A vast blackness filled with nothing stretched before Beth.

She had been with Lorelei, begging for a snack. Her sister had finally reneged after Beth complained enough and went to microwave some popcorn.

As far as Beth could remember, she never got to eat any.

There had been a noise behind her and Lorelei had looked alarmed. Beth thought she had seen something behind Lorelei, but she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she had fallen asleep suddenly, but she hadn’t recalled being tired before that.

When she awoke she was here. It was a scary place. The darkness stretched on forever in all directions. No matter how far she walked or even if she ran Beth couldn’t get anywhere. There was nothing to reach, nothing to find in this place. She eventually stopped trying altogether and sat in the middle of nothingness with only herself to pass the time.

She was crying now. She missed Lorelei, she wanted her sister to come here and save her. Lorelei always knew what to do.

“Why...why am I here? Where are you Lorelei?” The words slipped from Beth’s mouth even though she knew her sister wasn’t around to hear them.

Though for a while now there had been something else to listen.

Beth had seen it. It was another shadow on top of the blackness of the space, in the corner of her eye. As time passed it had become more emboldened, slipping more and more into Beth’s direct field of vision.

It was directly behind her now. Even though Beth felt no physical touch she knew its hands were on her shoulders. There was a spiritual warmth, a psychic presence to it that she just couldn’t place.

It brought its featureless face to Beth’s ear and whispered.

Are you...scared?

“Yes…”

I can give you the power to face your fear. You need only ask.

Beth had a horrible feeling. She felt like if she agreed she would ever see Lorelei again.

But…

She was so scared and so very alone.

“Who are you?” she asked.

I am the lower nature of man...a son of the dawn. All I ask is that you allow me to shepherd you and your fellows to the truth.

“...ok.”

Beth turned and reached out to the shadow, her only security in the void.

Noelle jerked awake suddenly, her heart racing.

She was no longer on Cornell University’s grounds, she had been taken somewhere else. There was no ground beneath her, while she felt something and was able to stand, all she could see were clouds of color. It was a beautiful place. If humans could somehow walk up into the sky and stroll through the aurora borealis this is what she would have imagined it to look like from that angle.

A black spec lay a few meters ahead of her, looking at her weakly.

It was in the outline of a cat yet it had no features of the living, breathing animal. It’s fur was a flat ink-like substance and while its head had an outline of a nose, mouth, and ears the depth of said features were not present. Its entire body was filled in black like a drawing scribbled on with black crayon given life.

“You’re...you’re the thing from town? Is that your real body?” asked Noelle.

No response came from the creature. It remained there, not moving.

“That poor thing’s been through the ringer. You should give it your thanks, it stopped you from slipping any further than this.” said a voice from behind Noelle.

Noelle turned around expecting a person but all she found were floating orbs of light of all different colors, shades, and hues. “Who...who are you?” she asked.

“A memory of a girl replaced by her true self.”

“A vampire sent to her last rest.”

“A hunter who died dissatisfied, revenge unfulfilled.”

“An echo, the last dregs of a person I can no longer recall.”

The replies were numerous, but none of them were helpful. They were more like taglines than actual identities.

“This is the entrance to the Samsara,” said one of the leading orbs. “No...if it was the true entrance then you would already have passed on. You may think of it as the entrance to the entrance.”

“The...Samsara?”

“It’s nothing,” replied the orb. “A natural process we all must partake in. It is the path of rebirth, a place where our souls become solute before reforming into whoever we were next meant to be.”

“You’re souls?”

“No. Souls cannot remain. The Samsara claims them when the material body dies. We are the remains of the animating principle...the anima. Some of us you may know, some of us you may meet, and some of us died far past your time in the world. We are the muddled, unconscious reflection of the soul. We exist yet we do not exist.”

“Then…,” Noelle hesitated before regaining her composure. ‘Why are you here?”

“Curiosity.”

“In myself? That seems like a stretch.”

