Seele Quest: 6.2
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
She's right.
She's right, but...
You can see the unwillingness on Rozaliya's face, and the angry energy in Liliya. They look up to you; they'll listen to reason.
Right?
"No," whispers Roza.
Liliya nods slowly in agreement.
You look at Vel for help, but she shakes her head stubbornly; she doesn't want to convince them, she wants you to. You open your mouth to try, but… you just can't. Not even for Vel, can you do something that cruel. Nor do you want to.
What you want, what your heart is telling you to do, is help these children. They're no-one you know, and you have problems of your own, but maybe… just maybe, you can do something for them. It doesn't have to be entirely a waste of time. They might be able to help you get into the village. If nothing else, there's so much you don't know about this world; talking to them could be enlightening.
If you tell yourself that enough, will you believe it?
So what do you do?
The girl whispers something to the boy, and they start getting up. In a moment it'll be too late.
"Stay here. I'll go talk to them," you tell the twins, trying not to look at Veliona. She's sure to be angry, or at least disappointed…
You glance at her, but to your surprise, she's frowning and looking at her hands. Something really seems to be bothering her. Is she… conflicted? You pause, unsure of what to do, but you have little time to decide. After a moment's uncertainty you walk over to the two children.
"...Hello," you say, startling them. They look up at you. They're very dirty, and they look famished. Their eyes are red, like they've been crying. "What are your names?"
"I'm Pip and she's... Annie."
"Hello, Pip, and hello, Annie. Why are you out here? I heard you crying.."
Pip looks down at the ground, while Annie hugs herself. "...We had to get away," he answers softly.
"From what?"
"Our parents..." Annie chokes out. A fresh wave of tears come over her, and Pip hugs her tightly. His own eyes are red. Whatever happened, it was recent.
You glance back at Veliona. She just sighs, looking downcast.
You look back at the children. "I'm sorry to hear that," you say. "My name's Seele. Maybe I can help?"
"Seele... Like seelie?" Annie asks. "That's a strange name."
A second passes. Pip looks you over, his eyes growing wider by the second. You don't think he can see you properly, in the darkness, but he's seeing something. You consider your appearance; dressed in clothes worth more than their entire village, the Cherenkov radiation dancing through your hair damped down to an absolute minimum but still vaguely visible, and showing up out of nowhere... You were a better choice to make contact than Roza or Liliya, but only just.
"I don't recognise you. Do you... Have fae blood?" he asks, a spark of fear entering his voice.
See, you're someone from a different universe. Someone from outside the universe, in all honesty. You're not even human; you lost that a long time ago. You can't say he's wrong. He'd never believe it.
It doesn't usually bother you, but sometimes…
"...No," you say, kneeling to look them in the eyes. "I'm something else, but please believe that I want to help you. We were passing by, and... I couldn't ignore children crying."
Pip doesn't seem convinced. Annie just looks too dazed to speak.
"...Do you have family here?" you ask. "We can go there, and talk to a grown-up. You mentioned a sick mother?"
His eyes grow even wider.
"Mama's at the church. Papa's in the graveyard, and Jane's in her room," says Annie, wiping a few tears from her eyes.
"Alright. And your mother is… what's wrong with her?" you say questioningly.
"She has a bad chest, and she's coughing," explains Pip. "We can't get medicine because of how expensive it is. Papa died and we needed to buy his medicine. The village chief said the merchants are cheaters."
A tear trickles down from his eyes. They're young; shockingly so, even more than you'd imagined when you saw them from afar. Seven, eight years old at most. Pip and Annie seem to be nearly the same age, Annie perhaps a year or so younger. The two seem very close, to the point where they're instinctively protecting each other now that there's a stranger nearby, each keeping an eye on a different angle of the forest you came from. You make a note not to come too close.
"We need to save my mom," Annie says seriously. "We can't lose her."
"You said her chest is bad. Is she coughing blood?" you ask.
Pip nods, dabbing his eyes. "She coughed up some this morning. The priest said..."
He goes quiet, and the silence speaks louder than anything else.
"What did the priest say?" you ask.
"He said it was a bad omen," admits Pip in a very small voice. "That she's demon-possessed. He wouldn't let us go near her. He's wrong! Mom isn't dangerous, she's… mom." His voice is nearly breaking. "It's not fair."
You nod to yourself. The priest is hopefully right, at least to not let anyone near. What's ailing her sounds like an infectious disease. If the kids were around her, they'd probably get sick as well. That's good news, though. An infection… infections can be cured. Anything else would be harder.
