Yes I finished editing this at 2:00am..Don't judge me, it's still Sunday until the sun comes up XP

TW: Hey guys before we start I just want you guys to know there will be a bit of gore in this chap. I don't know if the death scenes are that bad but I am giving you guys the heads up...or should I say Heads off? (ooh ya'll gon'hate me for this one lol).

I did say scenes as in plural- there are multiple (in the next chap). Do tell me how vivid they are to you so I can tag it more appropriately ok? Stay safe guys.

Oh and Happy belated birthday to our Favourite Coffee Boi...heh ;)

-----

If you wanna get out alive-♪

o-ohh run for your life!

-----

He was in a forest.

The trees surrounding him were old, leafless and decrepit- so a sick, perverse version of a dead forest, if he were to be exact. Almost all of them looked the same, knotted and gnarled with little holes in them...he was sure they had little yellow eyes blinking at him as he passed.

Oh, did he mention that he was running?

Because he was-

He was running as fast as he possibly could.

His throat burned as his breathing grew more and more ragged. His exhaustion grew as well but he couldn't stop now, that...thing was right behind him.

Its semi-liquid inky body was slithering quickly towards him, leaving nothing but a simmering-and no doubt acidic-black ichor in its wake.

----

Anxiety couldn't tell you how he ended up here nor could he tell you where he was or what exactly was chasing him. All he knew was that he had to get out and make sure as hell that thing didn't get him.

He didn't take much backward glances for fear of it catching up to him, but from the few glances he did take he knew the thing was tall- freakishly so - with shadowy skin, a huge face and rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Its eyes were a terrifying yellow and its claws- oh god- they scraped the ground as it ran. Long, sharp and drippy with some type of ooze, one he could only assume was a type of poison.

He didn't know why it was chasing him but he wasn't going to stick around to find out. So he booked it.

Only belatedly realizing that the landscape was completely different from what he was used to.

----

He kept running.

He wasn't going to bother climbing a tree or hiding, the ink thing melted whatever was in its path. Besides, even if it didn't completely dissolve the tree he wanted to hide or climb, one of those things inside would definitely get him.

His only option was forward, so he ran in an off zig-zag hoping to throw the thing off.

It seemed to be working but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep that up for long.

The thing was still coming.

----

Gritting his teeth, Anxiety pressed on.

Forcing his shaky legs to move, he may not know where he was but he damn well was going to figure out how to get out. He was following the direction of the wind, this may have been a crappy forest but there was bound to be a sea or lagoon close by.

He figured that with the thing's height it wouldn't be able to swim and if it could it wouldn't be fast enough to catch him. He could dive down, swim to shore, book it in the opposite direction and get out of whatever hell-hole he was trapped in, well that's what he hoped at least.

-----

Zig-zagging was working but at the cost of his energy. He was already starting to become lightheaded, he needed to think of a way to lose that thing before he collapsed. He had a feeling that if he fell, it'd be game over for him.

The problem was, he had absolutely no clue how to beat the ink creature- what do you use to combat ink anyway?

Wait....ink, like pen ink? How do you get rid of ink?

Water! He needed to find water.

There had to be a river or lagoon or something close by. He was already following the wind maybe it would lead him to where he wanted to go.

-----

Anxiety's assumptions payed off when just a little distance off he was meet with a black sea. The thing was still chasing him, its claws grinding in the dirt and rock, making god awful sounds as it approached. He redoubled his efforts and used all his might to sprint down towards the water.

He made it to the shore... and that was as far as he had gotten before something- more like someone - came barrelling into him, sending them both crashing down onto the ground.

"Thomas?!"

"Anxiety?!"

----

The two didn't get to dwell on their sudden meeting, because within moments their separate beasts caught up to them.

Jumping to his feet Anxiety instantly pulled Thomas up and pushed him back.

"Wah- hey!"

"Thomas, stay behind me!" He hissed. Readily bracing himself to use his body as a shield to defend his host.

The two creatures met right next to each other. One, a sentient Eldritch ink blob with a particularly acidic attitude, and the other, a freakishly large demonic abomination with an apparent Freddy Krueger crush.

