“Could you pass the meat over, Syl?” A beautiful pure nymph asked, warmly. Her serene blue eyes were two lakes.

“Of course, mom!” Syllis leaned over the front of the tall table and grabbed the plate of meat. She pulled back, stepped away from her seat and brought it to her mother’s side.

“Thank you, Syl,” her mom smiled warmly. “Eat your food now, you wouldn’t want it to get cold and go to waste, right?”

Syllis nodded, moving back to her seat and looking at her plate. There was a small portion of meat, bread and mixed vegetables. It was not much food, but this was not due to her family’s financial situation. This was merely the adequate amount of food for a seven year old.

Eager, the secare nymph picked up her fork and sank it into the meat first. Then, she moved to the bread, which she dipped into the meaty juices left behind. Finally, she ate her vegetables—her least favorite part. She found herself almost gagging, struggling to keep it down.

‘I don’t want mom to yell at me again!’ She had long resolved to eat the entirety of her meals.

“So, Syl,” her mom leaned forward and said, “how is school?”

“It’s okay,” Syllis said. “Joan wants me to visit her tomorrow. Is that alright?”

‘Please say yes! Please say yes!’ Syllis clasped her hands together beneath the table and hoped. She had not gotten many opportunities to visit her best friend in recent times.

Her mom giggled slightly before saying, “of course you can! I’ll make sure to walk you all the way over to her house after school, alright?”

“Thank you!” Syllis said, practically jumping from her seat and wrapping her mother in a long hug.

“You’re welcome,” her mother said. “Now, you should get ready for bed. It’s an important day at school tomorrow, you told me you have a test, right?”

“Yes, I’m really worried about it!”

“Don’t worry, you aren’t the most diligent student but I can tell that you have the ability!”

Syllis nodded before moving back to her seat. She picked up her plate, the silver fork resting on top. She hurriedly made her way over to the countertop where she left the dishes.

The light outside of the window was already nearly pitch black, worryingly. There was no disparity typically between when the false sun was scheduled to dwindle so Syllis knew that she was late getting to bed.

‘I can’t afford to do poorly on this test. If I do, then I’ll get moved to a lower class than Joan!’ Syllis cursed the academic system internally.

“Goodnight, mom,” Syllis said, giving her mother another hug.

“Goodnight, Syl.” Her mother leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead.

As Syllis ran off towards her room to get ready for bed, the front door opened, slowly.

“Honey?” Syllis’ mother said, seeing her husband's somewhat plump figure enter.

“I’m back.” He smiled, walking over to his wife for a hug.

Syllis closed the door behind her and walked over to her wardrobe. What was reflected back to her was a short girl, dressed in a cute, white and blue dress, littered with frills. Her eyes were two pools of dark blue and a portion of her long, cerulean hair was braided giving her a luxurious appearance.

She lingered in front of it for a few moments before shaking her head. There was no time for her to change into sleeping clothes, let alone the rest of her nightly ritual. If she wanted to get enough sleep for school, then she needed to get to bed right away.

The secare nymph decided to just sleep in the blue and white, frilly dress that she had worn throughout the day.

‘What point is there in changing into night time clothes anyway? I would just change out of them in the morning!’ She thought, distracting herself from the uncomfortable feeling of trying to sleep in such a dress.

Gradually, she felt the world around her draw quieter and quieter. Though, there was the slight sound of what felt like nails on the ground below her.

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Syllis woke up in a huff. She had a bad dream about being chased by a terrifying creature. She tried to move.

“W—what?” She asked, trying to move her hands.

The secare nymph opened her eyes, scanning the environment around her. Her hands were chained to a small, raised section of the floor below. She could feel the cold metal, digging into her wrists.

Naturally, her eyes followed this raised section, transitioning to the floor beneath her. It was made of stone and had symbols and inscriptions drawn. She did not understand these symbols nor what they could possibly represent. Though, she thought that she had a greater chance if she could stand a small distance away, taking them in as a whole.

All of this was encased by a large, white circle, drawn with a similar—but seemingly thicker—tool. This circle was thick and had another ring of what seemed to be drawn flames layered just within the outer border.

