There were two moons in the night sky.

One, high above its smaller sibling, shone in a brilliant blue and green hue. Bright streaks of white swirled and danced across its surface, a mesmerizing pattern that was both captivating and annoying. The second moon looked almost identical to the one I was familiar with from home, but for a streak of red that tainted its otherwise pure white light.

I lay in the cool dirt, gazing at the two moons in the sky. My memories of arriving here were blurry, but I remembered the disquieting expression Doppel had given me when I asked to learn more about the mysterious Far Side.

"You really that curious? Fine then."

Ah. Right.

"Did she think it was acceptable to send me to the Far Side without warning?" I groaned in frustration, lifting my hand to massage my aching temples. My body was already exhausted from the grueling daily workouts, and this was the last straw. "What an incredibly rude thing to do...."

That might have been an understatement. Distantly, I was aware that panic should have been coursing through me, but I felt oddly detached. My body felt strangely limp like all the energy and adrenaline had abruptly drained. I felt utterly overwhelmed, not knowing how to process any of this.

With a great sigh, I reluctantly tore my gaze away from the two luminous moons that shone brightly above me and pushed myself up from the ground. My fingers dug into the dirt from lifting me, the feeling oddly calm and comforting. I seemed to be on a vast plain, surrounded by rolling hills blanketed in what appeared to be dark grass. The grass stood rigid, pointing straight upward and unmoved by the soft breeze that caressed my skin.

My bones creaking, I slowly stood up. With each step I took, I was painfully aware of the wind intensifying. My body aching from whatever Doppel had done, I moved forward, guided by the sound of crashing waves.

I reached the peak of the hill and... Oh. Holy shit.

The closest term I could use to describe what I saw was a sea of monsters.

Waves of writhing and dark shapes violently clashed against one another, creating a deafening roar of billions of indistinguishable voices. It was a chaotic scene of contorted and unnatural forms, claws, wings, fangs, horns, tendrils, and feathers in uncountable combinations. Gigantic limbs, as tall as skyscrapers, stretched desperately into the night sky, mindlessly searching for something, anything.

Wait... did that thing have wings made of teeth?!

The only common trait I noticed was the eyes - a golden hue with an inky black sclera, an unsettling color that remained constant regardless of the ever-changing forms of the monsters.

The overwhelming madness that stretched past the horizon seemed to swallow everything beyond the cliff's edge where I stood. I could only gaze upon the chaotic scene as emptiness engulfed me. The last time I'd felt this way was when I stood on the brink of the border between Thailand and Burma, knowing that one more step would trigger a landmine. This sense of impending peril and death being so near would never leave me.

So it was no surprise that my palms were sweaty, my knees were trembling, and my heart was pounding fiercely in my chest while I gazed into the abyss.

"Huh, you're not screaming," noted a familiar voice behind me, as if she were discussing the weather, "Color me shocked."

Naturally, I screamed like a little girl from surprise.

Doppel rolled her eyes at me. "And then you had to go and ruin the whole cool guy façade you had going on."

"What the hell, Doppel?!" I exclaimed, breathing heavily as I tried to get my bearings. "What was the point of throwing me into this godforsaken place?!"

"You were getting on my nerves," she replied dismissively, not taking her eyes off her nails, "You wanted to catch a glimpse of the Far Side? Well, here it is."

I sighed deeply and glanced back at the overwhelming horde of monsters before us. "... Is this all there is to it?" I asked apprehensively, "No wonder people don't make a huge deal out of it."

Doppel shook her head and floated closer to the edge, setting her hands on her hips. "Nah, just one corner of it," she said. "And not even that, technically. I can't take anyone I want, whenever I want, over to the Far Side. So, instead, I just connected to your mind and shared a memory of it with you."

"Wh-Wait, hold on," I fumbled over my words, "You shot me a memory? I'm not following."

"You do this all the time with your slime, "daughter," don't you?" she retorted, giving me a surprised look, "You shouldn't be a stranger to this sort of thing."

I frowned, feeling a chill run through me as I recalled the strange dream I'd had when we'd fallen asleep intertwined. It was something else, something much more accurate than the usual exchange of emotions and concepts. I kicked a pebble over the cliff's edge, watching it disappear into the depths of the tumultuous waters below. "Whatever this is, it's not something I've ever experienced before," I murmured.

"Hm," Doppel hummed and shrugged, "Whatever."

I attempted to suppress my growing frustration at her apparent indifference, although my hands clenched tight into fists. Despite her vexing attitude towards everything, Doppel had finally accomplished something no one else had done and gave me a glimpse of the Far Side. Even if it was merely a recollection of a mere fraction of what it truly was, it was more than anything I had ever had before. My rage, and even my fear of the nonchalant display of power, could be set aside for the moment. As I gazed upon the alien terrain before me, I took in every seemingly impossible sight and gradually felt something that overpowered my natural impulse to run away in terror, as I had upon first beholding a liminal.

Wonder.

