August has been hard at work cleaning the treasure room in Yuuko's shop. With a mask on to avoid the dust, things have been quite dusty in the room as if the dust builds up quite rapidly. August has been dusting and dusting, wiping and wiping, it feels like time seems to go by slowly and rapidly at the same time.

There are new additions to the treasure room August has noticed while also seeing that a small few objects have found a new owner. There are many types of items he has cleaned and looked at, most of which mundane to the untrained eye while others he has never quite seen before in his life. The object that moves about in the treasure room is still there and observing him from a distance as he cleans the room.

August holds up a pocket watch and notices that this was Watanuki's pocket watch that he had before coming to the shop. He could only imagine the type of exchange the two of them had when he first came to the shop. He was delicate with cleaning the watch and he makes sure it was put back right where he had found it.

After finishing the treasure room, August lets Yuuko know that the treasure room is all clean. He was getting anxious for answers over Markus'. However, his answer isn't going to be so easily given to him.

"Two things before I give you the answer." Yuuko said whilst holding her two fingers up.

"Two things!" Maru and Moro cheered and held their two fingers up to August.

August frowns and sighs. "Alright, I know food is one of them, especially to make up for me being late. What exactly is the second thing that you need me to do?" August said.

Yuuko smiles. "Let's start with the food, something simple." Said Yuuko. She scratches her chin, thinking to herself what she and the Mokonas want. Then she glances at August. "Some Chicken and Naruto Ramen would go nicely."

"Alright." August answers. "And what's the second thing?"

"We'll go over that after eating." Yuuko said.

"Full bellies before second thing!" The White Mokona squeaks.

He groans in frustration in not getting his answer but soon complies. "I'll get right on it."

A little after making the ramen and feasting upon it, he soon enough gets his next task given to him by Yuuko.

"Mmmmm… this food is good." Yuuko purred as she wipes her lips of the broth of the ramen. "Your second thing that you have to do is get a coffee maker, along with everything that goes along with it. It matters not in what you get, so long as it works."

August was caught off guard by this second request. His brown eyes were wide in confusion but he soon figures out that she must not have had a coffee maker this entire time while he was in the shop in the kitchen no less making food for her. "Well, why didn't you say so? All you had to do was ask." August says, giving Yuuko a smirk.

White Mokona hops on August's shoulder as he makes his way to a store to get a coffee maker. It was a short trip, as not even twenty minutes later, he returns with the coffee maker along with creamers and the ground coffee of a most exotic taste taking her tastes into consideration. He gets everything set up and somewhat marvels the coffee maker within the shop's kitchen.

"Well then, everything seems to be in working order. I wasn't entirely sure of what brand of coffee you would have went for so I went with the most fancy." August states to Yuuko as he looks at the coffee maker set up, almost proud of it.

"You didn't get the Kopi Luwak brand did you?" Yuuko asks giving a small frown on her face.

He momentarily turns around to face Yuuko whom is also looking at the coffee maker. "No. Why?"

"Good." Yuuko responds to August's answer with a smile on her face. "I don't want that brand being in my shop. That is all I ask."

"What's wrong with Kopi Luwak?" August asks, confused as to not only her request but wondering what she doesn't like about that brand in particular.

"You don't want to know." Black Mokona responds.

"Well, I suppose now that we've gotten everything taken care of, I'm going to need the caffeine for this one." Said Yuuko.

August tilts his head and raises his brow in confusion. "Right… now?" August responds to Yuuko. He still doesn't quite understand what is going on. Then it dawns on him and he jolts himself straight up wide eyed. "He's overseas?!"

She clasps her hands. "Ding ding ding ding ding!" Yuuko utters to August seeing him finally getting it. "Markus is overseas, in a part of India to be precise."

"India?! What would he be doing in India?!" August demanded.

Yuuko leans to the side and smiles. "He's getting some therapy for his trauma."

"Therapy! Therapy!" Maru and Moro sang.

"What sort of therapy are we talking here?" He asks.

Yuuko just kept silent and smiling.

"Alright, are we finding out for ourselves?" He asks.

"Why do you think I need the coffee?" Yuuko answers.

"How do you propose we get there, the Tunnel of Nightmares again?" August inquires, still having bad memories of the inky black tunnel he went into with Yuuko to the park.

"Precisely." Yuuko responds.

After a short while, August waits by the sliding door where he entered the Aurora Pathway with Yuuko to get to their destination. She is changing her clothes to fit herself for the travels and to be just as colorful with her clothing of choice. August leans on a wall and mentally preparing himself for entering the dark tunnel.

