Triggered

A/N: The contents of this chapter may not be suitable for all audiences. Please read at your own discretion. (Trauma warning)

After coming to terms with her impulsive Spell "purchases," Alesha took a few minutes to sort herself out in other ways. Her mind was a mess and her body ached all over from sleeping on the ground. Sure, the little pre-used "camp" area had a rare patch of bare dirt, but that was nowhere near as comfortable as the Alliance's highly developed mattresses. Heck, even the primitive beds used by the students at the Academy would have been far preferable to the bare ground and open skies here! 

She stood and stretched. As she did so, she noticed something furry was holding tightly to her tail, about halfway up its length. Given that the furry creature was about a meter long (half the length of Alesha's tail), it was quite easy to tell that it was there. 

"Beebee, are you awake?" Alesha asked. 

The little creature yawned, "Yeahhhhh, I guess I am now." She blinked, bleary-eyed. 

In the daylight, it was much easier to see Beebee's appearance. She was long, with rabbit-like ears and an elongated snout. Light refracted into a rainbow through a highly polished, spherical pink crystal which grew from the top of her skull. Her fur's base color was a pretty salmon, with a pinkish brown dusting all along her dorsal side and a lighter (but not white) underbelly. Interspersed among her regular fur (only along her back) were semi-transparent hairs that reflected light in various colors, like holographic film. Its whiskers had the same effect as these hairs.

The weird part was that despite looking right at her, and feeling exactly was on her tail, Alesha couldn't visually pinpoint exactly where the rodent was in space. It was as if some sort of psychic force was messing with her perception.

[If I could clap, I would be slowly clapping right now!] Rogork teased. [You're spot-on. That creature, or more specifically the special hairs on its back, are exuding a psychic aura that messes subtly with your visual perception of where it is in relation to you. A very intriguing defense mechanism, if I may say so myself.]

Rogork's words reminded her about psychic defenses, and consequently, the cursed earring she'd been given by… that awful jerk. She decided not to refer to him by name anymore, even in her thoughts; he deserved to have all positive traces of him removed from her memories forever. 

She huffed and slapped her cheeks, shaking herself. No more thoughts of him right now. She made a mental note to ask Rogork about changing the effect of the earring -- back at the Academy, the System had hinted that it could do so upon returning to her own world. 

[You could just ask me now…] Rogork drawled.

Alesha ignored the System momentarily, in favor of asking Beebee to retrieve her some food. The little, pinkish fox-creature agreed and scampered off.

Alesha returned her attention to the System. "Alright, so how do we change the earring's effects? Or perhaps a better question," she amended, "What are its effects to begin with?"

There was a pause, as if Rogork were being slightly passive-aggressive.

"I'm not ignoring you, System!" She snapped. "Just answer me!"

[Fine, fine, pushy, pushy!]

A soft ding! accompanied the appearance of a familiar, semi-transparent purple window, which read:

*****

CURSED RUBY EARRING

 - Amplifies instincts

 - Has 1 mild-powered effect according to the will of whoever puts it on (defined as: "Make the wearer tameable")

 - Strengthens the wearer's psychic strength and fortitude (+3 psychic)

 - Cannot be taken off by anyone but the one who puts it on (unless the flesh it is attached to is removed)

*****

"Oh hell," Alesha cursed in disgust. "I cannot believe this guy!!"

A sense of nausea rose in her gut as she recalled how he had smoothly baited her into accepting his trap of a gift, then treated her like a pet and finally abused her as an object for his desire. Her whole body trembled with revulsion and, unwanted memories coming to the forefront in a rush, she ran to the side of the campsite and vomited in a crevice between pieces of rubble. 

----

Beebee scampered through the abandoned store, dragging alongside her the tote bag she'd used the night before. She quickly scaled the meat shelves, selected several cuts she would have found especially appealing if she were still human (as an herbivore, they all looked gross to her now), tossing them to the ground. Then she stuffed them in the bag and returned to the entrance. Navigating between the rubble while dragging a bag full of meat was not particularly easy, but considering it helped her avoid getting eaten by her new friend (?), it was well worth the effort.

A short distance from the campsite, Beebee paused upon hearing retching noises. Was Alesha sick?? Had the meat she'd chosen been bad after all?? She frantically double checked the expiration dates on the meat. 

Well… they were a bit past their expiration dates, could that be the problem? 

Beebee started to sweat. If this meat had gone bad, then what would her carnivore friend (?) Alesha eat? Would she eat HER?! Would it be better to run away now, while the predator was sick, while she had a chance of survival?

Fighting her instinct to flee, Beebee hardened her resolve. There was no guarantee it had anything to do with the food. Alesha had been off ever since their conversation about how Iritia had fallen; it could have something to do with that? Or maybe she was already sick? A part of her felt disgusted with herself as she halfway wished the woman was ill; maybe, if Alesha were sick, then taking care of her would become one more reason for the predator not to kill the prey. 

Instead of further entertaining such thoughts, she steeled herself and brought Alesha the food.

When Beebee dragged the tote bag into the campsite, Alesha no longer felt hungry at all. Her mind was completely overwhelmed by recollections of her trauma. She was shivering with anxiety, curled up in the fetal position on the ground while hugging her knees. Her tail thumped frantically against the ground and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Beebee didn't know what was going on. All she knew was that something was up with Alesha on the inside; and from the tears on her face, she hoped a fluffy "stuffed animal" might help. She ended up crawling onto Alesha, only to be snatched and clutched tightly while the woman cried, her breaths too shallow and quick.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Alesha's shuddering quieted, the haunting memories fading as sunlight warmed her skin and the floofy "stuffed animal" whispered soothing phrases. 

Beebee didn't know what she was doing, or how to help. Only that Alesha needed to know she wasn't alone.

And that was enough.