Karen and Phil stood up. They had been sitting down in a couple of large chairs, out of sight from the exhausted necromancer and her rescued acolyte. But, were alerted by Dawn speaking with them. 

They all stared at each other in dumbfounded silence. Karen, Phil and Dawn had no idea that they had stumbled across Zephyra's home. And, Zephyra certainly wasn't expecting anyone. She wasn't even certain how they managed to get inside. Not to mention that she could tell that they had all vastly changed. 

Zephyra recognized Karen. Although, she seemed a bit more pale. Her skin was sallow. Her eyes sunken. And, her lips had lost their color and luster. All in all, Karen looked familiar as an Undead. She was the same that she had been. Mostly. But, also lesser to a degree. Yet, despite those changes, her eyes still carried the same spark of life and intelligence. 

Phil, on the other hand, was almost unrecognizable. It was difficult to describe, or to tell, what had changed. He nearly had the same physical appearance. He was still tall with chiseled muscles. His hands were still rough and calloused. His face was still permanently stamped with a slightly disapproving scowl. 

But, he felt completely different. 

Perhaps, it was the blackened hollowed out eyes. Or, the emptiness that he seemed to exude. Or, the feeling as if someone had reached inside of him and scooped out all of his innards. He was a void shell of his former self, freed from his convictions, belief and self aggrandizing righteousness. 

Zephyra would've probably considered it to be an improvement. If it weren't for the fact that it was so creepy, she had no idea what could do that to a person. 

Finally, there was Dawn. Zephyra had no clue who the strange young lady was, or why she was with her people. Although, she did idly think that she was rather pretty, if it wasn't for the fact that she was an unknown stranger. 

It was uncomfortably silent. 

No one quite knew what to say. 

Bob shrunk back into the corner of the room. It was probably for the best that he stayed out of it. He wasn't sure what he had just walked into now. 

Dawn held her own arms and gently swayed, caught in a vulnerable moment of indecision. Then, all at once, she rushed forward and pulled the astonished necromancer into a tight hug. 

"I was so worried about you!" Dawn sniffled and tried to blink back her tears. "I wanted to stay and find you, so badly. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Zephyra stood silently as a statue, completely caught off guard and confused by the woman that threw herself into her arms. 

"Um…"

"He kept - kept talking about how we needed to leave. A-and that we would go back and look for you later. I was worried. I was so, so worried.

Oh gods, I'm so happy that you're back. You found us!"

Karen cleared her throat and tried to get the ecstatic woman's attention. "Uhm, Dawn?"

Dawn didn't hear her, she just kept burying herself into Zephyra and crying happily. 

Zephyra snapped out of it and gently started to pry the woman away from her. Dawn didn't want to let go and kept trying to cling on tightly. But, eventually, Zephyra managed to wrassle am arms length of distance between them. 

"Uhm," Zephyra sighed. It was obvious that this was important to the woman somehow. But, she was so confused. "Have we… met somewhere before?"

Dawn stepped back and looked at Zephyra with a confused expression. "What?"

Fortunately, Karen understood and stepped in to help smooth things over. "Dawn. They have no idea who you are. You've changed a lot."

Dawn's eyes lit up in understanding and her mouth shaped into a perfect circle. 

"Oh."

Karen rolled her eyes and gently hugged the poor girl. Then, fiercely turned toward Zephyra. 

"This is Dawn. The third member of our party. You've met her before, she was stabbed in the dungeon and you healed her."

Dawn flustered, but didn't meet any of their eyes. "... You could've just told her that I like to sing."

Karen turned and smirked. As if to say, 'I know'. 

Zephyra looked between the three of them in confusion. She didn't immediately grasp what they were telling her. But, it was slowly starting to make sense. The other two had changed. Dawn must have changed as well. 

Such magic certainly existed. It was not common. It could even be considered to be quite rare; unusual enough that it was only occasionally mentioned in scholarly magical journals. However, the larger issue was that such magic typically required an abundance of mana, or a sufficiently powerful being, like a god, to successfully cast. 

'Wonderful more complications.', Zephyra thought to herself. She shook her head and smiled.

"Do you prefer Dawn?"

Her eyes searched for any sign of discomfort. Or, ill-content.

Dawn hesitated for a moment, before she cautiously nodded. 

Zephyra stepped forward. And, gently pulled her back in to an embrace. 

"Dawn is a lovely name. We're all bound together. Regardless of your name, you'll always belong at my side."

Dawn snuggled further into Zephyra's side. 

Zephyra looked up to Karen. She was gently smiling at the both of them, not wanting to interrupt the moment. But, Zephyra spoke first. 

"What did you do?" It was a bit presumptuous of her to assume that they had done something of their own accord. But, at the same time, it was highly unusual for all three of them to undergo such a radical change all at once. And, really, it was the simplest solution to think that they had inflicted it upon themselves. "What happened?"

Karen opened her mouth to speak. 

Her lips moved. 

But, no sound came out.

A voice boomed around them and throughout the room. 

"I happened."

All five of the companions stared wide eyed and wildly around the room. They couldn't tell where the utterly unnerving voice had come from, but three of them had immediately recognized it. The speech belonged to it. The one from the void. 

Zephyra stepped forward.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"

The disembodied voice cackled. A horrendous screech of bone scraping against bone. An unsettling, weird and unnatural laughter that withheld the spark of mirth and joy of all living things. 

"I am and I am not. I've gathered your precious little playthings for you. They've seemed to run off without you. 

So weak. So fragile."

The voice split into three and spoke all at once.

" - I fixed them for you-"

"- I broke them for you -" 

"- I saved them for you -"

Zephyra gulped. She was used to some rather strange things. But, she suddenly felt out of her depth. She hadn't ever encountered anything like this creature. 

