Fragility of the Mind

Alevon watches the scene unfold
"Alright, I understand"
He says, turning to Maya

"How are you feeling?"
He asks, placing the back of his hand to her forehead to check the temperature

"...and I'm sorry about the shock earlier...I hope you understand why I did that..."

Leana grinned like the Cheshire Cat as she nodded vigorously.

"Damn straight," she said, flicking her best friend in the forehead. "Guess what! I have boobs now!!!" She started laughing hysterically and fell onto the floor, rolling around and holding her sides.

Leana stared at her best friend with a dumbfounded expression. Then she sighed and hung her head back, staring at the ceiling.

"We're in a deep puddle of shit, TK," she started, "And our boots aren't big enough." She paused for a moment before grinning again. Then she tugged on TK's sleeve excitedly.

"I have to tell you something else," she said, trying hard not to giggle.

"Heh, well..." Leana trailed off as she brought TK close to her and whispered in her ear, "I kissed Gabrielle." Then she pulled back and smirked, looking quite proud of herself.

Leana blinked, trying to register what TK just told her.

"What? How did she get a boyfriend so fast?" she asked, a sad look in her normally bright eyes. She looked at the ground and ran a hand through her long hair, pausing briefly as she was not used to the length.

Leana hugged TK back tightly, confused about what was going on. She rememberd the people that TK had mentioned and how unfamiliar they were. She noticed that TK looked different as well. Older. She herself was older. The last thing she remembered was fighting that crazy guy on that ship on the way to the base in Colorado...

"Um...TK..." Leana started timidly. "Where am I? Or rather...when am I?"

Leana took a few steps backward, shocked at the news.

'Ten...years...?'

She shook her head slowly. There was no way. No way that it was ten years in the future. What had happened during that time? What had happened to Ariel? To TK? To her friends? Her head started pounding and she gasped at the pain.

"What the hell..." she managed to say through clenched teeth. She placed a hand on her forhead and leaned against the wall. She couldn't believe how much her head hurt. She felt sick and ran past the small group and tried looking for a way out. She spotted an elevator and ran towards it, pressing the button repeatedly in hopes that it would open faster. When it did, she walked in and went up, leaning against the wall in pain. It seemed like an eternity until she reached the top and ran out, going outside and running until she couldn't run anymore. She found herself surrounded by trees and sniffed loudly.

"What the fuck is going on?!" she screamed.

Leana broke down and cried, something she hadn't done in a long time. She slid against a tree and slunk to the ground, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. The pain in her head wasn't going away. In fact it was getting worse. She had never experienced a migraine like this and it was scaring her.

"Gah, why won't this pain go away?!" she cried as she gritted her teeth.

'It hurts, does it?'

Leana froze.

"What... W-Who are you?" she whispered, standing up immediately and looking around with wide eyes like a caged animal.

'The only other voice in your head. Who else would it be?'

Leana swallowed as she shakily whispered, "Ariel?" There was a long pause as she heard the voice answer, 'Yes.' Leana stared at the tree blankly, shocked to hear her other's voice in her head. She asked out loud, "But...how is this possible? Whever I'm in control I can't hear you!"

'I don't know what's happening, but you're back now. That's all that matters.'

Leana sniffed as the tears started flowing again. "Ariel..." she said, her voice thick. However the pain returned and she cried out, completely unprepared for it. She pulled at her hair and groaned loudly. Her arms jerked every which way and her back straighted of its own accord.

"What's...what's happening?" Leana choked out. Her left leg gave out as she fell to one knee. Then she received a response.

'I'm taking the body back, Leana. You disappear for ten years and you suddenly show up again? No, I can't accept that. You will come out when I say so.'

"B-But I-" Leana couldn't finish her sentence as her body started jerking violently again. She yelled out in pain and then lay still, hot tears streaming down her face. She murmured a very soft, "I'm sorry," hoping that Ariel would accept her apology. However, insider her head was quiet. She didn't have the strength to stand up so she simply lay there, looking up at the sky, apologizing over and over again, praying that things would turn out alright.

Ariel opened her eyes and squinted in the light, groaning at the soreness in her back. Lying on the cold, hard ground wasn't comfortable at all, though she had no one to blame but herself for that. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the trees beside her, not moving a muscle.

'Leana?'

There was silence for a long time before Ariel heard her other half reply.

'I'm here...'

Ariel paused for a moment. 'What happened?'

'I...I honestly don't know. I just went to sleep and woke up now.'

Ariel said nothing for a while, deciding that it wasn't Leana's fault for her disappearance. It still pained her greatly, but there were more important things to worry about now.

'We should go, Leana. We will figure this out later.'

And with that she slowly stood up, and took a step forward, though she almost fell over and grabbed onto a tree for balance. She had to take it easy.