When Faris lost his magic, Damien didn't cease to be. But his ability to be active and felt by Faris was destroyed. Despite being intwined with Faris's mind, despite experiencing his sadness, pleasure, anger, fear, and hopes, he couldn't reach out to speak to his counterpart. Eventually, when Tartarus surfaced into Faris's mind, the space Damien had embedded himself in was upturned, and he was forced into a gross parallel of reality, forced to relive the day after the fallout of his friend's desperate betrayal. Rumors abound had followed Damien into his classes, lunchroom, and even the library, where he would normally be able to retreat from harassment.

"At first, I didn't realize this was all a dream…" Damien mumbled to himself as he began to reminisce on his first time going through the dream scape. At first, it seemed like a day in school, but as he passed through the halls, things began to shift, a few students and teachers here and there would look instead like the students in the mage academy. Birds outside in the garden were all owls, despite the fact it was the middle of the day, and the bullies had an appearance somewhere in between that of a normal human and a shade, they had all their natural skin tone, but their hair and eyes were blood red, and more than a few had shark like or needle-like teeth. When they cornered him in the bathroom, it was less a beat down, and more actual murder, and the walls began to resemble those of the room where Mendel turned him into a shade. Then, if Damien did nothing, a shade would begin to choke him to death as someone else, resembling Beta, stabbed him through the chest from behind. Each time it happened, Damien would feel increasingly exhausted, and no matter how he fought back at first, it would always lead to that moment; they would drag him to the bathroom, beat him up, then kill him, rinse and repeat, he would wakeup every morning to the same day. He had attempted fleeing the city limits, there, he was hit by a truck, breaking several of his ribs and crippling but not killing him. He attempted getting a teacher, but the teachers simply dragged him to the bathroom, speeding up the process. He tried staying in bed, but eventually, the door to his room would break down, the windows would shatter inwards, and a sea of people would rush in dragging him out and killing him.

With each death came a great wave of exhaustion, Damien could only follow the motions. Any deviation from the "normal path" he had taken on the real day he experienced would cause the torment to occur faster, so he couldn't even find a different book to read without some random old lady shade claiming that she was the head librarian shattering his clavicle with a copy of Moby Dick.

Perhaps due to the amount of deaths he had experienced before, the idea that he had been killed by a geriatric weilding a paperback caused him to collapse into a fit of giggles. That day had been the breaking point. Upon awakening, he heard a knock on his door as one of his father's manservants called him to awaken and prepare for his classes. Even if he was in a strange dream world, it was the first time Damien ever disobeyed his father's command, and the start of his rebellion.

It took only five minutes before a flood of people rushed into his room, and less than ten seconds before he was torn apart. Damien repeated this ten times over, counting to the last second, then he began to experiment, gauging which actions and reactions caused a violent retaliation.

"Bedroom, 5 minutes and 13 to 15 seconds. Breakfast, 30 seconds, limo, the second I step out of it, I have 15 seconds to re-enter, but I can ignore the butler's words even though in reality, I had a conversation. Classroom, if I ignore the bullies, I am harassed if I leave for the bathroom. If I hold it in, it will take 20 minutes before they rush in. If I attack the bully, or anyone else in the dream world, it will take 15 seconds for at least one to find and attack me, each one being fast, strong, numb to all pain, and maybe, insane." He racked his brain for more information as he turned to the 'corpse' of the librarian. He had gone to the library and began to binge books as he passed through.

"Weird, really weird." He murmured to himself. He turned to the librarian 'corpse'. "Don't you think it's weird?" Her response was to open her eyes, hiss and attempt to bite him. Damien didn't flinch, watching as, instead of blood, dust and straw poured out of her various wounds. He looked out towards the entrance of the library. There, countless palms, elbows, knees, and faces attempted to squeeze into the library. Normally, they would be able to squeeze through, even if they crushed themselves in the process, or sometimes they'd even break through the door, but Damien was able to determine some rules to this world. "Some objects work like normal, and break like normal, but others, well, they act like unbreakable barriers." The only thing blocking the door from bursting open was a tiny coffee table, an item who's only major importance was the fact Damien had hurt his shin and stubbed his toe on the blasted thing more times than he could count. "But, it really is weird." He showed the book to the librarian monster. It was a novel by the name of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. "I've passed by this book in the library countless times, in fact, I believe it was one of the recommended reads." He smiled calmly, "but, I never read it." The monster seemed to flinch. "I never read it, we had the choice between that and the Aeneid it, so… if this is some weird purgatory from my mind." He looked at the monster, "how come I can read this book?"

