Humans are wired to fear the unknown. That's why uncertainty…can feel nerve-racking, exhausting, and even debilitating. However, that gut reaction leads people to miss a crucial fact: Uncertainty and possibility are two sides of the same coin.

Narrator: "How to Overcome Your Fear of the Unknown by Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr seeks to motivate its readers in finding their footing when facing unpredictable elements and overcoming their fear. However, not many books cover the concept of facing eldritch monsters beyond our imaginations—especially ones that can look especially enchanting."

There was something that a lot of kids who grow up in houses with basements would agree on, and that was the fact that the basement was the scariest place of them all.

Sure, plenty would make it their personal haven to chill; maybe add a couch and some pillows, some lightings, even a TV if they wanted to. But when it was high time to turn the lights off, one can imagine a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, with a chain attached that had to be pulled to turn it on and off. And once the lights are gone, it was dark and creepy.

Practically all kids hated that. They'd be clambering up the stairs right off the bat. Pretty sure everyone had gone through that experience.

Now, for our little hero here, who has never actually gotten the experience of a basement as other kids do, the intrinsic fear of the darkness underground hadn't gotten to him. Really, he didn't mind the darkness. If anything, all it reminds him of is when he plays hide-and-seek with Ophis (and man, is she good at the game).

So really, he trudged down to the bottom of the stairs with the courage of a soldier. Undaunted, he proceeded to find the lights and turned it on. And he had only one thing to say.

This place… was dirty!

'Mom would be horrified if she found this in someone's house,' he thought with a sweat-drop. 'And it's apparently in our house! How'd we miss this?'

Really, though, he felt like he should've known this house from top to bottom. How many times has he played all around the house and explored every crook and nanny for the sake of hide-and-seek? He'd pretty much had the entire layout memorized in his head like… like… ehh, he can't think of something.

So he was absolutely positive… somewhat positive that this basement never used to be here before. If it was, he would've definitely remembered coming here—and he'd probably come here so much to play games in here. This would totally make for a cool game room!

Or a storage room, realistically. Seriously, what was up with every house having too many things that even a storage room wouldn't be enough? Like, sheesh.

Issei took a look around the basement, humming in curiosity. The ceiling and walls were angled in a pretty strange way, with wooden beams supporting the ceiling and honest-to-goodness stone bricks making up the walls. A bunch of books were piled up here and there, with some shelves housing some more. There was even a wooden chair with snapped legs on the floor, and a bird cage hanging from the ceiling.

But the weirder thing, he thought, was the smell. Like, you'd think that a forgotten room would smell musky and dusty, but this one was more pungent. Maybe someone left behind their garbage in here? Or mouldy cheese.

And the strange drawings on the walls… What were those? One looked like a spade; the kind in those card games. And was it drawn there with ink?

Reaching over to touch the drawing, it felt cold on his fingertips. And he couldn't feel a single smudge or unevenness on the symbol. 'Huh. Maybe it's graffiti. Spraypainted,' he paused with that thought, then shrugged. 'Yeah, I don't know. Could be anything.'

Stepping away from the symbol, Issei began checking the rest of the basement, wondering if there was anything else to find here. There was pretty much nothing around here, though for all those books in the shelves and on the floor, he wondered what they were. They're pretty thick, after all.

"Man. To think I'd find this place…" He looked left and right, and then came upon a conclusion. "Yosh! Time for some spring cleaning!"

Now, there was one thing to be said about a boy who grew up in a household like the Hyoudou's. Young that he may be, the concept of working hard had been drilled into his head long ago, if only because laziness meant making Mom mad, and Mom being mad was scary.

But he understood that he wasn't especially built for all the hard work. He's only six after all (seven soon!), and he was pretty short, so there was no way he could go around carrying buckets and brooms and finishing all of this in a day.

So, at the very least, he could do the simple jobs; dusting up the place, arranging the books, and cleaning up whatever he could.

Feeling more determined than ever, he went back upstairs to grab a facemask and some cleaning utensils. No one else noticed. Everyone else were probably still planning for his birthday, so that would give him all the time needed to clean up the basement on his own for now.

"Yosh!" He yelled out. "Let's do this!"

