A/N: Rewrote the first chapter, go back and read it. It still contains spoilers for Devil Survivor 2.
What…what is this…just what is this?
It was although Twilight Sparkle had opened a doorway leading straight into the ocean. One moment she had been trotting around the room she had awoken in, only dimly aware of the howling gale whooshing through the open window, the next she was trying to open the door and step out of the room into the rest of the castle. Something had obviously gone wrong, because she was now face down in a murky, thick liquid that resembled very much like…
It’s blood. It’s BLOOD!
Instantly, she had leaped to her hooves as if a thousand volts had just been ejected through her skin. The crimson liquid was dripping down her face, she noticed, leaving behind streaks of dark red that smudged and blurred her vision. She rubbed her eyes; now the blood was smeared around her eyes and hooves.
This awful place, what or wherever it was, was mostly definitely not connected to her starting location in anyway. It was a nightmare of swirling red mist, blood and crimson stuff pulsing through the walls. As she looked around, disembodied skulls floated, with purple mist drifting around them and disheveled corpses shuffled and groaned their way through the bloody water…
Too much.
Her body rebelled and she retched, the bile forcing itself up her throat and out her mouth. She dropped down, body shuddering and trembling. She was caught in a cloud of raw, sticky odor, from the blood and the walls and everything else, that made nearly made her faint—and to fall face-down in a stream of steady liquid while unconscious would be fatal.
This isn’t right…this isn’t right at all!
“Oh god, somepony help me…” she whispered through her newly falling tears. For the first time she could remember, she was experiencing fear. The icy tendrils were crawling up her spine, strangling her in its powerful grasp. Before she knew it, she was clasped in a prayer, a proper one with her head bowed and her legs in the correct position. “I’m sorry for whatever I did…I don’t deserve this at all, somepony save me, forgive me!” She babbling, a stream of incomprehensible words spewing from her tongue as she prayed to whatever god was above her, for him to protect her, guard her, to just get her out of the hellish place!
What answered her was not a god, that she was one hundred sure of.
Stand up.
It was a man’s voice, harsh and unforgiving like an insanely cold winter. There was real power behind those words, a force that made Twilight Sparkle tremble slightly in her hooves.
“A…a voice?” she gasped, “Am...am I going mad in here?”
You are not. I am here to help you. Now, stand up.
She leaped to her feet. “Okay, but, um, where are you?”
Come.
Through the red haze she could barely make out the shape of a circular gateway. Was that the exit?
“Through…here?”
Yes.
She didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to be in this nightmare, this suffocating, blood-ridden, flesh-lined world. She didn’t want to continue forward, to go deeper into the red haze and the stench of blood.
The nightmare she was standing in was a long corridor. Twilight turned around, and saw that there was no door behind her, no room with bloodstains on a stone platform and a freaky ghost of a pegasus, no escape by going back. If she wanted to leave, she had no choice but to go forward, towards the voice. Towards safety.
She took a step forward, then another step and a third step. It was hard going- the blood was sticking against her hooves. She walked; her hooves squelched and squirmed. She tried not to think that the viscous fluid was in her mane and up her body—it was making her sick.
She had to find the voice. It was helping her. She was nopony or nobody else and once she found the source, everything would be fine, right?
There was a problem: walking through the blood had made a lot of noise and the other…inhabitants of the place had heard it. The disembodied skulls and corpses, they were turning towards her now, and she began to hear mutters.
“Magatsuhi…Magatsuhi…eat…”
A chill ran up her spine. Whatever these things were, it would be bad business if they attacked her all at once. Don’t look at them. She told herself. If you don’t look at them, they’ll ignore you. Just keep moving.
From the burned corpses she could see glimmers of hungry smiles and the skulls—they couldn’t smile—but she sensed the unholy blood-lust radiating off them. Twilight felt uneasy. They were becoming difficult to ignore. “Ah…voice…little help here?” she gasped, her voice painfully weak.
Now, show me.
“Show you what?”
Show me your power.
“What power?” The monsters were coming towards her.
The power that was granted to you. Show me the power of a demon.
“A demon? Wait, I don’t have any—”
“Maaaagatsuhi!” The monsters rushed forwards through the bloody water at a speed she couldn’t believe, and suddenly they were on top of her, biting, scratching and hitting. She screamed, curled in a ball out of instinct as they pounded her, dragged her down until she was buried under a pile of monsters and covered in blood—not just from the path she was standing in, but her own.