You're carrying enough medical equipment for any vaguely probable scenario, but the only pieces you really know how to use are Liliya's, and there's little variety to that. Immunosuppressants, top-ups for her nanotech immune system replacement, a few spare bits of cybernetics you haven't gotten around to clearing out after Liliya told you hers just… fell out, and… that sort of thing. A lot of it would also work on Roza. Most wouldn't be useful for anyone else.
The nanotech, though? That's generic, soulium-equivalent stuff. All you need to do is flip a switch on the medical nanites, asking them to discard Raven's hand-tuned profile and use the built-in universal one. Pretty much no matter what's wrong with her, that'll make her feel better for a few days…
You hope it's an infection, though. If it's an infection, it'll cure her.
"Are you two at all hungry?" you ask, smiling at the children.
They glance at each other. "No," they say together, and you shrug. Too bad; it would have been an easy way to gain their trust. You glance back at where Liliya, Roza and Vel are hiding. Roza's the one with most of the medical gear, of course. Still, you need to be careful about how you present them.
"I'm going to ask some friends to come out," you say, still smiling. "They're my sisters. They look a bit odd, but they're the three nicest people you'll ever meet. Okay?"
They look at you, then shrug. In a louder voice, you call out to your siblings. "Come on out, Vel and idol team!"
You barely resist saying 'idiot team'. Roza would get you for that.
The three of them come out from where they were hiding, and the children stare at them. Not so much at Vel, which is just as well; claiming she's the 'nicest person ever' was a white lie at best. Rozaliya's tail twitches uncomfortably, and she's looking away in a doomed attempt at making her horn and glowing eyes less obvious. Liliya is less shy about it. For a change she's the one pulling Roza along. They stop a few meters away, watching the childrens' eyes grow wider and wider.
"See?" you say. "No reason to be scared of them. These are my sisters."
"They're monsters," Annie whispers, and you sigh. You want to reach out and comfort her, but…
Wouldn't work.
You speak as gently as possible. "Annie, they haven't hurt you, and they won't. These are my sisters. They're people, just like you and me, we just look a little different. The only scary one is Veliona." You point her out, and Vel rolls her eyes. "My twin sister. She's a little abrasive, but she's not dangerous. She's honest, is all. The one with pink hair is Roza, and she's an idiot, but she's genuinely the nicest person you'll ever meet. Just don't get between her and her snacks."
"Or she'll… eat me?" Pip whispers, then immediately clamps a hand over his mouth. His sister clenches his hand. You're tempted to roll your eyes.
"Or she'll eat the snacks, then tell your mother it was you," you say, smiling fondly. Roza looks like she's about to say something, but thinks better of it. Liliya chuckles softly, though.
"And that's Liliya," you say, gesturing at your youngest sister. "The adorable one with the cute horn. She's quiet, but loves reading. If you want her to like you, all you have to do is tell her stories. Uh…" As your thoughts catch up with what you're saying, you wonder if that's entirely true anymore. No, no, she definitely loves stories. Still, 'quiet'?
Roza looks more and more rebellious. You grin inwardly, but decide against deliberately trying to make her blow her top. Right now.
"...Liliya thinks she's smarter than she is, so you can take advantage of that," you finish. Heh.
The children slowly move forward, and begin to whisper quietly. Annie seems to be the bravest of them. She whispers back at Pip, occasionally glancing your way. Vel stands off to the side, frowning slightly as she watches. You walk over to stand before her.
"Vel," you murmur, and she looks at you. "Put on a friendly face. They're scared of us."
Vel nods slowly. "I think they're mostly scared of the twins," she murmurs. "Can't say as I blame them."
"Still…" You look at the twins, your adorable idiots, and try to imagine yourself scared of them. It's not possible. You know she's right, but the feeling just isn't there.
She sighs. "Oh, fine..."
Vel gets down on one knee and waves a hand. "Come here, little humans. I won't hurt you." she says in a deep voice before quickly switching to her own. "I'm still scary, though."
You giggle at that, and the kids move forward.
"That was mean, Vel." You laugh.
"They're fine." She smirks. "Go ahead, human boy."
Annie walks forward slowly, followed by Pip. Your smile falls. Truthfully, you don't like this at all. You're not some sort of alien, and you don't like being treated like one, but Vel's right. You can't blame them. These children were raised in a primitive society—they may never have seen someone with clean hair, let alone with cosmetic prostheses. The twins' aren't cosmetic, and also aren't prostheses anymore, but that's not the point. You're an alien to them, and you can't be mad at them for reacting the way they do.
