After waking up, Puella's skin was soaked with sweat from the long night of sleep. The thought of that dream lingered in her mind like a bad aftertaste.

With a deep sigh, she put her head in her hands.

What even just happened?

With that single thought on her mind, she shot her gaze at her wrists.

Thankfully, there was nothing there. Puella just had a feeling of a slight burn where the mark from her dream would have been.
Puella tried to forget about her strange dream and promptly got dressed.

She thought she wasn't gonna go anywhere that day, so she dawned on some comfortable clothes. Gray sweatpants and a sports t-shirt for the baseball team. The Red Wings.

Puella went through her morning routine on the weekends, check her phone, swipe off all the unwanted notifications, go take a shower, brush her teeth, and then head downstairs.

When she came to the living room, she was surprised to see her dad was still having breakfast.

If Puella could describe him, she'd say that he was the average working man.

Skin that's been so abused by the sun that it gives off a tan-reddish hue like tomatoes that's starting to go bad. And black hair sprouted from his bald head, similar to how roots grow from an old potato left in a closet for too long.

He was reading the paper and sipping his coffee. He twitched his upper lip every now and then as if responding to the articles. Puella walked towards the kitchen and opened up the fridge for the coffee creamer.

"So ah... No landscape work today," Puella asked, closing the fridge with the small bottle of vanilla creamer in hand; Puella now searching for the coffee pot.

"Naw, I've still got work. I just have a client that needs me at noon," He replied, ruffling the paper and messily folding it. Puella managed to find the coffee pot across from the fridge and next to the stove. She set down the creamer by the machine and started scouring the kitchen for a mug next.

"I had this person come by during my archery lessons; they said that I was going to be hosting detentions for a bit. Do you know anything about that," Puella asked, opening the cupboards for the cup that she thought would be perfect for a morning like this.

Puella's dad sighed, taking a small sip of coffee.

"Look, I know you didn't sign off on it. But this could be good for you; you need to focus on more than just work and school. That and they were offering special credits to anyone who wanted to temporarily take over the position, isn't that nice," The man stated, stroking his white and gray whiskers. Her dad had a particular way when it came to growing beards out. It was either when he was out hunting or back from hunting when he deliberately let a goatee and mustache form on his face. But as far as Puella knew, he hadn't been out hunting in a while. It must have been duck season coming up.

Puella looked at him and then back into the cupboard. She grabbed a yellow mug that had some foreign slang on it that she could never remember what it said. Then she made her way back to the warm coffee pot.

Puella supposed her dad was right. Besides, those extra credits could help her leave earlier than she thought. She'd give both of her legs AND her arms to leave this tiny town. Then maybe she could go somewhere that no one would know who she was and just start over.

It was just when Puella started serving herself her coffee, and the two of them were sitting in awkward silence when Puella remembered her dream again.

Well... Puella knew dreams weren't REAL. But what's the worst that could happen, right?

"Hey, Dad? Do you mind if I ask a question about Mom," Puella asks, taking a sip of coffee.

The man sighs, looking at the stained wood dining room table.
"Sure, go for it," He says while standing up with a coffee mug in hand, walking up to the island that separated the kitchen and dining room.

"Did she lie about who she was at first? Maybe if she was posing as someone else entirely," Puella asked, sucking in her breath. Fear of the verbal backlash of her dad's fury.

As he was taking a sip, then he spat it back out. His eyes widened as he looked at Puella was surprised at first. But then he narrowed his brow with a stern parental look.

"Who told you that?! Is Uncle Doug putting made-up stories in your head," He asked with anger in his tone.

Puella flinched and looked down at the ground.

"W-well, I kinda just heard him talking at Thanksgiving last year. And he was kinda just talkin' to Uncle Jerry and Phil. So I just ended up listening in on his conversation. No one told me... technically," Puella said nervously, trying to avoid his hazel gaze as much as she could.

Puella heard a tired sigh.

"Alright, just... Try to forget you ever heard that," she heard him say, hearing the fridge pop open and then close. Puella brought her gaze up to her father again, seeing the heat die down too. "Hey, listen. I need ya to run an errand. I need something for tonight. I need you to grab pickles and milk. I'll be sure to pay you back later; I'm gonna go out to a garage and see if my mower is in decent condition, "He sighed, walking out of the kitchen and towards the TV room where the door was.

Puella finished up her coffee and just started staring out into space in the kitchen.

