-You are still with me?!

My other self didn’t reply, but I could tell he was still holding on.

If only we knew if that was a good thing…

I was going to take a wild assumption and suspect that it was NOT a good thing, seeing as he was struggling so hard.

I stepped up and was about to grab his hand to try and drain whatever problem he was having, but before I could, he slapped my hand away.

That was… unexpected.

Was that still him in control? Or did he lose already?

It was sort of an important decision.

If it was him, then I could just stay and wait; seeing as myself already had done the decision making for me.

But if that was not him…

I would have to act right now.

If I was to hesitate, there was no telling if I would be able to even attempt something like this at all.

Hell, even if it was him, I was not certain that it would even work.

Sure, I’ve done something similar before, but I was not very confident in my ability… especially not recently.

I used to rely on my intuition, but that didn’t work 100% of the time.

And right now, when my own consciousness was at stake…

Or, well, at least part of it.

I decided to not be stupid and actually do something before whatever going on was going to finish.

Since he slapped me away, instead of reaching with a singular arm, I just tackled him. Or her.

I expected to have to be careful, to not crush or otherwise hurt her body, but she was surprisingly sturdy,

And I don’t mean that her body was hardened or something.

Not ONLY that.

On top of being like a rock, at least durability-wise, she was firmly planted in place, and even though I used the full force of my weight, she didn’t budge.

But, that was not the main purpose of that attack.

I wanted to get her into physical contact with me.

And I don’t mean some slap or something.

I needed a consistent hold on her.

That’s exactly what I got.

The effect was immediate.

Although not what I expected.

I wanted to connect with that body and drain whatever was invading, but as soon as I managed to establish a connection, it came to me instead.

It was… familiar?

I couldn’t place it, but the mana I felt was familiar.

And no, it was not Mike, or anyone we’ve met recently. Nor anyone in our party, but that was a given, to be honest. It was not ILMA either.

And yet, I had an inkling that whoever that was, was connected.

I was absolutely right, because the moment we connected, it wasn’t only me who hesitated.

As we connected, the magical pull was absolutely intense.

And yet, it immediately stopped, as soon as it felt me.

My first guess was that it was indeed smart, and just began either running away or bunkering down.

But it did not.

Whoever that was, definitely knew me, because instead of worry or hostility, I felt relief.

Did I accidentally connect with myself? Nah, that was not it.

There wasn’t much time for pondering.

Taking the opportunity of the sudden stop in the attack, I tried pulling even harder, but I only got stung.

Yeah, that’s the best way to describe it. I can’t really tell, but it felt just like someone gave me a slap on the wrist. Not forceful, but enough to get my attention.

The feeling was so absurd and unexpected that I almost lost my concentration. I even thought that it happened to me physically, but nope, only Il was close to me right now, and she was in no position to move, and not to mention still frozen in place in an awkward position.

I thought twice about trying again, but there was no point. Or no time rather, because suddenly I felt a burst of energy from within my arms and, with a blinding flash, we all got separated and sent different ways.

-What the hell is going on?! - yelped For, who was constantly observing this exchange.

I can tell she noticed our tug-of-war, as her eyes were glued to Il and her state of mind didn’t exactly yell “peaceful”.

The fact that she was holding a fireball was not helping either.

Next to her, Kon was not very calm either.

He was not holding a spell, or at least not a formed one at least. He did prepare a considerable amount of mana in his hand, though, ready at a split second’s notice to unleash it in some way.

A very valid response.

I was not going to stop either of them. No, I was going to join in, following Kon’s example and preparing myself for something.

Not sure what yet.

At the other edge of the room, Il’s body was lying, unmoving.

Unsure if my other self was still present, I carefully sent a message towards it.

-You still with us?

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I didn’t get a direct response.

Instead, the body shifted.

So, someone was in control. But not getting a response was clearly a bad sign.

I stepped forward, carefully examining the mana that was still raging inside of her.

There’s a mix of a lot of things going on there, so it was hard for me to actually perceive anything… not like I was good at it in the first place.

When I was just a step or two away from her, she finally opened her eyes.

I say she, because it definitely wasn’t me any more.

Now the question, which one had taken over for now?

As I was wondering, the mana whirlpool inside of that body started clearing up, and soon it was clear who the winner was.

Seeing that, I released the mana I gathered.

She noticed me looking.

And stared back.

To be honest, that was not the response I expected. I kind of thought we were going to be back to the standoff from before, but apparently not.

Maybe she was still having a hard time controlling herself?

-How are you feeling? - I asked, kneeling in front of her, trying to see how bad her situation was.

She didn’t answer. Just stared at me with confusion.

-Gymnu.

And then tossed a spell right at my face.

Okay, now that’s the response I thought I’d be getting.

It didn’t really matter, but the spell she conjured wasn’t very powerful.

She sent a lightning right towards my face. Of course it got harmlessly dispelled as soon as it touched my skin, not leaving even a tingling sensation that one would expect from dealing with electricity.

