InfiniteInsanity

"I'm glad you like it." Ash sat down at her desk and pulled out a tablet. "I'm gonna do a bit of paperwork while you finish that." "It was like that one archive. The one where you all fell asleep in order to go inside. I fell asleep and then I was there. And Saar was there. She was not very happy with me." Insa sighed. "What she wants hasn't changed."

"It's what happens when you eat a lot of cold food very fast. Your head sometimes feels very cold and sometimes hurts. But it's easy to fix even if it does happen."

Ash pulled out a little bowl and put two scoops in it. She gave it to her. "Don't eat it too fast or you'll get a brain freeze."

Insa rubbed her neck. "I don't know if you would have even found me there."

Insa "Now that we can communicate again I can help you get back home." "Back to the Insanity Clinic?" "Really Insa? Really. How can you be so incredibly useful and yet so stupid?" The air seemed to crackle. "The Insanity Clinic is not your home." Dark clouds gathered above Insa. "You were never supposed to go there. You were never supposed to make friends." Lightning flicked through the clouds. Saar's voice softened a little. "You were supposed to be a hero. And you were on the right path. You can still be a hero." Insa tried again to back away. The fear and panic inside continued to grow. But within the fear was a flicker of something else. Courage. "I may have the potential to be a 'hero'. But if I must be a 'hero' it will be in a story I write. Not in yours." Saar frowned. "What is wrong with my story for you? Its perfect." "I will not erase everything I have done at the clinic. And I will not leave the clinic. Nor will I allow you to use me as a puppet. Or anyone else." Insa took a quick breath before rushing on. "I will find you. And I will not let you escape this time. We're done here." Lightning escaped from the clouds and spiraled around Insa. The spirals tightened around her neck before settling on her skin. "I will always be a part of you." The dream faded to black. *** Sparks formed near Insa's neck and settled into her skin forming a lightning scar. Her breathing stopped and then restarted irregularly for a while before settling back to normal. Slowly she woke up. @The Bookwyrm Ash Ash laughed. "Would you like some more?"

Ash gave her hand a small squeeze and then closed her eyes. Their surroundings faded to black before Ash's office slowly appeared around them. Ash opened her eyes. "I'm proud of you for trying something new." She walked over to a little freezer and pulled out a pint of vanilla ice cream. She leaned over and pulled two spoons out of her desk drawers. Carefully she scooped some ice cream onto the spoon and then held it out to Jinx. "This is ice cream."

Ash shook her head. "I will never intentionally do something to hurt you."

@The Bookwyrm I was just gonna tell you over text. But I thought of the idea too late. I had already hit send. And I wanted it to be part of one big text but it was too late. So I figure this was the better way to go about it.

Ash held out her hand to Jinx. "Are you okay if we teleport back rather than walk? Or would you prefer to just walk?"

Ash's smile grew. "It a sweet dessert. It very cold and there are tons of different flavors. I think I have some back in my office if you would like to try some."

Ash Ash smiled "That's alright." She thought for a moment. "Have you ever had ice cream before?" Insa Insa sighed. "Okay. I love you too." A tidal wave of exhaustion washed over her and essentially forced her to fall asleep. *** In a throne like chair across the room sat a woman who appeared to be in her 20's. She had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. "I've been waiting for you. But you took soo long and I just ran out of patience." Insa frowned. "Who are you?" "Oh come on. You couldn't have possibly forgotten what it's like to be in my glorious presence and receive my wonderful advise this fast. We haven't been separated for that long." "Saar?" The woman grinned. "There you go!" Insa tried to back farther away but was stopped by a wall. "Where are we?" "You are still back with that boy. And I'm somewhere else. I just made a little safe space for us to communicate! Isn't that a fun trick." Insa shook her head. Fear and panic bubbled up inside of her. *** Small sparks flickered to life around Insa before quickly dying out.

"That's alright. Is there anything in particular that you like or want to do?"

Ash stopped walking. "Do you actually want to go back with all the people? You don't have to. You could just stay with me. I could teach you about the work I do and the gods. And we could go on some smaller scale adventures together. You don't have to go with the other people. But if you want to and if you feel safe and comfortable doing that I'll take you to the others."