I opened the door to see two people, dressed in simple officewear standing in the hallway.

The woman had fiery red hair, pale skin and had a slender figure while the man was a bald, muscle-bound giant who had smooth dark skin.

However, what frightening me were their eyes.

Swirling within their whites were what appeared to be three additional pupils.

Their dizzying gazes fell on me and the man’s brows furrowed making me fold into myself a little.

“Are you alright?” The woman asked after noticing my unease.

Thinking the extra pupils were possibly another hallucination, I chose to ignore them.

“Y-yeah. What’s this about?”

“Again, my name is Fìrinn and this is Mamaki. We’d like a moment of your time to ask you a few question regarding the incident.”

I bit my teeth.

“I already completed my report with the police. Shouldn’t you be working with them?” I raised a cautious brow.

“Our work with the local authorities is almost complete. We read your initial reports and we wanted to know if you’ve experienced anything similar before.” The woman said flatly.

“What? Are you asking if I’ve experienced a gas explosion before?” I crossed my arms.

“Have you been attacked by Beasts before? The same kind you described in your initial report.” Fìrinn asked rather sharply. Her pupils all focused on me.

“I… no. That was the first time.” I admitted.

There was no point lying or playing coy since I had said as much to the police already.

My question was how these government agents knew of the existence of such things.

“And the women who appeared before you. Had you seen them prior to the incident?”

“No.”

“Did these women speak when they appeared before you and if so, what exactly did they say?”

“I… can’t remember. Everything that happened then was a blur.”

I still wasn’t sure what Aun’s deal was.

I held onto a faint and pitiable hope that maybe she could help with Tina’s plans.

So I chose to withhold the full truth of her existence.

“Sir?” Fìrinn called, snapping me out of my daze.

“Umm… what?” I winced.

This prompted her to exchange a peculiar glance with her companion.

She then deeply sighed before offering me a card which bore only a phone number.

“If you experience anything at all similar, please contact this number and we will assist you in whatever way we can. Many who have crossed paths with the unseen remain silent, choosing instead to follow the lures from the beyond. Their prize usually amounts to madness… or worse.” Fìrinn warned before turning to leave with her companion in tow.

The two walked down the hallway leaving me with the silence of the night.

My heart raced in my chest, sending its pulses loudly to my ears.

My eyes were both focused yet I could not see anything beyond the myriad thoughts that engulfed my mind.

“Simbi?” Aun called and her voice alone was seemingly enough to take me out of my evidently troubled mind.

I closed the door and turned to her.

“They are aware of the existence of the Reverie Plane so I chose to hide to prevent any further trouble to you.” She confessed but I was already quite troubled so all I could do was sigh as I returned to her side by the bed.

“Those looked like some secret government agents or something and it looked like you could sense their approach. Could you possibly keep an eye on them? I have a feeling that wasn’t the last time we’ll cross paths.”

“I will keep several eyes on them.” Aun nodded with a determined expression and its here that I realized that her other eye was back.

“Just how many eyes do you have?”

“As many as I want.” She said while raising her nose.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Was she proud of the fact that she was a freak of nature?

I blinked away that notion.

I realized it was quite late and, after letting out a series of yawns, I pointed at my couch.

“Alright. I need to sleep now. You can sleep there or whatever.” I out a final yawn before resting my head on the pillow.

My now heavy eyelids slowly closed and as they did, Aun laid next to me.

“Goodnight, dear Anchor but be forewarned. Do not venture beyond the Garden she built for you. At least… not yet.”

.

..

I didn’t exactly see it coming but I wasn’t surprised when I awoke in that dream garden place.

I was naked again although there were a few differences to the space.

I stood up and started with the most obvious difference and that was the fact that I could read the strange symbols that floated above the four doors now.

The first was a simple pale blue circle which had a dot at its center.

The second was a set. A cone and a rod that stood side by side.

The third was a single wave and the last looked exactly like the symbol for perpendicularity.

Another thing of note was that the door beneath the cone and rod was open although I couldn’t see what was on the other side due to a near blinding amount of light that came from the other side.

However, even though it was so bright that it kept me from seeing what was beyond the Garden’s walls, it didn’t hurt to look at.

I remembered Aun’s warning so I turned away from the door, choosing instead to face the next curiosity which was the fountain.

It looked like a quarter of its basin was full of water.

I inspected water’s surface and instead of seeing my reflection, I saw my sleeping self and Aun who slept next to me in my apartment.

Again, this was far more than I dared even try to put together so I accepted my ignorance, returned to one of the vine covered walls of the garden and sat.

I’d have to ask Aun what this dream meant if she even knew-

.

..

