PL: 6225
Bonuses: Rookie Bonus, 65%
______________________________________

    Terra shot up in a start, SHOOTING up into a sitting position as soon as her mind found her again! Instantly, the little pink girl was on edge. She... she wasn't where she was before... If... she remembered right, she was out in the woods with the big straw-like plants everywhere... She was talking to Opherla and... then... A spark of pain arched through the back of the majin's head and she let out a squeak of pain, her hand shooting back to massage the aching spot! ...She FELL, that's right... She remembered gravity taking a hold of her, the ground slipping out from under her feet... But for what reason...? Did something smack her and she didn't realize it...? Did Opherla do something...? And how did she get here? 

    Terra had so many questions!

    ...And Opherla would answer them! The wolf-girl would come into the room just as Terra had awoken, explaining that she had passed out in the Bamboo (so that's what those plants were...) Forest and that she had brought her here! The Majin blinked realizing that she had just broken out of a carefully wrapped blanket cocoon and that she was laying on a rather comfy couch! The little pink majin looked up at Opherla and smiled weakly through the aching in her skull, her eyes glancing around the room, taking it in. 

    "It... very nice here..." Terra mused, somewhat answering Opherla's question. She then scooped up one of the blankets in her hands and held it against her face. "Soft..." She murmured, rubbing it in more! It was like touching a cloud with your cheek: Tender, fragile even, but with the gentle softness of an angel feather. Terra felt... At home here... Maybe a little hungry... MAYBE... but she didn't feel like she was in any danger! Terra would look at Opherla with a questioning look, almost as if she were expecting an explanation as to WHY she passed out, the little pink girl hopping up from where she lay and approaching the woman.

    "What happen?" Terra asked with wide, questioning eyes. "That... never happen before... I no remember... what happen..."


WC 364

Terra stared up at Opherla, her face twisting into one of confusion... Why would she ask for something like that, to trust that she was telling the truth...? Did something REALLY WEIRD happen in the forest or something...? And whatever she might tell her might make her faint again...? Was THAT what happened back there...? Terra couldn't remember really... Just... she woke up here and now Opherla was acting all weird! Everyone had been acting all weird around her recently! ...Why? 

    "I not understand..." Terra muttered, frustration tugging at the corners of her lips. "Why you act different suddenly? Why EVERYONE act different suddenly? It not make sense." The little pink majin grumbled to herself, crossing her arms over her chest. Terra had a pretty BIG tolerance for behaviors, especially for things she doesn't know for SURE are bad... but when people don't tell her anything and she can't DO anything to find out for herself? That was when the little pink girl gets frustrated. Whatever it was, it must've been MINDBLOWING for Opherla to make her promise like this...

    "...Okay..." Terra mumbled, still not happy with all the secrecy. "Promise not to think you lying... But why? Why you ask? It not normal to ask!"

WC: 207
TWC: 571

    ...And like that, the penny dropped. As Opherla unraveled around the little pink majin, she laid out the woes that tore at her so. ...But Terra didn't even make it that far into what she was saying before she got stuck... stuck... on her mother. Terra's eyes blanked as her mind FELL DEEP INSIDE with that description of her mother, the mother that cradled her in her arms almost every night, kissed her, told her she loved her. Opherla spoke of her Momma like she was some kind of demon, a dragon from the darkest cave come to bring destruction because... she was bored. Her Auntie was there too, FIGHTING with her Momma and, from the way Opherla was describing it with her words and expression, it was a... a HORRIBLE battle... Terra's eyes fluttered, her mind filling with a fuzzy, dulling whiteness. She felt her legs grow unsteady under her body, threatening to fall out from under her. A sickening fist CLUTCHED at her guts forcing nausea to RUSH through the little pink Majin, her heart pounding so hard in her ears, she couldn't hear, let alone THINK very well! Opherla's revelation sat in Terra's mind like a boulder, SMASHING against everything she thought she knew about her momma... 

    ...Then something occurred to her. Opherla, without stating it directly, had just called her Momma "evil." ...B-but that couldn't be true, could it? Terra knew her momma WAY longer than she did! She only saw her ONCE... at least, as far as Terra could tell! She didn't see the kindness, the LOVE she brought to her every day! She didn't SEE how much time Liari spent with Terra, teaching her about things! She didn't SEE how happy she made Ayu... and how happy she made her. No. This couldn't be true. it COULDN'T It... it had to have been somebody else! Her Momma would NEVER do all those terrible things! Terra's expression hardened into one of defiance... but underneath, it wouldn't take someone with intense perception to see the confusion and hurt behind it.

    "You wrong." Terra stated firmly, stepping back from the sobbing, self-pitying Opherla. "...Momma never do something like that. She love me. She love Auntie Ayu. She... She not hurt people like monster! You just WRONG." Instantly, another fist, a COLDER fist clutched at her heart, filling her with fear, compelling her to run. ...But... what was she afraid of? Opherla? Maybe she was afraid of what she'd say next. Terra turned to leave... only to realize... she didn't know how to get home from here! Heck, she didn't even know where she was, really!

STUCK!

