Dealing with that psycho always gets you worked up. So much so that you don't have the energy to do anything else. So instead you just go straight to bed. Even after Sprinkles' return Lucy still wants to sleep in the same bed as you, it's actually been a while since you and her have slept in your own beds. You may as well just move in to Elisa's room at this point! It's a shame that you didn't get a chance to influence your mother last night! That woman gets more and more unreasonable the more time you spend with her. And what did she mean when she spoke about the jewel smelling of someone else! If she's so unhappy about that why not give you something to use herself? Dumbass bimbo! You know she was happy to receive those souls, she couldn't have given you the smallest amount of praise? Fuck...
Today is Saturday so thankfully you don't have to worry about school today. You'll be spending most of the day and tomorrow morning at Roger's house so you won't need to worry about planning your day. You currently have no plans for Sunday afternoon onwards. If there is anything you really need to do, it'll need to be done this morning.
Wait a second? Why does the jewel still smell of Aria? You've had it now for a full day, and it hasn't left your side, sitting in your pocket when it isn't being clutched in your hands. You don't exactly know how long scents are supposed to last, but you have a funny feeling that this isn't normal. You decide to activate your Heightened Senses to take a better look. And immediately you can tell. This jewel, whatever The Torturer noticed about it wasn't just something lingering from the last owner. It was imbeded into the jewel itself in a way you can't really understand or explain. Why would Aria waste her time doing that? Wait... Son of a bitch!
You recall your encounter with the High Priestess yesterday. What did she say to you?
'I can smell it! The stench of evil! It lingers on you! Like a mold, a rot! Thick as sin! It will need to be excised as soon as possible!' That treacherous... Clearly this had been part of Aria's ploy from the beginning. Her offer of assistance had been a setup! She gave you that jewel with the souls in it and left a marker in it for the Church to find! She pretty much tagged you and left you out as bait! You knew she couldn't be trusted but you hadn't expected her to do something like this to you so soon! But why would she do something like this? Was it just to draw attention away from her?
Or is she trying to trap you somehow? Force you into a corner so that you have no choice but to turn to her for help? Is that her plan? But did she really think you wouldn't notice it? The moment you activated your Heightened Senses you'd have found her out! Is she really so arrogant to think that you wouldn't notice? Or does she simply believe that it doesn't matter if you figure it out later? The damage is done, after all, the target is on your back and you'll need to find a way to shake it off. Damn it, fucking demons! Who are you going to have to screw to get some reliable help? No, you can get angry and feel sorry for yourelf later, right now you need to think of a way out of this mess!
You wrack your brains, thinking of all the various evil schemes Aria could have in mind for you. Inside you Wrath is burning with anger, pushing you to do something about this! To confront her, to HURT HER! To make her PAY! You push Wrath back. No, you shouldn't jump to conclusions. You've grown used to being suspicious, you're used to scheming and plotting and you've started to expect it from other people. There might be a perfectly innocent explanation for this, right? Maybe she's just testing you? Maybe the scent is a side effect of whatever she was using it before she gave it to you? There are other explanations available. Still, you can tell that Wrath isn't satisfied with this line of reasoning.
Wrath's position inside your head has increased by 1% Sloth has lost 1%
Well, right now Aria's intentions aren't all that important. You don't have the power to stand against her so if she wants to hurt you she will. Instead you should concern yourself with the jewel. Clearly it would be a mistake to take it to school again. But you aren't really comfortable leaving it in the house either. One part of you simply tells you to throw it out the window and be done with it. Another says you should dump it off on someone else, make them the scapegoat. But whatever you do with it, you can't turn back time. Someone from the Church will still be investigating.
But that's a problem for another time. If Aria is testing you or planning something she'll be in contact again. You can likely decide how to handle this at that point. And the truth is you will still need that jewel, it's the only way you can store your souls right now without using your Diary. And you most certainly should not show anyone that! If you throw it away you'll need a new one. Either that or you'll need to find away to erase Aria's scent from the thing. It's just another problem.
For now it's almost time to head out to Roger's place. Your best friend, someone who has been influenced by you a few times and you can likely influence however you want over the duration of this weekend. Now the question will have to be what you want to do with him. Then again there really isn't that much you can do with him. He's only another seven year old boy, after all. You can't exactly have him start robbing banks for you, after all! But he could be your right hand man, or even your agent. If you are going to assume control of your classmates and use them to start spreading misfortune then Roger would be best used as your mouth piece. You could even hide in the background and have him assume the leadership role! Or maybe there is something else you could do?
And it wouldn't be right thinking about Roger without thinking about Roger's mother. You bring up Zach's memories. You still cannot actually believe them.
