"So now you're finally willing to negotiate?" Olya asked with a wry smirk, "See what kind of a situation you've put me in with this distrust of yours? Now that I had to take drastic measures, you're just gonna act like torturing Nelly was my goal from the start or some shiet. Fuckin' unfair, if you ask me."
"If you truly wished to gain my trust, you would have never even touched Nelly to begin with." Meil frowned.
"Ah, see that?" Olya immediately turned to me with Eyes wide open in astonishment, "He's completely disregarding the fact that I LITERALLY told you guys how to resolve this peacefully last night, but noooo~! You just had to run away with your tails tucked between your legs! Well now you have to reap what you sow, I don't make the rules!"
Oh my Gods, I don't care! My fucking leg is really starting to hurt, and at this point I'm losing the strength to even bite down on this stupid stick anymore! Uuuugh, I think I might actually faint...
"Deram." Olya sighed after seeing my sorry state, "Listen to me, first of all, you should use the Book to Heal Nelly up."
"This one tells the past, no?" Meil held it up.
"Yes, you're smart enough to figure out how to use it, but just in case, I'll give you a run-through." Olya continued, "Write in the past tense, as if what you want had already happened."
"In other words..." Meil started writing, "If I just add "not" in this sentence here—Nelly had gotten tortured and badly hurt by Olyahim..."
Waahhhh~, huh? Ah, I feel fine again? Not only that, but the blood is gone too, the ankle monitor is as loose as it usually was before, and the stick I was strongly biting into is now back to its original place on the sand next to me. So the Book of Fortune can actually negate entire events as well? That opens up so much potential, but right now I'm just happy my leg is doing better.
"So you did not trick me..." Meil still gave him a sidelong glare as he spoke.
"Yep. Oh, and just to make sure you can 100% trust me..." Olya untied me and helped lift me back up on my feet, "There. Run along to your dearest Meil now, little lady."
"Meil!" I wobbled over to jump into his embrace, "Geez, what took you so long!? So it literally takes Olya threatening to cut my foot off for you to finally come out of hiding?! Seriously, where were you!?"
"A lapse of logic on my end." He shook his head, "Indeed, I am ashamed of myself for this display. Though I do not yet trust Olyahim, I should have at the very least humored him last night. In truth, I had assumed he was just a crazed predator living with his mental illnesses, so I refused to exactly believe him."
"You're one to talk, my Lord." The voices echoed.
"Oh right, you guys are here too." I giggled.
"The Raamans, yes." Olya addressed them, "I remember reading about you through Deram's Eyes a few days back. Before anything, I would like to say a few words as an apology."
"Oh yeah, no issue, man." The voices sarcastically replied, "You just casually wiped out our entire race from the face of this world, no biggie."
Wow, they're really putting the pressure on Olya. Poor guy too, he doesn't sound unapologetic, so no need to be a dick about it, I'd say.
"And I've held that regret in me ever since I figured it out on that sandy dune with Schnell." Olya commented, "I would make a point to remember every little mistake I made and write it down. In that way, even if I did forget it somehow, I would always have somewhere to look back on this shietty life I led."
They're talking pretty casually to each other. The man who, in his youthful naivety, managed to destroy all of the people whose voices currently echo around Meil. He didn't know he was doing it while it was happening though, and he only realized a few years later from what he told me, but that doesn't excuse him in the slightest. That being the case, Olya does seem to be taking the responsibility of his actions very seriously, which is a pleasant surprise.
"Well, we for one refuse to allow you to revive Schnell and Shaid." The voices puffed.
"Huh!?" I gasped.
"No, it's highly understandable." Olya calmed me back down, "For the ones who have lost their lives to me, it must feel like a spit in the face if that man's friends were allowed back."
"So you do get it, you old coot." The voices smirked, "At least you're reasonable."
"Reasonable? Cheh, couldn't be further from the truth." Olya chuckled, "Call it selfish, but I really want my friend back. I also want to right the wrongs for you as well. One thing you gotta realize though is that I plan to do all this and more with the help of these two."
"Huh? Meil and me?" I then realized, "Wait, that's right—We have the Books, doy!"
"I am willing to hear you out, Olyahim." Meil replied, "But I still doubt how simple such a large scale plan really is. Realizing it will be way more difficult than just saying you will."
"It's as you say." Olya shook his head, "But I'm not about to give up now that I have everything I need. I'll find a way to revive Schnell and Shaid, as well as all the souls of the Raamans I've killed. After that, the curse of the Books will be fundamentally undone, and the world will be as it was supposed to be."
Such a noble cause... I used to think this old man was nothing but a bad guy, but it seems I couldn't have been more wrong! In the end, he really was thinking about everyone, and not just himself!
