"Sad news for the Trick show." A youthful reporter literated the title of her story, before diving into the grim details of her report.
"Today, what was meant to be the greatest show ever, performed by the illustrious Trickster, Sir Astarvan has suddenly taken a dreadful turn." The reporter motioned hastily to her cameraman who quickly redirected his camera towards the venue of Astravan's Trick show.
"As you all can see, the grande Phoenix Theatre is no more, and only a mysterious castle now stands where it formerly laid."
Charlotte continued to stand in front of her television, absorbing every ounce of information she could get from the news.
"No one has any explanations whatsoever on why this has happened, but seeing how otherworldly the scene before us is, we can only guess one cause." The reporter suddenly sunk into a depressing demeanor as she swallowed hardly before continuing.
"Void beasts!" At the mention of that single word, Charlotte clenched her fist into a tight squeeze, gritting her teeth in annoyance as she swiftly went through her clothes, searching for suitable clothing to fancy outside.
However, the reporter's voice continued to resound in speech.
"Despite the attempts of several Artifact hunters around the vicinity, they don't seem to have any luck, with none being able to even get close to the ominous castle which mysteriously stands before us."
The reporter pointed towards the balefully red covering of energy which enveloped the strange castle, her cameraman zooming in closely to give the viewers a more in-depth look.
"It seems as though a veil of energy now shields the fortress, preventing any from entering into it and might I add, just maybe…"
"Also escaping from within!"
"A grim outlook on Astravan's Trick Show, as over a thousand lives now hang in the balance—"
Charlotte quickly switched off her TV with a slight scowl of annoyance, lying her pillow vertically atop her bed before covering it with her large blanket.
The girl then dressed her contraption gently, until it appeared as though a human were laying on her bed, before letting off a pleased smirk.
"Neither Dad nor Nancy will let me go there." Charlotte went towards her window, staring outside thoughtfully as she quietly began to escape through it.
"So right now, this is the best option." She paused her escape, thinking once more before proceeding to leave through the window's opening.
'Trick, sit tight—' Charlotte surreptitiously climbed down her windows, an unswerving gleam glistening through her ocean blue eyes as she let out a tenacious statement.
"I'M COMING!"
*********************************************
Astarvan stared at Trick for a moment, lifting his head in thought as he replied to the boy's probing question.
"Remember when you tried to sense Oneiros' void essence?" Astarvan watched Trick nod in confirmation before turning back to watch the path the two of them travelled in.
"From the numerous energies you sensed, did anything feel strange in the slightest?" Astarvan stroked through Athan's fur, the napping rabbit snuggling himself even deeper into the Trickster's shoulders tiredly.
As though inquiring the exact location of one distinct book in the face of thousands of other recurring tomes, Trick shut his eyes in thought, going through everything that occurred during his search for the Void Chief's energy.
"Hmmm." Trick was in deep thought, submerged within the very bottom of its harrowing ends before a spark of remembrance hit him.
'That other energy I sensed!' Trick's eyes immediately flickered open as he answered with a confident yell.
"I felt an entirely different energy from the one Oneiros had!" Trick's master stroked through his ashy beards with a slight smirk, watching Trick's fervent desire to lay this case to rest.
"The third question has to be why exactly there are two Void beasts in the Trick show!" Trick flinched lightly as Astarvan gave him a rewarding pat on his head, the child overcome with wide smiles as his master rubbed through his head lovingly.
"That's nice—" Trick serenated at Astarvan's praise, his head swinging in mirth before his joyous movements were suddenly cut short by Astravan's words.
"But, that's not the answer Kiddo." Trick dropped his arms defeatedly, letting them sag forward as he walked in a dispirited fashion.
Astarvan then let out a loud, yet proud chuckle as he watched Trick's childish display.
"Try to think deeper Kiddo.."
"I'm dead sure you know the answer!" The Trickster placed his arms across Trick's shoulder, gracing the boy with a motivational grin.
"Yes…" Trick's eyes glistened in reverence for his master as he quickly closed his eyes shut, swaying his head from left to right to begin thinking.
"Master!"
Trick shut his eyes, drifting into a pool of decerning thoughts once more as he did.
He surfed across different memories of when he tried to sense Oneiros' void essence, from the Beast's essence's feel, to its look, to its smell, and even to the melovalent sensation pulsing from his energy.
Trick felt it all.
And as he felt it, that was when the answer finally hit him.
The question didn't lie in Oneiros' main energy source itself. Instead it laid masked, intricately woven under the cloud of—
"The people bearing Oneiros' energy." Trick mumbled inaudibly, before turning to look at his master in a haste.
"Why are they still alive?" Astravan immediately applauded Trick's words, as he tried to give him a congratulatory pat across his back, but retracted his hands with a gleeful chuckle.
"That's right Kiddo" Astravan overhauled his face to crease into a sly smirk, his eyes glinting in unbridled excitement as he continued his deductive wordings.
"Why is the seemingly brutal Void beast—" Astarvan delayed, punishing Trick with a dramatic pause as he watched the child bubble with unbridled curiosity.
"Keeping all these humans alive?"
Astarvan drew one of his legs forward, resting his back on an imaginary wall as his grip laid firmly onto his illustrious, yet mysterious hat, to strike a hyper dynamic pose.
Trick's eyes beamed with unbridled excitement as he watched his master's glorious stance that radiated in a brilliant eminence, his heart racing in elation as he witnessed what his master was about to reveal.
"I happen to know the answer to that one though—" Astarvan confessed, his pose still held firmly without the slightest shiver.
"And it's a reason more sick than any other action we've seen thus far."
A sly smirk then etched across the Trickster's face as he opened up his lips to bring Oneiros' dark deeds to the light.
"The reason is—"