It’s extremely intimidating. The burly, muscled, semi-naked man and his shadowy, clingy Vessel were a sight. Not the first Vessel I see, but certainly the one I’ve seen for the longest. It’s hard to breathe, even through my mouth, it burns on my nose with unbearable pain. I should’ve hit something else on my body, damnit.
He suddenly steps harder and dashes, instead of his casual walk, but I dodge a punch, and he comes back with another one. I take it in full force at my gut, but it still doesn’t seem to outbrute the one at my nose, as that is the one that lingers. Nevertheless I stand my ground, not the first time someone lashes at me, and I try holding under his shoulder and pull him down. It’s usually effective against strong guys, but he clearly knows enough that street tricks like this won’t work, as he easily pulls himself off and slams his shin at mine. Yep, I never had a chance. I fall on the ground, and while my nose still seems to be the one affected by Narcissus, it doesn't mean my leg isn’t unbearable too.
I can’t stand up. I’m not afraid of like… dying. I know that if I say I fold I’ll just fail the test and be sent home… Whatever. This was too much for me anyway. I close my eyes and wait for him to pick me up or something. If he wants to hit me a few more times, sure… I lost… So much nagging, Poe hyped me so much… all for nothing.
Yeah… I’m sorry Poe…
My eyes barely stay closed for a few seconds, before the burly dude pulls me up, forces me on my feet, and punches me again. I try not to react much, but he doesn’t seem very happy with that. Another blow, and another, I don’t have that much resistance… is he… not realizing I gave up…
By the fifth blow, Narcissus affects my gut, and leaves my nose alone, although I’m pretty sure it’s broken cause it still hurts. “THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME” I lash out, an elbow to his chest and a big push forward, enough for him to lose his base, and have to reposition himself, a bit farther away from me.
He stares, his smirk is gone. Narcissus holds him tighter, more passionately. It’s as if the angrier the Retainer is, the more infatuated Narcissus is… My opponent finally opens his mouth:
“I don’t give a damn about why you’re here. I’m here cause I’m good at this, and I can make money. I care not for magicks, dolls or angels, and it’s written all over you how obsessed you are with that little carnival. I will not tolerate for one second, the idea that someone that actually cares about this circus, to give up. If you wanna be a loser about it be a loser about it, but if that was the case why the FUCK ARE YOU STILL STANDING?”
“You’re fucking insane"- I start charging at him -"If there's one thing I hate, is people trying to analyze me like they're so much better." My punch is met by his fist, first holding my hand, then pulling my arm, and bounding me. If I move, he breaks it. I stay dissociated… there's no point in unretaining, still mindful…
A blink… two… my arm, my nose, it all hurts a lot… and I stare back at the three of them, back at my body, back in flesh, my opponent is there too, although still sleeping.
There's no point. As I’m standing up, dusting myself and ready to leave, the demon holds my wrist. His voice is high and feminine, so soothing: "You're leaving already..? You passed."
“I what?” Surely he's mistaken but he clutches harder, looking worried. The witch doesn't say a word, the burly one is fast asleep…
"There's no way right? Surely you ar-" he cuts me off "Did you not hear what Dandy said? The challenge was staying dissociated. That was it."
I… did hear that… that's what they said… had I just been overthinking everything?
The demon smiles and walks me quietly to the room ahead, sitting me down and picking up a tray. There's a cup of water and mushrooms. He places them up and doesn't say a word. I munch on them, knowing very well how this works. Gulping on the cup- which by the way, IS DEFINITELY NOT WATER- I feel my conscience going very fast… when I wake up, if I wake up… I'll have a Vessel…
I'll save you Poe… hang in there…
Next chapter (not live).