Elemorts

Chapter XXV - Haywire

Previously, she had thought that the crew in her trailer had heard her being loud and that that was how things had reached Bastelle's killers. It had never occurred to her that the snake was the person she was talking to. How could she have been that stupid? Even Puff never liked Seluna — and Seluna never cared much for Puff, either. But nothing had opened Pinz's eyes.

When they reached the city, they handed Seluna over to the authorities, who immediately took her into custody. The Karomozians were probably eager to cover up the mess they had caused, and so, Seluna — the Felitte — was swiftly found guilty of multiple charges, including attempted murder. To hear the press, Seluna might as well have been the secret mastermind behind everything that went down.

Not that Pinz gave a darn. The Karomozians, whom Seluna had been so eager to betray Pinz to, were now using her as a sacrificial lamb. How fitting that she would spend the rest of her life in a prison of her own making, far away from home. Talk about poetic justice, Pinz had thought. Let her rot in Karomozian prisons. And Pinz shuddered at the stories she had heard about Karomozian prisons.

As comforting as that was, there was still a big, empty void inside her, threatening to engulf her. So, the snake had met her fate, but why had this happened? What had Pinz done to deserve this? Was there no one she could trust, ever? Was it futile, naïve, even, to be kind to anyone? She nearly drove herself crazy, asking all sorts of questions. And that was when she decided to visit a psychotherapist.

She chose a Neurax who practiced in Brivil. She had heard psychotherapists from Neuraxios used their mind powers during the sessions, which made some people uncomfortable, but Pinz didn't care. She needed someone to pour her heart out to, and if the mind powers helped, so be it.

After entrusting Puff to Jayrock and Heraclark in the hotel, she took a one-hour session where she talked and talked. She was amazed by how therapeutic the act of talking alone was. The hour flew by as she expressed her frustrations, fears, feelings of betrayal and isolation, regrets, and everything.

Your friend betrayed you because that's who she was, the psychotherapist had said. That doesn't have to change who you are. Don't stop being kind because of her. Be even kinder because of who you are... and I can tell you want to be nothing less.

Pinz had hummed along the way back to the hotel, updated her blog after ages, and made up her mind to help the fighters. She managed to convince the guys, and before long, she held a press conference, urging people to assist her in that regard.

"Their vitals keep destabilizing," the neurobiologist said worriedly as she watched a nurse secure a fighter's restraints.

"They have been through a lot," Pinz observed.

"What is wrong with me?" Jayrock asked again.

"You feel too guilty about your friend," Pinz replied.

"Who? Gylith?" Jayrock asked.

Is he pretending, or has he actually forgotten? "No. Your other friend," Pinz corrected him. "You know you didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you saved thousands of lives."

Jayrock winced. This chatterbox had somehow made him regurgitate so many things he didn't mean to. They were having breakfast in their hotel when she suggested they talk a bit about themselves just to "break the ice." After she had prattled on about herself, she began probing him and Heraclark. Jayrock had been quite successful at resisting at first, but then she started making guesses and bets about his past. He vaguely remembered scoffing at her inaccuracy.

The next thing he knew, he was telling each and every detail about his childhood — from the fact that his parents died in an accident when he was one year old to the fact that his parents' friend adopted him.