Did I ever mention that a Wechuge is a real-life mythical monster? Well, I am now. It's a folkloric monster similar to the Wendigo in some ways, but it's a mythical man-eating creature/spirit said to be a person possessed or overwhelmed by the power of ancient giant spirit animals. It has something to do with "becoming too powerful or strong." It's pronounced "way-chu-gay" and the appearance of these monsters is usually a giant monsterish animal of some kind. Of course, I've changed them up a lot for the story, just like I did banshees. In my story, the Wechuge is a giant god-like monster with overwhelming power and control of nature and life/death. Its appearance is a combination of multiple different animals (deer, wolf, bird, reptile).

The boys had gone over to Brooke's house today just as she was going to check up on her horde of rats. She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why they felt the need to follow her so much. Lucy had mentioned that it might be the same 'charm' that a Wechuge has that attracts monsters that attracted them to Brooke. Brooke, on the other hand, was convinced that they needed to find something better to do. Unfortunately for her, they did not appear to actually have anything better to do, so, once again, they accompanied her wherever she went today.

It's not like she wasn't used to being closely followed; however, the ones who usually followed her were Lucy and her other subjects. If she wanted to be alone, she could tell them to leave, but these human boys were much more stubborn than that. She was happy that Cartman wasn't there this time, though.

Over the past two years, she had gotten used to Darren coming around rather often, usually to escape his trio of overactive sisters. Now, Kenny or Clyde often accompanied her home or came to visit. Very often, in fact. Especially Kenny. Though, she didn't actually mind any of the threes' company, and she much preferred theirs' over most others. She would have the most laughs with Darren around, and Clyde was greatly amusing to her, but she was always the most relaxed and comfortable around Kenny. Despite knowing Darren the longest, she avoided physical contact with him just like she did almost everyone else. Clyde, she could tolerate for a set amount of time before wanting space. Kenny, on the other hand, she wasn't bothered by at all.

They were almost always together ever since she came to this tiny town. She found it odd how often he came around, almost every day, then found it even stranger when she realized that she hung around his place just as often. The only people she's ever spent more time with and allowed so close to her were her brother and Lucy. She almost didn't like the idea of letting him so far into her life.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh?" She turned at the sound of Kyle's voice.

"Uh, you've been staring at that one rat for a while now. Is something wrong with it?" He moved to get a better look at the albino rodent.

"Oh, no. I was just…daydreaming."

She went over to the door at the far corner of the green room and opened it, stepping into the shimmering blue room with the large pool for a floor. Upon noticing her, the large school of piranhas eagerly swam over to the edge, poking their heads from the surface and opening and closing their mouths in anticipation. The boys gathered near the edge as well, carefully leaning over to watch the fish.

Brooke tossed something into the water, and the fish quickly turned and dashed towards it. It was impossible to see the object in the flurry of splashing water and shimmering fish tails. The splashing sounds echoed loudly in the large room. Just as quickly as it had begun, the frenzy was over and the fish had calmly gathered back at the pool's edge to wait for more.

"Geez," Stan said. "They're so fast."

Brooke had gathered a number of frozen pieces of chicken into a bucket and carried it over to the water's edge where she sat down with her legs crossed. Knowing exactly what was going on, the fish moved closer to her, their round orange eyes focused on her every move. "Good fishies," she smirked. She grabbed a chicken leg out of the bucket and held it over the water. The nearest fish pushed eagerly forward, wriggling its tail as it readied itself to jump, eyes locked onto the food, and mouth open with sharp teeth pointing out.

"What are you doing?!" Darren asked.

"What?" She said, "I do this all the time."

The boys jumped a little as the fish leapt from the water and snatched the chicken leg from her hand. It held tightly to it as it fell back into the water. The other fish opened their mouths hungrily but moved out of the way as the first fish darted past with its food. They all turned back to watch her again, another fish moving up for its turn.

"Holy crap!" Stan said.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Kyle asked her.

"I'm secretly a giant monster that rules over an entire WORLD of monsters, and you think I'm worried about getting bitten by a fish?"

"Right…almost forgot about that."

"Give us a break," Darren told her. "It's only been like a week or something since you told us."

She shrugged, a little smile on her face as the next fish grabbed its meal from her.

"So," Kenny said. He pointed across the room. "What's on the other side of that door?"

"Yeah," Stan said. "Cartman thought it was where you kept some kind of, I don't know, weapon?"

