Chapter 3 : Morning

“Okay, so... Not that I'm really complaining here, cause this is actually pretty good...” said Fiona as she lifted a forkful of long noodles up out of her bowl “But why are we eating soup for breakfast?”

“Because it's what came out of the breakfast bucket this morning.” said Kianna.

“...The what bucket?” questioned both Fiona and Mica in unison.

“The, the breakfast bucket!” exclaimed Kianna as she pointed to a small blue bucket sitting on the kitchen counter “Master said we should try something new everyday this week. So I put a bunch of recipes in those buckets over there and this is the one we got out of the breakfast bucket today.”

“...Oh. ...Okay, I guess that makes sense.” nodded Fiona as she looked from the bucket back to Kianna “But why did you put a noodle soup recipe in the breakfast bucket?”

“Well, the recipe said to put eggs in this. So I thought it was supposed to be some kind of breakfast soup...” explained Kianna as she looked down at her bowl and grimaced sheepishly “But now I don't think it is...”

“Yeah, I don't think it is either!” laughed Fiona.

“Hm, I think it works well enough.” chuckled Anton as he lifted a large, whole mushroom out of his bowl and took a bite out of it.

“You're just saying that to be nice.” said Fiona.

“Not really. This is legitimately good.” said Anton as he turned to Kianna “You did a great job with this.”

“...Thank you.” mumbled Kianna as she blushed and laid her head against Anton's shoulder “I'm glad you like it.”

“...Hey, so?” said Mica as her tail did a slow, nervous looking loop behind her back “If I put a recipe in one of the buckets and it gets chosen, will you really make it?”

“...If you? Of course!” exclaimed Kianna as her eyes lit up with excitement “Yeah, I'd love to make something for you! You just let me know what you want and I'll be happy to make it!”

“Okay, cool. Thanks.” said Mica “I'll just put it in the bucket though. That way it's still fair...”

“Aw! No, don't do that! You can just tell me!” whined Kianna “I want to make something that you like right away!”

“...Nah, that's okay. I'll just put it in the bucket.” mumbled Mica as she dropped her eyes down to her bowl and quickly started eating again.

Kianna went to say something more but stopped short as Anton glanced over at her and shook his head.

“...Well, yeah that's fine then. If you'd rather just do it that way, then I guess it's cool.” mumbled the dark elf “But you better tell me when what I make is the thing you like though! Seriously!”

“Okay. I can do that.” nodded Mica.

“Good.” said the dark elf with an affirmative nod.

Smiling softly, Anton continued his meal for a bit before looking back up at the rest of the table.

“So, what's everybody's plans for the day?” he asked casually.

“Argh... Cleaning, again...” grumbled Kianna “It's crazy how fast this house gets dirty...”

“Yeah, actually! About that! Hey, Tessa!” exclaimed Fiona as she looked over at the mantis sitting at the end of the table “Were you the one who left a bunch of feathers all over the couch in the living room!? Did you eat a bird in there or something!?”

Currently in the process of investigating her soup by holding a forkful of the noodles up in the air and getting a smell of them with her antennae, Tessa clearly didn't seem to be at all impressed with what was being offered for breakfast today. And aside from shifting her eyes over to the dark elf as her name was called, her face remained blank as she made no effort to confirm or deny the allegations laid against her. After staring at Fiona for a moment, she silently went back to examining her food.

“...You know, I don't know why I actually expected you to answer me.” mumbled Fiona as she narrowed her eyes at the mantis and shook her head “I must be an idiot or something...”

“Agreed.” nodded Mica.

“Shut up, you.” muttered Fiona before looking back at Kianna “Anyways, all those feathers need to be cleaned up too. And the couch sprayed with a disinfectant. Or you just burn it, or whatever.”

“Yeah I'll add it to the list...” grumbled Kianna as she laid her head back against Anton's shoulder and pouted up at him “Cleaning is hard, and it never ends...”

“Yes, it is. And yes, it never does.” chuckled Anton “Though, if you're starting to feel a bit overwhelmed... Maybe you should try recruiting some help?”

“...From where?” asked Kianna.

“Oh, I don't know. Maybe from the people sitting at this table?” offered Anton.

“What!? No! Fuck that! You said she was the maid now! And cleaning is all her job!” exclaimed Fiona.

“No, I never said it was all her job. Now I did say she was in charge of it, yes.” said Anton as he gave Kianna a sly grin “But I never once said she had to do it all by herself.”

Kianna blinked before her eyes went wide with understanding.

