Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty-Five

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"perhaps this is something we should discuss with the telepaths on board, if any wish to volunteer or... have any suggestions for ways to reduce the risk?" Armin suggested, he cuddled Luna just a bit closer.

Kay's frown deepened. [Is it safe to send one person in? Who's to say they won't also get into trouble? ]

Matt hobbled over. "Rescue party?"

Kay looked to Starr and her dragons. [Could they shield more than one person? And potentially produce a sort of.. beacon or.. life line to yank us out again if the need arose?]

"us?" Matt looked at Kay.

Kay rubbed his temples. [I know Esk better than any other telepath here. He's my brother, if anyone can figure out his mind... I stand a better chance than a complete stranger. ] He looked to Esk. [He's pragmatic, he'll understand... I hope.]

"We can, the others can lend us power if needed to pull everyone out and protect them." Starr said, she was worried too. "He will understand, he is pragmatic."

They were heading over a small stream now. The blood on the snow was lessening, they were heading away from whatever it was.
The boy nodded. "I don't know how to get you away from here. The woods are... not entirely under my control now, she is twisting things, making it difficult for me to focus. That creature is in her sway, it will attack us both on sight. I can, for now, keep you alive, but I don't know how to get you home."

---

Kay bit down on his lower lip, nodding. [Then who will come with me?] He asked. They had no idea what might be lurking in Esk's mind, whether it was actively dangerous. He was, truth be told, frightened of what they might encounter.

Matt looked antsy as well. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Kay shook his head [No, but unless anyone else has any better ideas it's the best we have]

Tala nodded. "We have no better choice, so this must be done. I will go along if needed," she offered.

Kay nodded. Tala was practical and a soldier, she would be useful if there was a fight.

Matt put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Be careful."

Kay nodded again.

What's with the blood? Omega asked as he noticed that. You are young Esk, right?

~~~
"We can send a couple more dragons with you two." Starr said, she didn't want just two going after all.

"Is it dangerous to fit many people into one mind?" Tala asked. She didn't want to... you know... break Esk's brain.

"You don't want to go into the woods." The boy told him firmly, the only answer he'd give about the blood.
He led Omega back to a house, though there hadn't been a house ahead of them just a moment before.

"she can't find you here." He told him, ushering him in front of a flickering fire.


---

Kay looked nervous. [One, we don't want to risk overwhelming his mind either. But there's a degree of safety in numbers. I hope.]

"The woods usually have wolves and such, surprised they don't get her." Omega said with a shrug. He went in the house, looking around curiously.

"We can keep the numbers small, four should be plenty for safety and small enough to stay safe." Starr said.

Kay nodded, he was anxious but Omega had been in there long enough, they had to do something.

He reached out his hands. If we're physically connected, it's easier for our minds to stay together. This much he DID understand of telepathy.

Matt hobbled back to give them space. Shit.. just.. shit.

---

"this isn't a normal forest." The boy told him, warming his hands by the fire. It was a big room, mostly empty but for a few bits of furniture. A stairway ran through the middle up to just darkness, as if the building just ceased to exist beyond that point. Doors led off from the left of the stairway while to the right was the little nook with fireplace and some chairs.

Something in the distance rumbled.

"the trees are moving again..." The boy murmured.

Tala nodded. "Let us do this." She'd take the hands of whoever was next to her.

(So the rescue party is Tala, Kay, and two dragons?)

Two dragons came over to join Kay and Tala, ready to help them and Omega.

Starr prayed this would work and closed her eyes, focusing on the protection and a 'light' for them to follow back.

~~
Omega nodded "I know, this is a mind forest, you can change it even as she can." He said "I can help you stay safe too."

(lol go go rescue party! hahaha)

"how?" The boy demanded. "I'm trapped here just like you are. I can make small doors, but she can close them almost as fast. Eventually she'll win."

---

Kay gripped Tala's hand and a Star Dragon's tightly, hoping like hell he was right here and they weren't about to hurt Esk and unleash that thing in his head into the world.

He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on Esk's mind.

When the four of them opened their eyes again they were on a battlefield, or what had been a battlefield. Now the guns had gone silent, the dead lay around them, it was eerily quiet.

"This was your mind first, use your knowledge." Omega said. "And I will use my power."