“Something on your end, in the phenomenal world, sent a shock through the Abyss. We all felt it, the demons in the undercurrent of man, the Archon, and even us lost echoes. A being of the material realm attempting to tear through to the Samsara is no small feat.”

“You mean the Twin Witch Engine?!”

“Perhaps,” replied one of the orbs. “What is its purpose?”

“Dr. Bismark, it’s creator, is trying to bring back his wife and kid.” replied Noelle.

“How...distasteful.” said one of the orbs near the back. “The Samsara exists to recycle souls with free will. The departed are already back on the material world somewhere. To interrupt or reverse that...it’s blasphemy.”

“I...I need to get back.” said Noelle. “I don’t know what to do about any of this. I can’t do a thing in this place though.”

“You can leave whenever you so choose.” One of the orbs, the one that had claimed to be a vampire, pushed to the front. “The creature which saved you is acting as your anchor to the material world. Follow the chain back up, as it were, and you can return.”

“You’d best be quick about it!” chimed in one of the other orbs. “This spot you stand in now is ephemeral. Stay too long and you’ll fall into the Samsara proper and perish. I don’t even know what would happen to your physical body, but your soul would be reborn into a fresh babe, memories cast aside.”

“I don’t really get it, but I can’t have that.” said Noelle. She began walking towards the cat creature, which raised its head in expectation as she grew nearer. “As interesting as all this is, I’ll stick to what I know for now.”

Noelle reached out and brushed her hand against the creature that had been causing so much trouble around town. “Good grief, you really are a sweetheart,” she said to it as it leaned into her touch.

“Goodbye, Noelle Sellers,” said one of the orbs. “We look forward to seeing what you and that man bring about next.”

Noelle woke up again, but this time she could feel the soft tickle of the spring grass against her face. She was back, this was her world for certain.

She could hear Oscar groaning not too far away. Whatever Dr. Bismark and the TWE had done to her had surely affected him as well.

“That’s...not at all what I had intended,” she could hear Dr. Bismark muttering ahead of her. “I suppose I still have some adjustments to make.”

Noelle braced herself and pushed against the ground to get back to her feet. The scene remained the same as it had been before. Whatever the TWE had wrought on her hadn’t caused any damage to the surroundings.

“What do you think?” Dr. Bismark addressed her now. “Care to give any feedback on the TWE’s function? You were the first test subject, after all.”

“I think you should decommission the damn thing,” spat Noelle. “There’s no good to be had lugging that creepy black orb around with you anywhere. You’ll scare everyone at the bar.”

“Such mirth in the face of my miracles. Were they not to your liking?”

Anger welled up within Noelle. She had heard of enough of Dr. Bismark’s delusions for the day. “A miracle at the expense of others isn’t a miracle at all! You want to bring back your wife and daughter, but at what cost?! You’d throw away Lorelei and Beth’s lives just for that?!”

“‘Just for that?!’ This is everything you stupid bitch! Nothing matters more than this!”

“The dead already had a chance!” screamed Noelle. “Sure, maybe life isn’t always good! The way they died wasn’t fair! But...Lorelei and Beth have lives too! You aren’t creating any miracles, you’re just trying to trade lives! You don’t have the right to do that! You don’t have the right to plug those girls into that thing and call it a day!”

Dr. Bismark growled at her through gritted teeth. “I was content with giving you a glimpse of what the Twin Witch Engine can do, but now I think I’ll have it mangle your body instead.”

The oppressive gravity the TWE had exerted on Noelle returned and she was pushed to the ground. Unable to get up, she craned her neck to remain looking at Dr. Bismark.

Hatred burned in his eyes as he caressed his earpiece. The gravity grew stronger and a dull pain spread through Noelle’s body as she felt it sink into the soil ever so slightly.

She watched as Oscar sprung back to his feet screaming something unintelligible. All it took was a slight flourish from Dr. Bismark to blow the knight backwards and incapacitate him in a manner similar to Noelle. Neither she nor Oscar had what it took to stand against a machine which could rend space and time itself.

Oscar was silent, knocked out by the force of the TWE blowing him to the ground.

