Time had passed, and Thomas was fronting again. He looked around him to confirm his location, but he was in Mariane’s bedroom so he had nothing to fear.

  ‘Finally some alone time. It’s been a while since this happened.’

  He started by taking out his cellphone. Sometimes, Mariane would leave him messages or indications, like an appointment they had to attend, or a particur thing that happened that day, but he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, if it wasn’t for the date.

  ‘It has almost been a month since we arrived in Hell. Surely the spell must be ready, right ? I wonder why the king didn’t call for us. I don’t think the princes have quite fallen for Mariane yet, and Bael seems to look at her with more curiosity than affection. It doesn’t really make sense to keep us here.’

  He wouldn’t get an answer now, anyway, so he pushed those thoughts aside and explored the room. The wardrobe was full of Demonic Studies academy’s uniforms. A bck and red vest with a matching suit and a long skirt, a typical outfit you could find in any school life story. Thomas always felt uncomfortable in these clothes, the skirt brushing against his legs was a sensation he hated.

  There were also quite a few casual outfits, jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, and coats.

  ‘What is all of that doing here ? It seems unnecessary for someone who won’t stay for long. I don’t remember Mariane talking about shopping either. Where does it come from ?’

  He searched through the clothes, and finally found a sticky note that was forgotten on a vest.

  Remember to thank me, pipsqueak !

  Zagam~

  ‘Zagam… It’s the guy with pink hair and green eyes, if I remember correctly. We didn’t interact much, but I noticed him since he is always dressed in luxury clothes, with so many accessories that he looks like a toddler who raided their mom’s jewelry box. Did he buy those clothes for Mariane ? Since when was she close to him ?’

  Thomas was confused. It had been a while since Mariane stopped talking to him as much, creating a certain distance between them. Because of that, it had been even harder for him to emute her, as he had absolutely no idea what she was up to. It was a new feeling, since they had been close since the beginning, when the incident had happened and Thomas was created. It felt eerie, and the bad premonition he had felt before was growing at a fast pace.

  -Knock knock

  Surprised, Thomas jumped and almost hit his head on the wardrobe door. He quickly closed it and looked in the phone’s reflection to correct his expression, then walked to the door.

  ‘It’s too te for school, considering the time I probably already ate, and my hair is damp, so I just took a shower. I’m even in my pajamas, so why is someone knocking on my door ?’

  It would be great if Mariane had left him a message, but she didn’t, so he wore his best ‘surprised and a bit confused’ expression and opened the door. Behind was the dignified Paimon, that he saw for the first time out of his uniform. His long hair was tied in a low ponytail, and he was in linen pants with a silky top.

  “Good evening. I wonder why you put on your pajamas when you knew I was coming. It isn’t very proper.”

  ‘Yeah, he is right. What were you thinking, Mariane ? And why is he here ? A heads up would have been nice.’

  Trying to navigate the confusing situation, Thomas let the man enter with a shy smile.

  “Sorry, I must have been a bit tired and I forgot.”

  The demon raised an eyebrow.

  “You forgot even though you spent the whole day begging me to help you ? Next time I’ll let you plead some more.”

  He walked past Thomas, patting his head while talking, and sat at the desk.

  ‘Did he just caress my hair ? It feels so gross… Are they already that close ? Next time, I’m definitely asking Mariane, it’s just too much.’

  Containing his inner anger and disgust, Thomas joined Paimon at the desk. The demon had a few books and school furniture in his hands. He seemed to have come for studying purposes.

  ‘I can already guess. The exams are coming up soon and Mariane begged him to help her since he has the best grades, right ?’

  Sighing inwardly, he sat next to Paimon and opened his own notebook. The study session was pretty standard, the prince was really good at expining, and Thomas could grasp the different concepts easily. With two smart men, reviewing the entire program was quick, and Thomas liked to learn new things, so it didn’t feel like a chore. Halfway through, though, he noticed that Paimon’s gaze was glued to him. The demon was smirking.

  “You are getting strange again. Are you pretending to be dumb usually ?”

  Thomas flinched.

  ‘Is he getting suspicious ? Mariane really needs to open up and tell the truth to these guys, we won’t be able to maintain the current situation for long.’

  Trying to hide his inner turmoil, he smiled awkwardly.

