Tanya Julius found herself half upright against a damp mattress, dizzy eyes trying to work out were she was.

  ”Where am I? Where’s Gegga? Oh!”

  Like a true detective, her eyes saw clearly again.

  ”Brother. Is it you? Did I not dream?” she said, as Victor entered the dirty room, closely followed by Mr. Frown, who scared her for a short moment, as she wasn’t used to seeing his exposed eyes. She could not believe hanging lumps of skin, covering those void-emitting openings, would be preferable to… that.

  ”Little sister,” said Victor, blinking one eye, just for her. But he went past her, to a position that seemed assigned to him.

  ”Victor. Tanya. ’Frown’,” said the huge wizard, giving them each the slightest nod — except towards Mr. Frown.

  Mr. Smile’s head was almost hitting the ceiling in his basement-like home, and he had to crouch to fit through the doorless doorway. In that headspace, hollow-like hood or whatever best could describe such eldritch a sight, there was a smile. A constant, praying smile, surrounded by nothing. It was electrifying, and yet, she wanted to run from it. Her largest muscle worked hard to withstand holding her ground.

  Mr. Smile turned to her again. It was as if he had to move the body to show his company where he was looking.

  ”Uhm… Dh- Do you have eyes in your cowl there Mr… Smile?” she asked, thinking there was nothing majorly wrong with her recent nightmare episodes, now that she saw his face — if that thing really passed as a face. ”I hope you don’t mind me asking. I- I should not have asked. I’m sorry. Really sorry. I- Err- Right…”

  There was just something about him that made her not shut up. He seemed to enjoy it. But maybe not. Hard to tell, with only a glowing blue smile to go by. But it wasn’t so much his smile that twisted at her most darkest crevices of the brain, but his oversized human hands. The nails were far too long, but the fact that his hands had all the recognizable features of a human — just made her feel all kinds of wrong inside.

  ”In time, you will get used to me, as well you did Mr. Frown here. And don’t you worry about my vision. Hardly relevant,” said Mr. Smile, as he turned to face Victor, still adressing Tanya. ”Your brother here, however. Maximum relevancy.”

  ”There was a mention of tea,” said Mr. Frown, breaking the immersion of bad dreams.

  ”Brother, who is no brother of mine, kindly wait your turn.”

  ”Well… at some point you’re gonna have to get to the point. I have been patiently waiting long enough before we hit the Uncanny Valley, and out there-,” said Mr. Frown, pointing to the moldy ceiling. ”-there was no such, or similar, thing as tea — which has made me realize, I am significantly less of a patient being than my original, shapeless form.”

  ”I see. That’s very riveting.” Mr. Smile’s attention shifted to everyone in the room. ”Now, let’s not stall-”

  ”And on top of that,-” added Mr. Frown. ”-we have an important quest to finish, that- Woopsie!”

  Mr. Frown picked up a piece of his eye… or whatever it was. That something came from his eye-socket, she noticed that much.

  ’Frown’ shoved the purple and black goo back into the corresponding hole in his face.

  ”Ahem… As I was saying-”

  ”Who is not on a quest these days? Sit. Down. ’Frown’.”

  Tanya’s focus was yet again strong like a bulwark, but not set on the two wizards — rather she tried to stare, and gain the attention of her brother. Though, he did not look back at her.

  What is going on? she thought, and shivered as Mr. Smile twitched — seemingly reacting to her very thought.

  ”Again,-” ’Smile’ said, stern as a teacher. ”-May I have your attention please?”

  It was odd, because he never seemed to laugh, despite that chronic grin. Instead, he gave vibes of terror, unpredictability, a constant feeling of being in awe around him — but at the same time, strangely enough, a feeling of wholesomeness.

  ”Tanya, I can see you have an abundance of questions, just falling out of your head. Which one feels the most pressing in the moment?”

  ”I- I’m not so sure anymore. I guess…” And she turned to Victor. He did not react. ”… brother. You seem so distant. So different. What happened?”

