A/N: Didn't expect multiple people to notice the Yogg-Saron reference so easily. Are my readers MMO raiders? This is a fascinating demographic revelation.
Halloween may be over, but the scares aren't. Get ready for the frightful finale, and one of my favorite confrontations so far! Who knew it'd be this fun writing a creature with so many fears under its belt? Thank you readers, thank you betas, let's go!
Frazie fled across the ring of light in a blind panic, the colossal conglomerate of horror stomping right behind her. Sure, it wasn't the first giant monster she'd faced today, but did any of the others have a chainsaw the size of a train engine?!
She'd been through a lot today, but she couldn't put on a brave face this time. This thing was huge, it was dangerous, and it was gaining on her.
The rev of the chainsaw's engine grew louder, louder, until she could practically feel the blades whirring just behind her head. In a race against something this big, it was impossible to get away — she had no choice. Frazie twisted around and threw her arms up, enveloping herself in her Shield's glow. She'd never felt so small as when she watched the roaring death machine swing down towards her, not even in Pepper's world.
All she could do was clamp her eyes tight when barrier and power tool connected. She waited for the immense pain to come - but to her relief, she wasn't immediately blended into pulp. She cracked open an eyelid to see her barrier putting in an incredible amount of work, shaking and rattling under the intense pressure.
Sparks flew in an endless cascade as the unstoppable force met the immovable object. Their glow made the monster's face all the more haunting, its many eyes lit up with killer intent as it pushed even harder.
The shaking grew stronger. Frazie's eyes popped open the rest of the way when the saw started to gain ground, carving out the narrowest of chinks in her armor. Bit by bit, it was cutting through her barrier. The crack slowly spread until it became a trench, the distance between her and certain death growing thinner and thinner.
The only things that'd broken through her shield before were invincible, all-powerful mental constructs. Mikhail, Permanences... the fact this thing was even putting a dent in it was a testament to how strong Norville's fears were. Frazie screamed almost as loud as the saw itself by the time it almost pierced through her cover.
A second later, a loud snap rang throughout the void. Frazie could only hope she wouldn't be feeling any of this back in the real world.
And she didn't — because the chainsaw never reached her.
The spider's leg jerked violently as its tool broke down, the whirring blades leaping free to soar off into the darkness. That hadn't been her Shield breaking... it was the saw's chain snapping, finally worn down from her resistance. Even the monster seemed surprised, blinking at its ruined weapon.
Frazie couldn't believe it. Having pushed her powers to their limit, her mind practically breathed a sigh of relief when she dropped her barrier. She pointed up at the abomination. "Ha! HA! What're you gonna do now?!"
The spider shifted its gaze to her. Then, it swiftly brought the toothless tool down on her head, smashing her into the ground.
Ah, right. At that size, anything could be a club. Plus she still had the other seven limbs to worry about.
"Ow. Ow..." Frazie moaned, flat on her back and aching all over. Not as bad as getting sawn in half, but not much better. She peeled herself off the ground with weak — but thankfully unbroken — arms. Could she even break a bone here? Hopefully she never had to find out.
She'd just barely stood up again when a massive zombified claw swept at her, not giving her the chance to prepare. Not one to be caught off guard twice in a row, Frazie dropped on purpose this time, narrowly slipping under the swing by laying almost flat against the ground. The instant she felt the air whoosh overhead, she was up again, running for her life.
The spider followed after, putting its medley of limbs to good use as it attacked without pause. The ground shook each time it struck, just barely missing each time; it spun to stab the ground with a machete leg, a loud clang reverberating around the void only to be followed by the wet squish of a clump of tentacles slamming the floor.
There was no point in fighting this abomination head on. Trying to keep calm, Frazie kept on the move, propelling herself out of its massive range on her Levitation orb and firing a barrage of Psi-blasts behind her while she rolled along.
With a target this huge, it was impossible to miss... not that it helped. Each shot slammed into it dead-on, hitting its legs, its body, its face. She might as well have been blasting a wall. It didn't so much as blink as it chased her, an unyielding titan of terror.
Was this the bear all over again? Frazie didn't know what to do if this thing was just as invulnerable. Her panic grew as she kept firing, desperately searching for a weak spot.
That's when she remembered the massive tumorous growth on its back, the small mountain of heads snarling and gnawing at the sky. Praying, she directed her next barrage that way.
