A rare bout of impulsiveness overtook Cedric. A dumb thought followed by an even dumber action.
He de-summoned his drone and re-summoned it below him, bouncing off of it to put himself into the path of the Dream’s next attack. He closed his eyes once more, this time focusing on his desire to enter Andie’s Dream. Andie’s Courage - the core of her Dream, its “heart” - slammed into him.
When Cedric opened his eyes again, he was in an almost familiar void - one split cleanly into two halves. The first half was cloaked in a concealing, pitch black shadow; the other consumed by a blinding, pure white light. Sitting on the ground, right next to the border, were Andie’s two halves. The ego sat on the side of shadow, and the shadow, ironically, on the side of light.
“Hey!” Cedric approached his friend, walking down the borderline with one foot in the shadow, the other in the light. He noted that the ground was covered in ankle-deep liquid - swampy and muddy on the dark side, but acidic on the bright side. To the point he could almost feel it burning his shoes. Both perfectly hid whatever dipped below their surface. “Andie!”
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Andie’s shadow spoke first. “I know, Cedric.”
“You remember when you got mad at me for trying to sort through all my emotional problems on my own?” Cedric grinned an insufferable grin, one he employed exclusively because he knew Andie hated it. “And it caused me to awaken with no warning? And you had to bail me out?”
Andie’s ego spoke next. “I know, Cedric.”
“Gee, real blast from the past that.” Cedric leaned back, looked up, and put his hands on his hips - soaking in a feigned nostalgia. “What was that, a whole two, maybe three days ago?”
“Cedric!” Andie’s shadow snapped at “her” friend. “I get it! You’ve made your goddamn point!”
“Seriously, dude.” The ego joined in. “Now’s really not the time.”
“Yeah, but it got your attention, put you two on the same page, and snapped you out of your funk long enough for us to start an actual conversation.” Cedric let his expression drift back to neutral, leaving behind only a sparkle of insufferably smug satisfaction in his eyes. “Also, I really like mocking you.”
“You remember when Dyllan and I encouraged you to be yourself around us more? Also two or three days ago?” Andie’s shadow glared daggers at Cedric. “Is it too late to take that back, or are we stuck with this now?”