The Wisconsin State Fair was in full swing once again.

  The sounds of ughter, carnival rides, the shrieks of children and adults alike filled the air as the Parker family zily strolled through the fairgrounds. The sun had begun to set, casting an almost unearthly glow over well - everything!

  This year, they had chosen to visit alone.

  It wasn’t just another family outing—it was their first trip here knowing that they had an invisible family member alongside them. Perhaps in some ways, it felt like reciming something theirs, making memories with a truth they had changed their lives forever.

  They had embraced the full fair experience, moving from stall to stall, partaking in all manner of festivities and oddities. Petting zoos, fairground games, and sometimes dizzying rides—Emily took part in all of it, dragging her parents along.

  Thomas of course made it a point to sample the dark beer stands. Sarah had her given in to her dietary ‘weaknesses’ - trying her hand at carnival games between bites of fried cheese curds and spicy cheese bread.

  Daniel, unseen to all but Emily, had been quietly compining about the rigged nature of the pellet rifle games for the past fifteen minutes.

  “This is robbery, Shrimp. The sights are tampered with—on purpose! The barrels are misaligned so they can scam you into paying more!” he whined.

  Emily had to suppress a ugh. “Yeah, no kidding. That’s the point. Welcome to crapitalism.”

  Despite his grumbling, there was an undeniable warmth to the day.

  It was just - nice. Ordinary, even.

  And yet, underlying it all, Emily had another reason for wanting to return to the fair.

  The st time she had been here, she hadn’t known about Daniel—hadn’t even realized there was another presence inside her. That time had been terrifying. Thoughts, emotions, and memories surfaced that weren’t hers, as if whispers from some unknown pce were threading into her own mind. She had been afraid she was losing it, that something was wrong with her.

  Daniel, on the other hand, had been rgely quiet. Watching over her from the shadows, trying to stabilize her as best as he could without revealing himself. He had waited for Emily to come to him—not out of fear, but because he knew she needed to reach for him on her own terms.

  And then there was Madame Zara.

  "Because of course the fair mystic’s name was Madame Zara," Daniel had grumbled ter. "That’s like… one step away from 'Madame Crystal Moon' or something. ‘Zara’ …a freaking handbag company that may not even exist in this universe"

  Yet, despite his compining , there was no denying the truth—Madame Zara had changed everything.

  The fortune-teller had seen something in Emily that no one else had. She had spoken of bonds, of things greater than herself, of a merging that had already begun before Emily was even aware of it.

  "Two become one," she had hinted cryptically. And through her guidance, Emily had crossed into a pne beyond the physical—a space that existed between her and Daniel, a pce that wasn’t quite inside her, yet wasn’t fully outside either.

  The first time she had knowingly met Daniel.

  Pieces had fallen into pce. Emily had begun to understand what Daniel was—who he was—and from there, the bond had grown. After all, Madame Zara had nudged them toward the truth, but they had forged their own path.

  Still - who (or what) Madame Zara truly was, remained a mystery.

  “Shamans, gurus, mystics, people who can supposedly walk between realities” Daniel had once theorized. “Even in my universe, people like this have been whispered about through the ages. Perhaps she was one of them? Perhaps she was something else entirely.”

  Regardless, both Emily and Daniel owed her everything. As such,a year ter, both were secretly looking for her again.

  Emily hadn’t told her parents about their covert operation, unsure if Madame Zara would even be here; it could all just be wishful thinking. Thus - as the fair began winding down, Emily felt a pang of disappointment.

  It seemed like this visit would come and go without another encounter.

  And just like that — she saw it. Nestled between rger tents, half-hidden in pin sight, was Madame Zara’s tent. The colors, the incense, the faint glow of lights from an unseen source.

  Emily froze in pce, her breath catching in her throat.

  “No way…” she muttered softly in amazement, staring at the tent, her eyes wide.

  “Yes way…” Daniel whispered, equally in awe. “Right when we were giving up. I swear I got a serious case of heebie jeebies”

  Emily exhaled and slowly turned toward her parents, hesitant but determined.

