06-11-2017, 09:52 PM
Tearen nodded solemnly as Jade agreed to his proposition. It was good to know that the Omniverse had room for someone so caring.
“Good. In that case, there’s one thing left to do tonight.” The eldritch human said, standing up from the mostly-finished bed and brushing a few errant glitters of Omnilium off of his palms. He swished over to Rebecca, sitting next to her comparatively frail and ghostly form on the bed. He place a gentle hand on her forehead, which still felt clammy despite her recent bath. It was a physiological side-effect of the sea slug creature planted within her. Creative though he was, Tearen was not sure he would be able to offset these effects or remove the slug outright from Rebecca without causing massive harm. Maybe given a few weeks with her, the legendary Prime may have devised such a method, but this was not the case.
What he could do, however, was augment the effects of her brainwashing so that she had the capacity to learn and grow out of the veil that had been drawn over her eyes. The psychic took in a deep breath and allowed himself to fall into Rebecca’s mind through the palm of his hand, tumbling end over end through a sea of gilded clouds and gleaming statues. It was truly beautiful, the way Rebecca had been conditioned to see the world. As comforting as it may have been, however, she would need to learn the truth of the Omniverse if she were to gain the capacity to grow.
Tearen traced the foundations of her illusions to a murky sublevel in her mind, mired with tangles of untold grime and ghastly flesh. They clung at the heels of her beautiful artifices, cloying and throbbing hungrily. Rebecca’s mind wished to shun these abominations, and at the same time, was drawn to them. Her pursuit of angels, and the Omnilium within their blood; It was rooted at the very core of her psyche. Even roots could have roots, however. Tearen traced the path of these carrion creepers deeper into the dusty parts of Rebecca’s admittedly young mind. Obsession. Admiration. These were the core concepts the Shadow flew among now, and to tinker with any of these basic human thought processes was to invite ruin upon Rebecca’s cognition.
The root’s root. Find the why. There was always a why. He could smell it, quivering and clutching itself away from his scrutiny. An evasive, primal thing. Unmistakable to a telepath, it was Fear. Rebecca feared what would happen if she did not pursue the angels. It was imperative that she do so, because failure meant…no Daddy. Never again a Daddy. Abandonment. Ah…so Jade and Rebecca were more alike than it might seem.
Follow the thread. Abandonment. Rebecca had never known her true parents, only the other little girls that had been abducted into the Little Sister program. He saw himself through the windows of her eyes; larger than life, and looming. There too was Okor, and Jade as well. All of them turning their backs on Little Rebecca because she didn’t watch over the sleeping angels. Bah. So simple to revise. Tearen simply lifted Rebecca’s Fear and put it in front of the retreating giants. A twist of her neurosis, and her Daddies were rushing towards her, arms stretched wide. There, now instead of being abandoned for not collecting Omnilium-charged blood, she would be cherished and loved. A few more simple tweaks, and Tearen ensured Rebecca would be able to pursue whatever her true heart desired in the years to come.
As he pulled back out of the depths of her dream-like mind, he saw the tangled rot begin to wither and die. Ingrained as it was in the foundations of her waking delusion, eventually the golden, shining world she saw would collapse and crumble, leaving only the harshness of reality behind. That was okay. Everyone needed to grow up some day, and this process would take time.
But, at the very least, Rebecca would have a future outside of being a tool of Rapture. Satisfied, Tearen withdrew back into his own brain and let out a deep breath as his eyes rolled open again. He looked around, blinking slowly, and the first thing he noted was the orange light filtering in through the huge window panel’s in Jade’s room. The sun was rising, and Jade herself was half-seated, half-laying on a stack of stuffed squid toys on the other side of Rebecca. Tearen smiled softly; the poor teen must have been worried frantic about what had been happening. He hoped she hadn’t stayed up too too late on her vigil. With the help of delicate telekinesis, the elder Prime tucked Jade and Rebecca into bed properly and quietly shuffled out of the white-walled sanctuary.
