Author's note: Hello, dreamers! So, after the fight in the last chapter, the twins are shaken up, but won't tell Lilith why... Meanwhile, Lily and Boo begin to become friends, while Mike and Sully try to think of a plan. I also expect this mission to last only two more chapters after this one, but that's a heavy, 'maybe.' So, on to the story!

Characters introduced (or first mentioned)

Anthony (Fire Emblem)

Disclaimer! Any of the characters, ideas, locations, or stories that aren't my OCs or part of my personal ideas aren't mine and I do not claim to own them.

July 2012

Things weren't going as easy as everyone had hoped they would. Narrowly avoiding detection by the CDA, the group made their way back home, where the chaos continued, because Lily and Boo were going wild in the house, and scaring the pants off Mike and Sully! "Girls, please quiet down! You'll alert someone for sure stampeding like that!" Lilith said to Lily, who was chasing Boo around the house, playing tag. "The word 'Quiet' doesn't exist in the Mansion of Lucidity!" Lily said as she and Boo chased each other around Sully's chair. "Lilith, PLEASE control those kids!" Mike whimpered, brandishing a broom. "Boo's not a thing, she's a kid, like me!" Lily said as she snatched the broom away from Mike, and started riding it around, pretending she was a witch. "Something's gotta give. I wouldn't be surprised if the CDA are on their way right now!" Mike was at his wit's end with the girls' rowdiness, but Lilith wanted to try a more gentle approach. "Girls, both of you need to quiet down so no one finds Boo." The two girls instantly wound down, because of the gentleness in Lilith's voice. "Wait, what was that? Why wouldn't the girls listen to me after about five (hundred) times, but listen to you after only once?" Mike had never been much of a 'kid' person, having grown up in Monstropolis, a place where human children were considered 'toxic.' "They listened to me because you were going about it all wrong! Mike, even though Lily and Boo are human children, you have to get along for this mission to be successful! I understand things are different in this world, and children are deemed toxic, but with the success of this mission, I think if we complete this mission successfully and with as few arguments and incidents as possible, we could be able to bring harmony between monsters and children!" Lilith said. Both her and Lily were determined to bring peace.

"Now that things are settled in here, (for the most part) I need to go ask the twins a few questions." Lilith excused herself from the room and went upstairs to the guest room, which was a small room with one television and a bunk bed. "Corrin, Cadenza, do you mind telling me what happened back at the factory while you were alone? Were you attacked, or something?" Lilith was determined to figure out what had happened... "Well... We were sneak-attacked by Dio and Randall, and are still a little shaken up." Cadenza said, determined to keep the truth between Corrin and herself until the right moment. "I believe you, but if anything ever happens to any of you, you can tell me," Lilith said. "Actually... We do have something to tell you..." Corrin said, before explaining the insane truth Dio told them. "Wait... you mean... Where did Dio even get that information from? Alessia would've never let anyone know something like that unless Morgana knew something about it..." Lilith was puzzled, but Cadenza had an answer. "Dio's been stealing from Alessia, and we can prove it because he made me look through this mirror of truth, which he told me was one of Alessia's most prized possessions.

"Well, we have a long day at the factory tomorrow, so we'd better get some sleep," Lilith said. She turned to leave the room, but Corrin calling his sister's name caught him off guard. "Cad? Are you OK? CAD!" Lilith whipped around, and saw Cadenza on the floor, passed out. "Corrin, go get Mike and Sully!" Corrin ran to get the two characters, and Lilith ran to Cadenza's side, and said, "Don't worry, it's gonna be ok!" After a few more seconds, three sets of footsteps were heard getting closer, one pair making the house shake. "What happened? Is everything ok?" Sully said, looking at Cadenza. "She got this strange look in her eyes, and just passed out!" Corrin said, panicking. "Look! I think she's coming around!" Mike said as Cadenza's eyelids started fluttering, and she began stirring. "Caddie... Everything's ok, you passed out for a few minutes, but you're alright. I think your fight has left you exhausted." Lilith said, not knowing the true reason for Cadenza fainting. "I...I had some kind of... vision..." Cadenza was officially convinced she was losing it... "It's probably nothing, I was probably just seeing things..." Cadenza was trying to brush the vision off, but Lilith wouldn't hear it... "No... please tell us, it may be something important." Cadenza then proceeded to share her experience with the group. "Well, I saw myself among eight figures I couldn't make out... There was a line across the floor, and one of us walked away from the group, and went across the line, into darkness, but a different figure came forward and cast some sort of spell on the 'traitor,' and they vanished... Where they went, I don't know, but... I think I had a vision of the future..." Cadenza's vision dumbfounded everyone in the room, except Lilith, who was able to interpret at least what half of it meant.

