{No. 13; Creti Sloemin - Fiend | Ahvra's Notes: Beware / Patheticness is Corrupting Me / Needs Help. Might Die}
About a quarter of the way through their interviews, the group received a message from Deborah that someone had pressured her to jump ahead in line, and that she had been unable to resist. This would certainly dock that person’s chances for sure, but when her time came around, Drim was a bit distracted.
He was playing catchup on the previous applicants; sorting through interview notes, finalizing their admittance paperwork. So, he was absorbed in his tablet when the Fiend, Creti Sloemin entered the room. This was fine since he could just listen in the background as they went through the early questions.
Creti gave the standard introduction when asked, but that’s where the normalcy stopped. “Hello, my name is Creti Sloemin. I’m a Fiend. We don’t really need to bother with the rest of the questions, do we?” What a bizarre thing to ask in an interview, but Drim took it in jest and continued his work.
“Sure, I see no reason why we can’t just skip them,” Kada responded in turn, seeming to play along. This was reasonable enough behavior for her, so Drim still ignored it.
“Awesome, then I’m accepted, right?” Creti’s voice almost sounded cocky, like she was just confirming rather than asking.
“Yes, welcome to the Fiends For Hire. We’re excited to have you.” Now it was Xard who was in on the joke. Drim started to wonder if he was being pranked. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction though, and dutifully tried to wrap up his work.
“Thank you for helping me!” Creti sounded sweet and sincere for a moment, almost like a cute little child that everyone wouldn’t be able to help but fawn over. “Okay, here’s what I want. I’d like to be given the highest rank in your organization, but of course I’m too frail to do any actual work. I want the best room you can offer, with complete privacy unless I give my permission. Please deliver meals on time, and make sure I have enough money to live happily and get whatever I want.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but you guys are so amazing. It’s not too much for you guys, right? I don’t want to be a burden, just a few measly things so I can get by. So, is it okay for you to give them to me? I’d be ever so grateful.”
“Of course, you can go ahead and meet with our butler. She’ll show you to a vacant room in our private mansion and provide you with everything you need. Please let us know if there’s anything else we can do.”
No, now it wasn’t right. It was Phon who said that, and Drim found it inconceivable. Even if the others had somehow gotten her to go along with it, which would be a feat in itself, there’s no way she would have been able to say such polite words with a straight face. She’d be choking on them, but just now they’d flowed out of her mouth like everyday pleasant conversation.
Something was wrong, very wrong, and an ominous wave washed over Drim as he finally went to look up and see what the hell was going on. But he couldn’t. His body refused to move. At first, he thought it must be this Fiend’s Curse, but then he recognized the pull on his muscles. It was coming from his heart, from his mother.
Drim, you need to listen to me. If you’ll only ever do it once, you need to listen to me right now. His mother sounded more serious than she ever had before, even on the rare occasions when she had scolded him as a child. She was afraid, no, terrified to her very core. He could feel his heart aching. While he didn’t fully trust her, he couldn’t deny her sincerity.
If you look up now, everything, and I mean everything you’ve ever worked for will be lost. Your entire organization will be in ruins, and you and your friend’s lives will be at risk. Even though Drim was fighting her at this point, she still managed to summon his Curse and wrap vines around his eyes, completely blocking his vision. He fought back harder and managed to stop her next attempt at using it. For some reason, she had tried summoning a fruit that could be refined into a sleeping concoction.
Please, Drim, I’m begging you. You need to give me control. Full control. That is the only way out of this. She tried using his Curse again to no avail.
“Weird, guys. For some reason Drim Drazah is having trouble seeing me. You all should help him out.” All pretense of cuteness had been dropped, and these words from Creti sounded like an order.
Drim heard the chairs beside him shuffle, and then one final plea from his mother. Now Drim! It has to be now! If they remove the vines, it’s over! I promise… I promise I won’t kill her!
Ugh, so noisy… Fine… Just this once. You can guess what will happen if you break this trust. With that last thought, Drim’s consciousness faded away entirely, and then a mischievous grin sprouted across his face.
Eleen had never been given full control before. Sure, she had taken over his body, but Drim had always been fighting her every step of the way, so it never felt like she was fully there, and was always being tugged away. But now, she could feel it all: the heaviness of his body and the blood running through his veins. It was the first time she’d felt the genuine warmth of being alive for over a decade.
But there was no time to fully appreciate it, since three little worker bees who were chomping at the bit to please their queen were buzzing in her direction. She knew better than anyone just what sort of state they were in, since she had once wielded similar power. This one felt different, though; not as directly controlling but more manipulative somehow.
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Regardless, how it worked didn’t matter. What mattered is that only she was equipped to stop it. Eleen finally summoned the fruit she’d made a few attempts at earlier, spinning it as rapidly between her hands as she could. The vines disappeared from her face, and four new ones sprouted out of her back. They immediately sunk into the fruity goo and flew in different directions across the room.
Each vine jabbed into the neck of a Fiend: the three at the table, and Rusa in the corner. Eleen didn’t know if Rusa had been affected, but couldn’t risk it. She was also unsure why none of them tried to dodge or resist the attack, but had a few theories. Either this girl’s power wasn’t strong enough yet to assume complete control, or the wills of those she was controlling were still intact, and could act freely as long as they didn’t go against her demands.
Since Creti never told them to get out of the way, there was a good chance their cognizant selves knew that Eleen was helping them, and took the chance to be freed of those manipulative thoughts. It was all just theory, but it made the most sense in the moment.
