When they returned, they found Dad painting inside. Or rather trying to paint. His canvas was blank, and his brush was dry. He just sat there looking at the canvas with an unreadable expression. Then he looked up like someone waking up from a bad dream. "Oh, Kiyora, how was the library?"

"Fine," said Kiyora. "I was looking up some stuff about what happened at the school."

"Well, I'm just glad no one was hurt," said Dad, shaking his head. He stood up from his canvas. "Oh, there is something you should know. While you were gone, we got a visit from an agent from the Department of Spiritual Defense. Some spiritual malaise has spread throughout the city.

"They are distributing these." He brought up a bag and drew out three bottles of pills.

"What are they?" asked Kiyora. She took them and opened them, seeing they were blue.

"Pills, meant to cut off one's connection to the spirit realm," said Dad with a sad look. He looked depressed now. "We're to take these for at least the next two weeks. It's a shame; I hoped to paint tomorrow."

"You paint every day," said Kiyora, raising an eyebrow. She was feeling worried. "And aren't you worried?"

"Not really," admitted Dad. "It is probably some eldritch creature from beyond the stars or elder god or something to that effect. These sorts of things happen every twenty years or so. It's nothing to worry about."

"Well, I'm not taking them, Dad," said Kiyora. How could he be so calm about these things? "I've got things to do in the Dream World. They're important."

"Sorry, Kiyora, you'll have to put it on hold," said Mom. "We're legally obligated to take these."

Kiyora looked at Mom seriously, then at the pill. She considered pretending to take them. Then she remembered something. Returning to the dream world meant seeing more of Wraith's handiwork. All of a sudden, letting William handle it seemed reasonable.

William could handle it, couldn't he? I mean, he'd survived everything Kiyora had. And he'd had less protection in the process. And he'd have Duke Vanion, Rusara, Raynald, and all the others to help her. Plus, this DSD plan could work and save the world. And not cooperating with it could cause problems.

"Fine," said Kiyora. "Let's just get this over with."

She entered the kitchen and poured herself some water to take the pills. It wasn't fun. She nearly threw up when she tried to drink them with water. So she coughed it up and poured the water out before getting milk instead. But the pill had gone all mushy, so it was even more unpleasant. She thought she'd throw up for a moment, but she got it down. As soon as she'd finished, she felt suddenly exhausted. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she went to bed.

When Kiyora awoke the next morning, the world seemed drab and gray. All the color had gone out of her action figures. The food on the plate set before her by Mom looked strangely unappealing. Everything seemed wrong. And she couldn't imagine things. It was like she was reaching for something in the dark. She knew it was there, but someone snatched it when she got a hand near it.

"Good morning, Kiyora," said Dad, coming down. "How are you?"

"I...I didn't dream, Dad," said Kiyora. "I haven't dreamed in as long as I can remember. There is a place where... where my memory just stops. And then it starts up again when I wake up."

"This is the sort of thing that other races have to deal with daily," said Dad.

"How do they handle it?" asked Kiyora. William lived like this?

"I imagine one gets used to it," said Dad. "Still, at least you have the day off."

"Well, that is kind of cool, I guess," said Kiyora.

There was something else Kiyora should be thinking about. Something significant. Something which had terrified her. But it was snatched out of her reach by something. Something had taken it from her.

"Dad?" said Kiyora.

"Yes," asked Dad.

"I went to the library yesterday," said Kiyora. "Did I say why?"

"No," said Dad. "Why do you ask?"

"Because it's all a blur. A lot of things are a blur," said Kiyora. "I can barely remember anything about the dream world. Can you?"

"No. It'll make painting very hard." mused Dad. "Still, I might as well try."

They finished breakfast quickly. It was perfect, but Kiyora couldn't enjoy it for some reason. She got up early and went to the door. "Hey, just so you know, I will meet Laurus at the comic shop. See you."

"Just be careful," said Mom.

Kiyora began her long walk. As she did so, she suddenly became aware of a great tree ship floating through the air far above. The tree at the center was of a military-grade, and the branches gleamed with magic.

"A military tree?" murmured Kiyora. "What could it be doing out here in Actovosh? They never bring those things this close unless it is something severe. Is it that bad?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Was it that bad? She couldn't quite recall. Eventually, she visited the comic book shop but found no sign of Laurus. Abruptly, she remembered she hadn't agreed upon an actual time with him. It had seemed to her that now was the right time.

That was strange.

"Hey," said Laurus.

Kiyora jumped in surprise. She turned to see him leaning against the wall, smoking another cigarette. "Oh, Laurus," said Kiyora. "You scared me."

"I get that a lot," said Laurus.

Then Kiyora noticed that he had a bruise on his cheek. It was a nasty one. "What happened to your face?"

"I fell," said Laurus. "It isn't any big deal; I put ice on it. My dad-" He halted.

"Yeah?" said Kiyora.

"Nothing," said Laurus. "He says that the DSD is worried about something. They're bringing in some serious power. That tree ship up there is the Ascendance. They must be apprehensive about Him."

"Who?" asked Kiyora.

Laurus looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Don't you remember? Laughing Wraith."

