Who makes a building all white?
It hurt Sylvie's eyes, too shiny and too stark. Someone meticulously scrubbed this place every day to make it look like it didn't regularly host a few hundred grimy scrap traders. To make it look like a lie.
Mobius had seen her, at least a bit of her. She was almost sure of it. But instead of being concerned, she felt a sick sense of pleasure. He had paled. He was afraid of her.
He should be.
Yes, he had apologized in the void. But an "I'm sorry" doesn't really cover an entire ruined life. She wasn't lying when she told Loki he wasn't all bad (gods it would be so much easier if he was). But Loki was right. He wasn't all good either.
But apparently, some force of destiny was on Sylvie's side today.
They befriended Agriphiles.
Sylvie had watched the pair wave to the mind-reading beings, delighted. Suddenly, their plan was about to become public information. At least for her.
One of the worst apocalypses Sylvie had hidden in, and one of her first, had been the civil war of Agirph. The more brutal side of the war had accidentally detonated a device that destroyed the planet in one fell swoop. Only the Agriphiles who were off-planet at the time had survived.
During her repeated stay on the war-torn planet, Sylvie had become extremely talented at blocking her thoughts from the pesky mind readers.
Stealing a translator chip from someone falling asleep on a bench (how they could sleep surrounded by everyone chattering excitedly about some fallen block she would never know), Sylvie waited until Loki and Mobius disappeared out a door. Then, she moved toward the three Agriphiles.
She had already decided that the shortest one would be her target. As Sylvie went within range of the mind-readers, she focused her mind on a quiet, white buzzing, and the story she planned to tell. It was subtle, and enough other people knew how to block their thoughts that it wouldn't arouse any suspicion.
"Excuse me," Sylvie started, smiling hurriedly at the mind readers. Two turned to look at her, the tallest remained locked in conversation with someone behind a window in the wall. "I'm so sorry, but you're Agriphiles aren't you? My son won't stop crying, and he won't tell me why. I'll give you a good price if you can help me out."
"Aw of course," the shortest one replied. The middle one seemed unbothered by the request, and the tall one didn't even notice.
"Oh thank you so much, kids amiright?" Sylvie chuckled conspiratorially.
"I'm sure it's quite a handful," the mind reader nodded, following Sylvie towards the bathrooms.
They disappeared down a hallway and moved towards a back room until no one else was around. Sylvie focused on imagining a child crying. Agriphiles often had trouble discerning between thoughts and actual noise. Hopefully she wouldn't wonder why Sylvie had put her 'son' in a back room.
"He's just through here," Sylvie said, turning the door handle. In a blur of motion she pushed the mind reader in, grabbing hold of her arm.
Sylvie felt the familiar tug of her magic as it spooled out of her, the dizzying sensation of falling, and then blinked open her eyes to see where she had found herself.
Oftentimes, the enchantment worked by inserting Sylvie into the place of someone else from the victim's life, weaving her into the happy memory or dream. It had been disconcerting at first, finding herself in someone's private thoughts and dreams, but before long Sylvie had taken comfort in the feeling of control.
The mental setting seemed to be a bedroom, three walls painted black and the fourth open onto a balcony. White curtains floated in a warm breeze. Sylvie laid on a plush velvet couch, and the mind-reader stood by the curtains.
When within the enchantment, Sylvie would be supplied with enough information about the victim and the situation to play her role well, like remembering something she had forgotten. The mind reader's name was Kcaylitri.
Sylvie also immediately understood the context of the fantasy/dream/memory. Romantic. This wasn't surprising. In fact, it was the most common situation Sylvie encountered during enchantments.
"Darling?" Sylvie asked, slowly, sitting up. She wore a pale silk dress that fell to her knees.
No one had taught her to do this, this enchantment. She had improvised on her own. She wasn't even totally sure how it worked (do they see me as someone else? how do we always understand each other despite possible language barriers?) There were no rules other than the ones she set for herself.
"You're awake!" Kcaylitri chirped happily, turning and crawling onto the couch, moving closer to kiss Sylvie. Sylvie turned her head away. The first rule she had set for herself was not to participate in romantic fantasies unless completely necessary. It just… felt wrong. Try as she might, Sylvie could never fully separate herself from a subtle, often selfish, sense of right and wrong.
"Actually," Sylvie said shyly, softly. Like it was romantic. She knew how to play her part, and once someone was under an enchantment, they couldn't use their powers against her (i.e, mind reading) "I had a question."
"Anything," Kcaylitri answered firmly, leaning back away from her. Sylvie felt a sharp tug in her chest of desperate longing (if only someone could say that to me and mean it. well, someone had, once) and she expertly shoved it away.
Sylvie tried desperately to conjure the coldness and determination she had always let drive her. It was getting harder, like when she reached down into the well of fury, there was less left.
No. You are not weak. You have a goal.
"Well, those two travelers you saw today. Loki and Mobius I think their names were?" Sylvie eased into the interrogation, ignoring the bitterness in her mouth as she said 'Loki and Mobius' aloud. Kcaylitri blinked for a moment (victims were always confused at first when Sylvie talked out of context) then began to speak.
"Oh yeah, they were sweet. Especially Mobius. You wouldn't believe some of the things they thought about each other though-"
Sylvie interrupted Kcaylitri's giggly gossip. "Well that's where my question comes in, actually. Do you know what their plan was, like, where were they going?"
Kcaylitri looked thoughtful for a moment. There was no resistance, apparently nothing Loki and Mobius had thought or said had implied the plan was a secret.
"I didn't hear as much from Loki, I think he was embarrassed by our talents." The pale purple humanoid smirked. "But Mobius kept thinking about going to New Asgard."
"New Asgard?" Sylvie asked, eyebrows rising.
"Yeah that settlement on that wild planet by Kroth I think, I've heard it is just gorgeous there this time of year, we should totally go after the-"
Sylvie interrupted again. "Do you know why?"
Kcaylitri huffed slightly, lowering her eyebrows, and Sylvie smiled warmly to smooth over her suspicions.
"I'm not sure, I wasn't really listening," Kcaylitri said. "Most of his thoughts that didn't pertain directly to our conversation were about how overheated and tired he was, or about Loki."
Sylvie pouted out her bottom lip, trying to match Kcaylitri's girlish energy. The mind reader smiled at her and sighed.
"Well, he did keep wondering about why New Asgard was blocked or something. And someone named Bob. But it sounded pretty boring. Why do you care so much?"
Sylvie knew she wouldn't get any more information out of the mind reader. At least she had a good idea of where they were going.
"None of your business darling," Sylvie smiled darkly and rolled her eyes back into her head, stepping out of the enchantment.
They were in the back room again. Kcaylitri sank to the floor, hand on her head. Sylvie whipped out a dagger, ready to silence the mind reader if need be.
"Ugh you could've just asked me without all that icky magic," the Agriphile grumbled.
"And you would've told me?" Sylvie snorted, still holding the dagger pointed at Kcaylitri. The room was dim and smelled like cleaning supplies.
"Yes," Kcaylitri snapped back. "They were nice enough but I don't mind telling someone where they were headed, that's no big deal. Not very gun shy are you?"
The mind reader got to her feet, and Sylvie was momentarily surprised that she had been able to push off the effects of the enchantment so quickly. Half the time, it drove people mad. Especially when she used their personal fantasies or memories.
Kcaylitri left the room, shooting a glance back at Sylvie. "You are very bad at making friends." and then she was gone.
Sylvie wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at how painfully accurate the statement was.
But it didn't matter. She had a lead.
She was going to New Asgard.
tysm to everyone still sticking with this story, I love you guys xx