“Woah... I just… Hot damn!” Andie sprung upright with a little twirl, then wiped away a smudge of Will to Live that had been shed in her fight with Shadow Dyllan. “That. Was. Awesome! No, not awesome… incredible? Epic? No, no, I got it! Astounding, it was astounding. God, it’s amazing how many synonyms for ‘super’ you get from the covers of comic books.” She rushed over to Finnegan, grabbed his hand, and vigorously shook it. “My name is Andrea Diane McClyde, and it is a pleasure to meet you… can I have your autograph?”

Finn slipped his hand out from Andie’s vice like grip and backed away. He was a little disconcerted, but didn’t seem to dislike the attention. “I would love to, but I don’t think I can. We would need a physical pen and paper to make anything that lasts, and we are currently inside someone’s head, so…”

“I swear upon the holy names of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, I will find a way.” A vibration seemed to run through Andie’s body, followed by a happy little squeal. “I have so much I want to ask you - but first…” She kicked her sword up off the ground, grabbed it, then swung it towards Cedric - stopping just before his neck. “My friend promised me an explanation.”

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“Which I very much still intend to provide…” Cedric nervously nudged the sword away. “…but would rather not give at swordpoint.”

“…Is this about how he’s merged with his shadow?” Finnegan’s eyes started to wander toward the flickering black wolf ears on Cedric’s head. “Because that is actually quite common.”

“Wait, shadow?” Dyllan chimed into the conversation, having finally oriented himself. “Like with that Charles Young guy that Cedric won’t shut up about?”

“Carl Jung, his name was -” Cedric paused, his train of thought cut off by Dyllan’s shit eating grin. “Oh. You did that on purpose. Well, it’s good to know you’re feeling better.”

“…Right. Anyway, as I was saying. It is totally normal to merge with your shadow. After all, you spend all your waking life with it rattling around in your brain, how is it any different here and now?” Finn gave his best reassuring smile. “And even if there is some risk… cutting the poor kid off from his friends would only destabilize him further. Much better to just take him as he is.”