I do not own Chaotic nor anything related to it. It belongs to TCDigital.

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The Image

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A male Human voice drifts through my foggy mind. "Physically he's a ton healthier than I expected him to be, considering the conditions of his environment all this time. That much untreated water and spoiled food, he's lucky he didn't catch one of any number of deadly diseases in the Deepmines."

A Mipedian's voice follows, saying, "According to our informant, Aa'une was going to great lengths to ensure Michael's-"

"Ahem."

"...Prince... Osiris's... survival," they voice grudgingly corrects. It's Mudeenu's voice. My blood boils when I recognize it.

I struggle to open my eyes. Above me is a ceiling made of cloth. A tent? Doesn't matter. I slowly turn my head in the direction of the voices.

There's Mudeenu, out of his armor. A doctor is putting his right arm in a cast.

The doctor says, "You mentioned possible psychological issues earlier?"

"Yes," Mudeenu grunts. "He was absolutely convinced that Isis was with us. He went absolutely ballistic when, well, when he hallucinated her dying, I guess."

"Understandable," the doctor mutters.

I clench my fists. I can feel my arms shake. They're pretending nothing happened. Mudeenu just ignored Isis, they all did.

"He wouldn't listen to reason," Mudeenu says as he flexes the fingers of his right hand. "As if I would let her accompany me to the Deepmines."

The doctor steps away from Mudeenu and studies the cast. "What should I expect when Prince Osiris wakes up?"

Mudeenu rolls his eyes. "The worst. Paranoia, violent or suicidal behavior, a refusal the listen to evidence against his delusions-"

"You let her die..." I mutter. My throat feels like coarse sand.

The doctor turns towards me. "Osiris!" he says. "You're awake!"

I slowly push myself to a sitting position. I glare at Mudeenu. "She was a foot away, screaming for help, and you ignored her."

Mudeenu sighs and looks at the doctor. "See what I mean?"

The doctor has his eyebrows raised. "Princess Isis is perfectly fine," he says. "She's on her way here to see you."

"Shut the hell up," I growl. "I watched her fall. He watched her fall. They all did."

"Please be reasonable!" the doctor says with alarm in his voice. "There's no way that-!"

"Your own sister, Mudeenu!" I snap. I pull myself to the edge of the bed and swing my feet down. "What, was it because she was married to me? Is that why you let her die?"

Mudeenu stands up and glares ferociously at me. "How dare you even imply I would let Isis get hurt!"

I can't believe Mudeenu can stand there and lie like that. I push myself to my feet. I'm going to wring that Mipedian's neck.

The doctor takes a step towards me. "You shouldn't be standing up right now! You need to rest!"

I swat the doctor aside and swing a fist at Mudeenu. My punch lands on Mudeenu's chest... and does nothing.

Mudeenu sighs and pushes me down on the bed. "Don't hurt yourself," he growls. "Isis will be hear any moment, and you'll see she's perfectly fine."

I grit my teeth. "I'll find out, all right. Is there a mind-reader here?"

Mudeenu rolls his eyes. "Just go to sleep-"

"Get me a mind-reader now!" I shout. My throat hurts from the strain.

The doctor backs away. "I think he's snapped," he mutters.

Mudeenu squeezes his eyes shut. "I shouldn't have to deal with this!" he snarls. Then he shouts towards the tent flap, "Enre-hep! Get in here!"

Moments pass, and an old looking Mipedian in tattered light-blue robes enters. "What is it?" the creature asks wearily.

I stare at the Mipedian. A muge probably. Piercing through his hood are a pair of downward curving horns, and peeking out from around his aged face are what appear to be braids of hair. Jade green bracelets adorn his wrists and ankles, and around his neck hangs a large gold medallion.

Mudeenu growls. "I need you to read my mind of an event so I can prove-"

"No," I cut in. "Read my mind."

Everyone stares at me. Then the doctor sighs, "He cracked, just humor him."

Enre-hep sighs and stands in front of me. He places a finger on each of my temples-

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Sharp crystal shards are being flung around in hurricane force winds, large boulders of crystal striking against each other and creating showers of crystal sand, and crystal sand clumps spiraling around each other until they fuse into large boulders of crystal. Lighting blasts intermittently through the air.

{...youR minD iS verY troubleD...} Enre-hep's voice mumbles.

Stop enjoying the scenery and find the center.

A spectral gold hand materializes within the storm. It waves, and several pieces of crystal bloom into flowers. The hurricane of diamond continues while the flowers slowly settle on a black lake.

{flowerS? A minD haS neveR lookeD likE thiS tO mE beforE...}

Which flower is Isis? I focus on her face, and one of the crystal flowers quivers in the water. Touch that one.

{iF yoU insisT,} Enre-hep mutters uncertainly as his spectral hand approaches the blossom.

Now I'll see where Isis really is, I think to myself.

The spectral hand's finger brushes against the topmost petal-

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There's the camp. Oh, if I could run faster than this wagon I would do so right now! My heart races as I search the tents for the one that the Human doctor always sets up. That's the tent he will be in. After so long, Michael, you've finally come back!

The Mipedian at the reins turns around and says, "Please be careful, Your Highness. There's talk that Prince Osiris's mind snapped while in the Deepmines-"

I send the nastiest glare I can manage at the driver, a silent order to shut his trap. I know he won't have fully recovered yet, but I absolutely must see him!

As soon as the wagon is moving slower than I can run, I leap out and dart across the rocky ground. There's the tent, the large white one. He's inside there. He's finally back-

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The spectral hand recoils. {whaT?}

I don't care about the muge's confusion. All that's important is that Isis is alive. She didn't go into the Deepmines, of course not. Of course I didn't really see her fall to her death, it was a hallucination. A hallucination within a dream.

{A dreaM?} The gold spectral hand rubs its fingers together. {aH, oF coursE... thaT woulD explaiN mucH.}

The hurricane of crystal is ebbing away. Lightning stops crashing. Diamond blossoms are floating down from the sky...

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Enre-hep is staring at me with what appears to be awe, but that's not important. I turn to the tent flap. Any moment now, any moment.

Mudeenu growls, "Well, Enre-hep? What did you see?"

The brushes the backs of his hands with his palms and says, "I saw..." A pause, then Enre-hep mutters, "I saw how fractured his mind was, and I saw exactly how it could be repaired."

"Repaired?" asks the doctor. "You mean you-"

"I didn't repair His Highness's mind," Enre-hep says with a wave of his hand. He points at the tent flap. "She did."

At that moment, Isis bursts into the room.

I feel an ache in my chest. A good ache. The kind of ache that makes a person glad that he's alive. The ache spreads through my body, and I feel dizzy under the force of this sensation.

"Michael," Isis breathes.

"Isis," I whisper. I feel like I'm about to faint from joy.

"Catch him!" the doctor shouts as the world spirals away...

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I can't see, but it doesn't matter. I can't hear, but it doesn't matter. I can't feel, but it doesn't matter. Somewhere out there in this senseless void, Isis is with me.

I made it out. Those days of torture are behind me.

...No, they're not. As long as Aa'une's trying to take over, none of that's behind me. I won't be completely safe from him until this war is over, until Aa'une is wiped off the face of Perim. Nobody will be safe until then.

Don't worry about Aa'une right this moment, Michael... Right now, I need to rest...

Right now... I need to go home...

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Act IV: Lucidity is complete!

Act V: Warlord is coming!

Up next: The Return to Al Mipedim

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Like I said before, Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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