"Can you help mom?" Annie asks, staring up at you. "She won't get better."
You don't know what to tell her. You want so badly to embrace the girl—she's about to cry. You wish you could say yes, but…
"I'm sorry," you murmur. "I can try to take a look. I can probably help a little. But she might not get better. It's not up to me."
"Alright." She sniffles, rubbing her eyes. "Do you promise you'll try?"
"I promise."
She runs a finger under each eye, drying the dampness as she walks back to her brother. She takes his hand.
"Don't worry, Pip," she says. "She's gonna help mom. She promised."
"In return for what?" he asks, scowling suspiciously. Your smile fades. Is he actually…
"Nothing you'd mind," you tell him, crouching down so you can look him in the eyes. "I promise. We're not here to hurt you, or anyone in your village. We're strangers here. I'm searching for my teacher, and when I find her I'll leave, but I heard you crying and couldn't leave you alone. The only thing I'll ask of you is that you introduce us to the leader of your village, so we can ask him some questions. That's it."
His face is dubious, but when Annie pulls on his sleeve, he nods.
"I'll take you to them," he says. "Come on."
"Right. Um… wait a second," you tell him. "I need to think."
He narrows his eyes at you, but you're not lying. If you go with them, they'll take you to the village's leaders… you guess, and you guess that could work, but you don't feel too sure about it. If this is the reaction you get from children…
You're not sure if adults would be more or less anxious about your appearance, but you guess you'll find out.
Or you could go straight to their mother. Fix her up, as best you can. Use that as a distraction, or a voucher—maybe just leave straight away, actually. You have a pretty good idea of where to go next.
= = =
Shorter than usual, but I felt you deserve some input here.
You have the option of being the mysterious strangers who no-one except Pip and Annie ever see, whose existence is only believed—to those who believe it—because their mother is so suddenly healed.
Or you could go see the other villagers. There's no way to avoid your first meeting being at least disconcerting, but you can choose the type of disconcertion. Give that some thought, if you pick it.
[ ] Go along with the kids and meet the village leaders
[ ] Go see their mother first
- [ ] And then see the leaders
- [ ] And then leave
[ ] Write-in
She's right, but...
You can see the unwillingness on Rozaliya's face, and the angry energy in Liliya. They look up to you; they'll listen to reason.
Right?
"No," whispers Roza.
Liliya nods slowly in agreement.
You look at Vel for help, but she shakes her head stubbornly; she doesn't want to convince them, she wants you to. You open your mouth to try, but… you just can't. Not even for Vel, can you do something that cruel. Nor do you want to.
What you want, what your heart is telling you to do, is help these children. They're no-one you know, and you have problems of your own, but maybe… just maybe, you can do something for them. It doesn't have to be entirely a waste of time. They might be able to help you get into the village. If nothing else, there's so much you don't know about this world; talking to them could be enlightening.
If you tell yourself that enough, will you believe it?
So what do you do?
The girl whispers something to the boy, and they start getting up. In a moment it'll be too late.
"Stay here. I'll go talk to them," you tell the twins, trying not to look at Veliona. She's sure to be angry, or at least disappointed…
You glance at her, but to your surprise, she's frowning and looking at her hands. Something really seems to be bothering her. Is she… conflicted? You pause, unsure of what to do, but you have little time to decide. After a moment's uncertainty you walk over to the two children.
"...Hello," you say, startling them. They look up at you. They're very dirty, and they look famished. Their eyes are red, like they've been crying. "What are your names?"
"I'm Pip and she's... Annie."
"Hello, Pip, and hello, Annie. Why are you out here? I heard you crying.."
Pip looks down at the ground, while Annie hugs herself. "...We had to get away," he answers softly.
"From what?"
"Our parents..." Annie chokes out. A fresh wave of tears come over her, and Pip hugs her tightly. His own eyes are red. Whatever happened, it was recent.
You glance back at Veliona. She just sighs, looking downcast.
You look back at the children. "I'm sorry to hear that," you say. "My name's Seele. Maybe I can help?"
"Seele... Like seelie?" Annie asks. "That's a strange name."
A second passes. Pip looks you over, his eyes growing wider by the second. You don't think he can see you properly, in the darkness, but he's seeing something. You consider your appearance; dressed in clothes worth more than their entire village, the Cherenkov radiation dancing through your hair damped down to an absolute minimum but still vaguely visible, and showing up out of nowhere... You were a better choice to make contact than Roza or Liliya, but only just.
