This is my favorite part.

> Strings

He's here.

Strings didn't have to look and see. She could feel it. It was crawling under her skin and it's not even in the magic mumbo-jumbo way. No, the mere anticipation of this moment made Strings restless and anxious. It gave her that gross feeling at the pit of her stomach (assuming she had one).

She was making a mistake, she told herself and yet she refused to turn back. She was going to see this through. She was going to find out everything about herself and she was going to finish this god forsaken puzzle. There was no other way and any other alternative was... probably going to take her until after her existence reaches its expiration and that was not ideal.

Soon enough, she saw them arrive at the meeting place. Strings was... around. She decided to conceal herself but she knew well enough that wouldn't work on Mikhainon. She was, maybe, a bit displeased at the company. She didn't agree to anything like this. She didn't recall Mikhainon ever bringing this up. She had no time to argue about this--it would only waste her time.

Soon after speaking to his companions, he addressed her.

Okay, since he'd pulled this on her, she was going to try and get a flashy entrance for their guests. In a few moments, the forest visibly darkened, the area gaining a more sinister air. Crows flew over head and, the two companions were grabbed by string like tendrils from the shadows, tugging them into it, pulling them back into the cluster of trees.

Strings' dissonant cackles echoed in the clearing, joining the violent rustle of leaves and the howl of the wind. Eventually Strings' form materialized from across Mikhainon. "Well, well, look at you. I don't really remember agreeing to having spectators."

Basil really didn't think this kind of protection was necessary for him, but he nodded his head along more and more at the idea of seeing someones soul being taken, agreeing to pretty much anything after that. Gabriel certainly was a fun guy, wasn't he? Always full of such charming opportunities, making the eldritch's dorky villain fantasies come true. It wasn't public information that he was fond of such things, or anything, but… the more terrible sorts had so much appeal. So many novelties, fascinating experiences to have, and Basil quite literally thrived upon that. Despite his muffled aura, stolen device from oh-so ready to please Wendell doing the trick, his energy was fidgety and excited.

Walking through the deep, shadowy forest with his two friends (and even if he had only very recently met Chloe, well, he'd already decided she was great!) reminded him of his elementary school field trips. Except the parks from back then could hardly match this level of spooky, and he'd always never had pals before, had he? Perhaps… they weren't really the same at all, even if thinking of it that way made Basil somehow happy. This was more what he wanted things to be like, to have always been like, even if that wasn't the case. He was getting awfully sentimental about a soul collecting adventure, wasn't he? How could he not, with how fantastic that sounded? He was going to romanticize this so much. What a good time.

The Forbidden Forest was great. He'd really have to come back to visit just on his own sometime, maybe have a picnic. Lovely.

When they arrived, Basil was both disappointed the pleasant little walk had ended, and giddy over what was to come. He wasn't nervous at all! He felt alive. Or at least he thought he might feel that way, maybe. It was a nice thought. Any feeling, or imagination of it, was nice. He was behaving, and not concerned about being hurt in the slightest-

Oh. The show was starting, that meant enough mental rambling for the time being. And what a show it was! That presence, which Basil felt very attracted to, was closing in. This was yet another little event right out of fiction, and Basil had to choke back delighted laughter. He was taken and dragged back, and it took all of his willpower to not fondly touch at the other tendrils with his own. Still, there was no hiding the familiarity that resonated in him, that reached out to all things similarly nasty and wrong. It was cozy. He hoped it wouldn't be bothersome or at all distracting.

Because he was still so, so ready for this soul taking thing.

Chloe had a bad feeling about this. And she knew that it wasn't Basil's fault this time - she had spent enough time around that boy with his aura un-muffled for her to tell the difference. This was a standard, run-of-the-mill, 'I feel like this could go horribly wrong' feeling. It was bad enough that she was complicit in dooming someone to eternal torment - but this client was some kind of monster that lived in the forbidden forest.

Supposedly, Chloe now looked like a Korean girl with bright orange dyed hair. She appreciated the magical disguise her father had given her - she didn't want his 'client' taking revenge on her after realizing how awful this deal was.

She felt a little more comfortable with Basil around, too, especially with his aura dulled. There was safety in numbers.

Or so she thought.

Her father literally just finished telling her to behave, and to stay safe, and now there were tentacles of some sort grabbing her and trying to pull her. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that she didn't like it. Panicking, not even thinking about the psychological effect this would have on her assailant, she started using her power on the tendrils to drain their strength. She knew it was working, too - she could feel that warm and fuzzy feeling welling up inside of her, and her thrashing against their grip was becoming more productive.

