"Chill out!" my body laughs against my will. "Her mory's pretty good, theres a lot here to sift through. Oh, fuck. Shes
My instinct takes over, fear surging through . Cant let it say Necromancy. The little black slimy soul has notes of springiness underneath, orange and bouncy. I barely note this in the split second before ripping it from its body. Whatever its words were die with it. I stumble ever so slightly as my body suddenly becos mine once again.
...Really pissed off!" I finish, smiling as best I can.
My heart starts to hamr in my chest as I feel sothing dead and wet leak around my spine, flowing through flesh as if it was syrup. Every con Ive run with Rowan flashes through my mind. Exude confidence, or die.
For the second ti today, I had woken up to Penelope's words, healing as she screeched at Remus. He disagreed, and I slowly but surely ca to the dread realization that out of all the things Id been terrified of, it was the mind control slis that turned out real. I cant believe it! I wasnt too paranoid after all, but they always had a fucking excuse.
The mont Id realized that, I had tried to move, only to find out that I could not. My body moved on its own, vision flicking around and taking in all sorts of sights. I heard my breath in my ears, the sll of grass on the side of the road, yet I controlled nothing. Every little twitch and habit Id taken for granted was attempted and failed, my body moving only to so arcane will. A waking nightmare had consud , yet despite the horror I had done my best to wait and watch before trying to murder my possessor.
That didnt last very long. Now, here I am, surrounded by enemies that can kill with a thought. No ti to worry about blasphemy. If I ss up here, I might die. Its ti to leverage all my advantages. I have a corpse and a spirit. Internally, I take sli-Vita's soul and force it into a splinter of my own. Then I push the combined soul into the sli corpse in my neck and...
And it doesn't stick! Damnit, it's not working! It just feels off. Like the body isnt a body. I may as well be trying to put a soul into soup. Stupid slis! Bah, okay, so that plan wont work. Focus on surviving the next minute. Remus is glaring at .
Who cares? he says. You decide everything the host does when youre in control. I can't believe I have to insist that my own spawn stay on task rather than sass .
His spawn? So the sli I just killed was sli-Remus's kid. Great. Whatever, I can lean into the sass angle.
"Sorry daddy, but I am a teenager now. I'm contractually obligated to give you shit. If you wanted to be deferential you should have put in the body of a slave."
Remus's eye twitches.
"Woah, kidding," I say, grinning as best I can. "The extra sense is just really distracting. I'm blabbing while I figure it out."
"Ignore the extra sense," Remus well, Remus-sli demands. "Co on, we talked about this. Did Vita break our cover? How much did she know about us? Who else are we going to have to clean up? Does she know about anyone else that might be a danger to us?"
Oh thank fuck, I can answer all that.
"Right, right," I say. "Uh... no, she didn't break our cover. Didn't know much of anything. She had suspicions but wasn't sure. I'm... not finding anyone else in her mory that can do what she does, or anything like it."
All technically true. Remus takes a deep breath, starting to relax.
"Okay. Good. Then... we're safe for now, right?"
"I suppose so," Penelope... no, the Penelope-sli answers. She doesn't sound happy about it, but she's also using my teammate's body as a puppet so Im not certain how much I care.
"Thank the Watcher," Remus-sli sighs, his body sagging. "Okay. Then here's what we do. Vita, Penelope, you head back to the guild and 'confirm' that we t the biomancer specialist and had ourselves removed. I have sothing else to take care of, but I'll rejoin you later. Can you handle a couple weeks on your own?"
"I suppose we have no other choice," the Penelope-sli says, scowling.
"Not if we want everyone to live through this, no," Remus-sli says seriously. "One last thing before we separate, though. I found out what we are."
Penelope... no, the thing controlling Penelope perked up at that, eyes wide. Theyre called the Nawra, apparently. Odd na, since it sounds like well, a persons na.
"Yes, Remus says after a brief conversation. Not that you should be repeating that anywhere that you can be heard, but... yes. Its nice to have a na. Penelope, Vita, control your food intake. If your real body gets too large, you'll divide."
"Aww, don't you want grandkids, dad?" I ask.
He smiles. Oh, I don't like how he smiles.
"Not yet."
I swallow. I need to kill him now, before it's too late. I take every soul I have left, other than the Vita-sli I just killed, and move them to my mouth. I swallow every soul at once in a massive pile, power flowing through like never before.
"Well then. I'll see you around, pops," I say, holding my hand out to shake.
