—------ Layla —------

  “Nothing is happening?” I asked, turning around to look at my brother and his sapient robot companion.

  Except all I saw was nothing.

  Just a pitch black nothingness greeted me, as the room collapsed around me. The walls folding in on themselves and disappearing as the shadows seemed to eat them.

  Panic started to set in, then spiked as the floor fell away. I screamed as I fell into inky pitch black darkness while clutching the strange cube I was told was ‘100% safe’ and ‘passive’.

  I screamed and screamed, for what must've been 5 entire minutes.

  I was still falling, but I no longer had the energy to keep screaming.

  Strangely enough, I didn’t feel any wind or anything as I fell. The only sense telling me that I was falling was the pit in my stomach trying to rise up into my throat.

  “This has to be a prank right? Because of what I said about Jimmy? I’m sorry! Alright? Now let me out please.” I called out, a tad desperate, but got no response. Not even an echo.

  ‘Definitely not a prank then.’ I accepted my fears that this was not a prank nor planned.

  “Stupid Greg, and his stupid cube!” I glared at the offending object in my hands.

  In a cocktail of desperation, anger, and terror, I threw the Parabox away from me and into the deep nothingness.

  …Where it audibly clanged against a surface and bounced a few times, before going completely still as if it had landed on the ground.

  “What the hell?” I whispered to myself, just watching the cube sit there in the nothingness and do, well, nothing.

  It wasn’t falling, sliding, teleporting, shrinking or growing, nothing. It was acting like a cube of metal or whatever it was.

  Taking a deep breath, I placed a foot forward and was met with the sense of nothingness. It still felt like I was falling. I couldn’t feel anything beneath my feet or around me. I still couldn’t see anything besides myself and the Parabox.

  And yet I was one step closer to the cube of betrayal.

  “This is so fucking weird.” I huffed, and began walking towards the Parabox.

  Once I reached it, I picked it back up and it still felt like a mundane metal box the size of a rubik's cube.

  I observed the Parabox, twisting it this way and that while ‘walking’ forward. Where I ran into a ‘wall’.

  The Parabox refused to go any further as it buried itself into my stomach and I groaned as I leaned over it.

  ‘This is some bullshit. Why me?’ I complained internally, as if I didn’t want to have my own magic adventure even if it came with all sorts of magical problems.

  Taking a step back and pressing the Parabox against the invisible surface experimentally proved that there was some kind of wall here that only it could interact with.

  “This is just great. Some invisible room… Oh fuck, this could be an invisible maze for all I know!” I growled, running a hand through my hair while the other gripped the Parabox tightly.

  ‘Whatever! I’m going to get through this, and when I do I am going to force Greg to put more cheats on that axe he owes me!’ I distracted myself with blind hope, and pressed onwards.

  …

  I don’t know how long it’s been, but this is definitely not a room.

  Sliding the Parabox along the ‘wall’ told me that there were many, many open doorways to be found and explored. If only I could actually see what was in them.

  “What am I even looking for?!” I groaned and decided to take a break.

  Trying to sit proved to be… strange.

  Instead of going down, my torso remained where it was and my legs came up. It took real effort to hold my legs up so I let them back down to dangle.

  ‘Right, I’m not actually standing.’ I sighed and started looking around while crossing my arms.

  After seeing nothing, what did I honestly expect, I kept on walking.

  Maybe 15 minutes later, I stumbled upon a doorway that when I looked into it, I actually saw something.

  “What the…?” I mumbled, ducking my head back away from the doorway.

  The thing went away as if there was an actual wall to block my view, so I put my head back in the doorway.

  What I saw was a pedestal of sorts, or maybe it looked more like a lectern? It was about the height of my chest and had the same pattern of the Parabox on it.

  Getting closer, ever so slowly, I cautiously touched it. It was the same material as well. That same strange metallic feeling that didn’t feel quite right. Like it was ‘too normal’.

  Walking to the other side showed an indented area that would fit the Parabox perfectly.

  So being the gamer I am, I did the most natural and logical course of action.

  I put the square in the square hole.

  The Parabox slid right in, like it was machined with zero tolerance. Once it hit the bottom, it was completely flush with the surface and impossible to tell it was ever two separate objects.

  There was no click or any transition whatsoever. I merely blinked and everything swapped.

  I gasped in surprise as I stumbled, suddenly meeting the ground instead of that weird free falling feeling in my gut.

