Camilla: Convincing a Rose

As Dusk and...whatever her name is go off into the ocean, Camilla has something else to take care of. After a chaste kiss and another apology with Kara, she carries the weakened redhead away, out of earshot.

"You should make this quick."

"I know, I know." Camilla told the voice in her head.

"Who are...you talking to?" Rose squirmed against her back.

"Sorry, not important right now. What is important, is what's going on between you and Dusk." She sets the redhead down into the sand, the waves brushing up against her feet. "I don't know who - or maybe even what - you are, but that's why I'm doing this." She sits down next to Rose, who's already holding her head in her knees. "However you got here, it's not the same way the rest of us got in, and that means either you're responsible for the dreamscape, or you were already trying to get in Dusk's head. Which is it?"

A pause before Rose speaks. "I infected him with my seed... He should be under my control right now..." She sounds...sad that whatever she did didn't work.

"I think we can work with this. Ask her why she's lonely."

After a confused pause, the captain sets a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Do you...need friends, Rose? That is your name, right?"

"Friends? You mean backstabbers..."

Camilla blinks, blowing air out her mouth. "That's...ouch... Well, I can't tell you how to think about life, but... I can tell you this: Dusk isn't like whatever 'friends' you had before. Literally the day after we met, he saved my life...and I was only in danger because of my own stupid decision in the first place. If I lost him, I'd be devastated."

"Need I mention again you'd be dead, as well?"

The captain turns her head to the side and whispers. "Not now!" She clears her throat. "I just mean to say, he's an actual friend. If he wanted to backstab me, he had way too many chances not to do it by now."

"Good for you."

The brunette sighs. "Yeah, good for me... Just give him a chance, okay? He'll prove that you don't need mind control to be able to trust someone."

Rose takes a breath, seemingly about to answer, but darkness suddenly takes hold. "The dreamscape collapsed..."

Camilla sighs again, seeing her blue-and-red-eyed duplicate floating in the dark space surrounding them. "Yeah, I figured that... Is it time for me to actually wake up yet, or are you still keeping me here?"

"...soon. It may not seem like you should be exhausted, but your body is nearly finished changing on a fundamental level. Just be a little more patient..."