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1055. In The Eyes of Joy
🕑 Added 2025-08-24 02:21:58 +0000 UTCJoy did not tear her eyes away from where Jury just was moments ago.
“Juwy…” Her heartbroken voice barely made it out of her mouth.
A yelp took over as a nearby wall crumbled. She was tugged around by Frost. One moment she was moving left, another forward, and then suddenly, she was being dragged on her heels.
Her eyesight was perfectly functional. Her only issue was the blinding stars that offered her false salvation like that of her previous Star. As a result, Joy had to heavily rely on Frost, to the point where she felt like a burden.
This was only exacerbated by how Res skillfully navigated through the chaos despite being blind. Her feathers rustled, and a wave of distress weighed over her.
“Gam…” It was not a pleasant feeling.
If she had the choice, then she would pick losing her hands again than enduring her inability to act. She was once an unstoppable tool used by a greater being to enact its law. A single acknowledging gaze was enough to warrant death. She subconsciously associated these lights with the divine judgement she had once enacted, which was another reason why she was afraid of the lights.
Her current life as a child was better than what she was. But it pained her knowing that she could not help the same person who saved her. Not only that, but she could not even save herself.
“Don’t think, don’t look, and be ready to stop when I squeeze your hand!” Frost’s voice cut through her dark thoughts.
“Juwy… What about…?”
“That isn’t Jury! Don’t mix them up! Jury wouldn’t risk our lives, let alone yours and brush it off! Something has taken over her!”
A Condition no doubt.
Joy knew the answer to this, but she did not believe Frost when she said it wasn’t Jury.
She internally berated herself for thinking this way. How could she believe this, when Frost knew Jury a thousand times better than she did? The audacity alone made her deserve to lose a limb to Misery.
However, despite her blindness and inability to fight due to her abysmal Mana pool, Joy carried one distinct Ability that set her apart from the others.
Her observation.
[Clouded Surveillance] was an Ability derived from The Observer Upstairs. The Ability gave her photographic memory of all events that had transpired within the last 240 hours. This only applied to events that occurred within a 50-meter radius from her.
When used, [Clouded Surveillance] moved to its active form as [Unclouded Surveillance]. It allowed her to freely look through her memories for an indefinite amount of time. In theory, Joy could see a person’s every action in an instant.
However, using this came at a price.
Joy flicked through her memories. A bright flash of light filled her head as the world turned dark. All external stimuli disappeared, and she was faced with an album containing snippets of notable events within the last 240 hours.
She flicked through it like the pages of a book. The pages spanned over five meters tall, and three meters wide. The book was split into twenty-four chapters, which then contained another ten more pages. Depending on how detailed she wanted to view the event, there could be anywhere from ten to a million pages describing each molecular interaction.
It had a limit, however. It could not discern an event where the outcome was caused by an event outside of the 50-meter radius. For example, it was impossible to accurately detail the composition of a bullet if it was fired outside of the radius, even though the bullet was inside, or was later identified.
This meant that it was impossible to understand phenomenon using this technique, unless she was precisely next to the source itself.
But why did she use it now? What purpose did it serve here, when she should be attempting to survive?
Proof. Jury… She isn’t different. No one is. That is Jury. But… Not Jury?
Another key feature of [Unclouded Surveillance] was that it allowed her to identify, with certainty, the targets within its radius. If Joy had become a member of the ARU, then she would have discovered Mimicry within the week.
This was because it did not matter who or what the target was. As long as they were present, they were named with absolute certainty. It did not matter if they were being mimicked. Her Ability uncovered all secrets.
Likewise, this meant she was able to tell when a person was in control of their body.
Looking further back at the memories of the Beholder and Stars they captured, they had a mixture of ‘Malgam’.
Upon further analysis, she came to realize that this closely corresponded to who was in control of the mind, rather than the body.
Though she didn’t put much thought into how Frost’s blood was interacting with their mind.
Jury. Frost. Cer. The lady Raoul too… They’re named. Jury is in 100% control… But she’s divided into two parts. Frost also!
She looked back at the two from when they first met until now, and noticed that while they were mostly in control, there was another name that cropped up in the memories.
Frost, The Otherworldly Dove and Jury the: ???, the ??? ???
Both were parts of themselves, as recognized by [Unclouded Surveillance]. To what extent, and what reason their names were like this were as lost to her as her role as Discretion.
It’s Jury. But what kind of Jury is this, if it’s recognized as a real part of her?