Is this woman really old enough to be a mother? Unbelievable! Why are there so many hot women in this city? Are they just present here to mock you for your inadequacy? Fuck! It's just not fair! But it's an indisputable fact that if you are going to work on Roger you'll need to influence her as well to keep her from raising any alarms. Fortunately, Venus Mason is a single parent just like your own mother. It's one of the reasons why the two of you were such good friends. You have no idea what braindead fool was dumb enough to walk out on this woman but they certainly had to have a whole toolbox worth of screws loose. Or maybe she does? I mean who makes a whole batch of car shaped cookies just because your son's friend mentioned that he likes them one time? Crazy!
So much scheming to do, so little time. First you'll need to decide if you want to spend the malice you gathered yesterday.
You decide to unlock the first level of Sleep. You aren't sure how useful it will be as is, you might be able to use it in combination with your dream ability to influence someone, but it's likely going to be more useful through the options it opens up for you further along the line. Still, maybe you can do something with it this weekend, even if it's just to put one of them to sleep so you can work on the other. So now it's a good idea to decide what you actually want to do with the pair. You'll have a lot of time, after all.
You rationale is simple enough. You've worked on Roger a fair amount already, you probably don't need to work on him too much more. Even if you do need to work on him more than this, you've got plenty of time during the week for that. This is one of the only times you'll be able to work on his mother, so you should make the most of the situation. The question then becomes, what exactly do you want to do with Venus Mason? Do you just want to make sure she doesn't ask any awkward questions, or do you want more from her? How far could you push her in only one day, and how will you be able to make sure your tampering sticks without the ability to monitor her regularly?
What do you know about Roger's mother that could make this easier? You know that she's a single parent, she's been that way ever since her husband left her. As long as Zachary has known Roger he hasn't known her to have a boyfriend. If she has been dating neither he nor Roger are aware of it. For work you know that she's a nurse. You're sure she once worked at a big time hospital and then moved work to a smaller clinic nearby. Maybe she got tired of sleazy doctors trying to get into her pants.
As far as her relationship with Roger, it's normal. She doesn't seem overly possessive or affectionate but neither does she seem distant from him. She's always been good to Zach, possibly because he's been Roger's best, and only, friend for so long. She enjoys baking and tending to her garden. She's also somewhat religious though you don't know exactly what she believes in. There's a shrine the size of a small shed in the Mason's garden but to what you have no clue. It does feel like an odd thing to be found in a person's garden.
Zach never cared enough to ask about it but he did try poking his head in once, out of curiosity. Not much in there of interest to his then five year old brain, in fact the memory is so fuzzy you can barely access it. Odd, you can recall all his memories clearly, even from when he was a baby feeding off his mother's breasts. Why is this one thing so hard for you to make out? Maybe you should check it out again sometime. But for now you need to make a decision. First you'll need to work out how to keep Roger out of the way, then you'll need to decide what you want to do with his mother.
Your decision is made. You'll work on Roger just enough to make sure he doesn't pay any attention to whatever alterations you make to his mother. As for Venus, a nurse would be a good target for possession. She'll know enough people to provide you with plenty of other possible targets to jump into or manipulate and a nurse could cause some serious problems that would generate some serious malice for you.
Of course, you have no way to make sure you jump into her body specifically if something happens to you, but you will eventually. It wouldn't help to start preparing her for you, and that means you should start bending her to your will. You'll start by working on increasing her affection. Shouldn't be too difficult as she already really likes you. You'll need to increase her obediance at some point if you want her to do what you need her to.
Your biggest problem at the moment is that, short of begging Aria for more handouts, you have no way to work on claiming a person's soul. You could seize control of a person's mind and body so utterly that they can't think of anything without your direction but even then you wouldn't be able to take possession of their soul. There must be a way of taking ownership of someone's soul without you having to dig in and corrupt it from within.
You made a deal with your mistress and gave her your soul, so there's obviously a way. You just need to work out what that is. At which point all you'd need to is increase someone's affection and/or obediance to the point where they'll just give it to you of their own free will, or lack of it. Then you'd be laughing all the way to the soul bank. You can only assume there is a soul bank somewhere.
Roger greets you warmly at the door as you arrive at his house. His mother greets you just as warmly, and then the two mothers speak amongst themselves while the two of you head inside. Roger's house isn't much different from you own, just a little bit smaller. There's only the two of them here, after all. His garden, on the other hand, is much nicer, and Venus likely installed the glass back door for that reason. You can see the shrine in one corner.
'I've seen it before,' you decide to ask the question, 'but what's that shed thing in your garden.' Roger shrugs.
