Lmao, sorry i'm late the bus broke down XD

Check the AN:// y'all important stuff is down there

----

Roman bit at his lip, the teleportation affected him way more than it should have. He just barely managed to keep from swaying too much by quickly sitting in his assigned seat, but even then he still felt as if he was rocking on his feet. A sudden jolt and the metallic taste of copper in his mouth proved to him exactly how out of it he was. Hiding his flinch, he grounded himself with the pain and focused on the echoing fanfare playing in the background. The meeting would start the moment the trumpets quieted and he was not looking forward to it at all.

Groaning internally, the Royal forced himself to swallow the blood that pooled behind his sealed lips, should in case he needed to speak or smile, of course. It was surprisingly viscous. He grimaced but it had to be done, the thought of wiping it on his pristine white suit was completely ludicrous to the regal trait. It took roughly about two minutes for the blood to stop refilling his mouth, leaving Princey to question just how hard had he bitten his lip-

A sharp pull on his ears alerted him of his queue. Making a mental note to thank a certain bluebird, he cleared his throat-licked at his teeth one more time just in case- and addressed all in the room.

"Good morning everyone, I'm glad that you've all made it here today..."

----

After informing his class that Anxiety was indeed recovering, Logan jumped straight into the lesson.

"Now that you have your Veiwer Ranks and Partial Classes, it's time for the Manifestor Types. I had mentioned that the Partials and the Manifestors shared a similar system, with a few differences between the two, of course"

Turning to the board the Teacher began listing on the board:

1st Type: 4+ personalities
2nd Type: 3 personalities
3rd Type: 2 personalities
4th Type: 1 personality

"I presume this is rather straightforward?"

The class gave an affirmative.

"Good. Now, my host is a 1st Type Manifestor, which means he has four or more personalities. As you can see there's a plus sign for the 1st Types, while it does mean additional personalities it also means something else. This here, is one of the differences you may have not known between a Manifestor and a Partial. Manifestors have both Personalities and 'Emotions' "

----

Around the council table Prince Leo, Prince Dominic and Princess Valerie were there along with Advisor Deliah, each giving him their own quick worried glances when they thought he wasn't looking.

Roman sighed, those four would be watching him like hawks until they left. He honestly couldn't blame them, though he sorely hopped they wouldn't see through his exhausted facade.

The other crowned Royals had already travelled back to their kingdoms the day prior, as did Zenma and her council. Desna nor Charles were seen though Geoffrey was there by the stage. Surprisingly Fairy Godmother was there as well, she sat near Princess Valerie and every so often she'd shoot the Prince knowing looks that made him pale and look away. He was determined to see this stupid meeting-ahem meetings through, even if it rendered him unconscious.

Currently there was a Royal on the aforementioned stage. Princey didn't know his name but did recognize the male's crest, a duke of Prince Dominic's kingdom. In particular one of the Dukes that worked for trades between the Fifth Kingdom and the Main Kingdom.

Thankfully, Prince Dominic was there himself, so things went rather smoothly. Though if you asked Prince Roman, the whole procession was quite long and tedious, making the pounding in his head all the more torture.

By the time the Fifth Kingdom Prince was done and the trades were set up in proper and agreeable conditions, Roman was honestly considering calling off any further meetings for the year.

----

"Emotions are the loose terms given to aspects or figments with a purpose in one's mindscape. Bear in mind that an Emotion can, though rare, graduate from, well, an emotion to a personality but a Personality cannot downgrade to an emotion."

"Excuse me sir?"

"Yes Philla?"

"What's the difference between an Aspect and a Figment?"

"Well, generally they mean the same thing but figments don't have a solid form and thus remain in the mindscape. Meanwhile, an aspect, is the proper term for an Emotion that can be manifested and like Personalities, they do of course resemble their host. Do note that Aspects are usually weaker than Personalities and thus are often protected by their stronger counterparts-"

"So what, if we accidentally mess with an Aspect were gonna piss off a very over protective Personality?"

"A little blunt, but yes, more than likely Mika"

"Oh shit"

The classed laughed at the Asian girl's outburst, but we're quickly quieted when Logan started up again.

"Partials do not have these Emotions as their mindscape is limited, they have to share one space with their Host after all. Personalities are not emotions, even though they may encompass more. Take me for an example, Logic is not an Emotion nor a feeling but it does encompass knowledge, is this understood?

