悪夢の世界

“Are you serious? You tricked a demon...For me?” I couldn’t believe it, Bianca wasn’t acting like herself at all. I took the dreams regardless knowing it would do no good to decline, and thanked her. “I honestly don’t know what to do now, I doubt I can just return to life normally.” 

“You should take this back, I don’t know how long I can keep it safe for. At least this way I won’t trap you again, even on accident.” I put the jar into his hands gently and pushed it to his chest. “Paimon will probably figure out I tricked her and she won’t be happy but, you’ve done enough digging.” 

My eyes shot open and I sat up. I was no longer digging dream graves but sitting on Bianca’s cold carpeted floor. “Is it over?” It was just us two in the room staring blankly at each other as if either of us expected to be here. “Bianca?” She didn’t answer me as she pulled something out from behind her. A glass jar filled with purple light, the same one I had given her earlier. My dreams. 

“Ｉｔ．．．ｗａｓｎ＇ｔ ｏｎ ｐｕｒｐｏｓｅ． Ｋｉｌｌｉｎｇ ｙｏｕ ｗｉｌｌ ｂｅ ｔｈｅ ｆｉｒｓｔ ｓｔｅｐ ｔｏ ｍａｋｅ ｉｔ ｒｉｇｈｔ．“

ＤＯ чᗝᑌ тнĮη𝕂 𝕋ⒽＡŦ 𝓀𝔦ℓᒪ𝐈𝓃𝓖 ｍ𝔼 𝔀Ɨᒪ𝕝 яᵉŜc𝒾ηｄ 丅𝓇𝐚𝓹ρⒾᶰ𝑔 ÃĹℓ ๏ⓕ ｔĦＯ𝓢Ⓔ 𝕡Ẹσ𝓟𝓵𝐞? у𝓸𝕌 𝐂𝐚ή'Ŧ ĴυѕⓉ Łєⓣ 𝐓Ｈ𝕖м 𝐠𝓸 𝔞𝔫𝐝 ℂᗩｌŁ Ɨᵗ €𝔳€ⓝ. ωє'ʳє α 乃𝐀∂ ρє𝕣𝔰σｎ.

“Ｉｔ＇ｓ ｎｏｔ ａ ｍａｔｔｅｒ ｏｆ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｒｅａｄｙ ｏｒ ｎｏｔ． Ｉｔ＇ｓ ｊｕｓｔ ｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔ ｔｈａｔ Ｉ ｃａｎ ｋｉｌｌ ｙｏｕ．” I’m ready to let go, and my grip tightens on my axe. 

𝑜𝕙, Ⓜ𝐘, 𝕄ү,ｍ𝓎 ｙᵒ𝓤'尺έ 𝓐lŘέ𝔞∂𝓨 ʰєя乇? ᵈĮ𝐝 Ｙ𝑜ù 𝐫ⓤ𝓢ｈ ＡⓛＬ 𝕪σⓊŘ Ŵａ𝕪 卄ⓔʳέ ᵗ𝓞 ϻ𝔢𝐞𝕥 ๓𝒆, 𝒷𝓘Δ𝓃℃𝓪? Ａг𝐄 ч𝕠ù ＳⓊгＥ 𝕪๏𝕦'Ř𝓔 𝔯𝓔卂∂𝔶 ᵗㄖ ғ𝕒𝓬𝔢 𝕋ᕼ𝔦Ⓢ?

𝓡eturning to the Nexus, I found that the fifth pedestal indeed now had an item on it...? But, why a gun of all things? It’s not like I’ll be able to take it along, so it must just be a metaphor. All of my adrenaline was seeping out of me as my hand hovered over the artifact. I steeled myself, and reached my hand out and I was taken somewhere else. 

𝓦ith haste i made my way back to the church, Diego’s dreams in tow. As much as I want to hold onto them, the second I saw that damn demon pillar and threw the jar up to her. With a thanks and a few words of warning I took off back to the Nexus, it was almost over. I could get rid of the person keeping Diego and myself trapped. 

I couldn’t hide my clear shock, Bianca must have been killed and replaced with a dream clone. Did she say she’s stuck here too... In her own dream? There’s something clearly wrong here, even her whole aura has shifted. The girl who is usually bubbly and apathetic to others now feels...Sinister and determined.  I hand her the jar filled with my dreams and let her kiss me goodbye. Watching her run off back towards the entrance I can feel a rock of fear in my stomach. 

