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Volume I: Ant. 10: A Bit of Reflection:
The next day: March 3rd:
*Simin's perspective*
I don't know how I managed to do it, but I was able to convince Raven to give Vernal and me the day off today from our training regimen… with the promise that we would make up for it with an extra day of training…
I woke up not feeling too well. I figured that I wasn't in much shape to train today and asked Raven if I could have a day off. I was feeling okay yesterday- albeit a bit sniffly- but mostly fine. Raven thought I was faking it at first. But she eventually believed me when she took a closer look at me. Raven looked a bit annoyed, but she relented and gave me and Vernal the day off. I'd never seen Vernal so happy and relieved when Raven told her.
However, before Raven left me in my tent this morning, she gave me one order: rest and try not to move around too much.
But, as someone who is used to being active on a daily basis, I needed to do something. I don't like just sitting one spot all day doing nothing. This must be how it feels to be Sophia right now.
Wanting to be at least a little active, I decided to help Jeremiah with serving lunch since I already do that anyway. Today we are serving soup. It is a hot day today, so we all pitched in a portion of our water to make soup to help hydrate us a bit. As lunch time was nearing, I took Bruno's scarlet bandana and tied it around my neck and covered my face and put on some gloves. I hope it was enough to cover me. I didn't want to contaminate the food. Otherwise, Raven might try to actually kill me if I get the whole camp sick… I also slipped by Jeremiah, knowing he would try to turn me around if he sensed something was wrong with me.
However, I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew by trying to move around while sick. My eyes are a bit sensitive to light and the heat is not helping me much. My limbs feel heavy too and I'm a little slow. Overall, I'm not completely there. To be honest, I regret doing this. But I can't just up and leave now. I hope this shift is ending soon so I can rest again.
"I'll have a bowl." The bandit gives me his order as he arrives at my station.
"Sure thing." I groggily reply in a tired, unenthusiastic voice. I pick up the ladle and absentmindedly fill it with soup.
After a few moments, the bandit speaks up.
"Hey… everything alright, kid?" The bandit sounds almost confused, waving his hand and snapping his fingers in front of my somewhat vacant gaze.
His action pulls me out of my daze a bit and I look down. I realize I had already filled the bowl, but accidentally gave him an extra ladle full. It almost overflowed, which would have burnt my fingers.
"Oh… uh… sorry about that." I mumble as I pick up the wing with the knife and place it on his plate.
"...Thanks… " He simply says as he walks away, shooting me a slightly off-put look as if I should not be up right now. I feel inclined to agree.
(sigh)
I should have listened to Raven.
"Hey, Simin." Jeremiah comes up from his station to check on me once he notices what just happened. "You feeling okay?"
He has a look of both concern and curiosity written on his face.
"Yeah…. Yeah, I think so." I respond, maintaining my groggy demeanor.
"You sure? Because you don't look or sound like it." He slightly raises his eyebrow in suspicion toward my answer.
"Whaddya mean?" I reply, sounding like a wasted drunk.
"Well, you look a bit glassy in the eyes and, judging from what I saw, you don't seem to be all there in the head today."
"I'm fine... I just feel a little feeble is all." I try to downplay my condition… although I don't think my sniffling immediately afterward helps my case much.
Jeremiah doesn't buy it for a second. He removes his glove and presses his palm to my forehead.
"Simin, you're sick... You shouldn't be out here." Jeremiah scolds me.
"I'm sorry, Jeremiah. Raven told me to rest, but I didn't want to just stay in one place all day and just be inactive. So I wanted to help you like I usually do so I could move around a bit."
"Simin, I think you should go take the rest of the day off."
"But the shift is almost over." I try to insist. "I can keep-."
"I am telling you to take a break." He asserts with a hint of urgency. "You're done, Simin. Don't push yourself when you don't need to, okay? If Raven says to rest, then listen to her, okay? Besides, I don't want to run the risk of the food getting contaminated if it hasn't already. Because if that happens, Raven will have both our asses."
