We had woken up from our visit to the Dreamrealm and saw Chaos still floating and frozen, but the Devil and his table gone. “So, we going now? I know where the castle is, so I’ll just shadow warp us there.”
“Yeah.” Mara grabbed both Mori’s and my shoulders, and into a shadow she created below us, we sank.
In front of us stood a surprisingly small castle. By my estimates, it looked three stories. It was completely black, with even the windows having a black tint and a flag flying above with text that said: “Go Away.” Nothing was illuminating the area, and yet I could see everything crystal clear. “Hey, how come everything is so clear?”
“That’s just how it is here in the Shadowrealm, buckaroo. Shadow is light here. Light is also light. Something along those lines. I have no idea how it fucking works, the fellow who made it is constantly sleeping. The Shadowrealm is just one of those unknowns, okay.”
“Okay then. Anyways, we should probably have someone be the leader, so who should it be?”
“You Eve.”
“I think you, mom.”
“Evelyn, you.”
“Haa… fine, fine. First order of business, Phoebe.” I turned on the Dream vision thing and saw Phoebe standing on the shoulders of the Devil. Her hair was on fire, and she was holding an equally flaming pitchfork. “Check to see if everyone can hear you.”
“On it. Yo Devil Level, if you were to bound Sandy, how would you do it?”
“I’d use snakes. He doesn’t like snakes.”
“Interesting information. Also, check!” She teleported in front of Mara, this time donning a black wide-brim hat, black coat, and a huge sniper rifle on her back. “If you could see me, how would you do it?”
“I’d do it when you are in the shower.”
“Ooh, an Elizabeth reply, spicy. Also, check!” She walked over to Mori, putting on a skull mask. “Like my cosplay?”
“You remind me of the Undertaker, but with a gun.”
“Now that’s what I like to hear. Also, check!” Phoebe did a weird crouch and dash movement towards me. “Is it wrong for two avatars to love one another?”
“I told you to check everyone, so what made you think you should check on me too? Also, what kind of question is that?”
“Just curious on your perspective between intersoul relationships. Also, the last check! We are prepared for takeoff, Evelyn!”
“Good, go ahead and scout for us, then report back.”
“Understood.” She saluted, then ran straight into the castle.
“So… what do we do while we wait for her?” asked Mara, with a clearly bored look on her face.
“You could make a deal with me.” The Devil summoned a table and a suspiciously evil-looking piece of paper floating above it.
“Do I get to sell my soul for a couple billion cans of soda?”
“For soda water, you can.”
“No thanks, then.”
“Wanna play a card game instead?”
“Hmm… sure.”
While Mara and the Devil played a game, I faced Mori to ask her some questions. “So we’ve been to the Dreamrealm, and we’re here in the Shadowrealm. Are there any other realms?”
“There’s a bunch. The place where that Roundtable you were at a while back is in the Roundtablerealm.”
“Really? That’s its name?”
“Yeah. It’s a stupid name, but it was named by the Devil over there.”
“I see. What else?”
“There’s the Voidrealm, which is just the Void. We slapped realm onto the end of it for kicks and giggles. No one is in charge of it since there’s nothing to be in charge of there. There’s Earth, which we occasionally add realm to the end of. The Roundtable member assigned to it is Izanagi, but honestly, it feels like most of the Roundtable are in charge of it. There’s the Lightrealm, which is Shadowrealm’s counterpart. That Old Man is in charge of it. Ironically it’s hard to see there than in here. There’s also the Underrealm, where all the dead people go. Izanami is the boss there, although she barely does anything. She just leaves the work to other people and spends her days bickering with Izanagi. I’m starting to think they’re not divorced.”
“I thought it was called the Underworld.”
“Mortals call it the Underworld. We call it the Underrealm.”
“Is it because it has the word realm in it?”
“Yes. Speaking of realms, Azathoth is supposed to be in charge here, but since they’re always asleep, no one bothers with here. Dreamrealm is pretty obvious. You’ve met who’s in charge. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if Phoebe takes the throne. There’s a bunch of other realms, but,” She looked at the castle entrance, and out came Phoebe, “looks like we got to go to work.”
“You’re out early.”
“Of course I am. No one expects the dream express. There are no traps, and Puppeteer is just sitting in her throne room, with both the Thief and the Knight at her side. I think she expects you. As for the other avatars… I dunno. I could go search while you guys duke it you.”
“Then do that, please. Hey Devil and Mara, we’re going now.”
“Good! I don’t want to continue with this cheating scumbag!” said Mara, angrily throwing her cards into the air.
“Says a fellow cheater.” said the Devil, snapping his fingers to make the table and cards disappear. “Lead the way, oh Leader Evelyn.”
“Onto the Puppeteer’s stage!”
“Ooh… dramatic. Are you going to go back to using those summon spells, mom?”
“You know, I’ve always found them funny. She used to do it all the time in class.”
“Guys, guys! Stop it! Let’s go now.” Into the castle, we stormed.
