Chapter 32

She understood now why this power could drive a person insane and there were times she could feel it eating at her own sanity. Times when she wondered whether or not she'd already lost her mind. The way she acted. The decisions she made. Were they really as sane and in control as she wanted them to be or was this power she'd never asked for controlling her more than she could ever imagine? A part of her really didn't want to know the answer, after all it would only distract her from her mission. A mission she knew she had to see through to the very end whether it was right or not.

The next step in her mission was to bring the Prince of Chaos back to his throne. In all that would follow she would need him… she would need them both in their true states; because in the great chain which was forming, they should currently be sat on top and they weren't. But before she could sort them out there was one other thing she had to take care of.

'Where are we going,' Helen's voice was tight and anxious.

'You'll see when we get there,' she maintained her phantom pixie state. 'I can't tell you any more than that.'

'But what if I meet this person and realise I love Ni instead?'

'Then at least you'll know for sure how it is.'

For a few moments she fell silent again. Then she glanced back towards Helen. In her own way the girl was beautiful, so it was easy to see why the multiverse had given her a Dual Destiny in the way that it had.

'I'm only doing this for the sake of the Balance, you do realise that, right?' Helen suddenly sounded more confident than before. 'I'm not doing this because I trust you. Or because I'm looking for a way out of marrying Ni. But because I believe in the Balance.'

'I understand,' she nodded, 'that's exactly why I'm doing this; is that really so hard to believe?'

'No,' Helen shook her head, 'it's the exact answer I would expect from a true Balancer.'

'So you think I'm a true Balancer then?'

'I… I'm not sure yet, but I do know you're speaking like one and that in itself could say a lot more than you want it to.'

'You're right, it could.'

The silence returned again. This time it held a strange kind of stillness. An awkward kind of tension. An expectation that something…

'This is as far as I can take you,' she came to a stop, as she glanced back towards Helen, 'you have to make the rest of the journey on your own.'

'But I thought…' Helen began protesting.

'You thought I was taking you the whole way,' she lowered her gaze. 'You shouldn't have thought that. I never said I was taking you the whole way, just that I was leading you up the path.'

'But…'

She raised her hand to silence Helen. She then pointed down the road they were heading.

'There are no turns. It's just a straight line. Follow the path, to follow your heart.'

'That sounds like something out of a fairytale,' Helen frowned.

'This whole situation is like something out of a fairytale,' she laughed. 'You are the princess with a choice to make between marrying the evil sorcerer or ending up with your true prince.'

'But this is my fairytale,' Helen stared at her, 'my true prince and the evil sorcerer is a matter of perspective. If I choose to see Ni as the prince, who are you to argue?'

'I wouldn't argue,' she half turned, 'but the rest of the multiverse might.'

'But I don't care about the rest of the multiverse. The rest of the multiverse doesn't have to make this decision, only I do. And who I choose to see as my one true prince is up to me, right?'

'Of course,' she sighed. 'But you haven't even met this other yet, why are you being so set on Ni.'

'Ni told me about you remember? I still don't trust you.'

'I know.'

'So for all I know this other isn't going to be any better than Ni. And you're sending me off to meet him all on my own, how can that be fair?'

'You'll see when you get there,' she pulled a test-tube bottle out of thin air and handing it towards Helen. 'Take this with you.'

'What is it,' Helen frowned as she took the test-tube off of her.

'You'll know exactly what it is when you get there.'

'But I want to know now,' she stared at the slimy green liquid inside. 'It looks like a Nymph potion, only a lot less attractive.'

'Does it?'

'Yes,' she nodded, 'but what's it for?'

'To cure.'

'Cure what?'

'Helen, you should have worked this out by now; all Nymph potions have side affects, right?'

'Right?'

'This one is no exception; it was created by Healer Nymphs, it is a cure.'

'A cure to what?'

'Ask him when you meet him.'

'This other you're sending me to is sick?'

'Right now the one I'm sending you to is dying of complications to the illness he's afflicted with. This won't take the illness away, but it will stop the complications from killing him.'

'Then why…?'

'He needs the cure and you need to be the one to give it to him.'

'Why? Does this have something to do with the side effects? Does it change how a person feels?'

'I never said that Helen.'

'You didn't need to,' she backed away slightly, 'why else would I need to be the one?'

'He already loves you Helen, he just doesn't know it yet.'

'How can he love me without knowing it?'

'The same way Ni believes you can love him without knowing it.'

'I see,' she lowered her gaze thoughtfully for a few moments.

It was pretty clear Helen didn't know whether or not to trust her. The torn nature of her being was written so clearly over her face it was pretty hard to ignore, but still…

'Will he really die?' Helen cleared her throat. 'If he doesn't get the cure, will he really die?'

'Yes and it won't be an easy death either.'

'So it's in his best interest he gets this medicine then?'

'Yes.'

'Then I should deliver it,' a look of determination spread across her face as she made her way down the path, 'I do not wish to be the cause of someone else's death.'

'I know you don't,' she stared after Helen, allowing her body to become solid as she did. 'Good luck.'