Fight back.
She was curling up into a ball, cowering on her hooves in order to make herself seem less threatening. It only seemed to make the monsters more frenzied. “I can’t…” she whimpered. For the first time in her known life, she was experiencing fear. Although the room was hot, the cold sensation was crawling up her skin, curling and strangling her with its powerful noose. She wanted to run, to hide, to get away from this nightmare and put as many locked doors and walls between her and the monsters as possible. “Please help me, voice…”
I cannot. Nobody can. You must do this on your own.
“No I can’t…”
You must.
Twilight gritted her teeth and yelled at the voice in fury, at the top of her lungs. “I DON’T KNOW HOW!”
The voice screamed back. You weren’t returned to life just to die again! FIGHT BACK!
“I…I can’t…”
RIGHT! NOW!
That did it.
Something inside Twilight’s mind snapped. She had no recollection of learning martial arts or any ways of defending herself, and she didn’t have any weapons but it was now or never, she had to fight now or die, so she bellowed and lashed out, aiming a kick at one of the floating skulls.
That kick was one thrown of desperation without any real strength behind it, from a mare who inexplicably remembered had always been terrible at sports, coming last in every race she had run, horrendously unfit and preferring books to exercise, who had always fought using her magic and not her legs, who had been physically weak as HELL…
The kick went straight through the skull, smashing it to pieces, then following through and taking out three more skulls as it moved through the air in a blur. It was although the skulls were made out of potato chips; it was so easy. Just a single whoosh—and that was that. She stared at the skulls she had crushed, the pieces falling into the muck and the purple haze disappearing.
Very good. Keep going.
She climbed to her full height, shook herself free by throwing the corpses and skulls off her, got into a sorry excuse of a fighting stance, just in time to be knocked off her feet by a second wave. The skulls and corpses were running towards her now, punching, kicking and biting her and she retaliated by kicking and headbutting back, grappling with corpses and rolling around, waving her legs about with no real direction—but it didn’t matter! She was ploughing through bone, muscle and sinew and the monsters were falling like rain as she tore holes through them. More and more were attacking, and she just kept fighting—a corpse fell into the pool and she stomped and crushed it until she had hacked the thing to pieces.
Then it was finally over, silence except for Twilight snarling like a wild beast, nostrils flared and adrenaline zooming through her system. She wasn’t even tired, not even out of breath. It only occurred to her seconds later that she had just done that she shouldn’t have been able to do.
I…this…what…How did—why—how did I just do all that?
For the first time since waking up, she closely looked at herself, to see if anything was out of the ordinary.
Her body was one of womanly sinew and muscle, something that common sense told her was as rare as a diamond. She was so astonished that she did several poses for an imaginary audience, briefly forgetting about the hellhole she was in. She did a few practise kicks, amazed at how they blurred through the air, much faster than should have been possible.
Woah!
That wasn’t the only change, though. Her body was covered in glowing tattoos, lines and curves that started from her horn and spread downwards. The markings were all over her body, faintly glowing green and blue on her legs, her hooves, her chest; every part of her body she could see. She thought, briefly, of looking underneath her body to see if the tattoos stretched down to her rump, but decided against it.
“What’s happened to me?” she said aloud, gazing at the destroyed skulls and corpses. Not killed—they were already dead to begin with. She hadn’t killed them. She wasn’t a murderer.
He has given you power.
“Power?”
The power of the Magatama.
Well, that didn’t explain anything.
“I don’t understand…what is Magatama? What is this place? Why do I have tattoos across my body? How did I beat those things?”
You are in the depths of Amala, and your markings symbolize your bond with the Magatama—the demonic parasite given to you by our Lord, known as the Magatama Marogareh, the sphere formed from primal chaos. It is the raw essence of demon power.
“Parasite? What parasite? What Lord? I don’t remember anything…”
Of course you don’t. Your memories were taken as forfeit.
“My memories were taken? Is that why I cannot remember anything? I don’t understand…”
There was a pause. Once, you committed a grave mistake in homeland, resulting in your death. Because you died, your homeland fell into ruin, many of its inhabitants dying. The divine ones took pity on you, and decided to give you a second chance. But as payment, your memories were wiped and you were put to rest for seven years. Your soul is now a blank slate, ready for the world to sully it with its colors.
