Roughly Fourteen Years Ago
Ivette had made a plan this time. This time Maria/ Emerald will stay. She ignored all of Salim's warnings that nothing would work. Maybe they didn't work because it was him. Maybe she would stay because it was Ivette, Ivette would be different. Within the time between Emerald's escape and the new identity would be thrown down into the Abyss, Ivette ensured that the new trading post she had established with Emerald was as welcoming and inhabitable as possible, which was easy considering she kept all of the changes Emerald had made, all of the green decorations and cuddly toys and her belongings, alongside the large stash of special stew food packets. All she had to do was first to convince Emerald, or whatever new name she would take, that the outside world was too dangerous. If she stayed at the trading post forever, she would hopefully never consider going to the rock spire at the beach where the portal appeared. Was a bit of manipulation, a trick, wrong if it kept Emerald safe and happy? To prevent her from ruining her life repeatedly by escaping and having her mind wiped? No, this was right... right?
Salim told her it would not work; that Emerald hated being lied to, to have this hidden from her, but all Ivette had to do was stop her from finding out... for as many years as Emerald had left for her sentence. According to Salim, Emerald's and his prison sentences had been extended for the nobles' amusement, throwing money to make them both stay here for an unknown time. They had both been here for around a hundred years; they could be free tomorrow or perhaps in another hundred years more. Regardless, Ivette had made up her mind to stay with Emerald until that time, even if she was free to go.
"You love her, don't you?" asked Salim solemnly.
Ivette tried to retort as she made Emerald's bed with freshly clean sheets, everything green, but it came out as an angry splutter. "The girl just need someone to save her from the water nymphs when she arrives and introduce her to the Abyss before she makes her own way. And if she decides to stay here..." Ivette shrugged. "Well, I suppose she can."
"You think of her as a granddaughter?"
"Granddaughter!" Ivette snapped. "You said she is far older than me!" She muttered some curses before mumbling in shyness, "you should have said daughter to be more polite. I suppose you thought of her as your own child too." Ivette bit her lip as she let slip the word 'too'.
"Yes, I did."
"Well, if you are asking for joint custody after all these years of just standing on the side-lines and doing nothing, then I think I deserve some paid child support. You owe me a lot of food packets; she is a handful."
"I just do not want you to be hurt again-"
"And I want you to stop sounding like a broken record," Ivette snapped back. "If you're not here to buy anything or pay my deserved child support, then you can leave my shop."
Salim obeyed and left the trading post and Ivette continued to set everything up for Emerald's upcoming arrival.
Emerald arrived through the same portal as before, dropping into the dark waters infested with water nymphs that tried to drown her. Ivette watched, ready to save her in case but the green-eyed woman managed to save herself and reached the shore.
No matter, Ivette had planned accordingly. She needed Emerald to trust her and rely on her for surviving in the Eternal Abyss, but she had to make it seem like it was Emerald's decision to do so.
Plan B was for the pack of seven imps to attack Emerald and for Ivette to save the day. She had paid the imps in the food packets and trinkets to threaten Emerald and then to be scared by Ivette who came in and they retreated. It worked as Emerald clung to Ivette, thanking her after receiving a few scrapes from the imps' spears; that was not part of the plan, the imps were only meant to scare her, not actually hurt her, but Ivette went along with it, and it worked in her favour as Emerald followed her back to the trading post and Ivette tended to her wounds.
"There, there, my dear," said Ivette as she finished treating the last of the scrapes. "All better." By habit she held the woman's hand in comfort but took her hand away when the woman flinched from her touch. She had to remember that they were strangers again.
It did not make too much convincing for the woman to ask if she could stay, offering her services to work at the trading post. Ivette at first denied her, waiting until the woman pleaded and was about to start crying and then agreed.
Then the plan fully went into action; this time around Ivette would tell stories involving the monsters of the Abyss, how dangerous it was, and recommending that Jade, for that was her new name now, stayed at the trading post, never to leave.