I was always bad at feeling that nasty fear of the unknown that seemed to plague most others, anyway.

"So... what am I looking at?" I asked after taking a deep breath.

Doppel chuckled as she said, "It's got all sorts of grandiose and fancy names, like The Fanged Sea, the Screaming Shadow, and even the Crawling Chaos. Some people must think that makes them sound important, but to me, it's just the place where I was born." She rolled her eyes with disdain.

That explained why all those things had the same eyes as her, at least.

"Then that means that every one of... " I hesitated, "Them, is a shapeshifter?"

Doppel nodded, her face breaking into a satisfied smile. "Bingo. It's where we've created, somehow, though no one knows the specifics. No one has been brave enough to rip themselves apart to figure it out. But if you're curious, be my guest and try it out." She finished her sentence with a sardonic smirk.

"Uh... I'll pass, thanks," I shook my head, "But then how did you end up... I dunno, free of that?"

"Hell, if I know," she shrugged, "I can only assume I spent countless years, decades, hell, maybe even centuries like that, mindless and cannibalizing my kin."

She sounded disturbingly calm about that last bit.

"But one day, I inexplicably awoke on the shoreline, feeling completely confused and disoriented while desperately searching for clues to who and what I was. That was when I truly began to exist."

I stayed silent, letting the gravity of her words sink in. It was hard to comprehend that something as bizarre as shapeshifters could be real. I shouldn't have been so shocked, though - this was Doppel we were talking about. Even if she tried to explain it, there would be no real explanation or purpose. All I could do was accept it and move on, which made me suspicious that she'd even told me that much.

I started, tearing my gaze away from the overwhelming horde of monsters and locking eyes with Doppel. "What's the point of showing me all this? It's a bit much, even for you."

Her silver hair drifted around her, almost as if she were underwater, as she regarded me with an otherworldly gaze. I realized then that she was floating, her delicate toes barely grazing the dark grass below her. The effect was far more ethereal than I had expected, and if I had to pick a word to describe it, I would have gone with 'wraith-like.' She was neither angelic nor demonic but something entirely otherworldly.

"A few reasons," Doppel eventually said, turning away from me, "I guess I was expecting a reaction."

"A reaction?" I echoed, tilting my head, "From what?"

She shrugged. "Hell, if I know. You, me, whatever brought you here in the first place, some third party, something. But it looks like nothing will happen because of something as half-assed as a memory link."

I wouldn't call what was going on "half-assed" by any means, but there was probably a bit of a gap in experience between us.

"Whatever," Doppel sighed, "Show's over." She raised her hand.

"Wait, I wan-!"

With a single snap of her fingers, the world around me came undone. I could hear the distant cries of creatures being pushed further away from me while the ground beneath my feet disintegrated and vanished into the wind. The moons, too, seemed closer than before.

"Aki," Doppel said to me, as the moon that resembled Earth was about to crush us, "No matter what you do, always be wary. If you keep poking around, something far more dangerous than myself will eventually retaliate."

With a start, I woke up on the sidewalk.

"Gah," I groaned, covering my eyes to shield them from the sudden burst of sunlight, "The fucking...."

Fuck this cryptic bullshit.

With a groan, I forced myself up. I was still in front of Lilith's host's house, and my head throbbed with pain! It felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it.

"Impressive!" Doppel exclaimed, looking down at me with her hands on her hips and a curious expression. "I didn't expect you to take to it so quickly - well done!"

"What is wrong with you?!" I exclaimed angrily, wincing as another sharp pain shot through my head. My usually polite demeanor had disappeared in the face of my throbbing headache, though I'm sure nobody was particularly shocked. "Stop looking at me like I'm some kind of plaything," I added, my voice laced with irritation.

"Hey, just helping a friend satiate his little curiosity while satisfying my own," she replied cheekily, giving me a grin before turning away, "Anyway, dinner's at your place tonight, right? See ya then."

At that, Doppel drifted away.

"Good talk," I hissed at the empty air.

I had no idea what to make of Doppel anymore. Granted, I wasn't sure, but my uncertainty had grown even further. A part of me wondered if she was being so unpredictable to throw me off or because she was naturally so flippant. Either option was concerning in its way. I wasn't even sure I could trust what she had displayed or told me if this was a part of the Far Side of the speculated origin of shapeshifters.

I exhaled deeply, feeling a sense of relief as I did so. Yet, I couldn't help but feel concerned about the endless stream of worries that seemed to be never-ending. What would happen if I had to deal with a potentially hostile shapeshifter on top of it all?

... actually, a pretty big deal, come to think of it. Well, one thing at a time, Which reminded me.

With a heave, I rose to my feet and fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone. I quickly scrolled through my contacts until I found the number I needed. After dialing it in, I held the phone to my ear, anxiously awaiting a response.

"Hello, is this the Ootsu residence?" I asked once the line was picked up, "I'm Akihiro Bando, liminal counselor for the Cultural Exchange Between Species. Is Draco in?"

To be continued...