Demon's Dream

Nightmare   ❃   Mura Kensho

Beyond the door frame was a blinding white light, which they have entered with mild hesitation. Whatever would await them, there was no way it could actually physically hurt them. But that did not mean it would be completely harmless from other points of view. However, what appeared in front of them was completely different from what Leila imaged. An interior of what could easily be seen as a church. She had been to few of these during her lifetime, so it was not that difficult to recognize for her. Though she also never was one to put faith in what was almost completely ordinary.

After all, this was a world where gods could actually walk among mortals. And many of them were indeed much weaker than said mortals, although they would never admit this on their own. For some reason, the girl found this amusing. Perhaps because at one point, she was called a goddess as well. Goddess of Eden. But she had that title no more. She preferred being called Caretaker of the Gardens far more anyway. But this was not her nightmare, it was someone else’s. So she had no idea what to actually expect.

Although, she soon came face to face with the problem. A lightly translucent black figure, swinging a sword around as a circle of humanoid ghosts floated around it. Somehow it looked… comical? Well, they were in Dreamland. It was probably little too much to expect that things would look realistic in this realm. And even the most cartoony of things could be the greatest nightmares for those trapped in here. Dreams were often nonsensical, but could still create powerful feelings inside of individuals.

Looking at Rose, the young dreamer also just kinda shrug her shoulders when their eyes met for a brief moment. Considering the lack of possible physical threats, Leila decided to approach this individual surrounded by ethereal beings. “Um… excuse me, do you need help?” Hearing her voice, the figure turned sharply, swinging its sword and somehow hitting a half-broken pillar nearby in the process. There was only one problem with this, the sword broke in half the moment it made contact with the stone.

And as it did, the shadow figure dropped to its knees, holding its head in clear despair while the ghosts continued to dance around it. It actually was quite saddening to look at, wasn’t it? “Um…” Not quite sure of what she should do, the maiden simply approached and tried to examine the whole situation from up close. As one would expect, her body could not interact with the ghosts. But she was able to touch the shadow figure just fine. So it really must have been a person stuck in this nightmare.

Nodding to herself, the girl had a pretty good idea of how to resolve this conflict. Looking around, she spotted exactly what she needed, a tree stump that was growing through one of the walls. It was rather helpful that the setting selected was one of a long forgotten building which was being slowly reclaimed back by nature. Picking up a sharper stone from the ground along the way, she would use it to start cutting the wood apart. And after several minutes of going at it and sharpening her new tools afterward, all was ready.

She made exactly two items, one big and one smaller. The big one was, as many would suspect, a wooden sword. Simple, but still a sword. And the smaller one was a wooden cross. They were items that held absolutely no magical energy at all, but this was still a dream. And inside of a dream, anything could happen. Nodding to herself, she approached the shadow figure once more with these two items, first holding the sword forth. Looking up from it’s defeated stance, the shadow grabbed the makeshift weapon and stood back up.

With an unbroken weapon in its hand, the courage lost was reclaimed. But the ghosts were still present, that was why she made the cross. Even with a new sword, it was still pointless against beings that could not be physically attacked at all. Giving the shadow person the cross did the thing, however. Holding it up above its head, a brilliant white light would shine from it and banish all of the ethereal specters. The shadow was free of its torment and slowly started fading away.

Somehow, Leila got the feeling that she actually knew this individual. It was only in the moment when it disappeared that she realized this. “Mura Kensho!” It was not like she interacted with him a whole lot in the real world, but she still remembered him. After all, he was one of the very first people she worked with when she came to Fiore in order to become a proper mage. Him, Hana and Torian were all present on that island when they searched for a buried treasure. Somehow, recalling these memories made the girl tear up slightly.

Shaking her head, she knew there was no time to be like this. Rose was staring at her new heroine this whole time with sparks in her eyes. She could not quite believe that someone managed to fix a nightmare this easily and this fast. “That was awesooooome! Big sis, have you done this before?” Big Sis? Now that was new. She couldn’t quite help herself but smile at the young one. “I’ve never done anything like this, no. But… I have helped a good share of people along my way.”

