Stabilizing myself, I tried to stay on foot and braced myself against the cold stone wall while the woman watched me with shocked eyes.

However, after only a few moments, she regained her composure or seemed to do so, holding her arms open to show her empty hands and with what would probably be an abashed smile, started to step back, slowly, towards the entrance of the cave.

Although she was showing her empty hands, probably to prove that she mean no harm, I was not in a shape to play it nice.

‘No, you are not sneaking away from this. I am having the worst day of my life, and somebody has to pay for it.’ jabbed Passion in my head. There was almost no respite between his bickerings and mood swings. While I was utterly furious with the young idiot, in a sense that idiot being a literal part of my own consciousness was frustrating. The things he threw out of the blue were often frighteningly close to what I was thinking but reluctant to say, which only made him more and more unnerving.

‘Don’t kill her! We are going for the capture, and in one piece if possible. I want explanations.’ Reason reminded Passion as soon as he showed signs of taking initiative on the latter one’s part.

‘Easier said than done.’ Passion answered. The speed of communication between these two often left me out of the actual decision-making process and kept me from interfering just like I couldn't interfere before Passion used the trigger word yesterday despite Reason’s warning.

I was already accustomed to faster-than-speech communication with Reason for years. However, from the moment I did awaken my mind the second time and Passion was born, the communication between these two was faster than almost thought, my thought at least. Thus, here I was witnessing the jabbing match between Reason and Passion before the woman even took a second step backward.

‘Let me handle this properly if you can’t do it.’ Reason retorted immediately.

I couldn't help but think, ‘What happened to the 'You are demoted until a second order.' stuff?’ Although energizing the runes on the coat couldn't be considered as casting one’s will, It still surprised me because Reason was anything but forgiving.

‘Just another thing to ask questions about as soon as I took care of this system stuff.’ I thought while eyeing the information in my peripheral vision. On the bottom left, there was a minimap showing me as a flickering blue dot in the middle, only covering the interior of the cave for now. It was one of the privileges of having an awakened mind. Together with the global positioning runes on the coat, it was possible to determine my whereabouts only within a few periods of time. However, the coat should have The Central Command Interference Access for the runes to work which was going to be my first priority as soon as I neutralize the target.

One of the best advantages of global positioning runes, apart from never getting lost obviously, was never getting flanked as long as one was in skin contact with the coat. It was already toggled on as soon as I put my hands on it and now the woman was shown as a red dot in my minimap.

‘I will do it. Shut up already. Just check the coat while I am handling this.’ Passion declared while I was roughly checking the integrity of the functions embroidered on the coat using the system interface.

‘Already checked. The energy sigil is still intact and ready to use.’ Reason immediately answered him before I was halfway done. Within moments everything was almost ready.

Probably sensing the atmosphere getting tenser by the moment, the woman tried to initiate communication but the things she said had no meaning to me.

“𐰸𐰆𐰺𐰴𐰢𐰣𐰀:𐰏𐰼𐰚:𐰖𐰸⸱ 𐰋𐰦𐰤:𐰽𐰭𐰀:𐰔𐰺𐰺:𐰏𐰠𐰢𐰔⸱”

Her voice was a little bit more high-pitched than before, probably due to sudden stress or excitement. But by no means, I wasn't naive enough to try to communicate with a hostile authority user while letting her slowly move away from me and do whatever she wants. Still, reluctant to attack immediately, I answered with a low voice hard to hear even for my own ears.

“Sorry but I don’t speak your language.”

‘Wait! Why was I reluctant in the first place?’

Maybe hearing my voice, probably for the first time if one doesn't count screaming in pain, or maybe seeing my lips move made the woman startle and stop her retreat.

‘Probably she didn't think to get an actual answer in the first place.’ I thought, getting tense realizing the obvious changes in her body language. She answered without a pause as soon as she shook from the initial shock.

“𐰇𐰔𐰏𐰤𐰢:𐰢𐰀:𐰾𐰤𐰃:𐰭𐰞𐰢𐰖𐰆𐰺𐰢⸱”

‘You don’t speak my language too? Well, that’s surprising.’ Passion mocked in my head and reprimanded immediately.

‘Stop wasting time and get going. We don’t have all day. She is obviously buying time for something and I don’t want to wait to find out what it is.’ Reason said -thought- interrupting his fun.

