Chapter 35: The Big Beautiful Lion (3)
"Is it too late?" Kestrel stood next to the pitifully tortured body of the alpha.
Raymond’s warm castle within his psychic landscape had become ruins, and the thick sludge was everywhere. Black waterfalls seemed to eternally fall from the sky.
Raymond was enveloped in a nightmare of recurrent abuse. It would take a very careful beta and a significant amount of time to clean up such a world and restore it to its original state, but there was no time left. His psychic landscape had started to collapse, and his psychic incarnation, the lion, had regressed to a young state - a sign of imminent death. Once the psychic incarnation died entirely, it meant that Raymond would lapse into a permanent coma.
In such a desperate situation, an image of a vast blue sea suddenly appeared in Kestrel’s mind. She remembered how the waves gently comforted everything, as if they could ultimately dissolve all the pain in the world. Kestrel concentrated her thoughts for a moment, then extended her hand.
The blood-red sky vanished suddenly, replaced by a multitude of stars, while a massive moon rose slowly, hanging high in the sky.
Moonlight descended from above, piercing through the thick darkness and illuminating Kestrel. Standing under this lunar glow, Kestrel commanded, "Wind."
Around her, the wind started to gust, gently sweeping away the heavy stench that saturated the air, and brought with it a soothing scent.
Once more, Kestrel spoke, "Rain."
Just like that, rain began to cascade from the heavens, a torrential downpour seeking to cleanse the persistent muck clinging to every corner of this world.
Finally, Kestrel closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, they were glowing. She said, "Flood."
The sound of waves echoed from all directions as seawater surged from an unknown source onto the land. This water covered the widespread muck, washing away the black decay. The gentle yet powerful tide engulfed everything. Ruins, gallows, corpses, mannequins... everything was swallowed by the flood. The colossal castle with its countless towers, the source of grotesque pain and sorrowful memories, sunk beneath the surging waves.
In the real world, within the therapy room, Raymond, who had been lying silently on the bed, abruptly opened his eyes. His body tensed as his widened eyes filled with a red light. A powerful roar escaped his muzzled throat as his robust body convulsed violently on the bed. The sound of restraints straining echoed through the room, and the chains around his neck and legs clinked loudly. It was a terrifying sight that prompted the question of whether these sturdy restraints would be enough to contain him.
"What’s going on?"
"Raymond!"
"He’s about to mutate, Raymond’s about to mutate."
"No, that’s impossible."
"Hang in there, Raymond."
Outside the window, the soldiers stood one by one, pressing against the glass, their fists clenched. They wanted to rush in, yet feared interrupting this critical moment. Each of them gritted their teeth forcefully.
Inside the therapy room, Kestrel sitting next to the bed remained as composed as ever, her eyes closed, her face serene. Regardless of how violently the alpha on the bed convulsed, her hand on his forehead stayed steady, unmoving. During such a grueling moment, her continued calmness brought a minor sense of relief. It seemed as though no matter the danger, she had everything under control, and she could handle it. This created an involuntary trust in her.
Slowly, in Raymond’s psychic landscape, the tempestuous sea began to recede. The vast expanse of water was littered with debris from the ruins. A wooden bed drifted from afar, and Kestrel stood on it, surveying her surroundings. She occasionally picked up a picture frame, a table lamp, or a potted plant from the items floating in the water... until she saw the little lion.
The small lion cub was soaking wet, its eyes closed, clinging to a broken wooden plank and floating on the water’s surface.
A tendril surfaced from the water, lifting the cub by the scruff of its neck and passing it to Kestrel.
In time, the sea receded entirely, leaving a worn landscape illuminated by the tender moonlight. From the damp earth, a tiny sprout emerged, unfurling two fresh leaves towards the moon.
Kestrel stood in the sodden wilderness, cradling the drenched cub, with everything washed away by the great flood—painful memories, warm houses, and now she didn’t even have a stable place to stand. After some consideration, Kestrel disassembled the wooden bed they had used as a raft and build a small wooden house from the timber.
"Come and help," Kestrel requested the tendrils.
"We can’t do this."
"Too many splinters, it hurts."
"Would you truly have us, such delicate tendrils, do carpentry?"
"You can do it all by yourself."
"Why aren’t there any fish in the sea?"
"Only a grubby little cat, kind of repulsive."
"I miss that big fish now."
Left with no choice, Kestrel undertook the task herself. She was a real person who lived in real life and was now on a mission, unlike those tendrils who can do whatever they wanted.
