As the wave of energy that turned the world monochrome pushed its way across the rest of the Bunker homestead, the five women found themselves unable to stay standing, as they felt an unnatural pressure coming at them from all sides.

After a few seconds, which felt like much longer, the pressure stopped, although Atarah, Valp, and Alena were all still rather shaken. Kage was able to pick herself up but still pushed against a wall for support, while Flora was able to get back up without complication.

"What, in the name of the infernal triad, was that!?" Alena asked, unable to stop herself from shaking. "It felt like some kind of teleportation, that's for sure," Kage said.

"That was a Plane Shift. I don't know if it was someone actually casting the spell or the planar energy the Sunsetters have been picking up." Flora said, without her usual pep, as she helped Alena get up. "How can you tell?" She asked.

"Oh, uh, just read up on the side effects a lot!" Flora explained, checking herself.

"Well, what damn plane did we end up on? Doesn't look like any I've heard of." Kage asked, fixing her hair.

"That, I don't know."

As they looked around, they noticed that not every drop of color was gone. Atarah's armband, Alena's eyes, the cap of the now broken consecrated vial, all of them were still full color, even though the rest of the world wasn't. It looked like, for whatever reason, the colors Gold, Silver, and Red remained in this otherwise monochromatic plane.

"Let's stay inside for now," Valp said, steadying herself with her hammer.

"It looks like we're still in the house, it's a shelter for now." She said, before stumbling over an end table.

"Wait, when'd that get here?" Atarah asked as she looked around the room.

None of the bookshelves, but piles of mismatched books on the floor, along with the furniture missing from the first floor. Racing to the kitchen, she saw the same. Dining room furniture and utensils, but no food.

"So did the whole house get teleported or something?" Alena asked.

"No, it couldn't have, otherwise all of the furniture would be here, and I'm sure people would notice if an entire house went missing." Atarah said, returning to the room.

"It seems more likely that this is just a copy of the house, somehow "on top" of the real one, for lack of a better word." Flora said.

"But then why would it be taking stuff in and out if it was a copy, and why is it only phasing now instead of forever ago? This isn't like the Ethereal Plane that's just a layer over the material, this is something wholly different!" Kage asked.

"Even the skyline." Valp noticed, returning to the window. What was a vast desert before, with the ever-looming central mountain of Agartha in the far distance, was now littered with houses and towers, it appeared to be a small village.

Even more so, Valp noticed that there weren't any of the flower beds that littered the front lawn on the material plane, and the picket fence unceremoniously cut off just a few feet past the door, as if the house had been picked up.

As they pondered, a little bit anxious in the new situation and trying to put things together, a shuffling sound could be heard from upstairs.

They all rushed up the stairs once more, Atarah and Valp getting there first, to see the monster at the very end of the hallway, the first one defeated, moving towards them.

"The...basement..." He wheezed, moving towards them. It seemed that his right leg was broken, and hadn't regenerated. Strangely, he seemed less monstrous and gaunt but still had a dark hunger in his eyes.

"He's alive? I fried him, and you decapitated him!" Alena asked, shocked. 

The ligaments around his neck were visibly regenerating, as the party was preparing to attack.

"Get...to...the...basement." It said as it got closer.

"I would recommend staying very still." A deep voice said behind the group. Atarah quickly turned around, and just barely avoided getting cut as a long blade of silver rushed past her face and into the open mouth of the monster, pinning it to the far end of the hallway once more.

As the party looked behind them, they noticed the person who spoke. They were tall, with a slightly long face, silver eyes, and hair that faded to a different color at the tips. Not much could be told in this monochromatic realm, but the shades of gray that made up their body seemed to be darker than Flora's tanned complexion, but not as dark as Alena's skin tone.

The most color on them was their coat, which seemed to be made of a dark crimson hue, but flitted around them and flowed to the ground like a living shadow. There wasn't malice in their gaze, but there wasn't kindness either, it was entirely cold.

"Hello, I would advise you all to tell me who you are, and what you're doing here." They asked again, in their deep and commanding voice.

"And why should we? We've been here investigating, but you're the latest arrival. If you're gauging suspicion, that puts you at the top of the list." Kage countered.

