A wail came out of the dragon’s mouth as it held its wound. Black ooze still found ways to escape from her wound. No longer was she in the twisted abomination of some nightmare’s domain but that of her own. The forest canopy and ever present rain soothing her slow recovery, wishing that it would have been much faster. Roth Asta had done a greater number on her than she was willing to admit, and forming new matters was taxing and tiring.

“It is finally healing, so that is good,” the dragon said, leaning against a tree and splaying its wings out. A groan of pain left her snout, forelimbs pressing harder against her wound. “I think I can firmly say it is no longer life threatening. Doesn’t make the pain any better.”

The dragon did its best to distract itself from the pain by thinking of the near future. The only thing it was certain about was that it had to find Vee. A nightmare was too dangerous to let roam around in the realm of reality. Even worse, they were exceptionally close to their dream, a thought that made the dragon shiver as she thought about what the doll might do to them. It couldn’t allow them to come to harm, not when its own life would also be on the line.

Then there was the matter of Bael’s ambition, and the threat it brought to the world. She knew the night terror was psychotic, but to invade the realm that brought them to life was absurd. The dragon had also believed even the darkest, most twisted of nightmares had a respect for their creators. The idea she was wrong scared, and she wouldn’t allow what scared her to become reality.

No matter her thoughts on Vee, the theft of a knight's pin told her all she needed. The doll clearly was trying to do something right, as absurd as that sounded. Burlington needed a magral knight. Even if she had to drag Vee kicking and screaming back to the realm of dreams, she wouldn’t let her hatred of it to blind her. Whoever they had chosen would need a teacher, and there was no better teacher than a dream.

“That, or another magral knight. Maybe both,” The dragon thought aloud. She tried to laugh, but the movement caused a surge of pain to erupt from her injury. “F-fuck. Focus on that first Nica. Focus on healing.”

Nica allowed themselves to rest their eyes for a moment, which was more than enough. She felt something grip her head from behind and slam it to the floor. Eyes snapped up, and then widened in fear as Nica saw Roth Asta over her. She immediately tried to get up, but the nightmare acted faster, their very presence twisted the dream domain. The area around them grew darker, heavier, and soon Nica found herself unwillingly restricted to vines, roots, and Roth Asta’s own magic.

“You were thinking of helping it, weren’t you?” They asked the dragon, a disappointment frown visible on her face. “Apologies, but for my terror’s sake I can’t allow that.”

“How? How did you track me from his domain all the way here?” Nica asked in panic as she tried to wiggle and claw her way free. Any branch she broke was immediately replaced by another.

“The means don’t matter. You’re my key to his praise, and that is all you need know,” Roth Asta spoke, a hint of desperation in her voice. “It has been so, so long since I heard him praise me. I need to know he is still proud of me.”

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“It’s from Lu. They are on their way down,” Drew said, looking up from his phone to the girl across the table from him. She had dark skin, long natural red dreadlocks, and green eyes. “They’ll probably give a far better explanation of things than I did.”

“I’ll say. Only reason I even somewhat believe it is because I know you all wouldn’t pull something like that as a prank,” The girl said while chewing on a couple home fries. “I must ask, mostly to hear it over more than just text: that pic of the nightmares Dragon sent last night is real, right?”

Drew sighed and let his shoulders sag. Explaining everything to Holly proved to be far more difficult then he anticipated, especially when she asked a second time once actually in person. She was a wonderful girl, and someone he was glad to have fallen for, but attempting to text her always ended like this. He understood she took more stock in hearing a voice say something compared to letters on a screen. Drew had more than gotten used to it, and was more than willing to restate his earlier texts.

Perhaps it would cause the past twenty four hours to make sense.

“It’s real hun. Saw it myself, as did Lucy, Dragon, Melissa, and Akane,” He answered, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. It was more lukewarm than actually hot, but he preferred it that way. “I swear it was all a fever dream, but nope. Texts were still there, and both Akane and that doll thing backed them up.”