While those two were bickering again, the woman slowly lowered her hands and continued to speak.

“𐰾𐰤𐰃:𐰭𐰞𐰢𐰖𐰆𐰺𐰢⸱ 𐰤𐰓𐰤:𐰸𐰆𐱃𐰲𐰀:𐰸𐰆𐰭𐱁𐰢𐰖𐰺𐰽𐰣”

‘Thank you for not cutting my throat while I was still unconscious beauty. I think you want to be friends too, but the boring guy just won’t let us do what we want. Look, you've already lowered your hands and I am going to be scolded again if we keep talking.’ Passion continued his mocking spree.

'Beauty?' I thought sighing inwardly. 'Just how crass can you get Passion.' Now that she didn't see any hostile action, although her hands were still slightly away from her body, the woman seemed relaxed and continued talking.

“𐰢𐰼𐰴𐰉𐰀:𐰋𐰤𐰃:𐰣𐰞𐰖𐰆𐰺:𐰢𐰆𐰽𐰣⸱”

Even being reluctant had a limit and as she continued talking, not only me but also Reason too started to grow more and more restless. It was Passion that broke the stalemate at last and started to take action as expected from the restless infant.

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‘Yes, yes. I agree that we need to talk but not on equal terms. Thanks for removing my cloak by the way. That is always the most vulnerable part of this trick. You could have folded it properly but I still appreciate the effort. I'm sorry for what happens next. Now let's see…’ He continued talking in my mind but this time he was working together with Reason to alleviate my worries permanently.

Reason acted as the planner, and coordinator as I expected him to be and provided the mental image required while warning Passion immediately before he took any action. ‘At least one knife was hidden in her sleeves…’

‘Which arm was it?’ Passion tried to remember but it was obvious that his mental faculties were not as advanced as Reason’s, at least not yet. ‘Well, it doesn't matter.’

‘...in time…’ I thought bitterly. ‘He would fare better, far better in time.’

Regardless of Passion’s passing comments, Reason continued to command him into proper actions. ‘First, you must distract her. Take a deep breath through your nose.’ He said without wasting any time, and I inhaled.

“ShShShShSh.”

‘Now, I am going to charge it with energy.’

‘Wind that gently blows through the woods' was an easy and harmless mental image even for Passion. The delicate part of the will construct was to energize the air that one inhales without harming the lungs and conducting it after exhaling. Still, Reason left neither energizing the air nor the mental image forming to Passion as he was staying true to his previous statement.

‘Exhale silently while using the trigger.’ he ordered Passion and the latter obeyed without objection.

“FhFhFh [Asvat’ul-Gayb] FhFhFh” I murmured the rather crude trigger word slowly while exhaling. Let alone being one syllable, it was not even one word with the meaning of ‘sounds from the unknown-unseen realm’. It was one of the longest trigger words in my arsenal which I was planning to change as soon as possible before all of these started.

The energy-rich air slowly left my lungs as I exhaled through my mouth and nose then started spreading towards the cave entrance.

“𐰚𐰘⸱ 𐰤𐰀:𐰖𐰯𐱃𐰍𐰣𐰃:𐰽𐰣𐰖𐰆𐰺𐰽𐰣⸱”

The woman was still talking, a little bit more restless this time, but it only took a few moments for the effects to start.

‘Yes, noises are coming from outside. Something moving in the bushes? Someone whispering?’ Passion talked into my mind as if he was talking to the woman despite Reason was still focused on his analysis.

‘Interesting… She can't sense the energy in our breath by the way.’ Reason immediately informed both of us of his curious findings.

Passion’s focus too was on the woman completely but in an entirely different way which made me more conscious of the different affinities between the two.

‘Now follow my eyes. I don't look at you anymore.’ chimed Passion expectantly which caught the attention of Reason this time.

‘Please tell me that you are not doing it. No one falls for that one.’ he belittled, but Passion was confident in his way of doing things. ‘But we just did and not long ago.’ he jabbed playfully, only to be retorted immediately ‘It was only you, not we.’

Still, Passion continued having his fun, focusing his -my- gaze right behind the woman’s back without giving her a second glance. ‘What’s it? Is there something behind you?’ He timed the eye feint perfectly, synchronizing with the phantom sounds that started to be heard outside. ‘Yes… Yes... There it is… Turn your head. Please… Finally!’