Mom used to call cleaning fun. And while Issei wasn't as good as she was at it, he kind of agreed with her, watching as all the cobwebs in the ceiling were taken down and the books put back into their appropriate place. He even brought out a used rag and sanitizer (one could forgive him for his lack of understanding of the appropriate tools, but one's got to use whatever they could get) to remove the drawings from the walls.

Now that he thought about it, if drawing these things on the wall was considered art, wouldn't cleaning be a kind of art on its own too? Sort of like, uhh, a reverse art! Yeah! Sure, it undid all the previous work, but if undoing things is the point to make everything clean, and it did involve some technique, couldn't it be considered a kind of art?

Issei paused with that thought, then shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "Could be right, could be not! All I'm here for is cleaning~!"

Continuing to whistle as he kept up his cleaning, Issei stopped after a while to take a look around the area. He had a grin on his face, relatively happy with how things have turned out. Sure, there was still a lot of work to be done, but any progress made is a good thing.

And, as the word goes, little by little until you have a mountain. Or something like that. Maybe he got it wrong.

In any case, the only thing left to do now was maybe dust off the bookshelves and clean up the books. Some of them looked pretty interesting; mostly journals of things he didn't understand, because they had plenty of weird drawings and symbols he didn't recognize.

"Ooh. This one is interesting," he said out loud, grinning as he flipped the pages. "Allows you to achieve a state of enlightenment and eliminate all concerns. Fancy."

Now that he thought about it, all the books here had details about all kinds of crazy stuff. Nothing that he understood, though, because none of them were in Japanese. A lot of drawings and sketches, though. Super cool. Some were done with paint, while others were mostly pencil-drawn.

Another book had drawings of eyeballs, cats, and squids. This other book had weird squiggly symbols which he felt other kids had made. And another was blue. Like, really really blue.

Making sure to wipe down each book properly, he then had to decide on how he was going to arrange them on the shelves; alphabetically, or colour-coded. Like, wouldn't it be cool to have the books arranged as a gradient? From red to orange to yellow, and then more…

Something shook. Something fell on the ground. Issei perked up, spotting a fallen book on the floor. Something else rattled. Issei's head gazed in the general direction of the source, but all he could see was absolute darkness. The corners of the ceiling, the edges of the wall, the cracks in the floor; felt like everything was completely black, and he couldn't see anything.

"Hello?" Calling out to the empty room seemed pretty useless, but if there was someone or something in here, then he might as well try call out for it. "Is anyone there?"

Nothing answered.

He sighed. Could've been a rat or something, which would be pretty worrying since that meant this place could be really unhygienic. Rats spread disease, after all. When Mom gets back, he'd have to tell her about this. They might need to call the exterminators. Or ask Dad, but Dad was kind of a scaredy cat like that—

Something roared to life. Issei's brown eyes widened, and all he saw was something dark rushing aside. His head followed the trajectory…

And before his very eyes, something emerged from the sea of black.

The boy gasped, stepping backwards as his head slowly leaned upwards and upwards as he followed the rising figure, the blackness of shadows draped on their person like mud clinging to someone's body. The more it emerged, the more he could tell that it was a person, the lining of the silhouette curving in an almost feminine way.

And out from the shadows… the face of a smiling woman stared back.

"Good morning!"

The shadows dripped off of her body like water, and eventually her entire being was revealed in its entirety. She was a woman, for sure; there was no mistaking the long hair and the feminine features. She was beautiful, he'd easily admit that.

But was she human? There was no way. For what human possessed hair that squirmed about like snakes in the air, as black as a moonless night? Or the pale skin that borderline coloured white? Or the legs ended with hooves that looked more fitting on a horse? And the pair of horns that stuck out of her head…

Issei stared her in the eyes, mouth wide. He'd thought this basement was odd enough, but he didn't think that he'd end up meeting someone like this down here.

The woman giggled, looking amused. "My, my. Speechless, aren't we?" Her eyes bore down on him, as if searching his soul. "Go on. Find your words, little boy. Say what you wish to say."

He realized that he was stammering, unknowing of what to say. What could he possibly say to her? The being before him, exuding this strange pressure that felt no less heavy than it was powerful, threatened to swallow him. Yet he stood his ground all the same, unable to look away.

Nothing made sense. Nothing was supposed to exist. Nothing was meant to be like this.