A series of 'yes's', and 'yes sir's' filled the room.

"Alright, let's get back to the things we know, the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary personalities etc. and then the ancillaries-you do know what the ancillaries are right?"

Jerome raised his hand.

"The ones that help the Prominent right?"

"That is correct, a little fun fact for you all, most, if not all ancillaries tend to be figments. Now, on to the real lesson, 'how to tell a personality type'. For this I can simply show you-"

Logan closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they were glowing a piercing navy blue. His aura was now clearly visible and each and every student starred in fascination.

"As you can see, my Core aura is double banded, thus signifying-", the teacher paused, a sea of confused students were staring at him. "Oh my, it seems like it's time for a quick briefing on aura"


He quickly drew a circle with three inner rings. He then labelled them: outer, inner and core.

"Alright, so the Outer Core layer is for any means of expression. For example, anger, joy, dominance, or any strong emotion. This particular layer, if the emotion is strong enough, can even be felt by Normals. This layer can also be hidden, though it depends on the level of control the owner has over their aura"

Logic then moved the chalk to the second ring.

"This is the Inner Core layer, this holds
your deep feelings, your lies, your energy level, and your overall health. There's not much to say here"

With that he moved down to the final ring.

"Here is the Core center layer, were you find a personality type, and power level- which is the amount of control the personality possess. All Viewers in this class should be able to see past the outer aura into the core center. This is why it was mandatory for us to check your Ranks.

-----

Everything in him ached, a deep seated fatigue settled within all his joints and to top it off, his headache was progressively getting worse. Groaning, Roman crossed his arms and pillowed his pounding head on them. The meeting had finally called for a fifteen minute intermission and by the gods he was taking advantage of it.

No one else was in the room so the Prince had no qualms about taking a small nap in the conference room-

A chirp caused him to lift his head, Blue was flying in front of him, a small water bottle clutched in its talons. The bluebird chirped at him again, inviting the tired Royal to drink from it. Mumbling a small "thanks", Princey downed the water rather quickly, not realizing just how thirsty he was until then.

With the bottle now empty, he slumped down and placed its still cool plastic against his forehead. It offered a small relief-one that almost made him regret not pouring some of the cold water on his face-almost. The pounding in his head had subsided into a dull throb and Roman had no doubt that dehydration definitely had something to so with the headache.

He groaned when the bottle became warm from his body heat. Pouting, he willed the traitorous plastic away, but when he tried, he was met with a brief sharp pain in the back of his head. He groaned again, placing his head back down in defeat.

Blue came up and nuzzled its cheek on his, giving him a concerned warble.

" 'm fine Blue, just feeling a little worn, that's all-"

"Then maybe you should have been resting more, your highness, hmm?"

The Prince tensed, he knew that voice very well. It held a certain tone, one that told him that the fairy behind him was none too pleased.

He turned to face her, pasting the best disarming smile he could manage, "Fairy Godmother, I-"

"Save it my Prince-", the Fae held her hand up and Roman flinched. "I had no qualms in helping your youngest yesterday, nor did I have any helping you on the premise that you'd both be getting your proper rest. And yet here you are with very little energy and I presume even less strength, holding a meeting of all things!"

If you asked him, Roman couldn't tell you where it came from, maybe it was because he was tired or because every word she spoke made the pounding in his head worse but a sudden impulse overtook him- and he was angry.

"With all due respect, Fairy Godmother", started the Royal, his words slipping through his lips on a whisper, holding far more acid than they ever should have. "I can't just drop things like this because I'm tired, I have people who depend on me and a Kingdom to run, what kind of Prince do you think I am?"

The Fairy, to her credit, didn't snap back. Instead she spoke just as soft, a scathing hiss in the muted volume of the conference room.

"You want to know what kind of Prince I think you are? Very well then, your highness. I think, that you're an extremely stubborn and very pompous Prince who is running his Kingdom well, but running himself into the ground in the process. And if he continues with his self-sacrificial path of self-destruction, he'll bring the same Kingdom he lifted up, toppling right over his head"

Roman hung his head, anger deflating just as quickly as it came.

She was right and they both knew it.

He sighed, darting his tongue out slightly to dampen his dried lips before swallowing the little saliva he had in his mouth. It had nothing to do with the lump in his throat nor the slight sting in his eyes, not at all.

