[Return Teaser: That which bumps in the Night.]

(This chapter starts in Willow Magnus' perspective) (This chapter also has some minor dark themes, so read at your discretion)

As she closed the door to her chamber within the castle, Willow let out a sigh and relaxed her posture. It had been a long day, but then again, what days weren't long anymore? Shaking her head, she once again momentarily pondered stepping down from her position of royal wizard, however the thought was quickly banished as always. She didn't have a replacement, and this job was more important than what it paid.

She went over the events of the day in her head, trying to solidify moments that she thought would be important in the following days. The King had once again requested her to make him immortal, and she had once again told him that such a thing was not how her magic worked, despite the common consensus. Such was the price of doing what had never before been done; No one understands what it takes to pull it off, or how it works in the least.

Walking over to her desk, she looked at her pictures upon it as she thought about the other major event of the day. A pain flowed through her as she remembered how tortured that poor boy had looked, how he always looked after the Court **** him to look into that which no mortal was ever meant to see. As always, the news was not good. This time, the boy had spoken of a swarm of insects, blotting out the sky.

Staring at her desk, she put together every last detail she had of the young man that was the Kingdom's greatest treasure. The son of a great adventurer, the Court had seen fit to seize him into their custody, a decision she found to be right, no matter how much she thought it cruel. However, despite the many times the individuals within the council had **** visions from him, she always got the feeling that it didn't work like they understood it.

An idea flashed to her mind as the thoughts connected. She grabbed her journal, writing down before she could forget. Before she could forget how the boy's eyes had teared up after this vision specifically, before she could forget the look of longing and loss within his face. She had realized it then, that he had been taking advantage of the same thing she had: An ignorance to their methods, to their abilities.

Pride filled her as she looked up from her journal, leaning back into her chair to attempt to relax from the day once again. Looking to her side, she found she had still not removed the many letters from her desk that she had brought with her when she became the Court's head mage. Picking them up, she read through them again, remembering fondly the times they were written.

The oldest were all sorrowful, somber condolences in response to hearing "the diagnosis". Those were all from people close to her, her family, friends, and even a few close colleges. Then, the letters abruptly shifted into those of congratulations and acknowledgements, with the most recent being her invitation to the capital. far fewer of these were from people she had known back then, instead being from famous mages and great leaders.

Her trip down memory lane was interrupted by the sound of knocking, startling her and making her drop the letters. Shaking her head in annoyance she quickly picked them all back up off the floor. After finally placing them back on her desk, the knocking returned, prompting her to respond in annoyance. "I'm coming, I'm coming, calm down."

Trying to think of who would be at her door, no one came to mind. And, after opening the door, she found the same to be in front of her: No one. She looked around, seeing if any packages or letter had been left, perhaps posted to the other side of the door, but there was nothing. Only after thoroughly checking did she close the door with a huff, angry at whoever had decided to waste her time. And only after that, did the knocking return, emanating from her window instead of the door as she had assumed.

Squinting with suspicion, she cautiously approached the glass window that also served as a door to the exterior balcony. Not seeing anything through the glass, she slowly opened it before walking out, staring around at the empty patio around her. By now the sun had truly vanished, with only the brightest of stars beginning to show themselves upon the night sky. There was even a slight chill in the air, hinting that it would perhaps snow tomorrow.

It was these facts that distracted her just enough to not notice it before it spoke. "Arch-Imago Willow Magnus." She spun around, seeing it at last. It was a figure that towered over her, its dark robe covering its form entirely. She only reached its shoulders, though that wasn't something she was too upset about, given its appearance. While most of its head was covered by what on any other creature would be an oversized hood, a deer-like skull poked out where its face should be, its downwards angle allowing its horns to support the top of its hood.

Fear paralyzed her as she stared into its empty, blackened eye-sockets. However, she was not afraid simply because what was in front of her was horrid in appearance, or because it was unknown. In fact, it was not unknown, and Willow Magnus was perhaps the only living creature to know what it was that was standing on her porch.

Given time, she managed to will herself to speak, fearing what would happen if she didn't more that if she did. "W-what are you doing here?" A horrid feeling overcame her, "It's not yet time! I am certain of that!"

The horrid thing before her nodded slowly before speaking, the jaw of the skull moving as if it was talking. "Indeed, I have not come to reap. However, you must know how long is left, do you not?" Her eyes focused on the bobbing of the herbivorous jaw, a part of her wondering if that was truly the face of the creature, or if it was simply attached in some way to appear so.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts, knowing she had no time for such things. Not while in the presence of such an entity. "O-of course I do!" She wracked her brain, searching for how much time had passed, piecing together how long it had been. And then it clicked. Those letters she had just read... They had all been sent a year ago... tomorrow. Her eyes widened with horror at her realization. "No, no no no! Wait-"

Once it was certain she had realized, it cut her off. "Indeed. It has been three-hundred and sixty-four days." its tone was neutral, but the way it spoke the number felt quite matter-of-factly. "Technically, you have less than a day as of now, but due to your... unique circumstances, we have decided to be merciful." Hope filled her, despite the fact that she knew very well it was in vain. "Once I leave, you will have exactly twenty-four hours before I return. And that time, I will be here, to do my job." The emptiness in the way it spoke was a whiplash to her, even if she had heard it before.