The Taller one shrieked, angry and ear-piercing as its rows of teeth rattled and echoed the sound- its bared claws were held at the ready, each one dripping with poison. Snarls and gurgled growls followed and filled the air, tension permeating alongside it; the Ink Blob had made itself bigger, stretching its viscous- and now bubbling- body to match the other. The acid on its black liquid "flesh" hissed back in answer.

An odd face-off but there was no denying-

the creatures hated each other.

Anxiety took note, still standing in front of his host, he gently backed up; consequently causing Thomas to mimic the action. Together they managed slow careful movements, thankfully appearing unseen between the two beasts that towered above them.

-----

Thomas held a breath with nearly every step he took, his eyes watching the beasts, expecting them to turn and charge at him once more.

A quick half glimpse to the front, the manifestor discerned that Anxiety seemed to be doing the same thing, but the personality was meticulous enough to glance down every second or so. Not that the Host could fault him for that- in every movie he had ever seen, this would be the perfect, but most in opportune time for the clichéd "stepping-on-a-twig" scene to occur...then again, this wasn't a movie, now was it.

Step by step, they made it from the edge of the shore, around the creatures and back on the forest path. They hadn't been caught yet but they still weren't far enough to safely sprint away from the beasts, so they continued...inching their way to a suitable distance.

Now staying in the middle of a path wasn't exactly the wisest idea when trying to run away, but neither of them wanted to risk getting too close to the trees, lest another creature warn the giant ones of their escape. Though by the increasing sounds of growling and snarling, Thomas doubted that they would hear anything-still, he didn't want to risk anything.

-----

As soon as the Ancillaries had left Geoffrey set to work, calming the people down. He had succeeded...a bit. The emotions shouting at the top of their lungs outside the castle made it rather difficult-

"Hear ye, hear ye! Ancillaries order Vassal Geoffrey head of Prime Kingdom! Prominent and Secondary personalities are no where to be seen. Prince Roman has fallen! -"

At this point the Vassal just tuned out the reporting emotion, his insipid bell was driving Geoffrey up the wall.

"...-Dream Tower in choas! Main Aspect unaccounted for!"

That news made Geoffrey pause, the Dream Tower? Was he still ill?

Making a haste decision, the Vassal headed towards the largest Tower in the Kingdom- the R.E.M. section of the Mindscape. It didn't take very long for Geoffrey to reach his destination, he had taken the fastest horse. It was rather alarming to hear that something was amiss in the Dream Tower, afterall, it forefronts the gate of the subconscious.

True to the Town crier's word, the R.E.M section had gone haywire.

In the Tower, Figments and Emotions were shouting, yelling and running all over the place. Papers flew about and everyone was flitting around trying to either catch them or put out those that were somehow on fire. The walls were cracking, long spider web-like lines marring the once beautifully immaculate ivory.

"Where is the main Aspect in charge?" Yelled Geoffrey over the cacophony of noise.

Thankfully a Figment managed to hear him. Her skin- nearly as dark as his own- shone, slightly sweaty causing her crimped curls to stick to the press of her forehead.

She walked forward and gave the Vassal a small bow.

Geoffrey smiled at the familiar face. "Patience, my dear you need not bow for me! Though, my query still stands, where is he?-"

The Figment returned the smile, but just for a second before she sighed and shook her head. Unfortunately this dislodged one of her curls from its precarious position behind the loop of her ears, leaving it to flop freely atop her right eye. She huffed and blew at the offending strand. "He's still sick sir, we're trying our best to restore things to-"

A Gold aura pulsed through the Dream tower and everything seemed to freeze- papers that once were aflame were somehow unscathed and so were the trampled emotions. A loud sound, something akin to falling sand, echoed throughout the building- before returning to silence. Even the walls had returned to their unblemished state, almost as if time had reversed itself.

"...order"

Once the aura completely covered the Tower, it pulsed once again before dispersing completely. A solid 'thud' accompanying it's disappearing.

