The rest of the afternoon went pretty well, Thomas learned a lot and was even more fascinated by this strange realm. There was, however, one thing that bothered him.

  ‘How are we in the same css again ? And why are they following me around ? They are making me so uncomfortable… When will I switch ?’

  He just wanted to go back in the inner world, and spend some time in peace without seven demon princes stuck to him. Paimon, especially, was like a chewing gum under his shoe : Impossible to get rid of. He was in every single css of Thomas’ schedule, and regurly leaned towards him to expin difficult parts of the lesson. On one hand, Thomas was grateful because he was genuinely interested in the css, but on the other hand, he flinched everytime he felt the red gaze on him. The blonde guy was getting too close for comfort.

  Everytime Thomas was uncomfortable and frowning, Paimon’s eyes gleamed.

  ‘I think I’m doing a good job emuting Mariane. But it’s very tiring… I just want to tell them ‘I’m a guy and I’m not interested, leave me alone !’ but it’s not that simple.’

  Finally, when the bell signaling the end of the day rang, Thomas felt something pulling him out of the control room. He could go inside and rest.

  He blinked and found himself in the inner world’s garden, exhausted.

  “Thomas ! You were gone for so long ! What happened ?”

  Larotte was running towards him, and Anne-Antoinette was already sitting at the garden’s table, with Peacock standing behind his usual tree. Even the st personality, Fotgely, was here, sitting on a patch of grass. Thomas’ aura became warmer, he was probably smiling, and he went to sit on his usual chair.

  “A lot happened. For the first time in forever, I went to school.”

  The kid seemed excited, climbing on the man’s p.

  “A school ? Is it the pce to learn things ?”

  “Yes, it is. I was taught quite a few things about Hell.”

  He started narrating his day, while patting Larotte’s head. The look of the old yet modern school, resembling a castle equipped with the test technology, the students with their weird hair and eye color, the different lesson’s subjects and their weird esoteric quirks, how magic worked, and of course the weird princes who hadn’t left him alone. The five persons were listening attentively, even Peacock who was writing everything down on his small notebook. When Thomas finally finished his retelling, Fotgely raised her hand. She was a bit more blurry than the others, and with a mysterious personality. She usually didn’t join the group, so nobody truly knew her.

  “Can you show me what the pnts look like ?”

  Thomas nodded, and raised his hand. From his fingertips, a soft white light appeared, growing rapidly to form an iridescent ball containing the ‘demonic herbalism’ css. Sharing a memory wasn’t an easy feat for a personality, in fact, Thomas was the only one who could do it. It required to know perfectly how the inner world worked, and his own psyche, with the goal of fragmenting pieces of himself and replicating them. Since he had understood how to do it, he had used it regurly to give glimpses of the outside world to the other personalities. It wasn’t an emotional decision, it was practical. It would be great if nobody freaked out if they were suddenly dragged to the control room and had no idea what to do.

  Fotgely held out her hand and caught the ball of light, bringing it to her forehead and absorbing it with her eyes closed. After a few minutes, she stood up excitedly.

  “I can’t believe pink trees exist here ! It’s so fun ! I want to see it for myself.”

  Thomas shrugged.

  “You can try, but I don’t think Mariane will go outside much. From what I gathered during the princes’ conversation, her routine consists of staying in the dormitory and going to school. You might not see any pnts, even if you cofront.”

  “I don’t care, I’ll do it either way !”

  The woman ran to the stairs, while the other personalities were watching her expressionlessly. Cofronting could be somewhat forced if you knew your triggers, just like specific music or certain situations provoked a switch. Being aware, you could understand better the forces that pulled you into the control room, and manipute them just enough to be able to cofront. Of course, Thomas knew his triggers, but he had no intention of voluntarily going to the control room. He preferred the calm of the inner world, compared to a cold reality where he couldn’t be himself.

  “Do you think she will succeed ?”

  Thomas shrugged at Anne-Antoinette’s question.

  “It’s always fifty-fifty with her. We’ll have to wait and see. But even if she fronts, she won’t stay for long. There isn’t any tobacco in Hell.”

