"Ninten, are you okay? What did George do to you?"
"Grandma, I'm fi-" Ninten stumbled forward and rubbed his temples. "Well, maybe not fine, but I know what we need to do."
Mary frowned, leaning forward and feeling over the wet spot on Ninten's shirt over his chest wound.
"You're so pale," she said.
"Happens when your ancestors come from Europe."
"I'm serious, Ninten. Does it hurt?"
"Not like I'm imagining actual death would. Maybe this Magicant has some mercy."
"Or maybe it's already drained everything out of us."
"Possible." Ninten smirked. "You know how you put part of your mind in my body? Well, I think we should-"
"Right." Mary extended her hands forward. "I need to take it and give you back the part of your mind."
"You should put more of your mind inside of my body."
Mary frowned. "Ninten?"
Ninten put a hand over his chest. His heartbeat sounded distant in his own ears, and the warm air gave him goosebumps. He could still look inside and see the part of Mary's spirit that she had given him, the part that was an abyss that led to the depths of the ocean.
Ninten had struggled with depression before, of course, but it really did take experiencing Mary's mind in person to understand why she couldn't feel better with a pep talk and a pat on the back. Some wounds cut so deep that slapping a band-aid on couldn't stop the internal bleeding.
But maybe Mary didn't have to be in perfect health.
"This is what friends are for," Ninten said. "Come on, grandma. I can take more of your mind."
"It's not about whether or not you can." Mary leaned back. "I'm not going to risk me messing with your mind any more. I'm going to take the part of me back and wither away until I fade into the spirit world. Nobody else gets a second chance at existence, so why should I try and preserve mine? When you get to my age, you'll realize what I mean when I say that I'm ready to go."
"Except that's not what you were saying before. Accepting death is different than hating life and wanting to kill yourself." A pang shot up through Ninten's chest. "We really don't have much time, grandma. Please."
"Is it too much to assume that you actually have a plan?"
"Just a realization. You're powerful enough to break free but you can't because of your mental state, right? So just shift enough of your mind over to me so that we're both in the same body. We can use my emotions and your PSI power."
"Now's not a time to be experimenting with your soul, Ninten. I won't let a mistake on my part cost you decades of future happiness."
"Please." Ninten extended his hand. "Join me, grandma."
"Why do you care so much about someone who's already dead?"
"Because to break the cycle of suffering, I only need to save one person."
"I know all of these different psyspaces and V-games make it confusing to figure out where we actually are, but this world is separate from the Nowhere Islands game. The rules don't apply here."
"I'm not expecting a V-game to pop out and reward me if we save ourselves," Ninten said, "But helping you is the right thing to do. And I don't think I need to save the whole world to make a difference. Maybe one person is enough."
"Should have chosen someone who deserved it then."
"Sometimes it's not about deserve." Ninten smiled. "Please, grandma. I'm here for whatever you need."
"You know, I could just let you die in here and know that you'll live out the rest of your life without having to worry about me shifting around your mind. Why should I care about myself in comparison? I would have died for you when I was alive, and I'll certainly fade into the darkness now if it means you'll be safe."
"Except I won't be. Not when I have to deal with George. Not when I have to run a PSI company and corporate hawks all across the world will look to exploit a rosy-faced boy in his twenties or thirties. If you leave me now, I'll be all alone."
Mary's eyes narrowed. "Guilt-tripping just makes you look manipulative."
"I want to save you, grandma. And I think that you can save me too. I can't promise anything, but I think you'll feel a bit more complete after helping someone along in life."
Mary paused, and looked down at the dagger sticking in her stomach.
"That's right," Ninten said. "I can be brutal when I have to be. But now's not the time. We can save each other, grandma. I trust you to pilot my body and get us out of here."
Mary drew in a breath and ripped the dagger out of her body.
"Grandma, what are you-"
Mary whipped an arm forward and grabbed onto Ninten's shoulder, her fingers digging into his shoulder blade. She looked at him with wide, obsidian eyes, and a single tear ran down each of her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said, "For letting me try this. PK Soulstealer."
