Fennel's Nightmare

The mirror temple had always been a daunting place. It's towering pillars and high ceilings were enough to make anyone feel small. A large mirror stood at the very back of the room in just the right position to reflect the image of anyone who dared walk inside. In fact, there were mirrors all over the place; making the already large room seem even larger. Larger and emptier.

Fennel had never liked the crew’s hideout. It always made her nervous, no matter how many times she’d been there. Something about seeing your reflection everywhere you looked was unnerving. Sometimes it felt as if the walls had eyes; watching your every move through the eyes of your reflection.

As haunting as the place could be at times, it was the perfect hideout for the crew. The mirror plane is an infinite and empty place, with it’s only window to the world being the reflections of mirrors. Having such a recognizable place made travel easy for the crew. It’s hard to get lost when the outline of the temple can be seen from miles away.

The pair of demons made their way past the entrance and up the long, curving staircase. While the main floor was open and empty, the second floor was much more homely. Sure, there were still quite a few mirrors lining the walls, but there weren’t nearly as many. Sitting in the corner of the room was a large couch that was heavily worn on one side. In the middle was a wooden table, where Fennel and Klaus both took a seat.

“Well, Fennel” Klaus said tiredly. “We have quite the dilemma on our hands. That curse of yours is starting to become an unmanageable issue. I thought Spades’ luck would be the end of it, but it’s gotten out of hand. Something has to be done about it”

“I’ve tried, Klaus. Believe me. I’ve spent years looking for a way out. I’m afraid it can’t be done...” Fennel replied

“Look, the Ministry is on your tail now too. I’ve been dodging them for years and, believe me, you won’t survive long now that they’ve found you again. If we can’t get rid of your curse, we’re going to have to get rid of you. You’re a danger to me and my crew, Fennel.”

“W-wait! Hold on! Y-you can’t be seirous” Fennel said, as she began scratching at her arms nervously. “You guys need me to translate. You can’t do business if you can’t understand our clients”

“We can’t do business if we’re dead.” Klaus stated coldly

He was right. The crew could always find another translator, but they can’t come back from the dead. Did Klaus really bring her here just to kill her off? Surely that couldn't be the case. If he wanted her dead, he would have just let her succumb to her injuries, right?

“S-so.” Fennel continued, still mindlessly clawing at her arm. “What now? I mean, where do we go from here?”

“We need help. As much as I don’t want to admit it, none of the crew has any expertise in this area.”

“If we did, this wouldn’t be an issue” Fennel muttered, much to Klaus’ annoyance

“Heh, right… Anyway, we need to find someone whose knowledgeable on the subject. Someone that knows a lot about magic. Any ideas?”

“Well, Idle Expanse seems to have a lot of magic-”

“No. This is Mirror Domain magic. Therefore, it’s a Mirror Domain issue. Magic works differently in other realms; they won’t be of much help.”

“I don’t know, Klaus. Our kind doesn’t take those who go against Ministry law lightly. I don’t think we’ll be able to find someone willing to help. The second they realise the Ministry’s magic is at play, they’ll turn on us.”

“Yeah, and the humans will just kill us outright. Pick your poison. We can always lie to a demon, just to have a slim chance at fixing this.”

“It doesn’t matter” Fennel said, hopelessness in her voice. “The curse will just mess everything up in the end. Why even bother…”

“If that’s how you feel, why don’t I just turn you in right now? Who knows, maybe the Ministry would let me off the hook if I handed you over”

“N-no! Please no!”

“Then stop acting so helpless! You’ve made it this far, don’t give up now! Get a grip, Fennel.”

“R-right. I’m sorry…”

The two talked for a few more hours, until eventually a plan was in place. With Fennel’s incident only taking place two days ago, the Ministry was still likely on their trail. Klaus would have to get the Ministry’s attention and lead them astray yet again, while Fennel would make her way over to the oil flat near the South-East Mountain Range. Klaus knew of demons there who may be able to help, if they were still alive. It was their best bet.

The only problem was actually getting there. Mirror travel was a wonderful thing, yes, but there was one glaring issue. You can’t travel via mirror if there aren’t any mirrors. Seeing as both the worlds mountain ranges were largely abandoned by non-demons, mirrors were almost non existent there. They would take her far, but Fennel would have to walk a lot of the way.

Her curse was the group's biggest concern. Getting there on her own would be dangerous, especially with the Ministry after her. She could head directly west from the crew’s hideout, but it’d be a long journey with no stops. While it was a direct route, it’d be too risky. Fennel would be all alone out there, without much to defend herself.

