Wave's Allure
-
Triese wasn't going to be conscious enough to notice that Siren was burrowing a little bit deeper into her, especially when she was panicking at Mega Man breaking free of her attack so easy. She stumbled to get out of the way of the Shuriken, before she reflexively shot her bubble buster at the ground, forming another bubble that bounced her up and over the incoming attack.
For a moment, she felt proud of herself for the maneuver! It was sort of like how she'd always known she'd fight if she finally got to transform... right? That meant that she couldn't allow the bad guys to take this away from her, right?! Th-there was no way she could back down from this fight... especially when she'd already made the first shot...!
As she made a break for it, she loaded a Battle Chip... Card?... to try and distract Mega Man. Oh, wow, that was so cool, she was just able to pull that up with her mind, there was no way she could let this go! "I-Ice Grenade!" she shouted, awkwardly overhand-throwing the projectile at Mega Man's location. The grenade exploded on the Wave Road behind her, freezing it up.
There was a tiny urge in the back of her mind to use the ice to her advantage, to freeze the opponent and then use a big breaking attack, just like she would with Lu- with Lure- where was Lurerre? Wasn't Lurerre-?
"Ah, don't falter now, my little doll," Siren interrupted, sensing that Triese's thoughts were spiraling out of control. A tone continued to hum through the conch-shaped receptors on Triese's head. "Remember, I'm right here with you. We can take any threat on, together. We, alone, have the power to stop this madness."
Triese's head lowered as she dashed across the Wave Road. "Y-yeah... yeah," she mumbled, choking up a little. "I-I'm going to fight... I'm going to keep fighting..."
-
The Jet Attack that Geo summoned launched him, closing the gap between him and Triese in almost an instant-
The Ice Grenade exploded throwing Geo's trajectory off course and leaving him sliding across the ice. He stumbled until he reached its edge where the road finally had friction. He straightened back up into a fighting stance, farther than he wanted to be, but close enough to land some sure hits.
He pulled up a card and winced, hesitating for a moment as he prepared to use it.
"I'm sorry Triese, this is gonna hurt," he warned shakily, then followed up boldly, "Siren Splash! Stop this! Give back my friend!" activating the card and running at her with a rapid fire buster.
Behind Siren Splash, a Stealth Laser was summoned silently and fired upon her all without Siren taking notice of it at all.
-
For whatever reason, Triese only reacted to Geo's second callout, rather than the first. Whether or not it was because she couldn't hear him, or because she was no longer thinking of herself as 'Triese', was unclear. "A-are we...? Friends...?" she couldn't help but confusedly mutter to herself, which Siren responded in turn by dialing up the anxiety in the back of her host's mind.
Unfortunately for the two of them, such a conflict left them wide open for the Stealth Laser. Triese was electrocuted by the triple-shot of static beams, and for a moment, she felt an uncharacteristic glee at having been inflicted with that kind of pain. That was her weakness! She had an Aqua-element body! She was just like a Navi, wasn't she?! She got to fight like a Navi, she got to feel like a Navi, she got to delete like a Navi...
"Push through it, my doll," Siren helpfully reminded, though she could sense Triese's bizarre masochistic glee. Why a human would feel that way was beyond her. Regardless, she kept her focus on controlling Triese, refusing to acknowledge the so-called hero chasing after them. She forced Triese to stagger backward and resume fleeing, controlling Siren Splash's arm to fire another curtain of bubbles to keep Mega Man at bay.
"I-I... um... S-Snowball," Triese stuttered, awkwardly throwing out a - who could have guessed - snowball that quickly gained traction and size as it barreled across the Wave Road. Geo wouldn't be able to see it beneath the visor, but Triese was feeling vaguely hurt and confused. "I-I'm... but I'm Siren Splash..."
-
Geo leapt back to dodge the wall of bubbles, hearing the The Snowball thundering towards him, but not Triese's hesitations. The giant ball of snow burst through the bubbles, ending up large enough to obscure where Siren Splash was, which meant she also couldn't see Mega Man was well. Geo estimated how long it would take for the attack to reach him, preparing his counter, waiting for the last moment to activate it.
