Written: Monday. February 24, 2020.
“What happened to you?” Toby looked at Veergha, who seemed to have changed her form once more. Only this time, it didn’t make sense to Toby. Because Veergha now looked exactly like the girl that he loved: Mara. “Why do you look different?”
Veergha looked at Toby. “What do you mean, Tobias?”
“You look just like — “ Toby stopped himself. “…you look different, I mean.”
“Mind-breaches work uniquely for each passenger.” Veergha replied. “In your Terran lingo, ‘we’re just in it for the ride’, I suppose.”
“What do I look like to you?” Toby asked her. Veergha looked at him contemplatively. “You look just like Darraihn.”
“You mean that plant guy, earlier?” Toby said. Then he remembered what happened to that “plant guy”, and looked down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean — “ he lets out a sigh. It took no hesitation for her to tell me who I looked like to her. He thought to himself. I’m being an asshole. “You look just like Mara.”
“Your lover?” Veergha asked.
Toby blushed. To him, it was Mara who was talking to him. He was alone with her again, after so long. It just felt awkward. “N-no. Why would you even have thought of it like that?”
“The mind plays tricks, Tobias.” Veergha pointed out. “But it also shows truth and desire. You look to me as though you are Darraihn. It only makes sense that I look to be like your sexual partner.”
“What? No! You are way off, Lady. You can’t just say things like that to a person.”
“What did I say?”
“It’s just — look. Mara isn’t my — she’s not…she’s not my sexual partner, okay? If so, then explain how Darraihn is even your sexual part — Aagh!”
“Tobias,” Veergha moved closer to Toby. “we are wasting.”
“Right.” Toby nods at Veergha, trying to refocus on the situation at hand. “So why did you put me down again?”
“You were going mad with your powers up there.” She said to him. “I had to do something to get you tamed. And mind-breaching was the only thing I had thought of at the moment.”
“But then it lead to another memory montage. Do you know what it’s like for me? I’m living out your memories as though they’re mine. What you feel in those memories are what I feel. Your anger, your blood-lust. You were a monster back then, Korriavania.”
Veergha was taken aback by what Toby called her. “I gave you no permission to called me that.”
“I gave you no permission to look like that, either.” Toby pointed at her. “But here we are. Listen, if we’re gonna be here for a while. You might as well tell me what was going on in that last scene back there. Before you disturbed me of it.”
“Fine.” Veergha sat in the darkness. Toby followed. “We were in the barren world when I interrupted you, yes?”
“Yep.”
“Right. See, each world we visited was a world rich with life. Excess resource, plenty of vegetation, unique evolutionary traits — anything that could advance the Volgan Race. Then we arrive at Torve III. In the ship’s archives, Torve was a planet filled with beings who could control the air around them. Toae’ras was a prime example. Little did I know, he was the only example; the only Torvean left of his kind. Toae’ras and I conversed quite a while, before I came to my senses, and settled for sparing his life.”
“What pushed you to spare him?” Toby asked. “I mean, I get the ‘only one of his kind left’ part. But I don’t think that’ll sway such an erratic entity as you are…were.”
Veergha thought for a while. Toby just waited beside her. He was also still a bit uneasy because he was seeing someone else. “I don’t know,” Veergha finally answered. “Toae’ras told me that he was willing to share with me his abilities, so I played along. Eventually, I inherited his power over the strong winds.”
“Wouldn’t that kill him?”
“Inheritance doesn’t necessarily have to be done by force. The mind-breach is a good example of being able to share, without harming the other. This was something Toae’ras taught me that day as well.”
“I thought that the mind-breaching was something the Volgans had?”
“They do, but only because I was forced to pass that along. I hid Toae’ras’s air abilities from Veronnogh. But I had to show him something. So the mind-breach was what I chose to provide.”
“Is this why I can shoot out flames from my hands? Cause the mind-breach allowed me to take something from you?”
“I feel as though you may not wake up with my Xigonian abilities once we end this breach, Tobias. That’s one of the other reasons as to why I put us under: to protect you.”