‘I can’t believe she fell for it too.’ Reason stated incredulously. ‘It is official, you are both idiots.’

‘Now, now... Don’t be mean. Eye feints are legit.’ Passion mused happily.

Maybe with the help of the eye feint too but probably not, while the duo continued bickering, the woman turned her head towards the back for just a brief moment to see the source of the sounds and this was all that I needed.

‘Energize the sigil and roll the coat to a ball. But first, take a breath. Inhale!’ ordered Reason immediately, resuming the original plan.

“ShShSh” I inhaled and let Passion energize the sigil consisting of three silver-colored intersecting lines with a sphere on their point of intersection embroidered into the fabric of the inner side of the back of the coat.

‘Then, exhale!’ Reason continued coordinating all of our actions.

“FhFhFh [Lu’bet] FhFhFh '' I exhaled murmuring aloud. The trigger word literally meant ‘something that plays or is being played’ in a broader sense but ‘puppet’ in a narrower sense which was perfect to puppet the coat remotely.

The woman turned her head and fixed her eyes on me again, and continued talking with a clear tension and not-so-clear question, “𐰚𐰘⸱ 𐰆:𐰑𐰀:𐰤𐰘𐰓𐰃:𐰇𐰘𐰠𐰀⸱” but it was already too late.

‘Yes, there is no one behind you. But it's too late for that now, beauty.' Passion mocked her one last time before the showdown.

There it was, beauty again. 'I swear this is not my own sub-consciousness.' I thought in shame. At that moment, the not-so-vicious heap of coat flew towards the woman. Although surprised, she just took a step sideways to evade the nonlethal improvised weapon, which proved to be the wrong action.

The coat suddenly spread and threw itself towards the woman like it was alive. Surprised and angry, she tried to evade and failed, then tried to wrestle with it and failed that too, while I was moving my hands and arms like a puppeteer that controls the strings of his puppet.

‘Yes, the coat moves by itself. No, don't look at me like that, I'm not doing anything. It's all the coat’s fault. The arms first…’ mused Passion while I was orchestrating the coat against the woman’s resistance. ‘The first one is done, and now the second one.’

The miraculous flying coat clothed itself, its back against the woman's chest, and spread her arms wide while the woman continued to lash and trash without stopping her screams.

“𐰣𐰣𐰚𐰇𐰼:𐰚𐰇𐰯𐰚⸱ 𐰆𐰖𐰺𐰚𐰤:𐰉𐰆𐰍𐰔𐰣𐰃:𐰚𐰾𐰢𐰢:𐰏𐰼𐰚𐰼𐰓𐰃⸱”

Alas, Passion continued mocking.‘Those sleeves are a little too big for you aren't they? Let me adjust them.’

‘Yes, It isn't me the one that was mocking her, it is Passion.’ I wanted to think but didn't entirely believe it even myself.

Just like that, the coat sleeves wrapped themselves tightly around the woman's wrists, then the coat itself followed to tighten itself around her body. The arms of the woman were joined behind her back and the coat turned her body towards the cave entrance.

Only then did I bolt and grab her arms with one of my own to sweep her feet while pressing her head hard. She lost her balance and fell on her chest immediately knocking the air out of her lungs. I sat on her back and started to tie a knot to the long sleeves of my coat while starting to prepare the mental image for my next casting.

This one was something that I must do myself from mental imaging to trigger, without the help of my two consciousness. Not because of the physical and metaphysical requirements of the will construct but because of the requirements of my own conscience.

'Sharing minds! Sharing hearts!’ Passion threw a passing comment in between. A literal explanation of the mental image I was forming in my mind.

Even Reason was reluctant to cast this type of will construct and not so unexpectedly. ‘This one is a much disgusting mental image, you know that right?’ he commented addressing no one in particular.

‘No choice on it thus, I am not sorry.’ Passion answered in my stead, again stealing words just from the tip of my tongue.

‘You are going to be.' Reason answered and I knew that I was going to be, just like he said. Still, I completed the sequence with the appropriate trigger word.

“[Hemdil]”

Thus, started a different session of first-class nightmare fuel production.