"I don't recognise you. Do you... Have fae blood?" he asks, a spark of fear entering his voice.
See, you're someone from a different universe. Someone from outside the universe, in all honesty. You're not even human; you lost that a long time ago. You can't say he's wrong. He'd never believe it.
It doesn't usually bother you, but sometimes…
"...No," you say, kneeling to look them in the eyes. "I'm something else, but please believe that I want to help you. We were passing by, and... I couldn't ignore children crying."
Pip doesn't seem convinced. Annie just looks too dazed to speak.
"...Do you have family here?" you ask. "We can go there, and talk to a grown-up. You mentioned a sick mother?"
His eyes grow even wider.
"Mama's at the church. Papa's in the graveyard, and Jane's in her room," says Annie, wiping a few tears from her eyes.
"Alright. And your mother is… what's wrong with her?" you say questioningly.
"She has a bad chest, and she's coughing," explains Pip. "We can't get medicine because of how expensive it is. Papa died and we needed to buy his medicine. The village chief said the merchants are cheaters."
A tear trickles down from his eyes. They're young; shockingly so, even more than you'd imagined when you saw them from afar. Seven, eight years old at most. Pip and Annie seem to be nearly the same age, Annie perhaps a year or so younger. The two seem very close, to the point where they're instinctively protecting each other now that there's a stranger nearby, each keeping an eye on a different angle of the forest you came from. You make a note not to come too close.
"We need to save my mom," Annie says seriously. "We can't lose her."
"You said her chest is bad. Is she coughing blood?" you ask.
Pip nods, dabbing his eyes. "She coughed up some this morning. The priest said..."
He goes quiet, and the silence speaks louder than anything else.
"What did the priest say?" you ask.
"He said it was a bad omen," admits Pip in a very small voice. "That she's demon-possessed. He wouldn't let us go near her. He's wrong! Mom isn't dangerous, she's… mom." His voice is nearly breaking. "It's not fair."
You nod to yourself. The priest is hopefully right, at least to not let anyone near. What's ailing her sounds like an infectious disease. If the kids were around her, they'd probably get sick as well. That's good news, though. An infection… infections can be cured. Anything else would be harder.
You're carrying enough medical equipment for any vaguely probable scenario, but the only pieces you really know how to use are Liliya's, and there's little variety to that. Immunosuppressants, top-ups for her nanotech immune system replacement, a few spare bits of cybernetics you haven't gotten around to clearing out after Liliya told you hers just… fell out, and… that sort of thing. A lot of it would also work on Roza. Most wouldn't be useful for anyone else.
The nanotech, though? That's generic, soulium-equivalent stuff. All you need to do is flip a switch on the medical nanites, asking them to discard Raven's hand-tuned profile and use the built-in universal one. Pretty much no matter what's wrong with her, that'll make her feel better for a few days…
You hope it's an infection, though. If it's an infection, it'll cure her.
"Are you two at all hungry?" you ask, smiling at the children.
They glance at each other. "No," they say together, and you shrug. Too bad; it would have been an easy way to gain their trust. You glance back at where Liliya, Roza and Vel are hiding. Roza's the one with most of the medical gear, of course. Still, you need to be careful about how you present them.
"I'm going to ask some friends to come out," you say, still smiling. "They're my sisters. They look a bit odd, but they're the three nicest people you'll ever meet. Okay?"
They look at you, then shrug. In a louder voice, you call out to your siblings. "Come on out, Vel and idol team!"
You barely resist saying 'idiot team'. Roza would get you for that.
The three of them come out from where they were hiding, and the children stare at them. Not so much at Vel, which is just as well; claiming she's the 'nicest person ever' was a white lie at best. Rozaliya's tail twitches uncomfortably, and she's looking away in a doomed attempt at making her horn and glowing eyes less obvious. Liliya is less shy about it. For a change she's the one pulling Roza along. They stop a few meters away, watching the childrens' eyes grow wider and wider.
"See?" you say. "No reason to be scared of them. These are my sisters."
"They're monsters," Annie whispers, and you sigh. You want to reach out and comfort her, but…
Wouldn't work.
You speak as gently as possible. "Annie, they haven't hurt you, and they won't. These are my sisters. They're people, just like you and me, we just look a little different. The only scary one is Veliona." You point her out, and Vel rolls her eyes. "My twin sister. She's a little abrasive, but she's not dangerous. She's honest, is all. The one with pink hair is Roza, and she's an idiot, but she's genuinely the nicest person you'll ever meet. Just don't get between her and her snacks."
