Hollis had been stunned speechless by the scene that had awaited them in Shyed's room. He had only just come to accept the death of Terra, and then this was suddenly thrust upon him. More than that, he knew this had to be affecting Ambrose far more than himself. Ambrose knew both of these girls personally, so one could only imagine the pain this was putting him through.

"We have to keep a cool head," Ambrose had told him, but the breathiness of his voice and the grim shadowing of his face said he was feeling anything but relaxed about this. Understandably.

Ambrose had scrutinized over the appearance of the room after they both were relieved of the overwhelming shock upon seeing her. Hollis stood in the doorway and watched silently. After this was over, they promptly exited the mindscape and Ambrose left as before to call the authorities.

Hollis wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it was clear that Ambrose was busy back in reality, whether it was difficulty sleeping, or... No, that was definitely it.

The brunette waited in that gold room which felt like it had grown considerably darker and gloomier.

After they had found the body, Ambrose had scanned the room meticulously, as if searching for clues. He hadn't spoken a word but his face said clear as day that he was determined to find this guy. His eyes were sharp and dark, his muscles were tense and his prescence—as Hollis called it—was far more intimidating than he had yet experienced.

He was afraid he would do something stupid.

Without so much as an explanation, Ambrose had sent Hollis back to his room in his mindspace, simply saying that he was going to call for help and he'd be back later.

When's later?

Hollis pouted as he sat against the headboard of the large bed. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, and he wasn't sure what Ambrose was doing as he pondered this. All of that aside, he was running out of time himself. Going through the math, he had a day over two weeks left, and that's excluding however long he had been waiting for Ambrose to return. Veri hadn't even dropped by, so Hollis was beginning to worry about the state of things.

Then again, things were like this when Terra... He simply shook his head instead of finishing that thought.

More time had passed, and he was beginning to worry again. He knew it had to be more than two days by this point. He didn't have an exact estimate, but he was guessing four days at most. Hollis sighed as he sank lower on the bed. He wasn't used to boredom anymore and he was growing considerably lonely again. The suggestions of Veri replayed themselves in his mind. He wanted to step outside. He wanted to get a better look at the world that Ambrose had created, but the lingering fear of the Somnium Killer breaking in and attacking him still weighed heavily on him. He jumped between one idea and the other, unable to come to a solid decision. Still resting back in the bed, he shut his eyes. He was wholly unaware of how long he lied in bed like this, but all of a sudden, somewhere beyond the door to the room, he heard a weak shout.

"Ambrose!!"

Hollis's eyes shot open. He had to dig through his mind to try and recall whose voice that was. It sounded somewhat different than he remembered, but he was sure it was Noodle's. His voice was strained and weak. What happened?

Rising from the bed, he was about to go over to the door, but he recalled Ambrose's clear concern about anyone finding out that this room was here. Hollis felt his hesitation creeping up. Noodle sounded like he was in trouble, but this room was supposed to be secret. Not only would it put himself at risk, but it would also put Ambrose at risk too! The brunette swallowed his fears and stopped behind the door, listening for anything else. He thought he heard a soft grunt, but he couldn't tell if that was his imagination or not. His heart had been pounding like thunder in his ears, so anything quiet was almost nonexistent; it was only a possibility that he heard what he thought he heard.

Once his pounding heart settled, he heard nothing outside the door. It was silent.

This made his nerves rage once more.

With a shaky, sweating hand, he pushed open the door.

It was empty outside.

Hollis peered around the room searching for any sign of life. He took two steps forward, and from behind the table that Ambrose had left standing he spotted something dark. He had witnessed scenes like this far too much within the last few days. He was aware immediately of what had happened.

"No way... How?"

He backed up into the door, a thud resounding through the large hall. Hollis's legs began to thrash and shiver beneath him. The killer was here?

His misty gaze was darting from corner to corner, as he pressed his palm to the surface at his back. He thought, his breath trying to remain steady as he slowly inched himself back into the room, Is he still here? Did he leave once he...

Hollis shook his head and with haste shut the door behind him. He remained still, silence overtaking the room, the building, the entirety of the golden world that had found itself tainted with blood.

This isn't good. This is... The killer might still be here! And where the hell is Ambrose?! The moment the question entered his mind, he felt himself choke, his eyes widening. Why was he so worried? Because Ambrose wasn't there? Did he really only feel safe when that guy was around?

