Lunamor

“Huh. I probably shouldn’t tell Edgar all of this, then.” It was nice of Hephaestus to give his son Gift. Gift was pretty great. Certainly cooler than a glowing rock, although Jenny still did like her glowing rock. ”I’m sorry you don’t get to talk to people very often.”

Jenny just couldn’t contain her curiosity. ”Are you allowed to tell me what your orders are?” She hoped that she wouldn’t drive Gift away, but this was too fascinating.

A little old lady.

“Alrighty.” Jenny sat in silence for a while. She wasn’t a fan of sitting still, however, so she decided to do something about it. She needed to practice manipulating dreams, anyways. Jenny closed her eyes for a moment. She imagined Sword. Beautiful bronze, perfectly balanced, cool to the touch. After a while, she felt a familiar weight in her hand. She opened her eyes and found herself holding her favorite dagger. Smiling, Jenny started flipping it. ”Why don’t you talk to Edgar?” She realized that might be too forward of a question and continued on, speaking quickly. ”You, um, don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

Chuck Norris narrates Morgan Freeman’s life.

Indeed there are. I have no more commentary on this matter, so imma start a knock knock joke: Knock knock.

Jenny nodded. She wasn’t alone. She’d been alone for so long that it was still hard to believe. ”Are you Gift?” She was incredibly curious as to who was speaking to her. Plus, she wanted to call the Not-Edgar voice by the correct name. Jenny certainly couldn’t be rude to it after what it had done for her.

Jenny looked up, surprised. Not-Edgar was still speaking to her. It was saying that Edgar really did like her. The figure raised its voice. LIES. This other cannot be trusted. She didn’t know who to believe. The bizarreness of her situation struck her. Her she was, trying to decide which of the two arguing voices in her head she should listen to. Jenny was insane, wasn’t she? Well, she was past the point of no return now. She still had to make a decision. Jenny needed to pick who she would align her thoughts with. So she decided to trust the one who had been kind to her. ”Thank you for telling me, Gift.” The voice scoffed. Fool. You won’t be able to ignore me forever. The figure abruptly left, sending a jarring sensation through Jenny. She was left sitting in the darkness. She knew that the voice would return eventually, but for now she was left alone.

A different voice spoke, one that sounded kind. The not-quite-Edgar one. Thank you Jenny. She smiled. Gift, or maybe even Hephaestus, appreciated what she had done. Jenny had been helpful. The figure frowned and spoke again. Words mean nothing. Edgar himself can’t be bothered to speak to you. She crossed her arms. “You know that isn’t fair.” Perhaps. But is there a real difference between an inability to speak and a refusal to? Is the impact not the same? The voice didn’t understand. Genuinely, truly didn’t understand. Her next words were filled with a sense of triumph. ”You don’t get it, do you? Why people like each other, help each other?” And who are you to understand it, Jenny? You of all people should know that you have no right to claim an understanding of what others are thinking. The voice had taken on a tone of exasperation. Jenny faltered, her feelings of victory shattered. It was right.

Jenny nodded, closing her eyes. She was tired, so tired. But Edgar needed her help. Edgar’s selfish. He knows how much this strains you. She reached out with her mind. Jenny hadn’t intentionally done this before, so it took her a while to find Edgar’s awakeness. Her thoughts drifted around, seeking his familiar presence. Eventually, she found it. His awakeness felt odd, like something was forcing it to stay. That must’ve been the pain. She tried to gently tap it, dispersing Edgar’s awakeness. Why do you sacr Jenny passed out, the effort of putting Edgar to sleep causing her exhaustion to overwhelm her as well. She slipped into a dream, finding a shadowed figure standing in front of her. It spoke in a familiar voice. ifice so much for that weakling? Jenny shut her eyes, somehow feeing tired even though she was asleep. ”Leave me alone.” I only have your best interests at heart, Jenny. ”I need to help other people, too.” Other people? The voice chuckled. It was loud enough to hurt her ears, or at least the dream equivalent of them. When do “other people” ever help you, Jenny? You give, but no one returns your… generosity. Jenny opened her eyes and tried to banish the figure from her mind. It flickered, briefly, but returned with a renewed strength. She swore she could see a smirk on its indistinct face. Quit lying to yourself.

Edgar’s weak, Jenny. He can’t handle a little pain. Jenny shut her eyes, frantically trying to figure out what to do. Shadow manipulation would do nothing. Necromancy would do nothing. Ripping tears in the earth would do nothing. Maybe… maybe Hypnokinesis could help? ”I can try and put you to sleep with Hypnokinesis. Maybe you won’t have to feel any pain until you can eat ambrosia that way?” You offer him the coward’s way out.

Jenny’s eyes snapped open when she heard Edgar gasp. She sat up and saw that he was crying. She immediately started to panic. He was in so much pain, and she had no idea how to help him. How long had he been like this? Stupid Jenny had fallen asleep before he had. Had Edgar been in pain, crying this whole time? She spoke to him softly, managing to keep the panic out of her voice. ”Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?” Harold’s offer of ambrosia might either be incredibly helpful or dangerous. She tried to speak to Gift mentally again. Jenny had no idea if it would still talk to her. Is more ambrosia safe?

Wonder how I know that information. WWYDIYF a partridge in a pear tree in your pocket?

Eh. I’m not fond of playing them, but I like watching them sometimes. TPBM has a shark tooth.

Granted. Everything you say comes out backwards. I wish for a rocket launcher.

Have a banana peel. I have a peeled banana.

I get Odium to shatter Honor and grab the sandwich.

Now that I think about it, the significant increase in weirdness levels after the first few books in Dune reminds me of what happens in the Ender’s Game universe. It’s just really bizarre.

Chloris was distracted, too. Was she also focused on whatever Lum was doing? Eza stole a glance backwards to see that the two were rolling dice. If Lum was trying to steal from the guy, they really should’ve just asked Eza to do it. And why were all the theatrics necessary to set up a simple dice game? If Lum did things like this frequently, she could see why they got kicked out of gambling establishments so often. You didn’t need luck to antagonize powerful people. She forced her attention back to Chloris again. ”What’s your job?” Eza was pretty sure that was the question she had asked earlier. The conversation felt like it was going nowhere in a painfully awkward way, but at least they weren’t pressing her about Perses anymore.

When Chuck Norris wears a tie, it ceases to be called a tie. It is now a win.

Jenny didn’t respond. Due to her exhaustion, she’d utterly failed to stay awake.

Indeed it is. Off topic (if dad jokes count as a topic), but I rewatched Dune Part 1 yesterday and can’t get over the name Duncan Idaho. It’s got to be the most out of place name in all of science fiction, I love it so much.

“I will sleep, Edgar, I promise. I just need to make sure you’re ok first. To be honest, I think I might end up falling asleep before you anyways even if I try not to.” Her eyelids began to droop. She’d probably jinxed it.

“You first.” She whispered back. Jenny figured that Edgar was tired enough she could outlast him. It was a bit difficult to stay awake, though. She might not have been injured as much as Edgar was, but using her powers in the way she had had overexerted herself massively.

Bill decides to interfere, deconfiscating the sandwich by hiding it under his top hat and returning it to me.