Usual Dosage
Quick Thinking
A/N: So I've decided to spend all evening after I finish this chapter editing the previous fifteen chapters since I've made a lot of careless grammar mistakes and some of my dialogue is a little bland. Well, that was the best I could do when I started writing that story, but it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm trying to get back into it though! Give me a little time to get my act together and I'll be churning out something worth reading! :3 :3
AND I'VE PUT THIS OFF FOR SO LONG. PLEASE SOMEONE FORGIVE ME. I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET THIS HAPPEN!
Lorelei opened his eyes in a world he hadn't seen in a long time.
This is the outside… Lorelei briefly thought to himself, allowing his eyes to scan the frozen outside world.
The miniature Gnome that resided within Luke with the sentience eagerly bounced on his shoulder, sizing up the earthen rock monsters.
We aren't here to fight… We need to discover where the Sylph have vanished to. Luke and his friends are hopeless without them… Lorelei pat Gnome's head, smiling softly at the purring noise it made.
Lorelei clapped his hands together, only hard enough to make a soft sound, and stepped his essence outside of Luke's body. He turned and looked at his created host's body, a frown quickly marring his amused expression.
His fear drives away the winds, and the Sylph know that fear can lead to disaster. Perhaps we can convince them to give my dear one a chance. I can't draw fonons myself, even out here. My presence will destroy poor Luke's mind, and once again, I will be without a will, this world will be doomed. Lorelei ran a hand through his ghostly hair, ignoring the fact that his fingers had failed to grab any hair at all.
I wonder just how far these fonons will sustain themselves outside of Luke's body…
The fluttering of wings answered Lorelei's question, as some flying sentience approached.
"Lorelei! Lorelei!" Came the shrill cry of a small fairy-like being. Three creatures to be exact, came whizzing out of the trees, straight towards the dim apparition of Lorelei.
Hello dears, I'm glad you still answered my call, no matter how weak it was. Lorelei held up his hand, preventing the fairies from flying any closer, lest they realize Lorelei was nothing more then an illusion.
"Just where have you been Lorelei! You've been gone for many planet years! And why do these children trapped in time look so much like you?! Huh Lorelei?" The Sylph took turns throwing questions at Lorelei, increasingly becoming frantic as the truth of the situation began to sink in.
"So they really did go throw with that plan, didn't they? And you aren't really Lorelei then… Just his power, trapped in a clone of the noble boy. He had his heart set on war, didn't he?" Slowly, the fairies closed in on the frozen form of Luke.
Can you undo the seal then? I understand you would have liked to see Luke ask you for your help instead of myself, but it's dire. If he dies, I'll become will-less, and a weapon once more. I enjoy Luke's innocent and naïve mind; I wish not to be absorbed by any other.
Lorelei turned around to face the buzzing Sylph and his host, slowly approaching until his face was only inches away from Luke's. He loosely wrapped his arms around Luke's frozen shoulders and brought his forehead to touch his fragments.
"We can restore his control of the wind fonons, it's a simple barrier you constructed, but how come you can't undo it? Asking us to do it is the same, isn't it?" The Sylph fluttered around the three frozen companions, careful not to disrupt the apparition of Lorelei.
I constructed them, to keep Luke safe. My power alone is too great, his mind is weak from my elimination of his previous memories. He was created as a body to hold a massive power such as I, and I used these powers to suppress his presence. The past is starting to jumble together now; I can't honestly say what is a dream and what is reality.
The junction between Lorelei's ghostly self and Luke's forehead began to give off a soft glow, eerily visible through Lorelei's transparent form.
If I am the reason for Luke's careless creation, if the possession of my fonon signature is going to harm the fragment of my soul, I wish not for it to happen. I'll protect him, and I'll grant his every wish, until my sins have been repented. Asch too, will play a crucial role. I can't yet explain what it is I need from him, I don't know myself, but I must protect him too. I need the power of all the sentiences, and together we will stop Van and the senseless creation of the Imposters whose soulless existence is entirely my fault. The surplus of seventh fonons required to create them is slowly disrupting the balance of fonons, and soon there will be devastating effects on this planet.
"We will help you Lorelei." Selphie emerged from the trio first to accept Lorelei's offer.
