Glorious Athena
"I'm pretty hungry."
"Mmm...a salad, steak, and one of Sieg's smoothies sound good right about now."
"Then after that, I spend some time at the punching bag."
"See how Roja is doing in her tournament. Then check up on my son."
"Wait..."
Athena's conscience was trying to get itself back into control, her body slowly struggling as she battled for it.
"Who the...what...wake up!"
And then suddenly her eyes opened, looking into the mirror. The quick realization of being back conscience caused her to fall backwards onto the floor, hurting her behind. But climbing back to her feet, she stared at the reflection of herself, her hands moving along her face.
"What is going on?"
She looked down at her clothes.
"And how did I get in these?" Maria's empathic voice could be heard from the inside, and it was then that Athena would become aware of the connection. Oddly enough, the idea of possession was not like Athena may have been lead on to beleive. It was warming in a sense. Athena could feel Maria, but it was not an invasive feeling. Instead, it almost as if Maria had filled a hole Athena never knew she had in her being. In this connection Athena was acutely aware of Maria's thoughts and feelings. She could feel the calmness Maria was trying to exert over herself, the fact that she felt guilty at what had transpired. The wish that things had gone differently, but the reassignment to move froward and have everyone go on with their lives as soon as possible.
Athena could tell what Maria was referring to, when she felt her words again. She was regarding the question Athena had asked.
It's the side effects Seig was worried about. My energy is causing your body to regenerate. The dead and mutated cells in your body have been revitalized. The result is as you see: I'd say about fifteen to twenty years of decay has been reversed. I don't know if the effect is perminant or only lasts as long as I'm here. I'll get a better idea when I start testing.
As far as the clothes, we'll, I picked them out. Your old clothing is damaged and being repaired, this was what resembled the pictures of you at this age.
Athena could read into more that was said. Maria felt that it was wrong just to leave the body be after being wounded and battered. She wanted to make sure that she properly expressed the fact that Maria would take care of Athena's body as respectful as possible, and be out as quickly as possible. Memories of how awkward Maria had felt, taking a shower with a body that was not her own, were shown. Maria went through great lengths to respect Athena's privacy as much as possible. Athena also recalled memories at Maria's surprise at the sensation of the water as she took a shower, the small sensations that she had not felt as a human for a very long time. All of this was open for Athena to feel, to know. She knew that it was within Maria's power to hide things, memories, experiences, thoughts. But she could tell, better now in this condition than anyone, that Maria wanted to be a completely open book with Athena.
In a soft white flash, standing between Athena and the Mirror was the image of a violet-white fox with red eyes. It was partially translucent, and emitted violet spurts of energy. Looking in the mirror, she would notice that there was no reflection. It was an image in Athena's mind, something for her to see to not be so disorientated.
I would have preferred that I had waited to join with you until after you recovered, and given enough time to plead my case in detail. However, your husband is quite the fighter. It took all my remaining energy just to render him unconscious.
Don't worry though, he's fine. However, I'm worried about the inner wounds that his former lover, Ayane has left in him....
Athena got a flash of Seig's insanity, and Maria's reaction to it all back in the battle.
That is a matter for another time, though. We need to speak, even if the circumstances have become more complicated than they needed to be. All this becomes much more difficult if we can't come to some sort of co-operation.
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