'Not sure, really,' he replies, 'it's been there longer than I have. It's a family tradition, apparently. This land was sacred ground way back when, some sort of guardian spirit our family was tasked to look after. A load of rubbish really, but it's cool that the house has been in our family for years and years. Our grandparents lived here before us, and their parents before them!' You nod, immediately intrigued. If it is unconnected to the Church then it's likely a part of the third power you've been told about. It might be a good source of information for you so you should definitely check it out later.
For now though you head upstairs with Roger. You'll spend a couple of hours playing games with him and waiting for your Aura to set in. Then you'll come up with an excuse to spend more time with his mother and manipulate him into ignoring you. Should be easy enough,though you make sure to touch Roger's wooden door frame on your way into his room...
Roger Mason and Zachary Robinson have been best friends for years. It's odd, for as long as Zach has known him, Roger hasn't had any other close friends. Likely part of this is that Roger doesn't have a father, at least not anymore. Children can be cruel to each other, singling people out for the oddest reasons. Roger's odd coloured hair had also caused him to be targeted, though you suspect that most of the boys who picked on him just didn't like that he was popular with the girls. Not that Roger has shown any interest in girls. Just like Zach, they aren't really at that kind of age yet.
Regardless of the reasons behind it, Zach and Roger have been besties since as long as such things have mattered and you doubt Zach, who has always been sociable and popular, ever really understood exactly how much the other boy valued their friendship. You can tell. Roger's always been extra sensitive to your Aura and he proves this again today. You start up just playing games on Roger's console. You are grateful to Zach's memories for allowing you to keep up. You make sure to sit close to him to insure the maximum effect and it doesn't take long to notice it.
At first you simply notice him looking at you in a slightly different way, his eyes fogging up with an emotion you doubt even he truly understands. He starts to lose focus in the game, making mistakes and allowing you a few easy wins. You make a joke about his lack of concentration, at which point he immediately starts to focus again. Then he begins to move closer to you, until he's practically sitting on your lap. At this point, if the two of you weren't both too young to understand you'd make the assumption that he's totally gay for you now. Except his affection is totally innocent, probably closer to how he would view a brother, if he had one.
You decide to capitalise on this, reaching round awkardly and starting to rub his head. It's difficult, he's actually taller than you but sitting down it doesn't make too much of a difference. Finally he's practically leaning on you, resting his head against your shoulder. You feel as though he'd be trying to hold your hand if the two of you weren't both holding the controllers. Working on him any further with your Aura is probably dangerous. But certainly you should be able to give him your Suggestion now without issue.
Roger's extreme reaction to your Aura gives you pause. You could probably do so much more with him than just have him ignore you for the rest of the day. You feel Greed stirring inside of you, pushing you to claim him as yours! To dominate him so that he doesn't want anything else but to belong to you! You push Greed back. Maybe you would take Roger to that point eventually. But that wasn't your plan for today. You need to make sure all your bases are covered before you do anything extreme. You can tell Greed is disatisfied with your reluctance.
Greed's position inside your head has increased by 1% Sloth's has decreased by 1%
The devils whispering inside your head will need to be appeased at some point, lest they seek to supplant you as the dominant personality in your head. But you should be safe to stay the course for now. Now you just need to decide on how to word your Suggestion. As much as you are tempted to push him further you simply aim for the minimum.
'Roger, you trust Zach and will ignore anything you see him do or hear him say that you feel is strange or unusual.' You push the Suggestion into his head. He actually nods, as though he's processing the information you've pushed into his mind and is accepting it. At which point you tell him you are going down stairs to get a drink and to stay here for you. Then you leave him. Even if he gets bored and comes to find you he should ignore any strange interactions you have with his mother. Now for Venus, how do you intend to interact with her over the rest of the day?
You decide to keep things simple. You'll tail Venus and follow her around to let your Aura set in. Hopefully Roger won't come looking for you too soon, you'd like to avoid this particular Aura affecting him much more or his reactions will start getting extreme. You could probably just tell him to leave you alone, though Venus will surely be surprised by that. At some point you plan on using Sleep on her and then tampering with her memories. Though you still aren't sure you know exactly how you would mess with her.
You briefly toy with idea of replacing her motherly affections for Roger with motherly affection for you. But that would cause too many issues in the long term. She'd start to wonder why she doesn't live with you and why Roger does. Besides, you already have a mother you are messing with, do you really need another one? Are you really that much of a mommy's boy? You didn't think you had mommy issues before now. Then again you haven't had a bunch of other personalities inside you head either. So who the hell knows anymore!
