Pov: General
The next few days she tried to act like nothing ever happened, hoping to steer suspicion away from herself. Somehow she managed to act mostly normal, she only had Player's mind and her acting skill to think for that, and partly due to Coco avoiding her.
' Sh*t man, I thought this was a cartoon world!! When did sadistic pedophiles come in the mix!' She questioned, biting her nails in stress.
After a good few nights of sleep, Parsley got past her period of denial and preceded with annoyance, then anger, and almost at the point of resolution .
' What can I do, what can I do! WHAT CAN I DO!!!! AGHH!' She thought while throwing the notebook that she's been writing ideas in, harshly against the wall.
Almost.
[Players Mind has increased by 1 Lvl]
" Haaaaa...Haaaaa...haaaa...*Sigh*" Stepping of her bed, walking to the notebook on the ground, she reaches down to grab it before freezing in place, glancing at the page the book fell on.
- Will, useful or not -
Reading the title, a sudden idea struck my mind. ' Do I have a higher will stat than her?' Thinking this, she immediately grabbed the notebook, rushing back to her bed before flipping to a new page and started writing.
- Mind control, doable or not -
Writing down all ideas of mind control that came to mind, original or plagiarized, she started really focusing, writing every theory imaginable.
She started formulating a posible solution to her problem.
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Pov: Coco
Parsley called me over to her room for the first time since the 'incident'. I've been trying my best to keep my distance..... I..I don't know what to tell her, I'm afraid of her rejecting me. The fact that the demon's always listening is also a large factor, I just don't trust myself to not axidentillly sai something wrong.
Ever since we moved here from Branch, the demon has put a mark on me that lets her hear everything within a five-meter distance from me, it's how she always knows when I axidentillly slip up and talk a bit too much about our past.
' I miss dad...' I mourned, slowing down my already slow walking pace to Parsley's room. ' Why did everything turn out this way?' I asked myself in depression, knowing full well everything started going wrong when the demon showed up at our doorstep
Before I knew it, I was already standing in front of the door, not having the courage to open it. Standing there, periodically raising my hand, before lowering it down again, I thought about all the possibilities that can happen when I open the door.
When I finally prepared myself enough to open the door, it swung open with a pretty annoyed looking Parsley standing in front of me.
" How long were you planning on standing there, the entire day?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and a slight frown on her face.
" Uh-I-....Sorry?" Ugh, internally facepalming I groaned. ' Nice going Coco, now she'll be even more annoyed.' I thought, remembering when she told me to stop apologizing for everything 'cause apparently it was annoying.
" *Sigh* Never mind, I have something to show you!" She said, her expression immediately changed to that of excitement.
Caught off guard at the sudden change, I couldn't contest against her dragging me into the room, not that I would in the first pace.
" Look! Look!! What do you think?" She asked excitedly, showing me a page in her notebook. Taking my eyes off of her, I read what was written in the notebook.
- Act along, I know you probably can't talk without Ephedra knowing, so only nod or shake your head for yes and no.-
Reading it in surprise, I forgot to respond for a minute.
" Hey!? If you don't like it just say so...Mouuuu~... I worked so hard on it too!" She told me, acting sad at my response.
" N-No! I-I like it, it looks great." I said, not entirely sure on what's going on.
" Really! Yay!!" She squealed, sounding very happy. During her celebration, she flips the page on the notebook, surprisingly without making any sound.
- Okay, from now on I'll be asking you questions, you just have to act normally and keep the conversation going. Nod if you understand, and shake your head if you don't. -
After reading it I uncousiesly started shaking my head, very confused about what's happening.
" Mouuu~... Why didn't you say that at the start." She questioned with a pout, flipping to the next page.
- Of course, you don't.... Okay, I'm interrogating you to see how useful you'll be when I decide to take the demon 'out'. -
As I read, my complexion must have progressively gotten paler, if her reaction was anything to go by.
"Coco!! Are you alright!!" Parsley asked in a panic, shoving a recently flipped notebook in my face.
- CALM DOWN!!! BREATH! -
It said, me only now realizing I've unknowingly been holding my breath for quite a while.
" Baaah~... Haaa...I-I'm f-fine...Sorry.. I just got a little lightheaded. Nothing to worry about." I told her after steadying my breath.
"*Sigh* Geez Coco, don't scare me like that, I was really worried." Again she flipped a page while talking.
- Okay, now that you are calm I need you to answer s few yes or no questions for me. Nod if it's a yes and shake your head for no, understand? -
Slowly nodding in understanding, growing anxious as she flipped the page. While also trying to keep up a stable conversation, without too long of a pause.
" S-Sorry didn't mean to make you worry." I said, looking at the now flipped page.
- Does she 'hurt' you every night? -
To which I hesitate before eventually answering with a shake of my head. Which seemed to ease her tension a bit by making a relieved expression.
Feeling warm inside, I grew determined to answer all her questions the best i can, and not sruw this up.
