Rain blinks in confusion, the unexpected proximity and touch of Bright vanishing from his mind for several seconds. When he regains his composure, he notices that she has returned to her original seated position on the bed across from him. She's watching him carefully, an amused glint evident in her eyes. Rain glares at her suspiciously.
"What was that about, Bright...?"
A small smirk finds its way onto her face.
"What do you mean? I gave you a Relic...didn't the Echo tell you?"
His expression grows more annoyed, his jaw clenching.
"You know damn well what I mean. Warn a guy before you get all handsy, would you?"
Bright's eyes widen in surprise as a soft gasp escapes her throat, as though Rain's misinterpretation has just occurred to her.
"That wasn't...oh, no...you need to touch someone's Mark to transfer a Relic to them. You can relax, I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression, Rain."
Her face remains calm and relatively sincere looking, but her eyes are still dancing with amusement. Rain isn't buying her innocent act...he glares at her suspiciously.
"Uh huh...I'm sure that if I had pulled that stunt with you, you'd be totally relaxed right now, right? Anyway, whatever...why'd you give me a Relic? And what is it?"
Bright briefly smirks again, but then her face turns serious.
"Have a look for yourself...I'll wait."
Rain lets out an exasperated sigh.
'This woman and her antics...I swear...'
Although, he can't deny that free Relics make him more than a little excited. Rain eagerly focuses on manipulating his Ichor around his Mark to enter his Soul Temple. Soon, he's standing in front of the familiar, black rune stone. Activating it, he observes his summary.
Name: Rain
Prestige: Champion
Lineage: [Chaos]
Bloodline: [Primordial]
Nature: [Chaotic Will], [Unhinged], [Fated Chaos]
Talents: [Uncertain Existence], [Fickle Strength]
Relics: [Glorious Pebble], [Ideal Protection], [Fate Shard], [Ego's Brace], [Heart's Lament]
'Ah hah...Heart's Lament...that sounds ominous.'
Rain slides his hand over the flashing runes, activating the Relic summary and combing through its attribute descriptions.
Item: [Heart's Lament]
Prestige: Demigod
Type: Tool
Effects: [Burden of Truth]
Heart's Lament
A child of Desire once decried her own overly trusting nature as the reason for her unhappiness, and Desire granted her a ring that prevented her from being deceived. "Oh, how you have blessed me, dear mother." the child exclaimed. "No, little one," said Desire sadly, "I am only cursing you with the perspective of true sadness."
Burden of Truth
The wearer of this ring can sense when they are being deceived.
Rain reads over the item descriptions twice, for good measure. Satisfied with his understanding, a wry smile slowly bubbles onto his face.
'Well now...that's quite handy...'
Rain returns to his physical body to find Bright studying his face curiously. Catching his gaze, she raises her eyebrows curiously.
"So...what do you think?"
Rain purses his lips thoughtfully, and summons the relic. A simple, black band appears on his left ring finger. As he inspects it, he doesn't feel a sinister aura from it like Fate's Shard...it just looks and feels like a ring. He glances back at Bright with an amused expression.
"Well, no wonder you were so suspicious of me...you could tell when I was lying this whole time?"
Rain watches Bright's reaction closely...he's more than a little tense on the inside. He doesn't know when she may have been wearing this. If she was wearing it when they spoke this morning...when he mentioned killing a Curse...his secrets could be in far more jeopardy than he previously assumed. However, Bright just frowns disapprovingly, and her eyes begin to scrutinize him intensely.
"No, actually. I had to outsmart you the old fashioned way. As far as I can tell, that ring doesn't work on you for some reason. Why is that, do you think?"
His eyes widen in surprise.
'It doesn't work on me?'
He directs a puzzled expression at her.
"Wait...seriously? What do you mean that it doesn't work on me? How can you tell?"
She studies his face for several seconds, her eyes suspicious. It's clear that she's wondering if he's playing dumb. Eventually, however, she responds in an even tone.
"I mean that when you lie to me, the ring doesn't react like it normally would. I first noticed it earlier today when you claimed that you killed a Curse, and the ring didn't react. I was struggling to accept that your claim must have been true, but then you confessed that you lied about the Curse. However, the ring didn't react that time either. Since both of those statements couldn't have been true, I realized that the ring doesn't work on you. Naturally, I'm curious about why..."
Rain breathes an internal sigh of relief. He's not in nearly as much danger as he thought.
'Why didn't it work, though?'
As he tries to rack his brain for reasons why, he considers that his Bloodline may just be too strong for a Demigod Prestige item to work against him. However, then he remembers the description of his Nature attribute, Chaotic Will.
Your being cannot be controlled or understood. You are immune to others perceiving, manipulating, or predicting your thoughts, actions, or circumstance.
His eyes widen in surprise.
'I guess...her using the ring to tell when I'm lying...that's a way of perceiving my thoughts. If that's a valid interpretation of the ring's ability, then my Nature renders it ineffective.'
Rain suppresses a smile. As far as he's concerned, it's about time that his Nature did something good for him. So far, it has only involved Unhinged being an inconvenience. He glances at Bright, who is staring at him intently. She's obviously waiting for an explanation of why her ring didn't work on him.
'Too bad I'm not in a sharing mood...'
"Well I agree, that's very interesting..."
Rain smirks at Bright.
"Anyway, I think this is a very generous gift, but may I ask why you're giving it to me?"
Her expression immediately dissolves into pure bewilderment.
"Are you insane? I'm not giving you that precious Relic of mine...I expect it back before I leave today."
Rain sighs and clicks his tongue in disappointment. He knew it seemed to good to be true.
"Alright, fair enough. Why have you loaned it to me then? Or whatever term you want to use...just explain yourself, Bright."
