In a world of magic and technology, darkness shrouds every corner. Those who are strong must fight to protect the people they care about. But nobody is without their inner demons.
Lilith and Lenore meet up with Octavia as she steps onto the grand staircase from the mezzanine in Schloss Aetherluftburg.
Octavia greets the two. "Halò, Lilith. Good morrow, Lenore. Do you need something?"
"Have you noticed anything off about Mortilda lately?" Lenore asks.
"Aye," Octavia responds, "She seems to be stressed lately. She's been eating and drinking more heavily than she would before. Typically when she drinks, she usually drinks a goblet of absinthe, but just this morning I noticed that there were empty bottles of vodka and cider on the floor , and that she had eaten all the truffles."
"We normally produce all of her absinthe," Lilith responds, "but lately we've been low on wormwood, and we can't make absinthe without it. We will need to head to go to town and get some seeds. While we're gone, you should do everything you can to keep her inside the castle."
Okay," Octavia replies. "I'll try to keep her in the castle."
Lilith and Lenore depart from Schloss Aetherluftburgh and ride to town. They head straight for the market, where they purchase several seeds. As the two begin their return journey to the castle, a black and white wolf with red eyes steps into the road in front of them. Lilith stops her horse, and Lenore does the same. The two sisters watch the wolf carefully. The wolf stands there and stares at them for a moment, and then walks off. The two sisters exchange glances.
"Did that seem weird to you?" Lenore asks. "It certainly did."
Lilith and Lenore ride towards Schloss Aetherluftburg. On their way, they notice that the wolf is standing in the path again, but now, there are two wolves. The wolves stare at them, and Lilith and Lenore continue on their journey. As they pass the wolves, they begin to follow. They approach the castle, and the wolves stop. As Lilith and Lenore leave their horses in the stable, they look out to the wolves and see that there are four.
"This is getting out of hand." Lilith says.
"Yes. Let's get the seeds planted and get back inside."
The two enter the castle. Inside, they meet Octavia, who greets them.
"Hi, Octavia," Lenore greets her, "did Mortilda cause any trouble while we were away?"
"Not at all." Octavia answers. "And if you're wondering, she's in the bed chamber."
Lilith, Lenore and Octavia exit the room. Lilith and Lenore plant the wormwood seeds and place a magical ward over the plants to ensure their safety. Octavia enters the bedroom, which she shares with Mortilda
"This is fucking boring!" Mortilda exclaims. "Why do I have to stay in the castle?"
"To keep you safe."
"From what?"
"Yourself."
"Fuck this, I'm going for a walk."
"You can't."
"Oh yeah?" Mortilda begins to open the door. "Let's go for a walk."
"No, I'll stay here."
"If you say so."
"I think I'll get a snack."
Mortilda leaves the room and goes downstairs to the kitchen.
"You know that you can't leave the castle, right?" Lenore asks.
"Yeah, I know. I'm just hungry." Mortilda responds.
"Okay."
Later that night, Octavia wakes up and finds Mortilda in the courtyard, surrounded by wolves.
"What are you doing?" Octavia asks.
"This is so fucking boring."
"Mortilda, they aren't doing anything."
"I hate that they can go wherever they want while I'm stuck in the castle!"
"Don't worry." Octavia says.
"Who said I was worried? Anyway, let's go for a walk."
"Mortilda, you're unstable right now."
"Who cares? I need to get out of this place somehow."
Mortilda leaves the castle, and Octavia chases her down, only to find themselves attacked by a group of elves.
Mortilda pulls out her scythe and slays the elves. They then discover the entrance to a small cave.
Inside the cave, she and Octavia discover a large stack of burning bodies.
"We have to get out of here!" Mortilda exclaims.
They both leave the cave and return to the castle where they find Lenore waiting for them.
"Lenore, I've found Mortilda." Octavia says. "Now, why exactly did you want Mortilda to stay in the castle?"
"So I can try to research her condition." Lenore says. "We've noticed some rather anomalous behavior regarding her use of magic. She's been consuming more mana than normal. I suspect something may be clouding her mind."
"And did you discover anything specific?" Octavia asks. "Anything peculiar at all?"
Lilith enters the room and brings up a holographic interface, pointing out a screen documenting her studies regarding the various recent anomalies.
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"You asked what we've found about her condition." Lilith says. "Here you can see the abnormal phenomenon that I have observed, many of which involve Mortilda." Lilith taps on one of the documents on the screen. "This one in particular is quite alarming to me. It seems the more human Mortilda becomes, the more she loses her sense of humanity. I think this paradox might be caused by internal conflict, maybe even by some sort of trauma. When people's mental state is damaged, it can cause them to behave differently, and if that person is an esper, it can even cause them to lose control over their powers. After all, a strong esper is one who is both physically and mentally healthy."
