The Rhythm of Your Heart [Yan!DSMP x Reader]

CHAPTER LIV: Eight of Swords reversed

The crowd looks weird to you.

Maybe it's a sort of stress that you are yet to be familiar with. Maybe it's paranoia, warning you of the watchers. Maybe it's the realization that you are a black sheep, with only Jared counting as someone who you can feel at home with. Despite Phil's sudden hospitality, Technoblade's welcoming nature and Tommy's enviable enthusiasm with you around, you can't ignore the strange feeling in your stomach; that feeling that you've felt before, when you dragged yourself back to your apartment, after the event that brought all of this upon you.

Whenever you look around you, and listen to the voices that full your ears, it's as if you're listening to those who send miles away from you. Looking at figures, that seem to go further away from you, even if they're not moving. A ravine, dividing you from this reality, with only a dying spirit by your side.

You picked something simple this time, not wanting to stand out among the people present at the Festival. The colours you picked are dark, associated with nature; an outfit that Tommy and Eret helped you pick, after the gorgon came here with some options. However, you liked neither of them for this situation, stating how you still felt too ill to wear dresses that falling in wouldn't be too convenient. So, you went with a simple waistcoat and pants, wearing a black cape, fitting in with the crowd: looking exactly decent.

And now, you found yourself here. Amidst the hall of familiar faces, most seeming like they were surrounded by a dark mist. Or perhaps, it was the alcohol, which Schlatt had gotten you to drink, promising you it would have you relax more. If only you realized that it'd be an excuse for him to bore you with one of his other unpredictable stories.

"You know, I'm not one for believing in superior races, but when I look around this weird place, I realize one thing: satyrs are the only ones who know how to have fun! Come on, don't you agree? Where's the sex? Where's the drunkenness? Where's the naked men?! I've seen more shit happen at a wedding than here. It's always so uninteresting."

You don't respond, listening to one of his stories of back when humans still lived next to Urvorum. "Sally tended to perform there, you know. They loved her. I mean, yeah, she's a siren, what else was there to expect? But everyone there loved her. Well, maybe not one person, but still." He shrugs. "Oh well, they too knew how to party. Drugs, alcohol, ecstasy, flashing lights and skin barely covered. Such a shame your dad had to go out and ruin the relations, huh?"

"So, you know too about it?" The words of Philza echo through your mind, about XD's own sins and apparent insanity.

"He was okay. He said he was okay. When the humans settled in next to us, he said he could handle it. Who better than a servant of God, after all? And only a month after he managed to promise that nobody from our town would hurt someone from theirs, as long as it didn't happen vice versa either, he did it. He murdered – no, mutilated – an innocent person for a reason he could never share with us. And then, when the humans fought back, he just fled. That's what bothers me, because guess what. Only Kristin and I knew what he'd done to that poor man, and I'd kept my mouth shut for his own sake. Sure, did I encourage bigotry? Yeah, I did. But what else was I supposed to do? I never asked for this either. He left the thing he claimed to love so much to live with some people, and then one day, the person who'd driven him insane suddenly stands in my town."

"Don't worry, kiddo. I'm just smart. Other people are a lot more... gullible. Crimson could them that you are out to destroy their little town and they would believe them immediately. Well, they did, until that weird plant thing – and you too, I suppose – started screaming out that energy."

You hum, realizing that you're too tired to actually listen. Instead, you look around, drinking some more but also remaining focused on your goal. There's no reason for you to be nervous. You should be angry. Daring, just as you always are. And yet, you feel like you're closer to the truth than you've ever been, walking on the edge of knowledge you've left behind the ignorant ones. The ignorant ones, with whom you now must converse.