Maru and Moro come out first. "The mistress is ready! The mistress is ready!" They both chirp.

Yuuko comes out of the dressing room in a black tank top adorned with red butterflies and lilies and baggy blue jeans. Her black hair is worn in a long ponytail that travels down her back. Adorning her long exposed arms are gold bracelets and pearls.

"Really know how to make an entrance, huh, Yuuko?" August says as he looks at her.

Yuuko's red eyes glance at August. "Are you ready to go?" She asks him.

"Obviously." August responds. He glances at the door that now slides open to reveal the black terror of a tunnel. He looks back at Yuuko with a face of fear. "Let's get this over with. Don't let go of me in the tunnel."

Yuuko chuckles as she comes to the entrance and offers her arm to him. August didn't think twice and wraps his arm around hers and holds her hand. Then the two of them make their way into the tunnel.

After what feels like eternity in the Aurora Pathway, the two of them emerge out of the black hole and into a grassy clearing in the dark of night on the other side. August was bewildered at first by why it was night time over there until it occurs to him that they are on the night side of the planet. August looks around and sees that the area they are in is surrounded by mountains and lush jungle. At the hill over the trees stood a mansion with lights on and the forest is between them and the mansion in question.

August looks at Yuuko with furrowed brows. "Great, how are we supposed to get to the house with this big stinking jungle in the way?" August grumbles.

"We're not in any immediate danger over here August." Yuuko replies calmly.

"What are you talking about? This country has lions and tigers and bears, it literally does!" August hissed as he points to the big dark forest ahead of them. "And they all could be inside right now and hungry!"

"Now, now. There is a powerful presence here within that is a good friend of mine." Yuuko says to August as she leads on to the jungle. Then she looks back at August with a confident smile. "Besides, I am quite strong in case you've forgotten. Come along."

August gulps before hesitantly following Yuuko in the dark forest. They reach to the edge of the forest and they soon realized how dark it is in there.

"I didn't even think to bring a flashlight along, crap." August said as he looks into the pitch black forest, it was almost as dark as the tunnel Yuuko and August had gone through but it is still an impenetrable darkness.

Yuuko holds her hand close to her mouth to blow on it. Then she holds her hand out with a ball of light that radiates around them in a soft and gentle glow. August sees Yuuko do this and was just about as wide eyed as he was seeing the Aurora Pathway the first time he saw it.

Yuuko looks at him with an amused smirk. "Problem solved." She said softly.

Yuuko leads the way, shining the way through the darkness. August follows along close by Yuuko making sure not to let her out of his sight. The pathway through the jungle, compared to depictions of it in media that portrays dense foliage that blocks the way through in any rainforest, is easily traversable thanks to the thick canopy that blocks out the sun from reaching the floor but the amount of trees and types of terrain that are in the forest doesn't make it much easier to hike through.

They went through swerves, turns, under and overs in the dense rainforest they were hiking through. Despite the darkness, August is wide awake not just from the insomnia but also because he is very much so alert, looking around him through the darkness that surrounds the two of them hoping to not see anything peek back at them in the darkness. There is another thing that August has noticed as he is following along Yuuko; there are absolutely no spirits surrounding them, nothing at all, as if something far more powerful was in the area. He looks ahead, wondering if Yuuko's presence is enough of a deterrent to make them leave the two of them alone.

"Yuuko?" August calls quietly.

"Yes August." She answers back.

"Are the spirits not coming at us because you are around?" August asks, he still looks around still cautious of his surroundings.

"Most of the spirits avoid me, but, there is someone here that has put up a barrier within that ensures they're the only ones occupying this little area of India." Yuuko responds as she turns around a corner.

"Huh, so that's why I don't see anything coming at us. It's so quiet." August said. Then he turns the corner and is only met with darkness. He panics. "Oh no, Yuuko!"

August stood in place, panicking as he doesn't see her anywhere as he looks around. He looks in almost every direction, and then he wanders over to a crevasse beneath a fallen tree trunk. He's worried that he lost her in the jungle.

"Yuuko!" He calls for her. August is beneath the trunk and still looks around. "Yuuko, where are yo-"

"Boo!" Yuuko springs herself upside down from above on the trunk with her half lidded red eyes gazing at August's brown eyes.

August screams at the sudden appearance of Yuuko popping at him from above, scaring him half to death. He falls on the dirt on his butt from sheer fright. Yuuko is laughing at him heartily.

