Chương 73: Chapter Sixty Nine: Game Night

"So…Who wants to play truth or dare?" Melinoë patted her stuffed belly and raised a hand in agreement. The others looked between themselves and agreed to play as well. Using an empty glass bottle from the kitchen, we started the game. I spun the bottle, and it landed on Akeso. Good.

"What are you the goddess of?" She looked a little offended at the innocent question. Melinoë explained on my behalf.

"She's from a forsaken world. We all get the same treatment—Well…" She knits her eyebrows and looks at me with this sudden bout of confusion. Like something has just leaped out and hit her. What? Akeso's eyebrows raised in surprise, but she seemed a little relieved. Is she like a celebrity or something?

"It's hard to put in words, but recovery, rehabilitation, nursing, and the healing process." She pats her chest reassuringly.

"So if you ever have any injuries, you can come to me!" I nod at her mock gratefully and log that away in my don't care file. I spun the bottle for Aja, who was floating right next to me. It spun and landed on Nuwa. Nuwa sat up a little bit and looked at Aja eagerly for attention. Aja mused over the question and then asked seriously.

"Are you a creation or destruction goddess? I know they go hand in hand, but I've found that the humans seemed to be quite confused in my era..." She trailed off, hands juggling the two subjects. That's weird. In my world, she was definitely someone synonymous with creation. Nuwa tilted her head, and her inky hair moved along with her.

"Hmm…. I consider myself a creation goddess, but creation requires destruction in order to grow. It's never so black and white." Aja nods in agreement, and Melinoë spins the bottle on her own. It lands on me and I curse out loud. A row of giggles alight. Melinoë turns to me.

"What was your former name? If you remember it."

"..." I look down and away from her. Well, you gotta pay to play. I spit it out without looking at anyone.

"Grace." I have a really bad feeling about the following questions. It's not like my name was a secret. But if that's the way this evening is going to go. Melinoë nods, 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 hard 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, weirdly unified in their burning curiosity, 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." Akeso 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… Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"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.

"Cheaters." 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. When his lips move it's the slightest gap and all the other muscles relax.

"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 got arrested for something. Convicted, and sent away when I was eight."

"Nobody saw it coming. He was good at hiding behind a mask. Like you." It's a low blow but he's freaking me out. A shaking hand wraps around my arm as I try to force myself together.

"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." What? Cease to exist? Screwing my nose up at the prospect of the universe ending, I decided it was too early to start asking more questions. It's my turn.

"I have a biological father. He was married before my mom. He cheated on his then-wife and had me with my mother." The truth is not as hard to say as I thought. It's something I've lived with forever and it's the one thing I've always known in the back of my mind wasn't my fault. No matter how any of them insisted it was.

"They got married, and it lasted about four years before he got remarried to his ex-wife." Wendy.

"He had three children with her. Barrett. The oldest. Then the twins Emery and Everett. My half-siblings didn't like me. Nothing more to say."

"Details." He implores with a hint of mechanical humor.

"Family matters." I bite my tongue. Y'know what, fine.

"They were assholes too. Barrett 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 until then." They were creative I'll give them that.

"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…It's not harsh. It doesn't hurt. Remembering doesn't hurt. My shoulders slump down as the sun sets and I've slipped into a deep hole.

"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."

"..." I leaned back in my chair and shivered when Aja's hands rested on my forehead. That feels so weird. I leaned away from her and shot her a look. Really? She cringed but didn't stop trying to wave her hands over me or I guess through me. I couldn't tell if she was trying to cast a spell or check my temperature. She just seemed distressed. Which made me feel a little anxious too. 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." My spine cracks. Ice shoots up the empty spaces between where the joints should be and my head turns on a swivel.

"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, morbid 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.

"I've given you enough today." 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."