As for why Eleen hadn’t targeted Creti herself, well she had other plans. She glanced over at the girl who was bewildered as to why her new loyal pawns had collapsed so easily. The girl then panicked when their eyes met, sensing the malice protruding from Eleen.
But Eleen wasn’t going to let this detestable little rat escape so easily, not before she learned her place. More thorned vines sprouted from Eleen, and they all launched to Creti’s chair, impaling the sides so she had no chance fleeing. The vines pulled Eleen up over the table, and slammed her boot first into Creti’s stomach.
Now on the ground after being knocked over, Eleen dug her feet into Creti’s wrists so she couldn’t move and then grabbed the bottom of Creti’s chin, forcing her to look Eleen dead in the eyes.
Eleen took this chance to study Creti further. Her clothes were ragged and covered in patches. She wore a long tattered scarf to hide her neck and bury her face. Her hair was gray and seemed to have spots of soot all over it. This had to be natural since Fiend hair didn’t hold grime or anything that would distort its color.
Creti’s dim eyes were stone blue, and looked as sad as can be. With her free hand, Eleen licked a finger and smudged it onto Creti’s cheek. “Makeup huh, to make you look more malnourished than you really are… You are very skinny, but you’re trying to look as pathetic and helpless as possible.”
“You… you’re not Drim Drazah,” Creti grunted, still sadly trying to escape with some pathetic wiggles of her arms.
“Oh bravo, you’re not entirely stupid either,” Eleen couldn’t be dripping with more condescension if she tried. “What gave it away? Was it the female voice, my pretty smile, or the fact that I’m stepping on you like the small helpless bug that you are, hmm?”
“Oh, and I can see your eyes begging. Keep trying to use your Curse all you like.” Eleen’s light grip on Creti’s face turned into a full clawing grasp. She then pressed her forehead against Creti’s so that the only thing Creti could see was Drim’s burning eyes engulfing her. After enjoying watching Creti’s eyes squirm in terror for a moment, Eleen hissed directly into her ear. “It. Won’t. Work. On. ME!”
Eleen pulled away slightly, but still kept close. “I think I get how your Curse works. You make your appearance as sad and pathetic as possible, triggering an instinctual reaction in others to help you with whatever you ask. The sadder you look, the stronger the manipulation. Too bad for you, I’m immune.”
“You see, I once had a similar power of my own, and with it came immunity to any other mind-controlling powers. As far as I’m aware, no others existed in my time, but it was gifted to me as insurance. It’s strange, though. You would think _____ would have learned _____ lesson about _____ those kinds of powers.” Eleen’s words were censored in real-time. She expected as much to happen, so she didn’t let it ruin her pace.
“Now what to do with you?” Eleen pondered as she rocked Creti’s head side-to-side rhythmically but with aggression. “You really lucked out. I just had to go and make that desperate promise… If it were up to me, your tortured corpse would be hung over the front entrance to be made an example of. But alas, no killing. Ugh, Drim may be upset if he realizes his hands were used for a bit of flaying as well…”
“I’m not going to let you off so easily, though. A lesson needs to be learned. Ahh… I just had a wonderful idea.” If Drim could see the disgusting devilish grin on his face right now, he’d probably punch himself in the face. A leaf spawned above Eleen’s hand, taking care not to actually touch it. The plant began scrunching up into itself until it was refined into a fine powder.
Eleen sprinkled it onto Creti’s face and all over her clothes. The effect was evident as Creti started to writhe in agony, desperately trying to break free even more than before. “This plant acts as a simple itching irritant to anyone who touches it. Normally, it wouldn’t do much to a Fiend, but I went ahead and increased the potency… a few hundred times. You won’t die, but you may wish for death. I’d recommend getting yourself washed off as quickly as possible.”
“But you won’t do it here, or in Bisomote. You would like to be let go, wouldn’t you?” Creti had completely lost the ability to speak, only moans of agony escaping her lips as endless tears streamed down her face. But she still managed to nod; nodding repeatedly as if her writhing was forcing her once she started the motion.
“Good, then I’ll be nice and let you go, but not before a warning. If you ever show your face in Bisomote again, I’ll kill you. I can’t stop you and Drim from meeting out elsewhere in the world, but if you try to harm him or control him again, I’ll kill you. I care less about what happens to the others, but Drim would be sad if they died. So as long as bad things happen to them in a way that won’t be traced back, I won’t kill you. But if he sheds even a single tear, I’ll torture you… and then kill you. Consequences be damned.”
Eleen finally stepped off of Creti and moved away. “Now flee in terror. Flee like the sad helpless puppy that you are.” Creti didn’t need to be told twice, bolting out the back exit faster than her scrawny legs should be able to carry her.
After taking a moment to clean up and set the others back in their seats, Eleen sat down and fiddled with Drim’s tablet briefly, texting Mallea to not mention anything she’d seen. She then spawned a new fruit to wake the others from their slumber and relinquished control to Drim. They all began to groggily wake up with splitting headaches from various sources, as Eleen herself started feeling the grips of exhaustion, knowing she wouldn’t wake again for some time.
The Fiends all sat around the table, barely speaking but all aware that something confusing had just happened, something they couldn’t fully recall. There had been someone there to interview, but now they were gone and no longer on the campus. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really time for them to investigate these strange going-ons since there was still a huge line of applicants waiting to be interviewed.