Golden Sun: The Hunted
Chapter 10 - The Dark Side of the Mind
A/N - Well, yee haw. I've gone back into a phase where I use annoying wise-cracks for titles. Oh well. Could be worse! Could be raining!
(waits to see if it rains, does not)
Rats. Ah well, such is the life of the Mikaa, after all...
Speaking of which! I have to say, thanks many times to my Writing Class for having such an easy assignment! Now I have time to write the odd chapter or two for this thing! Chi!
So! Chapter 10! Who'd've thunk it, eh? Anyway, as we all know, Igori went a bit nuts last time (is it too mild to describe someone who attacks, fries, and nearly kills someone NUTS?), and I left an obvious hint of some kind of link between Feihzi and Igori at the end. Did Sheba note it? Who knows, but you have to admit, she'll probably NOT tell them who she is, for fear of Igori finding out. Hell, I wouldn't want to piss him off after THAT... What have I unleashed...
Anyway, the Dark Side of the Mind, AKA Chapter 10 of the Hunted, follows this for your enjoyment: MIKAA DOES NOT, I REPEAT FOR THE ONE BILLION, FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO MILLION, NINE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED, SEVENTY-SEVENTH TIME, DOES NOT OWN NINTENDO, GOLDEN SUN, OR CAMELOT.
And now, to the darker parts of the mind. Or just to this chapter. Whatever makes you feel better.
Enjoy.
Feihzi cringed as she climed the stairs to the upper levels of the Kalay palace. Merely an hour ago, the basement almost became a crypt, a house of the dead. After what seemed like years, Igori simply left, going somewhere else in the building. Mia had finally caught up with everyone, trying to heal the General after checking her husband. All the while, Isaac tried to figure out why Jenna had gone off like she did. The General's aid (or whoever she was) had simply sat by his bed, never once speaking to anyone.
No one talked about what Igori had done.
It was understandable; half of what happened went by too fast, and some were unaware of what happened (namely Felix). Yet, Feihzi could not let it slip away. She had to know, had to know why his mind screamed out at that moment, why his mind was so full of sudden hate. Why that voice rang in her head.
Why some voice yelled "YOU KILLED HIM!" at the top of its (her?) lungs.
Nevermind the General's sudden entrance, or Jenna and Igori's attacks against him. As far as Feihzi knew, the only reason Jenna would go that crazy over someone was if they had commited some horrid wrong against her. And while Feihzi would never pretend to know Igori (despite the mental link), she had to say that it was shocking (pun NOT intended) to see him attack the General. What made it all the more curious (to her), was that there was always a sense of loyalty, of friendship between the two of them. Even when she met the General for only a brief moment to recieve orders under the guise of "Zial," she sensed something between him and Igori (even if the Venusian looked like an old rag - literally).
But as their taunting each other increased, something just felt wrong about Igori. Feizhi was not able to sense what it was, but then, hearing those haunting words kind of killed any wish to find out.
She was far from shocked when Igori had simply walked past her out of the basement, tears in his eyes. She was, though, suprised that she herself was crying. It was not the words, whatever meaning they might have had. No, the significance was that she didn't need to hear his mind to note the hate in him. Though it vanished after that brief yet eternal attack, the pressure of his hate, the sheer pressure being slapped onto her. No one but an aware Jupitarian would have caught such a sign, and Feihzi caught it in droves.
But what shocked her more than anything, more than the General's sudden apperance or Igori's lightning attack, was that she was walking up the stairs to find Igori himself.
By all rights, she should not have cared what was going through his mind. Yes, she felt sorry for whatever had caused that massive rage, but Jupiter! She knew he was not a bad sort, that much she determined when she first met the man, then ravaged from a Jupitarian and about as likely to trust her if she was Sheba herself. Yet, Feihzi could not shake her pity, the sadness she felt for the man.
The fact that she had not heard a word from him since that outburst only made her worry more.
She topped the stairs, moving to the first open door in the hall. She knew he would probably never want to talk to her if she revealed her motives for sneaking into the Empire, and that thought somehow ate at her. She didn't agree with the Empire's practices, especially after that nasty incident at the Tolbi Lighthouse. But Elements! what was with her? Was she falling for this man, one who believed in that which he served, who had tried to kill her? She dismissed the thought, but knew her efforts were wasted; there was something between them, whether or not she acknowleged it.
Entering the room, she saw Igori sitting on a bed, staring out a window. The weather in Kalay had been most favorable of late, what with a blue sky, the odd cloud, and verdent fields of grass between the sandy buildings. The beauty of the land was a stark comparison to the room Igori had holed up in. By whatever turn of luck, the room he had choosen was dark and dreary, the only source of light from the window, and even that did little to give the room a feeling of warmth that the rest of Kalay had.