"Okay, fine…" I relent. "But what about you? Aren't you going to have to deal with this mostly on your own?".
"I can handle it from here." He assures me. "And if it turns out I can't, I can go grab someone who's willing."
"Okay then. Thank you. And sorry if I complicated anything."
"Don't apologize. Just rest, little soldier." He answers back as he pats my head.
I give him a small chuckle that almost turned into a cough. I then wave him a bye as I walk off in my daze. I turn to my tent and steadily walk over so I can get my needed rest. First thing I do once entering is take off my shoes and climb back into the comfort of my sleeping bag and rest my head. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.
. . .
15 Minutes Later:
Meanwhile, as Simin sleeps, Mari has just finished her session of training with Raven. She returns to the camp, her body stiff and sore from the daily grind she is subjected to.
"Man, I hate training…" The almost 16-year-old mentally groans. "Would it kill her to hold back at least a little bit? Just because I can physically take the hits doesn't mean she should just go all out with her strikes. I'd like to actually be physically able to make it to our sessions. I wonder where she even goes to after our sessions anyway. I'm going to have to ice up a lot later…-"
"You seem to be in a good mood." A sarcastic voice interrupts Mari's thoughts, catching her a bit by surprise.
Soon, she notices Vernal standing by the camp gate as if she were waiting for her. She is leaning against one of the main posts with her arms folded across her chest.
"Aren't you supposed to be training with Simin?"
"Kid's sick, so Raven gave us the day off."
"Wait, he's sick? How is he?"
"Beats me." Vernal gives a casual shrug.
"You didn't even check on him?" Mari seems both surprised and not surprised at Vernal's lack of concern.
"Hey, I got a day off. Can you blame me if he wasn't the first thing on my mind? Our own regimen for this week is brutal compared to our normal ones after what we did. The only thing on my mind was freedom." Vernal excuses. Though, she did genuinely forget in this case.
"Would it kill you to show even a little bit of concern for him?" Mari frustratedly sighs as she enters the gate ,walking past Vernal.
"It's not like I didn't care enough to check on him. I just forgot to is all." Vernal continues. She follows closely behind Mari, which she has no trouble with due to the toll dealt on Mari's body.
"Maybe that's because you didn't care enough for it to cross your mind."
"Don't be so uptight, Mari! If a bullet didn't kill him, a little sniffle sure won't."
"That's besides the point." Mari scolds. "I'm just saying, check in on him. Make sure he's okay and see if he needs anything. Make him feel secure and cared for."
"Mari, where do you think you are?" Vernal laughs. "In case you haven't noticed, we're bandits, not some elementary school."
"But you still call yourselves a family though, no?" Mari retorts.
"Yeah, but we don't treat each other like we can't take one step on our own two feet. So what? He's got a cold. Do you think he's made of paper and glass? Should I go call the paramedics? Or maybe I should just skip that part and start digging a hole for him?"
"You're mocking me, aren't you?"
"Don't expect an apology." Vernal says without remorse. Mari sighs and rolls her eyes at Vernal.
"I wouldn't expect much from 'Raven Jr.'" Mari jabs back, annoyed,
"Don't call me that." Vernal grumbled with an annoyed tone. Mari, seeing this as her chance to get even with Vernal, takes her opportunity to antagonize.
"Why? You spend so much time trying to be like her, I thought you'd like it." Mari mocks Vernal in return. "Even your name is just an anagram for 'Raven' if you take away the 'L'. Maybe the 'L' can stand for something. Like 'Lite'. I know! What if I call you 'Raven-Lite' instead?"
"I'll fight you." Vernal threatens.
"And what will that prove?"
"...Fuck you, Mari..." Vernal mumbles as she puts her hands in her pockets.
Vernal rolled her eyes at Mari as she continued walking. She stayed silent until the two reached the lunch table to grab food.