Toby’s eyebrows crossed. “What?”
“I’ve grown to adjust to you Terrans…you people. Don’t worry, I was disoriented by it all when I noticed it as well. It started the first time we breached. I didn’t know it at the time, but this conversation made it clear what happened to me that day. You humans do actually have your own unique ability. But it isn’t something destructive, like shooting a ball of fire in your hands. Or flying high up in the sky. It’s your ability to care for others that I was able to inherit.”
He was breathing heavily now. His eyes were starting to water up, but he wasn’t sad or angry; he was agitated. “Caring for other people can be destructive.” he forced himself to say. Something in his throat was starting to hurt. “…especially if you push it on them too much. You end up hurting those people. And when you decide to push them away because you don’t wanna hurt them,” Toby looked into Veergha’s eyes — to Mara’s eyes. “You still end up being the bad guy.”
As Veergha looked at Toby, she was seeing Darraihn. “Who is this Mara to you, Toby?”
Toby smiled at her, “Someone I really cared about.”
As he awoke from that seemingly never-ending slumber, Toby saw himself curled up inside of a wooden cocoon. The branches were slowly breaking apart, revealing the outside world. His friends were there, and so was his mother. Shit. He thought to himself. My mom’ll never forget what happened here.
Toby looks back inside of the cocoon and tries to see if Veergha was already awake as well. To his surprise, another person was there with him; eyes were still closed. He brushed the hair out of this sleeping person, and saw the face of the girl from his dreams, Mara.
“Hey,” Toby said to her. “Wake up.”
The girl slowly opened her eyes; a small dream dust on each side. Toby took them off as gentle as possible. The girl noticed his touch. “Are…are we back?”
“Kinda.” Toby said to her. “I mean, we are back to reality. It’s just — “
“Just what, Toby?”
The branches fully dissolved. Toby carefully carried both of them up from the ground. Veergha was still having trouble balancing herself.
“Toby?” Lily moved closer to her son, “Are you alright, sweetie? What’s happening?”
“Who is she?” June looked at the girl by Toby’s side, “Where’s Miss Victoria?”
Tom and Drew looked closely at the girl. Tom raised his eyebrow. “Now, would you look at that.”
“Toby, why does she look just like — “ like Mara, Drew tried to say. Until he noticed Toby’s reaction and stopped himself.
“Why?” Veergha looked around her. “Who do I look like?”
“She does look familiar,” Amanda said. “I’ve seen her around campus.”
Toby tried to capture Veergha’s attention, “The breach might’ve done something to your physical form.”
“Who is this girl?” Ervagh demanded. “Where is Lady Veergha?”
“Ervagh, it’s me.” Veergha answered him. “Isn’t it?”
“Remember when you said that the mind-breach works differently to each person?” Toby asked her. “Well, you might’ve been wrong on that one.”
“What did I miss?” Omnius just arrived with his pet frog. “Who’s the pretty lady?”
“No,” Veergha saw her reflection from Omnius’s metallic surface. “It can’t be!”
“Toby,” June said. “Who is she?”
Toby’s hand was still holding Veergha’s. She was still too dazed notice this. Toby looked at everyone. “Guys, don’t worry. She’s still Lady Veergha. Something just happened in the breach that made her this way.”
“I look like your lover.” Veergha explored her face through Omnius’s metallic body. “How did this happen?”
“Your lover?” Several of Toby’s friends said in unison.
“I told you it’s not like that!” Toby said to Veergha. He let out a sigh. “She looks just like the girl that I like from school, Okay. She looks just like Mara.”
Tom snapped his fingers. “I knew it!”
“What?” June exclaimed.
“Why’d she change into this…Mara?” Ervagh asked.
“Guys, it’s okay. The mind-breach just has a mysterious way of doing things — “ Toby said, until Veergha took her hand from his. “What’s wrong?”
“Look at me.” Veergha answered. She slowly walked away, and continued walking away, from Toby; from everybody.
