Giegue hovered silently as he watched over Moondancer's slumber. She'd grown in the time she'd been with him, and was now approximately the size of a large Earth house cat, the size he'd been when they abandoned him-
Giegue pushed the thoughts aside. Emotions were becoming harder and harder to control, and his mind was slowly losing stability. He hoped he would last long enough for Moondancer to be ready...or that he'd find some other way to ensure her continued safety. She now wore the turtleneck she'd arrived in, even if it was a little baggy on her. She also now needed the glasses she arrived in, though whether that was from too much time on the computer like father/him or because her previous life was dictating her body's development, he could not say.
She had gotten big enough that sleeping on his head was no longer viable, something he found he missed. She instead tended to fall asleep on computer consoles, hanging from the ceiling, or simply floating in midair. He'd been amazed to discover she'd found a way to shape a PSI focus that kept her suspended in one place in the air that remained self-sustaining while she slept. Hovering came naturally to him - save while sleeping - so he'd never thought to seek such adjustments. Had his mind still been stable enough, he would have found such things fascinating, and eagerly explored the implications and discoveries. Instead, he merely took note of them and struggled to hold his mind together.
To his surprise, Moondancer began to toss and turn in midair. This was highly unusual, as Moondancer almost never moved while she was sleeping, a habit picked up from when she slept on his head as movement there risked tumbling off, something fun to do while awake but ill-conducive to good sleep. Frowning, Giegue floated closer to gauge her state better, only to pull back as he saw her expression. The few times she'd tossed and turned, it had been because of active dreams, and her expression had given away the type of dream. A smile showed it was a good dream that he would not disturb, but ask about when she woke up. A pensive frown, scrunched eyes, or an open mouth generally indicated a nightmare, which he would dispel by entering her Magicant to help her calm her mind. But now...
Moondancer's eyebrows were furrowed. Her entire body was tense. Her hooves pawed at the air. Her tail lashed. Her horn sparked angrily. And most confusing/distressing of all, her lips were pulled back in a snarl, revealing tightly clenched, grinding teeth. This was...
This is no ordinary nightmare, Niiue confirmed inside his mind. Something is very, very wrong.
"No..." Moondancer growled out. "No..."
"Moondancer?" Giegue asked worriedly. "Are you awake?"
Moondancer continued to writhe, plainly unaware of Giegue's concern, or possibly even his presence. Desperately, Giegue attempted to enter her Magicant to attempt to understand this dream if not dispel it...only for a powerful mental energy to create a violent backlash that prevented him from completing the dive. "What?" Giegue demanded in shock, clutching at his head.
Something has made a connection to her sleeping mind! Niiue deduced. Something that doesn't want you interfering with whatever it's doing.
Giegue's soft face twisted into a snarl of rage, several systems throughout the ship sparking dangerously in response to the mental force this brought to bear. "I will teach them to hurt my little girl!" he roared out, for one moment the two warring sides of his emotional thought synchronized in action, if not in motivation. For that ever so brief moment, his mind seemed startlingly clear.
"NO!" Moondancer suddenly screamed out with mind and voice, her back arching as her PSI flared violently, its aura colored crimson and lashing back along the connection. Somewhere, something could be heard to crack violently. "I WILL NOT HELP YOU HURT HIM!"
Giegue lunged in to help her, only to be pushed back by the sheer wave of force that was almost beyond comprehension. He could feel that he could easily focus his power and punch through it, but he had no idea what doing so would do to Moondancer. As several ship systems started to break down and pieces of the ship collapsed in on themselves before floating away, the unity of his thought failed as he became divided between worry and irritation, and curiosity overcame concern. He felt an odd sense of loss, as though something of great importance almost happened but did not.
Moondancer gasped for breath as she came awake, dropping to the floor below her on all four hooves. The wave of PSI she had been unleashing dissipated, and she slumped to the floor as she burst into tears. "No...it won't happen...it can't happen...I won't let it happen..."
Concern overrode irritation, and Giegue floated to her side. "Talk to me," he instructed softly. "That was no ordinary dream. Something was preventing me from entering your Magicant to help you-"
"An apple," Moondancer managed to say.
"...an...apple?" Giegue asked, confused.
Moondancer took a few breaths to calm herself, disciplining her mind as she'd been taught. "A glowing apple appeared in my dream," she explained. "It...it said you brought ruin, but it spoke of children who would stop you. Said destruction was your fate, and I would help the children to stop you. I told it there was no way I would turn against you...and I felt the energy in the apple. It said I had no choice, that my fate was already written...and I struck back. I felt...so angry..."
Giegue stared down at her. Something in what she was saying...hadn't he heard something like that somewhere, amongst the other races of this star system? However, he discarded the thought for the moment. "Moondancer, the time has come."
Moondancer lifted her head. "The...time?" she asked in confusion.
"The time for you to hear my Plan," he explained. "I do not know if you are ready...but I do not believe I have the time to wait any longer..."