Andie grumbled as she swung her sword away from Cedric’s throat and slung it over her shoulder. She couldn’t really tell if Cedric was telling the truth, but no amount of chatter would change that. She was bad at reading people and had gotten through most of her life pretending to have social skills by imitating fictional characters. As soon as a situation broke away from cliches, she wound up getting confused. Not that she couldn’t tell fantasy from reality, or was completely hopeless at socialization. Andie was just… below average. Cedric on the other hand, navigated social situations like he had a friggin’ GPS in his brain. There was no hope at seeing through a lie that came from any part of his brain, light side or dark side. “Fine. Whatever. Just…”

“Reveal yourself, my Rage.” Dyllan’s voice came from the other side of Cedric’s illusionary barrier. It was calmer and quieter than it usually was, but lacked the normal control and stability; each word was almost quivering. “Tear it apart, my Rage.” A jagged crevice was torn open by a series of two story tall, rusty red and black obsidian spikes. They spread rapidly in a straight line from the other side of the fake wall, reaching about five to six yards forward before they finally stopped.

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For a moment, Andie and Cedric stared blankly at the pillars of spite, snapping back to reality when they noticed the spikes had broken the drone projecting the wall. Now, there was no more wall, and Dyllan’s darker side was plainly visible. He… No, it barely resembled a human being anymore, let alone Dyllan. It’s form was distorted, feral, and dripping with shadowy goo. Most disturbingly, patches of color has started to spread on its right arm and face - their shades and hues matching that of the normal, healthy Dyllan.

Cedric did not respond well to that. “No! Shit! Fuck! I… I…” He mumbledsomething incoherently. All Andie could make out were the words “not him, not Dyllan.”

Everything looked about ready to go to hell in a hand-basket. But it just… didn’t.

A streak of oddly warm and hopeful yellow light rocketed down from above, drawing everyone’s attention with a mysterious charisma. Even Dyllan’s shadow turned to look as it crashed just around the corner.

Then, a voice came from the site of the impact. “Hello! Anyone here? Jamie? Chip? It’s Finn!” A reassuring chuckle echoed out. “I thought you guys weren’t going after any Nightmares tonight?”