*Wow! It took a long time to update this. ;-; Sorry for those of you who keep up with the story and read as soon as I update, but thank you for keeping up with the story! Well, that's all for now. Onto the chapter!*

The monstrous thing stared at me with bright blue eyes. I could see its calm gaze on me. It had black and red skin, the black in vein-like patters on the red. Two horns adorned the top of its head. It was lean, humanoid, and certainly didn't look strong, but something so powerful could not be weak. Six mouths smiled at me out of nowhere, and I took note of the sharp, interlocking teeth. With one where a normal mouth would be, two mouths on each of its arms, one mouth on its chest and one on its stomach, it was truly terrifying.

"Well hello, newcomer," it said, six voices mixing to make a demon's voice. When I wasn't responding, a laugh that sounded like a saw cutting metal reached my ears. "You don't need to be so afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. What's your name?"

"My n-name is Enderbrina."

"I am Zalgo," it said.

When I didn't move, Zalgo took my hand and kissed the back of it. The politeness of Zalgo's actions were surprising. A smile pulled at the corners of my mouth, but my fear kept me in check. I looked around for Slenderman, and felt his presence in the trees, motionless but afraid. He was afraid of Zalgo?

"Yes, he is afraid of me. I am one of the few beings who can defeat him in this world. I came here to ask you a few questions, if that's alright."

"U-um… yeah, I'll answer if I can."

"How did you get here?"

"I don't know."

"Who are you?"

"Well… when I was still in my native home, I was the goddess of my realm, now I'm… a weak immortal living with… Creepypastas."

"A goddess? You must have been quite powerful, much more so than you are now."

I nodded. "I'm happy with what I have now, though."

"What if I promised you'd regain all that power by joining me?"

I was shocked. Was this a trick? It could be… but I was willing to take a risk. I nodded again, going to reach for Zalgo's outstretched hand, but was stopped by a tuxedo. I looked up; Slenderman moved so he was more eye-level with me, and I could tell he was serious.

"If you go with him, we will be enemies once more, and nobody at my mansion will ever accept you again. Stay if you do not wish for that to happen." That was a bit out of character, but I mentally shrugged it off.

I backed up, looking at the two of them. Finally, I spoke to Zalgo. "I need some time to think it over. It's… a lot to decide right away. I was too hasty."

Zalgo's six grins told me he knew what my answer would be. Then, fire consumed him and he was gone, yet there were no burn marks. I wondered if Slenderman had stopped me for any other reason than me leaving so we wouldn't be enemies. Upon receiving no answer, I teleported into my room in his mansion, and settled down under the blankets. Shadow laid beside me and sleep soon took me.

I was back in the forest. Instantly, I knew I was dreaming as I saw myself talking to Zalgo, then reach out to his hand before Slenderman stopped me. Persistent, not-me stepped around Slenderman and went with Zalgo. Years passed, and she returned to the mansion. It was full of Creepypastas in the dream, but they were just silhouettes, as the ones I didn't know yet shouldn't be seen. Even as she got close, I could feel the apprehension and Slenderman's gaze on her as not-me walked in, confident. I could tell she had grown in power and her stance was off, as if she knew what she was doing. Not-me took in the new Creepypastas as Slenderman walked down the stairs. A few words were exchanged, but she seemed ready to strike the entire time. When she turned to walk down the corridor, I saw more mouths on her face. I woke, gasping in fear. Slenderman was in my room, and I gulped as I looked at him, but not meeting his invisible gaze.

"You understand why I stopped you, correct?"

"I do now… Zalgo can go to hell for all I care."

"He lives there."

"Well then he can go to what his version of hell would be," I said, gesturing vaguely. "I'm staying here."

Poof, he was gone. I groaned, putting my face in my hands. Shadow meowed at me, and I gave him some food, sitting up in my bed as I did so. I was running out of convertible items to use for materialization, and decided to go search old abandoned houses for the day. Once Shadow was safely outside, with a cat flap to let him in and out easily, I took off toward the city. One old abandoned house was still standing, but seemed ready to collapse. I wondered if anything of value was inside as I crossed through the doorway. A creak got my attention, and I was quickly on high alert, but made sure I seemed off guard.

"Must be deaf," I heard an unfamiliar voice say quietly.

"Has to be. They didn't hear you," another voice said.

"Great hideout, by the way," the first voice said. At this point I was listening more intently to them; they both seemed to be male voices. "Plenty of people to rob and kill Looks like we got lucky though, its a woman this time. They've usually got plenty of valuables to sell on the black market."

