Dots blinked quickly in the blacks, growing into flashing lights, like someone was taking photos of her eyeballs. Lexie opened her eyes and groaned as the light flooded her vision.

"Relax," she heard someone say. "We'll get you unhooked in a second."

Lexie could barely understand what she was saying. She was totally disoriented as the sounds of chatter got louder and louder, and so did the machine's droning.

"Overall score: 10%. Result: Failure."

"Overall score: 0%. Result: Failure."

"Overall score: 25%. Result: Failure."

The voices were varied, male and female, and they sounded clinical in their assessment. The blinding light eventually faded until Lexie figured that she was in a science lab of some sort with white walls and a whole lot of tubes and screens attached to pretty much every surface. She was strapped onto a chair and almost panicked, but then the woman in a lab coat standing in front of her leaned down and undid the straps, releasing her.

Lexie didn't move. Her heart was still racing, her body feeling sluggish. She vividly remembered the sensation of being shot. She felt like she'd died and someone brought her back to life, and now she didn't know what to do with herself.

The scientist lady didn't seem too bothered by it. Her face dispassionately assessed Lexie, and she noted something down on her black pad.

"Any side effects?"

"What?"

"Any side effects?" she asked again. "Headaches? Nausea? A curious ringing in your ears? Upset stomach?"

"No." Lexie glanced around. Several other students were strapped to seats like she was and were being questioned by individual scientists. "What's going on? Where am I?" Dewie was closest to her, and he was also looking around, nearly hyperventilating while they questioned him. Ava was next to him, and then Jace.

They were all being interviewed, and they all looked similarly disoriented. Other groups of four sat spaced out around them, going through an identical process.

Suddenly, a door opened and a woman strode into the room.

"Hello," she said, speaking quickly as she typed into one of the screens. "I'm Dr. Miosa, and I run the simulation labs here. You all have just had your first simulation, and while I appreciate that it probably was not the most fun experience, it was necessary to assess your starting points and identify flaws in your performance."

"Simulations?" Someone barked out. "I don't...how did we even get here?"

Dr. Miosa didn't look up. "You've all had your short-term memories temporarily suppressed, to add to the realism of the simulations. It will eventually come back to you, and all those questions will be answered. Unfortunately, you've all failed today's simulation. Don't worry, that's expected given you're first years. We typically don't do this for first years. We barely even did it for second years up until a few years ago. Only five students in the history of the academy passed their first simulation, and most were third years, with only one second year. So your failure is unremarkable." She looked up and attempted a short, comforting smile that only made the situation even weirder.

"What?" A boy exploded behind them. "Wait, you're telling me all that wasn't real?"

"Yes. The lingering after-effects on your psyche will fade with time and rest."

"That's horrible!" someone else yelled. "You people are sick!"

"I'm sure you feel that way now," Dr. Miosa said, unfazed. "But when you're in the field facing unimaginable horrors, you'll be glad for your training. Extensive research shows that, without a doubt, this is the most efficient way to train future [heroes] without you sustaining damage. It takes a lot to run these simulations, and in time, you'll come to appreciate them."

Lexie's mind was still making sense of it. Everything that happened in that room was a simulation. It hadn't been real. She wasn't dead, and no one had hurt Dewie or the rest.

Everything was fine.

God. She couldn't believe it.

"It felt real," Ava said, looking traumatized and kind of like she was about to throw up. "I thought…I saw everyone die. Then I died. It felt real."

"Reality is relative," Dr. Miosa said, glancing dispassionately at the room. "It's also not important to discuss right now. The important thing is that you all evaluate yourselves after today and figure out how you could have performed better. All the scenarios you were given were solvable. It was only a difficulty level of 3, so the solution should have been fairly obvious if you'd taken a moment to think about it. Again, it's understandable that you didn't, as it is your first simulation, but as time goes on, we will expect you to start succeeding. If you can't save yourself, then how do you expect to save others?"

Lexie was still stuck on the idea of everything being a simulation and of seeing Dewie being shot. Of being shot at herself.

How did she not know this was a simulation? She didn't have any recollection of coming to this lab or getting strapped in. Had they taken them in their sleep? They were still wearing pajamas. Were they knocked out?

It was all so freaky.

