BREAKING THE FANTASY

Written by Gwendolyn Frost.

Soon after running into the In-Between, Vee transformed into her human form once more. While slithering on the ground was something she was the most used to, having legs was far more useful in this Realm due to most of the ground being flooded with pools of water with very few sections of dry land as far as she was able to see.

She didn't stop to check out what was the purpose of those neon-glowing cubes floating around, she wasn't the curious type – moving forward has kept her alive, no time to stop. It's what she learned the hard way.

The young Basilisk only made a few stops to catch her breath, the place was deep and the rope wouldn't last for long. All she could think of was Luz and Masha waiting for her back to where the rope tied to her leads to. She promised to bring Hunter and she was planning to bring him back no matter what, she wanted to prove to them she is brave, strong and trustworthy.

During one of those times she did stopped, she was startled by a sudden noise in the far distance, whatever it was – it was making the pools of water restless, waves would form as if something large was moving somewhere in this Realm.

"W-who goes there?" Vee raised her voice ever so slightly, but she heard no response. The noise, that rumbling in the distance – increased and diminished simultaneously which made the poor young Basilisk nervous while trying to determine the position of whatever it was roaming in the In-Between.

Suddenly, things became worse when she heard the wet noises of someone in a hurry stomping on the large puddles of water under their feet.

"Huh?! W-who g-goes there?!" Vee repeated at maximum volume before she yelled when someone grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with their hand which immediately triggered Vee's PTSD, bringing her memories of the time long before she crossed that door that brought her to the Human Realm.

A really young Basilisk was taken from her home, a man with a white mask resembling an owl of some kind had just grabbed her – holding their hand on their face as she tried to scream with all her might. When the memory comes to a close, she's brought to a larger man whose face is covered with a golden mask…

"Noooo!" Vee yelled as loud as she could, tears flow down her cheeks while the intensity of her screaming heats her whole face. "Nooo! You won't take me again! Let me go! NOOOO!"

She's hushed by that someone who's desperately trying to keep her quiet. "Shhh! Vee… stop!" That someone whispers which then yelps in pain when Vee uses her elbow to break free.

"No! Leave me alone!" Vee yells desperately as she sprints off while her feet stomp on the water on the ground with every step she takes. Her tears kept flowing, those small glistening pearls land on those pools of water as she runs away with every bit of strength she has.

"Wait, Vee! Stop!" That voice yells after her but she doesn't looks back until the rope tied around her has run out, which causes her to be pulled by it forcing her to run out of breath and collapse on the ground while coughing somewhat hard.

"No…" Vee didn't last a single second before she was back up to her feet trying to untie the rope around her before that someone circles around her to show their face…

"Vee, it's me! Hunter…" The blonde exclaimed as Vee locked eyes with him, finally bringing her back into the present. However… the two of them froze when the rumbling came back. That something… that huge mass was moving once more, causing the ground to shake ever so slightly…

Hunter reached for Vee's hand and they took cover behind some large boulder as that mass came closer and closer until they heard… it's voice. That unnerving otherworldly voice whose speech is broken, making fragments to get lost in a void of silence as if it's throat would suppress those words on the way out.

"H nter?! Ohhh hhh Huu nt eeeer?! Wh re are u, you l ttle tw rp?!"

That mass of skinless flesh moved around swiftly in the dark, if one would try to give sense to it they would fail miserably. There was no shape, it looked nothing like a human or animal of any kind. Hundreds of eyes were scattered across it's mass in a long spiral. When it opened it's mouth, its tongue was comprised of hundreds of arms… human-looking arms that touched everywhere it would drag them on trying to find that blonde witch that it's been hunting. The scent of the monster didn't helped at all, all the two could smell was the scent of blood and decay. The mass kept speaking, but it's voice began to fade off as it failed to find them hiding behind that boulder until they could hear it no more…

They waited for a whole long minute until they were sure it wasn't around before they were able to relax. Hunter looked at Vee about to ask her something before he noticed how upset the poor Basilisk was.

