Crowned

Arc 3, Chapter 87: The Life I Hold is Not My Own.

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Lightbulb waved her hand, the memory then dissolved away suddenly... That likely was enough. She'd only just gotten to the part where Suitcase had died, but it wasn't something she wanted to watch any longer. she'd blinked a few times, and hugged her knees. Trying to ignore the collection of horrified looks from the others surrounding. She felt ashamed... She shouldn't have shown them a thing. Her gaze drifted up to them finally with a troubled and slightly angered expression.

A finger was jabbed, piercing the cold air and pointing to the teens. "Y-you didn't see any of that..." She huffed in a stern voice, which sent chills down the spines of those who had heard it. Of course, they already had a chill. Lightbulb had made it worse.

Knife didn't dare utter a word. He just glared at where the memory had appeared from. And pinched his brows as if he'd expected something more—Villainous. Pickle blinked, he knew Taco's life had sucked... But he didn't think it was that bad. He held his head low after the vision ended with Suitcase's death. Hours had passed, and yet it felt like years. Microphone had nothing to say... She just... Felt wrong. Fanny and Cake were both horrified, especially Fanny. She... Hadn't expected Taco to be... Telling the truth. Clover didn't dare even watch. She ran away the moment it started, seeing it as invasive and uncouth. She instead was further off, gathering move firewood. Trophy felt a sense of pity... Or at least... Somewhat. Zero was asleep, in Taco's wing. And hadn't seen anything, their face was nuzzled between the base of Taco's wing and her shell. Six was absolutely appalled, and not by Taco... They clenched their fist and their blade arm shook with rage.

Knife finally snapped out of his shocked state. And scowled. Jerking his head away stubbornly. He flinched as Microphone was walking past him. She glared down at the fire, then Lightbulb, then Taco. "That... Explains a lot I guess..." she murmured, "B—B...but she still—s-slaughtered an entire village of people..."

Lightbulb stood, though not at Microphone's height, she was close. "It wasn't exactly her fault. She was under some sort of Influence." Lightbulb argued.

Knife cut in, "Murder....sh..shouldn't have been a d-default response regardless." He grumbled, Pickle nodded slightly in agreement. Knife was sort of right.

Lightbulb shook her head, "No. something was very clearly wrong... I don't think she knew they were people. Her memory was perfect, yes? Yet from the point that we heard those voices... The memory became less vivid and more.......Distorted. I think she was hallucinating."

Knife hadn't even considered that, sure, Taco mentioned that she was protecting Mic, and supposedly her dead parents... But he assumed that she was lying. After all, people don't just start hallucinating out of the blue. Who could conjure a hallucinatory experience? If it even was someone. "She's... Still...—"

"I don't see the wrong she's done... She's just getting by." Lightbulb narrowed her gaze, and Knife lurched back in response, "You guys keep saying she's a "bad person" yet, you all keep invoking such behaviours. I mean, if I was forced to stay on an Island alone in a forest, or be murdered by a hotel full of people—I think I'd become a bit aggressive too." Lightbulb scoffed, as if she'd been offended. Which she was.

Knife couldn't think of a valid argument that wouldn't make him look worse.

Microphone felt her heart drop to her stomach. She wished she had some way too—combat that. Yet, she was also part of the problem. She'd never exactly participated in the 'Kill on sight' rule. Yet... She hadn't tried to stop it either. She felt so unsure about everything, her feelings about Taco were up in the air.

"She is not the enemy..." Six growled through their teeth, "She was blamed for what she'd never done. She was painted as the enemy! She is... Like..." Six trailed, then hugging themself, "I understand... What that is like..."