Very late warning. I didn't relize how unpolished my writing was from webnovel. But I DO plan on going back to fix it. I'm just working on well... this story!

Puella was in a dream, surrounded by a pure white void. Puella was dressed in what she was wearing that night, some stiff cloth pajamas with yellow dots all over white fabric. Puella remember's making them for her sister, but she eventually outgrew them.

But there a few yards away was this old Butler. He reminded Puella of Batman's Butler, handlebar mustache, silver hair, white gloves, a red bow tie, a little silver cloth over his left forearm, a black vest with a white button-down shirt, black slacks, and shoes. The only off-putting thing was a scar that started at his withered cheek and went down his jawline.

Puella approached cautiously, still wary of everything around her.

The Butler was 6 foot, so he looked down at Puella with shocking scarlet eyes. He showed an emotionless face, but when she approached, his face twitched a little.

"Ah, Hello there, Mrs. Chase. My Master has been expecting you if you could please follow me," He said as he quickly turned around and walked further into the white void. Puella knew this was a dream, so she just wanted to roll with this. Besides, ever since the weird dream she had when she was a kid, she barely had any normal dreams where she could do whatever she wanted. Before her, she saw a gate. It had this swirl texture that was a ghostly blue and red and in the middle was a spot of purple. Butler and Puella walked through.

Before them, a black iron gate led to a garden of roses and other beautiful flowers that Puella couldn't identify. But the colors weren't what they seemed to be. Everything was on the greyscale, strangely enough. The castle looked a lot like the Neuschwanstein castle. The skies were clear, but the color was gray. As the Butler approached, the black gates slowly opened, revealing a cobblestone path leading to the two large, almost pure black doors. As Puella walked next to the slowly paced Butler, he seemed to want to break the silence.

"I just have one word of advice for you lassy, Do whatever he says, and don't be afraid. You got that," He said as they both approached, with his scarlet eyes staring into Puella's soul, making her skin prickle. Puella nodded, looking down at the ground. The doors opened, and Puella's eyes darted up.

There was a large room before her, There was a wide staircase that leads to the second floor, and two hallways obscured in shadow. At the top of the staircase looked to be a large stained glass window. There seemed to be a depiction of a Black Knight with a sword in hand pointed towards Puella with what seemed to be an army of demons behind him. There was no color, so she couldn't tell if that was fire behind the demons or not. The only light she could see in the giant room was the torches at the top of the stairs and some torches attached to the wall beside each door. They gave off some color. It was a light yellow that Puella almost mistook for another shade of gray.

But these torches nearly lit up the large room. There was a carpet with marble flooring. At the top of the stairs, Puella could see a ghostly figure. She couldn't see most of the man's body, but it looked like arrows were coating the front of the body and a missing leg. And he was dressed like a pirate captain. Puella shivered.

"Ah! I see you have arrived," a deep voice with a British accent boomed through the halls.

Puella looked to and fro, a tall, skinny figure standing where the ghostly figure used to be. It was wearing a black tuxedo and a black shiny covering Puella couldn't quite see on top of the staircase. It bared hands full of gold and silver rings. It began to step down the stairs, almost a joyful stepping

As it got closer. Puella saw it was the same helmet as depicted in the window behind it. It was a helmet with a pointed cone beak that was over the nose and chin. Almost like a Plague Doctor. And there were tangled metal barbs that looked like a crown of thorns going around the top of the helmet. Plated in black metal Puella didn't recognize what it was exactly. With only a long thin strip of space for the eyes in the front. And seemed like it could just be taken off with ease.

"It is so great to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you," It said as they stepped in front of Puella, holding out one large hand.

Puella sheepishly held out her hand to shake the big hand. They had a strong grip of twenty men and a thousand gods. It felt like Puella's hand was going to be squeezed off and was about to crumble into a million bloody bits onto the clean marble floor. "I-it's a pleasure," Puella began as the person released its powerful grip, avoiding eye contact.

"But where am I? This is quite realistic for a dream, and who are you? And for that matter, why am I here?"

The person's eye's shined through the helmet, blue. Its shocking eyes seemed to bearly squint through the space at her, getting ready for a powerful, jolly laugh. The heart-chilling sound echoed through the castle, almost like a roar from a lion. "You're in the World of Sleep, my lass! The place between unconsciousness and consciousness, a limbo," It said with a giggle as it put its hands behind its back.