…

The first action Bergan did was to spout out every word of death he knew. "FIgured as much." He muttered, watching as the enemies pulled back bowstrings. "Oi, brat." he turned to Minstrel, "Why do you have Faris's bird with you? And who are-" Minstrel interrupted him by tackling him to the side. "Blasted idiot, I have…" He yowled in shock and pain, a glowing green arrow had cut into him, scratching him slightly as it fell upon the ground. His wound began to bubble and fizz. "Siethr!" he muttered, using magic to heal and treat the wound. In that same second, the sound of arrows twanging released again. "Steinr rïsa" he shouted, raising a short stone wall, which covered him, Minstrel, and the two animals. His mind went to the incident the children experienced when they snuck into a building associated with Rembrant. Seya had nearly died as a golem using a green blade cut her down, and Venka exhausted herself using her magic to overcome whatever caused the golem and the room in general to resist magic. He narrowed his eyes. If I can't hurt them with magic, that means they can't hurt me with magic either.

"What should we do?" Minstrel asked cautiously.

Bergan laughed, "can you use that thing strapped to your side?" Minstrel glanced at his rapier and nodded. "Good," Bergan replied, "we can't let them continue to try and pick us off from afar." He took out several gemstones which seemed to gleam. "Now… follow my lead…"

…

"...shit, why is it Bergan Briarson?" James groaned in annoyance, he was robbed in a dark blue cloak. "we were supposed to have been expecting Faris…" It was a simple message from their leader…

To those hearing this message, my order is this, Minstrel failed his mission and betrayed our cause, I have given him one last chance to make things right. If he is loyal, he will attempt to slay Faris. This is unlikely, but on the off chance he damages Faris, you may attack Faris and leave Minstrel alive for… reconditioning. If Minstrel happens to instead betray us, or fails to hurt Faris, you may dispose of both of them, alongside any witnesses.

James scowled and fired another arrow, these 'gifts' they received from the leader was quite effective, they could pierce through wards like a stone through still waters, but in exchange, they couldn't use magic if the green glowing metal was too close. Something as small as the arrowhead would release a magic dampening field as small as 1 feet in radius, while a short sword would have enough metal to create a yard long radius sphere, enough to cover most if not all of his body at all times. These would have murdered Faris if they even scratched him, due to him supposedly being a shade, and even if it wasn't immediate, the Siethr should have melted him down as well. But Minstral got in his way, and Bergan instead only received a small wound. As the arrows neared, a dome of stone rose from the ground like a tidal wave, engulfing and protecting the targets.

"Sir James!" One of his subordinates called out, "your o-" before the man could continue, the ground began to rumble as the massive stonewall split in three, forming three distinct golems that charged towards the walls.

"Off the walls!" James shouted in alarm, leaping from the walls, most of his men complied, but a few unfortunately did not jump in time, screaming as the walls of the warehouse's largest storage room crumbled, collapsing on them.

"Teams 2, 3, 4, 6," James began, "Distract or destroy those golems! The rest? After the mage and traitor."

…

Tartarus hummed good naturedly as he made his way out of the city, eventually, he made his way to a clearing. He stumbled slightly and looked down, breaking apart was the charred remains of a human femur. He blinked in surprise, "they never cleaned up the corpses?". He thought back to the time Faris and his friends saved the sickly woman and had been attacked. He knew some of the bodies had been caught in a purple solider flower explosion. After a few seconds of contemplation, Tartarus kicked away the rest of the remains, watching as it fell apart like ash. Walking past, he made his way to the center of the clearing. He took some time to enjoy nature, motionless for long enough that some animals flew towards him. Eventually, his mouth cracked into a giddy smile as he took out a mortar and pestle and began to crush herbs and animal parts together.