"S̵͇̈́́ć̵̝r̵͚͓̚e̴̜͂e̷̘̽e̶͔͠e̴̢͂ê̷̡Ȩ̷͍̒Ë̴͎̦́̍E̶̫͝Ë̴̹́E̷̬̐̓ͅE̴̫̽E̵̗̔̅E̶̫̮͋͛!̸͎͔̎̇" The spider buckled all at once, screeching and lurching to the side as its many heads let out a cacophonous howl of pain. Oh, it didn't like that. Not one bit. It propped itself up on its limbs, chittering. Shaking off the pain, it steadied itself again, lifting its front legs to shriek angrily at her.
But this time, it didn't scare her. Because now she knew she could hurt it.
When she fired again, the beast lifted its chainsaw, her attacks pinging harmlessly against the broken implement. It wasn't just going to let her whack away at its vulnerability, it still had some tricks up its sleeve. It let out another roar, stomping the ground.
The world shook again, far longer than it had any right to. The jittering continued, the spotlight shaking and wobbling... and then it started to shrink. Frazie rolled to a stop as the arena's border contracted ahead of her, quickly reversing away from it. As awful as this monstrosity was, she had a hunch running towards whatever else might lurk in the darkness was a terrible idea. At least she could see the spider.
Speaking of things hiding in the shadows... another screech rang out. A dozen of them, actually. While the spotlight shrunk to half its size, a field of orange dots lit up the void around it, rapidly approaching. Intrusive Thoughts flooded in from outside, beelining straight for her. Somewhere in the distance, Norville yelped, reacting to all the new changes as well.
"Oh, no." Frazie's favorite enemy, as if this wasn't bad enough. Less room to move, a mob of monkeys... things were starting to get claustrophobic in here.
Wait a second. Claustrophobic. That was another fear. And all these enemies popping in at once... fear of crowds was a thing too, wasn't it?
The Phobiamalgamation wasn't just tangible horrors - it had the intangible in its arsenal, too.
That opened up so many more horrifying possibilities, ones she'd never get to see if she couldn't handle this new threat. Left with little other choice, Frazie got to work, unleashing everything she had while she rolled away from danger.
One monkey reached her, only to get blasted backwards by a direct burst of energy to the face. She threw a confusion grenade to keep the rest off her, still enjoying the cathartic sight of them turning on each other. Those that dodged the blast kept chasing her, and Frazie prepared a Pyrokinetic explosion to keep them off her tail.
She didn't need to, in the end. She almost got knocked off her sphere when the toothless chainsaw slammed down right behind her again, squashing her remaining pursuers flat. The spider was still after her, and didn't seem to care if it smushed its allies in the process. Cold. Its reckless actions were immediately punished when there was nothing left to stop Frazie from firing on its weak point again.
Her attack rocked the monster again. It chittered in annoyance, the arena growing back to normal size before it lifted its legs once more and swept them to the sides.
And then... Frazie couldn't see anything at all.
The spotlight immediately went dark, as if the creature had just flicked a switch. Norville's far off scream echoed in the dark, and Frazie wasn't feeling too much better now that she couldn't see her foe at all. Nyctophobia.
She immediately stopped, not wanting to risk rolling into the monster... or something else. All she could do was listen intently, her heart pounding in her ears, focusing on the shuffle of the spider creeping closer and closer.
Wait. This thing must be able to see in the dark if it turned the lights out — it wouldn't blind itself. That meant...
Frazie quickly reached out into the void with Clairvoyance, honing in on the nearest thing. She could finally see again through another's eyes... all eight of them. Seeing herself from so many different viewpoints was disorienting, but it was better than seeing nothing at all. She could tell her stalker was creeping closer, homing in on its prey... a Frazie-styled fly. Was that how it saw her? Fitting.
It had no idea that she'd figured out where it was. That gave her an idea. Rather than try to fight it in the dark, Frazie stood still, letting it draw closer.
It was hard not to move with a giant monster approaching, but Frazie ignored her goosebumps and managed it. Soon, it was by her side, letting out the lowest hiss as its mandibles wiggled. Frazie tensed up as it slowly braced itself, leaning back inch by inch... and then pouncing, trying to bite her.
Sucker.
The moment it attacked, Frazie bounced off her ball, soaring high into the sky. The beast missed entirely, stumbling as its jaw hit the floor. It'd basically just opened the door for her to land on its back without a fuss.
Frazie pushed away the heebie jeebies that coursed through her the instant she touched its bristly fuzz, punching towards the sound of its snarling back growth instead. A direct hit. She struggled to keep her footing as the spider squealed and buckled beneath her.