"Pfft," she rolled her eyes. "There's no weapons. It WAS just an empty room, but that room got pushed back behind another one. Charles and Lamar were messing around with my stuff and 'accidentally' opened a vortex between the rooms. So, now, if you go through that door, you end up in the Oracle's Chamber, which is actually located in the Nether castle."

"How does that work?" Kyle mused.

"Magic, duh."

"You have a CASTLE?!" Darren exclaimed.

"…Duh," she repeated.

"I mean, I figured you did, but AWESOME!"

"Can we go?" Kenny asked, just as excited.

She shrugged and gave the last few fish their chicken pieces, then stood up and wiped her hands. "If you want to go see, you have to get across the piranha pool first."

The boys looked down at the fish swimming in the water. "Seriously?" Stan said.

Kenny shrugged and jumped into the pool, gaining gasps and frightened looks from the other boys.

"Oh my god! They – wait, no, he's okay."

The fish had darted out of the way when he jumped in then curiously swam over to him to examine him. He stayed there for a few moments, watching the fish swim around him, then started swimming over to the other side of the pool. The fish in front of him quickly moved out of the way while a few others followed him curiously across the pool, none of them getting within touching range.

Brooke laughed at the other boys' expressions, as well as at Kenny's daring. "Piranhas are actually usually really calm and shy. Plus, they just ate a bunch of food. They really only attack things that are dead or smaller than them."

"Did Kenny know that?" Darren asked.

"I doubt it," she huffed. "He's just ballsy. Or dumb. Anyways, you'll have to get wet to get to the other side. Not me though. I don't like water."

"What? How are you -?" He cut himself off as a pair of large, red feathered wings suddenly burst from the girl's back, one of them almost knocking him over as it stretched out. "You have WINGS?!"

With a single flap, she soared over the water and lightly landed on the other side. The wings burst in a puff of feathers and smoke and disappeared as if they were never there in the first place. She laughed again when she turned and saw their faces. Even Kenny was staring at her, amazed.

"Yeah," she said. "But don't tell Lucy that I did that! I'm not supposed to use my magic like that."

"Is it because of your outbursts?" Darren said accidentally. He covered his mouth, and Stan and Kyle shot him glares.

Brooke didn't appear bothered by the question. She couldn't really remember if she was the one who told them about that or not… "Yeah," she replied, watching as they carefully entered the water. "I'm supposed to learn control, but the Council won't actually let me USE it."

"That's dumb," Stan said.

Kyle was closely watching a large piranha that was swimming alongside him. "Who is the Council, anyway? You're the Princess, so shouldn't YOU make the rules?"

"The Elder Council is made up of a lot of powerful people, creatures, and monsters. All from different realms. They have jurisdiction over everything. If they agree as a whole on something, then that's how it goes. Technically, as the ruler of the Nether Kingdom, I'm a part of it too, but those who are a part of it are also subject to its votes and rulings. Make sense?"

"Sort of." He crawled out of the water.

"Who's on the Council?" Darren asked as he and Stan joined them.

"SO many people," she told them.

"Do we know any?"

"Well, my dad, the Grim Reaper is one. My uncle, um, you'd know him as Cthulhu."

"Cthulhu's your uncle?" Stan tilted his head.

"On my mother's side."

"That's the first thing I learned," Darren said, "and I still have a hard time with it."

She continued. "Jesus, God, Moses…"

"Really?!"

"Gaia, the Easter Bunny…"

"Wait, what?" Kyle stopped her. "The Easter Bunny?"

"Yeahhhh, he only comes if we need a neutral vote. There are too many people to name, but the head of the Council is a monster called Quinzel. I call him Grandpa, because he's old as dirt."

"I think you've mentioned that before."

"Probably." She glanced over at Kenny, did a double-take, then laughed at him.

His hood was soaked and plastered to his face, so he couldn't see. It looked ridiculous. He pulled his hood down, and his hair was dripping wet, too. "Bah!" He gasped for air then shook his head, flinging water droplets on everyone.

"Hey!" Brooke fussed, wiping her arm. "I hate being wet."

"How do you take a shower then?" Stan asked.

"Regretfully," she muttered.

"Why do you hate it so much?"

"My kind is a being of fire. Water is annoying."

"Is that why you're so hot-headed?" Darren teased.

