Bennie laughed, carefree. Alfonso brought himself to her other side, and Bennie slipped her arms around both him and Ludovica. Moments like these made her wonder why she didn't use her powers on other entities more often.
And then she remembered.
The helpless feeling, not being able to act on your own whims, not being able to operate according to your own desires, not having a choice...that was something very entity despised. They were creations who existed to control. And to not be in control, well...Bennie had felt that once. She had felt it when Xenos sealed Life away, and she could do nothing to stop it.
Her powers stopped. Her skin ceased the production of the pheromones that had drawn her brother and niece to her, and immediately, Shoe's ears pricked and the wolf went to stand behind Ludovica.
"I am not like him," Bennie stated, the low rumble of her voice surprising even her. "Wanna know why? 'Cause I know how to stop. I have somewhere to be, babes. Catch you back in the realms?"
A lack of control. Every entity's worst fear, and one Bennie couldn't bring herself to capitalize on. Humans were one thing, but to selfishly manipulate others like her crossed a line she had drawn.
It was the line that kept her from being just like her brother.
"You're weak, Bennie."
Speaking of the monster.
"I should have known you couldn't go through with it. Where did you send Life?"
"Not telling, nerd." Bennie winked at them over her shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I have a trail of bread crumbs to follow."
She pulled the map out once more, trying to figure out how to follow it properly. Alfonso's hand gripping her arm caught her off-guard.
"You're not getting away that easy, dearie. If we can't have her, neither can you."
Sh*t. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to reactivate her powers after all.
Malin was, admittedly, unsure how to answer. This poor little girl spoke like she knew about the entities, but how could that be possible? If she'd met one, she'd probably be dead by now. She was small, cute, frail, and--
"In Life's name. My stupid dad is after you, isn't he?" Malin crossed his arms, then uncrossed them and stuck the eraser end of a pencil in his mouth. He chewed on it. "Or my stupid aunt is after you. Or maybe my stupid grandfather is trying to seal you in a clock for fun. My family is stupid."
That wouldn't do. This human needed help, clearly, and Malin intended to help her. Even if his stupid family would hate him for it. Maybe he could stick around her and escort her to the next town, or just hang around her and make sure his stupid family didn't find her, or maybe he would straight-up become her new bodyguard. If he could save even one human, it'd be worth it.
But first, he had to earn her trust.
"I'll be blunt. I'm Malin, I'm the entity in charge of death by murder, and I want to help you get away from my stupid family because they're all stupid and they don't understand how great humanity is, because they're stupid."