I picked up an old dusty necklace, the soft glow from my white eyes throwing enough light to see it properly. Blowing the dust off it, I held the chain and bit into it. I heard the two voices start murmuring in surprise, but continued to walk through the house and found just small trinkets and minor furnishings. The two presences were distinguishable as one human, one… not so human. I grinned at the human's foolishness, and continued wandering the house. Acting deaf was not difficult; when I reached to top floor, I stopped in the center of the room. Drawing my swords, I looked directly at the two presences, throwing both of them off guard.

"I know you've been following me," I said into the darkness.

"Who are you?"

"You don't need to know."

I grinned, though they probably couldn't see it. I tried reaching out to Slenderman through mental connection, leaning against the wall to seem relaxed. I heard them take a few steps closer, but put up a large shield of telekinesis.

What is it? I am busy with—

I may have found another Creepypasta.

I'll be there in a moment.

It took almost a half hour until Slenderman arrived. I looked up when he finally arrived.

Took you long enough. Can you distinguish who's who?

Easily.

Sure enough, he teleported the non-human away. I felt my thoughts get fuzzy. I knew I was hungry, but so soon? I leapt at the human, pinning them and lopping off their head with my sword. I saw a soul float out from the body, leaving, to where it would rest for eternity. Once the body was mostly gone, I came down from my bloodlust high, and looked down at myself. I was covered in blood. Hopefully this doesn't happen every time… but it seems there's less blood on me than last time. After changing my clothes, I began dematerializing the old house. When I reached the bottom floor, I went into the garage and saw an old, dusty, rusty, green pickup truck there. I dematerialized the truck and garage as well, all the atoms condensing into my dematerialized storage. There was nothing left of the house, it was all mine now, to use how I pleased. I felt Zalgo's presence at the mansion, and teleported into the forest clearing, waiting. Slenderman watched but didn't do anything, I could feel his gaze watching me and Zalgo from the thicket of trees.

"Ah, Enderbrina. It's lovely to see you again. I'd like your answer, now."

"Well… while it would be wonderful to gain all my power back, I've already said I'm happy with what I have. I will be staying here, with Slenderman and the Creepypastas."

"A shame… you would have been a great co-ruler of Hell."

"I don't belong in Hell, nor this world, I belong in Minecraft. Unless I can go back there, I am out of place."

Zalgo's six voices laughed as he left. I felt a bony hand on my shoulder, and knew Slenderman was behind me.

"Good choice. Now, a thank-you gift." Well, that was odd. Why would he give me a gift just for saying no to Zalgo?

"I don't need anything from you."

"Just take it, Night Hunter."

Darkness rose up from the ground, forming a humanoid figure, and held out a clear orb to me that looked like glass. I went to take it, not knowing what it was, but as soon as I made contact with it, it was gone and I felt a rush of power. I turned around to face him, ready to fight. He had simply moved a few paces away, staring back at me.

"Why did you—"

"Zalgo promised you power. You were tempted even if you would become my enemy, and forfeit our alliance by doing so. You said no even though you wished to say yes, and so I wanted Darkness to give back some of the power it had been taking from you."

"Oh… well, thank you… I don't know what else to say. Thank you too, Darkness."

You're quite welcome. He made a good point that I was not helping you by taking your power away once it got to a certain point. I still will, but through good deeds for your friends, you'll earn a little back each time.

And with enough I might finally be able to go home…

I looked up, Slenderman was gone. I took a moment to measure my new height of power. Surprisingly, my no-limits materialization was back, and my healing ability was as well. It wouldn't take energy to create things anymore, and for that I was glad; I could definitely help them with that in many ways. My healing would take nearly twice as much energy as usual, but I could still use it. Teleporting back to the living room, Sally was playing a board game with Laughing Jack. I went to sit on the sofa, but I noticed a small trail of glitter on it. As it turned out, it wasn't glitter, it was scales from my tail. Remembering the dragon-like appendage, I grew the wings that went with it first, then the tail itself. After collecting and storing the scales in my pockets, I wondered if my shapeshifting would ever return, as my wings and tail didn't require that; they were a part of me that I chose to have or not.

"Hey, Enderbrina. How was your day?"

"Hi, EJ. Slenderman convinced Darkness to give back some of my power. Now I can materialize freely again."

"Sounds like a good thing. How about we celebrate with a movie?"

"Only if it's a scary movie!"

"I heard movie! What are we watching," Jeff yelled from the doorway. "And why?"