She made an annoyed face at him then turned to open the door. "Since this next room is technically connected to the castle, I can call someone to get you guys some towels or whatever."

"Good," Kenny said. "I'm soggy."

"Yeah," she agreed. "You look like a wet mutt."

She pushed open the door and they stepped into a dark, massive, dome-shaped room that was only lit up by the extraordinary amount of glowering stones floating all around the room at different heights. There were many different colors, shapes, and sizes of the strange stones. Some about the size of a dime and others bigger than the children. The most impressive one, however, was the absolutely massive one high above them that took up almost the entire ceiling. It was brilliantly white and resembled a giant cluster of quartz.

"Whoa," Kyle said as they gaped around at the stones. A few of the stones bounced or turned in the air as they passed them. "What are they?"

"These are Oracle Stones," Brooke explained. "They're a collection of rare souls that crystalized after death and became Oracles of sorts. They can see the past, present, and future, but will only show the past and present."

"Rare?" Darren said. "There sure are a whole lot of them for something that's considered rare."

"They've been collected and gathered here over millennia. It's actually a very rare phenomenon. They ARE souls, so, of course, they fall under my rule and care. Normally, reapers collect souls and send them to the Nether. In the Nether, they get judged and sent on their way to their final destination. Some souls stay in the Nether, by both theirs' and the current ruler's choosing. Oracle Stones can't leave, though, even if they wanted to. So, Mother made them a place to stay safe. Lucy's mother was an Oracle."

"Does that mean her mom's soul is one of these stones?" Kyle asked.

"No, that's not how it works. Oracles are magical beings born with their abilities. They're immortal creatures, like the other monsters and creatures in the kingdom. They can't die, or, at least, if they do, they'll just come back, like I did. Oracle Stones are regular creatures whose souls transformed after death, and they just so happened to develop similar abilities. No one really knows how it happens. Besides, Lucy's mom's soul was destroyed in the first war against the Nightmares. Just like my mom."

"Oh yeah…"

"If her mom was an Oracle," Darren mused. "Does that mean Lucy's one, too?"

"Yes," Brooke nodded. "A werewolf who's also an Oracle. She's a special girl."

"Yeah…" Kyle said solemnly.

"Excuse me a moment," Brooke cleared her throat. "PIXIE!"

The boys flinched at her sudden shout. It echoed around the room and all of the floating stones glowered brighter and twirled, an excited whispering suddenly picking up all around. The little bright yellow and green Pygmy Dragon known as Pixie suddenly poofed into existence before them.

"Princess!" he smiled brightly and bowed. "How can I be of service?"

"Could you get some fresh towels for my friends?" She gestured towards the soaked boys. "They went for a little swim."

"In their clothes?" Pixie stared curiously at them then looked back at Brooke and smiled again. "Right away!" He vanished with another poof then, only moments later, appeared again carrying a stack of neatly folded towels. "Here you are!"

"Thanks!" Darren smiled and grabbed a towel. The other boys followed suit, thanking the little creature genuinely.

Pixie smiled brightly as Kenny took the last towel. "You're all very welcome!" He turned in place to face Brooke. "Anything else?"

"No," she said. "That's all, but you can stay if you want."

"Fantastic!" He seemed to have been hoping that she would say that.

She smiled at him and scooped him up in her arms. He looked greatly pleased with this.

"Hey," Kyle walked over to a large oval-shaped stone. "It sounds like they're whispering or something. Can they talk?"

"All souls are sentient and consciously aware of their surroundings," Brooke told him. "Except the ones in purgatory… And yes, they can talk a little. But it's in whispers, so you have to listen very closely. Even then, it might be hard to understand them."

"Many of them are also playful and a tad mischievous," Pixie added delightedly. "AND they can see YOUR souls, too!"

"What do you mean?" Kenny asked.

"Spirits can see other souls," he explained. "As can certain species of monsters. Like the Princess!"

"You can see our souls?" Stan asked her.

"I can see everyone's soul when I'm around them," she said. "Everyone's soul is different. They even have different colors based on that person's personality."

"What do they look like?"

"Like these?" Darren tried to touch one of the stones but it made almost a giggling sound and moved just out of his reach.

"No. They look like little balls of flame. Like wisps. They also change shape and size depending on how that person is feeling."

"How?" Kyle asked.

