"No. Let's get to the rewards. First, the memories. Both of them. Hit me with your best shot."
[as you wish. Two Original Memories activated!]
At first, Nina felt nothing.
Then the images came rushing into her mind. They felt like she was an astral being, watching the memories as if they were a movie.
The first memory was a simple one, Princess Orchid inside what looked a laboratory. At first glance, Nina immediately understood.
I'm so different from her.
There was an air around Princess Orchid. A very specific breed of royalty and elegance that can't be learnt. The Princess carried herself like she had the world at her feet. Her beautiful face was stoic. Her posture was impeccable. Nina felt breathless just watching her sit down and write in a notebook.
If this is her in private, what did she look like in a political meeting?
The memory continued.
A man walked into the laboratory. Princess Orchid rose to greet him. She didn't smile but her eyes softened a fraction. Then the man said "we have acquired the specimen, your highness."
And Princess Orchid replied. "Send him in."
Woah, present Nina thought. Even her voice carries raw power. I sound so different! No wonder everyone noticed something was wrong!
The man in the memory left and returned with three servants pulling in a massive fish tank.
"Excellent." Princess Orchid said, amusement in her tone. "A shark type. They're very rare. You have given me a beautiful gift. What do you want? Name it and it shall be yours."
The man bowed. "Your highness. I don't ask for much, only that you make him your husband, legally."
Princess Orchid tapped her chin. "He could be dead before I'm done."
"If he survives."
She walked over to the fish tank and tapped on it twice. The water rippledb, and something, no, someone, swam closer.
It was Mako. He looked younger, but even more unhealthy than Nina remembered.
Princess Orchid nodded. "Very well. I shall grant your request. Continue to serve me well and you will live a very comfortable life."
The memory ended.
Nina stared into space, her mind reeling. It want an entirely useless memory. If anything it showed her just the stark difference between her and Princess Orchid. And Mako's history.
He was a gift, a mere specimen that she married because he survived whatever hell she put him through. That's so sad.
Is that why he gave me his teeth and then took it back? Did Princess Orchid like those kind of gifts?
Nina's thoughts came one after the other with no answer or resolution.
The next memory started playing.
This time it was a memory of Princess Orchdi walking down a dark path lined with strange glowing blue flowers. She walked briskly, each step filled with purpose. Her spores covered her in a dark halo of bright red. They were so bright that she didn't need a lamp, even though it was night.
Even as Nina watched, fear struck her heart.
Red spores. She didn't even think that was possible. What sort of emotion evoked bright red spores?
They look straight from hell. Damn this woman was terrifying!
The Princess marched on to her destination, which happened to a beautiful but isolated house hidden deep within bushes. The front door had a lock made of a glowing red stone, the same stone in the collars.
Princess Orchid sliced open her finger and dropped her blood over the stone. Then she took a hidden object out of her pocket and held it on top of the stone.
Immediately, the lock hissed and opened. She stormed in, her steps echoing down the floors.
"My darling," a lilting, musical voice purred from the shadows.
"Show yourself, brat." The Princess hissed, her voice carrying anger, her spores crackling and glowing brighter.
Then a man stepped into view.
He was tall, slender, dressed in flowing robes with long sleeves. He had long black hair and feminine features, with long lashes, red lips, and elegantly drawn eye liner. His eyes were dual toned, one yellow and one dark green.
He was beautiful, with a hypnotic allure that whispered of danger.
He smiled at Princess Orchid, a smile filled with hunger and obsession and longing. "Finally, you've come to see me. I've been rotting away in here without you, my love."
"You want to be free?"
"Naturally. It's dreadfully boring in here." As he spoke, he moved closer to her. Glided across the floors like friction didn't exist. He reached out, despite Princess Orchid's angry red spores, and touched her cheek.
Then her shoulder.
Then he trailed a long, sharp fingernail from her shoulder to her wrist, a red line of blood following. He took her hand and kissed each knuckle, all while his eyes remained on her.
Slowly, her red spores turned purple. Then light pink. Then white.
The man smiled, his eyes flashing with satisfaction. "You missed me," he said as he kissed up the line he'd carved, lapping at her blood with a forked tongue.
"Shut up and answer my question." The Princess hissed.
"If it's about that, I'm sorry my love. My answer remains no. You can stay the night, I'd love for you to." He curled one arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "I miss your warmth very much."
And then he kissed her.
She kissed him back, grabbing his collar, pushing him away but still chasing after his lips. The kiss was violent, and full of raw desire.
"You're a bastard, Drax. I swear on my life, you'll never leave this place."
He nicked her jaw and licked up her blood. "As long as you're with me, I have no objections."
And the memory ended.
Nina jumped to her feet and screamed "the fuck?! That was Drax?! That's him? The fifth husband?!"
[yes~ and he seems very chummy with you~]
Nina's face burned.
"Chummy with her you mean! Oh my goodness! She locked him up? But why? And she kissed him back, which means she likes him too?! Right?"
[maybe~]
"That was not a maybe! That was a kiss with emotion! Fucking hell…I think it made me wet. What the fuck am I even talking about?!"
She collapsed on her bed, buried her face in the mattress and screamed.
She screamed till her lungs gave out and it still wasn't enough.
So much information and it was only two memories. What if she got ten? Or fifteen? Or all of them?
Nina moaned, shaking her head and groaning. "I don't think I can handle all her memories. She's so intense. Goodness she's scary! No wonder everyone is scared of her!"
[hostie~ would you like to check your stats now?]
"Wait a damn minute I'm thinking!"
Nina felt like she just had more questions.
Why was Drax locked up? Why was he so chill about it? Was he in love with the Princess? What was their true relationship? Where is he locked up? What did the Princess want from him that made her lock him up for refusing?
And Mako…who was that man that brought him in? What was he to the Princess that made her agree to marry Mako just because he asked? Why did he hope to gain from the marriage? What sort of request was that anyway?
So many questions. So many things not adding up.
"I'm losing my mind!" Nina wailed, grabbing at her head like she wanted to pry her skull open. "Ahhhhhhh!"
In the middle of her crisis, a knock sounded on the door. Three sharp raps, each one louder than the last.
"A visitor at this time?"