The Keeper and The Monster

Why is this happening? Mr. Tomes was supposed to be helping her mother find that figure that was popping up around the resort, scaring guests! Jade couldn't understand why Mr. Tomes would kidnap her like this! One day, he was thanking her for her cookies, and cutting up with Mr. Juno, the next, he was dragging her into one of those star doors! Jade may be an adult by now, but she's lived her whole life on Mount Lunae. Her mother, Maddy, and Lunae have taught her many things, but they never could have prepared her for something as terrible as this! Mystic Tomes is on the cusp of a revelation. The secrets of the arcane are nearly within his grasp. Absolute power is so close! All he needs is to crack open the secrets of that fae, Lunae! Thankfully for him, he has everything he needs to achieve that goal! Now, when Mystic first arrived on Mount Lunae, he'd only intended to assist the Keeper with the issue she'd contacted him about. Truly! He had intended to find the thing that was popping out of subspace around the resort. He'd intended to put a stop to it, get paid, and be on his merry way! That was, until he felt it. The fae in the mountain. He felt it's power. It's presence. It was so much greater than he. So immense it's power was, yet, it limited itself to... what was essentially THERAPY! He HAD to have it's power! HE could put such power to far better use!   Jade Yakushi yelps as she is yanked through an open metal door. After passing through, the door makes a hissing sound, then seals shut behind her. The hallway around her is made of stone, but features various pieces of paper with all sorts of things scrawled on them. The air smells... Sterile. Like a hospital operating theater. The air is cold. Cold enough for Jade to be thankful for the thick sweater she's wearing. If Mr. Tomes felt the cold, he gave no sign. Exiting the hallway, Jade is met with the sight of what could only be described as some sort of laboratory. The sight of the various pieces of equipment, and instruments makes her shudder. Before she has the chance to get a good look at her surroundings, she's shoved into a corner of the room. She yelps as her back slams against the wall. Magic forces her into a sitting position, and a manacle slams around her wrist, chaining her to a wall. Mr. Tomes doesn't even bother to look at her. He simply continues on into a room where she can no longer see him.  Jade tries to calm herself. She tires to remember the lessons her mother taught her. Stay calm. Breathe. Evaluate your situation. Form a plan of action. Do whatever you need to do to get out alive.  (https://youtu.be/eLcqvTxDk18?si=SVLdqf6H_obLkkfW) The hiss of the metal door opening causes Jade's heart to skip a beat. Her thoughts are dashed as her mind fills with terror, and dread. Footsteps echo down the hallway. Jade's eyes fix on the end of the hallway. Her voice nothing more than quiet whimpers for Lunae to save her. A booted foot exits from the hallway. Jade's whimpers turn to quiet sobs. A figure enters the laboratory. Jade's mind is struck with a piece of wisdom given to her by her mother. "Beware the monster with the straw hat." Jade's blood curdling scream rips through the laboratory. She frantically yanks at her chains, and screams her terror at the top of her lungs. Her eyes stay locked on the straw hatted figure. He only glances in her direction for a moment, but in that moment, Jade is sure she's going to die. The man's glance is cold, and uncaring. The same kind of look one might give a cockroach. Mr. Tomes exits from the room he was in with a curse on his lips. The curse never leaves his mouth. With a bright flash from his horn, The Monster sends Mystic tumbling backwards. Mystic slams into a wall. All the air rushing out of his lungs from the impact. As he attempts to stand, The Monster utters only two words. "Get out." A moment later, and Jade is alone. She isn't sure when it happened, but somehow, one of those star doors appeared behind Mystic, opened, and The Monster blasted him through. The Monster didn't bother to glance back at Jade as he stepped in after Mystic. The moment he was through, the door slammed closed, then vanished. Leaving Jade alone, chained up in a place she's certain nobody will find her. Mystic scrambles to his feet. A spell ready to be cast as soon as he catches sight of The Monster. A figure exits through the threshold of light ahead. Mystic unleashes a Scorching Ray, only for it to be dashed by far superior arcane might. Another blast hits Mystic, sending him tumbling across a blank, gray landscape. He stands no chance in combat against this man. No... This He needs to run. Find an escape route. Mystic manages to scramble to his feet just in time to avoid another blast from The Monster. He hurries towards a purple door in the near distance. He throws up whatever spells he can conjure to protect him, and runs in an erratic pattern to try to throw off The Monster's Aim. As he nears the door, a bolt of searing energy strikes his leg, causing him to stumble, and his face to slam into the door. Recovering quickly, Mytic rips the door open, and hops through. It's no use. No matter how fast he runs. No matter how many doors he goes through. The Monster is always right behind him. He didn't want to have to do this, but Mystic knows this is life-or-death, and he needs to pull out all of his tricks just to escape with his life. Focusing all of his arcane energy, Mystic conjures up his memories. Using them as a sort of 'fast track' through subspace. One moment, he's in a black void, running from The Monster. The next, he's running through the halls of the academy he attended as a young boy, with no Monster in sight. Now, he can escape. He just needs a moment to catch his breath. A sharp pain ripples out from the center of Mystic's head. The mage falls to his knees, unable to do more than let out the occasional croak of agony as his entire mind is suddenly shocked by the pain radiating from his head. He feels...  A space not far from Mystic suddenly emits an arcane shriek. The space is suddenly torn open, revealing the void. The Monster steps through the tear, a look of disgust upon his face. "Did you think this parlor trick would stop me?" Mystic crawls away on his hands and knees. Mind numbed by pain, and panic. "You are much too confident for one who has only just dove into the arts of manipulating Subspace. Were I not about to kill you, you'd have gotten yourself killed sooner, rather than later." Mystic rises to his feet, and stumbles forwards.  Mystic stumbles through his memories, desperate to escape The Monster. He runs through parks, stores, homes, school halls, and even the Mount Lunae resort. Yet, the Monster is always there. While Mystic runs full sprint through his own memories, the Monster's gait is nothing more than a casual walk. Yet, every time Mystic looks back, the Monster is closer than he was before. Terror takes hold of his mind. Mystic's eyes stay locked on the Monster. More concerned with it closing in on him that seeing where he's going. Snow crunches under his feet. Harsh, icy wind lashes at his body, but he hardly notices. His mind too addled by fear to register the high pitched shrieks coming from ahead of him.  The Child is hungry. Oh so very hungry. Mama is gone. Papa is gone. The Child cries. But the man is here. The man brought food. The Child is so very hungry. Mystic slams into something, nearly knocking him over. He looks forward just in time for a pair of claws to tear into his chest. He manages about a second of a scream before a pair of icy blue orbs inside the empty sockets of a skull lock with his. His entire body freezes, as if suddenly encased in ice. Mystic manages to scream one last time, then, mind numbing pain. The cold consumes him, and all goes dark.