Instead, they decided she’d head to the country of Havenlyn. Not only would it cut down on the travel distance, but she could also buy supplies for the journey while she was there. If they were lucky, Klaus could acquire a cart and horse; further cutting down on travel time. The less time spent traveling, the better. It’d give Fennel’s curse less time to screw everything up.

It was getting late. Klaus and Fennel had spent the entire day planning and preparing for this excursion. Now it was time for bed. There was no point in staying up any later, especially considering how much work they had left to do. They needed all the sleep they could get.

Fennel had never liked her room in the mirror temple, even before Spades joined the crew and took it over. There was a large central window to the right of the entrance that had always freaked her out. A second story window paired with misfortune was a disaster waiting to happen! Oftentimes, the light of the moon would shine down on her face, keeping her awake. Tonight was no exception.

Sleepless nights had always allowed Fennel’s mind to wander. What else can one do while they’re lying awake; alone with their thoughts. Her mind kept going back to one thing, that being the Ministry. Did they really know where she lived, or had they merely tracked her down? Would Spades luck be enough to keep them away? Was this plan really going to work? All these questions kept racing through her mind, further keeping her awake.

A loud crash echoed through the temple, coming from the main floor. Fennel jolted up upon hearing it. It sounded like a mirror breaking; a sound you never want to hear in a place like this. Klaus was far too small to break any of the mirrors here, which meant someone or something else had broken one.

Her heart pounded, as she slowly got out of bed and made her way to Klaus’ room. Much to Fennel’s surprise, Klaus’ door had been left wide open. He had never allowed the crew to enter his room, so she gingerly knocked on the open door and waited for him to respond. The entire place seemed to be trashed, with burnt remains of his books and webs everywhere.

No response. She tried again, calling out his name this time. Still no response. This was very worrying. Fennel knew she wouldn’t be able to fend anyone off on her own, and the rest of the crew was back at her house. She was all alone, left to face this unknown intruder by herself.

She cautiously made her way down the stairs and onto the main floor of the temple. The giant mirror at the back of the room had been shattered completely. All that was left of it were small shards of broken glass. The walls had been been slightly singed too. Fennel bent down and picked one of the larger shards of broken mirror off the ground, and a glint of blue light reflected off it briefly.

Her blood turned cold as the realisation came to her. Alder. He couldn’t be here, could he? There’s no way he could have gotten here so quickly! The Ministry didn’t use mirror travel unless their target had left the realm. She was terrified, and her body was frozen with fear. Every fiber of her being was screaming not to turn around, but she had to know what was lurking behind her.

Inspecting the mirror further revealed the silhouette of a bipedal creature standing behind her. His eyes glowed bright blue, and she could see a horrid grin on his face. There was no doubting it now; Alder had found her. His fingers moved rhythmically, as his hand began to glow with the same blue hue as his eyes.

Fennel whipped around to face him, just in time for him to shoot a ball of white hot fire from his hand. It struck her right in the stomach, and she screamed out in pain. It felt as if the fire had torn through her entire body and looking down, that seemed to be the case. There was a sizeable hole in her stomach, which was now bleeding profusely.

Immediately her legs began to tremble, and her vision blurred. The world around her seemed to fade away as she watched the blood pour from the wound. Oddly, it didn’t hurt anymore. She couldn’t feel anything at all, except for a heavy weight that seemed to be pulling her down. Just before she collapsed, Alder shot another ball of fire at her. The last thing she saw was a flash of blue, before everything faded to black.

The morning sun shone through the bedroom window, reflecting off the mirror hung on the back wall and landing on Fennel’s face. Her eyes snapped open, and she screamed as she jumped into action; flailing briefly in a panic before falling out of bed. She hit the floor hard, which finally got her to snap back to reality. This was her room. She was back in her room! But if she was here, where was Alder?

Running out of her room she could see Klaus’ door was shut, as it always was. The panic was beginning to come back. Fennel’s heart was pounding, and her mind was racing; debating what to do next. Should she go down and check the area, or should she see if Klaus was around? Time could be running out! Now’s not the time to dawdle, but what should she do?

Luckily, she didn’t have to make a decision. Shortly after running out of the room, Fennel heard the distinct clicking of a lock, before Klaus’ door opened a crack. He poked his head out of the door and stared at Fennel.

“Klaus! There you are! Thank god, I thought you were dead!” She cried, beginning to scratch at her neck anxiously. He just stared back blankly for a moment, before finally responding.

“Well, you’ve had quite the morning, haven't you?” He muttered groggily.

“What do you mean?” Fennel replied, taken aback by his apathetic tone. Klaus put one of his hands to his face and shook his head in disapproval.

