Anthony's P.O.V.
"Alright, guys," I excitedly said. "Who's ready to go do this!" No one answered.

The six of us were sitting around a very small pond in Idyllica, talking and going through our stuff. It could have been considered stalling, but we couldn't leave until after dark—we had to wait until the door was open, and until the creatures had spread out a bit. While we were talking, we came up with the idea to shapeshift to look like the creatures so that we wouldn't be attacked.

"Hey," I said, trying to lighten the mood a little. "We've still got a little while before it's time to go, why don't we go for a walk?"

"Beats sitting around this oversized puddle," Lori replied, earning a grin from Milly.

"Sure," Milly said. "Like you said, I could sketch a thousand pictures in here." With that, the six of us were up and following my lead, since I knew where to find a nice trail. A few minutes after we started walking, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Owen right behind me.

"Hey, Owen," I said. "What is it?"

"The sun's almost gone," he whispered, pointing to the little bit of the sun that we could still see.

"Yeah, I know, but we still have a while to wait before it's time to go." I glanced back at him. The twinkle that usually lit up his eyes seemed a little dull, and his permanently smile appeared to have drooped a bit. "You're still scared," I half asked, half stated.

"A little," Owen admitted. "But I'm trying to be brave."

"Good. It's okay to be afraid, so long as you don't let your fear conquer you."

Camille's P.O.V.
"You doing alright, Mil?" I whispered to Milly. She looked at me with a sad smile.

"I'm hanging in there, and you?"

"Been better, been worse. How's Virgil been doing?" I never spent any time around Virgil anymore, ever since he started acting weirdly. Milly, Patton, and Logan were the only ones that tried to talk to him, but he really only listened to Roman.

"He's getting worse," Milly sighed. "He's barely home anymore, he hardly ever talks to anyone, and when he does it's to tell us about the wedding or to show us the ring again. I don't even know who he is anymore." Milly slowed down a little and stared at the ground.

"It's gonna be alright," I reassured her. "We're gonna find Roman and convince Virgil to fall out of love with that imposter. Without anyone getting hurt."

"There's a difference between getting hurt and getting killed."

"Without anyone getting hurt or killed." Milly said nothing else after that. It seemed so quiet then, without Milly's jokes, or Virgil's sarcasm, Patton's puns, Logan's informative remarks, Owen's playful giggling, Anthony's fancy speaking, or Roman's singing. It seemed then no one ever spoke louder than a whisper anymore.

Speaking of whispering, I began to hear some behind me. In the back of the group, Lori and Tori were walking next to each other. I heard Tori say something to her sister, the latter replying with, "only time will tell." I kept listening for a minute or so more, but I only ever heard Lori's voice, as it seemed that Tori was the better whisperer. From what I heard, they were arguing over whether or not they should trust us Sides or leave while they still had the chance. As it turned out, their window of time to leave was closing fast.

"Alright everyone, we're heading off in about ten minutes," Anthony announced quietly. "But we have to be quiet from now on. The creatures won't come in here—which, in case you don't know, is why this place is called Idyllica."

"Get to the point, Logan," Milly said, earning a glare from Anthony.

"Anyway, once the creatures have passed by, we morph to look like them and head out. The door is only about a quarter mile from here, but we still have to hurry. Everyone got that?" We all nodded in understanding and fell silent, waiting for our cue to leave.

"Okay, time to morph. It's not gonna be perfect, but try your best." For us Sides, morphing took only a second or two and in the blink of an eye, we became hideous creatures of the night. The Lambargni twins, on the other hand, were engulfed in a sort of fog (Tori's fog being white and Lori's black) for about ten seconds before the fog cleared and revealed the two disguised sisters.

"Make your bags invisible," Anthony told us.

"We can do that?" Owen asked incredulously.

"I think so." We all tried, and after a few quick attempts, everyone got their bags to become transparent. Now completely disguised, we set off towards the door.

The stars looked tauntingly beautiful as they shimmered peacefully above us. A breeze blew softly towards us, which might have tossed my hair gently if I had not been disguised as a filthy creature of the night. The unpleasant calmness and mocking scenery reminded me of my first moments of life. They reminded me what was waiting for us behind that door.

Speaking of which, only fifteen minutes after leaving Idyllica, the door became visible in the distance, wide open and revealing an eerie view into the Dark Imagination. We sped up a bit, only to stop once we were right in front of the door. Anthony looked up to stare at the moon for a moment.

"We've got roughly nine hours," he said, now looking through the door. "Ready?" Nods and shrugs were the only responses. "Alright everyone, let's go."