The young man sucked in a breath, his fists clenching tighter as he forced himself to forfeit all shaking, all dizziness and paranoia. Sure, he was weak on his own. He'd never be able to handle the killer if they went face-to-face again. But he wasn't going to hide like this. If the killer was still around, he could be waiting for Ambrose, or someone else...

Hollis gulped. If Noodle had come here calling for Ambrose, that might mean that he's on his way. He was going to go wait for him to let him know what happened.

With a nod, he turned. Taking in deep breaths, Hollis pushed himself to open the door. Once the door was open, he averted his gaze away from the body beside the table. His stomach turned from the mere sight of it in his peripheral vision. He jogged through the hall, his head pounding from the growing fear, before he finally reached the doors at the end. He wasn't sure which was more comfortable, remaining put in the hall with the body of his friend's close colleague, or going outside where the killer could be potentially waiting for his next victim.

Still, if things get rough, I can use that gun again!

Hollis gave a stern nod to himself before pushing the doors open, his steps slow and methodical and his gaze drifting from every corner visible as he exited the building. Just as he had remembered, the outside was warm and gentle and felt even better after having been holed up in that room for however long he had been. Everything felt safe and comfy, the warm gold hues over the bushes and trees, the flowers and grass made the area feel sacred. But this sacred place had been defiled, violated. Hollis exhaled and dropped down onto the step in front of the path leading into the golden forest in front of the building. He had to tell Ambrose what had happened. He had to protect this place. He had to protect himself.

The gun he had used before appeared in his hand. He looked it over, checking it thoroughly in case he needed to use it. He swallowed down a lump in his throat as his form solidified like that of a statue. He was going to wait as long as he needed to...

Hollis waited and waited. As the sun beamed down on him, it wasn't too hot, but just right. The warmth spread over his form in waves as it peered through the trees, and this sense of comfort eased him into a soft slumber, the gun dropping from his hand to the stone path beneath his feet.

While sleeping, he was totally unaware of anything that transpired around him, thus, when the slow, rhythmic tap of footsteps approached, he hadn't the foggiest idea. He was out cold. The owner of those footsteps paused in front of him, then reached out their hand and dropped their palm onto the brunette's feathery locks. This sudden contact abruptly woke the youth and he gasped, his form shooting straight and his arms outstretched as if the gun was still clasped in his hands.

His assailant stepped back, arms up as he let out a surprised sound. "Take it easy, Hollis," he said in a slow, lethargic tone. "I have a few questions, but I guess those will wait."

Hollis gulped, realizing that he had dropped the gun, but more importantly, he needed proof that the one standing before him was truly who he appeared to be.

"Ambrose?"

"Yeah?" He sneered as per usual, his eyes twinkling with the mischief he was seemingly so fond of. "Do you need me to prove I am who I am?" He crossed his arms over his chest. Hollis stared him up and down. It took merely seconds for him to come to a verdict.

"No, I know it's you." As he spoke, he shook his head to and fro before coming to a stand. His legs wobbled before he finally got his bearings, and then, the situation hit him. "A-Ambrose! Inside..."

Without a moment of hesitation, the two raced into the building. Hollis led Ambrose to the side of the table where the body of Noodle had lied, but when they got there, there was nothing to be seen.

"What?" Hollis looked around, but there was nothing askew about the place. Everything was as it had been.

"I see," Ambrose spoke in a low voice as he came up to Hollis's side.

"I'm not lying!"

"I know. I'm just...too late." His large hand found itself resting upon Hollis's shoulder. He continued, "It's my fault. If I had gotten here sooner..." Ambrose let out a slow breath. "A person's mindscape and their 'self' only lasts for a short time..."

"Right..."

I forgot about that...

Ambrose smiled down at the shorter boy, though it was an incredibly vague smile. "Thank you for waiting for me...but why?" His odd, bi-colored eyes narrowed, and his gaze seemed to pierce into Hollis's very soul. Hollis steeled himself, not giving any clear reaction. "I...heard Noodle call to you and I didn't open the door. If I had, I'd have been able to help him..." His misty blue eyes dropped. "I just... I wasn't going to rely on you for all of this. If the killer was going to come for me, so be it."

The tall youth gave no reaction to this. After a stretch of silence, he responded with, "I see." He took a couple steps ahead before peering back at Hollis. "Do you find me overbearing?"