And so an hour passed by with me answering questions while fake playing with her toys, growing more and more anxious at the direction the questions are heading to.
Flipping the page to the last page on the notebook, she looks at me straight in the eyes with a fire I've never seen in them before.
- Will you help me save you? -
Feeling electricity traveling throughout my entire body, I take my eyes off the notebook and look her in the eyes, tears welling up inside of them, I nodded. Feeling overwhelmed by emotions, as there's finally someone who wants to help me.
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Pov: Parsley
Watching Coco leave the room, I sighed in guilt, my conscience gnawing at me.
" That went better than expected....." I muttered guiltily, thinking about the first test using mind magic.
You see, as much as I trust Coco with the fact that he wants out of his situation, I couldn't be sure he wouldn't go off and tell the demoness in fear of being punished further.
So I used subtle mind magic to influence his emotion and direct his thought process. Though it is concerning how easily it worked.
Mind magics' effectiveness depends on the wills of the casters and the recipients. If the caster has a stronger will than the one attacked, it's easier for them to be influenced by the spell. But it also works that if the one attacked has an abysmally low will, the spell can go into a state I like to call, being 'super effective'.
I know, original... but I digress. In this state, as the name suggests, the spell works too well and can sometimes lead to the loss of control over the spell, which may lead to damage to the recipient's psyche.
The only reason I know this is due to the now multiple braindead mice, and birds that had to suffer before I got a proper handle on how to control the magic properly. Good thing PETA isn't a thing here.
Moving on, Mind magic isn't as easy as it sounds, the magic circle takes about 1 or 2 hours to finish, hell it'll be better to call it an array because of how freaking huge the circle is.
So basically, I underestimated how weak Coco's mental fortitude was, so much so that I just barely kept the spell in check, and even then I still messed up a bit by making him more susceptible to suggestion than I originally intended.
" Well good news is that that was way more informative than expected." I Said to myself, going over the information I got from Coco.
The most important piece of information I got was: That, no, Ephedra doesn't take advantage of him every night, just at least 2 or 3 times a week, but the most it's ever been was the entire day when his dad died....yeah, kinda messed up.
Another one was that yes, her real name is ephedra and that she's an over 100-year-old demon.
When I asked if he's ever seen her communicate with other demons, to see if she was part of an organization of pedos or something. The answer was thankful no.
Though he did confirm that she has him bugged, which made me glad I took extra measures.
Moving on, I asked if she's ever used magic on him other than the bugging part. Unfortunately, she apparently did, I don't know what she did, but I knew she must have done something.
She also can't keep her transformation up for more than 2 or 3 days straight.
And a few more minor things that ill have to look deeper into, to get a full grasp on the situation.
Sighing, I shake my head trying to clear my head from these unnecessary thoughts.
"*Sigh* Okay... I can do this." I said in a resolute voice, looking at the now-closed door in seriousness.
' Don't worry Coco..... This will work... it has to.' I thought, clenching my fist( Arthur stile ) in determination.
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Pov: Ephedra
" Hmmmnn...."
Sitting at the dining room table, I raise a brow in slight confusion.
' The midget and the dog have been spending a lot of time together again.....' I thought while listening in on yet another one of the long conversations they've frequently been having these past few weeks.
" It could be a good and a bad thing..... on one side, it'll feel much sweeter if I break Coco in front of his 'first' friend. But on the other side, the boy's mental state also seems to be improving from all the preparation I put him through... Hmnnn.... Choices~, choices~." I noted with a singing tone at the end, going over the latest developments.
" Fufufu~, If anything goes wrong....it'll just have to get me a new little pet~." I muttered sadistically, imagining raising another lamb for the slaughter. ' I any case, I don't need to rush, I have all the time in the world.' Were my thought as I saw the two little lams approaching for dinner.
" Hello little ones, It seems that you two have finally arrived for dinner. Parsley, be a dear and call your parents for me, I forgot to inform them that dinner is ready." I Told the brat, with a warm smile on my face. The smile only widened when I saw the dog twitch at my voice.
' Ooooh~, his fear really is the best I've ever tasted~♡.' I moaned interlay, uncouciesly licking my lips.
Unknown to me was the fact that these two little lambs were slowly sharpening their teeth, to fight back against the wolf.
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(The chapter took a while.... I've got no excuse...wait I do!! I was to busy reading dxd fanfic's... Also busy watching No way home, that's a good enough excuse right?)
[ Mind Magic Array Lvl: 3 ]
Description: Mind Magic Array has been turned into a skill due to there not being any prior knowledge of such a form of magic, thus has been deemed to be a unique skill reserved solely for the Player. The magic has the ability to set up an array in a pre-designated destination. The magic influences the mind in many different ways, primarily it may be the thought presses or emotions, but at a higher Lvl it is presumed to re right short time periods within the mind of the recipient.
Note: The higher the Lvl of the skill, the easier it gets to control, and the faster it gets to make the array.
( 2086 words )