Niiue stares down at me. I think he's caught off guard. I can't blame him. I didn't expect to survive that…the…whatever happened in my head. Wasn't I going to figure out just what happened earlier? I feel like I made a mental note to think about it. Wait, no, I can focus on that later. I have the advantage right now.
I leap to my feet and grab at Niiue's hat. My head throbs, but I ignore the pain. I can't stay here. I tug the hat, but he tightens his grip on it. All right, my advantage is disappearing. I forget about the hat. It's his anyways. I don't know why I tried grabbing it in the first place. Stupid, stupid, stupid! That's what I'm being! I sprint into the darkness, heading in the opposite direction of the tree.
There's a dull throbbing in my chest, adding to pain of my headache. It's hard to breath. I reach a hand up to my chest and press against it. I don't have time to deal with this. I don't have time for sore chests and gasping breaths. I think I hear Niiue behind me. I shouldn't have tried taking the hat with me. Thinking back, that must have been a pretty big tip-off for Niiue. Why did I do that? Why? It's just a stupid hat! I always made fun of it back before everything went wrong.
I blink to clear my eyes. It's getting hard to see. The shadows, grass and sky blur together. I wipe my eyes to clear them, but they fill up really fast. I give up and squeeze them shut, still running. I trip a few times, but I think it's dark enough that Niiue can't see me too well. My ears twitch.
Did Niiue say something? I think he did. I think he said, 'wait,' or 'stop,' but I've already made up my mind. I run. I run and the ground drops away under my feet. Something rushes past me as I drop. I look up and see Niiue, reaching over the edge of…oh, I guess it's a cliff. That explains a lot, actually.
I wonder if I'll die. That's a pretty likely outcome. My chest aches, my stomach hurts, my head throbs, my eyes won't stop leaking. Why should I care? I'm just dead weight right now. A waste of space. I don't need to exist. Niiue's the only one who knows I'm alive. I just…I just-
I don't want to die yet. I don't know why, but every fiber in my body rejects the idea. I have to think of something. I need to stop my fall. I have to think of something. Think, I command myself, think! You've You built a machine designed to amplify your abilities enough to destroy the universe! Why should beating basic physics be so hard? Just come up with something!
Sharp thorns dig into my back, and I squeak in pain. No need to fight physics now. I wrap my hands around one of the prickly branches. It hurts, but, I'm not falling. I'm not sliding. I'm on a scraggly bush and I'm not dead. My body is shaking, but I'm calm. I exhale. I'm alive. I am alive. I am-
Grabbed and falling. I look to the side and see Niiue. I lean back, my ears flat against my head. I say the first words that come to mind.
"Why do you keep following me?" Wind rushes past us and I wonder just why Niiue leapt off the cliff after me. Sure, he couldn't have seen the bush I landed on, but what kind of idiot jumps off a cliff? It doesn't make sense!
"It really is you!" Niiue says, pulling me closer.
I feel a surge of psychic energy and the tug of teleportation. We land hard in my bush, breaking through the branches. It hurts, but it not as badly as I expected. I turn my head and look up at Niiue. Our eyes meet and I flatten my ears against my head. His face blurs in my vision and I turn my head to the side. I can't look at him without my eyes watering so I press my face against Niiue's shirt. I don't want to be here. I don't want Niiue to see me yet. I don't want him to talk to me. I'm not…I'm just…
"Let me go!" I say, "I'm worthless. I have to leave!"Niiue holds me tighter.
"You're not worthless. You're…you're worth a lot to me." He doesn't let go of me and my eyes leak. He's shaking, just like I am. I sniff. Why is he saying this? Why won't he let me go? I open my mouth to ask him why he's doing this to me, but all I get out is,
"I'm a waste of space and you know it! L-leave me alone!"
He doesn't.