"Alright, i think it's done." Said Hilbert as he inspected his fixed barrier generator

"Yeah." Replied Vivian absentmindedly as she curled into a ball

"Still conflicted about keeping the plot?" Asked Hilbert quietly

Vivi nodded slowly, causing Hilbert to approach her and sit down in front of her.

"Look, i am too. But...look on the bright side, we only have to do this until the 24th episode. After that, we're normal kids again...or semi normal. I don't think kids our age should be making whatever I'm making or whatever weird Shakespeare you write."

"Hey! Don't call them that! I won awards for my stories!" Said Vivi crossing her arms as she glared at Hilbert

Hilbert smiled a little, knowing that he successfully stopped Vivi's moping. Vivian, however, continued after taking a deep breath to summon up some vigor

"Okay! I'll wait until then!" She said "all while we still try to stop anything from going wrong! Are you with me?"

Spark, who was silently sitting in a corner until now, cheerfully followed Vivian's call.

Hilbert chuckled and Vivi fake punched him "alright alright, I'm with you. Now, let's get down before Hilda comes ba-"

"Hilbert!" Everyone froze as they heard that call

The three quickly ran inside, hoping that Hilda either doesn't spot them or doesn't question why they were on the roof.

"Hilber- there you are. Hi, Vivi." Said Hilda "What were you two doing on the roof?"

"Nothing, but fun!" Vivian yelled immediately

"Nothing too important." Added Hilbert with a nervous smile

Spark didn't saw anything and just stared at Hilbert and Vivi in disappointment.

"O-kay?...I need your help" said Hilda firmly

"What do you need?" Hilbert asked raising a brow as if he didn't already know what she wanted

"Some girl has been magically giving David nightmares and we're going to the library to see what she's all about."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Asked Hilbert crossing his arms

"In case you have or can make something to help David. Now, let's go." Replied Hilda rolling her eyes before forcibly pulling Hilbert away and leaving without hearing his reply

"H-hey! Wait! Slow down" Begged Hilbert, but Hilda didn't listen.

Vivian watched Hilda pulled her brother away at fast speeds in astonishment "Guess we're going too then" she murmured before following the twins. Sadly, Spark had to stay at home.

xxXxx

Nothing particularly exciting happened on the way to the library; if you don't count Hilda cycling as fast as possible to get there.

Hilbert, for a second, really believed than he was the one with a fear of bikes now.

When they got to the library, they met up with Frida, David and later Vivi and then started looking.

"She told my nightmares to her friends? That's not fair; i deserve a royalty or something, don't you think?" Asked David tiredly

"Hmm, maybe" answered Vivian absentmindedly as she seriously thought about the question.

"Definitely" added Hilda nonchalantly before continuing "but first, we need to find out just what's going on."

Before another word could be said, a book fell unto the table beside Hilda and Frida

"I believe you'll find that book to be of interest." Said the purple haired librarian with a smile from a ladder before leaving on it.

"I like her." Said Vivian with a smile as she stared at where the librarian was a second ago.

Ignoring Vivi's comment, everyone headed to the table to see the book the had been given to them.

"Tales of the Marra" said Hilda reading the title of the book before opening it and reading the content inside "Marras are nightmare spirits that are said to haunt the Huldrawood. Look, that's them alright."

"I don't understand, how did the librarian know this is what we were looking for?" Asked Frida in confusion

"It's her job, isn't it?" Replied David calmly

"Maybe it's magic" Vivian foreshadowed cheerfully

"I never magic used like that. Mostly, Hilbert using it in his devices" said Hilda shrugging

"It does help bypass some of the more annoying roadblocks of nature. But i'd need a stable source of it; that's why our roof is covered with invisible solar panels"

"Was that why you were on the roof today? Was one of them broken?" Asked Hilda curiously

Hearing Hilda's question, Hilbert flinched before deciding to just lie and agree.

"Yeah, it was a bird" said Hilbert with a nervous smile

Meanwhile, Vivian was as stiff as a brick. She wated with bated breath for Hilda's reply, hoping she doesn't pick up on the lie.

"Well, anyway, let's look for anything that might be useful." Said Hilda before they all looked back inside the book.

The book said that the Marra will pass over you, if you strap yourself to bed with a leather belt.

Sadly, David was deathly afraid of belts...luckily, his trousers always fit him just right.

Ignoring that, Hilda cracked up a plan. A plan to speak to the Marra...and Hilbert had to participate, much to his, internal, dismay.

xxXxx

The plan was simple, David and Vivian go to the twins' house and act like them for the night while the others face the Marra.

All Hilbert had to do was keep everything as it's supposed to and he did...for a while.

