Xerean is dreaming. 

Even Chaos Witches need sleep, and while maybe far less than most beings, she's gotten in habit to sleep when it's socially acceptable...most nights. Tonight is one. For the first time, she's trying a thing called a 'sleep over' with Grian and Scar, sleeping out under the stars on one of Grian's floating rocks. In her dream, she's walking in a forest. It's night, but she can see fine, she simply put on her night vision and it's fine. The one thing she doesn't like is that she's alone. Usually her dreams are light and happy, if not weird, from her playing Uno and winning against a man with green hair, eyes, and a bleeding gash on his throat, to sparring with a different man with spiky blonde hair. Once, she vividly dreamed of a man who had this giant black dragon with blue eyes, and the man was named Laurence. She only cared about the dragon, though, the man couldn't understand her. This time, it's just trees. And something is making her uneasy. She feels watched. Stalked, even. But stalking people is HER job, thanks very much. Finally, she finds herself emerging from the forest to Grian's base. There's a light coming from the hole where his strange portal has appeared. Xerean has checked it out, extensively, but so far it doesn't seem dangerous, unlike the Moon, there's nothing harmful when she prods it with her magic or draw near, so she's deemed it safe for the time being. Feeling compelled to go look at it, she falls into the hole and catches herself by throwing down a water bucket before she hits the bottom. The space is barren, only she and the portal. Nothing seems to be up with it. That is, until she sees the murky shadow inside of it. Stepping closer, she squints, trying to discern who or what it is. Then it steps out, and she steps back, a cold sweat forming instantly. No.

It's him.

But it can't be.

She killed him already.

He's dead, just like everyone else.

Isn't he?

The man is clearly taller than her(although, it doesn't take much to accomplish that), wavy black hair and golden eyes, much like one of the Shu Han among the worlds where Grisha live. He wears robes of deep blue, an eerie outline of Nether Portal purple behind him. 

Her father. 

He makes eye contact with her, and in that moment, he's in her face, grabbing her shoulders and leaning closer. "Did you really think you could escape?!" He hisses, as terrifying and menacing as the young Chaos Witch remembers her father to have been. His voice crackles and distorts, much like the man she played Uno with in her dreams. Speaking of, her abilities aren't working, as they often aren't in dreams, inhibiting her from running away. "I have been biding my time and waiting, as we all have been. You got lucky with the Moon. But we aren't fooling around anymore." He traps her in place with shadowy bindings, wrenching her head to look at the portal. More shadows are approaching, more of her people coming out. But the portal was safe! There was nothing wrong with it! "A lovely little coincidence means we will be coming. Soon. You have such a nice little world, we can't wait to have some fun. And for all your luck and little tricks, you won't be able to defend against this, I can promise you that." As if drawn like a magnet, all of the Chaos Witches converge on her, hollow-eyed and blankly staring. They reach for her, palm first, as they would do in the ceremony where she was to be executed. And she's without her powers. Thrashing and squirming, Xerean attempts to break free, though nothing works, until something invisible touches her arm and she sits up, a bolt of energy send them reeling back in pain. Breathing heavily, sweat dripping from her face, she notices that Grian stands a few feet away, wings half open, wary but concerned. Slowly, her gaze drifts to Scar, sitting on the ground and cradling his arm. She hurt him. "Are you okay?" He asks. Of all the things he could have said, things he'd have every right to say, he asked how SHE was doing? "Are YOU okay?" She slips off her bed, crouching on the ground in front of him. She hesitantly extends her hand, and without a moment's pause, Scar offers his injured arm. To say she's relieved would be an understatement. Gently, she takes his arm, running her hand along it and willing any pain to dissipate, any poison to be cured, and any other wounds to be healed. The action is also soothing to her, a notion she can still provide for her friends despite what she saw. It was real, she knows. She didn't check hard enough to her father's body to be among the dead. That was her fault. And now she'll have to pay for it. "Xerean?" Grian says quietly, so as to keep from scaring her again. "What was wrong? You weren't screaming, but you were still very distressed." She falters. To tell them what happened would be to admit murdering an entire city. And while EX assured her it was okay, she worries about how other people, especially Scar, would react. She can't divulge the truth just yet. Not to Scar, anyway. "Just a bad dream. I thought I was alone again." She lies, but puts the words 'I'll explain later' into Grian's head. He gives the barest of nods, enough to let Xerean know he understood. "Ah. But hey, you're here now, and you're safe with us! You're practically a Hermit now!" Scar assures her, having not seen the look between his friends, and stands up. "And besides, we all have bad dreams every now and then, don't worry." This is one of the reasons she's particularly attached to Scar. He was so kind, not questioning her, letting her admit whatever she felt ready to, and being more understanding than she thinks he should have. He acted like she was just a person, not a crazy, powerful entity who has the ability to cause catastrophic damage. Even now, she's just hurt him, but he doesn't perceive it as an act of malice. "Thank you." She lets him hug her, while hugs are still a bit weird to her, she admits there's something nice about the feeling of someone holding her close, like a promise of safety. "Is there anything you need to feel any better, or are you alright?" Scar inquires, letting her go and stepping back. "I think I'm okay now, sorry for waking you." Grian nods. "It's okay. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't try to help? It's still pretty late; let's go back to sleep. You'll feel better with good rest." Grian and Scar go back to sleep, but Xerean is restless. No, I won't. He's clearly alive, and unlike me, his abilities need no such recharge time. Stupid Moon and having to take away my powers. She huffs, then glances back at her friends before gliding down to the portal, the Rift. No strange figures laying in wait, just its existence. There's a low hum that always accompanied it, and even as she checks now, nothing has changed. It was no bad dream, she knows that much for certain. Of course, it was a bad dream in that it definitely wasn't a good one, either, but this was no silly little nightmare. This was real. I know it. She sits down, staring intently at the Rift. 

And when he comes, I'll be ready. 

Over the course of the next two months or so, whenever she isn't busy with friends, she is staying there, watching the Portal. Never blinking, still as stone, she may as well be dead. She didn't explain much to Grian, but she did admit that she worried about the Rift, which is why he lets her stay down there as much as he does, though he does drag her away to go have fun every now and then. But she must be prepared, whatever walks through that Portal will need to be dealt with right away. So she sits there, day after day, hour after hour, waiting and watching. She refuses to be tired, keeping vigilant is a must, refusing to let Grian take a shift for her so she can relax, until one day, something appears.