"Dammit boss!" Cursed Patience exasperatedly, "you're supposed to be resting!" She groaned, slapping a palm to her face before letting it fall. With a huff she headed up a stairwell, grumbling about a 'stupid, self-sacrificing Sand Guardian' under her breath.

Geoffrey arched a brow, following gently behind her. "He's still as stubborn as ever, no?"

"Tell me about it!" She rolled her eyes, "you wouldn't believe how hard it was to get him up to his room in the first place! He refused to stay in there- Serenity and I literally had to drag him and lock him in there ourselves!"

"Oh?" The Vassal was quite intrigued, especially considering that Serenity was quite the out spoken Figment when she was ready. "Why was he so adamant in not staying-"

"I don't know?! He's like the most laziest workaholic ever! Last night he passed out because of his fever but still woke up an hour later, half delirious and mumbling about defending the gate, and he went out there despite the fact that we had guards at the gate already!"

"Then how did you?-

"How did we get him back to his room?" She finished for him and when Geoffrey nodded, she smirked. "Well after struggling for a bit, Serenity had the most brilliant idea"

"Which was?"

"She ran up to his room grabbed a small little red string bag and just launched some of his own sleep sand in his face, after a few seconds I had him sleeping like a baby in my arms"

At that the Vassal burst into a fit of chuckles.

"Truly?" He asked, mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Ye, I practically carried him up stairs myself, he hardly weighs a thing. I swear half his body weight is coffee and tea drinks and the rest is just sass and stubbornness"

"I find myself hard pressed to deny that, my dear", grinned the Vassal.

They only walked up a bit more before reaching and ornate white door. The metal borders around it were a shining onyx and the hinges were golden.

"I presume this one is his?"

"Yep, i'mma go in first and find out why the heck he's awake and if I can't convince him to go back to sleep- and actually rest for once in his goddess-damned life-", she hissed threateningly under her breath, before smiling sweetly back up, "then I'll leave him to you!"

Geoffrey could only nod, "er, yes...of course"

Patience walked in without so much as a knock. Anything that could have be heard from inside was near completely muffled. Before the Vassal could think about it, the door opened and the female figment looked up at him, her curls flopping down forlornly. "He's all yours," she says with a sigh, before quickly returning down to the main center.

Confused, Geoffrey enters...

Just in time to see the Aspect of Sleep tilt and sway-

"Remanuel!"

Without thinking, the Vassal rushed to steady the younger male from behind. He barely managed to hold him up by his shoulders before Sleep looked up at him; snapping out of whatever odd trance he had been in and gave him a small lazy grin-

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that Geevs?"

Honestly, the Figment had simply considered dropping him.

"The same amount of times I've told you not to call me Geevs", he deadpanned.

"Fair enough", smirked the Aspect as he twisted, albeit shakily, out of the Vassal's light hold.

Geoffrey sighs, "Why are you forcing yourself to remain awake in your condition?

Sleep shrugs, pacing slowly around his room. "Somethin's wrong, I don't know what is but, everything seems off-"

"Maybe it would have to do with the fact that our host and his personalities are all down-"

The Aspect spins around quickly Geoffrey himself almost got whiplash from it.

"Down?...They're all...down?"

"Unfortunately, yes, each of the Main four are unconscious. The the Ancillaries came to retrieve Prince Roman themselves and currently Fairy Godmother is with them in the Commons"

"...well...I guess that explains why I blacked out about an hour ago-", Sleep mumbled as he placed a hand to his chin.

The gesture and the silence that followed was rather unusual for the brash and outspoken youth. It had him looking pensive and worried- worse yet- when he runs a shaky hand through his already unruly hair.

With a sigh the Aspect drops his hands and turns his palms out forward... Slowly the sound of hissing sand rang through the room. Golden, near glittering in color, the sand rose from wherever it was summoned and began floating in the air.

The gold sand formed what could only be described as a screen- it even appeared to static as an image began to form on it- until Sleep gasped and fell to a knee. The sand instantly losing form and falling along side it's master.

However, instead of staying stagnant, the sand began to crawl slowly onto the panting Aspect taking a shape...it formed... into a messenger bag?

Sleep didn't even look perturbed by the action, likely a common occurrence or he was too tired to care. By the looks of things, it was both.