“What happened to you?” Toby looked at Veergha, who seemed to have changed her form once more. Only this time, it didn’t make sense to Toby. Because Veergha now looked exactly like the girl that he loved: Mara. “Why do you look different?”
Veergha looked at Toby. “What do you mean, Tobias?”
“You look just like — “ Toby stopped himself. “…you look different, I mean.”
“Mind-breaches work uniquely for each passenger.” Veergha replied. “In your Terran lingo, ‘we’re just in it for the ride’, I suppose.”
“What do I look like to you?” Toby asked her. Veergha looked at him contemplatively. “You look just like Darraihn.”
“You mean that plant guy, earlier?” Toby said. Then he remembered what happened to that “plant guy”, and looked down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean — “ he lets out a sigh. It took no hesitation for her to tell me who I looked like to her. He thought to himself. I’m being an asshole. “You look just like Mara.”
“Your lover?” Veergha asked.
Toby blushed. To him, it was Mara who was talking to him. He was alone with her again, after so long. It just felt awkward. “N-no. Why would you even have thought of it like that?”
“The mind plays tricks, Tobias.” Veergha pointed out. “But it also shows truth and desire. You look to me as though you are Darraihn. It only makes sense that I look to be like your sexual partner.”
“What? No! You are way off, Lady. You can’t just say things like that to a person.”
“What did I say?”
“It’s just — look. Mara isn’t my — she’s not…she’s not my sexual partner, okay? If so, then explain how Darraihn is even your sexual part — Aagh!”
“Tobias,” Veergha moved closer to Toby. “we are wasting.”
“Right.” Toby nods at Veergha, trying to refocus on the situation at hand. “So why did you put me down again?”
“You were going mad with your powers up there.” She said to him. “I had to do something to get you tamed. And mind-breaching was the only thing I had thought of at the moment.”
“But then it lead to another memory montage. Do you know what it’s like for me? I’m living out your memories as though they’re mine. What you feel in those memories are what I feel. Your anger, your blood-lust. You were a monster back then, Korriavania.”
Veergha was taken aback by what Toby called her. “I gave you no permission to called me that.”
“I gave you no permission to look like that, either.” Toby pointed at her. “But here we are. Listen, if we’re gonna be here for a while. You might as well tell me what was going on in that last scene back there. Before you disturbed me of it.”
“Fine.” Veergha sat in the darkness. Toby followed. “We were in the barren world when I interrupted you, yes?”
“Yep.”
“Right. See, each world we visited was a world rich with life. Excess resource, plenty of vegetation, unique evolutionary traits — anything that could advance the Volgan Race. Then we arrive at Torve III. In the ship’s archives, Torve was a planet filled with beings who could control the air around them. Toae’ras was a prime example. Little did I know, he was the only example; the only Torvean left of his kind. Toae’ras and I conversed quite a while, before I came to my senses, and settled for sparing his life.”
“What pushed you to spare him?” Toby asked. “I mean, I get the ‘only one of his kind left’ part. But I don’t think that’ll sway such an erratic entity as you are…were.”
Veergha thought for a while. Toby just waited beside her. He was also still a bit uneasy because he was seeing someone else. “I don’t know,” Veergha finally answered. “Toae’ras told me that he was willing to share with me his abilities, so I played along. Eventually, I inherited his power over the strong winds.”
“Wouldn’t that kill him?”
“Inheritance doesn’t necessarily have to be done by force. The mind-breach is a good example of being able to share, without harming the other. This was something Toae’ras taught me that day as well.”
“I thought that the mind-breaching was something the Volgans had?”
“They do, but only because I was forced to pass that along. I hid Toae’ras’s air abilities from Veronnogh. But I had to show him something. So the mind-breach was what I chose to provide.”
“Is this why I can shoot out flames from my hands? Cause the mind-breach allowed me to take something from you?”
“I feel as though you may not wake up with my Xigonian abilities once we end this breach, Tobias. That’s one of the other reasons as to why I put us under: to protect you.”
