulled a knife on Jack. She hated seeing Void surrender. She didn't understand why a stupid sword meant anything, why Void was so scared of Britney. Why he surrendered all of a sudden. Her anger though, curiously, turned on Jack instead, and she felt the bloodlust necessary to drive it through his heart. The pain of preferring death, of threatening her own life, to keep them away from Void. The Temple. The false sense of security that was shattered like a China dish. This memory was twisted, thought on repeatedly instead of being first-hand experience. As if Layla could only imagine as Mr. Salamante drove the knife through a no longer breathing Void. Her raw disgust at Clarissa, the memory having an audible shriek to it as Layla gripped hands on the woman. How her disgust and shock turned into physical sickness. How she was told Void was dead. And she wished to be dead too. The nights. Haunting shadows of figures morphing into reality, crooning over her as she sat there in the darkness, petrified with fear. Hands and face slicked with sweat. Trembling at even the slight gesture of them teasing her, mocking her. The fear of knowing what her entities wanted, and simply waiting for the pain. Waiting in dread for a thing she couldn't avoid. As all of this swirled, as he peeled through each layer of her recent memories hunting and searching for a point where she’d decided that a hit was to be placed on Britney for her involvement, he regaled Layla with the full color full motion footage recorded in his mind. [color=f49ac2][b][i]”Pink Lotus’ Precious Recollection: Living in Color.”[/i][/b][/color] It was a seamless experience filled in by the imagination of a man who spent his entire life lying to people in order to maintain his own position. He was happy to show her something that [i]almost[/i] happened, as it was far easier to put together on the fly than something entirely fabricated. What Layla saw flash across her own mind as things began to settle in her was from Edict’s point of view. The flash of Jack teleporting away outside the Church, with what she recognized as herself in tow. Entering the Church, Leon’s boisterous voice shouting about someone teleporting. [color=f49ac2][b][i]”Leon knew you were in trouble. I realize this now. He tried to save you.”[/i][/b][/color] It was like one of those old school moving pictures, where instead of a voice there was a flash of text quotes in the foreground. Followed by clever editing; Leon at the window, the canister hitting him in the head. It was easy to influence the mind to think that the cloud of vapor wasn’t there… It hit the floor in front of him. Then, his hands came up, throwing the canister toward the ceiling as it exploded into a ball of fire. Never once did it show his hand in it, that he’d lit the fire from the leaking gas cloud. It also wasn’t hard to mimic consciousness fading in and out, and he did this to cover his failed escape attempt. Rather, in the vision he gave Layla a sense that he turned from the explosion and tried to dive away before being driven to the ground by the force. His eyes opened to the PRA, and he made sure to focus on their leader shouting and having an absolute shitfit. [color=f49ac2][b][i]”These people are dangerous enemies.”[/i][/b][/color] Faces flashed in front of Layla, and Edict couldn’t help but transfer a bit of personal emotion to her. Pain that she was familiar with, that he was quickly learning behind the scenes as something they had in common. Sloane, Stormy, Jack and Auri who arrived wounded. It was explained far better to him through this context, knowing what he knew now. There’d been a fight. Those two from the Temple, and more. Salamente, even their Lady herself, Lynette. But the picture show was over then. His work wasn’t. The two of them walked while this happened, with Edict guiding their steps slowly and carefully until they made it to a waiting area where they could sit near the Haunted House. [color=f49ac2][b][i]”Pink Lotus’ Guiding Principle: More Than a Feeling.”[/i][/b][/color] Complete and total pink saturation washed through Layla’s brain matter, brute forcing a solution that he’d searched and searched for: The crux of the problem. He was always listening, after all. [color=f49ac2][i]”Taking life is easy. You must just not be looking at things the right way. [b]Don’t Worry.”[/b][/i][/color] Picking through her memories, he began to feed them back to her. Images of past kills, of previous hunts that she’d been forced to watch. The Void Heart smiled in her memory, bloody hands lifting up her chin to witness his dark form. Alongside him, “friendly” faces: Edict himself, with Britney under his arm. Leon, the Temple, people who he wanted her to disassociate as threats. As if Void Heart was personally vouching for them contrary to what she had previously seen. [color=A299FD]"I’m so proud of you…”[/color] He pulled and ruffled the sparse but passionate moments that she’d spent with Void Heart, bringing it all together in the form of a seal that locked her mind into the final thought: Jack Hawthorne’s severed head, corpse a feast for the ethereal dogs of her torturers piled alongside the others who had betrayed her trust in the first place. [color=f49ac2][i]”People involve themselves in business that isn’t theirs. Busy bodies, enemies of your happiness. You have the tools to end their lives. Use it for yourself, and paint the canvas with their remains.”[/i][/color] As the crux and defining moment played out, one last memory surfaced. One that Mr. Devola had been searching for. The mental breakdown of Layla's as she sat across a recognized figure - Miss Vorpal. One other, Miss Blackthorn, was with them as well. The feeling of bliss from Miss Vorpal's ethereal eyes. How Miss Vorpal held Layla and promised her healing in the form of revenge. How Britney Williams had been implied as one that had to suffer. This was how the connection between Britney's hit and Layla's involvement would be made. And then reality came back around them, the tendrils pulling away all at once. Edict had his sunglasses in his hand now, looking at Layla as she came to. Consciousness was meant, in Edict’s method, to be a warm embrace that welcomed the girl back into its arms. The sting of Void Heart’s loss remained, but far louder was the lasting image of that “friendly” smirk he gave to his pets. What one may consider predatory was Layla’s happy place: The beast that gave her peace. Edict waited for a long moment, letting reality set back in for her as sorrow was replaced with warm nostalgia and love that she’d been able to perceive as if it were real and in front of her. As her awareness came back to her, a genuine smile graced her features. What had once been unhappy and grief-stricken were now replaced with happiness and peace. She was filled with understanding, as tangible as seeing Void's warm face in front of her. She blinked slowly, trying to get her bearings. She realized they were right outside the Haunted House, and a childish giggle escaped her lips. She thought about what she saw, and spoke slowly, gaze shifting from the ground to Mr. Devola. [color=7ABBFF][b]“I think… the cops were wrong to attack everyone. I can't believe they set the church on fire…”[/b][/color] Her head hung a bit. [color=7ABBFF][b]“Perhaps… I was wrong about the Temple. They were just trying to help.”[/b][/color] She thought of Void, and her smile grew soft. [color=7ABBFF][b]“I miss my friend, but I'll be okay.”[/b][/color] A dark, detached look crossed her face. She didn't vocalize this, but already in her mind, strategies were being formed to take down the man who betrayed her and Void: Jack Hawthorne. He wouldn't see it coming… [color=7ABBFF][b]“I… Thank you, Mr. Devola.”[/b][/color] Edict, looking around to see Linqian, Sabrina and Britney making their return through the crowd, leaned into Layla subtly as he stuffed his Channeler into his breast pocket. [color=f49ac2]"Don't mention it. Seriously, not to anyone else. It's our secret now. Revenge Buddies.”[/color] He patted her shoulder with warm comfort, something like a genuine smile forming over his face as his legs brought him back to a standing position. He hefted the guitar case over his shoulder, waving the returning ladies closer to them.