"Faolan- something weird happened," Christopher Alaska said as they stood outside the Healer's tent as Morgan Derry was poked over and made sure he was all right.
He was- Faolan knew that all right. He was just exhausted and had a few cuts and bruises from accidentally running into the cave walls. Faolan and Alaska had to pull him up onto Genevieve once it was over- he was unconscious almost right away. Personally, she was glad she had some time to recover before speaking to her pupil. She didn't think he'd be angry at her for throwing true control on him but… it would be good to give him some time to let his emotions settle. His body was already doing that for him to some extent by putting him to sleep.
Faolan glanced over at Alaska and raised an eyebrow and said, "What- you're an Empath too, now?"
The older Herald only frowned at her, looking puzzled, as he shook his head and said, "No- I meant in the illusions I created."
"Oh," Faolan answered, crossing her arms and glancing into the large tent, where Morgan Derry lay sound asleep in a cot, his Companion standing beside him with her nose resting lightly on his chest.
Then she turned back to Christopher Alaska and said, "Because I noticed something weird too. But tell me yours first."
"How much of the illusions did you see? Did you see the woman Herald that appeared? And then the man?" Alaska asked, "They were the two things that really pushed him- I think… you're the Empath though- what do you think?"
Faolan rolled the memories over in her head, then nodded, "Yes… I think it was. Who was she?"
"I don't know," Alaska said and Faolan gave him a sharp look, and he added on, "I didn't create her- or him. They both appeared well into the illusions. I think… I think Morgan Derry put them there. They look familiar- I think I've seen the woman a few times, but I don't know what she was doing there."
"What?" Faolan said, confused, "But he doesn't have your Gift… does he?"
"No," Alaska shook his head, "Definitely not… but the powers of the unconscious mind… Then again, those two were not in the memories you channeled me from Morgan though. If they weren't connected to powerful emotions… then why did they appear?"
Faolan sat down on the ground, folding her legs and putting her chin on her hands with a frown, and finally she said, "Maybe he was suppressing them. Maybe they were connected to such powerful emotions that when I told him to think of powerfully affecting things… he didn't think of them. Because they were too much… His emotions were running extremely high during the illusions- when the woman appeared his attention focused on her, and after she was killed and the man appeared they were pushed to a peak, and he went over…"
"That still doesn't explain what they were doing in my illusions," Alaska said, "So they were the missing piece to forcing Derry to gain true control- but we didn't know about them… Faolan- do you realize this means that it's hardly true to say we gave him true control? Without them- would he have gained it? If not then he did it himself. He gave himself true control."
"Are you saying he put them there? In your illusions? You said he doesn't have your Gift though…" Faolan trailed off, looking up at Christopher Alaska.
He sat down too, then, and frowned into the distance, then finally said, "What did YOU notice that was weird?"
"Right before he lost total control," Faolan began, "He hesitated. His emotions were at boiling point, and he was ready to go over that invisible line that true control teaches you to see… but it was like he already knew it was there and just didn't care, because he went over anyway."
Christopher Alaska's blue eyes gazed at Faolan as he said slowly, "Do… do you think it's possible he already gained true control? Somewhere, somehow that you didn't know about?"
"Not possible," Faolan shook her head, remembering the state Morgan Derry was in when she met him, "Besides- if he had, that whole thing wouldn't have worked. He wouldn't have gone over again… Because that's the whole point…"
"Are you sure of that?" Alaska asked slowly, his eyes very intense and focused, "What if true control just shows you the line- and doesn't stop you from going over again? Maybe true control isn't as foolproof as you've thought."
"No," Faolan shook her head, "You don't go over again. Never again. Not once you've experienced it. There are no records of a werewolf ever losing control once gaining true control, either."
"Morgan Derry is a Herald, though," Alaska pointed out, "Could that affect it?"
"Not in this way, I don't think…" Faolan shook her head, "It should make him less likely to go over again, not more… Besides- he can't have gained true control before!"
"Why not?" Alaska asked, "Before you met him, perhaps?"
"Because he was so… he was messed up inside!" Faolan retorted, frustrated and slightly scared at the idea this conversation was driving at, "The werewolf part of him was so… it raged inside him… He was close to losing it, so close… but if he'd already gone over…"
"He wouldn't be like that?" Alaska finished for her, "Are you sure? Maybe he did when he was first bitten, and since he'd never had any control to begin with, afterwards he just stayed angry and full of turmoil…"
Faolan frowned at Christopher Alaska, unable to think of any good reason to refute that, though her instincts screamed that it couldn't be, just couldn't. She frowned at him some more, until he looked away. Then she said, "Still doesn't explain how he made his own illusions inside yours."
"Hmm," was all Alaska said. Faolan looked up at the sky. The sun was sinking towards the horizon. She glared at it.
OOO
"Morgan?" Faolan asked as the man opened his eyes blearily, looking tired still, despite having slept for hours- it was morning again, and Faolan had been watching him sleep for an hour, just watching his chest rise up and down. Genevieve was still there, standing off to the side, watching Morgan as well.
"Yes?" he said, moving his eyes over to her, from her chair near his bed, then he frowned and said, "So that is true control."
Faolan laughed, then grinned at him and said, "Exactly how I felt." Then she frowned, thinking on her and Alaska's conversation- the idea that Morgan had already gained true control didn't seem to fit in light of his first statement- she remembered how after she'd gained true control she knew it, there wasn't any doubt. Morgan clearly felt that way too- so he couldn't have already had true control.
"Sorry," she said to him finally, "For jumping it on you."
"It's all right. Genevieve explained to me what you did- Alaska's illusions and all- last night. I'm glad I got true control without actually killing anyone although… I wish it was easier than that! It's hard… to realize that all I saw last night didn't actually happen. None of it was real."