  “Mom, Dad…” she began, her voice trailing off slightly. She swallowed, then pointed toward the tent nestled between the others. “So… that tent there.”

  Sarah and Thomas both followed her gaze.

  “That’s her,” Emily continued, feeling the weight of each word as it left her mouth.

  “That’s… that’s Madame Zara. The one who helped me when I was figuring out Danny. The one who helped me understand my bond.”

  Her parents froze. For a moment, neither of them spoke. They exchanged gnces. TO Emily, it looked like something between curiosity and apprehension flickering between them.

  Thomas was the first to break the silence. He raised an eyebrow, eyeing the tent as though sizing it up. “Madame Zara? The one you met before? Here? At the fair?” His expression shifted slightly. “That was st year, right?”

  Sarah, still staring at the tent, nodded slowly. “She’s the one who gave you that whole two becoming one prophecy, isn’t she?”

  Emily nodded, her eyes focused on tent as though it may disappear at any moment.

  “Yeah. That’s her.”

  More softly, she added - “She’s the one who helped me realize Danny was more than just a voice in my head.”

  Then, something changed. A flicker in her eyes. A subtle shift in the way her posture, a slight change in her cadence, and breathing.

  Daniel had switched in.

  His gaze flicked toward the tent, the emotions in his eyes complicated.

  “I think what Shrimp is trying to say,” he said carefully, his voice steady but thoughtful, “is that she wants to visit Madame Zara again.”

  He paused, then gnced between them. “This time, with you.”

  Sarah and Thomas followed Emily’s gaze, their eyes locking onto the tent. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

  This person- this Madame Zara - had changed their daughter’s life.

  Sarah had no doubt that without Madame Zara, Emily might never have understood Daniel. In turn, Daniel may not have been strong enough to save Emily the day of the accident - when he transferred some of his essence to her to pull her back as she y trapped between worlds.

  Thomas’s jaw tightened as unspoken thoughts churned in his head. It wasn’t just about Emily. Daniel was part of their family now. He had been a mystery, a force of nature wedged into their lives whether they were ready for him or not but somehow Madame Zara had known. She had seen it before they had.

  Then Sarah took a deep breath, stepping forward.

  “Well,” she said, clearing her throat. “She helped me understand both my children.” She gnced at Thomas. “So it’s only fair if we say thank you. Plus, this can’t be a coincidence. It just…can’t.”

  Thomas hesitated—only for a moment—before nodding. His gaze flicked toward Emily, or perhaps Daniel, before exhaling sharply.

  “I know I was resistant to all this, I was..stubborn about it,” he admitted.

  “But yeah. In some ways—maybe a lot of ways—I owe her too.” His voice softened. “My daughter wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her guidance.”

  Emily’s entire body stiffened. Her eyes went wide— she hadn’t expected her parents to be so forthcoming, so..amenable. Daniel’s stunned silence in the back of her mind mirrored her own.

  However, before she could fully process it, her parents moved at once—grabbing one hand each and practically dragging her toward the tent.

  —

  The mystical atmosphere inside the tent was exactly how Emily remembered it from the st visit - somehow both familiar and strange. The smell was a tad stronger than Emily remembered—incense, old books and parchment, a faint trace of something floral. Trinkets and crystals sat on shelves, casting soft reflections, chimes hung from the ceiling, turning gently seemingly of their own volition.

  The tent was dim, but not dark, lit by a spread of nterns and candles.

  At the center of it all sat Madame Zara. Draped in her signature robes, she too appeared exactly as Emily remembered, a worn, ancient-looking book open in her hands. As the Parker family stepped inside, she looked up. Her gaze twinkled with something both knowing and kind.

  "Ah, Emily… I’ve been expecting you” she said, her voice soft yet commanding, yet gentle.

  Emily steeled herself and swallowed - she had hoped to find Madame Zara, but she hadn’t expected to be called out like this. She gaze flicked briefly to see her parents exchange surprised gnces, their expression a mixture of awe, reverence and - fear?