“You're completely free to take advantage of all the available minions you have right here, Kianna.” smiled Anton before glancing at Tessa and chuckling as he found her making a pile on the table of all the apparently unwanted vegetables she had taken out of her soup “Well, maybe more like the available minions and the one trouble making mascot...”

“Oh this is gonna be sweet! With this much help I can easily get everything done in time to make dinner!” said Kianna as she clasped her hands together in excitement “Okay everybody! Today we are going to give this entire house a super deep clean, from top to bottom! We're gonna make this place shine!”

Just as she finished speaking the soup broth runoff from the pile that Tessa had made started to stream over the side of the table, and a loud dipping sound filled the air as it began to puddled on the floor.

“Oh goody... Well there goes my fucking day...” grumbled Fiona with a sigh “Just fucking lovely...”

Later that night Fiona flopped down onto her bed in exhaustion. The work she had done that day wasn't necessarily hard but was very tedious and mind numbing. Kianna had tasked her with, among other things, wiping down all of the walls throughout their large house with a washcloth and cleaning all the windows. Tasks which had taken her literally all day to complete. Although things would have probably gone by quicker if she hadn't spent so much time trying to shirk her duties by running off and hiding... maybe...

Regardless though, by this time she was done with the day and ready to just sleep these memories away. And so with this idea set firmly in her mind, she rolled over onto her side and quickly fell asleep.

-

In the expanse in which Terra existed, there was a defined separation between what would be considered Reality, or everything that actually existed physically, such as Terra itself, the planes of Heaven, Hell and the many artificial realms, and the space that was beyond all that, a space known as the Void.

The Void was believed by all but a few of the most well versed researchers to be completely empty. As technically nothing actually existed there beyond raw, cosmic energy. And any physical matter that entered the dimension would be almost immediately destroyed by said energy.

Those that knew the truth however, even if they couldn't prove it, were aware that it was this same cosmic energy that was what was used by matter to form at the quantum level before shifting into Reality and taking on a physical, atomic shape. And as such, everything that existed, or would ever exist, was built from this infinite energy that was only found within the expanse of the Void.

In other words, the Void was in all actuality not only the birthplace of Reality itself, but of everything and everyone in it as well.

Although there was no direct link between Reality and the Void, dimensional rifts between the two did exist, and were even possible to create. Naturally, tiny rifts would occur when energy was transferred from one dimension to the other. This took place whenever matter formed at the quantum level, or when an atom was completely destroyed and the spent energy shifted itself back into the Void through a form of radioactive decay. Other random rifts could also happen when light shifted back and forth from waves to particles while moving through space and occasionally when heavier forms of energy, such as gravitational pull, raw mana flowing through a leyline or thermodynamic and electromagnetic energies were suddenly and rapidly diffused down into nothingness.

These minuscule rifts paled in comparison to the true gates that could be opened by creating artificial wormholes that traveled in and out of the Void, and by those connections that formed spontaneously during dreams.

Through some poorly understood mechanic involving the electrical activity taking place within a brain experiencing REM sleep, a semi-stabilized quasi rift between the dimensions could be accidentally created. And through this rift it was possible for a person's subconscious mind to temporarily slip into the Void.

Generally, these travels into the Void would be for the most part indiscernible from an actual dream. As a mind in the Void could, with thoughts alone, manipulate the cosmic energies in such a way that they would create a landscape that while not actually real, would still exist for the visiting mind, at least visually. Since the act of waking up was enough to break these connections and close the rifts, and as it wasn't possible for a mind to lose its full link to its body in this manner, these mental excursions were generally considered to be harmless.

Or at least, the travels themselves were considered harmless.

Unfortunately, this activity could potentially attract the attention of one of the chaotic denizens of the Void, and any encounter with a Voidling in the Void was never without its dangers.

This wasn't to say that every Voidling was villainous in its intentions. Quite the contrary. Many of them were actually very friendly and playful beings. And some some were even heroic in their nature.

The montauk for instance were a race of small, bipedal teddy bear or canine-like entities who gave the strong impression that they were essentially some kind of living cartoon characters. This disarming appearance was very much a ruse though. As these little beings were actually quite powerful combatants, and would take it upon themselves to befriend any dreaming children that had accidentally found themselves in the Void. The montauk would then defend these innocent children and would readily fight off any of the other more sinister Voidlings who tried to target them.