"Hey…" Hunter blurted out as his eyes widened when Vee broke into tears once more. She was probably around the same age as everyone else in their group, but granted she missed most of her years in a cell, she reflected a different age every now and then. As if she had just reverted to a younger age, the Basilisk held her closed fists close to her face, wiping those tears that wouldn't stop streaming down her cheeks. The heartbreaking sobs hit Hunter in the chest, it felt horrible…

Feeling the need to comfort his friend, Hunter slowly reached for her. There was a bit of hesitation coming from the Basilisk when that hand of his brushed over her shoulder, she pulled away immediately – but when they locked eyes and she saw the worried look on the blonde's face, she finally allowed those arms to wrap around her.

For several minutes, Hunter embraced the younger Basilisk in human form. Memories started to resurface for him as well. The time that he visited the lab, seeing those cages filled with the Basilisks that the Coven captured for experimentation… guilt spread on his chest, sinking his heart. Thinking… no. Wishing that he had done something sooner.

But all he could do was this…

"Hey, Vee." Hunter said as the Basilisk looked up at him, still as stressed as ever. "Someone showed me this trick before… do as I do. Ok?" The blonde said as he tried to show her the warmest smile to comfort her.

"Ok…" The poor Basilisk said as she sobbed some more.

"Here it goes, breath in… breath out…" Hunter said as he did so while counting down with his fingers up to 5… then viceversa. "Breath in… breath out…" Over and over.

Vee was confused at first but did so, inhaling and exhaling over and over. Which slowly started to stop the flow of tears, the stress was washed away soon after. When she seemed calm enough, Hunter smiled at her before asking.

"Do you feel any better?"

"A little…" Vee replied as she cleaned off the last remaining pearls on her eyes before she hugged onto her human legs close to her chest. "Luz… doesn't knows this yet. But… before all of you have come to the Human Realm… I used to sleep on Camila's bed a lot. It all started when she heard me sobbing in my sleep. What happened in the Boiling Isles is still fresh in my mind… is as if I find myself in that cage every so often and I cannot seem to tell what's reality anymore. What Belos did to me and others like me… I don't know if I'll ever be able to let it go…"

Hunter took a deep breath as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I get what you mean. To be honest, I cannot compare what I've been through with your own experience… you were stripped of your freedom, of your identity in different ways than me. But I understand what you're going through. We were both hurt by the same man. And I enable that man to harm others like you… for that, I'm sorry."

"I think we've moved past that yesterday morning, Hunter. I forgive you, you don't have to apologize every time." Vee said with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, you're right…" Hunter said before sighing softly. "But I do have to apologize for startling you like that. I had no idea that would trigger your memories. Moving forward, I will make sure it won't happen again. Plus, if you ever need someone to talk to about… those memories, you can come to me. I may not have a solution to make them go away… but I can at least offer you my ears to listen."

Vee chuckled once more, confusing Hunter even further.

"What's so funny?"

"You kinda sound like a big brother…" Vee said with a smile on her face, which made Hunter draw a smile of his own.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Hunter laughed softly. "I've never had a family before until I met you guys. I… think I wouldn't mind having a little sister." He said grinning at the Basilisk who grinned back.

"I wouldn't mind having a big brother." She said with enthusiasm as Hunter laughed softly.

"Then it's settled!" He exclaimed as he reached for the top of Vee's head to rustle her hair with his hand which made the Basilisk shut her eyes until he stopped.

"What was that?" She asked in confusion.

"That… I don't know." Hunter said while shrugging it off. "It's what I've seen big brothers do to their siblings on TV. Humans have a peculiar way of expressing themselves."

With a nod and a gentle chuckle, Vee replied. "Yeah, you're right. Humans are something else. But I like it. I really like it here…"

"I'm glad you do." Hunter said before the expression on his face became serious. "Hey, Vee… I don't mean to ruin the moment but I have to ask… how did you got here? Did it trapped you here too?! Are the rest here as well?!" The blonde asked in a panic before Vee gasped and got up to her feet, with genuine confidence on her face.

"Oh, right! I've come here to save you!"