Fortunately, Jade obeyed, and neither of them needed to leave as they had plenty of business at the trading post to get by. Salim would sometimes come by for trade, and make a remark about Ivette's plan and his disapproval. The girl was safe and happy here, Ivette thought, why should it matter the means? However, it would not last for long. It soon came around to the time when Jade had been in the Abyss long enough to receive a mask. When it was a blood moon, Jade felt its pull, her eyes going vacant and her body moving by herself. Ivette had to restrain her to stop her from going outside. Without a mask, she would be less likely to remain at the trading post, she would end up seeking the rock spire again as she always does.
Once the blood moon ended, Jade of course had questions over what had happened, but with her knowledge of the Abyss from previous iterations of herself, she knew it was the mask's call.
"But if I get my mask, I could go scavenging for the shop," Jade argued. "I could help defend against monsters, I could help you, help us!"
"It is too dangerous! I am too weak to protect you whilst you find your mask. Blood moons are too dangerous, we are better off staying here!" Ivette argued back, her hands fidgeting with her dress. This could ruin everything. Was it possible for her to get to Jade's mask first and destroy it?
"Then we can find it when it isn't a blood moon."
"Still too dangerous. There are still too many monsters around. I still can't protect you."
"What about the customers? We could ask for their help, or we can stay here and they find it for us. It will be at the Land of the Lost, right?"
Why did she have to remember that and not me? Ivette thought bitterly.
"Please, Emerald, I don't want to hear this-"
"Jade," Jade corrected.
Ivette stopped breathing for a moment. "Yes, sorry, Jade. Wrong green jewel." She forced a chuckle, then sighed. "Sorry, Jade, but please trust me on this. I have been here a long time and I know that getting your mask is not the wisest choice."
Jade went silent, her lips pursed shut firmly. She looked away at the floor, and slowly nodded in defeat. The rest of the day, Ivette was met with cold responses, but it was worth it if it meant Jade would not try to escape again. Jade would thank her one day when all of this was over.
However, after a few more months, more blood moons and being restrained away from the mask's call, Ivette found Jade's bed empty. It was not during a blood moon, it was a regular day. Jade had gone out.
Ivette grabbed her mask and weapons, rushing over to the exit when she froze, seeing the garage shop door open as Jade came in with a broad grin.
"I got it!" She cheered, raising a mask in the air in victory. "I found it!"
Ivette, stunned, could not speak.
"I asked some of the customers if they had seen any and pointed me in the right direction," Jade continued. "I can protect us now. I can go to the Land of the Lost and get us more items for the shop, maybe even packets at the drop-off."
No...
"You know, there weren't that many monsters around. They must have gone elsewhere since you last went out," said Jade. "We could both go outside! There's so many cool stuff at the Land of-"
"You disobeyed me!" Ivette cried, knowing her plans were about to crumble apart. "I told you to stay here! Something could have happened to you!"
"But nothing did! I'm completely unharmed! I got my mask now."
"Something would have happened to you!"
"Stop it! Why do you not think I can do anything! Why do think I'm not capable of anything?"
You are capable of so many things, Ivette thought, and that's what scares me the most.
"It was too much of a risk! And you didn't even consult me!"
"Because you said no!"
"What if you had died out there! I would not know where you were? Where you had gone! If I ever saw you again!"
"We need to take risks, Ivette! And it turns out, this wasn't much of a risk-"
"You didn't listen to me!" Ivette shrieked. She froze, hearing how horrible she sounded. Tears streamed down her face, her breathing heavy and staggered.
There was silence between them.
Eventually, Jade spoke up, her voice quiet and wobbly, "I wanted to wait to transform as I wanted you to see it first too." She showed her mask. "Look, I think it's a frog," she chuckled through sniffs and cracks in her voice. "Didn't I joke and say that was what I hoped it would be?"
What you would hope it would be every time, Ivette thought.
"Don't wear it," Ivette said softly. "Destroy it."
Jade stared at her disbelief, before a scowl appeared on her face. "I'm not doing that," she said firmly.
"It's for the best," said Ivette, not knowing what else to say to possibly convince her.
"You can't tell me what to do."
Ivette looked up at her. "Please, trust me-"
"Why can't you trust me? I can do this; I can use this mask to help us."
