Grian had been quiet ever since he dropped that bombshell. Mumbo prayed he hadn't uncovered something sensitive, but Grian had quietly assured him that he was fine, the past was the past.

Night had fallen, and Mumbo climbed into bed, hoping he would fall asleep tomorrow with Xisuma safe and sound.

_________________________

"Who are you?"

The question sent a shiver down Mumbo's spine, but not in a bad way. It almost felt like he was seeing an innocent ghost, one who was curious.

But the person in front of him wasn't a ghost.

"Who are you?" The boy asked again.

"M-Mumbo." Mumbo stammered out. "Who a-are you?"

Instead of answering him, the boy let out a sad sigh. "The void is made of purely suffocating silence, wouldn't you agree? It can get lonely."

"How long... How long have you been here?" Mumbo asked.

"Time flows differently here. But we've been here too long."

Mumbo frowned "We've?"

"Yeah. Me and him. He found me a short time after I fell."

"Fell? Wait he? Who-" The boy interrupted Mumbo.

"I can only hope my plan will work. But I don't know how."

"Your plan?" Mumbo asked.

The boy locked eyes with Mumbo. "Look around. Tell me what you see."

"Um..." Mumbo gulped and glanced around. There was only darkness around him, making the fact he could see the boy blatantly impossible, since there was no light source. "Just... Darkness."

"No. What do you see?"

Mumbo took another look around, baffled. "It's just darkness? I don't see what you-" His breath hitched as his eyes fell on a figure huddled a ways away. He couldn't make out any defining features or colors, and when he tried to move closer to the figure, his feet wouldn't move.

"I-I see a person, lying in their side just over there." Mumbo said quickly.

"There's nothing there." The boy kept in eye contact. "When asked to see something when nothing exists, your brain filled in the gap. Here in the void, you saw something that your unconscious mind decided would belong. Blink a few times."

Mumbo did as told, and the figure disappeared.

"Your brain was told bluntly there was nothing there, so now it sees nothing there." The boy hummed. "But what if there was something there after all?"

Mumbo blinked, and then the figure was back, but this time he could hear faint laughter from them.

"You cannot trust what you've been told since birth. Nobody can explain the universe, but some can take advantage of their ignorance. It is always possible to break the laws of the world."

"Why are you telling me this?" Mumbo asked.

The boy gave him a sad smile. "I'm not. You're just a figment of my imagination. I'm dreaming, after all."

"But-"

"I don't know who you are. I might never know. I'm just spilling my thoughts to thin air, trying to make sense of my situation. My predicament was created by shattered code. But now I have a chance to fix it." The boy laughed. "I should wake up now, shouldn't I? The void is tugging me back to consciousness."

"Wait!" Mumbo yelped.

"What?"

"What's... What's your name?" He asked quickly.

The boy cocked his head. "T-"

_____________________________

Mumbo shot up in bed, gasping. His dream was fuzzy, already fading away to nothing.

But he had a strange feeling he'd tapped into something important.

"My goodness, it's too early for this." He muttered, crawling out of bed.

_____________________________

"Morning sleepyhead." The voidling spoke.

The boy yawned. "Morning."

"Who'd you talk to this time?"

The boy hesitated. "Someone entirely new. Someone I've never seen before."

________________________

This chapter was inspired by "Bad Liar" by Imagine Dragons. If you want to set the mood, listen to the song while reading! :D

Also, any theories?