Hunter stared into Vee's serious-looking eyes before a smirk on his face began to draw itself as a snort escaped him which made Vee tilt her head at him in confusion.

"Did you just snorted at me?"

"I'm really sorry. It's just that… the way you said that was rather endearing." Hunter said before bursting into a soft laughter which made the Basilisk blush hard as she got down to her knees once more and drum her fists at Hunter in retaliation.

"Don't laugh at me! I've come all this way to save you!"

"W-wait! Vee, stop! Ha ha ha ha! Stop…! I'm sorry, ok?! I'm sorry!" Hunter kept laughing before the both of them shut down when they heard the otherworldly roar from the Shapeless somewhere in the In-Between as Hunter looked back at Vee with a serious look once more. "No, really. Stop… we need to get going." Hunter whispered as Vee nervously nodded at him before they stood up and began to make their way out following the rope that was tied up to Vee herself.

THE LOOKING GLASS

Chapter 25: Reunited.

Back in the Human Realm, Luz and Masha were leaning against the wall facing the cursed mirror that reflect no one. Luz stared at it with curious eyes before asking Masha something. "Hey… I just realized something. The rope was able to go through when we tied it up to Vee, do you think I could go through if I'm holding the rope?"

"Only one way to find out." The goth replied as Luz nodded with a smirk on her face.

"I'll do it!" Luz said with confidence as she walked up to the mirror with her hand brushing the rope until she was close enough to touch it and push her hand through… except it didn't work. "Ah, it was worth the shot." Luz grinned.

"Heh, magic. Am I right?" Masha said which made Luz laugh out loud.

"You can say that again!" But as soon as she replied to the newest member of her group, Luz heard quite a commotion going on outside. "Quick! Get behind me!" She exclaimed as she raised her baseball bat, ready to protect the both of them until the door to the shack started to open rather slowly, only to reveal none other than… "Amity?!"

"Luz?!" The pink-haired witch yelled when they locked eyes and started running towards one another happily. "I've found you!" She exclaimed as the two of them embraced in a tight hug, not planning to let go for the time being as their lips pressed into a long kiss.

Behind her were the two other witches of their group looking at each other as Willow asked Gus a question with her eyebrow raised all the way up. "I might be blind right now but my ears are working fine, did she seriously just said 'I've found you?' Just her, singular?"

"Oh, c'mon – Willow!" Gus said with a soft laugh. "Let her have this! Besides… look at them? Look at how…"

"Ugh… I don't need glasses to know they're smooching it up." Willow said as she circled around them which broke the two's embrace to exclaim back at her.

"Heeey!"

"Masha… right?" Willow asked the blurry person before her, telling it couldn't be Vee due to the fact her clothing was more colorful than the goth's.

"That's my name…" Masha said with a nervous chuckle before asking. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Willow asked back as she pointed at the bandages on her head. "A branch scratched the side of my face when I fell down the Tower. Smashed my glasses too. So now, I can't see."

"What about you?" Gus dared to ask the goth as he noticed their arm was wrapped up close to their chest.

"Oh, this?" Masha chuckled softly. "Well… I landed on my arm and it popped off… so Luz had to put it back in place."

"Luz did what?!" Willow and Gus exclaimed in unison as Luz raised her right arm proudly at Amity as the pink-haired witch was admiring it.

"That's right, turns out that my arms are not as nerdy as they once were!" Luz exclaimed as her girlfriend kept brushing her arm with her hand.

"Oh, oh my… I think you are right. I can feel a bit of muscle over here." The pink-haired witch said as her whole face was covered in a huge blushing while the two of them giggled rather softly.

"You're seriously flirting at the expense of our newest friend's pain?" Willow said with narrowed eyes at the two girlfriends who gulped before rushing up to Masha with a frown on their faces.

"I'm so sorry, Masha! I didn't meant to be this insensitive with you!" Luz pleaded for forgiveness while her girlfriend did the same as she matched her worried tone.

"Yeah, me too! I cannot imagine what you're suffering right now and I apologize for making a joke out of it. I'm so sorry!"

