Blinded by the Lighthouses

"Everyday.... Everyday is a weird word." Avis said before bursting into a squawk like laughter with Vinea giggling with her. The two were like children, which was starting to get tedious to Ven, though Nvr2b seemed to be in her element with the two like this, joining in with their joke making as they reached the long, winding bridge to Cheshire's spire.

Tid-Bit scanned ahead for the group, informing everyone that Decaynines were stationed all along the path ahead. Ven grinned and began coming up with an awesome plan to make it across before being silenced by Iyu opening a long zipper along her chest. "I already know what you are thinking sir. But please. Let me handle this."

"What? You're going to teleport us in?"

Iyu smiled and calmly strolled away. Ven went to run after her, but was stopped by Nvr2b with a grab on the arm. "Just watch." Ven looked at Nvr with an annoyed look, just wanting to fight, but listened to her and sat back down next to the group.

Iyu began calmly strolling down the bridge as a few Decaynines yelled at her to leave. But she continued walking ahead. "Stand down, or we'll take it as a sign of aggression!" One yelled as they raised their rifles, getting ready to gun her down to a paste. 

As Iyu took one more step, the hounds began to fire at her. She began opening every zipper on her body, tentacles began to sprout fourth as he began crawling across the floor with them at lightning speeds, easily avoiding the shots before ripping every Decaynine in her path to pieces. Iyu moved from Decaynine to Decaynine, some being only a mess of limbs after, some missing body parts or some just being dragged inside of her entirely.

Avis and Vinea, who were still as high as a kite, threw up at the scene while Senshi covered her eyes. Ven couldn't help but feel impressed as Iyu had cleared the bride in less then 2 minutes. "She was one of Splice's favourite tools." Nvr said with an almost jokey sounding tone. 

"Was that a joke?" Iyu said with a grin as she emerged from an inky puddle on the floor. Avis and Vinea looked like they'd seen a ghost, but were quickly ignored as Iyu dragged the group into her body and teleported them to the front gates of the Lighthouse. 

Iyu soon materialised behind them with all of her body zippers done up. She calmly opned the gate for everyone with a slight bow. "I hope my work was up to your standards. Don't forget to leave a tip." She said like it was her day job, but she quickly changed her tone once she realised she was in work mode. 

Everyone strolled inside the lighthouse grounds, the looming black and blue spire in front almost seem to look down at them. The few Decaynines that tried to stop them were handled quickly by Ven using his new gun-blade. As they began ascending the front steps, Avis looked down to see a cool looking mural on the ground. 

"Vinea... Is that picture moving?" She mumbled, laughing slightly at the thought but Vinea noticed it too, freaking out a bit as he tripped over a TV camera and grabbed Ven's coat to try and regain balance. Ven used a portal to redirect their fall, both landing on their feet. He also noticed that the mural seemed to move too, confusing him a bit. "Well... That's concerning."

Tid-Bit appeared and began scanning it, letting out a cheerful giggle. "It seems Panila was here. This Mural is actually people trapped in a 2d space. Nothing to special."

Nvr looked amazed, pulling out her phone and having Iyu snap a photo of herself with it. Ven awkwardly sighed and went in ahead. He entered into a rather flat grey reception area with a light blue hue illuminating the room. 

Ven began snooping around the empty front hall before looking at a conveniently placed map at on a wall. Though as he read it, it made less and less sense. It pointed that the room he was in was the top floor, but it then said the bottom floor was at the top, the middle floor was at the bottom, the top was across the room and that Cheshire was always dreaming was written along the top. 

He went to go and check on the others, only to see an empty void outside the tower doors. He yelled for everyone, only to get no response. Suddenly Nvr2b fell from above, landing on top of him with a thud. "Get... Off..." He groaned as he shoved her off. 

"Why are you here?" He asked with a sigh as the two regained their bearings. Ven stared at Nvr before looking at the void as she said; "Iyu told me that Cheshire controls reality inside the lighthouse... We were waiting for you for a good hour before we realised something was wrong."

