The Shadow Haven, that is the refle of one’s Soul expanding and going far beyond from what it was in the begining, when one’s refiheir [Self] beyond what it was at the base, when someone aspires for more. Wherive forward to achieve what they [Desire] and [Reality] doesn’t to their needs.

  That is when The Shadow Haven is born.

  So what is it really?

  It is a promise, a desire, it is…a Wish.

  “Beatrice! Aura! Code Red!” And in the middle of it, ire that seemed to want to pierce the dark clouds iernal night that was within this Shadow Haven. “Start the emergency measures, cut the synaptic feed!”

  Elizabeth nded with a haggard appearan the middle of the spire. Her blouse was half unbuttoned, and she held her jeans with both hands as if someone had attempted to remove them from her. Her usually silky and well-groomed hair was also ruffled. As for her face, her makeup looked as if someone had slobbered her face all over the pce.

  “...Starting isotion of neural feed….” Aura was the first to read silently entered some ands into a terminal.

  Elizabeth’s figure shone in light, and after a few seds, she was dressed in a fortable pajama set. The blonde girl took a few seds to look around as if she were esg from a vionster.

  “I take Lady Rossaline and Lady Rena liked the arra?” Aura smirked while her eyes shone in purple light. “Oh my….they evehem like that? Oh goddess, Lady Rena does have a flexible body.”

  “....YOU.ARE.EVIL.” Elizabeth said word for word.

  “I take you will not want the recs then?” Aura said with a pleased smile while pying with a holopad.

  “....Good job Aura.” Elizabeth, of course, relented while sighing.

  “I live to please Mistress,” Aura answered back, hiding a small smile behind the holos. “What business are you here to attend today?”

  Aura asked, making Elizabeth remember what she had e fht. She had e here with a mission!

  “Summinald!” Elizabeth said in a regal tone.

  “At once…?” Beatrice said fused while sending a small dragon shadow that darted from directly uhe little girl shadow and traveled toward Aqui. “If I may…what has that one done? He is from the test batch if I uand it right, his [Soul] was among the st batch that joihis [Haven].”

  Of course, he would be among the st…

  “No, you don’t get it. He shouldn't have that [Name].” Elizabeth grumbled, she had fotten, somehow she had fotten about it. One of her first minions, ohat should have been with her from the beginning. “...he should be dead. No, he is dead.”

  “Mistress, that is one of the prerequisites to be among your [Minions], at least for most of them anyway.” Aura said from the back, “Even if some among them are back among the living, most of them are dead, or perhaps it could be better to describe your armada as one of the [Dead], [Undead], [Apparitions] and [Revenants].”

  “That’s not what I mean.” Elizabeth said, “There are differences, you were dead to being with. It is more like stabby, he was among my minions but died. Reginald should be like that.”

  “That is wrong Mistress, I never died, or not under your and at least.” Reginald said as he materialized in the spire. He was roughly the same height as Beatrice, and as if to pair up with her, he was dressed in a butler outfit.

  “...Mistress? Is this…Reginald? Is he to repce Sebastian on his work?” Beatrice asked, looking up and down at him. “I know his spot has been open for some time, but most of his duties are carried up by me and some of the other servants.”

  “That would be a wrong way to look at things Lady Valkyrie.” Reginald said shaking his head, “It was my job the ohat Sebastian was doing, you do remember now after all. Right Mistress?”

  Beatrice's head turned back to Elizabeth, then back tinald. Beatrice’s eyes turned inton-like eyes, and they shone in different colors, one pink with golden hues while the other turned azure with bderlines. “Expin this, and measure your words with care, Minion. For you stand before the Head Valkyrie. And I will not stand to this utter disrespect to one of reatest servants.”

  “Would you have me expin it, Mistress?” Reginald didn’t even deign to look at Beatrice, “ Or would you ahis question, what was the name of the first three minions you summoned.”

  Beatrid most of the minions in the room turo look at Elizabeth.

  “The first minion I summoned was Nyxfyre, The Twilight Dragon of The End.” Elizabeth still remembered that day, the first day she summoned a blob of shadows that slowly was morphed into a cute dragon-looking blob.

  “That is correct.” Reginald nodded, “And? After?”

  “After it was me aian,” Beatriswered, her twin swords pointing at Reginald’s neck, "We all know that Mother was there, and after she got her memories back, we sat down and saw them all from beginning to end. She saw us w to fix their room at the MPI. The repairs we did at the apartmeian was the ohere, no matter how much you dressed like him. Yure is different!”

  That was true. Reginald’s outfit, while that of a butler, had more sky-blue tones, while Sebastian’s outfit was obsidian bck.

  “The first Minion I summoned after that was Reginald, a shadon in the form of a butler. Then you got born from the fragments of Rossie’s Soul and my mana.” Elizabeth answered while summoning a holos that pyed back the memory of that event. “He is right, the first butler I summoned wasn’t Sebastian but Reginald.”

  Elizabeth didn’t remember when she had started summoniian or why she had repced Reginald. Her memories of the past weren’t that…useful, half the time she was mentally addled, the other time? She was being maniputed by either [The World], [The Taint] or some [Vilin].