Hollis choked. He had no response for that. Well, he did, but was now the best time to say it? He normally wouldn't care so much about whether what he said would hurt someone's feelings or not, but this instance was different. After everything Ambrose had been through, this didn't seem like the time to do that. Alas, Ambrose peered at him, waiting for an answer. Hollis was reluctant, but he went ahead and answered, it wasn't as if Ambrose wasn't already aware of the older boy's feelings about this.

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"Y-yeah, kind of."

Contrary to his expectations, Ambrose smiled. "I see. You'd prefer trying to handle this alone?"

"W-well, not exactly," he rebutted. "'Two heads are better than one', isn't that right?"

"Right, gotcha." The sandy-haired youth spun back, his smile still plastered across his face, though clearly not his typical jovial one. There was a sense of emptiness to it. A pang shot through Hollis's chest at the sight of it.

"Alright, guy." Ambrose shoved his hands deep into his pants pockets. "We can't let this bastard keep on going. We're going to bring him to his knees...tonight."

Hollis gave no response to this at first. Then, he spoke up in a slow, quiet voice, "So, if I can ask my own questions, what have you been doing?" With a snap of his fingers, Ambrose answered, his expression showing sudden surprise, "Right...my mistake." His demeanor changed as his arms crossed, his expression solemn. "I'm sorry. It's been five days. Things have been a little rough outside."

Hollis wanted to ask but decided against it. Regardless, Ambrose explained. "There was an attempted lock-out for Somnium due to the killer's uptick of attacks. The forum went on a break from leaving mindspaces during the time." His eyes narrowed gently. "I could only hope this meant the killer would halt all killings during this time out of fear of being caught."

"And you couldn't sleep?"

Ambrose's lips curled into a vague smirk. "While we were all...'suspended' from leaving our mindspaces, I focused on doing more research...and thinking."

"'Thinking'?"

"Trying to tie all of this together...and now..." He chewed his lip before he continued, "This only leaves us with a few options."

"Hm?"

"A few options to the killer's identity."

Hollis agreed. Tic was the only member of Ambrose's group left, but the fighting style of the killer didn't match Tic's appearance at all. If what Ambrose said was true and their fighting was based on what 'felt right', Tic most certainly wouldn't choose such a light-footed, defensive style. And if he did use it as an alternate style for that appearance, it probably would have taken him time to get adjusted to. So it was possible, but unlikely. The killer had to be someone close to Ambrose, someone who saw him so frequently that he was able to mimic his appearance perfectly. The only other person...

"Who do you..."

Ambrose smiled. "I don't believe it's Tic."

"I agree."

He's a jerk, but I don't think he's the killer.

The only other person Hollis could think of was Veri.

But why?

"Do you still have the knife, Hollis?" The brunette winced and, out of habit, shoved his hand into his pocket, but nothing was there. "I... It's back in my mindspace. I buried it."

Ambrose's lips curled into his cat-like smirk, his eyes squinting playfully. "I'd like to see it." With a spin, he turned away from Hollis. "I have theories, but I need proof, otherwise...they're just theories."

Hollis opened the door to his mindspace and the pair entered. Crouching at the tree, Hollis dug up the knife the killer had left behind. Once this was done, he handed it over to Ambrose, who looked it over with the highest of intrigue. Smiling, he handed it back to Hollis. "Keep a hold of this, will you?"

Immediately after Hollis returned the knife to his pocket, Ambrose relayed his idea to him. "We need to head back to my mindspace though, if it's not too much trouble to you."

Hollis shook his head. Ambrose sneered as he pulled up a blue box. Hollis tilted his head as he looked it over. Quite clearly, it was one of those browser windows. "I'll send a message to Tic. I get the feeling it would be too risky to show up uninvited in his mindspace."

"So, I take it that lock-out is over then if you're doing this, huh?"

Ambrose gave a low, yet impish chuckle. "It lasted about three days before they realized they couldn't do anything about it. By day two a majority of Somnium were still wandering around and they silently ended it." He tapped and tapped at the screen that hovered before him. "When all of this is over, I'd like to...text you. DM you and all that." He peeked at Hollis from behind the screen, but the shorter boy couldn't get a good look at his expression. The silence hung over them before Hollis nodded and answered. "Sure. Alright."