"As for your other questions, I am the Nightmare Lord. But I'm not as scary as it sounds, I can promise you that much, my dearie. I have selected you to be my apprentice when I simply move onto the next life, for you see… I have more duties waiting for me in the afterlife."

Puella wasn't sure to make heads or tails of this; her reality was bending and twisting before her eyes. This person was describing something impossible, beyond what she believed.

"Don't you mean death? But I don't know I'm cut out for something like that, and I don't even know what it is," She remarked, keeping her eyes down but occasionally glancing up at his eyes.

The person's eyes began to glow, and Puella felt a strange chill upon her. Its eyes lowered, and they nodded at its Butler that was still in this grand hall. Puella looked to the Butler. He nodded back, with his eyes lowered to the floor.

"We will discuss this during dinner. You seem to need a new pair of clothes. Your clothing is quite odd in this world to us," The Nightmare Lord said coldly, turning his back and walking down to the right to a dark hallway.

Puella noticed a floating candle that appeared out of nowhere to lead the Lord's way. The Butler raised his head, and he tapped Puella's shoulder. Puella looked at him; his eyes showed a sigh of relief that his Master left. As if it was an eternity that the three of them talked.

"I will lead you to the Wardrobe; you can dress there," He said with a sigh as he began to walk up the stairs, not missing a single step.

Puella warily followed, still confused about where she was and if she even had a choice or not. The Butler did not bother looking back to Puella to see if she was caught up as if he only cared for the objective.

They reached the top, and they took a left down a dark hallway. Puella saw a ghostly apparition of candlelight up and led them down the hallway in front of them. It was as if an unknown force was holding up the candle. Puella saw many iron doors as they passed through the hallway as if this was a prison. Puella and The Butler finally reached a Black Iron door, it had a silver handle, and there was a wooden sign above it that simply said 'Wardrobe.'

The Butler opened the door for Puella, signaling her to go inside. Puella walked in, and the door slammed behind her.

To Puella's surprise, It didn't really matter because the most she could see were the clothes' textures, but it was still nice touching each article of clothing. But when she pulled back to what seemed like a wool tunic, she saw a ghostly face. It was filled with several holes, where she could see some brief glimpses of bone. The face was white and sunken. But a big, Black beard covered up most of the lower part of the face. Puella shot back, almost crying in fright as she knocked back into the door behind her. The Pirate Captain was shocked by her reaction and moved through the rack. The Pirate Captain seemed concerned. He floated over, and he held out one of his holed hands, trying to help Puella up.

When he tried grabbing her, his hand went through her. Puella tried standing up. She felt her weight making her legs wobble.

"Are you okay," Puella heard the Pirate say in a whisper; a cold wind blew onto Puella's face.

"Y-yes, I'm sorry for interrupting... Wait, why were you even hiding there," Puella asked with a nervous stutter, worried that the spirit was upset.

The spirit showed a small smile; it was almost painful to look at. Puella didn't know why.

"Oh, well. The Master doesn't like it when I try to introduce myself to others...He didn't like his last apprentices all that much either," He said sadly with a sign as he faced the mirror.

The mirror began to grow front from the edges. Sadly he couldn't see a reflection of himself.

Puella was confused by the spirit's statement. "What do you mean," She asked, trying to look at the spirit's face.

It still held a sad look. "Whenever any of his staff, including his former apprentices. He takes them to the dungeon and does a manner of unspeakable things to them," His voice trailed, blowing another draft of cold, salty wind in Puella's face.

Puella knew that she had a bad feeling about this manor as soon as she stepped inside. The way the Nightmare lord acted and the fact that everything was void of color gave her a sour feeling about this. The Ghost faced her again.

"And I'm guessing you don't want to disappear without seeing the outside of the island, so I will help you," The Pirate said as he walked through a rack of clothing.

Puella approached the rack of cold clothing and peeked through. The Pirate looked out the window. The sun was down, and the moon was out and shining over the land. The Pirate Captain was right. They were on a small island. And there was a dock with two-row boats tied to a post in the water.
"Why are you helping me?" The man turned with a depressing look in his eye.

"When I first came to this realm, I thought my son would greatly love coming here. But it is a mistake I will forever regret. I have no time to explain my relations to him. But I think it's time for me to repay my long-lasting enemy by bringing back his Marked Apprentice," He said as he faced Puella, pointing to her left wrist.