The human mind, when confronted with an existence far greater and a presence so terrifying—so powerful—would so often find itself failing. Such was simply because it, for how impressive it was when compared to the brains of other species, still could not hope to comprehend everything in the world. And for such creatures who dwelled in the realm beyond logic and meaning, it was just too much.

"It's…"

"It's?"

His lips felt dry. His body felt heavy. His head hurt.

[At ease, boy. Just take a deep breath, and calm down.]

Calm down? That's… Actually, yeah. He could do that. Mom always said that a calm mind was one prepared to face the world. Dramatic, but on a smaller scale, that person would be good to go to deal with any situation.

Better yet, who was that voice that spoke to him? Issei almost wanted to call out for him, but he decided otherwise. So, with his eyes closed, he took a deep breath, then let it out. And then his eyes opened, and he said the thing that he wanted to tell her.

"It's, uh, afternoon actually."

Well. Of all the things he could have said, that was not it.

The demoness blinked, watching as the boy standing before her rubbed the back of his neck, having already averted her gaze—but, not out of fear, as she initially expected. She'd seen that in his gaze moments ago, but that had disappeared now. All that was left was… awkwardness.

"Is that so?" She hummed, smiling once more. "Well, good afternoon, then."

"Um, yeah. Good afternoon!"

She laughed in return. Looks like he wasn't afraid anymore, was he? Impressive. "Well, aren't you a polite little boy. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Issei. Issei Hyoudou."

"Oh? And what do they mean?"

"Uhh. I think Issei means 'honest', and Hyoudou is… soldier," the boy deadpanned. "But I don't really wanna' be a soldier, though. Or a policeman. They sound tough, and scary."

"And what would you rather be?"

"I don't know! I'll think about it when I'm a little older. I'm still six," and then, he beamed at her. "But I'll be seven in a few more days! Another year older!"

"Really? You're much younger than I expected. And rather brave," her smile widened. "I've met many a person, and they tend to kneel or scream when they see me. Faced with you… you're quite different."

"Are you someone scary?"

Ah, what a simple question. She found herself remembering every event in her life—of all her interactions with humans before this one, often times ending with them in tears—before she nodded back. "You could say that. And seeing that you aren't afraid… you don't really know who I am, do you?"

"I don't. In fact, I don't even know what this basement is! I mean, we've lived here since before I was even born, and my parents don't even know if there's a basement here! Do you live here?"

"I don't. If anything, I was kept here… but no longer," her eyes closed. Her breath halted. Her shadows danced. "You humans have called me many things—a demon, a goddess, a monster. I am perhaps all of that and many more; the Black Sheep of the Woods, rearing a Thousand Young. And I will grant you what you wish for, in exchange for what you treasure most."

As she said that, her hooves clacked on the floor, reflecting off the walls of the basement. Her hair danced in the air, almost alive—and she felt exactly that. Powerful, within this realm of hers, adorned by shadows and rich with miasma.

That is what she is. A being of unspeakable power, originating from beyond the stars and now existing in the material plane to witness the life of mankind. Perhaps a wish granter, but also a taker of lives, rights and the most important things to the people who seek her out.

Many would call her evil, but for something given, there must be something taken in return. Such is the nature of barter. Such is the natural order of things. Such is how life can go.

Really now, they were all so greedy. Many would beg and plead for something, but they weren't prepared to sacrifice something in return? Many would give away their time to hone their craft, and others would give away riches to earn power. This was simply the same, albeit on a grander scale, ultimately respecting the concept of bartering. Simply ignoring that principle was ignorant.

And now… now that she woken up from her slumber, centuries since her last summoning, she was prepared to fulfil her role once more.

And so, she stood before the boy, her eyes stared him down, awaiting his next words like a chancellor awaiting his king's demands. His dream, his wish, his one thing that he sought to achieve, and that which she could grant him…

"Ohh… Thanks, but no thanks."

The Black Sheep, smile frozen, blinked.

"Eh?"

"Mom told me to never accept things from strangers," the little boy said in a matter-of-factly tone, nodding to himself. "Like how you shouldn't take candy from strangers. Otherwise, they might drag you into a white van and drive away. Scary."

"Er. Are we strangers though? We literally know each other's names."

"…You're not wrong," he smiled. "But I'm good, miss. I don't really need anything."