So many emotions flew through her in but a few moments, not a single one of them helpful to the moment again. All of the stages of grief flashed by in a matter of seconds. Denial, "No, no that can't-" Anger, "You... You can't just-" Bargaining, "P-please, please! I'll trade anything just-" She cut herself off, for she knew she could not trade with it, not anymore. That left depression, where she fell to her knees, sobbing as the moment truly hit her. The emotions flowed, exiting her eyes as tears until she finally reached acceptance.

There was an unknowable amount of time spent like that, with her on the ground crying to herself. This time was ended by the robed figure moving in front of her, bowing its head in respect. "I... can only begin to grasp what kinds of pain you feel. I can only advise you to do the most you can with the time you have left." And with that, it stepped back away from her. She managed to look up, seeing nothing but the now star-speckled night sky. It had left, and wisely so, as she knew she would have just spent her time trying to stall it.

Stumbling her way back into her room, she grabbed the things she could immediately think of, not allowing any time to be wasted trying to actually plan out this event. As she looted her desk, her eyes wandered to the letters for but the briefest moment. A sickening feeling filled her soul, as she felt like an utter liar and fraud in the face of what had occurred.

The letters were left behind, as they only served as a reminder of her complete and utter failure.

#####

Willow Magnus' eyes fought against her as she tried to watch the road in front of her through the falling snow. Her eyelids felt like weights had been attached to them, and her vision blurred slightly from fatigue. Shaking her head, she fought the urge to rest, as she no longer any time to. If she fell asleep now, she would not wake up in time, and she would note dare be asleep when it came back.

So, she reached into her bag, cursing herself for her poor decision making in what she hastily grabbed as she downed the last of her energy potions. Waking up once more, she wearily looked to the sky, finding a beautiful night staring down back at her. Had it been any other day, she would have cherished such a sight, laying out under it and relaxing to the sight of the stars. Today, it only filled her with dread at the thought of what was coming.

She was running, well, technically she was driving a carriage away at the current second. It was completely irrational and most certainly doomed, but what human was known for being truly rational in the face of inevitable tragedy? When someone knows that there is something horrible about to happen, and they can do nothing about it, is when they panic and do something stupid. Thus, she was trying to outrun an entity older than the kingdom she served... with a horse-drawn carriage.

Thankfully the main road out of the capital was longer than she ever could have gone within 24 hours, as her backup plan was to run into the woods and hide, hoping that leaving no trail would stop an entity that had killed longer than history was written.

Her mental mockery of her own plan was halted as she noticed the horses beginning to slow down. Watching them, she noticed them panting, one of them having their leg nearly give out from under them before they both simply stopped. She watched in slight confusion as they both stumbled into a laying position on the ground, simply as if they decided they didn't want to travel anymore.

With a nervous sigh she stepped down from the top of the carriage, moving to check on the horses. She now realized how hard on them she had been for the last many hours, running near nonstop. It was her responsibility to make sure that they were alright, and that she had not caused them any major harm to them through her negligence and haste. So, she walked up to one, feelings and hearing the snow crunch beneath her feet as she rested her hand on it to reassure it.

Only, as her hand touched the horse, she quickly withdrew it in fear. The horse was cold, not cold in the way it would be from the snow, but cold as if it was... Her eyes shot open, fear filling her and her heart racing. Perhaps that potion had been wasted, as the amount of adrenaline her panicked mind was flooding her with most certainly would have woken her up instantly. She spun around, searching her surroundings for it, before seeing a shadowed figure approaching from ahead of her on the road.

"Arch-Imago Willow Magnus." It called out as if it was shouting, but its voice had no sense of being raised. There was no anger or frustration, despite her having tried to prevent it from fulfilling its purpose. It simply strode forward, its cape unmoving despite the wind or any movement that its legs would be making beneath, if it had any. Straining her eyes, she couldn't even tell if it left tracks in the light dusting of snow across the ground.

Shaking her head to snap herself out, she took in the moment again. Her mind told her there was nothing she could do, but she couldn't accept that. Every fiber of her being was telling her to fight or flight, and running hadn't worked. So, she began chanting, making gestures until she had gathered and compressed her mana into a small point, before releasing it forward into a continuously growing fireball. She panted as she watched the ball of blinding light fly forward, tired from expending such mana in a singular spell.

A clear path was left in the road as the flames rushed forward, a cone of scorched gravel without the snow that was now thickening across the rest of the ground. As the fires rushed forth, it simply continued walking, appearing in her vision again as if simply walking through a curtain, no marks upon it to suggest it had been touched in the least by one of her strongest spells. By one of the strongest spells the kingdom had ever written.

Hope left her as she fell to her knees once again. "Arch-Imago Willow Magnus, it is my deep regret to inform you that the time in our bargain has reached its end." Its words were as hollow as ever, she almost felt insulted by the fact that she herself felt no regret within its words. She looked up at it, anger visible in her eyes as it continued to speak. "As was agreed, what was meant to be shall now come to pass."

