Fantasy Vs Reality | The Withering

29: Connection

Stop them.

~~

Coal woke with a start. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was, in the hospital? No. Was he in his room? He blinked and looked around, yes this looked like his room. He sat up and shook his head. His headache was gone but his body still ached.

Grumpy, he decided he was going to have a talk with Kay. It was long overdue and he needed to figure out why he was the way he was. He figured it had something to do with her. He stood up, and wobbled out of his room. For some reason, he knew that Kay was the cause of all his... problems. It all started right when she woke up after all.

As he walked down the long hallway, he took a turn and found himself staring up at the door to Kay's room. Her door had a shiny new plaque on it with just her first name "Kay." Taking a deep breath, Coal knocked on her door. 

She didn't respond, so Coal knocked again. His voice was hoarse and barely usable, "K-Kay? Hello?"

Still, there was no response. She must've not been in her room. He turned to leave, but then caught on to a brief scent of Storm. He followed it, and it led to the dining room. In there he found Tuna, Kay, and Storm all sitting at the table talking. Kay seemed to be preoccupied and Storm looked troubled. Why hadn't she come to him if she was? Tuna looked as joyful as ever. When was he not happy?

Coal cleared his throat quietly, leaning up against the doorway while crossing his arms, "You ladies enjoying yourselves?"

"Love!" Storm exclaimed, "You've been resting so much lately I was afraid you'd sleep forever!" She approached him and wrapped her arms gently around him, "I love you and don't forget that."

Coal smiled slightly. "I know." he whispered, "I'm getting better now though. I promise." 

They released each other from their embrace and Coal looked at Kay, "We need to talk."

Kay's eyes seemed to twitch. Was she nervous? Coal supposed he wasn't that nice to her lately. Coal shrugged in response to her eye twitches, "It's not too important don't worry, I just need to know a few things."

"I'll come along too." Storm said in a clear attempt to encourage Kay to come along to talk in private. Kay eventually nodded slowly, and stood up. She smiled and waved bye to Tuna silently before following Storm and Coal to Storm's room. 

When they entered her room, Kay and Storm sat down at her table. Coal paced for a moment. He calmed himself and slowly sat down in one of the chairs himself. He collected his thoughts and looked from Storm to Kay.

"Before I start, I need you to know that this is not an easy conversation for me." Coal whispered, "I've been mulling it over for a while and I'm just confused and... upset. I want to get to the bottom of this but I can't do it without you two."

Storm and Kay both nodded and Coal closed his eyes. He took a moment to decide what questions to ask first, and then he decided, "How much do you actually remember before you actually woke up here?"

Kay looked thoughtful for a long moment before she frowned, furrowing her brow. She crossed her arms and looked deep in thought. She then flicked her ears, "I remember... sitting in a closet."

Coal's own memory jogged a little too, he was outside her closet, "What were you doing inside the closet?"

"I was... looking at drawings." Kay's eyes widened, "I was looking at drawings I had made of you, Storm, and Ember."

Coal narrowed his eyes in mild confusion, "This was while you were still human though... thousands of years before you met us."

"It's possible you remembered we existed even after you went back home and left my body." Storm inquired, "But it doesn't explain how they were there before... Even I can't remember that much."

"I... I don't know, honestly." Kay said softly, "I remember something else but... I don't think that'd make much sense."

"What is it dear?" Storm asked gently.

"My only guess... is that I somehow... saw into the future through dreams I had and... drew pictures based on them. When my art improved, the line between my human life and this one seemed to thin... as if I had created this reality." Kay turned her head, as if she were ashamed.

"First of all, that's a lot of credit to give yourself. But, despite that, it is still somehow believable with everything else that's happened so far. Given your human name and all... it makes sense." Coal sighed, "Second of all, that would explain why you seem to have a particularly special connection between this time era and your human era. But it still doesn't explain why you possessed Storm the first time, and why I'm being affected this time... and who even the hell you possessed this time." He gestured silently to Kay's form.

"Perhaps... it has something to do with the stability of Kay's mind?" Storm asked, "Like, because you were the one to retrieve her soul both times. Only this time she had an unoccupied body to latch onto immediately after... so maybe she has a tiny part of her in you."

"That actually... makes sense." Kay piped in, "Lately I've been feeling better about myself and because of that things have been going smoother for us, and you specifically, Coal. When I was upset and scared in my subconscious at first, that would explain why you went into such a critical state!"

"And when you came to rescue us from the spaceport, that would explain why Coal fell into a fit. Because you were frightened." Storm continued.

"But..." Coal began. Kay and Storm looked at him and he shook his head, "Why me? Why not anyone else nearby?"

"I don't know..." Storm said in a small voice, "It's possible that you were the only one Kay remembered, and so you both became connected somehow, even if the connection has somehow gotten weaker lately."

Coal shook his head again, "It's possible, but the likelihood is..."

"Pretty unlikely and 'out there.'" Kay finished, nodding her head, "But what else do we have to go on with these strange, unexplainable events?"

"I'm not sure anymore." Coal grumbled, slumping further into his chair, "Thank you for talking to me, I'm sorry I appeared... so mean when we first met, I was confused and... angry."

Kay smiled slightly, "It's fine. You have been through a lot more than I have."

Coal opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted when the ship lurched to the side angrily. Then the ship slowed down so fast they were all thrown out of their chairs and into the wall facing the front of the ship. Coal fell to the ground in a heap, his scars tingling aggressively. He stood up slowly, and shook his head. He had bumped it just right so that his ears were ringing and sound was muffled. 

Red lights came on and the distant sound of an alarm was going off.

Storm yelled something at Kay who took off. Storm and Coal ran for the turrets stations around the ship. Coal hopped into the west turret and Storm took the east turret. No one has been available for the missiles since the 'death' of Fifi, which was a problem. 

Coal looked through the screen to man the turret and narrowed his eyes. How could someone be attacking when they were in the middle of a hyper jump tunnel? He turned his turret around and saw a massive ship approaching them. Why wasn't the Omineon moving faster? 

Coal hadn't realized his hearing had returned to normal, because the intercoms made a high pitch sound and then a strange voice came over it. Someone had intercepted their communications, "This is Captain Arvek of the Vexel Spaceship. You are hereby ordered to exit the hyper jump tunnel for a thorough ship search. You have something that is of utmost importance to the Neon Empire that must be returned at the earliest opportunity."

"Fuck." Coal whispered, standing back from his turret.

His ears flicked for Marcus' command, and dead silence fell over the ship. Pretty soon, more alarms started going off. Then the panicked voice of Elva came on the intercoms, "Jacob! Sylvia! Get in here now! The main pilot has gone feral!!"

Shortly after, a scream from the Hospital Wing was heard. 

Ember.