Now she remembered. "Right, right, now I do. Hey, how does your dad know all this?"

"My dad works in the DSD. And my mom has a job analyzing the content of a pharmaceutical company. The one distributing the pills they're passing out." said Laurus. "It turns out that our school wasn't the first place he hit."

"What do you mean?" asked Kiyora.

Laurus drew out a newspaper and showed her the headlines. "Look at this."

"Pharmaceutical analysis team committed en masse," read Kiyora aloud.

"My mom called in sick on that day," said Laurus. "Which means she was the only one who wasn't affected. She ended up having to examine the whole thing herself. I guess I got lucky."

"That is not lucky," said Kiyora. "Why are you so calm about this?"

"I guess it hasn't set in yet," said Laurus.

"Hey, Laurus!" called Gisora as she rushed up to them. "I got that info you wanted!"

"Gisora?" said Kiyora. "What information?"

"Oh, Laurus and I have been gathering information on this monster thing," said Gisora. "The DSD is going to take him out soon enough, but I want to know as much as I can about it before they cover it all up."

"What makes you so sure they'll fix it?" asked Kiyora.

"You've been taking your medicine, haven't you?" asked Gisora. "The whole city has been cut off from the spiritual world. Pretty soon, Laughing Wraith's power will shrivel; they'll find and finish him off."

"Yes, yes, we all know that," said Laurus. "Now, what did you find?"

"Turns out that ship above us, the one coming here. It has a special team of trained Dream Sages on it," said Gisora. "They're our age, but they fight monsters like this kind all the time."

"So they're child soldiers then," said Kiyora.

"No, they're specially trained operatives," said Gisora.

"Who are children," said Kiyora. "And therefore are child soldiers."

"Well, sure, but most people, as they get older, stop connecting to the dream world as much," said Gisora. "It makes sense that they'd want to use younger people. Anyway, they're going to kill Laughing Wraith."

"Sure they are." scoffed Laurus. "Where is Reya anyway?"

"I went to her house," said Gisora. "She isn't feeling very well."

Something needed to be fixed here. Something didn't add up. But what? She turned over everything she had seen and heard in her mind. And suddenly, it dawned on her. "...I have to go."

"Why?" asked Gisora.

"Not now!" said Kiyora.

Then she turned and ran. Ran as quickly as she could with all her might. She got home and didn't stop running until she threw open the door and entered her house. "Mom, I need to use the phone now!"

Mom was reading in the living room and looked up in surprise. "Why?"

"I need to call the DSD," said Kiyora.

"What about?" asked Mom.

"I... I think that someone might have screwed with the meds they are handing out to everyone," said Kiyora.

"What do you mean?" said Mom, closing her book and standing up.

"I was talking to Laurus just now," said Kiyora. "He said that his mother was one of the people in charge of examining the medication. Everyone in her department was hospitalized except her. If she got affected by Laughing Wraith, then... then he might have screwed with the medicine.

"He's done this before, Mom; I need to call them now. I need to call them so they can recall it before... before anyone else gets hurt."

Then Mom leaned in and wrapped her arms around Kiyora. "You don't need to worry, dear. It's already too late."

Her grip began to tighten. Kiyora struggled with it. What was going on? "Mom, Mom, you are hurting me..."

Mom's arms were now around her neck, crushing in like a vice. "Don't worry, dear; I will strangle you. It'll be a lot less painful than what Master Wraith intends to do to everyone else."

"Mom, please..." gasped Kiyora. "Please let go..."

This wasn't her. Mom would never do something like this! She had to get free! Had to escape! The grip loosened only a little as the embrace continued. "Years and years ago, he ran wild over many cities. He fed off of the suffering and misery of those he hunted. And whenever he came close to killing him, he simply fled into the dream world. However, the DSD figured out how he operated. They cut him off.

"His power waned, and he was banished back to oblivion.

"But now, thanks to you and Laurus, all that can be set right."

"Mom... don't... kill me..." gasped Kiyora.

Her vision was going dark. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't do anything. Mom was too strong. He was laughing...

No.

Kiyora freed an arm, grabbed a lamp, and smashed it against Mom's shoulder. Mom screamed and fell backward as the lamp shattered, and Kiyora turned to run into the next room.

"Come back, Kiyora! Come back!" said Mom. "There isn't anywhere you can run!"

Kiyora found Dad's painting. "Dad, you have to help me! Mom, she's..."

Dad turned around, and she saw the painting. It was a face too terrible to describe. It was the worst thing anyone had ever seen in their darkest dreams, multiplied by a thousand. But what was worse was Dad's face. He was smiling and looking very attentive.

"He is laughing. He is laughing. He is laughing..." said Dad.

"Kiyora, come back," said Mom. "We aren't done."

Kiyora ran for the other door, but Dad was in the way. So she went for the window. She got it open but found the screen in the way. She fumbled with it as Mom and Dad closed in. Then she realized she didn't have time.

She punched the screen repeatedly, breaking it off, and slipped through the window. Her hand hurt. Dad caught ahold of her shoe, and she was held in place. Hauling on it, she pulled it off, got to her feet, and ran.