Villainess Reform Project

Midwinter's Festival Pt.2

"I asked you second."

"Who's. There?"

"Who. Are. You?"

As the disembodied voice continued to return its question to me, it lost more and more of its Ophelia qualities. It lost the sweetness and seemed to grow deeper, adding more to my discomfort. I was glad that I hadn't opened the door.

"I can see that we have reached an impasse, as neither of us are willing to share our identities."

The voice did not reply this time. It looks like we agree.

"So how about we do this? You come out here. I can see who you are and you'll see who I am. Then we'll both be satisfied."

The disembodied voice didn't reply for a long time. Then all of a sudden, it laughed. I practically jumped when it began to laugh. It wasn't that the laugh was scary or anything, it just surprised me. The laugh was actually quite melodious, like a ringing bell or baby's first laugh. When it finally stopped, the voice actually replied to me.

"I like you. You're a smart thing." I was going to say thank you before it continued to speak. "Although you're quite dense. You can tell when a situation is dangerous, but you can't even see things dangling right in front of your eyes."

"I feel sorry for your mistress."

"What does Ophi- my mistress have anything to do with this?"

"Many have sight, but not all have vision. Many have intelligence, but not wisdom. All have life, but not all live. You shall know in time, Marie. Surely."

I was caught off guard at the mention of my real name. I hadn't heard it for such a long time, but I never forgot it. How did this person know it?

"How-"

"I know many things, Marie. Some things that humans wouldn't be able to take. Things that might drive them crazy and vie to know more. Things that might destroy the very fabric of this world. They're mostly embarrassing childhood anecdotes of important people."

... And here I was taking this voice seriously.

"Well, since I like you so much I'll give you a little gift. It's that time of year for gift giving, isn't it? Midwinter or something, correct?"

"Yes, but you don't have to-"

"Then I hope you'll accept this gift! It's really not much but I hope you'll accept it. Oh! And if you get gifted one of those little plants, don't put it in direct sight of you. For privacy."

"But-"

"And take care of that pink fellow, won't you? He's a troubled little thing, but he's a good child. I can't watch over him all the time, y'know?"

"Are you even listening?"

This random voice is ignoring me and going off on its own tangent. Are they talking about Alexander? He's the only pink guy I know. Why do I have to take care of him? And what was that thing about the plants? I have never been so confused since I first came to this world.

"Oh my, this old person's just been going on and on. I need to send you back before they think you've gone into a coma. Remember my gift, alright?"

Coma?! What are they talking about?! Before I could go off on my own tangent, I began to feel dizzy. I stumbled around for a short bit before falling into the warm embrace of what felt like sleep. But that wasn't right. I had been awake this whole time, right?

Right?

--------

As the purple-haired girl faded away and eventually disappeared, the mysterious doors opened and a cloaked figure strode out. Their cloak shone bright like the sun, golden and warm yet full of destructive power. Tan hands reached out and tugged down the hood, revealing a youthful face, yet orange topaz colored eyes that spoke of their true age. A smile stretched across their features, a brilliant standout among the decaying hallway.

"What an interesting branch that fate has added to its tree. It would be nice to stay around and see it bear fruit, but I have more pressing matters to attend to." The melodious tone of the voice that had come behind the door spoke with child-like teasing, although there was no one around to tease.

"I wonder, why is it that one displaced person has smoothed out wrinkles but another has caused complete tears? It truly is a pity. A child of fate has become a pawn. Yet they have no one to blame but their own selfish desires. Perhaps," the smile of the tanned figure turned mischievous. "I should mess around a bit?"

In a burst of golden feathers, the figure disappeared along with the hallway.

As if they had never existed at all.

[ HEY! Guess who's alive! I am! Yay! And I got an update! This isn't the feels update yet but it's coming! And it'll hit hard! Hopefully! ]

[ Anyway, I just wanna thank everyone for reading VRP and I hope you're staying and safe indoors! Speaking of you guys, I just wanna give a shoutout to one of my readers, OceanBolts, who I actually got into contact with recently! It was so awesome to chat with you! I was like, dying the whole time because I got so emotional. Speaking of which, I got Discord recently so... That might be a thing at some point. ]

[ Psst. By the way, our next chapter is gonna feature our good pink boy. Who I made in picrew. Other characters coming in picrew form soon. Here. ]