Nobody else believed me when I told them, but I think that another ancient besides Giygas and Lorraine still walks this planet.

Of course, it doesn't really matter in the end. Killing ancients isn't like killing Osohe or other animals. After all, their concept of "life" differs from ours quite greatly.

So why did Lorraine want us to kill them in the first place?

"Looks like my Giygas sent my body out to battle," Mary said, looking up at a screen in the sky.

Starman Jenny followed Mary's gaze and looked at the screen. Beads of sweat rolled down Mary's face; her gritted teeth and stiff posture indicated what looked like physical exertion. Jenny didn't know too much about these humans, but Mary didn't appear to be performing any action that would put her under physical stress. Jenny gave herself a mental shrug and looked upwards.

Even though Jenny could normally see in all directions with her PSI vision, being in Magicant restricted her to seeing like a human. The screen in the sky displayed an empty street filled with rubble and toppled buildings. Friendly signs depicting flowers and food lay scattered on the street, many torn apart or missing chunks.

"This is what she sees, right?" Jenny said. "This is your… human vision."

"Right," Mary said, her voice strained. "That's what my body sees. Giygas is moving me towards the action. Were you looking at the sky to see Kim's speech? After that, many of the humans rallied together."

And rallied together, they will probably take out most of the starmen, Jenny thought. Minerva Carpainter blew up most of us with nuclear weapons in her dying breath.

But Giygas had told her that death didn't hinder starmen. He had stuffed her into Mary's body where she now found herself, but what about the other starmen? Most of them have no bodies to hijack.

Still, Jenny knew that Giygas always planned out everything. He calculated every possibility and acted in a way that would minimize risk. If letting most of the starman military die in nuclear explosions didn't faze Giygas, it shouldn't faze Jenny.

"Wait," Mary said, turning to look at Jenny. "Did you sense that?"

Sense what? Jenny was about to respond when a wave of psionic energy slammed into her full-force. If she were to use a human metaphor, she would explain that it felt like being hit by an automobile. However, even the greatest of pains and fears were little more than nuisances to starmen; Jenny took a moment to recalibrate her systems and turned back to Mary.

"Lorraine," Jenny said. "Someone opened the pathway to Lorraine."

"Huh?" Mary said. "Who's that?"

"Queen of the Osohe. An ancient with comparable strength to Giygas. We killed most of the Osohe 3000 years ago, but Lorraine hid and we could never find her."

"And now she just resurfaced," Mary said. "What could that mean? She probably reawakened to oppose Giygas, right?"

"That she did," came a voice from behind Jenny. "And that changes the game quite a bit, I'm afraid. Mind Thrust."

Before Jenny could react, Mary cried out in pain and clutched her head. Jenny whirled around to see Fassad standing with his arms crossed and a downcast expression.

"I hope that you believe me when I say that I don't enjoy this," Fassad said. His gaze locked with Mary's. "But I can't stand to be trapped any longer. I know that if I take you out then I have a chance at controlling this body for myself."

"No!" Mary said. "Even if you kill me, then the ruthless part of me will just take over and raze more cities. You're not helping any-"

"I've done this before," Fassad said, firing a round of missiles at Mary. "I consider myself a seasoned veteran at body hijacking."

The missiles slammed into Mary, knocking her off her feet.

"I… can't…" Mary squeezed her eyes shut. "Please… no more…"

"I know," Fassad said. "It's a scary prospect, being trapped again. I don't like this feeling of helplessness any more than you do. It's either you or me, Mary." Fassad's eyes narrowed. "And I've suffered for longer."

"Wait," Jenny said.

"Hmm?" Fassad turned his gaze towards Jenny. "You're a starman. It doesn't matter to you who rules this body."

Mary opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came up. Her muscles tensed as she writhed on the floor.

"You did that to her," Jenny said.

"Actually, no," Fassad said. "While I certainly would have no objections to something like that, the pain is a burden that Mary took on herself. She's trying to impose her will on this body, and she's fighting a losing battle. Sooner or later, she would have given in anyway."