“Quite the wild bunch of circumstances we have found ourselves in then,” Holly replied, lowering her fork. Her eyes turned up to the tv planted on the left wall. The news was on, a segment about a recent strain of covid being the current headline. “World has enough shit to deal with right now, and now there is an invasion no one even knows about being planned under our noses.”

“Yeah, though I don’t know if I’m currently more concerned about that or Melissa,” Drew stated, shaking his head. “I’m even less sure if that is because she just killed something living or the fact she actively has been calling herself a magical girl since around noon yesterday.”

Holly let a small giggle escape her at the latter point. Of course Melissa would go all in aesthetically when she found out she now had magical powers. The pure euphoria alone would probably cause a decent chunk of the trans girl’s sanity to leave her. Holly couldn’t wait to see the results of the abandoned sanity and find every opportunity she could to turn it into something dirty. Seeing people’s reactions had always been her favorite thing, and those got the best kind of reaction.

Drew and Holly returned to eating, the latter’s eyes on the dining area’s entrance. The smile on her face faintly grew as she saw three familiar girls, one holding a doll, enter said dining area. Melissa pointed in to her, directing Lucy and Dragon’s attention at her. She waved to them, and the latter two girls waved back happily. Drew turned around just in time to see Mellisa flash a piece sign their way, and after a little hesitation did it back.

“Be right there!” Melissa shouted to them, doing her best to make sure her voice got over the rest of the students currently chatting and eating.

“Still seems like herself. Are you sure you aren’t overreacting?” Holly asked, turning to Drew. He sighed in response.

A couple minutes later Melissa, Lucy, Dragon, and Vee made their way over to the couple. Holly grabbed her crutches, standing up and getting herself ready for what she knew was coming. As soon as the other girls put their food down she was bombarded on all sides by hugs, Vee getting squished between them all. It tried to struggle out, but gave up when it proved fruitless. Freedom only came once the group hug ended, the plush doll unsure if it enjoyed the hug in the same way the humans had.

“It’s good to have you back Holo,” Lucy said with a wide smile.

“Good to be back,” Holly said, the sound of Lucy’s nickname tugging her heart in the best way. She turned to Vee, the doll looking up at her and giving a little wave. “You are the terrifying nightmare Dragon created, I guess?”

“Yep! Nice to meet you Holly,” Vee said. It then turned its attention to Drew. “I’m gonna guess you’ve already told her everything.”

“As much as was needed to explain the photo,” Drew replied as everyone sat down. He let the spoon he was holding sit in his cereal. “The coming invasion, the pin, the ridiculous outfit Melli made herself.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know my outfit is fabulous,” Melli replied, dramatically placing her fingers between her breasts and glaring. Dragon rolled her eyes as Lucy and Holly stifled giggles. “What? It is?”

“I’d argue you went a little too hard on it,” Lucy replied, sticking a chunk of cantaloupe in her mouth. “Like, the outfit clashes with your weapons and you look more Cinderella than a magical girl.”

“It was definitely rather loud,” Dragon agreed before taking the glass of water in her hands and sipping.

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Melissa rolled her eyes. “Y'all are a bunch of critics.”

“At least we aren’t paid off,” Drew joked. Melissa looked at him, the two getting into an impromptu staring contest. Melissa lost when she snorted in laughter at themselves, the man smiling. “I’m sure Lu could make it something a bit more… combat ready.”

“While still being pretty, of course. Aesthetics are important,” Lucy reminded him as she ate yet another chunk of cantaloupe. Everyone looked at her bowl, noticing that cantaloupe was the only thing in it. “Just give this business major a couple of hours and she’ll have a design ready to go.”

“Lu, please don’t encourage her further,” Dragon said, hanging her head as she heard her friends talk.

Holly gave the otherkin a pat on the shoulder. “Just let her enjoy it. You gotta admit that it is nice seeing her this excited about something.”