And target them they would, as aside from being summoned directly, traveling through dream rifts was one of the easiest ways for a Voidling to enter into Reality. And once free to roam about as they please, many of them that would use these pathways would often turn around and possess, or even consume, the still sleeping dreamer who had inadvertently let them through.

Luckily, it was the rare Voidling that would even desire such a thing, as the vast majority of them were not fond of the constraints of existing physically, and as such had no interest in ever leaving the Void.

There were those who still posed a danger within the Void itself though. As these, often parasitic entities, would find dreaming victims and absorb not only their life force, but their very essence as well. Draining these often helpless minds of their memories, knowledge, emotions, abilities and finally their consciousness itself.

Those greedy Voidlings who cared not for leaving their victims alive could easily take so much from them that they would leave their victims as mindless, brain dead husks that without immediate treatment, would quickly slip into a coma and die.

Though there were many different kinds of Voidlings who practiced this ghoulish activity, there was one species among them whose infamy was above all the rest. This was a creature whose hunger for the taste of fear was so renowned that their very name had become synonymous with terror itself. So honed were the capabilities of these entities, and so awful was any encounter with them, that they lent their namesake to those most fearful of all dreams.

Amongst themselves, and to those who were well versed about their kind, they were known as the mara, but to most people of the world they went by a very, very different name...

-

That night, Fiona's sleep started out as nothing but a fuzzy, dreamless fog until blinking herself into a soft awareness, she suddenly found herself standing in the middle of an elegant uptown club, and staring eye to eye with an extraordinarily beautiful woman.

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The setting surrounding her had a dark and subliminally mysterious vibe to it that would have fit perfectly into any noir film set during the early half of the last century. The dark forms of other club goers moved in a foggy haze around her as she stood stock still and gazed at the woman before her.

Standing at the bar with one long leg crossed demurely in front of the other, the woman wore a slim, formfitting dark red colored velvet gown which perfectly accentuated her curvaceous figure and featured a single split down the front which showcased her smooth, shadowy dark, hosiery clad legs.

With shimmering, silver colored hair and smooth skin that radiated a deep, golden blush. This woman was the very type example of exquisite.

She had the overall appearance of a humanoid of some kind, and yet, her amber colored eyes that seemed to glow like embers in the dim light, left little doubt that there was something distinctly different about her. And what her true identity may be, was impossible for Fiona to tell off hand.

Not that the dark elf even cared in that moment, captivated as she was by this radiant creatures knowing gaze, she took a step towards her.

The woman smiled softly, and moving with a predators grace, she slipped away from the bar and made her way to Fiona.

Moving towards one another in unison, the two quickly met face to face and without a single spoken word from either of them, they slipped their arms around each other and fell into the flow of a slow and sensuously hypnotic dance.

Wearing an equally enticing, solid black evening gown which hugged her slender frame just perfectly, Fiona brought her own confident, sexual charge to the duos rhythmic movements.

Shifting the lead back and forth between them, the two women led each other on an odyssey across the dance floor until finally, her excitement at its limit, Fiona slowed her movements down to a crawl and cupped her hand against her partners cheek.

“Your name...” she gasped through a whisper “Tell me your name...”

Smiling playfully, the stranger kept her eyes locked to Fiona's as she let her hand slide down to the small of the dark elf's back and pulled her in close.

“You are not the one I was sent here for...” she whispered softly as she let her lips hover just before Fiona's “Sadly for you though... I'm not very good at taking orders... I was always better at, twisting, them...”

“Sadly? Orders?” questioned Fiona as she tried to close the gap between her lips and the woman's “What do you mean by sadly?”

“I mean that sadly... You caught my... eye...” whispered the stranger.

“...Oh, did I? ...And is that a bad thing?” asked Fiona around a smile “Cause it doesn't seem like it is... Seems like it's pretty lucky to me...”

The stranger's smile broadened as Fiona boldly slid her hand through the split along the front of her dress, and gripped her upper thigh.

“Really lucky...” breathed Fiona as her irises lit up with excitement “What's your name?”

“Hmm...” hummed the stranger as she eased back “My name...”

Slipping away from Fiona, the stranger seemed to glide about as she stepped back and then moved around the dark elf.

“If you really want to know...” she said over her shoulder as she headed towards the clubs exit “Then follow me...”

Fiona's eyes shifted back and forth in their sockets as she watched the stranger's hips sway from side to side as she walked away. Blinking, the dark elf quickly shook her head and made to follow after her.

