The process where Lumina finished taking control of the body and recovering her consciousness ended and she fell down on the ground, screaming. Arms crossed over the head as to defend oneself from some unseen harm coming from above, she rolled and screamed for a good two minutes until the panic attack ended and she looked around, disbelieving. Dawn tried to speak to her but didn't approach. A full grown man thrashing around in self-defense panic could be an injury hazard. She probably needed some time to adapt to her situation too.

"Lumina? Princess Lumina? Come out, it is safe." Dawn called for her from a safe distance repeatedly.

"What is going on?" Lumina asked with a hoarse voice. She continued to speak, her words not making much sense, in a dreamy state. "I can hear myself but I am not myself. Is this a dream? Am I dead?"

"Calm down, Lumina," Dawn spoke in a reassuring tone. "You are safe but we are short on time. We only have a few minutes left." She moved to get herself in the princess' field of view and bent down to face the princess in a boy's body that was still on the ground with arms crossed behind her back, "Hello. Lumina. Why did you scream right now?"

"Are you... me? Is this a dream?" Her eyes were swimming.

It was odd to hear Aidan's voice with such a girlish tone. Lumina was scared witless. The way she cut her speech, the wavering eyes filled with fear something was coming at her. Dawn reached out and gently touched her arm, Aidan's arm. She shuddered but didn't resist.

"You came here to a safe place. I am your friend. Please tell me what is the last thing you remember."

Lumina started to answer as she began to perceive the environment around her. The pupils were dilated. Her breathing was slowly stabilizing and she closed her eyes to recall.

"The academy square after the magic examination. The monsters came and they trampled me. Am I in my room at the dormitory?"

Instead of giving her straight replies that Lumina might not understand, she kept guiding her.

"That might be the reason you came to this safe place, your room is safe. Tell me who else was there with you."

Lumina paused to think and her eyes widened as she recalled more and more of the assault.

"Claire! Is Claire safe?" She asked. Her breathing started to go wild with panic.

"Yes, you chose to save Claire over yourself. Why is that?"

Lumina sighed and tried to smile at her own visage. "I guess it is fine to tell you this, me. Claire is my sister but she doesn't know that."

Actually, she always did. Claire knew, Queen Alina knew, and now it was confirmed that Lumina knew. Probably the only one in the dark was Lucien, but that was a tragic thing. Nobody knew the others knew and the two sisters grew together loving each other while holding back that huge secret from each other for nothing. Dawn did not envy that relationship. Claire deserved that tiara and Dawn's evaluation of Lumina increased two full grades.

"Underneath all the hardened exterior, you are a sweetheart underneath, aren't you?" Dawn returned the smile.

Lumina fidgetted and patted Aidan's body as if to check if all parts were there. They were, but not the ones she was looking for. "I'm feeling strange. Are you me? Who am I?"

"Can you promise me to keep calm?" Lumina nodded. "You are not in your body right now."

A sharp shrill announced that she did not keep calm at all and was totally freaked out, "Wait! What do you mean? Where is my body? I demand answers!"

As she was getting more and more agitated and irritated, Dawn checked the time and decided to end the spell.

Several things happened at the same time. The feeling of the soul tether returned at once. The golden of Lumina's soul was pushed back to its own place. Aidan recovered consciousness. And both of them screamed like hell as the memories of the rhinorse assault returned fresh, but this time from Lumina's perspective. It was only a flash as the memory washed over them but it was taxing as hell because it dug up their trauma of living through the event once again.

Several minutes later, they calmed down. Their throats required a healing spell however, it was the second time in less than one hour that someone used that organ to scream as if a couple of two-ton creatures was stomping on them and breaking every bone again. The psychological ordeal caused both to sit down on the couch, panting.

One thing Dawn noticed was that Lumina seemed dumber than normal. Not that her normal self was dumb by any measure, but she was slower to formulate thoughts. She was also behaving quite childish. It could be an effect of her diminished soul or a thousand things in between. It was no use to theorize things now, the experience was too unique.

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"I got them," Aidan reported. "Lumina's memories of the rhinorse assault are fresh in our mind."

It caused Dawn to roll her eyes and wish to slap him. They laughed as realization finally descended as to why does it feel so infuriating when the male states the obvious. Like, I am you, you moron part of me, why am I assuming me to be more moronic than me to require stating the obvious, moron.

"I can see them too, dummy," Dawn leaned on Aidan and headbutted him. "It confirms two of our theories. Somehow we have a copy of Lumina's mind from before the body split procedure, and if we can get her soul to reminisce of those memories, they are unlocked to us."

"Yes, exactly what I was thinking, you are so smart, me" The boy grinned and earned another playful headbutt. "Time to steal some proprietary rituals now. Ready to cast the spell again?"

There was a major geass placed on all princesses that learn THAT ritual, Lumina and Pearl included. It forbade them from teaching or talking about the ritual in any capacity to anyone. What they were betting on was that the geass wouldn't stop Lumina from thinking about the ritual. All they had to do was to make her think of it and they would steal the memory. Dispelling the geass while still attached to her was impossible.

