A woman of the age of fifty suddenly woke up in the middle of an empty dark area while tied up to a chair by what appeared to be some kind of rope drenched in the color of green.

"What the... What's going on...?"

She was wearing a dark blue suit, her favorite clothing choice to teach at school, and had long black hair that reached all the way to her shoulders. She used to like having long hair since it seemed to be really popular among her students, but after seeing her daughter enjoying her short hair so much and thinking about how much easier it would be to take care of it, she was starting to consider cutting it as well.

"h.e.l.lo?? Anyone there??"

She was planning to go home earlier to meet with her daughter so that the two could go to a salon together, but once she arrived she found her whole place completely destroyed while her daughter's maid was laying on the floor with red marks on her neck and talking to a young girl with very strange eyes.

"HEEEEY!! ANYONE?? h.e.l.lOOOO!!!"

She remembers the girl pouncing on her for some reason while talking about sticks or something and before she realized, she had lost her consciousness and woken up in this strange place.

"What are these things?? Are... Are these vines???"

The place was very wide but completely filled with darkness all around her, with the exception of one source of light aiming right from above her head, literally putting her in the spotlight. She tried to free herself but someone had tied her up too tightly.

"Evlin?? Detra??"

"Shhh... Stop yelling..." answered what appeared to be a girl somewhere close by.

"!!??"

For a moment the woman started to a.s.sume she was all alone but suddenly she heard a voice coming out of the darkness. It was the same voice she heard before being knocked out in her apartment.

"You!!"

"h.e.l.lo, stick-momma..."

It was the girl from before, a young child who seemed to be about twelve with black hair tied up in twin ponytails. She was covered in some kind of red robe as if she was about to take a shower. Her skin appeared to be black but for some reason, it was possible to see her veins and they had a soft tone of green.

On top of that, her eyes were glowing in the color green. The woman could swear that the girl had dual-colored eyes before, but now, both of them were drenched in green, much like the vines tying her up and the veins crawling up her skin.

"Who... Who are you...?"

"... Me...? That's a good question, to be honest... I've lived for so long and have changed so much over time that I'm honestly starting to forget who I even was to begin with... It's one of the downsides of being unable to age I guess..."

The girl answered while holding her chin but the woman in a suit just looked lost.

"What...? I don't... I don't understand what you're talking about..."

"It's fine... Your role is not about understanding anything... It's about being the prize."

"The prize...?"

The girl smiled and continued to talk while raising her arms.

"Yeap! You see... We are playing a game of make-belief right now... You're the captured princess, and I'm the big bad dragon that needs to be defeated so you can be free... And at this moment... Your role is to wait for the hero dressed in s.h.i.+ning armor to come and save you!"

"The hero...? What hero?"

"You can call her by any name you want, your cute little daughter, the crossbow girl, the recreation girl, the mage girl, or, and this is my favorite one, the stick-girl!"

"My daughter?"

The woman started to think about her two daughters and tried to guess which one this weird girl was talking about. Considering that she had come to her house and she was talking with her maid, she a.s.sumed that there was only one option.

"Evlin...? You know Evlin??"

"Kinda... I know who she used to be... But she changed... She became normal, weak, bland... I want to bring her back to her former glory... The way she used to be when she lived in my world!"

Once again the woman just felt lost. She then noticed that the girl had taken out a phone during her speech and was playing with it.

"By the way, the video of her fighting on the streets that leaked int the internet is getting a lot of views! You wanna see it?"

So many things were confusing this simple school teacher right now. She tried to reason with the girl while still trying to make sense of the situation.

"You said your world...? I don't understand what's going on or what you're talking about but please just let me go... If you want money or something I can just give you... Just please-"

"I don't want money... I don't need money... I need something that only your brat can give me..."

"Wha... What...?"

"I want her power... And you and the rest of your family will help me get that."

The woman then suddenly started to shake in fear after hearing these words. She didn't know why a little girl was scaring her so much but something about her just seemed wrong.

"What do you mean... The rest of my family?"

The girl snapped her fingers and two figures dropped right in front of the woman also tied up by vines. A woman who appeared to be in her early thirties wearing gla.s.ses with long black hair just like her, and a man with brown hair and a beard. Her daughter and her son-in-law.

"Ashley!! Carlos!!"