"Really?" She quirked a brow, in disbelief. "Nothing at all? There are plenty of things that you can't get in life, but I can give it to you if you so desire."

"I mean, I know these kinds of things. In movies, people usually ask for stuff like power, or knowledge, or money. But if you study hard, you can become smarter. And when you're smart, you can get a good job, and that means you make a lot of money. And if you work hard, you'll get to a higher position, so it's more 'power'. So yeah! You can get anything with some elbow grease!"

The Black Sheep almost recoiled at how brightly he was smiling. Goodness! It literally felt like he was shining like a lightbulb!

Moreso was the fact that each word was spoken without an inflection of mockery; if anything, it felt like he was simply reciting some kind of natural fact, sounding happy rather than insulting. It was hard to feel upset with that.

Still, the Black Sheep frowned, never having been in a position of being rejected. Technically, it would be much simpler not having to fulfil a wish, but being told that she didn't have to do it by someone felt… odd.

This was the only job she's ever had her whole life, and to suddenly be denied the opportunity to carry it out was a little wounding to her pride. She couldn't just let it end here!

"In any case, I guess I should be going first—"

"Wait!" He paused right as he was about to turn around. "I… Well, I will agree that you brought up all good points," her hair slithered in the air. "But it is as I asked; what would you want?" She smiled once more, crouching low so that she could look at him eye-to-eye. "Anything at all. It doesn't have to be power, or riches, or knowledge if you don't want them. It can be anything."

"Anything?"

"Mmhm! Anything. Just say the word, and I will make it happen."

"Hmm… World peace?"

Her smile faltered. "That's, um. A little difficult."

"Yeah, I guess so. Plus, you said I'd have to give you something in return. And I'd be afraid of giving away what I like…"

"Well, it can be anything."

"But I don't wanna'!" He pouted back. "The only things that matter to me is Mom and Dad! And Ophis and Lucy, and Mister Lizard."

"Mister Lizard..? Ah, I mean. I assume they're your family?"

"Yep! They're the best!" He cheered. "Mom and Dad are super smart, and they're the best parents you could ask for. Ophis is my little sister, and she's super cute. Likes to eat a lot too, but that's part of her charm. Lucy's our pet dog, and she's super smart for being a dog! And Mister Lizard is grumpy, but he's such a good listener! And, and, he even liked my drawing!"

The more he rambled about his family, the more she felt bad about considering taking one of them away from him. He clearly loved each and every one of them, and though she'd conducted such trades before—a greedy father readily sacrificed his own daughter for untold riches. He died poor, deathly sick and alone at the end of his road—the guilt from doing the same here would be too much.

She sighed. Seriously, what was wrong with her? Something like this shouldn't be too difficult! She'd done this plenty of times before!

"Is there anything else that you treasure most?"

"Something else..? Well, there's Irina."

"Irina?"

"My best friend. We used to play together before," and then his smile fell a little, looking weak. "But then he moved away a few months ago. I miss him…"

Aaah..! She felt so bad! Why did he have to look so pitiful like this? Like a puppy kicked down!

"But it's okay. I get that he had to move because his dad has important business over in Inggeland," England? Goodness, that really is far. She couldn't imagine how disheartening it would have been to know his best friend would go someplace he could never find them again.

"Are you lonely?"

"I was," he admitted. "But not anymore. I've got everyone here."

"That's good," she sighed, relieved way more than she'd expected herself to be. "I suppose it might sound odd coming from me, but make sure to cherish them, alright? They're important to you, after all."

And how many people in the past who had despised her for taking away their loved one from them, despite her warnings? They had agreed to it readily. They had offered their blood, yet the moment the deal was struck, they pointed their fingers at her and cursed her name.

Foolish.

She had never made a deal without taking anything in return, and she'd always given them a second chance to back out or think of another option. It was their own fault for being so headstrong about things and allowing things to go that way.

Well, at least Issei wasn't like that. She couldn't sense any lies from him whatsoever, and his aura radiated a pure, gentle tone. Nothing could convince her that the child was evil in the slightest.

Still, she pouted, it didn't change the fact that there wasn't anything that he was asking of her. Now she wanted to do it just so that she could reward him. Then again, the rule of taking some in exchange was still intact. Aaah, what to do..?