"An HOUR?" Ven seemed stunned, as he had only just stepped inside the tower. "Shit... How do we get out?" 

"Iyu said something about finding Cheshire. So. Let's find Cheshire." She said flatly, pointing to the elevator at the back of the room. The two reached it and as the doors open, both went in at the same time. They pushed each other to get in first, with Ven smugly celebrating a minor petty victory with the stranger.

The two looked over the buttons and were stunned by how many their were. They covered the walls of the lift, but they noticed that they weren't even numbered, they instead had names on them. "How are we going to find the right floor?" Nvr mumbled before Ven tapped his eye, Tid-Bit appearing before him. "Hey, Bit. Can you tell us where we should go?" 

She gave a nod and began scanning over the buttons. But before she could finish, the buttons shifted in position. Tid-Bit let out an annoyed sigh as she said in a blunt tone; "I can't give you an exact location... But from what I can understand, it seems we have to play a game."

"A game? I love games, what game!" Nvr said with a giddy smile, surprising the two. "You can see her?" Ven asked with a raised eye brow. "Uh... yeah? I thought everyone could see her?"

"That... Doesn't matter now." Ven sighed as he turned back to Bit. "What do we have to do?" 

Tid-Bit explained that they would have to go through rooms to get to Cheshire, revealing that Cheshire's ability was to see dreams and memories and make them manifest into reality. She then pointed to a button with Zamtika's name on it. "And it seems he wants us to visit Zamtika's room first."

"Oh... Great. Another long process to reach the leader." Ven mumbled as he pushed the button. The doors shut with a slam as the elevator felt like it moved at a sickening speed, the two floating slightly before hitting the floor as it stopped. The door looked more rustic and old fashioned with horns sticking out from it.

"Yeah... That seems like Tika." He mumbled as the two stepped through, finding themselves at Dio's Ale back in its prime. Ven looked in awe at the sight of the bar's rustic lighting, the smell of alcohol and most excitingly to him, the sight of a younger version Zamtika sitting at the front of the bar, idly swirling her drink.

Nvr seemed stunned too, but seemed more uncomfortable as she stared at the varied patrons, from harpies and gorgons to fairies and werewolves, even a white haired woman drinking in the back. "I already don't like this game..." She mumbled as Ven looked around more. He tried touching Zamtika, only for his hand to phase through her. He tried grabbing a drink, only for it to again phase through. "Seems like we can't do anything here..." He mumbled.

"Why would Cheshire want us to be here?" Nvr asked before the backroom of the bar burst open. The two looked over to see a familiar purple scruffy haired rabbit in a black bar uniform and apron on, rushing around with portals to serve drinks. 

"Oh Mollia... I know what this is..." Ven grumbled as he embarrassedly covered his face with his hand. 

Zamtika was sat at the bar counter, patiently waiting for her drink as she saw the rabbit demi-human scramble about to serve customers. She thought it was bizarre for someone with a heart ability that useful to be working there, but chose not to question it.

Suddenly, she got hit in the back of the head by a bottle of whisky that she had ordered awhile ago. Everyone in the bar froze as the 9ft tall muscular silver skinned oni stood up and stared everyone down. She moved her messy red hair out of her face as her singular horn glowed a dark blue hue. "WHO THE HELL THREW THAT AT ME!" She yelled, slamming her fist on the counter, breaking it in two.

The purple haired rabbit awkwardly scratched his head as he raised his other hand. "T... That'd be me, beautiful." He said with finger guns and a nervous laugh, trying to defuse the situation. but it only seemed to piss Zamtika off more, who angrily stormed over to him.

He quickly put his arms out, stammering out; "W-Waitwaitwait! B-before y-you rightfully beat m-me to d-death, c-can I show you a magic t-trick?" He said with a nervous smirk. She looked down at him with a glare, but decided to hear him out. "Go on then. Show me what you'll do with your last minute of life."

