---
"You aren't afraid anymore, right?" I asked gently.
"...yes. Sorry for suddenly crying." The little girl, mumbled, now much calmer. She was holding Kran's small metal body tightly in her arms like a cherished toy, hugging him as if he were her anchor.
"It's fine. It's normal to get scared." I crouched to her eye level, trying to soothe her further. "Honestly, I should be the one apologizing. But, like I said, I really don't know how I ended up here."
"That... might be Asha's fault..." she murmured, her voice barely audible.
"Who?" I asked, my brow furrowing.
"...me."
Asha. That was her name. Noa had said she wasn't supposed to be aware of what was happening, so she wasn't talking about the loop or nightmare.
"How could it be your fault, Asha? I mean, I'm the one who got lost."
She hesitated, her tiny hands squeezing Kran just a little tighter. "I... might have brought you here accidentally." Her expression was apologetic, her eyes filled with guilt.
I didn't press her further, waiting patiently for her to explain.
"I was trying to find Dad," she admitted, her voice small. "But I think I made a mistake... I'm sorry. I'll try to send you back now."
"Wait," I said quickly, before she could do anything. "A friend of mine is here too. She was near the library before I ended up in your room."
Asha's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh no... I messed up even more than I thought... Mom will be mad... I have to fix this, quick! Or I won't be allowed to play in the manor anymore."
Suddenly, multiple mirrors appeared around Asha, each one reflecting different parts of the manor. I saw one of the mirrors showing Rem, frantically evading the nightmare that was now chasing her down the long, twisted halls. Her small wings flapped desperately as she darted through the air, narrowly avoiding the creature's attacks. But it was clear she was running out of energy. Noa was nowhere in sight.
Asha's face paled, her lips trembling as she watched the nightmare pursue Rem. She was terrified—understandably so. No child, especially not a seven-year-old, should have to confront something so monstrous.
"Just send me there," I said firmly, breaking the tense silence. "I'll save my friend."
Asha looked at me, her wide eyes filled with fear and uncertainty. "But that nightmare... it's not weak. Nightmares shouldn't be able to get into the Manor of Mirrors... It's not safe."
"You like this place, right?" I asked, my voice softening as I tried to ease her worry.
She nodded, her gaze dropping to the floor.
"But if the nightmare stays here, you won't be able to play here anymore. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
Her eyes flicked up, and she shook her head, her grip on Kran tightening.
"Then let me go and take care of it," I said. "Don't worry, I'll come back. And while I'm gone, that shiny lizard will stay with you." I pointed at Kran, who was now hanging limp in her embrace, feigning dramatic helplessness. "Take care of him for me, alright?"
She glanced down at Kran, who offered a sarcastic grunt of agreement.
(Hey, you're not half-bad with kids, you know?) Kran's voice echoed in my mind.
I am the one who raised my sister. I know how to take care of a child.
Asha looked between me and Kran, her resolve slowly building. She nodded.
"...Then... that door," she said, pointing toward a shimmering door that hadn't been there a moment before, "will take you close to your friend. Please be careful."
"Yeah, be careful," Kran added dryly, still clutched in her small hands. "And don't forget this shiny lizard here."
I smirked, then turned to the door. "I'll be back," I promised, glancing back at Asha one last time before stepping through the door.
---
"So, princess, what do you want to do now? I'd say it's better if you don't watch him, you know." Kran said, his voice tinged with caution after Ashborn had left to face the nightmare.
"Hmm..." Asha tilted her head, her silver hair swaying. Her wide amethyst eyes gleamed with excitement. "I want to cook something for you! Mom and Dad always cook things for me, and it always makes me happy. I want to make something for them too!"
Kran blinked in surprise at her sudden enthusiasm, barely keeping up with her mood swing. "What a spirit... Well, cooking lessons it is. Not that I know anything about cooking," he muttered, his small metal form clicking slightly as he shifted. "But I'll eat whatever you make. Hopefully."
"Yes! I'll do my best!" Asha practically sparkled with determination.
"Hmm… she was terrified just a moment ago, now she's fine?" Kran murmured to himself, watching curiously as a miniature kitchen, perfectly suited for a child, materialized before them. Pots, pans, and utensils floated gently into place, as if summoned by Asha's imagination alone.