𝓘 can’t help but laugh, I should’ve known that would be his request. Usually I would throw a tantrum over it, but it seems like our goals are now similar. Of course I have to agree, there’s no other option here, not one that anyone but myself can make. “Ｙｏｕ ｋｎｏｗ Ｉ＇ｄ ｈａｔｅ ｔｏ ｌｏｓｅ ｙｏｕ， ｂｕｔ Ｉ＇ｍ ｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ ａ ｒｏｃｋ ａｎｄ ａ ｈａｒｄ ｐｌａｃｅ ｈｅｒｅ． Ｉ＇ｌｌ ｄｏ ｉｔ ｓｏ ｈａｎｄ ｏｖｅｒ ｔｈｅ ｄｒｅａｍ ｊａｒ．”

Did she say anything? And she wants my dreams? This is such a change from her usual demeanor, I might as well act on it. “ᵢ'ₗₗ gᵢᵥₑ yₒᵤ ₘy dᵣₑₐₘₛ, ₜₕₑy ₐᵣₑₙ'ₜ dₒᵢₙg ₘₑ ₘᵤcₕ gₒₒd bₑᵢₙg ₛₜᵤcₖ ₕₑᵣₑ. ᵢₙ ᵣₑₜᵤᵣₙ... ᵢ ₙₑₑd yₒᵤ ₜₒ fᵤcₖᵢₙg ₖᵢₗₗ ₜₕₑ bᵢₜcₕ ₜₕₐₜ ₜᵣₐₚₚₑd ₘₑ ᵢₙ ₕₑᵣₑ. ₕₑₗₚ ₘₑ gₑₜ ₒᵤₜ.” Knowing her she’ll decline me, she’s not an idiot.   

...𝓢o he’s in a bad mood, that’s fine. I wrap my arm around his and lean against him, he doesn’t mind and doesn’t bother pushing me away. “Ｎｏ， ｎｏ， Ｉ ｄｏ ｎｅｅｄ ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ ｆｒｏｍ ｙｏｕ． Ｃｏｕｌｄ ｙｏｕ ｇｉｖｅ ｍｅ ｙｏｕｒ ｄｒｅａｍ ｊａｒ？ Ｉ＇ｌｌ ｔａｋｅ ｃａｒｅ ｏｆ ｉｔ， Ｉ ｐｒｏｍｉｓｅ， Ｉ＇ｌｌ ｄｏ ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ ｉｔ ｉｎ ｒｅｔｕｒｎ．”

And here we go, playing the game, again. “ᵢ dₒₙ'ₜ ₖₙₒw Bᵢₐₙcₐ, ₜₕᵢₛ ᵢₛ yₒᵤᵣ dᵣₑₐₘₛcₐₚₑ. ᵢf yₒᵤ dₒₙ'ₜ ₙₑₑd ₛₒₘₑₜₕᵢₙg fᵣₒₘ ₘₑ, ᵢ'ₘ gₒᵢₙg ₜₒ ₐₛₖ yₒᵤ ₜₒ ₗₑₐᵥₑ.” 

𝓣aking big steps around the grave he’s digging, I spin around him. Hearing him say my name was so thrilling, just like every other word he said. Wait, what did he say just then? I totally forgot, oh well. “Ｓｔｉｌｌ ｂｕｓｙ ａｓ ａｌｗａｙｓ， ｈｕｈ， Ｄｉｅｇｏ？ Ｈｏｗ ｌｏｎｇ ｈａｓ ｉｔ ｂｅｅｎ ｓｉｎｃｅ ｙｏｕ ｇｏｔ ｓｔｕｃｋ ｈｅｒｅ？” 

I can hear footsteps and for a moment I wonder if I’ve finally done enough, but no, the wrong one runs up to me looking much too excited to see me. I avoid her gaze and go back to digging the grave, the number of which I've lost count. “Dₒ yₒᵤ ₙₑₑd ₛₒₘₑₜₕᵢₙg, Bᵢₐₙcₐ?” 

𝓕ollowing the repetitive and slow sound until I can see him in the distance. I knew it, I knew he’d be here. There’s no way he’d dug enough yet, and I hoped he would be in a better mood. I pick up my pace and make my way to the boy who buries dreams.