The new figure shot Kage a serious glance. Not one of malice, but intimidation. Kage, for her part, shot back one rather similar, although with a touch more contempt than the tall individual.

"Forgive us for her rudeness," Atarah began, earning a glare from Kage in her direction instead

"But we were just looking into a family's disappearance on the material realm, and we suddenly got transported, do you know where we are?" She continued, feeling a wave of intimidation roll off of their new friend.

They let out a sigh and rolled their eyes. "I told Booth to wait until I got back." This caught the attention of the party in various levels of surprise.

"Very well. My name is Lillian Siog, a member of the Sunsetter organization and Strike Force leader. As for your location," She began.

"This is the Midnight Realm."

"The Midnight Realm? I've never heard of that plane." Flora chimed in.

"Before we get to definitions and planes, what happened with that monster?" Alena asked, gesturing to the far end of the hallway, where the monster was starting to fade to ash.

"I dunno if you heard me shout it before, but I pumped it full of divine energy, and Valp here knocked his head off like it was a game of Voltigierball!" She continued.

"I actually did hear that," Lillian began, pushing past the group.

"It's what alerted me to the presence of life in this house. Well, true-life I should say. Not the fragmented unlife that was here before." She continued.

"I imagine that returning to the realm of its master reinvigorated somewhat,"

Inspecting the ash now on the floor, Lillian shoots a glance at all five of them. "You're all with the Sunsetters, yes? I believe Booth to not be foolish enough to enlist random adventurers or mercenaries."

"We've been working with separate organizations, but recently learned that they were under the Sunsetters. This was our initiation test." Atarah explained.

"Yes, and I'd say we've done a good job so far. We know what happened to the family, and defeated the monsters near effortlessly!" Kage praised, puffing herself up a bit in pride.

"Then some explanations are necessary. First, the Midnight Realm is not a part of the ordinary planar system. Even I don't know much about its origins, but it's more akin to a Demiplane, a reflection of the material that gained its own existence." Lillian began.

"That's why a copy of the Bunker house can exist here, right?" Valp asked, getting a nod from Lillian in return.

"This plane is a home for all beings of Necrotic nature. Vampires, Specters, the occasional Hag or Night Witch, not to mention the Undead. Currently, we're in Vampire territory." She continued.

"You said you were some kind of Strike Force with the Sunsetters, right? Do you have more members?" Alena asked, still very wary of her surroundings.

"Yes and no. I'll explain more about our current situation later, but my position is new and there are several candidates, but no formal teams currently. What I do for the Sunsetters is run recon between here and the Material Realm, which is why I'm here now." With a flick of her wrist, her silver sword removed itself from the wall and zipped to her side, and she began to make her way down the stairs. The others soon followed.

"The monster, I'm assuming the father, mentioned the basement. We didn't find one in the house." Valp added.

"That's because they had boarded it up in the real house. According to some Wyatt folk, they had a rather nasty flooding incident a few years back. But, with this copy," Lillian began, before walking to the living room.

"I'm sure you didn't notice when you first arrived, reeling from the Plane Shift, but here is why the family was targeted." She pointed to a hole in the side of the wall, which seemed to open up to a large tunnel headed down at a slant.

"Lillian, you mentioned being here for a reason, I'm sure it's not just to find some hole." Flora asked.

"Quite right. I was on the tail of a Vampire under the name of Count Levistus. A Diviner, and a high-ranking member of the Vampire Queen's court. Rumors were spreading wildly about some discovery he had made and was preparing to present it to the court. That led me here, and to the Bunker house. Now, if you're all feeling up to it, we should take care of this. If the rumors I've heard are correct, we need to stop him from achieving his goal. I'll explain the rest on the way."

There was an air of uncertainty in the house, and the silence of the night was deafening.

"Why should I listen to you?" Kage asked, breaking the silence.

"Are you really going to be obstinate with lives on the line?" Lillian shot back, seeming to be genuinely confused.

"Well, I don't know about you, but you haven't offered any evidence that you're actually with the Sunsetters other than throwing Booth's name around, along with having a massive amount of knowledge about this plane of monsters that no one else knows about. Then there's the fact that you appeared out of nowhere without even a footstep, and I'm personally not too fond of your flying sword!" Kage explained, stepping closer and closer to Lillian.

