Well, we weren’t initially there for Phoebe. We were actually trying to stop Harriet from taking another life, and apparently someone wanted Phoebe dead. Until the kill is confirmed or the summons wears off, Harriet will continue to attack. But I guess no one anticipated Phoebe’s demon guardian, Nightmare, to fight off Harriet for a while, manifesting a variety of shadowy blades to do so.

Phoebe is a heavily traumatized girl, we’d eventually learn, to the point that she manifested her own demon, and Nightmare will do everything in its power to protect her if she becomes sufficiently scared. Usually ends if the trigger stops being a trigger, either they leave, or they’re dead. Nightmare only becomes stronger and more destructive as Phoebe gives in to her panic, and since Harriet can’t die and won’t stop for a while, it became a war of attrition, with Nightmare becoming exponentially stronger as time went on.

Then something we didn’t expect happened; Phoebe’s mind became so engulfed in fear, that she and Nightmare fused into what was called “Phobia.” This only made a bad situation worse. At first, we decided to turn our attention to the more dangerous of the two, but Macabre realized that as long as we went on the offensive and Harriet was still around on her mission, Phobia would only get more violent. The maelstrom of blades that manifested would certainly have made Sickle’s jaw drop.

It was then decided that Vex, Nikolai, and I would focus on keeping Harriet restrained, and Macabre would try to soothe Phobia. Thankfully we managed to run out Harriet’s clock, but Phobia kept up the attack. Until they saw Macabre. Something clicked that made Phobia pause long enough for Macabre to get in and talk her down. I couldn’t quite make out what was said, but that, plus Macabre having his violin play a tune meant to soothe wayward souls, eventually caused Phoebe and Nightmare to finally split. Phoebe passed out in Macabre’s arms, and after we found where she lived, apparently was out for quite a while.

The property damage was horrific, but it was definitely a miracle that no one else was around at the time. Was that you who provided the “localized tornado full of chainsaws and razor blades” cover story, Hivemind? We had nothing, but frankly, we’ve seen stranger.

Anyway, apparently the reason Phobia stopped at seeing Macabre was because Nightmare could tell that he was also a demon, and that Macabre wanted to help. Turns out, Phobia was basically the very violent manifestation of a panic attack. I’ve seen mortals suffer from them from time to time, and I can’t lie, it’s frightening to see, even more so when you don’t know how to help. This was the first time I’ve seen a lashing out of this caliber, though. Macabre usually has a good eye at seeing the hurt in others, and does what he can to aid them.

Thankfully, once Phoebe and Nightmare came to, Macabre visited them to learn more. Turns out, Nightmare is a paranoid sort, but it trusts Macabre, possibly because of their similarities. Plus, Phoebe and Nightmare are working at better controlling their fear responses. The encounter with Harriet was an incredibly extreme occasion, one that we hopefully don’t have to experience again. Harriet remembers who it was that summoned her, so we’re looking into ways to make sure they don’t try the same summon again. Scare tactics usually work on those, anyway, we got that covered, at least.

Unwanted responses to outside triggers. How do I keep coming across those? First myself, then Harriet, now Phoebe. What makes things worse, is the fact that Phoebe was able to create a demon in the first place. Can all mortals do that? The pain that must be required for such…I can’t bring myself to fathom it, despite the experiences I’ve had as a mortal, myself.

I guess if you want to keep this from happening again, Hivemind, you could try to keep her safe from triggers, and trust me, there’s a lot. Macabre will keep tabs on her since Nightmare is much more open about conversing with him, but he’s no therapist. Completely removing trauma from the psyche is unlikely, but being able to keep it from hindering your life is possible. She needs serious, professional help for that. At least she has started on the path of control, she just needs someone who can be with her more reliably to help her continue.

(OOC: Phoebe, Nightmare, and Phobia belong to @cybertherobotdragon )