Lorictober 2021 Day 20: Terric
Look, I didn’t think that the Loric could possess people. It wasn’t something that approved in our training. Let alone that a dead Loric could take over a Mogadorian. But now I was almost positive that was what happened with Adam. It’s why he went traitor.
It started out small. Just a niggling question about the experiment he’d been a part of. He blinked and looked startled, nervous. “It was just one of those things to figure out more about the Garde. I don’t know why you want to know. It didn’t work.”
I tried to let it go. It was silly thought anyway. But something about his defensive tone that stuck with me.
And then there was the chimaera. The chimaera were the Loric’s beast, and yet this one treated Adam like he was one of them. Did it sense something that I didn’t? Was Adam secretly a Loric pretending to be a Mog? Plainly absurd. But maybe a Loric possessed him after the experiment. It was after that he went traitor. I’d have to gather more evidence.
The next part was the dumpster. When we were chasing the thief, I noticed he stopped running. When we were chasing the thief, I noticed he stopped running. I thought he was being a coward. And then the dumpster went flying. He brushed me off with same lame excuse about it being on wheels. But it was becoming obvious; Adam was no longer a Mog. The question was should I kill him or attempt to remove the Loric from him.
Adam stared down Ivan. “You have to get out of here. I can’t stop her.”
Ivan shook his head. “Kill him.”
And then the ground trembled faintly and the room next to me exploded, knocking me back and taking out the vatborn around me. In the buzzing after shock, I saw Adam collapsed on the ground, his eyes met mine, and I could see the pain shining in his eyes. Then a whispy figure rose out of him, taking the form of the Loric possessing him.
I bolted up panting. That night… Adam had been responsible. The Loric were on the other side… That was how he did it, wasn’t it? The Loric possessing him used its legacies. I’d have to separate them. It was too strong to be defeated otherwise; it could jumpt to a new host. And then I’d have to contain it.
The next day, I noticed scouts were following us, but so did the Loric pretending to be Adam. They jumped a train! Which almost made Rex reconsider the whole thing. He pulled Adam on board, and they slipped inside.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” Rex asked as they watched the landscape go by.
Adam started and then smiled at him. “Yeah. I think I’ve seen One. Do you?”
“How would you capture one? I mean you were good with machines and stuff, right?”
“I… I don’t know. Why are you wanting to capture a ghost?”
“To prove something.” I left it at that. I could keep secrets too.
Adam was less cooperative with my attempts to find the captured the Loric ghost possessing him. I should’ve seen the possession would get in the way of getting rid of the possession. And then the hoping the Loric spirit wouldn’t possess another of my people.
When I slipped out, the army was taken out, and Adam was collapsed on the ground with that chimaera beast guarding him. I swallowed. Now would be the best time to get the Loric spirit out of him. Maybe when Adam woke up, it would be weaker from the energy it most of dispelled to get rid of the army, and we could get rid of it together.
It took a little more coaxing to get him away from Dust. I wasn’t sure how we’d handle the chimaera beast afterwards, but we’d have to manage.
Adam woke up in the middle of the drive and tried to scramble out of the car. Maybe the Loric ghost had a stronger hold on him than I thought. He passed back out after a mumbled, “Fuck you.”
When he woke back up, he was a little more reasonable, but he was still pissed. Blaming me for the army catching us, saying he couldn’t trust me. I knew it was the Loric speaking.
“I was caught up in my own battle—“
“Stop lying to me! If you’re going to turn me in, do it to my face.” He stormed out of the car now that I’d stopped us.
I found him sitting on a bench, staring across the water and sat beside him. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the Loric ghost out of you. I wanted to help.”
He gave me a look. “She’s gone. She’s been gone this whole time.”
“But you’ve been using legacies!”
Understanding dawned across his face, and he looked down. “She gave them to me, when she couldn’t stay. She… I was never possessed by a Loric, Rex—well okay, one time, but that’s a long story. I just shared her memories, her emotions…” He said quietly, and it sounded… it sounded like he was grieving. “She hasn’t been with me since she gave me her legacy.” He looked down at his hands. “I guess it’s my legacy now. And I’m choosing to carry the fight on. I was hoping you’d join me.”
My stomach churned. “I’m not a quasi-loric like you. I’ll help you get the chimaera, and then we’ll go our own separate ways.”