His dark shades were barely hiding his exhausted gaze- Geoffrey observed the miniscule tremors hidden under the black leather jacket...there were bandages underneath it.

"You are unwell Remanuel- it's unwise to push yourself-"

"Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment Geevs", grits out the youth as he rises, "but if the Mains are down- aren't the other sides down too?"

"I...am unsure, but I believe that they'd be just as unconscious-"

"Exactly, I need to check. If they're all down then the Mindscape falls under my control-"

"Actually, you do not need to do anything except to stop pushing yourself. I was put in charge by the Ancillaries- which means you should rest-"

"Oh please, whether I was sick or not you would have come here for me-"

"I came here because I heard the Tower had fallen into chaos-"

"Which I fixed-! Did you forget who I am Geevs? I'm the Guardian of the Subconscious. I'm in charge of making sure the Mindscape isn't in danger of collapsing in on itself. I protect the imagination from Nightmares and the insanity and destruction they bring. I create and command the dream cycles so that our Host can sleep safe and undisturbed!"

Sleep was near shouting now as he threw his hands in the air, gesturing wildly as he resumed pacing.

"And if I just so happen to black out for less than an hour- things start going to shit! But that doesn't matter now does it?! I nearly got mauled taking down a dragon the other day- I killed one only for another to take its place and escape, but Roman handled that didn't he?!"

"Yes, he received your warning and dispatched of the beast-"

"Yeah, with some guardsmen and quite a few didn't come back unscathed. I had to take down the first one alone, I was sick- I'm still sick but that doesn't matter, right?! Either way Serenity nearly paid for it. She's only alive because lady luck decided that all she deserved was a broken leg instead of being burnt to a crisp when she jumped to avoid the second dragon's flames when it took off into the town..."

With huffed sigh and a pinch of the bridge of his nose, the Aspect seemed to deflate at the last sentence-

"Don't you get it Geevs? I can't afford not to push myself, because if I don't, someone might actually die this time"

Geoffrey sighed sombrely, the younger's outburst had startled him at first, but it all made sense. He took another glance at the Aspect before him. Truly he had inherited his acting skill from the Prince. If not for the fever flush and sweat shine upon his forehead- or the bandages slightly peaking out- anyone could easily be fooled to think Sleep was in good health.

"Remanuel... you can't- I know you mean well and I know Prince Roman has put a lot on your shoulders...but you've been ill since near March end- you collapsed on the 1st of April. You're body cannot handle this strain, you need to rest-"

"I can't! The moment I try things just- ahgh!"

It's sudden and terrifying as the Guardian clutches his chest in pain and drops down.

Panicking Geoffrey flounders around the youth.

"Remanuel! Are you alright?"

He shakes his head.

"...beeping...there's- I hear beeping? It's...it's a heart monitor? ...why would that-?" Sleep gasps, eyes wide behind his shades as he frantically scrambles up and summons his sand. "No! Nononono-!"

"Remanuel calm yourself, what is going on?!"

The sand forms into the screen- in a brilliant flash of white and a pulse that sends both males flying into the nearest wall.

Sleep groans, his shades having fallen off at the impact. He ignores them as he wobbles to his feet. Black fear filled eyes on full display.

"Remanuel?"

Geoffrey picks himself up to stand near the now shaking Aspect. All he could see in front of him was a white screen- and then...

Sleep whispers.

"Thomas is in the subconscious...he's behind the gate"

On the sand screen shows their Host, Thomas Sanders running for his life.

------

The two creatures- still unaware of them- had finally decided to end their staring contest...by actually fighting.

The Demonic thing slashed at the Eldritch ink, its rows of teeth clacking together, laughing; the ink bubbled under the attack and even began foaming. The poison from its enemy was apparently too strong...the ink blob turned into an ink puddle.

Thomas had looked back just in time to see it- he also got to see how the abomination that had decided to 'dance' on the corpse...er ooze of its enemy- was promptly captured by the ink creature and digested.

The 'ink' was smart, the trap was convincing enough to have been thought dead only to shoot up and devour its enemy alive. As it fed, something odd started to happen. Its liquid like body began to harden and spikes protruded from its body?