Pixie raised a claw. "For example! The soul of someone who is calm and content will be a nice size, very rounded, with a relaxed wavering top. Like a large candle flame. The soul of someone who is frightened or panicked will be erratic and wild, like an uncontrolled blaze. The soul of someone who is nervous and feeling shy or embarrassed will be small and quivering. And when they're happy or excited, the soul appears to grow larger and brighter."

"Can you see souls, too, Pixie?"

"No, I cannot. Though, there is a special powder that can be made that allows one to see souls for a limited amount of time."

"Yeah," Brooke said. "I focus more on potions and spells, but I think Lucy knows how to make it." She walked past them to go over to a group of stones in the corner. As she passed Kenny, the stones floating near him bounced and quivered, their excited whispering picking up suddenly.

"What's up with those?" Darren asked.

Pixie giggled. "They are reacting to his soul. Joy and excitement are contagious. As are negative emotions. But, clearly, they are excited." He looked over at Kenny. "You must have thought about something that made you very happy, yes?"

"Um," he suddenly looked embarrassed. The stones around him twirled and sounded like they were laughing at him. "Shut up!" He snapped at them and swung his arms, trying to shoo them away. They made more giggling sounds and scattered away from him.

Darren laughed as one of them hid behind him. "What was that all about, Kenny?"

"Hell if I know!" He pulled his hood up back over his head, forgetting that it was still soaked. "Aw…can I have another towel?"

"Certainly!" Pixie vanished and reappeared with a new towel then handed it to him before poofing back into Brooke's arms.

"You guys can pick one of these little ones to keep for yourselves," Brooke gestured for the boys to come over where she was.

"Really?!" Darren hurried over.

"Sure. But only one each. You have to take care of them, though. They ARE souls, after all."

"Why are you letting us take them?" Kyle asked. He was eyeing a round quarter-sized stone that had a green and orange swirling pattern in it.

"Because I like you guys," she said simply. "Besides, these are lesser souls. Also, there is literally nothing any of you can do that could possibly harm or destroy them. So, don't worry about it."

"I want this one!" Darren jumped up and grabbed a chunky, round orange stone. He opened his hand and it flew around him excitedly.

Stan carefully took a triangular-shaped stone that was dark blue in color and very smooth. "They're warm!" He was surprised. It wasn't hot, just a very comfortable warm.

"I guess I'll take this one," Kyle said. Before he could reach for it, the swirled stone zipped its way down into his pocket. "Oh! Okay."

Kenny looked around a little then settled on a small, rough-looking, diamond-shaped stone that appeared to be the only white one of the bunch.

"Interesting," Brooke hummed. "You all picked stones with the same color souls as yourselves."

"What does that mean?" Kyle asked.

She shrugged. "Birds of a feather flock together, I guess." She placed Pixie down. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"What about that last room?" Stan asked.

"The empty one?"

"Is it really empty?"

"Well," she said, "yeah. It's a thick concrete room with an enforced iron door. There's nothing in it besides some scratches and claw marks."

"Huh?" Darren jumped. "What the hell is that room for?"

"It's where Lucy would go during the full moons."

"Oh…"

"But," she continued. "Since Charles and Lamar's so-called 'accident', she can just come in this room instead. It's much better for her, see, because we're technically in the Nether right now, and in the Nether, werewolves don't lose control of themselves during the full moon."

"Why do they lose control outside of it then?" Kyle asked curiously.

Brooke shook her head. "We don't know. No one does. Maybe the moons are different somehow? Maybe it's because the moon in the Nether, like the Nether itself, was made by my mother, and so were the werewolves. All I know, is that now, she can come here during the full moon and relax instead of rampaging in that dark concrete room all alone."

"Oh, I do love Lucy!" Pixie clapped his little hands excitedly. "She's only the second royal advisor, you know. After her mother."

Brooke smiled at him. "All right, we should get going. Pixie, since you're here, can you poof us back so they don't have to get wet again?"

"Of course I can!" He jumped up a little. "Everyone, to me, please!"

The boys exchanged looks and moved closer to Brooke and the little dragon creature. The little stones in their grasps giggled and quivered as Kenny flinched when Brooke grabbed his wrist.

"Yes, yes," Pixie said. "I forgot that they do not know! You all have to be touching either myself or someone who is touching me. Otherwise, you'll get left behind!" He stretched his feathered wings for the nearest people, Brooke and Stan, to touch then waited for them all to get ready. "Okay!" he sang cheerily. "Blink, and you'll miss it!"

