Velvet opened her eyes, finding herself on her bed. She touched her body, but didn’t find anything strange. Her skin was unharmed, and there was no suggestion of her losing control. Her miasma levels also were the same as before.

“Did you wake me up?” She asked Hyde.

“Yes.”

“Name.”

“Velvet. What happened?” He noticed that she looked sane.

“Nn… Something,” She kept on looking at her skin, when a crawling sensation started to appear, as if maggots were squirming inside. “No, someone interrupted me.”

“Hehe.” She laughed softly, taking a deep breath when the sensation kept increasing. “Can jails have a heart and soul?” Picking Sinoe’s Baslard, she first pinched one of the squirming things on her thigh, and then made a slight cut. Pressing it as if it was a pimple, something came out. An eye, together with a black, dense liquid slid down Velvet’s leg.

She put it inside a bottle, shaking it. The eye was ‘dead’, no longer moving, unlike the other ones that remained still under Velvet’s skin, making slight bulges.

She first finished cleaning that one cut, leaving the stitching to Hyde, who was also crawling over her skin, filled with curiosity.

“I have several conclusions from this, and questions.” Velvet said, not stopping the wormeye removal, but thinking about other things helped to cope. “First, the place where the Chained Man is sealed is alive, and that is both a good and a bad thing.”

“Good for whoever imprisoned him there. A prison with a mind of its own can make decisions if things go awry, and also endure forever, but.”

“At what point does the prison also become a prisoner? That thing has lost its mind, probably even more than the one it's supposed to keep sealed.”

“It also reacted without me doing anything to trigger it. I talked to it every day since I started dreaming, and it never reacted before. That may be a signal that it's reaching its limit.”

Velvet started putting all her conjectures in order, together with all her previous information.

“What happens once it crosses its limit? Could something like the Casrey incident happen?”

“If that was the reason behind the Casrey incident, maybe the culprit was not the Chained man, but his own prison losing its mind. Of course, to confirm that, I should search for similar incidents, after all, even causing the Casrey incident didn’t let the Chained man escape, nor break down the prison.”

“Wait.” Hyde interrupted her conjectures. “It might not fully break, but you ended up inside. And we know Lothrigern can enter and leave.”

“There’s a crack? I never found anything like that, it all looks the same.” She thought for a bit. “But I’m not from a dream related Paradigm, so, even if it was, maybe I just don’t have the skills to find out.”

“Or, the crack is fixed already, and Lothrigern just has His own ways to enter. Anyway, that’s not important. The important thing is what happens if the prison loses control? A repeat of Casrey? And what will happen to me?”

She had some connection to it, after all. The eyes she was pushing out from her skin proved it.

“You hurried so much to obtain magic because you felt an urge to find him, right?” Hyde said.

“Yes, I had the feeling that I was running out of time, that something was coming.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Maybe that caused the rush. Either you get a way to fix, find, calm, or cut your connection to the dream, or you may die.”

“I may die.” She repeated the last words, emotionless.

“Maybe not, but, until we know what really will happen, it's better to plan for the worst option.”

“Those things,” Hyde referred to the eyes that Velvet kept piling on the bottles. “Are remains from something, something that is using you as an outlet.”

“Like an Esca. So it’s something similar to the miasma.”

“Yes, I can feel some similarities, especially from that black liquid.”

“But it doesn’t give me powers.”

Hyde seemed to think about that. “Are you sure you don’t feel anything?”

“Apart from the eyes crawling under my skin? No, the most I’ve obtained from the dream has been the chaining charm. Oh, and the materials from almost losing control.”

“Sure?”

“I am a knowledge mage, of course I am sure.”

“What if we put the sigils from the chaining charm on your skin?”

“Hyde, your demon tendencies are showing. I cannot regrow a lost limb if it happens to become a chain.”

“What if you bought a pet to try it on?”

“E-even if it worked on an animal, I still wouldn’t try it on me! Not unless I had no choice! Also, imagine if it worked, and the animal took revenge. I don’t want to be clapped by a rabbit.”

Hyde didn’t give up. “What if we tried it on that Chosen One?”

“What?”

“Chosen Ones can regenerate, even lost limbs. We can get him, and try to see what happens.”

“Hyde. I am not doing that.”

“He looks heroic, gullible and confident, the perfect combination to abuse! You can act as a damsel in distress, lead him on…”

“And become Arhontissa’s enemy. Great idea, I’m off to just not do that. Also, what do you mean ‘act like a damsel in distress?’ Do I trip and fall in front of him, crying ‘Oh, if I don't manage to find someone to use this sigil on, I will die! Sniff, sniff’.”

“I was actually suggesting to give him a concussion, and put the sigil on his skin while he’s out.”

“You’re so romantic Hyde.”

“I am a spider.”

“... Do female demonic spiders also eat their mates after…?”

“Sometimes. It depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Skill.”

“Skill on…? Oh. Forget I asked.”

“So, about abducting the Chosen One?”

“No!”

“Not even for science?”

“What even makes you think I can take him? I’m not a combat mage.”

“Wait until the opportunity presents itself, like an ambush predator. He is a Chosen One, that means he is a magnet for problems! Let someone beat him up first, and then reap the benefits!”

“What did Dianthus even do to you…” Velvet sighed. It almost felt that Hyde had a personal grudge against him, even when she knew it was just the search for knowledge that made Hyde almost manic.

“He is just the best target. Also, we have fate on our side. If we think too hard about hunting the Chosen One, fate will make the opportunity present itself.”

“Doesn’t the Chosen One always prevail? Are you setting me up to get beaten up like a third rate villain?”

“We are not going to kill him. I’m sure he’s even used to similar things by now.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. But, fine. If fate gives me an opportunity to take him on, I’ll do-

A strong explosion shook the hut. It had come from the barrier, but from inside.

“I’m sure that’s him.” Hyde said, in a way too smug for a spider. “Alright, let’s go.”

“... But I’m in bed and it’s late… and I just finished pulling out eyes from inside me.”

“Velvet. We are from the Knowledge Paradigm. We chase information. Aren’t you in a rush to find the truth? Let’s go get him.”

She slowly got up with a groan, starting to dress herself. “If he isn’t almost dead or fainted, I will run away.”