Puella suddenly felt a burning sensation where her wrist's blood vessels were. She howled in pain. Grabbing her wrist instinctively and holding it to her face. She saw a green light; it was forming a green circle with an arrow driving through it. It glowed for a minute, and then it just formed a green tattoo. Puella was hyperventilating; she tried to use her right hand to wipe it off. It stayed. Puella felt her brain melting with this new information; she still had so many questions.

"Get in one of those cloaks; I'll bring you to the dock," He said as he unlatched the window and a huge breeze pushed some racks back to the brick wall.

Puella nodded, and she looked through the rack she was peeking through. She saw a few fur jackets, then she saw a cape with a white fur surface with a high collar. Puella grabbed it and threw it over her back, and buttoned it. There was pounding on the door; the Butler must have been concerned about how loud her screams of pain were. The Pirate captain grabbed Puella by the cloak, and he flew out of the window. Behind them, she could hear the door slam open. Below Puella was a dead black forest that had a rotting smell from there above the trees. Puella didn't want to cover her nose, but she was afraid she was gonna fall.

The Pirate captain went to the tree line and set Puella on her feet. "You don't have much time. Get in one of the boats, and I'll give you a strong gust of wind to push you across the lake," He said in a deep whisper as he pushed Puella along.

She rushed down the dock, and she untied one of the ropes from the post; she jumped into a boat and picked up a row. Puella looked behind her; the Pirate captain was inhaling deeply and prepared for a strong gust of wind. There was a strong gust of wind behind Puella. It pushed her so fast it was like a large current of wind, and the water was being pushed towards the shore in large waves. She saw the coast of land; it was a white beach with more dead black trees. She began to slow through the thick water, the boat was slowing down, and she was afraid that someone would capture her again.

The tiny boat beached itself onto the shore, Puella jumped out, and she dashed into the woods. She heard heavy footsteps behind her; she was more concerned about a branch catching her cloak. She began passing normal trees she felt she was safe from the reaches of what was hunting her. Then she snagged a branch and fell on the ground, tumbling down a muddy hill.

She fell on her face, and she looked up. She was in a clearing. She looked up. There was an open night sky, but a giant humanoid silhouette from the sky's two moons. Puella threw up her arms, and she began waving them down and yelling for them, afraid that those people were still chasing her down.

Puella felt cold and wet hands grab her arms; she turned. It was the Butler, he was soaking wet, and his arms had turned into black liquid talons.

"I don't want to do this, you know, but my Master commands it. I'm sorry," He said with sad glowing scarlet red eyes as he let go of Puella's left arm and raised his hand towards the sky. A black oily dagger formed in his palm. It was the end of Puella.

There was a sound of metal on metal. Puella looked back; there was a sword that cut off the Butler's other hand. The sword seemed to be held by a cloaked figure. This figure was 7 feet tall, and Puella couldn't see its face. The Butler stumbled back, the hand turned into a puddle, and it crawled towards The Butler as if it was alive. He scowled, and he growled.

"Fine! Don't you grovel before my Master's feet when he finally captures you! You'll be finished," He shouted as he ran back into the dead forest. Puella never felt so glad to see another stranger.

She turned to the stranger. They were staring into the forest.

"Thank you so much stranger, I don't know what could have happened to me," Puella proclaimed with a sigh of relief.

The person pulled back their hood. She was surprised to see a face that looked... somewhat familiar? Puella wasn't sure. This person's face seemed like it was from another dream she had years ago. But she could quite place it.

The person's eyes stuck to Puella's left wrist, the stranger grabbed her left arm, and she looked at the new tattoo closer. Suddenly, Puella's vision changed as the stranger grabbed her. The color around her had gone back to normal, at least. What Puella thought would be normal. The bluegrass in the muddy clearing was bearly peaking through, and the trees actually did look familiar too. Like she was in a place like that before- Wait!

Puella remembered then that the stranger before her was that one creature from her dream years ago! It was Ira, and it looks like she nearly aged a day!

Ira smelled it. She squinted. "Brand new, I'm not staying out here forever," Ira said as she let go and she put the sword back in its sheath. Ira scooped Puella up like a princess, and those familiar wings shot out from the cloak.

"What? You look like some star-struck idiot. What's up," Ira asked, raising a nostril in disgust.

"Y-your that tall angry lady from 10 years ago," Puella exclaimed, pointing at Ira in disbelief.

Ira sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Ya? And your that kid from 10 years ago running around like an idiot. Now get on my back; we're going to see Dad," Ira sighed, absolutely not surprised to see Puella.

