Author's Note: Well, hello again! Glad to see people are still enjoying this roller coaster ride. Thank you, all of you, for your continued support. It still blows me away how much love you're giving this story. This is easily my most popular story, and I have you all to thank for that. Keep an eye out for new chapters for this story and my other stories, as well as new stories altogether. As for this story, let's just get right into it. Thanks again, and here's to the next chapter!

Review Responses:

RandomFicLover: Thanks for your review! I appreciate the compliment, and I'm glad you like Dan as a main character. Whatever the case, I will gladly keep the chapters coming. Thanks again for your support!

Cypher DS: Thanks for your reviews! I appreciate your critique, as I know you've written a lot of stories about HuniePop. I'm glad you see parallels as well as differences between my story and the one presented to us in the original game, including the nature of the introductory dialogue. It was fun to write, even after I revamped the chapter. As for Vye's powers, I agree, they could lead to some shenanigans. I suppose you'll just have to wait and see. Also, while I agree that the way Vye's name is spelled doesn't quite fit it's pronunciation, I can't see myself changing it. It may be confusing, but Vye's name will forever be spelled V-Y-E, but pronounced like the letter V. Thanks again for your review and continued support, and I'm glad you're enjoying reading my work.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own HuniePop.

Chapter 3:

Head Games

Since I was already ready to go, it didn't take us long to leave my apartment. After a brief discussion concerning which restaurant was the best for breakfast, Vye and I walked our way to our chosen destination: Lola's Coffee House.

Now, I'm not exactly a coffee person, but I'm no stranger to Lola's, either. They have a quality breakfast and brunch menu, their jukebox plays nothing but the classics, and their hot chocolate is to kill for. For those reasons and more, I was not opposed to going there despite not being hungry.

Considering everything that had happened since I had woken up, I couldn't believe it was only a quarter past ten. It felt like it should be late in the afternoon, but it wasn't. It felt like everything had happened so fast, but it hadn't. It felt like I was dreaming and that the dream was about to end, but it didn't. Time was taking its sweet time today. That, or I was going crazy.

I blinked. Was I going crazy?

For the second time this morning, I found myself sitting in Lola's Coffee House across from a beautiful woman. But now, instead of that woman being my ex-girlfriend and ex-fiancée from my most recent nightmare, that woman was someone I knew to be a shape-shifting fairy from another dimension whose mission was to get my love life back on track.

A dejected sigh left my mouth as I sank into my seat, suddenly concerned that my reality could shatter at any moment. I was definitely going crazy.

"Having second thoughts?" Vye asked.

I glanced at Vye. She wore a knowing smile as she sat there on her side of the booth, a sign that she had done this song and dance before.

"Yes," I admitted, "But only because part of me still can't believe that this is really happening."

Vye nodded. "I would expect nothing less. Some people are simply overwhelmed by the revelation that love fairies and magic exist. The fact that it exists in another dimension doesn't usually help much."

"No kidding," I muttered under my breath.

"Like I said before, I'm not here to shatter your worldview. You ultimately decide how real I am to you once my mission is complete."

She said that like it was as simple as forgetting that she existed. It was, in a way. But how do you forget someone that looks the way Vye does? How do you forget that magical people with butterfly wings not only exist, but could be anyone around you? How do you forget that they use magic to help people get their love game on point?

Vye clearly knew what was going on in my mind, because she gently took hold of my hand from across the table and said, "You don't have to worry. If I know you, you'll come to your own understanding when the time comes."

I had to raise an eyebrow at that, but I was immediately put at ease when I saw her smile. It was something in the way she looked at me, something in the way I felt when she held my hand, that made me feel better about everything. Part of me wondered if it was magic or just one of her many talents. I opened my mouth to say something about it, but I was stopped prematurely by a waitress clad in baby blue appearing beside our table.

"Hey, guys," she said jauntily. "My name is Stephanie, and I'll be taking care of you today. What can I get you?"

Vye, having already retracted her hand, took a moment to glance at the menu in front of her before saying, "I'll have the Kickin' Eggs and Beef Platter with toast, and a cup of coffee, black."