Stepping through the exit, she found herself suddenly standing in the threshold of an elegantly decorated bedroom. Thinking nothing of this, the dark elf kept her eyes locked to the woman standing before her and breathed out a small gasp as the stranger's dress suddenly slipped away from her shoulders and fell to puddle at her feet.

Drinking in the sight of the woman's naked form, Fiona remained completely still as the stranger slowly turned around to face her.

“A small treat... Before the end...” said the stranger as she rolled her shoulders back and presented her ample bosom to the dark elf “Now come along... I'm waiting...”

Stepping forward without hesitation, Fiona reached out and cupped the stranger's offered breasts with both hands before leaning in and kissing her deeply.

Meeting the eager dark elf with her own fervent hunger, the stranger wrapped her arms around Fiona and held her tightly.

Lost in the heat of their kiss, Fiona let her tongue and hands all explore freely as she savored the strange, tantalizing flavor of the woman's mouth. She froze in her motions as a soft, gleeful yet ominous laughter suddenly filled her head.

“No escape now...” spoke a voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

Surprised, the dark elf tried to pull away from the stranger's lips but found herself locked in place and unable to move. Blinking open her eyes, she found the stranger's amber irises staring right back at her with an amused and hungry looking expression filling her gaze.

“Fight all you want... You'll burn no different than the rest...” said the same disembodied voice from before.

Angry now, Fiona tried to struggle in earnest but was unable to free herself from the stranger's grip. A raising panic began to fill her chest as she started to feel a faint heat begin to form wherever the woman was touching her.

More laughter filled her head as the intensifying heat began to spread out until its burn surrounded her entire being.

“No escape!” cackled the voice.

Fiona's eyes widened as she watched the glow in the woman's irises suddenly flare until her entire eyes took on the appearance of molten hot coals. Fiery, with a red hot hunger swelling within them, their message to the dark elf was clear. They would be the last things she would ever see.

“No!” cried Fiona in her own minds voice “Stop! Let me go!”

“No escape!” repeated the voice amid louder laughter and a growing burn.

Trapped and helpless, Fiona could do nothing as with a rising panic, she felt the first snips of her essence being ripped away from her.

Raging and screaming in her mind she fought with every once of her will against the monster that was merrily consuming her alive. Bit by bit, every facet of her being was slowly being eaten away by the heat that surrounded her. She reeled in agonized horror as a torrent of her memories raced by her minds eye on their way to be stripped away by the creature that held her in place. As each snippet of her life disappeared in front of her, one memory suddenly stuck out from the rest, and desperate and terrified Fiona reached out and clung to it with all that she had left.

It was a memory from weeks ago now, of Anton's face as he sat, laid out in his bed and spoke to her.

“Did the thought truly never occur to you, Fiona?” he said as his eyes tightened in sympathy “That you could just ask me for help?”

“...Help!” screamed Fiona into the very Void itself “Please! Help me!”

Delighted at the terror that rang out so strongly from the little morsel in her clutches, the woman holding Fiona did nothing to silence her victim, and in no way tried to stop her as she cried out for mercy.

Her arrogant smile faulted just a bit as she thought she suddenly felt something. Pausing, she looked down at the dark elf in her arms and as she did, she felt it again, a tiny, barely even there... pulse?

Fiona cried out in stark relief as she felt it herself. Emanating out from the gem mounted to the collar around her neck was a sudden pulse of awareness. And from this pulse a familiar and welcomed presence began to flow into her mind, bringing with it a sense of instant salvation.

And the most comforting thing about this for Fiona, was that she could tell right away that this presence was absolutely furious.

“What do you think you're doing to my dark elf!?” roared Anton's voice as his raw fiery anger flowed out of Fiona's bloodgem and manifested itself into a cloud of glowing orange warmth that engulfed the dark elf in a protective embrace.

“Mine!” raged the woman as the last visage of any human-like quality fell away from her and she appeared as a monstrous screaming face surrounded by a haze of smoke and a swarm of writhing, black tendrils.

Opening a huge mouth filled with gleaming fangs, the monster let loose a bone shattering scream as Anton's presence took the form of an enraged flaming eye and reared itself up high above her.

The two incorporeal beings immediately clashed as they both fought in earnest to wrestle the dark elf away from the other. Their battle reaching a stalemate, Anton quickly shifted his attention to Fiona and spoke to her in her mind.

“Fiona! I can't fight her off alone! Not in this state. You have to help me!” exclaimed Anton as he mentally shook Fiona's dwindling consciousness “You have to focus! This is the only way we can save you!”

“Save me...” whimpered Fiona “Please... Save me...”