Slowly entering as quietly as possible, lest she disturb him, Feihzi slipped in, moving to the side of the bed. Igori made no move to face her, no move to acknowlege her. He simply stared out the window, his mind elsewhere.
She opened her mouth to speak, then thought the better of it. It would probably be easier, she reasoned, to try to talk to him through whatever link they had. Yes, it might upset him more to remind him that she had a good chance of hearing what went through his mind a second ago, but it beat out having the risk of someone else hearing them talk.
(Igori?)
She stared at him, sadness filling her being as he failed to recognize her presence. Just what had gone through his head that she did not catch, that would cause him to not acknowlege her? Was she nothing to him? Would he react this way if someone else came in?
(Igori?) Another pause, another ignore. (Igori, please. I want to help you.)
He made not moves, but she almost swore she heard him crying. Not physically, but mentally, as though he was in despair, and was letting his feelings flow freely. Feihzi sat next to him, placing a hand on his back, gently stroking him. He flinched - not much, but enough to show that he was willing to let her stay.
(Igori, talk to me.)
Slowly, painfully slowly, he turned to her, his eyes devoid of any real feelings or emotions. To her suprise, he placed one of his hands on her free hand, clasping it in a soft hold.
Though he did not say anything, she sensed what he was suggesting: (Are you sure?) A nod. Closing her eyes, Feihzi tapped into her mind, her thoughts flowing into his, his into hers. If he wanted her to read his mind, she was going to go all-out. She had to get him to trust her, to let him know he could confide in her; in someone. And to do this, she was merging their thoughts. Not an easy task, one that could do more harm than good for the unskilled, but then, Feizhi had one of the best teachers.
She poured through his thoughts, trying to find anything, any sign of what went through his head in the heat of battle. She found the odd thought here or there, some of which made her blush (such as his sudden appearance in the hall being a reaction to her). But as she looked, there was no sign, no trace of anything that contained such powerful thoughts as they felt and heard.
Then it hit. There was a patch of memories in his mind, buried deep beneath the surface. At first Feihzi did not notice them, thinking they were just fragments. But looking closer, realization kicked in; someone had gone to quite a bit of trouble to place a thin layer of memory in his mind, one that he (apparently) had no idea of, and one that was reeking of knowlege.
Quite literally. There were wards on it, the likes of which Feihzi had rarely encountered. Breaking them was far from hard, but what she found next was shocking. Her mind saw a woman, tall and tin, with fairly long blonde hair. And for whatever reason, the woman had more than a passing resemblence to that girl that was with the General. Or maybe Feizhi was reading too much into things.
"Who are you?"
Feihzi nearly gasped: the voice sounded audible, yet was actually just in both hers and Igori's minds. Dismissing it, she pressed on for information, trying to ignore the inquiring image. It did not go away.
"Who are you, that is so close to my Igori?"
Her Igori? Was this his mom? A lover? A sister? Who was this person, and how had she put up such an intricate mesh of memories? Not paying the image any heed, she pressed on.
"You cannot interfear, my child. Igori is destined for greatness, and you would only serve to destroy this."
Destroy what? His destiny? Just who was this woman, that she made such claims?
"Begone, child. You must be powerful to have triggered this illusion, but however strong you are, you are nothing to me or Igori. He must be allowed to complete his destiny."
Nothing to Igori? Did the illusion read her mind, know what she thougt? Or was it just a lucky guess?
"You cannot stop him. Fate has handed him his father's killer, and with that bastard's death, he will complete his destiny. YOU CANNOT STOP FATE, CHILD. GO AWAY."
Feihzi screamed, not mentally, but audibily. The illusion actually ATTACKED her, forcing her from Igori's mind, and for a minute Feihzi thought the image would invade her own mind. When reality folded back to normal, she stared at Igori, his eyes suddenly aware, looking her over to ensure she was ok.
But she was not ok. The illusion's voice was ringing in her head, repeating over and over and over. It was hours before Feihzi was able to focus enough to take note of her surroundings. And after she did, she was more than willing to let Igori continue to hold her, afraid that if he let go, the illusion would return...
End Chapter 10
Wow. Plot thickens, eh? Anyway, I would love to chew the fat and speak my mind on this chapter, but alas, if I am to get this up now, I would have to stop now. Oh well.
Anyway, hope well that I get a few more chapters up before the twenty-first, as I will be too busy playing Metroid Prime: Hunters to focus on even Animal Crossing...;
Mikaa, Hunter of Metroids