The weather outside had taken a turn, and Colette laid in her bed staring at the ceiling as rain droplets hit the window with a needling force, lighting striking in the distance.
The only light that illuminated the room was from the window, the moon only hitting Manon's side and shining faintly on her peacefully sleeping face.
Colette sat up then, after confirming the girl wouldn't be disturbed.
"Shop."
The green shimmering window materialized, and Colette began to scroll. She currently had accumulated 13 XP. She did not have much time left with "true intent" and needed some other cheat skill. Preferably a more permanent one.
Manon had said the system gave her a skill- and even if it was a petty one unable to be leveled up, Colette was truthfully a bit envious. She was doing her best to keep them alive and needed more help. Especially now that Manon could virtually say whatever the hell she wanted and get herself killed because of it.
Double points up or down was a double edged sword. It was not sustainable. It was not safe. It made everything worse.
She was not on the system's side, she just simply understood why it had initially restricted Manon.
Eventually, Colette found something that piqued her interest in the shop. A jewelry item this time. The only one out of the 10 items in today's shop batch. It was a bracelet made of yellow topaz on a white gold dainty chain. It was called "Vesmir's Eyes". It cost 7 XP, the most expensive item thus far. And it still didn't have a clear description. Still- it was the most useful sounding option.
Colette's finger poised over the purchase button just as another window popped up, stopping her.
[Player 1, the system offers you a new perk due to your diligence in gathering XP.]
[Before you purchase, you can view the description of an item for half the cost of the item's price. Simply click on the item image and we will confirm the purchase of the description prior to committing to the item.]
[ If you do not end up purchasing the item, the shop will refund 1 XP as a courtesy. If the item price is an odd number, the price for its description will be rounded down.]
The lengthy disclosure only served to make Colette angrier. So the system was essentially stealing her XP and now she had to pay 150% of the item price if she wanted to know what it did? Ridiculous.
…
Colette swiped away the window and clicked on the item image.
[You are about to purchase: Description of Item - Vesmir's Eyes. The price is 3 XP. Do you confirm?]
"Yes." She whispered.
[Thank you for confirming.]
Very abruptly, Colette was faced with a large window of text. It reminded her of how Manon had described her skill window when it first popped up in the orchard.
[Item: Vesmir's Eyes]
[Type: Permanent Wearable Item (Upgradeable/Sealed to owner)]
[Uses: Infinite]
[Abilities (3):
Truth of the Beholder: Allows the wearer to see the truth behind any words someone speaks. Limited to NPCs the player has unlocked the AP system with until upgraded.
Mind's Eye: Allows the wearer to read the mind of a specific target for 10 seconds with a cooldown period of 30 minutes. May only read the same target's mind 3 times in a 24 hour period. Attempts may fail based on the target's mental fortitude and AP level with the player. Failed attempts are also capped at 3 for the 3 times the player may read the same NPC's mind. Attempts, failed or not, are reset at 12am. Restrictions may improve with upgrades.
Seeing All (Locked until upgraded): Allows the wearer to see where a target currently is by speaking their name. Limited to within the Empire only until upgraded further.]
[Item can be upgraded by using XP. The amount will vary depending on upgrade level.]
This wasn't merely a cool item. It was an investment. An expensive one. Her XP would be drained- but that could eventually be a non issue once she arrived at her adoptive family's house- as there were many NPC's who had an AP system there.
She couldn't pass up on this. With only 10 XP left, Colette purchased the bracelet and it immediately sealed to her wrist without her involvement.
It sparkled despite the lack of lighting, tightening so it wouldn't fall off her wrist regardless of how much she moved her arm around. Satisfied with her purchase, Colette was about to close her bedside drawer she realized she had left open, when she saw a black pouch she had abandoned not long ago.
She turned on her bedside lamp, careful to not wake Manon.
….
The black pouch held a deck of cards. They were simplistic navy blue with stars on the back. Each card was different though.
Colette gnawed at her lip, recalling how the game had shuffled them whenever she played.
She was bad at bridging in real life, but managed this time even with her smaller hands, the cards snapping loudly as she shuffled them. Worried about disturbing Manon, she flinched, looking over at the girl.
She was laying on her back, her mouth slightly open as she snored softly. Good.
After confirming she was still asleep, Colette cut the deck a few times, her bracelet jingling softly against her wrist.
Finally, she pulled cards in the same manner the game had taught her.
The tarot in the game would often predict how your tutorial was going so far, and later the outcome of the route you were in.