The Snowball slammed into a cloud of leaves and appearing right next to Siren Splash was Mega Man, sword in hand, slashing down and just barely missing her. In that moment as he finally got in close, time seemed to slow as he recognized the face of that girl who was opening her heart up just minutes before this.
He couldn't follow up with another attack. He took too long and landed out of his Fox-Fu awkwardly.
"Triese..." he squeaked, then emboldened himself, "When this is all done, I promise I'll make it up to you!! Just hang in there!"
With a swift raise of a foot, he activated his next attack, "Flicker Kick!!" and began rapid fire kicking, launching electric laced projectiles with every strike, peppering Siren Splash with bright, flashing bursts of electricity.
-
Siren detested how much Mega Man was trying to plead to this human. Well, if he believed that he was somehow at fault for this, then that was some pleasant schadenfreude... but she would have to keep nestling herself inside of Triese's heart to make sure she didn't get any funny ideas. She pushed her own soul a little harder, and made Siren Splash almost scowl when Mega Man made such a foolish blunder.
"Wh-what are you...?" Siren Splash stammered, charging up another spray of bubbles. "M-make-up- what, you-?" It was then that the Flicker Kick slammed into her; she'd hesitated too long herself, and ate another seriously painful attack because of it. "Ah-ha-ha-ha..."
Siren Splash stumbled backwards, before jumping away and escaping to a higher connected road. "S-stop, stop, leave me alone," she whined, her tone unreadable. It almost sounded unnatural for there to be a hint of anger to Triese's voice. "I'm going to be important! I'm going to do something that matters! Don't get in my way!"
They were making progress toward WAZA. Just a little bit longer, and she could be free. She could live the life she always wanted to, without anyone interfering.
For good measure, she swiped her arm in an arc, summoning an array of watery notes to hover around her like a shield. A few more Bubbler shots, and he'd stop, right. He'd stop! He'd stop! He'd leave her alone! She was Siren Splash!
-
Triese's sorrowful rage struck a chord and for a brief moment, Geo hesitated. It was only a second but that was all it took for Siren Splash's attack to hit its mark.
Trapped in another bubble, he and Omega-Xis were flung and bounced down the wave road until it popped on its own, sending him sliding on the road prone.
"Gah-!" Geo coughed, quickly struggling to right himself, "Sorry-! I-!"
"Oi! Don't you start Geo!" Omega-Xis interrupted swiftly, "She's getting in your head, just focus on how happy Triese'll be when you get her out of this mess!!"
His partner was right, so much so that it almost seemed obvious in retrospect. With his mind unclouded, he affirmed with a short rallying cry and loaded his next Battle Card.
"Black Ink!!" he yelled as a black missile shot out of his buster, landing in front of Siren Splash's path with a burst of heavy dark clouds.
It formed a dense fog, instantly turning the area around Siren Splash into a false night. Silence fell in the darkness. Then a blur of light silhouetted a humanoid figure that burst from the ink with a sword made of lightning aiming straight for Siren Splash's helmet.
-
The Black Ink popped against Siren Splash's shield of notes, briefly obscuring her vision and making her panic. "Why... why, why, why?!_ Stop interrupting! P-please...?!" she shouted, the tiniest hint of vulnerability slipping into her voice. Her lips twitched, making her hesitation more noticeable. The Elec Slash cut a crackling gash through the side of her helmet, and she squeaked in pain as she pulled away.
It was so annoying to Siren that her host was still trying to act soft, as if she was actually going to talk Mega Man into leaving her alone. Actually, everything was starting to get on her nerves. It wasn't like her to lose her composure, even if she was painfully close to getting off scot-free... It was more like some kind of petulant rage, or perhaps fear, was bubbling in the back of her mind. Was it even... her own feelings...? Whatever- it didn't matter. She needed to stab another round of needles through this girl's heart so that their plan didn't fall apart.