"What did we do wrong?" Someone asked the question that Lexie was thinking.

"It's better if I give you time to think about it yourself," Dr. Miosa said. "If you need extra help, you can come to us during free hours. Just note that you will have these simulations at least once a month, and you will never know when or where a simulation will occur. We have expertly trained our system in order to ensure that each scenario will always feel real to you, and simulations, while you're in them, will be indistinguishable from the real world. That's the best way to get the training you need in order to gain appropriate response mechanisms in spite of your fear and panic. You're supposed to learn to suppress your human weaknesses and transcend limitations to achieve superhuman feats. Figure out how to do that and you will succeed at simulations. Don't, and you will fail. If you fail enough simulations and don't pass the minimum threshold, you will be dropped from the program. Understood?"

Lexie blinked. Did the woman just say they would never know when they were in a simulation because everything would make sense in the context? How? Was there mind magic at play?

She'd assumed that she would know when she had a simulation, but the thought had never even entered her head. Would she begin to doubt her reality from now on, assuming everything was a simulation? What happened when she did get attacked for real and treated it like a simulation, too?

This felt dangerous.

She wouldn't be able to tell reality from dreams anymore.

And judging from the expressions of everyone around them, they had the same concerns.

There were about twenty-four kids in total, about a quarter of the first years, and they were dismissed from the room in their groups of four, with Dr. Miosa giving each group final words before they left.

Lexie's was the second-to-last group to leave.

"Your group performed the best," she told Lexie and her squad. "Good reaction time in the beginning. But you need to think deeper about how you could have won that skirmish."

Lexie and the rest nodded numbly. They would think about it later, but right now they just wanted to be back in bed, safe.

"You okay?" Lexie asked Dewie as they walked out. He was pale, but he nodded. She wrapped her hand around his shoulder, pulling him close as they walked.

"Man," Jace said, tucking his hands in his pockets. "That was wild."

Ava nodded, then seemed to belatedly realize that she was wasting her time talking to them instead of studying. She began walking faster, leaving them in the dust.

Lexie had not seen a sign of Xena, so it seemed she wasn't part of this group of first years. She wondered if the others were in their rooms, resting or at dinner. It was only evening time after all, not nearly as late as Lexie thought it was. She debated going over to Xena's but changed her mind. All Lexie knew was that she was exhausted and wanted to go to bed, for real this time.

She started remembering. When she'd spoken to Dewie in the common and he'd gone to his room, she'd gotten an alert. It told her to report to the simulation labs immediately. She'd gone over with Dewie and Jace, and they'd been strapped into the machines with little preamble except a 'Good luck.'

Now, she understood why she'd needed it.

They silently cut across the grass. They were silent because of how intense it had been. Now she could see why Conrad seemed to loathe simulations. She wished he had warned her about it more, and she wanted to blast him for not doing so. But would a warning have helped? Dr. Miosa didn't seem to think so.

Once she was in her room, with no Ava in sight, Lexie decided to call her dad. He didn't answer, and she frowned. Was he asleep? It was only evening, and he typically answered the phone when she called around this time. She wanted to talk to him before going back to sleep tonight.

She waited for a little bit, and was about to call him again when her system indicated that he was calling.

He spoke breathlessly. "Lexie?"

"Dad?" She frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I just…I think I saw him."

"Saw who?"

"The man. The one you described, the one who haunted your dreams."

Lexie's heart plummeted, then raced. "You saw him?" She'd described the man for her dad and a sketch artist a few days ago, and they'd gotten a close enough sketch for her dad to be able to identify him. "What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he ran away. But the fact that he was here…you said you met him in Old Moulding?"

"Yes. Near the Palisades, outside a weapons store."

"Alright. I guess I know where I'll start investigating. I'll find him again, if it's the last damn thing I do."

He was breathing so hard that Lexie was concerned.

She said, "Dad, are you certain you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just busy. I'll call you in the morning, honeybee."

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you, too. Be very careful."

"I will."

After she hung up, Lexie released a breath, thinking back to the scenario. How could she have solved it? What could she have done to save her friends?

It would have been a no-brainer if she could have gotten her Eldritch side to work. Speaking of which, why didn't it work? Was it because it was a simulation? Was it because the Eldritch had sensed she wasn't in any real threat?