A few hours later, and after a hearty, pumpkin dominated breakfast, the three bundled travelers set out back to the gate of the Frozen Fields. Before leaving, however, the Witch of Space had given the dwarven foreman a very stern warning that her yard should be presentable when she got back. It was a pleasant enough walk, under the cheery and rarely seen Fields sun, but the mirth was marred by a looming sense of gravitas. So, Tearen, Jade and even Rebecca kept themselves occupied by story telling. It was somewhat therapeutic to talk to someone about his trials in the Underverse, even if he did omit certain, choice atrocities. The same went for Jade, and her stories from under the Mountains. As for Rebecca…
“…and then all the rocks hitted the fish with a… with a biiig hit, and so then they exploded!” Rebecca said, throwing her arms out to punctuate the immensity of the event. Tearen and Jade laughed giddily at the little girl’s rambling yarn, and encouraged by the positive reception, Rebecca doubled-down on her punchline.
“…and then…then they exploded again!” she shouted. The Primes had to stop walking, due to their fits of giggles. It was a good two minutes before anyone was coherent enough to say anything. Jade had definitely noticed a change in Rebecca since last night. Tearen had explained his edits to her, of course, but seeing it was a completely different experience. Rebecca was the same girl Jade had always known, but now she seemed so much less…scripted. Hardly any mentions of angels and the like. It was almost enough to bring tears to the Witch’s eyes, but not as much as the stone that Tearen dropped on her in the next moment.
“We’re here. Time to choose.” Tearen said flatly. The seriousness in his voice caught Jade off guard, and honestly she had subconsciously been trying to avoid thinking about this. And yet, here it was, as plain as the moon in the sky. Jade decided to try and change the subject.
“So…but…either way you’ll be coming to visit and stuff, right?” she asked. The nervousness in her voice tugged at Tearen’s heartstrings, but this had to be done. He opted to stay silent for too long, and nervousness turned to horror on Jade’s face.
“W-wait, what? No?? Where are you even going, Tearen?” Jade asked in a panicked tone. Tearen sighed softly.
“I’m not totally sure, but I’m going to see Omni, and afterwards, it’s possible I’ll never see anyone in the Omniverse again. I need this world…to learn some things. Dante’s Abyss is a good platform for mass attention, so I’ll start there and-“ Tearen said, but was cut off abruptly.
“Wait, that killing game show thing? That’s how you’re going to do what Tyrael asked?” Jade said, waving her hands in desperation.
“Yes.” The Shadow replied, doing so in a tone that left no doubt in Jade’s mind. Well…this certainly changed a lot!
“Good. In that case, there’s one thing left to do tonight.” The eldritch human said, standing up from the mostly-finished bed and brushing a few errant glitters of Omnilium off of his palms. He swished over to Rebecca, sitting next to her comparatively frail and ghostly form on the bed. He place a gentle hand on her forehead, which still felt clammy despite her recent bath. It was a physiological side-effect of the sea slug creature planted within her. Creative though he was, Tearen was not sure he would be able to offset these effects or remove the slug outright from Rebecca without causing massive harm. Maybe given a few weeks with her, the legendary Prime may have devised such a method, but this was not the case.
What he could do, however, was augment the effects of her brainwashing so that she had the capacity to learn and grow out of the veil that had been drawn over her eyes. The psychic took in a deep breath and allowed himself to fall into Rebecca’s mind through the palm of his hand, tumbling end over end through a sea of gilded clouds and gleaming statues. It was truly beautiful, the way Rebecca had been conditioned to see the world. As comforting as it may have been, however, she would need to learn the truth of the Omniverse if she were to gain the capacity to grow.
Tearen traced the foundations of her illusions to a murky sublevel in her mind, mired with tangles of untold grime and ghastly flesh. They clung at the heels of her beautiful artifices, cloying and throbbing hungrily. Rebecca’s mind wished to shun these abominations, and at the same time, was drawn to them. Her pursuit of angels, and the Omnilium within their blood; It was rooted at the very core of her psyche. Even roots could have roots, however. Tearen traced the path of these carrion creepers deeper into the dusty parts of Rebecca’s admittedly young mind. Obsession. Admiration. These were the core concepts the Shadow flew among now, and to tinker with any of these basic human thought processes was to invite ruin upon Rebecca’s cognition.
The root’s root. Find the why. There was always a why. He could smell it, quivering and clutching itself away from his scrutiny. An evasive, primal thing. Unmistakable to a telepath, it was Fear. Rebecca feared what would happen if she did not pursue the angels. It was imperative that she do so, because failure meant…no Daddy. Never again a Daddy. Abandonment. Ah…so Jade and Rebecca were more alike than it might seem.
