Yrix stared attentively, observing her student quiver in her boots as she clutched the weapon she had been gifted. Some part of her found it morbidly amusing. However, one small fragment of Yrix's soul felt a sense of pity for the girl.
It was as if she were a mother once more.
"I have something else to show you." Yrix preened.
Lila responded only with her saddened gaze. She wanted to say so many different words, but had nothing to give. Yrix could read her all the same, however.
"It should mend your heart, if only a little." She finished.
Like a shepherd, Yrix led the girl deeper into her workshop and towards a tunnel of sorts. The apparel of the scenery was no longer designed with the intent of mimicking human craftsmanship. Instead, the facility took on the shape of the Consortium's iron cruelty, angular and steep with cold flooring and bright red lights.
Lila found herself staring at the floor as she walked, her soul muddied in confusion and mania. It had been a week since she had arrived in the Aerie, and still the believability of it all failed to dawn on her. She didn't want to be a Psionic warrior any more than she wanted to be away from home.
It felt wrong. Being there felt wrong. Lila was sick to her stomach.
"Here." Yrix flicked her wrist, opening a large blast door as a gust of air nearly knocked Lila down. "I think you'll like it."
A large hanger lay before the pair, dark and metallic with a blackened metal that covered every surface. The ceiling was left wide open, revealing the sky above as a reminder of what Lila had lost. The contents of the hanger, however, left her a tad excited.
Yrix fidgeted with her sharp fingers. "Your brother was a pilot, no?"
"F-65 Thunderhead..." Lila reminisced. "Before your people killed him."
"Well, I'm sure that was a fast model of aircraft. But we have faster." Yrix boasted as she gestured towards a hulking peice of metal to her left, raised up on a pedestal that became awash in light.
Lila tried to hide her excitement. The alien aircraft resembled a human design with a set of two wings, yet unlike the Earthling bird-like model that had dominated the skies of her home, this particular peice of art was more akin to an armored drake. The paint job in particular struck her fancy with its obsidian black and crimson lights.
"You wished to be a pilot one day." Yrix tilted her head. "Didn't you."
"I was never cut out for it." Lila breathed deeply. "But...yes."
"Then I will teach you."
"Huh?!"
Yrix would have smiled if she could. "Yes. I will teach you. And when you are ready, you will fly this machine."
"Wait but-."
"You think being a Psion is just for ground warfare? I'll have you know we make excellent pilots. Your reflexes and ability to read your enemy can be greatly enhanced. I'd argue we're a natural fit for the job, really."
Lila was left in a state of disbelief. She didn't know if she should feel gratitude or despair. The whole situation with Yrix was, to put it lightly, a bit overwhelming.
"But why!?" Lila finally burst out. "What's the point!"
The Arch-Flayer squinted, as if genuinely unaware of what her student was feeling. For all her intelligence, there were gaps in her understanding brought about by a lack of pity and remorse.
"Hm?"
"If you hate us so much and want to kill us, why bother with the gifts and the tutelage? Just throw us in a wood chipper and be done with it!"
"You're sorely mistaken, Lila. I care for my students."
"Oh, do you!?" Lila screamed, balling up her fists. "If there's even a bit of truth to that, then part of you must know this is wrong! What you're doing is wrong!"
"I disagree." The Arch-Flayer chided. "What I do is for your sake."
"Is that why you do this? You genuinely think torturing us is mercy? When you can't even tell me why!"
"I do believe I gave you a formal addendum when we first met."
"We both know that's a lie. Stop playing this game, Yrix!"
The Arch-Flayer was taken aback by her student's newfound courage. Moreover, she hadn't expected Lila, of all students, to be so sharp. But it wasn't long before she simply chalked that up to her excellent mentorship.
"You aren't ready for that truth." Yrix hissed, dropping the act.
Lila growled. "Oh, but we're all ready to get our skulls caved in by your goons. That's right?"
