Skylar looks towards Sandman. Looking at him from top to bottom, she sees the little blob of sand floating beside him. 

“What’s that?” She asked, pointing to the peculiar blob. 

“Oh, this is my little friend, Pego, a baby sand wyvern,” Sandman proudly replied. 

Trying to understand how the Sandman came to be, she approaches him, walking away from the mystical scythe in front of her and starts reaching for the man’s shoulder.  

 “The Sandman? Like the one who puts people to sleep?” Skylar said, as she examined him from head to toe. 

“Yes, the one and only,” Sandman replied. 

“So, you’re the one making me fall asleep in class,” she wittingly replied. 

“No, that was just your phantom giving you nightmares the night before. They’ve been so persistent as of late,” he replied scratching his head; sand crumbling down as he scratched. 

“Phantoms?” She asks, suddenly remembering her nightmares throughout the past year.  

Sandman slowly raised his right arm as sands behind him followed. As he closed his fist, the sand erupted and formed a figure. It stood about ten feet tall; its shape is that of an alien squid. its skin looked disgusting. it’s filled with holes all over. It has large, dilated eyes and a wide mouth that seems to always smile. It has razor-sharp teeth and a very long tongue that has small spikes on its surface. 

“These are phantoms, shapeshifters that feed on fear and emotional distress,” Sandman said. 

“Phantoms you say?” Skylar replied in awe of the hideous creature formed in sand. 

Sandman approaches Skylar and blows sand onto her eyes. Skylar was suddenly pulled into a void. There was neither light nor sound. The only thing she can hear is her heart racing. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew at her, along with it came faint crunching sounds. It then sounded as something gurgling, then gnawing. The sound drew closer and closer as Skylar felt something warm in front of her. But she still couldn’t see anything. 

A deafening sound is heard throughout the void as a crack of magical light slowly grew bigger in front of Skylar. She reaches inside and clutches her hand. As she pulls her hand out of the crack, she becomes enveloped by the power of a black mist. As the black mist releases her, she transforms into the outfit she wore in yesterday’s dream. As the black and gold scythe appeared, her outfit is transformed into the black and silver dress that’s imbued with energy. 

As the crack vanishes, behind it, Skylar sees a black blob highlighted with a violet aura. She reaches her hand out and as her fingers touch the purple aura, she sees two large, rounded eyes. The blob started to grin and then it screamed a loud roar, the force pushing Skylar back a few meters. 

 “Defend yourself,” a voice said that echoed throughout the void. 

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Skylar exclaimed. 

The Phantom blitzes its way towards Skylar, its mouth opens wide, revealing its razor-sharp fangs. Skylar blocks the phantom’s mouth with the scythe as it continues to gnaw at the snath. Skylar struggles trying to kick it with her legs seeming to do nothing. 

“What should I do!” she screamed panicky as her voice cracked.  

“Draw the power you wielded before. Accept the power bestowed upon you by the Eons,” the voice said. 

“What does that even mean? You know what? Screw this!” Skylar said. 

She screams in rage. Her eyes start to glow red as the energy in her dress glows brighter. She pushes off of the phantom with all her might. Knocking it off of her. She zooms in front of the phantom, punching it upwards. With her speed she kept juggling the phantom with her punches. The only thing that could be seen in the void was the streaks of red coming from her eyes and the greenish purple energy that glowed from her dress. As the phantom floats in the middle of the void, battered and mangled, Skylar raises her hand calling for her scythe.  

The scythe flies to her grasp. As she clutches it and looks towards the phantom, she suddenly sees a familiar figure. A man with a tall and buff stature standing with his back facing towards her. As the man turns around, Skylar sees her father. 

“Dad?” she cried out in confusion. 

She slowly levitated towards her father. She stopped at the sight of his face. It’s burly, age lines all over his face, his beard as white as ice. His eyebrows are bushy, his nose is thick, along with a chiseled chin. He stood in front of Skylar expressionless. Then, his mouth slowly moves to a grin. His eyes turn black, and his face starts to rip apart on the sides. His skin ripped apart slowly. Skylar screams and panics severing the ties to her scythe. As she powers down, her father floats back then speedily dash towards her at lightning speed. 

Suddenly, a loud explosion. Skylar is back in the sand plains, fainted on the ground. Sandman walks to her side and kneels. 

“She has unimaginable power. But her courage is lacking. Her control is subpar. There is much to do…” Sandman ponders. 

As daybreak came, a loud irritating sound woke Skylar up from her slumber. It was the alarm on her phone. She turns it off and sluggishly makes her way to the bathroom. She reaches for the mirror and sees that she hadn’t even changed her clothes. 

“Well, so much for a good night’s sleep. I haven’t even read a single page for that Statistics class,” she said scratching her head.