Welp! Thia chapter took a while to write. A bit longer wait than the others but I hope it was worth it. Yeah. Sorry about that. Long story about how it came to be, hehe.

I have no apologies other than to say; WOW! Giving out previews really challenges me into what direction the chapter can go on. This chapter took longer than usual cause 1) I wasn't certain how I would write this chapter exactly and 2) It went a completely different direction than I was hoping to and 3) I just rolled with it. These things kind of just... Happen.

Notes: I'm taking consideration as to what you guys seem to like more of and try to incorporate it into the story, as to this one... I don't think I can call it "Part 2" of 'Her Decision' in the previous chapter. I guess call this a filler? Kind of... Thus the name, 'Interlude' cause yeah...

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my plot, and I'm sorry this seems far off. Sighhhh. bringing in Sigmund Freud seems like taking a biiigggg risk with this story but it happened. Whoops.

Ps: As you will be able to tell, the preview in the last chapter will completely blow your minds away in this chapter. I didn't expect this to happen. But it did. As I said earlier, that's what kind of just happened.

Pps: OOC DISCLAIMER HERE! I have lost track of this chapter. Really. It just did what it wanted to so please just ignore the Out Of Characterness parts. The dream parts are meant to be OOC though... If you're still confused, a Author's Note is availableu at the end. Where I try to explain (and fail,) the amazing plot I have come up with that will soon finish this story with a baaaang!

I suspect the end is fast approaching. Maybe two/three chapters. Four tops.

Enjoy!

[-]

The class of Min Gui Wen was all confused and simply stared at their teacher, hoping he was alright. That day, he had walked into class chipper and almost hopping along, flashing a big, bright smile as he placed down his book and bag down at the table.

"Hello, everyone!"

"Afternoon, professor Gui..." Was everyone's adamant reply. As he went around, collecting homework and passing attendance, everyone was quickly whispering and wondering what could have possibly happened for him to be so... Happy.

Feng Lan paid everyone no mind and took her seat, ignoring the hushed voices around her and quickly logged off her credentials for the Second Life homepage. If anyone managed to see the username... There would be problems. She scrolled down through the forums to see what everyone was talking about her character and the Odd Squad these days.

"Sis, I'm a little concerned about this habit of yours." Yang Ming whispered to her. "Searching for rumors about your own name isn't healthy."

"You just don't understand you idiotic brother."

Gui coughed. "Ahem. Feng Lan, how many times do I have to remind you to turn off the tablet before class starts?" Gui said and Yang Ming snickered. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you, Yang Ming. Don't think I did not see you eating that bag of chips last week. Not so stealthy, are you? What did you bring today?"

Yang Ming blushed in embarrassment and sat straight, taking out his textbook. "Nothing sir..."

"That's what I thought." Gui nodded and went to start the lesson. "Okay, everyone, today we will review what we left on last week. Turn to page two hundred and five, read for half an hour and write down notes and your thoughts on the passage."

Feng Lan attempted her best to tune the class out for as long as she could. She lazily tapped her pen in the desk as her mind wandered off to Second Life, and what she would be doing if she wasn't stuck in the lecture.

There was so much to prepare for the festival still. And they had wanted Prince to sing and prepare that speech which she still had yet not fully written and handed in to Lolidragon for revisions and... She sighed.

Grabbing a fresh piece of scrap paper she started to write.

Citizens of Second Life, I come to you today not as a legend, but as someone who is just like you...

She snickered to herself as she read what she had written. Yeah, this would need work. A lot of work.

She noticed Gui staring at her from the corner of his eyes. She raised a eyebrow at him, he shrugged and pointed to his book; a sign which meant, get to work.

Before Gui would actually get the chance to scold her and make her a example to her classmates just as he had done to her brother, she grabbed her text book and tried to concentrate on her actual schoolwork.

His lips curved into a smile. She was one of his brightest students, after all. He had nothing to worry about.

{-}

As soon as she got home from University, Feng Lan went into her room and didn't even bother to remind her brother that there was leftovers from the previous night's dinner.

Before he even began, Yang Ming gave up on making something for his own and was struggling with the simplest of tasks; heating up the leftovers.