I grinned, and materialized a brand-new knife, it was small and easily concealable. I tossed it to him, and made one for Jane as well. I was in a very giving mood after getting my materialization back. For LJ I materialized a giant lollipop, who sat back on the sofa, his sharp teeth breaking into the candy with ease. Distributing everyone's favorite candy and snack was easy, even when it came to Sally. Ben came in the room last and — as I now knew he liked video games — I materialized a sword made of crystals that looked like diamonds for him, making sure it would be light enough to handle.

"A movie night?"

I looked at Slenderman, who was standing next to me, as I was at the end of the sofa. "Yeah, I told EJ and he said we should celebrate."

He teleported away again.

"I always remember how annoying that is every time he does it."

"The internet calls it Slender-walking. While we don't know how his works, do you mind telling us how yours works?"

The previews on the movie disc were on. Ignoring the previews, I explained. "Well, I've heard that there are theories on the internet that we run super fast, but that doesn't explain the sound we make when we do teleport."

"I've never heard you make a sound when you teleport."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry, I know what she's talking about, EJ. Here, I'll put on a video," Ben helpfully added, looking at his computer screen. "Oh, and thanks for the sword. It's cool."

"At home they were much more amazing than you can imagine."

"I've seen you swing a sword before, but that was in-game. Oh, found it!" We listened to the sound.

"Huh, that's an odd sound."

"Right? So what really happens is we imagine a place we want to be, and quite literally, we appear there, gone from where we were before. The only reason I can remember this place is because as an immortal, so I remember everything. So that means from the time my long-term memory was able to store information, I've remembered every moment I've experienced. Granted, I wasn't a goddess right away… but that's a story for another time. Let's watch the movie."

I sat back, and looked up at the TV screen. I jumped a little at the scary parts, not used to horror movies. It was over too quickly, but I still found it enjoyable. I was still wide awake when I went to my room for the night, so I turned on the light and hopped into my bed, sitting up. Shadow looked at me, interested why I wasn't trying to sleep.

What are you doing? Don't you usually sleep at this time?

Yes Shadow, that is the normal routine for me. I'm just not sleepy tonight.

I spent a while thinking about my previous home, wondering if I would ever have the courage to go back if I was ever given the option. I didn't notice Ben walk through my door right away, jumping when he cleared his throat.

"Oh, hey Ben."

"I couldn't sleep," he said sheepishly. "I was playing with the sword. Kinda heavy."

"I'll try to make it lighter," I said, taking the sword from him. I smiled, it was a lot less heavy than I thought it would be. "Seems I'm just physically stronger, Ben. You should work out more, noodle-arms."

"Haha, you're so funny."

"I'm serious. I could help if you wanted. I mean, if you kill me, so be it. Just the water is my weakness, so try to go easy on that."

"Sure…"

"Why do you have water anyway, if you uh…"

"Drowned? It's a long story."

"We have all night," I offered, patting a spot on my bed beside me. "Come on, we're supposed to be buds. You can tell me."

It was nearly sunrise when Ben finished his story. I knew it was no tall tale, his expressions had been too real for it to be a bad dream or something like that. Just the way he looked as well was enough for me to believe it. He had been taken fishing with his father, but when they got out to the deepest part of the lake, his father pushed him overboard and held him under.

"You'd never guess what kind of family I came from. Heh… it's hard to believe given my evil disposition."

"Let's see… did your parents beat you?"

"Never."

"Did they abuse you mentally?"

"Nope. We all loved each other. However, malnourishment… does things to your body. I was bullied in school, though. People called me anorexic. I had a few friends, and they would give me their lunch food as they usually weren't hungry at lunch. Then one day, it all… stopped. If I sat with anyone at school, everyone would move away. I was treated awful. It wasn't until I started hearing footsteps behind me after school that I began to understand. I was being stalked, and nobody wanted to get too attached to me so they wouldn't be hurt by losing me. My parents became my only friends, and then… I was appointed to become goddess of The End. I didn't want it then… now, sometimes I find myself wishing I could go back."

"I wish I could do something. I'm pretty good with computers and use them to terrorize and travel, but… going into a program on one is something I've tried every possible way and haven't managed to do it, except for the Legend of Zelda, but that's different."

"It'll happen someday… I know it will, I just don't know when, nor where I'll go."

"Well, I guess we'll find out."

"Yeah…"

The sun was slowly making its way into the sky. Ben left me alone in my room, so I got up and went to the living room. The only other person up that early that day was Eyeless Jack, and his masked face turned toward me as I walked in and sat in my usual seat. I stared back at him.

"Hey."

"Good morning, EJ. Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all, ask me."