As an anxious sting hit Siren Splash's mind, the remaining watery notes shot out and bounced along the Wave Road like rubber balls. There was some sort of urge in the back of her mind, to pull out some kind of finisher, like she would in Net-something, with.... with.... That didn't matter.
"S-Sticky... Rain!" Siren Splash shouted, throwing her arm out in a panic. Raining on Mega Man's parade would keep him at bay for just a little longer, ah-ha-ha-ha. Bubbles formed around her right arm as she desperately tried to think up some kind of super-move. Why didn't she just have that by default? Any cool ---- would have that! "Need... WAZA... get to WAZA," she muttered under her breath, gliding across the road as fast as she could with the time she bought.
-
Slipping right between the water notes, Geo dashed in, delivered his attack and leapt out of the way of the oncoming shielding notes. The slash revealed just a sliver of Triese's face underneath and Geo swore he could see the panic in her eyes.
Just a little bit more...!
He prepared hit next attack -- the only way forward was a relentless barrage! Stun Knuckle ought to stop all this-!
The deluge from Sticky Rain stopped him in his tracks while the force of the water held him in place. He cursed the fact he was countered so deftly. Was that Triese or Siren that was this good at fighting!? It was concerning that as the fight continued, Siren Splash was getting stronger. Whatever that meant, it wasn't good...!
When the attack ended, Geo and Omega-Xis were left way far back. Siren Splash was so far ahead that it'd be impossible to catch up now.
"Blast it! Geo! Get moving! She's gonna reach WAZA!!" Omega-Xis roared.
Worry gripped Geo and tightening by the second. He couldn't stop her from doing what she'd soon regret.
"Hate to do this but..." he muttered, pulling up an air display, "I'm going to make a call. WAZA needs to know what's heading for them."
-
Siren Splash was finally feeling a little calmer now that Mega Man was out of her sight. (Wait, why would she think that-? Mega Man's the good- no, he's with the WAZA people who are going to hurt her-) The end was in sight. She had totally been running on adrenaline this entire time, hadn't she? She still felt it now. Get to WAZA. Destroy WAZA. Save everything... from...
As the WAZA building appeared over the horizon, a wave of nausea came over her. Wasn't she just here before...? No, no, that wasn't important. "I'm strong... I'm strong, I'm strong..." she exhaustedly repeated to herself. She really did feel winded, like she'd used up all her brain power trying to fight a real fight. She was starting to forget why she was here. There was something... that needed to be destroyed. That's right.
(Siren, too, was struggling to fight against the haze. What in the world was going on? Surely it couldn't have been the effects of one of Mega Man's attacks... but it made no sense for the girl to continue resisting, either. Hadn't she completely fallen under her control? She was so easy before - why would she become a problem now?)
At last, Siren Splash reached the Wave Roads in front of WAZA. It didn't seem that difficult to get into the main building... but she was still unbearably tired, anyways. She hesitated for a moment, staring up at the ridiculously tall building. Something felt abyssal about it... but she aimed her buster straight for it anyways.
-
"Halt!!" a Satella Police Wizard called out as it lead a charge of other official looking Wizards brandishing stun batons.
They warped in and stormed forward, becoming an oncoming deluge of a counter-attack. As Siren Splash began her assault, a barrier arose around WAZA, encompassing the building in hexagon patterned light. The Satella Police Wizards quickly surrounded her, but were quickly knocked aside and bubbled by Siren Splash's strength.
Inside WAZA, Dr. Goodall watched the feed with a tense expression. She whipped around and quickly made way for the main computer in the back. She continued her work on clearing the Noise from Lurerre, focusing intently as if the world around her had disappeared entirely.
Aaron did a double take as he watched the doctor walk away while the rest of WAZA was scrambling like a disturbed nest of ants.
He followed after her, leaning over conspiratorially and hissing, "Dr. Goodall, is this really the time to be working on that?"
"Now don't blurt this out, Aaron dear," she advised sweetly, keeping her eyes trained on the screen and hands on the keyboard, "But that's Triese that's attacking us."