A whole minute of apologies passed by until the goth was unable to hold the laughter any longer. Just as soon as Masha started laughing, Willow and Gus both looked at each other before bursting into a joyful laughter themselves which quickly spread onto the once worried girlfriends as well.

"Oh, man…" Masha whispered when they were able to stop. "I know I should be in shock right now… but you guys make this experience a whole less scary than it should be."

"Yeah… I get it." Luz said before they all looked at Gus who was now asking the question when he realized Vee wasn't around.

"I don't mean to bring the mood down once more, but… where's Vee?"

"Oh, she's in there." Luz said as she pointed at the mirror before the group, no longer showing a room with no people but the endless space with floating neon-bright cubes floating around known as the In-Between. "We found a mirror that's exactly like the one in the Ranch. Vee was able to get through, so she's on the way to get Hunter back to us."

"Really?!" All three witches exclaimed in surprise, examining the mirror closely, touching it even… though just like the other two humans they were not able to pass through either.

"I got to tell Hunter!" Willow exclaimed as she held her shard closely to communicate with Hunter but the mirror only showed her own reflection. "Hunter! Hunter, are you there?! Talk to me!"

"So…" Luz turned to look at her girlfriend while they held hands. "Did you guys followed the tower to this shack?"

Amity tilted her head. "Uh, no. We were lead here by Flor… turns out… the vision I was given by the TV was real. There was a smoke in the forest and it lead us to Flor."

"Wait, what?!" Luz exclaimed while hurrying up to the door to see the pink-haired woman standing outside with their back against the shack looking straight into the woods. "Does this mean… she knows… about you guys?"

"I had to tell her…" Amity said with a nervous tone in her voice as the group was now outside while Flor was walking up into the woods where there was some sort of glare… Luz was able to see what that glare was… mirrors. Three mirrors in fact. While the pink-haired witch kept explaining what she and the other two witches went through to find Luz, the human soon gasped as her eyes widened when she saw what caught Flor's attention. It wasn't the mirrors… it was a body laying on the ground laying against a tree.

It was the missing waitress' body.

"Stop!" Luz yelled at Flor as she rushed up to her while her friends stared at her in confusion.

"Huh?! Wait, Luz!" Some of her friends exclaimed at Luz but she did not listen as she was trying to warn Flor not to get near the body.

"No, Flor, get away from her! That's not human! That's the monster!"

"She's not the monster!" Flor yelled back at Luz as she looked at her with a worried look on her face. "She said her name is Koume…" She said as she looked back at the body who no longer looked like such… but as a person who was in pain, barely able to speak. "Right?"

"Yes…" Koume whispered in a weak tone, her eyes unable to focus as she looked at the group who was now running up to them.

"Oh, goodness! You're alive!" Luz yelled at the top of her lungs, hurrying up to the two before kneeling down upon that waitress she felt so much guilt for. "So, that means that that thing has no control over you right now?"

"It's… not here… right now… yes…" Koume whispered once more as she grunted in pain before Luz brought her hand to hold hers.

"Wait… how's this possible? I saw her face splitting open hours ago? How is she still alive?" Masha asked as the poor waitress replied in painful whispers once more.

"It mutilated me… and it… put me back… together… multiple times… I don't know… ngh… how… but it's… keeping me alive… somehow…"

"I'm so sorry! This is happening to you because of me…" Luz said in tears as she tightly held the woman's hand close to her chest. "It took you because it wanted to get close to me…"

"I know… ngh… I've been… conscious… throughout everything… it's done using my body… ngh…" Koume said as a tear was running down her cheek as well, no longer looking like the waitress that was rude to them days ago.

"Koume… may I move you?" Flor asked as the waitress looked up at her in confusion before nodding.

When getting permission to do so, Flor moved Koume slightly forward so that they all could take a look at her back where there was a mass… a red mass… like flesh dug deep in her spine which made Flor sigh. "It's just as I feared…"

"What? What does this means?" Luz asked as Flor explained.

