No matter how hard she tried, she was always pulled in the opposite direction. She heaved a sigh as she drew her knees to her chest. She sat in the middle of the room. Around her laid dozens of books of various sizes and colors. She hardly paid them any mind as she inhaled somewhat raggedly and closed her eyes yet again. She had to do this. She struggled to calm her beating heart as she stretched her awareness as far as she could. It spread easily, and she could not help but shiver at the thrill it gave her to feel the world around her work in a steady balance.

She pushed her feelings aside and stretched farther until she could feel the presence of a miraculous light. She pulled and prodded at the light almost panickedly, praying it would not leave. Not now, not after how long she searched for it. She, however, could already feel the shadows creeping into her mind. The harder she tried to cling to her prize, the further she could feel the darkness soak into her soul.

She let out a scream as she was suddenly pulled back forcefully. When she came to, she found herself sitting in a small town. The sun was mid-sky, making its descent as day approached night. She let out a groan as she pulled herself out of the vision, faintly acknowledging the sound of an explosion before she came back to the real world.

Every time it was the same thing. Every time she got pulled into the same vision. She knew how this went. The wars had been raging for centuries and they were endless. She needed to focus. She needed to find what she was looking for before it was too late. The balance was at risk, and it was up to her to save it. She had to.

She pulled out a pair of shimmering gold scissors from her pocket. Along the length of one shear was etched a single word. She traced the word with her thumb as she closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply before she muttered to herself. “My name is Tanda. I am... I am the seer of life and death. This is…” She inhaled again raggedly. “I tell fortunes. I read cards, in my shop.” Her cheeks grew pale as she lifted the scissors. Everything in her screamed for her to stop, but she couldn’t. She needed to focus.

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Lorelei, a fae woman, sat under a tree as she stared at the sky. Her pale pink skin almost glowed in the moonlight. She took a deep breath as she tried to relax. She started playing with the end of her long, dark red wine braid. Her grass green eyes traced the numerous stars that littered across her view and noted that a few birds had taken to the air. She wore a long dark green dress with a turquoise lining. Wrapped around her head was a platinum crown that had a bright emerald hanging between her eyebrows. Everything was perfect, and yet… She turned her head to stare at the figure next to her. He too stared at the sky, completely at ease. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, but the feeling deep in the pit of her stomach intensified. It twisted in her gut harder as she looked beyond him, again to the sky. It was the sight of the blood red moon that made her whisper. “You shouldn’t be here.”

His dark eyes looked down at her and his once carefree smile twisted into a strange grin. “But it’s you who keeps me here.” He replied casually, as if they were having an everyday conversation. His dark brown hair shifted slightly in the breeze. Behind him, she noticed a couple of the stars in the sky disappear. “Every day I try to escape, but you and your stubbornness. You just won’t let me leave. You’ve always been like that, haven’t you? You hold onto things beyond their expiration date in desperate need for the world to work your way. To have some feeling of control. This time won’t change, pet. It’ll end just like everything else.” Slowly as he talked more of the stars in the sky went out, one by one, until the only thing left was the blood red moon and the man’s newly glowing eyes. “You fairies, you’re all the same.” She struggled to speak, but nothing came out. He just chuckled and spat out. “You’ll ruin it yet again, just like you ruined me.” Suddenly he was gone, and she was left alone in the light of the blood moon.

“Nathaniel!” She heard herself scream as she sat straight up in her chair, her hand clenched at her chest. She looked around wildly as she tried to calm her rampaging heart. Something was wrong, something was very wrong.

But, nothing was wrong. She gasped for air as she took in her surroundings. She had several books laid out before her, and the walls were cluttered with various maps and charts. The biggest one, just behind her head, was a map of what appeared to be various dimensions and their intersections.

It was when she started groggily stacking the books on her desk that she noticed the map that had been hidden from view. It was a standard map of a countryside. The only thing that set it apart was the glowing dots that were scattered across its surface. She frowned as she picked the map up for closer inspection. Right in the middle of the map, in a compound called Unity, there was only one blood red dot.