Feyd felt his consciousness drifting in darkness. With what felt like vine like trails extending from his mind to his body. He could not see, nor hear, nor feel but he could instinctively recognize some things.
He was in his mind, or something of the sorts. And whatever was extending their reaches from him to his body was something very, very closely linked to who he truly was, maybe even related to his past self.
He always told Ray that he wasn't very interested in his past self, which wasn't a lie really. He knew how his life had ended, and tid bits of how he led his life, which he believed was enough.
However maybe it was an intrinsic quality of all amnesiacs, or maybe because his past self seemed so amazing and awesome, that he began to feel curiosity and intrigue for his past.
Ofcourse just like he told Ray that he wished to marry the queen, which was just a lie, him saying that he wasn't curious of his past was also a lie.
But he truly felt that he knew enough about who he was in the past. Someone who did good, lived for helping others, and was truly altruistic. Ofcourse not entirely good, but probably mostly so.
And thus he chose to live doing good, since it seemed like the right thing. Ofcourse there was also the fact that he didn't yet know his philosophy of life yet, but it was also his way of paying respects to the him of the past.
Now whatever had caused him to go unconscious and take control of his body may not be entirely malicious but...
'It feels terrible to not be in control'
This feeling of powerlessness was terrible, the feeling of losing control of himself was terrible, the feeling of losing his autonomy was terrible.
Maybe this was a form of protection from his past self? Maybe it was a form of guidance to help him? Or maybe it served a different purpose altogether.
'I want my body back'
Maybe it was a curse of some kind, or maybe it was something malicious and evil like what was inside Ray.
Once in a while he felt something evil within Ray, something leeching off of him. He forgets the feeling soon after but the next time he detects it he would remember past instances of sensing it, thus confirming his thoughts.
'If something requires me to lose myself, I would rather it not happen'
The darkness around Feyd felt all the more empty as he was left alone with his thoughts and feelings. It truly was lonely.
He wasn't sure how long had passed. Maybe it had only been a few minutes, or maybe months had passed inside his mind, but one thing he did know was that he wanted to leave.
However whatever he tried failed. The power coursing through the tendril like energy extending from his very being was much, much more powerful than him, to the point where just being near it made him feel a primal fear.
However it also brought along with it a sense of suppression, familiarity and comfort, many contradictory sensations. Which is why he thought it was something from his past life.
The energy, the flow, the traces of space and fire, they all undeniably pointed towards his past self.
But then his mind began to grow tired, his thoughts felt sluggish and his thinking dulled. Waves of weakness and lethargy washed over him as he felt the tendrils retreat into himself. They seemed to have expended most of their energy, proceeding to fall into dormancy.
However before they disseapeared from his senses they had left behind traces on his body, and what he assumed was his soul, or mind. And then he felt a force pulling him to reality as he regained control of his body.
He finally began receiving the signals and sensations of his body.
"Krgh–!"
He barely choked out a brief painful groan before pain from his vocal cords stopped it dead in its tracks. His body felt wrecked, completely. His arms and legs felt weak, his insides were a mess, and he had no fire energy left what so ever.
His right eye barely opened while his left eye lid wouldn't even budge. He wasn't sure why but honestly he didn't want to know.
He moved his body and felt the dirt, burnt wood and rubble underneath him. He was in what seemed like a crater. He moved his hands around to get a feel of his surroundings before he could open his eye enough to see.
Though blurry he managed to make out his bloodied and damaged armour, his blade lying on the ground beside him and blood and water soaking the crater he was in.
The dissonance between having been fighting the bandit Steam Cannon, to having blanked out and waking up within his mind, and finally waking amidst rubble in a destroyed body was jarring.
He barely manged to push himself up and turn towards what sounded like fighting. It was dark and it seemed that it had begun to rain while he was unconscious.
And there he saw Ray fighting Steam Cannon, losing.
'No... I have to... Go help...'
His mind still slow and sluggish from the weakness and pain assaulting him, his body still weak and injured from who knows what happened before he woke up. He fell to one knee and reached for his blade.
He barely manged to grasp his handle before he heard a scream of pain as he quickly turned his head towards the sound. The voice sounded like Ray.
...
Ray barely manged to block another steam blast using his arms, though it didn't do much damage considering the truly pitiful amount of steam that was used.
It had begun to drizzle shortly after he blocked the attack Steam Cannon aimed at Feyd, and now it was a complete downpour. A rare occurrence here in the Wastelands.
Ray's initial cold anger and drive for battle had been eroded and dismantled throughout the fight. No attack he dished out dropped Steam Cannon, instead he continued to fight forcing his body to continue.
Maybe it was the energy within him, or sheer willpower, but the difference was clear. The victor had already been decided. Non of Ray's attacks could defeat Steam Cannon while he himself was dying as the fight dragged on.
