Chapter 17 Sacrifices
3rd Person P.O.V.
Sam closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. The chaotic energy in the Mindscape begins to settle around him. Once he is calm, he opens his eyes, looks directly at Wrath, the cloaked figure representing his primal emotions, and says:
"You're a hypocrite, just like him, you know?"
He breathes again. The calmer he gets, the stronger the golden aura around him becomes, pushing back the shadows.
"Hiding yourself to not take part of the responsibility and relaxing on your laurels. Letting this happen, showing up only while I can't see you... cowardly."
One more breath. The air vibrates with his resolve.
"Still, I know you. You are me, just like him. And... sigh... I forgive you. Never thought my horny, domineering, and lazy self would be the one Mind was searching for to balance the equation."
After saying this, Sam sits down on the spectral grass and lets go of his grudges. Probably one of the best qualities he has, is the ability to forgive. Just like he forgave his parents for their neglect, for all the wrongs he suffered, he could always forgive others. Even if he ended up bored with people and hiding away in the woods, the forgiveness was real.
The only person that he could not entirely forgive was himself. We could always do things better, and even the best intentions can bring bad results, after all.
Now, he has the chance to completely get rid of his guilt. His heart is free and feels endless love. All-encompassing. Love is not soft, nor possessive. Love is kind, strong, and understanding. Sometimes kindness can be harsh—like a surgeon's knife cutting out rot.
A little fatherly smirk creeps onto his face. He opens his eyes, gets up, and walks to Mind's "husk", the robotic shell left behind when Mind sacrificed his ego. He puts his hand on the empty shell's heart.
"Your name is now Amy. Please take on that look and voice."
Sam grunts, and a bead of sweat appears on his forehead, as he concentrates. A grain-sized white ball of light emerges from his forehead, and another golden one from his heart. He pushes them into the shell.
They enter "her," and the form begins to shift. The masculine features soften, the build slims down. She changes appearance to a woman. Encompassing his inner femininity.
He chose a simple, sober black t-shirt, stretch jeans, and low black high heels. Over it, she wears a long white lab coat with square glasses.
She stands 5'6", has straight, long black hair in a high ponytail, pale white skin, slightly pointy ears, and sharp black eyes. She has a small delicate nose, dark red lips, and a perfect jawline. And, of course, a C-cup and nicely shaped... cough... proportions.
Once the transformation is done, she falls unconscious.
Psych!
She wakes up after three seconds only, blinking her eyes open with an emotionless face, and says in an equally emotionless voice:
Amy: "Thank you. Seed is now partially sealed until the threat is reduced to an acceptable level. Initiating [Duality Manipulation] and [Power Transfer]."
Sam: "Woah! I see you're ready, haha. Let's try to save what's left of our 'Mind'."
They advance near the ball of goo. Right now, it's a chaotic mess, all wrapped around itself and fighting to absorb Mind's pieces along with the ball of blood Wrath injected. Almost no power remains in Mind; he is being digested.
Sam puts his hand on Amy's back to support her. She starts to glow with a soft, analytical blue light.
Amy: "Initiating... Individuals Mind and Goo, will now go through embryonic stage."
Classical, relaxing music, Debussy's Clair de Lune, starts sounding in their ears out of nowhere. Amy is using all of Sam's knowledge, to create a perfect ambiance for surgery.
She raises her hands, making the goo and blood float, a few meters from her. The goo gets compressed into a small ball along with the blood and consciousness piece.
Amy: "Analyzing."
Her eyes flash with scrolling data streams.
Amy: "Emergency! Psychological trauma detected in both subjects. Administering treatment. Goo state: Deep hunger, Resentment, small consciousness, no positive attribute, only devouring hunger. Mind state: Numb, resolved, calm, semi-conscious."
Sam can tell she sees lines of data, as his knowledge is scrolling in front of her eyes. While he cannot see it directly, he has the same connection, as with his tamed companions, except deeper, so he gets the gist of it. She is operating above his capacity by a large margin, making him see a blur of calculations.
Amy: "Solution and balance ratio found. Start of power balancing and Self imprint."
Mind and the bloody goo's remains, absorb a ton of energy from the outside (from the egg absorbing the forest). They inflate to be very close in size to the original goo and Mind's mass.
They separate from one another, pulling apart like taffy, while some information is imprinted in this power, before she let it enter. Mind is being rebuilt from pure power, while the goo is being "educated".
Amy: "Warning, Mind state unstable, overload. Per previous instructions, Ignore. Commence Yin-Yang balancing."
The two balls create a tentacle each and both touch the top of the other ball. They swirl around each other, looking like two sixes, or a 69 symbol.
Amy: "Mental attribute inverted to Goo, physical attribute to Mind. Seed is now linked to both entities, restoring the Goo's lost body and Mind seed as one."
They become like two liquids, one black, one white. At first, they fight for dominance, swirling violently, but Amy keeps them in check with precise bursts of will. Mind's seed slowly dissolves by half, while a new one, inverted from it, takes form inside the goo.
Mind's body, or energy, becomes the opposite of the goo.
The law of nature won't allow something to generate from nothing...
Being a devourer, creating is the opposite is simple, so a small, invisible dimension with an intangible black hole through the chakra gates, opens up for the energy of the twins, to flow freely from one to the other.
Goo absorbs, while Mind produces. If Goo absorbs some energy from the outside, then Mind receives half.
Goo is now free from hunger because it is constantly fed by Mind's creation, but they have to stay within a certain distance from Sam, to maintain the loop. If they ever can go out...
The transformation takes a while, but Amy can do it alone. So, Sam takes the opportunity to talk with Wrath.
Sam: "Rule number 1: Don't hide from me. I acknowledge and respect you, so you don't have to hide in the shadows."
Wrath crosses his arms but listens.
Sam: "Rule number 2: Subduing and domination is fine for some things, but not for others. Like an animal that destroys crops, subduing it would be kind, a mercy. In some cases, people would kill it... But subduing a human child, is abuse. Context matters."
Sam: "And 3: Don't harm me or my people, without consent. That means keep your temper in check."
Wrath sighs, pulling down his hood to reveal a face identical to Sam's, but sharper, wilder.
Wrath: "Easy. And sorry about..."
Sam: "No need."
He smiles and pats his shoulder. No words needed. Acceptance is the bridge. Sam is Sam, just... different now...
Amy: "Warning... Sam... I'm sleepy...."
Her voice loses its robotic edge for a second, sounding almost child-like.
Just as the twins emerge from the light, one boy, one girl, looking to be about five years old.
Wrath, Sam, and Amy gather around them. They can all feel a connection with the others. A family made of one broken soul....
They are all sleepy and at ease now. The crisis has finally passed.
Amy: "Warning..." She sways on her feet.
Sam: "It's fine, Amy. We will all go to sleep for a while."
She nods sluggishly. Sam picks her up bridal style and starts walking to the house. Wrath looks at their back, only a little bit jealous. Honest.
He picks up the sleeping twins, one radiating soft white light, the other absorbing the shadows, and follows Sam to the house.
Sam conjures a big bed in the master bedroom, fluffing the pillows with a wave of his hand. Everybody just falls on it, piling up like puppies after this crazy adventure.
(I played with stuff that I did not know, would make weird powers appear, in this world, in my very mind... but we survived.)
That was his final thought before falling asleep, surrounded by the fractured, beautiful pieces of himself.
What a beautiful mess.