[85.5] Anything to Make You Smile

Moni saw himself out of Priscilla's room and spoke, "Want to see something funny?"

"Sure!"

Moni snapped his fingers.

In the blink of an eye, the Duke appeared in front of them.

Felix flinched back in fear and burst into tears.

Moni tried to speak to him through his sobs, "Wait! Don't cry!"

"Save me! Please!"

"C-Calm down! It's not your father!"

Felix struggled to stifle his cries, "B-But it looks like him…"

"It is him, but- well just watch." Moni snapped his fingers, "Bow to me." 

The Duke immediately fell to his knees and smacked his forehead against the ground, "Master!"

Felix hiccuped, "W-Why is h-he doing that?"

"I've made him into a puppet."

"O-Oh…"

"You can make him do anything. You are in complete control."

"Um… Then… Sit?"

The Duke sat behaving just like a dog.

Felix giggled, "Shake!"

The Duke shook his hand.

Felix laughed loudly through his tears, "I love it!"

"The best part is that he is aware of everything he is doing, but can't control any of it. It's considered a fate worse than death since it slowly rips apart the mind of the person subjected to it." Moni added, "He also has the complete knowledge of the Duke. You can ask him anything."

Felix hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly, "...What happened to my birth mother?"

The Duke answered robotically, "I hired some men to take her out to the woods behind the house and kill-"

Moni quickly cut the Duke off.

Felix stood silently, staring at the Duke with a blank expression.

Moni awkwardly spoke, "Are you… Okay?"

Felix smiled bitterly, "I always knew he did something to my mother… He would always tell me that he killed my mother and he would kill me too… I just hoped… It was a lie."

*clack clack clack*

At the sound of heels, Felix's body started trembling instinctively. He spun around in fear to see the Duchess staring down at him with a sharp gaze. Moni quickly took over full control of the body and spoke telepathically: <<Relax. It's just my sister.>>

Felix answered: <<But… Why does she look like my stepmother?!>>

<<She's possessing her body. Don't panic. I promised would save you and keep safe.>>

Felix finally relaxed inside his own mind and watched through his own eyes as Moni controlled his body.

Moni cleared his throat, "Yes, Rose?"

The Duchess, or rather Rose inside, stared down at Moni with an uncomfortable expression, "Why did you choose a brat of all bodies?"

"This one is perfect for camouflage. Atta would never think that I would be inside a body of a child."

"Hm… That's a good point. Although I'm sure she never would think that you would possess anyone. Even Atta can recognize your fear of vulnerability."

Moni's face stiffened, "Did you want something?"

"Oh yeah. I brought our sisters and settled them in."

Moni spoke telepathically to Felix: <<My sisters don't like humans. I hope you mind that control your body whenever they are around.>>

Felix found himself in the dark space feeling rather comfortable: <<I think I like it when you just control my body… don't have to worry about anything!>>

Moni walked down the hall with a dark expression on his face when he thought about the reason behind it. In the end, he didn't ask.

He could see the answer in Felix's heart already.

Moni went into the new forbidden wing and glanced up at the ceiling. Since it was night and the moon was starting to peek out, a petite woman with silver hair was climbing across the ceiling giggling as she did. She used the webs to descend and stopped in front of Moni. Her long silver hair was scattered across the ground, draping across the room.

Felix was shocked to see such a nasty scar across her face as well as her opaque eyes.

She giggled, "Big brother! Look! There are so many places to crawl! I love it!"

Moni smiled at her, "Very good, Lene. I'm glad you like it."

Lene's smile suddenly faded, "Why does brother sound funny?"

Rose explained, "Lene. Remember what I told you? Your big brother and I have to hide our identities. That's why we sound different."

Lene was confused for a moment then grinned brightly. She used her webs to pull herself back up and crawled across the ceiling, spinning more webs as she did. 

Rose watched her with a sigh, "I wonder how many times I am going to have to explain that to her."

Moni watched her with a smile on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a little girl with long black hair and ruby eyes peek out from a corner. Moni turned to her with an affectionate grin, "Hello, Astra."

She stepped out of her hiding spot timidly, "That's really… You?"

Moni nodded, "This is my new body I'm occupying. I trust you can keep that a secret?"

"Of course!" She shouted quickly, "I would never tell anyone!"

Astra went to run over to Moni, but suddenly fell forward with her eyes fluttering shut. In a blink of an eye, Moni turned into a shadow and appeared by her side, catching her flawlessly.

Rose's eyes widened in shock, "M-Moni… How did you do that while possessing a body?!"

Moni paused for a moment before turning to Rose with a forced smile, "Who knows."

Felix was watching through his own eyes feeling confused: <<Is there something strange about what you just did?>>

Moni answered telepathically: <<Most demons can't change the physical body of a human unless they have that demonic skill… As far as Rose knew, I couldn't do that.>>

<<Oh… >>

Felix watched through his eyes understanding that the man who had saved him held more secrets than he could ever imagine.

Moni picked up Astra, easily carrying her to her bed without any struggles. Rose followed after him still staring at Moni critically. If she wasn't so surprised about Moni's newfound ability, she would have laughed at the small boy carrying the little girl. 

Once Moni placed her in bed and gently placed the blanket over her, he felt something tingling at him in the periphery. He spoke in a low voice, "I will leave them to you, Rose."

In the blink of an eye, he turned into a shadow and disappeared, reappearing in front of Priscilla's doorway. Screams burst from behind the closed door, causing Felix to panic.

"Scilla!"

A huge towering man stood in front of the door, panicking. When he saw the little boy appear from the shadows, he almost thought he was a phantom. However, upon seeing the orange eyes, he spoke quickly.

"Master! The child awoke and is screaming nonstop! I can't get her to calm down!"

Felix regained control of his body and rushed into the room, crying as he did, "Scilla! Scilla! What's wrong!?"

Priscilla's screams weakened once she recognized the familiar voice of her brother. She jumped out of bed and met her brother, hugging him desperately.

"Felix! I thought you died! I thought d-daddy killed you!"

Felix hugged her back, "No, 'Scilla. I'm okay. See? Look! No bruises or anything."

Priscilla's sobs slowly died to hiccups as she timidly looked at her brother, "H-How? But-But I saw…"

Felix led her back to bed, "Go back to sleep, 'Scilla. You are safe now."

She clung to him in a panic, "N-No! Every time I close my eyes I get so scared! I don't want to sleep! I won't!"

 Felix smiled at her to comfort her, "It's okay, 'Scilla. I will stay by your side till you fall asleep-"

"-But I'm scared! What if daddy comes in and-"

"He won't come in. He won't hurt us anymore."

"Yes, he will! He's going to hurt us! He's going to kill us if we make him mad!"

Felix pulled her covers back over her, still holding her hand, "Trust your big brother, 'Scilla. I won't let him hurt you."

"But-"

Moni took back control, placing his hand on her forehead. Feeling the sweet embrace of sleep, Priscilla's eyes slowly drifted closed.

Felix stared at her full of concern, "Will she be okay…?"

"For now." Moni answered him and stood up, leaving the room. He paused beside the towering man and asked, "Hank. Did you have something to report? You are usually not here this late."

Hank paused for a moment and gave a slow nod, "It's about Shafer."

Moni's faced soured for a moment before turning back to his stiff smile, "Let's talk in my office."

Moni spoke to Felix telepathically: <<Sorry, Felix. I have some business to attend to. After that, we can decide how help your sister.>>

Felix had no disagreements and silently nodded inside of his own head.