The creature howled, now sounding like both a mix of the demon and the ink. Though it looked more like an angry sea-urchin made out of black liquid.

"Thomas!"

The whisper yell caught the Host's attention. But the creature spotting them caught it more.

"Oh man, we need to keep moving!"

"No shit!" Snipped Anxiety. The creature split into multiple tiny versions of itself and they miniatures started to gain on them "-oh shit, shit, shit, Run!"

-----

"Psst, Thomas!"

'C L A N G !'

'C L A N G !'

'P L I S H !'

"Yeah?"

'C L A N G !'

"Do you hear that?!-"

'C L A N G !'

"Back-back foul beast!"

"It's Roman!"

"Of course" huffed Anxiety, "only Princey would be that extra when fighting for his life"

----

"Hey Princey! Duck!"

Roman dropped into a crouch and rolled away just in time for some shadows to be lobbed at the beast he was fighting.

"Anxiety?"

"Sup-"

"Wait is that Thomas behind you?!"

"Uh, hi?"

"What in the six realms is going on?!"

"Long story Princey, we need to move!"

...

And they did, they made it quite a ways...before Thomas trips and lands face first.

...

-----

Geoffrey watched in intrigue and horror as the Host caught up with his youngest personality and then the Prince. Gaining one personality only to lose one near instantly.

The Aspect of Sleep however had been fiddling with his sand. His hand was on the screen, his eyes closed in concentration as he pushed at it with all his might-

Another flash of bright white pulsed. Sending both of the males crashing right back into the walls.

The Vassal groaned in pain, shaking his head a bit to clear- only to see that Sleep had gotten up again to repeat his previous actions. He only had time to shut his eyes as another pulse of light sent the Guardian flying back into the wall.

Hissing in pain, he got right back up and did it again- it sent him backwards...but not all the way to the wall. He did it again- he ended up midway a significant distance away from the wall. Again- it barely moved him. Again- ...he stood triumphantly in front of the screen. Again- there was no pulse of light this time, but a tearing sound accompanied by something akin to the roar of thunder. Sleep didn't move or give way to what he was doing, not until a white portal tore its way onto Thomas' side of the screen...albeit some distance away from the Host.

"Fucking finally" gritted out the Aspect as he lowered himself to his knees.

"What- what did you do?!"

"Easy there Geevs, I opened a portal from the Subconscious into the consciousness-"

"Why, would you do something so risky?!"

" 'cause, all we need is for Thomas to get through it, once he does, we're home free"

"Are you certain?-"

"Trust me"

-----

"We can't stop now Thomas!"

"But Roman he-!"

"I know..." he closed his eyes for a moment, his chest ached, "gods I know, but we can't let his sacrifice be in vain! We need to keep moving!"

-----

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

F W EE UUM !'

'P L I S H !'

"Ink should not have sentience!"

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

"Is that...is that Logan?"

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

"Curse Roman and his inane creations-!"

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

"Yeah, that's Specs alright"

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

"Logan!"

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

"Thomas? Roman? What are you- wait, Roman can you please stop these infernal creatures?!"

"Wish I could Teach-"

'C L A N G !'

'P L I S H !'

"But I didn't create them-"

"If you didn't make them then who-?"

'F W EE UU M !'

'P L I S H !'

"No clue-"

'C L A N G !'

'P L I S H !'

"But we need to go now! These things have already taken Anxiety and I'm not letting it take the rest of us- Hyah!"

'C L A N G !'

C L A N G !'

'S W I P !'

'P L I S H !'

And that was the last of them.

"What do you mean...? Anxiety's-"

"Gone Logan, he sacrificed himself to save Thomas..." Roman sighed, hanging his head down for a second before shaking it. "Come on, we have to go!"

"Thomas are you alright?"

"I guess? I'm terrified out of my mind right now but that doesn't make sense because Anxiety's gone-"

But before the Manifestor could continue...the leaves began to rustle-

"Look out!" Shouts Roman as he pushes Thomas out of the way, only to be grabbed by the spiny ink creature.