So that's why she looked so strained, Jenny thought. She was using all of her energy to get through to her body.

"So I'll put her out of her misery," Fassad said. "Mind thrust."

Mary jerked once and fell still. Jenny knew that starman couldn't feel emotions, but something about Fassad's actions made her want to strangle him.

"Why?" Jenny said. "Why now?"

"Sorry," Fassad said. "But I'm even less likely to tell you anything than your alien master is. Teleport."

Starman Jenny fired off a beam, but Fassad was already gone by the time it reached him.

Ana woke up with a sore back. She groaned, standing up off of the hard ground and stretching her arms. She didn't quite remember what had happened, but she could still feel the lingering pain.

"Well, it's about damn time," came a nearby voice.

Ana whirled around to face Claus. He wore an easygoing smile that Ana found quite suspicious. She didn't imagine Claus as an actor, but that kid was never pleased with anything. Adrenaline rushed through Ana's system. She couldn't quite remember, but something about this whole situation irked her…

Memories flashed past Ana's eyes. Claus diving into the Ceresian forces and sowing chaos. Explosions shaking the ground and toppling buildings. Ana gasped, clutching her head in pain.

"Ana!" Claus said, his face growing concerned. "Is everything all right?"

"Call weapon," Ana said, summoning a battleaxe and pointing it at Claus. "Don't you dare take a step closer."

Claus' face paled.

"Listen," he said. "I know that we fought on different sides, but-"

"No buts!" Ana said, her heart pounding in her chest. "Stay away from me!"

"You psyching lost, Ana," Claus said. "Your team scattered and abandoned you. We took you unconscious and healed you up. We don't have to be enemies anymore."

Ana started shaking.

"Ana?" Claus said, his eyes widening in concern.

Who do I trust? Ana thought. What do I believe?

"Look at me, Ana," Claus said. "I'm a terrible liar. We're here to help you."

His face… Ana hadn't ever seen Claus this genuinely worried about somebody else. His eyes never wavered as he scanned Ana for ways that he could help. It reminded her of...

Ness.

Ana's stomach lurched, and she nearly vomited all over the street. Ness was gone, all because she hadn't been strong enough to protect him.

"Ana, think about all of those memories we share," Claus said. "Do you remember me trying to bust you out of that Scaraban prison? And how it turned into you saving me? I'm still that person, Ana. I don't want to hurt you."

"It's not that," Ana said. "I do trust you, Claus." I trust you as much as I can, anyway.

Claus' shoulders relaxed.

"I'm glad," he said.

Psych, the smile that he wore made Claus look even more like Ness. He cared that much about obtaining her trust and she couldn't even tell him the full truth about it? Ana supposed that this was one of the many reasons why she was a terrible person.

"Well, I'm not going to keep you here," Claus said. "I understand how messed up this whole war is, and you probably want some personal space. We made a truce with a Ceresian legion a while back, so now we're all focused on hunting starmen. We teleported over here because we were afraid of Lucas finding us back where we fought earlier."

A truce… Ana thought, considering the implications.

She wanted to be happy, but nothing could break through the contempt that she felt for fighting and nearly dying in a skirmish that simply ended in a truce.

But that's what I'm fighting for, isn't it? Ana thought. I want to create a world of peace. This is the first step forward.

Ana noted the tidbit about Lucas, trying not to look too excited. So far as she remembered, Claus didn't know about her plan to kill Lucas, and she didn't want to give him an excuse to try and stop her. Ana smiled and walked into the Dalaamian war camp after saying goodbye to Claus.

Little did he know that this would probably be the last time Ana ever spoke to him.

After a few minutes of wandering the streets, she sensed a psionics-user approaching her from behind. She had encountered this person enough to recognize his aura on first perception.

"Hello, Poo," Ana said, not bothering to turn around. "What are you up to?"

Poo circled around and walked in front of her. Instead of wearing only his standard tunic, a sparkling gold cloak covered most of his clothes. It took Ana a couple seconds of staring before formulating any sort of thought about it. Only after staring at his cloak did she spot the silver crown on his head.