"I won't sit here and act like I'm above saving lives, I'm goal-oriented not heartless, but unless you can give me some solid evidence that you are who you say you are, and that you're really doing what you say you're doing, I'm not going down some tunnel where we could get easily pincer attacked. For all I know, you're the one behind all this!" She reiterated.

With a sigh, Lillian reached into her shadow to produce a badge similar to the ones the girls have, which were supposed to be used to call for backup if needed. 

"This isn't much, but I am genuinely a part of the Sunsetters. As for why I know so much about the Midnight Realm, I'm not ashamed to reveal that I was born and raised here." Lillian said, raising her lip enough to show off her sharp canine fangs.

"So you're a Vampire helping the Sunsetters? Why would you if this is your realm?" Kage asked.

"Dhampir, technically, a half-blood. But, yes. To keep it simple, I disagree with how the Vampire Queen rules this realm and her intentions for the material realm. Levistus is after a dangerous magical artifact that I don't feel comfortable discussing outside of certifiably secure areas, and if he gets its power or, even worse, takes it back to the Queen, then hundreds if not thousands of lives will be on the line." She explained.

"Kage," Valp said, getting her attention.

"I know it seems odd, but we should trust her." She said it with a calm yet stern glance, and the voice behind the words seemed to be confident as well as honest.

With a loud sigh, Kage put a hand against her forehead. "Very well. But I'm keeping an eye on you in case." She said, turning back to Lillian.

"Whatever helps." She replied.

Outside of the hole in the wall, the tunnel was large enough to fit two people side-by-side, so Valp and Alena were in the front, Atarah and Lillian stayed in the middle, and Flora and Kage kept in the back.

The party, plus Lillian, made their way down the tunnel for a few minutes, as the light got further and further away. Kage was keeping her eyes set on Lillian while Valp kept an eye ahead.

"Was this tunnel carved? It seems convenient that it was right under the Bunker house." Flora mentioned, writing down notes in a notebook.

"It's natural!" Atarah and Alena said at the same time.

"How can you tell?" Flora asked. This time, both Atarah and Alena waited to see if the other would talk, but Alena let Atarah have the floor.

"The way the walls are formed, and the texture of the rock. Plus, if this was a dug-out cave they'd need to put in proper supports somewhere along the way, but this seems to be a case of natural erosion, probably an old river." Atarah speculated.

"You're not wrong, Atarah. But, the entrance to this cave was blocked a while ago." Lillian added on.

"Then how is it accessible to us now?" Flora asked.

"I don't know the fine details of how it happened, but somehow Levistus found a way to layer a piece of the material realm here, opening a path that wouldn't otherwise be possible. Given that he's the strongest Diviner in the Midnight Realm, it probably wasn't that difficult." She explained.

"For what end?" Valp questioned.

"That artifact I mentioned, its location is on the material realm, according to the Sunsetters information, but much like this cave the chamber it's locked in was sealed millennia ago. The cave here was long enough to match the distance in the same location, but didn't have the chamber at the end." She answered.

"So by bringing the Bunker house over, he had an entrance into the cave, and with the cave, he had an entrance into the chamber?" Atarah summarized.

"That's my working theory. It would take a massive amount of power and precision to do, but that's something he'd have access to. Especially if the Queen approved of it." Lillian replied.

"You've mentioned her a couple of times now, what's she like?" Atarah asked.

"A cruel and vicious warmonger who only cares for her populace as a resource for her gain. She won't stop until all of the Midnight Realm is under her control. But even worse than her, is the Rozen Court." Lillian began.

"Oooh, they sound fancy! Who're they?" Flora asked, still furiously scribbling.

"The highest-ranking members of the Queen's court. Powerful spellcasters, titanic warriors, devilishly efficient politicians, you name it. They gain status and power by inflating the Queen's ego, and she, in turn, facilitates their desires by any means necessary, especially if it benefits her."

"The amount of blood that has been spilled out of petty greed, or to facilitate someone's pride, is abhorrent." Lillian said, her voice getting especially grim.