"Okay okay okay, let's talk about this properly, okay? Just one chance."

"Sure. But in return, could you help me? I'm not tall enough to reach the top of the shelves, and I wanna' wipe them off too."

The request was an unexpected one, but the Black Sheep found herself smiling warmly at him. "Sure thing."

And so, with the two of them working together, they were able to make quick work of the place. Granted, the Black Sheep felt a little touched; this was the place where she had last slept, and it had somewhat fell to ruin during the long years she slumbered. Everything just gradually got dirtier over time.

But seeing everything being cleaned up right now was rather nice. And look! Issei was arranging all the books on the shelf like a rainbow! Aww!

She hid her giggle behind her hand, feeling her hair slither about as they easily put away the books in their proper place. Really, who would have thought that the first thing she'd be doing after all the years she'd been asleep was cleaning up her sleeping place?

'Sort of like cleaning my own house. Which it technically is… which is pretty sad, now that I think about it.'

"Oh yeah, miss. I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes Issei?" She looked over to him, eyes widening at the sight of him carrying five books all at once. "Ah!" She quickly rushed over to him, picking them off his arms. "Come now, let me help. No need to carry so many at once."

"Sorry. Forgot to ask for help," he giggled back. Oh, that smile of his was just a dear. "Anyways, I was thinking. When you say you could do anything, what can you do?"

"Hmm? Well, anything that you can imagine," she waved her hand in the air. "I suppose it would be silly to say anything, since I couldn't even grant you the world peace like you first asked, but anything else should be possible. I can create things, make things happen, change things…"

"Huh. What about, like, giving a person something that's, uhh… You know. Peculiar."

"…Do you know what that word means?"

"It means awesome!"

She had to keep herself from chuckling at that. "It means strange. But yes, anything should be possible, although it can't be vague. As example, your request for world peace can mean many things, which means you have to be very specific with what you want to happen or get."

"…Okay then."

Okay, okay! They were getting somewhere! The Black Sheep could very well tell that Issei was actually warming up to the idea the longer they spoke. Just as she wanted! The creature beamed, happy enough that things were slowly coming to fruition.

"Um… Then, I think I know what I want."

Oh! Already? This was much sooner than she'd expected. He'd been rather nonchalant about things, though maybe that was just part of being a child. They were an impressionable lot, and easily convinced if done right.

"Then by all means, Issei. I shall make your wish come true. You have my word," she touched her chest, smiling. "For I am the Black Sheep of the Woods, rearing a Thousand Young."

"Okay. Then my wish…" Brown eyes looked up to her. "Then I want a big family."

…What?

Blinking, still smiling, the Black Sheep tried to understand what he'd just said, only to realize that everything she heard wasn't mistaken. He'd said that with full intent and completely aware of his phrasing.

Well. That's, um, quite something.

'I-I mean, he is a male of his species, so it's not odd that he'd want to consider the future of his kin… But isn't this especially early?!'

Great. Now this was a dilemma if she'd ever heard one. After all, most humans would only consider getting a family when they're waaay up there. Like, when they feel like they've already gotten a good job and feel emotionally prepared to actually start a family. Considering it this early feels a bit too much.

Even so, this is the human race. And humans could be rather proactive when it came to actively increasing their numbers. So for Issei to be considering it was…

She shook her head. No no no! This was just too early, no matter how she thought about it! He should at least be twenty, or even twenty-five! Or is that still too early?! Urgh! She didn't know!

"Um, Issei," she smiled weakly. "Before we get ahead of ourselves, mind telling me why, exactly, do you want a big family?"

"It's because Mom and Dad would be so much happier," the answer was almost immediate, and it had her pausing as she watched him look away, hands on his waist. "Mom told me that I should have had two older siblings, but they didn't make it. It was a long time ago anyways, and I only know because dad told me once. And he said that, if they were still alive, then our family would have been really lively and fun."

"That's…"

"And I know how happy Mom and Dad were when we adopted Ophis—she's my little sister, by the way. And since you're not human, I guess I can tell you that she isn't too," at her surprised expression, he simply grinned back. "Yep! She's a dragon. A really cool one. Mom and Dad didn't mind, and I like having Ophis with us. And Mom and Dad love her a lot, so I'm sure they'd be even happier with more family."