She didn't know. She would ask her father in the morning.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The next day, thankfully, everyone was feeling a lot better. Dewie seemed less traumatized, Jace was back to his normal chatty self, and Ava was back to ignoring all of them.

They woke up and shared leftovers. Ava walked out of the bathroom and right past them without a single word.

"Ava," Jace called.

She ignored him, walking out of the room and closing the door.

"I don't know why you bother, Jace," Lexie said. "She doesn't want to talk to you."

"Yes, but I just wanted to tell her there's a piece of tissue stuck to the bottom of her shoe."

Lexie snorted, and Dewie smiled. It was exactly what they needed.

Later, when they met up with Xena for lunch, they told her all about it. Xena hadn't had her first simulation yet, and Lexie's group had been the only first-year group that had done it. Everyone wanted to know what happened, and Lexie filled her in.

"Gosh, that sounds terrifying," Xena said. "Thanks for the heads up. At least I'll know what to expect."

According to Conrad, whom she called later to tell about it, knowing what to expect wouldn't help.

"You'll never know you're in a simulation," he told her. "It will mimic real life, and it will be such a natural transition. It won't always be after you fall asleep. Sometimes you'll be headed to class or go off on a trip somewhere, and fight a monster and boom simulation. And your brain will never let you think it's a simulation. I don't know how they do it, but they fuck with your mind, and make it super hard to tell it's a simulation, even if you logically should suspect it. That's why I didn't tell you. First of all, I didn't think you would have to deal with it anytime soon, and secondly, even if I did tell you, it wouldn't help. You will forget about everything I said the second you're in a simulation."

"That's crazy," Lexie said. So mind magic was in play here. Insane.

"Yup. I hated it. They say it fades but I don't trust that. A lot of my mental issues came from that bullshit. That is like 80% of the reason I dropped out."

"And what's the other 20%."

"The people."

Lexie felt that.

She also told her dad about the simulations when she called him later. He seemed much calmer now.

"Thirty percent isn't bad," Aiden said. "My first simulations, I passed out and only got like fifteen percent, I think."

"It's messed up."

"It is. There's a lot of controversy and debate in the association about whether or not simulations are necessary. Currently, the majority think it is. I wasn't sure you'd have to partake though. If you want, I can talk to Monty and have him pull you out."

"No, it's fine," Lexie said. "I feel a lot better now and I don't think I'll have nightmares about it or anything." If anything, the simulation now felt more like a dream than anything. "I'll let you know if it becomes a problem. But also I couldn't feel...stuff in there. Do you think it's because I wasn't in any danger?"

"No, it's likely because the scientists can't sense it and couldn't factor it into the avatar that your consciousness is supplanted in. Typically, only the skills they know about make it into the simulation, and no one has ever had what you have before, so they can't even model it if they wanted to."

"I see. So they can't see my..." Eldritch soul? She mouthed the last words, just in case there was a listening device in her room.

It took a while for Lexie to decipher her father's mouthed reply. I wouldn't have sent you there if they could, Lex. Even a necromancer won't be able to tell that anything beyond a normal soul injury and healing had occurred. The only one who'll be able to tell is another Eldritch.

Lexie felt relieved. "Okay, so, how's the investigation going?"

Aiden sighed. "It's going. There's still more that we don't know than what we do know. But we might be getting close because Someone rigged an explosion at the crime scene we were at yesterday, and it went off."

"What?" Lexie barked, suddenly alarmed.

"It's alright. I'm fine. I just wanted to let you know."

"Dad…this sounds dangerous."

"Yes, but your father is a generational genius, so he can take care of himself. I'm more concerned about why this man is after you. Did you remember anything else?"

"No. Just that he attacked me at our home. Everything else I told you."

They were both silent for a few seconds, their thoughts filling the space.

"Do you think he had something to do with the incident in Hartville?" Lexie asked suddenly.

"I don't know," her father responded. "I suspect he does, but it could be a coincidence that he was there today."

"But it might not be," Lexie said. "The dungeon…the second one. It was moving away from me. Luring me away into a secluded area."

A breath hissed between her father's teeth as though a realization hit him. "You think you were the target?"

Lexie didn't want to be egoistic but..."Why else would it move away from the crowd?"

