Again, I was awoken by a chill only this one came from something that was in bed with me.

I opened my eyes to find a woman, draped in pale blue hair, sleeping next to me although she was above the sheets.

I recognized her as the hallucination that named herself Aun but, again, something was different.

I could see her eyes.

They were closed, yes but I could see her closed eyelids.

Her soft features were brightly illuminated by the morning sun and it made for quite a pretty image.

I foolishly reached out to touch the anomaly and my heart nearly fell when, just as my hand touched her face, she opened her eyes revealing them to be deep seas of purple.

“Simbi?” She whispered.

This time her voice was limited to her mouth but it still shook me to my core.

“Yes?” I quivered and this, for some reason, made her smil softly.

“Thank goodness. I was afraid you were going to sink back into unconsciousness or worse.” She breathed.

“Who… are you?” I asked while slowly sitting up, prompting Aun to do the same although she did so with a grace and poise that parted my lips a little in awe.

“I am Aun although that isn’t my true name. That one is far too much fr you to hear.”

“What did you mean?” I frowned.

“Upon limited observation, I noticed that just as there are things your eyes cannot perceive, there are sounds and words you cannot hear. Forcing such information on your mind would just lead to you passing out again.” Aun explained.

I wanted to ask her a thousand more questions but I was immediately interrupted by my phone which loudly rang on the edge of my bed.

The caller ID stated that it was an unknown number but I set aside any apprehension I would otherwise have and answered the call.

[Simbi?]

“Yeah, who’s this?” I yawned while Aun stared at me vacantly.

[It’s Tina! Where are you? Everyone’s worried sick!]

My eyes widened as I checked the time to find that it was almost midday and I still wasn’t at work.

“Oh- shit! I overslept! Tell Frank I’m on my way!” I hurriedly stumbled out of and hopped into my work clothes.

[Alright but how are you feeling?] Tina asked as I slipped into my shoes.

“I’m alright and bye! I’ll be there in thirty or so minutes!”

I ended the call, grabbed my bag but before I dashed out of my apartment, I turned to Aun who looked me over with an unchanging expression.

“Err… stay here. I’ll be back in about fifteen hours!” I announced before leaving the apartment building.

I then sprinted all the way to Frank’s Place – his aptly named restaurant and made my way to his office where I profusely apologized.

“Look, just get yourself checked and if you need time off, I’ll give it to ya. Isaac’s soft hands could do with some heavy lifting. Just make sure you’re here on time, alright?”

“Yes, boss.” I nodded.

“Good. Now get outa here.” Frank scoffed prompting me to leave the office.

A curious Tina and Isaac awaited me in the kitchen.

“So…?” Tina raised her brows.

“The boss said I should probably take a few days off soon and get checked up but other than that, I’m as good as gold.” I smiled but this made Isaac deflate with a sigh.

“Aww, and here I thought something interesting was finally gonna happen in this boring town.”

“Ignore him. He’s just as relieved as anyone that you’re alright.” Tina smiled and while their words worked to comfort me, I could not escape the dread that crept.

I set about completing my tasks.

Cleaning the restaurant, maintaining equipment and other such things.

The evening then came and I was shaken out of my routine by Tina who called my name while I organized the inventory in the storeroom.

“Yeah?” I asked at the top of my lungs.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Someone’s here to see you!” Tina informed with a shout but this puzzled me.

I had no family in this city and I really didn’t have any friends so who-

My heart sank to my knees and I quickly rushed to the counter in front of the kitchen to find Aun standing before a cross armed Tina.

She had slipped into an old, oversized shirt of mine but failed to wear some shoes.

“Umm… what are you doing here?” I asked while desperately trying to hide my surprise.

I was certain my hallucination would have stayed where I told it to but if that was the case and if that was her nature, then how was Tina able to see her?

“I wanted to see where you were.” Aun answered flatly.

Her eyes had lost their ethereal glow and were now just a dark shade of purple.

I noticed here that her hair was so long it reached just above her feet.

“And who is this?” Tina asked.

“Her name is Aun, an… acquaintance of mine.” I droned while walking up to Aun.

“While that is somewhat true, I also plan on sharing a very special bond with you.” She nodded once and this made Tina gasp.

“Simbi, is that true? Or do you not requite her feelings?”

“Ignore everything she says!” I pleaded in an attempt to stop whatever melodramatic scenarios were forming in Tina’s head.

“Anyway, what do you want? I thought I asked you to stay home.” I questioned while frantically alternating my gaze from Aun to Tina and making sure to keep my voice as low as possible.

I still wasn’t sure what was and wasn’t really happening.

The last thing I wanted was to yell at the top of my lungs like a loon.

“I came to give you something, my Chosen Anchor.” She said while reached towards her eye.

Tina the let out a high scream as Aun dug into her right eye socket with her pale, slender fingers.