The creeping despair from the situation almost drove Ray mad with anger and indignance, but he continued to struggle. In case Steam Cannon made a mistake, or in case Feyd woke up. But nothing of the sort happened.
Instead all he experienced was prolonged suffering.
Steam Cannon's terribly injured body was forced to move, barely dodging an attack by Ray as he continued to bring down a barrage of punches and kicks.
He was a master of close combat, something Ray couldn't handle right now with his body failing to respond properly to even the most basic of his commands.
And after what seemed like a dozen exchanged between the two the victor finally claimed his victory. Ray was on the floor being kicked by Steam Cannon again and again.
Steam Cannon eventually stopped kicking the defeated Ray and instead brought his arm down to his neck.
Steam Cannon held Ray up by his throat, up in the air with his feet dangling. His rapier was already stuck into the ground a good distance away and all his energy completely spent.
Ray's arms gripped onto Steam Cannon's hands but the difference in power was stark– Ray could do nothing. Steam Cannon punched Ray in the gut once.
Then twice.
Then thrice.
Untill Ray stopped resisting. Steam Cannon met Ray's gaze that held despair, reluctance, defeat and sorrow, but no fear.
Ray's eyes turned dull as his thoughts turned to his fight with Steam Cannon, and everything that led to this moment.
But after going through everything he still couldn't believe what was happening. He had lost. Terribly.
He was going to die.
Maybe if the strange, purple, disruptive energy within Steam Cannon didn't keep supplying him with power, or maybe if Feyd was still awake to help him, things could've turned out differently.
But no, it would be wrong to blame it on something like that, something he couldn't have known or done much about.
Instead if he hadn't given into his curiosity and investigated the building, if only he had helped Feyd fight Steam Cannon maybe all this wouldn't have happened.
He really, really wanted to blame it all on Eribos. That if he was in complete control, without any external influences, he would have made a different decision, that he would have fought alongside Feyd.
But he knew they were all comforting lies. Maybe it was because he was about to die, or maybe it was because he already knew the truth deep down, but even he had never truly believed his own words.
'Atleast after I die, this guy will end up fighting Eribos. And knowing Eribos there's no way this bandit will live'
A slight smirk appeared on Ray's face as those thoughts crossed his mind.
Steam Cannon narrowed his eyes when he noticed Ray smirking but soon the corners of his mouth lifted into a cruel grin.
He slowly forced his tired body and moved Ray so that he his back was facing where Feyd was. A large, concentrated ball of condensed purple steam gathered within the palm of Steam Cannon.
He then spoke words dripping with condescending arrogance:
"You see this steam blast right here? It'll blast you to that friend of yours. It'll explode both of you together into mince meat! Aren't you glad you guys will die together?"
Ray remained chose to remain unresponsive. He could've struggled, or cursed the man before him, but he felt there was no point in doing so.
Steam Cannon tightened his grip but he got no response. Neither a cry in pain, not even a grunt.
'I'm sorry Feyd. A single mistake of mine was all that it took for us to both lose our lives.... It's all my fault, I'm sorry. Really'
Ray chose to close his eyes and let his head drop, his entire body relaxing.
Realizing that Ray wouldn't respond Steam Cannon chose to blast him without any further delay. He pushed his hand forward and slammed his palm onto Ray's chest.
"Steam Eruption"
The steam ball expanded and expanded untill it was the size of Ray's entire body. It flew through the air burning and pushing Ray's body forward along its path.
The sharp pain cut off Ray's consciousness without giving him a any chance to think or feel. A dissapointed voice rang out in Ray's silent, inner abyss.
[I expected more. It seems I will have to awaken weaker than I had hoped]
Ray was carried by the steam ball towards Feyd and Steam Cannon fell to one knee with a satisfied expression. The purple eneegy sustaining him dissipated as he forced himself to stay conscious, basking in the solace of his victory.
...
Feyd's eyes trembled as tears threatened to stream down his face. He saw his best friend and companion being brutally punched in his guts. Ray slumped to the floor but Steam Cannon continued his assault.
"No... Stop– Stop kicking him...!"
Feyd cried out weakly but the torrential rain drowned his voice. He attempted to get closer while reaching his hand out but stumbled forward, almost falling.
Feyd then saw Ray being lifted up into the air by his throat before Steam Cannon punch Ray in the gut multiple times before his mouth opened and closed, seemingly speaking to Ray.
He couldn't tell if Ray had answered back but what he was sure about was that any hopes he had for Ray to turn the fight around had been extinguished. Ray's body loosened and his head lowered, no longer resisting.
"No no n-no please don't!"
However no one heard his pleas.
He then saw Steam Cannon thrust his palm forward, which had a purple steam orb, and sent Ray flying towards him, the steam orb expanding untill it was Ray's size. It pushed Ray forward as the sound of pressurized steam began to overwhelm the sound of rain.