It was only when she had gotten into her mom's old car that she started to piece together what had just happened between her and her dad in the kitchen that morning.

Puella knew that her dad was trying to avoid what happened on the night when he and his wife met. But for what? Sure, kids do stupid stuff around that time in their life. So why be embarrassed by it? Either way, it didn't matter whether her dad was embarrassed by the situation or not. What mattered to Puella then was that the man in her dream was right.

But she didn't want to just accept this for a fact. This was a dream, for god's sake! For all she knew, she actually did hear Uncle Doug talking about it, and that just came up in her imagination. So she decided to push that to the back of her mind.

Puella drove into the heart of the village. Canaseraga's main street.
If she were to describe it, the heart of this little town was the oldest buildings in town. Dating back the most to being 1880s. Back then, she knew it was called 'Whitney Valley.' It made the town a lot smaller, hence why there aren't a ton of historical buildings. Only five buildings that Puella knew of remained from that century back. One of which was the school Puella went to. Three held small businesses, and the last was strangely an apartment building. But there was one building, in particular, that was most important to her at that moment. Mastins Food Market.

I mean, it's barely even a Market and more of a convenience store that happened to serve fresh produce. Puella parked her car on the other side of the street, put it into park, turned it off, and got out of the vehicle. No one seemed to be out and about that day.

It was nice for a change. Puella kinda hated playing the quiet kid of the entire village. A 'sorry ma'am' or 'sorry sir' was always the most Puella ever said, but she still felt like such a bother.

Puella looked down the desolate road a couple of times, and then she crossed the street.

She walked into the store. The smaller half of the store was pretty simple enough. There was an ice cream parlor before the cash register, and finally, there was a corner with DVDs that people could rent out. And honestly, the best Blockbuster she'll ever have. The second half of the store was where fresh produce and such, and in the back, the store owner made pizzas. Swell guy if you ask her.

She went into the produce section because the regular person supposed to be at the register seemed to be shuffling in the back. As soon as Puella was there, she was on a mission.

She made a Beeline through the oddly organized shelves for the pickles and snagged a huge jar. Then she scoured the store for the milk. Milk was probably the hardest thing for this store to restock because the small community didn't want to go to either 7-11 or Rockport to get any.

As if they graced Puella with their presence, a single carton of milk was left on the fridge's bottom shelf next to the vegetables.

It was only when Puella was in pure bliss with her minimal work that she felt a large hand touch her shoulder.

Puella flinched, jumping towards the fridge without thinking. Her head whacked into the refrigerator. It didn't hurt; just kinda of shocked that Puella even decided to go toward the refrigerator to get away ever crossed her mind.

"Oh shit, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay," Puella heard a familiar voice say.

Puella eased her gaze up to the person who rang true to her ear.
To her surprise, It was Jovina. She held a look of concern and confusion on her face. As one would have when someone leaps into a refrigerator.

"Oh-ah...Hey," which is the only thing Puella could manage to say as she stood up straight with the milk carton in hand.

Jovina stepped back a bit, Puella thinking that she might have realized how uncomfortably close she was to her.

"So this is kinda out of nowhere, but," Jovina began, rubbing the back of her head with a right hand.

"Are you busy? Because I think I found something weird behind the place I'm staying at. And I might need you to point me in the right direction on where I can find an exterminator," Jovina explained with a chuckle.

Puella was taken aback.

"Why? You got termites in that mill your stayin' in," Puella asked with a snort from her nose and a smirk smearing across her lips.
Jovina just shrugged, who was now rubbing her neck.

"Eh... kinda?"

Puella is a little confused with Jovina's response. Went into the other part of the store to pay for the milk.

"Alright, but we gotta make this quick. I don't want my milk to get warm in the car," Puella said as the lady from the back came out of the end and began to ring her up. Jovina was following her close behind like a child in a grocery store.

When the transaction was done, Puella walked out of the store with Jovina behind her.

"So do you have a car, or do you need me to drive you," Puella asked, standing outside the store door with hesitance.

Jovina hesitated, holding an embarrassed look in her eye.

"I don't really...have a car... I know how to drive! Just can't really afford one," Jovina said with some shame in her tone.

Puella couldn't blame her. Puella got her mom's car after her sister left for New York to become a vet there. And before that, her sister got the car after her mom was sent to the hospital. Kind of a brutal cycle of privilege to begin with.