"So how was Raven's training?" Vernal asked as if she were anticipating Mari's answer.
"You tell me..." She removes her jacket for a moment to reveal to Vernal all the visible welts and bruises on her arms and shoulders that seem to travel underneath her tank top.
"You know you wouldn't get hit so much if you'd stop holding back instead of just being all defense, which even then, I would barely call defense because you don't go all in with it like making counters and taking advantage of openings." Vernal takes her turn to lecture Mari now.
"Vernal you and I both know the reason why I hold back."
"Because you're a wimp."
"Hey!"
"You don't even take advantage of your openings and you constantly leave yourself open because of it. You always move into the position you want to, and you refuse to follow through. So you get hit instead and then act surprised. At least when I get hit, I don't whine about it and follow through."
"Yeah, because you probably enjoy the hits…" The girl mutters under her breath.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I the girl covered in welts and bruises I could have easily avoided receiving?" Vernal snaps back.
This time, Mari was left without a response.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Is there ever a time when you two are not trying to go at each other's jugular?" Jeremiah chimes into the duo as they reach his station.
"Only in front of Raven." Vernal answers him.
"We try." Mari tries to downplay it.
"No, we don't." Vernal immediately contradicts Mari.
Mari looks at Vernal with an irked expression.
"What? Don't try to sugarcoat it because we have a third person present." Vernal says bluntly. "Let's be honest with ourselves here."
Mari responds by closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the slightly awkward air the three of them are currently breathing.
"How are you doing, Jeremiah?" Mari tries to put on a pleasant demeanor for him as she turns her attention.
"Pretty alright. Thanks." He answers, going with the flow. "You?"
"A little sore. Today was grueling..." She complained about her training.
"Seems Raven's going a little harder on you than usual."
"I guess I made her mad from yesterday." She tried to joke.
"Hey, Jeremiah." Vernal chimes in. "I noticed your station is a bit empty today. Has it just been you today?"
"No, I had a bit of help from the kid. But he was sick, so I made him go back to his tent and rest."
"Thank you for doing that. He really shouldn't be pushing himself like that." Mari comments.
"So it's just been mostly you today?" Vernal asks.
"Yeah." He answers. "But I can manage."
Just then, Mari thought of something rather devious.
"Hey, Vernal," Mari says with an almost devious tone to get the last shot in. "How about you help Jeremiah today?"
"Wait, what?" She turns to her. She was caught off-guard by Mari's suggestion.
"I mean you haven't been doing much all day since Simin is sick, right?"
"Wait! I-I never-"
"I actually could use a bit of assistance if that's alright." Jeremiah adds in. "Vernal, do you mind lending a hand?"
"Why can't- why can't Mari do it? She's all about helping and stuff." Vernal sounds flustered.
"I think Mari's been through enough today." Jeremiah refers to Mari's bruises and welts. "Come on. It'll be painless. I'm not far from done anyway."
Vernal, seemingly trapped, gave up and relented. She reluctantly stepped into Jeremiah's station to help him.
"You're such a good person, Vernal-" Mari taunted.
"Fuck you, Mari!" The teenager repeated from earlier. This time with more bite in her tone.
Mari chuckled in response to getting one over Vernal.
"Anyway, Jeremiah," Mari turns to her attention. "I'm going to check on Simin."
"Before you go," Jeremiah calls to her as she turns. "Give this to the kid for me."
Jeremiah hands Mari a bowl of soup. "I made sure to save him a bowl." He added.
"Well, that's very thoughtful of you. Thank you, Jeremiah." Mari says as she takes the bowl from him before heading off. "I'll be sure to tell him it was from you!" She adds as she gets farther. With that, Mari leaves to check on Simin, a bowl of soup in hand and her own plate of food in the other.
Carrying both meals in her hands, Mari arrives at Simin's tent. She pushes her way through the flaps.