That explained her amnesia. Despite her horrifying surroundings, Twilight Sparkle felt slightly at peace with herself.
Your duty is to fix your mistake through any means necessary. Whether you abide by the law and help others, or descend into chaos and crush all in your way if entirely up to you.
“Do you know who killed me?” she asked.
A heretic princess, once long forgotten by your land. It was her decree that you perish, along with many of her own subjects. You are only alive through a defiance of her will.
“I don’t get it.” Twilight whispered, not believing the words she heard. “Why would the princess want to kill me? What did I do to her?”
You offended her in a way that you obviously cannot remember. But while she has forsaken you, another deity has blessed you.
“That lord…just who is he?” Suddenly Twilight felt alone. It was a cold emotion similar to fear. She wanted somebody, a companion to talk with.
He is the morning star and light bringer, the eternal opponent of the forces of law ever since he was banished and cast out into the depths of Amala. He is our Lord, the Lord of all demons including you, the Great King and the Protector of Darkness. It was under his orders that you received the Magatama.
“Oh.” Supposedly the Protector of Darkness was supposed to sound intimidating, or at least generate some form of respect inside of her. But she had no knowledge of any religion nor royalty, and didn’t feel much at all. “What power does the Magatama give me? Other than making me a demon, I mean.”
A power that none have ever possessed. The power to change your destiny. You are not a true demon, but what is known a half-demon known as a Demi-Fiend. Obviously, your clan is the Fiends. A demon can live forever, but his heart will never change. A pony can learn many things, but eventually his body will fade into dust. You, a balance between both sides, are perfect for carrying out such an important task…
“An important task? Wait—”
Her words were cut off as she heard rumblings around her. Moans, gurgles and demonic screeches danced in her ears. More monsters were coming, lured by the scent of the dead corpses and broken skulls at her hooves.
It seems that more are coming. You must break through to survive.
“More monsters…?” Twilight spun around, kicking up a slew of blood and skull fragments. The pieces of bone smashed across the walls, creating a resounding crack that attracted the attention of even more monsters. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her tattoos were now the same color as her vision. The smile was back, and it wasn’t a happy one.
You know what to do, do you?
“I have to survive. I have to fight them.” She said eagerly. But before she could do anything, another voice reached her ears, this one totally unrelated to the harsh voice speaking to her seconds ago.
“Yes. Please, survive…”
Her grin vanished. She whirled around in shock. There was a shimmer in the air before her, and suddenly saw a young woman in black standing next to an old fogey, a man with wispy silver hair and spectre that seemed almost alive.
Beside the two of them was an alicorn, a female one with a deep blue body and short mane. With a black tiara nestled in her mane, she was hardly bigger than Twilight, and her cutie mark was in the shape of a moon. Even from this distance, Twilight could make out her regretful eyes and her pleading voice.
“Please Twilight Sparkle, you must survive. You can’t die! You cannot squander this second chance of yours.”
“Wait!” Twilight shouted, her bloodlust temporarily forgotten. “Who are you? Do you know me?”
“I am the mare who holds the key to your memories.” The alicorn said softly, making Twilight’s jaw drop and her eyes expand rapidly.
“You...you know who I really am?” she cried.
“Yes, I do. But right now I cannot reach you.” The alicorn said, her voice tinged with sadness. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was swiftly cut off. “You must survive this trial and the others that you will no doubt encounter. You must venture into my old kingdom and fight for its restoration! Only then will you find me, and your true self. I believe in you, Twilight Sparkle. My family does, and so will I.”
Twilight began to shake, not out of sadness, but out of a curious sense of happiness.
My memories…she holds my memories.
The alicorn was so far away, obscured by the floating skulls and the shambling corpses. It looked about twenty metres from where Twilight was standing from the corridor to the end, but it might as well have been two thousand.
“…”
Twilight eyes narrowed. A growl rumbled in her throat.
You hold my memories and you told me to survive…then I’ll survive for you! It’s just that simple. I’ll find you and get my real self back!
She glared at the mass of demons in front of her.
The skulls and corpses did not answer, merely smiled in anticipation of the kill.
Twilight smiled back for the same reason, and roared. “What are you waiting for? Come and get some!”
