Mumbo was back in that weird void dream. And that strange boy was once again standing in front of him.

Except this time, Mumbo recognized him.

He looked identical to Taurtis, aside from the fact he was missing the cloak. Also, the guy who'd killed Grian had more scars.

Mumbo felt a lump in his throat at the thought and took a step back.

The man gave him a long measured stare. Something about him was different, he looked far stressed and tired rather than the other Taurtis who had held himself up confidently. But the most jarring difference was his voice.

"Mumbo Jumbo, right?"

His voice was softer and sounded more real than the other Taurtis. Perhaps he was a twin?

When Mumbo didn't say anything, the man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "My plan has worked so far, but at what cost? Due to some complications, everything's delayed. I have to take care of an ill person, luckily my friend knows a lot about void sickness. Until he gets better, all I can do is wait. Wait and worry. Do you know how that feels?"

Mumbo felt a pang of sympathy for the guy, remembering when he'd helped rescue Grian from that mansion, and ended up waiting a few days for Grian to recover. "Yeah. It sucks." He answered.

The man was a bit surprised at Mumbo's answer, and Mumbo took the opportunity to ask, "I didn't quite catch your name last time. It started with a T?"

The boy hesitated. "Taurtis. Well, the old one."

"Old one?"

"It's complicated. A mess I'm trying to fix."

"Oh."

Mumbo paused for a moment. "You look pretty frazzled. You okay?"

Taurtis took a shaky breath. "I'm just anxious, I guess. And paranoid. But there's not much else I can do for now. Exy's began to consider risking a journey to find someone he knew a long time ago, but he has to take care of our sick friend and I'm terrible at server-hopping." He shivered a little. "But being honest, I'm scared. Anything could go wrong, and I could lose everything."

"But you're safe now right?"

Taurtis blinked. "Well, yes."

Mumbo tapped his chin. "If you're safe, you don't need to worry. Nothing's going to happen unless you let it. Perhaps the universe is giving you a good opportunity to rest before you continue."

"Huh. I guess you're right. That's pretty wise."

"I uh... Read it in a book."

"Still pretty wise." Taurtis chuckled a little. "Perhaps you're not just someone I randomly dreamed up."

"Perhaps you're a part of my dream." Mumbo joked. "Or maybe we're both dreaming and dreampt each other up."

"Maybe we're a part of someone else's dream." Taurtis laughed. "Now that would be weird. Though it would make sense since I've never seen you before."

"Same here, I think."

"You think?"

"Yeah, you said you were the old Taurtis? I think I've um, met the 'new' one." Mumbo bit his lip, the mood darkening a little.

Taurtis' face fell. "That's unfortunate."

"Yeah."

It was silent for what felt like an eternity. Both men not knowing what to say. Time dragged on, and eventually Mumbo felt a tug. The other man must've felt it too.

"Oh. I'm waking up." Taurtis commented. And seconds later, Mumbo was alone. 

So there were two Taurtis' and Mumbo had the bad luck of meeting the new one first. Of course.

Mumbo sighed to himself, knowing he'd forget most of the dream once he woke up. And then a thought flitted through his mind, just as he was waking up.

Wait, Exy? I swear I've heard that name befo-

And then he woke, the thought disintegrating into nothing as the entire dream faded into a blurry, muffled memory.

___________________

One chapter left. *s c r e a m s*

So I have one possible cover for this (thank you kind reader! you're the first to finish!) but I'm hoping to see what else people make. If you volunteered to make a cover, don't forget! Only a couple more days until this book is complete (aside from the huge spellcheck/polish thing im doing in a couple days of course)