There was a bit more awkward silence through the cavern.

"This isn't really the right time," Atarah began.

"But I can relate to living under a system like that. If you need to talk about anything, assuming you're really in the Sunsetters, I can understand." She finished.

Silenced returned once more, save for the slight click of the stone, and the slow drip of water.

"So this artifact," Kage began.

"You keep saying how important it is to keep out of the Queen's hands, but what are we looking at? A weapon, a spell, an item?" 

"From what I've been able to hear and research, a power source primarily. Imagine one item that contained enough power to match the material realms leylines in totality. That's what we're stopping them from getting." Lillian explained.

As this information settled, the party began to see some light coming from the other end of the cave. "We're getting close, let's hurry." Valp said as they quickened their paces.

After a few more minutes of sprinting, they passed a line where the monochromatic colors of the Midnight Realm gave way to the colors of the Material Realm. Once passed, all of them felt a bit more invigorated than they felt before, and Lillian's brown hair, which faded to blonde at the tips, and her brown skin as well came into view.

Soon, they found themselves standing in front of a stone doorway, slightly open, with a bright light shining through.

"Will you be alright in that?" Alena asked Lillian.

"No worries, Dhampirs aren't as vulnerable to sunlight."  She replied.

As Alena readied herself to push the door fully open, she raised her hand to count down from three.

Everyone got weapons prepared, and Alena slowly pushed open the stone door. What opened to them was a large hollow cavern, at least 100 feet wide in all directions. In the center was what appeared to be a large square section of smooth marble, with four stone pillars, making it look like a classic temple, albeit without a roof.

What caught the attention of the party was the pedestal in the center of the marble floor. A large crimson crystal, triangular with jagged edges like a piece of thick broken glass, was spinning slowly in the air. Underneath it a ring made of four separate metal bands spun, gathering the occasional red spark delivered by the crystal.

"Is that it?" Kage whispered.

Lillian seemed confused but gave an affirmative nod, eyes straight at the crystal.

But, breaking the tense silence, a strange scraping sound was heard.

A small desk area was set up in the back left corner of the marble floor, but with notes and pages flung wildly around. Slowly, from the top of the pillar in that corner, crawled a strange figure. They had tattered and torn robes, and their pale skin was cracked and bruised, with silver hair flying in every direction.

What was most striking about them, however, was their eyes. Pure white, bulging eyes, with stains of blood running down their face, and sharp fangs at the ready.

Lillian recognized the figure, the tattered robes showed whorls of blue and gold, the preferred pattern of Count Levistus, but it was clear to her that something had made him rapidly deteriorate to be in what looked like an animalistic state.

"Everyone, we need to proceed carefully and as a unit, something's not right here." She whispered, looking at the remaining four members of the party.

Looking around frantically, Lillian just barely got a glimpse of Atarah sneaking behind a pillar, away from the sight of Levistus, blade drawn. 

"Atarah! What do you think you're doing!?" Kage mentally said as she quickly cast the spell Message.

"Takedowns like this are what I'm best at, trust me." She replied, as she slowly pulled another of her enhanced holy water vials. 

At this point, Levistus had crawled his way to the ground, and Alena was worried he'd spot them, as they were right in front of his vision and she was not adept at stealth. However, even though the vampires bulging eyes were facing her direction, and on the same level as her body, he didn't seem to notice their presence. 

She was confused for a moment, before realizing, "He can't see us, but vampires have other heightened senses, right?" She whispered to the group.

Kage tried to send another Message to Atarah, but when the vial was fully pulled out, Levistus suddenly jerked his head towards Atarah, creating a sickening crack that echoed through the cavern.

"What is this sweetly foul scent upon the wind?" He wheezed and stuttered out, slowly shifting his body in the same direction his head had suddenly pointed.

Atarah tried to quickly move around the pillar, but his head traced behind her perfectly. 

"He's following the scent of the vial!" Kage told her.

Atarah began to think of a plan, but before she could, Levistus got into a strange position with his legs.

"Whoever is there,"

"YOU SHALL NOT HAVE MY TREASURE!"

With a push of mighty strength, he lept towards Atarah, his claws and fangs pointed perfectly at her throat.