Snap back.

You take a deep breath. It's almost as refreshing as if you had just surfaced from beneath the water. Your mind leaps back into your head, and if it wasn't for Niki and Nyllia to catch your fall, you'd have collapsed to the ground. They keep you on your feet until you're steady enough to stand on your own.

"What was that?!" Eva shouts. "For awhile, you were just like... gone. Mentally I mean. It's like you turned into a zombie."

You rub your temple. Then you look down to your other hand. The FONE is still live. "I was watching the others fight."

"You were what?" Niki asks.

Eva points to her eyeball. "Like the Arcane Eye?"

"Not exactly," you answer. "It was like I was projecting myself as a barely visible spirit over the battlefield. I could hear and see everything, and I could speak. It was better than the Arcane Eye. But I have a feeling I could only do it because of what's in my mind, and the connection I have to the people on the other side."

"You really helped us out," Lynx says through the FONE. "Maybe we'd have found that fish-thing eventually, but we'd have all ended up naked by then."

"This world has way too many monsters that dissolve clothing," Eva says.

"Aye. We should just all go nude," Bek comments from the other side. "Would be easier."

"That's a weird thing to say to a lady!"

"But I was talking to you."

"Kyle! Project yourself back over there and slap Bek across the face right now!"

You bring the FONE to your ear and say, "If you're all good, we should keep marching. But call me back if you run into more trouble. I have a feeling that as you get closer to this temple, the worse it's going to get."

"We'll keep our eyes open wider," Lynx says. "At least we know the spirit's weakness at the distance we are. I don't know what it'll be able to do at the temple itself, but at the very least, it sounded kinda confused?"

"It did seem like it was having performance anxiety," Dajy adds.

"Good luck, everyone," you say.

"Bye for now," Lynx responds. "And thanks again for coming to help. Even when we're far apart, I guess we're still close, huh?"

With the FONE stowed away, your party continues towards its destination. You do worry now whether or not the other group has been fine in your absence. You feel a little winded from your brand new trick, though that isn't going to stop you from making sure they're all right.

"Hey, guys. I'm gonna call the others. So let's stop one more time," you say.

"We will stop as many times as it may take to make certain the others are safe," replies Nyllia. "Please, call them."

This is the perfect opportunity to practice my astral projection, or whatever it's called. Maybe I'll try and warp my consciousness straight away. As soon as the link is made, I'll think as hard as I can about all of them. Yaera. Ana. Peony. Sen-nu. Mipa. Kashura. They must be somewhere in Silverleaf by now. Picture it. Imagine them in danger. They might need me.