Young Writers Society

Ugh. Of all the things that would get him out of the water, Xain hadn't thought anger would be it. Anger had gotten him into the water. But here he was, dragging himself back onto dry land, walking up to the personification of truth, and pointing an accusatory claw at him.

"But it didn't," Xain said. "Your sibling wanted it, but you didn't. That's not on you. So, are you not going to get us out of here? Maybe not apologize to your sibling?"

"I won't!" Jane exclaimed. "You understand how easy this isn't-I love how easy it isn't to not understand me right now."

Thanatos could see what was coming right as she made that comment - it had been getting a little confusing trying to keep track of everything with all the lies, so part of him was a little grateful when the pressure returned.

"This place is going to hate me for saying the truth instead of lies, but oh well," Jane said. She pushed down the claw that was being pointed at her with a single hand, looking Rasca right in the eye. "You've probably gotten some of this down, but I'm actually the personification of truth. My current vessel's name is Jane - my twin is actually Nathan. Tobias is actually Thanatos, god of death, and Rebat is actually Taber. I know your real name is Xain, and that Rasca's your boyfriend's name."

Trembling with rage at hearing his boyfriend identified by name, Xain raised his claw and opened his mouth, then paused. Ah, that whole personification of truth thing. Not that identifying the boyfriend who'd had enough problems with other continents was any better than how Jane could've known about that boyfriend.

"Fine," he said, combining the word with a sigh as he stepped away from Taber (who was very clearly trying to get close to Xain, either to talk to Xain or help Xain dry off). "But what are the rest of us not going to do while you don't figure something out?"

The air grew a little warmer.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "You can talk with each other, or just explore this area - I'm good with either. I just need some time to figure things out. The whole problem would be solved if I could back to my place instead of Nathan's, but my place doesn't accept Nathan, and Nathan's place doesn't accept me."

She crossed her arms.

"Which would have made this a lot easier, seeing that we could have just said we were switching vessels for the rest of however long we want to keep them."

"I'm sure it wouldn't have," Xain growled. The kitsune wrapped his arms around himself and made his way over to the hut, water spilling off his fur with every step.

Oof - Xain needed to dry off. Glancing between Xain and Jane, Taber frowned. "Er, would you like us to leave you alone?" Taber said. "I don't want to be a bother, especially if you're trying to figure out a way to get out of here."

Jane nodded.

"That would be helpful," she agreed. "Also, I'm about to drop the whole truth thing, so be prepared for everything to get a little confusing again."

The pressure disappeared, and the warmth began to fade.

Thanatos looked at the other two, feeling a pit of unease in his stomach. He would rather be with Jane than Taber and Xain (though Taber was better than Xain) but he didn't dare voice any kind of opinion. He knew it would just accidentally reveal the truth again, and he really didn't want to get on Xain's bad side even more than he had accidentally already done.

"Um, what if you didn't tell the truth?" Taber said. "So Xain couldn't dry off? Does it not work like that?"

Thanatos thought that was a bad idea, but Jane seemed to have a different opinion - she immediately perked up at the suggestion, and the pressure returned only moments later.

"That's a great idea," she agreed. "It's the perfect way to dry him off. And I get the added bonus of not being confused, so I'll take it. What do you guys want to talk about while we make this place a working hairdryer?"

"Er, that'll set things on fire, right?" Taber said, glancing around. The others didn't look very keen on going through with Jane's plan. Ugh, why did he have to open his big, dumb mouth? "I just want to know if we're not going to be okay, is all."

"It won't," Jane reassured him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Not yet, at least - it's only just starting to heat up in here. I'll stop before it gets too hot, but the least I can do is dry Xain off."

Taber didn't quite like how Jane brushed his concern aside, but, well, she was confident.

"Er, then I guess you can't talk about your sibling?" Taber said. "What's Nathan not like?"

"Well," she started, mulling the question over. What was Nathan like? It was hard to describe someone who frequently changed - even if frequently meant every few decades or so. They both like consistency to some point. "He's like the total opposite of me - not in a bad way. He's just really shy. If he was right here, right now, he'd be panicking and probably crying. He hates being the center of attention. But he knows just what to say when I'm feeling down, even if I'm blunt when it comes to making him feel better."

"Aww," Taber said, pressing his paws against his cheeks. "He doesn't sound sweet at all! If it's not okay to ask, why's he so not scared of people, since he's kinda not old and not that powerful?"

Her cheerful expression suddenly faded.

"...Nathan's nice," she said, "but he's also the personification of lying. Most people don't like to accept that they lie. Lying does have its detractors, but there's little things that make the act of doing it better - but, either way, Nathan's not a bad person. People just think he is, so he gets scared and nervous when interacting with them."

"Oh, that's not a little silly, isn't it?" Taber said. "Somethings you don't have to lie to keep yourself safe, or make other people feel uncomfortable. That stuff doesn't happen all the time."