The Tale of Tara and Emiko

XXIII

"Ooookay," Tara said. "Thanks for the theatrics."

"And for the distraction!" Emiko shouted.

Huh? Ow! Wait, what? NO! No, no no noooooooooooooooo........

"What did you do?" Selene shouted frantically.

"Simple poison," Emiko explained. "Administered by stabbing a needle into the wall. Makes the Narrator temporarily unable to communicate with us."

"How did you know that would work?" Tara asked.

"I didn't." Emiko smiled proudly. "Wild guess."

"But why? Why would you do that?" Selene asked. "Do you not trust the Narrator? They're here to help us!"

"We don't know that for sure," Tara pointed out. "And how are we supposed to help this all-powerful being fix a world that seems perfectly fine to me?"

"Well, I don't know! The only thing they told me was to find you two, and then they'd tell me the next steps in their plan, but now they can't because of you!" Selene pointed at Emiko. "You and your stupid sedatives, your pointless poisons, your dumb drugs, your terrible tricks! How do you know how to do something like that?"

"Aside from being royalty, I was also a bounty hunter. The 'princess with a secret life' stereotype, if you will," Emiko replied, shrugging.

"Really?" Selene brightened. "That's so coo-"

"Guys-er, girls? I found something," Tara interrupted.

"You found something? What?" Selene asked.

"This Narrator-they can control us," Tara explained. "Not now, but when they have more power. And as their power grows, so does their control. Right now, all they can do if project thoughts in our minds to communicate, but the longer we stay here the stronger they get, and-"

"Stop!" Emiko shouted. "Keep it to yourself for now. How do we know we can trust her?" She pointed at Selene, who looked appalled.

"Why wouldn't you trust me?" she asked.

"You showed up out of nowhere, openly admitted you kidnapped us, claimed to be working with this 'Narrator' when you don't even know what they plan to do with you when they're done," Emiko listed, counting the reasons off on her fingers.

"Well, she doesn't look like she could hurt us on her own. The Narrator's what we have to look out for, not her," Tara said. "Speaking of that nuisance, soon they'll be powerful enough to control us. It starts with actions, but will eventually progress to words and thoughts unless we find a way to stop it, which is unlikely, or find a way out of this twisted maze, which works slightly better in our favor if we're talking about our success rates."

Selene looked worried, but she also knew that once Tara had a question, there was no stopping her until that question was answered. There was no possible way to change her mind now, which meant her only option was Emiko.

"How do you know all this?" Emiko asked. In response, Tara held up a small metal box strapped to her phone.

"This little thing I built out of stuff I found in your dress pockets. Sorry, Emiko. Anyways-" Tara's phone started beeping, and she glanced at the screen, her face lighting up with hope. "There's an exit this way!" She pointed to a hallway to her right.

"Here, take this," Selene said hurriedly, handing Tara a spool of thread. "Keep it with you. Emiko can tug on the end if you have to come back. If you really do find an exit, secure the string to the end and come back to let us know. Go, and be fast! There's no time to waste, especially if what you say about the Narrator is true..."

Surprised yet motivated by the sudden turn of events, Tara accepted the thread and ran off. Emiko tied the end of the string to her wrist.

"You seem like you're in a hurry," Emiko noted. "Why?"

"I'm suspecting something will happen. She can't-" Selene stopped, eyes wide and terror-stricken. Her hands shaking, she pulled out a wickedly sharp dagger, the handle and hilt studded with more types of precious jewels and gemstones than Emiko could count. Selene held out the dagger, expecting Emiko to grab the handle.

Emiko backed up, confused. "Woah woah woah, what's going on?? Why do you have that?"

"Kill me," Selene choked out, her voice laced with fear. S̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶f̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶.̶ She weakly tossed the dagger at Emiko's feet. "Kill me, now. Before they take me. I was wrong. I was so wrong, and I'm so sorry I ever doubted you. They're going to control me, and you were right, and I'm so so so sorry I couldn't prevent this. I don't want to hurt you, Emiko. Stab me. Please, I'm begging you. Stab me with this dagger, right here in my chest, please, kill me now, before they take me, before it's too-LATE!" The last word of Selene's sentence came out in a shrill shriek, the girl crumpling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Emiko took another reflexive step back, f̶r̶a̶n̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶u̶g̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶T̶a̶r̶a̶ frozen with terror as Selene began to violently convulse, a sick dance to music only she could hear. Her face twisted in gruesome agony, her mouth open, frozen, in an eerily silent scream.

Then, just as suddenly as she'd started, she stopped, standing up again in one swift movement that seemed too perfect to be human. Her eyes were now an otherworldly cobalt, the dark cracks in the color looking like shattered glass.

"Hello there, Emiko," I said. "Would you like to make a deal?"