//------------------------------// // Secrets of the Mind // Story: Mother X: Father // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// After a long and grueling battle that pushed the groups bodies, PSI, and weapons to their limits, the monstrosity finally fell and left the hole behind. The group quickly leapt down, taking a relieved sigh as they saw the spot of light that would revitalize them and refresh their energies. The chamber, as before, had doors along the walls. There were two doors on the left wall, one yellow and one blue. The two on the right wall were orange and green. The two on the far wall were a pale grey and a deep grey, spread apart with room for an additional door between them, gold padlocks sealing the doors shut. On the wall behind them was the bright pink door that had once let them leave, but now led only to a void. Above them, of all places, was another door that hadn't been there the last time they'd reached this area, floating next to where the hole they'd dropped through had been before it vanished. This door had a color scheme that almost exactly matched Moondancer's between the light yellow-grey door, red padlock, and purple chains holding it shut. "Well, that answers that," Moondancer spoke up as she stared at the door. "What do you mean?" Alinivar asked curiously. "Each of these doors lead into our own minds," she explained. "Inside, you'll have to face your secrets, the ones you keep even from yourselves, and in doing so gain the strength to face what Giegue has become...because we plainly aren't strong enough to do so as we are." She gestured to where the hole had been. "We barely made it past a nightmare creature that was a mere fragment of his mind. Do we really think we can handle the entirety of his power?" She glanced at her sealed door. "But it's not time for me to face my secret...so I can't enter. Barred from my own Magicant..." Silence reigned for a time. Eventually, Larice spoke up. "The doors are *click* keyed to us. We can each only *bzzt* enter our own doors. Will you *whrrr* be okay here by yourself?" Moondancer nodded slowly. "I...have a lot to think about," she murmured softly. As the four others entered their doors, Moondancer stared up at her own. It was the Apple that spoke to me in the coffee, she thought to herself. Despite all my efforts to divert from the path laid out by fate, I'm still trapped to walk it. We seem to be going exactly by the predictions...and the prediction is that Father is destroyed. Is there no way to save him? Are all my efforts...futile? She could feel despair beginning to slowly take hold of her mind... Don't lose hope. The words came back strongly in her mind, helping to banish her despair. Garbled before, lost now...was I wrong about what the Apple tried to tell me when I was younger, before Father split? Is there a way to save him after all? Echoes through time...maybe I've already changed destiny enough he can be saved...except the Apple said he couldn't be saved now... She shook her head. No, it said he couldn't be saved in the time known as now! The Time Skimmer! Somehow, that will be the key! There's a moment in time somewhen with the right situation and conditions to let me save Father...if I make the right choices, and not be consumed like he was/will be... She shook her head, rubbing her temples with both fore-hooves. "Time travel is confusing," she grumbled aloud. She was startled out of her reverie as the others returned, heralded by a loud noise as the padlocks on the two doors to the north shattered. Moondancer examined the four friends, trying to see how their journeys had changed them. They all seemed...more sure of themselves. Larice and Zarbol showed the most change, though. Larice seemed to be staring around at the world like he'd never seen it before...while Zarbol was letting his gaze linger on things as though he might never see them again. Moondancer wasn't certain what to make of it. The group moved together to the pale grey door on the right. It was marked 'Niiue's Door'. Niiue has his own door? Moondancer marveled in surprise. She'd honestly expected Niiue's Magicant to be part of Giegue's...unless that part of Gieuge's Magicant had already been shifted into Niiue by the time Moondancer was able to enter Giegue's Magicant, on the assumption the division was inevitable. As she pondered this, Niiue popped into existence beside them. "Hey guys," he offered disconsolately. "Haven't found the other me yet...can I join you?" "It is your door," Alinivar offered pleasantly. "Let's go." Niiue's Magicant was bright pink, as though walking on fluffy clouds. Nearby was a well too small for even Moondancer to enter, and further along was a sign. The group followed the only available path to the sign to read it. "Bridges mean monsters," Alinivar read carefully. "Entering towns means no monsters. Isn't that some sort of rule?" Alinivar glanced towards Niiue. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?" "What makes you think I know?" Niiue countered playfully. "It's your Magicant," Alinivar countered. "Your mind!" "And that makes you think I know everything about it...why?" Niiue interjected impishly. Alinivar glowered at Niiue for a time, then turned to lead the group across the bridge. "Sore wa himitsu desu..." he grumbled under his breath in irritation. "Wow, you really took in a lot while we were on Earth!" Niiue praised. "Oh shut up!" As they wandered around - occasionally startled by a monster that literally appeared out of nowhere - Moondancer shifted her attention between the landscape (the pink was bordered by green, with green waterfalls flowing from nowhere to anywhere) and the playfully irritable interchange between Niiue and Alinivar. She was glad to see something that took her mind off how deadly serious things were, however briefly. She could only hope the interlude would last long enough to let her relax. She was certain whatever they were to discover, it would lead to very unpleasant revelations.