"Who was she?" Faolan asked suddenly, "The woman? I don't mean to pry but… she and that other Herald seemed to be deciding factors in your gaining of true control- I was watching your emotions, so I knew the moment you went over…"
Morgan stared at her, his face unreadable and Faolan blushed, looking away.
"Sorry again," she said, "I suppose you don't have to answer. It's just… this may sound weird but… Alaska didn't put her there. Nor him. Apparently you projected them into the illusion or something."
"Really?" Morgan didn't sound as surprised as Faolan had been, just interested, "Is that possible?"
"It must be, since he didn't do it," Faolan said, "I channeled your thoughts- the ones that I asked you to think of, to him and… I suppose you already know that. But they weren't part of those thoughts…"
"Huh," Morgan said, still offering no explanation of how that came to be. He didn't even seem that curious about it.
"If you could tell me who she was maybe that could help us figure out how you gained true control… how to give it to others…" Faolan said a moment later.
Morgan sighed, and gave her a look that Faolan, again, couldn't quite read- she could have with her Empathy but she wasn't in the habit of just using it on anyone whom she wanted to talk to.
"Her name is Laurie, Herald Laurie," Morgan said, and a shiver ran down Faolan's spine- because she thought she understood the tone in Morgan's voice, "The other Herald is her lifebonded, Bolivar."
"Ah," Faolan said, thinking, No wonder they pushed him over. Her death, his pain… He loves her, that's obvious, well now anyway- so her death was a huge hit to him- but she's lifebonded to this other Herald, so seeing his pain made it even worse. And he lost it.
"Okay," she nodded, "Thanks. Hmm… well you're officially the second werewolf Herald now- and no longer a danger to anyone- you see the line now, right?"
Morgan nodded slowly, "Yeah… I think- I mean I know I'll never go that far again- no matter what the circumstances, even if they were the exact same ones…"
"Yup," Faolan smiled, but then a harried looking Healer bustled over and engaged Morgan in a quick discussion. Faolan stood up and started to leave, but then Morgan was standing up too so she paused.
"I'm being kicked out with a relatively clean bill of health," Morgan said as the Healer hurried off, "They need the space for people who are really injured."
Faolan looked around the large tent she was in- she could only see a few cots, most were surrounded by privacy curtains, and she nodded, her heart feeling heavy. She and Alaska had saved one life, helped one werewolf, but the war was still going. People were still dying.
She, Morgan, and Genevieve left the tent, walking outside in the early morning rushing of a war camp. Faolan felt detached from it- she wasn't directly involved in the war anymore, and it was strange…
"Now what?" Morgan asked as Faolan shivered in the cold air outside, wishing she'd brought a cloak.
"Huh?" she asked, looking at him.
"Now what do we do?" he asked, looking down at her. Faolan looked back at up at him, thinking, Go home. Wait for the war to end. See Raleigh again.
"As werewolves… isn't there something we can do for Valdemar?" Morgan asked, "I know you spied for a long time…"
"And can't go back," Faolan finished, "And I don't think they'd accept a full grown werewolf appearing in their midst already having true control… And asking to go fight on the front anyway… You don't want to do that anyway… It'll just make things harder."
"Well… why can't we figure out how to give everyone- all werewolves, true control like me?" Morgan wondered, glancing out over the camp.
Faolan stared at him- feeling awkward. Here she was, sick of the war and just wanting to go home, and he was so… ready to keep going. I should feel more like that, Faolan thought, After all, I'm a Herald too.
"Um…" Faolan said, "Well… we don't really know how you got true control, actually. And Alaska can't just like go to the other side and say 'hey, stop fighting, I'm going to give you all true control.' I mean… Alaska is just one person. He can't give all werewolves forever true control, you know…?"
"But he can help the soldiers who are bitten," Morgan said, glancing at Faolan, "Can he not?"
"Maybe," Faolan said, "I hope so. But… using Alaska is still such a temporary solution. It won't end the war."
"And that is what we want most," Morgan said and sighed, looking around the camp, with a despairing air reminiscent of the way he'd been when Faolan first met him.
"What we want most…" Faolan echoed.
A/N: Sorry about the long wait!! After Iceland (VERY COOL) I was busy packing and then we went to Assateague Island and now I am at college, doing this first year workshop thingy before classes start next month and that is keeping me busy, as well as just settling in and making friends. I HOPE I will be able to start updating weekly again but no guarantees though it WILL be finished, all the last chapters up, but Christmas at the latest. Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter!
balecka92- Morgan came out of it and Alaska dropped the illusions around the same time. Genevieve just came running cause she felt Morgan go over that line. :)
SwiftShadow- Yeah- took me about that long too. Excellent book! Everyone should read Harry Potter. :) Good luck on your own stories. I should poke over and read them.
GinaStar- Well, as this chapter reveals, it may not solve ALL their problems.
StormyPhoenix- Yup. And they are fearsome during the period in which they have lost all control- as Faolan noticed.
ginalee- Hope you aren't too upset by the long wait for this one. This one is a little less intense, but I will put up the next one very soon, hopefully. And that one will be more fun. Mwaha.
The-Elven-Bookworm- Good observation! As you know now- it was kinda a lost love, yeah.
M3m0rii- XD. I'm glad you like it. Also interesting ideas you have for an ending/continuation. :)
nohaydeque- Yeah I know... that is the problem with doesn't really give you the chance to do more than the first draft! Maybe I'll do a revision or something... I don't really feel like it though. I don't think I actually will end up de-Lackeyizing it, though. I am amazed at how long it is, actually. I never expected it to go on this long. I mean- I planned out the end from close to the beginning, but I didn't realize how long it would take to get here!