"Fancy, isn't it?" Poo said. "Psionically enchanted to ward off attacks, too. This cloak and diadem are traditional objects that the king is required to wear." Poo pulled his right arm out from under his cloak, revealing a golden bracelet. "I also have this. They're all gilded, though, which seems a little tacky. But apparently that's how they were made."

"Besides," Ana said, "I bet that iron holds up against more wear and tear than solid gold would."

"Bronze, but yeah." Poo shrugged.

"Well congratulations on your coronation, King Poo," Ana said, a smirk coming to her face. "Sorry that I missed it."

Poo matched Ana's smirk, putting his hands on his hips.

"You're still far smoother than Claus and Ninten in social situations," Poo said. "But I should probably go now. I have to oversee an army." Poo brought a finger up to his throat and made the motion of slitting this throat while trying to look dead. "Fun stuff. I'll see you around."

"Ninten's here?" Ana said.

Psych. As if she didn't have enough stresses to deal with.

"Yeah. You see that building over there?" Poo pointed to what looked like little more than a shack. "The one that looks like it's about to crumble any minute now? Ninten insisted that he stay there. Said that even if it did collapse, he could survive as a psion so it should be him there."

"Classic," Ana said.

"I know, right?" Poo laughed. After a moment, his expression grew somber. "Believe it or not, he helped me through those first few months on Ceres where I didn't know anybody and wasn't allowed to know anybody." Noticing Ana's confusion, he continued, "My father didn't want me to mingle with the outside universe more than completely necessary as a psion, so he told me to keep to myself. It seems so silly now. I didn't gain anything from those days spent eating and studying alone, and my father's not even around anymore."

"Isn't the Mu that your sages use just another way of looking at psionics?" Ana said.

"Correct," Poo said. "It's all just so silly. Dalaam hates the outside universe because it calls Mu 'psionics' instead. It makes me want to clunk some heads together." Poo shook his head. "I should actually go now. See you, Ana."

"Goodbye," Ana said. This is probably the last time we'll ever talk, she almost added out loud.

Ana looked at Poo's sparkling cloak as he walked off into the distance. He didn't act any more regal than before, but maybe that was because he always acted regal even as a prince. Well, Dalaamian-style regal, at least. Confident but measured, strong but sensitive, flashy but humble. Maybe those Dalaamians did come up with good practices every now and then.

Ana barely remembered walking towards Ninten's shack. When she opened the door, nobody stood inside. Ana sighed, partly from relief but partly from disappointment. Telling Ninten her plan of action was the last thing that she wanted to do, but she did enjoy his presence.

It's probably for the best, Ana thought. He would try to stop me.

Ana summoned a piece of paper and a pen, and started writing a note:

Ninten,

I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I hope that you understand. It's time for me to avenge Ness, and I don't have much to live for in this universe anyway. I'm a burden to everyone, most of all myself.

But hey, look on the bright side. There's an off chance that I actually kill-

"What are you writing there?" came Ninten's voice from outside the shack.

Ana jolted straight up from surprise. She whirled around and regarded Ninten with a glare.

"Whoa," Ninten said, holding his hands up, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's not you," Ana said. "In fact, that's the whole point. Don't expect to ever see me again."

"What do you mean?" Ninten said.

Ana walked past Ninten, handing him the incomplete note.

"Avenging Ness?" Ninten said. "You mean fighting Lucas? Ana, that's suicide!"

"It reads like a suicide note for a reason," Ana said, walking away from Ninten's shack.

Ninten ran forward to keep up with Ana.

"Listen, Ann," Ninten said. "You just woke up, and you're probably-"

"Don't try to pass this off as a bad mood or a phase," Ana said. "This is the real me. I fantasized about killing myself for years. But now I don't have to."

"You're insane," Ninten said. "You're actually psyching insane. I thought I was the one who would develop schizophrenia."

Wait, what?