Stephanie turned to me. "And for the gentleman?"

I scratched my head and smiled. "Just a hot chocolate, please. And no whipped cream on that."

"Of course!" She scribbled our orders down on her notepad before folding it up and hooking it to her uniform skirt. "Alrighty. We'll have it all ready in a hot second," she said with a wink.

For some reason, I couldn't help but examine her. She had a cute face and sun-weathered skin, and her body was petite and slim. When she started heading for the kitchen, I kept my eyes on her. Her curly blonde hair bobbed up and down as she made her way to the kitchen. She had a Texas dialect, walked on her toes, and wore a red snap-on bracelet.

That was when it hit me. I had seen her somewhere before, though I had never seen her at Lola's. What did she say her name was? Stephanie, right? Did I know any Stephanies?

Vye must have seen where my eyes were. When I turned back to her, she was sporting a knowing grin.

"Don't get ahead of me, Mr. Hartigan," she said with a disapproving wag of her finger.

"Wha—wha—what are you talking about?" I stammered, more confused than nervous.

Vye just shook her head. "I know a once-over when I see one."

It took me a second to figure out what exactly Vye was talking about. Once I got the picture, I immediately shot her an annoyed glare. "That was not a once-over," I said flatly. "It's just that...I think I've seen her somewhere before, that's all."

Vye's expression softened, but only slightly. "Oh, yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm at least sixty-five percent sure she went to my high school."

"So, you're not interested in her at all?"

"Interested? You mean for—no, not—I mean, not like that..."

Vye sat back in her seat with a curious look on her face. She suddenly seemed miffed. I couldn't wrap my head around it. She told me that I needed her help in finding a new romantic interest, complementing me all the while, but now she was confusing my genuine curiosity for lust. She had sung my praises the night previous, but now she was effectively calling me a womanizer.

Why was she being so skeptical of my actions all of a sudden? She had gone through my memories. Surely she could see that I was being honest with her.

...right?

As it turned out, I didn't have time to dwell on the matter. Stephanie was making a beeline to our table, our drinks delicately perched on the plastic tray she balanced on her palm. I turned to Vye to say something about trusting me, but she was gone.

My eyes widened in surprise, and I frantically searched for her until Stephanie arrived. I tried my best not to look like my companion had up and vanished into the ether. It proved to be rather difficult.

"Alright," Stephanie said as she lowered her tray, "One black lava, no strings attached, and one Eskimo's dream, hold the snow. Your friend's breakfast special should be here in a few minutes."

"Thank you," I said with what I hoped was a smile. She started to walk away again, but something told me to stop her. Thankfully, I reacted quickly enough to do just that. "Excuse me, miss?"

Her head snapped toward me before she turned around to face me again. "Need somethin'?" she asked expectantly.

"I hate to hold you up, but I was hoping I could, uh...ask you something."

She braced one hip on her hand and the other on the seat across from me in the booth, Vye's seat. "Okay, shoot."

"Did...did you go to LVHS?" LVHS, of course, stood for Lake View High School, my alma matter and the only high school in the area. If she knew what I was talking about, I had my answer.

Sure enough, her eyes lit up the moment those four letters entered the conversation together. "Well, as a matter of fact, I did!" she said excitedly. "How'd you know?"

Now I remembered her. That southern dialect, that curly blonde hair, that smile, those cloudy blue eyes, that red plastic friendship bracelet, that thing she did when she walked on her toes. It came together in an instant.

"You're Stephanie Marshall, aren't you?" I said. "Class of 2011?"

"That's right! Are you Class of 2011, too?"

"Yep. My name is Dan."

"Dan...?"

"Hartigan," I finished.

She bit her lip as she pondered. Eventually, it hit her. "Oh! You're Dan!"

I smiled. "One of the two."

"Right! You and your buddy Danny. Now I remember! Sorry I didn't recognize you. It's been so long since high school, and I've only ever seen you with the other D. How have you been?" she asked with a grin.

"I've been doing great. How, uh...how about you?"

"Fine, just fine!" She put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh. "Man alive, I didn't think anyone from our class still lived out here."