“Consider this the coup de grâce!” said Dr. Bismark, fist in the air.

Before Dr. Bismark could bring down his fist and direct the TWE to crush Noelle flat there was the loud crash of a window breaking and shards of glass began to rain down in the area. An errant piece knicked Dr. Bismark’s palm and he slipped while handling the earpiece.

The gravity lifted and Noelle began to cough and sputter in recovery. There was a hand on her shoulder and another rubbing her back reassuringly.

“Are you okay?” asked a man.

Noelle looked up at him.

Levi looked back at her. Above him she could see a broken window. Had he jumped through it to reach the lawn?

“This is the second time you’ve bailed me out tonight,” she said as she smiled melancholically at Levi. “Looks like I wasn’t good for much, was I?”

“You’ve done plenty,” was his reply. “He could’ve killed you and Oscar and escaped by now. It’s only because the two of you kept on railing against him that I could make it here in time.”

Levi stood to face Dr. Bismark directly. “No hurt feelings, but it would ease my conscience if I shut that thing behind you down.”

“Your reasoning being?” probed Dr. Bismark.

“Because I feel like it,” replied Levi. “Besides, I don’t see the girl I came here to look for either. It’s best if we put a scary thing like that away before she turns up.”

“Adrian and Caleb already informed me as to your true identity,” said Dr. Bismark. “Your reputation truly does precede you. A man as sharp as yourself surely already knows where the witches are.”

“Just all the more reason to crack that thing open. I’ll be taking the creature too while I’m at it.”

Dr. Bismark waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve had it up to here with you self-styled heroes. Disappear from my sight.”

Levi dove to his side and tucked into a roll. Noelle was about to question him on the action when she noticed the ground where he had been standing bowing inward. There was a sudden gust of wind at her back and the grass and a chunk of soil underneath was carved away.

“How was that? A localized black hole phenomenon sustained for only a second. The Twin Witch Engine’s potential applications are limitless.”

“That’s too dangerous,” said Levi as picked himself up from the ground. “I prefer conventional weapons.”

Dr. Bismark rolled his eyes and Levi began to dance around. More and more spots on the ground were being carved up. Seeing an opening, Noelle took off at a run towards Dr. Bismark.

“No! Don’t!” Levi yelled at her.

Noelle skidded to a halt as the ground was carved away directly in front of her. One more step and the TWE would have undoubtedly scooped a hole out of her side.

Dr. Bismark’s focus was on her as he queued up another attack on the TWE.

Noelle pulled her pistol from its holster. “Catch!” she yelled as she threw it to Levi. As the gun was traveling through the air she approached Dr. Bismark again, prompting him to launch another attack which she narrowly avoided.

Levi caught the gun perfectly, instantly gripping the trigger with practiced discipline. He fired three shots aimed directly at Dr. Bismark with no hesitation.

The bullets never met their mark and were instead disappeared by the TWE, the only evidence of their firing being the reduced amount of ammo in the gun’s magazine.

The ground exploded in front of Levi, knocking the gun from his hand. Noelle circled around Dr. Bismark to draw his attention. His concentration was momentarily split between the two of them, which was all Levi needed.

Levi coiled and shot forward like a spring, magical enhancement throwing him forward at an incredible speed. His arm shot out, clawing for the earpiece worn by Dr. Bismark.

Levi’s fingers came within inches of Dr. Bismark’s ear before his body was sent crashing into the ground. Noelle’s knees buckled as the gravity hit her as well.

“Seriously, how many times have I restrained you with this?” asked Dr. Bismark.

Levi only raised a bracelet clad hand in response. “Do you know what this is?”

“Your stratus? I’ve heard about it.” said Dr. Bismark.

“Do you also know it’s been missing encoded information ever since your creature began rubbing up against it?”

“So what?”

“So…,” the bracelet began to vibrate, “that information would be useless to something that doesn’t have magical energy to stoke it, an issue you’ve taken care of.”

“What are you saying?!”

