Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"Sorry..."


"LIKE HELL I AM!!" He screams from the hall.
Linoa sighs.
"He's just mad I couldn't quite save him."

 

"It's ok. The others at least came to see me." Abigail says, though still slightly hurt.


"This seems like you're just trapping him in marriage so you can keep him all to yourself." I say, suspicious of Linoa.

"I think maybe you need to see other people, Linoa. A relationship like this isn't healthy." Artemis says.

"BROS BEFORE HOES, RINETH!" I shout to Rineth.

Artemis sighs.

 

Sapphire just keeps silent.

"I know what it is. But, he's mine. Plus, I'm travelling with you, and he said I could-"
"I REGRET THAT"
"You told me twice, love. So, we can see if a little time apart changed anything."
"LIKE HELL IT DID!"
"Just be open to it, at least?"

 

"The thing is...ugh, Artemis and I are in an equal relationship. Neither of us 'own' the other, and both of us are free to end the relationship when we want if we want to. But we don't, because-"

"We love each other." Artemis says, finishing my sentence for me and smiling at me.

"Exactly. With you and Rineth, you love Rineth, but he doesn't love you back. He can't end the relationship, and you're holding power over him." I say.

"Abigail was in a relationship like this. A guy loved her, but she didn't love him. In the end, the guy forced Abigail to love her, and it didn't end well. Both sides got hurt, badly," Katie says, joining the conversation, "Forcing someone to love you isn't love. It's greed. You don't want anyone else to have them, even if they don't want to be with you."

"You need to let Rineth go, Linoa. By forcing him to stay married to you, you're hurting the one you love. If you truly loved him, wouldn't you want him to be happy?" Artemis asks, serious yet calm.

 

"No, not really. That's not how our society works!" Linoa mumbles.

 

"A female traps a male in a relationship to exploit for children?" I ask.

Stephanie sits down, realizing the group is in a rather heated conversation, and starts working on various magical things.

 

"No, hell no. That's a century of pain! He just forgets that I manage his income."

 

"I think I'm on Rineth's side here. This is basically slavery." Artemis says, confident.

"Waiting for Rineth to get stockholm syndrome?" I ask, smirking.


Stephanie gets up and tries to find Rineth, following the sound of his voice from before.

 

"Whatever you say. Only thing is, I legally can't tell him what to do. We are married and still don't do anything with each other."

 

"No wonder he didn't tell us about you..." I say flatly.


Stephanie exits Xlentia's chambers, heading down the hallway from it while keeping an eye open for Rineth.

 

"Yeah. He never gave me a chance though."

Rineth's outside, face buried.
"I should give her a chance."

 

"I don't think you really deserve one if you're trapping him in a marriage." I say bluntly.

"Aj, everyone deserves a chance." Artemis says.

"While it's good to give people chances, sometimes it's not the right thing to do, Artemis." Katie says, though seeming unsure which side to take.


Stephanie offers Rineth two small phials. One is contains a warm red liquid, shaped like a heart, while the other contains an oily black liquid, shaped like the spades symbol in a card deck.

"These can make it easier for both sides," Stephanie says, "You can take the love potion, and make it easier for you to give her a chance, or you can give her the hate potion, and remove her love for you."

 

"How do you know if you give me no chance?"

Rineth hesitates.
"What if I take both?" He asks, picking up the love potion.

 

"Whoa whoa whoa, you're not stealing me from Artemis." I say, taking a step closer to Artemis.


"If you give her the hate potion and you take the love potion, it'll essentially flip the tables. You'll like her and she'll dislike you," Stephanie says, "It's against my own morals to give you anything stronger, though. These are only small doses."

"If you drink both yourself...well, I'm not really sure what would happen." Stephanie admits.

 

"Hell no, I don't want her, or you!" She scoffs.

Rineth drinks the love potion.

 

"You can't have either of us!" Artemis says, defensive.

"Yeah!" I say, backing up Artemis.

Katie just laughs at the pair of us.


"Ok, now focus your mind on Linoa. Once the effect kicks in, you'll develop feelings for the person you're thinking about." Stephanie says calmly, albeit seriousness in her tone.

 

"Good!" Linoa laughs.

Rineth starts walking into Xlentia's chambers.

 

Rineth starts to feel the love potion kick in. Probably best to focus on Linoa, lest he develop feelings for someone else.

Artemis, Abigail, Katie and I suddenly stare blankly in the direction we're looking, unmoving or talking.

 

Rineth reverts and hugs Linoa.
"I'm sorry for never giving you a shot to see if I had feelings. Come on, make sure everyone's ready to get back into the exploration stuff."

 

The group blinks, seeming to go back to normal.

"Ugh, what the fuck just happened? I feel like I blacked out for a moment there or something." Abigail asks, confused and rubbing her head.

Stephanie returns, putting away a voodoo doll that looks like Artemis.

"So...what are we going to do now?" Katie asks.