  Not only was I not falling anymore, but I could actually see my surroundings now. The walls were perfectly flat stone, like the room was quarried straight into the rock underground. The floor was tiled in a different type of stone with a lighter color but still perfectly smooth.

  The ceiling had what could only be magical circles that glowed bright white light down around me, providing illumination.

  What I could not see was the pedestal or the Parabox, and shoving my hand through the space they were in before proved I couldn’t touch them anymore.

  ‘Finally! Progress!’ I smiled as I felt the solid ground beneath my feet for the first time in possibly hours.

  Wasting no time, I began to explore the place I found myself in. Leaving the room showed me a hallway full of winding turns and lots of doorways that led to nowhere.

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  Just empty rooms that seemed like they should house furniture, but had nothing at all.

  It almost seemed abandoned, but it was extremely clean. Exploring the space was now much more enjoyable, since I could actually see where I was going. It also helped that the place practically screamed ‘magic dungeon’ so maybe I’d get some loot!

  Though with each empty room and bland corridor I came across, those hopes would die a little bit more.

  Eventually, I came to some stairs that went upwards and I was glad that I hadn’t run into them while they were invisible.

  Going up led to another empty floor, which then led to another staircase.

  Rinse and repeat that process a good 10 times, and I finally reached a floor that had something.

  That something was a doorway that wasn’t on any of the other repeating floors, but it was something. Making my way inside led me to a room that had stuff in it. Incomprehensible stuff, but stuff nonetheless.

  Giant stone blocks with innumerable magic circles carved into their surfaces lined the walls and practically filled the whole room with some unknowable purpose. Some of the stone pillars hummed with energy, while others sat silent and idle, their circles dim.

  I’d be more impressed, if it didn’t remind me of a bitcoin mining operation. Not sure why it gave off those vibes, but I’d trust my gut on this one.

  As I got closer to the center, something that looked like a console terminal came on and flashed an alien word over and over again.

  I couldn’t read it, but I knew enough to recognize a ‘press any key’ when I saw it. So I pressed a random button on the keyboard thing with tiny magic circles instead of letters on it.

  ‘Or maybe they are letters?’ I pondered as the terminal came to life slowly, and then it flashed white.

  A giant holographic purple head with these two massive black eyes smiled with its incredibly small mouth.

  It said something before freezing, but my Cheat Skill that Greg gave me already learned the language. It’s eyes focused on me, it’s brows twitching into a slight frown as its smile began to look strained.

  “...Who are you?”

  —------ Greg —------

  “Mom is going to kill me, Sally! She will murder me, and they will never stop finding my pieces.” I spoke dramatically, only somewhat exaggerating my demise.

  I don’t know where my sister, the one I swore would be safe, had disappeared to and it was currently 9:34 pm.

  Layla went missing 3 hours ago, and I sent every single instance I could manage in just about every direction I could think of.

  Nothing.

  All the while, the Parabox sat on the table doing nothing. It didn’t even change states or anything.

  Sally-1 was being dismissive, but that's because she didn't realize how scary my mom can be.

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t be worried.” I sighed and went back to pacing the room while glaring at the Parabox.

  At this pace, I’ll soon carve a path into the floor with my feet.

  I paused in my pacing, once again standing over the Parabox and scrutinizing it. Picking it up proved to do nothing, as did the previous 90 attempts.

  I needed to solve this dilemma fast though, because mom was starting to ask questions. Basic ones, like ‘What are you guys doing?’ and ‘Are you having fun?’

  The worst question yet came to pass though.

  “Can you send me more photos?” My mom asked, completely oblivious to the fact that Layla is MIA.

  “Sorry, I haven’t been taking that many. We’ve mostly been walking through the woods on an alien planet and hanging out at my place.” I half lied, sending her pictures of us hiking even though they are hours old at this point.

  The worst part was that I couldn’t even slow down time so I could find my sister faster, because I’m almost 90% sure where she is isn’t even a place I can get to.

  ‘If she’s even alive.’ A little indifferent voice spoke up in my mind, but I squashed it like an insect.

  While that is a possibility, I refuse to humor it. It’s much more likely that she is alive though, since the Parabox has yet to kill anyone or me.

  But that train of thought got me thinking…

  ‘If the Parabox is both alive and dead at the same time, could it be that it transferred that kind of idea onto my sister? Is she in some kind of half dead state where she’s a soul right now?’ I shook my head and rustled my hair.

