The Rage and Sorrow of Others

After Felix finished working out, and they all had lunch, Noah lead him, along with Cammy, back to the library. They continued to talk about the new set of memories, and all the good times. The slime girl reminisced about the software she wished she still had, Felix about the confidence he had in his life after high school, and Cammy remembered how often she had to get the two of them to get to bed on time. It was the sweetness of a tight knit group of friends, the kind where everyone else often felt like the third wheel.

That continued until Felix realized there was one pain point remaining. One thing that reality adjustment hadn't fixed yet, and that maybe could never fix: Austin White. Sure, he was gone, but his presence still lingered over his life. Heck, judging by how Cammy reacted when he brought it up, Austin's ghost haunted her as well. Not the kind of ghost that Hollywood made big profits off of during Halloween either, but rather, a set of memories that haunted everyone involved. Whatever happened, his mom would still be stuck with a court case she couldn't win, and Cammy would be stuck with the memory of a father that was too narcissistic to save himself.

"I think when everything goes well, it makes the few pieces that don't work worse," Felix said as a conclusion to the conversation on Austin. "You still remember having a narcissistic monster as a father, and my mom was still stuck with a court case she couldn't win. Even with Austin gone, the damage he left will stick around for a long time..."

"Well, we can't fix that," Noah said. "So lets do the next big thing and try to forget it with some TV."

Both Felix and Cammy gave an awkward chuckle as they decided to dive back into The HH, and picked up after the first challenge. Maybe Andy would reveal a bit more just what made him so sad, despite being so successful at everything he did...

Paisley's discussion with the contestants gave her a list of things she wanted to tackle. The first on the list was Nox, because the goblin had been systematically locked out of interacting with the rest of the group by Z, and had made no progress repairing her relationship with the master because of it. Heck, all the audience knew about the goblin at this point was that she was a stereotypical bully as a human, with the only interesting details being a long lost ancestor from Japan who tormented them for being a bad heir. If this contestant was going to have any chance once the oni left the stage, she would need to be given the opportunity to build a relationship with the master defined by something besides what happened in high school.

So, Paisley went to find the goblin in the explosives yard. The assistant was no stranger to seasons with combat elements, and she suspected Vizrokoth wanted them to be ready for their world to become a warzone from the introduction of magic. However, a live explosives yard was still irritating, as it severed Nox from the master when she most needed to be building her relationship with him. It was the perfect representation of how the oni wasted the goblin's time on stuff that did nothing to help her be with the people she'd be spending an extremely long time with, given that unaging was such a common bless given to contestants. So she braved the constant boom of hand grenades exploding, along with sounds of stranger things from grenades of a more bizarre nature, to meet with her.

"Nox?" Paisley asked with the voice like a mother calling a child to dinner. "If you could stop chucking grenades for a second, we have a lot to talk about. I suspect at least some of it will be of interest to you."

The goblin turned to her and looked scared. Paisley paused to get a real look at her, and admired Vizrokoth's handiwork. After all, the demon had made a very attractive goblin, with truly immense breasts relative to her short frame, excellent hips, and, when the goblin was turned around, an ass that could almost rival Z's. Her pixie cut hair meanwhile, with a natural shade of light blue, was an excellent complement to her green skin, and her eyes looked beautiful, being just the right lighter shade of green to contrast with her skin. However, that beauty was hard to see, because the goblin was so often scared, sad, or otherwise in a state that made it hard for onlookers to see any of the work the demon had put into her. It was such a waste in Paisley's eyes, and one that she sought to fix, assuming she could get the goblin on board. They were, after all, in a room full of explosives, and people sometimes did truly idiotic things out of fear.

"Nox, please, I'm not here to hurt you," Paisley said. "I'm here to help you get to 100 VP once the oni leaves the stage. So please, lets talk outside the explosives range."

It was a slow process, as the goblin put away various explosives she hadn't used yet, but eventually, Nox followed Paisley out of the explosives yard, and to the meeting room in the bunker. The rest of the harem was either in the library watching other Harem Hotel seasons, were training to burn off stress in the case of Janessa and Z, or was watching others do things while masturbating like Castelilise. Not how she preferred things to be, but she would be understanding given the harem was recovering from yet another retroactive reality change. It was with all of that in mind that Paisley sat the goblin down on a bench and started to ask her questions.

"I know the outline of your story," Paisley said. "But tell me in your own words why you think you are here. You can be as biased as you want."

"I can't even fully remember anymore," Nox said. "My past has retroactively changed three times now, and so far, it just leads me to getting ever further from whatever original set of circumstances put me here."