Dragon looked between the trans girl and the native american. After contemplating her thoughts in the matter, she let out a sigh and relented. Holly was right, it was nice to see Melissa so excited about something unrelated to video games. Wouldn’t stop her from inwardly cringing at her friend’s Magral Knight antics, especially since they had a very real threat on their hands.

“Oh you sneaky little shit!”

Attention turned to Vee and Lucy, the latter glaring angrily at the former as the doll stuffed a chunk of canteloup. Melissa was holding in a laugh, and Dragon turned to massage the sides of her eyes. Drew stayed out of the ongoing antics, doing his best to fully focus on his bowl of cereal. Holly, seeing an opportunity, placed her hands on her lap and leaned against the back of her chair.

“Well Lucy, you gonna let Vee get away with eating your melons?” She asked, unable to hide the mischievous look she had on her face.

Melissa couldn’t hold her laughter in anymore as she saw Lucy’s face turn bright red. She turned away and covered her mouth as she corpsed. At no point did she notice how Drew was doing his best not to laugh at himself so that the food in his mouth didn’t come out. Dragon and Lucy both covered their faces with their hands, the latter out of disappointment while the latter did it out of embarrassment. Holly watched all of it, particularly enjoying Dragon’s disappointment in her.

Then her eyes switched to watch Vee, who was looking at her with confusion.

“Come on, that was tamer than usual. Surely it wasn’t that good,” She said, also stealing a cantaloupe.

“Perhaps, but we haven’t heard any of your jokes in some time,” Melissa said, having finally recovered from her laughing fit. She smiled and rested her head on the table, a big smile on her mouth. “I know we already said it but… it really is glad to have you back.”

“Then I’ll once more say it is good to be back,” Holly replied. She raised her coffee to her lips, took a sip, and then put it back down. “So, are you all gonna fill me in on the bits and pieces Drew didn’t tell me about?

“Oh, yeah, that would be a good idea,” Vee said, the doll sitting down in the middle of the table. “First, what have you been told already?”

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Holly found herself caressing the bridge of her nose, sorting all the information loaded onto her. Questions had been asked, answers had been given, and at the very end of it a very confused woman sat questioning the world. Vee was proof that it was all real, but that didn’t make it feel any less insane. Her friend had become a magical knight, they were fighting nightmares, and the entire explanation had taken so long Lucy had to leave for class before it was done.

It had been one hell of a last hour.

“I think I understand everything, and I see that backing out this isn’t really a good idea,” Holly said, looking up from her empty bowl to Melissa and Dragon. “I just want to make sure then, are you both okay?”

“Yes. I’m perfectly fine,” Melissa lies, tilting her cup up and allowing an ice cube to fall in her mouth.

“I’m… not,” Dragon said, her voice quiet. She couldn’t bring her eyes to meet anyone, even as her friend’s eyes landed on her. “Having to see mama again, and the amount of up and down emotions I experienced, was not fun. The questions you all saved me from started to feel louder for a bit.”

While Dragon said it to the group as a whole, they could make out her eyes briefly glancing at Holly. The reason wasn’t hard to decipher, considering Holly had been directly responsible for the girl being there with them today. She had seen the suicide note Dragon had thrown in a trash bin, and she had been the one to make the first approach. Lucy, Melissa, and Drew were all slowly introduced afterwards to her. She still refuses to see a therapist, but Dragon felt a light that she hadn’t felt in many years around this group.

A light that made her realize just how badly she wanted to live. Next to her brother, they became the reason she fought to keep that want going. It was why she put up with Melissa’s more insufferable moments, and Lucy’s stupidest ones. It was why she learned to enjoy Drew’s blunt behavior, and like Holly’s dirty jokes (even if she wouldn’t admit it). All of it was done due to a newborn desire to live, and one that she felt she was keeping alive herself now instead of her friends.

To have that light, that desire, punctured by Zarlaus the previous night made her question herself again. It made her ask if she truly wanted to live, and she was all too thankful to know that the answer was still yes.

