Something was wrong.

Something was really, really, really wrong.

She could feel it. She could feel it because she [i]couldn't[/i] feel it. She felt so strong. She hadn't felt this strong, ever. It felt—it felt—it felt good. It felt good, and that's how she knew it was bad. This wasn't supposed to feel good.

But it did.

She [i]did[/i].

And something else. Something else. She felt something creeping up on her. Creeping through her, through her mind. She swallowed, but it felt—so—good—so—right.

"[color=FFE63D]Something's—something feels—I feel strange.[/color]" Her own voice felt strange in her ears, and when Doctor Follen spoke, she could barely understand him. Like he was talking through cotton, through the static in her head. The static that she'd heard in her head in Hovvi, like words murmuring around the corner of her mind that she couldn't quite make out. She felt so strong. So free. So [i]big.[/i]

Why was it all so small? One room. One room. Sixteen years. One room. Why, why, why, why, [i]why?[/i]

"[color=FFE63D]Is this what it feels like to————[/color]"

[color=black]Why don't you hate this, Quinnlash?[/color]

Her voice cracked, then broke entirely with a sound like the very start of a scream. A high-pitched whine filled her ears. If anybody was talking to her she couldn't hear them anymore. Anybody except the voice. [color=black]Why don't you hate it?[/color]

She—why [i]didn't[/i] she hate it? She couldn't remember why it had felt so wrong. But—but the voice—it was so—

[i]Why didn't she hate it?[/i]

And then she did.

She hated it.

[i]She hated it.[/i]

[h3][b][i]EVERYTHING FELT WRONG.[/i][/b][/h3]

She was too big. The world was too small, too bright, too open around her. The strength that coursed through her felt suddenly [i]revolting[/i] and she shrank away from it. Again, she clutched her nails to her arms, then gasped deep in her throat as they [i]cut[/i] into her but she kept them there because she couldn't pull them away. Her mind was racing, racing, racing racingracingracing everything felt so right and so wrong and so jumbled and the [i]voice[/i] she was afraid of it she was afraid of it but it was [i]right[/i] in Hovvi it had saved her it was [i]RIGHT[/i] she HATED this she hated it HATED IT [i]HATED IT[/i] [i][b]HATED IT.[/b][/i]

One room. One room one room she was [i]in[/i] one room a tiny cold room she wasn't strong she wasn'tshewasn'tshewasn't but she STILL FELT STRONG SHE FELT GOOD she felt good and she was so strong and she hated hated hated how good she felt she shouldn'tshouldn'tfeelgood noneofthisshould feelgood she was forcedtobe here and shedidn'twanttobutitstillfelt it felt so [i]right[/i] likeshewasPARTOFSOMETHING something that she didn'twanttobepartofbutshewantedtobepartofitshewantedtobepartofsomething [b][i]NO IT WASN'TWASN'TRIGHTITDIDN'TFEELRIGHTEVENTHOUGHITFELTSOGOOD[/i][/b]

[color=black]Hate this, Quinnlash. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.[/color] She couldn't tell if it was stillspeaking or just echo echo echo echo echoing in her her nothernotherheadherhead she needed to do it she neededtoloveitsheneededtoHATEIT it was all so jumbled her fingersclawsfingersthefingersnotherfingerstoredownwardandshefeltsomethingleakoutsomethingshedidntknowshedidntgetitandCONFUSEDandITHURTANDshedidntknowwhatwasgoingonbutitfeltggggggghhhhhhhhhhh[i][b]AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH[/b][/i]

[b][i]AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH[/i][/b]

[b][i]AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH[/i][/b]