“A creature with all the information for a fire spell paired with two reservoirs of magical power. Tell me, what do you think is going to happen if I send out a resonant frequency for said spell like I’ve been doing?”

Dr. Bismark spun to face the Twin Witch Engine. There was a panicked look on his face and he began sweating for the first time that night.

A bubble began to form on the surface of the TWE, then two, three, and more. Soon the surface of the orb had become covered in black swells, completely destroying its original spherical shape.

The gravity lifted from Noelle’s body once again, the Twin Witch Engine was no longer able to keep her pinned down.

“N-no! This can’t be happening!” cried Dr. Bismark.

Levi grabbed him by his shirt. “That’s why you shouldn’t mess with things you don’t understand! That creature never gave up! It was never going to stop until it found a way to escape!”

Cracks began to form on the surface of the Twin Witch Engine! Flames spewed from them, reaching far up into the sky!

“Noelle! Get back!” ordered Levi. He threw Dr. Bismark into the distance before racing that way himself. Noelle retreated back to group up with them as well as Oscar who was just getting up after having been knocked out by the TWE earlier.

There was a deafening roar as the TWE came apart, shooting a vortex of fire into the air and to the sides. Levi held his bracelet aloft while Oscar summoned his sword to use as a makeshift shield. It did nothing to stop the group from being assailed by an incredible heat, but it was enough to stop them from being engulfed in flames.

Levi returned to a relaxed position. The ground was littered with flaming debris, the obsidian orb had returned to whatever base materials had been used to construct it.

One of the pieces on the ground shifted and Noelle saw a small black creature stuck underneath it.

She got up and ran. By the time she had reached it the air had become unbearingly hot. The featureless cat cried at her as if to warn her off from being burned.

“Oh shut it! You saved me from that Samsara or whatever! It’s time I returned the favor!” Noelle pulled her sleeve over her hands and swung them at the piece of debris. Sparks shot out and singed her clothing, but she was able to move it off the creature. She picked it up and cradled it in her arms, the mysterious substance making up its body was soothingly cool compared to the burning air.

There was a grunt in the distance and one of the Twin Witch Engine’s pieces was blown back. A girl emerged from the flames, her white hair covered in soot but otherwise okay. Lorelei had made it out.

“Lorelei!” yelled Noelle, running over to the young girl. “You’re not hurt are you?”

“I...I don’t understand what’s going on,” said Lorelei. “The last thing I remember was getting swallowed up by that thing...and what the hell are you holding?”

Noelle snorted at the question. “It’s nothing. Levi was able to destroy that thing.”

“What about Beth?!” said Lorelei, disorientation fading.

“I...I haven’t seen her yet.”

“We need to find her!”

Lorelei began to cast magic haphazardly, picking up and throwing pieces of the former TWE all over the place. She cast towards a particularly large pile of debris which burst into a pillar of flames.

“W-what?! I didn’t mean to do that!” Lorelei yelled, taken aback.

“What is that?” said Levi, peering into the fire.

“I’ve got a bad feeling,” replied Oscar.

A small form could be seen stepping through the flames.

It had the limbs of a kid only five or six years of age and was wearing a childishly patterned day dress. Bushy strawberry blonde hair bounced with each step as the figure further emerged from the fire.

It possessed all the characteristics of a young girl, but there was more to it. Unearthly energy caused the ends of its bushy hair to curl unnaturally and a pair of flaming horns which looked like they were red hot molten metal molded into their current shape adorned its head.

What struck Noelle the most were its eyes which looked straight through her. The gaze distrubed her but she couldn’t break contact with it either. Whatever it was that was standing before her had her transfixed.

Out of sight, she began to feel Lorelei’s body shake beside her. The creature she was holding became distressed as well, squirming against her chest but too weak to do anything else.

“This is...the absolute worst case scenario,” she heard Levi say.

Beth continued to look at Noelle with her demonic eyes before opening her mouth to address her captive audience.

“Sons of Adam...allow me to bestow unto you the blessings of truth and the fruit of knowledge once again.”