"I mean…" Ninten said, his eyes widening as he realized what he just said. "Yeah, basically."

"How do you know?" Ana said.

"That I'm supposed to develop schizophrenia? I'm fine. It probably won't happen for a couple years at least. You, on the other hand…"

"Oh, I have schizophrenia?"

"You need help," Ninten said. "You're not going to go out there and fight psyching Lucas."

"Who's going to stop me?" Ana asked. "You?"

"I'll try," Ninten said, his expression darkening.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you in person," Ana said. "You always try to control everyone around you without really caring about how they feel."

It was the most hypocritical statement Ana could have possibly said, and she knew it. But as Ninten's eyes widened in shock, she knew that it worked.

Hate me, Ninten, Ana thought. I'm just a heartless bitch that tries to make your life miserable. Be happy that I won't pester you any further.

"Ana," Ninten said, the pain in his voice nearly breaking Ana's heart. "Is that how you really see me?"

Ana, not Ann. Ninten was getting serious. Ana closed her eyes. She didn't want to hurt Ninten any more. He didn't deserve any of this.

But breaking his heart now would be better than forcing him to deal with the guilt of her death, wouldn't it?

"Yes," Ana said, her voice shaking. "That's exactly how I see you."

Ninten's eyes flashed in realization.

Uh-oh, Ana thought.

"You're lying," Ninten said. "You just want me to hate you enough to let you die."

Yeah, basically.

"Ann," Ninten said, shaking his head. "The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You always work so hard to do what you think is best for me," Ninten said. "Even if you're more manipulative than I can believe, you still care." Ninten smiled. "It's one of the reasons that I always admired you."

Oh, psych. Ana didn't know how much longer she could take this without breaking down. Ninten chose her to admire out of everyone in the entire universe? He deserved a better role model.

"Even in what you believe to be your last moments," Ninten said, "You still try to help me in your own way. That's why it's so hard for me to let go."

Psych, psych, psych. Ninten was a hundred times harder to refuse in this state.

"Don't you see?" Ana said. "I only care about avoiding the guilt! Your emotions don't actually mean anything to me."

"And you think that other people are different?" Ninten said.

Wh… What?

"Oh psych," Ninten said, shaking his head. "You honestly do. You think that we're all angels, and that when we help others its out of the complete goodness of our hearts."

Uh… it isnt?

"We all help people because we like the control," Ninten said. "We like to feel like we're accomplishing something. We like the smiles we receive and the thanks that we humbly brush off. We like the feeling when everything just works out because of us. We like to be competent; we like to be needed. You're just one of the only people to realize where those altruistic feelings stem from."

"So we're all immoral," Ana said. "We all just fulfill our evolutionary role of helping the group and suck up the happy feelings that our brain gives us as a reward. We're all selfish. We're all control freaks."

"And so none of us are," Ninten said. "At least, that's one way to look at it. Your parents would probably disagree."

They would, Ana thought, But maybe that's part of my problem. I always thought that they were pure while I was tainted. But nobody's perfect. We all act out of pride and vanity, even when we don't realize it.

"So you think that I'm actually a good person?" Ana said.

"About as good as we humans can get," Ninten said. "Now, do you really have to go?"

Ana gulped.

"I do," she said. "Even if you're right… I can't take this any longer. Ness is dead, and his killer is still roaming the streets, probably slaughtering people as we speak. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try to stop him."

Ninten looked down at the concrete ground and nodded.

"I guessed as much," he said. "Please, don't throw away your life if you have a chance to live."

Ninten walked up and embraced Ana in a hug.

"Ninten!" Ana said. "I…"

"We're still friends, right?" Ninten said. "No matter what happens."

I can't promise that, Ana said. Who knows what outside forces might tear our friendship apart?

"I'll never forget this moment," Ana said. At least she could keep that promise, short of receiving amnesia.

"Thank you," Ninten said.

"I…" Ana cut herself off. "This feels so wrong. I should be the one comforting you. I need to be as strong as possible if I want to face Lucas."

