Manon inhaled and exhaled through her nose, her tired eyes shut as her shoulders rose and fell, a peaceful look of restraint on her face before she turned around to face Remy.
[AP: 11]
"After surviving demonic possession due to my benevolence, you somehow have the nerve to curse me?" The boy laughed, his annoying dimples never leaving his cheeks. Manon smacked her lips, caught in a precarious situation.
On one hand, she could say whatever she wanted. On the other hand, she risked a reaction. And in addition to all of this, he had moved her to a safer area out of the open. Even though her soul surged with the newfound freedom, something was telling her that she should not be trigger happy just yet.
So she decided to compromise- betting on one thing she did know about Remy at this point.
"I guess you are useful sometimes."
The words flowed smoother than she thought they would, and the boy's reaction was priceless.
He stared at her, dimples finally disappearing in lieu of shock.
The Manon he had known may have been unreactive, stoic. And the Manon that appeared when Colette arrived had been extremely reactive in comparison. But this Manon in front of him right now…staring back at him with a devious smirk, no eyepatch to hide behind, blue eyes almost fiery rather than watery like the ocean…how did he find her now?
[AP: 13]
The young girl wouldn't give him the time to wonder, crossing her arms. She scoffed at the sight of the raised AP. Of course.
"We need to leave. How long was I out for?" She asked, already turning to walk out of the little alcove they were in, towards the trail. Remy acted quickly, grabbing her arm and spinning her back around. Manon flinched out of his hold- only reminding the boy of her last words before she nearly died in front of him.
"...Well," He coughed, reverting to his usual expression as he held up his hands in surrender. Manon needed to reiterate how he should not mess with her anymore without angering the boy, and for the most part this was proving successful. "It's only been about 5 to 10 minutes since you passed out. I was planning to find the gift box and leave, but couldn't find it yet." He sighed, messing up his tousled hair more.
Manon looked around the area they were in. Assuming this was the west wing, she didn't want to speak more than necessary until she could talk to Colette. That automatically meant to her that the gift box was said to have been hidden here. The brunette looked up at the sun again, her mouth twisted in discomfort. At this point, the sun was halfway set, and she could already see the dark creeping in. But it shouldn't be….so something was wrong.
By the time they made it to the exit it would be fully night. Would the entrance remain open if it were still afternoon on the outside? Could Remy have been wrong about how much time really passed?
At this point, Manon knew it was better to finish this part of the quest before anything so Remy wouldn't dip to 0 and murder her. She assumed Colette knew Remy would have gone out on his own for the gift box, but she supposed that maybe Colette had thought this would be a much faster trip than it turned out to be. Maybe something happened to her and Antoni?
Manon cut off her speculations there, turning to Remy again.
"I think Colette and Antoni got preoccupied. We need to find the gift box now and leave immediately. Colette says bad things come at night." Manon said, the most words she had even spoken to Remy. But the boy seemed rather receptive, thankfully. "What do you know about where the gift box is hidden?"
Remy hesitated, as if he were spilling free information to a person he was forced to suddenly take seriously. Which was his exact situation. If this were the real world, Manon would have intimidated him further. But that didn't sound like a great idea…yet.
"Hah….alright. But you're still only getting one thing. Got it?"
"3." the word left her lips before she could stop it, wincing. Remy scowled.
"2." Hmm, his AP didn't move. Maybe she could-
[A. Okay 2 is generous.]
[B. Now I want half.]
[C. Custom Response]
Ah, so that's how it worked. She'd randomly get other set options. It seemed most her previous answers were catered enough to Remy's own neutrality zone that she didn't lose or gain points. She knew how to deal with a kid like him. She did not need these preset responses.
"2 but I get first pick." She countered, mirroring Remy's classic lopsided smirk. The boy scoffed, eyes searching as he hesitated before grinning.
"2 and first pick but only if you find it before I do. Otherwise I pick first and you only get what's left."
She could deal with that. Manon held out a hand to Remy, feeling as though this was the first time either of them could even figure out how to interact without interference- and it wasn't nearly as bad as the system made it seem. Remy's stormy eyes flickered with a new expression.
"...The intel I received from his highness stated the following about the gift box: For every fruit there was a seed. For every gift came from a need to show love. But one's pride will always come in between. So she hides the fruit amongst the seed- preventing it from being gazed upon lest her pride dies along with her." Remy recited the passage with clarity, gazing over at the pond.
"So I've been ripping open all the larger fruit I could find, hoping to find a small box." Remy said, his voice low as he watched more darkness settle over them. In less than 2 minutes they would be completely in the dark. They had to hurry. Manon shook her head at his words.
It didn't make sense, but nothing made sense to her in this world. She wished she could just ask Colette but it wasn't an option. Manon tapped her finger against her lips in thought, Remy studying her silently.
The fruit was the gift. The seed was love. The gift box was hidden like a seed, but could only be found once pride was set aside. Pride….
"Pride…" Manon repeated aloud, her voice a soft murmur. Remy had already cracked open all the large fruits because he thought for sure the box had to be in one of them to fit.
"Assumption." She muttered, heterochromic eyes flitting up to meet Remy's. As if the word clicked for the boy as well, he turned and ran for the gazebo.
[AP: 11]
"You've got to be kidding me-" Manon kicked off her shoes with a ferocity akin to a pissed off house cat with tape on their foot before sprinting after the boy, her single hair braid flying behind her like a tangled cape. Her feet hit the ground hard enough to kick up grass and dirt, darkness settling as she flew up the steps of the gazebo where the tiny opaque grapes were.
Remy was already laughing maniacally, squishing open each grape between his fingers like pimples. It was disgusting. Manon needed to do something that secured her victory faster. There had to be a way. She frantically looked up at the gazebo ceiling- at the mural she had studied so carefully when she first woke up.
Then she saw it.
Tucked into a seemingly perfect part of the crack that separated the two lovers on the mural, was a single small grape no larger than a blueberry. It sat snug in the crack several inches above the lovers, as if being the cause of why the crack had formed. Manon looked at the vines that connected the fruit to the rest of its foliage, eyes following it to a thin vine to her right.
Before she could act, a pebble smacked against the mural, almost hitting the little fruit. Manon whipped her head to the left to see Remy smirking deviously.
"Thanks for finding my gift box." The boy grinned, launching another rock violently at the fruit to make it fall. Manon snarled under her breath. The kid was a cheat, a liar, and the bane of her existence. Why- just why did he remind her of someone else she couldn't stand?
Manon had no time to dwell on it, because the next second she heard a strange song, like wind whistling. Before she could register what it was, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder that almost pushed her over with the force it hit her with.
"MANON!" Remy called out, but the girl just stared, bewildered at what was sticking out of her arm right now.
An arrow?
..
On nothing but pure adrenaline, Manon yanked on the stick with a firm tug, biting her tongue to stifle a scream as her flesh ripped with the head of the ammunition. Blood poured from the wound, coating her black fur shawl and trailing down her arm, dripping onto the marble of the gazebo floors.
Yeah, it was an arrow.
It was completely dark in the orchard now, nightfall upon them, and standing opposite of the pond from them, were three dark figures. Two poised and ready to fire more than what had just pierced the young girl, and a third between them, finger pointing straight at Manon herself.