"God damn it Yuuko!" August yells. He rights himself back up, dusting himself off of the dirt. He glares at her that he now knows she is above him on the trunk. "Don't ever do that again!"

Yuuko is still laughing at the expense of August's fright. "The look on your face, that was priceless!" She said through her own laughter holding her chest as she's on her back.

"Ha ha, very funny Yuuko." August sarcastically said. "You've had your fun. Now let's see if Markus is at the mansion."

Yuuko was laughing less now and is catching her breath before standing up and hopping off of the trunk. She has the glowing orb once again in her hand. She still chuckles. "That was great."

August sighs and shook his head, still having his heart rush after the scare of both losing Yuuko and the fright she gave to him after.

August follows Yuuko along the forest floor, close behind her. Before he knows it, they reach the clearing and sees the mansion atop the hill. He walks ahead wishing to be out of the rainforest.

"We're here." Yuuko says as she looks ahead at the mansion seeing August up front seeing him excited.

"Oh thank Jesus we're out of there!" August shouted. "That place was even worse than the-"

August turns around and sees that Yuuko is missing, again.

"Oh jeez, not again!" August growls as he comes back to the forest, braving the darkness since he now realizes that there's nothing to be afraid of. "Come on out of there Yuuko. You had your fun!"

August stomps down towards the shadows of the forest floor now just looking for Yuuko. He looks around angry; angry about setting foot in a place that had scared him, at first, now just annoys him.

August has been calling out to Yuuko for a few seconds as he got deeper in the jungle. Before he could think straight any further as he calls to her, he heard a loud breeze rush through the trees. August looks around to see where the breezes direction is coming from only to realize that there wasn't so much as a breeze at all; it was the sound of a hiss like a large snake. He grew pale from the thought.

"I have to find her. This isn't funny!" August says as he looks around for Yuuko and looks close to the ground for a large snake.

"Hello down there." A voice spoke softly; enough to where August can't discern where it is coming from but enough to where he recognizes the voice.

"Wha- Nagina?" August said as an unpleasant chill went up his spine. "Where's Yuuko?"

A chuckle could be heard echoing in the jungle, not making it easy for August to pinpoint where the voice is coming from. The feminine voice in the jungle hummed. "Yuuko, your friend? Why, she is with me along with Markus." Nagina's voice fills the air in the jungle and her voice carries a hiss.

August now understands the gravity of the situation that he found himself in at first. His fight or flight instincts kicks in and his fight outweigh the flight. He finds a rather large stick and wields it aggressively ready for anything.

"Alright you snake! Let them go!" August growls as he looks around for Nagina ready to attack her for kidnapping Markus and taking Yuuko away from him. He is terrified of Nagina but he is willing to put up a fight to free Markus and Yuuko from her clutches. "Let Markus go and let Yuuko go! Show yourself!"

"With pleasure." Nagina replies to August coolly.

August has failed to notice something wrap around his ankles. By the time he noticed as he looks down, he is being dragged up rapidly. He drops his stick from the force and surprise. Quickly August is being wrapped up in black and red coils trapping him within them that now squeeze the breath out of him before he could scream. He could hardly breathe within the coils that were squeezing the life out of him. The coils now position him right side up as he is now in the branches and leaves of a tree he is in. Emerging from the shadows into the moonlight shows the face of Nagina that still haunted him every time he encounters her. However unlike the previous times he has seen her, August notices that she wasn't using a spectral form of herself, she's all in the flesh with the skin of her face atop a scaly snake's body that has him wrapped up and completely at her mercy. Nagina's green eyes gaze at his brown eyes that have no choice but to look at hers as he can't move, much less twitch his fingers. She approaches him and sniffs him with her forked tongue that flickers out and in uttering a hiss. Finally, she loosens her grip on August, just enough for him to be able to breathe but still not permitting him to move.

August gasps for air and cough from the pain of being choked and squeezed by the snake woman that has dragged him up the tree. After a few seconds he weakly spoke up. "Where are they?"

"Your friends are with us." Said Nagina. Her tail points into the direction she is talking about for August to see. "They're safe."

He weakly turns his head into the direction Nagina pointed towards to see Markus, just like himself, within the snake woman's embrace. He also sees that Yuuko is actually not trapped within Nagina's grip, that made August give a small smile seeing her free. August then notices that Markus is for whatever reason asleep. He turns to face Nagina; questions fill his mind.

"Why is Markus asleep?" August asks softly to Nagina. He is still very much afraid of Nagina despite showing him that she had never hurt Markus or Yuuko.

