“Thanks for the optimism Erind,” Deen said.

“You're welcome,” I said. “How about you give me sweets as a reward?”

Deen laughed. And then her face got stuck.

Uhh. I looked at the rest of my teammates. They were also frozen.

The sweet taste of vanilla carrot cake graced my tongue. Except, that didn’t make much sense since I had finished all of mine.

You should have saved some for me, SpookyErind said, holding a plate of vanilla carrot cake. She used her clawed gauntlet to eat out of it.

“I sort of wanted a break from you,” I honestly said turning towards her voice. It felt like it took forever to turn. I saw both myself and her. She had her mask on and was sitting on a chair. The mask quickly dissolved away, showing a marble version of my cute face.

You wound me, myself, SpookyErind pouted.

“You seem perfectly fine to me,” I quipped.

Sadly, I am not, she replied. Myself is not treating me with love.

“I think I love myself very much,” I said while wrapping myself in a hug.

Are you sure about that? She said.

“100%,” I replied. “Sorry if that doesn’t include you though.”

It does include me, she said as the carrot cake vanished into thin air. She got up from her chair. How about we have a talk.

“To be fair, we are surrounded by other people,” I said. “Did you freeze time?”

Do you see a golden bubble? She asked. Nope. Definitely no golden bubble here. I did see she was wearing her cool space admiral outfit. I should definitely get one.

“We’re inside my head?” I said.

Bingo! she cheered. She got up and dashed towards me. It nearly looked like she had teleported. Her arms wrapped around me.

“You don’t need to–” I got cut off as she kissed me. I tried moving my head back, but she just leaned her head forward as well. I could feel her tongue come out of her mouth. No way. I wasn’t going to do tongue kissing with her. Her tastebuds picked up a pinch of salt.

Eventually, she released my lips from hell. A long hell that felt like it lasted several hours. I tried to push myself away from her but my body felt weak and sluggish.

We’re blushing, SpookyErind giggled. Both of our cheeks were red.

“Hey, can’t you see we're in the middle of a party?” I deflected. “Why are you having public displays of affection in front of my teammates?” I tried to point at them, but SpookyErind had me wrapped up in a hug.

Are we in the middle of a party? She asked, releasing me from that oppressive hug. She turned around.

My teammates were gone. The room we were in shrunk. No, not shrunk, it was changed. A mirror laid on the wall. I saw myself in the reflection. But blood was dripping down my nose. And my face was full of bruises.

“What?” I asked.

It was very bad of you to hit yourself in the face and try to cut off the lovely crystal on your hand, SpookyErind chided. Her gloved hand grabbed my right hand and traced around the crystal with her gauntlet.. Aren’t you glad you can regenerate?

I knew what she was referring to. Back when I got home after Myra turned me into a shish kabab, I tried to cut myself with a knife to try and become human again. That sounds really stupid in hindsight.

It was! SpookyErind pouted. Thankfully, you made the smart decision afterward and stopped cutting yourself.

“Why’d you bring me to my condo?” I asked.

It’s our home away from everything else, she said. We can have all the displays of affection here.

Eww.

You were blushing! SpookyErind called out. I hate that she could read my mind.

“Is there a specific reason you decided to talk to me?” I asked. “Or did you just want to smother me with hugs?”

Definitely hugs, she said, opening her arms out for me. I just stood there. I think I met my SpookyErind love limit for the night. But I also wanted to talk to you about everything that’s happened so far.

“What about it?” I asked.

I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done, she said with a smile. It somehow felt genuine and not the playful grin she usually put on for me.

“Thanks?” I replied. “But I felt like it was more of you doing the hard work.”

We’re one and the same, so we share the rewards, she replied. Rewards? Besides, you did a lot of the important stuff.

“Huh? What are you referring to?” I asked, raising my brow.

You know, convincing the team to attack the 2M’s, and keeping your face up when our main body got knocked out.

“For the first one, I was just appealing to my teammates” I replied. “It helps that it wasn’t entirely made up. The 2M’s were kidnapping people and experimenting on them. Just had to leave out the details of what I did to them. Just had to craft a face around all of this.”

We had so much fun with them, SpookyErind replied. It was like when you were a kid.

“It did,” I said. I had fond memories back then. So many insects I experimented on. Maybe I should have become an entomologist instead of a lawyer. Nah, I wasn’t much of a science person. That stuff was for my parents. “Anyways, going back to my teammates. It was pretty easy to convince them to attack the 2M’s. The real challenge came later when my main body got knocked out. I had to improvise and add to my hero face. ‘How would someone react to being saved by an Adumbrae?’”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

SpookyErind stared at me, waiting for me to respond. It was like she was at a campfire hearing about some wild story. And I was the campfire.

“Very confused,” I said. “And when they were confused as well, I added bits and sprinkles of my own ‘theories’. For example, when I said the Adumbrae were having a civil war for some reason, Besides, it tracks with the story I made up when Myra attacked me.”

SpookyErind clapped. See, you’re amazing! I love listening to myself speak.

“Why thanks for the applause,” I bowed.

You’re welcome, she said. Do you feel a lot better about the mission?

“I guess I do,” I said. “I haven’t really felt that thrilled in ages to use and modify a face. Did you do all this to try and make me feel better?”

Yep, I’m so proud of you, she said, brandishing a knife. Wait what? The knife was drenched in blood.

“Wha-” I got cut off.

I have to clean up the mess you made, she said, taking the knife to the kitchen. This was the same knife I used to try and cut the crystal out of my hand.

“I don’t feel as good now,” I said. At least she didn’t stab me with it.

I would never harm myself, SpookyErind said as she walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet.