"Hey, Sim," She puts on a comforting voice. "I heard you were feeling sick today, so I thought I'd give you some com-..." Mari immediately cuts herself off. Simin is sound asleep in his bag. "...-pany..." She finishes her sentence with a whisper.
Careful not to wake him, Mari crouches next to Simin and quietly places both meals on the trunk near his sleeping bag. Shen then places a gentle hand over his forehead.
"He's burning up a bit..." Mari wears a concerned expression. "...He's definitely running a mild fever. And this heat is not helping..."
Mari looks over at Simin's canteen. She grabs a rag and prepares to make a water-soaked rag. But just as the girl uncapped Simin's canteen, she hesitated.
"I don't want to use up too much of his water..." She thought. "Because of the heat, I want him to have something to keep himself hydrated. I'd use mine, but I used it up during training. He needs to cool off somehow. Hmmm... I think I might have an idea... But I'll have to be quick since I don't want to leave him unattended for too long."
Mari jumps to her feet and heads out the tent, leaving Simin asleep with his still warm soup and Mari's lunch. She then heads toward the section of the camp where they store food ingredients. It is a long tent with two entrances, one on each side. The middle of the tent has a large curtain to divide one side from the other. One is where they keep the food and ingredients. The other side is where they keep medical supplies and medicines, but only for serious injuries or dangerous diseases. A bit extreme for something like a common cold with a mild fever.
As she makes her way toward the supplies tent, there is a guard at the entrance. Not unusual. The only people allowed in the tent and are allowed to take from it are those serving meals, those Raven specifically gives permission, and Raven Branwen herself. Mari was never given permission by Raven. And with Jeremiah and Vernal busy, she will have to do some convincing to get her way here. With Raven gone for the moment, this should make things a little easier.
"What are you doing over here, Mari?" The guard called out to her as she approached.
"Oh nothing much." She answers innocently to lower his guard. "I just wanted to see if you could do me a favor?"
"What do you want?" The guard has a no-nonsense tone.
"I just need something from the tent if that would be okay."
"Mari, you know that no one is allowed anything from inside this tent unless Raven says otherwise."
"Oh don't worry. Raven sent me to retrieve something." She hoped her fib would be enough to convince him. She would have said that Jeremiah sent her, but that would be unusual since Raven and only Raven gives people direct permission to go into the tent out of care that no one is stealing supplies.
"Oh, she did, huh?" He says with suspicion in his voice.
"Yes." She answers with a nod. "So if you don't mind, may I please-"
"Not so fast." He stops her. He puts an arm in front of her as she tried to slide past him. "If Raven did give you permission, then you wouldn't mind if I checked in with her when she gets back, would you?"
Upon hearing that, Mari froze and began to sweat.
"Mari, you are not very known for lying. So it's very obvious when you do."
Mari took a breath. She had a plan and everything and it was already derailed.
"Fine..." She relented. She was hoping he would immediately cave the moment she mentioned Raven.
"Unless you have permission from her or you're working food duty, you can just turn around." The guard gestures for her to walk away.
"Look, Simin is sick, okay?" Mari tells him the truth. "He has a fever and I want to grab him something to cool him off."
"Why not get something from the other side?"
"Because it's not that serious of a situation. Anything from there is only stuff for extreme situations."
"Then why not just get him a water-soaked rag and call it a day?"
"Because I don't have any water to do it with and I don't want to use his because it's hot today and I want him to stay hydrated. I'd ask around to see if anyone can spare their water, but it's scorching today, so it would be unlikely anyone will give any."
"This sounds like a 'you' problem, Mari." He says dismissively.
"Come on! It's just one small item." Mari pleads. "Raven won't even notice it's gone."
"And what would this 'small item' be?"
"A raw potato."
"What...?" The man sounded confused.
"I just need a small potato. No bigger than this." She then shows him the size she needs by holding her thumb and forefinger apart by just an inch or two.
"How... How are you- What are you going to do with a potato? Why a potato?!" He sounds almost dumbfounded.