  Tears fell from her cheeks.

  ”I have the answer. But you will not like it,” said Mr. Smile. ”You see, your brother here fought bravely, make no mistake. He suffered for it, both in the fight and the aftermath. I believe he is currently having… an episode, following the layers of trauma. I am fairly sure that he will be his jolly self soon enough, after he’s finished looking at my naturistic wall there. Ah, look at those cracks, going about their business, like lightning.”

  ”Oh Gods,” Tanya managed to say. ”I’m sorry, Victor.”

  ”Nobe if this can be attributed to you,” said Mr. Frown. ”From your retelling of the event at the desert hamlet, Red Harp, it would seem your strategy was a fine one. And hey, it worked wonders! Though I must say, finding your brother this early on in our quest to bring about the book, it has been a blessed bonus, one that hardly can be topped. Don’t you agree? Tanya?

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Tanya sobbed, feeling guilt press at her cranium.

  ”Well, I think so anyway,” said ’Frown’. ”Gods, I’m awefully thirsty-”

  ”Be silent! You and your excessive humanoid mimicry,” ’Smile’ snapped. ”I will destroy every little grain of tea, if you do not let me speak.”

  ”Question two!” came half crying out, full screaming, from the mattress where Tanya resided. ”Mr. Frown. Your arm. Where?”

  ”Oh, Heavens, Hells and all the rest of it,” muttered Mr. Smile.

  ”Oh, that grotesque tentacle? I had it removed. But, some remnants, I’m afraid, will always be dear parts of me. I see it like this; I can swoon the ladies now, with the one muscular looking shoulder I have,” said Mr. Frown, pointing at it, where the rogue tentacle had flung itself about him — whipping at him.

  Now, a loose limb hung deadlike. Things at the end of it — they resembled fingers. Tanya wondered if these two personality-clashing wizards competed for ’Most Abominable Man’. ’Scariest Man in The Marsh’, perhaps?

  Mr. Smile turned slowly and exited the room.

  ”Children,” he said, groaning.

  ”Wait,” said Tanya, then looked to Mr. Frown for an answer.

  ”Don’t look at me. I’m just along for the fun times.”

  They heard a scream. Victor. He looked terrified, sweating cockroaches.

  ”Calm down, Victor. It’s me, Tanya.” She crawled to him in an instant. A distance that just a moment ago haf seemed so distant.

  Even his eyes were shaking.

  ”Wh- Wha- What is that thing? Hellspawn! But he said they won’t come for me no more!” Victor was beyond saving what he used to be.

  She noticed he was looking at Mr. Frown.

  ”Nono, he’s a friend,” she said. She took a frustrating hold of his shirt, twisted it and pulled him closer, wanting him to snap out of whatever lowpoint he was reliving. She twisted it just enough to reveal a huge scar, ebbing out from the collar bone. She gasped, feeling stunned.

  Her brother recoiled and backed hard into the wall, started clawing at it, scratched his nails on it.

  ”Don’t touch me.”

  She didn’t follow. Just watched him. She thought of mom, who had been dead for a decade. It helped very little.

  ”What have you been through?” she asked herself.

  ”He really seems like a lost soul, doesn’t he?” Mr. Frown laughed.

  ”Fuck your laughing, frowning, uncanny, stupid face, ’Frown’ — if that’s your real name,” Tanya said to him. ”He’s in pain, and you fucking know he is.”

  ”Oh, why yes, that’s obvious, first thing I deduced when we arrived actually.”

  Dismas crawled to the corner of the room and half held back his screaming.

  ”Well then, I’m glad you’re sharp as a pencil still, but I feel quite done here, ’staff-man’. Mr. Smile is doing whatever he does, and we’re not here for him, but for my brother, and-”

  ”Not originally. You presumed him-”

  ”I bloody shits well know what I presumed him to be,” Tanya vented. ”Now, let’s go!”

  ’Frown’ looked her up and down.