  “What?” Beatrice asked as her swords disappeared and her eyes returo normal. “But…he is…who is he?”

  “Well, that is heartbreaking, especially after all we lived together b head.” Reginald said back as his figure morphed from that of a shadon into that of a man dressed in dirty jeans a green shirt and a patched b suit. “But I guess you did took the ce for a sed live, I would have taken it too…had it not be taken away from me that choice.”

  “What happened?” Elizabeth asked as the man morphed once more bato a shadon - butler edition.

  “Easy, someoampered with our e to Akasha. Our work as your [Minions] was to ease you into this world so you could fulfill your job. While in our past life, our work was to ensure you had a good standing among the peasants…” Reginald said as he summoned a proje of mobs being repced by people wearing merdise with the Saintsworths logo. “In this world, our job was to ensure you had all the means to achieve the mission that [The World] set up.”

  …Yeah, Sebastian had said something to those effects too hadn’t he?

  “When you summoned us, I took the role of getting your e to [Akasha] set up. While the b hea-” Reginald started expining.

  “Beatrice.” Beatriterrupted him, “My name is Beatrice, and my job is Head Valkyrie or Head Maid, not Lab head, not PR Lead…Not whatever I lived there. My name is Beatrice Von Starbright, I’m the daughter of Rossaline Singh and Elizabeth Starbright.”

  “...whatever you say boss.” Reginald said back, “As I was saying, when I made tact with [Akasha]...I found…someone else already there.”

  The proje shifted away from the image of Aqui and instead it turned into a purple gem floating in the void, “Finding [Akasha] was easy enough, she had left the aths there for Mistress to find, so all I needed was to ect our Shadow to it.”

  The purple gem floating there seemed to be ready and calling to the image of the small shadon.

  “But…” Reginald said as he fast-forwarded the video until he was about to make tact. “Someone else was there.”

  The video image panned away as s made of white light darted from nowhere, hitting and tying dinald.

  “Who? Who could even do that? Weren’t you in the [Soulscape] of this p? How could someone even…” Elizabeth said as she saw the image of the tiny shadon being tied doulled away from the purple gem.

  “I was w that too. I was about to cut the link toward [Akasha] and try from anle, and perhaps with backup.” Reginald nodded, as the image panned away and a few figures made of light showed up. “Till they arrived.”

  Elizabeth focused in the figures, the people that had mao [Steal] and [Erase] the memory of one of her first [Minion], those had been all especial. Nyx was the ohat eled most of her powers from the beginning.

  Beatrice, the ohat managed her minions…

  Aian... the one who stood at the back, managing her shadows so she always had everything she needed.

  “[Who dares covet that which is sacred to us?]” One of the figures spoke as he threw a sickle at Reginald, the on made of light sank intinald and the image screamed in pain. “[Who dares covet what is within the purview of The Gaxidae?]”

  ….Motherf-

  “Yeah, it seems this world had one guarding their [Core] like the [Saintsworths].” Reginald spoke as the figures made of light started attag him in the video.

  “[You would covet what is Holy? A mere shadow mockery? A dead man? Not even Human!]” The figure made of light titag and mog Reginald, “[Begone from this sacred pce! Tell your owhis: if the Gaxidae aren’t worthy of receiving an oracle. What makes you think a mere Neancer or Druid worthy of toug and iing with that which is Holy?!?]”

  The image panned back tinald whose figure was covered in holes and he was leaking shadows.

  “You will regret this,” Reginald whispered. They could only hear this because the memory was frinald. "YOU PUNY HUMANS WILL REGRET EVER CROSSING OUR MISTRESS. SHE MAY NOT HAVE CLAIMED HER POWER YET, BUT SHE WAS BLESSED. SHE WILL E, AND ALL WHICH YOU CLAIM AS YOURS WILL BE RIGHTFULLY HERS!”

  The video paused, and everyouro look at Reginald, “I am ashamed of myself; I just had woken up from our eternal slumber and was quite….Zealout..” Reginald said and resumed the video.

  “HER SHADOWS WILL COVER THE WORLD! SHE WILL REIGN UPON THE ASHES OF A BILLION SOULS, FOR HER ARMADA KNOWS NO END! AS SOON AS I PERISH SHE WILL FIND MY LAST DWELLING, MY SOUL WILL CALL UPON HER!” Reginald was raving like a madman. Hadn’t [Ethan] dohis too? What is with men who wielded shadow powers and ominous edgy speeches? “THIS WORLD WILL KNOW THE MIGHT OF OUR SHADOW MISTRESS, AND NO LIGHT WILL STOP US FROM SINKING THIS WORLD IN SHADOWS!”

  Reginald started cag like a madman.

  “...I am ashamed of this behaviour, please excuse me Mistress,” Reginald said with a bow.

  “Everyone makes mistakes, it’s okay…” Elizabeth said, not wanting to think about all the edgy or y things she had do some point, like her goth phase when she found out about [Shadow Pact].