He tilted his head and stared at the microwave. "How do I even turn this on?" He tapped it with his hand. "It's not touch screen?" He glanced left and right, looking for the on switch, or at least directions. He had seen his mother and sister use it multiple times but not once had he even wondered to ask how it worked. He figured he didn't need to know these types of things.

Boy had he been wrong. Very, very wrong. The type of wrong that lands you in these types of situations. Where you are hungry and have nothing to eat.

His sister is the one who buys the groceries and half the time she doesn't even buy canned foods! Those pre-made sausages would be useful right now. Wait, scratch that. He was pretty sure he didn't know how to use a can opener.

Reality games made mundane things like cooking seem so simple and easier to handle than it was in real life.

Second Life my foot! It was all a lie.

No! He wouldn't be defeated so easily. What else could be eaten without having to be cooked by him? There was fast food and junk food but there was no place like that nearby, and all his snacks had run out in the university.

With a sigh he tapped his fingers on the kitchen's counter and glanced around. Food... Edible food...

Wait! Cereal was a type of food right?

Aha!

He went to look for a box of cereal.

~Five minutes later~

Of course they had run out of milk. Just peachy and what he needed.

He would not be defeated by the kitchen! Valiantly, he kept staring at the fridge, as if hoping a gallon of milk would magically appear.

Of course that kind of thing wouldn't happen. Who was he kidding?

Just quit while you're ahead kid...

His subconscious was talking back now. This had gone too far.

~five more minutes later~

"Feng Lan!" He ran up the stairs and went into his sister's room. "I think I'm going delusional!"

His twin stared back at him and wanted to roll her eyes. "When aren't you?" She retorted. "Okay, what happened?"

"I started talking to myself!" He flailed his arms. "In my mind!"

Feng Lan couldn't anymore and just laughed. Her brother's hunger was making him imagine crazy scenarios in his head.

I better go cook him something.

{-}

That night, Feng Lan placed on her gaming helmet and decided she would not FullDive.

Instead, she would use the system where the helmet allowed her to fall asleep quicker yet gave her complete control on when she could log into the game during the night.

Maybe that would give her a serene, non restless sleep cycle. She needed one of those.

Of course, one never does get what one wishes for.

{-}

The Elf stared at himself at the river's edge.

Curiously, he tilted his head in confusion and blinked his bright, red eyes.

"There you are Prince! I was looking for you." Lolidragon's voice broke him away from his thoughts.

Of course you are, when don't you? He wondered. With a sigh, he dusted himself off and stared at the thief. "Yeah, yeah. I'm here now so quit your yappin' what is it?"

Lolidragon waved her hand. "Oh nothing silly! I just came to deliver a message and a present from Yu Lian. She knows you've been working super-duper hard lately and wants to make sure you're fine."

"I'm alright, Lolidragon. You and me both know I hardly do anything around here anyways. So, what did Yu Lian want to say to me?" The elf feared the worst.

Lolidragon shrugged and handed him a note along with a bag of coins.

Here you go munchkin! Spend these as you wish! You deserve a break. -Yu Lian he read out loud. He laughed. "You can't be serious. Is this her idea of a joke?"

Lolidragon laughed along. "Of course not. I was ordered to get these to you as fast as possible."

"Sureeeee! And I'm the Prince of..." At the mention of the word prince, Lolidragon perked up and grinned. "Don't answer that."

"Prince, seriously. Go ahead and do as told. You deserve this."

"Nuh-uh. Whatever scheme you two are up to, I'm not falling for it."

The thief twirled her hair. "I thought you'd be excited." She stated. "With this you have enough coins to go on a romantic date with... Oh, I don't know. A certain someone?"

"AHA! I knew it! You two were scheming something." He crossed his arms. "If this is to get me to admit me and Gui are together, it's not going to work."

Lolidragon smirked. "I never said you were."

"And I never said we were or weren't."

"Prince, please."

"I'm not going to admit to anything. No comment!"

"Oh my gaaaaaaawd!" Lolidragon squealed. "There is something, isn't there?"

"Nothing to tell!"

"His royal highness!"

Prince sighed and face palmed. Just what he needed at a time like this. "Gui, I'm busy."