“Why do you need to wash that knife anyway?” I asked, trying to move to the kitchen. My body felt slow and sluggish as if I was moving through syrup. Not that I’ve ever tried that, but that’s what it felt like. “Isn’t this all in my head?”

Because it’s important, SpookyErind said with a grin as she used a sponge to clean the knife.

“Important?” I asked as I finally made it to the kitchen. I could see her from here cleaning the knife. And then through her vision, I saw the knife even closer. Why are knives important? “How so?”

Why do you think? SpookyErind asked. Was this a fucking riddle? Language.

“Mom, is this a riddle?” I slyly asked.

It shouldn’t be, my dear Erind, SpookyErind responded, turning off the sink. She held the knife up to the ceiling. Light bounced off of it now that it was no longer stained with blood.

I didn’t like the tone of what she said. It felt like she was being condescending to me. As if I was a kid.

Compared to me, you are a kid, she said, putting up the knife with the rest of my utensils. She twirled around. I’m way older than you.

“I thought we were one and the same?” I asked, trying to put my hands on my hips. Seriously, why was my body so slow here? It looked like I was doing some awkward dance move because of how glacially slow my hands were.

That’s right, SpookyErind laughed. It felt like the laughter echoed everywhere inside my mind.

“So how are you older than me and also the same as me?” I asked.

It’s the same way cleaning the knife was important, she said, walking up to me.

“What?” I asked, trying to piece together her nonsense. “Can you stop talking in riddles?”

Riddles? She giggled, as she grabbed my shoulders. My hands had finally made it to my hips. What I’m saying is obvious. It’s like a metaphor. You have to take care of yourself. Just like I did with the knife, it’s no good if it’s covered in blood.

“I still don’t get the metaphor,” I said. “But you want me to take care of myself? Like not harming myself anymore? I’ve already committed to that.”

Not just that, she said, staring into my eyes. Her red eyes seemed to sparkle. I’ve been eating for you, but you also need to eat for me.

“Are you talking about the face you gave me?” I asked. “I didn’t really have a chance to use it at the warehouse.”

She nodded, releasing me from her grip. It’s a shame then since you had access to it. That face is one of my favorites.

“One of your favorites?” I asked. “You have more faces to give me?”

Yep! You’re so smart! She cheered. And that means I’m smart too! She held out her gauntlet and golden liquid emerged from it. It slowly formed into a mannequin mask with some weird symbol on its forehead. It was silver chrome in color, almost robotic like.

If you fulfill two conditions, then I will offer you this, she said, offering the mask out to me.

“What are those conditions?” I asked. “I assume one of them involves me eating?”

Correct, she said. I’ve been doing a lot of the eating for you. I won’t be as involved next time.

“Huh? Why?”

You’re going to have a lot of fun, she winked. Did she mean eating other Adumbrae? Or something else?

“Also, what was that other condition?” I asked.

You have to show that you love me, she said.

“What?!” I blurted out. “I mean, what kind of condition is that?”

It’s the condition to get this face from me, she said, putting her hands on her hips. I’ve given you a lot of love, but you haven’t been reciprocating.

“Reciprocating?” I snorted. “I felt like I’ve done enough not attacking you for invading my personal space. That’s not even bringing up the fact you're an Adumbrae that could be taking over my body.”

SpookyErind glared at me. Uncomfortable thoughts formed in my mind. What if she kept me here forever as retribution? I definitely didn’t want to be stuck here. I wasn’t in the mood for eternal dream torture. Maybe it was best to be more reconciliatory.

You can start by giving me some love, she said with her arms wide open, the traces of her anger gone. Does she just want a hug? Ugh. Better get this over with.

I wrapped my arms around her awesome suit. She wrapped her arms around me.

Now, I need a kiss, she whispered in front of me. Really? My gut whined at me not to do this. But I wanted this over quickly. I leaned in and gave her a quick peck. At least on physical contact she didn’t feel disgusting, unlike humans.

“Is that all?” I asked. Please say yes. I internally chanted.

Not yet, say you’re sorry for being mean to me earlier, she said.

“I’m sorry for being mean to you,” I said.

The word sorry was like a foreign concept to me. Forgiveness? That didn’t exist with Rule #4. I have said it before, but most of the time it held no real significance for me other than to uphold the social norms that my face would follow.

Thanks, she said as she leaned in and gave me a peck ,and began giggling. The giggling picked up in intensity. What the fuck? Eventually, it stopped and she spoke to me again. I do love myself. Meyoumeyoumeyou.

It was that phrase again.

“Actually, on the topic of meyoumeyou yada yada, how is it that you're older than me but also the-”

“What are you talking about Erind?” Deen asked me. How the fuck did she get here?

She was sitting in a chair to the right of me. Next to her was a trashcan of empty plates.

Did SpookyErind end the dream when I was asking her a question?

“I was just wondering how much older you were than me,” I said. “Since we’re having a party with cake, it just kind of reminded me about a birthday party. And that’s why I was asking how much older you are than me.”

“We’re the same age,” Deen said. “But I’m only a few months older than you. Haven’t I told you this before?”

“Maybe,” I said. “Anyways, was the cake delicious?”

“Yeah, I really enjoyed the carrots,” she said.

I fake laughed. “I really enjoyed the sweets.”

“I’m glad you got some nutrition at least,” she replied, patting me on the back. Stop that, I’m not a kid. I wanted to yell at her. But I stayed quiet to not sour the mood. It would also be out of character for my best friend face.

Speaking of nutrition, I had a lot of monsters and Adumbrae to eat. Our next mission at the Eve sounded like a big buffet. And maybe I would find out why SpookyErind was being so cryptic with me about everything.