"I...My apologies"

The Fae sighed at Princey's mumble. The Royal looked exhausted and more so haunted than she had ever seen him. The past few days were obviously taking its toll on the Tertiary.

With an internal sigh of concession to her own softness, Fairy Godmother placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and squeezed gently as she spoke.

"Your Majesty, I know of all your burdens, you've told me about them countless times since the day we first met. I know they are no easy task and I would never fault you for doing them. No one would, but I ask, if not for my sake, then be it our Host's. Master Thomas can only handle so much. All four of you have been putting far more strain on him than he is used to"

"I know. My Secondary and I had spoken of it earlier. We even told Thomas himself but he allowed us to remain outside with him despite the drainage"

The Fae huffed incredulously, "honestly, you're all stubborn, the whole lot of you-"

Roman snorted at that.

"Well, we'd have to get it from somewhere"

"Mhm, yes, a stubborn Host always gives way to equally stubborn personalities"

The Royal chuckled, "I suppose so-"

A timid chirp cut Princey off and both he and the Fairy looked down into Roman's sash. Blue was staring timidly at them.

It twittered.

Roman's expression softened.

"No, no, heaven's no. We're fine, no one's shouting-"

A small chirp. The blue bird looked smaller than it ever had.

"We're not fighting I promise! She's uh- she's just worried for me-"

A tweet. Blue mopely buried itself back into the sash

"What? No?! I'm not-"

A sad muffled chirp.

"No, wait. Ok let me rephrase that-"

A twitter.

"Ok, fine, I promise"

A solid tweet.

"What do you mean 'say it?' "

Another tweet.

Roman rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Ok, fine!" He held his right hand up in mock oath. "I promise this is my last meeting and I will end the next one regardless of who it is. There better?"

An affirmative chirp.

And then, as if nothing even happened, Blue flew happily out of the sash and circled in the air.

The Royal turned to the Fae beside him and deadpanned.

"I just got played"

She chuckled as Blue landed on her shoulder.

"It would seem so my Prince"

Roman's jaw dropped, "you two set me up!"

Blue chirped, schooling its features in to the sad pout it wore in the sash and then bowing a few seconds later at its mock performance.

"Evil little bird", muttered the Prince rolling his eyes. He glanced at Fairy Godmother, "anyone else in on this?"

"Well..." started the Fae, a smirk ever present on her lips. Instead of continuing her explanation, she simply snapped her fingers.

SNAP!

Roman's eyes widened.

In front of him were his friends, Prince Leo, Prince Dominic and Princess Valerie, along with Advisor Deliah were there smiling at him.

He pouted.

"I hate you all"

The other's laughed.

-----

Logan continued with his lesson, making sure that his class was listening.

"Now at my core you can easily see the two bands right? Two horizontal navy blue stripes on either side. This is because I'm a secondary personality. My Primary, who also happens to be my prominent counterpart has one single band-"

"Yes Michaela?"

"Aren't primary and prominent the same thing?"

"Actually that is a common misconception, they are in fact not the same thing though there are used interchangeably. See, 'Prominent' is the title given to the personality that has, for lack of a better term, the most sway over their Host's general day-to-day behaviour. Now the 'Primary' is the host's first formed Personality but they can and usually are the Prominent"

Another student raised their hand.

"Yes Aaron"

"My Pop said that sometimes the youngest personality, like um- like Depression can be a Prominent-"

"That is very much a possibility. Your father seems to know a lot about Manifestors, you said he mentioned the war before, is he one?"

"Who Pop? Nah, one of my uncles was though. We don't know where he is, he kinda just disappeared"

"Ah, well, let's get on with the lesson shall we-"

Logan was cut off by the bell.

"We'll just finish up next class then, I'll see most of you tomorrow and the rest throughout the day. Class dismissed"

----

Logic easily retracted his aura and went about his classes. But the further he got into a lesson, the greater the ache present at his temple.

Thankfully his lunch break came quick.

Now at his desk in his 'office', he pressed his index and ring finger against the pained area, only to gasp. His vision swam for a short second and he was inherently glad that he had been sitting down. The dizziness that had suddenly over-took him was puzzling to say the least.

He had decided to skip lunch on the count that he didn't want to throw it up. Maybe he really was getting sick.

----


It was almost 2:00pm and the intermission was over but his headache was getting worse. Every sound in the room caused the dull ache to increase and he wanted nothing more than to leave.

