Kathy Potts waved a hand idly at the hallway, sending the vacuum whirring under its own power down the way, picking up dust and debris. Her power to animate non-living things, born from her Awakening. She had been Awakened a year and a half ago, when she crossed over from the Mortal Plane to the Ether Plane, guided by the kennin High Knight, Sir Daggeuro. They had become friends during her time in his world, traveling across the kingdom in search of fragments of a magical door which could be used to travel between worlds without barriers or challenge.
She thought back often and fondly of her time there, traveling with Daggeuro and Baron Dimanche, a voodoo spirit and younger brother of Baron Samedi, the legendary voodoo god. There had been great travels and battles against goblins and orcs, wicked elves who betrayed the kingdom and rat-men known as gotrin. She had learned of the ways of magic, her own in particular, which was a power only available to humans who had been Awakened.
Kathy also learned about the unpleasant aspects of the faerie world, including specters. She hated that such things existed, but accepted that monsters were very, very real. She had also learned how to defend against them. Whenever she took hold of weapons or objects strongly attached to someone's memories, she could look into their history, know instinctively how to use them.
Kathy had gone back once to visit Daggeuro and his mate, the elven Watchman Selena Barnick. She had been a member of the Royal Guard, but bylaws forbade members from being romantically involved with one another. Thus, when she and Sir Daggeuro became involved, she resigned, taking a post with the Watch. They were living together by then in her family's home, a humble two-room house in the capital city of Celia's west side. The three of them had enjoyed a week-long vacation together, along with her pet cat, Tigger, who now talked thanks to an enchanted collar Kathy had made for him.
It turned out that Tigger, like most animals, had been aware of the faerie for a long time. He was able to see them, always, as well as spirit creatures, which crossed into the Mortal Plane far more often than faeries. Spirits, she'd come to learn, weren't wicked by nature, though they were far more prone to being so.
In any event, that vacation had confirmed for Kathy her greatest hope since leaving the Ether; that she could come and go as she pleased between worlds. Kathy had been afraid that once back in her own world, she would be barred from the magical realm of faerie. They had all played games and shared stories of their own childhoods and adolescence. It turned out, to her surprise, that Daggeuro had been alive for close to seventy-five hundred years, and yet his memory of those years was clear as day. Selena, on the other hand, had only just recently reached the age of eleven-hundred and seventy-four. Her own memory was just as sharp.
Daggeuro, being a kennin, had spent a great deal of his youth playing rough with his brothers and training in combat and military arts. His family traveled a great deal, his father serving as a sell-sword in various kingdoms and nations for twenty or so years here and there. His mother had been a rare kennin mage, versed in fire magic and uncategorized profane arts. She had earned the title of Grand Sorceress in the nation of Yorek once, and the family had stayed there until Daggeuro came of adult age.
As was tradition for his kind, he had gone off then on a journey of lone self-discovery. When he came once more to Amermidst, he had entered an annual contest of swordsmanship and handily won, defeating a member of the Royal Guard to claim the championship. King Ovin had taken an interest in him, offering him a place in the ranks of the Guard. From there, he quickly rose through the ranks, named High Knight after seven-hundred years of service.
Selena had spent most of her childhood learning about specters from her father, a reknowned scholar on the subject. When he'd been slain by a nest of silver rendermen, she had joined the Rangers. After years of proving her worth and beginning her studies of humans, she was offered a post in the Royal Guard herself.
Kathy's own tales of high school life, while dull to her own ears, ensconced the faerie couple in wonderment. They marveled at the concept of public schooling, which was used in several nations in the Ether, even Amermidst, but was not a requirement.
That had been over a year ago, however, and she hadn't returned since. Her cleaning business had expanded, and she simply hadn't taken the time off since her client list grew. Kathy presently sat at a computer desk in a cubicle, watching a movie on Netflix and listening to the drone of equipment, petting Tigger. His head snapped up halfway through the movie, eyes wide.
"Something's here," he said in his light, English-sounding voice, the enchanted collar grown warm. "Kathy, something's here!"
"Spirit or faerie," she asked, sitting up and grabbing her axe out of the long duffel bag by her feet. She had learned to take no chances since learning of the truth of magical beings- not all were nice.
"Neither," Tigger said, hopping off of her lap to the flor. He sniffed the air in the darkened offices, nose and whiskers twitching. "This is something else entirely. It's, wrong," he said quietly. Kathy slowly crept toward the long hallway that wound in a horseshoe around the floor, ears attuned to the hum and drone of her cleaning machines. With a wave of her hand she dismissed the power that animated them, silence settling heavily over the building.
When she got to the first office door, she stopped in her tracks. She heard a metallic rattling, as of chains being dragged on a hard floor, coming from behind the door. The air suddenly turned frigid, as if the air conditioning had been put on full blast. Her entire body stiffened, her senses on full alert.
She took a step back from the door, and as she renewed her grip on the axe, something thumped on the office floor. Another step back, and Tigger dashed back down the hall to the cubicle she'd been at. The door flew open, showing her a room torn apart, a hooded, robed figure standing before a swirling blue vortex of power anchored against the far wall.
"Stay back," she shouted. "I am Kathy Potts, friend of the court of King Ovin, ruler of Amermidst Kingdom! You are not welcome here!" The head hidden under the hood rose an inch, face still unseen.
"I do not stand on such ceremony," the booming voice of the creature intoned, its sharp tone one of command and authority. The swirling vortex behind it pulled like a maelstrom at the room, the power pulling on her hair and clothes.
"What do you want," she shouted over the din.
"You cannot fathom that, child," it said. One long-fingered, pale hand slipped out of a sleeve, a white feather held in its grip. Kathy blinked, and suddenly the figure was right before her, gripping her wrist. It pricked her hand with the feather tip, then floated back to the vortex, its dusty, ancient scent trailing behind it. "I thank you for this, child." Without another word it turned and leaped through the vortex, which whirled shut with an ear-splitting shriek.
Kathy was left standing there, stunned by what she'd seen when the figure had turned away. There had been black iron chains piercing its robe through the back, chains which had stretched back through the portal. Whatever it had been, it may not have been faerie, but she had caught the scent of the Ether from the vortex.
It was time for another vacation.