I blinked back over and saw Tristy on her knees, her eyes wide in horror. I turned to Saki, walked over to her, fell to my knees and said, "PLEASE SAKI!"

  "What did you do with Anna?" Saki asked in puzzlement. "Is... is she dead?" She looked at me with... hope?

  "No, Tama was getting annoyed with her stupidity so she threw her across the lake to the other side," I said casually.

  Saki paled at that and looked over at the massive lake that was at least twenty to thirty miles wide before looking back at me. "That... won't kill her?" she asked.

  "No, spirits can't die from fall damage, Sensei said," I replied as my tail wagged back and forth, waiting to get back to begging.

  Saki took a deep breath before speaking. "Look Tama, if I help you now, what happens if I am not here? What if we get separated again? Look what happened when I wasn't around. Heck, look at what happens when I AM around. I am sorry Tama. Advice is one thing, but you need to make better choices!"

  I paused at that, her words hitting something. An idea hit me and I stood, casually walked over to Tristy who was still looking horrified at the ground and leaned over. I looked at Tristy for a moment like I was inspecting her. Then I stood and looked thoughtful. After a moment or two I spoke. "Royal Advisor Saki, I request your advice on how to best handle this problem. I, of course, will make the final decision, but I expect you to follow through on your job."

  I glanced over at her hopefully. She stared at me in shock for a moment, her mouth opening and closing at my words. Finally, she huffed and said, "Well, Empress Tama"she made a point to emphasize the title empress while speaking"while I am certain that my advice would be most advantageous at this point, I do feel that as an empress you must make these decisions yourself!"

  I smiled wide at herI got her! "Well of course, Royal Advisor Saki. I am an empress after all. As my royal advisor however, you still need to advise me, so that I can make an educ... educ... a good decision!" I said, smirking at her.

  She stared for a very, very long time at me before finally sighing and drooping. "Dammit Tama, fine! But only advice and you still have to follow through on making the decision, you hear me?!"

  I nodded vigorously and leaned in to listen carefully.

  Saki sighed heavily and spoke. "Well, Empress Tama, as your royal advisor, my role is to advise you in matters of statecraft and making important vital decisions. As such, this does in fact, to some minimal extent, fall under my role."

  I blinked, confused, and Saki rolled her eyes. "Oh for Earth's sake, Tama. Just treat them like people, bring them to the surface and give them to the guild to help fix. They can't remove the collarsthat doesn't mean they can't live normal lives. A quick invisibility spell or ink can make the collar appear like it's not there and you can just let them live normal lives without commanding them to do anything."

  It took a moment for what Saki said to fully click, and the moment it did I felt extremely stupid. Saki looked at me expectantly and after a moment I realized what she wanted me to do. I looked at her pleadingly, but she glared daggers back. I winced, took a deep breath, then stood up straight.

  "Yes, Royal Advisor Saki. That is a wonderful idea. Tama comm... comm... Tama still knows you are the smarterest person ever. Tama will take your advice as is what she is supposed to do." As I finished my sentence I watched Saki to make sure I was speaking right. She nodded, if a little annoyed, and I sighed in relief.

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  I turned to Tristy and Paige to speak. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Anna going decently fast rammed herself full force into Tristy and possessed her again.

  Before the possession even finished, I blinked over and grabbed Anna out of Tristy a second time, except this time, I squeezed her until she cried. I looked down at Tristy who was looking up at me with a mixture of awe and horror.

  I had had enough of Anna's antics. So I forcefully made her possess me by swallowing her. Then I pushed her to the back of my mind so she couldn't leave. "Now you stay there until you have learned your lesson, Anna!" I snapped.

  "What did you just do?!" Saki said in shock. Her mouth was hanging open. She looked guarded for some reason.

  "Tama put Anna in timeout," I said simply, my tail lashing irritably.

  Saki looked like she was debating something then asked, "How do I know you are Tama and not Anna!"

  I considered that for a moment before asking, "Tama does not know. What does Saki think Tama should do to prove herself?" I looked at her curiously.

  Saki hit her face with her hand again and said, "Never mind, you're Tama."

  I looked at her, confused. "Nya! Tama is Tama!" She sighed heavily, something she was doing a lot more recently and just sat back down on the ground.

  After a moment, she took a deep breath then stood back up. Was Saki meditating? If she was, she was doing it wrong! "Tama thinks..." I started to tell her but she cut me off.

  "Tama, why are you able to ignore Anna's possession but we aren't? Better question, why are you able to see through my illusions like they aren't there? I mean, it could be a royalty thing. But I heavily doubt that. I understand you were trained by your sensei, who by all means is... was... a powerful and amazing man. But even so, there are many things about you that don't add up. Like the universe just says two plus two equals four, then you come in and say two plus two equals five and the universe just void accepts it!" Saki took a deep breath after letting that all out before starting up again.

  Before she could I asked a simple question. "Has Saki ever tried to make two plus two equal five?" I looked at her seriously. She stared back open-mouthed like I had just slapped her.

  "Are you telling me you just... you just... you just want it bad enough!" she screamed full volume at me. My ears flattened and I winced from the pain. My tail stiffened and I looked away.

  After a moment Saki spoke again, but she was much quieter. She sounded tired and drained. "Tama, just... please... anything to make sense of it all." I looked over to her and she had wrapped her tail around her leg and she was crying. Her ears were flattened and she looked me in the eyes. "We are best friends. You know I am always here for you. But I just... I just can't keep up and I'm losing it. Help me Tama, please."

  I stood there quietly for a long time … don't know how long . For the first time in my life that I could remember... I didn't care. I looked deep into Saki's tearful eyes as I considered what to say. I couldn't think of anything. It was so simple but... she just didn't get it.

  Then an idea hit me and I smiled at Saki. Not a bright playful smile, not a cheesy smile, not even a joke smile. I gave her a genuine loving smile. I walked over and I hugged her, before I whispered in her ear quietly, "Let me show you."

  I took her hand and after looking into her eyes and making sure she was okay with it. A simple nod was all it took. We blinked, a moment later we stood by the water of the lake. I said, "Look into the water, Saki. What do you see?"

  She bent over and looked into the water, her reflection staring back. "I see myself?" she asked in confusion.

  I shook my head. "Deeper, Saki. What do you see inside?" I gently wrapped my tail around her and rubbed her back.

  She stared into the water for a very long time, but for me, it felt like only moments had passed. Finally, her eyes widened and she gasped. "I... I see it," she said finally. She turned to me in shock. "Really?" she asked as if in disbelief. I nodded.

  She looked confused after a moment and then thoughtful. "But... how?" she asked as she looked back at the water.

  "Tama does not know. Sensei taught Tama this very important lesson when she was still young. All things in life are connected, and things are never as they seem. You are always thinking, Saki. It makes you the smarterest. But you never take the time to see who you are inside. Who others are."