-Ah. I assume that means “well enough”. Good.

But, while I was calm, the pair behind me was not.

Of course For was about to retaliate and toss a spell towards her.

Luckily, she hesitated for a moment, giving me enough time to absorb the spell before it even fully formed.

Kon was still thinking about the counterattack, so I had more than plenty of time to leisurely swipe at him to get rid of the mana he was channeling.

He understood the gesture immediately and stepped back.

For as well, but she was far more persistent, stepping back and grabbing another orb, this time not converting it into a spell, but holding it far away from my hand’s reach.

If she was to try and toss it again, I’d probably have to grab it mid air…

-Can we all calm the hell down? - I said, flicking the remaining mana away. - Despite all the signs, we are all friends here.

-I doubt that… - mumbled For, but stepped back.

-You’re awake… - said Il, staring at the newly awakened body.

So far she was calm, but the moment spells suddenly started flying, or at least the attempts were made, she went on the offensive.

Not spell-wise, no. She was monitoring mana of the encounter, trying to figure out who was the dominant force inside that mind.

And so, she was the first one to realize who we were dealing with.

That was also a good confirmation for me.

I had my own theories, but those were not something I should be trusting completely, as I knew very well.

That was not the only revelation, though.

-Both of you… how do you feel?

Il, I mean the other one, was mostly silent. Besides tossing a spell at me, she didn’t speak, nor react in any way, and was just staring at us intently.

But, the one who replied was not Il.

-Well enough.

It was me.

Well, the other me.

Honestly, I was surprised. After seeing Il wide awake and tossing spells, I thought she was in complete control, yet, he… I was still around?

-You still awake!? - I asked, not hiding my surprise.

-Seems so. But that’s not really important.

I couldn’t agree more.

Him being awake and present was definitely going to give us more problems than anything.

And to prove the problem, one look on Il’s face was enough.

The moment the other me spoke up, she suddenly flinched and jumped back.

I can’t blame her, hearing some voice inside your own head should be a scare by itself. But to hear someone from within yourself…

That’s something completely else. And I know from experience. If you’re not expecting it, it’s definitely a shock.

-What did you do to me!? What is this?! - she immediately started yelling.

-Calm down. It’s not what it looks like! - said her mother, trying to be calm, but came out as anything but.

-And besides, whatever you want to say, there’s definitely not much room for interpretation… - said the other me from within her.

Well, he was right, but he didn’t have to be so brazen about it.

Then again, it was me who we were talking about. Of course.

-Get away from me! Stop! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

-I am afraid that’s not possible… - I said flat out, deciding to be blunt. - Get used to it.

-ARGH! Fuck you! Geksu…

But before she was able to finish the sentence, I already swiped the spell from in front of her.

-Stop it. You know you can’t hurt me.

-Wanna bet!? I managed to kill Axelrod, and he was the same thing as you! Ha!

She smiled, seeing as I tossed a look towards Il.

-Of course I know how to kill you!

-And yet, you don’t have the means to do so now - I stated calmly. - Your weapon is gone.

Her smile immediately vanished.

-We know more than you think. And, do you realize that that weapon of yours was the one thing that was trying to kill you?

-Weak bluff. You think I don’t know what it was?

-Indulge me. What was that?

-Ha. Why would I tell you?

-Eh… It was a piece of crystal, right? The Origin Crystal. One that had a piece of your mother’s soul within it.

-Mor you… - Il started, but I silenced her with a gesture.

-So you know. So what?

She was still not shaken.

-Or that’s what you think.

-Huh?

That got her attention.

-I said that’s what you think. The truth… Well, it’s a bit more complicated.

-I am listening.

That caught me by surprise.

I didn’t think she’d be that interested. Sure, I suspected that I might get her attention a little bit, but she switched up completely.

Ah.

-So you suspected something? I guess it’s not hard to realize when you spend so much time as you did with it… and after what happened to you…

-And how do you know what happened, huh?!

-Besides taking an educated guess after seeing you collapse from a tree? I guess someone gave me a hint.

-A hint?

-Doesn’t matter. What matters is that this man - I pointed towards Kon - saved your life. And you wanted to toss a spell right at his face.

-I wanted to toss a spell at you, not him. And I was fine without your help.

-Right. With crystal shards piercing your body and turning it into who-knows-what.

-If you’re so worried about me, don’t be. Look at yourself.

-Ah, I am already past the point of no return. But at least my mind is my own for now.

-For now…?

Ah. So that caught her attention.

-Don’t mind my head. How’s yours feeling?

-That’s…! That’s not how this is going to work! You are my enemy!

I guess I distracted her enough with my talking that she almost forgot that she was hostile to me.

Wish that worked for longer.

-Eh… and why is that, huh? So far we’ve been anything but hostile to you, don’t you think. I mean, most of us…

I gave a side eye towards For, but she only shrugged.

Sure, she might have been a bit hot-headed, but so was her. And not like they didn’t have some basis for their worries. Either of them.