  ”You, me and… Victor there,” he said, pointing. ”and what special forces to aid us?”

  She stopped, both physically and in her mind, to prepare for their departure.

  ”Special forces? I suppose that’s you,” she said, intently staring at him.

  There was a strange, uneasy silence, as Victor stopped his ear-challenging noises and began panting, as he blinked uncontrollably. The room felt like it was made of warm clouds. The irony of being underground did not escape her — Then she peeked out of the doorway, as the dimly lit hall just begged for a look-see. She expected to see the stairs, same as she and Gegga, the mushcrawler, got wedged in.

  ”Err… ’Frown’, come here,” she said, dropping all animosity in her demeanor.

  ’Frown’ did not come.

  ”My young friend.” He slumped, back against the wall. ”I… know this place. I know it well enough to call it home, even though it is not. I know exactly what you see beyond our open room. More rooms. Many-more-rooms. Okay?”

  ”B- But… But… What do you- What should we do then? Will he come back, or what?”

  ”Come back? I don’t know that he will.”

  ”But you can guide us all out of here, right?” said Tanya, as she went face to face with Mr. Frown, face shuddering, hands trembling.

  The wizard looked at her for what felt like too long a time.

  ”I could do that, yes. But, I will not.”

  Tanya stepped back on pure instinct, fell to the floor and pleaded;

  ”Why not? Why not? How can you say that? This is our quest, you- you- damned magician!”

  ”Wizard,” said Mr. Frown. ”Look, I am powerless in ’Smile’s’ basement. I yearn for that legendary tea of his, but you have to find… something. I can’t describe it to you. You need to find a thing, yourself or whatever it could be, and pass the ’test’, if you will, and come back here.”

  ”And you- You knew this, coming down here?” said Tanya.

  A cold; ”Yes,” came back to her.

  ***

  It took a while. To gather her strength, and her thoughts. As she entered the hallway.

  ”Here goes nothing.”

  The door right across from them was barred. Shut. Locked.

  ”Mr. Smile.” The echo bounced and filled the unknown space for an unnatural amount of time. At least that’s what it felt like. Tanya hesitated before speaking again. ”I’m sorry. I know I should’ve listened. Please, come back.”

  She had no way of knowing why she even saw anything down there, as there were no torches and no futuristic looking lights either, as had been a shock to see inside of Gegga. She could only move along the set path, the catacombs of a mad wizard. Thinking of it like that made her wince and press her lips tight in horror. She thought of the book. The quest. She hoped word had spread by Nevermore by then — To Dismas. To William. To the King of Icevein. Ambitious thoughts, that held little to no ground.

  She was too afraid of the door. At least it was quiet. Then again, she didn’t know if that was a good thing. There could be nothing in there — all the way to anything. The thought scared her, more than she’d admit to anyone.

  She saw the sign, glinting somehow. Still, she saw no source of light, and began to question this reality. It read; ”Containment Breached”. And beneath, a name; ’Hastur’.

  ”Tanya!”

  Her brother’s voice. Was he suddenly alright in the head again? Not likely. She couldn’t trust him, and he didn’t seem himself since they met, after his assumed death.

  Oh brother, what did you witness?

  She turned back forward, facing the door with ’Hastur’ written on it. She had no idea what to make of it.

  ”Breached. But the door is still here. Seemes locked, and it won’t budge,” Tanya said, giving it a good shoulder hit. ”Creepy.”

  ***

  As she kept walking, passing door after door, it dawned on her.

  ”The quest. Shit, I forgot. And how would I know what Mr. Smile wants me to do?”

  There was an idea to backtrack, to regroup. Maybe Victor was himself again. But then again, why would he be?

  Tanya decided to turn back. But the doors did not look familiar. She rubbed her eyes and wanted to scream, but she was too afraid. Instead there came a different voice. Manic and crazed — not from her own mind but without a clear sense of direction.

  ”Do you enjoy the asylum?”