Phobias And Irrational Fears

Melinoë nods smugly, and then the bottle is handed over to Akeso. She spins it without much force, and it lands on me again. Goddamn it.

Glaring at the bottle, I prepare myself. Akeso sits up in her chair and stares at me. "Do you have any phobias or irrational fears?"

What kind of question is that? I mumble. "Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?" The others silently stare at me, and I start to feel my dinner settle in my stomach. "Um, yes…bugs? I really don't like bugs. Uh…poverty. I think that's it. Maybe."

She asks curiously. "Why?"

I argue back. "It's not your turn."

She sits back and crosses her arms over her chest. The game continues with Penguin's turn. He spins the bottle and surprise surprise…"Alright, who's doing it?"

They all look at me innocently, like they can't believe I'm accusing them of something they would absolutely do. 

Penguin sits up and puts his elbows on the table. His hands fold over, and he rests his chin on them. Clearly, he has no intention of hiding his intentions."Why are you so harsh to your mother?"

"I don't like this question."

"That's not an answer."

"Fine. Dare. I take dare." It is a game after all.

He tilts his head and says it slowly. "I dare you to tell me the truth. Do you have a bad relationship with your previous mother?"

Do you? Present tense? "That's none of your business."

He condescends to me, and my jaw tightens."Ria. It's just a game."

"Tell me what I am and what you are. Tell me why you're doing this to me. Tell me…what happens if I don't do what you want? Then I'll tell you. Otherwise, that's off limits."

"..."

Melinoë looks nervously between us as the air stills. Aja places her transparent hand on my chair, and I shift away from it. You have something to say? Tell me, but don't use touch against me.

Penguin gives me a long, blank stare as he calculates slowly. His eyes flash, and he offers a deal. "I will tell you everything…If you tell me about your relationships with your previous family. All of them. In detail."

It's too good to be true, but it's the best chance I've got. "A secret for a secret. Answer a question and I'll answer a question." 

He sits back in his chair and takes a deep breath. His face slips from the easy smile he has been constantly maintaining from the moment he obtained his humanoid body, and into something more natural for him. Blank. Undecipherable. Robotic. 

"WE are under a contract. I am your handler, and you are my…agent. My quest as well, so to speak. You are a naturally occurring soul, and I am an artificial soul manufactured for this mission. Your turn. Start with your parents."

I digest what he just told me and start explaining as simply as possible. My tongue dries my lips as I share my less-than-stellar life. At least I'm rich in this one."My mother…was an alcoholic. Which was my fault. I caused both of her divorces. She lost all of her…fondness for me when my stepfather walked out on her."

He continues pressing me."Why?"

Sweat drips down my forehead, and I grip my chair with reddening fingers."My step-brother was…he hurt me. He got arrested for it, convicted, and sent away when I was eight. Nobody saw it coming. He was good at hiding behind a mask. Like you. That's one more than promised, and it's your turn."

He nods, and his eyes rove over me. "I am tasked with finding the most important thing to ever exist. Without them, the universe we're in and every other one like it will cease to exist. Everything will turn back to nothing. Siblings."

"I have a biological father. He was married before my mom. He cheated on his then-wife and had me with my mother. They got married, and it lasted about four years before he got remarried to his ex-wife. He had three children with her. Eros. The oldest. Then the twins Emery and Evan. My half-siblings didn't like me."

"Details. Family matters."

I bite my tongue. Y'know what, fine. "They were assholes too. Eros was indifferent to everything and always cleaned up after the twins. While the twins…they tortured me nonstop until I was eleven. They treated me worse than the family dog, which I didn't even know was possible. They broke my legs, gave me a nasty cold, and I had to go to the hospital for a while. While I was there, I also learned I had a cracked femur, something was wrong with my lungs, brain damage from other things…Their father started ignoring them after that and focusing on me. Which led their mother to hate my guts."

"..."

"Family is a very far-fetched term. The only person in that place I could consider as family was the dog. He was pretty nice until he died from Emery poisoning him. Next."

"..."

I leaned back in my chair and shivered when Aja's hands rested on my forehead. That feels so weird.

Penguin doesn't look surprised at all. "Your question is difficult. If it relates to my mission, then of course you'll be disposed of, and I along with you. However, if it's in relation to common squables, daily missions, or quests. A light penalty will be in order. That's all. Thank you for sharing. I'll be retiring."

He leaves the table and walks to his shared room with Akeso. The door silently slams shut, and I lean back in my chair. That was…fucking awful. All of them stare at me with varying degrees of pity, curiosity, and something I can't stomach. I close my eyes so I don't have to see it.

Everyone else gets the message and returns to their own rooms. Except Aja and Melinoë. They both stare at me with pitying eyes or eye holes until I just can't take it anymore. I get up and storm out.

"Penguin, let me out."

I know he can hear me.

The wind stills, and a circle lights up underneath my feet. Complicated runes light up and rotate until they're aligned. I tilt my head and study them. What the hell is that?

Blue light shines and shoots out of the strange letters like pillars into the starry sky of my soul. My vision fades until it doesn't.

"Wakey. Wakey."