Unknown Happen Stance

Chapter 56: Some Dreams Should Be Put On Hold

"This dress would look perfect on you," Evie says, holding up the garment on its single hanger. Evie's conviction is palpable as she describes the Hanfu Purple Grape Colored dress, asserting it would look stunning with Musa's blue hair and its black undertones, despite it not being a gala or kimono gown. She even suggests asking the clerk for necklaces or bracelets featuring a goat pendant to complement the ensemble. Musa smiles genuinely, a rare, uncomplicated expression, and nods. "It is just perfect, Evie. Thanks." Evie then pushes further, her eye for detail sharp, "How about a crimson belt for your sword, and red beaded bracelet with a goat head on it in maybe silver colors?" she questions, already envisioning the complete look.

Musa, however, feels a familiar pang of discomfort at Evie's singular focus. "Evie, you shouldn't just think about me, treat yourself to something too," she mutters, a subtle undercurrent of concern in her voice.

An insistent, almost ethereal voice, whispers in Musa's mind, "'Respect her boundaries. It is up to her if she wishes to treat herself. She's not trying to outcompete anyone.'" Musa's brow furrows in disbelief, an audible scoff escaping her lips. "I don't compete with anyone," she mutters out loud, addressing the invisible voice, unaware of the subtle tension her words create between the two friends.

The disembodied voice in Musa's head scoffs back with cutting precision, "Really?! Tell that to Stella every time you yelled at her to fix her attitude when you didn't evolve yours." Suddenly, an unsettling image floods Musa's mind: goats, not the docile kind, but fierce, almost mythical beasts. One goat boasts aqua fur, another glows with orange-red fire fur, while a third ram is pure black (earth roots) with striking green-blue, teal eyes. A fourth, a pitiable creature, is a tangled mess of ash-covered fur, a damaged ram horn signifying endless toil and repressed struggle, as if it were a typhoon-dumped survivor in a carnivorous jungle. Its horns and body, even the fur, appear metallic, molded like an animatronic cage holding a desperate soul yearning to manage its rage rather than engage with it.

Evie, oblivious to the internal maelstrom brewing within Musa, simply inquires aloud, her voice light and curious. "You don't out compete with what? You keep being funny, Musa?" The word 'funny' grates against Musa's ears; she has never perceived herself as humorous, especially given the multitude of mistakes she believes herself to have made. A flicker of something akin to annoyance crosses her features, though Evie's gentle nature seems to absorb it without conscious recognition of its source.

Evie, sensing a shift in the air, redirects the conversation with an unexpected earnestness. "What is your story? You haven't told the full of it to us Isle Kids yet. I want to know that more than I want to shop here for fabrics." Her gaze is unwavering, a genuine desire for connection shining through. Musa's eyebrows raise in surprise, then she gasps, taken aback by Evie's declaration, especially the part about prioritizing her story over shopping, a pastime Evie typically adores.

Musa, still reeling from the unexpected turn, counters with a question that echoes her own life philosophy. "Why would you ever want to put your dreams on hold? Isn't following dreams the point of work in your life?" Her voice carries a hint of disbelief, a challenge to Evie's statement, rooted in her own journey of striving for her artistic aspirations. She struggles to comprehend a perspective that would willingly defer personal ambition.

Evie, however, meets Musa's challenge with serene conviction. "That's a half-truth. I'm willing to put my dreams on hold because I do not wish to live them without my friends at my side, Doug, Jane, Jay, Mal, Ben and Carlos." She recites the names, a palpable enthusiasm entering her voice particularly when she utters Carlos', betraying an unconscious ranking. Musa, ever observant and brutally direct, seizes on this unintentional revelation. "Did you really just rank your friends from least important to most important? It's no wonder Mal isn't talking frequently to you."

Evie gasps, startled, the realization dawning on her as if struck by a cold shower. Her expression mirrors genuine shock; she truly hadn't considered the implication of her words. As Musa's hair darkens perceptibly for a fraction of a second, an inner turmoil brewing, Evie's own hair swishes back, reacting to an unseen energy. "Musa, careful with your inner gorgon; it's dangerously hyped to strike," Evie warns, a hint of fear in her voice as she feels the darkness bubbling from Musa, a darkness Musa herself cannot hear, much like she is deaf to the underlying bitterness of the Heart of Stone Song she wrote, a blatant, unfounded act of revenge against Riven and his past kindness.

Shock runs through Musa's body, her head momentarily going black, severing the connection to the odd, accusing goat voices. Greek mythological pages flash across her mind: Medusa's stone-cursed face, the scowling hiss, a permanent inscription of desecration and serious pride. Musa, unused to the self-aware yet outwardly flawed nature of someone like Evie, struggles to process the depth of Evie's insight. To deflect, she pivots, "What about Uma? Do you think you could ever be friends with her? Have you ever thought of trying to be friends with that Sea Witch's daughter, Evie. She lived on the isle with you guys technically she's a neighbor still more than the Auradon kids here except Doug & Jane and Ben, right?"

Evie is stumped, utterly taken aback; she has never encountered this question before. "I don't think we ever had a chance to establish a proper bond," Evie finally remarks, her voice softer now, reflecting genuine consideration. Both girls had mistakenly believed their paths were meticulously laid out for them. Yet, here, Evie receives a curveball, forcing her to pause, introspect, and reconsider her own decisions, without the black undertones of depressive moods or the sulking in nostalgic mountains of burnt ashes, heavy and unyielding as metal.

This very mountain of ashes is what Musa traverses, its sharp edges cutting at her heart as Evie, with deliberate curiosity, dissects her mind. Musa now grasps the brutal truth of Evie's critique, realizing her actions mirror Medusa's, a revelation twice as damning as any judgment Audrey might pass upon the Isle kids.

Clothes mentioned in chapter are up above. I will explain the goat imagery soon but I think you might get the gist of it anyway. Chinese mythology is the only mythology to consider Metal a major element alongside: Earth, Fire, and Water and the only one not to include Air as a member of the four elements.

Asa3Baemon Hope you like the specific metaphorically imageries.