"Just one little presentation Roman, you can do that. When it's over you can go home, take a nap and then explain to the others what plans were discussed. Just one little presentation", his self-pep-talk helped only somewhat. Though a presentation shouldn't be too hard right?

"-ince Roman"

Shoot, he almost missed his queue.

Standing up, he immediately felt dizzy but he ignored it in an attempt to get to the stage. Unfortunately for him, Geoffrey noticed.

"Are you alright M'lord?"

"I'm fine Geoffrey-", the Prince waved a dismissive hand as he kept moving, hoping the Vassal would drop it.

"Are you certain highness? You look quite pale"

But things were never that easy.

"It's just a headache Geoffrey, nothing to concern yourself with-"

"M'lord!"

Roman rolled his eyes, a bad choice really, the room was already spinning around him.

"I'm fi-"

He had made it onto the stage, but for some reason, he was suddenly out of breath. Before the Royal could even panic, his vision began blurring rapidly and everything all but lurched. In the spinning room now surrounding him, the darkness took him quickly and without a choice.

"Prince Roman!"

----

He attempted to rest his eyes to ease the pain, but to no avail.

When his phone's alarm rang at 12:50pm, he was almost startled to find tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Hissing softly in pain, he swiped them away before grabbing his lesson plan and heading to math class.

There was an early assembly today so he would only have one English class to teach next instead of two. He could just give them an essay or have them watch a video before dismissing them early. He could then go home and have Morality check if he was truly getting as sick as Anxiety or if it were something else entirely-

"Good afternoon sir!"

Logic jumped.

He locked eyes with Philla, Luíz and Valerie. The latter quirked a brow at him and he couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

"Uh, yes, good afternoon Philla. My apologies, you seemed to have caught me lost in thought"

"That's ok. Happens to the best of us but um, are you feeling alright sir? You look a little pale-"

"You didn't see him, you didn't feel the heat coming off of his skin, he's pale-"

"It's Anxiety, he's always pale"

Logan blinked out of the memory, Luíz was gone but the girls were watching him pensively. He hadn't answer Philla's question, his mind had travelled to the day he found out Anxiety was sick.

"I'm fine, girls, please sit down, class is about to start. Philla and Valerie gave each other a look before sitting at the front of the class.

----

The equations he gave for the new topic were simple enough, so the class was relatively quiet as they worked. Logan however winced visibly at every moment the chalk touched the board.

At one point he completely stopped writing to place a hand on his head.

"Are you ok?"

The Teacher cracked open an eye to see Valerie in front of him.

"I'm fine Val, I've just got a headache-"

"You sure? It looks worse than a headache, you're sweating!"

Logan sighed, he really didn't want to make a big deal out of this.

"I'm fine, now go take your seat "

She gave him a worried glance but sat back down.

----

The pain felt worse the longer it went on. His hands began to shake but he continued until the piece of chalk slipped from his fingers and broke into pieces
on the class' dirty tiled floor.

He knelt down to pick it up only to find Valerie already in front and helping. Honestly, Thomas' friends were sweet and just as stubborn as he was.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, her eyes held nothing but worry.

While Logan appreciated the sentiment, this was begging to get cumbersome.

"Yes Valerie", he huffed, "for the last time I'm fine, it's just a simple headache"
Stubbornly Logan reached up to write on the board, the blue clock above him read 2:00pm...then the numbers began blur. Wincing he took a step back and placed a hand to his head. The room began spinning and the last thing he could recall was Valerie screaming his name.

-----

Valerie had been watching Logan since she walked into class with her cousin and the new student. His whole aura had felt...off. She couldn't tell what exactly had changed, but it was most definitely different from her 8am class.

He was spacing out more often, wincing and there was a sheen of sweat coving his face. Something was definitely not right. She had tried to see what it was through his entire aura himself, but Logic was somehow locking her out.

So she didn't confront him again, not until the chalk broke into pieces. She held her math books in one hand, for no other reason other than she forgot to put them down when she got out of her seat.

And it was then that she watched:

She watched him, sway.

She watched him look up.

She watched his eyes roll back.

"Logan!"

It was through pure frantic instinct that she had managed to shove her books onto a nearby student's desk to catch Logan when he fell. Granted it was more her lowering the both of them to the ground rather than a catch but at least the Teacher wasn't injured.