"You said you wanted to know who I am?"

"...!?"

The woman stared at the girl as she signaled to someone behind her, and before she noticed, the lights in the area started to turn themselves on one after another. She realized she was inside a huge circus's tent, right in the middle of the ring. Her surroundings were filled with empty seats on all sides.

She took another look at the weird girl that had captured her and behind her, she could see a vast agglomeration of creatures.

Bizarre combinations of animals, people, and elements of nature. Some walking on all four like beasts, others standing on two legs like a regular person. Above her head, however, she could also see what appeared to be a collection of people in ragged clothes floating around.

The woman was about to pa.s.s out from being surprised by such strange imagery, but her attention was quickly grabbed by the girl again as soon as she started to talk one more time.

"I'm the new leader of all monsters, demons, and spirits... And soon... I'll also be the master of your world..."

The girl signaled to two of the figures in ragged clothes floating in mid-air, and they suddenly started to circle the two individuals tied up in the ground. The woman became even more terrified.

"What are you going to do with them? Hey?? What are you doing??"

The girl placed her finger in front of her lips and signaled for her to be quiet.

"Shhh... This is my great debut... And you are my special audience... Don't interrupt me!"

The ragged figures then finally stopped circling her daughter and her son-in-law and proceeded to enter their bodies.

The woman watched as her daughter opened her eyes which now were completely red.

" Ashley??"

The woman in gla.s.ses glared at her mother as if she didn't recognize her and tore apart the vines tying her down as if it was a string. The man by her side also opened his eyes and proceeded to do the same.

"What did you do...? WHAT DID YOU DO!!??"

"I've added them to my collection!"

"Your collection?"

"Yeah... Spirits by themselves don't have that much power... But if they possess a body they can unlock many interesting abilities!"

The woman was now crying in horror. Her own daughter looked like some kind of zombie as she started to walk towards the side of the girl with glowing green eyes. She started to wonder just what kind of person Evlin had involved herself with.

"Please... I'm begging you... Stop this and let us go...We never did anything to you!"

The girl then turned around with sparkly eyes as if she was dying to correct that statement.

"Oh, but you did!! You gave birth to my new favorite toy! And I can never thank you enough for that!"

"Toy? Evlin? What does Evlin have to do with any of this?? What is going on??"

"Evlin... Has opened the door for a new world of possibilities for me... She made me see the world in a whole new light! And I can't wait to share my vision with everyone else, especially her! Without her, none of this would be possible!"

"Please, don't!!"

"Don't worry, don't worry... You won't feel a thing... In fact... You won't feel anything ever again!"

"!!??"

The girl made a gesture with her hand and another figure in ragged clothes stepped out of the shadows. She pointed her finger at the woman in a blue suit and the figure began to circle around her.

The girl took this chance before the process was finished and gave her parting words to Evlin's mother.

"Oh, right... Almost forgot... My name... Is Myriad... Myriad, the nightmare queen!"

The figure finally finished circling the woman and started the procedure of entering her body as well. The woman's body started to feel like it was being taken over, and before she noticed, she had lost her consciousness once again as if she was being placed in a deep sleep.

Her eyes turned red and she started to rip the vines tying her up to the chair as well. She then walked towards the girl to show that she was completely under her control.

"Perfect... All the pieces are finally set in place..."

Myriad then took a long look at her collection. Several creatures of all sizes and shapes, three individuals with a pair of red eyes on their faces, and a large group of see-through figures flying around the circus in ragged clothes.

"Now, all we need is our main-lead. Hey, you!"

She looked at one of the ragged figures who was floating above a tree that had been chopped in half as and placed in one corner of the area.

"It's time to send stick-girl her invitation card..."

The figure then started to circle the tree for a few seconds, and just like it had happened with the three individuals moments ago, raised itself a little bit and dropped its transparent body on top of it like a meteor.

The chopped tree began to glow and started to change shape. It now looked like a bull with huge horns above its head made entirely of wood, but instead of hoofs, it had claws at the end of its limbs, and its back was covered in spikes like a hedgehog.

"Cool... Now... Go have some fun!"

The wooden bull then charged out of the circus tent and began to rush towards the city while flipping over anything in its path. Myriad looked at her servant leaving the area and released a wide grin

"Can't wait to see you again... Stick-girl!"