  “You… you remember me?” Emily stammered, her voice quieter than intended. Then, more hesitantly— “You were expecting me?”

  Madame Zara nodded - her gentle smile remained, but something in her eyes shimmered.

  "Of course,” she said surprisingly matter of factly. "A bond like yours is not easily forgotten."

  A pause.

  “And I see you’ve brought your parents,” she added, a trace of amusement in her voice.

  Her gaze flickered briefly across the family before she gestured toward the cushions surrounding her.

  “Welcome,” Madame Zara continued. “Please, sit.”

  Sarah and Thomas hesitated only for a fraction of a second before obeying the silent invitation. Or command - it was hard for Emily to distinguish.

  The family cmbered and settled into the cushions—Emily closest to Madame Zara, Thomas fidgeting slightly, eyes flicking over the tent’s odd trinkets as if pretending to be interested in anything but what was directly in front of him.

  It wasn’t working of course.

  Sarah, on the other hand, was the first to speak.

  “Madame Zara,” she began softly. “Emily told us about how you helped her st year. Helped her connect with… umm…”

  She faltered, unsure how to phrase it.

  “With her brother?” Madame Zara finished, eyes twinkling. “And you want to thank me. But you also have questions.”

  It was not a guess.

  Emily felt her father tense beside her, saw her mother clutch and release her hands.

  Before Sarah could respond, Madame Zara rose to her feet. She moved toward Sarah first, standing before her, gaze locking on something inexplicable. Then, she turned to Thomas.

  Neither of them spoke.

  A strange tension filled the air—something neither hostile nor unkind, yet deep - almost as if Madame Zara was gazing into their very souls.

  What felt like eternity passed in the blink of an eye. Madame Zara stepped back, a soft hum escaping her lips as she returned to her seat, as Thomas and Sarah visibly gulped.

  “Hmm…” she mused, almost to herself. “Well. This is interesting.”

  Her gaze flickered between them, her smile slightly wider - “And beautiful.”

  She gazed one by one at all three (four?) of them before prociming - “You both look at Emily and Daniel as your children. Emily is your first born, but you view Daniel as your adopted son?”

  —

  The weight of that statement hit hard.

  Sarah, for one, was beyond stunned.

  The word "son" hung heavy in the air, sinking deep into her chest. They had accepted Danny as family, as theirs, in every way that mattered but to hear it spoken so pinly, by someone outside their inner circle was overwhelming.

  This was someone they didn’t have to hide their secret from —to seemingly have it defined with no hesitation, no conditions, and somehow without expnation. Yet - it was startling.

  “How” Sarah began.

  She wasn’t able to finish her question as Madame Zara’s eyes narrowed slightly, tilting her head with almost mischievous amusement as she turned toward Thomas.

  “Even if it took someone a little more…time..than the other” she noted. There was no accusation in her voice—just the soft truth.

  Thomas stiffened, his jaw working slightly, letting out a few indescribable squeaks—like he was trying (and failing) to form a response.

  Madame Zara only raised an eyebrow as she continued “Even if it was hard to admit,” she added, her voice gentle but confident, “that you do, in fact, look at him as your own.”

  A quiet fell over the tent.

  Thomas, for a long moment, said nothing, twiddling his thumbs. Then, finally, he sighed and relented “Yeah,” he muttered almost apologetically. “I guess I do.”

  There was a pause before he continued “Took me long enough..I almost had to lose them both.” Then, quieter—but clearer— "Yes, both Sarah and I have accepted Danny as our… son."

  The weight of the word settled, but Thomas didn’t backtrack. He didn’t try to soften it.

  Instead he exhaled and continued "And yeah, I was an idiot about it for a long time," he added with a self-deprecating sigh. "I probably deserve a good kick in the a** for that."

  Emily drew a sharp breath, doing a startled double take.

  Sarah merely blinked, her jaw slightly open.

  Madame Zara, on the other hand, still smiling, merely tilted her head—like she had been waiting for those words the entire time.

