Forge of Destiny Threads 80-Muse 2
It was different this time. Perhaps Sixiang had simply grown better at manipulating this place of dreams, or perhaps they were simply holding back less of the experience from her. In any case, Ling Qi felt her mind itch as she was immersed in wholly alien senses. She felt herself drowning in the sheer sensory input that flowed through Sixiang’s/her senses, and it was a struggle just to remember where the line between them lay.
...
...
For just a moment, Ling Qi became herself, and her head ached as it tried to process a completely alien sensation. She felt Sixiang stir in her mind, adjusting the flow of their power.
...
...
...
***
Ling Qi woke with a start.
She cradled her head as she sifted through the memories she had seen. It was a torrential flow of which she could only recall a few scraps, and yet when she looked up and saw Sixiang sitting upon the shore of the color sea, she understood. Slowly, she turned her head away from the construct on the shore, the thing created by Sixiang for her benefit, and addressed her friend directly.
“I’m sorry, Sixiang,” she said, bowing her head to the sea. She saw the illusion on the shore dissolve into mist out of the corner of her eye.
“Nothing to apologize for,” Sixiang said, the water rippling around her bare feet. The voice echoed strangely, emanating from the whole of the sea. “I have to ask: how do you manage, being so blind?”
“I don’t know. How do you manage, seeing so much?” Ling Qi shot back with a small smile. Even with the memories fading and the lessons of a new art internalized, Sixiang’s perspective still left her with an aching head.
Sixiang laughed, and they sat in silence for a time, the sound of Sixiang’s waters lapping on the shore and the quiet sound of the wind their only company aside from each other. They did not need words as they processed each other’s perspectives.
“Sixiang, I’ll try as hard as I can, but I can’t say whether the end of my path will be worth it for you. Things are going to be hard. I’m going to hurt others, and others are going to hurt me,” she said. “But I’d like you to share it with me. I’ll need you to stop me putting my foot in my mouth too much.”
Though she ended on a weak joke, she knew Sixiang could feel her sincerity. In the end, having understood each other, there was no point in argument. She could only say the words that were in her heart all along. She didn’t want her friend to leave, but she had to accept it if it was their choice.
Her words echoed in the sea, and the waters receded, leaving her feet bare on the sand.
“How do you deal with being so afraid all the time?” Sixiang asked.
“You already know the answer to that,” Ling Qi said.
Sixiang huffed, and Ling Qi sputtered as a wave came in, soaking her front. “Smartass,” they grumbled. “But I guess I do.”
A burst of wind blew the water soaking her away, but Ling Qi refused to let Sixiang escape into comedy. She answered, “You work to make the world one where you don’t have to be afraid any more.”
“Even if there’s no end to that path?” Sixiang questioned.
“Ends are inevitable,” Ling Qi replied with conviction. “The journey to get there is what gives them value.”
Sixiang let out a sigh and chuckled. “Wow. When I’m the gloomy one, you know something has gone wrong.”
“You’re right,” Ling Qi said with a chuckle. “What do you say? Will you stay with me, Sixiang?”
“Yes, I will,” the muse said, and Ling Qi felt their qi pulse and flex experimentally. “I think I understand better now what it means to be human and not. I’m not, and I never was. You’re taking your own steps away from that as well. If you don’t like the world, then change it, huh? I guess I forgot grandmother’s power in the waking world.”
“Dreams aren’t just for sleeping,” Ling Qi agreed. It seemed like a childish way to view it, but at the core of every cultivator was a dream. Slowly, she stood. “Sixiang, will you dance with me again?”
“Of course,” her friend’s voice said, and a hand rose from the waters to grasp her own. “Did you have something in mind?”
Ling Qi considered as she stepped out onto the sea, feeling the qi in her legs and lungs rippling with anticipation.