"Alright, I'll drive you up. I'm pretty sure I remember where the mill is," Puella sighed, crossing the street towards her car.

The two of them got into the car. Puella is on the driver's side. Jovina on the passenger's side.

They drove up the hill, to the residential area, left to a barn that had greenery grown over it, the wood had become a dark shade of green, and vines had sufficed the beams. It looked like it was gonna collapse.

They continued down that road until they reached the part of the village that had fewer residential buildings and a warehouse or two. And of course. The Mill. It was one of the few historical sites in the village aside from the older buildings on Main Street. Though, not nearly as well kept.

There was a hole in the roof of the mill that birds often made their nests around. Then they'd go inside for the winter. The cloth sails were missing, so the arms looked like old hands frozen in motion. The cracks in the dark wood looked like they had nearly split the wood into splinters. But somehow stayed together. Puella parallel parked on the left side of the road where the mill was. Puella put the car into the park and turned it off.

Jovina admittedly unbuckled and got out of the car. Going towards the mill. Puella followed suit.

Jovina quickly walked around the mill and down the forested hill.

This is only one question in Puella's mind.

How could a nest of insects from that far away be affecting the mill?
Puella knew the forests of this area well enough, so if anything wrong were to happen. She could get out of there as quickly as she could.
Puella tried to quickly sidestep down the hill without tripping over rocks and roots.

"Hey! Jovina, could ya slow down a bit?! It's not like the nest is going anywhere," Puella called down to her.

No response.

Puella slid down the small hill by five feet and nearly stumbled over herself at the dry dirt clearing. Puella looked up to see where she was. Luckily she knew this place well.

It was an area of dirt that was fifty feet around, with only three dead trees within the dirt circle.

One in the center. And two closer to the outer edges.

The bark on the trees had been completely stripped. Stripes of charcoal scared each tree like the destruction was mocking the lines of a zebra. Almost all of the branches had either burned off or looked like burned skeletal hands reaching for the midday sky.

It was the tree in the center, however. Looked much more different than the two on the edge of the fifty-foot circle.

There was a tremendously large gash that seemed to slice into the center of it.

The inside was like a dark cherry pit that was trying to rot, making it seem darker.

The tree's bark was still attached, but it seemed to be slowly peeling off as it struggled to age through the years.

Puella hung around these trees all the time when they weren't in this state.

But after the incident with her mother, lightning struck the tree in the center. Thankfully, the fire never spread as far as the fifty-foot circle.

"So ah... Is this what you wanted to show me? Because if it is, I don't think termites are living in these," Puella asked to break the silence between Jovina and her.

Jovina raised a finger quickly to her lips to signify that they were quiet for a reason. Jovina ducked behind the dead tree closest to them, and she fished through her jeans pocket for something.

Complex beyond belief, Puella kneeled next to her.

Jovina tugged out a plastic sandwich bag with what looked like stale cookies inside.

Jovina opened the bag, grabbed a crumbling cookie, and tossed it toward the center tree.

The cookie just landed in front of the tree's gash, spraying the slightest bit of dirt spraying the sandy soil around.

They both sat in the silence of nature, watching this cookie sadly sit in the loose dirt.

"So is something supposed to happen, or-," Puella questioned in a hushed tone.

Jovina shot a finger to Puella's lips.

"SHHHHHH-!" She shushed loudly.

Jovina's finger continued to press into her lips as they both watched the cookie.

Puella almost didn't notice the floral design on Jovina's fingernails.

Something within the tree began to shift.

Puella jumped but leaned forward curiously. Puella saw from within the dark depths of the tree. These small things were crawling from the tree, and they almost looked like insects.

Squinting a bit, Puella could make out these tiny creatures' features.

These creatures looked roughly humanoid, but some features stood out to her at first.

They had long ears that flopped down, wide jaws and lips like frogs, and insect wings that reflected the sun's light similar in size and shape to termites' wings. The legs were long and slender and a curled tail. Puella wasn't sure if their eyes were because all she saw in that general area were two slits.

It seemed like hundreds of them were crawling out of this tree and flying to this cookie.

These things made the weirdest little chatters and crackles with their fanged mouths as they began tearing apart this cookie.

It was only when a few of them looked up and screamed something.

"They're here!"

It was then when the swarm of these tiny little creatures looked up, and Puella found out why you couldn't see their eyes.

From these slits on their face began to open.

As soon as Puella started seeing the whites of their eyes, the entirety of their eyeballs popped from the skull.

