Author' Note (A/N): In case some of you reading don't know this - Italics signify thoughts, memories, or sounds in my story. In other stories, they may signify different things
She yawned. And that was how it all started.
It was a bright and sunny morning in Germany. A young and beautiful young lady with straight, black hair, was humming as she planted carrots in the soil beds of her garden. Of course, they weren't normal carrots. Each of them had a pair of closed eye and a shut mouth, making their 'face' look quite comical, but cute at the same time. Of course, they weren't cute if someone happened to pull them out without wearing some sort of protective gear to block the sound that would be created. Aya remembered the first time she had encountered these little things. It had been such a long time ago, yet she remembered it so clearly.
Aya looked around the room and was startled to find strange cultivations of things that looked like carrots inside glass cylinders. She immediately noticed that one of the containment cylinders had a jagged hole in it, with broken shards of glass scattered across the floor. She also noticed a pot with what seemed to be a little carrot thing embedded in chocolate brown soil. Aya was about to uproot it when she thought better of it and went to examine the rest of the room. It had been a smart choice to leave the plant alone. She would've died quite unexpectedly and her efforts to save Father would have been for nothing.
As she looked around, she saw a cracked jar on the middle right-hand side of the room. Curious, she used the hammer she'd found earlier to break it. Now that she thought about it, she could've just used the chainsaw, but no matter, the jar was in pieces now and junk flowed out of it. There was nothing of use inside the jar, except a pair of ear plugs. Aya took it with her on impulse. She eventually found a book that explained the existence and behaviour of the little carrot creatures. She read that if uprooted, the carrots, which were actually called Mandrakes, would scream. Anyone who could hear the scream would immediately perish and die. She pondered about it for a moment and quickly thought of a plan. She put the ear plugs in and carried the potted carrot out of the room. If she encountered anyone of anything that posed a threat to her, she could kill them with this effective little plant. As she entered the room on the right side of the corridor, she heard the sound of pacing footsteps. She hid behind some stalagmites and watched the dog pacing around. She had seen that dog from somewhere…Recognition filled her eyes. It was the dog that had eaten the key! She quickly placed the pot on the floor and, hoping for the best, uprooted the plant. The room shook as the carrot screamed, but Aya heard nothing. A fraction of a second passed...then the dog slumped over.
It had taken Aya many attempts and trials to recreate these useful rascals. She owed it to them. They had, after all, saved her life. In return, she was giving them life once again. She patted down the last mound of soil and stood up, stretching her aching back. She had gotten up extremely early today to check on her mandrakes, which she had only finished creating yesterday. She contemplated about going back to bed. As if agreeing with her thoughts, a yawn escaped through her mouth. The void appeared in front of her very eyes.
.
It was an extremely lugubrious and dark night in an un-named place on the other side of the universe. Within a nice museum with works of strange and avant-garde art, was a little girl in her school uniform. She wasn't on a school field trip, no, she was merely there with her family, consisting of her parents and herself. Why she was wearing her uniform, nobody to this day will ever know. Anyhow, back on topic, the museum wasn't crowded with people, but there were enough so that every hallway and room had a dozen or so observers.
As Ib wandered around the museum, she came upon one particular hallway that was devoid of visitors. She looked at the huge painting upon the wall and looked at the description. She couldn't make out a few words. As soon as she finished reading it, the lights flickered for a bit...then all went dark. She panicked. What was happening? She quickly went to find the comfort of her parents' arms, but as she quickly jogged through the corridors and rooms of the museum, she saw that there was nobody! Not a single person was in the museum. She was very upset. What had happened there? Then, she saw that a particular painting on the ground was accessible, now that the chain had been opened up, as if inviting her into its depth. She stepped in and...
Ib woke up with a start next to Garry. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Garry stirred from under the covers and turned to look up at her tired face. Ib gave him a weak smile.
"You had that dream again?" He asked, patting Ib's cute little head. "I wish I could help."
Ib shook her head. "It's okay. I think it was more frightening for you than it was for me." She giggled at Garry's bashful expression. It was still very early in the morning, so Ib lay back down and buried herself into her guardian angel's chest. She yawned. The void appeared in their room.
