I was frozen in shock, staring at the familiar figure with a look of confusion and horror. This lady who I thought had been dead for years was standing in front of us in flesh and blood. Or at least I thought that she was flesh and blood.

Upon further inspection, I realised that she wasn't made of flesh and blood at all. The woman in front of me seemed to almost be of the same materials as Onyx and Senka. She was completely monochrome, and her movements were fluid.

Her hair was black and inky, and it fell like a waterfall around her slender shoulders. Her skin was a light grey colour, and she wore a dress which blended seamlessly into her hair. Her features were motherly and peaceful. Her black eyes were like staring into the void which provided comfort and release after you screamed into it during a stormy night all alone in your room as you fail to sleep.

Senka had seemed to sink into the woman, causing the woman's head to lift and tilt from side to side. "Finally," she said. Her voice sounded incredibly familiar yet distorted at the same time. I was unsure if I was simply hearing Senka's voice, or if I was hearing the voice of our old babysitter.

"What?" Aknon asked, completely speechless. "What?"

Our babysitter cleared her throat before actually looking at us with a sheepish smile, "Hi." She gave an excited wave. "Again, hello, hi, yes it's me."

"Who?" Prin asked, probably not understanding why I and my siblings reacted in such a shocked way. "Who are you?"

Our babysitter grinned, expression brightening as she stepped forward. "Senka," they replied with a shrug. "I'm the same person you've been travelling with."

I shook my head and stumbled backwards. "No, you're not Senka," I denied. "Senka is a little adorable doll who just sank into your shadowy flesh. Senka is my doll." I sounded like a true child, but I didn't care. "You're our babysitter."

She nodded. "And what beautiful babies you were." She reached out and stroked my head, just as she used to do, her hand trailing down my cheek and tapping my chin before she turned to Sarphi and Aknon. "All of you have grown to be beautiful adults."

I felt myself beginning to come out of my shock. I slowly turned to face her as she moved to Sarphi and Aknon and did the exact same thing she'd done to me. It was something that she'd done when we were children to calm us down.

"And Prin," she said as she turned to the young girl. "You're absolutely perfect for our little girl. And now I can do what I've wanted to do for ages." 'Senka' brought Prin in for a tight hug, swaying them side to side. "Such a precious being, perfect for this lot."

Prin looked mortified as she just let herself be squished and rocked. "Erm, thank you?" She sounded very unsure, the tone completely defining this entire situation. "I'm sorry, I don't think I understand." At least she was being polite.

"I'm the one who used to babysit these three," Senka replied, gesturing to my siblings and me. "Of course, it was a very hush hush situation. But I was able to look after them rather well, if I do say so myself." Her chin was high, and her eyes were glimmering.

"But how can you be the same person?" Sarphi asked, shaking her head. "And how come you were a doll? And why didn't you tell us?" Sarphi's expression was growing more and more insulted the more she talked. "She left us alone for years in that traumatic house and then we came on this adventure all on our own."

"What?" I asked. "No, our babysitter was with us for absolute years, she saw us off when we began adventuring."

"No, she didn't." Aknon shook his head. "She left around six months before we began adventuring."

"Ah, I see the issue here." Senka had a nervous expression as she kicked a stone around, just like the doll usually would. "See, I did all of those things, technically. I did stay up until you decided that you wanted to go find out the reason why you're all such beautiful creatures." She turned to Prin. "No offence darling."

"None taken," Prin replied nervously as she looked between us all once more, looking like a fifth wheel.

"And then I knew I had to try and look out for you, but I couldn't come with you." She sighed. "I would be far too tempted to tell you where to go or give the answers without you actually doing or learning anything."

"Just like you told us to come down this road?" I questioned. "Just like that?"

Senka huffed and turned around, beginning to walk down the path once more. "Yes, but I knew that I was here. I wanted to be in my proper body for the first time in years." She turned around once again, her face incredibly and uncomfortably close to mine. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you? Wrapping myself in a box and getting myself carried for miles to you? That stuff in the box wasn't loose string, it was travel sickness." Her eyes were wide now, looking almost insane. That way they matched her words.

I couldn't speak, I was a little too scared about Senka's gaze being able to shoot right through me like some kind of spell. I felt rather guilty all of a sudden, which made no sense, as I'd done nothing wrong, to her at least.

"So, if this is the right way, then let's keep going." Aknon clapped his hands and gestured to Senka to continue down the path. "We're so close to getting our answers."

"Can we not spend a few more moments asking why our babysitter turned into a doll to bring us here?" Sarphi asked, staying where she was even though Aknon had begun to walk. "Why couldn't you just tell us where to go?"

Senka sighed and shook her head. "It wasn't time." Her reply was simple, but it also sounded sad. "But now it is."

"Time for what?" I asked, getting frustrated with the situation, more so than I already was. "You're being very ominous."

"And you love that," she pointed out with a grin, reaching over and poking my chest playfully. "At least you always used to. I think that still stands."

"You didn't answer their question," Sarphi pointed out. "What's it time for?"

Senka's lips pressed into a line, as though she wished that Sarphi hadn't actually realised what she hadn't said. "It's time for you to finally know why you were born like this, or rather, how you were born like this."

Aknon leaped forward and began following Senka, almost too closely. "What? You knew all this time and yet we're just now learning?"

Senka sighed and patted Aknon's shoulder, causing him to flinch back a little. "Yes, but I wasn't allowed to tell you. Now that I'm in my body, I'm able to take you to where you have to go."

"After around a week of knowing you, this is what it takes to actually get where we have to be?" I asked, hands on my hips as I stared at her, hurrying my pace as they began walking quicker. It looked like Aknon and her were having a competition over who was actually leading us.

Prin had remained silent by Sarphi's side, as the two of them were now in front of me, following Aknon and Senka along the path.

"Well, you wouldn't trust a strange, sentient doll, would you?" Senka replied snarkily as she glanced back at me. "Come on, they're waiting for you."

"Waiting? Who?" Sarphi asked. "Is it the same person who the old man told us to see?"

Senka stopped and slowly turned, continuing to walk backwards. "Old man? What old man?"

I couldn't remember if we'd talked to her about Genesis, or really the fact that we had been told to come this way by a complete stranger. But it had brought us here, which was where we had to be apparently.

"A man in a temple told us to come here," Sarphi answered, putting her free hand on her hip. "Genesis, I think? He told us that he had someone in a cave who would answer our questions."

A look of realisation came over Senka's face and she nodded slowly. "Yes, I know him." Her jaw clenched and she turned back around, walking a little quicker, mumbling something I couldn't hear.

"What was that?" Aknon asked, probably hearing more than I did.

"Nothing." Senka brushed off with a wave of her hand. "I just know where we're going, that man was helpful." It sounded like she hated giving Genesis any kind of complement, like it strained her. "Let's go, I assume that he's waiting for us."

"Genesis?" asked Sarphi.

Senka shook her head again, face turning towards the ground. "No, the one he sent you to come talk with. He's my employer."

"Employer?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "As in, the one who hired you to become our babysitter?"

"Employer, creator, same thing." Senka shrugged her shoulders. Then, before our very eyes, she moved a hand behind her back, concealing it in the dark fabric she wore like a cape, and pulled out a sword. The sword was black, with black vapour swirling around it. "We're going to have to prepare for a fight."