"I assume this is the last time you can do this then. I'm glad we got to see you at least one more time!" Yutis quickly added, joining her Sylph sister in addressing the sentience of Sound.
Fairess sighed, before nodding her head in agreement and holding her hand out in from of her. The lanterns of light appeared around both Lorelei's and Luke's feet, though he was frozen in time.
"I guess this is goodbye?" Fairess whispered, trying to hide her sadness as she slowly moved the fonons from Lorelei's fading body to Luke's frozen self.
It's never goodbye. Just like gnome, your likeness and power will reside within Luke's mind with me, until every seal is undone. Your outer selves will fall into a slumber. Once he has proven his strength not only to the sentiences, but to myself, will I allow my being to be absorbed by his mind and the rest of you shall be set free to resume your duties here. We will meet again, when Luke ascends to join us as the chosen of Lorelei's strength, as well as the gifted individual who saved the world.
"I look forward to an eternity with you." Selphie called out, before her small fairy body exploded into a green shower of light, which was quickly absorbed by Luke. Yutis followed shortly after giving her goodbyes, leaving only a ghostly Lorelei and a downcast Fairess.
"You've have unlocked two seals already. Gnome's was a freebie." She muttered, pointing at the miniaturized version of Gnome that perched on Lorelei's shoulder like a faithful bird.
Leaving Luke unable to function in the body of a seven year old was ridiculous. Of course I pulled some strings so he could at least protect himself from the start. Unfortunately, I wasn't planning on having to call the Sylph as well. But I thank you for understanding. You'll understand the way I operate once Luke grows stronger. He can collect the sentiences help himself, I'm afraid I can't sustain myself like this for long. Altering time was hard enough, but leaving Luke's body, I'm afraid, has drained most of my reserved fonons.
"Let's go then. Your sacred flame needs our help, Save your strength for when Luke needs it, Gnome and the Sylph will protect him now." Fairess touched her small hand to Lorelei's cheek before disintegrating herself into Luke's body. The torches around Luke's feet stopped their spinning, revealing that the seal had successfully been removed. Luke had control of earth and wind fonons now, and Lorelei was one step closer to ending his miserable uncontrollable existence.
"Luke!" Guy's voice called out to the stunned redhead. A Golem made entirely of rock was about to smash his frail bones if he didn't react, and since he had no formal training with swordsmanship, his strength rested in his control of fonons, something no other being could do.
Luke shivered, and summoned a large wall of rock to protect him from the hit. While the Golem was busy pounding on the stone, Luke dashed away. The wind was whipping through his hair, but in his panic he missed the cries of three small fairies, all desperately trying to get his attention. The circling of lanterns around Luke's feet was spinning so fast in reaction to his panic, that neither him, nor his friends could see second acquired power.
'Lorelei! Help me! Help me! Earth can't defeat earth! I can't do this!' Luke panicked, his hair slowly taking on the golden tint that signaled Lorelei's powers were activated.
Listen Luke! Ignore the golems for a second, stop running, and listen! The wind is here, it's with you, you just have to listen!
Lorelei's voice cut out, and the golden glow that surrounded Luke quickly faded. Leaving a shaking Imposter in the face of the Earth monsters. Asch and Guy were doing their best to fight them off and away from Luke, but his running only attracted their attention, and they were currently trying to push past the novice swordsmen.
"Can you hear us Luke? Concentrate on our voices and bend our power to your will. Would you like the wind to cut down these earth creatures? Then command the wind to do so!" The Sylph's childish voices had become harsh, but also gentle as to not scare Luke. Though his body had grown, his mentality was still young, as his body was still new to the world. Quickly aging or not, Imposters of all kinds were always known to regress in times severe panic.
"The wind…" Luke whispered, closing his eyes and listening to the fonons dancing through the air around him. The trees rustled, and the grass swayed, but most of all, the rock beneath his feet trembled at the wind.
"Luke! Look out!" Asch cried, panicked as the golem he was holding off managed to break past him.
"The fonons are waiting for me…" Luke said calmly as he held out his palm to the approaching golem. Asch grew even more panicked, Luke couldn't defeat the golem with the same element it was created from!
The earth golem pulled back it's fist to smash poor Luke into a bloody mess, but instead of stopping, the earth golem's arm was pulled back, and then suddenly, the rest of the rock creature was shot backwards into a tree with such force the tree snapped the golem continued to fly.