"No you're not! In fact, Gui, Prince was looking for you. He wants to go on a date!"

"A date...?" Gui blinked. "That would be the most wonderful thing ever!"

"Not for me!" He made a X kind of sign with his hands and ran away.

If only this was a dream and he could wake up. This was turning into a nightmare and he didn't even realize when he had logged into the game at that.

That's right! He wasn't even supposed to be in the game, so... Why was he?

Feng Lan woke up with a startled look on her face as she removed her gaming helmet.

What the heck just happened? No more of this nonsense! You idiots only seem to bring me chaos. And what does that dream even mean!?

She really couldn't fall asleep after that.

{-}

As they walked to their class the next day, Gu Yun Fei and Lu Jing couldn't help but snicker at their distressed friend.

"I don't know," Lu Jing raised her arms and shrugged. "They say that dreams are a passage to our very soul."

"More like our subconscious." Gu Yun Fei cleared up. "Sigmund Freud stated that dreams are simply one of many complex ways our suppressed, ahem, urges, surface themselves." He said.

Feng Lan blushed. Urges? More like idiocies that wouldn't leave her alone!

"What did you even dream about?" Lu Jing asked. They hadn't really gotten any details beside; "It has to do with Second Life. Out of all things in this world that I can dream about, it had to be about that game."

They patted her on the back. "We'll ask professor Gui for you in our literature class tomorrow..." Her blushes reddened even tenfolds at the mention of his name.

"It's fine," she tried to calm herself down. "You don't have to."

Gu Yun Fei smiled softly. "Alright, alright, we won't pry. He hugged her and motioned to the infirmary. "Let's stop here to make sure you're fine, though."

The least that she wanted was to see Tian Lang. Not today at least. He could read her like a open book.

Damn you, Wolf-gege! Why do you have to be like this? With a sigh she shook her head and dragged her friends as quickly as she could.

"I'm fine. No need to worry. Let's go!"

"If you're sure..." They both stated.

Tian Lang had witnessed everything from the window and watched the scene in amusement and curiosity. "Wasn't that Feng Lan just now?" He mused to himself.

Why hadn't she wanted to drop by, even to say hi? That was odd.

{-}

"You saw Feng Lan with two other students? And the male was hugging her?" Gui asked from his seat in one of the ridiculously stiff as a board bed in the infirmary.

He was there for his usual lunch talk with his best friend, who not only worked with him in the same school, but they belonged to the best team in game that Second Life had to offer.

"Your jealousy is showing," Tian Lang teased his friend.

It was no secret that the priest, Ugly Wolf from Odd Squad, was also the doctor Tian Lang, in XX University, where the bard also worked.

Gui threw him a pillow. "Shush! So you said you saw them? Are you sure it was them?"

"Yeah. I don't know much of what was going on, but I heard them talking about dreams and sorts. They seemed worried about her."

"Do you think something happened to her?" Gui stated. "Prince never showed last night."

"Might be possible." Tian Lang said. "We'll just have to ask her but I doubt she would speak up. She was reluctant to even come get a check up earlier!"

Gui sighed. "I don't have her in my class today... I won't be able to ask her."

"Our best bet is to wait until she gets online then."

Gui pursed his lips and pouted. "But what if she doesn't get online?"

"You can wait a day or two, Romeo!"

"I'm a bard!"

Tian Lang shook his head.

{-}

Not this again!

Prince sighed and ruffled his hair. He knew he was dreaming so why was he letting himself get affected?

"Come back here, Prince!"

"Not a single chance. You have to catch me."

Lolidragon wanted to roll her eyes. "This is your dream, not mine."

Prince halted in his tracks. "What?"

"You heard me." Lolidragon said. "This is one of the many realms of Feng Lan's dreamworlds."

"And you are?"

"A figment of your imagination." Lolidragon twirled her hair. "You can even call me your subconsciousness of sorts."

Prince laughed bitterly. "Out of all people, it had to be you?"

"Why not me? I'll have you know I took this form because you wanted me to. This... Female, is your best friend. You trust her."

"I don't!" He pointed. "You! She... is the devil's incarnate!"

"Subconsciousness... There is a difference."

