(Chapter Twenty Four: Horror amongst the Stars: Part two)

The space traveler and their companion arrived at the large spaceship, void and empty; the power flickering and sparking. The two seemingly young explorers of space looked around questioning as to why a ship of this caliber was unmanned.

"Be on guard, something happened here..." The one with the scarf said, chills running through her spine as they two looked upon a wall that had multiple laser holes.

The two girls continued with the scene, however as they walked, Bonnie tripped over a prop. Melody couldn't help but giggle at the panicking noise her friend had made "are you okay?" Melody helped her up.

"Yup, yeah- totally meant to do that," The bow girl said, brushing herself off.

It had been at least a week since when they first started. Things were surprisingly going well, so Grooves decided to record the first few shots of the movie that went off without a hitch.

"You're both doing great darlings." Grooves said behind the scenes, encouraging them.

The two girls smiled and continued with the recording. Grooves and Julia watched sitting in chairs waiting for their roles to come up, the older girl messed with her untied hair because it felt strange keeping it untied for so long. Since it was rather hard to hide her charms while wearing her costume, Julia had to place them in storage for the meantime while she worked.

"Nervous, darling?" The old penguin looked back at her, tilting his sunglasses and showing his beady eyes.

Julia chuckled, looking at him with an unsure smile "Never gone this long without having my charms. Guess I am a little nervous I might hurt someone."

"So, that magic stuff stuck around, huh?" He asked, remembering the final fight with Mustache girl. "Thought that might have been a side effect of the timepieces."

Julia shook her head, "No, I think this goes deeper than any timepiece." She held a hand to her heart, feeling something within, "Though... I have a feeling it might have accelerated my abilities by accident..." The taller girl thought about it for a moment, then placed a hand to her eye patch. Was she only able to do the things she can now because of them? Would things have developed slower if she never came to this world?

What happens if her abilities get way out of her control..?

Julia wasn't going to lie to herself, it did scare her.

"Everything will be fine, darling." Grooves calmly said, placing a flipper on Julia's arm with reassurance.

All Julia could do was nod.

The two girls carried on, during their exploration of the ship they had found a guard incapable of talking. The only humming was his way of communication. It was a little eerie with the given situation, especially when half of the spaceship's power was currently offline.

The guard was shaken as they walked, something was on board with them. No human or bird was able to make this much damage in a singular area. Silence, there was nothing but silence as red warning lights flashed with every step they took. Distance skittering from an unknown location echoed throughout the hall.

The group was unaware of the dangers just lurking above them, in between the walls. Hunting.

The three had reached what seemed to be a base of operations, a temporary haven, before the unknown assailant that has been wrecking the ship shows up to claim their lives.

That, or until the oxygen reserves finally fail.

Just as the two smaller figures were about to knock on the security door, large spider-like arms quietly sprung out of the ceiling, snatching up the guard behind them as the poor bird tried to call out to the smaller travelers.

His cries for help go unnoticed.

Before anyone knew it, the second week went by. Some of the actors were due their days off, and Julia took this time to calm herself down in Subcon. Of course, now she was worrying about Button being alone. Though thankfully even when the tall girl was off work, Gabriele agreed to check in on the small dweller.

Kero won't be joining this time however, it was his turn again to patrol the swamps. Julia believes he just misses the humid atmosphere.

Now that Julia felt like she had a somewhat leveled head, Thanks to not being near Doppler, she can think in peace and figure some things out. The first thing on her checklist was the flashes she had been having. What was this about a desert, tower, most importantly Zephyr's box prison.

As much as she'd hate to go anywhere near that chest, maybe... maybe she could find some answers around it?

Julia looked around, making sure no one was following her. No minions, no dwellers, not Snatcher either. He must be with Melody and Bonnie. It did seem a little odd that he was deliberately spending time with the girls. She'll have to ask about that later if she remembers, but one problem at a time.

Adjusting her hat, Julia walked forward, stopping for a second to admire the location of where she'd soon have her house... then to what would be her back yard. The shed located there was currently housing the box that the mad jester was in.