Despite her anger, despite her hatred, she still cried tears of sorrow as she tried to plead one last time. "Please, I'll give you anything you want, do anything you want, just don't take-" Her words were interrupted as she heard a sound of movement in the carriage behind her. She pleaded once more, this time in her head, but those prayers too went unanswered as she heard the door of the carriage open.

It took everything she had to pull back her tears and look strong in this moment. The moment that a young girl's voice spoke from behind her, "Momma? What's going on? Are we to that nice cabin now?" A pain filled her heart. Willow had told her daughter that they were going to a cabin in the woods, where she could take a break from working and just play with her for a while.

Willow turned back to look at it, hoping for one last chance as she spoke in a hushed tone. "Please, please just take me instead. Please, I'm begging you, don't take my daughter from me." Alas, her pleas fell on deaf ears, if such a term applied to the entity in front of her. It walked past her, her heart sinking as she couldn't take her eyes away from its methodical glide-like movement towards her little girl.

Her daughter looked frightened as it approached, and Willow began it fear that it would just grab her because of the time she wasted. Instead, it actually crouched down, its robe bending as if contorting around legs that she was still not sure it had. As it got down close to her, it spoke in its eternally calm voice. "Hello, little one. May I ask your name?"

There was a silence for a few moments as Willow's daughter looked between the two of them. "Sorry, I shouldn't talk to strangers. Momma doesn't like it when I do, she says that I could get hurt." The slightest amount of pride filled Willow's heart as she heard her daughter caring about her in the face of such a creature.

It titled its head at her, either inquisitively or in the imitation of such an intent. "But I'm not a stranger. Do you remember me?" It went silent as it waited. After a few moments of thinking, she shook her head. "Ah, that makes sense. It was a good amount of time ago, and you were very, very sick." It nodded slightly as it spoke, and its ability to speak to children shocked Willow.

From that statement, recognition flashed across her daughter's face. "I do remember! I was stuck in bed for a lo~ong time, and then you showed up! Momma got real angry at you, shouting at you for quite a while. When she finally stopped, you said something and it made her really happy," she giggled, "she wouldn't stop thanking you. Then you looked over at me and I felt better right away!" She looked up at the thing with compassion that Willow doubted it often saw, if ever.

A strange, echoing chuckle escaped it as it nodded almost happily. "Yes, yes that's about right." It paused for a moment before speaking softly to her once again. "You see, I came back because I wanted to take you somewhere. Would you like to come?"

This seemed to make her actually a little afraid once more. "I don't know, where is it?"

Taking a moment to think, it responded carefully. "It's... where I come from. It's the place I live, unless I go out to find people to bring there, special people like you."

The fear vanished, replaced by the curiosity that Willow loved so much about her daughter. "That sounds fun! Can we go Momma?" She called out, looking to her mother, nearly jumping up down with excitement.

Just as Willow started to open her mouth to speak, it cut her off. "I'm sorry dear, but your mother can't come."

A pout came over her daughter's face as she questioned it, "Why not?"

To Willow's surprise, she almost felt she could hear sorrow in its voice as it answered. "As I said, I'm only allowed to bring special people there."

Her daughter huffed in response, "My mom's plenty special, she works for the king!"

It chuckled, in a way that just barely made Willow question if it could feel such things. "Indeed, your mother is a quite special woman. However, she just isn't the right type of special to allow me to bring her, I'm sorry."

Willow's little girl visibly chewed on her cheeks a little as she thought about it. "I don't know, Momma just said we were gonna go on a trip..." They both looked to her, both asking very different questions that were in a way the same question. 'Will you let me take her?' and 'Can I go?'. This was the moment, her heart raced and her breath quickened as she thought about it. She could tell her daughter to run, she could tell her to get as far away as she could.

But as she opened her mouth, she already knew she could never do such a thing. "It's okay sweety." Tears filled her eyes as she spoke, every word a dagger to her heart, every syllable feeling like a betrayal of her duty as a mother. "You can go with them." Inside, she knew she had done what was best for her daughter. Telling her anything about what was happening would only make her panic, and make her suffer in her final moments.

The beaming smile her daughter showed her did nothing to make her guilt go away. Its hand came out of its cloak, akin to that of a human skeleton wrapped in strands of black fabrics. It offered it to her sweet little girl, who so happily grasped the hand of the very thing near every great mage fought against for a great part of their life.

Now hand in hand, it slowly began leading her into the forest, away from the road, and away from Willow. Willow watched them, tears returning to her eyes as she could clearly see the thick snow behind them, with not a single track following the pair. Her precious, only child turned her head back around as they kept walking, shouting out the final words Willow would ever hear from her. "Bye Momma!"

Tears streamed from her eyes, falling into the snow and forming patches that may soon become ice. Her head hung, no longer able to watch them walking away. And, despite not having the strength to call out, she still managed to get one last response to her daughter out through her sobs:

"Goodbye, my precious Natalia."