Unknown Happen Stance

Chapter 57: The Critical Conversations

"Musa, I know you're holding back the truth, you didn't want to say in Auradon Prep's campus. And you didn't want to say it at the Fa family house either? What is wrong tell me?!" Evie tries to push again, her voice echoing slightly in the ornately decorated Minglanian shop. A profound weariness settles over Musa, her shoulders slumping. "Can we please stop ruining the atmosphere. I don't want to scare you, Evie or anyone in this world but it may be too late," Musa responds, her confession dropping before she could stop it from leaving her tongue, each word heavy with an uncontrollable, regretful sadness.

Evie's brow furrows, a flicker of concern crossing her features. "Scare me about what?" she asks, her voice softening slightly at the raw emotion emanating from her friend. Musa's gaze drifts, fixed on some unseen point beyond the silken wall hangings, her voice a barely audible, broken whisper. "I am not from this universe and I am a grave danger to all of you even Uma."

A confused laugh escapes Evie. "You're talking nonsense." The denial is automatic, a shield against such an outlandish claim. But Musa shakes her head slowly, the profound sorrow in her expression deepening. "I wish I was, Evie, but between the tiger witch and the goat voices in my head echoes of my teammates and the memory I turnt into a monster and the Mogwai channeled from me I do feel as bad like a true monster." The words tumble out, forced and heavy, as if a dam has broken within her.

Evie gasps, the colour draining from her face. "Goat voices? Your real friends?! How did you get to school then?!" The implications begin to dawn on her, a cold dread starting to creep in. Musa sighs, a sound filled with the weight of ancient burdens. "Mal let me in, Ben approved no one else knows." The admission hangs in the air, thick with unspoken secrets.

"You said you were found in the ocean," Evie points out, her voice barely a whisper, piecing together the fragments of Musa's shifting story. Musa meets her gaze then, her eyes clouded with an unshed sorrow, a deep, pervasive grief. "Yes, that's all you need to know for now," Musa states, her tone firm yet still imbued with an overwhelming, regretful sadness, controlling her voice just enough to shut down further questions.

The silence stretches, taut with unspoken fear and unanswered questions, before Musa continues, her voice now a low, lamenting hum, as if reciting a painful truth. "I have not lived the last recent years of my past very well, I took advantage of everyone who knew me and took them even for granted. Do not do that with your Isle friends not even Mal, even if she is purposefully distancing herself from you, she might be doing it, for your own good, you never know. My friends, my family, did exactly just that for me and I didn't respect the gift they gave me with their time to my personal space I just sulked in misery after my boyfriend broke up with me. My day was perfect till that happened."

Her voice cracks, thick with self-recrimination. "I don't know if I will ever feel warmth from a sunset going down again. But he wasn't wrong about what I am a rock bottom heaping mess of corrupt emotional pride. Why was I so mean to him?! Even during those moments he still showed me love but all I could see were flaws that didn't even exist in him; I simply projected my own flaws onto him and that was beastly of me. I am Passive Aggressive and I regret it 100 percent." The confession, born of deep anguish and guilt, hangs heavy in the air.

Evie backs up, her jaw dropping, the beauty of the Fa family house fading into insignificance as the full terror of Musa's words sinks in. "That tiger witch was right you are a serious dangerous threat. What are we going to do to fix the imbalance here? We can't keep this hidden for long!" she exclaims, a tremor of pure fear running through her voice, her eyes wide with panic. The traditional Minglanian décor—the vibrant silks, the meticulously painted screens depicting serene landscapes—now seems to mock the stark, terrifying reality unfolding between them. Evie's gaze darts around, as if seeking an escape or a solution within the familiar, yet suddenly menacing, surroundings. The weight of Musa's confession settles like a shroud, a chilling wind sweeping through the otherwise tranquil afternoon. Musa, her face etched with profound sorrow, does not meet Evie's terrified eyes, the confession a monstrous truth now exposed. Her heavy heart echoes with the regret of a thousand lifetimes, sealing the grim atmosphere with an unspoken plea for understanding, even as she knows such understanding is impossible.