  The tent fell silent again.

  "Woah," Daniel slowly whispered inside Emily’s mind, his voice barely audible. She could feel his emotions rippling through the bond—shock, disbelief, relief and something between happiness and peace.

  "He… he looks at me as his son?"

  Daniel’s voice was fragile in a way Emily rarely heard. He clearly didn’t know what to do with the words.

  Emily smiled softly, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "He kind of hinted at it a long time ago, big bro," she reminded him, “The night of the fight, remember?”

  Daniel didn’t answer- still processing the swirl of emotions.

  Emily nudged him, voice teasing but gentle.

  "Ball’s in your court, Danny," she murmured. "He knows he was a jerk about it. He’s trying. How about you drop the shock and throw him a bone one of these days?"

  Before Daniel could respond, Thomas exhaled again, rubbing a hand over his face before looking up at Madame Zara.

  “Madame Zara, there are still a lot of things we don’t understand,” he admitted. His voice was steady, but there was a tinge of frustration.

  “How this came to be, why this family? Why us? What’s our role here? What does it mean?”

  Sarah hesitated for only a moment before adding, “And what happened to him? In his st life?” Her voice was softer, tinged with something raw. “Why won’t he talk about it? And… how did I see him in… well… in…”

  She trailed off, gesticuting with her hands.

  Madame Zara, however, finished for Sarah - “The dimension both of them have created?”

  The room fell silent again. Sarah and Thomas stiffened. Emily gawked.

  “How do you know about the dreamscape?” Emily finally blurted, her voice barely above a whisper. “That..dimension you called it?”

  Madame Zara only ughed softly, gently - a warm, knowing ugh.

  “What you call the dreamscape is another pne, a pocket of existence,” she expined. “It can be seen and accessed by those of us who know how to enter these pnes…”

  She let the words settle before continuing.

  “As to your questions—why he was brought here, why this family, why he won’t talk about his past and more.”

  Her gaze swept over them - “These answers will reveal themselves in time.”

  Silence once stretched in the small space as a verbal line had been drawn in the sand, one none of the Parker family knew how to cross. They merely sat there, staring, their questions now felt both heavier and lighter all at once by the understanding that they would not, could not, be answered today.

  The awkwardness was broken as Madame Zara leaned in, her gaze settling on Emily with quiet intensity.

  “Hmm - have you gained the ability to let the other speak through you,” she mused, her voice calm yet filled with certainty. “To share the body? It appears as though you’ve come far together. But… hmm.”

  Emily stiffened slightly. “How did you know that?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Madame Zara didn’t answer immediately.

  Instead, she observed Emily closely, as though looking past her, past the body , past something even Emily herself didn’t fully understand.

  Daniel stirred uneasily in her mind - "What is she doing? I feel freaking naked here."

  Emily swallowed - she felt it too—a strange sense of being exposed, as if her very soul were being x-rayed.

  “I believe there’s something more the two of you need to see,” Madame Zara finally said pulling back. She paused before adding - “Something hidden, even from yourselves.”

  Emily frowned and tilted her head.

  “What do you mean? Everything’s fine now. Danny and I, we’ve bonded. We’ve figured things out. Right?”

  Madame Zara’s gaze didn’t waver. “Yes, it’s a beautiful connection,” she acknowledged. Then, after a pause, her expression shifted ever so slightly. “But…but there is something off, child.”

  Emily felt Sarah and Thomas immediately tense beside her.

  “Off?” Sarah asked, her concern immediate, her voice a little sharper. Thomas’s brow furrowed. “Are they sick or something?”

  Madame Zara shook her head. “No. Not sick. But misaligned, perhaps, just a little..off”

  Emily exchanged a gnce with her parents. “What does that even mean?”

  Madame Zara’s expression softened, but there was still weight behind her words. “Emily, Daniel—I’ll need to enter your dreamscape. I need to see for myself, I can’t expin it from here.”

  Daniel switched in without hesitation. “Uhh… hey, nice to meet you again. Daniel here,” he said, the shift in his voice almost imperceptible to anyone but Emily.

