"What a mess. What's amiss now?"

Fred inquired, his tone tinged with both amusement and concern.

"Ed."

"Huh? Wh.."

"He brought me here. I hope that answers your upcoming question!"
Louis chuckled, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.

Fred's expression turned serious.
"I think we are much less serious than we actually need to be. By the way, where's he? It's been long... Shit."

Louis's eyes widened in alarm.
"WHAT? What shit?"
He demanded, his tone shifting to one of urgency.

"Don't tell me you attempted a daring break-in at the toystore?"
Fred raised an eyebrow, a mixture of disbelief and concern laced his voice.

"You bet we did! But that darn door wouldn't yield. Then suddenly, Ed tries again and presto! It swings open like it's been waiting for him."
Louis recounted, his tone animated.

"Wait, Ed went in alone?" Fred remarked, dread flickering in his eyes as he lightly slapped his forehead.

"Yeah, I think he's checking inside.

"No. He's gone... He's gone too. Oh boy.

"Gone? Where?"
Louis demanded with consternation. His mind raced with possibilities, each one more unsettling than the last.

"That's precisely the conundrum I'm trying to decipher. Talk about adding a twist to an already twisted day."
Fred replied, his voice tinged with urgency and rising terror. He continued further..

"We've got to find him, or say his body. Let's go!"
Fred grabbed Louis's shoulder, propelling him towards the creaky, cracky door with determination.

"What's a conundrum now? And what's with this body thingy, huh? Is someone out there sucking out souls or what?"
Louis inquired on the way, his tone a mix of curiosity and concern.

Fred stopped in his tracks as Louis' words hit him.

"I fear you're not far off the mark."
Fred admitted, his words strained with a touch of dread.

Now Fred propelled Louis forward with a more assertive push, his nails biting into Louis' shoulders. Louis, caught off guard, stumbled forward, barely able to keep his balance. He barely had a moment to react before finding himself standing directly in front of the door. As they reached the door, Fred's grip on Louis eased, leaving Louis to steady himself against the creaky wooden frame.

Louis rushed through the uninviting doorway, driven by desperation to find his friend. Meanwhile, Fred, ever the resourceful one, conjured a spell to create light. With a deft circular motion of his fingers, he summoned a small white orb of light that fluttered around the dimly lit toy store, illuminating their path.

"Ed?"
"Ed! Where are you, bro?"

Louis' voice echoed through the dimly lit store as he stomped forward, searching desperately. Suddenly, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"He won't answer," Fred stated solemnly, his voice tinged with horror.

Louis turned towards Fred, noting the stark pallor that had replaced his usual silver and shiny complexion. Following Fred's gaze, Louis glanced down at his hand, which was gesturing towards something in the dimly lit room.
It wasn't something... rather it was someone...
Despite the darkness obscuring his vision, Louis could discern the outline of a person. Skepticism and dread mingled in his mind as he took a step back, his uncertainty evident in his hesitant movements.

"No... it can't be," Louis muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as realization dawned on him.

"You were right."
He admitted reluctantly, his words laced with a mixture of disbelief and resignation.

"Give me a hand now," Fred urged, his voice tinged with urgency as they lifted the limp form of Ed and maneuvered him towards the car.

As they struggled with Ed's weight, Fred's frustration boiled over.
"Ahh, I swear my hands will fall off any minute now!"
He exclaimed, throwing a minor tantrum in his exasperation.

While Louis, focused on reviving Ed, ignored Fred's outburst until he felt a forceful shove.

"Stop wasting your time,"
Fred insisted, pushing Louis aside to take charge and lock the car.

"Do you get déjà vu, huh?" Louis asked, his tone brimming with drama, until Fred caught his narrowed gaze. Their eyes locked, tension crackling between them until Louis' narrowed gaze softened into a thin line.

"You'll never buy it but you..."
Louis jibed, his eyes widening now, his left brow arched as if mocking, lips tugging at his cheek in a smirk as he leaned against the car's hood. "You're utterly and completely stupid."