So they both flew for about an hour south until they made it to a hill above a small village.

They landed, and Puella stretched.

"Man, I'm gonna be so sad when this dream ends," Puella said, almost to herself. Ira turned back to her, folding her wings.

"What are you talking about? You're going to come back here," Ira said, raising a brow.

Ira began to walk towards the house Puella remembers from her distant yet clear memory of this house. Wooden board by wooden board, it was the exact same. It just moved from that jungle somehow.

Puella felt like this whole situation was an outrageous predicament. She was told that she was gonna learn under this awesome guy, but then it turned out that he was some kind of insane psycho. So now she has to see this other guy that Puella had never met. So, in other words, she was very unsure of the situation at hand.

Ira opened the door, and she crouched inside. Puella followed behind her. A wave of refreshing warmth hit her body. They walked through the storefront, through the door; Puella had always wondered what was behind for years. The thing that had been itching at her soul, she didn't want to show her curiosity to others, mainly because they'd think she was crazier than she already was. She wanted to understand what she saw that night; she wanted to understand why her only true friends left her in her most desperate moments.

Why everything she had known had betrayed her, all Puella had was her stories, music, and her time ticking away. This was all she had left. From Puella's thoughts, she felt someone touch her shoulder. She didn't flinch this time. In fact, it was another person Puella didn't think she'd see again. It was Pulchra. Well, what she thinks is Pulchra.

She had actually become more radiant since the last time Puella saw her.

Her blue hair was tied up in a bun, and her skin became more fair and bright. She seemed happier.

"Hey! I haven't seen you in a bit; you doin' okay," Pulchra asked with a big smile.

"She's fine sister, now I have to at least show her to Dad to show I wasn't sleeping on the couch all day," Ira grumbled.

Pulchra's smile faded, and her eyes locked on Ira in disappointment.
Ira turned a few latches and knocked on the wooden door. A muffled voice came from the other side, and Ira opened the door. There was a dark chamber; it looked like a study. Puella walked in, and the door closed behind her; beside the door was a coat rack. She took off the cloak and hung it on the rack collecting dust beside the white top hat and coat.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm reading these Lucid Dream reports," An Old voice said in a British accent. There sat the man, his shirt was unbuttoned, and his tie was loosely done. His hair was turning gray at his sideburns. Bags were under his eyes, and there were stacks of papers in front of him at a dark oak desk. There was a roaring fire behind him, giving the room more atmosphere.

"Hey, Dad! I brought The Marked Apprentice," Ira shouted as she pushed Puella in front of her.

The man paused; he set the piece of paper down and looked up a Puella. His eyes were a light green; he looked at Puella for a few long moments. Not sure if she was staring for too long or not. He removed his monocle from his left eye and set it on the desk.

"Do you know why you are here, Puella," He asked as he folded his rough hands in front of him on the desk. Puella jumped, she had only arrived in this world a few hours ago, she didn't know. All she knew was that there was a purpose here for her.

"Honestly, I don't know. I kinda just escaped from this dude that called themself the 'Nightmare Lord.' And I'm considering just running out because I'm not sure you're if just as bad as it or not, " Puella replied honestly, and she held her hands behind her back. The man held his folded hands in front of his chin, still looking at Puella.

"You were sent here to follow in my footsteps, Bring peace to the unconscious minds of the world, bring scientists inspiration and wonder about the universe, and give artists an image to paint upon a canvas. Give the most humble people the word meaning: you, Puella. Are going to train to become A Dream Lord," He said with a deep, tired huff. Puella was still confused, how would she do this, and was he even to be trusted in the first place.

"Okay, then how do I know this all just isn't fake. A figment of MY imagination. Why don't you tell me something I would never know," Puella jokingly replied. The man pulled out from his desk, and he stood up with his hands on the desk, littered with papers."Your mother was born in 1968. In Highschool, while illegally posing at a 24-year-old businesswoman to get drinks at the local pub. She met your father, who was dealing weed from the back at the time. And it started from there."

Puella wasn't quite sure what to think. She knew the story of how her mum and dad first met, but she did know her dad always left out some details. Puella wasn't quite sure what to say either.

"The only reason you're here is that I have no other options and nothing more. Tomorrow night we'll explain more of this. It seems that you have to go," He said as he turned his back to Puella and he stared at the fireplace. Puella didn't know what he meant. But then she woke up.