With a grand flourish, she twirled in front of her creation and proudly presented him with a dish. "Tada! This is the cookie I made for you!"
Kran leaned closer to inspect it. The cookie was oddly misshapen and... twitching?
"Hmm, let me see. Huh? Why is it... moving? Wait a second, did that cookie just blink at me?" He squinted, his tiny metal eyes focusing on the strange confection.
"It did?" Asha frowned, her innocence as genuine as ever. "Was it not supposed to do that?"
"...No, no it most definitely was not." Kran's tail flicked nervously. "Let's... uh, let's try something else."
"Okay! I'll make a muffin this time!" she chirped, turning back to the kitchen, her earlier confusion already forgotten.
Kran sighed and watched as she worked, her tiny hands moving with confidence, yet somehow filling him with dread. Ten minutes later, Asha proudly returned with a muffin that, to Kran's relief, actually looked normal.
"Oh! This one looks good," he said, reaching out with his claws to try it. But as soon as he went in for a bite, the muffin jerked to life, snapping its own "mouth" at him and nearly taking a chunk out of his claw.
Kran yelped, jerking his hand away. "What the—? Asha!"
"Y-yes?" Asha asked, her expression shifting from pride to worry.
"Does your food usually try to eat you?" he asked, staring in disbelief at the wriggling muffin.
Asha's face flushed with embarrassment. "...No. I don't think it's supposed to do that."
Kran, barely able to hold back his panic, squeaked, "Then can you help me out here before I lose a limb to a baked good?!"
With wide eyes, Asha rushed forward and grabbed the muffin. It was a struggle, but after several intense minutes of wrestling, she managed to subdue it. The muffin finally stopped moving, much to Kran's relief.
Panting slightly from the effort, Kran shook his head in disbelief. "That's it. I need to see the recipe book you're using."
"Oh, sure! I borrowed it from Grandma," Asha said cheerfully as she toddled off to retrieve the book. When she returned, she was dragging a massive tome, easily half her size, across the floor with great effort.
Kran's metallic jaw dropped. "What in the—?"
The book was ancient. Dark, tattered, and exuding a strange energy, it looked more like something used in forbidden rituals than for whipping up a batch of cookies. Kran's eyes scanned the cover, recognizing arcane symbols and runes that were definitely not meant for culinary endeavors.
"This… This is a dark magic book! Raising the dead, summoning creatures from other dimensions...!" Kran's voice rose with disbelief.
Asha looked up at him, confused by his reaction. "I just wanted to make something special like Grandma used to," she said softly, her innocent voice at odds with the twisted knowledge the book held.
Kran, recovering from his shock, pressed a little further. "...Asha, do you have any photos of your Mom and Dad? I need to confirm something."
Asha suddenly tensed. Her demeanor shifted, and she nervously averted her eyes. "Ugh... I don't have any. Sorry."
But Kran wasn't about to let it slide. His eyes had already caught sight of a picture hanging on the wall—a picture Asha seemed to be avoiding. Before she could stop him, he darted over, flying up to the wall and snatching it.
The moment he laid eyes on the image, Kran froze.
"By the Rules..."
In the picture, he saw two figures standing behind Asha— His claws trembled slightly as the implications of what he was seeing sank in.
"Hehe..." Asha's soft giggle broke the silence, her voice now tinged with a nervous edge. "Please don't tell anyone, okay? Mother will be really mad if she finds out I was here."
Suddenly, the ceiling above them pulsed with an ethereal light. The room itself seemed to hum with power, and an overwhelming presence filled the air. Kran could feel it—something immensely powerful had become aware of them.
"Oh no, she found out," Asha whispered, her wide eyes filling with fear. "Well, I guess I have to say goodbye now, Mr. Shiny Lizard. I had lots of fun. You should go back to your friend now."
A door appeared behind Kran, glowing softly in the corner of the room. The light grew brighter, illuminating the path back to Ashborn and Rem.
Kran, still reeling from the shock of the revelation in the picture, could barely focus. "Y-yeah… Sure, I will…"
In a daze, he dove through the gate, his mind swirling with a thousand questions, none of which ever to be answered.
