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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 16: Equals by Wits (4)
Beta-Reader: Ant0nius
I was incredibly confused.
Despite my intention to bolt after the running Bear Prime the moment I felt that bizarre dream fully sink into my brain, I was forced to stay put in bed by both Angel and Shin.
While I was now conscious and slowly recovering from this 'magical sickness', my fever had yet to completely settle down and my limbs were still sore from the ordeal.
I was awake, but too weak to do anything as I was now.
And since I couldn't exactly leave the room because of how frail my body currently was, I was given little reprieve when I found myself barraged by questions, mostly from Tiare and Hope.
With the former being more interested in keeping track of my recovery over everything else, and the latter pressing me to speak about what happened while I was unconscious to understand why Naerie had left so suddenly, I was spared no chill for a full hour.
Things would only take a good turn when Miles finally turned up and managed to convince the Gazelle Prime to lessen up with the questioning.
But with Hope taking a softer approach, Shin decided it to be a good time to finally ask his own questions.
None were too invasive, but he did try to pry more details of the dream out of me. He looked rather tense about it, and I felt quite unhappy with myself when I firmly stood my ground about it.
Not because I didn't trust the blond, but because I knew from within that what happened in that 'scene' was well beyond private. It was intimate, not romantic, not platonic- just intimate.
Magic, that's what was behind the sudden bout of sickness that left me bedridden for a while. I was confused at first, but then Tiare and her Nanozell Spirit, Era, showed me a couple of holographic windows filled with data elaborated from some quick analysis of my 'magical reserves'.
I was stunned by a couple of measurement units, but I still managed to get a fair understanding of what just happened.
I have magic… and that seemed to be something I had since I was born. It wasn't unusual for humans to have magic and some simply lived their lives without ever knowing of this, but then the sudden 'activation' of my 'element' forced me to overcharge and bloat my reserves to unpleasant levels.
It sounded so… unbelievable. Yet I had been aware that my family had some magical user from back during the Galactic War.
The Grim Maverick. Differently from my ancestor, I was tuned for Wisdom and… wasn't Naerie the daughter of that element's Crest?
I was unsure what I was supposed to do with this newfound information. How was I supposed to handle it?
Remembering a research paper I had to work on during High School, I knew that people that used Magic were usually pushed into becoming Knights. And while I wasn't shy to make my battles, even physical ones when needed, I had never felt the need to go down that path.
Mostly because it was tough… and deadly. There were several instances of Knights, but mostly humans and Primes, being killed in action while handling Chaos terrorists. And while these criminals were few and rare to find around, it was still a factor I wasn't planning to ignore if I had to contemplate a career about it.
But did I really want to go through that?
No. To be fair, it was noble work. But still one I didn't have any interest in.
Maybe I could just ignore the magic. It wasn't like it would now start to influence my life, especially with how tame it was and how difficult it felt to 'reach out for it'.
Yes, I did try to grasp at it. Or rather, I held the strange addition within my mind. A soft hum that would beep at me once in a while as if to remind me that I was awake and doing well.
Not the strident and annoying beep many were long accustomed to, but a quiet and slow one.
A soothing noise that for some reason brought a higher degree of control over my thoughts.
"You sure look like you're having a hard time with this stuff," Angel commented, finally speaking after a long time being there. Her silent pink eyes glimmered for a moment as she spoke. "I mean, magic and all of that crazy crap. How are you holding up?"
With Hope, Miles and Shin having taken a distant position to discuss the situation and plan out how to handle the day to have someone around me, I was left to deal with the curious artist.
I shrugged. "The best I can… I think," I admitted quietly. "Thanks-"
"Don't you dare," The dark-haired Bunny Prime rebuffed smoothly, cracking a dry smile. "Aren't we friends? Plus, you owe me a full body paint."
"Wait, really?" I said while frowning. "I mean, I don't see why not. But that was rather sudden".
A huff left her lips. "Just bored."
"Angel is annoyed that she discovered she actually likes History lectures, and can't get back to her hermit lifestyle," Tiare explained with a calm tone, drawing a glare from her roommate. "Ever since she started to bother around after meeting you… she had been drowning herself in books about the subject."
"Thank you, kitty."
The scientist frowned deeply at that sarcastic rebuttal, finding it rightful to add some more fuel to the fire.