"Or she'll… eat me?" Pip whispers, then immediately clamps a hand over his mouth. His sister clenches his hand. You're tempted to roll your eyes.
"Or she'll eat the snacks, then tell your mother it was you," you say, smiling fondly. Roza looks like she's about to say something, but thinks better of it. Liliya chuckles softly, though.
"And that's Liliya," you say, gesturing at your youngest sister. "The adorable one with the cute horn. She's quiet, but loves reading. If you want her to like you, all you have to do is tell her stories. Uh…" As your thoughts catch up with what you're saying, you wonder if that's entirely true anymore. No, no, she definitely loves stories. Still, 'quiet'?
Roza looks more and more rebellious. You grin inwardly, but decide against deliberately trying to make her blow her top. Right now.
"...Liliya thinks she's smarter than she is, so you can take advantage of that," you finish. Heh.
The children slowly move forward, and begin to whisper quietly. Annie seems to be the bravest of them. She whispers back at Pip, occasionally glancing your way. Vel stands off to the side, frowning slightly as she watches. You walk over to stand before her.
"Vel," you murmur, and she looks at you. "Put on a friendly face. They're scared of us."
Vel nods slowly. "I think they're mostly scared of the twins," she murmurs. "Can't say as I blame them."
"Still…" You look at the twins, your adorable idiots, and try to imagine yourself scared of them. It's not possible. You know she's right, but the feeling just isn't there.
She sighs. "Oh, fine..."
Vel gets down on one knee and waves a hand. "Come here, little humans. I won't hurt you." she says in a deep voice before quickly switching to her own. "I'm still scary, though."
You giggle at that, and the kids move forward.
"That was mean, Vel." You laugh.
"They're fine." She smirks. "Go ahead, human boy."
Annie walks forward slowly, followed by Pip. Your smile falls. Truthfully, you don't like this at all. You're not some sort of alien, and you don't like being treated like one, but Vel's right. You can't blame them. These children were raised in a primitive society—they may never have seen someone with clean hair, let alone with cosmetic prostheses. The twins' aren't cosmetic, and also aren't prostheses anymore, but that's not the point. You're an alien to them, and you can't be mad at them for reacting the way they do.
"Can you help mom?" Annie asks, staring up at you. "She won't get better."
You don't know what to tell her. You want so badly to embrace the girl—she's about to cry. You wish you could say yes, but…
"I'm sorry," you murmur. "I can try to take a look. I can probably help a little. But she might not get better. It's not up to me."
"Alright." She sniffles, rubbing her eyes. "Do you promise you'll try?"
"I promise."
She runs a finger under each eye, drying the dampness as she walks back to her brother. She takes his hand.
"Don't worry, Pip," she says. "She's gonna help mom. She promised."
"In return for what?" he asks, scowling suspiciously. Your smile fades. Is he actually…
"Nothing you'd mind," you tell him, crouching down so you can look him in the eyes. "I promise. We're not here to hurt you, or anyone in your village. We're strangers here. I'm searching for my teacher, and when I find her I'll leave, but I heard you crying and couldn't leave you alone. The only thing I'll ask of you is that you introduce us to the leader of your village, so we can ask him some questions. That's it."
His face is dubious, but when Annie pulls on his sleeve, he nods.
"I'll take you to them," he says. "Come on."
"Right. Um… wait a second," you tell him. "I need to think."
He narrows his eyes at you, but you're not lying. If you go with them, they'll take you to the village's leaders… you guess, and you guess that could work, but you don't feel too sure about it. If this is the reaction you get from children…
You're not sure if adults would be more or less anxious about your appearance, but you guess you'll find out.
Or you could go straight to their mother. Fix her up, as best you can. Use that as a distraction, or a voucher—maybe just leave straight away, actually. You have a pretty good idea of where to go next.
= = =
Shorter than usual, but I felt you deserve some input here.
You have the option of being the mysterious strangers who no-one except Pip and Annie ever see, whose existence is only believed—to those who believe it—because their mother is so suddenly healed.
Or you could go see the other villagers. There's no way to avoid your first meeting being at least disconcerting, but you can choose the type of disconcertion. Give that some thought, if you pick it.
[ ] Go along with the kids and meet the village leaders
[ ] Go see their mother first
- [ ] And then see the leaders
- [ ] And then leave
[ ] Write-in
