Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?

Chapter 5 – Can I Be In Control?

It had now been a month since they had first awakened and now could move about before immediately falling asleep.

“Miy turrn!” Anna (Red) yelled and she started chasing after the other children. She still couldn’t speak properly but was now allowed to interact with the other children.

“Run!” 

“Escape!”

“Hide!”

Anna was outside playing tag with a group of kids aged between 4~9, while the adults watched on. It was Friday, which was a rest day for the village, so the adults got to watch their children play.

[Don’t bully them please…] (Lilly)

[Can’t stop a beast now that it is free Lilly.] (White)

They had some group discussions–mostly between White and Lilly, with Red occasionally asking something–about their situation and trying to understand how their world worked.

Soul Space was what they called the void that they rested in. Simply put, a space for their souls, keeping the naming simple was best after all.

The pool was named the Heart Pool and Soul Pool–they couldn’t decide on a name. The name was due to it being the main way of controlling the body and had the side effect of the people in it feeling each other's emotions more easily.

Besides that, their experimentation inside the Soul Space was mostly successful. 

They couldn’t touch each other and just phased through when they tried. When they attempted to walk into the void within a minute they would appear on the opposite side.

“Go get them, Anna!” George yelled while Jen was extremely focused on Anna, worried that she would injure herself.

The village gathering had been going on for over four hours by now, but the game of tag had only started recently, and it was only now Red’s turn seeking.

They played some other games with the kids, well Red did, but neither White nor Lilly was interested in it for different reasons.

With bright energetic eyes, Red locked onto her next target.

“Gota ya!” Anna yelled.

“Seriously?”

One boy tried to stay at a distance, but Red grabbed him the moment he tried to side-step away.

Anna’s body still didn’t have much stamina, but Red’s past combat and physical experience gave her an advantage that none of the other kids could even possess at their age.

[This seems unfair.] (White)

[I mean…] (Lilly)

Lilly was about to say it was okay cause some of the kids were older and had much more stamina.

“Haha! Can’t es-cape!” Red tag another two kids within quick succession.

[Yeah, you’re right…] (Lilly)

Ten minutes had passed and Red was mostly done with this round but she was getting tired, but the last three kids had decided to hide instead of staying in the open.

“Anna!” Jen called out, which caused Red to turn around. “It’s time to go home.” Jen had crouched down and opened up her arms for a hug.

Red was about to walk over when “We aren’t done yet!” A boy yelled out from the distance behind a tree, one the kids Red didn’t catch.

“In aa momen–” As Anna’s body was about to turn around to get the kid.

[Why can’t I move my body?!] (Red)

[I don’t know?] White replied while jumping with a smile into Jen’s arms. [Don’t leave Jen hanging like that.]

White had taken control and ran up into Jen’s happy embrace.

[Mum would’ve been fine for a moment.] (Red)

Red sulked and struggled to move the body but all she could do was to get it to shake.

While Red vain attempts to move were happening, White enjoyed the moment, being hugged by a mother figure. 

Then, Anna’s eyes shut and she tightened her hug around Jen.

Now it was White’s turn to be left confused.

[Huh?] (White)

[Why are you confused?] (Red)

They both phased back into the Soul Space to see Lilly in the pool. The first time she had actually entered.

“I… just wanted a moment...” Lilly replied.

And this was also the first time all three were in the pool together. 

The three figures hadn’t changed much since they first awoke. Red had shrunk slightly over the last week but that was it.

Lilly’s longing for warmth caused the other two to not complain. White still found the experience pleasant as she still felt everything, even if sharing the body simultaneously was a little weird, while Red was happy with the situation. Even if she was a little peeved the game ended a little early.

After a while the hug stopped, and Jen handed Anna over to George to hold. 

He carried her in his arms and her head rested on his shoulder.

White smiled, feeling the kindness from the body's parents. 

Red asked, “So while Dad’s carrying us back home, what exactly happened?” Looking at White and Lilly for answers.

“I wanted my turn?” White replied. “You can’t be in control all of the time.”

“That still doesn't explain what happened?” Red sighed.

Lilly tried to provide an answer, “White hadn’t been in control for a bit while you had been in the pool directly controlling the body the majority of the time.”

Red lamented, “Argh are we banking time or something…?” 

“Not exactly… It needs more testing, but not controlling the body for a while does make it easier to control it for a short while…. The opposite is probably also true… which is why you can barely do anything right now Red.”

“Huh, I think I get it. Weird…”

When they had reached their house, George had placed Anna on the ground to open the door, but he gave her a head pat before he did. He had his priorities.

Lilly asked her soulmates, “Sorry but can I stay in control for a bit?” Lilly could always feel everything, while it was usually Red who stayed in the pool most of the time. Lilly stayed connected to the body's feelings through the connection she made, but she still had to be in the pool if she wanted to control the body.

“Argh, we all can,” Red replied.

“Huh?” Said White.

“Well this is our body, why can’t we all be in control?”

“That sounds… like it would be a problem…” Mumbled Lilly.

“Quite right, difficult as well, wouldn’t it be a tug-of-war fest?” Said White.

Red laughed, “Well we got to find out!” 

Eventually, the day reached its end, and they spent the night listening to Jen read out another book she borrowed–The Girl Who Cried Donkey.