Sorry it's been so long! Myself and my lovely Beta have been busy busy people, and I appreciate your patience. I really hope you guys like this chapter, it should answer almost all your questions! Please review!
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"Can you run that by me…again?" Mal said into the stunned silence. "This rock is…what?"
"And you can read minds? Like River?" Simon interrupted.
"One thing at a time, Doc," Zoë admonished slightly, keeping her face carefully neutral. "You said Psyche, this planet, is alive?"
"'Alive' is a poor word choice," Shay said, "but it conveys the right meaning, yes."
"And you know this how exactly?" Wash asked, looking at the boy as if he were playing some ridiculous imaginary game and now it was time to come in for dinner.
"Well, first of all, my brothers didn't become wolves and werewolves by themselves, clearly. Nor did I become a mind reader or my mother able to move objects with her mind all by our lonesomes," Shay retorted, a little sharply. He did not enjoy being thought of as a liar.
"The broken furniture; that was her!" Kaylee exclaimed. "She did it with her brain!"
Shay smiled at her. "Yes, Miss Kaylee. She used to have much more control over it. But," he added, evasively, "recently, she's been unable to control much of anything."
"And how else do you know this planet is alive?" Zoë prompted, before the Captain could ask about why Rhoswen has lost control. Of course she'd known about Mal's wife; the man hadn't been able to shut up about her in the trenches. But when they'd returned to her home to get her… Zoë had been trying to erase the memory from her mind for years: the abandoned and desecrated town and Malcolm, already a broken man from the loss to the Alliance, collapsing in the street as the fate of his wife dawned on him, howling with despair. Zoë had feared he would go mad, but he'd pulled himself back together just barely, now only a shadow of the man he once was.
"On the day my brothers changed forms, my mother had visited the old wreck of the slaver ship. In the captain's quarters, she found the necklace you gave her," Shay replied, his gaze shifting briefly to Mal, who gave a strangled moan. Hastily, his son moved on, "While in the quarters, she used her telekinesis for the first time, and Psyche spoke to her. Not so much in words, more in images and ideas, but my mother clearly understood her message.
"Psyche is the product of an Alliance experiment. They were trying to create a cognizant planet for defensive purposes. In their ambition, they forgot that awareness breeds wants and ambitions of its own. Psyche is of the opinion that she can affect more change by bonding with a human conduit. She's looking to influence people's lives in a real way, and she can only do that with a helping hand; someone to channel her power through."
"No offense, but how is it you know your ma's hasn't just lost her marbles?" Jayne sneered.
Mal's and Shay's eyes flashed in eerily symmetrical anger. "Because she hasn't!" the boy snapped. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Besides, we found records confirming what Psyche showed her. Alliance stuff, so they didn't say how they did it. But after it was done, everyone died off in the initial power surge."
"An electrical accident?" Wash questioned.
Shay laughed bitterly, resembling his father again. "No, forgive me, you misunderstand. The power surge was when Psyche distributed her power to those she found worthy to be her conduits. The idea is that 'gifts' are given, and then those worthy must fight it out amongst each other to find the winner, the ultimate channel for the planet.
"However, when you fight someone else in the competition and win, their power becomes yours. Mother used to have excellent control over her telekinesis, until she defeated one of the others and absorbed his power."
"How does one 'win' against another?" asked Book.
Shay kept a sneer from his face at the Shepherd's tone, but just barely. "You must kill them, Preacher, I thought that was obvious."
"Kill?" Mal gaped. Rhoswen…kill someone? He had not thought her capable of something like that. Apparently, things had changed.
"The contest was between Mother and the three other slavers who survived the crash. Apparently, those who enslave their fellows have merit unknown to us mere mortals. My brothers and I aren't involved; we are not worthy." He spat the last word, as if it tasted bad in his mouth. "We were given gifts simply due to Psyche's…generosity.
"One of the slavers broke into the castle late one night, looking for Mother. He ran into one of my brothers, Elias, instead. Elias was just a wolf, not a werewolf, though, and so he was killed in the fight. The commotion drew attention, of course. And Mother finished him off. After that she lost consciousness for several days." The boy's gaze drifted to the med bay.
"When she woke up, she'd taken the other slaver's power: the ability to harness light," he continued after a few moments of silence. "She couldn't control it, and she lost her control over her telekinesis. That was about a month ago. Since then, life has been a nightmare.
"She barely sleeps, barely eats. She hallucinates sometimes, speaks nonsense other times. Her body can't handle the war inside her much longer, which is why she went after the last slaver last night. Once she defeats him, she'll be Psyche's champion."
"What happened last night?" Mal breathed.
"The slaver lives deep in the jungle and one of his many talents is controlling the plants-"
"The plants?" Wash broke in. "They attacked us on the beach!"
"Does he know we're here?" Zoë demanded sharply.
"Probably," Shay shrugged. "They could just automatically defend him, he might not have sent them. I don't know how his powers work. He hasn't come after us, though, so I doubt we have anything to worry about. At least as far as defense is concerned. At least, not yet. He's got to be in as much hell as Mother is, though, so it's only a matter of time before-"
"And what exactly is that hell?" Mal almost shouted, his fists clenched at his sides. All eyes were drawn to him, but then, slowly, the gazes all fell back to the boy before him. "What is wrong with my wife?" the Captain asked, each word forcibly restrained.
Shay sighed; no more beating around the bush with other, albeit important, explanations. Time for the truth. "The two powers are pushing against each other, in her mind, fighting for control. But she'll only have control if she beats the last slaver. When she does that, she'll have all Psyche's powers and they will be countered by each other, creating equilibrium. In the meantime, she's stuck," he paused, his eyes straying to the med bay where his mother lay, "striving for balance."