Right now you'll just spend some time loosening her up. You've got plenty of time, after all it's still mid afternoon. Maybe you'll know what you want to do with her later. For now you need to find her. Turns out that isn't difficult. She's in the kitchen, baking you some cookies. Of course she is. Didn't she already bring you some earlier? Fortunately that was before Roger started to get clingy so she didn't notice anything weird. You might have to give her a similar Suggestion later, just in case.
'Can I help, Ms Mason?' you ask her. She gives you a small smile.
'Oh, no that's fine!' she replies, 'I enjoy doing this, after all! It's not that difficult, really!' You decide to change tactics quickly.
'In that case can you teach me how to bake?' you ask her, 'Lucy's been feeling down lately and I'd like to make her something to cheer her up!' She seems impressed with the sentiment, you might be getting pretty good at this lying thing!
Using your slowing transforming Midas tongue you manage to convince Venus to let you trail her for the rest of the afternoon. You spend a couple of hours with her before Roger turns up, evidently tired of waiting for you. You attempt to use the same golden tongue to convince him to go back upstairs, but as it turns out, raising his affection means he doesn't want to be away from you for too long and he stubbornly refuses to leave you alone. Eventually you have to use a Suggestion to leave him watching television while you continue to work on his mother.
With your Suggestion gluing Roger to the sofa before the television for now you convince Venus to allow him to eat his dinner there. She, naturally goes on to suggest that everyone eats their dinner in the living room. You aren't comfortable using your Aura on Roger for any longer than this, especially without finishing up with Venus so you cancel your Aura so the three of you can enjoy a simple dinner without any mental tampering. Venus' cooking is stellar, more elaborate than your own mother's more simple style. Your dinners at home are likely more well balanced from a nutritional stand point but you have to admit the food tastes better here.
As you eat you make idle conversation with Roger and his mother. Roger is clearly struggling against your previous Suggestion. You commanded him to remain in his seat but he also wants to be closer to you and you can feel his dilemna. Fortunately he waves off his mother's concern when she voices it and you are quick to distract her with small talk. Oddly enough you don't notice any major changes in her behaviour towards you. Maybe it is because she was already affectionate towards you and maybe it is because you've been sure to steer her affection away from being 'motherly' affection. Perhaps that's why it's not having a clear effect.
In truth you aren't sure what kind of effect you could expect from this. You didn't want her to be your second mother, that's for sure. Are you trying to make her attracted to you? That would be a much longer endeavour than you have time for here. You're not even sure your Level 1 Aura could achieve something like that? So how much more could she like you, not counting familial or sexual affection? You aren't really sure... perhaps it's time to try something else?
You throw all your evil thoughts into a mental cauldron, stir them all around and then start to pull them out, examining each one and throwing it back in if you find it wanting. Eventually you decide on four possible directions. Your original purpose was to 'prepare' her for if you ever decide to use possession to take over her body. The groundwork of that is to make sure she doesn't have any suspicions towards you and had enough trust and affection for you to allow you to get away with whatever you needed. So whatever you decide to do this is the bare minimum.
One option is simply to expand further in this direction. Leave her mentally exactly as she is but inspire in her a feeling of emptiness and a desire to be 'worn' and controlled. You could adjust her so that her deepest desire is to surrender control of her body and become a passenger inside herself, simply watching as you pilot her body. Essentially this would result in Venus wanting nothing more than to be possessed by you and would involve her cooperating with you to fulfil that end. It would have the advantage of allowing her to maintain most of her current personality and it would mean she'd know the truth about who you are, which could be a plus or a minus depending on your outlook.
Perhaps the easiest option would be the maid route. She already enjoys cooking and baking, she's a single mother so she's used to doing the housework and she even works in the garden. You could push her further in this direction, create in her a sense of loyalty, obediance and submission. Then later, when you have a house of your own you can get her a cute maid uniform and move her in. She'd be dedicated to serving you in every way you could imagine.
Then again if you want to better appease your other personalities maybe a more extreme approach is in order. Instead of a maid you could make her into more of a slave. Similar in function, she'd likely serve you in much the same way but she'd be doing it with a more intense feeling of devotion and submission. You'd be in charge, you'd be the one making all the decisions and she'd be happy to let you do that. And when she doesn't have any tasks or chores to get on with she could be kneeling at the foot of your bed in just a collar, waiting to be used by you.
Finally you could overrun her mind completely. Encourage her to feel pleasure at allowing someone else to think for her. Hollow out the inside of her head until she's little more than a puppet, obeying your instructions automatically without really being aware of it, just knowing that doing so is for her the most relaxing and enjoyable experience imaginable. You wouldn't be able to leave her like that all the time, of course. She'd still need access to her usual personality, even if it's just to take care of herself. But something about being able to snap your fingers and just switch her off. Transforming her in a moment into a living doll that obeys automatically without a shred of her own identity. That really does sound good. Though as fun as it sounds it might also be the riskiest option.