Where the white circles and symbols were drawn, divots in the floor were filled below. This was bizarre as where she looked, at the other end of the room had no such thing. There were deep grooves in between those stone chunks instead.

The rest of the room was mostly devoid of anything. It was entirely empty, safe for the inscribed circle and symbols beneath her and a long staircase connected to the far wall. There was a closed door at the top of it.

Then, Syllis had a thought. ‘Is this a dream?’ It only made sense with the bizarre room and its lack of anything within.

Suddenly, she felt a wave of relief overcome her. ‘There was no way that something so bizarre could happen overnight.’ Along with this, she understood the fact that if she had been moved in her sleep, she would have certainly woken up earlier.

“It’s just a dream, It’s just a dream…” she muttered to herself while closing her eyes over and over. No matter how much she tried, she never woke up. “A nightmare then?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Several sounds, akin to someone fiddling with cutlery, sounded atop a large staircase. Then, the door creaked as it opened. The thud of footsteps followed as a plump man began to descend the wooden steps.

Syllis’ pupils dilated and she felt her heart sink as she said, “dad? Is that you?”

“Syl, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Syl. I’m so sorry. Syllis.” The man mourned as he reached the bottom of the staircase.

“Dad! Why am I here? And w—what’s that!?” Syllis yelled as her eyes wandered towards a figure a few steps up from where her father had reached the floor from.

This figure looked crystalline with blue and green hues spread throughout. There were what appeared to be two seafoam colored gems for its eyes. These gems pulsed and reeled their light back as they turned, like they were fixated on a shifting part of the room.

Syllis writhed slightly, still pulling on the raised section of the floor she was tethered to. No matter how much she pulled, it would not relent. Even when there was blood, streaming from her wrists and tainting the floor below, she was not freed.

“Watch it!” her father yelled. “N—no… not the circle. Not the circle.” Immediately, he rushed back upstairs without saying another word.

“Dad? Dad come back! Let me out, please let me out!” Syllis cried, continuing to try and break free. She hoped the blood would act like water and give her an easier way to break free.

Tears flowed from her deep blue eyes. She turned away from the door, left open and looked to the side. There, the crystalline, pristine creature was examining her, intently.

Syllis got a better look and understanding of the creature this time, with it being closer. It left a trail of water around it as it walked. The entirety of its figure remained solid, as if it did not have to breathe, or like it was an outer shell for another entity within. It was curious, moving to examine Syllis in her entirety.

It was also incorporeal. Everytime it reached out to her with deformed, crystalline hands, it merely went through her body. The secare nymph did not feel any sort of sensation from the odd encounter.

The creature seemed relatively harmless, though it was much more than unnerving. Without any truly threatening aspects to it, Syllis was taken aback when she witnessed a horrific part of it. This entity had complex emotions.

When her father began to descend the stairs again, Syllis saw the creature turn to face him and smile. It was like her, staring at her plate of food, wondering which part to sink her teeth into first.

“Syllis!” her father yelled out as he ran over.

“Let me out father! Why am I here!” Syllis cried out, hoping he was running to free her.

“Why can’t you just—stand still!” he said, seething as he pulled a rag from his pocket.

Her father took the rag and gently wiped the floor beneath Syllis’ bleeding wrists. He was especially careful not to damage the area of the inscriptions that the blood had already affected. Then, he pulled a piece of white chalk from his pocket and fixed the muddled and chipped area. He made sure that it was perfect and stepped away.

“You meddlesome child…” he cursed. “This would have been so much easier if you were asleep. Why could you not have been asleep, Syllis? Please, you should sleep.”

“Why dad? Why are you doing this!” Syllis screamed, her voice growing hoarse from all of her crying.

“You are only a child! You couldn’t possibly understand what is happening right now… That’s right, it will all be resolved soon,” her father said. He sighed with relief as he stepped backwards.

The crystalline entity stopped investigating Syllis as it moved in front of her father. It gradually stepped forward until it was in the confines of the circle. The look on its face changed from one of joy and longing to one of disdain and dread. It flicked back towards Syllis’ father and back to the young secare nymph as it continued to walk forward.

