In the Mind: Eris-Tam and Emerik the Blade

<He was floating in darkness. all around him, he could hear that scream.
it hasn't stopped.
He sees her face... growing paler, blood pouring.
It scares him.
it terrifies him.
He screams.>
<Then, Emerik saw a light... and he was in a field.
He looked around him, shaking from what just happened.
Next to him, is Eris-Tam>

T-Tam...?
Where... What happened?!
<He looks distraught. the sound of Krystin's scream echoing through his ears.>

She says nothing at first, looking at him in concern and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You... you're out. You don't look too good..." She doesn't answer his questions, knowing that if she's right he'll be there for a while and there will be plenty of time to explain. "Is it... is it her?"

<His eyes are still wide, he looks around the field.>
I remember... i had came back to myself.
and i looked across the room.
And i saw her, standing there.
Krystin.
pale, covered in blood.
<he is visibly more distraught now.>
And she let out this scream... this horrible scream.
And... all i saw was black.
the scream surrounding me.
and then i was here.
<looks at Tam, a tear in his eye>
I... can still hear it. an echo in my mind.
<looks down.> <his hands and arms are shaking>
I... let her fall. I... know she wasn't real. but i let go.

"You did the right thing, Emerik. There was nothing else you could have done. She's gone... you have to come to terms with it. Alright? I'm here to help you, Emerik, but you have to let me. We're joined right now. Our minds are together. What can I do to help?" She sounds determined, wanting only to keep Emerik from losing it; she can tell he's close. She turns him to face her, a hand on each of his shoulders, forcing him to look into her eyes. They are filled with understanding but at the same time a strength and a confidence.

<looks her in the eye.> I-I dont know. I dont know what will help.
I thought i came to terms with it when we were fighting the Shadow.
I.. felt myself come to terms. but then... i see her, standing there...
and.. i.. i...
<sighs> I felt this surge of... contempt fly through me.
contempt... and... terror.
and... i dont know how to... <a deep breath>
i tried to fight it, but then, i felt it take hold. and everything was black.
<he is slowly calming down, but still a desperate look in his eyes.>
I know shes not there... i know.. i-i was seeing things. but it... felt real.
could feel it... in every bone of my body, every thought, every sense.
Like... despite what i thought... i couldnt help but believe it.

<a low wind is starting, brushing its way through the field, silent, yet loud, calm, yet excited.>
Can you... can you help me find it?
What part of me... is doing this?

Or is it something else?
Am... i just crazy? am i insane?

"No. No, Emerik. You're not crazy. I'll help you find it. I promise. Just like you tried to help me." She pauses, taking a breath, and then offering him her hand. "We'll need to enter your mind, we can't do anything from here. This might be hard, but I know you can do it. I'll be here, and we'll find it together. As friends, not just allies. We can do this."

<sits there for a moment, then swallows,>
Alright. lets do this.
as friends.
<takes her hand and stands. approaches the center of the field.>
<the wind has picked up, and then Emerik closes eyes, and the scene begins to change.>
<Slowly, the Field begins to spin, then change direction, then altogether change completely.
The grass slowly becomes tunnels, clearings, hallways, and rooms. the ground becomes
a constantly moving pattern beneath their feet, from red sand, to flowing grass, to obsidian.
The sky, the sky changes into a glowing red sunrise, similar to those on Mars.
Everything pauses in its tracks, stops moving.
Everything is still,
Yet moving.
everything is silent,
yet roaring.
Solid, but in flux.
Everything in mind of Emerik the Blade.>
<Emerik opens his eyes>
We're here.

Tam looks around to regain her bearings, eyeing the many passages and tunnels trailing through Emerik's mind. It is a dark place, and yet at the same time it is full of light in a way that Tam can only begin to understand. She closes her eyes, gently feeling around in Emerik's mind, almost like she did when she was in Robless. Almost immediately, Tam can sense the Lyikos, the light parasite. She continues searching, however, until she is jerked out of it by a sudden burst of pain from behind her, and she realizes that something, a knife, probably, had just been plunged into her back. She falls to the ground, letting go of Emerik's hand, and turns, trying to face her attacker. It was the Lyikos. Tam puts up her hand to it desperately. "Wait, please..." she coughs, "I'm here to help. You just helped fight... in my mind... I'm here to help Emerik fight something too. I'm here... to help him fight his... memories. I meant no harm by trespassing..." She can feel the knife lodged deep in her back, but she ignores it for the moment, pleading with the Lyikos.

NO!
<pushes the Lyikos back.>
She is good.
She is here to help.
<Walks up to the glowing Guard.>
I command you to leave her alone.
She will do no harm here.
Go, lyikos.
<kneels next to Tam to help her>
<The Lyikos's expression is one of distaste... and to Emerik's surprise... it speaks.>
She holds the Shadow in her mind.
The Dark Parasite.
She is a danger.
She is not to be trusted.
<its voice is low and earthy, as if the red sands of Mars itself were speaking.>

Tam speaks to the Lyikos, rather than to Emerik, "I know. I know I have the Shadow inside me. But the part of me which is here is me, not it. It doesn't control me here, and it can't come here. Please... let me help him." Her breathing starts to become heavy, and she can't get the knife out on her own. "Please..."

<the Lyikos huffs.>
<He puts out a hand, and the weapon in her back is removed, and shoots into his hand.
It is in fact a shard of glowing-ice, infused with a red and yellow glowing center.>

<he looks down on Tam>
You may go.
But mind you... i shall be watching.
always.

