And you ' ve gotta be nice for Batman to let you do that to him . <| sep |> That was all it said . Why . But there were multiple questions packed into that one word . I My throat was dry as I stammered my response . I needed them . To show them I was right . It waited , watching me carefully . And and cause I had to prove to prove to her that I wasn ' t crazy . It nodded gently , but kept staring into me . I gulped . Because because I had to show myself that I wasn ' t crazy . It snorted , and spoke again . All of these are reasons . All of them are true . But why did you think capturing deadly monsters from times of old was a good idea ? Before I could answer , it turned away . They were sealed away for a reason . And it was more for their benefit than it was for yours . This surprised me . What do you mean ? It gazed around at the cages . Of every creature here , how many were free before you got to them ? I glanced at the wolf , who was peering at me intently . . one . That is right . Now , how many of these creatures did their best to kill you on sight ? All of them . At least I remembered the encounter with the werewolf . He ' d threatened violence , but that was as far as he got . All except one . They cannot control themselves . The dragon nodded at the wolf . These monsters are not born , they are created , and there are very few which can be tamed . Even Thomas here has trouble when the moon is full . It sighed . It took me almost three hundred years to track down every monster , find a spell that could transfer their soul , and procure volunteers to take upon themselves the curses and be sealed away . Thanks to you , the time to trade shifts has come about early . Trade trade shifts ? Hm . Yes . That is a phrase you use today , correct ? I transfer the soul to a new willing participant once every few years , in order to keep these monsters away from the world . It takes more power than you could imagine , so I normally bring another one of the controlled beings with me , such as the Werewolf . Casually , it reached forward with one claw and tore a hole in the mesh surrounding the wolf , who stepped out . Wait ! I reached out , as if I could stop them . What about the reporters outside ? The world , waiting to see them ? I promised I would show them , this time ! You cannot . The dragon reached forward to tap the vampire , hovering in midair . A dark smoke billowed out , congealing into a small ball that floated around the dragon ' s neck . The vampire collapsed , landing on Jaxston and falling limp . I ' m sorry , truly . But the world cannot know about them , not now , in this age . These monsters cannot die , you see . You can kill the body , but it will find a new one . And being kept in a cage is a mockery of the men they inhabit . It worked it ' s way over to the Mudman ' s box , drawing a dark brown smoke out of that one . And , come early as this transfer is , I still have one more volunteer to find . It ' s harder than you would think . Why why do they do this ? I let my hand fall limp as he traversed the warehouse , gathering more of these smokey souls . To protect the world , of course . It ' s the best solution we have . They sleep for a decade or so , and come back to find that the land they love is still in one piece . For the most part . It shook it ' s head . I may have to force an extra soul on someone innocent , because of you . At least , until I find someone suitable . Suddenly , it gained a thoughtful look . Perhaps perhaps I have someone right here . It turned to me . Before I could reply , a third voice joined in . I ' ll do it . Jaxston , struggling out from underneath the limp vampire . He shoved it off of him , standing shakily . Even the dragon looked surprised . You ? I must have let you free from the timespell on accident . Doesn ' t matter . Jaxston nodded at it , as if it were any other new acquaintance . Soon as you started doing that smokey thing with the vamp , I woke up . I heard it all . And I volunteer . Hmm . I cannot say I am not grateful , but are you sure you have thought this through ? The dragon tilted it ' s head to look at him . You will lose ten years of you life , after all . Jaxston snorted . It ' s gonna take at least that long for this whole thing to blow over after the reporters get in here to find more empty cages . He looked me in the eye , serious . And I can ' t let my friend miss what ' s about to come next . You have to trust me . I was speechless . Why was he doing this ? The dragon chuckled . I see . We are of the same mind on this . Very well , if that is your wish . It slithered over to the cage of the troll , and stretched between the bars to reach him . Another smokey image appeared , sucked into a small floating ball . Within a few minutes , every monster was limp and still , an essence sucked from them . The dragon , now surrounded with more than a dozen floating orbs , nodded at me once more . That is all , I believe . I will find you again , one day . It slithered toward the door , the Werewolf named Thomas and my best friend following . A moment before he left , Jaxston turned back to wink . The world rushed back into doing . The water was slopping in the tanks , and the dust was swirling in a draft . But in that instant , every monster transformed . From giant troll to swimming siren , they were replaced with a human . The vampire stood up , no longer pale , but a darker skinned man wearing a feathery coat . The troll stepped out from between his bars , now a rather skinny man with glasses . Standing in an empty box where the mudman used to be was a short blond woman . From all around the room , they climbed out of the holes in their cages the dragon had torn , gathering in a crowd , muttering among themselves . I felt entirely over my head . My monsters were gone , replaced with these people who probably knew more about this magical world than I ever would . I edged backwards , unsure what to do and then the door creaked again . Slipping inside through the gap , wearing jeans and a blouse , was her . Sara what ' re you doing how ? She wasn ' t supposed to know about this , not until after the rest of the world had learned that I was right . She wasn ' t supposed to be here . She held up a phone . Jaxston texted me . Gave me the address . She watched me carefully . It ' s good to see you again . I glanced around at the empty cages , the crowd of strange people . I I can explain . I saw everything . Her voice was shaking almost as bad as mine . I got here , and nothing was moving . But I heard voices inside , so I took a look and there you were , talking with a dragon . So that ' s what Jaxston meant . And the dragon he ' d left her out of his spell ? So so you believe me now ? I ' m not crazy ? I didn ' t before . You know I didn ' t . Catching a goblin ? She shook her head with a chuckle . Who would believe it ? I gulped . Does this mean mean we can be a couple again ? She glared at me , her eyes suddenly sharp . You never let me finish , two years ago . I told you I didn ' t believe you ' d actually seen a goblin , and you ran away . ButmdashShe barrelled onward . You didn ' t stop to hear me speak , assumed that I wanted nothing to do with you . You didn ' t even come back for your phone . She paused , and sighed . And no matter who I asked , or how I looked , I couldn ' t find you . I remembered that . I couldn ' t face her , after that . The big newscrew , interviewing the famous , crazy man who thought he ' d caught a goblin . And then she showed up on my doorstep , and she didn ' t believe me . I ' d refused to talk about her to Jaxston after that , no matter how many times he tried . She took another step forward , and her voice cracked . But just because I didn ' t believe you didn ' t mean I didn ' t still love you . I dropped to my knees as she rushed up and wrapped her arms around my shoulders . Don ' t run away from me . Jaxston told me what you were trying to do . He told me you were fighting , every day of your life , to prove to me , to the world , that you weren ' t insane . I tried . I heaved a deep breath , my head resting on her shoulder . I can ' t imagine what I would have done without Jaxston . She helped me up , and we stood there together for one , blissful minute . And then someone tapped me on my shoulder , and I turned around to find myself face to face with the man who ' d had his teeth sunken into my shoulder a few minutes ago . His gaze was serious , if confused , and behind him was the crowd of other monsters , men and women who ' d taken it upon themselves to hide the creatures from the world . Excuse me , he said , But can you tell us where we are ? As if to answer him , one of the crew poked his head through the door . We ' re live in one minute , boss ! Sara glanced up at me . No running away , not this time . I shook my head . This was going to be hard . Can can you help me ? She smiled . Let ' s go face them together . So , side by side , we walked out of the warehouse door and into the world . Wow ! This was a rather long project , but I ' m glad I finished it . I hope you enjoyed it ! As always , CC is more than welcome , and if you want to read some more check out rWrittenWyrm , which is basically just a place I use to gather my stories so I don ' t lose em .