“Father—”

“Silence!” her father shouted. He steeled himself, taking a couple of deep breaths before uttering, “Coryzan. The visitor from beyond Acciliant, doomed to watch everlong. A wasteland, cold and doomed to get colder.

“I implore you, become one with my subject. Meld together and form something more!” He huffed as he finished, as though it had taken a couple of years off of his life.

Rumble! Rumble! The walls began to crack as water began to pour from every groove. Slowly, the room was growing more and more flooded. Then, ice began to form. Frost covered all of the stone and even began to crawl up the bodies of Syllis and her father.

Syllis felt the acute pain of the cold water from beneath as her blue and white dress instantly became drenched with water. “D—dad! It’s cold!” she cried out.

Her father turned around with a mortified expression as he said, “I’m sorry, Syllis.” The man got up and ran up the stairs as fast as he could, shutting the door behind him.

Syllis heard the front door slam with a fury as her body grew colder, her lips shivering. The crystalling creature looked at her with a pitiful expression, with great disdain as it walked forward. As its figure shrunk, Syllis felt it overlap with her own body. Before, she had felt nothing but now, after her father uttered what felt like magic words—the creature could interact with her.

An acute coldness spread throughout her entire body. Causing much greater pain than the frost or water could have ever dreamed of. This cold sensation slowly dwindled before it was gone entirely.

Syllis felt her eyesight wane as the room became blurry. Illusory forms began to build from the ceiling above her. It felt she was being looked down upon by something greater than herself or her father. A face came into view and two strings of icy-blue fell from the ceiling, slowly. They built into increasingly refined arms and approached Syllis’ forehead.

The secare nymph fell onto her back, the water nearly reaching her mouth. She felt a sense of horror, unlike anything she had ever felt. She felt a slight sympathy from it as the hand pressed against her head. Her mind felt like it was going to burst. After ten seconds of immense pressure and her vision fading further, she felt her eyes about to burst. As Syllis reached out to claw her two beads to the left and right of nose out, she lost consciousness, feeling as if she was falling into a deep and vast ocean.

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Syllis awoke in warm water. She gasped for air. It felt like she had forgotten how to breathe all-together. The frost in the room had thawed, leaving even more water, pooling around the floor.

Slowly, she tried to sit. Her attention turned to the shackles that had bound her. They were broken into a thousand pieces, along with entire chunks of the walls and floor around her. Bizarrely, the ceiling was entirely intact. It was like it, that had protruded from the ceiling, extending downwards, had protected it from ruin.

Syllis rose to her feet. Her mind still felt like it was going to tear itself apart. It was filled with dozens of different voices, whispering indistinguishable ravings. Simultaneously, her body felt both entirely exhausted and like she had woken up from a hundred year sleep.

Her feet pittered through the water as she approached the staircase. She wondered where her father was, but she did not exactly care to find out. ‘He did this to me. As long as he isn’t anywhere near here, it’s fine.’

Syllis had trouble organizing her thoughts. As she ascended the staircase, she felt a burning sensation in her chest. It grew more and more painful until it was almost unbearable. She clutched at her chest as she opened the door to the basement.

The secare nymph had never been in the basement. She was told stories from her father about how it was scary and filled with bugs. Now, she knew that was a lie.

Syllis made her way to her room. Focusing on each step she took, otherwise, the ravings grew louder and she had a great chance of falling over.

Eventually, she made it to her room. On her bed was her mother, laying on her stomach with her hands over her ears.

“Mom?” Syllis called out.

With no response, Syllis approached the side of her and grabbed her arm, pulling it slightly.

“Aahh!” her mother turned around. “Oh? Syllis! You’re okay Syl!” She pulled her daughter into her embrace before letting her go.

“Mom…” Syllis said, “it burns...”

“You’re okay, Syl,” her mother said, leaning in closer to her. “What happened to your eyes?”

‘M—my eyes?’ Syllis thought, afraid. Casting the ravings in her mind aside, she turned to face her mirror.

Reflected back towards her were two eyes, entirely foreign to her but tethered to her face. They were two beautiful seafoam eyes that felt like they stared into her own soul.

Syllis reached her hands up to touch them and upon realizing that they were, in fact, her own eyes… she collapsed.