Dreams. Dreams are one of the few things every human being has in common. Not all can speak, not all can see, but everyone can dream. Dreams are beautiful and vary from person to person.
Dreams about a holiday getaway. Away from the shackles of work, in a nice shoreside beach house, with nothing but the beautiful ocean and the warm sunshine. A man, overworked by his boss and colleagues, dreams of this. He dreams that he can spend peaceful days away from work with his wife and kids.
Dreams about a fantastical battle with the grandest wizard of all. Unleashing advanced spells, firing down meteors or countering using time stop. A young boy, mocked for his lack of talent by those his age. He dreams that he can become more than them, that he does talent.
Dreams about a radical race. A race around the world, with the most exotic of cars and the fastest of speeds. A young girl laughed at for dreaming something outrageous. She dreams that she could take the wheel and experience the winds, far from the laughter of others.
But as wonderful as dreams are, they can quickly turn sour.
The saltwater stained with red, as the separate parts of the man’s children litter the ocean surfaced, crying as the tentacled monster pops out, with his crushed wife in its clutches.
The battlefield silent, the young boy at his knees, feeling completely powerless. A huge squid, summoned by the enemy wizard, towering over the quivering lad.
The racetrack wrecked, a pile of cars found in the corner. A sea monster grabbing each vehicle, tossing it at the girl’s car, who is panicking.
‘The Kraken, huh. I thought you were one for originality.’
“Huh, so you knew I was here. Well, with the Kraken all gone, people’s fear of it has significantly increased. People are scared of the unknown, and the Kraken’s whereabouts are the biggest unknown yet. Though I have a feeling you know something about it.”
‘What brings you here, Nightmare?’
“To greet my good friend Sandman. It’s lonely in the Dreamrealm, after all. All the sleeping folk only focus on their dreams, and the sentient nightmares are no fun since they all just want a good scare and not normal conversation. At least with you, I could have a civilised conversation. Although it is quite rude you won’t use your words, and that your text is extremely polite.”
‘You should know I am incapable of using speech.’
“Puhaha… I know you’ve got a voice. Come on Dusty. I just want to hear another person, you know. I want to hear someone reply, a genuine reply. It’s lonely here like I said. Either the dreams make noise that aren’t reactions, or the nightmares go on and on about flesh tearing and tear drinking.”
‘I could bring someone out of their dream if you want.’
“But we’ve already tried that Dusty, and we know that doesn’t work. People only see what they don’t want to see when in contact with me.”
‘You could always decide to stop using your Nightmare abilities.’
“And lose the one thing I have? Nope. Just let me hear your voice Dusty. I just want someone to talk to.”
‘You have done nothing but torment and twist those who come to the Dreamrealm during their slumbering hours. It is a miracle that I am willing to interact with you.’
“I get that buddy, and I’ll stop. Just let me have a conversation with you.”
‘You and I know I cannot talk.’
“Fine. Guess I’ll use force. Even if I want to hear someone’s voice, I’m alright with it being a scream of terror. Who knows, maybe the frightened screams of the Sandman himself might be the tastiest nightmare juice of them all.”
‘I am free to assume you are waging war against me?’
“Yeah, go ahead and assume that. Sure, you’re the king and all here, but I know you’re too soft to weaponise the dreams of the masses for your own gain.”
‘Should you threaten the dreams of everyone, I will stop you. If I let you go any further, you may also pose a threat to the real world.’
“And since when did you care about the goings-on there? Well, not that it matters, since I’ll enjoy crushing that conviction of yours and maybe hearing your voice for once, whether it be as screams of agony or the quiet voice of complete surrender. Until then, Mr Sandman.”
‘Gone, huh...’
“I’m sorry, you know.”
Tch. I wish you said that to my face instead, coward.
“Hey… uh… Eve?”
“Yeah, Mori?”
“Can we… sleep together?”
“Eh, what? Why? How? What?” I couldn’t help but blush.
“Not that way, you idiot! I just meant sleep in the same bed.”
“Oh… well, sure.”
“Ooh, ooh, I want to sleep with mama too!”
“You can too… I guess. Why do you want to sleep with me Mori? I can understand May, but not you.”
“So it’s easier for Sandman to collect us. Remember, we need to help him to fight your avatar Nightmare.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Do we really need to sleep together?”
“Yes! Yes!” She pushed me towards my room, with a small blush on her face, with May following us. “Now, let’s go to sleep already.”
“Yay! Sleeping with mama and papa!”
“Wait, papa?” Suddenly, her face was as red as a tomato. “Nevermind, I’ll just sleep on the ground.”
“But… but…” May looked like she was about to cry.
“Woah, don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll sleep with you and… uh… mama.”
“Yay!”
And thus, they all fell asleep.
Earlier that day.
“Maaagic.”
“This again, huh.” I am currently confronting Assassin, who had just changed the door to my bedroom into a Multi-Door. A singular door that actually leads to multiple rooms, with the room connected indicated by the board next to the door and rooms that can be chosen through the keypad below the board. “Why did you do it?”
“Oh come on, you should know. Sooner or later, we’re going to have a bunch of avatars living under one roof, so I decided it’d be convenient if I added this.”
“That is a good point. So which is my room?”
“Oh, it’s room 1. By the way, room 2 is May’s, 3 is Elizabeth’s, and 4 to 6 are mine.”
“4 to 6?”
“Harem, remember.”
“Oh yeah.”
“By the way.”
“What?”
“Congrats on the capture of the Maid, mom.”
And with that, I decided now might be a nice time to have dinner, even if Elizabeth didn’t say dinner was ready.
