[Author's Note]

Happpyyyy new yeeeear!

I've been struggling to write lately and figured I'd come back to this series to get my creative juices flowin' again. Not making any promises on how permanent this is going to be, but I'll try my best.

Also, because I've somewhat lost interest in Mianite for unimportant reasons and seeing as how it likely won't be a thing anymore, I'm going to take some creative liberties with the characters and make them even more my own than I already have. They'll basically be the same, I'll probably just accentuate one or two key parts of who they've been in the past without fully developing the changes. To help you not get confused and to help me reimagine the characters, I'm going to make a character sheet that will soon (probably) be the second chapter in this book,  after the prologue.

Now on with the show!

***

LAST TIME on missing, through the void.

We last left our heroes after they bravely jumped through the portal to the void, carrying their dead friend with them. An island formed around them as they slept, plunging them into a world of unknown beasts, revealed engagements, and other general drama.

We return to them on their second day of their new lives,  faced with the first beast. Children.

***

Tucker stopped, finally spotting Ianita. “Is that Ianita?”

Sonja whirled around to see where he was looking. “I think so. But why is she all alone?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is Dec alright?”

“Is she?”

***

I thought it was just Ianita, but Tucker seemed terrified when their eyes met.

“I-Ianita?” He asked hesitantly.

Sonja looked confused and turned to look where he was staring. “She really should be with Dec...”

She trailed off as well when she saw the small girl. Clearly there was something I was missing, but the only difference I could see was that there were no flowers in her hair.

“Hewo Sonna!” She shouted gleefully, waving to the couple.

“I-Ianita,” Sonja stammered. “Shouldn’t you be with your daddy?”

“Daddy?” The little girl asked, tilting her head quizzically.

Tucker grabbed Sonja by the arm and began backing away as two more little girls, identical to the first, began creeping out from behind the tree next to her.

“What’s going on?” Sonja asked Tucker in a hushed tone. I watched on silently as even more duplicates of the little girl began to appear next to the others.

“I don’t know,” Tucker said in a hoarse tone.

“How did they get here?”

“Maybe when I… When their quintessence was drained… Maybe it all went into The Void? Maybe it really is them.”

“No way,” Sonja said. “That’s ridiculous! They...”

The children’s babbling grew louder with each new voice talking over the others. Most of what they said was gibberish, but a steady wailing was beginning to emerge from the others.

“WHY?!”

“WHY TUCKER?!”

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?!”

“I’m sorry!” He shrieked, baking away from them.

“Why?!”

“Get away from him!” Sonja shouted, trying to pull the stunned Tucker further away from the terrifying little girls.

“NO!”

“This does not concern you!”

“He USED us to save you!”

“What?” Sonja said, pausing.

“You should be DEAD, not us!”

“Not us!”

Tucker pulled out a sword as Sonja and I watched in horror.

“What are they talking about Tucker?” Sonja asked.

“They're not real,” he shouted, “go find the real one. Make sure she's safe and don't either of you watch what is about to happen.”

“She should be DEAD!”

“He used us!”

“DEAD!”

“DEAD!”

“DEAD!”

Sonja turned and ran without another glance back. Out of horror I found I could not look away,  even as Tucker began to cut through each and every tiny little body. Each one seemed to take its toll on him though, as tears poured down his cheeks.

Finally he stood in front of one final Ianita, and she was still clearly abnormal. A black mist swirled around her,  inching it's way towards Tucker.

“It's not really her,” I tried telling him. “It's just another monster,  Sonja has the real one by now. Look at its grin, and it isn't even wearing those flowers, it's not her. Please hear to me.”

Unfortunately however, the monster seemed to be the only one to hear me and its face changed suddenly. I doubt even Declan could have told the difference between this creature and his daughter. It's eyes were so lifelike, and the mouth was no longer baring its teeth.

“Come on Tucker,” I whispered.

He raised the sword with shaking hands.

“You can do it.”

The two stared each other down.

“It isn't real, don't look into its eyes.”

The sword came down and the creature let out a shriek. The black smoke swirled around, burning Tucker's arms and legs where they touched. He dropped the sword in pain, but the monster appeared to be dead.

He turn to run away when another growl came from the battlefield. Slowly turning back, I saw that the toxic black smoke had begun pouring out of each little body, seemingly turning them all to mush.

The chorus of voices started back up, again interrupted by

“Why?”

“Why!”

“Why Tucker!”

The black mush began moving around, forming one large blob. As it morphed it changed color, looking almost exactly like what each small girl had looked like before,  but a fair amount older and much larger.

Tucker fumbled along the ground,  trying to reclaim his sword,  getting burned again by the now receding smoke. This time all the fear was gone, though his cheeks were still covered in tears. He dodged attacks of concentrated smoke,  slicing at whatever part of her body he could reach. With each drop off dark blood that poured from her, I could see him getting stronger and more confident.

“It's just a monster,” he said to himself,  “it isn't real, they're all dead already,  mostly, and it's not her.”

He took a swipe at her face, taking some hair with the motion and making it look even more mangled.

"It's just a monster," he repeated to himself,  over and over.

Finally, panting in exhaustion and with triumph on his shoulders,  Tucker stood over the nearly dismembered beast as it let out one final whimper and turned to dust.

“Sonja.”