"Needing someone isn't weak," Ninten said. "Ness was the strongest of us all, in his own way. Even though he died so young, I don't think he regretted anything." He looked into Ana's eyes. "And I'm sure that he was grateful to have you, Ann. From one look into his eyes, it was so easy to see how much he adored you."

He deserved someone better, Ana thought. Someone whole.

Still, Ninten's words made her smile. Even if Ness did deserve someone better, she was glad to have helped him at all.

"I can't…" Ana said. "I couldn't be the person he wanted me to be, and I can't be the person you want me to be. I'm lesbian, remember?"

"Who said anything about romance?" Ninten said. "We're friends, and friends have each other's backs. No matter what happens to you, I'll be there if you need me."

Psych, Ana thought. Why can't I be that loyal?

No. For now, she would enjoy her last few moments with a friend. After a span of time that didn't feel nearly long enough, Ninten released Ana from his embrace.

"I'm willing to come with you," Ninten said. "I know that I'd probably just hold you back, but if you wanted me…"

Ana shook her head.

"I'd rather not worry about losing you," she said. "If I can hardly take care of myself, I don't think that I can manage you."

"I'm hurt," Ninten said, a grin popping up on his face. "You don't trust me to take care of myself?"

Ana rolled her eyes.

"I've known you too long to put much faith in your self-preservation skills."

"Ouch," Ninten said, although his grin only widened.

"I… guess I should go now," Ana said. "Ah, psych. The goodbye is ten times harder when you don't hate my guts."

"Harder, but hopefully better," Ninten said.

"Yeah," Ana said. "I guess it is."

They stood still, neither one talking for several seconds.

"Goodbye, I guess," Ana said. "I don't know what else to say."

"Just remember that I'm there for you," Ninten said. "Even if you pull ridiculously dangerous stunts and try your hardest to make me hate you. What can I say? I guess I'm just a 'bad girl' type."

The words sounded so out of place that Ana laughed, as Ninten had probably known she would. Psych, it felt good to let go of her fears and insecurities like this.

"And Ann?" Ninten said. "Remember what Ness died for."

He died for nothing, Ana thought. Fiven vanished in a flash despite his efforts. Maybe that's what Ninten meant. I should try to prevent any more needless deaths, including my own.

"I never forget," Ana said. "Teleport."

As the world faded around her, Ninten waved one last goodbye.

After quick introductions, Lorraine teleported herself and Jeff onto a building high enough that it almost pierced the clouds. She didn't move her hands or speak an incantation, so Jeff assumed that she wasn't using psionics.

It was a good reminder. In these bubbles that existed between the physical universe and the psionic universe, thoughts alone could exert physical forces and influences.

Jeff looked around the building that he appeared on top of. Despite the high altitude, only a light breeze rippled past his cheeks. The ceiling that Jeff stood on, just as other buildings in Lorraine's realm, was made of multicolored stained glass. Fortunately for Jeff, the ceiling was completely flat, unlike many of the other buildings. Jeff peered over the edge. The clear road that snaked between buildings appeared only as a thin line. If Jeff hadn't known what to look for from seeing it up close, he probably wouldn't have noticed it at all.

"You teleported me up to such a high altitude," Jeff said. "So why…"

"Why isn't the air pressure or oxygen content an issue?" Lorraine finished. She smiled, looking into Jeff's eyes. "It looks like you have the answer worked out for yourself."

"It's because this world doesn't conform to physical laws, not completely," Jeff said. "Because someone thought about equalizing the air pressure at all altitudes, it turned into reality."

"Close," Lorraine said. "My thoughts created a machine that regulates the air pressure up here. If I changed the air pressure with my thoughts, it would go back to its natural state after I stopped thinking about it."

This place continues to vex me, Jeff thought. Will my logical mind be my downfall in this strange land?

No. Jeff's willingness to question and think objectively got him this far. Even surreal worlds made some sort of sense. Jeff would work his way through every puzzle that presented itself, natural or no.