She always tried to stay a good mage, one who would not fall to the darker side of magic. There were some moments when her morals nearly shifted, but she always managed to pull herself back up. And now she was here, putting all of that to work again, the experience she had gathered along the way. Helping people like this, well… to put it simply, it was just bringing her joy. “Now, let’s head toward another one. Do you know the way?” Rose nodded and turned around, running off to one of the moss-covered walls.

There, she would close her eyes and start waving her arms comically. Strangely enough, it did the trick. A door of white wood would suddenly form from the stone, a beautiful symbol of a key adorning it. Looking at it, Leila got a sudden feeling of familiarity. Was the person beyond this door someone she knew much more intimately than Mura? It was certainly possible… and for that reason, she was not wasting any more time. Pushing it open along with Rose, the two young girls would enter and be consumed by the light again.

Nightmare   ❃   Samira Nassar

However, this light quickly turned into darkness. Such a great darkness, that they could not even see an inch in front of them. “H… hey… I can’t exactly fix a problem if I can’t see said problem…” “Uwaaah, so scary! Light fairy, help meeee!” While Leila tried to remain calm during her little complaint, Rose clearly did not like the darkness much more. But her words held magic within them. She truly was a daydreamer, and her daydreams could become reality. Especially in a place like this.

A small orb of light appeared in front of them, quickly expanding to take a shape of a fairy. This fairy did not speak but did start floating around the duo to provide enough light to make the area properly visible. It appeared to be some sort of a tunnel. A pitch-black tunnel… was it meant to be somewhere underground? There were even some dolls scattered around in puddles of water. Was this person afraid of cliché horror movies? It was possible, all things considered.

Not only that, it was probably easy to lose one’s mind if they were to stay in a place like this for too long. “Can we head on now?” “Yeah…” Despite there being light now, Rose was still visibly shaken. The girl just smiled and offered her hand as a means of reassurance. Taking it as soon as she could, the two would start walking forward. And soon enough, they spotted a familiar shadow figure in the distance, on its knees and holding its head.

A soul lost in this endless darkness and surrounded by creepy dolls, there was simply no escape for it. But no more. Approaching, the fairy started radiating even more light, causing the soul to look up and notice the silver-haired maiden in front of it. “Hey there! We want to get out of this place as well, so would you join us?” She simply offered, holding out her other hand as an invitation. And sure enough, the soul took it. Holding hands the same way as Rose was clinging to Leila now, the three of them started heading forward.

It was kinda funny… it somehow made the Eden’s caretaker feel like she had two little sisters who were clinging to her for comfort. It was… not a bad feeling. Leila never had siblings of her own, due to who she actually was. But at least, she had her spirits. They were… far away for her, still. With the seal on her body, she was unable to communicate with them, to see them, to hold them like this. So right now, she too felt a great comfort as the three of them shared their warmth on this dark journey.

Together, there was nothing to be afraid of. A fact that was proved by even more brilliant of a light appeared in the distance, the end of the tunnel. “That’s the exit!” “Then let’s head toward it, shall we?” A suggestion that was supported by a big wide grin on Leila’s face. Rose would only nod, as did the other soul. And so, they would run toward their exit. It only took a moment before they reached it, a light that saved the soul from this horror-filled darkness.

Moving ahead of the duo, the shadow figure entered this light first and started fading away, its nightmare over. Once again, it was in that moment that Lila could recognize who she just saved. “Samira..?” There was no mistaking the green-haired summoner of Lamia Scale. So this nightmare was getting even to the most powerful of mages now, was it? She had to hurry up if that was the case. But at least she now had that warm and fuzzy feeling inside of her, knowing that she saved someone who she cared for.

The two of them might not know each other that well still, but they went through some rough situations together. And it was situations like that which would often form the strongest of bonds. So honestly, Leila saw this summoner almost like a sister in battle. It might have been a strange view of things, but that did not matter to her at all. What did matter would be her own feelings and the fact that progress was being made right now. Looking at Rose, she also made sure that her younger companion was fine.

