Finley Cai Aies Hall April 23rd, 20XX

I woke up to an ominous shiver running down my spine, and a bad feeling made a stone out of my lower stomach. Something bad was going to happen today. I could feel it.

"One known to others as Finley! We, the keepers of the universe, have reached out through great tribulation in seek of your aid-"

The loud voice suddenly stopped its grand announcement with a pained grunt, but it had been enough to make me fall off my bed as I'd tried to reach for my wand. I finally made it up to my knees and grabbed the intricately decorated weapon in my right hand, and pushed myself up to my feet with my left.

My head spun as I scanned the room and tried to locate where the voice had come from, but my attempt was terminated when I heard another familiar but distinct voice scold the first.

"Stop messing around! I only let you speak first because you promised you wouldn't scare him."

The owner of the second voice sounded irritated at the owner of the first voice, but the first voice wasn't one to sit back and take being scolded.

"You know this coward would have been scared, regardless of what I said. At least I had fun with it instead of the formal introduction you were planning."

I got a strong feeling I knew where the voices were coming from, but I instantly denied it and sought another option. Theodulus had said it wouldn't be like this, and he'd been right too often for this to be the one place he was wrong.

"Denying reality doesn't change it buddy."

The first voice instantly dashed my hopes and forced me to look at things objectively. I didn't know exactly what Theodulus had done to me, but something must have gone very wrong. The diary wouldn't know anything about it since it was goblin magic, so I needed to get back to Theodulus's place.

I had quite a few things to do between today and tomorrow, and I couldn't walk around with two other voices in my head.

"We aren't just voices Finley, we're just as 'real' as you are."

The second voice finally ditched the flat tone it had taken on and sounded aggravated at my unspoken thoughts.

"Ah sorry. It's just a lot to adjust to."

"It would be faster to adjust to if you came in here with us. One of us would have to take charge of the body though."

"What do you mean 'one of us'? He's still too weak to use my powers so it'll have to be you."

The first voice had only said a few lines, but each got on my nerves more than the last.

"Are you willing?"

I understood they wanted me to 'switch mindsets' and temporarily give up control, but I was cautious. For one, I didn't know if I'd be able to retake control, but that they'd needed to ask me gave me some confidence.

I would keep the option on the table, but first, I'd try to meet Theodulus and ask for an explanation on what the hell had gone wrong.

"I'll try to-"

"Yeah, we know. Make sure you keep that crown tucked away, otherwise you'll be giving Cai permission to take over."

Since voice two had taken on my middle name from my mom, I assumed that the first one had taken the one from my dad. I was slightly concerned about them being able to read my thoughts, but then again, it made sense since the two were just divided sections of my mind.

Or at least that was what Theodulus had told me they were.

I made sure the crown and earrings were in my bag before carefully plugging in the coordinates on my transporter.

"That 0 should be an eight."

"Its only twenty-seven characters, not twenty-eight. You have an extra somewhere."

Cai and Aies helped me catch any mistakes I made but otherwise stayed silent. It was crazy, but having the voices in one's head suddenly go silent was somehow more anxiety-inducing than having them casually talk to you.

"Hey, are you two still in there?"

"Don't get too attached to us when you're actively trying to get rid of us."

Aies's sharp voice was my only response, but it was better than nothing, I guess.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you two, I just need to make sure that this isn't anything dangerous."

"Remember, we're in your head Finley, no point in lying to yourself."

Well, there was a part of me that wanted them gone, but it wasn't like that was the first thing I would ask Theodulus if I could get to him. I would only ask to get rid of them if they turned out to be dangerous or something.

The familiar sickening feeling bloomed in my stomach as the transporter started, but I pushed through and tried to stay conscious for the process.

Even before I opened my eyes to see where I'd landed, I knew I wasn't in the desired location.

For one, the biting cold I'd grown familiar with was nowhere to be felt, and the ground under me was soft and warm. The second sign that I'd missed my location were the loud roars I heard around me.

I peeled my left eye open but closed it as quickly as I could.

"Again, denying reality won't change it, Finley. You should get running before you get us all killed."

My legs were heavy as I slogged through the swampy ground, and the giant scaled creature that resembled a crocodile but with longer limbs chased me. I didn't have the luxury of time to identify all its features, but maybe I would ask the diary later on.

"Finley, take into the air!"

It was already ridiculous that I could outrun the monster on my feet on such an unstable surface, but I would be a lot more efficient in my escape if I took to the air.

I looked up to the sky to plot my escape route, but my heart sunk at the sight. Thick vines clouded the air and created an obstacle course that put the one the General had run to shame.

"Oh look, it called it's friends!"

Even though I didn't particularly want to, I turned my head to see a stampede of those hell-crocodiles flattening the land as they chased after me. Aies's warning had been accurate, but I wondered how he'd know before I turned my head.

"You knew as well, you just weren't paying attention to your senses. Using those neglected abilities is quite literally the reason I was brought into existence. Ah, you should take a left here."

I obediently followed the instructions of the voice in my head but did a ninety-degree turn into a whole new direction as quickly as I had.

"Why would you direct me into another monster's nest?"

The angry hippopotamus-looking monster stampeded toward me and, by instinct, toward the crocodile monsters.

"Brilliant Aies, But Finley, you won't be able to outrun both of them! Quit doubting yourself and get into the air!"

My legs ached as I ran at full speed for longer than I ever had, and I grew furious at the plan that I failed to understand but had been forced into.

"What exactly is brilliant about raising the danger level from deadly to annihalation?!"

I was sure I looked crazy, yelling like this when I was alone, but it wasn't like I had an audience to be cautious of.

"Those two are natural enemies! s soon as they meet, they;l start a pack fight! But you just have to make sure you don't get involved in it!"

Which was why he had urged me to get into the air and away from the two land-bound beasts. I quickly tried to snap my wings open, but the trees were too close altogether for me to fully expand them.

"I can't!"

"Useless human borne."

Cai, who I'd unconsciously assigned as the 'nice' one of the two voices, suddenly sounded meaner than Aies. A sudden intense pressure crashed into my head and made me slow down in shock, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Cai's voice roared at me from within my head and pushed me to pick up my pace once again.

"Don't you dare slow down! Dig out that crown and trust in me if you can't trust yourself!"

I got the nasty feeling that he had just tried to forcibly overtake my consciousness, but I decided not to hold it too personally since the horde of monsters was only four feet away from reliving me of a leg.

The majority of them had started to engage each other, but a few persistent ones refused to give up on me. Their short engagements slowed them down, but they would resume their chase side by side whenever I got too far.

My arm bent further back than I'd previously thought possible as I grabbed my bag off my back and pulled it over my head. My left strap snapped like a thin thread in the process, but I didn't have the luxury to feel upset about it.

I grabbed the crown from the pocket I'd shoved it into and shoved it over my knuckles and onto my wrist.

"So what now?"

The only response I got was silence, and neither Cai nor Aies spoke up. I could feel they were still there, but something was wrong. A nasty feeling bloomed in the pit of my chest as I wondered if I'd been tricked.

I moved to take the crown off my arm, but it was too late.

"Now? You need to let go."

I felt my legs speed up and my wings snap out of my back with a violence I'd never achieved on my own.

My body sped up so much I could feel the muscles in my legs tear with each step, but it didn't slow down.

"Finley! LET GO!"

As unwilling as I was, I followed his orders and let go of the reins in my mind. I stayed awake long enough to feel my body take off into the air before having everything go black.