Still in panic she reached for her phone from her back pocket and dialled Thomas' number. The other students were crowding around them but she payed little mind to them, far too busy trying to contact the manifestor.

What was terrifying her the most was the fact that the Host himself wasn't picking up. Thomas always picked up, especially after two calls.
She called five.

----

Since Thomas wasn't answering she called Joan.

But it's Talyn who picks up.

"/Hey Val-/"

"Talyn, where's Joan?"

"/They're driving, but they're right beside me, why?/"

"Put me on speaker"

"/Um, ok/"

Valerie could hear a beep from the other side of the line.

"/There, you're on/"

"Logan collapsed-"

"/What?!/"

She could hear three different worried voices and she winced. "Yeah, I caught him, but he's completely unconscious. I tried calling Thomas but he's not answering. I called five times"

"/Maybe his phone is just dead?/" suggested the third voice Valerie couldn't make out.

"I highly doubt that, he always has his phone at least powered enough to make a call or to make sure he can get called"

"/Shit. Your right Val, don't worry we're heading to his house right now with Leo/"

"Ok, I'll meet you there Joan, I'm taking Logan with me"

"/How are you going to-/"

"Don't worry about it, just go get Thomas!"

With that Valerie hung up the phone, she had a plan.

----

She tells the students to remain calm and asks three of them to go run and tell the principal what happened.

"Luíz", she calls and her cousin comes to her aid instantly. She whispers something in his ear and then hands him her car keys and he was off like a shot.

In a couple of minutes the whole class can hear a car screech to a stop and Luiz is running back to Valerie, car key in hand. He gives it back and Val thanks him but asks once more for help.

Luíz nods and grabs Logan's legs, while Valerie grabs his arms. The Latina actress braces herself but not before giving the car keys to Philla and asking her to help open her car. Philla runs out and does so only to find Valerie and Luíz carrying Logan. They manage to place him in the backseat, flat on his back.

After they buckle him in, Valerie tells Philla and Luíz to take charge of the class. And without time to listen to the new girl's protest, she jumps in to her car, straps in, starts and drives towards Thomas' house.

----

On the way, Logan groans, soft pained sounds that made Val wince. If he- a secondary Personality­-was in this much pain, she could only guess how much pain Thomas was in. As she drove ever closer to her destination, her stomach filled with dread.

----

AN:// Hey guys, I'm back~

I had to split this chapter into two so you didn't get it as angsty as I wanted you to but it gives me time to add on to the next chap...heh.

I think this chap was more informative than anything? But it's good. We're getting the world building out of the way, the train's just starting up ;)

Next chap is Joan, Talyn's and Leo's POV and I'll tell you right now, brace your selves. Arc 2 is working up!

Ok HERE'S THE REAL IMPORTANT NEWS:
I've made a new fic to keep you guys occupied during Innerworks updates.

It's called "Because I Can"

An AU where Virgil made a deal with a Reaper to save his best friend. As part of the deal he needs to collect an amount of souls for a period of time in order for the reaper to save them.

In comes Roman, a wandering creature of the Light, confused as to why he always sees this 'Shadow' around people that look sad.

When Virgil falls ill to the 'sleep sickness', Roman discovers his secret and decides that it's his duty to follow his mysterious 'Shadow'. Now Virgil has to collect the souls while simultaneously keeping Roman a secret from the Reaper he made the deal with.

Characters: Virgil, Logan, Roman, Patton, Thomas, Remy (Sleep Character), Joan, Talyn, Jamahl, Dominic and Valerie.

Parings: All platonic, though you can think them romantic if you like.

It's already got great art by my amazing friendo @notallpotatoesarefrenchfries on tumblr
Also check her out on insta:

To those who were wondering about my absence but didn't get to read the updates...or didn't care. Long story short. I moved from my old apartment becuase family issues. But for now I'm back and here to conduct the angst train on this slow burn to hell ;)

COMMENT OF THE MONTH:
By: @RandomProjectedTrash
"Oh just ignore that on the floor. Yes it is my broken heart. No it doesn't hurt anymore. I'm used to it after all this. Yes, those are tears."

Lol, donate them tears to the train friendo XD

A shout out to all y'all for being patient and keeping me going with your wonderful comments (thank you so much, I read them all to give me motivation). Special shout out to Davidthetraveler, he's an amazing friend you guys. A genuine sweetheart, show him some love.

Anyway.

See y'all in the comments section ;)