"That's right," Aiden murmured, and suddenly Lexie could feel his tension over the phone. "Also, how did he do that? How did he get the unstable dungeon to act as though it somehow gained the presence of mind to act on its own like that? Someone has to be controlling them. The question is who and how?"

"Can people control Eldritch creatures?"

"Sometimes, but not often. The Fae are typically the only ones powerful enough to attempt to do it with strong soul contracts. Even then, it's risky because it could end up the other way instead."

"So maybe that's what's happening here? Maybe powerful mages are controlling the dungeons with soul contracts."

"Dungeons aren't Eldritch in that sense. They aren't sentient enough to be controlled that easily, even by the powerful Fae. It's why Fae cannot pick and choose where a dungeon lands, only direct it vaguely to the area through the Red tails. They also can't control when a dungeon will spawn. Especially the unstable ones, which are too chaotic for that. If someone was that good at controlling dungeons, then it would mean that…" Suddenly, Aiden went very silent.

"It would mean what?" Lexie asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I just had a thought."

"Tell me what it is?"

He shook his head. "How was school?"

She pouted. "You know I hate when you do that."

"I know," he smiled. "I'll tell you about it if and when I confirm my hunch. For now, I don't want to give you any false hope."

"False..." She gasped. "Wait, could this thing you thought about help us find Max faster?"

He didn't answer again and changed the subject. But Lexie wasn't letting it go. She knew that her father had just had a 'eureka' moment, and she couldn't wait to see how that helped advance their plans to save Max.

Lexie also told her dad about school, her food fight with Rufina's minions, and her conversation with Torin. Later, she also got a text from Stella asking how she was doing, and the two chatted for some time.

Then, Lexie spent the rest of her time in her lab, studying to create the trap card.

Thanks to the simulations, she was feeling more tired than usual in the middle of the day. So much so that she decided to take a nap on her desk in the lab.

She dreamt about her mother again, sitting behind her, reading a bedtime story, propped on Lexie's lap. Lexie couldn't hear the words because she was falling asleep, but she vividly recalled the sublime comfort, the warmth, the faint smell of dandelions.

The dream instantly changed into a pool of black, from which Naem emerged.

Lexie was once more standing in their usual field, scared and excited. "You're back!"

"I am," Naem said. "Someone put a charm on you to ward off nightmares and Eldritch spirits. Did you know that?"

Lexie frowned. "No, I didn't. Where?"

"I'm not sure. Likely somewhere in your room. That was why I could not appear when I wanted to."

"Oh. I'll probably need to get rid of it then."

"You'll know the object when you see it. It should fill you with light."

A light bulb went off in her head. She suddenly recalled Lionel's expression after her last dream with Naem and the way he'd sniffed her like he could smell the Eldritch on her.

"Can Lightlarks smell Eldritch creatures?" Lexie didn't smell anything on Naem.

"Some of them," Naem said. "It was likely a Lightlark who put it in your room."

"Yup." It was Lionel then. Lexie figured there was also a charm in Xena's room, which was why Naem couldn't appear when she was there, too. "Don't worry, I'll find it and get rid of it."

"Good. Now, I have our soul contract available. I kept it as simple as possible to prevent any misunderstanding, all in human language and excluding any Eldritch interpretation."

Those were the things her father told her to look out for. "Sweet. Let's see it."

He nodded. "The first thing we must do is enter the soul realm."

"Isn't that where we are?"

"No. This is a dream realm. A soul realm is far more intimate, and you should not spend too much time there, or you will not make it out. However, it is necessary to enter in order to sign a soul contract."

"Oh. I see."

"Yes. In the soul realm, you will see one of my true forms in its miniature version. I, as the Eldritch Lord, have many forms, but this one should make you feel the most comfortable."

Well, considering Naem thought his seven-foot vaguely humanoid disguise was the most unintimidating thing he could find, Lexie was already scared, contemplating what his real form would be like. She was also scared about having a soul contract with an Eldritch creature as minor as it was.

Naem must have seen her nerves, because he felt the need to continue explaining. "Our souls must sign the contract in their true form. So, I must invite you into mine, and you must invite me into yours, at which point you will see who I really am. You will be frightened and might feel strange. I will try to manage it, but it will not be enough."

