Prologue: Once and For All
Somewhere far off in the waters of the Dimension of the Gods, there was a strange island enshrouded within a deep bank of fog and perpetual darkness caused by dark storm clouds that constantly hovered over it. The island was almost entirely covered in twisted, gnarled trees, save for one derelict grey mansion that stood on the very peak of the island.
Inside of the mansion, three people sat inside of what looked like a dining room. From one end of the room to the other stood a long table covered by a torn white cloth decorated with two silver candelabras that created the only sources of light. Running along the walls of the room were shelves stocked with various jars containing strange items such as Eye of Newt and Tail of Dog.
At the head of the table was a woman with long, black hair and deep black eyes wearing a pointy black witch's hat with a red sash wrapped right above its brim, a black evening gown that was torn at the bottom, a long black cape fastened together with a red bat pin, and red high heels. Sitting on her lap was a little black dragon that let out small smoke rings of happiness as she delicately stroked it.
The woman looked around at the two people who sat on either side of her: a young man clad in black save for a red cape on his shoulder with blond hair and deeply tanned skin, and a strangely cute girl with long blue hair and deep red eyes wearing a long red cloak. "So, then…you two are claiming that you have the perfect little specimens which I could use to become my next monstrosities?"
"Oui, Mees Belladonna," the guy, Resheph, grinned. "Zees leetle cheeldren are protectors ev zeir dimension weeth great powers who hev been quite annoying es for some time."
"And we would be very, very grateful if you'd cast some of your wonderful powers on those brats and get rid of them once and for all," the girl, Susiros, concluded.
"I see…" Belladonna said. "So in exchange for getting rid of those pests for you, what exactly will I get?"
"You weel get some more ev ze leetle monstrosities you lev so much, ev course," Resheph said.
"And you'll also be fully assured that the location of this island where you keep said monstrosities remains a secret to those higher-up powers in our world that want to arrest you and send your pets back home," Susiros said, giving her a sickly sweet smile. "I mean, we could accidentally let that little detail slip if you refuse to do it…all it'd take is one letter to the Kingrah police, and it'd be bye bye, Island of Monstrosities."
Belladonna glared at Susiros. "You're quite a nasty bargainer, aren't you?" She let out a loud pitch laugh which made her dragon jump off of her lap. "I adore that kind of evilness in a person. All right, I'll hunt them down, take them in, and make them mine."
"Merci, Mees Witch!" Resheph clapped his hands together with delight. He pulled a custom portal box out from under his cape and placed it down on the ground. He zapped a small spark into its
opening and a light shot out that formed a portal leading directly into his throne room. "Now, zen, Susiros hes ze photos ev zees leetle brats in her cloak somewhere, end she'll leave zem en ze table for you." He turned and walked back into his gloomy castle.
"Perfect," Belladonna smiled. She stood up and turned towards the door behind her. "I'll just go get my wand and start making my preparations." She opened the door and walked out of the room, with her pet dragon floating out after her.
"Thank you oh so much," Susiros called after her. "We thought you'd see things our way."
She walked around the table towards the portal. Once there, she reached inside of her cloak and started frisking around it for something. "Where are they, where are they…" she muttered to herself.
"Susiros, come on!" Resheph yelled at her through the portal.
Susiros looked up at the portal and called back, "I'm coming! Sheesh!" As she did, she finally found the photos and pulled them out of her cloak.
She didn't notice that two of them had escaped her grasp and now fell down underneath a chair, hidden from sight.
Without looking back, Susiros placed the photos in her hand onto the table and stepped through the portal. Once she was through it, the portal shrank down and both it and its box vanished.
Belladonna re-entered the room, now holding a long, pointed reddish stick in her hand. She walked over to the table and picked up the four photographs that laid there. She stared at them for a moment, with her dragon looking over her shoulder at them as well, grinning nastily. "Hmm…I've got ideas coming on for what I could make these four already…" she murmured. She clapped her hands together with delight. "Ooh, this is going to be so much fun!"