Fred ground his teeth, the irritation simmering beneath his words. "Fine, then. Let me just undo everything-"

"Don't get your feathers ruffled. Turn around and take a peek," Louis interjected, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Swiveling around, Fred's frustration was palpable in his tone.
"What?"

"Look closely."
Louis persisted, his tone laced with subtle amusement. Fred turned to take a quick look again.

"Ah, the epitome of brilliance! Watching Edward should top my priority list, shouldn't it? You are truly a genius, you idiot."
Fred snarled, his words dripping with venom and contempt.

"Hey I mean, focus on the seat, you dumbo. See those claw marks?" Louis quipped, his chuckle ringing out as he playfully smacked Fred's head.

"Louis, I swear, if you do that again..."
Fred's glare could have frozen lava, causing Louis to recoil, his hand trembling at the warning.

"Calm down man. Focus!" Louis urged, swatting away Fred's temper.

Fred relented, withdrawing his glare from trying to intimidate Louis to surveying the scene before them.

"Hmm... Clearly, these belong to a dragon.."
Fred remarked in a casual tone, but soon his expression shifted as he grasped the severity of the situation, his eyes widening.

"But can we determine whose? Which one? Atleast the breed?" Louis inquired, his tone laced with urgency as he hoped for a helpful answer.

"Don't count on me for that. I'm not exactly a dragon expert, you know. Plus, I'm allergic!"
Fred replied, annoyance evident in his voice, though a cute pout softened his frustration.

"Tch. Don't give up yet!"
Louis remarked, eyeing Fred skeptically.
"No. I'm not giving up. I'm contemplating!"
Fred countered.

Louis observed him with narrowed eyes as Fred pressed on.
"Someone-I mean a freaking dragon was here when I was in the toy store searching for the keys. But strangely, I heard nothing. Not even a roar or a thud!?"

"You're right."
Louis remarked, his gaze fixed at a distance as he delved into his thoughts.
"Maybe the dragon wasn't a foe."

"Not a foe? Then a pet?"
Fred mused, also lost in contemplation.

"Think about it... Let's head to the dragon's vale!"
Louis exclaimed with excitement, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"And trust me, my instincts rarely steer us wrong. Whatever we need, it's waiting for us there!"

Before Fred could protest, Louis grabbed his arm, and with a burst of yellow light, the two vanished into thin air.

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After a fleeting interval that seemed to echo with the rhythm of his pounding heart, Fred's feet at last alighted upon the mysterious terrain, the oppressive darkness casting a pall over his dwindling reserve of courage. Yet, amidst the bleakness, the ethereal glow of the moon above extended its luminous embrace, offering a glimmer of hope to the intrepid adventurers.

"Behold, our destination!" Louis declared, his voice carrying a tinge of fervor despite its less-than-melodious timbre.

"Illuminus!"
Fred intoned with solemn reverence, invoking the ancient incantation of the light fascitrix. In response, a luminous sphere of purest white emerged, its radiant glow casting delicate tendrils of illumination that pirouetted elegantly through the surrounding darkness.

Yet, their moment of relief was short-lived as the light abruptly winked out, cruelly snatching away the last speck of light, surrendering them once more to the suffocating embrace of the abyss.

"What sorcery is this?"
Louis and Fred exclaimed in perfect unison, their incredulous voices reverberating through the void like plaintive echoes pleading for answers from the heavens above.

Confusion and apprehension enveloped the atmosphere like an ominous shroud as Louis, overcome by instinctual dread, sought sanctuary behind Fred, his trembling hands finding purchase upon his companion's sturdy shoulders.

"By the stars, what just happened?"
Louis murmured, his voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and foreboding, the oppressive darkness bearing down upon them like an unseen force.

In truth, it wasn't merely the vanishing of the light that befell them; rather, it was as if the very essence of illumination had been devoured whole by some insatiable entity lurking within the shadows, its presence inscrutable yet undeniably palpable in the encroaching gloom.