"That's Tr-!" he sputtered, covered his mouth and quickly recovered, "Wait, do you think Lurerre can help us with this?"
Dr. Goodall furrowed her brow, "Not yet... Maybe at the right moment. We can't risk looking like a kidnapper and agitating her further. This is a delicate situation."
Aaron nodded and adjusted his cap, "Right. Ok then! I'll contact Geo and keep him updated. Let's hope he can get through to her."
"It's not him I'm worried about," she noted.
The entire building shook like someone had slammed a drum against the outside, making some lights flicker and causing everyone to pause and look at the monitors. The fight was not going in their favor.
Aaron pulled out his Hunter and called Geo, anxiously watching as the signal struggled to connect through the shielding, "Come on... Geo, wherever you are, please be okay."
-
It was just like Siren said, wasn't it?! If these people didn't have something to hide, or some kind of will to impose on everyone else, then they wouldn't be defending their fortress so vehemently!! The barrier being raised was a little intimidating... but she'd push through it!! For the sake of everyone like her...!!
It was easy enough for Siren Splash to find herself on autopilot. These guards may have had some kind of voice clip or something, but they were the same as scary, wild viruses, weren't they? She'd done that a million times. She'd operated her Navi- her- her- her...? It was just like before, but she wasn't there, she was here, inside instead of outside and the one firing endlessly on her targets and feeling the most focused she'd ever felt, no, no, was this right? She wasn't a Navi- why was she fighting-? Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting...
Siren was having a difficult time comprehending what was going through her host's mind, and she pushed herself to repress it. This human could have a mental breakdown and die, for all she cared - all that she needed to do was last until their job was finished. They'd even managed to give Mega Man the slip - so. Just. Listen. And keep fighting.
Siren Splash, in her panic, tossed out an Ice Spin Battle Card, which was enough to cut her a zig-zag-y path through the Satella Police Wizards attacking her. It was almost impressive that she was still able to keep fighting well even while under so much duress. Like the motions had been burned into her brain, inexplicably.
(She was doing better than when she was Operating L------, how pathetic-)
-
Wave after wave of Satella Police Wizards fell before Siren Splash. Their near rhythmic charge had given her ample targets with predictable movements. Their entire strategy of attempting to overwhelm their enemy only served to make more of them fall faster.
Within all the confusion, some of the Wizards turned on their fellow officers and began attacking each other, evidently falling under Siren Splash's beguiling influence. This thinned the crowd significantly, leaving the giant shield over WAZA open to attack.
In the building every scientist was at a monitor, hands on keyboard, relaying information on headsets. The only time people stopped was when they braced themselves on their work stations every time the building shook from an attack on the shield.
Aaron held his hands, half out of nerves and half praying for a miracle. He stared at the monitor Dr. Goodall was working at, watching the noise slowly get removed from Lurerre.
That poor girl Triese, getting mixed up in all this chaos, when in reality she probably just wanted...
"I'll be right back, you keep working on Lurerre!" he exclaimed, bolting and heading straight to central command.
The head of WAZA was busy directing the hoard, constantly surrounded by at least two officials that would exchange a bit of information before swapping out with another in waiting.
Aaron pushed his way through the crowd and addressed the head with level headed urgency, "Sir, we need to shut down all electronics, anything with a comp space, except for the Main Computer in the back."
This caused everyone in a 10 foot radius to pause incredulously before quickly going back to their business. The head gave Aaron a stern look, then after taking a deep breath to prepare himself, asked firmly, "Mr. Boreal, what do you have planned?"
That got everyone's attention. A slow ripple of turning heads propagated out until the whole command center was looking at him.
He swallowed his nerves and continued, "We know what Siren Splash is after. If we can direct her by cutting off any escape routes, Mega Man can stop her right then and there. In the Main Computer Cyber Core."
The head of WAZA furrowed his brow briefly, looking into Aaron's eyes like he had a question that he answered himself a moment later, "...Okay. Divert all power and computing to the Main Computer, shut down anything and everything else! Unplug it if you have to! " he readdressed Aaron shortly afterwards, "I'm trusting you, Mr. Boreal. This gambit of yours has to work."