  “[So you cim…perhaps there is something to your cims…]” The figure made of white light walked forward. “[Perhaps your Mistress could pose a problem to us, we are already having a hard time dealing with our S, and then there is the imposter daughter of the Singh…Yeah, better to not deal with this now.]”

  The figure made of light summoned what seemed to be a stake, he hat one down intinald’s head and the shadow that reviously leaking came bad went straight into the stake.

  “[You shall be sealed, all the memories of your existence sealed away. All that makes you will fade away from this world. For you will be separated from Akasha. Even if your Mistress holds the kind of powers you cim, that will be her undoing, for if she is truly at the head of a billion souls…She will probably not notice a missing soul…I will make sure to send a whisper through the el that ties you to this…Mistress, so she doesn’t fet to make your rept. And will make sure that this one is w for Akasha.]” The figure in white spoke to the stake, and as if it was trash, it threw it away.

  “I thewo years orbiting what was supposed to be my first mission, an easy mission to stretch my wings,” Reginald said as the video fast-forwarded. “My ce came when the [Advent] showed up. It disrupted the seals set on me, so I left.”

  The video showed the stake once more, only this time it blinked out of existence for a sed, during which Reginald dashed away. Half a sed ter, the stake materialized, but with nothing to t to, it crumbled away.

  “At that time your [Soul] had advanced enough that there was a healthy line of people waiting to serve you, and I was te. Most of my work had been done, and what was left was being managed by…Beatrice. So I just waited. When you sank deep within your [Soul], my ce came as you needed someoo work for you, and I was developed enough to see this ce.” The image showed the moment when Elizabeth had spoken with Weaver and how she had called upon a [Minion] to take care of Alid Elemental Weaver. “So I did that, then when you took your step towards D-”

  “TOWARDS HAVING A HAPPY FAMILY AND A HAPPY LIFE!” Elizabeth suddenly screamed as the words that Reginald wao say seemed to start with a D.

  Reginald turned, fused, to look at everyone else present.

  “Mistress doesn’t want to think about the D word,” Beatrice said first as if to ahe questions.

  “And not the Fun D, the b one.” Aura added, “But yeah, we get it, carry on.”

  “...right… When you took that step, the e between you and Alice was at its weakest, she was closer to the alternative Reality where she had been born as you were supposed to. So I wao help her achieve that, or in case she wao return to you. I wao help her do that.” Reginald said, “ Alice, just as you. Decided to do what was right, and I couldn’t be prouder for you for allowing them to tinue as they wished to be.”

  “So….after dealing with [Shadow Pact] our arget will be the Gaxidae, since we ’t deal with the [ars].” Elizabeth nodded as the expnation ended.

  “...” Reginald looked at the other [Minions].

  “...We will start expanding our work searg for any Gaxidae cell.” Beatrice sighed and turo Aura. “Is there any informatio from the Singh Manor?”

  “Nothing usefull, Lizbeth Singh has separated as much as she could from them. I guess that our source would be the student president?” Aura answered, summoning a picture of the student cil.

  Evangeline Gaxidae

  Lilly Hartley

  Asher Sterling

  Selen Dawnstrike

  Magnus Embersteel

  The student president that seemed to know about Elizabeth, now that Elizabeth knew more about them, it was easy to see why that girl seemed to know as much as she did.

  “I guess, anyway. Wele back Reginald, Sebastian did a good job in your stead.” Elizabeth said, turning to the Minion, not sure how to react.

  She… missed Sebastian, even if he had been made by the tampering of the [Gaxidae], the small butler had worked for her as best as possible, and at the end he even helped more than needed. Was that why he decided to disappear when his mission was done?

  Was that why unlike Nyx or Beatrice he choose fading away?

  Elizabeth would punch his small little face if she got the opportunity.

  “I'm happy to serve, Mistress. I assume I should take my old spot?” Reginald asked, turning to look at Beatrice.

  “....Fine. You may take your role as manager over the civilian side of the shadow armada.” Beatrice sighed as she said, “The bat Maid battalion will still be under my purview as they are both batants and servants, but you will be in charge of all the civilian side and logistics. Do not embarrass us.”

  Did they have such extensive minions on the civilian side to his?

  “Mistress, just in case. But the civilian side doesn’t t as straining your Soul as the bat side. So they are more….think about all the public works a normal city needs, then multiply it by the size of your Shadow Haven. That is the amount of civilian workers we have.” Aura said from the side in a small voice, “Also this doesn’t include what work you put for us, such as the Researd development you ocasionally send our way. Also some of the spy work is maintained by the civilians within the shadow haven.”

  …Yeah, they needed someoo overlook all of this.

  “If you need something don’t fet to ask, either to me, Beatrice or Aura. Actually, bother Aura first. She likes to work beyond what is required, she always strives to go further beyond ihing she does.” Elizabeth nodded.

  Totally didn’t hold a grudge about how her body had ended in the real world in that tent. Yup, she also totally didn’t totally want to return to her body and pretend to be asleep while spying at her girlfriend making out with her girlfriend at the side of her body.

  She also didn’t want to teleport the dirty clothes they had thrown away onto the floor straight to her hands so she could smell and preserve them for ter use!

  Totally!