---
The instant I passed through, the soft, warm atmosphere of Asha's room vanished, replaced by the cold, sterile halls of the manor. The air was tense, thick with an unsettling silence. And then, faintly, I heard it—the unmistakable sound of the nightmare, its guttural growl echoing down the corridors.
As I raced through the halls, the monstrous growl of the nightmare grew louder, reverberating off the manor's cold stone walls. The air was thick with dread, a suffocating pressure that clung to every surface, but I pushed through it. I knew what was at stake. Rem was out there, barely holding her own, and I couldn't afford to waste any more time.
I found myself in front of the library again, its once pristine chandeliers now dim, flickering with unnatural shadows. And there it was—the nightmare. It towered at the far end of the room, a grotesque abomination of sinew and flame. Its stitched-shut eyes seemed to pulse as if they were bleeding, and its mouth was twisted into an impossible grin. Blood dripped from its claws, hissing as it met the floor, and fire licked at its skin, coiling around its form like a serpent made of flame.
Rem was pinned near the far corner, wings dropped with exhaustion, barely evading the nightmare's attacks.
I clenched my fists and activated my core. The familiar rush of somnium surged through me, and the air around me ignited in a fierce blaze of heat. My body lifted just slightly off the ground, and in that instant, the oppressive darkness of the manor was replaced by the harsh, burning light of the sun.
The nightmare's grin widened as it turned to face me. It raised one clawed hand, and with a sharp motion, tendrils of blood erupted from its arm, whipping toward me like spears. They came fast, tearing through the air with a deadly hiss.
I dodged to the side, heat flaring around me as I deflected one of the blood tendrils with a fiery shield. The impact sent a sharp, hot spray of blood across the floor, and where it landed, the ground sizzled, erupting into small pockets of flame.
Not waiting for the next attack, I conjured a sphere of white-hot fire in my palm and hurled it at the nightmare. The blazing orb collided with its chest, detonating with a searing burst of light. For a moment, the nightmare staggered, its body wreathed in flames, but it didn't fall.
Instead, it let out a low, guttural laugh, its bloody grin widening further. The flames on its body twisted and merged with its own, turning a deeper, more malevolent red. And then, with a chilling roar, the nightmare lashed out, sending a torrent of fire and blood hurtling toward me.
The force of the attack was immense, but I was ready. Drawing more power from my core, I spread my arms wide and let the heat around me expand, forming a barrier of pure solar energy. The flames crashed against it, licking at the edges but unable to penetrate. Still, the nightmare's attack was intense, nearly overwhelming.
I gritted my teeth and pushed harder. I wasn't going to let this thing win. Not now. Not ever.
With a fierce shout, I thrust my hand forward, and the barrier around me condensed into a concentrated beam of solar energy, shooting straight toward the nightmare. It tore through the room, a blinding lance of light that pierced through the nightmare's chest.
The creature howled in agony, its body writhing as the light burned through it, as the flames died down, I saw it—the nightmare, crumbling. Its form flickered, pieces of it turning to ash and falling away. The blood and fire that had once been its weapons evaporated into the air, and its grin, once so menacing, slowly melted into nothingness.
With one final, guttural growl, the nightmare collapsed, its body dissolving into dust.
I stood there, breathing heavily, the heat around me slowly fading. My arm throbbed where the nightmare's bloodfire had struck me, but it didn't matter. The nightmare was gone.
Rem flew over, her face pale but relieved. "You did it," she breathed.
I nodded, still catching my breath. "Yeah… It's over."
Suddenly, the blood that had spilled from its body rose into the air, swirling into a storm of crimson droplets. They coalesced, forming jagged, bloody spikes that rained down upon me. I dodged and weaved through the onslaught, but one of the spikes caught my arm again, slicing deep and leaving a burning trail of bloodfire in its wake.
Gritting my teeth through the pain, I forced myself to look up. The nightmare's body was regenerating, pulling itself together from the pool of blood surrounding us, its grotesque form solidifying with each drop. The sight of it twisting back into shape was almost enough to make me lose hope. My strength was waning, and I could feel the heat from my core flickering, like a dying ember.