“You want to talk about it?” Drew asked. Dragon gritted her teeth as she heard those words. “It would probably help a decent bit.”

“Yes, Drew is right,” Holly said, looking at her boyfriend and nodding in agreement. She then looked back at Dragon. “Each of us is willing to listen. Melissa, Drew, Vee, and myself are all here for you. Your part of this little found family, and found family listens to each other.”

Dragon opened her mouth, closed it, and then looked Melissa’s way for confirmation. The trans girl gave her a firm nod, a sad smile on her face. That was all Dragon needed to be sure her decision was right. The question then landed on how much she even felt comfortable telling them at that point. Even her brother, who was far more outgoing and social than her, found their blood family nearly impossible to talk about.

She wasn’t quite sure all they had done was undeserved too. She was a waste of life.

Dragon shook that thought away as Vee touched her forearm. The otherkin looked at the doll, and then to the rest of the table. She had to do this, even if today she could only explain a small piece of the whole picture.

“Is omitting some details okay?” She asked, voice quiet and showing fear. “I don’t want to explain all of it. I’m not quite ready yet to say everything.”

“Whatever makes you comfortable,” Drew said. Melissa and Holly nodded in agreement. “Just know we are here and ready.”

“Thanks. That means a lot,” Dragon replied. Despite how hard she tried to smile at the man, her head and lips felt too heavy. “All I can really say is, well, you heard me mention my mom forcing me to church yesterday. She thought it would ‘pray the gay out of my body’,” Melissa let out an audible, wavy breath, eyes finding the table. “I started resisting and she got… violent. Very violent.”

Saying it out loud made her small, fearful that the very woman she mentioned would hear. Despite their best efforts to persuade herself that her mother wasn’t actually there last night, a part of Dragon didn’t believe it. What Zarlaus did to her felt so real that her brain couldn’t tell it wasn’t. The only thing that kept her still – kept her talking – was the presence of the people she trusted the most.

“It was one of those violent outbursts that got Cam and I out. He recorded it and showed it to the police,” She continued on, grabbing Vee against the doll’s will and pressing them to her chest. “That was… I’m not sure how long ago it was. It always feels too close to the present.”

The table was quiet, and Dragon didn’t like it. She forced her head to look up just in time to watch Melissa get up from her seat and walk over to her. Before she could say anything, the trans girl wrapped her arms around the otherkin, getting a sound surprisingly close to a ‘yip’ out of their mouth. Dragon didn’t return it, which Melissa seemed to have expected. They separated quickly, a scowl on the latter’s face.

“She better hope I don’t ever find her,” Melissa said. “I might do more than just give her a good talking too.”

“Same here,” Vee replied, doing their best to give a pout. It didn’t have the desired effect. “I just might take a little bite of her, making her feel those same nightmares you did last night.”

Holly noticed how quickly Dragon cringed at the idea. This was a moment she knew she had to intervene.

“Now is not the time for either of you to be doing such a thing,” She said sternly, pointing at the doll specifically. “I hate her just as much as you two right now, but what either of you are talking about wouldn’t fix anything. Especially for you, Melli.”

“What? Her thoughts on folks like me aren't going to change,” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “I know how those alt-righters are; my mom is one. Doesn’t matter if I’m perfect or imperfect, they want us dead. They’re practically nazis.”

“I… don’t want you to either,” Dragon said, her words causing Melissa’s eyes to widen. “I’m safe, I think. Not entirely sure but you all seem certain she isn’t here,” She looked at the trans girl with a pleading look. “You can hate mama, but please don’t hurt her. We got more important things going on, right Vee?”

“Oh, right!” the plush doll said as it was let back onto the table. Dragon took her phone out of her pocket and placed it on the table. “Gonna record it for Lucy?”

Dragon gave a nod.

“Guess we are shifting gears to talking about nightmares and such,” Drew said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Almost. It’s related to that, but not dealing with nightmares themselves,” Vee said, raising its arm up. “Gather around class! Who is ready for some Magral Knight history?”