He fights it of course, slashing and hacking away at his captor- he was nearly successful too...except the best grew fed up with the Prince's attempts. In one quick movement, the ink-tentacle like structure- at the end of the beast's form- changed into that of a blade. It stilled Roman's movements...by slicing through his neck.

'THMP'

C L A N K !'

--------

"Prince Roman!"

Geoffrey couldn't believe it, he hardly registered the shout as his own. His friend, his Prince, his liege had just been beheaded before him.

Sleep, meanwhile, was choking. He had placed frantic hands to his neck, gasping for breath as if a certain viscous fluid hindered the flow of his oxygen. He coughed and sputtered into in a fit, body dropping hard on his knees, as he gasped and muttered to himself- "breathe idiot breathe! He's not dead for reals, goddess-dammit!"

It took the Aspect far too long to get a hold of himself- or at least that's what he thought. Roman's connection to him was still there, he knew this. The Prince wasn't actually dead and neither was Anxiety, not yet. None of the sides were in any true danger, not unless Thomas was the one killed.

"That's not really him", gasped the Aspect to the Vassal, his voice came out rough and gurgled.

"What?"

"That's not really our Prince, his body is still with Fairy Godmother, so are the others"

Geoffrey turned to the Dream Guardian with tear-laiden eyes and furrowed brows. "Then why-?"

"Because Thomas is there, he's literally in his own subconscious, his very thoughts connect the core of the Sides and their forms to him", the Aspect coughs, sputtering a bit, but manages to continue. "He's stuck and all the personalities-that he's aware- of are stuck with him too-"

"But their bodies-"

Sleep shakes his head, "forms, not bodies", he croaks. "The subconscious gives a form to anything, a mind in the subconscious would probably take a form that's most familiar, but it's not real. All their minds are in one place but their real bodies are in another"

-------

In the cold and overly sterile waiting room, Thomas' friends Valerie, Leo and Dominic waited for Joan and Talyn to come back and report their resident Manifestor's condition.

"Do you think Thomas and the sides will be ok?" Questioned Dominic.

Valerie shrugged. "They should be, last time I checked the sides were all there with their host and right now Joan and Talyn are with Thomas-"

"Yeah... by, the way how did they get out of that situation with that Officer?"

"No clue, Talyn went outside, said something and just, like, confused the hell out of him" That was Leo.

Dominic raised a brow. "And how did they confuse the cop?"

"Oh that's Talyn's temp "

Dominic was even more confused. "What's a temp?"

"Oh right, you guys don't have one"

"Jeez Val"

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Sure Val"

"I just mean that- nevermind, a temp stands for temporary. It's an ability that 1st and 2nd rank Viewers have. But for every Veiwer with a Temp, there's a catch. Talyn's Temp is called Scramble, they can scramble the thoughts and words of anyone they wish and convince the person to say or that they had said something-"

"So kinda like powers of suggestion?"

"Kinda, but the catch is that when Tal gets stressed or too excited, their own Temp affects them"

"What's Joan's?"

"I'm not really sure what they call it but they can cast minor spells? So long as they can rhyme the words they can change something small, like make a glass of water cold or levitate something like the TV remote. Catch if they don't rhyme it or if it's not fast enough, the spell backfires on them"

"OK so just small things. What about yours?"

"Mine is called Mirror, I can copy a Veiwer's Temp or an ability from a personality. But the catch is, I can only do it with at least one form of contact and I can only use that ability one at a time"

"Um?"

"See if I high five Talyn, I can then use 'Scramble' for how long I want but if I accidentally brush against Joan, I get their ability and loose Talyn's instantly. And the affects of their catch affects me too"

"So if you accidentally get Joan's ability you have to rhyme fast or a spell backfires on you?"

"Exactly"

"Temps are wild man"

"I have to agree"

"Wait does Thomas have a Temp?"

"Kinda, Manifestors have something similar? But I don't know what you call them. I know that all of their Personalities have an ability that they use to protect their host and each Manifestor should have a power that allows them to keep themselves and their inhabitants alive"

"So what's Thomas' ability?"