"It's a trick my dad taught me."
The man sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Look, I promise you I-"
"You know what? Fuck it." He interrupts her. "Just... just take it. I know you're not lying right now. And I don't know what you have planned. But I trust you enough that you wouldn't try to trick me."
"Really?" Mari is surprised by his sudden change of heart.
"Yes, really." He confirms. "Now take it before I change my mind."
"Thank you so much! And if Raven gives you any trouble, just bring up my name and I'll take the fall."
"You better..." He says under his breath. Mari goes inside and leaves with a small potato in hand.
Mari then pockets the spud and heads toward Simin's tent. Simin is still sleeping as Mari left him. She checks the soup she placed down and sees that it is still warm. Mari then pulls out the potato from her pocket and places it next to the bowl.
"I guess I should get started." Mari thinks to herself.
Mari begins to search for Simin's knife to use it to cut the potato. But once realizing it was nowhere to be found, she decides to improvise while making sure Simin could not see what she was about to do. After a moment or two, the potato has been sliced into multiple centimeter thick slices. She grabs a rag and rolls it as she lays the potato slices along it. Carefully making sure that she doesn't wake him up, Mari then gently lifts Simin's sleeping head and ties the rag around his forehead.
This was a trick Mari's father taught her when she was younger. When she was 10 and was running a fever, the coolness of the raw potato slices would keep her cool and comfortable.
Once that was settled, Mari watched over Simin as she ate her food.
. . .
A Few Minutes Later:
As Mari finished her meal, Simin began to finally stir as he woke up. The sensation of the potato slices were enough to fully wake him up. As Simin sits up from his slumber, Mari takes notice.
"Hey, Sim." She says as she puts her now empty plate aside. "Nice to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"I think I feel okay..." He says with a hint of delirium. "Hey, Mari?"
"Yes?"
"What's on my head?" He feels under the rag. His expression is a little confused at what exactly is keeping him cooled down.
"Oh that. I sliced a potato and used it to cool you off. I was going to use the rest of your water, but you know... It's hot today, so... I didn't want to use it up."
"Oh... It feels nice."
"I also have a bowl of soup here for you. I kept it warm for you."
"Oh, thank you, Mari." He thanks her again.
"Don't thank me." She corrects him. "Jeremiah was actually the one who saved it for you."
"Oh, can you tell him I said thank you when you get the chance?"
"Yeah, of course." Mari assures him. "But for now, eat your soup before it gets cold."
Mari then carefully places the bowl and a spoon next to Simin.
"I'll be back to check on you and collect your bowl."
"Okay. Thank you, Mari." Simin thanks her for the third time with a tired voice.
Before Mari leaves his tent, Simin speaks up.
"Hey Mari, can I ask you something?"
Mari stops where she is and turns to face him.
"What's on your mind?"
"Why do you go through this trouble for me?"
As soon as he asked that, Mari thinks to herself. She thinks of her argument with Raven yesterday. More specifically, she thinks of the words Raven told her: "Then maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to convince said child to live among literal bandits. What did you expect, Mari?" She just wanted him to live. But she was starting to question the life she convinced him to accept. She was questioning what she did. His choices were life or death. But he never got to choose what life he wanted. She then thought of the words Raven told her regarding that during that part of their argument: "And that's why I'm going to choose for him."
"Because," She answered him. "...you deserve better."
Without another word, Mari exited the tent. As Mari gets out, she ends up bumping into a tall figure, dropping her plate in the process. Before the girl trips over, she's caught and steadied.
"Careful, Mari." She hears Jeremiah's voice.
"Sorry about that." She looks a little embarrassed by her uncharacteristic clumsiness as he hands the plate to her.
"How's the kid doing?"
"He's fine. I put a rag of potato slices on his head to cool him off. Don't ask. And he's currently eating the soup you left for him. By the way, he thanks you for that."
"No problem. It seemed like he needed it."