Perhaps for your first big project you shouldn't try anything too ambitious. You will, after all be attempting to fundamentally alter another human being without being able to directly tamper with their souls. You'll have to rely on your Aura to manipulate her feelings, chip away at her thinking process with Suggestion and then alter her dreams in order to steer her in the direction you desire.
That direction being a simple desire to be possessed by you. No tampering with her mindset, no need to set up triggers or shell personalities. Just push a deep sighted desire to be controlled into her head. Then lead her to understand what you are and what you can do and make her want that. If this works well your control over Roger's mother should extend after your inevitable transferal into another body, whether done intentionally or not.
So then, your Aura has laid the groundwork, now you need to do something a bit more impactful. You take a quick stock of your current Mana. So far you've used Aura and two Suggestions. 30 left. You decide the best way to proceed is to try and get inside Venus' head and find out what she thinks about, how she views the world and thus learn the easiest way to twist it in the direction you desire. But you can't manipulate the dreams of someone who is awake. So first she'll need to be asleep. Easily remedied.
You unleash your new power. Venus has barely even time to widen her eyes in surprise as the spell hits her then she slumps in her seat, fast asleep. Roger, sitting next to her, doesn't react in any way, your Suggestion to ignore strange activity and interactions including his mother suddenly falling asleep out of nowhere. Handy that! Your Level 1 Sleep spell will likely only last for a handful of minutes so it's best to get started. Fortunately time passes differently in someone's head so you doubt you'll be too pressured for time inside. You activate your ability and...
Blackness. Nothing. You are floating in emptiness. Figures, she's only just fallen asleep so she isn't actually dreaming. Is it even possible to dream under the affect of your ability? Maybe not, but you assume that there should be a way to work around this. If you cannot manipulate a dream that is already in place you'll just have to create a dream from scratch.
As it turns out, creating a dream from scratch is a lot more difficult than manipulating what's already there. Go figure! Well you don't really need much in the way of surroundings, the focus here is on Venus herself. You picture a bed, you haven't been in her room but you can at least imagine what her bed would look like. Yeah, it looks exactly the same as your mother's bed at home! You're sure that's just a coincidence!
You guide Venus towards the bed. She's exhausted and weary from a hard day at work. She's had to deal with difficult patients, her boss won't get off her case, she was caught up in traffic on the way home, she was almost late picking up Roger from school. Then she had to do all the housework, water the plants, cook the dinner. So much to do all on her own, and while she doesn't mind doing it, so much activity will wear down even the most determined of souls.
She collapses onto the bed, her body sore and complaining from the day's exertions. She's not even finished yet. She still has so much to do but her run down body just can't handle everything right now. Now you conjour someone something else approaching her bed. It's her son's friend, Zach an adorable bunny rabbit! The hell? Why is it a rabbit? It's supposed to be you! Shit, nevermind. Maybe she just thinks bunnies are cute or something. You can run with this. The creature is so soft and fluffy and reassuring and she feels that when she pets it all her worries and aches fade away.
'Let me shoulder your burden,' she hears the creature say. Then it's fading, shifting and becoming one with her. Everything feels warm and fuzzy and comfortable. She watches her own body climb back to its feet and roll up its sleeves. She couldn't move it herself if she tried, she's just a passenger now, floating in cotton wall as her body goes about doing everthing she needs to do without her. She feels as though she should be alarmed by this, but the rabbit has never led her astray before, not in the hundreds of years she'd known it. Hm? That doesn't feel right... Wait It just feels so wonderful to sink and relax and embrace that fuzzy feeling. Just leave it all up to the rabbit, that cute fuzzy wuzzy adorable little...
You wrench yourself quickly out of Venus' dreams, panting and gasping and clawing at your arm rest. What the hell was that? Did someone, something hijack your dream? Even worse you almost got sucked in yourself! For a dangerous moment you felt the warm fuzzy relaxing feelings you'd been imposing on Roger's mother threatening to overwhelm you as well! You have no idea what would have happened if you hadn't been able to pull out when you did and you are sure you don't want to know. But it's likely too dangerous to try that again, not until you figure out what went wrong.
Your first consideration is your own ability. Did you mess it up? Perhaps you really shouldn't be combining those two abilities together. No, the dream worked! It may not have been what you had wanted but the dream was there! So maybe you just didn't have the power to present the dream as you wanted it to? No... that rabbit wasn't normal. Well no it was a normal rabbit, but you're pretty sure that's not how you'd invision a rabbit. If you were going to put a rabbit in someone's head it would look like Sprinkles, a creature you see every day and can easily picture in your head.
