Finley Cai Aies Hall April 23rd, 20XX

I woke up in a completely different location from the life-threatening chase I was just in. I could tell it had only been a few minutes since I had ‘let go,’ but I could feel I was in significantly less danger than before.

It was strange because I could still feel what was going on with my body, but it felt like a Tv or a radio was playing on the other side of the room. If I focused, I could tune in, but if I tried to get any closer to it, I would end up taking over again.

My body felt oddly light as I stood up and walked around the unrecognizable but familiar space.

It was a simple four-walled dorm room with each wall taking on a different colour, one blue, one gold, one silver and the last black. Each wall had a door attached to it, save for the last, which served as a backdrop to three identical chairs in all but colour.

“Well, at least you aren’t panicking.”

I spun around to see a white-haired and black-eyed version of myself. The iris was technically red, but they were so dark that off the first look appeared closer to black. The coloration was offputting, but what really caught my attention was the bright silver horn that protruded from his forehead.

It wasn’t as long as Theodulus’s, but it was strange to see my image with the new appendage.

“So you’re Aies?”

“In the imaginary flesh. Come, take a sit.”

It was offputting to see such a familiar but different version of myself, but all I could do was try to get used to it as quickly as possible.

He directed me into the blue chair left of the central golden throne.

“You’ve probably already put it all together, but you’re currently in your mind.”

He pointed to the blue wall, or more specifically, he pointed to the door it held.

“This time is a little special since it’s your first time in here, but most of the time you’ll be in that room.”

I’d been wondering what was behind those doors, so it was nice to come across the information so easily, but it was still confusing.

“Why would I have to be in there?”

Aies let out a halfhearted shrug as he gave an even less enthusiastic response.

“Well, the whole reason we exist is to deal with parts of life you don’t want to. Rather than watching it like a reality show, wouldn’t it be a more efficient use of time to get some sleep or get some work done?”

I was once again reminded that Aies wasn’t another individual but was a sectioned-off part of my personality. Despite the forcibly rearranged priority list, we still shared the same thoughts and interests.

“Is that so?”

Aies didn’t dignify my non-question with an answer and instead flopped out on the floor and pointed to the wall on the other side.

“I’m not sure how much you can see without taking over, but right now Cai is puppeteering a hippopotamus into attacking the other beasts.”

I had nothing else I could say but,

“Is that so?”

“Just go to sleep. We’ll wake you up when we get back to the human world.”

It was probably incredibly reckless to trust my body completely to alternate personalities, but then again, doing so was likely the only reason I’d survived that ordeal.

I went into the blue door and crashed onto the bed within. It wasn’t super comfortable, and I still battled with a sense of unease, but I took comfort in the knowledge that I could take back control whenever I wanted to.

The room had a desk with a lamp, similar to the one I’d owned when I lived in the school dorms, and a whiteboard on the far wall. I didn’t know what it meant for my personal space in my own mind to look like a tiny school dorm, but it didn’t bother me enough to do anything about it.

As my body settled heavily into the illusory bed, I tried to close my eyes and go to sleep, but that was when things got bad.

My body went into a free fall, and no matter how much I flailed around or tried to summon my wings, nothing came.

I was getting lost, and I instinctively knew that the longer I fell, the worse things would become.

My eyelids felt heavy as I tried to force them open, but I pushed myself and even resorted to trying to use my fingers to pull them apart, but my hands remained sealed at my side.

I rather belatedly realized how stone-heavy my body felt, and the flailing about I’d done a few seconds ago felt like a distant dream.

The more I tried to focus on my body, the more illusory it felt.

First, I lost feeling in my fingers, then up to my arms and down to my toes.

This was very, very, very bad.

I didn’t even know exactly what about it was bad, but the foreboding sense of existential agony raised hell in my stomach.

I put my energy towards forcing my eyes open and getting up. Panic invaded my throat and made it hard to think, but I tried my best to push it down.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally felt someone harshly shaking me awake.

My consciousness jumped right through the room in my mind and forced me back into control of my body.

My sudden grapple for control took Cai, and he somewhat tried to resist me, but he quickly gave in and gave up control. I could sense the bitterness in him, but I felt too relieved to pay it any mind.

I woke up in my room and patted myself down to make sure I still had all my limbs.

I could only fully calm down once I’d confirmed I was all here. I didn’t know what had happened, but I chalked it up to the growing list of questions to ask Theodulus.

“You have to get to work Finn.”

Aies’s voice broke through my thoughts and reminded me of the time.

As I got up and got ready for work, my concerns slowly shifted from worrying about the terrifying experience I’d just had to planning how to explain my week-long disappearance to Will, Nikolas, and Alexa.