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"Think of it as dream walking. Selective dark fae can use the skill and usually it’s to torment an enemy in their sleep. The strongest form is trapping someone in their nightmares and leaving it on a loop. It’s sinister, but it gets the job done when you need to get information that’s vital,” he deciphered. “She was trying to overpower you in the dream. Your inner child. Another indication that she really needs Willow for whatever plot she has up her sleeve.”
“Of course she does,” Arthur proclaimed like it was common logic. “Cynical people are the best to have as puppets.”
“Puppets…” I whispered the word as I tried to figure out what he was implying. “Meaning you’re easy to control? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Ah, you’re right, Sweet Domino, but you’re not looking at the long-term,” Arthur emphasized and moved so now he was in the center of our make-shift circle.
He twirled around so he was parallel to me as he put his hands up in the air.
“When someone shows signs of mental distress, what does the world enjoy doing?”
“Calling them crazy.” I voiced the obvious.
"Why?” he asked and pointed to Dimitris, who rolled his eyes.
“Because it’s easier for them than finding the root cause.”
“True,” Arthur began, “But it’s not easier. It’s deliberate.”
“Deliberate?” Ruby questioned with a huff. “They don’t deliberately call one crazy and spend millions on funding to keep them in mental wards on purpose.”
“But they do, little one.” Arthur spun in her direction, and I gave her a warning look to not push him because Arthur was acting odd.
Odder than normal odd.
"You’re labeled as crazy. Brought to a lovely institute with colored walls and tiny pill prescriptions that will make all those voices disappear. All those emotions that nag at your consciousness every hour of the day suddenly find balance with a pop of a pill. It’s like a magic trick.”
He put his hands up again and made an explosion gesture as he whispered, “Poof. All gone. You’re normal again. Balanced. Sane. Everything they want you to be. But have you ever questioned why?”
“W-Why?” Ruby looked insulted with a bit of nervousness.
“Yes. Why?” Arthur questioned, and he was behind her in a blink. His eyes were pure black as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Why would the government provide funding to assist us hybrid shifters with mental instabilities? We’re not one of their own they can manipulate behind closed doors and use to create clones and other preposterous experiments without caring about the consequences. We’re only useful when we’re discarded illegally in the underground and sold to institutions that enjoy inspecting us like little bugs that deserve to be plucked and dissected. Why would they want us to be balanced?”
He was back in the circle as he crossed his arms and looked over at Loki with a cunning grin.
As if he knew Loki already had the answer.
"An opportunity,” Loki declared.
Arthur’s smile couldn’t be more frightening.
“An opportunity.” He purred the words while he tapped his temples. “To access this. This precious organ, now that they’ve just made you all balanced and happy. They’ve gained your trust. Your submission for these lovely pills that will take away your fear of being an outcast. It removes the stigma we all fight to avoid. Happy pills have loads of side effects on the average human, causing them to become dependent on them and go to great lengths to maintain the balance. But for us shifters, what do we have left to lose? We value our pride in a community filled with judgemental fools rather than care about the consequences another will bring into our lives. In many situations, you’re not given a choice, are you?”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“You’re but a child. One in agonizing pain after another decided you weren’t worthy of living one more second upon this forsaken planet.”
His words made me swallow hard, and for a split second, I could envision the moment I was pulled from those frigid waters.
Pain. So much pain in my body, mind, and heart that carried the burden of immense regret…
“Desperate times call with desperate measures, and for the sake of survival, you’re whisked away in the hands of adults who simply care about protecting the legacy you uphold.”
He said those words as if he could picture what I had gone through.
Matched with the gentle rawness in his tone, I could only wonder if he’d experienced the same before he was sold like a slave.
“You were the perfect catalyst at the right time. The individual the Vile Queen had originally wished to use for her plan was deemed incapable. Whether it was the magic levels or simply the mental instability involved, that chosen child was unqualified despite having checked off the other areas. Then came someone who wished to make a business deal but despised women. What better way to lead him astray until he found a man who played the part of despising women as equally as him.”
