“Wh- what is this?” I say when I realize that I’m in a dream. 

“Your worst nightmare.” Gethen’s voice drawls. 

“Where are you?” 

“Everywhere and nowhere.” I’m in a dark circular room, and I can’t pinpoint where his voice is coming from. 

“I’ll find you, and get you out of my head!” 

“Heh, good luck with that. You’re powerless here. I’m the one in control.” Wake up, Lori. Wake up. This isn’t real. “I assure you, it’s very real. And you can’t wake up unless I let you.” 

“What do you want?” 

“Nothing in particular. I’m just keeping you out of the way.” 

“What are you doing?” 

“You’ll find out when I let you go.” I try tracking his thoughts and reading his mind, but it won’t work. The results are just as poor when I try to inflict on him. “When will you realize that you have no power here?” He laughs. “You’re just as pathetic as all of your other little friends.” The dream they all had at the sleepover. 

“How are you in my head? My mind is impenetrable.” 

“It’s not as tight as you think it is. Mr. Vacker’s head was harder to get into than yours. It looks like you’re malfunctioning.” The words send a shiver down my spine. To fix this, I’ll have to drink an ounce of Limbium, then receive the antidote. The problem is that even a drop of it could kill me. 

“Let me go, Gethen.” 

“Now why would I do that? You’ll only get in the way. Even if I did let you go, which I won’t, you’d be too late to stop it.” 

“Stop what?” 

“I’m not telling you.” 

“How about an exchange? I tell you something, and you let me out.” 

“Hmm… tempting, but no. Instead, you’ll tell me something, and I’ll tell you what we’re doing. And I’ll know if you’re lying.” This is a very bad idea. 

“Deal. But if I decide not to tell you, then you just don’t tell me.” 

“Alright. Why did you leave your old universe?” 

“It was too late to save everyone.” 

“In specific. What did we do that made you leave?” 

“It was everything piled up. I’m not Sophie, so I decided to leave. Now what are you doing?” 

“Hm, not the answer I was expecting, but fine. A deal is a deal. We’re conducting a raid on your house.” 

“WHAT? Let me out, right now!” 

“Uh, no.” 

“Let me out! Let me out!” I start pounding on the walls. 

“Ugh, stop that. You’re not going to be getting out any time soon, so for both of our sakes, please shut up!” 

“Let me out!” 

“Stupid girl.” Suddenly, I can’t talk anymore. “That’s better. Now why don’t we do some experiments?” I don’t like the sound of that. He’s suspiciously quiet for a minute, then I double over in pain. “Isn’t this fun? Now do you think I should let you make noise again so I can hear your screams? No, that would probably just give me a headache. Let’s turn up the pain instead.” Everything in my body burns, and I start thrashing around on the ground. “This is for every time you or Sophie inflicted on me,” it gets even worse, “and this is for fun.” Everything hurts so much, I can’t think. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. It seems like hours before he finally stops, and I wake up screaming. 

“LORI? LORI, WHAT’S GOING ON!?” Sophie is screaming at me. 

“Ge- Gethen- he- he-” 

“What did he do to you?” 

“It- it- I- can’t-”

“Calm down. He can’t hurt you. I need you to tell me what happened.” 

“What happened here? He said that the Neverseen were attacking here.” 

“They did. But we fought them off. How did you know that, though?” 

“Gethen got into my head, and- he- he-” 

“He can’t hurt you now.” 

“How do you know that?” 

“Because I’ll protect you.” 

“Thanks.” I lean my head on her shoulder and try to stop crying. “Alright. What do we need to do?” 

“Mostly, clean up. Nobody got hurt. They were expecting me to be asleep, so I scared them off before they could do too much.”

“What do you think they came here for?” 

“I honestly don’t know. To get you back? Attack me? Maybe Gisela was looking for Keefe, and didn’t realize that he’s still in the healing center. The alicorns are still here, so it might have been to try attacking them again. Or the Gorgodon. They might want that back in play.” 

“There are too many things they want here to be able to tell, which makes it even more dangerous.” 

“Yeah, but we’re dangerous to them too.” We’re quiet for a minute, when I realize something. 

“Why did I come to this universe?” 

“I thought it was because it was too late to save everyone?” 

“Yeah, but what in particular?” 

“I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t there. But I could look through your head.” 