The lights flicked back on, making her jump as the many-faced lump suddenly filled her vision. They were even more unnerving up close... but so long as she didn't get near their biting mouths, they were utterly defenseless. Feeling the adrenaline pump through her, Frazie readied a fist.
Rumble...
She wobbled again as the arena shook once more. Trying to stay focused, she ignored it, pulling her hand back one more time.
At least, until she caught the sound of running water.
She froze instantly. Turning away from her target, Frazie glanced down towards the floor to see it starting to flood. Norville was already submerged, his cries garbled and gurgling beneath the rapidly rising water.
Hydrophobia.
No, no, NO. The one thing that made her even more afraid than Norville was. Whether it'd intended to or not, the monster was using her own biggest fear against her. She only had moments before the water rose above the spider's back and swallowed her, dragging her into its depths.
Welp. There was only one thing Frazie could do: Force it to cut it the hell out.
Panicking, Frazie threw caution to the wind and started punching madly at the heads. "STOP IT!" she shouted, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks directly at its weak spot. Each attack filled the arena with wails of pain from spider and growth alike, making Frazie sway back and forth each time the monster jerked. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW! STOP IT, STOP IT!"
The water continued to rise, trickling over the spider's head, starting to converge on the top of its back... only to finally halt. Unable to bear the intense onslaught, the monster finally yielded with a groan, the tide finally receding and draining away. Frazie was filled with relief... but that didn't mean she was done yet.
She struck it once more, than again, but the spider was tired of her shenanigans. It lifted its tentacled leg up, the many tendrils wiggling and writhing as they slithered towards her.
Frazie had no choice - time to abandon ship. Before the slimy limbs could grab her, she somersaulted back down to the (thankfully dry) ground, glancing back to see how the boss was faring.
Unfortunately... too well. She'd really pummeled it, the arachnid clearly panting with pain and exhaustion, but it was far from done yet. It'd take more than that to topple a titan, and there was no way it'd let her get on its back again. She could keep firing at it from a distance, but would that be enough? Or would she succumb to its vast array of weaponized fears before her potshots could finally wear it down? As it was, it looked like its durability far surpassed hers. And when it gathered enough energy, it might just flood the arena again and wash her away for good.
No. The odds were stacked against her. She needed help... and there was only one other person here who could provide it. He was just, uh... likely to be very reluctant. Was... was she really going to try this?
...Did she have any other options?
No, not really. "Norville!" Frazie shot the shivering man a brief glance before focusing on the enemy once more, just in time for it to recuperate and rush at her again. "Norville, look! I'm wearing it down! Please, just lend me a hand and I can squash this thing for good! You could really do some damage to it, come on, you're ginormous!"
His response? More sniffling and whimpering. Yeeeeah, about what she'd expected. Norville might be big, but the creature was bigger. It was hard to give a pep talk and survive at the same time - Frazie leapt over the creature's swinging limbs, throwing up her Shield now and then to block its trickier blows.
She kept trying. "Aren't you tired of this thing ruining your life?!" she called out, ducking under another hand swipe. "Come on! Work with me! We can beat this thing if we work together, I know it!"
"A-are you CRAZY?!" the coward stammered, refusing to so much as open his eyes. "Look at it! Look at ME! I-I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO—"
"NORVILLE!" Frazie snapped, making him flinch. There was no time for apologies, though. "Norville! Look at me! I'm half your size, and I'm fighting this thing head on!"
As if to prove her point, the arena shook again as she evaded another crushing blow. She went on, alternating between dodging and talking. "Just yesterday I'd barely even fought anything before, and yet I've been dealing with freaks like this since last morning! And I've been winning! I'm afraid too, but I'm not giving up! If I can do it, so can you! Trust me Norville, please! You're braver than you think!"
The man stayed silent, continuing to shake... sure, it was easy for her to say all that — she hadn't been scared stiff every day of her life. She wasn't the one who had monsters like this constantly creeping through their thoughts. But... she also had a point. She'd shown that the things that haunted him weren't untouchable. That the prey could stand up to the predator. That you could be horrified and still give it your all.
Norville finally opened his eyes.
He did NOT like what he saw, immediately squeaking and shutting them again when the spider entered his view. Well, that'd been the shortest burst of courage in history. Frazie was about to give up hope when he opened them again, forcing himself to keep looking. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pushed himself up off the floor, visibly shaking as he got up on his feet.
The monster glanced towards him when he stood, hissing. It must not have liked the display of defiance, because it suddenly leapt for him, landing right before him and leaning down to roar straight in his face.