"I don't really know? He's a first type Manifestor right? He should be able to teleport small distances"

-------

It took Creativity, Logic and Morality. It took Anxiety...twice.

And now?

Thomas was alone.

-----

The Aspect of Sleep groaned, his body shaking and shuddering as he forced himself to keep upright.

As much as he wanted to follow his title- and take the longest nap in history- he had to keep the connection from the subconscious to the conscious open in order to free Thomas.

He could only hope that he would save his host in time, but the odds were literally stacked against him in every possible way. The others were down, he himself wasn't a side, so he didn't have the power they did- and even less so considering he was ill- worse yet, his wounds were reopening and he could feel the edges of his consciousness ebbing. Whether it was from the blood loss or exhaustion, he didn't know.

Even with all that...

Well, he wasn't considered stubborn for nothing.

Biting his tongue and clenching his fist to stave off the darkening of his vision, the Aspect shouted into the white of the subconscious. He would hold that portal open for as long as he could. Hell, he even brought it closer to the Manifestor.

The move cost him though, he could feel his warm blood pooling beneath his jacket and traveling down his jeans. Slow like a viscous liquid fire, yet his feverish body shivered. He didn't have time to dwell on that now though, the creatures were gaining on his host-

In a feat of terror fuelled strength, he picked up his fallen shades and threw them through the portal. They dissolved into sand and formed a barrier just in time to prevent the Manifestor from receiving an impromptu arm amputation.

Watching his host look back in awe, the injured Aspect grit his teeth and pushed the portal closer once more. His host might make it, but the chance was slim. He shouted once more.

"Thomas! Keep running!"

-----

The Manifestor did.

He ran.

With all his might.

But fell a step short.

The creatures descended upon him in the form of an inky black tsunami. The barrelled into him sending his body crashing to the ground, instinctively his body curled up and his arms crossed to shield his face-

Gold?

Gold sand was stopping the ink?

"Go Thomas! Go NOw!"

Gasping as adrenaline kicked in once more, the host shot up running- or he attempted to- his body, still pained and exhausted struggled; he moved in a half awkward stumble until he managed to right himself in time to appear in front of the portal.

He looked back...

The Gold was fading.

"Thomas, I can't hold them longer! Jump!"

He had watched each of his Sides die before him- in front of him and for him- but this voice had protected him as much as they had. He didn't know who it was but he didn't have many options. Either he listened to the voice or let his sides' sacrifice be in vain.

The answer was obvious really.

He chose to believe that the voice would cause him no harm.

He chose... with a deep inhale and push of strained and tired muscle...

to the jump into the portal.

-------

Brown Eyes snapped open.

"Thomas?!"

------

He had placed all his strength and energy into keeping those creatures at bay.

When the Manifestor finally jumped through the portal, he all but dropped in relief-

No-no wait, he did fall, only...someone was holding him?

"-of all the inconceivably reckless things you've done!"

Oh right, he had forgotten about Geevs. Damn, the Oldman looks pissed.

"...srry..." The words gurgled and he could feel some blood trickling down his lips, "but... I had... had'ta'do som'thin'...y'know-?"

If the Aspect had wanted to say more neither would have known- cut off by his own lack of Oxygen, he barley managed a choked gasp before decending into a fit; coughing out most of the blood that had been blocking his airway.

"You did well Remanue- ...Remy , you did well"

Sleep beams up at him, never before having heard his nickname from the stoic Oldman.

A bloody smile on his lips, "...damn right..."

Geoffrey shakes his head at the young form in his hold, "rest, Remy you've more than earned it"

A near miniscule nod is all the answer he receives before the pressure of the younger's deadweight is upon him-

The Aspect of Sleep unconscious in his arms.

-----

AN//: I live...Barely but I'm hanging in there!

This chapter was a long time coming, first cause it got deleted and second, because depression suuucks. This chap got cut into four, just this one was 10K! next chap..death count :)

Once again a big thanks to BluZ0rua for coming to my house and cheering me up as we baked and burned cookies. You're the best friend anyone could ever ask for bro. He got me to write quite a bit of the chapter in just one day and encouraged me to keep going, so thanks again bro.