But Colette was done being too rigid. She knew that some rules were changing, and she needed to adapt in order to maintain her advantage here.
She had the idea that maybe, just maybe the system would let the cards guide her not just through the normal game, but through all the additional circumstances it had imposed on her through Manon's existence here.
"Manon….and Colette."
The first 2 cards pulled personified the two friends. Colette jumped a little as windows popped up- but she was thankful she did not have to decipher the cards herself.
[Manon: The World. This person represents awareness and understanding. They have found balance through cycles and their sense is unmatched.]
[Colette: The Magician. This person is skilled and has all tools needed at their disposal. They make their dreams reality using their resources and intelligence.]
The world card was beautiful, depicting a woman covered in a blue silken dress, basking in the sky surrounded by a wreath of green leaves. She held what appeared to be two candles in her hands, and four masked faces in each corner seemed to stare at her in different expressions of emotion.
The magician card was of a similar art style, depicting a woman in white robes holding a sword as she faced a table with a candle, a braise, and a chalice. Her dress robes sparkled with gold and red shimmers, her stance with the sword somewhat intimidating but innately glorious.
So far, these pulls seemed good. But they were just the test round. She needed to continue.
"What will happen to us?" Colette murmured softly, intending to cut the deck until she pulled two more cards. They flew out of her fingers, magically resting where the first ones were, as if pulled to their respective places.
[Manon: The 10 of Swords. This person will face an unavoidable ending, and anguish akin to the piercing of 10 blades behind their back.]
[Colette: The Tower. This person will face the upheaval and breakdown of everything they have known. It will be a painful chaotic event.]
Neither of these sounded great at all despite the persona cards being rather good.
The 10 of swords was particularly brutal, depicting a figure, long abandoned lying face down in the dirt, their backside littered with swords, axes, and weapons. Exactly 10. Their blood pooled beneath them like a flowing river as the sun set on the horizon in the background.
The Tower card was perhaps not as definitively brutal- just just as terrible and pitiful. Depicting a figure falling from a great height, their tower fully set aflame and on the brink of collapse. Down below laid all their belongings, all the things they held dear. Broken and smashed to bits, also lit aflame.
Colette almost bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but stopped herself, taking a deep breath before continuing to the last stage. One that would allow her to see how she could turn these fates around.
"How do we prevent this?"
Two cards sprung out even as she barely touched them yet.
[Manon: Death Reversed. This person must break free of their fate and defy the inevitable.]
She looked at this card first, the card upside down indicating its reversal. The illustration of a skeleton head with red spider lilies growing out its cracks, crevices, and teeth stared back at her with empty eyes. It was a haunting image, but its reversal seemed to indicate escaping just that. To struggle to fight an ending that has already been written.
The final window for her card made Colette's breath hitch. Her fingers tightened on the card itself, seemingly innocent.
It depicted someone in blue robes, their face covered with a veil, arms uplifted towards the array of chalices arching above them like a rainbow. Wine flowed into and out of each chalice, the wine becoming more and more clear like water until the 10th chalice. The 10th chalice poured pure water, shimmering and light over the veiled figure like a blessing.
[Colette: 10 of Cups. This person must create harmony and completion, by ensuring all pieces are in their proper place.]
Colette wasn't afraid of the card…or perhaps she was, in a way.
For the card to her- said exactly as she had been thinking this entire time.
Things needed to be in their place.
The game needed to continue smoothly.
She glanced at Manon's sleeping form, her mind racing. She swallowed a lump in her throat as the remnants of a thought she tried to bury the first evening in the noble orphanage resurfaced.
The truth about something she wasn't willing to disclose until she had a plan.
It was for Manon's own good. She needed to make sure she got back to her own reality safely, she just wasn't sure how.
But now she was.
Everything needed to happen exactly as it was supposed to.
She needed to fix it. How she went about things didn't matter. She needed to see things through.
The system brought her old friend here in order to have her play the character of Manon.
And she needed to play that role so that Colette could protect her just like she protected the original Manon.
Only then could she finally be free of the guilt she harbored, and truly right her wrongs.
Colette knew this is what the system was saying.
It was the only way for Manon to return.
The rain outside seemed to be persistent, pelting the window like it demanded entry.
Colette continued to stare at Manon, her restlessness easing, her mind made up.
Her resolve set in stone.
A bright flash of lightning illuminated Colette's pale blue eyes, as if they were glowing.
It was the final bright light that room would see until morning as Colette reached over to turn off her bedside lamp, drenching the room into darkness just as the sound of the thunder clap finally shook the ground.