“Ok. It feels… wrong. Like I should know what happened, but I don’t.” 

“Huh.” She reaches out and puts her hands on my temples. Woah, your mind is so chaotic. 

I know. A lot has been happening, to the point where I probably need a reset. I think that’s why Gethen was able to get into my mind. 

Ok. Maybe you can do that soon. 

Hopefully. I don’t like the idea of Gethen being able to get into my mind. 

This is so weird… 

What did you find? 

Your memories of the weeks before you left are full of gaps. I don’t know how you haven’t noticed them yet. 

Gaps? 

Like someone took your memories. Think back to… it looks like a dance? You’re having a great time, then it just… stops. And a few hours later, you’re in the healing center. Do you mind if I watch this? 

Go ahead. I don’t think much happened there. 

Dex said that the Neverseen had attacked you and taken your memories, which would make sense if that was where the gaps stopped. But they go on for a few more days, then you leave.

What? That doesn’t make sense. 

Yeah… and whenever you asked why you were leaving he said- 

It’s too late for this universe. 

Yeah. None of this makes sense. How about later, Fitz and I can try to trigger some memories? 

Ok. She leaves my mind, and we go downstairs. 

“You’re both ok? I thought I heard screaming.” Edaline anxiously asks us. 

“We’re fine mom. But the Neverseen got into my head, and…” I trail off. 

“We found out that there are huge gaps in her memory from before she got here. Could Fitz come over later to try and trigger some of them?” 

“Sure thing, kiddo. As long as you’re both ok.” 

“We are.” I assure him. The house looks fine, but outside is in chaos. Quite a few animals are outside of their pens, though it doesn’t look like they’re getting hurt. But I still try to help corral them back into their enclosures. The whole time, I think about what I might find in the memory gaps, or how they got there in the first place. Sophie goes to hail Fitz, and a few minutes later, he’s sitting next to Sophie, across from me, at the table. 

“So the Neverseen got into your head, and made you realize that you don’t even know why you’re here, and you want me to try to help you get back memories that should, in theory, explain why you’re here?” Fitz asks for what seems like the hundredth time. 

“Yes.” I say. “If you’re willing. I figured that since you and Sophie are cognates, you’ll have a better chance of finding something if you work together.” 

“Ok. I’ll do it.” 

“Thanks. Ready to start?” He looks at Sophie and takes her hand. 

“Let's do this.” We work on it for hours, but nothing comes back. 

“Now I know how Keefe felt.” I groan when they leave my mind. “What was that stuff he was taking to try to remember stuff?” 

“Doesn’t matter because you’re not taking it. We’ll try again tomorrow.” Sophie says. 

“Also, you really should take a while to sort out your head. I don’t know how you think with how everything looks in there.” Fitz adds. 

“I’ll try.” I say, wondering how messy my headscape must be if both of them commented on how I should tidy it up. The next day is about the same. “Why can’t we find anything?” 

“I don’t know. Whoever erased those did a good job of it.” Sophie says. 

“Don’t worry, they’ll come back eventually.” Fitz says. 

“And you should seriously get some organization in your head. That might make everything easier.” 

“I spent four hours in bed last night trying to do that. Didn’t you notice that everything was color coded today?” I decided not to mention that I was only doing it for so long because I was afraid to go to sleep. I couldn’t sleep for a single minute last night. 

“No. Nothing was colored. It wasn’t sticking. Which is really weird.” 

“What?” 

“I didn’t see a single colored memory. Are you sure you did it?” 

“Positive. What should I do?” 

“Try setting up a meeting with Tiergan. He might be able to help with some of this.” 

“Alright. I’ll ask him tomorrow.” 

“Maybe try talking to Keefe for now? He knows what it’s like to have crucial information somewhere in your head. And maybe, please don’t hate me for suggesting this, but his dad for tips on organizing your mind?” 

“I’ll talk with Keefe, but you can’t make me talk to his dad.” 

“Fine. By the way, did you sleep last night?” 

“Yeah… nightmares.” 

“Hm.” Sophie clearly doesn’t believe me. 

“I’m fine. I’ll sleep outside, since that normally helps.” 

“Alright.” 

“I’m going to go hail Keefe now.” I sit under the Panakes tree, and pull out my imparter. “Show me Keefe Sencen.” 

“Hey Lori. What’s up?” He says after a minute. 