Ninten and Mary stood still for what felt like minutes, her dewy eyes looking into his own. After the pause, without a warning, Mary's body collapsed. Ninten's body bent down and his arm fell onto Mary's stomach, but the motions weren't his own.
"You can still control your body, Ninten. But we'll have to take turns making motions." The voice sounded like Mary was whispering in his ear.
"Lifeup Omega." Ninten felt his lips open and close. The sound was his, but the movements were not.
The wound on Mary's stomach vanished, and the throbbing in Ninten's chest subsided, leaving a serene coolness like diving into a lake on a hot day.
"Some of the earlier V-games were like this, you know. Where you controlled a sprite and could only perform certain motions, and their walking was set where it felt like your legs were moving but they were controlling it."
"Grandma, is there a way for me to talk back in my mind?"
"Oh, just use telepathy. You can draw on my PSI energy storage."
Ninten took a deep breath. "Like this?"
"Perfect. Now comes the dangerous part. If you're afraid of me losing control of the massive PSI power needed to break out and damaging your mind, feel free to back out now."
"Like hell I will. We've gotten this far, haven't we?"
"That's not really a logical argument."
"Whatever. I'm in."
"All right, then can I have you raise your hands like you're holding up a ceiling?"
"Um."
"I'll deal with the mental part of the PSI, but I think it will be better if you go through the physical motions just so that we don't clash."
"You don't trust me to stay still?"
"To be honest, not really."
"Ouch."
Ninten smiled and held his hands up, palms facing the blackened sky.
"All right, now all that you can do is trust me to get us out of here."
"I do."
"Well, guess none of the times I tried to kill you really stuck. I don't know what I did to deserve a great-grandson like you."
"Hey, I'm just doing whatever I can. Have to try and break the cycle of suffering somehow, you know?"
"I suppose that's true. Ninten?"
"Yeah?"
"No matter how this goes, I just wanted to say thanks for everything."
The words "PK Starstorm" escaped from Ninten's lips, floating up into the darkness.
Ninten sat down, watching as radiant white orbs fell from the sky, tearing holes in the black fabric. The orbs started to glow soft reds and cool blues, sunset orange and forest brown. More descended from the sky, and some rose up from beneath the floor, sparkling in the distance.
He used telepathy to try and read Mary's mind inside of his own. Brows metaphorically knotted, of course, and Ninten saw a sea of red fear in his mind under Mary's iron focus. His heart started pounding in his chest, and his hairs stood on end, neither of which came from Ninten himself.
But beneath the anxiety, Ninten's telepathy picked up on starlit hope.
"I'm going to get us out of there, Ninten. And then I'm going to save you."
Ninten closed his eyes.
"I love you, Ninten."
"I love you too, grandma."
Ninten started awake on a floor made out of pink stone. He hopped to his feet and looked around. Outside a shimmering window he saw a world full of pink clouds with steel spires stretching up and grasping at the twinkling stars.
"Grandma? Are you still inside of my body?"
Ninten surveyed the golden chandeliers hanging from the milky pink ceiling.
"Mary?"
"Well, well. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you."
Ninten whirled around to see George smirking at him, hair slicked back and hand over his diamond-studded watch.
"What happened to grandma?"
Mary's body materialized on the pink floor the next moment. She stuttered awake with a gasp, holding her hands over her chest. Ninten ran over and knelt down next to her. She looked at him and strained her face as she smiled.
"Thank you." Her voice sounded withered.
"I confess," George said, "I never thought that this would happen. Not that you would figure out that you could combine your minds, but that even you would be foolish enough to try."
Ninten turned around. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Betting your life for a dollar isn't a good choice even if you win."
"That's the value you put on your wife?"
"As a hypothetical, boy. Who let you into college in the first place?"
"George." Mary rose to her feet. "Stop."
"Grandma, I'm used to it by now."
George laughed. "So the boy sparked something in you, did he? Well I guess he was useful for something. Leave it to two sentimental people to bounce off of each other and grow attached. It's unfortunate that you two had to be so gifted in PSI. Real people could have used those powers, but of course it falls to me to save your bleeding hearts."
