"Sĺ̵̗ȇ̸̻ep.̵"
The crying infant's eyes closed as he fell into a serene rest immediately, escaping his current distress.
Now, either this is the first time Valerie's ever used this command on her baby brother (possible) and he's never going to wake up under his own power again, or she
knows that this command will wear off under its own power.
We don't really know enough about
"Will Winnower" to be sure which.
"It's no̸thi̵n̸g sp̸̻͂eciaľ̶͍," Valerie answered on impulse, "You sh̶͓̄o̸u̷ldn't̸ thin̵k̸ about it too hard."
Mali's face went a little blank as the Idea washed over her, she'd be like that for a couple minutes.
Valerie knows
this from experience- so some commands
do wear off, or at least have temporary effects.
The thought made her sigh, people were harder than things. It's why she couldn't just command Mali to be well, or Thomas for that matter.
May be a limit of Valerie's power. Even if we can turn her good, she doesn't have
[Tremendous Mechanist] or the other advantages Lilly has to comprehend extremely complex systems.
Her brother had gotten rather inexplicably ill the past couple days, her and Aboleath were practicing minor harmless orders on people just about as much as possible to build up Valerie's skill to the bigger concepts such as overall health.
This may or may not be a coincidence. I note that it
could be a coincidence that people are getting sick around Valerie since there's no
obvious reason any of Valerie's commands would make people sick... But on the other hand, they might.
They'd abandoned that as one of their preparation activities when Valerie burst into tears halfway through some convoluted explanation about blood vessels yesterday. It hurt to admit it, but she was just too dumb.
Aboleath may be masterminding all this as a manipulation-
may. This combination of circumstances (Valerie's self-loathing, disease of some kind spreading around her and affecting her loved ones) is well suited to:
1) Make her biddable because she's desperate and doesn't respect her own intelligence.
2) Make her agitated and likely to abuse her power to make problems go away.
3) Giving her external problems to worry about, which distracts her from thinking about how her own
"Will Winnower" acts may be making problems worse.
What Valerie didn't quite get was why her mum was so calm about Thomas. She'd have expected the lady of the house to be raising a huge fuss about her brother being a little fevery and sulky, but instead her mother had been keeping to herself. But her mother seemed rather withdrawn the past few days, from just about everything really.
Valerie had gotten lax, too wrapped up in her practice and just having fun while she daydreamed and not keeping track of the household properly. This led up to the moment where her mother had walked into Thomas' room to find Valerie holding her brother, Mali asleep on a couch nearby, Persephone in Thomas' arms.
Time had seemed to stand still, caught with her proverbial pants down and almost certainly having cost Mali her livelihood, Valerie had panicked and frozen. Thank goodness Aboleath had been there.
'Speak. Now.' He had said.
"Not̷̛͚̒ḥ̴̂ing w̴̰͛͆ort̶h̸ n̷otic̷͕̓ĭ̶̻ng he̷̘̕re," she had said, hoping to shield both herself and Mali from the consequences. Valerie had thought she'd put enough oomph behind the Idea, and was doubly thankful for Aboleath when she felt him add an extra push to it, clearly she would have undershot without him.
This, by contrast, suggests that a
Will Winnower use is
lingering, and doing so without Valerie's knowledge... and that Aboleath
intended that result- distance Valerie and her little brother from their mother.
She'd heard some of the servants chatting about her mother apparently 'having a headache' since then. Which was obviously idle gossip, her family had access to magics that made such ailments trivial to remove.
Hmm, do
"Will Winnower" commands create ailments that,
in and of themselves, resist magical healing?
Valerie had thought that the wide range of applications that the Realm of Possibility could reach would have been impressive enough, but Abby had thankfully warned her about how she needed to make an extra special effort first to make up for being a disappointment. It hadn't made sense to start with, but he knew so much, and Valerie knew that he was smarter than her. She really wanted to tell them, but she could wait.
Shit. Super-manipulative.
I really hope that whatever Evie did to Aboleath, she made it
hurt.
Oh and Shallia basically left her alone now, which was pretty great. Valerie just told her that "Sh̸͚̋e dǐ̴̺dn't nę̴́e̷̍ͅd to̶ do̴ a̶ny̵͚͝thi̴͓̕ng̶" yesterday morning. It was a pretty cushy deal for her Governess really, the woman got to live at the manor for free and now she didn't even have to do her job anymore. Which was a pretty awesome way of thinking about it, Valerie had been having second thoughts until Abby had explained it like that.
Ah... shit... sloppy wording. Shallia may have been catatonic since 'yesterday morning.' Valerie might not
notice.
Valerie, I've been meaning to speak with you about something. Something important, that topic.
Valerie had just gotten back to her own bedroom, intending to turn in for the night. The servants enjoyed that she insisted on dressing and undressing herself (when she could get away with it), which was even easier these days thanks to the Realm of Infinite Possibility. Abby had made some overtures about removing her need to sleep early on, but changing herself kinda freaked Valerie out a bit, she wasn't comfortable with that. He kept prodding at the subject every now and then.
*Sigh*, Aboleath, I know I could practice more if I did that… it's just… I just don't want to do it okay?
Oh, where is the brave girl who leaped into the unknown together with me a few days ago? Are you sure you'll have what it takes rise up to your family's legacy?
Abby's words hit Valerie like a knife to the gut, her eyes began to water a little. He had never spoken to Valerie like that, and she was not ready for the sudden turn knocking her thoughts off-balance.
I… you don't mean that. Why would you say that?
Valerie sank against her door, she didn't realise it until this moment, but she desperately needed Abby in her corner. If he turned cruel, then she didn't know what she'd do.
Ah I'm sorry, please don't cry. It's just… I thought that… nevermind, I shouldn't tell you.
Spotting a lifeline, Valerie immediately seized upon the apparently forbidden topic as an explanation for why Abby had said what he did. She would prove to him she could handle it, she had too.
Shouldn't tell me what. Tell me Aboleath.
The silence stretched uncomfortably long, and Valerie's nerves began to fray. She began to wonder if Aboleath was even going to answer. But finally, he did.
…Thomas isn't going to get better.
If your heart could stop without you actually dying, that's what Valerie felt at that moment. She leapt up onto her feet.
"What!.." "WHY!"
She was already swinging open her door to go get mother, keeping secrets be damned, they needed to get help now.
Your mother cannot help him. No one can. Except maybe you.
Valerie stopped in the middle of the hallway, her hands shaking. The shadows playing along the hallway seemed darker and more scary than ever before, the walls felt like they were closing in on her. Her whole world felt like it was crumbling down and she didn't know what to do.
I don't understand Aboleath. You're scaring me. He's not that sick. Why can't anyone help him? I keep failing at it, it can't just be up to me.
There is a curse spreading through the land, a grand ritual conducted by the Goblins which has gone unnoticed. While individually weak, their mastery of such magics far exceeds that of Loilsv. Only your power, your full and unrestrained power, can break its hold upon your brother and many other children. This is why I was sent to you, my purpose from the Gods.
Valerie was crying properly by now as she ran back into her room.
Well of course I'll use the Words on myself then! Why didn't you tell me? We could have done it days ago! Oh Aurora, why is this happening. Abby, I'm frightened.
I am sorry Valerie. I wanted you to already have the solution before I told you, spare you the worry and the uncertainty.
Tell me what I have to do, please. Just tell me and I'll listen.
Of course. Do not fret, little thing; I have a plan for you.
So
that's how he got her to start self-modifying.
...I hope Evie made it hurt a
LOT.