After everything was set up and a device was set up to not let any noise out, the Marra appeared and tried to give "David" nightmares, only to be caught by Hilbert and Frida.

Hilda challenged the marra like normal...bu the marra requested something.

"I want him, not you" said the marra pointing at Hilbert

"What?" Asked Hilda in confusion

"Oh, it's just that, now, it's personal." Said the marra glaring at Hilbert who frowned at this development

"What's going on?" Asked Frida raising a brow

"This kid made a magic barrier around his house, blocking only us" said the marra causing Hilda and Frida to stare at Hilbert "and it hurt, a lot."

Hilbert, knowing that he'd been found, sighed and spoke

"Yes, i made something like that."

"Why didn't you say anything then?!" Asked Hilda angrily as she approached her brother

"It's a prototype! I won't come here everytime the darn thing is broken! Plus, it's my stuff and i choose what to do with it."

"You could've just fixed this whole thing!" Hilda countered angrily

"I can help you Hilda, but I'm not making something for every problem you come across! And I'm certainly not leaving my stuff at someone else's house!"

Before Hilda could reply, the marra cut in.

"Look, as much i like seeing you two fight, i have a grudge to finish."

Hilda glared at Hilbert as if she was about to kill him, causing him to grumble before turning to the marra.

"After this, you won't haunt any of us again; right?" Asked Hilbert as he glared at the marra

"Sure thing" said the marra with a shrug

Hilbert went to David's bed and began trying to sleep while ignoring Hilda burning glare and Frida trying to calm her down.

It was time for him to face his fears.

xxXxx

Hilbert woke up to David's room. Everything was normal except no one was there and it was still nighttime.

Hilbert got out of bed and picked up a clock near the bed only for it to melt in his hand.

"Definitely a dream" Hilbert said to himself.

Slowly, Hilbert left the room to see...his mom? At the table in the kitchen.

"Hilbert! You let the spiders in!" The fake Johanna snapped

Quickly, the house was flooded with spiders which did give Hilbert shivers. But he stood still and calmed himself down.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream. A very disgusting dream made by a very disgusting person" said Hilbert as spiders began covering him

"You're not frightened?" Asked the fake Johanna in confusion

"It's easy to rationalize things when you know they're fake" said Hilbert with a frown

It wasn't the last time Hilbert rationalized his way through the marra's nightmares. Through giants and woffs and heights he kept saying it was all a dream.

Then, the marra pulled out something that truly did scare Hilbert.

"Fine, rationalize this." Said the marra with an evil smile.

"Please, what could you possibly-" said Hilbert before everything went black. Hilbert was surprised for a second before he started looking around in a frenzied panic.

There was nothing, no ground, no creatures, no sky. He couldn't even see his own body or feel it.

"Stop this! Now!" Hilbert yelled desperately

It was his greatest fear. The illusion of death. The fear that all he experienced as Hilbert was merely his mind playing tricks on him and, in reality, he's just dead. All those memories, all those emotions, all those connections...all fake.

It didn't take much for Hilbert to turn into a panicking mess.

"Stop this" Hilbert said, sobbing without any tears showing "please! I beg you! Stop!"

Nothing.

"Please"

Nothing again.

"S-stop, please"

Nothing once more.

"You win, okay! Please! I'm sorry!"

And then, he woke up.

xxXxx

Hilbert woke up shivering, panting and crying with tear filled eyes. Even Hilda felt bad for him even after what he didand slowly approached him.

Hilbert didn't care about her and stared at marra.

"H-h-how d-did you-" said Hilbert still shivering

"Your sister told the rat king about your fear. It's a really pathetic fear if you ask me." Said the marra with a smile "bye" she said before she disappeared into green smoke and left.

Hilbert slowly turned to Hilda who had a guilty look on her face.

"You told someone about my greatest fear?!" Hilbert wanted to yell but his still freshly traumatized body didn't allow that.

"I had to! It was to help David!"

"Couldn't you have used something else?!" Hilbert yelled as he wiped his tears

"None of this would've happened if you just used your device!" Countered Hilda angrily

"It's my stuff and i do what i want with it! You gave away my secret!"

"It would've mattered if you just used. That. Device!"

"Okay, you two, stop fighting." Said Frida coming between the siblings "you both did wro-"

"I thought you changed after we moved to Trollberg, but no! You're always like this, a selfish, cowardly jerk!" Said Hilda angrily and before Hilbert could reply she continued "sometimes i wish you were just, urgh, NEVER BORN!"

If Hilda was to listen carefully at that moment, maybe she would've been able to hear a crack form in her brother's heart.

xxXxx

Tell me how i did. Leave reviews, they help a lot even if they're not that important.

Toodles.