Blissful Ignorance
No sooner had the spell been cast than Alexa knew this was not right. She knew it was not right because she had spent so much time thinking of it that to have it right here before her was almost less realistic than to fold it in her mind and place it back in the deepest part of her, among the broken promises and worthless dreams of childhood. Stripping away the facade almost made the looking at it easier, and that can’t have been what the creature wanted. Stripping away the lies and the pain and the truths left only the fear, and what did fear matter to someone who feared everything right now?
She hated it. Whatever this was - whatever Genofeva had sent to them, the horrific things it showed… what would it show her? Surely it could show Genofeva her own fears… strip away the lies and what was left? What use was Genofeva by herself?
Grandmère’s decisions, Genofeva’s decisions… lies built on lies…if the truth was their greatest weakness, what did it make her?
The thing that stared at her, that seemed surprised she was looking at it and not the truth, was wrong, but not entirely. That it was here was wrong. That it obeyed Genofeva was wrong. That it was on this plane was wrong.
But it was no Mysel. It was no Heofonræsele. It was no Spider. It was more akin to Kazsra, who the half elf reached out to catch almost absently as she regarded the demon. As Heofonræsele’s flames licked it, Alexandrie simply watched. It wasn’t wrong so much as in the wrong place. The space around it was chaotic, random, empty, dark… but not wrong.
And that was strange. Wrong things sat on Alexa’s skin like a coating of thick, greasy dust. This simply lacked order. It was, ironically, the nature of things to lack order, which was…orderly, in its own way. The awareness that it had observed their deepest fears and memories meant there was no point lying to it. Strength lay in being aware of the truth. Perhaps asking it what it believed to be true. If it made no distinction between Granite and Alexa, what was the difference between Alexa and Genofeva? What deal had it actually made? Was she listening? Was she watching? Was she angry?
As Alexa asked La Chanson to help Spider, she wondered what La Chanson thought of demons. How correct it considered the creature doing its best to hurt them. Not kill them - not yet. It seemed to want to play, first. To learn?
What had it learned of her? Beyond the sharp sour taste of bile that rose when Alexandrie saw what she believed was not just the worst thing she had experienced, but the worst she would ever experience, regardless of how long she lived. She could live forever in bliss and it wouldn’t erase one memory.
In truth, if she could, would she?
Ignorance was bliss - unless it got you killed.