“Well, it’s kinda a long story, but basically, Gethen got into my head while the rest of the Neverseen attacked Havenfield. The reason you might not have heard about it is because nothing really happened, Sophie scared them off. But he actually made me realize that I don’t even know why I decided to come to this universe. Sophie and Fitz have been looking around my head since then, and we can’t figure it out. There are huge gaps in my memory from before I came here, and the explanation that I remember doesn’t really fit. And, well, you know what it’s like to have stuff hidden in your head, so everyone kept telling me to talk to you.” 

“Wow, that’s a lot. Uh, just don’t convince yourself that joining an evil organization as a spy will work, and even if you do, don’t actually join it. Oh, and don’t take fathomlethes. I learned the hard way that it’s not going to give you all the answers, and when I took it, I ended up with what Foster calls ‘serial killer walls’. I got super obsessed with every tiny detail, and it wasn’t pretty. Just look through your memories, and I found that it helps me a lot when I learned how to do the box thing.” 

“I tried that, and apparently nobody could see it.” 

“Huh. Maybe you weren’t concentrating hard enough?” 

“I was concentrating for four hours.” 

“That’s… a lot. Don’t beat yourself up about this. Maybe talk to Tiergan tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, I will. Thanks for trying.” 

“Yeah. I guess I’ll see you later when I pick Foster up for our date.” 

“Ok. Bye Keefe.” I hang up the imparter. Fathomlethes… I haven’t even thought of those. Keefe said it wasn’t worth it, but it might be different for me. “Show me Dex Dizznee.” 

“Hey Lori.” Dex says, picking up his imparter. 

“I need to talk to you for a minute.” 

“Sure, I just have to get to my room. Bex, put that down NOW. Sorry, I’ll be back in one minute.” He sets his imparter down, and from somewhere out of range of the camera, I can hear them fighting. “Bex, don’t you dare!” 

“YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!!!” Bex’s voice is so loud. 

“Yes, I can. Put. It. Down.” 

“MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

“You’re not supposed to have that!” 

“What are you two doing?” Juline’s voice says. “Bex, how did you even get that?” 

“I FOUND IT, SO IT’S MINE.” 

“Nope. Give it here.” 

“MIIIIIIINNEEE!!!!!!!!” 

“Bex. Give me the thing.” 

“FINE.” She sounds angry. 

“Sorry about that.” Dex says, picking his imparter back up. 

“Do I even want to know what was happening?” I ask. 

“Probably not. Now what did you want to tell me?” Dex asks, arriving in his room. 

“It’s… complicated. Friday night after we got home, Gethen got into my mind while everyone else attacked Havenfield, like when he sent everyone the dream at Everglen.” 

“Is everyone ok? Why is this the first I’ve heard of it?” 

“Yeah. Sophie scared them off before they caused any real damage. But Gethen made me realize that I don’t actually know what made me come here. And when Sophie looked in my head, we found out there are a whole bunch of gaps in my memory. I spent all of yesterday and most of today trying to get the memories back with Fitz and Sophie, but we couldn’t figure it out. I just talked to Keefe, but he didn’t really know what to tell me, since the only advice he gave me was don’t join the Neverseen, and don’t take fathomlethes. But I might have to if I can’t think of anything else. Also, I’m going to set up an appointment with Tiergan tomorrow.” 

“This is a crazy world where you can say all of that super casually, and it all makes sense. But I don’t know what to tell you. Anything I would say, it sounds like other people have already told you.” 

“Yeah, but talking to you makes me feel better. And I figured you should probably know.” 

“Well thanks for telling me. I wish I could help.” 

“You can, by just being here.” 

“Whatever you need.” 

“Thank you.” We stay on the call for a while, talking about what I could try, but we don’t really end up thinking of anything. 

“Did you sleep well last night?” Dex asks when I yawn. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Nothing, you just look tired.” 

“I am. Honestly, I was terrified to go to sleep. I’m going to try sleeping outside with the alicorns tonight to see if they help.” 

“Alright. But I’m sending you home tomorrow if you try coming to school on no sleep.” 

“Fine.” 

“Lori. time for dinner!” Edaline calls. 

“I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Goodbye.” He says, hanging up. 

So, now we have a little mystery on our hands! And good news, I was on spring break this week, so I finally wrote more! But it's only like 8 more complete chapters, so if I stop posting like next week, that's why.