Norville shrieked, covering his head and turning away to shield himself from its spitting maw. A sob escaped him as he expected the end... but it never came. Instead, the spider yelped again as Frazie blasted its weak spot while it was distracted.
"Picking on someone who can't fight back? Pathetic!" In an instant, it rounded on her again, preparing to swing at the greater threat.
And then it jerked to a stop. A large tearing sound suddenly filled the void.
RRRRIIIIIIIPPPP!
The monster yowled in more pain than it ever had before. Behind it, Norville's eyes were clenched tight as he yanked at its tentacled leg. One by one, the squirming vines tore loose from its body, writhing like wild snakes before finally falling still.
Norville gagged and threw the clump of appendages away, putting a hand over his mouth to keep the barf down... then screamed as he realized he'd just touched those things with that hand. His first act of bravery in decades, and boy, it was an impressive one. Ignoring the dry heaving, of course.
"Whoa. You go, big guy!" Frazie couldn't help but cheer for his big step forward. Now the spider was down an entire leg, and maybe together they could shrink that number down to—
WHAM!
Frazie's face fell as the spider spun, slapping the man away with an angry cry. If taking a stand had irritated it, ripping one of its limbs off really made it mad.
"NORVILLE!" Oh, that wasn't good. That was REALLY not good. His first show of strength in years, and he'd immediately been thrashed for it. Frazie could only watch in horror as Norville flew across the arena, bouncing off the ground a few times before finally tumbling into a heap.
She'd just made everything worse. The only thing more gut-wrenching than the thought that Sasha would kill her for this was the awful realization she'd just made this poor man's problems much, much stronger. And it was all her fault. What was she going to do?
She didn't have to do a thing. Frazie gasped, unable to believe her eyes when Norville shifted and pushed himself back up off the ground again.
Even he seemed surprised, touching all over his body as if expecting part of it to be missing. "I-I'm... I'm alive! I'M ALIVE!" The man really was as sturdy as he looked. There wasn't a bruise on him.
And more importantly, he'd just realized that standing up to his fears wasn't a death sentence.
He didn't look that much braver, but he didn't need to. He just needed to fight back. The spider glanced worriedly between the two humans as they shared a look, knowing what they needed to do.
Together, they rushed for the abomination. It was the monster's turn to let out a fearful cry as it suddenly found itself on the defensive.
Its many legs and eyes didn't help it split its focus between them any better. They attacked from two different angles - Norville leapt high, much higher than he could in the real world, punching at its zombie arm and making it bend inward with a loud snap. The arachnid howled, trying to stab at him with its machete leg, only to buckle under the strain of a dozen more Psi-blasts to its growth.
Limping now, it skittered backwards, trying to account for the couple of useless legs. It hissed at them in a futile attempt to keep them at bay, the duo ignoring it and racing straight ahead. "We've got to hit it up there!" Frazie called, pointing out the groaning mass on its back.
"O-Okay!"
Frazie was just about to summon her Levitation orb and bounce up when the ground suddenly fell out from under her. To her surprise, Norville scooped her up, both her feet able to fit on one palm. "Here goes...!"
Frazie braced herself just in time for Norville to fling her upwards with all his might, and he had a lot of it. Soaring higher than she ever could by spring boarding off her ball, Frazie flew up over the spider, who could only watch with dread as she got into position far above it.
A moment later, Norville joined her, telling gravity to buzz off as he jumped up by her side. Up in the sky, the two shared a nod... and then started their descent, rocketing straight down.
If a spider could look like it was about to wet itself, the Phobiamalgamation pulled it off. It tried to limp away, but it wasn't fast enough anymore to pull it off without all its legs. Up above, the two humans prepared for impact - Frazie poured all her power into her feet, surrounding them with energy and shield and flame while Norville raised both fists high, ready to drop them at a moment's notice.
Time almost seemed to move in slow motion as the gap closed. The abomination had no time to get away before the two hit it, slamming right into its weak spot. The mass of wailing heads caved inward as Frazie stomped it with psychic fury, and the rest of its body followed suit when Norville hammered both fists into its back like a sledgehammer from the sky.