It was foreign. It didn't belong to reality at all. It merely mimicked and mocked substance. 

"And… what gave you the right to touch my things?"

"Oh?" The voice genuinely reflected a tone of surprise. "Did daddy dearest neglect to mention?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Zephyra's brow. "What?"

A faint sound echoed around them. A soft whistle of wind. A creaking groan of strained wood. Or, perhaps even the light scuttling patter of an insect. 

"I am your guarantor, dear child." The voice clearly spoke from a source. "I have the only right."

Phil smiled and stared at Zephyra. His movements were all wrong. His limbs contorted and twisted. His bones snapped and crackled. And, his torso bent and shifted over as he crawled toward her. He moved quickly.

Zephyra was the only one that could react. The rest were frozen. An icy chill dripping down their spine, numbing their legs, stilling their hands, and seizing their heart.

His eyes were no longer an inky reflection of the void. They had filled with the murky reflection of many other eyes, constantly shifting, and rolling about. 

He smiled. His teeth were not his own. They were jagged and sharp. And, lined throughout his mouth and deep into his throat. They clicked and clacked against one another, gently rasping with every breath. 

The voidling stepped closer and whispered into her ear. Zephyra flinched and went to take a step back, anything to put some distance between her and this monstrosity. 

It grabbed her wrist. Pulled her close. And, possessively stroked at her back. It restrained her. It whispered into her ear. 

"How exactly did you think that little contract of yours worked?

Did you really believe that you could bind a soul to your own without a -

-Price?-

-Consequence?-

-Strings?-

No. Surely your silly little father told you something. He wouldn't have simply handed you over to me without explaining anything to  his precious little experiment."

Phil, the void-filled, pressed his face into Zephyra's hair. It sniffed and breathed in deeply. 

"Oh. It seemed that he moved on before he could tell you this time."

 It rattled and chuckled. 

"How sad."

Zephyra pushed away and wriggled out of it's grasp. It let her go. 

"You are quite the little feisty one, aren't you?

At least that never seems to change…"

Zephyra grit her teeth. 

"What do you know of my father?"

The great nothingness crossed the arms of the shell and pouted. 

"Ugh, boring. We've already had that conversation in so many other dreams. Ask me another."

Zephyra furrowed her brow and glared at the creature. They stared at each for a moment before Zephyra answered. 

"Fine. What do you want?"

The creature squealed and giddily gyrated across the floor. It laughed and clapped it's hands together awkwardly. 

"Now, there is a question that never gets old. I just love the way that your little fleshy face twists and turns and despairs when I tell you." 

Zephyra shuddered. She already regretted her question. But, she needed to know. She crossed her arms and steeled herself.

"Then, what do you want?"

Phil twirled close to her. He stopped mid way and bent over backward in front of her face. It adopted an expression that seemed suspiciously familiar to a poker face. It was trying to contain itself. 

" - Nothing -

-Everything-

-Something-"

Zephyra frowned. Her eyes quirked in confusion. Her lips pressed together into a thin line. And, her eyebrows shot up. 

The damn thing didn't make any sort of sense. 

It giggled like a deranged child. 

"There! There!

That's the expression I wanted to see." 

It collapsed on the ground and rolled around while it laughed madly. 

Then, as suddenly as it started… 

It stopped.

It stood. 

It licked it's lips. 

And, whined. 

"I'm bored. So, bored. Hehe, but you. You make it interesting. I get to play with you. Yes, yes -

-I'll play-

-We've played-

-You'll play-

Then, we'll do it again."

Zephyra shuddered. It almost acted like a child. But, it was wrong. It was old. Ancient. And, it was inside Phil. A tall, fully grown man. It wasn't right. It didn't fit. 

"I found your things- 

-Waiting-

-Running-

-Dying-

-And I returned them. They've died in so many ways. Each time better, more amusing, than the last. 

But, I've seen this death before in another dream. It was dull. And, sluggish. And, tiresome.

So, I thought… 

Why not interfere?"

The null brute tittered to itself. 

"I've never done it. I've only ever lent you my power before now. 

Haha, but what freedom!

Think! Think of all the -

-Fun-

-Variation-

-Possibilities-

-I won't ever have to be bored. Ever again."

It reached out and cusped Zephyra's cheek. A long tongue snaked its way between the rows of teeth and gently licked across her neck. 

"You're too delicious. Little 'necromancer'. Unbound by fate." It nearly whispered. "I'll never let you go."

Phil backed away unsteadily, staggering and wheezing. He coughed and spluttered. An inky thick substance spitting from his mouth. 

"It seems that I've reached the limit of this vessel." It moaned mournfully. "It would be inconvenient, if I continued. So sad. We'll just have to chat some other time."

It glanced around the room. As if it had noticed the others for the first time. It's eyes landed squarely on Bob. 

"Oh? You're… new." It sniffed the air and grinned. "Yes. A true dream fragment. How delightful."

Phil shambled over to Bob and inspected him closely. It lifted his arms. It looked into his eyes, checked his ears, and into his mouth. 

"How interesting. How delightful." It turned toward Zephyra. "I'd suggest contracting this one. It would be… most amusing. So, contrarian. Yet, intriguing. 

Haha, I'm so glad that you wandered into this dream, little dream-walker. I look forward to our next visit."

And, with that, Phil collapsed. Bob quickly reached out and steadied the man. He was nearly squashed underneath the weight. But, barely managed to hold him aloft. 

Zephyra sighed and looked at Dawn and Karen. "Are you two alright?"

They both nodded. 

"That's good." She rubbed her eyes and massaged her temples. She stayed that way for awhile. Until, at last, she looked up with a tired look. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."

She glanced at the doorway leading upstairs. It was still shut and locked.

"And, I'll show you to your rooms."