"And the worst part is that it's just history. If she actually put the same vigor and effort in other subjects, she would've easily gained a degree by the end of the year."
The Bunny Prime scoffed. "I do put some effort-"
"Your personal interest in Art isn't translated with the academy subject offered by Prism."
"That's because it's boring and limiting," The pink-eyed woman replied quickly. "I'm more into expressing-"
"Beauty through people's bodies. Yes, I think everyone knows that now."
…
"Prick."
As the two continued with their exchange, I took a moment to glance at the others and… just now notice that Shin was now walking out of the room.
Hope had an uneasy look plastered on her face, while Miles looked… frustrated.
What did I miss? And where was Shin going?
I decided against asking, finding myself drawn to another element I had taken notice just now that I was looking around the room.
A young Bear Prime was standing just near the room's door, looking at me with a pair of inquisitive blue eyes and… a friendly smile.
"Hi!" She greeted loudly, her voice getting me completely tense as I gave full attention to her.
She waved, and I blinked helplessly as no one else in the room could see her from the lack of reaction to her presence.
What is… going on?
~Naerie's POV~
This shouldn't have happened.
This was the summary of the multiple thoughts storming inside her head as she quickly paced around Prism Uni, ignoring the gazes turning to briefly greet her.
While she had heard of attempts to solve cases of Wisdom Overload backfiring on those people trying to solve this kind of issue, none matched with the absurdity she was now trying to make sense of.
At first Naerie had bolted out of the room in a moment of fright and confusion. She could still remember the 'lucid dream', that complex and messy mixture of a nightmare and an old memory.
Her young self, or at least something that was born from the memory of it, meet Frankie as a child.
It shouldn't have happened. Wisdom just couldn't transcend into that level of surreal, mostly because it was tied to mind-based magic.
And yet it happened and… Naerie was clueless how she was supposed to handle the aftermath of it.
Not only she felt deprived of privacy with someone she had so little trust in, but she couldn't help but feel relieved that it had happened.
Maybe it was because from an early introspection the human doesn't feel worthy of suspicions. Her mother seemed rather certain of his credibility, and he had done nothing to deserve her distrust.
But he also didn't do enough to warrant that degree of respect and faith from the Bear Prime.
It was all so confusing, and frustrating- and then there was the newest issue that she was trying to make sense of.
"You know, the view here is awesome!" The young human child exclaimed as he enjoyed the sight provided by their current location.
The modest roof that she had just entered gave her an equal amount of privacy and freedom, just enough to contemplate properly about the unexpected creation within her mind.
It was Frankie. The child version, but still something that had the same appearance as the individual.
What? And how did it come to be?
Her first introspection was that the figment was born from that amalgamation of lie and truth. Something unheard of, even after extensively studying all concepts related to Wisdom-related magics, and something that didn't seem willing to harm her.
In fact, the only uneasy detail of that apparition was that it looked so… cheerful, and impressively naive of what was going on.
What was she looking at?
"You're not real," She quickly blurted, knowing that her statement was a curious paradox. It existed within her perception, but she was quite sure that he wasn't there from the way his presence felt 'frailer' than a normal living being.
He pouted. "What? But I'm here."
"That doesn't compute to the fact you exist or not."
His pout deepened. "Well, you're not real too."
"I can touch things, and my presence is known to others."
He looked uneasy, almost… cute too, if she had to be honest.
"W-Well, you're a dummy."
"And what does it have to do with the current topic?"
"If you were smart you would know that I'm real," The boy replied smugly. "In fact, you're a silly head."
...For some reason, this irked her. Not enough to make her expression change or even falter, but just enough to prompt renewed interest over the chatty figment.
So Naerie sighed calmly. "As I've said, that doesn't prove anything. You're just grasping some illogical and stupid argumentation that lacks evidence."
Instead of backing away at that response, 'little' Frankie's smirk widened.
"Really? Well, if I wasn't real, could I do this?!"
He reached out, his finger sticking and reaching for her face. A soft pressure by her nose, and then it backed away.
Her eyes widened, mostly because that broke a lot of assumptions she had made out of this situation.
This being… It wasn't just a hallucination. She felt that touch, the usual jolt of someone 'booping her nose'.