He thought back to a time when he had put his life on the line to prove his faith in someone and nodded, "Trust me. I believe in her."
The head of WAZA closed his eyes, striking a small smirk underneath his mustache, just as the overhead lights dimmed and all the monitors that surrounded them shut off, leaving them in a dimly lit, abnormally quiet room.
One last air display in the middle of the room showed a live feed of the EM shielding outside of the building. The hexagonal structure flickered and faded away, and then the display itself disappeared soon after. The hook had been set, now all that was left was for their catch to take the bait.
-
Siren was plenty satisfied with her host's performance already, and several of the so-called defenders of the most important technology center in the country falling under her influence easier than Triese did was icing on the cake. Delightful. Almost there. The defenses on the inside were most likely going to be automated rather than more... animated programs, so all that they had to do was find a way around the barrier, and her catch would surely... surely...
Then, the hexagonal barrier dissipated, and Siren Splash stopped dead. The strange occurrence put her wildly spiraling thoughts on pause as she realized she had done nothing to actually bring that barrier down. Did one of her attacks hit it by accident? No, it couldn't have. It couldn't be controlled by those Wizards, either. Did they... bring it down... on purpose...?
Siren silently snarled to herself. What were they doing? It seemed like an obvious trap - perhaps Mega Man had gotten ahead of them, and he was waiting for them at the other side. Well, she wasn't stupid. They'd need to take an alternative route, or-
They were giving up! They were giving up! That has to be it!! Siren Splash realized, hopping forward in her delirium. She was winning! She was accomplishing something super-duper important, and it was all because she'd opened her heart!! Th-they were winning the battle, the, the Net, NetBattle-something-or-other, they were gonna get a high rank and they just needed to run in and run in and run in and run in
Siren Splash's body moved without Siren's input, floating across the Wave Road and barreling into the interior of WAZA. "Wh-what are you...?!" Siren yelled inside of Triese's mind, frantically trying to inject her with more fear. "Stop! Stop for a moment!"
"W-we're winning...! We have to finish this...!" Siren Splash barked back, her voice sounding a bit woozy. Given that Siren wasn't visible to anyone's surroundings, it looked like the EM being was just shouting to herself. "Before it's too late, right?! Before they destroy us?! Th-this kind of opening, we have to take it! We have to save ourselves!"
Panicked, Siren Splash searched for any nearby electronic signal, of which there was only one. Without even thinking, she blitzed towards it, all the while Siren tried desperately to pull her catch away from the obvious bait. But the more she tried, the more her own mind hurt like hell - like her attempts were bouncing off of some kind of wall in the girl's mind. She was making no attempt to resist her control, so why would there be a barrier...?! Would it have been... her... own fault...?
The main computer. The main computer! Siren Splash just had to take this down, and she'll have won her mission! It didn't matter who was around her, it didn't matter how dark her surroundings were, she just had to win, and then she could stay like this forever! So she thoughtlessly pulsed in to the device, the same way that she did the chip shop... and began charging a barrage of bubble shots as soon as she was inside.
-
What laid before Siren Splash was a long and winding path that stretched far into the comp space. The walls were lined with images of glowing monitors with outlines of the research going on at WAZA. All of them dim save for one in the back, shining like a beacon, its content unknown from such a distance.
Stray viruses and automated security programs descended upon Siren Splash, slowing her down briefly. They posed no real threat and fell in droves to her bubbles. Her swirling musical notes captured long range attacks while her buster cleared the path forward with bursts of cleansing water.
It was all going well and only a person with a lifetimes worth of experience dealing with tricks would be suspicious. The humans were fighting back, after all. All computing power was being put towards a counter attack so clearly the humans didn't actually want Siren Splash there, so what was it? What was WAZA hiding?