"Take a look at these," Lorraine said, walking up to a clear table on the rooftop. "This is how I see the outside world and record the information for the pillar to spout."

"Hmm?" Jeff said, walking up to a table.

"You can connect to it with your mind," Lorraine said. "Just tell it what you want to see. I programmed algorithms that usually gets it to show the right scene based on your thoughts."

"Easier to do in this realm when thoughts create reality, I would imagine," Jeff said.

Lorraine nodded.

"You can even send telepathic messages to people," Lorraine said.

"Is that how you got your messages to show up on my portocom?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, but that's a bit tougher to do. I also conversed with the old president Minerva Carpainter. She didn't trust me, and because of that she ended up releasing Giygas and dying a couple years later."

Interesting, Jeff thought. So you can create tools with mental power alone, and have those tools affect the physical world outside. It's like hacking your way into gaining psionic powers.

"After a few thousand years, I made a few adjustments to the entire scrying process of these tables," Lorraine said. "Most importantly, I planted a few of them within my brain, and I'm constantly scanning the outside world and recording what I see. That's how I managed to know everything about you humans."

And she probably ships those records over to the physical Shard, which can't be tainted by others' thoughts, Jeff figured. Clever indeed. I guess that's what 3000 years of experience will do.

"Because I can see what's happening in your world," Lorraine said. "I would highly recommend looking at where Ana is. Maybe you can get her to stop."

"Stop?" Jeff said, his heart skipping a beat. Stop what?

Look at the screen, dummy. Jeff turned to one of the clear tables, placing his hands on the cool glass and leaning forward.

All right, Jeff thought. Let's test this whole "thinking creates reality" in this realm. Show me my friend Ana Aniah.

The tabletop rippled like a pond with a rock thrown in, eventually materializing into a scene that showed…

After a couple hours of searching the school, Ana found Tracy in a place where she should have looked first: her room. After she knocked and Tracy let her in, Ana looked at the paintings hanging up on the walls.

She gasped. Ness had painted every single one.

"Yeah, one of the students here gave them to me," Tracy said. "She thought Ness was still alive. It means more now that he's gone." She walked over to a painting depicting Ness' entire family, with his father still alive. "I always wanted a picture like this. Just our family together, actually enjoying each other's company. It never happened."

"I'm sorry," Ana said.

"Don't be. You've suffered a lot worse. Ness was closer to you than he was to me."

"How are you so sure?"

"Look around," Tracy said.

Ana scanned the walls of the room and saw that most of the paintings depicted her in some way. Besides one of his family, one of Pokey, and a couple miscellaneous paintings of Ceresian buildings and Earth sunsets, Ana stood at the forefront of Ness' paintings. In one, she was smirking and putting a foot on the blunt side of an axe while holding the handle in her right hand. Another showed her and Ness looking at ice cream cones. Ness ordered vanilla, as always, while Ana combined chocolate and strawberry.

"Oh, psych," Ana said. "He didn't even show me most of these."

"He was probably ashamed of them," Tracy said, rolling her eyes, "Even though they're beautiful. But even in his paintings, you can see how much he loved you. Thanks for taking care of my brother, Ana. And thanks for taking care of me."

Taking care of Ness? Ana thought. As in letting him die?

Ana knew that she had made Ness happier. Ana knew that he had gone into a dangerous situation and accepted the fact that he might not come out. But she couldn't rid herself of the voices in her mind that told her how weak and pathetic she was.

"I know that it's a touchy subject," Tracy said. "I'll stop, if you like."

"No," Ana said. "What we're doing… it's all about Ness, isn't it? Vengeance. Preventing others from meeting his fate. Whatever you want to call it. Ness' death is the reason that Lucas has to go."

"I swear," Tracy said, shaking her head, "That I saw more of him after death than in life. He visited me in my dreams, and any observant person could see how much he meant to your group. You all wandered around like headless chickens when he wasn't there to bring you all together." Tracy blushed. "No offense."