"Bubble bubble… toil and trouble." He smirked, "now, what was the formula Angela used again when she needed to prepare for battle, eye of the newt… frog heart, weasel liver… dog wood treebark, lilac, and wolfsbane, and….?" He stuck a finger up, "Oh, yes! A drop of my blood. Silly me, my perfect memory must be slipping." He boiled the tincture, stirring slowly but thoroughly until it became like porridge. In two quick movements, he gulped down the formulas developed by the Knight Brigade, and then quickly drank the thick slurry.

The effects were nearly instantaneous. Tartarus felt his heart beating rapidly and his temperature reach feverish levels and beyond. He smiled in excitement as he reached his hand out to a tree. In seconds, the tree before him began to wither, as it withered and rotted, he felt more strength filling his limbs. As the forest and animals within died around him, he reached an intangible hand of magic into his chest, and reached towards his heart. Soon, the sound of a heart beat was the only thing that filled his ears. In that deafening clamor, he felt the sliver within his chest, the thing Alpha stabbed into him, the thing that cost Faris his power, and Tartarus his freedom. "Soon…" He smiled madly, his eyes turning to Illirea.

…

Damien had been able to explore the limits of the world, it was as large as his home city, disappearing into a void the second he went too far, too high, or even too low. From back alleys to high rise apartments, everything seemed almost normal, and when he was able to, he could explore the books of the library, internet pages he'd never encountered before, and videos he'd never watched or heard. He moved through ever exit sign, tried dying in various ways, and even flew into the void with his mother's private jet, after several crashes. "Man, I'm stumped, what should I do…"

"You should be patient, you'll wake up soon."

"I should b-" Damien flinched, turning to face his 'father'. Backing up, Faris glared at the man. "Who the hell are you, and where the hell am I?"

The man smiled, "Hello son."

"You're not my dad, and even if you were, Bergan is more my dad than you were."

"Oh? Which one?" The man asked jokingly.

"Both, both my real dad and Bergan Briarson."

"Ouch, I would feel insulted if I was your father, didn't he raise you, feed you? You're rich, aren't you? You have a fortunate life, you've never needed for anything, it's not like you're groomed to become king of the world or something. Your 'father' Bergan hasn't been very attentive, has he? What kind of man would let their child galavant through a dangerous land and get killed and possessed?"

Damien shook his head, "If I died, you'd replace me. I'd rather be cherished and happy than rich and despised."

"Your father doesn't despise you, in fact, he's fighting for you right now, that's why we're here."

"...What?"

Damien awoke in bed again, surrounded by the 'teens' in his classroom. His father stood at the foot of the bed. "Damien Pearce, um… you, is alive, well, comatose, you've been in a coma for 4 months on Earth."

Damien froze, "...what?"

"Yup, you somehow survived being struck by that 18 wheeler, a crazy miracle, right?"

"You're lying."

"Maybe," The man who looked like Faris's father smirked, "but you can't know for sure."

"Then how do you know?!"

"I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that you're in bad shape." The walls around Damien began to crumble, and the "fake" teens began to shift into states of extreme hostility. As they did however, Damien felt something shift in his mind. Tartarus had ingested something. "Did you enjoy all those books?"

"..." Damien didn't reply, he looked around as the walls of the world began to darken, and red veins spiderwebbed over everything.

"I would love to… explain things to you, but you'll have things cut out trying to stop Tartarus, but luckily, I'm sure you'll be ready. All you have to do is say a few magic words." A stone appeared in his father's hand. At the same time, the monsters disguised as memories rushed him.

"Steinr rïsa?" Damien muttered to himself, almost like a question, the words echoed through the world, and a simple, polished river stone smashed through the skull of the monsters projecting as children. He immediately began to feel the world squeeze down on his mind, but fought back with a great vigor.

When Damien first read Eragon, he had always imagined mental duels as taking place in a dark void. Within that dark void, orbs of light of different colors representing the mind of the respective duelists would face each other. Projecting out of these orbs, waves, walls, blades, and a whole host of other constructs would slam into each other and into the defenses the other mind.

