Chapter 41: Honest Manipulation

Selvaria had found her mother and was being redirected to the hospital, but she was also getting sidetracked by showing off her strength to the military—more like her weight—pushing cars off the road to clear a path for traffic.

"They were interesting at first, but I quickly grew bored of them, like I said. I know it’s not a certainty, but I think it would be cool to go on an adventure with you in Anthony’s quest world in time. We have to do more experimenting anyway, right?"

Scarlet sighed. "It would be cool...but I’m probably too dangerous and will be locked up. I get it, which, heh, is kind of weird, but yeah."

"Oh, shut up," Rachel laughed, reaching over to nudge her arm. "I said I’d be with you, which means if you get locked up, I get locked up, and...well, we both know I’m not getting locked up," she winked, causing Scarlet’s sad expression to ease a little.

The girl let out a laugh, a rare, genuine sound. "Yeah, you don’t seem like the type of girl that would do well in a cage."

"And you would? Cap. Look on the bright side, not the negative. We’re making progress. Trust me!"

Scarlet shivered, mouth tight, but it soon lifted. "Oddly...I think you’re really the only person I can trust anymore. And that...scares me. No one else cares enough to help some monstrous bloodsucking girl..." she trailed off, her somber eyes shifting to her.

"Rachel, will you be honest with me? Can you not placate or try to manipulate me—because I know you can."

Rachel closed her eyes, sensing some of the Green Berets giving each other looks, with their change in cadence from her now hyper-sensitive senses from upgrading [Divine Beast Empowerment]; it was obvious what she wanted to ask.

"Okay... Hey, guys, can we have some privacy for a minute?"

The Green Berets’ muscles tensed in various ways, but eventually, they were left to talk alone; still, they kept a close enough distance where they could be waved over.

Rachel’s eyes opened, and she worked through her pain to find a better position, her gut twisting uncomfortably with the thoughts rolling through her mind. Scarlet’s hands played with her clothes a little, trembling a bit and unable to look at her. If she was going to truly give Scarlet what she wanted, she had to also be honest with herself, which was hard.

Puffing out a long stream of air, Rachel rubbed her chest, her heart burning for some reason. "Can I...work my way up to it?"

"Sure?" Scarlet whispered, fangs poking into her black bottom lip. "Is it t-that bad?"

"Not really. It’s complicated... The world is always manipulative to a degree, and I’ve always toed that line more than most, I think. It’s hard—" she cut herself off, swallowing the sticky saliva in her throat as she confronted some of the things colliding in her breast. "You’re afraid of yourself?"

Scarlet’s watery blue eyes shifted to her before darting away, a quake running through her body. "Very..."

"I am, too, I think, but in a different way—shit!"

"H-Huh?!" Scarlet jerked at her outburst, legs knotting as Rachel growled and rubbed her face. "What’s wrong?"

"I’m trying to draw a similarity that we can bond over—ugh... It might be natural, but I’m trying to think of a way to say this without being so... Mmgm. I’m trying to be positive and not sound manipulative."

A strained smile eased Scarlet’s tension. "That’s so crazy how you can just do that so naturally; I had no clue, but...are you really afraid of yourself?" The nervous girl looked directly at her. "How? You’re so strong and confident, though; it’s like you have all the answers."

Plucking at her shirt, Rachel forced a chuckle. "You know, heh, this line of thinking is exactly what my comment and redirect were supposed to do... Haaa."

Scarlet pulled her feet under her chair. "I still want to know. It’s true, right?"

"Yeah, which is why it is such a good manipulation tactic—natural works best, after all," she mumbled, rubbing her arm. "Let’s see, umm... So, I’ve always preferred to be straightforward, charging in and beating my problems to a pulp."

"Heheh. I kind of noticed."

"Uh-huh. I was first a Muay Thai muscle head, but when I knew that wouldn’t work, I swapped tactics—as is taught in martial arts—and manipulated my...’opponents.’ I know that doesn’t sound great since that could be interpreted that you are my opponent—it’s just manipulation is normal for everyone, I guess—teen girls more than most... Heh. Dammit."

Scarlet smiled and crossed her legs. "It really is tough for you; you’re really so amazing. I wouldn’t have even caught that as a manipulation. You know, uh, I-heh, tried to manipulate my parents with vampire hunter stuff because I knew it upset them..."

"Heh, that’s funny..." Rachel said, ears drifting back a little. "Umm, not getting sidetracked from your original question...a piece of me did change in The Oscillation; I’m pretty sure."

"How so?" Scarlet asked, now fully invested and making Rachel want to punch herself; it was so easy.