The commotion was enough to distract the second golem from Guy, and the caretaker wasted no time quickly slicing at the soft earth that held the rock golem's body together.
The other two golems that were still standing were very confused at the strange turn of events, but didn't give up their pursuit for victory.
Luke didn't give up either, slamming his hands together, causing a tornado to whirl around him and his companions. The wind ripped at the rock golems weakly held together bodies, and the harsh winds effectively destroyed their presence.
The strength required to channel so many fonons through his body, and bend them to his will would have knocked out the poor Imposter for days, but with the help of Lorelei's stability, Luke remained standing after the blow.
"Luke…" Asch said cautiously, stepping closer to his brother with the same character as his words.
"I don't think…. I can do that again." Luke smiled, and let out a sigh before laughing softly to himself. "There aren't enough seventh fonons in the world to continue to sustain me and Lorelei's separate personalities; I'm going to have to start converting them myself…" Luke swayed a bit on his feet, before regaining his balance, with the help of his concerned caretaker.
"It appears…. Everyone else will lose the ability to channel fonons. I'll be the lone fonist until this is all over…" Luke's eyes glazed over a little as he stared at his brother's face. Asch tentatively reached a hand out to cup his brother's cheek, and was startled when Luke smiled at the contact.
"What happened there Luke? You had us both really worried!" Asch smiled back, grateful that Luke had managed to save both him and Guy from the overpowering earth golems. They were severely outnumbered and incredibly overpowered. Had Luke's fonons not kicked into overdrive, they wouldn't have been able to make it as unscathed as they had managed.
"I didn't know Lorelei only had a set amount of seventh fonons reserved, and I just sucked up a bunch. He was able to call the Sylph to transfer and unlock the seal on my wind fonons. Since it was dire, he couldn't refrain from acting, and thus, the barrier that keeps the two of us separate is prematurely deteriorating." Luke closed his eyes, but sighed loudly to show he had still managed to remain awake.
"I managed to cut off the use of fonons for everyone else, borrowing just a little bit more of Lorelei's power. If I can collect enough fonons, I can convert them into the seventh fonim to help keep the two of us from merging until the time is right." Luke groaned, tangling one of his hands into his hair and massaging his scalp.
"Is your head hurting? Do you think you might be experiencing IC?" Guy wasted no time, laying Luke down on the ground, using his own jacket as support for the Imposter's head.
"What is IC?" Asch questioned, trying not to interrupt the interactions between Guy and Luke.
"It's when an Imposter's brain goes over the maximum processing capacity they are capable of handling at once. Originally, it was processed to keep Imposter's from rebelling, as high anxiety activities such as treason require increased levels of brain activity. It's mostly been eliminated as submissiveness is implanted into their programming, and the levels have been increased dramatically. It's basically a debilitating pain because the brain cannot keep up with thoughts and experiences coming in." Guy focused on getting Luke to breathe more calmly, leaving Asch to his thoughts.
He had never imagined that so many measures were implicated to keep Imposter's in their place in society. He knew of the collars, and the Seekers that resembled dogs in their ability to track and retrieve rouge Imposters, but he never knew measures were implicated in their very design to keep them from advancing in society.
Asch noticed that the wind had picked up, and studied the sky for any signs of a storm coming. There were no clouds, but the steady breeze remained. The noble tried to figure out which way the wind was blowing in the event a storm not yet visible was coming, but instead discovered something much more interesting. The wind wasn't blowing in one direction, but instead all collecting at a single point.
"Luke…" Asch muttered quietly, crouching down by his brother's side. The crease in his brow seemed the lessen the more the wind blew towards him, and Asch could only suspect that beneath them the ground was also giving up some of it's fonons as well.
"I don't think it's the IC you were talking about…" Asch said cautiously to the fretting caretaker.
Guy spun around on his knees to face the noble, about to snap about he knew much more about the subject then he would probably ever, when he noticed the strange wind pattern as well.
"He was running dangerously low on seventh fonons then…" Guy gave a sigh of relief, but the reprieve was short lived.
"He won't be able to make many more seventh fonons using simply earth and wind, it requires all six elements to make a complete fonon…"