The following transcript is of the body camera footage recovered from Special Agent in Charge Evard after the raid on the compound of the "Children of the Broken Path" cult. Special agent Rosa had been injured before recovered footage begins, and had been evacuated from the compound by Special Agent Garter. Begin Video Log Recovered footage begins in a dimly lit hallway. An unknown individual is standing at the end of the hallway, which opens up into what is presumably a large pit. Special Agent Seraph approaches the individual. No words are spoken. Special Agent Seraph appears to embrace the indivual. Special Agent Soot: "The hell's goin' on? You know this guy Seraph?" Special Agent Seraph produces a knife of unknown make from her kit. She uses this knife to stab the individual in the back. The two then begin to fall backwards into the pit. Special Agent Hilbert rushes to grab Special Agent Seraph, but is unable to grasp onto her. Special Agent Seraph and the unknown individual fall into the pit, out of sight. Silence for 11.4 seconds. The camera shakes, accompanied by a low, loud groaning sound. Special Agent Hilbert: "Oh shit man! Fuck! What the fuck is that?!" Special Agent in Charge Evard gives the order for the team to evacuate the compound. SAiC Evard allows Special Agent Yakushi to lead the team in their evacuation. The camera shakes constantly, accompanied by the sound of rumbling coming from behind the team. Rubble begins to collapse in the hallway, nearly crushing Special Agent Yakushi. Special Agent Soot: "Woah!" Special Agent Hilbert: "Holy shit!" Special Agent Soot: "This is fucked man!" SAiC Evard: "Shut up and move!" Camera shows a line of 6 individuals walking down the hallway opposite of the team. The lead individual is heavily disfigured, and appears to be wearing ragged robes. Lead Individual: "The time has come brothers and sisters! Our father has come to show us his glorious path! Let us give ourselves unto his creation so that we may be used for his glorious design!" The team passes by the individuals, seemingly without any interaction. Special Agent Hilbert begins to curse loudly. Special Agent Hilbert: "Fuck! Let go you fucking freaks! Jesus fuck!" Camera turns to see Special Agent Soot attempting to pull Special Agent Hilbert out of the grasp of the group of individuals. He is unsuccessful in the attempt. A wall of what appears to be muscular tissue is seen rapidly approaching the group, and Special Agent Soot abandons his attempt to rescue Special agent Hilbert. The camera turns forward. Special Agent Hilbert can be heard screaming for 4.1 seconds, soon followed by panicked screams from the group of individuals. The screams cease after 1.6 seconds. Team continues their sprint unabated for 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Special Agent Soot cries out. Camera turns to see Special Agent Soot lying on the ground, his back left leg caught in a beartrap. The wall of muscular tissue can be seen approaching in the distance. SAiC Evard begins to turn to assist Special Agent Soot. Special Agent Soot: "Fuck me Evard! Just go!" Special Agent Soot is seen priming explosive charges on the ground around himself. Camera turns back forward. 15.6 seconds pass before Special Agent Soot is heard again. Special Agent Soot: "Motherfucker!" A muffled explosion rocks the hallway, causing Special Agent Yakushi to lose her balance. She begins to stumble towards the ground. SAiC Evard grabs the back of Special Agent Yakushi's vest to allow her to regain her balance, and continue movement. The two remaining team members sprint for 3 minutes and 37 seconds before emerging from the compound. Rumbling from behind the camera does not appear to come any closer to the team. The two team members stop next to a tree to rest. Recovery team approaches around 14 minutes and 11 seconds later. End Log. Notes: "Who thought sending a team of regular agents into something like this was a good idea? I'm going to be auditing all of the administrative staff to find out who fucked up this badly, and who needs to personally apologize to the agents involved in this operation, and the families of the diseased. Once you're done with that, you can pack your things, and get out."- Director Law The body of Special Agent Seraph was found mutilated, and dismembered in the basement of her home 1 week after the conclusion of this operation. Evidence suggests she had been killed at least 2 days before the operation took place. The possibility that the Special Agent Seraph seen in the footage may have been an infiltrated cult member is being investigated.