The demons lunged at her, claws and fangs extended. She gave a mighty war cry and rushed forward.
The lady in black and old man observed her, enjoying the spectacle of a former scholar turned demon rampage through corpse after skull with shrieks of rage, smashing bones and leaving destroyed corpses in her wake. The alicorn on the other hand, felt nothing but regret.
Very good.
Twilight kept kicking her legs, charging and headbutting anything that moved.
Your strength is outstanding.
The monsters ahead of her began to tremble in fear. Twilight didn’t care that they were scared. The corridor, the stream of blood, the demons and the walls…they were blurring in a haze of red. All she cared was violently destroying the next thing she came across.
We look forward to your growth, young Demi-Fiend…
XXX
“Want eat…want eat…want eat Magatsuhi!”
“I think not.” With a single swipe of a bonesaw, the hungry demon’s head was sent flying across the room, leaving a trail of green blood in its wake. It was then swiftly followed by the slicing of more heads, the hacking of limbs and the disemboweling of internal organs. The aftermath was an entire stone floor covered in demon guts and a very dirty bonesaw, to which the owner started wiping immediately.
Dr. Dark was a dead man—literally. He was nothing more than a disembodied spirit, a collection of misty energy and magic strung together by a consciousness. What made Dr. Dark special, though, was that unlike most ghosts he had enough power to become tangible, and interact with the dark world around him.
He used this power to treat injuries. In Amala, he was considered to be the best, being able to heal someone from near death to peak fighting strength within mere seconds. It was also true most demons would rather be healed by anything or anyone other than Dr. Dark, and only resorted to him when there were no alternatives left. This was because his procedures were so painful that self-castration often seemed like a viable alternative. His eccentric and sadistic philosophy on life didn’t help matters.
For days, he had holed up inside a room in the castle, under orders from his master. Wait for the Demi-Fiend, the Master had commanded. When she appears, treat her wounds gently and tell her the path she should take. Well, he had waited. A week had passed, and only true demons had came through via breaking down the door, all of which had tried to eat him.
His patience was running thin. The demons couldn’t bite him physically, but they were extremely irritating. He was beginning to make mistakes. How he longed to head back into Amala and sing to the screams of the patients lining up for his services!
The room, or his makeshift surgery as he liked to call it, was nothing out of the ordinary. Dismal grey walls, a small window as large as a picture frame, two granite tables with deep scratch marks along their legs, cobwebs in every corner and a few wooden chairs that were close to breaking in half…it was practically like any other room in the castle. In comparison, Dr. Dark’s private surgery as well-lit, comfortably heated by a series of purple torches, much more expansive and outfitted with all the latest tools.
There was one thing of interest, though—a fat drum-like object with runes carved on every side. Upon contact, the runes would light up and spin around. Dr. Dark knew exactly what the drum was, and in fact he was under strict orders not to tell the ‘Demi-Fiend’ about it.
Why exactly am I here? This feels like an utter waste of time. I haven’t cut open a sane and coherent demon’s stomach in days! All I’ve been doing is killing demons that force their way in here. Just when is this so called ‘Demi-Fiend’ going to show up? He or she better show up soon, otherwise I’m leaving and damning all consequences!
Muttering curses under his breath, Dr. Dark resumed wiping the blood off his bonesaw and was promptly disrupted when a gaping black hole appeared in the wall opposite the window and something fell out. He spun around, and stared in shock at what just entered the room. It was a pony, a young female unicorn with a purple body and an almost-matching mane. Her cutie mark (Lucifer, how Dr. Dark hated the term) took the form of a demonic insect. What was more interesting were the green-blue marks crossing her entire body, clearly occult in origin. She was covered in blood, caked and drenched from horn to hoof. In fact, she resembled a…
“Hello.” The mare said before Dr. Dark could drive this particular train of thought of his further, “Are you a ghost?”
Unaccustomed to being interrupted, Dr. Dark spun around and gave the tattooed equine a glare so powerful that it could’ve reduced a full-fledged demon to rubble. A strange feeling, almost satisfaction, grew inside of him upon seeing the mare neither flinch or look away.
“I am.” He said, “Now then, are you a demon?”
The mare nodded.
The mad doctor’s eyes narrowed. A creature that looked a pony but was actually a demon? Could she be the Demi-Fiend the Master had talked about?