When she heard that voice, she acted against her better judgement and spoke up. "Wow, rude! Could you not?" she gave an emphatic tug at one of the tendrils wrapped around her chest.

She couldn't help but notice that Basil seemed super okay with this situation. Was this normal? Was this supposed to happen? Did she miss some kind of 'be ready for a Bible Black reenactement' memo?

Probably not very much a surprise, Strings got two completely different reactions from their guests. Compared to other others of course--not between them. Although Strings would have admitted they both had differing opinions. One seemed to be oddly enjoying her "threat" while the other... mostly just offended. Honestly, that reaction kind of offended her too. "I could just not, yes but I really wanted to do that. You looked on edge," she snickered.

Strings would have loved to dwell more on the subject (she really did) but there were other things to attend to. And more importantly, she couldn't afford to do anymore than that.

"Dear, I do hope you reconsider your current course of action. They're here to watch. Nothing more."

Strings gave Mikhainon her signature grin. "Oh come on now, devil. I was making things a little more interesting. That girl over there looked like she was going to fall over so I decided I could make a bit of an entrance!" A snicker, "Do you think me that foolish to do such a thing?"

There was a significant pause in her speech, looking like she was actually thinking it over, as the atmosphere began to set in.

"If you're done playing games and release my companions, we can get started. Strings,"

Strings didn't speak--though she had that contemplating air of her. It was easy to catch for anyone who'd been in a situation like this. The tendrils began to retreat, releasing its two captives as it returned to the shadows.

"Tell me, clearly, what is your wish?"

After all that entry she made, Strings was eerily quiet as she cautiously reached out her hand for his.

Was this the right choice, a small voice rung in the recess of her mind. Too late for that.

When Strings finally spoke again, her voice was calm and smooth. The static couldn't be heard, "I want to go back to what I was before. The real me; not this monster. My wish is to be returned to my original self."

It was... satisfying. Terrible, to be sure - Chloe felt a little gross inside just watching her father cut out this creature's soul, and she didn't even think a rude, unpleasant creature like this 'Strings' deserved what was about to come to her. But at the same time... watching this just felt right.

Chloe didn't know that she would be participating. When her father beckoned, she hesitated, nodded, and walked forward on shaky legs. The illusion of her human form warped a little as she went: an onlooker might have thought this fiery-haired korean girl's legs were bending the wrong way as they stretched out in front of her, if only a little. This spell was meant for a humanoid.

The soul - in this form, at least - was a thing of beauty. It inspired a sort of hunger in Chloe that she didn't know she had. She reached out for the thing, and as it floated into her possession she gasped, surprised, feeling herself buzzing with its power.

"Woah..." She stared at it in awe. This felt better than she wanted it to feel.

For once, after so long, Strings could feel fear creeping in. It wasn't so much like before — the fear of not knowing anything of herself while knowledge that spanned for millenia flooded in her mind to nearly destroying it. It was the opposite of it. She knew what she was, but the creature before her and her surrounding was beyond her own knowledge. This devil was a turning point in time she could never see through with all her ability.

The devil stepped forward and reached for her heart--or so it would seem like it. Just in that moment the fear seemed to vanish. It overshadowed everything that that plagued her for as long as she could recall. All the stress and every bout of crippling insanity that never left her alone. For a moment, she felt what it was like to be whole again.

The feeling off bliss wouldn't have lasted long enough. As soon as she felt the energy immediately sucked out of her, she felt empty. Rage and frustration bubbled up from inside her but she didn't even feel like she had the strength to do anything about it. She felt it--right at the tip of her fingers what she'd been looking for but the devil had to ruthlessly take it away from her.

It's alright, a voice spoke in her head, Your wish will be granted. Strings didn't even have a clue whether it was simply her insanity speaking to her but those words calmed her rage. She would be returned to normal--she would get her life back. And that was all that she wanted. And yet, she felt like it wouldn't been enough. If she were to return to normal, what about her abilities? She would have lost it. Would she have to lose everything all over again. You don't need anything else. Of course she didn't.

She looked up at Mikhainon as he spoke to the girl behind him; she heard his words and at the back of her mind, a voice told her that she had made such a huge mistake. The fear rushed up at her again as her eyes fell on to the dagger like simply looking at it made her feel uneasy.

The devil spoke again, looking at her with a grin that made a chill run down her spine. This was a mistake.

"I'm pretty sure I answered that question already, devil."