"How is-" She paused, her throat feeling a tad bit sorer than before. This was beyond unusual. This was outright insane. "What are you?"
The child giggled a little, amused by her shock and distress… yet that amusement faded away as quickly as it came, mostly because the boy looked genuinely sorry for leaving her in such a state.
"Well, I don't think it's that difficult. You should know me, after all."
Should she? Did she forget something that could explain this phenomenon? Maybe a lesson her mother had given her during her exposition an unimportant tale of hers.
But just as the Bear Prime prepared to ask… the boy responded without input.
"I'm Frankie. Don't you remember? Your friend!"
Ah, that was… not what she had expected.
Is this disappointment?
"I don't recall befriending Frankie when I was that young."
"Oh, but you didn't," The human added without hesitation. "In fact, we just become friends."
...When? How-
The dream. He was referring to the dream and… he was right from a certain point of view, and he was also wrong about it considering that it all happened away from the real world.
"I'm not the Naerie you met."
"Aren't you? I-I mean, you're prettier now that you're older- but you're still Naerie."
The name was the same, but there was a situation of duality that was just being ignored by the child.
"I'm not something born from that strange predicament."
"Then… who was the one I befriended then?"
Indeed, how was the young woman supposed to explain that without actually losing her mind about it.
It was already hard enough for her to try and understand the incredibly difficult subject, and she wasn't even sure if she knew what she was dealing with or not.
There was no genuine chance for her to give a simplified explanation of it for the strange concept to get an idea of this maddening logic.
So, as Naerie prepared to capitulate over that unsure point, the noise of approaching footsteps reached their ears.
They both turned at the only entrance to the roof, waiting patiently to see who it was.
Could it be Shin? Maybe he was worried and-
Her assumption crumbled as she saw a familiar individual cross the entrance, one that wasn't the White Tiger Prime.
Giggling, the younger version of herself rushed towards the surprised human boy.
"Frankie!"
The little Bear Prime bolted without restraint, only to tackle down the confused boy to the ground.
"N-Naerie?" He asked in a mix of shock and confusion.
Still, taking under consideration the sudden intrusion of this new 'hallucination', there was only a single possible explanation.
Her stare quietly turned back to the roof's entrance and… he was there.
Frankie offered a weak smile, leaning on the closest wall to stand up. His legs were wobbling and failing to stand up properly, proof that he hadn't recovered from the Wisdom Overload.
Keeping silent, the red-haired Bear Prime rushed towards Frankie as she noticed him starting to lose his footing.
"Naerie-"
He stopped speaking the moment he realized that something was wrong, his body tensing up as he fell forward… right onto Naerie's waiting arms.
Shivering for a moment, the young woman found it easy to get him to keep standing up, but he found his closeness rather… odd.
"Sorry, I kind of… tripped." He muttered quietly, trying to lie his way out of that awkward development.
"You should be resting," The Bear Prime chided with her usual blank tone. "And yet you came here… how did you know where I was?"
He didn't outright answer, but she trailed his stare back to her younger self as she continued to play around the giddy-looking human boy.
"Do you… know what is going? Why are they-"
"No," The young woman replied curtly. "I… I don't know."
…
"I- I thought she was a hallucination. Only I could see her and… I could touch her. Well, she grabbed my hand to prove she was there and-"
"And?"
Despite the softness of her voice, the little hint of sternness wasn't missed by Frankie as the young man looked nervous for a moment.
"And I kind of decided to have her take me to you. She said she knew where you were and- Oh right, Shin is currently searching for you. He looked worried so… yeah. That too."
Was he?
Now Naerie felt a hint of uneasiness at that. Maybe she should've been a little less emotional with that reaction if that had worried the blond.
"I need to take you back to your room."
She had to know that he was there. It would've been irresponsible to do otherwise.
"Hmm, but… why did you run away in the first place?"
It was inconsequential to the situation. She had a duty to get him back to his bed so that he could properly recover from-
"Were you crying?"
Another question, this time it came a little bit closer to the current topic, but it was still unrelated to the young man's plight.
What if she ended up crying a little? What if her body just had that reaction? Why should he care about it?
His arms slowly wrapped around her waist and she felt closer to him… just enough for her thoughts to go silent and all the logic to fade away as only quiet remained.
