Ranger
Chapter 187: Ingress
By Wanderer D
Bradford glared at the woman across from him. "You seem to at least have calmed Rainbow Dash down. I assume you can also read minds like a Templar?"
Not-Laetitia laughed. "Not the same way, and not without permission, It was easy to guess what her thoughts were," she admitted, looking towards the cockpit with some fondness. "After all, back in Equestria, she's the Element of Loyalty… and the looks she was giving the building spoke volumes of her current state of mind." She winked at Central. "One does not have to be a psychic to notice that."
Bradford's eyes narrowed. "So you're from Equestria. Since when can you take over the bodies of my soldiers?"
The woman's smirk faded, and Bradford couldn't help but feel like a chill had ran through his blood.
"That is a long story indeed, Central," the woman said, "And one that bears saying only once, to the Commander and to those closest to Laetitia. Including Gheist."
Bradford shook off a shudder. "May I know who I'm speaking with, then?"
Non-Laetitia bowed slightly. "Pardon me, I have known you all for so long without you being aware that I forgot," she laughed a little. "I am Princess Luna."
Bradford's eyes widened and he straightened up. "Your Majesty—"
"I had wished to meet in better circumstances," Luna interrupted, glancing out the window. "But necessity demanded my interference. I apologize."
"You saved our lives," Elena drawled next to them. "There is no need for apology."
"Still," Bradford said, "there is much to do. Firebrand, inform the Commander that we need an emergency meeting with her, Tygan and Shen. Tell her to get Gheist on the line the moment we arrive. This is very important…" he hesitated, then took a deep breath. "Also… tell her Code Blood is active."
"Yes, sir!"
"Please also tell her to get Angel on a line as well if possible," Luna spoke up, "she is after all, one of Laetitia's friends."
"Y-yes ma'am."
Luna carefully stood up and knelt next to Jane, holding her hands several inches above the unconscious soldier, eyes closed.
"Will she be okay?" Bradford asked. "What happened to her?"
"She was under the influence of Sun—" Luna bit her lip. "The blood witch."
"T-the girl that was with the Warlock?" Wittbecker gasped. "I-I don't know what's going on, but it was her, wasn't it? Fugue!"
"Who?" Central asked, turning to glare at their prisoner.
"Fugue! She called herself Fugue! She's a siren!" Wittbecker insisted, looking desperately at the people in the plane. "She came with you, I saw you three walk into the party!"
"She's not a siren," Central growled.
"B-but she had a gem, like the others…"
Luna gasped, standing up. "And she called herself Fugue?"
Wittbecker nodded desperately. "I-I'll tell you everything I know! Just don't let the Warlock or that creature find me!"
Luna bit her lip and glanced down at Jane. "When… Fugue… turned into her demon form, her bond influenced Jane. I had to cut the links to her blood magic, but miss Kelly will forever remain corrupted by it."
Central groaned. "Great. Is she going to be a danger to others?"
Luna shook her head. "Whatever corruption affected her, seems to have been directly connected to Su—Fugue's magic." She sighed and sat down heavily. "She has no inherent magic of her own for the blood magic's remnants to feed off or grow from. She'll just be… stained by it."
She looked over at Elena. "When we get to the Avenger, you must make haste and bring me Sunset's Diary. We must consult my sister and Twilight Sparkle. It will also allow us to inquire as to the state of Laetitia and," she coughed into her hand, "my real body."
The Reaper merely held her gaze for a moment before nodding. "I will trust you for now… there is a lot in my mind, but I do recognize you now… there were times when Laetitia's fighting and powers seemed… different."
Luna smiled a bit. "Yes, there were times when Laetitia was unable to continue and I had to take over for her, it is how I learned your ways, and how I came to know and respect you all." She took a deep breath. "You might not be aware of it, but back in my universe, I am the protector of the night and of dreams. I have guarded all of your dreams in the Avenger. Fighting off nightmares, and putting fears at rest… some have invited me into their dreams, others…" she trailed off, smiling at Central. "Are more guarded, and wished no intrusion."
Central blinked.
"And your Commander," Luna continued, "her mind is a fortress…" a slight tone of awe filtered into her voice. "Even my sister, back home, does not have such defenses. If I wanted her dreams to be peaceful, or to fight her nightmares... I could not approach without her immediately noticing my presence. I dare not reach out, lest I cause her much unneeded worry."
"Probably for the best," Central said, crossing his arms. "We here on Earth appreciate our privacy."
Luna smiled, giving him a knowing look.
Central held her gaze. "No. We're not going there."
Luna chuckled. "Spoilsport."
"Central, sir," Rainbow Dash called back from the cockpit. "The Commander has confirmed that they will all be available at her quarters as soon as we arrive."