Ambrose's eyes squinted as he smiled before he returned back to his work. "You know, if you don't remember, you can send messages while you sleep. You can receive them, but if you want to send a message, you need a browser already available, and you have to copy and paste the text. It's a bit of a pain, but it's useful." He chuckled as he finished. With a simple press of a button, he sent the message out. "Alright. Let's go. We need to be there when he arrives."

Returning to the younger boy's mindspace, they awaited the arrival of Tic under the pavilion of the golden building. After a two or three minute wait, he finally showed up, his brows sunk low over his small eyes and his broad jaw clenched. Hollis's body went stiff as the massive figure approached, but Ambrose remained cool and calm as can be and this sight helped the smaller boy relax.

"What do you want," Tic asked as his bulky arms hung at his sides. Ambrose's expression shifted ever so slightly; his smile drooped as he spoke. "The killer took one of us again."

Tic winced, his brows, though still furrowed, raised up and his dark eyes widened. "What—"

"Noodle is dead. All that's left is us now."

"So, what? Are you accusing me now?"

"Not at all." Ambrose seemed to exhale weakly as he crossed his arms. "I don't... We don't think it's you. I know for a fact it's not you." Suddenly, his sneer came back, somehow more malevolent than usual. "We need you to help us kill this guy."

Tic grunted, his head lowering, but his gaze sat on the sandy-haired youth. Hollis peered at Ambrose, his eyes wavering as the word 'kill' passed the taller boy's lips. "I don't think we should kill him," he said. This caught both of the young men's attention. "We want him to suffer, but if we kill him, we'll be the only ones who find out his real identity." His head lowered. "You get that, right? Let's make him suffer through and through. He's using your face for a reason."

Ambrose remained still before grinning just as malevolently as his sneer. "He's so intent on hiding his identity... I've got an idea." Glancing over to Tic, he asked, "What do you think, Tic? Push our differences aside and take this guy out?"

Tic grunted again, his large hands resting on his hips as he looked to the ground. "This guy has your face... How can I trust you?"

"I trust him," Hollis broke in. "I'll do whatever we have to. If Tic doesn't want to do this, I'll do it all."

Ambrose tried to hide it, but his lips twitched into a smile for a moment. Turning back to Tic, he said, "If you won't help, it'll just be the two of us then, and that's fine with me." Hearing this, the large man paused before finally releasing a rough scoff. "Fine," he exhaled. "I'll come along." His eyes narrowed as he grit his teeth. "Tell me what we're doing."

A field of bright, luminescent grass stretched out to the blue horizon, dotted sporadically by mountaintops as far as one could see. A gentle breeze swept through the field and the grass waved pleasantly and the trees swayed in sync. Tic and Hollis sat on the ledge of this field. Below them were rocky ledges that jutted out and led down to another, less magnificent field with a clear path running through. Hollis's feet dangled beneath him but remained still and lifeless. The two of them were bait.

"The killer doesn't seem to have any intention of killing me, not yet anyway," Ambrose had said to them. "There's only three of us left, so he's more than likely going to target Tic. And for some reason, he's got interest in Hollis." Ambrose tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. "Would you be alright using yourself as bait?"

Hollis sighed as he pulled his leg up to his chest. They were supposed to be bait, but sitting around like this was clearly a trap. Not to mention, when would Hollis and Tic ever be together like this?

As thoughts like this wandered into his mind, Tic suddenly spoke up. "I'm...sorry."

"Hm?"

"For accusing Ambrose like that." His head was low out of view, and at some point, he had turned away from the smaller boy. "We talked a bit about this before and..." He scoffed. "We have that in common at least. We're both hard-headed, I guess." He seemed to growl as he crossed his arms. It almost looked like he was pouting.

"I see," was all Hollis could think of in response to this confession. Tic went on, "I guess I let the stories the forum was sharing get the better of me or something. I'm no detective...so I put what I figured was two and two together and..." He shrugged, still not looking at the brunette. "He was the most obvious suspect."

"Isn't this stuff you should be telling him?"

"W-well, sure! But he'd never let it go if I did that! You know what he's like. Give him an inch and he'll take a mile!" He scoffed even louder this time. "He's unbelievable!"

"You said it..."

"You see that? Good!" The two of them paused, the sound of the breeze the only thing heard. Suddenly, "Someone needs to put him in his place sometime! Show him he's not all that!"

"That's impossible. His ego's the size of that building in his mindspace."