"I don't care who you are." He was getting a headache now. "Okay, if this is a dream, then why am I like this?"

"Like what?"

"Look at me! I look like Prince!"

She laughed. "You are Prince."

"In Second Life, I am. Not here."

"You are in your own realm. Dear, you chose to be this way."

"I don't have time for your mind games."

"Ok, hear me out at least." And she pointed. "The answer is obvious. You are having an identity crisis."

"Gee... My own subconscious needs to tell me this? Tell me something I don't know."

"Okay. How about we play another game." The dreamworld Lolidragon proposed.

This was her dream, Feng Lan realized, and she'd call that wannabe poser whatever she felt like.

"And that game is?"

"Oh, it's simple." She clapped her hands. "It's the I will pretend I'm the real Lolidragon and that I just found out you and Gui are together game!"

The elf gawked like a fish. "Whaaaaa-?"

"Shush! No interruptions!"

Dreamworld Gui materialized out of nowhere.

"This really can't be good..." The elf groaned.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" He went and glomped the elf.

"Get away from me, fake Gui!"

"Feng Lan, play nice and I'll give you some advice." She coughed. "Okay. So I'm going to start now."

"With what, exactly?"

The thief squealed and clapped her hands. "Took you long enough! When were you planning on telling us? Okay, Prince, Gui, KISS!"

Prince hid behind the first thing he could find. At the moment, it happened to be Gui. "Fake Gui, attack!"

Gui laughed quietly and pat the elf's head. "I do kind of want to kiss you."

This was the first time the bard had ignored him or any command given. Game wise at least, it was like he was under his control whenever he was near... Dream wise? It seemed he had a mind of his own.

Prince backed off from Gui. "Stay away from me you pervert!"

"I don't see what's wrong? We've kissed before."

Memories of what had occurred that day in the plaza flooded the elf's mind and he blushed like a tomato. "Because you started it!"

A shrill noise broke through.

Interference from outside, interference from outside...

That had probably been her alarm. Or her idiotic brother.

Prince raised his hands to remove his helmet. Finally his ticket back to the real world.

Dreamworld Lolidragon smirked.

"Until you come to terms with your feelings...you're not safe from us. I'll see you again tonight!" She waved.

Prince groaned. Once the helmet was off, his eyes adjusted to the blinking lights.

{-}

Feng Lan took a deep calming breath and tossed the helmet to the side, reaching for her phone to turn off her alarm. At the same time, a text appeared on the screen.

Long Shui Han: Are you awake yet? You probably won't believe me when I say this... But I had the craaaaaziest dream last night! Call me when you can.

Well... Darn it. Things just got from complicated, to worse.

[-]

Oh snaaap! I'm going to be pelted at with sticks and stones. DON'T HIT ME!

I'll try to clear things up as much as I can.

Okay. So I admit when I started writing this, I'm like, "why do I do this to myself?"

Meaning giving previews out to a chapter I haven't even written yet. I feel that it's been a good way to get myself pumped up and the muses hopping my way. So I just go with it.

Now, this chapter was going to go either one or two ways with that preview; I was going to use the whole, 'they (Gui and Feng Lan accidentally get found out' thing but that's soooo cliche! And me? I like to challenge myself and thing out of the box a little. and this one? Man did it happen. Phew!

Okay, so after I crossed that idea out I thought up another. This one being the whole 'Feng Lan is just dreaming all this' but nope! It didn't just stop at this now. Cause it's Odd Squad. And when are things ever easy? So now I have this whole plot thought out which is OMG YOU GUYS! I can't spoil much myself because well... Okay. This preview can give you guys an idea of what I'm going for. Hit or miss guys. Hit or miss.

I hope it hits. Right in the Odd Squad feels!

Preview; "so, what you're suggesting... Is that our gaming helmets, when not used for gaming, connects to us in a deeper level somehow?" Lolidragon stared at her in disbelief.

"Hey! I'm not the one flaunting around in other people's dreams pretending to be their subconscious! Thanks for that, by the way. My dreams have now become nightmares."

"What are you suggesting we do then?"

Feng Lan took a deep breath. "I'm quitting Second Life earlier than I thought."

"WHAT!?"