"Understood, inform her as well that we have the VIP in custody and that we're going to need Jane transferred to—"
"No."
Central turned to frown at Luna. "Excuse me?"
"Jane must come with us… what happened to her, her understanding of what might still happen and also that it was beyond her control must be addressed as soon as possible… and she needs to hear what has transpired to Sunset."
"Fugue, you mean," Elena said, crossing her arms.
Luna shook her head. She looked down at her very human hands, and closed her fists, studying her gauntlets. "Sunset. Blood Demon, Witch, or Siren…" she licked her lips, frowning at the titles. "Names have power. Whatever she is now, let us remember who she is within."
"So, about that second message, Central?" Rainbow Dash called over.
"Have them be ready with a guard for our guest, and have them also deliver a wheelchair to the hangar." He turned to face Luna, trying to wrap his mind still on how Laetitia's face was not really her own at this time. "If anything happens to Jane…"
"Nothing will as a result of what I did," Luna replied. "She will just be very tired."
Central sighed, leaning back on his chair. "Fine." He shook his head. "It was easier when we only needed to deal with mind control."
o.0.o End Chapter 187 o.0.o
Twilight is not going to be happy.
Took me to long the remember Fugue is imitation in musical composition.
Couldn't agree more, it was so much easier when there was only mind Control.
"like a chill had ran through his"
"like a chill had run through his"?
Mind control or blood magic corruption. Can't see it being much different. Watching your close friends fight you and potentially having to put them down will not be easy either way. I wondered why half the team had not broken down. With Luna looking over their dreams, we might know the answer.
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Her name can also refer to a fugue state, or dissociative fugue, resulting in a reversible amnesia of some sort accompanied with a new identity. Kinda reflects Sunset’s current situation.
This situation would be so much worse without Luna here to finesse it.
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One is magic, one is more or less technological; pretty different at that point. One is almost out of free will, while the other is pure and simple forced upon the victim. The fundamental results, however, can be said to be the same: the betrayal (if it can be called that) of a team member.
Also, if half the team broke down upon seeing Sunset turn into a raging she-demon, they’d be decimated by the mind control they’d encountered in the past.
Bradford be like;
I am SO frikin curious now. Was it embarrassing? Did it have something to do with Sunset? Snektits? I NEED ANSWERS!
I can’t wait to see this. Both the meeting on Earth, and how things are going in Equestria. We kinda left off in Griffonstone with a pretty big cliffhanger now that I think about it. Stop teasing us already!
Luna? Meet Princess Luna.
Wow. Yes, this is a situation where Luna's presence is really helpful: they would have been running around without a clue what to do if it weren't for Luna's expertise. I do feel bad for Laetitia, but having Luna in her body is the best thing for XCOM right now.
It's also handy that Luna was on hand to do whatever magical scissors trick she did to break the bond between Jane and Sunset. I'm a little surprised that's been cut so cleanly as Luna makes it out to be: that connection was a very interesting plot element that doesn't seem to have been fully played out yet. I suppose it depends what Luna means by "stained" and "corrupted".
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Dual meaning, it fits within the naming of the other sirens, and could be some sort of subconscious alarm to everyone else. Granted... how they are supposed to break her free? I expect it would require Element assistance at this point.
Without Luna around, it would probably have been a full team wipe and maybe even much worse. I wonder how Advent is handling the situation, seeing as she was pretty indiscriminate and the Warlock was right there too, though he can probably just regenerate like the other Chosen.
I can only imagine what Wittbecker is thinking given most of these shenanigans. I'm not sure of he's even processed that he's been grabbed by XCOM yet, given everything else that's been going on.
In any case, time for a war council. This could get very complicated very quickly. Hopefully Princess Luna can keep everything smoothed over as well as she has up until now.
At least Luna will provide all the informations they need so save Sunset.
And though I don't mind the shenanigans the general situation gives them, here is not the time.
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I just can't believe that they had such a high level classified conversation in front of an enemy VIP. I thought XCOM and Princess Luna had more sense? Didn't they come prepared to detain him? At least put some earmuffs on him or something.
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That's what I was thinking the entire time during their conversation. "Luna? Bradford? What are you doing? There's a dark VIP in the same room, stahp!"
Well, I don’t know about you, but my state of mind is actually more of a city...
This is true.
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https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MemoryWipingCrew
Luna: "I told you so"...
Everyone else: "We know..."
Luna: "Next time listen to me"
Someone: "Like you say Moonbathing is good for the Skin?"
Luna pauting: "Not my fault it need decades to see the effect..."
This is where the Elders have a major problem, along everyone else.