Paisley nodded hearing that, and noted this as a significant problem across the harem. Even the master was afflicted, because Felix couldn't even remember the original incident that had brought the group there, and at this point, neither could Nox, despite her starring role in said incident. It should've made it easier for her to get closer to Felix, but in practice, it meant all she could was wallow in misery as her life while under the tyranny of an oni.

"Do you know that you bullied Felix before?" Paisley asked, knowing that in the current timeline while it happened, it ended far more quickly. "Although it was far less terrible in the latest timeline, so it will be less of a stumbling bloc."

"Stumbling bloc?" Nox asked. "To what?"

"Getting back in his good graces of course," Paisley said. "Have you forgotten about the show you're on?"

Nox looked at her like she just suggested she could fly to the moon if she willed it hard enough. "Felix hates me. Besides, until I fulfill the training conditions laid out, I'm stuck with the oni because of my second transformation. I got to learn to fight, to fuck, and to lead, the last of which-"

"Z hasn't helped you with at all," Paisley cut off the now crying goblin. "I got done talking to her before you, and was very disappointed with how slow your training has been. Your combat training I'm **** to admit is progressing quickly, but your sexual training is mainly a way to punish you so far, and you haven't made any progress in learning how to lead others, in combat or otherwise. At this rate, despite what the oni may claim, you will not have completed you training before leaving the Hotel, and that is not an outcome I can tolerate."

"But what can you do?" Nox asked through tears. "Transformations are set in stone, you can't just waive the conditions!"

"You'd be surprised what I can do when I set my mind to it Nox," Paisley said. "Besides, we don't need to get rid of the transformation, we just need to get you additional help to help you finish it..."

"Well, now I get Andy's deal..." Felix said in a voice full of shame. "There's... nothing that can make up for that. No money, no success... nothing..."

Noah heard Felix continuing to mumble the word, "nothing," as if trying to calm himself with it like a mantra. They hadn't even seen Laura's ****, just gotten increasingly detailed summaries of it, but that was enough. It was the kind of incident that broke people, and the slime girl just let Felix feel the whirlwind of emotions from that without comment. Cammy hugged him, but also didn't say anything. Even just watching it, they had to let it sit, and to let whatever was going to be said happen.

Hailey was with them for a bit, but bailed out after a comparatively chill second round. Noah knew it was because of Chloe, but did the others know that? After all, Hailey had become even more of the third wheel because of how the slime girl had altered their reality upon graduating, and so being reminded of that was touching a raw nerve. She would need to comfort her later, as Chloe definitely came out of her shell, and was at no risk of elimination from what they had seen.

"And Riley..." Felix trailed off. "Was that what I was like the first week? I have the memories of how I felt, but I can't remember the specifics of my anger. I mean, Smith is annoying and Austin was Austin, but... there's something I'm missing."

Nobody could answer his question, because they were stuck with the same retroactive alterations that he had gotten. So Noah and Cammy both experienced second hand emotions they had no context for from watching someone in another season be like Felix was in the first round. They watched a woman use anger to avoid dealing with grief, or a bunch of other stuff she couldn't deal with, just like Felix had during the first round. The slime girl especially hated how Felix had been that way, because when Hailey most needed him, when really they all most needed him, he was too paralyzed by anger at Austin and Janessa to do anything. So Hailey almost got eliminated, despite that she was the least to blame for Felix's, or anyone else's, present circumstances.

"You were," Noah said. "I don't blame you for that, especially as at this point I can't even remember the reasons you were that way. But... I hope you learned the right lessons from it. We need you Felix, and your position is too important for you to curl up in a defensive crouch, from anger or any other emotion."

"While I'm glad you managed to get something productive out of watching a marathon of Harem Hotel, I'm going to need to cut in," Paisley said behind them. "For instance, if you had such a strong reaction to the HH, perhaps you should write them some letters. They are calling for them, after all*."

Everyone, including Felix, gave the same embarrassed expression children do when they've been caught slacking off on chores. Noah even tried to bargain by offering, "Umm... we could fuck while watching TV, if that would help? I gave Felix a handjob yesterday while watching Bros to Hoes-"

Paisley had a rather strong reaction to the mention of Bros to Hoes, as that was where she chose to cut in. "Hate to break it to you, but Harem Hotel is more than just raw sex, although some seasons get pretty close to that. Now, Felix has a date to prepare for, and all of you need to start writing some fanmail to justify all the television, so chop chop..."

*(There are some time shenanigans happening here where they write the letters around here, but the HH got them far earlier. Just assume the HH flows more quickly or something and you'll be fine.)