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"Sigh, so what do you need, in that case?" Meil ultimately agreed to help.
"Do not be fooled, my Lord!" The voices shouted, "He is a liar! He will not do anything he has promised! We have passed, and we accept that much as fact!"
"You guys are being so rude!" I shot back, "Olya's clearly feeling bad about killing you off, and now you have a chance to get your lives back in full, so why the hell are you being so stubborn!?"
"Little girl, you know nothing!" They blew hot wind in my face, "For you to so blindly agree to his horrifying plans is one thing, but to even guilt trip my Lord into agreeing as well is taking things too far!"
Seriously, are all adults this stubborn!? Why can't people just take me seriously and listen for once! Olya is trying his best to make everything in the world right again, and for that to happen, he's gone to such extreme lengths... Argh, I'll make sure to help him no matter what! Now I sympathize with the old man's reason behind killing Shaid—The people you wish to save are sometimes such a pain to convince they need to be saved!
"Deram, if you wish to help, you need to explicitly state you're onboard with this." Olya explained very carefully, "If you only possess half-assed conviction or are doing it for someone else's sake, like for example Nelly, then we'd be better off not working with you."
"Am I that crucial to your plans?" He replied.
"It's a necessary step." Olya added, "I need your approval, I guess you could call it."
"Isn't the word you're looking for consent?" I tilted my head.
He ignored my honest question and instead gave a long pause before moving on. We were quite far away from the residential area, deep into the jungle's ecosystem where Meil and Lee set up their tents, so we didn't have to worry about anyone coming across us. That being the case, I had at the very least expected Lee or even Showa to show up around this time. When Olya kidnapped me this morning, I was certain she would run after him, but I guess he was just too fast. Still, it's only a matter of time before she thinks to run to ask Meil for help regarding the search, in which case she'll come across us. By then though, we should be done on our end, hopefully.
"By the way, Deram, I couldn't help but notice your bud's not here." Olya pointed out.
"Ah, you know of Lee, then?" Meil stood surprised before answering, "Since it is morning still, he is out looking for food."
"Geez, you know you could've just asked me to hook you guys up with everything you need, right?" Olya recoiled, "Holy shiet, you know how well-hidden this damned impromptu camp grounds is? Hell, I'd have hooked you up with a similarly sized house to Nelly's and Lem's!"
"...You put Nelly and Lem in the same house?"
"Moving on!" I stepped in between them.
You're asking too many questions there, Meil! And the old man isn't helping by making you question them, either! Ohhh, Meil's got a grumpy expression on him, he surely knows the awkwardness that would've ensued had Lem woken up sooner... Wait, so can I take that to mean Meil is jealous? Hold on, isn't this amazing news!? N-No Nelly, calm down! You're getting too ahead of yourself, be realistic and just assume he's thinking about your safety as a parent would about their kid's. Ugh, the truth hurts...
"Right, so we have established Nelly and I must write in each of our Books respectively, and that we must wholeheartedly wish for the things we write about, but..." Meil flipped through the pages of his Book, "What exactly should we write in it?"
"I'll admit, you got me." Olya raised both hands resignedly, "That's actually the part that's stumping me as well. Like, sure I have both Books and the consent of one of the... of you, but that doesn't mean we can just say something like "Schnell has been/will be brought back from Hell", not to mention when we're gonna make the wishes come true, cause in one Book it's already happened, and in the other it will."
Gahh, so confusing. I can actually feel my brain stop braining in realtime, and by the Gods does it hurt! Not just my brain physically, but it does stuff to your psyche too! I'm the smartest, most fairest and prettiest princess in the land, so I daresay not understanding the solution to this problem is really hurting my ego! Ugh, if Lem was here, he'd say something so bizarre that it'd make me correct him with the right answer. That's what always happens, but now... Wait, now? Gasp, that's it!
"If you need something to happen in the past and future, then just have it happen in the present!" I pointed out, "Schnell returns safely to the world of the living to live out the life he was robbed of!"
"Hey, don't forget Shaid too." Olya clicked his tongue, "Besides, that much won't work. Only the past works for Fortune, and the future for Misfortune, with the workarounds only allowing the line between them to blur a bit. Again though, it's been tested, and you can't use the present tense no matter what."
Geez, I totally forgot about Shaid. Not to remind him, but that he's supposed to be dead now. I guess Olya really doesn't know we revived him again soon after his death the other day and sent him away from the island. Wait, then if I gotta include Shaid into the prompt, then is it even gonna work? What should I do—Tell Olya the truth about us essentially stabbing him in the back or try and think of a prompt that somehow bypasses Shaid, since he doesn't need it anymore?