Entwining Lives - A Hermitcraft & The Life series crossover

Chapter 14 - Trauma? Who dis?

Tw: Mentions of death, Trauma, Gore, More Trauma, Slight manipulative themes, yet more trauma

POV: Grian

Grian rushed up to Scarlet, who'd now fallen to her knees. He knelt before her, trying to figure out how to help, when she let out a scream of agony. He gasped, reaching to catch her as she slumped forwards, her body finally collapsing.

He turned to see Pearl walking over. "No, don't... Let me check her." He quickly replied. "You shouldn't even be walking-"

"Let the person who just fainted use the bed for primal's sake. I'm not gonna fall over and die!" Pearl retorted. He sighed, carefully lifting Scarlet's limp body, and placing her in the bed. He turned to Pearl.

"If I lose control, fly Scarlet out of here. Don't risk your magic to help me. She's helpless right now..." He believed he could keep control - He'd been doing small spells, nothing as large as the teleport he'd attempted yesterday, but this wasn't of that scale.

He summoned the violet fire, vaguely aware of how drained he still was. He shed a small section of his concentration to ensure he didn't dip too low in his reserves. He took a deep breath, and channeled the flames into his eyes...

His vision was dyed a shade of violet, the magic allowing him to use his Sight without his mask. His consciousness, now separate from his body, glanced at himself and Pearl. There, he saw violet wings, spectral and larger than the actual ones attached to their backs, and violet halos floated above them... He took a deep breath, and turned his Sight towards Scarlet, only to gasp...

Dull, lightly glowing violet strings wrapped around Pearl's arms and legs... A bright violet mist drifted around her, streaming into her mouth and eyes... It was what he feared. He was about to exit the Sight when he saw a glowing emblem on Pearl's shoulder. Three hearts, glowing a dull purple. A purple line between her and Pearl... and, when he glanced back at himself, there was a Purple line leading from him, too, to primal's knew where...

He swallowed. Another issue to tackle later- He once again entered his body. "It's them." He looked up at Pearl. "They seem to be influencing her subtlety... But if they are, why does she despise them?" He shook his head. "But there's an active spell working on her... It's too strong to break in our current states though..."

"So we have to WAIT and see?" Pearl paced anxiously. "They could be doing Primals knows what and-"

"Pearl, I know. But she's already being manipulated... and she has very... Murderous reflexes to people she doesn't like. She won't like us if we reveal ourselves. We have to keep this between us, or she'll turn violent. They'll somehow turn that in their favor, if it wasn't their plan from the start." He said, keeping his voice even. Trying to stop the sadness, the hopelessness to taint his speech. It was scarily easy to put on the mask, that wall that kept his emotions hidden from the world. "That's how they work. We've both experienced it."

"Sunshine- '' Pearl walked up to him, pity in her expression. Of course she of all people could see through his facade. "I know you've witnessed a lot, but we have to risk it! That all seems too far fetched- She's so unpredictable, and it's too risky to wait and see-"

"Moon! You don't understand!" He yelled, tears stinging his eyes despite his attempts to hold them back. Reality was threatening to collapse around him... He bit his tongue, the pain letting him keep his grip on the world. "This is exactly what they'd do... This is exactly what they did. They can predict her behavior because they're influencing her, so they can use her as a puppet!"

"Sunshine..." She looked at him with pity still in her expression. "Did they... Do that to you?"

"..." He looked at her eyes, despite how uncomfortable it made them both feel. "We'll wait. She'll make it-"