"Cadenza, I think you did have a vision of the future, and it looks big. I think those figures you saw were us, and the one who turned its back was a traitor... I don't know what their vanishing meant yet, but I know one thing. We have a traitor in our midst." Lilith interpreted the vision the best she could, but Corrin had a question. "Who could the traitor be? It couldn't be Randall, because a traitor is someone we think is good, and Randall is most certainly not good!" Lilith understood what Corrin meant. "I don't know, so we shouldn't let our guard down... Tomorrow, we should make Boo a disguise, and go to the factory, and spy on everyone we can. Whether it's Randall, Megan, or even Waternoose, trust no one..." Lilith said. before everyone was sent back to bed...

Meanwhile, Megan had just felt a wave of energy from the daydream gem... "Dio, what does this mean? It must be important!" Megan, who wielded the gem said. "It means Cadenza has just discovered another new power. What it is, I don't know, but we need to keep a close eye on them all..." Dio said. "Wait, what exactly is happening with Cadenza?" Megan said, not knowing who she truly was... "I can't tell you just yet, but I want you to know that we have just found out about a secret link between her and Lily... I can't say anything else, but the souls of Cadenza, Lily, and even you, Megan, are connected in a way no one has ever seen before!" Dio said, being as secretive as he could. "Ok, I have 2 questions. First, what's our agenda for tomorrow, and when can I know about this, 'link between our souls?" Megan said, to which Dio responded, "So, here's the plan. We'll arrive at the factory at approximately 8 am, and sneak in using our disguises. You go spy on Lily and Lilith, I spy on the twins, and Randall sticks with Mike and Sully. As for your other inquiry, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you, not yet anyway." Megan, who was disappointed about not knowing the truth, but was still geared up for the spy work of the next day, said, "Alright, I'll show Lily that the villains are boss!" Megan said! And maybe I'll even learn this big secret everyone's keeping from me...

The next day came, and the ever-growing group made their way towards the factory, as Cadenza whispered the plan to everyone along the way. "So, here's how it's gonna be. Lilith and I will try to find the traitor, Cadenza and Lily will spy on Randall, and Mike and Sully will find Boo's door, and take her back home. We'll meet back in the lounge area every few hours to exchange information and discuss our next move." Lily, who was itching to get some info about Randall, said, "I'll bet he's planning his next idea for stealing that scare record from Sully, so that's why we have to get as close as we can to him, Lilith!" Lilith responded, "Yes, getting info is our number 1 priority, but you should also understand it will be hard to get that close to him, so every one of us should be careful." Mike, who was done with everything, said, "Listen, I KNOW we have this obligation to the daydreamers, and I wanna help, really, but do we SERIOUSLY have to risk citywide contamination, being captured by villains, and, oh, I don't know if you've heard of this one, but OUTRIGHT BANISHMENT?" Lily, who wanted to show who was REALLY boss, piped up by saying, "Mike, just think of all the glory you'll get after this mission is over! You like being on TV, so just imagine, they'll probably make your entire life into a movie!" (Ironic, much?) "Well, you DO have a point, and I DID like being on TV..." (Even though the logo was covering most of him...)

Ok, the first thing we need to do is find Randall..." Lily said after they had all split up. "Where do you think he could b-" Cadenza was interrupted by a whispering sound coming from around the corner... It was Randall himself! At that moment, the two girls, as quick and quiet as can be, ducked around a corner. Crap... he almost found us... Cadenza thought. If one of them had been just slightly louder or slower, the entire mission could've been compromised... The two girls proceeded to listen and saw the most shocking thing they had seen so far... "Are you SURE you know what you're up against, Boggs? Because I've known Lily for the majority of our entire lives, and I know her moves! She's probably spying on us right as we speak!" It was Rosie. Rosie, who had been with Lily her entire life. The Rosie who had been her friend. She was who Cadenza was seeing in her vision! Rosie was the traitor! "Let's see if she's really here, now that you said that!" Randall said, approaching their very hiding space! Lily, who wanted nothing more but to confront her friend, stayed in place, as Randall slithered around the corner... I'm sorry! Cadenza said before she grabbed the daydream gem in her hand. In an instant, both girls vanished from the scene...