"You didn't save anyone," Mary said. "Get out of my Magicant and go crawl back into your hole."
Ninten looked around at the pink bricks of the wall. Mary must have been a bit… out there when she crafted this place.
"Oh yes, my queen." George chuckled and got down onto one knee. "All behold your glorious return!"
"Shut up. Have you been occupying the throne in the years of my absence?"
"Queen?" Ninten looked at Mary. "Throne?"
"I suppose she wouldn't have told you anything," George said. "Mary was the first person to meet Giygas and the Starmen, and they granted her this psyspace and named her queen. Called it 'Magicant' or some other bullshit."
"This is the first Magicant," Mary said. "George and I learned how to use PSI here. And we also found that it has some… special properties. Which George has abused, by the way."
"The starmen wouldn't give us tools if we weren't supposed to use them, Mary. I guess some people can't grow spines even if the fate of the world depends on it."
"Like you've done anything to help the world while I was gone."
"What are you two talking about now?" Ninten said. "I swear, the past couple of days has been enough for me. If this is a bigger deal than you both being dead then I swear I'm going to flip out."
"We'll see what you think," George said. Turning to Mary, "Well? If he's going to take over the PSI company one day then he should know."
"I have no problems with showing him."
"Show me what?"
"Come on, Ninten," Mary said. "It's time to introduce you to a place you'll probably be visiting often in the future."
(ILH)
Outside the pink castle, Magicant's sky shimmered with green auroras while stars pulsated close to the heavens. The ground underneath Ninten's feet was a fluffy pink, and he only sunk into the ground as much as if he were standing on a gym mat. Mary ran a hand over wisps of pink that fluffed up above the surface. George picked up a red weed on the ground, and after examining it put it in his pocket.
"I'm not sure why you are turning the cold shoulder to teleportation," George said. "If you need proof, I can calculate the time it will save compared to walking."
"I want Ninten to get a good view of this place." Mary started off away from the castle.
"Stubborn little-" George shook his head and followed, with Ninten jogging to catch up.
"So," Ninten said, looking over at his great-grandfather.
"So?"
"Why aren't you and Mary at each other's throats after you put her in that mind prison thing?"
"She actually asked me to. Crazy, huh?"
"Yeah, but it sounded like she didn't want to stay trapped there for all those years."
George shrugged, brushing a piece of pink fluff off of his arm. "The deal was she would stay there until she faded into the PSI realm. Not my problem that she was having second thoughts."
"You're the worst."
George grinned. "Thank you."
"I feel like a couple hours ago you would have blown up at me for saying that."
"Well anyone who can drive a dagger into his great-grandmother's stomach isn't a boy any longer. You have my respect, Ninten."
George's hungry smile sent a nauseous feeling bubbling up from Ninten's stomach. Ninten looked over at the figure Mary walking through the pink clouds, clad in black with the suave stride of a modern businesswoman.
"I'm still surprised that she's not keeping an eye on you," Ninten said.
"Then you're still an idiot. Are your PSI senses really that dull?"
Ninten continued to walk forward.
"She's reading every little bit of my mind," George said. "If I even think about harming you she'll probably blast me to smithereens."
Ninten kept his mouth shut. Either Mary's PSI had returned and he had no reason to worry, or she was bluffing and Ninten shouldn't give away her game.
"You've been thinking about harming just about everyone on Earth, so evidently you're exaggerating," Mary said.
"Well, not like I can control which thoughts pop up in my mind." George smiled. "Isn't that right, Ninten?"
"I'm not sure what you're implying," Ninten said, "But I don't think I like it."
"Oh, I'm sure you have dirty thoughts all the time that you hide behind your cute little smile. Who's that middle-class friend you always spend time with? Ashley?"
"Ana."
"Right. I'm sure you've thought about doing some things with her." Smirk. "And I'd bet she'd like it too. Getting real close with someone who could become one of the most powerful men in the world."
"George." Mary whirled around. "I'm not going to warn you again."
"What? We both know it's true. All boys his age are the same. And all girls too, to be honest."