That was… Wow. Of all the explanations she could have received, that was the last one she would have seen coming.

And it put things into perspective, understanding that his desire for a bigger family was solely for the sake of giving his parents more joy. It was so simple and so innocent, she almost couldn't believe it.

"So yeah. That's the idea. What do you think?"

"I…" Words failed her for a moment, but just as he had spoken from the heart, she found herself speaking just as genuinely. "It's a wonderful thing."

"Mmhm. Oh, but that doesn't mean I want my older siblings to come back to life!" He suddenly cried out. "Mom and Dad are okay with it. They said God took them away because they were loved, and they were brought up to Heaven to be by His side. So, like, maybe something else."

Ahh, so thoughtful… She was actually considering bringing them back the moment he'd explained his reasons, but now she couldn't let it happen. She wouldn't dare stomp down on these people's sentiments like that.

And what a strange thing that was. Before, she would have never really minded that much, yet here she was, taking his feelings into consideration. Isn't that strange?

"So, by all accounts, does that mean you want new family members?"

"Uhh. Actually, yeah! That's it!" He nodded. "Do you know how to make that happen?"

Hmm. A good question. Technically, with her ethereal powers, she could make just about anything, though they would probably be illegal and forbidden if judged by human laws, so she supposed she would have to consider safer options for his sake.

Alright then. How was she going to go about this? Issei had finally revealed his wish, and she wanted to make it come true, no matter how difficult it would be!

'Okay, okay. So, I could technically create new individuals to fill the roles, though I'd certainly want to know just what relationships they would then have with Issei. Judging by that… Hmm…'

Well, so far, he had his parents and an adopted little sister. That opened up possibilities for many other roles like brothers and an older sister. There were also other things that they could do like having uncles and aunts, which she felt could be plausible considering his best friend had apparently moved away. Hmm… So many possibilities…

While she was pondering over the situation, it took her a moment to realize that something was tugging on her hand. She looked down, Issei's brown eyes meeting hers. "Yes, Issei? Is something the matter?"

"I think you opened up a portal or something. Like, behind you."

"Me? Oh, I can assure you, I did not open any por—"

Her words died in her throat when she felt it before she even saw it. Before her very eyes, azure blue magic had filled the entire basement, a wind belonging to the wild taiga plains coming to life with a howl and leaving a chill that seeped straight into her bones.

Powerful. Every fibre of her being was screaming in the face of this immaculate presence, and she felt choked in a way that was all too familiar, all too much. The Black Sheep knew she should have done something to protect herself, yet the overwhelming magic was enough to make her forget everything.

A small hand grasped hers, and she found her eyes meeting Issei's. Not a single shred of fear in those brown irises, curiosity instead shining bright.

Gulping, she immediately pulled Issei behind her, looking ahead with clenched jaws. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."

"Uh… Mmhm."

And then, light overtook her world.

Okay, so there was a basement underneath their house. And there was apparently a pretty woman who just woke up in their basemen. Oh, and she could grant wishes, which was cool!

But all he could feel was silly, knowing he'd made such a dumb request to her. Seriously? A family?

Unfortunately, that was the only thing Issei realistically wanted for himself and his mom and dad. Maybe something simpler would have been better, but he knew nothing mattered. So long as Mom and Dad could have more family, then that was enough.

But for all of that to have somehow lead to this moment, he was starting to wonder if maybe he should have just given up on the idea and go upstairs sooner.

The moment the light died down, Issei had to squint his eyes to get used to the darkness once more. However, this time, the basement was oddly blue, and it felt a little cool—as if there was a breeze inside here, which should technically be impossible since there weren't any windows or whatever. Not as strong as the initial wind, but certainly noticeable.

Looking around, Issei was certainly taken aback by the change in their surroundings. Gone was all the grey and old, replaced now with a cool tone of blue that felt like it was late in the night. Issei actually liked the change, even if it may not fit the basement theme.

And finally, his eyes wandered to the side, and he…

"Black Sheep… What a surprise. You've finally awakened."

"A-Auntie Nyan Nyan…"

Issei gawked. Auntie Nyan Nyan? "That's such a cute name!"

The entity stared at him, and something akin to amusement radiated off of her. "And you are here with what seems to be a human boy. Very interesting."