After confirming that she indeed was, the two of them would look into the light as well. But instead of leading somewhere, it seemed to be slightly morphing. The light itself must have been for the spirit alone, for Samira and no one else. For them, a door would appear instead. Leading to another nightmare, this door appeared blue and red with a strange symbol of it, almost like two wings forming linear lines going down from them. The girl was unable to translate this symbol, but she opened the door regardless.

Nightmare   ❃   Ruvel   

Going through the light, they have transitioned into a much different area this time. One less realistic and more fantastic. Though there was no arguing that such landscape could actually exist somewhere in the endless universe. So what exactly did the duo see in front of them? An endless sea of blood, crimson moon shining down upon them. A blood moon? It has been a while since Leila saw one of those. And strangely enough, she kinda liked the red coloring, it was one o her favorite colors.

If only it was from something less gruesome. Looking beneath her, she also realized that they were standing on the calm surface of the blood sea. This actually gave her a mild heart attack, as for a split second, she thought that she was going to sink. But as it turned out, they were able to walk even on a liquid surface in this nightmare. Rose also tugged on the maiden’s sleeve, looking up at her with a clear question about to come. One that the girl was not quite ready to answer.

“Hey, big sis? Why are the water and moon red?” The Eden’s caretaker started sweating ever so slightly. Rose could not have been older than thirteen years, which mean that she possibly did not even know what blood really was. Or rather, she didn’t quite recognize it in this in this manner. Which was both kinda good and bad. “I, uh… I’m not really sure. Maybe this person is afraid of red?” Yeah, that was the explanation she went with.

Thankfully, Rose just nodded to it and started looking around. With the surface completely flat as far as the eye could see, they have spotted their target rather quickly. A black shadow once again, but imprisoned in a box of glass. It was really small, too. Must have been uncomfortable inside. Running over to it, Leila quickly noticed that the shadow was hyperventilating inside. Fear of tight spaces? If that was the case, then they had to get it outside as quick as possible.

“Rose, help me break this!” It was unfortunate that the silver-haired maiden did not have access to her magic right now. It would be much easier to break if she did, and her hands did not seem like they would do the job after she punched the hard glass few times. Thankfully for her, Rose did have her magic and she started her daydreaming again. Imagining one thing that would surely break the glass box open, a hammer suddenly started materializing in front of Leila.

Grabbing it and taking a swing at full force, she did indeed manage to break through the glass surface and free the poor soul inside. And as the box shattered, it’s pieces flew in all directions. Some would fall into the water, suddenly cutting apart the red color to reveal blue beneath, as if they had just cut a think piece of paper with their sharp edge. Others did the same, but with the moon, leaving behind only the shining gray one. Somehow, all of the shards also completely avoided the two girls, as well as the shadow itself.

“Alright! Can you stand!” Once again, she had offered a hand to the tortured soul as she tossed her hammer away. The shadow would nod and reach up, Rose joining in to take its other hand. Helping it stand alone, the shadow noticed that its surroundings were normal again, no longer the crimson scenery of immeasurable bloodshed. And that might have just been enough for it, as the figure started fading away while taking on its real-life shape. Once again, one that Leila recognized.

“I think his name was Ruvel… we worked together only once, but he seemed like a good person. Though maybe little mysterious.” With the soul gone, another door started forming nearby, but Rose seemed to have one more thing on her mind. “Big sis sure knows a lot of people.” Scratching the back of her head, she had to admit that Rose spoke the truth right there. “I’ve been adventuring for a while now, so I met a lot of interesting people along the way.”

Somehow, that seemed to excite the young girl as she started waving her hands in the air. “When Rose grows up, she will become an adventurer like big sis!” Leila could only smile as she heard that, her hand reached toward Rose and ruffling through her hair lightly. “As long as it’s something that will make you happy. Let’s continue now, more people are waiting to be freed from their nightmares.” When it came to dreams, Leila believed that happiness was the most important factor.

But for now, they would just continue this adventure. Really, Rose was already experiencing her dream to a degree. This situation was far from the regular and could be seen as a grand path toward becoming a more developed individual. But developed was not a word that came to mind when Leila looked at the new door. The symbol adorning it was “A question mark?” Well, that was somewhat confusing. Was the person inside defined by the symbol of the unknown? There was really only one way to find out.

