There is a little tension in the air around the jailcell because of the silence after Jess's words. There are no further words from Jess nor any words from the man beside her.
She has said everything that she wanted to say to Skin. If she can't manipulate her with her blessing. Then she will gain her trust.
Jessica doesn't believe that she has to lie her way through here. She can be honest about her blessing and her motives. In return, the other person can be honest or dishonest. It doesn't matter as along as there is even a little cooperation form the other party.
Jessica isn't cruel or irrational. She is thinks of herself as someone who can understand another person. Her eyes themselves are like a gate way into another one's inner self, their perspective of this world.
A perspective isn't just simply how to understand or try to make sense of everything about their surroundings. It is like a line that joins them with this world. If this line is blurred a little, she can manipulate it and force them to see world differently. Making few things impossible like movement or lying with their words.
She might not completely understand her blessing. But she understands that all beings have perspectives with which they want to see the world. So, with that logic she can make sense of there choices. But if she can see through another's perspective. She can't automatically understand why or what is point of. She can just hope that she can flexible enough to mold herself to see a little like them.
All beings have perspective, at least, all Chosen have them. Dead don't have perspectives that can make sense for them. They don't need a mere perspective to have a proper world for themself. They can let it go and let themselves be free of mortal needs.
Of course, these perspectiveless beings are…Sinned souls. She can influence them or make sense of what they see. They have no perspective and so her blessing is useless against with a sinned soul.
She also is glad that her blessing is useless against these creatures. She has no interesting in understand a horror of beyond the grave and lose her sanity while doing so.
In any case, her blessing is something that can let her see through Skin's perspective. Not her memories or what she has been through but the perspective that she has made for herself.
For now, Jess's only see that her world is just… violent.
Skin stares at Jess's back with her bright red eyes. In the dark, it is like they're glowing even. She looks like an actual beast that has been caged because she will only kill if she is released free.
That isn't wrong either, Skin wants to tear this little girl apart. There is no mercy in her or sympathy. She only understands that she doesn't want to dragged into this little girl's schemes.
Guideless are the most pretentious of all Chosen. That isn't mean that other Chosen can't be pretentious. But when your whole thing is about pretending to save humanity so you can give your life a purpose then it does come off as pretentious.
Skin wants to stay away from these freaks. They're also too… clean and well spoken. That just make her skin crawl and she just got new skin after starting her self-love arc.
But even if she doesn't want to do anything with them. The circumstances have brought her here in this unknown place. She is in Sicksea region and has no idea where even is that place. Her only world for so long was Hell that she has no idea what is even outside of it.
So, with that in mind. She has to sacrifice her pride a little and go along with her.
Blood drips down form her lips and on the tongue that she had bitten off. It would take a long time to grow the entire thing. So, so save some time. She brings her mouth close the tongue and swallows it in her mouth.
It doesn't take much time but the tongue attaches itself in few seconds. It is perhaps because tongue usually can heal faster than other parts of a human body and with her self-love. Her tongue heals even faster.
Or it is just straight up magic bullcrap. Blessings of God never make sense but questioning them is dumb so let's just go with it.
As her tongue settles in her mouth. She speaks in a voice that sound much less refined than before. Her tongue would take a little more time to completely be fix.
"Help me? Well, you can do it by letting me go of these chains and your hex. Then we can be friends and think about what I can help you with…"
Jess considers that for few second but then says 'No'.
"If I would that you would kill me and be a threat to everyone's life. Not to mention, I don't authority to release you from your restraints. So, please try to understand that I can't fulfil that wish of yours. It is out of my hands."
Skin rolls her eyes and looks at the man with pitch black skin that kind of looks like burn marks or something else entirely. Did his parents also throw him in the pit of fire? That would be relatable.
Mor doesn't say anything but when Jess doesn't continue. He let her know that Skin will answer her questions.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was waiting for your reply…but it is okay. Sorry for making things awkward."
Skin wouldn't say that she likes teasing anyone other than her love, Man-man. But teasing this little girl seem to be little fun too. This girl is really weird…Not violent psychopath weird…just awkward girl weird.
As Jess doesn't get reply again, so, Mor again had to let her know that she can continue.
Jessica isn't really an awkward child. But she is too reliant on visual cues and sound cue so she can understand human behavior. Without both, she is just having a hard time keeping this conversation going. Or she is just polite and doesn't want to interrupt Skin if she were to speak.
Such a nice girl.
"I am glad that you are going to cooperate with us. So, to make this fair. I will ask you three questions and in return, you can ask three questions to me too. Is that okay?"
Skin yawns as she is bored and need some stimulation to keep herself going. Love and violence are the only two things that keeps her going. Other things make her sluggish. Unfortunately, Restless Chosen can't sleep. Such a sad life.
She replies with "Uh-huh" and so Jess asks her questions.
"You said you don't remember anything about the king's crown. But you were in the king's chamber…unconscious. What were you doing there?"
Skin thinks about her words and replies. Her memories of that incident are not blurry. It is actually the opposite of that. She can remember everything of her past.
Not just remember but live through it again.
When she was burnt as a child, the times she starved, that moment when she realized that she has killed the people love so much, the heat when she felt after killing for the first time, the time when she attacked mountainous soul, encounter with Man-man and everything else that happen. All are so clear and in fully realized by her.
She sighs a bit in her head and replies.
"That place… chamber… had that odd broken thing that I wanted to use for myself. I don't know the specifics but I guess It talked to me and told me that it could solve my problem or something. Also, it didn't talk properly or something, it was really hard to understand. It used weird words. And for where is it now…well, I think it sink into my head when it was torturing me or testing me? Probably the same thing. It was really unpleasant. If pain is your fetish I would recommend trying a different way."
Jess understands that Skin just didn't piece together that whatever was calling her was actually the King's crown, a frozen blessing. It makes sense why her own blessing couldn't get that info.
Her blessing forces living beings to do certain thing. If they're forced then the answer that she is immediate. But that also mean that it can be something that isn't much thought about. Like a answer that is current but not what she wanted.
If her blessing was straight up brainwash or mind manipulation then it would've so much easy. She would've figured that out without wasting her first question. But now she has and now she knows that this Chosen is actually the one who has the Frozen blessing.
Maybe she didn't want it. But the frozen blessing has chosen this Chosen as a vessel.
Jess wants to know what sort of thing that she wanted from the King's crown. But she isn't going to waste her next question on that.
"My second question is how did you healed every Chosen in Blood valley. Did you use the crown but that I mean that broken thing you found in king's chamber."
Skin didn't know that the think that was calling her was some king's crown. That she gets but what did she say?
"What are you talking about? I didn't heal anybody. My love is sacred and I will never share it with anyone beside who I love. I have no idea what you are talking about at all."
Jess feels disappointed. It looks like Skin really doesn't know at all about how did she healed so many Chosen. It also isn't really confirmed that she is the one who healed everyone. It could be someone else.
She did say that she felt extreme pain when she wore that crown. It could be that she hallucinated a little about what happen. It is hard to tell right now what really happened.
She has no lead about what was that power and now she has also wasted her second question. Such a shame. She hates wasting thing. But that is still okay.
And now for the last question.
"This is the third question then. Now tell me, did you kill Midori a Guideless Chosen and if you did, why?"