Second opinion

Before I joined the crew of the Snow Arrow I felt highly uncertain that it was
a wise idea. I am just one individual, and by no means do I have the same
strength as lady Winterfur. I worried that I would not have the strength or
ability to protect her like I needed to do. And I hoped that my fears were
unfounded. That Mind was truly gone. But these things are never meant to last
are they? When the aberrant appeared before us in aetherspace, I thought we were
lost for certain. And when I first saw miss Emirie struggle and cry in pain, I
didn't know what to do. All I could do was watch helplessly as miss Winterfur
senior cradled her child with gentle caress. Myself, I could just sit by them
and feel helpless. In this instance, I failed. I let despair overcome me and
allowed it to paralyse my actions. This fear however did not overpower my crew.
They did what I should have done, and took the fight to Mind herself. Although
they failed to harm Mind directly, it created a distraction and lady Emirie
would breathe visibly easier in those short moments between the blasts of
energy.

Now bear in mind, I am no healer, and my power is nothing compared to that of
someone like Mind. Yet I am tied to the elemental plane of Water and I have
knowledge of mental restoration. With Mind distracted I might just have the
ability to extract the phantom plaguing lady Winterfur and purify her of the
alien presence. I would need miss Kristen to help me though, as the process
would leave me unable to help our crew in the battle against Mind. I carried
miss Kristen and miss Emirie back to the empathic grid. Miss Kristen placed
herself within the grid and resumed her position as empath, while I gently
lowered lady Winterfur to the floor. As I saw her below me in that manner,
helpless and in pain, I felt an odd sting in my heart, and fury welled up in me
at Mind's cruelty. Slowly, my paw traced over lady Winterfur, waiting for my
opportunity to begin the process. The sound of a loud explosion provided the
opening, and I closed my senses to the outside world as my soul delved into the
spiritual battle.

Piercing into lady Winterfur's mentality was no simple feat. Not only was I
fighting against the influence of Mind, but I was also struggling against Miss
Emirie's own defence mechanisms, so that when I finally found my own self linked
to her ego, I felt debilitated. Yet I trudged on, delving deeper and deeper
until Miss Emirie's own internal vision became apparent to me. lady Winterfur's
mindscape took the form of a vast, endless field of grass and flowers. Most
shining with vibrant colours and vivid vitality, yet like a wave something
approached from all sides, withering grass and bloom alike and turning the field
cracked and dry. No doubt was this the manifestation of Mind's poison as it
slowly corrupted lady Winterfur's sanity. She herself was stuck in the middle of
the field, and even here she envisioned herself curled up in desperation.

I approached her calmly and placed a paw on her frightened shape. Slowly she
turned her head up to look at me, and I could see the worry in her eyes.
"Trickle?" She asked, almost bewildered. "What... what are you doing here?"

"What a foolish question. I'm here to help you of course."

"Help... me?" She asked curiously, while her eyes glanced around in fear.
"How..."

"How did I get here?" I smiled warmly as I took a seat beside her. "I found an
opening in the psychic attack on your being and seized the opportunity to slip
in."

"I see... so this isn't real, is it?" Her voice was low, a barely audible
whisper.

"Yes... and no. Our surroundings, what you perceive, that is made from how you
want things to be. But my presence and that of Mind... those are real." I sighed
softly as I felt uncertain on how to continue. "I guess... the best way to
explain it is as thus. Although how you perceive me is decided by your own mind,
my actual presence here is as real as the rivers and lakes of the world."

"But why are you here then? And why do I hurt so much?" Her voice grew a little
louder, but it took up a distinctly melancholic tone.

"I already told you that I'm here to help you." I started to rub one paw over
her head, while with the other, I took her paw in mind and held it firmly, in an
attempt to comfort her.

"No, I am serious. Why are you here?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words would come out. She doubted me and
my intention, and I saw not how I could properly answer that. "I... am here to
stop Mind." I finally answered, and her face grew darker as the surrounding
presence seemed to draw closer at a higher speed.

"I thought as much. You're here to defeat the being who threatens your home and
those you care about. You need me for that. I can understand that perfectly." A
silence crept in on us, but I didn't break it. "Someone needs to do it after
all. There's always a need for someone whom won't just sit by and watch the
world drift on by. You're strong Trickle. You won't sit by and hope for someone
else to come by and solve the problem." I slowly tightened my grip around her
paw as I started to realize what pain she spoke about. "It's nice to have people
going out of their way to help you."