Meanwhile, Corrin and Lilith, not knowing about what the other girls finding... "Hmm, if I were a traitor, where, or more importantly, who would I be?" Lilith said. Corrin, who had dealt with traitors before in his life along with Lilith said, "You know what, I may have an answer for that, but I don't know yet, so hear me out..." Now Lilith was curious, so she said, "Well, who do you think it is? I hope you're not jumping to conclusions..." Corrin said, "We've dealt with a few traitors in my life, and they have one thing in common... They meet you, get real close to you, and when you least expect it, they betray you. Sis, I think Waternoose is on the other side because think about it, he found us in his company's darkest hour, begged us to work for him to save it, and, not to mention, values both Sully and Randall Boggs as his top scarers, with one of those two already being investigated for work! This company itself is seedy, also! In all its three generations, has anyone ever decided a better and kinder alternative to scaring children!" Corrin was thinking back to his journey to the veiled kingdom of Valla, where he met a young boy named Anthony, who turned out to be a faceless...

"I understand where you're coming from, but should we really jump to conclusions before knowing for sure? I know you've dealt with traitors before who have tried to be our friend, like Anthony, but Waternoose may be different..." Lilith said, understanding where Corrin was coming from but wanted to be more positive and open-minded. "Well, ok, but let's still keep our guard up... Maybe Mike and Sully have found Boo's door, so we should find th-" Corrin was interrupted by the two monsters running towards them at breakneck speed, with Mike dripping wet. "Wait, what happened? Did you find out something important?" Cadenza said, ready to hear something crazy. "W-w-we were i-in the b-bathroom, a-and..." Mike said, breathless from running. "Woah, Woah, catch your breath!" Corrin said. After Mike composed himself, he said, "We were in the bathroom, and we heard Randall talking about trying to capture boo, and this, 'machine!' We don't know what it is, but we've gotta get this kiddo back in her door, and tell Waternoose!" Lilith, who was ready for action, said, "Ok. We'll find the other two girls, double the search for the door, and tell him as soon as we're done." As soon as Lilith had stopped talking about Cadenza and Lilith, they came running towards the group out of nowhere. "We know who the traitor is... She's from Haventown and has been working with Randall this entire time!" Cadenza said before Lily chimed in with, "I thought Rosie was my friend, and she's been working with Randall all along!" "Wait, what? Ok, I'm not saying that's a 'good' thing, because she was your friend, but at least we know who was in Cadenza's vision." Sully made a good point, but speaking of Cadenza, there was one more thing Lily still didn't understand but would leave for another time...

The seven characters pondered what to do next when very mysteriously, boo's door was loaded back into an empty station right behind them, the light glowing an ominous red... Lily, who knew something suspicious was happening, said, "Woah, where did that come from? Everyone, keep your distance, this looks sketchy..." Corrin also knew something wasn't right. "Ok, this has 'Randall' written all over it..." Mike, who was more than eager to get rid of Boo, said, "Listen, this may be our only chance to get this kid back home and get things back to normal! We're gonna get our lives back, the nightmare is OVER!" Lily, who was more sensible than Mike, said, "Ok, so you want to get this child back home, but you don't think this could be a trap?" Mike was willing to prove everyone wrong, even if things were the other way around. "Alright, you want me to check? Fine!" The door creaked as Mike opened it, the dark room looking uninviting... He still continued on, oblivious to the danger lurking to the side of him... Mike hopped on the bed and started jumping up and down, before a box swung down, taking him away...

Author's note: So, that went well. Ok, Mike, next time someone tells you not to go somewhere dark and scary and not to mention suspicious, DON'T DO IT! Well, with that out of the way, the next chapter will be about the final confrontations, climax, and end of the mission, and will also give a sneak peek of the next one.