"I have had him hypnotized. Poor Markus was such a restless soul." Nagina answers him softly. She has been flicking her forked tongue out and in every time she spoke.

"As you can see, he's sleeping like a baby." Yuuko adds as she gently ruffles sleeping Markus' hair. August looks over to Yuuko once more. "The power of hypnotism can be quite amazing depending upon how suggestable you are. As you can see for Markus, he is very suggestable. However, the catch is that hypnotism is only about as powerful as the person's belief in it or how suggestable they are."

"Were you… hypnotized once?" August asks Yuuko curious to know what she says about it.

"I was never able to get hypnotized. I simply can't." Yuuko said smiling widely trying to hold in a laugh. Thinking back upon the memory, it ended up being her most amusing memory.

Nagina grimaces and shook her head. "Believe it or not I tried hypnotizing Yuuko the first time I had met her, even as far as having my grip around her." Nagina said with a hint of pain in her voice. "She, um, she pushed me out of a tree."

Yuuko couldn't help but laugh from the memory. August smiles despite being wrapped up himself in Nagina's grip. He looks back at Nagina, who is now closer to him. He recoils back from her being so close. August gulps and his smile ran away from his face as he sees a smile creep on Nagina's human face, not knowing what she has in mind for him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" August asks doing the best he can to back away from her.

"I've heard all about your little sleep problem. Your eyes speak to me." Nagina stated as her gaze falls on the bags underneath his eyes. "Your friend has filled me in about you, August."

August glances at Yuuko as she got closer to him, her ruby red eyes in the moonlight shining upon her face still mesmerizing him to the point where he's almost convinced she can bend his will with the flick of her fingers. She leans next to him on his coiled up form and ruffles up his hair. The bumps on his head were long gone.

"You did?" August asks Yuuko.

She nods.

August glances at Nagina and back at Yuuko. "Don't leave my side, please." August requests Yuuko.

Yuuko chuckles softly and whispers gently. "I won't leave your side. Just look ahead."

August looks back at Nagina. She seemingly sways slowly, almost like a dance, a predatory dance. He notices that her long flowing black hair with the red fringes sway along in her dance, her eyes never left his. Then her green eyes stared at his eyes, locked and focused. August then sees that her eyes started to glow and turn into the kaleidoscope pattern again and he is helpless to look away from her stare.

"Look… look at my eyes." Nagina's voice is commanding, yet soothing at the same time.

August looks into Nagina's colorful gaze and his expression turns blank and his eyes reflected on her colorful eyes that she was putting on August. He couldn't help but lean forward to look closer into her eyes. Her tail brushes beneath his chin.

"Stare deeply into my gaze. You must be weary from all of the nights you stayed up on." Nagina coos her command. Her dance keeps going; her head serenely sways side to side like a pendulum. August's eyes follow Nagina's enticing gaze more now becoming inches away from being Nagina's enchanted puppet to string along. Her hisses were purposeful and methodical as if she knew August would be further soothed by her voice under her power. August's eyes grew heavy in her spell and from how tired he is.

"Wha-what's happening… to me?" August struggles to speak and keep awake. He yawns cavernously as he soon falls asleep and his world goes black.

A short time later, August and Markus were in their beds in the guest room sleeping soundly in the mansion. Outside of the room the two men were sleeping in, Yuuko and Nagina were drinking tea together. Nagina has long since been in her human form and dressed in her local attire dressed in reds and blacks. Linna sat amongst the two great sorceresses, her eyes wide and all smiles.

"August sure seems to be a deep sleeper." Linna said as she sat down cross legged. "I think he'll thank you later for that, big sister."

Nagina sips her hot tea and glances at Linna. "I can't really say that he'll thank me for it." Nagina says as she chuckles. "He's still very much afraid of me, being a snake and all."

"You've certainly gave him a good rest. He long needed it either way." Yuuko spoke before taking a sip from her tea. "Lots of things have been consuming him lately."

Nagina glances at Yuuko and nods. "Things look like they are consuming him alright. The moment I had entered his mind, it was… hard to describe." Nagina said.

Yuuko nods. "He tried finding information regarding the incident back at Markus' house with the Hell Hound." Said Yuuko plainly. "He would be of been little help if he doesn't know the full details of the story. Poor thing couldn't even sleep. After all, he has his own problems hounding him."

Nagina closes her eyes, she already knows. "That thing, isn't it?" Nagina responded. "The beast. The one who walks on all fours."