"Prepare to be surprised, 'cause a lot of us still do. D runs the bar down the street, and I see some of our other classmates from time to time, too. This is the first time I've seen you since high school, though."

"Yeah, I moved out right after graduation."

It was then that I remembered something about her high school sweetheart, a basketball player named Allen Henderson. He was the tallest guy in LVHS's Class of 2011, and still holds the school record for most points scored by a single player in one season. I didn't know him very well, but everyone knew how good he was at shooting free throws. Everyone also knew that he and Stephanie were quite the item during our collective senior year, and that they had plans to get married and run off into the sunset together.

With that in mind, I said, "Yeah, you and Allen, right? How is he?"

Stephanie's face fell almost immediately after I said that.

Oh shit, I thought, I just buried myself, didn't I?

"Allen is doing okay," she said with a somber smile. "Me and him...we, uh...we broke up just recently."

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "It's alright. I got over it. That's why I came back. For a new start. Clean slate, ya know?"

For a moment, Evie flashed into my mind again. "Yeah, I get that," I said almost sullenly.

Just then, a voice boomed out, "Steph! We need you back here, baby!"

Turning to look, I found that the voice was coming from a heavy-set, dark-skinned woman with curly black hair streaked with gray. She was wearing a uniform similar to Stephanie's, but hers was black instead of baby blue. I had to squint to see it, but I could see a tag that had 'MANAGER' printed on it in black lettering.

There was no mistaking it. It was Florida Baker, the manager of the Lola's Coffee Shop I was currently a patron of. She also happened to be a graduate of LVHS, though she had graduated back in the 80's.

Upon hearing her employer call for her, Stephanie immediately turned and shouted back, "Comin', boss!"

"Looks like duty calls," I said.

"Yep. Miss Flo ain't too fond of us waitresses chattin' up the customers on company time."

I chuckled. "That's Miss Flo for you. All gas, no brakes."

Stephanie nodded in agreement. "Seriously. I haven't been working here all of two days and I feel like I've already done more work than I have in my whole dang life!"

That explains why I haven't seen her here until just now, I mused.

"But anyways, I gotta go," Stephanie said as she glanced sidelong at her boss. "It was nice to see you again, Dan. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"You probably will," I said with a smile. "I come here pretty...uh...regularly."

"That's good. Just lemme know if you need anything else, sugar." With that, she waved goodbye and walked away.

I waved back and breathed out a sigh of relief. Glad that's over, I thought. While it was admittedly nice to catch up with an old classmate, I had a feeling that we would have run out of things to talk about after a while. It didn't help that Stephanie and Allen's relationship (or lack thereof) was a touchy subject, a subject I had unwittingly brought up.

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers, silently cursing myself for being so insensitive.

When I looked up, Vye was suddenly sitting across from me once again, taking a sip of her coffee. She hadn't been there the entire time I had been talking to Stephanie, but now she was. I almost jumped out of my seat in shock. My heart started beating like a rabbit's as she calmly set her mug down on the table.

"That went well," she said.

"Jesus Christ!" I said exasperatedly. "Where did you go?"

"Nowhere," she said as she took a stab at her food with a fork. "I turned invisible."

"What the f—!? You turned invisible!?" I whispered, stunned.

She nodded as she took another sip of her coffee. "How else was I supposed to get a genuine assessment of your character?"

"What the—what?" I was taken aback by that statement. "Wait...wha—wha—what do you mean by that?"

Vye ignored me. "You should drink your hot chocolate while it's still hot," she said as she took a bite of toast.

I took a moment to compose myself. "Vye," I said pointedly, "What do you mean by that?"

Vye set her toast aside and smiled. "I'm not going to lie to you, Dan. My job is a little more involved than just being your dating coach."

"Considering you can turn invisible, I'm not surprised."

"By definition, love fairies are essentially dating coaches for humans. However, a handful of us only work with specific kinds of humans. We're...specialists."

"Specialists? Specialists of what?"

"Of people like you, Dan."

"People like...me?"

Vye shot me a flat look. "You're going to have to stop repeating what I say and pay attention if you're going to learn anything."

