Ship In A Bottle (A Monkie Kid Reader Insert)

Chapter 40: Haunting Memories

(A/n): TW for panic attacks

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This place Jade found herself in, wasn't something she would have considered...ideal...No less the state she was in as a whole...

She had her reasons to hide herself from the world. In this wandering, artificial island powered by nothing but the decaying magic of its former inhabitants. A faint little rumor that spawned from children's fairytales. 

The island, it never appeared in the same place, never at the same time. What once was a thriving resort for the demonic elites, now abandoned, left to rot. 

Jade remembered the first time she came here. Back when her father was still alive. There she was, chasing after Snow and A'qi while cursed with the role of the responsible older sister. It was here where her father was discussing matters with other royals, and where Jade saw...

Those curious golden eyes...

In the present, Jade rested her golden heels on the table, sipping on a wine glass with one hand while rubbing her forehead with the other. Her tails rested behind her, each armed with bladed tips that could cut through the toughest steel.

She sighed. How did it all come to this? Her eyes wandered to the music box in front of her, playing the same tune she hummed when she encountered that passenger child...before gazing at the golden ring on her finger. Running her thumb around it, she did her best to recall how many years it has been since she first wore it.

She'll find him eventually. All she knew is that he was somewhere in the depths.

Waiting for her...

 In the meantime, she'll stay here. Where Cervidae can't track her. Where she can continue her work in solitude. Where her emotions can't poison the fauna for those in the mainland...

Where she can keep searching for him...

"So..." A voice chirped. "Heard you've been looking for me."

Jade's eyes looked up, unimpressed, meeting face-to-face with the glitchy being from the infected pocket projector. Although she sent one of her subordinates to fetch her a drive of the source code, she was not willing to risk her main technology for this smiling entity.

"You've guessed correctly then." She sarcastically congratulated. 

"So you must be the one that goes by Stain." Jade then recalled, hair swooping to the side as she tilted her head slightly. "Is it? You say you're the one behind these sudden Cervidae leaks."

"Flattered you noticed!" Your doppelganger grinned. "So let me guess. This is all gonna lead to you asking something from me, right?"

"Precisely." Setting her wine glass down, Jade readjusted herself on her seat, resting her chin on her folded hands. "If what they say is true, that the gibbon and you are working together, then there's a way to plant seeds of doubt within the council."

"Ooohhh~ Well don't keep me in suspense!" Stain rested their cheek on their fist as they floated around her. "Do tell~!"

"The construction site. Where the Monkie Kid found the staff." Jade set her hands down on the desk, pushing herself into a straight posture. "It should be done by now. Earth Flow's Halotherapy house."

"Like one of your leaks suggested, she's scheduled herself to have a little visit before its grand opening." She went on, a flaw in Stag's plan, there for her to take advantage of. "But there's been a litte...conversation that we both had that took place there."

"That's why I believe that Gibby's ability..." She turned back at the smug-looking entity beside her. "The ability to echo conversations that happened in the place she's in, can be very useful."