"It's true," Ana said. "He works his magic from beyond the grave. I think that his death made us recognize how aggressive we were. It made us recognize that we don't have to tear each other apart with swords and psionics. All of this is for him, Tracy. It's too late to create a universe that he can enjoy, so I can only hope to create a universe that will teach people to be more like him."

It was a silly goal, and Ana knew it. But for once, the mocking voices in Ana's head didn't speak. Tracy nodded along, as if Ana had said something enlightening rather than downright foolish.

"I'm going to kill Lucas," Tracy said. "I've been practicing my psionics as much as I can. I'm going rip his psyching heart out. After that, I can focus on what you're talking about."

Ana looked at the bags under Tracy's eyes. Oh, how she knew that feeling of constant exhaustion too well.

"I can't blame you," Ana said. "I want to tear his head off of his shoulders as well. Just think about it, Tracy. He killed thousands of people. Each one of them was probably somebody else's Ness. The number of bonds that he shattered just add a little picture to his mountain of gore."

"I can't care about anyone else," Tracy said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I can only care about Ness."

Ana nodded. She knew plenty of people like Tracy who didn't need to see the bigger picture to justify their actions, and she often admired them for it.

"It's not just because of Ness, too," Tracy said. "I hardly got to spend any real time with him. The Ness that I knew before he met you was just a hollow husk. I keep wondering if there was something I could have done to help him heal…"

"It wasn't your fault," Ana said. "None of this is."

Tracy sighed and shook her head.

"So are we going to fight Lucas now?" Tracy said. Her eyes flashed with anger. "I've been ready for days."

"Yeah," Ana said. "I have a pretty good idea of where he was not too long ago, so I can hopefully track him from there."

Tracy's eyes lit up.

"All right," Tracy said. "Time for justice to be served."

"That's the spirit." Ana smiled. "Just be careful, all right? There's no purpose in throwing your life away just because you're angry."

Tracy nodded, the determination in her eyes not wavering for a moment.

"Ana!" echoed a voice in her head. "Please stop this now!"

Unlike the voices in her head that mocked her and jeered her, this one sounded real. Ana probed with her psionic senses to see if someone used telepathy and found nothing.

Psych, Ana thought. Am I actually going insane? I imagined that it would feel more… dramatic.

"You know that you can't win!" the voice echoed. "You just told Tracy not to throw her life away; take the same advice yourself."

Ana sighed. Even if she did die, perhaps it was for the best. She didn't want to become a burden to her friends, and insanity would likely turn her into a dependent. She resolved to let nobody know about this.

"Ana, it's Jeff! Please, just listen to what I have to say!"

Jeff? Well, her mind had always been active and clever when it wanted to be. Perhaps this was part of a deep plot to plunge Ana into the deepest depths of insanity. If she started believing that voices in her head were real, what would come next?

"You ready to go?" Ana asked Tracy. "There's no turning back after this."

"I've come too far to turn back anyway," Tracy said. "I learned psionics just to kill Lucas. If I take away that, then my life doesn't mean anything."

Just like me, Ana thought. I became competent because that's what Minerva wanted. So even though I hated her guts, it was difficult to find a purpose after she died.

Ana grimaced. It had been more difficult still to find a purpose after Ness died. If she turned her back on Lucas, she wouldn't have anything more to care about than Tracy did.

"All right," Ana said, her heart racing in her chest. "Teleport."

The voice in her head let out a groan.

So we got Fassad trying to hijack Mary's body like he did to Lucas in book 2. Ana and Tracy finally get the showdown that they've been preparing for. Things are going to keep heating up from here. :)

Bubble: This refers to areas between the physical and cognitive dimensions, where both actions and thoughts can create reality. So if I move a cup from one table to another, that still works because physical actions still constitute reality, but if there's enough thought power devoted to moving the cup it will move without physical forces because thoughts can also help make up reality in these worlds. The people outside these bubbles can also influence the reality of the world inside, which is why there were dinosaurs in the Lost Underworld (people on the outside in the jungle were thinking about them).