Rhodes Island's Psychologist

Ch 80: A Guess

Kal'tsit's tone was light, but her message is heavy, too heavy.

"All these years?"

"What do you think?" Kal'tsit stares at Lin Yie, "You are the only psychologist in Rhodes Island."

Lin Yie smiles bitterly, "I don't know. I really hope that's not true."

"Then go. Verify it. When she wakes up, you can check for yourself."

"But how?"

"Just ask her if she saw you in her dream." Kal'tsit says slowly, 

"If she did, that shows it was just a nightmare. Her soul, her personality, and her memory would very likely be intact. However, if she did not see you or remember what happened in that dream..."

Kal'tsit doesn't finish the rest of her sentence, but Lin Yie already understands what she means. In other words, if Nightingale doesn't remember, that means the person he met was not Nightingale, but Liz, the Liz imprisoned by her past.

Lin Yie takes a deep breath, "I still think that theory is a bit far-fetched. Shouldn't people remember what happened in their dreams?"

To his disappointment, Kal'tsit doesn't answer him. Watching her stare at him makes Lin Yie feel really helpless.

Kal'tsit taps her desk again, "No matter what, what you did in that dream had an effect on the real world. You saw it yourself. Even you could not make her calm down as easily as before." She rubs her temples, "Since it has come to this, there's nothing more I have to say. We can only look to the future."

"The future?"

"When Liz wakes up, I will check her condition. If she is fine, we will return to Rhodes Island today. Some things can only be taken care of there." Kal'tsit checks the time, "Silence is on her way back. You can hand Ifrit back to her later. We will put off Lungmen-related tasks. And I need to contact Shining. We need more information from her."

Lin Yie is really impressed by Kal'tsit's comprehensive decision.

"You can go back to her now." Kal'tsit says, 

"No matter what, the current Liz still trusts you the most. And this is when you have to be with her. However, don't use your ability on her again. I don't have to explain that to you, right?"

Lin Yie smiles bitterly, "I will never use it again."

"Don't be so extreme." Kal'tsit says, "Your ability might just be the key to solving her problem."

"Huh?"

Kal'tsit explains, "We can temporarily control her oripathy, but her psychological treatment had been on pause for a very long time before you came, and your arrival only stabilized her."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you, the current Liz is not the complete Liz. Her other self in that tunnel probably holds the rest of her memory and soul." Kal'tsit says softly, "Unfortunately, we don't have the means to save her, but you might be able to."

Lin Yie is really surprised, "You mean I can do that with my ability?"

"That's just a guess, but we still need to do more research on your ability before deciding the next step." Kal'tsit crosses her legs, "By the way, didn't you get her out of her cage? Why did you do that?"

Lin Yie smiles bitterly, "I just couldn't bear to see her suffer."

"Alright." Kal'tsit stops him, 

"That's it for now. Too much happened tonight. We all need to rest."

After that, Kal'tsit gets up to boil water.

So she means using coffee to keep herself awake?

Lin Yie smiles bitterly and shakes his head.

"Then, I will go first."

"Uhm." Kal'tsit says, "But I hope you will tell me in advance before doing something like this again."

"I understand."

Kal'tsit waves her hand to dismiss him.

"I have another question."

"Go ahead."

"If, and  I mean if." Lin Yie asks, "If I bring that Liz out of the tunnel, what will happen to the current Liz?"

Kal'tsit doesn't answer him. She just pours water into her cup.

Lin Yie decides to repeat his question, but he notices that her cup is already full, and she keeps pouring.

After a while, Kal'tsit opens her mouth.

"I don't know."

...

Lin Yie drags his tired body back to Nightingale's room.

When he opens the door, he hears scraping sounds. Then, he sees Nightingale wrapped inside her blanket like a caterpillar.

"Liz?"

The caterpillar squirms slightly, and a small head pokes out.

The blues eyes stare at him for a while.

"Pineapple Bun, I am so hungry."