"I see a lot more—the effects my actions can cause, and stuff—and for some reason, I can always find a way to get what I want... Maybe I’m lucky or spread misfortune to everyone, so there’s always an opening—I don’t know. But why do I always see a way to get what I want? Am I being manipulated? What about these goddesses? Is it them? Is this really who I am?"

Rachel pointed up at the sky before scratching an itch at the base of her left ear. "I change when I’m under the moon... And I actually like it since it shows me pieces of myself I didn’t know or hid. Because of that, I can see how people would view me as a monster, and I manipulate things so they don’t. Heh...

"And in the next second, I can choke the life out of living creatures with a grin and fight to the death as a muscle head and adrenaline junkie, enjoying every minute of it. I did those things, and I don’t feel guilty I did them..."

She slumped in her wheelchair, seeing the bright-eyed fascination in the vespertine reaper’s engaged face. "It excites me. It’s a way I can move forward. Manipulate others to find a way around a wall or just punch through it. If I can do it on my own, I break through. If not, I manipulate. This is me."

"A way forward..." Scarlet repeated, almost under her breath, while gripping her arm. "I want a way forward. I also don’t want to be manipulated. It’s so weird; I want to trust you, but I’m scared."

Rachel forced a smile and reached out to rub her knee, wincing at the pain before her fingers twitched, and she pulled back. "Ack—I can get that, and I don’t want to manipulate you; I’m trying not to—I am! It’s just...hard for me is what I’m trying to say—like I said, blunt instrument, zug-zug, pound into place, or...fine tool, micromanaging those around me into getting what I want."

A sad giggle shook Scarlet’s chest. "You can be so funny, Rachel—zug-zug? Manipulation?"

"Maybe," she sighed, sitting back and trying to keep her hands to herself. "Am I scared of you? Scarlet, the adorable, crying, red-eyed girl who’s terrified of her own shadow? Heh. No."

"Hahah... I’m an adorable but blood-crying girl, huh?" Crimson fell down Scarlet’s cheek as she laughed, arms held tightly against her stomach. "You’re too good!"

Rachel smirked and lightly tapped her shin with the side of her foot. "Cute like a puppy, or a little sister afraid of the world and clinging onto her big sister’s skir—mmgm! I watch my hands, and my feet move... It’s hopeless."

Unsurprisingly, Scarlet wore a smile rather than a frown. "I think it’s really heartwarming how you can make me forget all my night terrors...manipulation or not. It’s really like I have a protective big sister watching out for me. You’re not afraid of me?"

"No, I’m not afraid of you, Scarlet," Rachel honestly stated. "I do respect the power you have, and, sure, maybe a little scared of that, but you’re so harmless that I don’t think you could kill a mouse. No. I don’t think you’re the monster—not anything near the monster I am—but there is something, I suppose, monstrous about you—if that makes sense."

Scarlet swallowed hard and wiped at her cheeks. "So...about us being, umm, friends... Is that a manipulation?"

"Haaa." Rachel’s ears twitched as she ran her fingers through her hair. "For context, and to be frank, I don’t know if I’ve ever really made friends since I was a kid... There is a monster inside me; I saw it when I went through Anthony’s quest. But, eh-heh, hear me out," she swallowed.

"I think I do have an answer for you...but it might sound like I’m manipulating you." Wincing as it came out, she looked up with a strained expression. "I don’t know what I’m saying; I’m trying to be genuine—which is manipulative...but in a good way, I hope. Is it working?"

Scarlet’s fidgets had settled as they’d talked, and her eyes held a somber crease while gazing off to the side, studying the planes and helicopters coming and going.

"Getting me to listen closer and reverse psychology me or something... Umm, okay, I know we only just met last night, and I’m not trying to be that clingy ’vamp girl’ trope. Real talk; you just kind of...are here, and haven’t made me feel like a monster. I just wanted to know if that was real."

Sensing the girl trying to work through the statement, Rachel coughed and glanced away with a smirk. "For you? Yeah. Like I said, I don’t see you as a monster. And clingy? Umm, yeah...this Veronica chick—from what you told me—she’s the clingy one who can’t take a hint."

The vampire girl gave a sad smile and a small laugh. "Thanks, Rachel. You don’t pity me?"

"Sure. Wait, pity—no! I’m too focused on what I’m doing to get what I want rather than wasting it on feeling sorry for others. Do you think you’re useful?" Rachel asked, ears tilting to the right with her head. "Dammit. Another leading question."

Scarlet paused, looking thoughtful. "Wow. Still, I, uh, guess...I have been? Huh. How can your manipulations be so flipping useful and positive? It’s so confusing!"