Explanations and warnings

"Welcome, to the Velvet room."

Ren stirred finding himself on the cot in his cell in the Velvet room. He turned his head and saw Igor looking at him from the warden's desk, Lavenza standing next to him. It had been a while since he was called here.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, standing up in the place between dreams and reality, mind and matter.

"If you mean that there is some conspiracy that you must unravel, no. If you mean your new earrings, then that depends on you." Igor says in his smooth voice.

Ren looked startled. "What about them? Things have been weird since I got them. Those things are happening, right?"

"Yes, that is what we're hear to discuss." Lavenza said, looking more concerned about this than her master. "Those earrings interact with the metaverse to alter things." That was enough to put Ren on edge.

"I see you have a strong response to that." Igor says. "Those earrings, as you've noticed, change the world around you when you describe something as normal, and also make your actions appear more mundane, regardless of what it is."

Lavenza nodded. "I understand your fear, given what they could do in the wrong hands." She said, walking over and hugging Ren gently. It helped calm him a bit.

"It's good that you are concerned about them, my Trickster." She says. "But we can confirm that they themselves are not the danger, like Yaldaboch." She says, stepping back.

"It's all about how they're used, aren't they?" Ren asked, Igor and his assistant nodding.

"Fortunately, the results of your actions, intended and unintended, are not yet major." Igor said. "And that brings me to the larger reason we summoned you hear. We consider these earrings a trial for you, based upon how you use them." Ren looked at Igor, paying full attention now. "How you use them is entirely up to you, and could change your life and those around you considerably. Will you try and follow a path like one of the Palace rulers? or will you resist temptation to use them? or will you follow a third path? I look forward to the results."

Ren thought about it. "What if I threw them away? or made it so they didn't exist."

"As for the latter, der Trickster..." Lavenza explained. "The earrings wouldn't be affected by such an action. And the former, while a valid choice, means that someone else could find them." She says, correctly reading Ren's expression.

"I do believe you have decisions to make. I wonder what you will choose." Igor said as Ren began to wake up.

[Author's note: I'm officially going to split the path here, one path will continue as is, the other will time skip till the start of summer. Those familiar with the sequel will know why.]