I was suddenly evicted from sleep by my phone which ran right next to my head

It caller ID was unknown and while I initially feared that the malevolent organizations of the world were finally making their move on me, I also wanted to know who in the world woke me up.

So I answered the call and placed it next to my ear.

“Simbi, where are you?” Isaac blared making my ears ring.

“At home! Why are you calling-“

“Is that woman with you?” Isaac yelled and I winced because it looked like Aun was fast asleep.

“Yeah- why-“

“Get your asses to Frank’s Place now! Tina and are waiting for you and we want answers!” Isaac snapped before suddenly ending the call.

All the commotion seemingly also woke Aun up.

Her ethereal eyes questioned me but all I could do was sigh in response.

“Its my coworkers. I think they want to meet you. Is that ok?”

Aun nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

.

..

It was six AM.

I was cold.

And tired.

I had abandoned any attempts to rationalize or piece together what was happening and chose to just go with the flow.

It wasn’t that I didn’t care.

It just didn’t seem like resisting this flow would change anything.

Aun and I walked towards the police tape that lined the perimeter around Frank’s Place where Isaac and Tina awaited us.

They glared daggers at Aun as we approached and the flickering streetlight above didn’t help with the atmosphere.

“Well… here she is. Aun.”

Isaac and Tina remained silent for a moment after my introduction.

“I have a lot of questions for you two but let’s start with the gills. How to we get rid of them?” Isaac frowned while Tina kept her weary gaze on Aun.

“You have them too?” I wondered aloud.

“Those are the Shackles of Ignorance and I’m afraid that I cannot remove them since they are a natural part of you. To undo the Shackles is one thing but to remove them would be to tear off a piece of your minds.” Aun explained but this just made Isaac’s frow deepen.

“so we’re stuck like this?” He asked but Aun didn’t reply.

“Fuck.”

“Umm… ma’am. What- who are you?” Tina asked with eyes that shook.

Aun told her and Isaac everything she told me but, understandably, it didn’t look like they fully understood everything.

“Yeah, trust me, I still don’t get it all either.” I assured but Isaac scoffed at this.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere until do!” He crossed his arms.

I turned to Aun who seemed to be in deep thought.

She then nodded to herself before stepping closer to me.

“If you follow me back to Simbi’s place, I could demonstrate the truth of my nature without drawing to much attention.” She suggested.

“What do you think?” Isaac turned to Tina who nodded.

“If it helps us understand why Frank had to die that way, then I’ll do whatever it takes.”

I wanted to ask why the three of them were inviting themselves to my apartment but the ball was already rolling so I led everyone back to my place.

I gestured that Isaac and Tina sit on my couch while Aun stood before them, in front of my TV with me wearily by her side.

Aun took a deep breath before raising her arms and as she did, the room darkened.

I joined Isaac and Tina in looking around as small points of light began to appear in the darkness.

These continued to appear until they formed what looked like galaxies and these ultimately grouped together to form a single cluster.

“That is me. Laniakea.”

I glanced at my guests and sympathized with their stupefied expressions.

“So… you’re a gigantic space monster?” Isaac gasped.

“My goodness.” Tina breathed.

“Wait a minute- if you’re so big and powerful, why can’t you stop Norma yourself?” I raised a brow as Aun’s light show ended.

“Because Norma is both my child and a part of me. This is only an assumption on my part but I think she grew dissatisfied with her status and place. Maybe this is why she is why she seeks to usurp me. Although to do that would require the death of my consciousness so that she may take possession of my body.” She explained.

“And why hasn’t she done so already?”

“Because she requires the Blade of Severance which is housed in the Temple of Beginnings at the foot of the Fountain of Cause.” Aun detailed as if it wasn’t still confusing but I tried my best to keep up.

“And why can’t she go there by herself?”

“Because only Ging allowed audience with the Real Council. The gate only opens to us and Norma is not a Ging- err… I suppose I should explain that Ging are beings of immense power who hold dominion over large swathes of reality.”

Silence followed.

We each tried digesting Aun’s words but we had barely chewed threw any of what we’d heard.

Every new piece of information led to more questions which, when even vaguely addressed, led to more questions.

“Let’s take a few steps back.” Isaac spoke up.

“If you’re a collection of worlds, stars and galaxies… does that include our own?”

“Yes.” Aun answered making us silently gasp.

“And what would happen if Norma managed to kill your consciousness? What would happen to us?” Tina asked.

“While there wouldn’t be any immediate or widespread changes, life and existence as you know it only exists because of the harmony between all things within me. She is a turbulent and chaotic part of me. Maybe she’s looking for an outlet and I dread what that could mean for you should her plans co to fruition.”