"Miss Emirie, you are strong as well. You managed to defeat Mind the first time
around. That in itself is an extra-ordinary feat."

"Being lucky isn't being strong. I didn't choose to get into the situations I
came into. I just had to roll with the punches and do my best to survive. That's
luck, not strength." I opened my mouth to intervene as I watched the dark
presence glide closer and closer towards us, wilting the land into nothing.
However, Lady Winterfur was on a roll, and I couldn't get myself to stop her.
"Yeah I won. But what good did that do? What good did anything do? I am the one
responsible for awakening Mind in the first place. It is my fault that all of
this happened. Of course, placing blame is ultimately an exercise in futility.
Future doesn't affect past."

"I'm afraid I no longer follow you..."

"People do not care. Even when presented with overwhelming evidence, they don't
care. They don't see because they do not wish to see. If they can avoid being
torn out of their complacency, then they would rather take every measure to
avoid whatever wrong, than take action. After all, why care when it's easier to
pretend that you do not understand, nor believe."

"Miss Emirie!" I objected violently as her mentality steadily decreased. "That
may be true for some, but it is not true for everyone. There are those who
actually care, and whom are capable of putting the needs of others before their
own."

"But they're never those you expect them to be. When was the last time you saw
someone you admired do something good. Not even heroic, just plain
compassionate, something you do only for the sole reason of making someone else
feel better? Not even love is really altruistic you know. Acting out of love is
another means of acting out self-satisfaction and self-realisation. But the
moment you risk losing... losing... losing. Then you... then where is... is
isit?" Her voice cracks down and she pulls her paw out of my grip as she begins
sobbing dreadfully. Though it was clear something was bothering her, I would not
have this.

"Miss Emirie. Shut up!" I exclaimed loudly at her. It was harsh, but necessary.
"Do you see me? Do you feel me? Do you hear me?" My loud voice must've been a
heavy impact on her, for she immediately stopped sobbing and instead looked up
at me through still misty eyes.

"Y-yes. I guess..."

"Exactly." I could feel the encroaching darkness slow down. "Mind may be many
things, but there is one thing certain about her. She does not kill unless
necessary. She is after you, not any one of us. We can ignore both of you, and
she'd do nothing to us. So why are we here? Because we put your life over our
own comfort. Right now, Ester and Ista are both attempting to keep us safe from
Mind while I'm trying to break her influence on you. This puts us at risk, a
risk we willingly entered to keep you safe." I could feel the influence of Mind
grow a little weaker. Whatever the real reason for her attitude, I did manage to
grant her some small measure of faith. "Do you want what we do for you to be
worthless?"

I could see that she wanted to say something, but that shut her up fully. She
closed her eyes, as if to think, before she nodded. "You're right. It's what I
do that is important." She gazes out to watch the wilting force as it crept
frighteningly close. "And I can't let Mind take me over."

I watched with a slight smile as vitality began to return to the withered
field. "Great. You've got your spirit back again. Now let me help you." I stood
up beside her and took hold of her paw once again.

"My spirit? I guess. Maybe. What I do know is that I have no desire to be
selfish."

"So you're trying to prove wrong your own lack of faith."

"How'd you..."

I merely smiled at her. "Later. First, give to me the pain and insecurities
she's forced upon you."

"And how do I do that?" She looked up at me with a curious smile.

I smiled as I took both her paws in my own and pushed them to her heart. "Just
think of something stronger. Think about me." With a curt nod she did so, and my
paws began to tingle. First it was a barely noticeable tickle, but it swiftly
became into a painful humming vibration as the force was transferred into my
spiritual self. Finally she pushed me away from her gently. "That is all?"

"I think so yes. Thank you."

"No, thank you. Many people admire you Emirie."

"So it's come to that huh? I'm finally just Emirie to you." She chuckled, and I
couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed. "It looks like I'm not the only one
who is making progress."

"Mayhaps..." I cringed slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me, let's finish this
while I still have some feeling in my paws." I didn't wait for her to respond as
I released my grip upon Emirie's mindscape. I opened my eyes, and in my paws I
felt the squirming of Mind's phantom. I forced my paws together, destroying the
phantom into tiny wisps of energy. Emirie's eyes opened and she smiled as the
emotional torture finally stopped.

For a few long moments we did nothing but stare at one another, ignoring the
explosions all around us. We weren't brought out of the silence until Emirie's
mother called out to us. "Emirie... Trickle... Mind has kidnapped Toi."