"It seems our light has been devoured..."
Fred remarked in a hushed tone, his words tinged with a palpable undercurrent of apprehension, echoing through the oppressive silence like a lament of lost hope knowing the gravity of their situation.

Undaunted, Fred sought to wrest dominion over the unfolding chaos by invoking another incantation. Yet, his efforts were swiftly quashed and thwarted when, emerging from the abyssal depths, two colossal nostrils breached the veil of darkness, their looming presence casting a frigid pall over the scene.

As Fred's incantations faltered in the face of this unforeseen intrusion, he and Louis found themselves ensnared by an eerie tableau, their very essence held in thrall by the looming presence before them. Their heart beats a frantic rhythm against their ribcages, the pulse of fear echoing through the desolate expanse.

Closer and closer the nostrils drew, their sinister proximity evoking a sense of primal dread. Hovering ominously before Fred's visage, they seemed to emanate an aura of ominous curiosity, probing the boundaries of the adventurers' fortitude with menacing intent.

In the pregnant silence, Louis and Fred stood suspended in a liminal space between fear and fascination, acutely attuned to the whispers of fate echoing through the enigmatic darkness, bracing themselves for the inexorable reckoning that loomed ominously on the horizon.

Their breaths quickened, synchronized with the thunderous rhythm of their racing hearts, as the ominous nostrils loomed ever closer in the shroud of darkness.
Their dark blue hue was unmistakable, even in the enveloping darkness.

As the nostrils twitched with a rhythmic intensity, Fred's instincts kicked in, prompting him to instinctively lean back in a futile attempt to evade the probing sniffs that threatened to unravel their fragile sanctuary. In a cruel twist of fate, his movement inadvertently collided with Louis's face, eliciting a muffled grunt of pain that reverberated through the desolate expanse.

"Shh..."
Fred urgently whispered, his voice barely audible above the pounding of their hearts, a silent plea for caution in the face of imminent danger. With a swift yet deliberate motion, he delivered a subtle elbow jab to Louis' stomach, imploring him to silence as they braced themselves for the unknown perils that lay ahead.

As expected, Fred felt the telltale itch in his nose, a precursor to his impending sneeze. With utmost effort, he tried to suppress it, knowing that any noise could spell disaster.
Louis, attuned to his friend's discomfort, whispered urgently,
"Not now."

"Forgive me.."
In a hushed murmur, Fred imparted his words before executing a graceful maneuver, effortlessly veering to his left. His movement was so fluid, it seemed as though he melded with the very essence of the air itself, leaving behind nothing but a fleeting impression. With astonishing agility, he traversed the space with lightning speed, swiftly vanishing into the distance. Louis stood transfixed, his gaze widening in awe as he comprehended that he was now solitary, confronting the menacing beast without Fred's presence by his side.

Though Fred signaled him with urgent gestures, Louis found himself rooted in place, unable to heed the call. With a deep breath to steel his nerves, he turned his gaze back to the creature, readying himself for whatever awaited him.

As the nostrils drew closer, Louis felt a bead of sweat trickle down his brow, the tension in the air palpable. His heart raced, each beat echoing in the silence of the darkened vale. Despite the fear gnawing at his insides, he refused to let it consume him entirely, focusing instead on the task at hand.

In the distance, Fred watched with bated breath, silently urging his friend to stay calm and composed. Every fiber of his being screamed to rush to Louis's aid, but he knew that any sudden movement could jeopardize their chances of survival. So, with a mixture of anxiety and determination, he remained where he was, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

✧✧✧⁠✧✧✧✧✧⁠✧✧

Well, well, well, brace yourselves for the symphony of the absurd!

First, a mighty "achoo" pierced the stillness, as if someone had summoned a tornado with a sneeze.

And just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder, a slurp slithered through the air, an ominous one likely belonging to a cosmic entity enjoying a midnight snack.

Ah, the wonders of the universe never cease to amaze!

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