#thenightmarerealms

"Of course I would, my lord. I would consume love you in whatever form you choose to wear."

@thenightmarerealms

Weeks had passed since Char’s second meeting with Dream of the Endless. Like she had predicted, his words had plagued her, and the memories that had been dug up took ages to leave her. She had been a complete mess, and the added mess of the tsunami caused by her actions and the deaths that had resulted from it weighed heavily on her mind. There was only so much she could do to fix that particular problem, but there were other problems that she could fix, if she tried hard enough.

Barbara didn’t want to speak to Char anymore, and Char was going to respect that wish. She would never force her presence onto anyone, but it was her fault her friend couldn’t dream anymore. It had become clear to Char that this injury would never heal on its own, and decided to find a way to connect her friend back to the Dreaming.

After weeks of research, Char was finally confident that she had found a way to connect her friend to her dreams once more. She wasn’t going to pull down the moon again; once was enough, and she had learned her lesson. So, instead, she performed a spell that would connect her mind with Barbara’s, and after brewing a strong potion that would induce the deep sleep needed to lucid dream, Char slipped into the strange void that was Barbara’s dreamless sleep.

All Noctis was aware of was how unbearably cold he was. His clothes were soaked through and strained with blood, but the pain had long since faded, numbed by the bitter cold. Everything else was like white noise, his mind too foggy to focus on it.

He'd been on his way home from college when the thugs had descended on him. They'd roughed him up pretty badly, taking his wallet before fleeing the scene, leaving him battered and bleeding in the alley. There had been a knife, a sharp pain in his side, and then they were shouting at each other. Panic. Then they were gone and all he could hear was the downpour of rain and his own ragged breaths.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but it was getting harder and harder to stay awake. He'd tried to stand a few times, but he just didn't have the strength. Each time he fell back down, more and more tiredness crept in. He just wanted to go to sleep.

Would he wake up if he did?

His eyelids grew heavy and he felt himself drifting off until the rain stopped. He'd grown so used to its unrelenting cruelty that he was jolted back to some degree of consciousness by its disappearance. 

Feng Wu took a large bite out of the candy coated fruit, hummed to herself and yet managed to withhold the little dance she wanted to do. The Phoenix clearly wasn’t exactly in the mood to get to her point quickly either, she knew it was annoying but frankly, she actually didn’t care all that much. “These are my favourite, you want some?” she mused, quite happily munching away as if she had not a care in the universe. Reality was a little different. “A’Yuan used to make them.” Her husband may have been gone a couple of hundred years, but she supposed his presence was still felt in small ways.

“You know, when I was younger I thought humanity was just kinda, boring.” She hadn’t much concerned herself with them, they had fire, they had the ability to make fire, had began to harness it for their own good. What was the point of her? “Now its like, what other group would think of taking something like a fruit and covering in it more sugar, it’s inspired.” If you gave them enough time, they were pretty capable of proving themselves. “Sure, they’re also really annoying, I wish they would stop blaming me for fires though, not my fault they let a bunch of companies put rotting power lines through forests full of dried plants ready to explode at the slightest spark.” That one really annoyed her.

@thenightmarerealms

Hours passed before Dream bid Lucienne farewell, and ventured deeper into the palace grounds for his private rose garden, one he’d constructed purely for personal use. He tended to it intermittently, when he had the time, but it has grow wild in his absence, large plumage of flowers and leaves thriving and blossoming in tight clusters. They grew not only across the ground, but atop the gazebo and other structures as well. Guarded only by a few moth and butterfly creatures, the place was quiet aside from distant bird song and the soft murmur of harp music.

Warm, ambient light shone from above without distinct source, creating an intimate atmosphere. Water trickled from a multi-tiered centerpiece fountain, also adorned with a variety of roses. The air was fragrant and pleasantly cool. It was the perfect spot for a romantic hideaway, but it made an odd choice for hosting a nightmare, perhaps. Dream wondered how Corinthian would take to surroundings far more suitable for dreams of courtship. The thought amused him, and thus, standing in the midst of red roses, he summoned his lover:

“𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.”

@thenightmarerealms

Upon the shore of dark sand and windswept stone, Dream stood, a cloth of midnight sky loosely worn over his ivory form. The ocean was rising, waves breaking into white, luminescent foam against the beach. Clouds rolled much like a turbulent sea, but between their misty, transforming shapes, glimpses of shimmering stars could be seen, dappled like scattered diamonds.

Recreating what was once made didn’t come as easily as he’d anticipated. He’d assumed, foolishly so, that the second time would be simpler, but as he crafted bone and sinew and skin, he found himself hesitating, plagued by a gnawing concern that once again, he would commit the same mistakes that inevitably led to another failure.

Months he’s spent on this very shore, focused on one task, and the Nightmare was still incomplete. The physical vessel did not trouble him. There was no need to change what had already been perfect. The heart, however, required far more care and finesse. He couldn’t risk another rebellion, if only to spare himself the pain of a second unmaking.

...A little less ambition, perhaps, he thought. A greater sense of belonging and loyalty to the Dreaming. Less defiance? A smidgen more of homesickness...

He traced a face of sun-kissed skin with his fingertips, touch lingering on a sharp, defined jaw. Yes, this would do, Dream decided, and took out a palm-sized skull from the folds of his cloak. “𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦.” He spoke softly to the skull. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.” Raising it to the vessel, he guided it through the forehead, and lowered his hand to the Nightmare’s chest.

Born to King Regis Lucis Caelum and his late wife Aulea, Noctis was always going to be a target. With nations at war, killing the heir to the throne would be almost as devastating a blow as killing the King. To Regis himself, of course, it would be so much worse.

The daemon attack had been too precise to have been random. It had known precisely which car in the convoy to target and had killed everyone in its path to the young Prince. A slice of a blade to his lower back and the boy was sent sprawling to the ground in a pool of blood.

Not all of it was his.

Just as the monster was about to finish the job, it let out a roar of pain and staggered backwards. The last thing Noctis saw before passing out was his father in all his glory, pushing it back with everything he had. It hadn't been enough to keep his son from slipping into an unwaking sleep though.

The boy awoke with a start, panic coursing through his body as he clumsily scooted backwards. There was no monster though. His father was nowhere to be seen and it was much darker than before. There were trees, lots of them. It was...spooky.

He would be lying if he said the Corinthian didn't intrigue him. They were polar opposites. They were like night and day. They were created to be different so it was only natural that he would be curious.

"I wasn't created to be perfect." He told him with a slight frown. "Humanity isn't perfect so we can't be either. You or me."

That was what they were, after all. A reflection of humanity, the good and the bad. They were what their Lord created them to be.