"No, no you can't. You need stay at the trading post with me; it is where we are safest-"
"Stop babying me! I can look after myself, you know! Ever since I got here you've been treating me like I can't do anything, treating me like a child." She paused, and added with a strained voice, "I'm not an idiot. I know that there was someone else before me."
Ivette swallowed, her breath hitching in her throat.
"The bedroom set-up, all those toys, they belonged to someone else," said Jade.
They belonged to you.
"You had someone else who you considered your child or grandchild, didn't you? That was their room."
Your room.
"And they're gone." Jade paused, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I can't be their replacement, Ivette."
Yes, you can. Because it's you! It's you! It's you!
"I can't stay here anymore," croaked jade, unable to look at Ivette directly. She took a step back. "I'm sorry, Ivette, but if you can't trust me, if you're just going to treat me like some replacement, and keep me imprisoned here, then I don't want to stay."
"No..." Ivette shook her head, her entire body shaking.
"I'm leaving Ivette," Jade said firmly, straightening her shoulders, as she glanced behind at the garage doors.
"No, you can't leave!" Ivette grabbed Jade by the arm before the woman could fully turn away. "Emerald you can't leave!"
"It's Jade!" Jade trying to break free but Ivette had a strong vice-like grip on her arm.
"Don't leave me again! Please, don't leave! Maria!"
Jade pushed her to the floor but Ivette clung to her, her nails scratching her skin as she pulled her further into the shop.
"You're staying with me!" Ivette shrieked through tears.
"Let go of me!" Jade cried. She reached for her mask, Ivette tried to stop her but it was too late; Jade had already began to transform.
Her body morphed and changed, becoming wider and shorter, her skin turning a radioactive green as no longer was there a human but a giant frog, the size of a bear, its skin radioactive green with orange and yellow danger stripes, its eyes the same green as Jade's eyes. Ivette could no longer hold a grip, the giant frog too heavy and large.
"You're staying here!" Ivette continued to cry, using more force this time to drag Jade closer inside. She was about to reach for her own mask, but the giant frog struggled against her, it opened its mouth and something jetted out, a slurry of revolting neon yellow acid that sprayed on Ivette's legs.
Ivette screeched in pain, letting Jade go as the acid burned and seared her skin, melting it to the point where it started fusing together. She writhed on the floor, crying out for help.
Jade watched in horror, as Ivette called her name, all of her names; Jade, Emerald, Maria. And then she fled, leaving Ivette once again.
With no one to help her, Ivette dragged herself across the floor, reaching for medical supplies she kept and tried to staunch the flow of blood and puss, the acid seeping into her legs, melting them beyond recognition as they seemed more like lumps of flesh attached to her torso, her feet completely gone.
Hours went by and she was still in so much pain. Delirious, she imagined that Jade had returned to her, how she begged her, pleaded and apologised for what she had done.
Why couldn't you stay? Why?
Why did you always have to leave?
When it came the time for the shop to be open, Salim was fortunately the first customer and rushed in, coming to Ivette's aid, though it was all too late. There was nothing that could be done to save her legs.
In such a hysterical state, Ivette could only cry and weep cradled in his arms as he took care of her. It was only until the end of the day when she could recollect her thoughts and explain what had happened.
"I suppose you are going to say 'I told you so'?" Ivette sniffed, wincing as she tried to cover her legs in a blanket though they were still a bit tender.
Salim did not respond at first, his face remaining solemn and pitying which Ivette hated. "If it is of any consolation, she has attacked me too before when I tried too hard to keep her down here." He let out a long gentle sigh. "I have tried everything. From telling the truth to keeping it away from her, helping her, jeopardising her plans, persuasion and force... nothing works. I sometimes wonder if they do something to her, to her mind so that she will always have the idea of escaping in her mind... or perhaps that is just the way she is and will always be... she will never change."
"I thought I could make her change," Ivette croaked. "That she would stay for me. How foolish and narcissistic I was."
"Will you still keep trying?" asked Salim.
Ivette shook her head, looking at the state of her legs. "There is nothing I can do to stop her. All that is left is just to support her, be there for her if she needs me."