“I really don’t appreciate being woken up by your delusions, Fennel.” He said, still groggy. “Why don’t you get dressed so we can talk about this?”

Fennel stared back blankly, before looking down at herself. She was wearing nothing except her old tattered pair of brown shorts. It was hot in the forbidden territory, so Fennel often wore minimal clothing to bed, but she usually had the decency to at least wear a bra. Even so, that wasn’t her concern at the moment.

“So… Alder didn’t attack you last night?” She asked, ignoring Klaus’ request.

“No… What? Fennel, what the hell are you talking about?”

“H-he attacked last night! He shot me! Can't you tell?”

Fennel gestured to her herself, still panicked. Her paranoia was starting to get out of control. With injuries as extensive as hers, it was a miracle she was able to get up at all. Or rather, it would be; if she was actually injured. Looking at her exposed torso, Klaus couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The only notable thing were clusters of long, thin scars, but those were caused by her nervous tic.

Finally noticing her lack of injuries, Fennel began to panic more. They were just there a moment ago, weren't they? Where did they go? They couldn’t just disappear like that! Klaus sighed and glared at her while she stuttered incoherently. She was trying her best to explain what had happened, but her panic wouldn’t allow it.

"Look, I don't know what happened last night, but you need to pull yourself together so we can have a rational conversation." Klaus said sternly.

"But… how… w-what happened?" Fennel said, mostly to herself.

“Fennel!” He shouted, getting her attention. She stared back blankly, still clawing at her neck. “You need to calm down. Go to your room, get dressed, and meet me back here. I’ll head downstairs and check the area in the meantime, ok?”

Before she had the chance to say anything else, Klaus locked the door to his room and flew downstairs. Fennel was left alone. She let the situation sink in briefly, before looking down at herself again. No injuries. There weren’t even any signs of injuries. The area wasn’t tender or painful in any way either.

That’s when it finally hit her. She didn’t have a shirt on! Klaus had probably seen more of her than he would have liked. Or, would he have liked that? Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she hurried to her room to get changed.

After getting dressed, Fennel made her way back to the main upstairs area and took a seat at the table; face still red with embarrassment. Klaus had yet to return, but it had only been a couple of minutes since he went downstairs. A small creature such as himself took longer to get around. Surely he’d be back any minute.

Indeed, he was. Klaus returned about 10 minutes later, looking annoyed as ever. Seeing as he was annoyed, instead of worried, Fennel was sure there was no one in the area other than themselves. He took his usual seat on the tabletop; sitting directly in front of Fennel.

“It seems you’ve calmed down a bit” He began. “So, mind telling me what the hell you were going on about earlier? I picked up bits and pieces of it, but it’s hard to understand you while you’re babbling about your conspiracies...”

So, Fennel began to explain the happenings of last night. As she got further and further into the story, Klaus got more and more upset. At times it seemed like he wanted to interrupt, but he restrained himself from doing so. He needed to hear Fennel out before yelling at her. Eventually, Fennel finished her tale. Klaus didn’t waste any time thinking it over; he just jumped right in to his lecture.

“I can’t believe you. Do you really think that’d actually happen? If Alder, or any of the Ministry, stepped foot in here they’d be dead. Especially if they were dumb enough to come alone! For fucks sake, Fennel! It was just a dream!”

“But it couldn’t be! I don’t even remember falling asleep…”

“The hell does that have to do with anything? Nothing’s broken. You aren’t hurt. I’m not dead. If you really think Alder, of all people, could kill me you must be dumber than I thought.”

“I’m sorry, Klaus… But, you can’t say it was just a dream…”

“And why the hell not? It was just a dream! If you still think it happened-”

“No, I mean. Uh… Look at what happened before, with my other dream. The one where I got pushed off the mountain. You said it was just a dream, but it ended up happening. I really don’t think it’s wise to just write this off! It’s another warning! We should heed it this time.”

Klaus’ antennae twitched angrily, as he got up and began pacing back and forth; thinking over Fennel’s words. It seemed she may have gotten through to him for once, although he probably wouldn’t admit it. He hated being wrong, and would often double down until he’d convinced the opposing party he was right. Still, in a sensitive situation such as this, sticking to his guns would only harm everyone involved.

“Ugh… Dammit, you have a point. A stupid point, but a point. Regardless, Alder won’t find you here. We’re gonna head to Havenlyn and we’re gonna get your supplies ready. You probably won’t be back here for quite some time, so there’s no chance that dream will come to fruition any time soon.”

“And if it does?” Fennel asked

“If it does, we’ll be ready for it. Now, pull yourself together, we’ve got errands to run”