And they all, in fact, made little 'pop' sounds.

Their wings began to vibrate, and maybe a hundred of them jumped into the air and flew towards Puella in a chatter.

Panicked by the sudden situation she found herself in, she got up and started running into the forest eastward.

Jovina, Puella had forgotten that she was even there. Tried to grab Puella.

"Dude, where are you going," She called out. But it was no use.

Puella got it in her mind that these little 'things' seemed dangerous. And she would do just about anything to get away from them. But Puella was still so close to these things that she heard the mass amount of vibrating wings inching closer and closer behind her.

"Ha eht Marked Apprentice sekam re'yeth ecnaraeppa... hguohtla gnouy, yeht evah taerg laitnetop..."

Puella felt slow at the sound of those familiar words. She stopped at two moss-covered trees that had collapsed in on each other. Puella knew that she could easily climb over them, but she stopped anyway.

Though as soon as she did, however. The swarm was all around her. Hissing and sparking familiar and unfamiliar words.

"Ruoy lous sah neeb nesohc ot thgif no htob sedis fo ytilaer. Na tneicna ecneserp sah delios eht ssenkrad. Uoy evah ot evid otni eht World of Sleep, ti si eht yek!"

Puella put her hands over her ears, circling in this cone that these freakish creatures had made for her.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean 'Marked Apprentice'", Puella called out to the tiny creatures.

Now that Puella's wrists were aligned with her line of sight. The mark on her right wrist was there. And it had begun to blink its green light as these creatures were talking.

"Sytine dnoyeb sdrow tiaw ot rehtuf kcarc ruoy dnim, eht ssenkrad lliw yrt ot gard uoy nwod htiw mih. Lla uoy nac od si trawht mih rof sa gnol sa uoy nac...

As all of these creatures were chanting this, they spread up the swirl around her. After a few terrifying seconds of this, the creatures flew straight up into the sky. Their terrifying cackles danced on the wind until they steadily ceased.

Puella's mark then stopped blinking, and it seemed to disappear. Puella then lowered her hands from her ears, and she just stared at where her mark would have been. It was then that Puella heard the crackling of broken twigs behind her.

"Hey, man, are you okay?! Did you see what I saw back there," Jovina asked, touching Puella's shoulder with one hand.

Puella flinched away, spinning to face Jovina. Jovina looked genuinely concerned, in fact. Jovina was trying to look at her from head to toe.

"If you mean that hundreds of tiny demon-looking creatures, then yes. Oh! And by the way, definitely not termites. Hell! I'm not even sure if they're WORSE than termites," Puella proclaimed sarcastically, as soon as those words escaped her lips. She regretted the statement.

Jovina raised her brows, then she took a couple of steps back and pondered to herself for a minute or two.

Eventually, she raised her gaze to meet Puella's after having a reasonable amount of time to think.

"Did you happen to catch what they were saying, by any chance," Jovina asked, crossing her arms.

Puella thought about the few words that were in English from her recollection. Puella then felt that she should try to be as vague as she could. Now that Jovina showed her this place in the first place, she'd have to tread lightly.

"I-I don't know, I happened to hear them say something about the 'World of Sleep.' Whatever they mean by that," Puella said shakily.

Jovina's eyes lit up. Jovina suddenly stepped up to Puella and grabbed her shoulders with a firm grip.

"Did you happen to dream of anything last night by any chance," Jovina asked quickly. If Jovina wasn't engaged with the conversation a few seconds ago, she sure was then.

Puella thought a little more about the dream last night.

If this means her dream was starting to affect the real world, it was indeed beginning to catch on. How? She didn't quite know. But if the scenario, in fact, was not something a homeless dude down in Boston would scream about on a Sunday afternoon. Then she'd better not try to mention the Marked Apprentice stuff.

"Yeah," Puella replied hesitantly, making herself seem smaller to make sure that Jovina wouldn't lash out at her.

Jovina seemed to have recognized the uncomfortable situation she thrust Puella into and stepped back a bit. Letting go of her shoulders.

"W-what did it happen to be about," Jovina asked, rubbing the back of her neck.

Puella really didn't like lying about anything in general. But Jovina was just someone that she how no idea if she could trust or not. And they've only met the day before.

Puella thought through what she was going to say, and then she just went for it, hoping for a better outcome.