“I'm trying! I'm trying! But I can't do it alone! You have to listen to me! You have to focus!” urged Anton “She's trying to destroy you, Fiona! You can't let her!”

“I can't stop her...” sobbed Fiona as she mentally shivered at the remembered pain of being burnt away.

“You can! I can show you how! I can help you!” declared Anton “But you have to let me! You have to focus! Let me work through you, and I can show you how to fight her!”

“Fight her... Yes... Yes, I want to fight her!” cried Fiona.

“Good! Good!” said Anton “Then focus on me, Fiona! Let me in, and together, we can beat her!”

Turning to him in her mind, Fiona pushed all the pain and fear she was feeling at that moment aside as she focused everything she had left on Anton. Gazing at his raw presence she could suddenly feel his intent, desires and fears. She knew, having spoken to him without speaking, that right now he was afraid, afraid that he would lose her forever, afraid that even now, she wouldn't trust him enough to let him save her.

That was truly his biggest fear, that she still didn't trust him.

“You're so stupid...” whispered Fiona as she let him in.

The monster still gripping the dark elf paused as the fiery presence she had been grappling with suddenly vanished along with the glow that had been surrounding and protecting her prey.

With the dark elf now open and ripe for the taking, she wasted no time on any celebration beyond a smile and set forth on devouring the last bits as quickly as she could before that damnable presence returned.

But just as she was about to tear back into her meal, a sudden and intense burn erupted in the center of her being. Looking down at herself, she blinked in confusion as she found an odd sight. The dark elf's fist was now covered in angry orange flames, and had been driven straight into her middle.

“You stole her essence...” whispered the dark elf as a suit of flaming armor began to form around her “And we're gonna make you pay for that...”

The monster tried to scream out in rage but was cut short as a mighty punch smashed into the side of her face.

Feeling Anton's power and knowledge flowing through her, Fiona trusted him to form the correct spells through her body as she stood up tall and faced her adversary head on.

“Try to eat me!” raged Fiona as a great chain was summoned into her left hand “How dare you!”

Wrapping the monster up in the chain and anchoring her to the ground, the armored dark elf leveled her right hand at her enemy and let Anton unleash a billowing stream of fire across the monster's being.

“Everything you took from me!” cried Fiona as she gleefully dosed her enemy in fire “We're taking it all back!”

The monster roared in anger and pain as she struggled to escape from the bindings that were constantly tightening around her.

“No!” she screamed as she felt the presence from before resurface among the flames and begin to rip into her with its own fury.

As she burned she felt this presence gathering bits of her and funneling them back to the dark elf. What she had just gained was siphoned away first, but more would soon follow. This presence knew what it was doing, it had done this before, it knew how to hurt her.

As the essence of the monster began to flow into her, Fiona's eyes widened to their fullest. The haze of broken information coming in to her was nearly overwhelming, and at first it was difficult to separate what were her own memories from those that weren't. After having a chance to get her mind wrapped around what she was witnessing however, several things did start to become more clear. And as she was able to start making sense of the creatures thoughts, she discovered that many of the beings secrets and intentions were suddenly laid bear for the dark elf to see clearly, and she did not like what she found. This creature, was evil. Pure evil. This thing would have destroyed her, just as she had destroyed so many others that had slipped into her clutches. Innocent minds, toyed with and consumed for no other reason than to entertain this monster with their pain, fear and suffering.

This thing deserved to pay, it deserved to pay dearly.

To her horror, the realization quickly took shape in the monster's mind that these two beings had worked together to turn the tables on her, and there was no other choice now, she had to escape them. She hated to do it, but she would have to run. At least for now.

“Don't let her get away. Not yet.” said Anton in Fiona's mind.

“Don't worry. I got her!” smiled Fiona as she took in the lost knowledge that Anton had returned to her and quickly formed an aura field around them all “She's not going anywhere!”

Trapped and restrained now, the monster abandoned her plans for escape and changing her tactics on the fly, shifted her attention back to Fiona. Focusing as best she could through the wall of flames, she locked on to her target and sent out a large tendril which quickly snaked its way across the ground before rising up and wrapping itself around the dark elf's waist.

“Wha!? Hey!” cried Fiona as she tried to rip the intruder away from her body “Get your slimy hands off me!”

“Fiona! Wait!” cried Anton “Don't burn yourself!”

Stopping the flow of flames just before the dark elf could attempt to turn them on her assailant, and inadvertently herself, Anton mentally grit his teeth as the laughing monster quickly took advantage of the lack of flames and sent more tendrils straight at Fiona.