The first thing that came to his mind was how tall she was. Literally, she reached the very ceiling's height, and even had to bend her back and knees to properly fit the place. Where her face was supposed to be, a deep shadow had taken place, with a single yellow eye staring at him. Cat ears poked out of the top of her head, and her hair looked like it was tied into a cat tail (or is it actually a cat tail?!). She wore a dress of pure white, and there were translucent veils wrapped around her.

"So it seems that this boy is the one who roused you from your sleep," her voice held weight, deep-toned and with authority. She was a woman who was definitely the boss of the woman, just like Mom.

"Um, hi! My name's Issei. Issei Hyoudou."

"A polite one, at that. I can appreciate that," she nodded. "And as befitting courtesy, I, too, shall give you my name. Simply put, I am the obscure, the unutterable. I am the Clawing Chaos."

"So… Miss Black Sheep and Miss Clawing Chaos."

"No need for that. Miss is too young for an old crone like myself," he didn't miss the stifled snort from Black Sheep. "You can just call me Auntie, just like my niece over here."

"Oh, okay. Sure."

"Now then, I suppose I shall leave the both of you alone. While I am not too keen on any form of dealings between humankind and my own, I'll leave it be if it isn't—"

"Ah, Auntie Nyan Nyan!" Miss Black Sheep cried out. "Actually, I need your help with something."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"It's, er, about his request. Basically…"

The two began speaking in hushed whispers, Miss Black Sheep in particular sounding a little desperate. Issei watched them all the while, humming as he just kicked at the floor. Oddly enough, it didn't feel like solid stone, but seemed to waver like jelly. At least it was still concrete enough that he knew he wouldn't trip over his feet any time soon.

Eventually, the two non-human people stopped talking, the blue woman humming in surprise. "Is that so? I see," her single eye looked towards Issei. "Then pray tell, boy. What is it that you want?"

"I don't know! I said I want a bigger family, but I don't even know what that's like."

"Hmm. So you do have an idea of what you want, but no concrete suggestion to see it happen…" She hummed again. "Well, if there was anything else you want, what would you ask for?"

"Nothing else. I'm good."

"I see. Well, talk about difficult."

"Um, does she have to grant my wish? You don't have to."

"Perhaps not, but consider it pride on our end. You may not have asked for our arrival, let alone for a wish granted, but we are a kind that will fulfil our duty to the letter. Such is both a blessing and a curse for us, fate decided when another soul summons us."

Ah. He nodded, even though three quarters of that flew over his head. "Okay. But I don't want anything else. Or maybe…" He blinked, then gasped when a lightbulb popped into his head. Genius idea! "I know! I want a bottle of water!"

The two beings looked at him, then at one another. Miss Black Sheep looked like she'd just eaten something sour, though for the smile threatening to break out, he knew she was actually trying hard not to laugh.

"We can make that happen," Auntie Nyan Nyan managed to keep her voice levelled, whereas her niece had turned away to bury her laughter. "But it has to be substantial."

"But why, though? You could just give me that, and then it'd be over! Then Miss Black Sheep doesn't need to be troubled!

"Ah. Childish innocence. If only men were less greedy and were happy with even that much," she sighed. "Well, my little boy, since it is clear that you don't have any ideas on this, I suppose I can give one suggestion. Otherwise, we'd be stuck here for days on end with no clear resolution to this."

Whoa, really? Cool! Now he didn't need to struggle so much. "Sure! What is it?"

"It would certainly be a little difficult, though I'm sure we'd find some way to handle things. Simply put," her hand moved to her chest. "What would you say to having myself and my niece here as your family?"

…Hmm? Wait, what did she say?

"I suppose you missed it the first time. Ahem. Basically, I do not mind becoming your auntie, and my niece your older sister. How about that?"

"Ohh," he blinked. "Wait. You can do that?"

"I don't see why not, though I'm certain your parents will have some concerns."

"Well, Ophis is a dragon, and they're okay with her, so I guess that's fine."

"Wait wait wait!" Both of them looked at Miss Black Sheep, who was waving her arms in the air. Her face was filled with surprise. "Hang on a minute! Auntie Nyan Nyan, are you seriously suggesting we become Issei's family?!"