"Remember my own experience? I was attacked by that monster in that shack over there… it tried to rip through my spine and I couldn't feel anything from my waist down. I had to pull myself through the woods til' I was found. I'm thinking that this mass of flesh has spread on the spine of Koume and that's how it's controlling her."

"Wait…" Masha interrupted Flor as their eyes widened up in horror. "Are you suggesting that this thing is using her like some sort of puppet?!"

Flor nodded, which made everyone look as horrified as Masha was. "I believe that it lodges itself into its victims' nerve system while it assimilates them from the inside out."

The waitress tried nodding but all she was able to do was shut her eyes while groaning in pain. "That is true…" She whispered when she was able to. "I keep hearing… voices… ngh… I have no idea… how many they are… ngh… they're all… part of it… ngh… what's worse… is that… I feel like my own voice… is getting lost… in that endless… sea of voices… becoming part of it…" The waitress' cheeks began to be soaked in tears as she tried her best to let the words out that were making her break down before the group of strangers. "I don't want to die… but I'm not strong enough… to fight back…"

"Strong…" Flor whispered to herself as Luz shook her head towards Koume. "Not strong enough you say…"

"You won't die… I… I'll find a way! I will find a way to break you free! I promise…"

"Tell me…" Flor asked. "This connection with it… do you believe it can be severed in some way?"

Koume took a few moments to come up with a reply to that question, she pondered on it for as long as she could before she looked back at the older woman with a frightened look on her face. "I felt something… but it was for just a few… minutes… ngh… I wasn't there… but I felt as if… it was talking to you…" She looked at Luz who blinked in confusion.

"Me? W-what do you mean?"

"I could hear you… your voice…" Koume groaned in pain some more before she was able to speak once more, the terrified look on her face coming back. "You made it… very upset… I… was able to feel my fingers… but it's all I could do…"

"Do you remember a moment when you made that thing upset just as she says?" Flor asked Luz who thought for a few seconds before her eyes widened remembering what happened in the Fire Lookout Tower.

"It got us cornered in the Lookout Tower. It forced me to play a game of 20 questions. It was wearing a different… look… it was using the body of a park ranger and it was relentlessly making me uncomfortable questions. So I… asked it if they wish to be human and it looked-like I had the upper hand because that question got it rather upset… it didn't even asked me anything after I said that."

"I see." Flor said while dropping her gaze down on the grass, Luz was about to ask her something before she heard the waitress' voice.

"I will tell you… something important… but could you… do me a favor in return?" The waitress asked Luz as she nodded at her.

"Of course!"

"Look for… Jolene Inaka… she and her parents… they're my political family… but they're the ones… who have been the most… supportive… ngh… I wish to tell them… I'm sorry… for all the trouble… that I caused them… ngh… please… would you…"

"No… don't give up!" Luz cut her off. "Hold on a little longer while we find a way to help you, so you can tell them yourself!"

"Ngh…" Koume groaned in pain before she raised her voice at Luz. "You… your friends! It… ngh… it's looking to harm one of your friends…"

"What?!"

"Before it dropped me here… it… was talking to something… in the woods… it has a plan… to harm one of your friends… in order to get back to you… leave! Take your friends and leave!"

"Wait… what?! We can't leave just yet…" Luz panicked.

"That's right, Vee and Hunter are still in the In-Between!" Amity added.

But before the group was able to discuss things further… a loud noise was heard within the shack. It was like an explosion… the whole shack was blown apart… but not by fire or a bomb… what made the loud noise was something huge bursting through the shack which brought it down in an instant. The whole place was shattered, dust scattered, pieces of wood were thrown everywhere.

That huge thing that broke the shack was sent towards the forest, tearing every tree that got in its way.

The group was left speechless and covering themselves as dust covered the entire area.

While they coughed and raised their staffs, the witches brought Masha and Flor out of the way while Luz brought her baseball bat, ready to follow them before she felt something pulling her by the hand… it was Koume… who was now on her feet with a smirk on her face.

"You should have listened to her and left the forest when you had your chance… now… how about we play a little game?"

End of the chapter.