I shook my head. "Right, right. I'm sorry."

A smile graced Vye's pretty face once again. "No need to apologize. This is all very complicated. I'd be concerned if you weren't at least a little confused."

"Then...what exactly do you do, Vye?"

Vye reached into her suit jacket and withdrew a badge, one similar to what an FBI agent would have on them. It had a picture of her, wings and all, as well as her name and official title.

"Vye Luzon Swallowtail, RSA. Rebounder Specialist?" I read aloud.

"That's right," she said as she tucked the badge back into her right inside pocket. "I'm part of an organization called the Rebounder Salvage Administration. Unlike most love fairies, I was specifically trained to help humans who, like you, have love and lost. These people are designated as Rebounders."

"So...you're not a dating coach?"

"Well, yes and no. Most love fairies simply aid those who are inept or inexperienced when it comes to love. My job description is a little more complicated. You've already had a significant other, so you're not inept or inexperienced. That is what makes you a Rebounder, specifically. You're...on the rebound, one could say, and it's my job to help you bounce back. Does that make sense, Dan?"

I just stared at Vye, unblinking. I wasn't completely lost. It was just...a lot to take in. With each answer she gave me, Vye was giving me more questions to ask. It was actually kind of frustrating.

Vye sighed, clearly seeing my inner turmoil written all over my face. "Think of it this way," she said, "If the average love fairy is a dating coach, then I'm what you might call a dating therapist."

I blinked. "So...you're a shrink?"

"I suppose you could say that," she said with a chuckle. "After all, love is a matter of the brain, not the heart."

"And your job is to help me...bounce back from my split with Evie. That's what you're saying?"

Vye nodded.

"Then...then...what are you...why did I—I mean, did you...?"

"Why did I need a genuine assessment of your character?" Vye finished.

"Yeah. That."

"To be honest, the answer is a little mundane. It's just me being thorough."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Hm?"

"The RSA, the organization I work for, simply gets things wrong sometimes. Lots of people are designated as Rebounders, but not all of them need help in the same way you do. I see it all the time. False alarms are fairly common. I brought you here to see whether or not you would identify with Stephanie and take the initiative to form a connection with her."

"So, if I had tried to hit on Stephanie just now..."

"I would have disappeared, and you would be on your own," she finished. She was serious for a moment, but that calm smile of hers once again appeared on her face. "But, you didn't do that, which means we're still in business."

"Hooray." I tried to sound happy, but I ended up sounding dejected.

Vye ignored my lack of enthusiasm, saying, "Now I can show you how I do things. How love fairies do things, I guess I should say."

"Don't tell me. More magic tricks?" I said flatly.

"You could say that."

"Forgive me if I'm not eager to see what comes next. I'm just..."

"Hesitating?" she said quickly.

I sighed. "Yeah...yeah, you're right. I'm, uh...hesitating."

She shook her head and gave me a patient smile. "Again, that is to be expected. But I have to reiterate: I can't help you if you don't want my help. I need to know for sure. So, let me ask you again. Will you let me help you find someone you can trust? Someone you can share your true feelings with? Someone who can help you get your life back in order?"

Her hand reached out toward me, beckoning me to grasp it in my own. She looked at me intently, waiting for my response.

I deliberated only for a moment before taking her hand. "Alright. Alright. I'll do it."

Vye's expression turned deadly serious, her grip tightening until it felt like my hand was getting crushed. "I want you to say it, Dan."

My eyes widened in alarm. "Say what?"

"I want you to say that you want my help. I need to hear the words."

"Okay, okay...I...I want your help." Her expression didn't change. She clearly wasn't satisfied. I took a deep breath before saying, more clearly and with more determination, "I want your help, Vye. I do."

Vye looked me right in the eye, almost as if she was trying to tell if I was being genuine just by seeing my expression. I instinctively held my breath and kept a straight face, not wanting to look as nervous as I really was.

Finally, she released my hand and let me breathe again.

"That's good, Dan," she said. "I'm glad you're willing to work with me."

"Yeah..." I trailed off as I rubbed the feeling back into my fingers.

"Are you going to drink your hot chocolate, Dan?"