He took a deep breath before using a portal to do a magic trick, making his ears disappear. He then did a bit about taking his head off, using a portal to make it appear in his hands. She found it mildly amusing, but still felt like killing him. "Well, rabbit. You've got some tricks... But that won't save ya." 

Zamtika threw a punch, ready to knock him out in one hit, only for her punch to be redirected as she hit herself in the face. "What!?" She said in a slight daze, rubbing her head. She tried to hit him again, only for it to be again redirected by the rabbit's portals.

She tried again and again, her anger beginning to blind her judgement as she threw a barrage of punches, but again, hitting herself. "You... Stupid... Rabbit..." She growled before falling over unconscious from just how many times she'd punched herself.

Zamtika soon woke up the next day to find herself shrunk and trapped under a shot glass on the remains of the destroyed bar counter. She let out an angered yell and began punching her way outside of it, only for the rabbit from the night before to loom over with a smug look. 

"Hey, Beautiful. You finally calm down?" He asked with a laugh. 

"Shut it and get me out of here!" Zamtika yelled, but was muffled by the glass.

"Looks like you need more time to calm down. I'll let you out when you're calm... And ready to pay your bill for the counter."

"Pay the bill? PAY THE BILL!? F###### ##### ###### ###### #### IN YOUR ##### ########## ##### ###### BILL!?" 

He stared at the oni with a blank look before laughing, grabbing a broom and beginning to sweep up. "Geez. Someone can't keep calm, can they?"

Zamtika continued yelling in her fury, still trying to get out but eventually wore herself out after awhile. She lied against the glass, mumbling to herself about how pointless this all was. She began watching as the rabbit continued cleaning, not even paying attention to her anymore. 

Finally, she managed to calm down enough to speak in actual sentences again. "Rabbit. Let me out..." She said with gritted teeth, but he gave her a smug look, as if waiting for her to add something.

"Please let me out..." She mumbled. Before she knew it, a portal opened up beneath her feet and fell through it, finding herself back at her full size in front of the door to the bar. She went to leave but fell through a portal and in front of the rabbit.

"I almost forgot the money. Pay up, Oni." He grinned, putting his hand out. Zamtika begrudgingly handed him her entire life savings, about 30 gold pieces. "That should cover it." She sighed, though the rabbit looked confused. 

"That's... Not even a tenth of the cost. Are you that broke, girl?" He laughed, tossing her the money back. She began getting frustrated over being dismissed so easily, but calmed herself down as she caught her gold. "Shut it..." She grumbled as she began heading for the door, but turned around when the rabbit said with a grin on his face; "If you're that broke, I could offer you a job?"

"Working at a bar? No thanks." She smirked, but was cut off by the rabbit portaling in front of her. "I was actually talking about mercenary work. It pays well enough... And you drink here free."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you're dirt broke and probably want a free drink."

She considered it for a moment, and it might have been the slight amount of punching herself unconscious that had affected her judgement, but either way, she said; "Sure. Why not, Rabbit."

"Please. Call me Ven." He laughed, putting his hand out to shake hers. "Zamtika. It ain't a pleasure, but you're gonna pay me." She said as she shook his hand, crushing it with a tight grip.

He let out a yelp as he pulled back his hand, laughing slightly. "How about I just call you Tika? Easier to remember." 

"Whatever... Ven."

"So that's how you met Zamtika?" Nvr asked with a slight laugh as Ven awkwardly nodded. "Eh, I have a knack for making people love me." He shrugged before noticing the backroom to the bar had become an elevator. 

"Looks like we can leave." Tid-Bit chimed in, with the two getting in with a sigh. "Fun fact, Ven didn't start dating Zamtika until she tried to kill him a second time for stealing her favourite stuffed animal." Tid-Bit said with a giggle, causing Ven to blush as the elevator doors shut. 

"Shut it..."