And Thanks to Davidthetraveler, who I stressed out because this chapter almost got deleted a second time.... Word like legit stopped functioning and all my files were just gone. ( I almost cried...almost). It's all good, I managed to google what I needed to do and fixed the problem but I gave myself and my poor bro a heart attack in the process. Sorry dude ^_^'

Anyway here are some fun facts that I thought you guys might like concerning this chapter and our fav coffee boi.

Fun facts: an Emotion that represented Sleep was going to be featured from the beginning. It was when Roman had mentioned the meeting during the R.E.M. cycle for Dreams during the chapter "Sleep" (which is freaking coincidental and absolutely hilarious to me)

Also mentioned was the argument Roman was having with the R.E.M department in the chapter "To stack up" the Sleep emotion was going to be on Roman's side about the weird dreams and he wasn't going to be pleased about the excess work or the fact that the dreams were going to be disturbing.

But then Thomas created an actual character and the fandom named him Remy and adopted the sassy Starbucks loving, shades at night dork (and so did I). Then I realized Sleep can't be an Emotion, so then I came up with Figments and Aspects ({which Remy will mention in the next half of the chap} are supposed to be called Concepts but they just don't like it).

*So now we have three main Residents of the Mindscape- in order of rank (strength/abilities): Personalities(Sides), Aspects (Concepts), Figments and last but not least Emotions. The only exceptions to this are the ancillaries who are a mix of emotions and figments and are stronger than the other Aspects and Figments due to their titles.

As Remy is the most popular shorts character, I made him the strongest Aspect, even though he's the youngest. (Y'all will soon see why!)

Majority of the shorts characters were already from vine so they're older than him like the months and the slow mo guy/Nate [Aspect of procrastination] )
But the newer ones are inanimate?? So yeah, I don't count the sun, moon, microwave, stove, sticker or printer. So Remy's still the youngest regardless. His birthday is also the 16th of January.....TODAY (date of first appearance), right after Pattons!

I gave him the full name of Remanuel because it can either be read as Spanish or British. And I think that's funny. Being a part of and literally made by Roman, Remy shares the ability to speak fluent Spanish (and because he's extra, French and Latin) but can hide his accent well, unless he's really tired or cursing in said language XD


COMMENT OF THE MONTH
By: MelodicallyAltruistic

"I cannot tell you how happy I am that this is back! Ahhhhhh I've loved reading this, this is what pulled me into the dark abyss of Sander Sides to be honest.

And while I don't want you to overwork yourself (self care is very, very important) I am encouraging you to keep fighting! I'm amazed that even after all of those obstacles that you are still here finishing this fic for us. I'm serious just read through all of author notes before and after chapters and you'll be surprised at how far you've come. I love your content, I really do and just you wait until I do a full analysis of the newest chapter.

Speaking of analysis, don't mind me here just trying to decipher this preview. OKAY the one lead that I'm really reeling on is the shades, shades can mean one of two pivotal side chracters from Thomas' short videos. It's either Nate or Remy, but I'm leaning more towards Remy because:

A) Remy is generally used more in fanfics
B) Nate is used to represent laziness more and Remy seems the most likely to be described as stubborn

Remy opening a portal wouldn't be far fetched considering he has made apperances in the real world so maybe opening a portal is just a part of his power as the aspect of sleep. (Though I would argue that the chapter would frame him as the aspect of more than Sleep ie Dreams or Fantasies)

Thomas could be actually trapped in his mind trying to escape into conciousness. That's why he's in the subconcious, because he doesn't have the power to wake up just yet.

The monsters that the text mentioned could be from the nightmares that were mentioned, ie Dream Machine that made things more detailed backfired exactly like Roman predicted.

Or remnants from what was originally bothering with Virgil's condition.

Tldr: Whatever happens this chapter is gonna KICK ASS"

They got it in one y'all, give them a solid round of applause for being awesome and super sweet. This comment actually got me to write 1k more. It's the little things that help and you guys have been absolutely awesome, kind and so, so patient with me.

Thank you and see y'all in the comments section ;)