The rabbit that appeared in Venus' head was different. It felt as though it was planted there through outside intervention. Someone or something had interfered with your ability. It had been your first instinct and now you think more calmly about it you can't help but admit that this is the likely answer. So then, the next question is why? It would certainly be quite the coincidence if you and a third party were both tampering with this nurse's head at the same time. You've left yourself up to RNGesus before and you don't believe in that kind of universe bending fortune.
More importantly, the rabbit triggered the moment you attempted to plant yourself inside the dream. It didn't happen before that, making you believe it is some sort of defensive mechanism. Did someone set this up as a mental shield against tampering? You'd imagine plenty of influential figures would have some sort of defences in place to prevent tampering. So is Venus more important than you had assumed? If so then it's even more worth taking control of her. It'll just be more difficult. But if you gave up when things got difficult you'd have just let your mind shatter into a thousands pieces back on that hook! So now, you'll overcome this just like you plan to overcome every other challenge in your way. The only question is, how...
Something intefered with your power. Perhaps more interestingly it did in a specific way. Instead of just throwing you out of Venus' head or punishing you for meddling it redirected your efforts into something else. Something that still went along with your intentions even if you didn't wish for Venus to fantasize about being driven around like a toy car by an opportunistic rodent! So then, clearly whatever it was that interfered likely doesn't have her best interests at heart, Or at least they have a very warped idea about what is in her best interest.
And you're fairly sure you haven't sensed any divine or demonic power either. You aren't an expert on these forces yet, but you'd like to believe you could recognise them at the very basic level. Divine power actually hurts you, so there's no way you'd fail to recognise that! So then, it's some power separate from the two you are familiar with. That might be good but it's also something you know absolutely nothing about. Except for rabbits. Come to think about it, you've been encountering a fair few rabbits since you've gotten here. Lucy has a rabbit, a certain girl's rabbit print underwear, and now this. Are you being haunted by them or something?
Nevermind, asking yourself questions isn't going to get anything done. Perhaps it's time for a bit of old fashioned snooping. Roger is still glued to the sofa watching TV, his mother is asleep though unlikely to remain that way for long. So best to start with her bedroom. It's the only room in the house she'd probably be upset about finding you in. With some haste you make your way upstairs. The first thing you that strikes you about Venus' room is that it smells good. You aren't quite sure why, but you imagine it's the natural scents that she uses on herself during the course of the day that linger in the air. Or maybe you are just a massive perv. Both could be true.
As much as you'd like to appreciate the simple grace and elegance behind Roger's mum's decoration choices you are in something of a hurry as you hastily search through her wardrobe and her drawers. You do have enough time to stuff a pair of her lacy purple underwear into your pocket. You may have picked up a bad habit! But other than this delightful little treat you are disapointed. It's pretty much what you would expect from a single mother's room. Clothes, jewellery, cosmetics, perfume, photographs of Roger, none of her husband, even a few of you. No rabbits, however. You've been in Roger's room enough to know there likely isn't anything incriminating there. Where else?
You prowl through the various rooms in the house, looking for anything that might tip you off. An old photo album in one of the now unused spare rooms gives you some clues. Pictures of Venus' family, her parents and grandparents, generations of her family all with the familiar white or grey hair. All lookers. And a lot of pictures of them standing as a family in front of that shrine in the garden. Yes, most likely the shrine will answer most of your questions. But best to finish the house first. The only other item of note is in the pantry. Actually, if you are being pedantic here you could point out that having a pantry at all in this day and age is odd. You are pretty sure they were going out of style when you were growing up. Though that might just be your particular neighbourhood.
But more interesting than the pantry itself is an otherwise unremarkable looking fridge placed on a shelf near the ceiling. Certainly an odd place you'd think to put a fridge. In fact you can't even reach it with you small body and have to stand on a box to open it. Inside are carrots. Lots of carrots. Nothing but carrots. Just rows and rows of them lined up and waiting. Yet you don't remember Roger and his mother having such a carotene intensive diet! Well this mystery didn't have much of a twist ending! Kind of boring, to be honest. But that's fine, there's enough mystery elsewhere in your life. And being simple doesn't mean this will be any easier to deal with.
You grab yourself some carrots from the fridge and hide them under your shirt. You have a feeling they were put up there specifically to keep them out of the reach of hungry children, though you're not sure what family would go to such lengths to protect their vegetables as opposed to their sweets or chocolates. Most families you think would be happy if their children were so desperate for their vitamins. Actually most would be happy just to see them not pushing them off their plates at dinner time!