<He turns to go, then disappears.>
<the wound on Tam's back heals and closes.>

Tam nods as both the pain and the Lyikos disappear, and then she gets to her feet. She murmurs a quiet, "thank you" but it is unclear whether she is speaking to Emerik or to the Lyikos. She then looks around again, once more searching for the tainted part of Emerik's mind, one more searching for the memory of his daughter that somehow has become corrupted.

And she finds it. Suddenly they are in a new place, on the bridge of a Martian wartime supply ship, under attack by Robless' fleets. Standing there is a young woman, engrossed in issuing emergency orders to the crew, trying to keep things under control but obviously very worried and stressed. Krystin.
"Get us out of here! Jump to the 4th, NOW!"
But it's too late. In the middle of the jump, the engines overload and overheat. An engineer yells out, "Critical systems failure!" and then the back end of the ship is ripped into pieces. Six escape pods launch, but the scene is too chaotic for anyone to know who is aboard them. Moments later, in the middle of somewhere that is neither the 4th nor the place where they had been seconds before, the ship is blown to pieces.

In a sudden flash of unreality, Emerik and Tam are again in a new place. They appear on an unfamiliar planet, in an endless plain. The ground is littered with the wreckage of four of the pods, twisted, torn apart, and burning after their reentry and crash-land on the planet's surface. There are bodies strewn across the field as well, and only a few of them are moving. Their moans of pain fill the otherwise silent scene.

One of the closest is Krystin. She is lying on the ground, some of her face and arms severely burned from the explosions, and blood pours from her wounds. Her hand, shaking, slowly moves across the scorched grass towards Tam and Emerik. Tears stream from her face, and Tam just stands perfectly still, shocked, eyes wide.

But it's worse for Emerik. Krystin looks exactly as she did in his hallucination, face ghostly pale, her hands covered in blood, her eyes wide and frightened. Her eyes move as if searching for something, but without focusing, without locating and holding anything. Except for Emerik. "D... dad..."

<Emerik stares, then runs to her side, falling to knees.... grabs her hands.>
K-krystin... no... no no....
Dads... dads here...
im here... im here now...
<tears form>
Im H-here...

Tam stays where she is, frozen in shock, with no explanation or movement, or any indication of anything at all. She just looks completely bewildered.

Krystin's hands shake, and the blood wets Emerik's hands. She looks like she's trying to speak, but she can't, and no words are formed even though her lips move... "D... H... Help... hel... m..." Her eyes start to lose focus again, and her her face takes on a look of sorrowful determination. She slowly pulls one of her hands from Emerik's, and then she shakily reaches for the pistol in her belt holster.

<grasps for a hold on her hand, while his are slipping.>
No! Krystin! dont!
<reaches for the arm>
Please... dont...
not now... not again...
i cant lose you again...
<closes eyes, then looks to tam, that desperateness returned to his eyes>
Is this real?!
or is this another sick dream?!
Tam... i cant even...

Krystin grasps the pistol, tugging it from the holster, and starts to pull it to her. But her hand drops to the ground in the middle of the motion as she loses consciousness, and then Tam is at his side, pulling Emerik to his feet, away from his dying daughter. The scene freezes as if on command, and then Tam speaks, her voice and her eyes seeming like she herself is still trying to comprehend the scene herself. It doesn't make sense.

"Emerik, listen to me. This isn't real, but it has happened. This really happened, Emerik. The Thel-ghan'che... it must have found the memory of the description in my mind, and planted a false memory here. You can't have seen this, so this is the corruption. This is the part that is haunting you, Emerik... It was clever to do this..." She looks at him seriously, "We can get rid of this memory, if you want. But it did happen. All of this..." And it is only then that Emerik starts to make the connections.

<is silent>
<stands>
<looks down at Krystin>
She... could be alive.
<looks to Tam>
This really happened?
<thinks>
We have to go here. wherever this is.
And now.
<Looks up into the sky>
I want this memory.
It... i cant really explain why. but i do.
<turn to Tam, the look in Emerik eyes is... different.>
You have to get back to them.
We know what to do to save you.
/I/ know what to do. So does Archelaus, and Robless.
Dont give up. not just yet. There's still a chance.

Tam hesitates, and then looks down with a strange, sad look.
"I... I can't. Archelaus... he--he... he broke our link. He broke the Neiede connection. I didn't know... I didn't know it was possible. I don't know if it's possible to get it back. But," her voice breaks, "I still love him. I still do... D'garar has Kassandra, but I still feel like he'd be... hurt..." She looks up at him sadly. "How can I not give up? Even if the Thel-ghan'che is destroyed, I've... I've already lost both of the ones I love. If it's not..." She shudders, "If it's not destroyed, then... then I risk hurting everyone even more... I can't go back. I can't. You can, you must. You can find your daughter. I've seen her." She glances down at Krystin. "I know her face. I know that she was alive when they found her, and that when I saw her everything possible was being done to treat her, despite the fact that we weren't yet allies at the time. She was alive... talk to Drel-Caz, he'll help you find her. I... I can't do it myself, I can't go back."

<turns sharply toward her> He had no choice but to sever the connection.
he did it to save us all... to save you, Tam.
You have lost greater than that, and still survived.
You can do this.
He loves you. Dont give up on him.
We will beat this thing.
<takes her hand> Im taking you back. we need you.
<the world around the two slowly starts to fade, consciousness on the horizon.