“Bitch!” raged Fiona as she feverishly fought off the wave of riling appendages.

Time for you to go...” growled the monster as she strained against her restraints and formed what looked like a doorway right behind Fiona.

“...Wait? ...She's trying to send you back? Good! Fiona! Let her go!” exclaimed Anton as he both readied another flame spell and allowed the chains around the monster to start slowly breaking apart.

“What!? No!” cried Fiona as Anton's spell erupted out of her and burned away all the monster's tendrils “This bitch tried to destroy my mind! I'm not letting her get away!”

“You can't just sit in the Void and hold her like this forever though!” said Anton as the monster's tendrils again reformed and tried to drive the duo back and into the doorway “Now's your chance to escape. Take it, and let's get out of here!”

“...You? ...No! Not yet!” growled Fiona as she summoned her own chains to rebind the monster with as Anton's fell away.

“Fiona! Stop! She's going to force us out of the Void anyway! Let's just get out of here, now!” reasoned Anton as he added his own weight to the effort of dragging Fiona through the doorway.

“...Argh! Dammit!” seethed the dark elf as she grudgingly let herself be pushed backwards.

At the last second the dark elf narrowed her eyes as she watched a broad, smug looking smile spread across what was apparently the monster's face.

“...Why you ugly bitch! You think you won, huh!?” raged the dark elf “Well we'll see about that, Rozzie sweets!”

“...What!? What did you just say!? ...Wait! No! Fiona, stop!” cried Anton as he felt the dark elf plant her mental feet and begin to focus her power “What are you doing!?”

“Giving this bitch one more squeeze before I go!” growled Fiona through her smiling teeth “One last hug to remember me by!”

Winking a series of glowing neon green rings into existence around her enemy's mass, Fiona smiled evilly as waves of her chains erupted out of the rings and began to viciously wrap themselves around the predator turned prey.

The monster roared out in fury as her withering form was painfully crushed by the chains merciless embrace. Enraged, she redoubled her efforts to banish her adversaries back to where they had come from.

“...Fiona! ...Get out! ...Let! ...Let her go! ...Now!” cried Anton as he felt his connection to the waking dark elf begin to fail “...Now!”

“Not till the last second...” growled Fiona as she tighten her chains as much as she could “I want her to remember this...”

“...No! ...Fiona! ...Don't say her! ...If you! ...Pull her through! ...Stop! ...Get!” called out Anton as his voice began to crack and fade with the breaking connection “...Fiona! ...Fiona! ...Fio-!”

Feeling Anton's presence slip away from her, Fiona knew it was time to end this as she wasn't about to try and face this monster alone. And since she felt satisfied enough with her revenge already, she leaped up and allowed herself to be thrust back and through the doorway behind her. Keeping her chains locked around the monster, and squeezing her as tightly as she could, even as she fell backwards through the doorway and out into an open, white void, the dark elf began to laugh gleefully as she felt the creature's anger still raging all around her.

“Yeah! Stay mad, bitch!” smiled Fiona as she was engulfed by the white light that was now surrounding her “Stay mad forever, Harozza'mukulamei! You stupid, ugly bitch!”

The stillness in Anton's room was shattered as he suddenly bolted upright and shouted.

“Fiona! No!” he cried out before blinking in the dim light.

Finding himself back in his room and sitting up on his bed, Anton quickly threw his blanket to the side and got to his feet before heading towards the door.

“M-master!?” exclaimed Kianna as she awkwardly lifted herself up on one elbow “Wh-what's happening!?”

“It's Fiona. She's about to pull-!” started Anton before stopping short as the sound of a loud thud filled the air and the house shook a bit as if something heavy had just landed within it.

“...What was that!?” questioned Kianna as she pointed her ears straight upwards while she and Anton both looked over to where the sound had come from.

“...Oh no. ...She did it. She really did it. She pulled that thing through. ...She pulled it right into Reality.” said Anton in a tone of disbelief as he stared into the empty space in front of him “Its loose in the house... This is going to require some backup. Kianna! Stay right here! I'll be right back!”

Turning away from were he had been staring, Anton quickly made a beeline for the portal he had set up on the other side of the room.

“Wait, Master! What happened!? What did Fiona do now!?” cried Kianna as she frantically scrambled out of their bed “What's in the house!?”

Pausing just before the portal, Anton glanced back at her with a look of seriousness on his face.

“A nightmare.” he said solemnly before disappearing through the portal.