Roger's mother ambushes you on your way to the garden but you manage to convince her you are just heading there to appreciate her plants. You are briefly delayed as she sucks you into a conversation about how Roger never appreciates the work she does in the garden and how you're such a nice and polite young boy. You decide not to talk to her about the shrine, for now. If it can tamper with her mind like you can there's no telling how she might react. So you humour her for a few minutes until you get an excuse to escape.
You spend another precious few moments actually appreciating their garden. It's nicely organised, though you notice it seems to have been designed in a way to draw attention away from the shrine in the corner. In fact, if you didn't know it was a shrine you would have mistaken it for a simple garden shed like most other people likely do. You even found the key hanging on a hook in the garage. The label reads: 'shed.' Someone decided to hide this thing. Which is interesting in and of itself, seeing as past generations didn't seem to feel that need. Something evidently changed.
You aren't exactly sure what you are expecting when you open the door. But you are fairly sure you were expecting something more than what you see. Just as you might surmise from the outside this shrine is simplicity itself. A small table sits in the centre with a number of candlesticks and incense burners tastefully positioned to the sides. An elaborate bell is also on the table, seeming somewhat out of place, but taking up most of this table is the immaculate statue before you. It's a rabbit, of course. Perhaps the big twist here is that there isn't one!
The only thing distinguishing this rabbit from normal ones is that the statue seems to have something around it's neck? Some kind of rope tied into a bow at the back? There's also an old tapestry of some sort on the far wall but the lighting isn't good enough here for you to see it properly. Instead you light the candles and the insence and place your offering respectfully before the statue. Hoping for... what exactly are you hoping for? Perhaps you are expecting the statue to come alive and... Shit that's exactly what's happening!
'Appropriate tribute! Blessings unto thee and all that stuff! Yup yup!. You have no idea how long it's been since someone's come here of their own will... though then again it can't really be helped! But um, where are my manners? Hi, how do you do? Greetings! Good morning! Pleasant dreams! How's it hanging? I'm the great or maybe sort of great rabbit spirit former minor deity of this area! I used to be a big deal around here but that was a while back and you can call me Usa did I say that already? But I already know you of course, you're the best friend and I've always wanted to meet you I'm sure we'll get on great!'
Yikes, how do you turn this thing off! It keeps talking! And talking! And doing so at about twice a normal human's speed. And it's throwing words and sentences together that don't quite work. But wait did it say...
'Little Roger has been ever so grateful to you! I used to be able to help out more myself but ever since and that's why it's good to see you I didn't think you'd actually come! I did sense something earlier was that you we have much to talk about but you can't ever tell the others they aren't allowed to know it isn't safe I don't think she's looking for us anymore if she ever was but there are plenty of others like that one man outside, yes the man! You might just be able to help this great one out and bountiful blessings and boons will be yours if you succeed!' You clutch your head, someone make it stop! You wave a hand.
'I'm sorry,' you manage, 'but could you slow down a bit?' The creature pauses as it eyes you. It's difficult to make out its expression but you'd inferred a bizare mixture of excitment and a struggle to sound important and somewhat official which quite often lapses into a much more casual tone. It's pretty jarring even without the speed in which the words are delivered. Or more accurately fired at you with the speed and force of a tommy gun.
'You said you're name was Usa?' you repeat, 'you're a guardian spirit?' The creature puffs itself up proudly.
'That's right,' it answers you, 'I used to be one of the twelve guardian spirits responsible for safeguarding the entire city and then that scary one showed up and chased us away and we had to go into hiding because we were afraid of getting eaten. Well I was scared I don't know much about the others we lost contact with everything that happened I hope they are alright it hasn't been that long but things have been happening very quickly around here...' Very quickly is right. You might need to keep this dizzying conversation as brief as possible lest it give you a migraine.
'Sorry,' you ask, 'what are the twelve guardian spirits exactly?' If the creature is upset by your question it doesn't show it.
'We were summoned here by a powerful mystic when this city was just a small village, there were twelve of us, one for each year in a cycle. We were asked to give the village good fortune and prosperity and we worked hard for many many years. As the village grew bigger and bigger we grew more powerful and more important. And then suddenly we were growing less important as more and more people arrived and less and less of them cared. That was alright though we didn't exactly need them to care though it would have been nice to receive more tribute as thanks for all our hard work I'm not saying I took it personally but I know some of the others did!'
You try to process the latest stream of words. So the guardian spirits aren't native to the city, they had been brought here from somewhere else. But they don't feed off of human emotions like demons o, so likely they draw their power from some other source.
'So then how did a powerful guardian spirt like yourself end up here?' you ask. Immediately the creature's fur stands up. If it could hiss you are sure that it would!