"Alright," Lexie swallowed and nodded. "I'm ready."

Once she said the words, it happened so fast. The ground gave way beneath her feet.

Everything turned upside down, and she was suddenly submerged in a pool of pulsing black tar, with voices whispering around her, grabbing and reaching into her brain in such an invasive way that it made her scream.

She fought to hold onto something, to stop her from drowning, but nothing was there. She was panicked, scared she would die.

Then, something began siphoning the panic, telling her it would be okay.

Suddenly, she landed on a cloud, and the panic was gone.

There were still whispers around her, hisses in an unknown language, but she wasn't scared ot them, or anything else.

Unfortunately for her, that wasn't a good thing.

She was filled with nothingness, a stillness that was so intrinsic and so frigid that it nearly hurt. It should have hurt, but there was no pain, because pain would end the stillness, and the stillness was the point. Lexie sat there wondering why she was there and why she bothered with anything. She didn't want to stand up, or leave, or do anything. Nothing was important. Nothing mattered.

Lexie hated pain, but she had the thought that even pain could have been preferable to the numbness, this apathy that was almost maddening. But she couldn't even be mad, because madness would break the stillness, and the stillness was the point.

She had no idea how long she had been there. Something inside her wanted to scream.

Screaming would break the stillness, and the stillness was the point.

Occasionally, she would get glimpses of emotions that would hit her. Sometimes mild anger or sadness. Sometimes hunger. But none of it filled the endless void within, the longing for feeling. She almost cried, but something stopped the emotion, willed it back.

Eventually, she realized that something was tapping on her soul, too, a bond forming. She felt that nothingness retreat and felt more like herself again.

Then the whispers around her began to make sense.

"You are invited to sign a contract with Lord Naem Y Ylich, Lord of the Eldritch.

The terms are as follows.

The contract is for the training of the contractee.

Contractor will teach Contractee how to use her Eldritch soul shard for her own benefit and how to control growth as best as she can.

Contractee will learn what it means to be Eldritch in as safe and controlled an environment as Contractor can afford.

No harm shall come to the Contractee from the Contractor or any associates.

Contractor will never conspire to intentionally deceive, defraud, or harm Contractee.

For the purpose of these lessons, Contractor has the permission to draw Contractee into the dream world without a special ritual.

Void all implied consent according to Eldritch culture, and void everything agreed to but not in this contract.

Contractor and Contractee will use non-essential soul components for this contract.

Do you accept this contract?"

Lexie listened to the contract again, trying to find any loopholes. She couldn't. It was relatively short and straightforward and included all the clauses her father had asked about.

"Yes," Lexie responded, and was suddenly aware she was saying it in Eldritch tongue. "I accept."

She saw it then, emerging from the black, a shimmering morphing four-armed creature wth a mask on its face above horned teeth.

It set her anxiety spiking when it reached her, reaching into her. She felt it touch her, and the contract snapped into place.

Then she was transported back to the dream world.

When she got out, she immediately asked, "What on Earth was that?"

"That was my soul," Naem responded. "A part of it anyway. How did it feel?"

"It felt..." Vast. Endless. Powerful. Sad.

"Do you always feel like that?" she asked him.

He didn't answer. Instead, he reached out to pat her hair. "We will be meeting another Eldritch today."

Lexie was shocked. "What? Why?"

"The Eldritch are like…a loose hive mind in a way. Not in the sense of control, but we can feel each other constantly. We're born from parts of a whole, and are essentially a large, branching tree. To use your Eldritch side effectively, you must know it. To know it, you must understand it and find its position in the tree. You must learn what it feels like to be a part of your soul line and find your place within it. I suspect I know where you belong, but connecting you outright without growing your understanding is dangerous. It will be inviting any Eldritch creature within miles to haunt you and trick and use you for their nefarious purposes. Or torture and kill you. If you're not amenable to such a thing, then it will be better to ease you in slowly, starting from the very bottom of the branch."

"Okay," Lexie exhaled. "So…to be clear, you're going to introduce me to a whole lot of eldritch creatures, of increasing power, and I'm going to communicate with them, and that will teach me more about myself?"

He answered most genuinely. "Yes, I think that covers it."

"Alright, Good to know."

He held out his hand and she held it. "Now, we begin."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.