I must find out.
“Explain yourself, self-proclaimed demon.” He said, not blinking nor sickened by the stench of the sanguine fluid in the room. He had bathed his spiritual hands in pits of it more times than he could count. “Why are you covered in blood, and where did those tattoos of yours come from?”
The mare turned her-blood soaked face towards him, looked up and down for several seconds, then spoke. “It’s because of the Magatama.”
Dr. Dark stared wildly. Without noticing, he licked his lips. “Magatama? That’s a demon parasite! Go on, mare. Tell me everything you know about it.”
“I don’t know much, to be honest. I’m an amnesiac.” The mare admitted, scraping her hoof against the ground with a scrunched up face. Her emotions were raging in and out of her soul, conflicting and creating a big jumbled up mess. Back in Amala, she had torn her way through a horde of demons in order to survive. She had enjoyed it, relished it. She wanted more; didn’t want to stand around and talk to a floating soul. She wanted to fight!
“Minutes ago, I woke up somewhere else in this castle and I saw a ghost like you. He said that I had been sleeping for seven years and I was muttering a lot in a my sleep.”
“Another lost soul, eh?” Ironically, Dr.Dark’s face hardened at the mention of his disembodied kin. He did not like them. “Go on…”
“The ghost told me to leave the room and find other ponies. So I exited the room and immediately found myself in this corridor full of blood and walking dead bodies. Then a voice rang from above and told me about being a demon and a mistake I made in the past, which I have to fix apparently.” Twilight shrugged, “Also, the voice told me I had died once, and was returned to life in exchange for my memories. It’s rather bothering, to be honest. I wish I had some knowledge of who I am, apart from name and race.”
“I see.” Dr. Dark said stiffly. The mare didn’t seem to be anyone dangerous, he concluded. Though if she was not the one he was looking for, she would have to die. He lightly fingered his bonesaw in response. “One more question. Are you a Demi-Fiend?”
The mare blinked. “I guess I am. I’m not a true demon, only half. That’s what the voice told me.”
Time to sing praises to Mother Tiamat and rape virgins in thanks, because I can finally get out of here soon.
“Good. Now, please wait.”
The doctor placed the bonesaw on a table and retrieved a set of syringes, needles long and sharp and filled with murky liquids of varying colors. He shuffled through them, tasting the sleek plastic with his fingers and anticipating when they would eventually stab through raw flesh, sending shivers of pleasure up his intangible spine. He smirked as he chose the right syringe containing the syringe medicine and felt the saliva of yearning gather around the corners of his mouth.
Twilight watched the doctor, ignorant of the ecstasy the disembodied soul was experiencing. Her heart had long stopped beating so quickly and the aftertaste of bloodlust had already faded from her system. Now she was surveying the room, sniffing the mixture of cobwebs combined with grime and flickering her worn eyes to adjust to the gloom.
“What’s this drum?” she asked, pointing to the giant, marked structure in the middle of the room.
“Nothing you should be concerned of.” The soul said without turning around. His words contained a sense of finality that made Twilight want to shut up and not answer questions. That bonesaw looked vicious.
“By the way, if you touch that thing, it’ll explode in your face. It would very unfortunate if you were to die so early in your journey.”
Well, that decided it.
She surveyed the room instead. It was certainly an improvement to the corridor full of haze and blood, she thought. It was true part of her had relished the depths of Amala, but at least here it didn’t spell of rotting meat.
“Did you know that it is natural for every living thing to die?” the soft, velvety voice of Dr. Dark snapped her out of her thoughts. “Treatment, therefore contradicts nature.”
Twilight looked at the floating soul, the syringes in her hand, his equipment lying on the table nearby and back to Dr. Dark. “You’re a doctor, aren’t you? I can tell.”
“Indeed. I have been waiting for you, Demi-Fiend. My master and my Lord has ordered me to defy nature and treat your wounds.”
“Your Lord…” The two words rang a bell inside Twilight’s head, “You mean the Protector of Darkness, the eternal opponent of law or something?”
“So, it seems that even you are not ignorant of the roots of chaos.” Dr. Dark smiled thinly. “The voice told you, am I correct?”
Twilight was astonished, “How did you know?”
