The Subtle Arts Pt. 01 Ch. 02

"Now, I have been carefully guarding my mind to ensure you are presented with a safe space to explore. The mind of a real, unguarded human will present a much more complex picture, full of competing forces and symbology. Your reading of their mind will be determined by your ability to interpret these symbols. It is an imprecise art, but one which will improve with practice."

"It is natural for you to want to experiment with your new abilities but be wary. Viewing a person's thoughts is an invasion of sorts. Do not expect them to be pleased if they catch you running around their minds. Nevertheless, I encourage you to look, and try to interpret what you see. Do not act on your observations in case you misread the signs..."

"We will revisit the deeper mysteries of the mind soon enough, but for now restrict yourself to broader observations."

After practicing the technique a few more times to ensure he wouldn't mess up, Hal was dismissed for the night. Like he had been several times over the past days, he was surprised to find how much time he had spent with Kerrigan. The clock tower showed nearly 8:00 PM. He was even more surprised to see Brianna waiting for him by the gate.

"Hey!" she called as he walked over. "My lesson ran late, and I noticed that old badger Kerrigan had you stuck too so I thought I'd see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat? Since we missed whatever slop they cooked up at the great hall."

"Sure," Hal said, "I hate eating alone. I can tell you about my lesson!"

***

Kira's Diner was literally the only restaurant in town, so it was a good thing they were open twenty-four hours. Luckily, they also served burgers, a fact Hal was eternally grateful for. It was run by a young mage's wife, Kira, from the US east coast. Since her husband had moved out here to teach, she decided to make the best of it and opened a diner.

Hal and Brianna had exhausted their small talk on the two-hour hike down from the Academy, so she was all over him when they sat down at their little booth. "Sooooo did you lean how to read minds yet??" she asked him excitedly.

Hal sighed. "Yes, I did. But like I said earlier, it isn't that simple! I don't get to hear your thoughts like you're talking to me, I just get kind of an overall impression and some images about what's going on in your head."

Brianna was about to boil over with excitement. "Yes, I want you to read my mind! See if you can guess what I'm thinking!"

Hal gave another long sigh. He could tell he wasn't getting his point across to her, but he was eager to try out his new power on someone other than Master Kerrigan. "Okay then, just sit back. I'll give it a go."

A few minutes later, Hal awoke to his name being called. "Hal? Haa-aal? Anybody in there?"

Hal shook himself. Brianna was looking at him expectantly. Their food was on the table. "How long was I out of it?"

Brianna shrugged with one shoulder. "Just a few minutes really, but man you were pretty far spaced out."

"Yeah I forgot to mention I've got to zone out pretty hard to do it." Your mind was so different from the old man's, I had to look for a long time to figure out what I was seeing."

"Well, what did you see?!" Brianna asked excitedly.

"Oceans, and great empty islands mostly. Some forests. But a big part of your mind was obscured by a huge hurricane!" Seeing Brianna's confusion, he explained, "they're symbolic of your mental structure. I saw the symbols clear enough, but I'm still trying to work out what they mean. I'll need to have another look, but first I gotta eat, I'm starved!"

Hal ate quickly, and in silence. He had gleaned a little more from Brianna's mind than he let on, but he needed to be sure before saying out loud. Once he wolfed down his food, he looked up at her, grinning fiercely. "Okay I'm ready to go again. You ready for me?"

Brianna winked at him, "I'm always ready for you Hal," and laughed at his reddening face. "I'm just teasing you, go ahead. I'm gonna keep eating though."

Hal steadied himself and launched back into the void of 'intermental space' as he was beginning to think of it. Brianna's mind-planet was a gorgeous sunlit oceanscape dotted with tropical paradise islands. Some of the islands had small mountains, other tropical rainforests, and still others were just empty beaches. For the most part it was calm, and he couldn't glean much from it. On the horizon though, was the great storm he had encountered before.

Hal couldn't help but admire the buttresses of cloud and bright flashes of lightning that lit them from within. It was beautiful, and deadly. The clouds weren't 'normal' clouds though. They were shot through with hues of red and deepest purple. The lightning was scintillating ultraviolet that crackled and charged the whole atmosphere with ionic intensity. As he passed over the trailing edge of the massive cyclone, he adjusted his orbit for the next pass. The storm was clear: Brianna was conflicted. A storm suggested conflicting emotions rather than ideas, which wouldn't manifest in such a passionate display. The bright reds were the color of passion, and suggested lust. The purples were a little more confusing.

Hal came around for his next pass and found himself directly over the eye of the storm. Looking down he saw a wind scoured island of rock. On the rock was a statue of man. Hal looked closer to find his identity. His eyes widened, as he understood.

Brianna was waiting for him back in reality. "This really is a slow way to communicate if it took you this long to catch the thought I was sending you" she said.

Hal took a long breath and said, "I didn't catch any of your thoughts Brianna, what I saw was deeper than that." He caught a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. "Do you want me to tell you?" He asked quietly.

Her bravado was back immediately, "Duh! Get off your soapbox already and just spit it out!"

"Hal was suddenly very nervous, but he began anyway, "The hurricane in your mind symbolizes a conflict of emotion. It was shot through with reds, purples, and black lightning. These colors represent the emotions in conflict. The eye of the storm represents to focal point of the conflict. The red was easy to pick out, it represents lust. Whatever is at the center of that storm, you want it. The purples and blacks took me a minute, they're more complex and more difficult to interpret, but I think I got it."

"The purple represents respect. In this case respect for a relationship. The black lightning only comes from purple clouds and represents the pain that you imagine if that relationship is destroyed." The look on Brianna's face told him he was right on the money. She was shocked, and he was unsure if he should continue.

"D-did. Did you see what was at the center?" She stammered out.

Hal nodded. "It was me" he said quietly. You're interested in me, but you're scared our friendship won't survive if we don't work out..." He finished speaking and just sat there awkwardly.

"Well." Brianna said. "Well. That is...that's...out in the open...now. Not gonna live that down. Ever." She seemed to gain more confidence as she spoke. Finally, she stood up and walked over to Hal's booth. She grabbed his face, bent down, and gave him a soul-searing kiss that lasted an age. When she broke off, she turned and walked out the door.

Hal just sat there in the diner for another hour, thinking. Finally, he paid the tab and shuffled out the door into the Welsh night. Life had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.