Toby’s eyebrows crossed. “What?”
“I’ve grown to adjust to you Terrans…you people. Don’t worry, I was disoriented by it all when I noticed it as well. It started the first time we breached. I didn’t know it at the time, but this conversation made it clear what happened to me that day. You humans do actually have your own unique ability. But it isn’t something destructive, like shooting a ball of fire in your hands. Or flying high up in the sky. It’s your ability to care for others that I was able to inherit.”
He was breathing heavily now. His eyes were starting to water up, but he wasn’t sad or angry; he was agitated. “Caring for other people can be destructive.” he forced himself to say. Something in his throat was starting to hurt. “…especially if you push it on them too much. You end up hurting those people. And when you decide to push them away because you don’t wanna hurt them,” Toby looked into Veergha’s eyes — to Mara’s eyes. “You still end up being the bad guy.”
As Veergha looked at Toby, she was seeing Darraihn. “Who is this Mara to you, Toby?”
Toby smiled at her, “Someone I really cared about.”
* * *
As he awoke from that seemingly never-ending slumber, Toby saw himself curled up inside of a wooden cocoon. The branches were slowly breaking apart, revealing the outside world. His friends were there, and so was his mother. Shit. He thought to himself. My mom’ll never forget what happened here.
Toby looks back inside of the cocoon and tries to see if Veergha was already awake as well. To his surprise, another person was there with him; eyes were still closed. He brushed the hair out of this sleeping person, and saw the face of the girl from his dreams, Mara.
“Hey,” Toby said to her. “Wake up.”
The girl slowly opened her eyes; a small dream dust on each side. Toby took them off as gentle as possible. The girl noticed his touch. “Are…are we back?”
“Kinda.” Toby said to her. “I mean, we are back to reality. It’s just — “
“Just what, Toby?”
The branches fully dissolved. Toby carefully carried both of them up from the ground. Veergha was still having trouble balancing herself.
“Toby?” Lily moved closer to her son, “Are you alright, sweetie? What’s happening?”
“Who is she?” June looked at the girl by Toby’s side, “Where’s Miss Victoria?”
Tom and Drew looked closely at the girl. Tom raised his eyebrow. “Now, would you look at that.”
“Toby, why does she look just like — “ like Mara, Drew tried to say. Until he noticed Toby’s reaction and stopped himself.
“Why?” Veergha looked around her. “Who do I look like?”
“She does look familiar,” Amanda said. “I’ve seen her around campus.”
Toby tried to capture Veergha’s attention, “The breach might’ve done something to your physical form.”
“Who is this girl?” Ervagh demanded. “Where is Lady Veergha?”
“Ervagh, it’s me.” Veergha answered him. “Isn’t it?”
“Remember when you said that the mind-breach works differently to each person?” Toby asked her. “Well, you might’ve been wrong on that one.”
“What did I miss?” Omnius just arrived with his pet frog. “Who’s the pretty lady?”
“No,” Veergha saw her reflection from Omnius’s metallic surface. “It can’t be!”
“Toby,” June said. “Who is she?”
Toby’s hand was still holding Veergha’s. She was still too dazed notice this. Toby looked at everyone. “Guys, don’t worry. She’s still Lady Veergha. Something just happened in the breach that made her this way.”
“I look like your lover.” Veergha explored her face through Omnius’s metallic body. “How did this happen?”
“Your lover?” Several of Toby’s friends said in unison.
“I told you it’s not like that!” Toby said to Veergha. He let out a sigh. “She looks just like the girl that I like from school, Okay. She looks just like Mara.”
Tom snapped his fingers. “I knew it!”
“What?” June exclaimed.
“Why’d she change into this…Mara?” Ervagh asked.
“Guys, it’s okay. The mind-breach just has a mysterious way of doing things — “ Toby said, until Veergha took her hand from his. “What’s wrong?”
“Look at me.” Veergha answered. She slowly walked away, and continued walking away, from Toby; from everybody.
End of chapter.
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