"That is exactly it," at her gawking, the blue cat woman just shrugged. "I'll admit, there has been nothing to do over the years. Though there are humans who often get too close to the edge, there are plenty of organizations that seek to run damage control. Be it the mythologies, humans themselves, or other deities. So technically, I don't need to do my job."

"What? But that's not good. How will you get paid?"

"Oh, don't you worry about it, child," she patted his head. He could sort of imagine a smile on her face. "My job doesn't pay, although it does ensure the safety of your kind, so that's enough for me."

"Aww. Thanks, Auntie."

"You're welcome, child. So really, I don't mind becoming your aunt. Question is, what of you, my niece?"

"Eh? Well…"

"Would you like to become Issei's sister?"

"I…" Her eyes met his, and Issei tilted his head. Miss Black Sheep looked a little calmer afterwards, though there was some confusion. "What does being your sister mean, Issei?"

"Hmm. Well, I guess the first thing is that we always look after each other," he tapped his chin. "We're together every single day, and being the older sister, you'd look after the younger siblings. And, um, Mom and Dad would be really proud of you," after a while, he giggled. "Sorry. I don't know what an older sibling is like. I don't know anyone with an older brother or sister, so I can't say anything."

"An innocent interpretation, and fitting enough," chuckled Auntie Nyan Nyan. "Well then, there you have it. What do you say? Would you like to become Issei's older sister?"

"I…"

At one point in his life, older and wiser, Issei Hyoudou would never forget this fateful meeting with two Eldritch gods who ruled the cosmos, wondering how it was that they got to the point they were at. Some might have said it was incredibly dangerous, for the risk to his life was too great considering that he was nothing but a lowly human before them.

But, of course, he would never complain Never ever. After all, as he watched Miss Black Sheep pondering over the idea with bated breath, she finally parted her lips, and her decision was…

"Mom, Dad! Meet Auntie Nyan Nyan and Chiyo Onee-san!"

"Greetings. I am Nyanlathotep, though you may just call me Nyan for ease of pronunciation. This here is my niece the Black Sheep, though Issei gave her the name of Chiyo, which I find rather fitting. A pleasure to join your family."

"Hello. You two will henceforth be my parents, will you not? I promise to be a wonderful older sister to Issei."

Issei was all smiles with his hand in Chiyo's, who was a beautiful young woman with black hair, horse feet, horns on her head and a relatively revealing outfit. Beside her was a very tall woman who was literally blue. And had cat ears, and a single eye.

Miki and Gorou Hyoudou blinked at the sight, then shared a confused glance.

Six-eight-two looked at the scene and slammed his face into the floor, grumbling about how a single boy had managed to drag two powerful beings into the family.

Lucy yipped with joy, happy just to see her favourite human happy.

Ophis gawked at the sight. Namely, the part where Issei and Chiyo were clearly holding hands, not missing the fact that he'd just call that stranger their older sister. She immediately disliked her.

[And now, it looked like the Hyoudou household was becoming increasingly hectic,] Ddraig sighed to himself, face-palming. [Like it already wasn't. Darn it, Issei…]

Author's Notes:

In all honesty, I wasn't too sure on how to approach this chapter. But dragging it out for too long would have been pretty lame, so there you go. Abrupt, quick and with two new characters right off the bat. Wa-bam.

For anyone curious, this is Chiyo from Ane Naru Mono. Basically a manga about an eldritch monster becoming a kid's elder sister, and considering the supernatural-esque theme of this story, it would be a waste not to use her. In fact, she was the 'Chiyo onee-san' from the prologue. Pretty sure there was a guest commentor way back who thought it was Yahweh / god. I can assure you, bud, you were high on ice-cream, lmao.

And Nyanlathotep is from the videogame Sucker for Love, which is apparently a dating game where you date H.P. Lovecraftian monsters who have been reimagined as monster girls. That's, uh, quite the source, huh? But I dunno'. I thought it would be an interesting place to take from and have Auntie Nyan Nyan (no joke, she tells the player that they could call her that) be a part of the family. Because why the hell not?

Also, just to put it out there, I do plan to try and limit just one character from each series that I take from. That way, there's no such thing as overcrowding and will give each series an opportunity—then again, there's going to be plenty of characters, so I suppose that alone is good enough.