Whatever it was, it needed to be destroyed. That's why Siren Splash was there, wasn't it?
a silent scream of unknown origin echoed in her mindAfter carving a path of destruction, Siren Splash had arrived at the core. A large white capsule stood in the center with pulsating tubes of red light oscillating away from the central chamber. An aqua figure floated inside, arms crossed against its chest. It stirred as she approached.
This was it, this was her target...! The thing she was meant to destroy!!
-
...But as she raised her arm, something stopped her. An indescribable itch in the back of her mind. The adrenaline fueling her crashed for a moment, like it was a living being that had just sensed a nearby predator. Siren Splash took one step closer to the capsule as the figure stirred, looking down upon her and staring into her soul. She was being observed. She was being evaluated. This must be some weapon that was going to cast judgement on her, and then...
"Who...? What...?" the figure muttered, its voice obscured by the glass they were behind. Were they scared? Should they be scared? Were they familiar... at all...? Siren Splash couldn't figure it out, and she raised her shoulders as a hissing grew louder in the back of her head.
Slowly, the figure spoke again. "Triese...?"
Siren Splash blinked heavily. Someone, somewhere, was mad at her. But she couldn't hear them. She was too busy standing there like an idiot, completely stunned by the blinding light in front of her. Her limbs shook, and she felt them attempting to be pulled around, but she was too tired. She couldn't do it. Was she failing? Was she giving up? It didn't make sense. Why was an indiscernible figure making her hesitate? Why was she filled with so much sadness and regret and hate and fear and the sense that she was doing everything wrong and was failing as a host despite everything-
-
A pillar of light split the world and fell upon Siren Splash like holy judgement, shaking the comp space and crackling with boiling electricity that trickled across the comp floor. Siren Splash instantly collapsed as her helmet cracked open against the ground, giving the dazed Triese a view of her attacker.
From the bolt's origin stood Mega Man, hands clasped and a lingering crackle of electricity dissipating from him. He slowly lowered his guard, cautiously watching Siren Splash on the ground. Once she ceased moving Geo ran to her side.
"Triese!!" he called out, slowing and kneeling next to her, "Triese... Are you ok...?"
"Geeze Geo you went a bit overkill there, dontcha think?" Omega-Xis worried beside him.
"I... Anything less and I think she would have been able to deflect it," he concluded, sighing with relief as the Wave Change over Triese began to disintegrate.
"Yeah, I suppose," Omega-Xis grumbled, leaning over their defeated opponent, "That Siren is one heck of an FM-ian. Scary."
Geo knew that she'd be fine, he had dealt with plenty of FM-ian Wave Changes to know that it was the FM-ian who took the brunt of the damage, but it still worried him.
As expected, Aaron called him soon after to check on him and Triese, and Geo updated him on everything. After hanging up, Geo turned his attention to Lurerre floating in the capsule that, presumably, was de-Noising her.
"Hey Lurerre, I don't know if you overheard but, Triese is okay! I'm sure she will be waking up soon," he reassured, then cast his eyes down, "I'm sorry things turned out like this."
-
Siren received hardly any dignity in her death. She’d done a perfect job, and that was exactly what caused her undoing. So she disintegrated into nothingness, hardly offered a scream for how badly she’d been drowned out by her own song.
Triese slumped over once Siren’s influence left her; Lurerre, meanwhile, gasped upon realizing her intuition was correct. “Wh-what the…? What’s going on…?” she couldn’t help but mumble - well, at least her voice wasn’t completely messed up anymore. The Noise defragmentation was doing its job. “H-how is Triese… Who are…”
She shook her head. “Your voice,” she realized, staring at Mega Man. “You’re… Geo? How are you and Lady Triese in the cyberworld?” She wasn’t allowed much narrowing of the eyes given how featureless they were, but she did so nonetheless; she’d only heard retellings of retellings of stories for how this could even be possible. “Lady Triese must have been… caught up in some kind of phenomena… correct…?”