MoonJumper thought his daughter wasn't watching him, but boy did she fool him. Curiosity always gets the better of her. Even now.

The shed still needed to be fixed, but it was safe enough to just sit and think.

Standing in the doorframe, she looked at the dreary state of the room. Dusty and dark as expected, but the box sat there untouched by anything. Slowly walking towards the heavily locked chest, Julia stared at it. Looking to see what kind of answers she could get from it.

However it was just a magical box meant for holding, there was nothing else to it. No matter how long she looked at it, it did nothing.

Her on the other hand?

Julia's vision started to unfocus, and she noticed this. Putting a hand to her head she swayed on her feet, desperately trying to hold herself up. The room spun around as Julia inevitably fell to the ground.

No one was around to hear her thud, passed out peacefully in the old shed.

"Button?" Gabriele strolled his way around the maze of boxes and lights, he had been calling out to the dweller child for ten minutes now "dear child, where have you gone?"

Something didn't seem right, it was way too quiet. No giggling, nothing zipping around corners. There was urgency in the doctor's strides now, had something happened?

"GO AWAY!"

A loud voice echoed throughout half of the movie storage, lights flickering, and eventually shattering from an intense electrical anomaly. Leaving the doctor in half-darkness, Gabriele huffed to himself and started running in the direction of where this could have started.

What worried him was that it wasn't directed at him, but at something else.

Julia eventually started moving again, however not in the shed she was just recently in. The girl had woken up to the bright blinding sun, a small breeze every now again, and sand.

A large expanse of sand.

She was in a desert.

"Finally! You've answered my call!"

Julia turned around and the moment she saw a light yellow hair, the girl screamed. Not in a damsel in distress way... more like... a war cry.

The familiar man in robes screamed in fear as Julia charged at him. With a snap of his fingers, the man vanished. Leaving Julia to scream out in frustration.

"Zephyr! You asshole! Fight me like the man you are!" She kicked the sand up, only having to spit some out of her mouth when the wind kicked back.

"I am not Zephyr!" The voice cracked a bit, only to clear his throat and start talking again "Do not mistake me for that... that- circus lunatic!"

The man reappears, only at a distance, weary that the girl would attempt to attack him once more "My name is Allen! I'm a tower wizard of the Golden Gatling gang!" He watched as Julia huffed out, still glaring at him.

"Lies! You're just using an illusion to try and trick me!" She shouted back.

"I am not an illusion!" Allen cried back, desperately trying to persuade her.

"Then let me punch you!" The mad girl held her fists in the air, not attempting to make a move.

"I do not wish to be punched!" The man flinched, even though she didn't move from her spot.

Another exasperated yell until Julia eventually just... fell over in exhaustion. She wasn't planning on this happening, where even was she?! She didn't feel the world open up around her like usual so she couldn't be in a different reality. Julia just felt...

"Tired.." she mumbled to herself, sitting up and thinking more about it when it finally hit her "I'm in a dreamscape."

She glanced up at the nervous man who was attempting to get closer to her, to him it was like trying not to anger a snake. Julia found it hard to believe... was she in Zephyr's head? Was this his realm? This is what he sees?

"Have you... calmed yourself?" This 'Allen' person asked. If he had a stick he'd poke her.

Julia sighed, slowly standing up, and giving this man an annoyed look.

"I don't blame you for acting the way you did, honestly I was expecting some sort of... outburst." He shuffled back, a nervous laugh. Allen sighed "I just wasn't expecting such a fast... reaction."

"Who are you. Really?" Julia stood up, this man was the exact person she saw in her flashes. The man with the sun insignia on yellow or was it golden robes?

"I told you who I am, I'm am Allen, tower wizards, and a gang.. well Ex gang member." He scratched his head "that's a long story for later, but! It's you I've been wanting to meet for such a long, long time!"

The man smiled, circling Julia and inspecting her. He adjusted his yellow rimmed glasses that were cracked, and said: "My have you grown!" He got in her face.

"Hold on, wait!" She pushed his face back, a little weirded out about him now "what is your deal? What's going on here!?"