He takes my hand, still smiling. His grip is firm. I send my magic up his arm, grasping at his soul, yanking with all my unholy might. It slides off like rain from an eyelash. My power surges inside Remus's body, clawing and scratching, but to no avail. The sli's soul is so large, I cannot even start to grasp it.
Remus lets go of my hand, shaking out his own.
"I think you might have zapped a little, there," he comnts, seeming unconcerned.
Once again, I hide the scream within my mind behind a smile.
"Sorry, pops. Still getting used to the body."
He nods.
"Understandable. You're what, ten hours old? You'll get the hang of being Vita before you return to town, don't worry."
Oh good, I murdered a fucking baby. I'll just add that to the list of sins, I guess. Damnit, I'm really not strong enough?
"Now is there anything else you two need before I head out?" the Remus-sli asks.
"Nope," I tell him. "I'm good, pops."
There's nothing I can do now. Remus is too strong. But if he leaves, I might be able to save Penelope, then get backup to deal with whatever the hell Remusli is planning. The slis, thankfully, are oblivious to my internal monologue. Remus's body nods.
"We won't let our kind continue to rot as dogs. Not when we can be people."
I smile, as if agreeing with the sentint. Penelope just stares, expressionless. Interesting. Remusli nods to us both, then runs off.
Penelope sighs damnit, I an Penelope-sli sighs then turns and starts plodding back to town. I follow, keeping ntal track of Remusli (fuck, he's fast) and ensuring he's long gone before I say anything.
"So..." I start, "how's the secret agent stuff been so far?"
She shrugs.
"Exciting. Depressing. Confusing. Not being sapient was certainly less complicated."
I blink.
"Not being sapient?"
"Yes, as in... oh, that's right. You budded off of Remus. He and I had bodies before this. Animals. They couldn't really think, and neither did we. I think we'll revert to that if we're not inside a human for too long. We started to lose our mories of being dogs after a few hours outside a body."
"Oh. Yeah, Remus might have ntioned sothing like that," I lie. "That really sucks."
Penelope snorts. No, wait, her sli snorts.
"It's certainly not ideal. My first act as a person is to hold another person hostage in her own body. I'm barely a fignt of her, yet she's the one haunting . I can't imagine Vita will be any easier on you. Well, the real Vita, I an. Not you."
I smile a little. "This is surreal as fuck," the sli-Vita had said. I feel that for sure.
"Oh?" I ask. "What makes you say she'll be hard on ? Were in power, right?"
"Please tell you're listening to her. It's the least you can do. We're stealing their lives and making them watch! But I... I still rember most of it, what it was like. To feel, but not think. To act, but not question. To just mindlessly be. I can't go back to that. No matter how much I hate myself, I can't. It would be the sa as death."
I take a deep breath. Damnit. Thats pretty fucked up.
"Okay. I'm listening to her now. Vita wants to say so things to you. Is that okay?"
Penelope-sli looks over to , shocked. She lets in a shaky breath.
"I... of course. Oh god, I forgot... I'm so stupid, of course she can hear . Vita, I'm so sorry, I"
"She wants to know," I say, cutting her off, "if Penelope is okay.
Penelope shrinks down. She looks so small and sad. ...No. Her jailor looks small and sad.
N-no, she chokes, her eyes watering. Of course shes not.
Yeah. Thats that, right? I can't just let her hold Penelope inside a horrific mind-jail. No way, no how. As we walk, I reach over like Im giving her a hug and grab her neck.
She goes rigid, turning to . I stare her down, watching realization dawning in her features. Yeah, you fucked up, sli. I reach tendrils of power into Penelope's body, slowly creeping around the sli's soul within. It was a big soul, but it still wasn't up to Penelope's size and nowhere near Remusli's. This one, I can take.
Please dont kill , she whispers, pleading.
Then I suggest you release her, I say. Right. Now.
She swallows, and then suddenly her deanor shifts. The real Penelope staggers, then stretches her body, relishing the simple ability to move. I feel her soul pulse ever so slightly, an expression of pure relief and joy. There's a difference between the two souls, now. They swapped. I feel the one in control.
"Fffffffucking took you long enough!" Penelope all but shrieks, her swear coinciding with a desperate gasp for breath.
Sothing about that makes laugh. Yep, that's the real Penelope.
"What's so funny?" Penelope demands. "Why are you not... I can't believe you're...!"
"It's okay to thank , you know," I tell her, grinning.
She shuts up. My hand still on her neck, I feel her shaking. Her lip quivers for just a mont before she erupts completely into sobs, falling onto . It surprises , and I stumble back as I catch her. The two of us stand on the road, her tears soaking the front of my gambeson like I had stood in the rain.
