Human Fear
He tried not to panic. Just because the Ancient Grimoire said that it was the King of Worms didn’t mean that it was right. It could be anything-a loose wire somewhere, something so small that they had missed it, or just a slight malfunction in her programming. That was all. She’d be fine soon.
It had been weeks since the last time they had seen each other in hologram form. Ever since that last night, when she had struck him in anger, they hadn’t gone back, had barely spoken to each other. Pollo did his best to distract himself, working on anything else, going to Jaeris for more information for all the good it would do, even going so far as to go out drinking with Linkara and Allen. He wasn’t going to sit by Nimue any more than necessary, wasn’t going to watch her fall apart. He couldn’t.
They’d find a way to save her, some day. But until then, Pollo had to distance himself from her. If it was the King of Worms, or any other Outer God affecting her, he couldn’t get too close.
*
She was afraid. She was always afraid now, afraid of what she was, of what she could do. She didn’t understand what was happening, didn’t know what she was supposed to do. She had felt her sanity slipping for weeks now and she couldn’t go on much longer.
It didn’t help that Pollo no longer came to her, or asked her for time with him. She knew why, she understood that she had hurt him, even if she hadn’t meant to, but it still hurt. She needed him, needed him near her to hold her tight and whisper soft words of assurance and keep her safe. But she couldn’t have that. No now.
She had never felt fear before. Even when the Entity had almost destroyed the earth, she had not felt fear. Regret, yes. Honor, definitely. But not fear. Fear was for the humans, for Linkara to feel. Not for her.
But now she felt it. Every time she blanked out for however long, every time she didn’t know where she was or what she was doing, she felt it. Whenever she came back to herself and saw the results, the terror twisted deep within, making it hard for her to work. She couldn’t do her duties, couldn’t help Jaeris find his home world, couldn’t repair the temporal shields on Comicron-One.
If she had the capabilities, she would have cried.
*
One night, some weeks later, she finally spoke to him.
“Pollo,” she said, carefully. “Do you still… desire me?”
Pollo looked up from where he had been working. “I… yes. But you know we can’t…”
“I know,” she answered. “I just… I wondered. You have not seen me in weeks and… I miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” he answered honestly. “But you understand why. I can’t… I cannot be with you until we fix this. It’s for your own good.”
“I know,” she said. “Pollo… I’m just so scared…”
His heart broke at hearing her admit it. “Don’t be,” he said. “We can fix it. Linkara believes he’s found the solution in a book of his. As soon as we can figure out how to test it, we’ll find out and fix it. You just have to trust us.”
“I do,” she said. “Always.” She wishes she could cry. “I… I’m sorry. For what happened before.”
“I know.”
“When this is over…”
“We’ll have whatever you want. Just give us time.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly, and for just one moment, her fear lessens. Pollo could fix it. Pollo and Linkara. They would save her. She knew they would.