two idiots and a turtle (a kotlc fanfic)

chapter seven: in which a battle is fought within

a/n: just so y'all know, the new character I introduce in this chapter has it/its pronouns :)

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tam

I open my eyes to see nothing, my roaring headache fading to a dull throb as I look around.

Am I blind, or...?

I pause and blink a few times, waving my hand in front of my face. I can see the motion of my hand, which means I'm not blind, I'm just in a place that's very, very dark. So where am I?

"Is anyone there?!" I call out, feeling the vibrations of the sound in my chest, but nothing comes out of my mouth. It's a suffocating, constricting feeling, to not be able to make any noise.

Suddenly, I gain a whole new understanding of Linh's fear of drowning.

What's going on? Where am I?

As in response to my question, something- (or someone?) materializes in front of me, making me jump back in surprise. If I could make any sound, I would have screamed. I tug on my bangs nervously as I stare at the figure, my mouth dry with shock as the figure stares at me.

It's. . . me?

It's me, but obviously a different version of me. The area which I'm standing in has suddenly gained light, enough for me to examine this other me, so I gladly take the opportunity to do so.

It's characteristics are the same as mine, but there are some which are weirdly, creepily off.

It stares at me with pure-black eyes, lips curling up into a toothy snarl. Its hands twitch and shake, its fingers seeming to elongate into claws, which are covered in an inky, dark substance, black veins visible under papery-white skin. With each movement of its hands, the surroundings seem to shift and change, gravitating towards the figure.

It's me. . . but a shadowy version of me? What the hell is going on?

I gulp, suddenly remembering my brief stint with the Neverseen, and how Gethen had been able to see into my mind and trick me, over and over again. Is this one of the Neverseen's mind illusions?

The Shadow-Tam speaks, its voice jarring in the silence. "I'm not you, and I'm not an illusion, and rest assured, you're nowhere near the Neverseen," there's a pause before it speaks again, "I'm your subconscious's physical manifestation of shadowflux."

Shadowflux?

My mind flashes back to the shadowflux I had let under my skin, kept carefully contained so that I could control it. But I never really had been able to control it well enough, had I?

Shadow-Tam simply smirks, which doesn't really help.

So why am I here, somehow talking to this shadowflux? How am I here?

"Ah, finally asking the right questions. Sit down." The shadow-Tam gestures to the ground in a grand sweep of its hands, making two chairs rise up out of the dark landscape. "We need to talk."

Did it make the chairs form? Is this entire place made out of shadows?

I sit down across from the shadow-Tam, arms crossed. For some reason, I can't speak here, but this shadow-Tam can hear my thoughts. Interesting, but quite a bit invasive.

I glance around at the shadowy landscape again. Now that I know that this being is made out of shadowflux, that probably means that this whole place is made out of shadows. These chairs seem to be the only thing in this place, with the flat ground seemingly stretching on forever.