C121: Borrowed powers

Izzy raised her hand and conjured a small mirror within her Mindscape. Within a second, the glassy surface of a mirror with a silver frame formed instantly.

She lifted it to eye level. In the reflection, a girl with a detached expression stared back at her. Her gray hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing a beautiful face and pale, porcelain skin.

“...”

Izzy leaned in closer, focusing all her attention on her azure-blue eyes.

It was subtle, but it was there. Deep within the center of her pupils, a tiny, multifaceted diamond shape was perfectly engraved.

It shimmered with a crystalline light that wasn't reflected from any source in the Theatre.

“...”

The moment she focused on it, information surfaced within her mind. Something had been engraved alongside the gifts, a fragment of knowledge tied directly to its existence.

Izzy understood what this was. It was the manifestation of the gifts.

And based on this information that had been forced into her psyche, she knew exactly what sort of ability that entity bestowed on her.

“Firstly, the language.”

An entirely new language system had been engraved into her mind. Since its exact name was unknown, she would call it “borrowed language”.

“Secondly… the mind.”

Izzy closed her eyes and focused inward, letting her awareness sink deeper into herself.

Soon the information surfaced, flowing through her thoughts in that newly acquired language. The symbols formed, arranged, and translated themselves instinctively.

“[###’s mind.]”

She paused, processing the information.

‘My intuition becomes sharper. It reduces the effects of cognitive manipulation on me, allowing me to subtly discern when my perceptions are being tampered with. However… in exchange, I will fall into the "well" more easily.’

An ability centered around intuition, that was the simplest way to interpret it. Her mind would become more sensitive, more perceptive, able to detect distortions or interference that would otherwise go unnoticed.

“Cognitive manipulation”. She had a vague grasp of its implication.

‘Something like… mind control? Or influencing thoughts?’

If that was the case, then this ability would make her more resistant to it. Not all immune, but only resistant, capable of recognizing when something was wrong.

That was a valuable ability to have.

‘But what exactly is “the well”?’ That was the detail that intrigued her the most.

She tried to concentrate harder, searching for any scrap of information that the entity might have transferred regarding the "well," but it was a futile effort.

There was no such information to be found; the knowledge ended at the warning itself.

“...” Izzy shook her head.

Beside that mental fortification, there was one more gift to account for.

“And finally…”

Her gaze sharpened as she moved on.

[“###’s true name: first letter.”]

The information surfaced again, this time carrying a different tone.

‘An interesting result will occur if you say it in ### language. Don’t try it at home. Good luck~.’

Izzy’s eyelid twitched.

“What is this, some kind of joke?”

It felt like a taunt from a bored being. The tone was completely at odds with the overwhelming presence she had just encountered.

This gift granted her the first letter of someone’s true name, spoken in that unknown language.

Izzy tilted her head slightly, thinking.

Why would she need something like that?

‘Is it… that entity’s true name?’ Izzy wondered.

It started with an A.

Izzy felt a sudden urge to test this name. She wanted to know what "interesting result" was.

Izzy opened her mouth, moved her tongue. The diamond-shaped pupil within her pupils glowed red.

“—”

‘—Don’t say it here!’

“Ugh!” Instantly, her intuition screamed, Izzy snapped her mouth shut immediately! A sharp jolt of pain struck her head, making her vision blur. It was as if something was trying to interrupt her action!

Her breath hitched as sweat formed along her forehead.

‘That was close…’

Her heart beat frantically, the lingering sense of danger still pressing against her mind.

Her intuition had screamed at her… If Izzy were to speak that single letter here, within this Mindscape, then this entire mental dimension would have instantly exploded!

Which meant that she, along with Isa, would die instantly!

“I can only say it in the real world,” Izzy concluded, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

At the same time, a sense of disbelief crept into her thoughts.

‘Wow, this intuition is incredibly overpowered!’

It was like a sixth sense, constantly guiding her away from fatal mistakes before she even fully understood them.

“Hmm.”

Her expression turned thoughtful.

‘What would happen if I used a vessel to say the word?’