  Madame Zara smiled slightly. “I know.” She gnced between them knowingly. “I can see when you shift. Your energies change.”

  Daniel hesitated. “Right, uh, of course you can I - duh. … Well, look. We kind of accidentally pulled Mom into the dreamscape once, but neither Emily nor I know how to do it again.”

  He scratched the back of his neck. “You’re welcome to come in, but we don’t know how to make that happen.”

  Madame Zara let out a soft, knowing ugh. “Oh, don’t you worry about that, Daniel,” she said. “I have my ways.”

  She took a breath and continued. “The dreamscape you and your sister share isn’t sealed off from those who know how to access other pnes of consciousness” she continued sagely. “In fact, there are a few others who could find their way there, if they knew how.”

  Emily’s breath caught. She felt Daniel simirly stunned within.

  “Though,” Madame Zara added gently, “only those whom you trust—or whom you feel you could potentially trust—would ever be permitted to stay. After all, the dreamscape is alive, a reflection of your bond, and your bond with others.”

  She tilted her head “But it also holds secrets you have yet to uncover.”

  Emily, Sarah, and Thomas exchanged gnces - uneasy and awestruck.

  Thomas folded his arms. “And you can help them uncover it?”

  “Yes, but again - I cannot expin it all from here,” Madame Zara said. “We need to go deeper.” She looked at Emily and Daniel expectantly. “Will you let me enter?”

  Emily could feel Daniel hesitate as the significance of the question fell over them. For a spell, neither of them spoke as they processed the request.

  “Yes,” Emily finally said, reaching out and squeezing the mystic’s hand.

  Daniel followed switching in. “Please. If you know how—you’re welcome.”

  Madame Zara nodded once, taking Emily’s hands gently. “Physical contact is essential” she mentioned seemingly to herself “It establishes the connection”

  The air inside the tent shifted. It was subtle at first—a flicker of something beneath the surface, like a powerful engine about to spin up.

  “And then there is the mental and emotional connection” she sighed, closing her eyes, focusing “aligning with the two of you, being open - willing to embrace more than who we are.”

  Emily felt the room become dense, charged, as though something was pressing inward although she wasn’t sure if she was merely imagining it. A hum seemed to fill the air - soft at first, then growing, a low vibration, something unseen yet very much present.

  Her fingertips tingled, a floating sensation seemed to momentarily take hold, the very air itself felt as though it were crackling.

  Then— just like that, everything shifted. There was a pull, the world itself seemed to warp - and the dreamscape opened before them.

  —

  Madame Zara stepped into Emily’s dreamscape, and the air shifted at once. The meadow pulsed with energy, as if recognizing her presence. In the distance, the cherry blossom tree swayed, its petals glowing softly as they drifted to the ground, only to fade into faint sparkles upon nding on the rippling grass. Birds sang overhead—not just any birds, but something more pyful, mischievous, almost… inquisitive.

  A reflection, perhaps, of Emily and Daniel’s bond.

  The entire space felt alive, as though it were welcoming her.

  “Madame Zara!”

  A voice, high and bright, cut through the air.

  Emily was sprinting toward her, spinning once with her arms outstretched, her ughter carried by the wind. She wore jeans and a printed tee, her hair whipping freely around her face.

  Beside her, a man approached at a more measured pace. Hands shoved into the pocket of his dark blue hoodie, he absentmindedly pyed with the belt loops of his jeans, his expression curious. Then, after a beat, he scratched the back of his head once again before exhaling.

  “Huh,” Daniel said, arching a brow. “It worked.” His voice held a mix of satisfaction and disbelief.

  Madame Zara took in the sight before her, a slow smile spreading across her face.

  "Emily. Daniel," she said warmly, her voice calm and pleased as she took each of their hands in hers. "It’s good to see you like this—in your own bodies, or rather, your avatars."

  There was something knowing in her tone, as if this were not the first time she had traversed pnes beyond the physical.

  "My, your dreamworld is even more beautiful than I imagined," she mused.