Follow the thread. Abandonment. Rebecca had never known her true parents, only the other little girls that had been abducted into the Little Sister program. He saw himself through the windows of her eyes; larger than life, and looming. There too was Okor, and Jade as well. All of them turning their backs on Little Rebecca because she didn’t watch over the sleeping angels. Bah. So simple to revise. Tearen simply lifted Rebecca’s Fear and put it in front of the retreating giants. A twist of her neurosis, and her Daddies were rushing towards her, arms stretched wide. There, now instead of being abandoned for not collecting Omnilium-charged blood, she would be cherished and loved. A few more simple tweaks, and Tearen ensured Rebecca would be able to pursue whatever her true heart desired in the years to come.
As he pulled back out of the depths of her dream-like mind, he saw the tangled rot begin to wither and die. Ingrained as it was in the foundations of her waking delusion, eventually the golden, shining world she saw would collapse and crumble, leaving only the harshness of reality behind. That was okay. Everyone needed to grow up some day, and this process would take time.
But, at the very least, Rebecca would have a future outside of being a tool of Rapture. Satisfied, Tearen withdrew back into his own brain and let out a deep breath as his eyes rolled open again. He looked around, blinking slowly, and the first thing he noted was the orange light filtering in through the huge window panel’s in Jade’s room. The sun was rising, and Jade herself was half-seated, half-laying on a stack of stuffed squid toys on the other side of Rebecca. Tearen smiled softly; the poor teen must have been worried frantic about what had been happening. He hoped she hadn’t stayed up too too late on her vigil. With the help of delicate telekinesis, the elder Prime tucked Jade and Rebecca into bed properly and quietly shuffled out of the white-walled sanctuary.
A few hours later, and after a hearty, pumpkin dominated breakfast, the three bundled travelers set out back to the gate of the Frozen Fields. Before leaving, however, the Witch of Space had given the dwarven foreman a very stern warning that her yard should be presentable when she got back. It was a pleasant enough walk, under the cheery and rarely seen Fields sun, but the mirth was marred by a looming sense of gravitas. So, Tearen, Jade and even Rebecca kept themselves occupied by story telling. It was somewhat therapeutic to talk to someone about his trials in the Underverse, even if he did omit certain, choice atrocities. The same went for Jade, and her stories from under the Mountains. As for Rebecca…
“…and then all the rocks hitted the fish with a… with a biiig hit, and so then they exploded!” Rebecca said, throwing her arms out to punctuate the immensity of the event. Tearen and Jade laughed giddily at the little girl’s rambling yarn, and encouraged by the positive reception, Rebecca doubled-down on her punchline.
“…and then…then they exploded again!” she shouted. The Primes had to stop walking, due to their fits of giggles. It was a good two minutes before anyone was coherent enough to say anything. Jade had definitely noticed a change in Rebecca since last night. Tearen had explained his edits to her, of course, but seeing it was a completely different experience. Rebecca was the same girl Jade had always known, but now she seemed so much less…scripted. Hardly any mentions of angels and the like. It was almost enough to bring tears to the Witch’s eyes, but not as much as the stone that Tearen dropped on her in the next moment.
“We’re here. Time to choose.” Tearen said flatly. The seriousness in his voice caught Jade off guard, and honestly she had subconsciously been trying to avoid thinking about this. And yet, here it was, as plain as the moon in the sky. Jade decided to try and change the subject.
“So…but…either way you’ll be coming to visit and stuff, right?” she asked. The nervousness in her voice tugged at Tearen’s heartstrings, but this had to be done. He opted to stay silent for too long, and nervousness turned to horror on Jade’s face.
“W-wait, what? No?? Where are you even going, Tearen?” Jade asked in a panicked tone. Tearen sighed softly.
“I’m not totally sure, but I’m going to see Omni, and afterwards, it’s possible I’ll never see anyone in the Omniverse again. I need this world…to learn some things. Dante’s Abyss is a good platform for mass attention, so I’ll start there and-“ Tearen said, but was cut off abruptly.
“Wait, that killing game show thing? That’s how you’re going to do what Tyrael asked?” Jade said, waving her hands in desperation.
“Yes.” The Shadow replied, doing so in a tone that left no doubt in Jade’s mind. Well…this certainly changed a lot!
And, we dream of home I dream of life out of here Their dreams are small My dreams don't know fear I got my heart full of hope I will change everything No matter what I'm told How impossible it seems We did it before And we'll do it again We're indestructible Even when we're tired And we've been here before Just you and I
Don't try to rescue me I don't need to be rescued
Don't try to rescue me I don't need to be rescued