She honestly didn't know. What if she used Arriet or Arnold to say it?

Perhaps it would summon a fragment of that entity? Or it would trigger an event, or maybe it would only disintegrate the vessel’s vocal cords?

Izzy frowned.

The description provided by that entity was infuriatingly vague, limited to that childish sign-off. The tone of that message annoyed her more than anything else.

‘So childish…’ Izzy grimaced.

It would be a mistake if she accidentally summoned some abomination into the real world upon saying it.

Izzy didn't even want to imagine the disaster that would follow such an act.

“Let’s... try this ability later, under more controlled circumstances,” she decided.

There was no need to rush into something so unpredictable, especially when the risks were this high.

“Haha.”

Izzy let out a short, wry smile, the absurdity of her situation finally catching up to her.

Who would have thought that just by courting death, she would end up casually receiving three gifts in return, in exchange for an unknown mission to kill some unknown betrayers?

[###’s language]

[###’s mind]

[###’s true name, first letter]

Izzy tapped her chin in deep thought.

‘Why doesn’t Isa know about this?’

This knowledge was specifically engraved into Izzy’s mind, and hers alone.

Normally, there was no such separation.

Isa usually peered into her thoughts without her permission, and their knowledge was, for the most part, shared. Besides the memories that she had erased inside the black book.

Izzy had noticed it. This time, Isa knew nothing.

Because if the girl had even the slightest awareness of these abilities, she would have made a huge fuss. She wouldn't have left Izzy alone to rest, and she certainly wouldn't have bought that flimsy "joke" about almost being killed.

‘Isa wasn't dragged into that space either.’ Izzy’s expression darkened.

They were supposed to be two parts of the same whole, two minds sharing a single body. There shouldn’t have been any situation where only one of them experienced something while the other remained completely excluded.

Yet, during that encounter with the entity, the connection had been severed.

Only Izzy had been pulled into the audience of that diamond-eyed entity, and only Izzy had received the “gifts.”

‘This…’ Her mind raced. The implications of this were unsettling. This realization suggested a vulnerability she hadn't fully considered until now.

‘That means we can be trapped separately.’

If something could isolate Izzy from Isa…Then something could isolate Isa from Izzy.

It meant that an external force with enough power could bypass the "Isidora" collective and access their minds individually.

If something could enter their shared mind and selectively interact with one…

Then their “shared mind” was not as unified as she had always believed.

‘We are being divided.’

Instead of acting as a singular entity named Isidora, they had been partitioned into two entirely separate minds: Izzy and Isa.

Was that the reason the young mind didn't receive the new abilities? Because the gift had been given to Izzy alone?

“Hmmmm.”

Suspicious welled up on her.

‘Is Isa really my young mind?’

Was the mind she shared with actually her young self? For some reason, Izzy had never questioned it.

Now that she thought about it, when did she begin to believe that Isa was her young mind?

[“---”]

“?”

‘Strange.’ Izzy tapped her chin lightly, her gaze unfocused as she sank deeper into thought.

‘Should I share this with Isa…?’ Izzy wondered.

If she told Isa, what would she even say? That she had randomly acquired these abilities? A completely unknown language and an unknown ability, randomly.

It sounded absurd even to her.

‘My intuition, help me!’ Izzy shouted within her own thoughts.

Almost immediately, an uncomfortable sensation rose within her chest. A subtle rejection, like her own instincts pushing back.

It was as if it was trying to say, ‘—Don’t share it.’

Izzy narrowed her eyes.

“Hmmm.”

As expected, this new gift was not all-knowing.

It didn’t provide clear explanations or reasoning. It simply nudged her, guided her away from certain actions without elaborating why.

‘Let’s think about that later.’

For now, she put these thoughts aside. She had an objective for today, and she needed to finish it before tomorrow.

Izzy sat up, the flower crown shedding a few petals as she prepared to return her consciousness to the reality of the mansion.

Tomorrow would be a very busy day.

—

(Saturday, six days left till Friday next week, when the full moon Rite starts.)

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