    ...Stuck with Opherla and her accusations. Terra turned back to face Opherla who was already breaking down, falling apart under (what she must've thought was) her confession. A wave of empathy splashed into the already volatile hurricane of emotions brewing within the majin, her brow furrowing in anger, softening in empathy, then hardening again in defiance! It was as if her brain couldn't decide what to FEEL right now! ...And why NOT!? SOMEONE JUST TOLD HER THAT HER MOMMA WAS EVIL!

    "...You not talk about momma anymore..." Terra stated softly, the fist on her heart clutching TIGHTER. "...You not see her... She not do that... It... It not true... It NOT!" Steam began to bubble out of the holes lining Terra's body, her expression contorting into a mix of frustration, confusion, and anger. It was a simple defense for children, to explode at whatever they couldn't understand. ...But it was worse than that. Opherla was threatening the memory of the person who made her, a person who LOVED HER MORE THAN ANYTHING! She KNEW she did... because she told her so! attacking that memory was worse than anything Opherla could have called Terra herself, any cruel, vindictive insult she could muster. 

    Terra's aura BLAZED around her with wild abandon, lashing at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, threatening to take the whole room apart! A deep pink glow FILLED the space between them, the air growing thicker with Terra's unleashing power!

    "MOMMA NOT LIKE THAT! MOMMA GOOD PERSON!"

    Terra's anger explodes! Majin anger activates! New PL: 15,562!


WC:697
TWC: 1268

    "Sorry..." The universal expression of regret... or escape from a mistake. Opherla was trying to apologize, to wrap her arms around the little pink Majin. Terra WANTED to push her away, to SHOVE this liar somewhere else! WHAT kind of person would say that about their mother to them and then APOLOGIZE for it, try to HUG IT OUT AFTER... unless they really believed what they were saying. As much as Terra wanted to believe this woman to be a bad lady, a mean, no-good BAD lady that only wanted to make her CRY... But Liari wasn't the only one crying. Opherla seemed as hurt, if not more, than Terra was. She apologized for all this, for saying anything at all... BUT SHE HAD TO TELL SOMEONE! 

    ...A child. The child of the person she was badmouthing. Terra said nothing, nor did she resist as Opherla wrapped her arms around her, the majin simply hanging limp in Opherla's arms as she took her to the couch. Terra didn't even know what was going on anymore. In what world was she living in where her momma was an evil, destructive monster, wiping out cities for funsies!? What WORLD did she live in where her fravoritest person in the world was fighting her second favoritest person in the world... like... seriously!? In what world did she live in where Terra had to hear about it all from someone she'd just met... a girl who had her dreams of heroism crushed by her momma...? Terra's chest ached right where her heart was, so much so that she reached up and clutched at the spot as if that would help. Feelings... DARK feelings rose up in Terra, feelings she didn't even have words for! They threatened to harden around her chest, LOCK it away in a barbed, cold prison... It would feel better that way, she thought, easier... She'd never be hurt again if... 
    
    ...NO. The prison shattered before it could solidify, Terra instead choosing to indulge in the hug she was being given. Weakly, she would reach up and wrap her arms around Ophera's waist, hugging her as tightly as her exhausted body could manage. When Opherla asked if Terra would still be her friend after EVERYTHING, after ALL of this, the little pink majin would say nothing. What could she say? Did she even KNOW how she felt about this situation!? Terra... didn't want to do anything... She didn't even want to THINK! All she wanted was this hug... and she wanted her auntie...

WC: 422
TWC: 2190

    ...Adventure? Maybe on a better day, Terra would've LEAPT at a chance to have an adventure! Meeting new people, seeing new things... maybe playing for a minute or two! ...But there were two problems with that now: What she had been told today... and who was offering her the adventure. Terra might've been a bright, bubbly soul on any day, but attacking her family was sure-fire way to cloud her sky of a great deal of sunlight. She felt exhausted, FRUSTRATED, even little embers of anger still floated around, threatening to catch fire if they landed on the right subject! She knew Opherla was trying to help, DESPERATE to scavenge for some kind of way to make up for her HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE mistake of putting herself first emotionally... for confiding in a child. It was like taking a kid to the ice-cream shop after telling them their daddy hated them and didn't want to see them again. It would've been a superficial band-aid on the problem at best... and another ingredient in the already MINDBENDINGLY confusing emotional cocktail at worst.

    "Wanna go home. Now." Terra stated, pulling away from Opherla with the most exhausted edge in her voice that the older girl had ever heard from her. Terra looked almost like an old woman trapped within the body of a child now, rings around her eyes so dark and wrinkled, it was as if she hadn't slept in weeks! The way her body hung, it was as if she were suspended on wires, connected to the hand of a half-conscious puppeteer trying to emulate a living thing. What was more, if Opherla looked further, she would see in Terra's eyes the anger locked away inside, threatening to come out again if the wrong thing was said. 

    Sometimes, the best thing you can do for a person you wronged is to leave them alone. It might heart, it might fill you with dread. It might freeze the blood in your veins because YOU have no idea what's going through their heads, how much damage you really did. ...But, in the end, nobody wants their wounds treated by the very person that caused them, especially when they're dealt out to a particular piece of them they treasure. Terra's face and tone of voice indicated that she wanted NOTHING to do with the adventure Opherla was planning... at least, not until her heart stopped hurting. When would that be? How would she know...? 

All Terra wanted was her Auntie.

WC: 416
TWC: 2606