"How do you see without eyes?"

"How do you see with eyes that have no irises or pupils, and that also glow?"

"I don't see the glow, for one, unless I'm looking in a mirror. Second, my irises and pupils are white like the rest of my eyes. So, you?"

"His power."

"Zalgo?"

"How'd you find out about him?"

"Ever since I've appeared here it seems every last being wants to know about me. I hate all the attention now. Anyway, he approached me and told me I'd gain back all the power I once had if I joined him. I had a dream where I did join him, years passed, and I came back to find many more Creepypastas occupied the mansion, though they were silhouettes, besides you guys that I know. When the dream moved to let me see myself, I had two more mouths, here, and here." I poked my cheeks, where my jaw hinged. "I woke to find Slenderman in my room and made my decision right there and then to stay."

"Not many can say no to Zalgo. You should consider yourself lucky he gave you a choice."

"I do consider myself lucky."

"So… what does it feel like to have wings and a tail?"

"They make me a slightly bigger target, but I can fly with them and my tail is an extra weapon."

"Sounds fun."

"You wanna go for a quick fly?" EJ went silent, I could tell he was feeling something other than interest. I waited, wondering what he'd say. Finally, I asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No… no, let's go."

"Okay, well, I have the ability of telepathy, so we will be able to talk even if we go up really high."

I got up and went outside, taking hold of his forearm as I began to lift off from the ground, beating my wings against the air harder than usual, having to lift more than just myself.

"You're heavy," I complained. "I'm not used to this much weight…"

Eventually we rose into the air, and I took his other arm, going up high where I'd be able to relax on the updrafts that would keep me aloft, along with EJ. I felt his grip on my forearms tighten as he looked down from the height. Using telekinesis, I bound our arms together so he wouldn't fall, and steered us toward the city, flying over it.

"I don't think I've ever been up this high… not even when I've been in a plane."

"We might have a bit of a rough landing. You're much heavier than Sally, and I wouldn't dare carry you like I did her. Also, I've bound our forearms together so we won't get separated until we are safely on the ground again, but keep holding on anyway."

I felt his death-grip loosen and let circulation through my arms again. I couldn't hover, so I glided in an updraft that was going the opposite way we were as best as I could, until I heard EJ say something.

Sorry, what?

Let's go back. This is great and all, but I want to feel solid ground under my feet again.

Okay, if we start falling really fast, don't panic, it's just to get us down faster.

Alright.

I steered for the mansion and the forest, folding my wings just enough so we began a quick descent. Once we were plenty close enough but still far from the ground, I threw my wings out again, considerably slowing us down and began beating my wings to slowly lower EJ to the ground. I released the telekinetic bonds, and set down on the ground myself, rubbing my arms.

"Gah! My wings are already sore…"

"I'm stronger than I look. Muscle weighs more than fat."

"You must be really muscular under all that black, baggy clothing then."

I stretched my wings, folding and unfolding them behind my back. EJ wasn't responding, and I tilted my head a bit, his blue mask was just facing toward me.

"Uh… are you okay, EJ?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the uh… experience. I'm hungry, gonna go grab some… liver or something."

He walked into the mansion, and I wondered if he was afraid of heights and hadn't told me. Creepypastas had fears, right? Like myself, I feared betrayal by close friends.

He enjoyed that, Darkness said to me. I think this merits a minuscule amount of power.

I felt my power rise by a spark, so I thanked Darkness, and went inside. It started raining during breakfast, which turned my mood sour. I would have gone flying all day, but weather just didn't agree with me that day. Poking at my breakfast, I thought of things to do with my day. I wasn't always in a mood to go kill, like most of the others, and then an idea hit me. Did Ben play video games since he knew me so well, or did he just like them? That was likely the thing he had been holding at Sally's birthday party; some sort of game. I could feel someone throwing glances my way almost throughout breakfast. I heard Jeff bickering with Jane, and a stray knife flew my way. I stopped it, and slowly returned it to its thrower, Jane, who looked at me as if she had never seen me before. I had barely touched the pancakes Slenderman had so kindly made for us, so I continued eating them before they got cold.

"Why don't you have any maple syrup on your pancakes, Endybrina," Sally asked.

"Hmm? What's maple syrup?"

"It's tree sap, from maple trees, and turned into a food item by a process," Slenderman said helpfully. One of his tentacles held out a small, clear bottle of it. "I make sure to only get the real maple syrup since we don't have pancakes too often. If you like sweets, you will certainly enjoy this."

