[Zerlina]

They looked about them, and saw that they had entered the infinite. No matter which way they turned, nothing made sense and nothing ever ended. In every direction there were buildings, fields, winters, summers, all linked to each other like spiders’ webs, and yet all fading.

“Where are we?” Glenn asked, and his voice bounced off the non-existent walls.

Malice turned and looked in every direction “I don’t know…it looks like Madain Sari- but look, there’s Gracia…”

No sooner had he spoken, did the ground beneath them begin to shift and groan. Letting out a creaking cry, the walls of the ancient city crumbled and collapsed into rubble, sending up a cloud of smoky dust. Unmoved by the event, Magus moved toward the ruins and lifted some rock; no sooner had he touched it did it disintegrate and turn his fingers a muddy chalk.

“It looks like the same thing is happening to her. Only Doreen wasn’t here…”

“What do you mean?” Malice asked.

Magus did not answer “Come, we’ll have to find her first.”

Without another word, the mage turned and made his way down a random passage; the others followed. With each step, the smoothened ground sloped downward, and the air turned darker. They seemed to be walking on a road –one which was now covered in a thin layer of water. To the left were the ghostly ruined buildings of an ancient city and to the right were dismal versions of the fields and towns that they themselves remembered. As they came close to the edge of a raised street, they saw a city square with an old, stone fountain. Before they could explore further, there was an ear-piercing screech and suddenly the scene turned to an empty darkness.

Glenn turned to comment to his friend, when suddenly he looked alarmed “Malice!” he exclaimed.

“I know…we’ve got to look faster…” the Theiran replied.

“Indeed we do! Thy image fades!”

Confused, Malice looked at his hands; they were fading, and seemed almost ghost-like.

Magus shook his head “If this is happening to you, it will happen to us all. Come, let us hurry before she destroys us, too.”

“Destroys?”

“Us being here makes us part of her memory. Once she forgets us, we will disappear.” He turned and began to walk, but Malice stopped him.

“Wait!” he exclaimed, “We cannot keep on wandering aimlessly. There is not enough time! Besides, I think I can make a guess at where she is…”

“Even if you know, how will we find it?” Magus questioned, sceptically.

With a victorious smirk, Malice turned and pointed upward in the distance “The moon will guide us.”

Taking the lead, he made his way across the road, and began to climb up a dark hill.

“Hurry, we haven’t much time!” he cried back, and the others followed him.

At the top of the hill stood a house that would have been cheerful were it not for the darkness. With some effort, Malice climbed over the gate, which would not open, and pushed his way in through the door. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the room was another exit- one which led to a flight of redstone stairs.

The others followed him and soon they found themselves making their way down the most inconvenient set of stairs ever constructed. Winding back and forth, they followed the path until once more the ground began to shake. Picking up their speed, they hurried downward, reaching the shore of an ocean only to find that the motion was not caused by the destruction of the staircase; it was the footsteps of what stood behind them.

Letting out a growl, which made them turn with dread, Zera Shaal appeared, his prescence veiled in a heavy fog. With him came the memories of the storm. The sky bleeding crimson and the sea crashing violently, the monster seemed to them to be much larger than they had remembered.

“Let’s finish this quickly!” Malice yelled to the others, as he drew his daggers with his faded hands.

Its yellow eyes staring at its prey, the sleeper demon growled once more and prepared for battle.