When the two finally bounced off it, it had completely caved in, squashed like the bug it was. Its limbs twitched, its many heads finally silent. "Ţ̸̨̠̀͒h̴̳̘͈̰̊͗̈a̷͍̖̭̦̅͝͠t̷̻̿̑͐́ ̴̻̪͇͆̃̿w̵͇͋͂͆a̵̗͙̦͌͂s̴͇̉̔n̵͎͐'̶̧̛͔̗̻̏̅͗t̶̯͆͠ ̵͉̾̓̏̆v̶̙̭̅͗͆ḛ̸̢̂͋r̵̲̘̺̪̈́̚͠y̵̘̥̮̍ ̵̧̞̓̉̈́̓n̵̗̻͍̉̈̒i̶̜̓c̶͍͉̣͙̅̒̐e̵̛͕̼̟͂̚,̸͈́͐" was all it could murmur before its eyes fell shut for good.
It started to melt, its skin fading to black as it dissolved into a puddle of shadows. Unable to withstand the light, the shade shrunk and shrunk until it finally disappeared with a fizzle.
Norville watched it evaporate, as if in disbelief that he'd ever been scared of something that'd vanished so pitifully. A second later, he yelped when Frazie grabbed his arm, whooping victoriously. "AHAHAHA! We did it! We... oh, uh, didn't mean to scare you. Sorry. ...High five?"
Once his heart stopped racing, he stopped clutching his chest and huffed. "O-oh, uh... sure." The two raised their hands and slapped them together, cementing their win.
Frazie immediately regretted it. She yelped and shook her stinging hand, hissing through her teeth. Maaaaybe it was a bad idea high fiving someone with hands that big - it was like he'd swatted a fly with a brick.
Still, a sore palm wasn't enough to bring her down. She smiled through the pain, proud to see him on his feet at last. "How're you feeling?"
"Like I'm gonna throw up, man." Frazie chuckled, until she realized he wasn't joking. Thankfully, he kept himself composed as he glanced down where the monster had faded away. "I was r-really being a big baby, wasn't I...?"
Frazie shook her head. "Hey, don't put yourself down. Everyone's afraid of something, even me. You're, ah... afraid of a LOT of somethings." Was that supposed to make him feel better? "But bravery isn't about being fearless... it's being afraid, but carrying on anyways. And in the end, when it mattered most... you were brave."
Her words struck him. He looked down at himself, like he couldn't believe it was him who'd just done all that. "Hey... you're right. I was brave, man! I was BRAVE!"
His bravado lasted about five seconds, before something off beyond the light's reach let out a loud and spinechilling howl. The two of them looked towards it just in time to notice something scaly slither back into the shadows. "Butnotbraveanymorepleaselet'sgetoutofhere," Norville pleaded, his teeth chattering again.
No complaints on Frazie's end. "You read my mind." And reading minds was HER job.
The big man crouched down, motioning beside his head. "Like, hop on." Wasting no time, Frazie did just that, neatly flipping through the air to land perched on his shoulder.
Once she was situated, he crouched low, tilting his gaze towards the ceiling. He swung his arms once, then twice, then put his all into one more jump. Frazie's shawl flapped in the wind as he propelled them straight up, rocketing them out of the dark and into the light.
The void fell away, only to be replaced with the cloak of night. Eh, it was a much more manageable kind of darkness at least. Somehow, when the two of them ascended out of the chasm, they ended up back in the center of the town plaza.
When they landed, Frazie hopped off and tapped the ground with a heel, half-expecting it to crumble away and send them back into the abyss. Nope, rock solid. The mind continued to work in mysterious ways.
Looking up, she found Norville shivering again, staring fearfully at the friendlier monsters gathered around the little town. "It's not so bad, is it?" Frazie asked. "Not after everything you just dealt with."
"I... I-I guess," he stammered. He didn't exactly sound sure, but he wasn't curling into a crying ball again either. Progress.
"Excuse me."
Caught off guard by the new voice, both of them turned - and both shrieked, one much louder than the other. A woman stood there, her mouth stretched to ungodly proportions, her teeth pointy, her eyes peering at them from the back of her throat. "I couldn't help but notice Norville up and about! Is he feeling better?"
Frazie calmed quickly, but Norville was paralyzed with stage fright. And literal fright, too. Knowing he needed encouragement, Frazie gestured towards the figure. "She seems nice, doesn't she? Wanna say hi?"
No, no he did not. But he recalled her words... bravery was continuing on even when you were scared. So, shaking like a leaf in a storm, he forced himself to respond. "Uh... h-hi. It's, uh... n-nice to... oh... oh, your teeth are very sharp..."
"Why, thank you!" the monster chirped. "It's great to see you walking around again! Hey, would you like to trick-or-treat with us?"