She rolls her eyes, but then she stares at him seriously, as if trying to convey that she wants her words to be impactful to him.
"You said that you won't share what you know with me, because you can't trust me. I hate to admit this, but honestly, that really pained me. Truthfully, I'm a touch...zealous...about my hobby as a researcher. It means a lot to me, and I can't stand knowing that you may be just holding onto the answers to questions that I've been obsessing over for years. Once I accepted that, I thought a lot on the way here about how I could convince you to trust me. I realized...I've pretty much burned that bridge, at least for the near future. So, that ring is meant to be a...uhm...shortcut. Now, while I'm unable to lie, ask me as much as you need to feel like you can trust me with as much information related to my questions as possible."
Rain is sure that he feels his jaw hit the floor. Of course, he intended for his little performative jab at her in the car to elicit feelings similar to what she's describing, but he obviously underestimated how effective it was. He didn't expect her to go to such lengths to rectify the situation...she's clearly far more passionate about her hobby than he thought. He briefly wonders if she's lying, but he notes that the ring hasn't responded in any way. Moreover...
He meets her gaze evenly, studying it. Her grey eyes only stare back at him, resolute and a little bit...nervous, even.
'Wow...I think she's telling the truth. Still, I should confirm that the ring actually works...'
He purses his lips thoughtfully as he looks at Bright.
"Okay...I think I understand. I didn't realize it meant quite that much to you. Very well, then, let me ask you this. Earlier, when you gave me this Relic, what's the reason you jumped me like that without warning?"
He see's Bright's face go a little stiff, and she remains silent for several seconds, staring at him with an annoyed expression. Eventually, she sighs in exasperation.
"Fine...you're right. I might be a little cross with you over all the grief you've caused me today, and because you've withheld so much information about Creation. So, I thought I'd make you squirm a little bit in return. It was immensely satisfying to see you all flustered and blushing like an idiot the second I was a little too close to you. There, you happy?"
Rain feels his eye twitch a little bit. He expected that was more or less the case, but...did she really have to be so brutal about it? Regardless, he doesn't have direct evidence that the ring works, but she obviously felt enough pressure to spit out that response, so he's convinced that she at least thinks it works.
He frowns at her in disapproval.
"That's really not the way I'd describe my feelings towards you right now, but...I accept your answer, at least. Okay. I think can solve most of our trust issues with one question. How's that?"
Her eyes snap open in surprise.
"Really? That's all it's going to take? I was expecting to sit here for an hour, having you ask me all kinds of embarrassing questions. That seems like the kind of petty thing you'd do..."
'Oh gods, if only she knew how tempting that is...'
Rain clears his throat.
"Ehem...uhm, no, of course not. I would never stoop to such childish behavior, dragging through your personal life for the sole purpose of humiliating you. That said, while I'm only asking one question, it's a simple yet difficult one."
Not even bothering to address his rebuttal about using the ring to be petty, Bright's eyes narrow in anticipation, and she leans forward seriously.
"Well, don't keep me in suspense."
Rain nods, then meets her intense gaze with a serious one of his own.
"Can you absolutely guarantee me that, regarding any information I give you, you wouldn't knowingly share it with anyone else without my permission, or allow that information to bring me harm. Keep in mind, you may very well learn something that you feel like you're morally obligated to share with others or act on despite it inconveniencing me...I'm asking if you'll be able to live with not sharing it, for no other reason than it was the deal we made."
Her expression becomes puzzled, and she responds in a hesitant, careful tone.
"What do you mean...about allowing the information to bring you harm? I'm not sure I understand..."
Rain purses his lips thoughtfully, contemplating how he wants to respond. He can't risk giving too many context clues before he knows if he can trust her.
"I mean...I want to ensure that me giving you information doesn't incite you to knowingly take actions that would detriment me. In addition to not sharing any information without my permission, can you absolutely guarantee that?"
Bright doesn't respond at first, looking away from his gaze. She stares off into the wall, her eyes darting wildly with thought, her expression heavily conflicted. Eventually, she looks back at him with an exasperated gaze.
"Rain, that's an incredibly broad and restricting thing to ask of me."
He shrugs and nods towards her in a conciliatory manner.
"Yes, it is...unreasonably so, even. You just met me this morning, and frankly, you don't know nearly as much about me as you think. We're practically strangers, but what I'm asking for is tantamount to absolute loyalty. It's ridiculous...but, I did tell you that it was a difficult question."
Bright's face grows serious as her eyes narrow, seemingly scanning Rain's expression for several seconds, as though she'll find the secrets to his soul in the lines of his face. She lets out a long, thoughtful sigh.
"No...no I can't guarantee that. However, I can guarantee you this. First, I won't share anything you tell me with others, unless you tell me that you're okay with it. Second, regardless of what I learn, I won't personally take any harmful actions against you, unless it's in reaction to your own violent actions towards me or someone close to me. Is that good enough?"
She finishes her statement with calm, resolved eye contact with Rain, and he doesn't feel any reaction from the ring. He purses his lips, mulling over her words for any loopholes or inconveniences they could be hiding. None come to mind. Eventually, he nods hesitantly at Bright.
"Hmm...I think so. In that case, I can't promise that I'll share every bit of information I possess, but I promise not to lie to you, at least. I'll answer questions directly, without dodging them, even if it's just to tell you I don't want to tell you. That said, I'll go out of my way to be as helpful as possible, within my comfort zone. Does that sound like a fair trade to you?"
Bright flashes a pleased smile.
"That works for me."
He nods and takes a deep breath, then fixes his gaze on her with a subtle smirk.
"Alright then, partner...what do you want to know?"