Nicole merges with the fusion, but retains her state of mind.

It happened so fast that Nicole wasn't able to properly react before things turned dark before her eyes. As she lost consciousness, she could feel herself moving...shifting...stretching.

Groans from the fusion that was her son and Jane echoed in her mind as she fell asleep.

Seemingly moments later yet with no indication of how much time had past, Nicole opened her eyes slowly. Expecting to meet the ocean's gaze again, her heart beat in fear to see pitch black instead.

While already standing straight, she had to blink a few times before she recognizes that she's actually awake. Taking in her surroundings, she is unable to tell a single detail nor a sound.

Aside from the ominous darkness, the only thing she could tell was something...different about herself. She couldn't pinpoint it and not knowing exactly began to stir more fear into her heart.

Then, there's her son...

"Scott!"

Breathing in and her eyes widening, she thought of her son and the fusion monster she met. Her mind struggled in remembering what happened afterward. Although she wanted to believe everything was a bad dream, everything felt too real. Even in this darkness, she knows instinctively that this couldn't be a dream.

"Your son is fine...."

Flinching, she hears a strange feminine voice around her. It resounds in her ear from left to right and then bounces back right to left. Unable to pinpoint, she tries her hardest to remain strong in the face of what could be a danger.

"W-where am I? Who are you!? Where's my son...my family!"

"A mirror is necessary first...then you'll know everything."

Nicole gritted her teeth, her eyes about to spill tears in frustration and fear.

"No! Whatever this is, let me go! I'm not here to play twisted games! I-"

Her voice stopped as a mirror began to unveil from the shadows, crawling closer without any indication of being pushed by someone. Yet, what surprised her the most is the reflection.

Preview

"N-no..."

Seeing what can only be an image of herself, it was as if a key had been granted. Memories began overflowing into her head the longer she stared into her own eyes on the mirror.

It quickly became apparent that while this space may feel real, she's not in her reality at the moment. Instead, she was somehow brought into the necklace's reality - the same one that her son was pulled in.

How could she know this though? Nicole wasn't sure but she was certain that the knowledge felt true along with the memories that added to her own coming frokm Scott and Jane.

She felt an odd sense of happiness to know that her son was a part of her yet also fear and confusion.

"If...if I stay like this, won't it be the same as losing him as I did before?"

Speaking her thoughts out loud, her eyes widen after a second after realizing what she said. 'As I did before?'

The words naturally followed her tongue like they were someone else's addition. When did she ever personally lose someone?

She might not, but her memories of Jane showed she did. Still, this couldn't be the same right? Her son is with her and closer than before. It's different...and yet, maybe not so different.

Struggling to figure out how she should feel about this, the voice within the empty dark space spoke again.

"In my lifetime, I had many owners. As Scott is the first to pick me up in centuries, he is the owner of the necklace and therefore, it shall be shared to those he connects with."

Now that Nicole is being **** to understand what her son involved himself in and what she was literally sucked into, she takes a long breath.

"Is..."

Nicole hesitated before gulping, unable to help shake, "...is it possible to disconnect?"

"If your will is strong enough..."

Leaving at that, the voice fades away but Nicole now recognizes it belonging to that pale being that Scott witnessed wearing a summer dress. The knowledge of what she is made her shiver more.

Slowly, the darkness also disappears revealing the ocean that she was standing at along with the previous fusion. Sounds of the ocean and pelicans returned to her ears and allowed her to breathe easy, if only for a moment.