"Yeah..." Jeremiah using the word 'need' in reference to Simin caused Mari's mind to drift. She couldn't shake the words Raven said to her.
"Hey, Jeremiah," She spoke up. "...do I mind if I talk to you a bit?"
"No. What is it?" The two began to walk.
"I've been... doing some thinking recently." She begins to speak. "And... do you think it was wrong of me to convince Simin to accept Raven's offer to join?"
"Where's this coming from?" Jeremiah sounds a little surprised.
"Yesterday, Raven and I had an argument." Mari starts to open up. "We talked about a lot of things and one of them had to do with Simin. I... I don't like where she's pushing him. I mean he's just a child. And when I tried to confront Raven on that, she... just couldn't care less. She said that to my face, with unapologetic apathy. She does not care. I pleaded with her that he's just a kid. And she told me that I should have thought of that before convincing him to live with bandits. I just wanted him to live. But I'm starting to think, what kind of life did I just pull him into and convince him to accept? I didn't want him to die. But, I convinced him to live a life where he will be under her influence, which is a whole other kind of bad. So I have to know... Did I do wrong?"
Jeremiah stopped to think to himself a bit. It was as if he was searching for an answer that would work.
"Do you think you made a mistake?" He speaks up. "Do you feel in your heart and in your mind that you did the wrong thing?"
"N-no! I... I don't think so... I mean, what other choice was there? Reject her offer and be thrown back out into the woods and die or join the tribe where he'll live under Raven... It feels like a lose-lose situation no matter what when I think back on it..." She knows her answer, but her confidence in it wavers slightly.
"Let me put it this way, Mari. If you have to choose between one of two things and one of those choices is death, then there isn't a choice. You knew in your heart and in your mind that he would have died out there. You valued his life and you convinced him to live. You gave him the will to live and keep pushing. Granted, even though the latter option means having to live under Raven, which isn't exactly ideal for someone of an impressionable age, it beats dying by a longshot. There was only one choice and you picked him up and pushed him to pick it."
"But-"
"Mari," He interrupts her. "Sometimes, there isn't a 'right thing' to choose. Sometimes there is a bad choice, and there is a really bad choice. And in times like that, you just have to go with the lesser of two evils. You're not gonna like your choice no matter which one you pick. So you gotta weigh your options. You've got a good heart, Mari. But you doubt yourself."
"I know..." Mari said in an almost whisper.
"What do you want for the kid?" Jeremiah asks out of curiosity.
"I just want him to be happy. I want him to live freely and make his own choices. Live his own way. And to not let anyone tell him otherwise. So long as he is happy and free and not hurting anyone, I couldn't ask for more. But Raven, she's trying to make him think that there is no other way to live. That he has no choice, but to do these things he clearly doesn't want. I want him to experience the world himself and make his own observations and come to his own conclusions. Not have someone else enforce their observations onto him through their own experiences and dictate the conclusion he reaches like some caged mind." Mari then lets out a sigh. "It's like when he got out of that cage, he only entered a bigger one."
"If that's what you think, then taking into consideration what you want for him, then it's your job to give him the key." Jeremiah answered.
"And Raven is the lock..." Mari said to herself almost like a realization.
"What was that?" Jeremiah asked.
"Huh? N-nothing." Mari dismisses. "Thank you for the talk, Jeremiah. I really needed to get this off my chest. Thank you."
Mari then goes in for a hug, to the man's surprise. Jeremiah briefly returns the gesture.
"No problem, Mari..." Jeremiah responds.
"Anyway," She releases him. "I'm going to go check on Simin."
"Alright, you do that, Mari." He gives a wave. "See you around."
