‘Also, I could tell if what Nalrond did so far is right or wrong. Depending on it, Nalrond might just need to continue what he’s doing or backpedal big time.’ Solus thought.
‘Yeah, too bad this place doesn’t come with an instruction manual.’ Mogar replied, in Solus’ mind, making her shake her head in the attempt to expel the intruder.
“This is the Mindscape, child. Everything here is thoughts.” The avatar of the planet chuckled. “We ‘talk’ by moving our mouths because that’s how your mind organizes reality in order to understand it, but we are not talking at all.
“Your body still lies amid the circle, guarded by your friends. This is just a flashy mind link so you can’t really think to yourself.”
“This doesn’t make sense. With a normal mind link, I should be able to choose what to share and what to keep to myself.” Solus replied.
“There’s nothing normal here.” Mogar-Elina shook her head. “You are not just extending a tendril of Spirit Magic like usual. You have projected your mind inside my own.
“The moment you think of something, it becomes a part of me. Consider it a housewarming gift that I demand from all of my uninvited guests.”
Solus nodded and returned to studying the answer to Nalrond’s problem. She kept herself close enough to keep them from going back to being an energy sphere but far enough to easily dodge any incoming spell.
In the past, the sphere had conjured the angry embodiment of his beast half, but now there was also the human part. They were split and embarked on a path of self-destruction just like in real life.
“This is different from Nalrond’s Soul Projection.” Solus pondered out loud since there was no point doing it otherwise. “In the answer, they are not conjoined, they stay side by side by choice.
“They also look desperate, fighting because they have no other choice instead of hatred.”
“Interesting analysis.” Mogar tilted her head slightly by a side. “What do you make of it?”
“I hoped you would tell me.” Solus said, obtaining a sneer in reply. “I already know that fighting them is pointless. My mass comes from the tower and I have no memory of how it feels to harness the mana from a violet core.
“My mental projection is too weak to fight them, assuming that playing your game of tag is even the right course of action in the first place. Before trying anything, I’m going to take a look at my own answer.”
Solus walked away from the Rezar and toward the final energy sphere. The last one was peculiar. The bigger one was comprised of the seven colors of the elements that shifted along its surface like a tide while its satellite was a mass of pure blackness.
‘It kind of reminds me about Lith and me but with our position reversed.’ She thought. ‘Please, don’t let this be something about our messed-up relationship.’
‘It kind of does. As for your prayer, I’m not making any promises.’ Mogar replied, irking Solus to no end for what she perceived as another intrusion into the privacy of her mind.
Solus readied her stance, preparing for the worse.
The Fury was in her right hand and the Sage Staff in her left. The Voidfeather armor covered her from head to toe and before taking the final step, she made sure that she knew how to conjure psychic attacks in the form of spells she knew.
‘In theory, I’m like a god here and I could do much better than tier five magic. Yet the image of something whose effects I know like the back of my hand is bound to be more effective than stuff I make up on the fly. Here goes everything.’ Solus thought while getting inside the enemy’s attack range.
Just like she had feared, a petite woman wielding a mirror image of her hammer struck at her, conjuring the power of the seven elements from the streaks of her long golden hair.
At the same time, a much taller man clawed at her throat with a black hand made of darkness and Chaos. His black membranous wings darted toward Solus like giant hands, trying to wrap her in their deadly embrace.
Solus raised the Fury to parry the incoming hammer, ready to sidestep the Abomination’s attacks and Dominate the incoming spells. Alas, the moment the two figures fully materialized Solus discovered that it was worse than anything she could have possibly imagined.
Her feet refused to move and the power she had accumulated faded away. Her hair rested on her back again as the mana that had allowed them to defy gravity dissipated.
Solus froze into place, incapable of holding the Fury any longer.
The Forgemastering hammer escaped her hand and hit the ground with a thud as Solus recognized the figures of Ripha Menadion wearing her Rune Magus robe and Threin Menadion in his Abomination form.
“Mom?” That single word struck the First Ruler of the Flames like a hammer, the old Fury turning around and hitting its master in the face like it had a will of its own.
The Abomination kept attacking, but something in that voice shook every fiber of his being, slowing him enough for Solus to say:
“Daddy?” The Chaos and darkness collapsed on themselves, forming a small black sphere on the chest of the now-human Threin.
Threin collapsed on the ground, grabbing his right hand with his left to make sure that it couldn’t hurt his daughter.
“Epphy?” Menadion’s eyes teared up as the power of that word stirred countless emotions in all three of them.
“Yes.” Solus wanted to tell her mother that wasn’t her name anymore but her brain was incapable of formulating words of more than one syllable.
The Voidfeather armor shattered like broken glass, revealing the figure of a seven years old girl with light brown hair streaked silver and orange all over. The same appearance Elphyn Menadion had when she had last seen her father alive.
The three of them fell to their knees sobbing. There was nothing they wanted more than extending their arms and wrapping their baby in an embrace but the nature of the Mindspace prevented them from doing so.
“Are these their souls?” Young Solus stuttered every word, needing sheer willpower to modulate sounds that made sense. “Am I really meeting my parents again or is this another sick game of yours?”
“No to all of your questions.” Mogar-Elina shook her head. “I’m not a monster. I have no control over souls and even if I did, I wouldn’t bother them for something as trivial as this. Your father and mother are long gone.
“What you see here is just the embodiment of their memories. Everything they have ever felt, thought, and experienced is condensed in front of your eyes in a form that they recognize.
“They are not souls, they cannot tell you what your parents would do now, but they are the next best thing. They act as your parents would have while they were still with me and share all the memories of their original down to their last dying thought.”