I blinked. "Oh, yeah." I had forgotten I had even ordered it. It sat there in front of me on the table, still steaming despite how long we had been talking. The smell emanating from it was rather enticing, too.

Vye took a bite of her eggs, saying, "It's a good thing everything they make here is piping hot. Otherwise, your hot chocolate wouldn't be all the hot right about now."

"Yeah, no kidding." I grasped the mug of chocolatey goodness carefully in my hands and took a careful sip. It was delicious.

As I put the mug down on my saucer and looked back up at Vye to ask her something, I found myself staring down the barrel of what appeared to be a gun.

I didn't even have time to react. Vye didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. All I heard was the sound of the gun going off before something hit me in the head. I felt my head snap back as my mind went blank. The humble interior of Lola's coffee house faded into nothingness as my vision faded to black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting in a comfy leather swivel chair, alive and well, calm as could be. Though the room I was in was unfamiliar to me, it wasn't uncomfortable or unsettling. In fact, it was pleasant in a strange way, like I had been here many times before and had simply forgotten.

It was a small room arranged like an office. A simple but beautifully crafted mahogany desk stood in front of me, its surface cluttered with sketchbooks, pencils, black ink pens, and other little odds and ends. Books of all sorts were stacked somewhat precariously on one side of the desktop, and on the other sat a sleek, powerful-looking desktop computer.

Vye sat across from me in a jet black lounging chair, her legs crossed and her eyes on me. She had a pleasant smile on her face and a clipboard in her lap, and was busy twirling a ballpoint pen between her fingers. To my surprise, I didn't immediately think that she was intruding. Far from it. It actually felt like she was a guest, that I had invited her here.

But I hadn't.

The dreamlike haze I was in quickly faded as I inspected the room more closely. I began to realize that I had never actually seen this room before. Aside from the desk, there were bookcases all along the walls, the shelves littered with framed pieces of art, photographs, and other odds and ends.

On the other side of the room, there was a couch and a loveseat, a coffee table, a lamp, a bowl of fruit, and a gigantic plasma widescreen TV that was mounted on the wall. Looking behind me, I found a silver mini-fridge and a glass cabinet displaying countless items. Looking in the fridge, I found some iced tea in a can, and in the cabinet I found everything from gaming consoles to stuffed animals.

Strangely, there were no doors or windows in the room. Though it had no bed or bathroom, somehow, I could see myself living in this room for the rest of my life. No, it was more like I did live here, and it was only now that I was realizing it.

"Welcome to your conscious mind, Dan," I heard Vye say from behind me.

I turned to her only to find that she was standing close to me now, her hand on my shoulder. "My conscious mind?"

She smirked that passive-aggressive smirk of hers. "What did I say about repeating what I say?"

A chuckle escaped my lips. "Sorry. I'm just confused. My mind is up here," I said, pointing to my head for emphasis, "And I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a mini-fridge in it."

"Normally, you'd be right. But right now, you couldn't be any more wrong." She gestured at the walls around us, leading my eye around the room once again. "This room is the culmination of your being, a representation of who you are."

"How vague and mysterious," I said with a grin.

"I would argue that my description was fairly straightforward."

"Sure, but that doesn't mean I understand it."

"Allow me to elaborate, then." She gestured at the glass shelving at the back of the room. "Encased here are your most treasured possessions, items that have inspired you to become who you are as a person, tokens of your past that have shaped your personality and your views on life and love."

I looked in the cabinet. Aside from gaming consoles and stuffed animals from my childhood, there were other more curious items, including the first suit I ever wore, the first drawing I ever made, my writing notebook from high school, and, to my chagrin, my engagement ring. It hurt to see that among everything else, but for better or worse, being with Evie had definitely had a part to play in crafting my persona and my outlook on life.

"I see. What about the bookcase. Are the books equivalent to memories?"

"No, actually. Your memories are stored in the computer on your desk. The bookcase holds your philosophies, your beliefs, and everything you know and strive to know."

I had to raise an eyebrow at that. "You think everything I know and believe would comprise more than just a couple of bookcases."

