You're lying on your bed, being bored, when your cell phone rings. You pull it out and check the caller ID before answering, pumping your fist when you see who it's from.

"Jay! It's great to hear from you! How was your flight?"

"Y/n, we need to talk," Jay says.

You roll over and sit up. "Okay, what about?"

"I'm breaking up with you."

You stare at your phone for a second before putting it back against your ear. "You're joking."

You hear a crackle of static, and then, "No, I'm not. I'm breaking up with you right now."

"If this is a joke, it isn't funny," you say. "And I know you're not the kind of guy who would break up with someone over the phone. So what's the deal?"

"Look, Nya's smarter and stronger and braver and better than you ever were," Jay says harshly. "You should consider yourself lucky you got to date me for as long as you—"

"You know what, Jay?" you interrupt. "Shut up. Just shut up."

You hang up and angrily start jabbing in the monastery's phone number. You'd call Nya on her cell phone, but you don't have her number.

"Greetings."

"Where's Nya?" you bark into the phone. You hear a startled noise from Zane.

"Uh, Nya is in her room at the moment. Would you like to speak to her?"

You sigh and roll your eyes. "Of course I want to talk to her! Why do you think I asked where she was, you moron?"

There's a short silence, probably while Zane stands there with a confused look on his face, and then he says, "One moment, please." There's a few more seconds of silence, followed by the sound of knocking and some unintelligible conversation.

Finally, you hear Nya say, "Hello?"

"All right, what did you do?" you demand.

"I don't know what you're—"

"You know what I'm talking about," you snap. "How did you trick Jay into saying he was breaking up with me?"

There's a stunned silence. "What are you talking about?" Nya asks. "I haven't seen Jay since he left to visit you."

"Oh yeah? Then explain why...wait..." you trail off as a horrible thought occurs to you. Slithraa knows that Jay was visiting you. Slithraa is a Hypnobrai. Hypnobrai can control people's minds. "...oh crap."

"What?" Nya asks.

"Serpentine," you growl under your breath.

Now Nya sounds confused. "Yeah, that's why Jay went to visit you. Why is this such a big—?"

You're already jabbing at the End Call button. "I've gotta go, bye!"

You sprint out the door. There's only one person who might be able to explain what's going on here, and you need to find him as soon as possible.