Once again, Tom opened his eyes. Sweat drenched the robe he wore... he felt sick.

He was laid down, same as last time... except, not in a coffin, thank God. No, he was in bed. Not his bed - a huge, exquisite one, with blue sheets soft as silk and big pillows. The room he was in now seemed to be some sort of personal chambers, small, with sloped walls. Hanging from the ceiling was a crystal chandelier, which held candles that burned with an icy blue flame.

It took a few seconds for Tom to stir, but when he did, he jolted up. As if picking up from where he left off, the teen moved his hands to his chest again... yep, still gone.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God..."

The gloves he had on were getting in the way of feeling the true extent of his condition. Hooking a finger around the end of one of them, he yanked it off - just to be met with another horrifying sight.

"Oh, what the fuck!?"

The flesh on his fingers... it was a pale blue, and most of it had gone missing, just like his chest. His fingers were literally bony... he could even see the ligaments. Screaming out, he rushed to pull the glove back on.

"C-calm down!"

Tom's eyes shot to the end of the bed. It was the hunched-over man from before, standing at the far edge. How long had he been watching?

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"I..." he stammered. "I, I think I know what happened here."

From the looks of it, this guy was about as scared as Tom was. He pointed a crooked, shaking finger at the boy.

"You... you are from the Mother Realm. Earth."

E-Earth? Wait, this isn't Earth?

The man began to round the bed, heading for Tom's side... subconsciously, Tom inched away from him as he got close. There was something in his hands...

"You must be afraid." the man's raspy voice struggled to be soothing. "I am Vannes. What is your name?"

"T-tom?"

"Tuh-tom... I don't know what you looked like in the Mother Realm, but here, you inhabit the body of my former master... Lord Corvus."

Vannes raised up what he was holding... a silver mirror. And in that mirror, staring back at Tom, was a nightmare.

Long silver. hair ran down over his shoulders. The skin on his face was blue, same as his hands, and wrinkly... God, he was old! But that wasn't the worst part... the worst part was, like the rest of his body, parts had rotted away... his nose, his cheeks, they were... dessicated. Disgusting.

Is... is that me?

"What... what happened?" he rose two shaky hands to his face, feeling around... his skin was cold and dry, like how he imagined a corpse would feel. "Am I dead?"

Vannes shook his head. "No, no. My master tried to create a spell... it's complex, but I believe you and him have traded souls."

In response to that, Tom blinked.

"My... soul, is in his body?"

"Yes." Vannes nodded. "I imagine his soul is in yours as well."

It's like... it's like... Freaky Friday? I... I... I guess that makes sense. But it's all so... crazy!

"I have sworn to serve my master..." Vannes knelt down. "Together, I hope we can find a way to sort this out."

Sort this out... sort this out!

Tom felt energy rush into his decayed body. He could... if he tried, he could get back home! He could be himself again! For now, he'd have to be... this monster. But that would change. If a spell got him in this body... a spell could get him out of it.

"Let's..." he sat up straighter. "Let's do this."