"Ah- perhaps we should sit somewhere more... comfortable?" Allen waved his hand to follow him, and in the distance, Julia could see this large tower smack center in the middle of nowhere. "It's my home, even though everything here is just a copy of.. what I once had."

The walk was long, but eventually, they had made it to the tower. Julia had never been in a dreamscape that felt so... realistic. It made her nervous for some odd reason.

The sandstone tower was so much cooler then it was outside. "Being trapped in your own head, and knowing it's not real... really gets me sometimes." The Wizard gestured around his home and looked at her with a smile. The building inside had various books and other apparatus that Julia had no idea what did what. "but at least it keeps me busy... I haven't been in control of my body in centuries!"

"In... control?" Julia questioned the man as she sat down at a nice little stone table.

Allen sighed "yes... the one piloting what used to be my body is... Zephyr..." he looked to the attic of his tower, spite in his eyes "my encounter with the moon demon wasn't a lovely one." The man shook his head, sitting down in a hurry "but enough about me for now! I wanted to talk about you!"

Julia was taken aback by the sudden excitement, watching as the wizard sat down with her. The girl was about to say something when she was cut off by excited jabbering.

"What had happened since we first met, how did you do it? Befriend the demon!?" He got up and looked at her again; he looked at her in all angles like she was some sort of book "how are you not dead yet?! How did you develop magic? There are things I've been wanting to know!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Julia held up her hands, telling the wizard to sit down.

Allen immediately held his hands to his side, sitting down. He had another episode as his gang members called it. "Sorry. Habits." He nervously chuckled.

Clearly this man was a little... unstable still, but the thought of her being the only human he's been able to contact in proclaimed 'centuries' was just... sad. Allen just wanted some info, even if it is little, to fill in the gaps he had spent trapped in his own mind by Zephyr.

"On one condition," Julia held up her finger, looking at Allen "you tell me what exactly happened to you..."

"Oh! With pleasure!" Allen was all too happy to oblige.

A wild torrent of electricity flickered around, Gabriele could feel the small threads in his body being pulled by the electromagnetic force. His hat had fallen off, but he was to busy trying to figure out what exactly was happening.

At the corner of a turn, the doctor witnessed a fight. Button was frantically discharging electricity to hit an unseen foe, she was frightened clearly. Gabriele never thought he'd see a dweller with electrical abilities, let alone one with this caliber of power.

Without meaning to, this child could easily kill someone during an outburst just like this. Good thing he was already dead, the least favorable outcome would be getting stuck to a wall.

"Button!" Gabriele shouted, hoping the child would hear him. However, the small dweller did not look his way.

He charged into the open space, refrain from removing the metal objects in his pockets in fear they might just fly away. Once he stepped into the open, Button immediately recognized the doctor, with a cry she zipped down next to him.

The child curled around his neck for comfort, shivering heavily "the monster, it's here!" She quietly whimpered.

Boxes that served as a barrier fell, burned, charred, or slightly smoking. Gabriele immediately took a stance, malice in his voice.

"You." The doctor pointed out, fully intended to protect the child now.

So! I've finally introduced the main problem with Zephyr! It had been a long time coming and the reason behind this certain situation will be interesting. Of course, we also see that Gabriele will be having a bit of trouble himself. Don't have much else to write on the matter, on to the Reviews-

OPFan37: It's alright if your review is late, I don't mind! But I am sorry to hear your having trouble as well, It always does help to just step back for a moment. Take a breather if you have too.

I felt like having more family shots with the trio, might as well! Glad you liked that part. You've been doing great with your downtime moments in your story as well, I liked them quite a lot! This chapter also had a lot of transitioning between Gabriele and Julia, though that will change in the next chapter I belive.. maybe. Still planning stuff out. It's probably obvious who this unknown entity is because of my writing, but I'm still going in for the suspense. With that part in the last chapter- Doppler's ability is by contact, aggressive or not, Julia doesn't want to get touched by him. It definitely was intentional.

This will be all that I shall answer for now. Thank you for leaving a review as always!