"What if… we talk about it?"
She should've said 'no'. She should have.
And yet… she complied.
She knew that she needed to vent on someone. And Frankie was going to be just enough for now.
The floor of the roof was particularly cold.
It wasn't like I had much to whine about considering how chilly the weather was today. Compared to the few gusts of winds managing to reach us, the ground was somewhat warmer than that.
Still, I kept close to Naerie as she took a seat beside me, getting a little less cold because of it. The Bear Prime was incredibly warm, mostly thanks to her natural fur that protected her from feeling the cool pressure exerted by today's climate.
Maybe I should've smuggled a jacket before bailing from the dorm room.
The thought was a sudden one, but quickly shot down by the fact that I had left that place within a limited time frame and swift silent feet. I really didn't have the chance to take anything with me as I decided to trust what I had initially thought to be an illusion.
At first I was certain of that, but then I realized that there was something 'undeniable' about little Naerie that dispelled any support for the hallucination theory.
I could touch her, and it was confirmed by an unexpected squeeze from her hand onto mine.
She asked about me, and commented how tall I was… and how she could feel that there was 'someone like her' within the building.
It was easy to understand she was referring to 'her' older version.
I couldn't exactly ask here where the missing individual was, especially since my means to communicate with her were restrained by the presence of people in the dorm room.
While Angel and Tiare decided to leave after a while, Hope and Miles had remained to discuss the situation. They were distracted and mostly unable to notice the small gestures I would use to reply to the questions coming by the 'hallucination'.
She seemed highly receptive, enough to get all my answers correct, yet she soon started to nag about finding out 'who felt like her'.
I would've normally refused that silly 'quest' since I was tired, sore, and kind of loopy from that unpleasant experience I was recovering from. But with the pressuring being nigh-impossible to calm down with mere gestures and the fact I wasn't as strong-willed as usual was, I eventually found myself caving in at the bizarre presence's will.
The walk out of that room and right to where the older Naerie was proved to be… slightly hilarious.
With people still wandering around the halls, I had to alternate between holding the little Bear Prime's hand and actually following her around without making it seem like I was going insane by staring intensely at a supposedly empty part of the hall.
Eventually we arrived at our destination, and… I was now sitting with the 'real Naerie' while we both stared at our younger versions playing together with what looked to be a tag game… on a rooftop.
"I'm impressed that… they can play in these circumstances."
The young woman merely hummed in agreement, her blue-eyed stare aimed at the giggling duo.
…
"So… why did you run away when I woke up?" I asked, unwilling to let the silence kept on for that long.
We were supposed to talk about this matter, and not just stare at the two crazy phenomena playing together.
I mean, it was hilarious to see how quick to giggle lil' Naerie was when someone tickled her, and my younger copy looked even more amused at listening to her cute voice.
"What happened- It wasn't supposed to happen."
I nodded at that curt response. "I realized that."
…
"How?"
I blinked. "Uh- what?"
"How did you realize that it wasn't supposed to happen?" The redhead reiterated her question, and I took a moment to reflect on that very point.
It was difficult to explain without making it sound too weird but… considering the fact we were already handling a maddening predicament with the two playing 'kids', I knew I had no good reason to keep quiet about it.
"It just felt wrong," I answered with a calm voice. "I felt like I had no control over what was going on inside that… dream. I think it was a dream."
She nodded to confirm that thought, and I resumed from there.
"And… that's it. I really don't have anything too big to work on since I'm new to this whole… mind magic."
"Wisdom is more than just 'mind magic'," The Bear Prime rebuked politely. "It can be used for something more… physical too."
She lifted her right hand up and aimed it to a nearby piece of paper. While one could easily consider it flying away as something from the wind… the fact it literally floated up vertically and then crumpled in front of us was enough to sustain just a theory.
Wisdom actually encompassed telekinesis in its wide arsenal of abilities.
"You… are quite adept to it. I suppose your mother taught you a lot."
Naerie nodded. "Most of it, yes. I did have other teachers, but mother took priority in educating me about this magic."
I nodded, humming quietly and allowing the silence to bring some confidence to the two of us.
"It looked pretty good," I commented with a nod.
"It was a simple thing," The young woman easily remarked. "But I suppose it can be quite… surprising to see in person for the first time."