She unfortunately did not know. Joy was smart enough to understand how closely tied these names were to their roles. Therefore, it was possible that they were also roles.
Upon coming to this conclusion, and with hopes of relaying this to Frost, the book sealed on its own. The lights faded when it shut, and after a brief moment of darkness, she gasped awake in Frost’s arms.
“She’s awake!” The Frost she had always known called. She strangely wore a look of terror.
“Keep holding onto her!” Another voice sternly roared.
This is Acedia… not Frost. I forget…
Some time had passed since she blacked out. Indeed, this was the side effect of using [Unclouded Surveillance].
The same amount of time spent within her memories was multiplied by five in the real world. The short fifteen-minute investigation was translated into seventy-five minutes.
“Gam! Gam! Juwy… it’s her!” Joy struggled to formulate her words. “But another… Role!”
The smaller Frost caught up. A hand clasped hers, and a look of grief formed along her face. Trailing close behind her was Res who held the hands of the twins, and then, Raoul who held onto theirs.
“I thought so. Was it ‘Jury, [question mark] comma, [question mark] the [question mark]?”
Joy violently nodded.
“DAT WON! Malgam had won two!”
“I have one? What is it? Tch– ACEDIA! HARD LEFT!”
“Make a right.” Raoul suggested. “A hard left will lead us into a dead end.”
Raoul was certain of this. Hearing this certainty was surprising to Joy. Raoul was barely interested in living, let alone taking control over her life. Yet suddenly, she was loud and giving Frost directions.
Is… is it a trap maybe? Does this person… know what they’re saying?
“How can you tell!?” Frost did not dismiss Raoul at all. Joy should have expected it, given the type of person Frost was.
But still, how could she trust this person with such an important decision and not her own?
Frost turned her head over her shoulder and looked at Raoul with urgency.
Amalgam? Aren’t you right? A hard left takes us away from Misery… Your pain?
The corner of Raoul’s mouth curled.
“Aside from Misery never manifesting on the route to a dead end, there is significantly more rebound to our left. The reverberation to the right of us has greater width. It indicates an open area.”
Sound! Wolf ears! That works?
Joy did not know that wolf ears were better designed for hearing sounds than human ears. Even her avian ears were not able to pick up this change. The constant quakes and explosions came from everywhere at once.
“I can vouch too. I just wasn’t completely certain, but my senses say the same thing. Right. Can’t always blindly follow you Frost.” Res sounded reluctant as she said this. “… Keep up.”
Isn’t the Amalgam incapable of doing wrong?
Joy was certain of this. To her, Frost was an absolute truth. Her words were commandments, and her presence was light. She was the Sovereign Star; a Star that had no equal, and with a light so boundless that it banished the others in her vision whenever she looked at Frost.
However, Joy noticed that the left entrance had a light pointing in its direction.
It was the wrong way…? Was Frost not right after all?
They turned right.
Frost slowed down for a split second to tank a magical spray from the Mistress.
Written words coiled around her limbs, and one constricted her neck. But she did not budge. Not even a wince or an inadvertent squeak came from her. She merely received it and then pushed ahead of the pack.
Since her hands were now empty, Frost took it upon herself to tackle the Mistress head on. That way, she could minimize the damage dealt to the group.
No one batted an eye at her heroics, aside from Joy and Acedia. Each consecutive encounter with the Mistress had Frost soak as much damage as she could before joining them again.
They could barely fathom how she was able to brave the pain. The marks mattered little to her. Even if it was not the correct path, Joy instinctively believed that the right course of action was to avoid the path of misery.
She did not believe she could ever make such a choice… at least not consciously.
“Don’t look so sad Joy. You’re gonna make me feel like I did something wrong.”
“Gam…”
“You get used to it. Shouldn’t be possible, but it’s not the worst that can happen. Always remember that if you ever find yourself at a crossroads. One of the best assets we have is our discretion. No Corrupted, no monster, and certainly no Act X puppet have that ability.”
Discretion…
Frost’s choice was born from her own discretion.
If her instincts were her light, then she had used her discretion to pave towards a darker path. But that path led her towards where she needed to go, despite it being the hardest.
It didn’t sit well with Joy. She understood why it worked. However, it was a natural response for one to follow the path with the least effort and pain.
Thinking about it now…
Isn’t the Amalgam as a Healer… like that? The path with the least effort and pain? Raoul too? Me…? Jury? Acedia…?
She was unable to confirm her thoughts, but she did not allow it to leave her mind.