The answer was still no. At least, until Frazie gave him a gentle nudge. Norville was still scared out of his mind, and it'd take awhile to change that... but maybe it was time to get started. "I, I-I uh... I... s-sure?"
"Great!" Norville managed to keep quiet as the lady took his hand, pulling him off towards the houses. "My friends have been dying to meet you! They've always wondered what your costume is supposed to be."
"I, uh... I-I don't think you could call it a costume..." Norville looked pale, he was stammering, but he was alright. It was up to him now to bolster his courage further. Resisting the tempting call of imaginary candy, Frazie popped her salts and left the land of eternal Halloween behind.
As soon as she was back in her body, Frazie heard a sound. On the other side of the glass, something shifted.
Like a living landfill, the heap of junk in front of the door began to rattle. The man underneath it all looked up, not a single shiver in his body. "H-Huh...?" He felt... calmer. Mostly. He still flinched when he heard a knocking at the window, yet for some reason, the girl that was standing there didn't fill him with mortal terror anymore.
Frazie pointed to the side, towards the door, and Norville suddenly remembered her request. "Oh! O-one sec..."
His armor rattled and clanked as he got up and reached for the handle. Frazie raced to meet him, unsure if it was better to see him opening the path for her or to see him up and moving.
Finally meeting him face to face, she gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks a bunch. Done sitting around?"
"Y-yeah... I... I don't want to be up here anymore. I think I can make it to the ground floor, at least..."
"You sure? Want any help?"
Norville shook his head, reaching for the cafeteria tray he used as a breastplate. "Nah, just... need to drop a little weight." It took a bit as he undid each piece one by one, but soon, she could finally see the man under it all as he took most of it off. "I-I'm, like, keeping the knee and elbow pads, though..."
If that's what he required to function for now, by all means. "Good call," she supported, stepping aside and gesturing to the edge of the floor. "Careful, though. This place has seen better days."
Norville slowly crept over and peered over the rim - his face grew pale when he saw just how crumbly and treacherous the way down really was. "Did... did I mention I'm scared of heights? Never liked being on this floor, e-especially not now." For a moment, he looked like he was going to change his mind, before he quickly shook his head back and forth. "No! I've gotta do this. G-gotta... just one step at a time."
He turned and lowered himself down, his lower half dangling... only to cry out as his hand slipped. "WhooooOOOOA!"
"Wait—!" Frazie shouted, reaching out with Telekinesis, but there was no way she could've held him up even if she had managed to catch him in time. He fell out of sight, making Frazie wince when a crash rang out a second later.
She knelt by the edge to look down at him, really hoping his road to recovery hadn't already ended. Norville laid face down a floor below. The man had basically left a crater with how big he was. "You... you okay?" she called out.
After a moment, he groaned, rolling over. "I-I'm... I'm fine!" Grinning, he pointed down towards his legs. "Kneepads!"
Relieved, Frazie just chuckled. "Kneepads." He'd be fine. Waving farewell, she finally left him behind and headed through the door he'd been blocking. She took a brief moment to stoop down and scoop up her portal from where it'd fallen once it'd fulfilled its purpose.
As she rose back up, she came face to face with beady black eyes and a fuzzy face.
A bear.
Practically jumping out of her skin, she fell back on her behind with a holler. A second later, she realized with growing embarrassment that she'd almost had a heart attack over a stuffed toy. Hey, after dealing with its much scarier cousin, she was still jumpy, alright?
The little teddy stared silently at her, but she knew it would laugh if it could. Irritated, she got back up and prepared to kick it.
At the last second, its horrifying mental version still fresh in her head, she decided to spare it. Best not to tempt fate. "You win this round," she spat, stepping past it.
The only way forward was a hole in the ceiling — but before Frazie jumped through it, she froze. She tilted her head up, listening intently.
There was a soft sound coming from above, gentle, melodic. It sounded like... singing? Just what was going on up there?
Curious now, Frazie summoned her Levitation orb and launched herself up to the next floor, heading towards the humming.
Down below, Norville's room sat empty, the teddy bear its last remaining occupant. Suddenly, it slumped over on its side, its beady eye pointing upwards to watch Frazie leave.
OooooOOOOoooo. Physics at work, or was Norville actually right about ghosts? You decide.
Now here we are... one more mini-chapter and one more patient to go before we're at the top of the tower and in the endgame. Thank you to everyone who's stuck around so far. As usual, check the Archiveofourown version if you want to see an in-depth analysis of Norville's mind. Hopefully the mini-chapter won't take too long!