"This... No–! I won't let you go down!"
Feyd forced his body steady and dropped his blade. He knew that at this moment his only option left was to somehow use his Rift ability to save Ray and kill, or atleast incapacitate, Steam Cannon.
He delved into the furthest reaches of his mind and attempted to grasp onto whatever was within him but as he tried and tried it didn't work. The thing was far too elusive.
Time seemed to slow down for him, or maybe it was his mind and body slowly shutting down from over exertion. He began to think for any solution, anything that could possibly help. There was no way he would just give up!
'Thing... Inside me... Is the solution... Can feel it...'
'Can't reach it... Need differe... Different idea...'
'No nothing... Else can help... Only that'
Ray and the steam blast was halfway to him. Time was running out. Feyd's senses scanned his body, his surroundings, and his mind. For anything, anything!
But nothing came up.
Feyd felt the scythe of death rest on his neck as a cold chill slowly went up his spine.
'No, I can't... Give up here..."
But he could already see his entire life, a few months at best, flash before his eyes. From the day he woke up in a cave and met Ray to experiencing the powerlessness of being trapped within his mind.
A phenomenon that this world believes happens sometimes when you are moments away from facing death; a well known belief.
But Feyd wasn't willing to give up just yet. And so the gears in his mind churned and spun in an attempt to find a solution.
'Any way to reach it... To use it... No, t-there's no wa–... No wait wait wait wait, there is!'
Feyd's focus onto his body. Specifically where he remembered traces of the thing were carefully imbued. And although non of his powers, even if he was fully healthy, could affect them, something new could.
A transparent, slightly white energy from the depths of Feyd's mind, or more specifically his Will, emerged. Strands of it flowed out and onto the thing's traces, flowing into them.
It only worked because the traces were so fresh; newly imbued. It then traveled from one trace to another going deeper and further into Feyd's every being.
Eventually it crossed onto the traces left on Feyd'a soul, transcending the already blurry line between the physical and incorporeal.
And finally I reached the newly dormant thing dwelling within Feyd. It seemed to be latched onto the surface of Feyd's very existence. And although only at the surface it was already far closer to his essence than Feyd's own mind or soul.
The strand touched the thing and fully connected everything. All the traces and the thing itself lit up all at once, fully expanding Feyd's perception and understanding of his own existence to another level, though that was something that wasn't immediately useful.
There was only a little energy left within the thing after whatever it had done, and using it in any way, shape or form would lead to destroying it, but that wasn't important.
What was important was saving Ray's life. And his own life too.
The strand of white, translucent energy dragged the thing back with it and through each trace it had left behind causing it to re-absorb some of their energy untill it made almost a full circulation inside Feyd, ending at inside Feyd's mind beside his Will.
And after ripple spready through his mind Feyd's brain was finally able to shatter and absorb the energy within the thing. It then released an energy that seemed to contain insights on all aspects of Feyd's powers but he could only choose one.
And without hesitation he picked his Rift abilities. And so insights flowed into his mind causing him to learn things he never knew, like learning how to create multiple Rifts or attaching them to objects, but just as fast as they entered his head they disseapeared just as quick. Different ideas and insights, understandings of his power began to flash within his mind.
And as all the information soon disseapared Ray was about to reach Feyd, a second at most away from impact.
But just as he got an answer to his problem a second option seemed to slowly manifest within his mind. Something that felt perfect for him, or atleast better suited than the Gift Rift. Something new. Something different.
He hesitated slightly but chose to ignore it. The chances of using a new method of utilizing Rift to save Ray was higher than using a new option had only sensed now.
Knowledge and information flowed into his mind as his body instinctively acted on its own.
His hands swirled infront of him once before a large Rift formed infront of Feyd, with two more Rifts forming along with it.
One was beside him and the other... Behind Steak Cannon.
And just as he barely finished creating the Rift both Ray and the steam ball had reached Feyd.
-Whoosh!
They both flew into the Rift and appeared in different locations. Ray fell out of the Rift beside Feyd while the steam ball flew straight out of the other Rift that was beside Steam Cannon and directly exploded on his back.
"Kuuhk!"
He immediately fell forward and faceplanted on the ground, knocked out. Although manipulators are resistant to their own attacks, Steam Cannon's weakened state made it so even the slightest bit of damage was enough to knock him out.
All the remaining purple energy wishes out and sizzled away.
And os Feyd slowly slumped to the floor falling deeper and deeper into the darkness of unconsciousness.
"Not yet... No, he might still be alive..."
But Feyd truly could not do anything more. He had dried his energy reserves and pushed his weary body way past its limits.
And thus in the final moments before falling unconscious Feyd saw Ray lying on the ground beside him, Steam Cannon knocked out ahead, and a torrential downpour.