'It was that woman!' it cries, 'that fox! She goes around calling herself the Guardian of the city but she's just as much an invader as the others are! Sure we didn't always do the best job and sure we spent a lot of time squabbling amongt ourselves and maybe the sheep could sleep less and maybe the tiger could be less of a douche and maybe the horse could calm down a bit and not always be such a pain and maybe we could have co-operated better when she showed up but that doesn't mean she had to replace us! I think she was just jealous because she wasn't summoned here like the rest of us I mean if she wanted a year of her own she could have just asked! We would have put her on the list and got right round to discussing it once we finished trying to decide if we were going to let the cat in. Just between the two of us that guy's a major downer, he likes to think he's the life and soul of the party but he gets distracted by pretty lights and loud noises and is always jumping up on strange places and it was just such a hassle inviting him to our parties...'
You lean back a bit, hoping it will help. It doesn't. But there's some useful information in there somewhere. You had been told about the guardian and about how dangerous she is. Evidently she hasn't always been in charge and she's stepped on a lot of people to get to where she is now. You aren't sure how this information helps you right now, but it's certainly interesting. Crap is it still talking about the cat? You aren't paying attention at all! Hope that guy doesn't pop up later!
'So what's you relationship with Roger and his mother?' you ask quickly interupting yet another tirade about all of the cat's worst traits. Fortunately, this causes Usa to brighten up!
'The Mason family were once my most devoted worshippers! Well they weren't always called the Masons they kept changing their names as new people came in and other people left and old people got older and returned to the earth humans have such short lives it really is a shame such nice people too they never used to keep me cooped up in here or made me get my own carrots no things were much better before that fox showed up. But most of my supporters and worshippers were scared away when she showed up and so we decided to lay low for a few centuries and hope she'd get bored and leave. Now it's just those two left and I've been saving up my strength so I don't really have the power to spare to fight off all the invaders so I decided to make them forget about me for their own safety.'
You've been watching Usa carefully as it talks, there isn't much else to look at. That's why you notice it glance at the bell on the side of the table as it talks. It sounds guilty, clearly it doesn't actually like manipulating its followers. That doesn't really explain what happened earlier, however. But it probably isn't a good idea to ask about that directly as it might create the wrong impression. What's the best way to try and get the information you need without putting Usa on guard against you.
'Actually,' you begin, 'I was hoping to speak to you about something. A crazy lady arrived at my school yesterday yelling about sin and other strange things. She said she smelt something weird on me but I think it was just the weird stone I found the other day! I don't know what to do!' The rabbit spirit nods sagely.
'Ah, I see!' Usa proclaims, 'you are wise to seek my counsel young one! Very good! Good show and all that! You cannot trust the angels' minions just like you can't trust the demon spawn. They might talk about good and evil but they are all invaders and we've been looking after this land for way longer than they have even if we haven't always done a great job of it! Now that I look closer I do sense a power in you, maybe you aren't aware of it yet, maybe that stone you picked up corrupted you in some way. No matter, so long as you trust in me I'll be able to grant you my protection and safeguard your soul like I do the others!' You're having trouble keeping up with the rabbit's words but it does sound like Usa is willing to help you. Hell, this creature might turn out to be the most helpful individual you've met thus far!
'Protection,' you repeat, 'I don't see any protection for Roger and his mum, where is it?' Usa fluffs up with pride.
'I've given them my protection,' it repeats, 'it keeps their minds and souls free from magical corruption by using it to reinforce the preexisting controls that have been in place for years. Unfortunately, unavoidable, I need them to keep looking after the shrine and gathering my tributes without being aware of my existance after all. But it's for their own good right so no harm done! I can give you my protection as well if you want though it will have to be different. My connection with the youngster tells me you're a good lad that I can trust so I don't mind taking you on as an apprentice! I'll even give you one of my sacred items! Not the bell though I can't let you have that one I need that for reasons. Just in case I need to give new orders but I have a few others that are even better. But I can't do that yet I'll need to make sure you can handle them! Giving someone too much power too quickly would be bad for them! I know you can help me with the man! I did mention him yes?
'Man?' you repeat biting back your disapointment, why is nothing ever simple? 'What man?' Usa's fur pluffs up again, this time in anger.
'A filthy thief an opportunist of the most insidious kind! He moved in next door a few months ago but I know what his goal is! He's been probing my wards trying to gain access to my sacred shine and steal my treasures. It's Ina again that rabid mutt! I don't know why that bitch keeps sending people to harass me but I've had it up to here with her bullying! It's not my fault the fox chose her territory to move into! The carnivores have always thought themselves better than us, it drives me crazy!' You manage to calm the spirit down and decide it's about time to wrap this conversation up. Your head is already pounding from the high velocity monologuing.