“I am a famous soul amongst the demon world. There is much I know, Demi-Fiend. If you wish to find out the owner of the voice, there is a certain path you must take. But that is a speech for another time, and it is not my position to tell you.” The doctor motioned to one of the tables, which had been scraped and cleansed of all grime and dirt. “If you are ready, please lie down on the table over there. We can then begin.”
“Is this going to hurt?”
Dr. Dark gave a cruel smirk. “If you want to.”
Twilight hesitated, before gingerly pulling herself up and lying flat on her back. “I hope not.”
“Then it shall not be.” Much to my disdain…
The next two minutes consisted of Dr. Dark rubbing Twilight’s body with a cloth soaked in alcohol, applying white cream that magically sealed up her wounds within the half-second and injecting the liquids inside the syringes into bloodstream to block pain, restore lost blood and increase her resistance to disease. The treatment took a creepy turn as Dr. Dark shoved both his hands through Twilight’s backside to check if there were any bruises there. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on her body.
“Stop moving. I cannot treat you if you jiggle about.” The soul scolded, jabbing a syringe into her foreleg and making her wince. Twilight was briefly tempted to rebut about how awful it felt to have intangible hands shove themselves up her butt.
As if he could read her mind, the soul snarled at her angrily. “I know how much it hurts. Demons do not complain; neither should you.”
He then dumped a mass of slimy goo on her back and started rubbing it in.
Eventually, Dr. Dark finished poking around the various nooks and crannies scattered throughout her body and let her stand up.
“The process is complete; you are now fully healed.” He said as Twilight climbed off the table, where upon she sniffed and inspected herself. She mildly stank of alcohol and chemicals, but all her cuts and bruises were gone. Her appearance was devoid of blood. “Under normal circumstances I would charge you a hefty sum for my services, but my Lord has asked me to give you a free pass. The next time we meet, bear in mind that I will not be so courteous. One lives, the other dies…that is how it should be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked.
“One day you will understand, and you will despise me for it. Now, there is a message I am supposed to relay to you. Once I do, I can leave.” Placing his tools aside, Dr. Dark turned and faced the Demi-Fiend with a calm expression. “This world, a night-shrouded kingdom, is a demon-dominated society. The castle that the two of us reside in is no exception. Once you leave this room, you will be assaulted by your kin, all of which will be thirsty from your blood.”
As if to prove his point, terrible sounds and growls began to echo all around them. Twilight looked a bit wary.
“The floating skulls and dead corpses you fought were not demons.” Dr. Dark continued. Surprise appeared on Twilight’s face, “They were merely inanimate objects brought to life by magic; extremely easily to destroy. Even a new-born demons could crush them.”
“So when I fought off a whole horde of them, it wasn’t much of an achievement?” Twilight asked, sounding rather disappointed. Her body language showed, she began to scrape the hard ground with her hoof.
“That is correct. Outside, there are real demons, ready for you to test your strength against. And that brings me to my next point. Our Lord has observed your first burst of growth and is pleased with the result, but he wishes to test you further. Thus, he has sealed off half of the castle. You are trapped in this half. The only way to leave is to first find a key to unlock the barrier, and then defeat the guardian that protects the exit. Only then will you be able to leave and enter the world outside. The dark, chaotic world populated by bloodthirsty fiends…” the mad doctor trailed off with a maniacal smile. Twilight now felt a little nervous. Did this guy get high off the thought of blood or something?
“So I have to do all that, then I can leave?” Twilight asked. She wanted to find the mysterious alicorn soon. She was also curious as to what the outside world looked like.
“If you can.” Dr. Dark clarified. “I would wish you luck, but I don’t believe in such nonsense. Now, I must leave.”
Twilight was confused, “Why?”
“Orders from my Lord. I have stayed here for seven days, and I yearn for my personal clinic in the depths of hell. There is no reason for me stay in this musty, dirt-ridden excuse of an operating theatre.” He spat out the last words with an air of venom. “Farewell, Demi-Fiend. Perhaps we shall meet again…”
“Okay.” Twilight said, as she watched the disembodied soul pack up his equipment, ripples spreading throughout his body, “Thanks for treating my wounds.” she called out.
The doctor nodded in response as he faded away. Twilight stared for a moment, before trotting over to the door and cautiously swinging it open. Hearing and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she slipped out and closed the door behind her.
In the empty room, the drum began to light up and spin around wildly…