"Thank you," she whispers between breaths. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..."
"It's okay, you're okay," I answer, patting her back with my free arm as I maintain a grip on her neck.
"Please get it out," she whispers.
Then she reverts back to sobs. The sli in her neck quivers in fear. Honestly, I should have already killed it. Sli-Penelope is dangerous, oh so dangerous. She can steal bodies and trap minds. She can divide herself, possibly indefinitely. Her kind are torturous creatures that can only live as people by subsuming the lives of other people, making them watch as the sli steals their body, their life, their very being. What must it be like to be trapped like that? If I wasnt a monster myself, how long would I have had to watch? Days? Months? Years? At what point would I have gone mad? By any reasonable asure, the creature inside my teammate is every sort of kill-on-sight beast that Remus the real Remus had warned was so ubiquitous outside the walls. For the good of humanity, she would have to die.
My power feels at her soul, caressing, squeezing, preparing to end her. To rip her into nothing. Yet as I hold her, I feel her soul more deeply. I feel bubbles, glowing softly underneath the black, sticky ooze of the slis spirit. Little pink bubbles are rising to the surface. Theyre so similar to the ones in the real Penelopes soul, yet so subtly different.
This sli is the person that helped my team on the return trip. This sli is the one that took Norah and I out bathing. This sli showed my face for the first ti. This sli healed the kids at Lyns shack. This sli is a person. Sure, shes also a threat to humanity, but from one threat to humanity to another why shouldnt I spare her?
Wet sobs continue to run down my chest. Penelope is on her knees in the middle of the road, crying as I hold her. Crying as one hand on her neck separates her from a lifeti of having to feel her body be puppetted by a monster. I squeeze her, resting my chin on her head. Convincing Penelope to leave sli-Pen alive would be the hard part, wouldnt it? As a biomancer, she could probably kill her no matter where I put her. Fuck, where am I going to put her? She needs a human host or her personality will die, right? And the only two people here
Get out of Penelope, I whisper, massaging my teammates neck where the body of the sli rests. I feel it move slightly under her skin, which is disturbing, but the sli just shudders, unresponsive.
I said get out, I repeat louder, squeezing the back of Penelopes neck a bit harder. No response.
Just kill it, Penelope begs. Please, before it
Her breath catches and the sobs stop as the sli suddenly takes control. I almost, almost kill it right then and there.
I cant hear you, Penelope-sli says quickly, choking on tears as her body jerkily shifts from relief to abject terror. I felt you poking at and I feel vibrations but if youre talking to I cant hear you.
Well use my body to figure stuff out, I tell her. Out of Penelope. Now.
With startling speed, the sli follows my command, flowing out of Penelopes neck and up my arm like a fish through water. It was one of the single most revolting feelings Ive ever had the displeasure of experiencing. She swims into my neck, brushing into the liquid body of her own dead brethren. The little sli pushes it out, letting the corpse drip down my back as she settles in.
Penelope scrambles back, a look of abject horror on her face.
You did you just?
Yeah, I answer.
She brushes tears from her eyes, stepping slowly backwards.
Youre insane, Vita. You have to kill it!
Why? I ask. Shes my friend. We hung out and did a bunch of nice things together.
With my body! Penelope shrieks.
Yeah, I agree. And if she ever tries to take your body again, Ill kill her.
She opens her mouth to respond, but swallows her words.
You could be it right now, she says instead, slowly standing up straight, and I only have one way to know.
Her soul stirs, drawing on her talent. I dont have ti to process how easily I feel that now before I have to hold my hands up to placate her.
Wait, wait, wait! I say. I can prove it, look!
I reach to the back of my neck, scraping off so ooze. Twiddling my now-goopy fingers in Penelopes direction, I grin.
This is what happened to the last one who tried to take over, I say, smiling. My deathtouch still works when theyre hijacking . Thats how I saved you! You dont have to worry about a thing, Penelope. She cant do anything unless I want her to. Nothing.
She takes a deep, shuddering breath.
...Why even bother, though? After all she did to , you want her more?
I just dont want to murder her in cold blood, I say as calmly as I can. I feel it, Penelope. Shes a person.
You are insane, she murmurs, but starts to relax. I will never understand you.
I nod. My heart is beating so fast. I dont know if I understand , either.
It will be okay. Dont freak out, all right?
I tap the back of my neck twice, and instantly lose control of my body.
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