I took the small glass bottle and looked at the dark amber liquid inside it. Shrugging, I poured a little on my pancakes before setting down the bottle and putting the cover back on. Sally looked at me, excited, as I took a bite of the syrup-coated pancake. It was indeed sweet, but had a very distinct taste. It tasted like burning maple wood smelled, almost. I gave a thumbs-up and Sally left, happy.

"You'd never guess she was a traumatized little four-year old at one point," I heard EJ murmur softly. "Slenderman truly is one hell of a guy. Any woman would be lucky to have him, if she wasn't human."

"You're a great guy too, EJ."

EJ stood up, took his mostly-eaten liver with him, and left to his room.

"What did I say?"

"I believe I understand what is happening. However, it is better if you go to EJ and ask him, Night Hunter."

"Would you stop with the 'Night Hunter' crap? I hate that name now! I didn't even come up with it."

I heard a dark chuckle from Slenderman as his shoulders shook a little. It sounded scarier than it should have, and I finished my breakfast before quickly excusing myself, having been the last one at the table. Two tentacles caught my ankles and I scrabbled at the floor.

"Let me go!"

I was instantly covered, fully constricted by his tentacles, and forced to look at him. I continued to struggle, wiggling my entire body so he would let me go.

"Yet you let them use it. Why is that, hm?"

"Because for once, the humans didn't run away screaming in terror, or pay me way too much respect that I didn't even earn! They ACCEPTED me for who I was!"

"But not what you are. Here at my mansion, all those considered outcasts by humans are allowed here, and accepted as well."

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, stopping my struggle. "Please let me go about my day."

"Better. You will get it in time."

His tentacles unraveled from me. I said a quick thanks and left. Not being able to order anyone around was actually more of a relief than anything, but it was also hard not to do after doing so for what, two hundred years?

You've lived quite a while then, Enderbrina. I would have expected you to know more.

Where I come from, maple trees are a rarity, and are supposed to be good luck if one is found in the wild. A superstition, but it is nice to find one anyway.

I walked to EJ's room and knocked on the door, hoping to get some answers from him. When he opened the door, he closed it again and I heard some banging and rustling of cloth, then the door opened again and I stepped into a relatively clean, hospital-like room with a hospital bed. It had cuffs on each corner of the bed and a strap in the middle.

"Hi," I heard him say. "Sorry about breakfast, I didn't mean to make you feel awkward if I did…"

"Um, actually I came to talk to you about that. You've been acting weird."

"I have, I know. I don't know why."

"So we're both lost then. Great…"

We were silent for a moment. I wanted to ask him about his mask, so I did.

"Um, EJ, why do you always wear a mask," I asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Doesn't it, I dunno, get in the way, sometimes?"

"Sometimes it gets in the way when I eat. Other than that its not doing anything unhelpful for me."

"Huh… okay well, I'm gonna go. See you later."

I turned but heard him set down the beer bottle and get up. I didn't give him a chance to open the door for me, teleporting out before he could. I went to my room and sat down on my bed, looking at the room. Color coded like my old room in my castle. Sighing, I laid back on my bed, not much of the day had gone by, and I remembered Ben. I wondered if any of his games would suit the younger, action-loving girl within me. I teleported into his room, making him jump and throw something at me. I caught it, and looked at the thing in my hands. It was oddly shaped, two handles and a panel with different buttons.

"Enderbrina! Don't just do that!"

"Sorry… I didn't mean to scare you. Um… could I play a game with you, maybe?"

"Tell me all the games you've ever played, and which ones are your favorites."

I began rattling off the many games, naming my favorites, and then gave him an expecting look when I was done. He had a smile on his face, shoved the controller into my hands again, and moved to his laptop that he always seemed to have. He began typing away at the keyboard; I waited, not sure what he was doing. A confused look came over his face when it was done, and I heard a muttered "really" as he began typing again.

"Huh… okay, let's just play the game I was playing before."

"That was fun, Ben, but I'm going to go to sleep…"

"Oh, sure. Sleep well, I guess."

"You never sleep?"

"I'm a ghost, don't need sleep."

"Right…"

I teleported to my room, wanting to sleep. The day may have been rainy, but there had been enough to keep me occupied. I smiled, maybe living in Slenderman's fancy new mansion wasn't so bad after all. Just gotta take this one day at a time, I guess.

I was too tired to notice a certain being in the shadows of my room that night.

*I wonder who the being is!? We'll have to wait and see in the next chapter! In the meantime, maybe you could favorite, or follow, or review my story? I have lots more to come, I promise! Alright, that's all for this chapter! Bye!*