Mari then strolls back to Simin's tent, leaving Jeremiah to his own duties. As she enters, she sees the boy sound asleep again. The soup bowl was now empty, resting beside him. She approaches him quietly and kneels down to grab the bowl. As she does so, she silently observes Simin's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. Like any normal sleeping kid. Though Simin is tough and can handle himself, he's still just a child in Mari's eyes. She may not know what he went through, but she knew enough to see that this boy lived a normal life. A life that was ripped away from him as he was forced into the wilderness to fend for himself before coming upon the Branwen tribe. She sympathizes with him. And to a certain extent, she can somewhat empathize with him.
Mari may not know what life Simin wants to live exactly, but she will help him at least be able to live it so long as it's his life. And that is why she wants to be there for him whenever she can, however she can and support him. Anything to let him know he's not alone anymore.
But in order to do that, she needs to get him out of the cage. A cage where the only way out is through Raven Branwen.
**CHAPTER END**
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Hey everyone!
So like I said at the top of this story, there is an important poll on my profile. This poll will determine how this story is written going forward. When I first started writing this fanfic, I had been writing it in first-person narrative. But with these anthology chapters, I have been doing some experimenting with third-person narrative to try my hand and get some practice and see how it goes. So with that, I want to ask, would this story be better as a first-person narrative, or a third-person narrative. Or better yet, as a sort of compromise option, what if I were to only write in first-person for the parts that strictly involve Team SLVR and keep it third-person for everything else?
Personally, I've really enjoyed writing in both perspectives. So I wanted to know what you think, especially since both first and third person narratives will be very, very helpful in the last act for me. The poll will be closed on August 2nd at 11:59 p.m.
Anyway, I should also let you know that there will be a small hiatus as I will be out of the country again tomorrow. But when I get back, I will be working on chapter 16 as we finally, finally, finally fully return to the main story. But for now, let's talk a bit about this chapter.
This chapter is a more mellowed down, sort of wholesome, filler chapter. This chapter is mainly to fully transition back to the main story as it sets the tone to what the remaining five chapters will be. I should let you know, remember that this volume is all backstory. So things are about to get heavy again in the main story to close this volume out.
Another thing is that this chapter explores Mari's character a bit more and see her different sides. For example, we see that she and Vernal do not get along at all to the point they openly antagonize each other. Granted I tried to hint at their dislike for each other way back in chapter 15 when Mari straight up rats on Vernal without hesitation for trying to sugarcoat the report to Raven. I hope I did a pretty good job at that. It might seem out of character at first glance for Mari to jab back at Vernal, especially in the way she did, but Mari has been shown to get annoyed and mad in past chapters and won't hesitate to fire back if she gets pushed hard enough. And for Vernal, it doesn't take a lot to push Mari to the point of firing back.
We also see Mari's friendship with Jeremiah and how she is comfortable enough around him to talk about things that bother her. Speaking of which, with this chapter, we also see how Raven's words from the previous chapter affected Mari. She was starting to question herself and her decisions regarding Simin. But in the end, Mari concludes that convincing Simin to live was one thing. And now she needs to convince him to live how he wants. But Raven is standing in the way of that. This will be one of the main points of conflict between Mari and Raven as things get more tense between the two.
As for the other point of conflict between them, about that... You might have figured it by now because I'm not sure how well I did with hiding it, but ever since her introduction I've been dropping hints. Some subtle, some probably not so subtle. Next chapter, we will find out just how important Mari is and what her significance is.
As for another character, he has been in the background for almost this entire fanfic and this is the most screentime he's gotten. I'm talking about Jeremiah. Jeremiah is much, much more than I've been letting on. I know I've been making him into a very background character, who's seemingly only there to just be an extra, but he'll be very important later on. We'll dive into him a little bit in the final act as I introduce some more new characters. With the final act of this volume, it is my job to close this volume up and fully set up and kick off the story. And I hope I can do that.
But before I can do that, I'll leave you with another fun fact:
Fun fact #27: That thing Mari did with the potatoes is actually something my father would do when I was little and would run a fever. He would take a potato and slice it up and tie a rag to my head with the potatoes and it worked pretty well. At least for me it did.