The nightmare's disjointed voice echoed through the chamber, its body reforming faster and faster.
But then, with a deafening crash, the doors of the library burst open.
"One hour is up, son of a bitch."
Noa stood in the doorway, and he looked worse than ever. His clothes were torn, and his hair was disheveled, but his eyes burned with a strange mix of determination and madness. Behind him, the library was in ruins—shelves collapsed, pages torn, everything wrecked. I didn't know where he was up until now, but he was caught in his own trap, and spend a year inside that library.
I could hardly believe it, but he had survived.
"You... still alive?" the nightmare rasped, its voice distorted, almost slurred as it struggled to keep its newly-formed body steady. It turned to face Noa, its faceless expression filled with disbelief.
Noa didn't even acknowledge the nightmare's existence. His eyes were locked onto me.
"Is the girl safe?" he asked, his voice calm despite the chaos surrounding us.
Before I could answer, Kran swooped in, his small metal body flashing through the air. "She's gone! We're the only ones left here!" he chirped, his voice sharper than usual.
That was the confirmation Noa needed. Without a word, a shimmering blue vortex of light spun open behind him, and a woman with vibrant blue hair and an oversized hat stepped through. Her presence was commanding, her eyes narrowing as she took in the destruction.
"Noa, why did I get 749 calls from you in a minute—what the hell is going on here?" she demanded, her tone laced with both annoyance and confusion.
Noa didn't waste any time on explanations. "Take them somewhere safe. They'll fill you in if you need details. Consider one of your debts to me paid."
The woman's expression shifted, her annoyance replaced by urgency as she sized up the situation. With a wave of her hand, another portal of blue light appeared behind us, swirling like a vortex of stars.
"Alright, hop in, kids!" she said, her voice brisk. "We don't have time to waste."
Neither I nor Rem questioned it. We leaped into the swirling light without hesitation, disappearing from the chaos alongside the mysterious woman with blue hair.
---
Back in the ruined library, the nightmare's grotesque form shifted and twisted, its voice rasping with a hollow laugh. "Now, you are alone."
Noa's lips curled into a wicked grin, a manic gleam in his eyes. "Alone? I might be. But why are you saying that like it's a disadvantage?"
The nightmare, towering over him, paused, sensing something was off. Noa's stance wasn't one of fear—it was of utter confidence.
"Do you, a mere Incubi-level Nightmare, really think you can take down an enforcer?" Noa continued, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. "I don't even need to use the Authority of Time to wipe out an eyesore like you. The only reason you survived this long is because that little girl was within range!"
Behind Noa, the remnants of the library—a mountain of books—began to glow. Each one radiated a faint, ominous light, and the air buzzed with the growing energy.
The nightmare recoiled slightly, its instinct to flee slowly overtaking its bravado. But it was too late. Noa's grin widened.
"What do you think I did with an entire year stuck in that library?" he asked, his voice cold, yet filled with satisfaction. "Too stupid to understand, huh? I filled every single page of every single book in that library with explosive runes. Enough of them to make the Enforcer of Destruction jealous!"
For the first time, the nightmare—a creature that feasted on fear, that thrived on terror—felt it. Fear. Genuine, primal fear. Its body trembled as it realized the true nature of the trap it had walked into.
"And now," Noa said softly, his voice laced with finality, "now it's your turn to be afraid. Begone."
With those words, the mountain of books erupted. A cataclysmic explosion shook the very fabric of the manor, tearing through everything in its path. The shockwave obliterated the walls, the floors, the very essence of the Manor of Mirrors. In a blinding flash of light and sound, the nightmare was consumed by the violent detonation.
When the dust and smoke settled, there was nothing left of the manor. No walls, no rooms, no mirrors. Nothing but vast emptiness stretching out into the void—the space between worlds.
Noa stood amidst the aftermath, completely untouched by the explosion. His expression was one of relief, but also exhaustion. He stared out into the nothingness, a slight smirk forming on his face as he let out a long, satisfied breath.
"Hah… that felt good."
With a wave of his hand, a gate opened behind him, glowing softly. Without a second glance, he stepped through, vanishing into the endless void.
---