When Faris was taught by Angela, she told him that he could imagine it two wild beasts constantly changing form and fighting each other, but that his image for it was also quite effective. According to her, the way to win a mental duel lay in the approach, flexibility, and willpower of the combatants, combined then with sufficient imagery and education, these factors were however, ultimately variable. Mental duelists amongst humans were often trained and taught using distinct imagery to form mental walls, if only because they lacked the will and concentration to sufficiently attack people's minds. Roran prooved the supreme viability of such an approach when training with Eragon. Eragon often used such a technique, but Oromis pointed out the limits of such a technique was, and had Eragon attempt to practice by reciting a poem or song. The book didn't go into full detail regarding the intricacies of mental duels, but it took effort in showing that humans could range in skill and technique, Eragon, who when compared to most elves and Saphira was relatively weak as a mental duelist, was actually more powerful than must human mages when it came to mental dueling, but was neither able to penetrate the full force of Murtagh's or Roran's mental defense.

At the same time however, he and Arya, who likely had comparable if not better mental dueling skills to Eragon by the time of Inheritance, lost to the single Head Priest of Helgrind. That single priest however lost to Angela, and that same Angela taught him, or well, she taught Faris, he was simply along for the ride. Even if the training was second-hand, he witnessed Angela's techniques first-hand through Faris, and the two were able to train together and combine their thoughts when needed, but when Faris was transformed into a Shade, Tartarus targetted him and the egos first. Perhaps due to that, Tartarus being sealed also forced him downwards. When Tartarus awoke due to Faris's life being in danger, Tartarus first began suppressing the false egos, Anya and the others Faris had killed and taken the memories of, then set his sights on Faris.

"Hey…" Damien held up his hand to wave awkwardly.

Unfortunately for the Shade, it seemed that with Faris's mind collapsing, Damien was able to resurface.

"?!" Tartarus, or, the spirit that was Tartarus, squirmed in surprise as constructs of light struck it, the spirit was forced back, its hold on the egos and Faris's mind loosening.

"Yeesh, it's so weird, it's like looking at Faris, but dressed up for Halloween, and also kinda blacker? Feature-wise, sorta, since you're as pale as a vampire." Damien appeared as he was before death, wearing a plain blue jacket, denim jeans, and dark brown shoes, and with a plain white tee-shirt, underwear, and socks underneath. "Weird, I didn't think Faris was that much shorter than me… well, he is 12."

Without responding, thousands of mite-shaped constructs sailed through the air and charged towards Damien. Damien flicked his fingers forwards and millions of stalactite like pillars rose from the formless darkness beneath them, piercing the red mites and disappearing. As the constructs of energy, red and silver respectively, shattered, Tartarus charged forward. Damien moved to block the blow but was too slow, his eyes widened as a red blade pierced his chest. Damien gasped, coughing up blood, he tried to move the blade away, but his trembling hands contained no strength, his head collapsed forward and Tartarus could feel the boy's mind collapse. Tartarus smirked.

"Loser."

"Oh so you can speak." Damien said suddenly, the effects of Tartarus's mental encroachment reversed as Damien's mind fought back with surprising resilience.

"W-what?!"

Massive slabs of stone began crashing into the shade, knocking him back. Damien looked at the sword in his chest, then tensed and flexed, popping the blade out of his chest. "Yeah~" He sighed, "you call yourself Tartarus based on my memories of Greek mythology, you're really tiresome." He cocked his head, "You're also very… talkative outside the body, and to Faris, is dealing with me a waste of time? Or am I just exhausting to talk to?" The representation of Damien looked to the side, as if distracted, but the dozens of mental strikes continued assaulting Tartarus without the slightest bit hesitation.

"...I misjudged you, didn't I?" Tartarus redoubled his efforts, destroying the mental projections Damien shot out.

Damien cocked his head in confusion, "That depends on your opinion of me?"

"A soft, cowardly, depressed child with a victim complex and self-destructive mentality who found himself pining for a woman who hated the ideas his existence represented."

"...Fair Assessment"

"But I'm curious." Tartarus began, "Where the hell did you come from?"

Damien smirked in response, "It's a boring story."

...

Afterword:

Haven't done an afterword for this book, But it's been long overdue lol, I'm back to working on this story, for any fans of either this work or my other work, don't worry, I'm not stopping either, in fact…