"I'm afraid so." Yuuko said. "I had caught him stalking August, trying to get in my barrier, on the first day of his employment no less. However, he can't get in."

"Well that's good right? That bad medicine man, for lack of better words to say, has no power close to your shop, correct?" Linna asks Yuuko.

Yuuko nods and looks at Linna. "Yes, but it hasn't stopped him before, he still stalks August in his neck of the woods. As of lately though, he's been rather quiet."

Linna tilts her head. "That's… good?"

"On the contrary, he left August alone because he is planning..." Yuuko said before sipping her tea. "or communing with the dark spirits in hopes to find others of his kind to hunt August down. He likely won't give up his quarry so easily."

Nagina frowns. "I see."

"On the brighter side, you've pretty much established Portland, Oregon to be your entire territory for a while." Linna adds. "He cannot go in the city."

Yuuko shook her head. Then she smiles. "I'm no super hero, Linna. Portland doesn't belong to me, but he has less power in the city that much I am certain of."

"True." Nagina added. "But what's to say that he hasn't figured out how to mimic people yet? He will eventually come for August."

"Hmm, so far the most he can do is an imperfect copy of the things he intends to change into. He could fool anyone else but August can see the aura ooze off of him the moment he sees him." Yuuko stated before leaning towards Nagina. "As far as I'm concerned, we have the home field advantage in the city."

Later on, in the morning, August slowly wakes up groggily. His vision is blurry and fuzzy until he blinks a few times wiping the sleep out of his eyes to see that he is in an unfamiliar bedroom that he's put in and he notices a tray and breakfast in front of August, fully ready to be eaten.

"Oh, I thought you would never wake up." Linna said, near the side of August's bed and smiling.

He looks and sees Linna standing next to his bed, surprised of his current situation. "Where in the world am I?" August asks.

"You are in Nagina's residence." Linna answered. "Markus shared the room with you while the both of you were asleep."

"Oh, hello there August." Markus calls to him from another bed with his own breakfast at his lap.

August looks over and sees that Markus is awake. He points to him. "You were wrapped up and asleep."

"Yeah, I was." Markus replies, seeing nothing wrong with the situation he was in when he was with Nagina.

"How? How are you so casual about that?" August responds, worried for Markus.

His friend across from him simply shrugs. "I just really like snakes."

August's eyes twitch and his brow was raised like he's seeing Markus for the first time ever in his life. "Figures." August plainly said before telling his friend. "You disappeared and are over here, Nina is worried."

Markus pauses for a moment and looks at August with a piece of egg in his mouth. He swallows and replies. "Oh dear, I wasn't thinking about that!"

"Which is why I am here, I wanted to basically see if you're ok. Yuuko kind of lead me the way here." August said.

Both August and Markus finish their breakfast in their beds and the two of them got out of their beds. Yuuko stands in the living room with Nagina, they were talking to one another until they see the two of them were up.

"Oh, the sleepy ones are finally up." Nagina said as she looks in their direction.

Yuuko looks in their direction also. "How was your nap?"

"Nap?" August utters. "It felt like I was never going to wake up."

"On the bright side, you don't have the bags under your eyes now." Yuuko said as she points to her eyes as she looks at August's and it was true, he feels less tired than he ordinarily would.

August looks at Markus, and Markus looks at him and sees that he was indeed wide awake. "Well now, you got some help with sleep for once." Markus said.

August is surprised by this. He looks back at Nagina whom is smiling at him.

"Say thank you." Yuuko says to August in a sing song voice.

August's eyes twitch trying to spit out his words to Nagina. "Th-thank you… thin ice, but thank you."

Nagina laughs heartily. "You're more than welcome to visit me again, if you're wide awake at night, my eyes could do some good for you." Nagina says giving him a brief flash of her kaleidoscope colors to him.

August was wide eyed upon the sight of the colors again and scrunches up his eyes and shook his head to snap himself out of Nagina's spell she teasingly sent him. "Nice offer, but we are very late back home. It was very nice to see you again."

Yuuko nods. "He's right; it's time for us to go back." Yuuko said as she stands up. "It's so good to see you again dear Nagina."

Nagina smiles and sees the three of them off, Linna walks at Nagina's side and are both at the door.

Yuuko smiles widely. "Ah, I think this will be Markus' first time walking in my Aurora Pathway."

Markus was confused by Yuuko's statement. "Aurora what what?"

August is wide eyed with terror. "Oh fuck, not again!"