"We're almost there," Mary said. "If I have to beat the shit out of you in front of my grandson I'll be disappointed."
What a model relationship. Ninten tried to imagine seventy plus years of listening to these conversations and a chill ran down his spine.
Mary led George and Ninten along a river that glowed ice blue as the glassy liquid parted around pink stones. Ninten paused for a second and jogged to catch back up with his great-grandparents.
"It will all start to look bland before long," George said. "Trust me."
"Why don't you just stop talking?" Mary said.
After a few more minutes of walking, Mary halted at a fountain with the same ice blue wisps floating off from the water as a river circled around most of the water feature, leaving only a thin pathway to the marble spring.
"Ninten, please stand a few steps back," Mary said.
"Why would I want to harm him?" George said. "Seriously. He's at least useful for a future of running the PSI company, unlike someone I know."
"I thought I told you to stop talking." Mary took a deep breath and looked down into the fountain water
"I think that it will be best to demonstrate," George said. "Mary, I'm sure you know what I'm thinking about."
"For once, I think that your line of reasoning makes sense." Mary stepped up to the fountain and closed her eyes.
George looked down at his watch, and then up at Mary. Ninten kept his eyes trained on George, waiting for a move. After a few moments, Ninten saw bubbles rising from the bottom of the fountain. Mary released a deep breath and turned back to face Ninten and George.
The next moment, Claus and Lucas materialized in front of her, Lucas standing half a head taller.
"As you can see," Mary said, "This fountain can connect between psyspaces and call people. Thank you two for joining us."
"Never thought I'd see this place again." Claus looked up at the sky. "Oooh."
The image of Claus playing and laughing with Dragos in the V-game popped into Ninten's head. Maybe not so different after all.
"Hmm." Lucas's eyes narrowed. "It's quite something to meet the person who ruined my family in person. Posthumously, no less."
"George also figured out how to build a new psyspace inside of this one and allow it to be executed in any other psyspace," Mary said, "Like we did for the Nowhere Islands V-game. It probably seemed like you were going to psyspace inside of psyspace inside of psyspace, but really you were just moving from one to the other."
"Can confirm," Lucas said. "This definitely isn't in my Magicant."
"The fountain," George said, "Can even bring people's spirits back from the dead."
Ninten frowned. "Bring people back? But they have to transfer their own spirit into their psyspace first, right?"
"Nope. Anyone from history, you can bring back through here." George shrugged. "If you know how."
"I don't believe you."
"Come on, Ninten," Claus said. "How do you think that they got me and my mother into the V-game in the first place?"
Ninten looked over from Claus to Mary to Lucas, the last of whom offered a shrug.
"Well, shit," Ninten said. "Like I didn't have enough to worry about before."
Author's Note: Hey, everyone. :) I'm back with another (short) chapter. I'm not sure how I felt about the pacing of this one, but I couldn't really find a way to improve it. If it wasn't obvious, the "first" Magicant shown here is the Magicant from Mother 1/EarthBound Beginnings where Mary is the queen with amnesia. I also wanted to include the fountain as a little touch. Originally I even had a comment about transferring money like what it was used for in Mother 1 but it didn't feel relevant to the story so I cut it unfortunately.
It was also hard for me to write about depression/mental illness in general because it's not great for storytelling. Stories are all about feeling like there's a sense of progress and that the characters are moving forward, but the reality is that depression doesn't really work that way, and showing it improve over a short time in a way that's satisfying for the narrative would be untrue to many people's experiences. So instead I used PSI to get around that point and provide a temporary solution for Mary's depression that could move the plot forward. I think it worked out okay, but please do let me know how you feel about the story! :)
As a final note, it was really hard for me to come up with a big huge climax since both the Claus fight to find Lucas' location and the Mary fight were supposed to be that way, but neither of them really ended up being super climactic. I need to resolve everything so while I'll do my best to provide high stakes at the end I think we've had enough "final battles" for this fic. Just a heads up. :)
See you later! And thank you for sticking with my story this far. It really does mean the world to me.