  “No that’s stupid. Then she’d just be dead.” I grumbled and put the Parabox back on the table.

  ‘Just where the hell is Layla?’ I sighed, drumming my fingers on the table.

  …

  —------ Layla —------

  “What is an Entropy Nexus?” I asked the floating head of the alien.

  “An Entropy Nexus is a tower constructed to battle the slow and agonizing death of the multiverse. Located in between all Reality and the Veil… Now tell me how you got here, and where is the one I called for?” He explained, but it’s not like I knew who he was talking about.

  “Does this chosen one have a name?” I asked a bit sarcastically, and the giant floating purple head rolled its big ol’ black eyes at me.

  “The Dark Lord Azurath. The Human?” He asked and I understood.

  “You mean my brother? He was showing me this thing he calls the Parabox and when I touched it I found myself here.” I shifted a laugh to a cough, all natural like.

  “...So you got here by touching a… ‘Parabox’? What is that?” He asked and I shrugged.

  “I have no idea. Just some kind of cube that does paradoxical things. Made of metal-ish material? That’s not really important though. How do I leave?” I batted my eyes at him and he just stared at me.

  “Unfortunately for you and me, you are stuck here until we bond. While I could wait here until your death, we don’t have time to play any waiting games. I need your help to get into contact with The Dark Lord Azurath.” He sighed deeply and I felt my cliche senses tingling.

  “I see. Let me guess, we’re going to form this bond out of necessity and then it’s going to transform into a beautiful friendship as we save the uni- No! The multiverse!” I give the big purple head a genuine smile and a look of anguish spread across his features.

  “...Possibly.” He spoke in a strained voice, like he really didn’t want to admit that.

  “Well~! My new best pal, what is your name?” I asked smugly.

  ‘My second companion~! Heck yeah~!’ I exclaimed excitedly in my mind, ignoring the pained look my bestest purple pal gave me.

  “I am a construct, and so I don’t have a name. Just give me a moment and-”

  “I’ll call you Barney! It suits you.” I cut Barney off as I gave him a name.

  Barney stared at me then simply nodded.

  “Very well, then I am Barney. Are you ready to form the bond, Layla?” He asked and my smile twitched.

  ‘He must never find out that I named him after a dinosaur.’ I coughed into my hand and nodded.

  “Sure thing B-Barney. How do we do this?” I contain any urge to laugh expertly, straightening out any wrinkles in my shirt.

  “Merely put your hand into the portal, and stand still.” As Barney explained, a stone hole opened up next to the terminal.

  It definitely was not a portal, but just a hole in the rock computer thing. The vibes I was getting from the dark hole were off, and I felt a strong desire to not put my hand inside.

  “...Do I have to?” I asked and Barney nodded.

  “If you wish to leave this place, then yes. I can wait until you perish and then bond with The Dark Lord like I was supposed to.” Barney spoke casually of my demise and I shook my head violently.

  “Nope that’s okay! Let’s do this.” I grimaced and shoved my hand into the hole.

  I flinched as it clamped shut around my fingers and palm. No pain followed though and I opened my eyes.

  “Is something wrong?” Barney asked and I shrugged, a bit embarrassed.

  “I don’t know, I just thought it would hurt?” I clarified and Barney just looked at me strangely.

  “Why would it? We’re just bonding. Now don’t move anymore, it makes it take longer.” He sighed with a shake.

  A weirdly long time later, the stone hole finished up in its massage and I got my hand back.

  Holding my hand up, I got a good look at…

  “A ring?” I asked, looking at the perfectly smooth stone ring on my right middle finger.

  There was no design, no polish, nothing.

  Just a smooth rock on my finger. I pulled on it, and it didn’t budge. It was incredibly thin, looking more like a tattoo on my skin than a ring I was wearing.

  “With that, we are now bonded. To return back to where you were, all you have to do is say ‘return’ with intent.” Barney explained and I nodded. Ignoring how incredibly excited the prospect made me, despite how cringe that sounded.

  “RETURN~!” I called out with flair, lifting my hand high into the air.

  “Is that really necessary-” Barney barely got the words out before blinding light cascaded over me and I found myself standing back in the lab.

  Where my brother was staring right at me.

  And the pose I was doing.

  “Did you just yell ‘return’?” He asked, and my ears began burning.

  “...No?” I deflected flawlessly.