  “I’m not that smart, I will probably have forgotten everything by tomorrow.

  Paimon turned his head to the workbook, muttering to himself.

  “I’m sure you will. Until those few times where you won’t. You are quite mysterious.”

  ‘His interest in us has deepened quite a bit. It’s a good sign for Mariane but a bad one for me. She needs to tell him that she suffers from DID and I’m a different person. If the princes find out on their own, I don’t know what they will do….’

  The crisis was quickly approaching, and Thomas couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  ***

  Later that night, after Paimon had gone back to his room, Thomas was sitting on the bed and staring into space. He felt too agitated to sleep. That’s when something he had been waiting for happened.

  “Hello, Thomas !”

  “Good evening, Mariane. Pardon me for being direct, but we need to talk.”

  He felt the agitation of the girl in his mind, but didn’t pay any attention.

  “You know what happened tonight, right ?”

  She answered weakly.

  “My study date with Paimon, right ?”

  Thomas’ intuition was right. Inviting a guy to her room while she was in her pajamas and had just gotten out of the shower, it couldn’t be anything other than a date. He sighed.

  “You set up a date and it was me who appeared instead, so you can probably guess that nothing romantic happened at all, we only worked. And if we did, you know how that came across, right ?”

  “He thought that I was very intelligent and was hiding my true self by appearing dumb, right ? He already made that remark a few times.”

  The two fell silent. They knew what needed to be done, but Mariane wasn’t ready yet.

  “I can’t. If I tell them that there are different people in my head and they suddenly hate me, what should I do ?”

  “It doesn’t matter, we won’t be here for long.”

  “We will, because…”

  Mariane stopped herself, but it was too te. Thomas had already guessed the end of her sentence.

  “We won’t go back soon because you asked to stay ?”

  He wasn’t one to be angry, usually he only got upset and annoyed, but this time his furry quickly spread through the system’s mind, hitting Mariane like a whip. She shielded herself by raising her voice.

  “It’s my life anyway, you have no power to stop me ! The demons are nice to me, and life is easier than when we were in the human world, I don’t want to go back ! You aren’t even real, why should I listen to you ?”

  Thomas felt like cold water had been poured on him. It was one thing to think of himself as being unimportant, but being seen that way by Mariane was another type of pain. His heart was aching so much that he felt like it was exploding in a thousand pieces. However, he outwardly stayed calm, and delivered a final warning to the girl.

  “Even if you stay, you should tell them, if only for the sake of your retionship. Imagine what would happen if they discovered it by themselves. They would probably feel hurt.”

  Mariane hesitated, but finally answered.

  “I know. I will tell them.”

  Hearing the reply, Thomas used a trigger for the first time in forever, and pictured a traumatizing memory to come back to the inner world. Better feel bad than stay like this another second.

  He found himself in the garden, and stayed frozen for a few seconds. Using a negative trigger had after effects, and his nausea didn’t seem to go away easily. When finally he raised his head, Fotgely’s face was so close to his that he could have felt her breath, if ever she had one. Without backing down, the woman whispered.

  “You know what happens when the principal personalities are shaken right ?”

  Thomas nodded.

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t keep my calm.”

  “Will you also be sorry when your agitation breaks the inner world and I disappear ?”

  He really wasn’t in the mood for that kind of conversation.

  “You are the one who reduces your consciousness to avoid the inner world, we aren’t responsible if the instability of our mind makes you disappear.”

  Thomas wanted to go py with Larotte to change his mood, but Fotgely wasn’t moving. She still blocked his path, showing no signs of taking a step back.

  “You are Mariane’s guardian, you are supposed to make sure everything is going fine with her and she doesn’t get traumatized again. If you aren’t doing your job, you might vanish too. Or maybe get fused with someone else. Aren’t you scared ?”

  She was asking a question, but it sounded more like a warning. It was true, personalities weren’t fixed, they evolved by disappearing or fusing with others, and new ones could appear, depending on what the brain needed to keep going. Even if Thomas had been the same since his creation, there was no guarantee that it would stay that way.

  “Maybe it would be better if I disappeared. Mariane doesn’t seem to need me anymore. She is happy with her demon princes, so what’s the use of my presence ?”

  Her words had left a deep wound in Thomas’ heart.