"The books hold much more than the sum of their pages within them, as they hold every single thought you have ever had, and constantly catalogue your thoughts as you think them. The number of books matters little compared to the infinite number of pages that comprise each individual book. As human beliefs constantly change, so too do the number and content of books in your collection."

Right as she finished her statement, one of the books in a bookcase closer to the TV glowed with a dim pink light. It flashed briefly, then became inert. I looked back to Vye, who nodded in approval.

"I believe that book is about your beliefs regarding fairies and magic," she said.

I scratched my chin thoughtfully as I looked around the room a second time. If the glass shelves held vital influences on my life, and the bookshelves held my thoughts, the computer was undoubtedly my conscious mind or some kind of apparatus for it. That didn't explain everything, however; why on Earth was there a TV in my head?

"I'm sure you've guessed by now that the computer on your desktop represents your control over your own body, and that it stores data that doesn't necessarily belong in the bookcases or the glass cabinets. It houses experiences, recent memories, and receives, stores, and interprets emotional, physical, and mental data. In essence, it is who you are and how you are represent yourself to others compressed and stored in a way that your mind can easily make sense of."

"Is this sort of like when people say the human brain is the most complicated machine on Earth?"

"Indeed. Your mind encompasses all that you are. This room represents a small portion of your mind, but it is the only part you as a human can fully access, and you can only enter this space consciously due to my magic."

My book on fairies and magic once again flashed pink, no doubt because I had learned something new about that subject.

"What about my subconscious?"

"Subconscious actions and dreams are recorded and stored inside the computer as well, although the recordings aren't always perfect. If you were to enter your subconscious mind with this avatar," she said as she poked me in the arm, "You would be entering a chaotic, ever-changing world. It is a nonsensical mess of a realm that changes based on an infinite number of factors."

"Yikes."

"Your conscious mind is far more stable, which is the main reason why I brought you here."

I blinked. I had forgotten. The breakfast at Lola's, the request for help, the gunshot.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To give you access to the most powerful love fairy magic a human can wield: The Grid."

"The...what?"

Vye snapped her fingers, causing hot pink sparks to shoot out of her hand. The sparks danced through the air before careening into the wall the TV was mounted on. Suddenly, the wall began to shift, the TV moving slowly downward until it was swallowed by the floor.

In the space behind the wall sat a smooth slab of black granite, and etched into it was what I could only assume to be the aforementioned Grid. It was a large grid composed of fifty-six squares that were a foot wide and a foot long. There was a space just below the grid that ran from the left side to about halfway across, and below that were three more spaces, each of them bearing a different symbol.

The first and largest space held what looked to be an anatomically correct recreation of a human heart that was tinged with a pale rose color. The second space was the smallest, and bore what appeared to be a clockwork bell rendered in gold. The last space had a symbol that could have been a water droplet colored blue, but something told me that it wasn't that simple. To the right of these spaces were six more foot wide and foot long squares, two per column and three per row. They were empty, but they seemed to be important, as they had their own place in the design and format of this strange grid.

"What is this?" was all I could think to ask.

"This is the apparatus with which you can harness love fairy magic to affect the real world. It has many names, but I prefer to call it The Grid."

"Wait, I get to use magic? Your magic?"

"Yes." She shot me a smile. "Do you remember how I laughed at your comment about playing by my rules?"

It took me a second to recall that conversation after everything that had happened. Thinking about it, I hadn't yet gotten a straight answer to my question about why she thought that was funny. Something told me her answer would put this whole Grid thing into perspective.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's time I finally show you what I meant."

When I opened my eyes again, I was still sitting on my side of the booth, with Vye across from me. She was still munching quietly on her breakfast platter, looking up at me now and again. I blinked rapidly as I inspected my surroundings. Nothing had changed, but it felt like I was forgetting something. It was like I had zoned out for a few minutes.

"Something on your mind, Dan?"

Vye was looking at me intently now, though not in a threatening way.

I thought about it for a moment. "No," I said as I took a sip of my hot chocolate, "Nothing."

Author's Note: Yikes, it has been a while. Sorry if this was a long time coming. Hope you enjoy it!