Neph left for his meeting after we both cleaned ourselves up, he'd gotten healed by Zoi and he tucked me in for my nap.
I lie there in the dark room, my eyes closed and I think of Neph.
Mmmm...it's so amazing, he's so great, and I love him so much...it's almost as if I've known him forever..
I slowly drift off into
a deep, dreamless sleep.
Half an hour later, my eyes open, but I seem to be in the back seat, unable to control my movements.
What the hell is going on?!
"Oh, my dear moron, it seems as if you weren't strong enough to keep the fight up."
Huh?! What?! Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?!
I hear an odd laugh, but not with my physical ears.
"Oh you poor thing, you really should have paid more attention to that dream and those feelings."
You're that shadow thing, aren't you?!
"Ah, so you're not as moronic as you seem!"
GET THE HELL OUTA ME!!
"Oh, I wouldn't yell if I were you."
Why the hell not?
"I may have control of this body, but YOU get to feel the pain."
I watch in horror as the shadow unsheathes one of my claws and pulls down the jeans and the panties my body is wearing. Then it forces my claw to casually slice the delicate flesh down there.
I feel every agonizing moment of it, and I try to seize control of my body.
I'm shoved violently away.
"Ah ah ah," my claw retreats, thankfully, "this body can prove to be very useful, far moreso than that Diana-woman's. Her mind was too heavily shielded, anyway. Though I would have been able to break through if that Jadeite-man had not gotten in the way.. Ahh, watch that wound heal."
I'm forced to watch my body heal itself and then my hands pull my pants and undies back up.
Right after the blankets were pulled up over my body, Neph steps silently in the room.
NEPHRITE!
"Hmmm, he is very handsome, time for a little acting."
No! He'll never believe you're me!
"We'll just have to see about that, now won't we, fool?"
Neph looks at my body and sits by it.
"M-chan? Are you feeling better?" he asks in a soft, gentle voice.
"That idiot, letting his emotions get so out of hand."
"Yes, Nephrite, I'm feeling much better," I feel my lips smile.
You controlling little piece of shit!! You wouldn't know how...
It interrupts me by saying, "I think it's time you start your stay in the subconscious, weakling."
Just before I get blasted back into the mysterious mists of the subconscious, I see him raise a brow, and I telepathically scream to him, "Beloved! Don't believe her!! She's..."
Blackness takes over.
"Um...perhaps you had better get a bit more sleep, M-chan," Neph says to my shadow controlled body.
"No, really I'm fi..."
He gently kisses the body's forehead, and through the inky darkness, I can feel the gentle touch.
The blackness fades to
a mist and I can see Neph silently leaving the room.
Neph strides down the hallway, brows furrowed in thought.
Diana, TN and Zoi were walking in the opposite direction when the notice his expression.
"What's with the pensive look, Neph?" Zoi asks.
"It's M-chan..."
"Her headache hasn't gone away?" Diana asks.
"She says it is...but she was acting odd..."
"Odd? Odd how?" TN inquires.
"Formal...there also seemed to be something, I don't know, artificial about her."
He pauses for a moment, brows furrowed.
"And just before I was going to leave, she seemed to say something telepathically to me...but it sounded as if it came from a great distance...and she seemed to be cut off by something..."
"That doesn't sound much like M-chan," TN comments.
"Hai, there's definitely something wrong," Zoi puts in.
"Hmm...has she been having any nightmares? Or had anything strange happen to her recently?" Diana asks.
"Well, we did get attacked today at lunch..."
TN shrugs. "She's used to that, it used to happen to her nearly every day, so it's not THAT weird."
"Ah...as for nightmares, there's only one that I can think of..."
"Oh?"
"Hai.."
"Care to tell us about it?"
"If you think it'll help explain what's happening to M-chan, ok."
"This was a few nights ago when she woke up screaming and very upset. She said that she dreamt she woke up, went into the bathroom to wash her face and when she looked in the mirror, she saw a shadow that she said enveloped her and said 'You are mind.'"
He frowns.
"Neph? Anything else?" TN asks after a few moments of silence.
"Come to think of it, yes..."
"Well..?" Zoi prompts with some impatience.
"Earlier that night, she went stiff as a board in my arms for no apparent reason. When I asked what was wrong, she said it was just an odd feeling. I wanted to ask more, but she seemed so exhausted that I thought it would be better if I just let her sleep."
There's silence for a few more moments.
This time, Diana breaks
the silence. "We should let the others know, I have a feeling HLM's
fighting a battle that she won't be able to win on her own."
Part XIII
Part XV
Meetings Index