.
To explain what had occurred, we will talk about the void. No one knows why the void is formed, or how for that matter, but this void connects the worlds and different dimensions of space into a device of transportation. It acts as a warp, much like how some believe a black hole can be used to transfer someone or something into another place somewhere in the universe. Some think that people like "Ogre" from Aya's world were the first and only beings to understand and have the ability to create such warps willingly and intentionally, but have not confirmed their knowledge. Anyhow, the one thing we know at this point is that the two of them did something to trigger the appearance of these voids. One thing they did in common was yawn. It wasn't the time of day, or the placement, or even the mindset of these two distinct beings; it was the act of yawning at the exact same time, twenty three billion light years apart. Coincidence? Yep. It was estimated that the chance of this occurring was one in a googolplex. However, it happened and so we have a problem. What will Aya, a mad daughter, do with Ib and Garry, two love-sick puppies with a humongous age gap between them? And how will they get rid of the void?
.
Surprised, Aya Drevis took a step back and tripped over one of her carrots, causing her to lose her footing and fall to the ground. It looked just like the one Ogre had brought her into to save Father! But why was it here? And how had it appeared so suddenly? Although Aya had done dozens of gruesome and mature things, gaining knowledge and wisdom through the years, she still had no idea what it really was. Now looking at it, even more memories of that night flooded into her mind, and a sense of nostalgia took over. Maybe...maybe it led to that weird-looking world where she had last seen her mother! She had to be careful though. She got up and rushed to her little cottage, calling for Maria.
"Yes, mistress?" Maria appeared from behind the doll room door.
"I've discovered...no, rather, a void of some kind appeared in our garden. I'd like to see where it will lead us, but I need your help. Please, grab some weapons. We don't know what we'll be dealing with." With that, Aya walked over to the north wall in the operation room and unlocked her precious red chainsaw from a glass cabinet. "Are you ready, Maria?"
"Yes, mistress." She called from the front door. "I have all my needed equipment."
As Aya turned a corner and saw what Maria had in her hands, she smiled. "Always thinking like a true doctor." Maria blushed.
They hurried into the garden and stared at the void for a moment. Maria opened her mouth.
"No, it's fine, Maria. I'll go in first." Without waiting for a response, Aya stepped in.
.
Soft twin thuds jolted Garry awake from his half-asleep state. He'd been too worried about Ib's nightmares to sleep, but had found himself drifting off anyway. He raised his eyelids to reveal dark purple eyes beneath them. Scanning the room, he noticed a young lady with short, straight, black hair, standing in front of a weird purple-blue-ish swirl of colours. He blinked. Was his eyes playing tricks on him?
Since he was peeking from under the covers, the girl didn't notice that he was awake. She seemed to examine him and Ib with interest. She stepped to one side and another person appeared from the weird thing. This time, it was full grown woman in a maid's dress. She had thick, orange braids and blood-red lips. In her hands, she held several syringes and medical tools, one of which was a scalpel. Garry started to feel worried and suspicious. Just who were these people and how had they gotten here?
The first thing he wanted to do was call the police. But, with them in the way, he couldn't just barge out of his bed, leaving Ib unprotected, and run to the phone. They would probably catch him. His eyes drifted back to the younger one. Her back was facing him now as she examined a photo of him and Ib at the beach. His eyes widened. Behind her back was a chainsaw! It was huge one too, with razor sharp, glinting edges, and a thick red handle. Garry began to panic at this point. Were they murderers? Torturers? He couldn't afford to wake Ib up. He knew she would probably shriek in surprise and horror when she saw the two of them. The woman started walking towards them. Garry's mind was going through a dozen ways of escape. He's been in such situations of total panic and confusion before, at the museum. But he had never felt so utterly useless and lost.
He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. Shifting his gaze back to the younger one, he saw her nod at the woman with the medical utensils. In the blink of an eye, he felt a tiny pinch of pain in his right arm and his consciousness drifted away. Before he blacked out, he felt the woman reach over him towards Ib. He wanted to scream. He needed to protect Ib! But it was too late. He was already unconscious.