"I think I blinked," Darren said. They were suddenly all in Lucy's shed, aside from Pixie who was nowhere in sight.

Brooke released Kenny's wrist and quickly stepped back. "Pixie was just messing with you. There wasn't anything to actually see."

Kyle looked around the room. "Where's Lucy, anyway?"

As if on cue, the gray-haired girl opened the door and entered the shed. She paused briefly upon seeing them all standing there. "Oh," she was a little surprised. "Hello. Were you looking for me?"

"No," Brooke told her, "but Kyle was."

"What?!"

"Oh," Lucy turned to him. "Did you need something?"

"N-No! I mean, I was just…uh, just wondering where you were…"

"Actually," Brooke said. Kyle tensed, expecting her to say something that would make him even more embarrassed. "Lucy, could you make some of that Soul Powder, please? I'd like to show these guys."

"Ah, certainly," she smiled. "I'll have that ready by tomorrow."

Brooke nodded. "Good." She turned to the boys. "You guys can play with that tomorrow at recess."

…

Lucy had met up with them all by the merry-go-round like usual, but this time she was carrying a small cloth bag. "I have the Soul Powder here," she said.

"Cool," Darren jumped to his feet. "How does it work?"

She reached into the bag and grabbed a handful of the sparkling pink power then roughly slapped it onto his forehead.

"AH!" He jumped back, rubbing his forehead. "What the he- Whoa… What. Is. Going on?"

Everyone he looked at he could see different colored balls of flame lingering in their chests. Some were calm and round, while children who were running around playing had large, excited flames that glowered brightly.

"Is this what you see, Brooke?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I usually ignore it, though."

"HOW?!" He couldn't even fathom the possibility of being able to ignore all of these colorful glowing balls of light everywhere.

"Can you really see something?" Stan asked.

Darren snatched the bag from Lucy and grabbed a fistful of it, slapping it onto Stan's forehead.

"Ow! What the hell, assho- Oh my god…"

"Uh," Kyle shifted his feet. "Is that stuff safe?"

"Of course," Lucy told him. "In moderation. Used extensively, it could cause some mild psychosis."

"Eh, I'll pass."

"You sure man?" Darren asked. "It's pretty great."

"Positive."

Sometime towards the end of school that day, the group met up in the hallway around Brooke's locker where she was trying to pry something large out of it. "My dad sent me another book," she explained, taking a moment to catch her breath. "I forgot to ask him to send it to my room instead of my locker."

"Are all the books from the Nether oversized like that?" Kenny asked her.

"No. Just the stupid spell books and tomes."

"Are you sure you're not a witch, too?" Stan asked. "Why do you need so many spell books?"

"They're very useful," Lucy told him.

"All right," Brooke huffed. She grabbed the spine of the book and readied herself. "One of you boys help me."

Kenny walked over and grabbed part of the book as well. They pulled hard at the book, the locker actually bending outward a little from the force.

"What is that book made of?!" Kyle shouted.

"Leather – and – paper – of course!" Brooke grunted through clenched teeth.

Finally, with a very loud sound of the metal locker popping, the huge red book burst out from the space, pushing the two kids back onto the floor several feet away, and landing with a thud on top of them.

"Holy crap!" Stan said. They ran over to them. "Are you guys okay?!"

Brooke sat up, pushing the heavy book off of herself. "Ugh. This one's bigger than the last one…"

Kenny sat up, shaking his head, then winced upon realizing that she was on top of him.

"Oh, sorry." She quickly got off of him and they both scrambled to their feet.

"Uh, yeah!" He scratched his head.

"Agh!" Darren held his hands up like he was trying to block a bright light. "Kenny, what the hell!?"

"What?"

"Why is your soul so fucking BRIGHT all of a sudden?!"

"Wha- I – I don't know!"

"You can still see souls?" Stan asked him. "Mine faded away earlier."

"Oh dear," Lucy said. "That should only have lasted an hour…"

"This is why I said no," Kyle said.

"Well, I might've used some more…" Darren admitted.

"What?!" Lucy jumped. "Darren, you shouldn't do that! It could have very negative and permanent effects!"

"Like what?" He suddenly looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Not now, Mr. Squirrel! I'm busy!" He turned back to her. "You were saying?"

"Oh dear…"

To be continued…

From this point on... Darren is officially insane.