I nodded again, and she calmly waited for something to happen, for me to say something more after that.
But I didn't, and… that was enough to get her to speak up once more.
"Aren't you going to ask about why..."
She didn't finish that question, merely aiming her eyes back at the children.
"'Why' what?"
"Why is my younger self more active than I am-"
"Could've been a phase," I interrupted with a guess. "It's interesting and all, but I know better from pressing about something that might be too much for you to answer to."
"Not even if you're curious? Not even if it's… important?"
"If you believe that giving the truth about it is important, then you would've done that already," I answered quietly. "But I can tell that it's… not a pleasant truth. At least, not with the way you react when someone is close to even think about it."
…
"May I ask you a question, Frankie?"
I shrugged. "Sure thing, Naerie. Go ahead."
…
"If I had the… power to destroy the entire city with a single snap of my fingers, would you..." She paused, her throat holding back a traitorous hint of sadness as she regained bearing over her state of mind. "Would you… hate me as a monster?"
I looked up at the sky, deciding against answering so quickly as I knew that the moment was packed with too much tension.
I could tell from the way she was intensely staring at me. From the way she was wishing to hear a response from me that was none like those she was thinking off.
Either for the best or the worst.
"I don't hate you, Naerie. Nor do I think I can actually be forced to do so considering how mindful you are for others," I started to say with a committed tone. "You wanted to bring me to my room and have me back to bed the moment you saw me by the door. If you were a monster, you wouldn't have gone through with that thought first, wouldn't you?"
"Maybe I just didn't want you around. Maybe I wanted to be alone."
…
"No."
She frowned, and my smile widened at her reaction.
"No?"
"As much as you try to hide it, I can tell that you are afraid of being seen as a bad person… and I can assure you that if you're the opposite of bad," I added with a nod. "You're considerate and caring in your own ways, but you also have a low self-esteem while handling social issues. You might be able to go through things you've worked with your mother, magic, but nothing prepared you to deal with people so closely and not behind a safe shield like before."
Tensing up again, the Bear Prime looked impressed by this explanation… yet there was something left for her to ask.
"Do you really believe so?"
I hummed and gave her a solid nod.
"Not only do I believe that. I know you're a good person, Naerie," I replied happily. "And you deserve happiness despite what might have happened in the past."
…
She sighed softly, looking away from me. "Thank you."
I only smiled, glad that I had managed to get the point across.
After that brief understanding, we quietly went to turn our attentions back to the 'kids' and…
Why are they no longer there?
"What?" I pushed myself up, looking around as Naerie slowly followed my example and… frowned.
"I can't feel them. They are no longer there."
"But where did they go?" I inquired in complete surprise. "Surely they couldn't have left like that and-"
"What are you two doing here?"
I jumped in surprise at the sudden query, turning to see a familiar White Tiger Prime peeking from the nearby doorstep.
Relaxing as quickly as I noticed this, I gave Shin a frown. "Just talking."
"talking? I- Naerie-"
"It's alright, Shin. We just talked."
The blond paused, the question he wanted to ask constricted and shoved away at the genuineness coming from the redhead.
"Eh… shouldn't you be back to the dorm room to recover, Frankie?"
My eyes widened at that comment, just now realizing that I had spent a long time away from dealing with that situation. I wonder how Miles and Hope are handling my disappearance.
"I suppose we should go back now that this situation is settled."
At my response, the three of us walked downstairs to the floor where the dorms were and… I paused when I saw two familiar figures waiting by our destination.
Miles looked sheepish and kind of… sympathetic.
Meanwhile Hope had quite the furious look plastered on her face and soon, she started running towards me.
Panic exploded at the approaching doom, and I knew there was only a single choice in the matter.
"I-I guess it's a good day for a marathon- S-See ya all later!"
I bolted as quickly as I said this, the angry girl giving chase without stopping for a moment, not even to address the surprise look on her crush's face.
Yep, I might have gone overboard about that. Oh well, we win some and we lose some
AN
So… Halloween.
I've got some candies already~
Isn't it a few weeks too early to-
And here is a bagful of sweets~
I'm not going to get allured by such an empty promise for-
And some hot chocolate with extra coffee~
...Well, if it's a trap, at least I will still get some chocolate out of it.