~~~
The two dragons looked around the battlefield curiously. Nothing they hadn't seen before.

Tala took a few seconds to get her bearings when they appeared in Esk's mind. She looked around at the battlefield, ears swiveling for sounds of movement, nostrils flared as she tried to catch any scents she could.

If she hadn't been focused on the mission at hand, she would have been fascinated by this. As it was though, her priority was the mission, and nothing else mattered that much right now. And that meant making sure the rescue party stayed safe.

Kay frowned, this wasn't familiar at all. He looked up at the sky, unfamiliar stars filtered weakly through the misty air, two moons hanging above them.

A tall figure came toward them across the field, partly obscured by the mist and smoke in the air. An Imperium soldier, in full black battle armor, face obscured completely by a visored helmet, a plasma rifle slung across their back and a sword at their hip. they were holding their smaller pistol.

"You shouldn't be here." The voice was male but heavily distorted by the helmet so as to make it unrecognisable.

Something exploded a little ways off and a rumble echoed across the field like thunder.

Kay cringed.

---

"It will not work." The boy replied curtly. "Not without the others."

"We must be here" One of the dragons said, both were in dragon form for this mission. "We must free Esk from the demon."

~~~
"Others?" Omega asked and tilted his head "What others do we need to find?"

Tala eyed the soldier, trying to catch his scent. "Who are you?" she asked him. With that armor it might be Esk, but it was hard to tell. The smells here weren't very informative. For all she knew this might be the demon, hmm.

The boy frowned. "Just.. others... Like me." Well that was helpful huh? "She already has the monster..."

---

The soldier watched them all silently, unmoving.

Kay stared at the man. His armor was wrong, no rank, no id... he frowned. A faceless, unidentifiable soldier. Huh.. was this Esk's self image then?

"I told you not to come here." The soldier told Kay.

Kay nodded. Omega's in danger, we had no other option

The soldier looked to Tala. "This place isn't safe. We need to leave."

there was another low rumble. The sound of engines above them. Ships, incoming, fast.

"now." The soldier instructed sternly, leading them hastily across the littered corpses.

"Where are the others?" Omega asked gently. This was the 'child' version after all.

~~
The dragons would stay with Kay and Tala, watching the area and prepared to fight if needed.

Tala's ears flicked back at the sound of incoming ships. "We go with him," she told the others, letting them go first as she followed. She might not trust this soldier, but she didn't think they wanted to face fighter ships, even ones that weren't physically real.

The soldier led them to a trench, deep enough to take cover. "get down!"

Kay did as he was told. He wasn't a soldier like the others, all of this was pretty alarming even if he knew it was all memories and symbolism and whatever else messed up shit went on in Esk's head.

He ducked down into the cold earthern pit as the ships started to open fire.

---

"you already met one of them." The boy told him flatly. "She thinks it's on her side but it only works for itself. There's no taming it."

Tala took shelter in the pit as well, covering her ears to protect them somewhat from the noise if the ships' gunfire got too close. She didn't know how deafness worked here, but she didn't want to find out the hard way.

The dragons got in the ditch, looking around a bit to keep watch.

~~~
"You mean the creature? How will they help us?" Omega asked, confused. "The creatures are like you?"

The soldier climbed down after them as a hail of gunfire rained down above them.
The world pitched, undulated uncomfortably and then the ground opened up beneath them all.

There was a moment of falling, and then they were standing in a brightly lit corridor, on board some sort of space ship. They could hear screaming nearby, someone was in horrible pain.

The solder raised his gun. "What do you hope to achieve here?" He asked the group.


---

The boy shrugged. "It is like me but not me. In a manner of speaking. Another side of a coin... "

Tala barely suppressed a bellow of surprise as the ground seemingly opened up to swallow them, then looked around at the new location, blinking in the brightness. "We wish to recover Omega, we think he has been in here too long and may be lost," she said. The possibility seemed more likely all the time, honestly.

"We are here to free Esk from the demon" The dragon said again, looking around this new ship.

~~~
"We all have many sides." Omega said with a nod. "How do we get them to join us?"