  She turned her gaze to take it all in - the grass shifting like waves in the wind, the towering tree with its blossoms, the sky painted in shades and hues not quite of the physical world, the distant stream glinting as it gurgled through its path.

  “Dreamscape,” Emily corrected, her voice suddenly quieter. “Not… dreamworld.” She gnced away, her fingers idly fttening a bde of grass as a faint blush crept up her cheeks.

  Madame Zara released their hands and took a step forward, continuing to absorb the ndscape.

  Then, suddenly, she stopped mid-step.

  Her gaze had nded on Emily’s neon pink bunny.

  The monstrosity sat parked beside a tree, its absurd features absolutely and grotesquely exaggerated, standing out in contrast to the otherwise ethereal beauty of the dreamscape.

  The eyesore turned its head, almost comically, to consider Madame Zara, before quietly straightening, dusting its fur off as if it were a winter coat, and nonchantly hopping away.

  "And what," Madame Zara asked, uncharacteristically blunt, "is that?" She lifted a hand and pointed directly at the horrifying creature as it hopped.

  “That,” Emily decred proudly, hands on her hips, “is Mr. Bun-Bun.”

  She beamed at the neon pink abomination as if it were some grand, majestic guardian. "Defender of the dreamscape.”

  Daniel squinted at the thing, then at Madame Zara. “It’s a monstrosity,” he deadpanned.

  Emily turned to him, offended on behalf of her creation.

  Daniel sighed. “Pretty sure she spun that freak of nature up just to mess with me.”

  Madame Zara’s ughter was light, like the sound of gss chimes in the wind.

  The reaction was so typically - sibling-like. Whether by blood or by fate, it didn’t matter. The bond between them was undeniable, even as a quiet, muted argument over the aesthetics of Mr. Bun-Bun continued in the background.

  Madame Zara, meanwhile, lifted her gaze. Her eyes squinted as she traced the family’s threads of consciousness woven into the sky, shimmering just beyond normal sight.

  For a moment, she simply watched.

  Then, with a slow, deliberate wave of her hand, the threads brightened, the strands shifting into focus—orange and gold, bright blue, deep crimson and soft yellow, clearer than Emily nor Daniel had ever seen before.

  “How in the actual—” Daniel took a step back, staring. “You can control the dreamscape?”

  “How?!” Emily finished, voice equal parts amazement and shock.

  Madame Zara, completely unfazed, lifted a hand—her gaze still fixed on the luminous strands weaving through the sky.

  "Your bond is stronger than I expected."

  The threads shimmered, shifting—orange and yellow twining together, blue flickering between them. They pulsed like something alive, rotating and harmonizing with an unseen rhythm.

  "And you’ve accepted your family,” she continued, eyes gleaming. “And they have accepted you—all of you."

  With the flick of a wrist, two strands at the periphery began to glow. One, a subtle gold, warm and steady. The other, deep red, strong, grounding.

  Emily sucked in a breath. "Okay, dy, you gotta tell us how you’re doing that,” she blurted, pointing at the shifting threads. “Not even Danny can… zoom in like that."

  Daniel, still watching, gave her a bnk look before pointing at the golden strand.

  “Yeah, that’s Mom,” he said, nodding slightly. “Somehow, she got it faster than any of us. Started viewing this symbiosis as... natural. Even accepted me as her own, no hesitation.”

  A small, almost disbelieving smile flickered across his face.

  “I won’t lie,” he admitted. “I think I have a special bond with her.”

  Then, after a pause—soft, but certain— “I love her.”

  His voice was quieter, but the weight of it settled in the air.

  Emily, always one to seize an opportunity, smirked. “Overgrown Mama’s boy.”

  Daniel gave her a quick gre before turning his attention back to the strands. He gestured toward the deep red strand, watching how it pulsed—solid, unwavering, carrying a quiet kind of strength.

  “And that is… Emily’s Da—” He hesitated, the words catching for just a fraction of a second before he pushed through.

  “I mean, our Dad.”