"Well... I was in this forest when this giant thing came out of nowhere. It was 7 feet tall, with these scaly, deer-like legs. And a tail, almost like a cow's. It also seemed to have these extensive shoulders and giant wings that sprouted close to the thing's spine! But weirdly enough, this creature had this... alien beauty to it. It had these scales. They were placed under the eyes and lips of the thing. It was as if they were like decorations on the skin than monstrous scales," Puella began, as she went on describing Ira from the night before. She became flushed and trailed off in her description.

Being good with her words was something that came naturally to Puella. But the terms stewed within her like a poison.

"But anyways. This thing grabbed my wrist and took a look at it. Nearly scared me to death. The thing looks at it. Drops my wrist. Says 'Nope.' And then the thing flew up into the forest canopy. Can you believe that?! Then after that, I found a place to hole in that forest. I went to sleep then, Bam! I woke up."

Puella finished her statement with her hands held out. Like she was presenting something. Puella held her gaze on Jovina.

Puella was almost expecting applause. But the old performer in her had to die it down a bit. Jovina was clearly engaged with her story. But behind Jovina's dark eyes, she could see the cogs in her mind shifting. Jovina suddenly shot her gaze to Puella's face.

"I'm not quite sure how to tell you this. But... Those things last night did happen, and your not crazy," Jovina announcing, her stance, straightening. The confidence in her voice struck Puella. Puella drew her hands back. She tried to make herself seem small.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean. Maybe it was just some weird dream. Always have 'em," Puella said, to maybe try to sound like a sane human being.

"I can guarantee you that you will keep seeing things like those pixies, and the dreams will become way more common. You like my parents. They were once people that visited that world and protected our world... Like what I'm doing now."

Jovina looked from Puella's face to her hands.

"The fact that you have experienced this and your dream last night means a lot to me. And I know that we just met yesterday but... I need a partner in protecting this town more than ever. Something dark will be coming after last night. They're most likely looking for a powerful dreamer that just surfaced to the other world," Jovina asked, clenching her fists and looking up into the leaves.

Puella tried to find the words to respond to this particular statement.

"Wait- hold the phone. You called those little- Well...monsters. 'Pixies?' They looked like if my grandmother screwed a tree frog," Puella spat from her lips. Jovina shot her eyes from her hands to Puella's face. Her eyes are wide from what Puella just said.

"But anyway, I'm not sure what 'dark things'. Could want from one person. They're probably just as confused as I am," Puella said with her hands up. Making quotations with her fingers with each hand.

Jovina looked at the ground, and her arms went slack. Jovina looked almost guilty.

"Well... the 'things' that will be after this person are also from the 'World of Sleep.' The place you were just in last night. They kinda... 'slip through' that world. They have their reasons for leaving. But it's more often than not that they seek powerful dreamers in the overworld for their master."

Puella's heart sank. She wasn't quite sure why. But she wanted to know why.

"Do you... know who their master is?"

Jovina looked to Puella one more time, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. It looked like someone had told her that one of her childhood pets had passed from this world.
Once she coughed to clear her throat and close her lips, she collected her thoughts.

"The community on this side isn't quite sure who he is. But as far as we know. He only came to our attention when the current Lord we're under told us about him. The Dream Lord. Only after the Civil War, all sorts of creatures claimed to be in elegance to this Lord that stretched his power here under cover of darkness as time progressed here. We never know when or what he'll strike with his forces here. Or whether or not he'll choke out more of us every day. We do know what he wants us to call him, though," Jovina said without a single wasted breath.

Puella began to process every single syllable. Every single note of stress and fear in Jovina's statement was like it was a song. Trying to find meaning in the terms that she was trained to understand on some outside level.

Jovina gripped Puella's shoulders. It felt like Jovina was trying to choke out several rats in her hands with her grip.

"His name is The Nightmare Lord. So I must beg you to join our forces to hopefully assist us."

Puella gave Jovina one last look into her eyes.

That look of fear and terror. Not the kind you see in movies. But actual fear and terror even make the other person scared of the situation they're in.

It was like when you hear a story about someone being stalked, or worse. Still distressed about the ordeal. The fear transferring into you, taking on that pain.

Puella tried pushing down her own fear for the time being. The only thing that felt right to Puella at that moment was for her to hold Jovina's forearms gently.

Jovina's grip loosened on Puella's shoulders. Somewhat calming her.

"I'll help you. I don't know what I can DO to help. But I'm ready."