"Yeah." Tic chuckled. "That's the big joke on the forum, but so many people think that seriously, so there's no doubt it's true! Everyone can see it."

Hollis smirked a little, his lip only twitching into the form for a moment. "Yeah, he's really something." Hollis paused before adding, "You've seen him in real life?"

"Yeah. We met up a few years ago."

A few years ago? Hmm...

Hollis nodded, his lips sealed. Sensing a growing awkwardness, Tic went on, "Why do you wanna know? Ah, that's right. You can't leave still, right?"

"Ah, yeah. That's right."

"So he hasn't shown you what he really looks like?"

"No. He, uh... He said about hanging out when I get out of here. Telling me his real name, getting to see him. That stuff."

"Oh? He's really playing you, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

Tic let out low grumbling sounds that Hollis realized were triumphant laughs. "He's keeping his stuff under lock and key from you. That's not like him with someone he likes as much as you."

So, he likes other people as much as me, huh? Hollis groaned under his breath. For some reason he was feeling somewhat offended by the idea. I guess this whole situation is really getting to me, he thought with a feeling of devastation.

Tic continued, "He's trying to help you out a bit, I guess. He's giving you some motivation. He's just like that." He hummed as if he had become lost in thought. Hollis nodded. For some reason, he was feeling even more interested in learning what Ambrose was really like. Who this guy really was.

The two remained in their spot, continuing with small talk as they did, hoping to make this situation look more authentic now that they felt more comfortable with each other. As they did this, Hollis brought up something he thought was highly crucial to their situation.

"So, I haven't talked much with Veri. What's he doing?"

"Veri?" Tic's brow perked up. "Can't say I really know. The only one who's real close to him is Ambrose, so if anyone would know, it's him."

As the two spoke, a set of footsteps approached from behind, the grass parting with every step. Once Hollis noticed, he turned, but that same instant, Ambrose jumped out from behind a bush and tackled the figure. Tic clenched his teeth as he came to a stand promptly followed by Hollis.

The figure, who was quite clearly the copy of Ambrose, wiped the side of his face off. The sandy-haired youth stood over the killer, his face blocked from sight by the blaring sun above. "You were really so stupid to come out like this? I'm disappointed."

The copy grunted, pushing himself up with a clear sense of reluctance. "I saw this coming... But I didn't think you'd use Hollis as bait so readily..."

Ambrose smirked, though the twinkle in his eyes was no longer present. "I wouldn't normally want to do that, but he was so determined to prove himself, what else could I do but let him."

Still standing at the cliff's edge, Hollis gulped. He hadn't realized how Ambrose had felt about this. He really was overbearing. But alas, it was too late to think about that!

The two had stopped talking and stared each other down with looks as sharp as daggers, and postures as stiff as stone. Tic and Hollis looked between the two. What was going through Tic's mind was anyone's guess, but Hollis struggled with himself to pull out the gun for when it would be needed.

At some point, he was going to have to make a run for it.

That next moment, the killer flipped out his blades and made a rush for Ambrose. The youth pulled out his weapon and slashed upright as the killer made contact. His defenses were now open, and Tic made a dash for him, ramming into his side, or at least attempting to. The copy slipped away and tossed out his weapons. They shot forward like bullets and immediately struck Tic in his forearms as he guarded.

I remember him throwing them before, Ambrose thought as the weapons jutted out of the large man's arms. But it wasn't like this!

The copy dashed forward and sliced Ambrose's chest with another blade. Immediately, Ambrose pulled back but the copy closed in on him. Tic pulled the blades from his forearms and tossed them aside before heading into the fray.

The killer slashed and thrust his blades at the two as they struck back, forming a perfect team as they took their turns attacking when any openings were available to them. The killer would make a hasty retreat when his opponents would close in too much and would perform that strange attack; his blades turned into arrows of light and would easily pierce anything in their path. They were near impossible for the two to completely avoid and they were covered head to toe in nicks and scratches in mere minutes.

"Split up," Ambrose commanded. "He might have a harder time keeping track of the two of us."

"I go right, you go left?"

"Fine with me!" The youth sneered as he dashed away, Tic heading off in the opposite direction.

The copy looked between the two, a bead of sweat rolling down his chin. He scoffed before making a leap back as they closed in on him from two each side. He moved his arms in preparation to toss the blades, but when he thrust them out again, eight blades emerged instead of two: four for Ambrose, four for Tic.