It was then that Triese groaned, shuffling around before curling up like a baby. She didn’t seem completely awake, still, and Lurerre worried that leaving her to sleep on the cyberworld floor would… have lasting consequences. “N-no matter. Please, if you’re able to get Lady Triese out of here, then…”
-
Geo blinked owlishly and then scrambled in place a little, "Ah-! Yes! Um! So there's this thing called Wave Changing and-"
Omega-Xis gripped Geo and squeezed him into a side hug, "THIS right here is Mega Man! Hero of the planet three times over! So don't you worry about a thing, we're experienced in this sort of stuff! Triese'll be right as rain before you know it."
Geo chuckled and nodded affirmatively, "Yeah, we've had this sort of stuff happen before and everything's always turned out alright in the end. It just might... take some time."
He wiggled out of Omega-Xis's grip and then knelt down to Triese on the floor slowly. He reached out, but Triese recoiled a hair and caused him to flinch. She did not seem to be doing well here. In one motion he scooped her up, cradling her in close.
He looked over at Lurerre with a gentle smile, then pulsed out into the Main Computer room of WAZA with Triese in his arms. He laid her down against the wall in the back where it was dark and quiet, then undid his Wave Change.
Aaron came running over, but stopped a couple of steps away. Geo couldn't muster a victorious expression and instead refocused on keeping an eye on Triese.
The only sound in the room was the low rhythmic tapping sounds of Dr. Goodall on her keyboard as it seemed everyone else at WAZA was holding their breath while watching the aftermath unfold. After a moment, Dr. Goodall walked around the massive computer and placed Triese's PET on the floor right next to the poor girl.
"Take your time waking up, Triese," she suggested soothingly, "Lurerre's right here next to you," and then backed up, giving her plenty of space.
They all waited silently with Geo sitting the closest to Triese on the ground, anxiously hoping that she would bounce right back to her usual bubbly self.
-
To say Lurerre was befuddled by Omega-Xis’ introduction would be an understatement. It took a moment for her to respond, given how many questions went off in her mind at once. “Mega…. Man…?” she questioned cautiously… just before Triese disappeared alongside him.
Now that Triese was back in the real world, it didn’t take long for her to come to. With another groan, she shuffled against the wall and slowly opened her eyes. “H… huh…?”
Her arms went flat against the wall as she gave Geo an exhausted stare. She was back where she’d dropped Lurerre off. What… was she doing? How did she get here…?
“My head… hurts,” she mumbled as a wave of dizziness overcame her. “Where did I…? Did I fall… asleep, or…?”
It was then that the vague memories of what she had been doing the past few hours began to resurface. Hazy, distorted memories, not entirely unlike certain memories of a dark liquid that she’d repressed. She was standing in the sky. She wasn’t real. She believed things that, now that she was awake, seemed completely stupid.
Her eyes went wide as she gripped the sides of her head. “Wh-what did I… Geo, what did I… I-I couldn’t… it wasn’t real, but…” she began to blubber, her face going red. “I did something… didn’t I?! N-no, no, that wasn’t real, I didn’t mean it, I swear, I-I don’t know what happened, I-I was just waiting for you a-and… and…!!”
Triese sniffled as her gaze drifted to her side. The second she spotted her PET right next to her, she jumped a little, snatching it up as she was overwhelmed with sadness. Clutching it tightly, she curled in on herself and began to cry. “I-I’m sorry… I don’t k-know what… I didn’t… I…”
-
Geo jumped, scooching over quickly with hands raised placatingly, "It's okay! It's okay. We're right here. We..."
He sighed, letting his shoulders slump, "You didn't mean to do what you did. You were being controlled by someone else. But we stopped them and you're safe now!"
He clenched a fist as he was pained by Triese's expression. It'd be easy to brush all this away, pretend none of this happened, just to comfort her now. But...
"Triese, look at me for a sec," he suggested, trying to redirect her attention, "This isn't the first time I've dealt with something like this. I've had friends that this has happened to before. People who have felt just like you're feeling right now."
He thought of Luna, every venomous attack burning with unheard rage. And her regret afterwards.
"They're okay now, and you will be too, okay? I promise."