She then pulled out her eye and offered it to my now terrified self.

“Go on, take it-“

“What’s going on in here?” Frank snapped while barging into the kitchen.

I wanted to calm everyone down but just as I opened my mouth to speak, Aun shoved the eye into it and, with a strength that surprised me, she closed my nose and mouth with her bloody hand, forcing me to swallow the eye and just as I did, something crashed into the restaurant from above.

Dust and chunks of furniture blew up from the dining area, forcing us to duck for cover.

A morbid curiosity urged me to see what had had all the destruction but it was muted by Aun’s form, which had changed yet again.

Now she had a deep purple glow and her eyes were once again hidden only this time it was by her hair which floated mid air as if she was in space.

She was clad in a gown that seemed to be made of fire only it burnt a deep purple.

She looked like a bizarre, ethereal flower.

My bewilderment was quickly replaced by fear as Aun turned around.

This allowed me to see a woman who stood at the centre of the debris and smoke.

Her head, which floated above her neck, bore no eyes or hair.

Only a lipless mouth and a fleshless nose.

Her skin was dark and dry, resembling solidified lava.

Draping over her vaguely feminine form was a gown of thick white smoke which added a sharp string to every breath.

Her slender hands rested atop each other in front of her and she stood with a strangely regal upward poise.

[So this is where you have chosen to hide, Gi’ Aun.] The woman said although her mouth didn’t move. Instead, her voice came from deep within my mind.

“AAAHHHH!” Tina screamed again, prompting me to turn around.

I then shrunk into myself with horror as Frank bled from his eyes, nose and mouth.

His bones then visibly contorted and shattered, tearing his flesh as they did.

His body violently morphed and twisted, turning more beastly with each passing second.

His reformed head bore a large maw which housed countless jagged teeth.

His limbs were twice their size and covered with dark patches of fur.

His fingers were tipped with large claws that managed to scrape at the tiles beneath the creature who was once Frank.

I turned my quaking eyes back to the woman as she seemingly stared at Aun.

[No matter. Your connection to the Reverie Plane will be severed and, in time, you will fade even from distant memory.]

“And what will you do, Norma? Because I doubt the Real Council will sit idly by.” Aun warned and her voice seemed to change the air as it travelled.

Making it sound as though we were under water.

[The Council is static by nature. Even he who is supposedly the root of all Effect. Regardless, your age has come to an end. Goodbye, my Lady.] The woman said and before I could even blink, she was gone.

A wild roar then made me turn back to Frank, or the beast he had become. He now stood upright on his hind legs, towering over Tina and I who sat helplessly on the floor.

“Oh, you poor thing.” Aun whispered while walking towards him.

“It seems as though her Regal Ward was not enough to protect you.”

Frank bared his teeth at Aun before suddenly trying to strike her with his claws but as soon as his arm got close to her, it was torn into countless pieces by an unseen force.

He let out a pained scream and clutched what was left of his arm.

“It doesn’t seem as though there is a way to reverse it.” Aun noted all while Frank’s screams filled the air.

“Mmm?” Aun sounded sweetly as she walked closer to Frank, whose screams had turned to whimpers.

“You want the pain to end?” She asked only to receive a series of more whimpers.

“Alright. My Anchor thinks quite highly of you so I will oblige.”

Frank seemingly nodded before closing his reddened eyes.

“Good… bye.” Frank growled.

His body then slowly grew weak and we watched as he fell to the side as blood fell from his eyes.

With a racing heart, I glanced at Tina who had fallen unconscious and was laying on the

Blood had also fallen from her nose.

The sounds of sirens then filled the air and I turned to Aun whose brilliant, one eyed gaze fell onto me.

“I apologize but it seems though my presence will undoubtedly continue to affect your life from now on.”

“What?” I asked as confusion and terror ravaged my mind.

“I will do whatever I can to ease your mind although I cannot bring back your… boss.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Or what to think.

“W-why? Why me? Why is any of this happening?” I whimpered.

Aun knelt in front of me and gently placed her hand on my sweat lined cheek.

“It seems as though most of her children are possessed of the Shackles of Ignorance, yourself included, so it wasn’t a matter of preference. You were just one of many and I thought I could use the fact that you are a fairly passive person to lay low but alas…” Aun explained but this just made me more confused.

My confusion would be interrupted not a moment later as several policemen rushed into the restaurant.

They all drew their firearms and pointed them at Aun whose gaze remained locked with mine.

The cops yelled all kinds of things but Aun ignored them and instead wiped the single tear that fell from my eye.

“As for why this is all happening, the truth is that you, and this world by extension, now sit a the centre of a plot that spans swathes of the cosmos. A coup that forced me to flee from my seat and now seeks to divest me of my divine power.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” I choked on my words.

“I have chosen you to my Anchor. That which binds me to this world because if I return to the Reverie Plane, I will be killed.”