She managed to build a small hut in the psychic landscape, one that could barely shelter a young boy.
"That’s the best we can do for now," Kestrel conceded. "Cram in for now, and later, you can slowly construct your own castle."
She tucked the trembling, wet cub into the dry wooden house, leaving the lamp and picture frame for him, and planted the potted plant she’d found by the entrance.
As Kestrel prepared to leave, a hand extended from the small hut—a human hand, the slender arm of a young boy. The hand reached out and quietly gripped the corner of Kestrel’s clothes, without uttering a word. He was not yet capable of speech.
Kestrel sighed, removed her own coat, and handed it to him. Inside the small house, the boy curled up in the corner, clutching the warm coat tightly.
Back in the therapy room, Kestrel opened her eyes, feeling drained. Grooming an alpha’s psychic landscape was no simple task, even more exhausting than battling monsters.
Kestrel withdrew her hand from Raymond’s forehead, observing Raymond as he lay on the bed. The man with long and golden hair had his eyes shut, a few strands of golden hair stuck to his sweaty cheeks. His long eyelashes fluttered occasionally, his eyes slightly moist, as though he had slipped into a peaceful slumber. Even the readings on the various instruments connected to his body returned to a nearly normal state.
The glaring red exclamation point on the virtual screen of Kestrel’s opticomputer finally disappeared.
Out of nowhere, a small wet lion cub appeared at Kestrel’s feet. It was incredibly tiny, like a newborn lion cub, with sparse fur, thoroughly soaked and shivering, curled up tightly.
Kestrel picked it up with slight disgust, thought for a moment, and eventually removed her actual coat, swaddling the cub, which was hardly bigger than a kitten, in her warm clothing.
The alphas, who had been nervously waiting outside the window, burst into cheers at the sight. They jumped up, hugging each other in excitement. Some were so happy that they revealed their half-beast forms.
Raymond showing his psychic incarnation meant that he had made it through the worst. Although his psychic incarnation was very weak right now, nothing was more important than still being alive.
When Kestrel walked out of the room holding the little lion and wearing only a tank top, the excited alphas crowded around her, lost for words.
"He’s still very weak. Take care of him and his psychic incarnation. Keep the white noise on in the room going nonstop," Kestrel told them, then she handed over the little lion. "Who should I give this to?"
Lots of hands reached out at once, many in half-beast forms - a tiger’s heavy paw, a gyrfalcon’s wing, a wolf’s sharp claws...
Parfit, standing behind Kestrel, cleared her throat loudly, and the alphas quickly pulled their hands back. The last time a beta visited them, she was scared off by their half-beast forms.
"It’s okay," Kestrel said, and handed the little lion wrapped in clothes to a short-haired female alpha, "I’ll give it to you."
The female alpha, known as Birdie, looked thrilled. She reached out her white feather-covered arms to take the tiny lion, holding it gently and shielding it with her wings.
Going by looks, Birdie’s psychic incarnation should be a gyrfalcon, a pure white bird that rules the sky. But her friends called her Birdie, which Kestrel found funny.
"Raymond will be so embarrassed when he wakes up and sees how tiny his psychic incarnation is," Birdie said, tears rolling down her face. The other alphas, big tough guys, gathered around her, their eyes also red.
"Don’t mind them, they’re just rough guys with no manners," Parfit said, her eyes red, but a smile on her face. She happily invited Kestrel to check out the room they had prepared for her.
Kestrel, now without a jacket and wearing only a tank top that showed off her slim neck and pale arms, sneezed as soon as she reached the door.
An alpha ran out from inside and called out to her. It was the big alpha with thick eyebrows and round eyes, who seemed to be named Tegnell. Tegnell was holding a standard female alpha uniform in his hand, scratching his head with the other as he handed over the uniform, saying, "Your clothes are wet. These are Birdie’s. Would you like to wear them for now?"
Worried that Kestrel might be upset, he quickly added, "Don’t worry, they’re clean. They’ve been washed and never worn."
Kestrel didn’t say anything, just took the clothes without saying no, shook them out and draped them over her shoulders.
"Actually, it’s not bad here"
"There are big lions and little cubs"
"And there’s birdie and all"
"They all seem to like us"
"I wish that big fish was here too."
"Why are you always thinking about that fish?"
As the chatter continued, Kestrel turned to look back.
The tall and muscular alpha was still standing by the door, bending over at a perfect ninety degrees to bow to Kestrel, and hadn’t stood up straight yet.
Kestrel touched the clothes on her shoulders, feeling a little happy.