"Yes. Truly."
Lila hardly realized she was speaking with Ivy's fiery spirit. But there was more to her words than just the bond she had formed with the heiress. She spoke for all of Yrix's victims.
And it wouldn't be the last time.
"Then why do we even fight? Survival will only mean so much for so long." Lila exhaled.
Yrix spoke plainly. "Deliverance."
"What?"
The Arch-Flayer circled her student, resting her arms behind her back as she stood like a crane. "The extent of your circumstances is clearly not yet palpable. But you can feel it. Your mind slipping."
"I reject your logic," Lila spoke, her voice sounding eerily like Ivy.
"Has my reputation not made itself known?" Yrix boomed. "I am the culmination of the mind's insanity. You will share that fate, awakened in this place. And once you break free, earn your deliverance, you will thank me. You will thank me for the creature you will have evolved into."
"You're a monster." Lila snarled.
"And so too, will you be." Yrix beamed with pride. "It is inevitable. You cannot escape me. But one day. You can be free.
I will tell you what I tell Sonera every time she looks at me with that murderous glower.
You want family?! You want love. You want freedom. Then fight for it. With blood and tears."
"I'll prove you wrong." Lila retorted, her voice becoming her own, devoid of malice. "That I promise you."
The Earthling stormed off, having memorized the way back. Her heart boiled over with rage and despair. It was all so exciting, in a morbid way. The first time in her life, such a humble and simple girl had a mission.
She had a prayer. That one day, Yrix would be wrong. Such a thing was worth fighting for.
- - - - - - - - -
"Sleep now, little Ginjous," Ivy smiled, tucking the plushies into bed as she whispered them a lullaby. "Never change."
The heiress stood up, spinning around Lila's room with her unburdened soul. She belonged in there. And the longer she spent within the dream's confines, the more natural her presence became.
She was not an intruder. No less than the Ginjous, she was an idealized vision of Lila's imagination. And she was content to be like that.
Ivy could forget who she was and what her father had made her into. Even amidst the terror of Yrix, she felt that her current predicament was preferable. It was as if she were finally receiving the happy ending she thought was never deserved.
That was when it happened. In the corner of her eye, Ivy could see a fringe of the dream dissapearing. She whirled around, assuming her presence was the cause of the decay.
But once that corner of pink carpet was replaced with a cold, blackened substance, she became aware of the horrible truth. The real Lila was in peril. And her dream, even with Ivy inside of it, was crumbling.
"No," Ivy whispered to herself. "Not you."
The very idea that Lila could be corrupted had never even occurred to her. It was a horrible realization indeed. She couldn't bear to imagine such an innocent girl becoming a vessel for the same kind of pain that had plagued the heiress for years. Lila didn't deserve that.
"I won't allow it!" Ivy rushed over to the corner of the room, kneeling in front of it before pressing her hand against the corrupted floor. "You're better than this. Better than me."
A pure white light began to emanate from the heiress's palms. It took all that she had and more to project her influence onto the mindscape. But just before she began to falter, salvation was achieved.
The dream had returned to normal. The corruption was gone.
The Ivy from a week ago would feel pride at her achievement. She had saved Lila from a fate she knew was worse than death. But the Ivy that emerged from the second trial believed in no such thing.
Lila had earned the girl who stood in her dream. She had built it from the ground up. And just like with her Ginjous, she had nothing to thank but herself for such a creation.
"Lila," Ivy muttered as she stood vigilant. "I..."
A bit of that familiar old fear washed over her. She still wanted to apologize to the Earthling and say so much more. But that idea stuck to her tounge like sour grapes.
"Love?" Ivy scoffed.
She did appreciate the Earthling. Love, however, turned her back towards the path of indignant hate. It reminded her of the night she first struck Lila.
How ironic that she would fight tooth and nail to protect the girl's dream when she was the monster who had already inhabited it.
That's what she believed at least.
Or so she thought.