"You got it. Let's do that, it is our only shot at learning the Otherworlder Summoning Ritual."

What they were about to do was basically stealing the ritual and some other assorted memories that could come by from Lumina's mind, but they had two reasons to do that. First, they needed to know about the ritual to better counter other otherworlder threats that given Aidan's family business was a given and second, they felt entitled to and thought they damn well deserved something out of carrying and nurturing the Princess all this time. Third, some gratification for all the times she made them bleed. And for good or for worse, Lumina would not remember what happened here, because the memories would remain in Aidan's brain.

"Oh. We should ask about that guy too." Dawn remembered.

"Yes, the creepy teacher that offered to help her with her final assignment, that 'Healing Mist' spell," Agreed Aidan.

"That jerk that dispelled our pain resistance spell."

"He is so getting it." Both nodded.

Why that moron used an area dispel that covered both the rhinorses, that were away from them at the time, and the two puréed people in a heap of broken bones was a question that only the man himself could answer. But he was a Baron and a teacher at the academy. The more evidence, the better.

They straightened themselves on the couch and Dawn used the spell once more.

"Twin Soul's Advent!"

Another theory they would test the persistence of Lumina's experience during sessions of the spell. And if she would remember the time she was cut off.

"Where is my body?!?!" Lumina demanded to know.

Apparently, her memories halted right when the spell was dismissed and resumed now. No more screaming in phantom pain sessions for anyone.

"Whoa, calm down Your Highness. Your body is safe and sound, fully healed and hale. Trust me. I'm both your friend and a part of you." Dawn hugged Lumina, to try and calm down her.

The real Princess in a borrowed body grabbed the fake Princess in the cloned body, "Isn't this my body?" Lumina asked while she patted Dawn and pulled on her cheeks. Stretchy.

"Itsh chomplicated," Dawn threw the mother of all explanations down as she peeled Lumina's hands off of her face. "Do you remember the times you suddenly awakened during our journey together?"

"Journey? Wha-what do you mean, journey? How long ago was the attack?"

Lumina squeezed Dawn. Unfortunately, she had the strength of a healthy male human that worked out every day and Dawn was a weak two-week-old-sixteen-years-size girl just out of physical therapy.

"Some time ago. You don't need to worry too much. Everyone is just fine and we are going to heal you soon enough. Nobody died and everyone is safe now."

Lumina and Dawn spent a few minutes hugging. The princess patted the girl's back and discovered that the length of her hair was at the shoulders.

An icy cold fear came to the Princess' voice, "My hair... You cut my hair?"

Dawn giggled with a big friendly smile as she pushed Lumina to put some distance between them. Also to stop the person from squeezing her breasts further. It was hurting, you know? "No. No... Of course not! I'd never damage that awesome hair of yours. It is safe and sound with your sleeping body." And bothersome. Seriously, two hours of brushing sessions would drive anyone murderous.

"Oh. That is reassuring. What are you then? Are you by any chance a creature of my imagination or some sort of evil clone? Is this a dream? Might be. Why else would I be a boy?"

She was aware of being in a boy's body. Good for her. The things Lumina spoke were making more and more sense. Perhaps a few more exchanges and she would start to speak rationally. But it was time to go for the main dish now that there was something Lumina wanted out of them.

"I'm not evil. Look, I'll give you one answer to whatever you want to if you do one thing for me."

Lumina tilted her head sideways, making a curious smirk with only one corner of her mouth. Might've looked cute in a girl's face. Damned double standards. "What is it that you want?"

"I want you to focus and remember the lessons you took to learn the Otherworlder Summoning Ritual. Try to recall everything you can about that ritual. How it is done, what materials it uses, the lessons, the teacher, everything."

Lumina put some distance between them, hitting the armrest of the couch with the small of her back. One could see the dread she held for that ritual.

"I don't want to do that, think of that abhorrent ritual. You better give me three questions if you want me to remember that."

If Lumina was a normal person, just mentioning the lessons would be enough. Dawn didn't want to cancel the spell and see if she recalled everything or not, that would be cheating their deal. But Dawn thought she was already stealing the ritual and using Lumina. Indulging in a few questions was not a problem. They separated and sat front to front.

"Fine, three questions." Dawn showed three fingers.

"Two before I do that. One later." Lumina raised one hand with two and another with one. "Wait a second. These are man's hands."

Baby steps. Baby steps, Dawn recited to herself like a mantra. Lumina might've made their first semester at the academy hell on purpose, but she was not responsible for everything that happened after. And to tilt even more the scales, Dawn was getting a big profit out of the whole ordeal while the Princess' loss was huge. There was even a small risk of Lumina dying during the soul transfer procedure. She might've summoned patience out of some reptilian part of her brain that dealt with nurturing young people because Dawn was the image of serenity as she dealt with Lumina's confusion.

"Yes, your Highness. You will be placed back in your own body soon enough. You are in a male body right now, my body, so we can talk. You noticed it already before, is something wrong? Any discomfort?"