  The old woman csped her hands together, suddenly remembering.

  “Oh, it’s true that she smokes ! I completely forgot.”

  “It’s hard to notice since smell doesn't exist here.”

  Larotte suddenly raised her head and pointed to the stairs. A familiar round silhouette was climbing down.

  “Mariane !”

  The kid ran to the girl, and hugged her tightly. Thomas simply nodded.

  “Had a good day ?”

  Mariane happily trotted to the middle of the garden and sat on a chair.

  “I should be the one asking you that, you spend the entire day fronting !”

  “Will it be okay with Fotgely ? She doesn’t exactly know how to copy you.”

  “It’s alright, I was in the dormitory anyway, and I have a room for myself.”

  They spent some time talking together, discussing the new situation and what they had discovered about Hell.

  “So, the king spends most of his time at school ? That’s surprising.”

  Anne-Antoinette was fascinated by the politics of this realm. To be short : The king, Bael, was in charge of creating new ws and taking necessary measures, his aide handled the rest. There were days where he would be locked in his office and go through paperwork, but most of his time was spent at school, as the headmaster. It was Bael himself who created the academy, because demons were immortal and a lot of them stayed uneducated, leading to violence and territorial wars. With a school in pce and exchange programs with Heaven and the human world, he had succeeded in making Hell just like any human country. There was a form of police, commerce, jobs, restaurants, and overall a society that had been created under the dark red sky. Even TV shows, mangas, and social media existed. The change had taken a few hundred years, but it was worth the effort.

  Thomas whistled in admiration.

  “I really like this king. He’s smart, seems fun, and takes his job seriously while also leaving work to others, so that he has enough time to py. He’s an interesting person.”

  Unsure, Mariane hesitated before responding.

  “I’m not sure. He is strange. Everytime I see him at school, he looks at me with strange eyes, it’s as if he can see through me. It’s uncomfortable.”

  Thomas tilted his head.

  “I know what you mean. I felt that on the first day too, it was as if he could see me. Well, I guess it wouldn’t be surprising, after all, they have magic here, it shouldn’t have happened just once or twice that people got stuck in the same body. If anything, it’s good. He should accept us more easi…”

  He stopped himself when he noticed the horrified look on Mariane’s face. She didn’t want her secret to be revealed, not yet, not when she wasn’t adjusted to this new world, and wasn’t sure that the people around her would accept her condition. Or maybe she just didn’t have any intention to say it at all, because voicing her DID would be admitting that she has a problem, that she had suffered so much that it had broken her. If she didn’t tell anyone, then she could convince herself that she was normal.

  Thomas sighed inwardly, reining back his frustration.

  ‘It’s Mariane’s body, I can’t choose for her and expose her secret. But if only I could live as myself… I trained myself to like what Mariane likes, and to act as she does. For once, I want to eat something I really want for myself, or go wherever I want. Is it too much to ask ?’

  He knew that he shouldn’t feel bitter. He wasn’t real, what right did he have ? But the more time passed, the more he felt a kind of annoyance and urgency. In truth, Thomas was afraid. He didn’t want to be a shadow forever. But as a personality, he had a limited amount of choices : Staying as is, becoming the principal personality, or disappearing when Mariane wouldn’t need him anymore, or when he would ultimately merge with the others. There was no good ending, no fairy godmother who would grant him a body.

  Suddenly, the anxious Mariane was pulled to the control room, the switch being so quick that she didn’t have the time to say ‘goodbye’, and Fotgely appeared again.

  “It wasn’t that interesting, you were right… And I really want to smoke ! Wait, why are you like that, Thomas ?”

  His face was still blurry, but his aura had become so cold that even Larotte didn’t dare to come near him. Sensing that he was darkening the atmosphere, Thomas stood up.

  “It’s nothing. I must be tired from taking so many csses.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he walked into the dark cave at the end of the garden, and sat behind a wall of luminous pnts. He needed to collect himself. If he was to front again, he couldn’t show his frustration. It was also for the good of the system. He was the pilr who maintained all the personalities in a more or less harmonious group. If he started to crumble, Mariane’s head would become a mess.