Nightmare   ❃   Unknown  

Opening the gray door, the light would transport them to a new nightmare once again. But this one, well… it was even more different than the sea of blood overlooked by a blood moon. No, this was something she would have not expected in a thousand years. This was… what sort of nightmare even was this? The girl had no idea how to wrap her mind around this while Rose, on the other hand, seemed to have the time of her life. That was because all that was around them was… puppies?

A sea of fluffy and adorable young doggos. As far as the eye could see. And among them all, a single box atop which another shadow stood, flailing its hands and legs in an attempt to scare the puppies away, or at least that was how the girl interpreted it as. “Don’t tell me… this person is scared of puppies, or dogs in general, so their nightmare is filled with them to the brim? Is that seriously it?” She was confused beyond belief by this, honestly.

Rose could only look around with confused face as her arms were filled with love-giving puppers. “There’s no way anyone in the world could hate little puppies! Maybe there is something else?” “Unless they are afraid of the box they are using to get away from the puppies, then no…” This whole situation was just mind-boggling. She understood that people could find just about anything to be terrifying, but puppies?

Regardless of her own view of this situation, she had to somehow help this individual. And that was by getting rid of these dogs. Not killing them, of course. She could never bring herself to do something like that to these poor animals. Which meant that they had to move them away through some other means. “Hey, Rose… let’s make a big home for these puppies!” An idea that came to mind, which would help her get Rose involved as well. Since there was no way she could move all the puppers by herself.

Sure enough, the other girl’s eyes started shining with excitement the moment she heard this. “Yes, please, please, please!” And so the process started. Conjuring a place for the dogs with Rose’s powers was simple. What was more difficult was transporting all this living fluff over to it. All the way from carrying them one by one, to holding multiples in their hands, to even conjuring snacks in hopes the puppies would follow. Suffice to say, this process took a good while.

But eventually, they actually managed to get them all to where they needed to have them. In the process, they have created a little bit of a fluff pile that might have even been lethal to jump into due to love overload that the person would experience. Sighing out loud, she just gave Rose a glance, seeing how she was next to the doggo pile, still trying to play with them all. And Leila herself would now be able to properly approach the shadow figure that was free from its fluffy torment, now sitting on the edge of the box, clearly exhausted.

The duo was as well from all the puppy transportation. But they were still nowhere near finished with this whole business. But at least they were done with this specific nightmare, seeing how the shadow figure started fading away. Surprisingly, it was not someone Leila knew this time. A perfectly unknown face. So perhaps she had already freed everyone who was tied to her in some way from this place? It certainly was possible. The only thing she knew for sure was that the question mark on the door leading here was very justified by what they had to do in this place.

Alas, it was now over and they were able to move to the next one. The box in front of the girl started falling apart until it reveals the new inside, beautiful and golden with a large symbol of a bow and an arrow adorning it. If she didn’t know better, she would have guessed that this symbol belonged to… ah, there was no point in bringing that idea in her head now. “It’s time to go, Rose!” “Can we take some of the puppies with?” “No, those have to stay here.”

Letting out an annoyed sound, the young girl got up and very slowly walked toward the door. Even though Leila wanted to comply with that request, there was no way she could. After all, these puppies were part of the nightmare. Once they leave here, they will disappear along with it. So in reality, they weren’t even alive. It might have been a little sad way of looking at things, but it was how it was. Surely they will encounter something to spark the young girl’s interest again.

Nightmare   ❃  Sophitia Clearblade

Unfortunately, something like that would not await beyond these doors. Instead, they have entered a world of darkness once more. It was not as bad as the tunnel from before, thankfully. Nevertheless, the surrounding area was almost impossible to make out. At least for the first few seconds anyway, as a dim purple light lit up their surroundings soon enough. Looking up, Leila realized that this light was actually coming from something similar to a sun. A giant orb in the skies, moving ever so slowly across. But instead of bright, it was pitch-black with that purple outline.

And what it was hidden behind at the moment of them entering this place? Trying to focus her eyes a little bit, she realized that it was a piece of giant floating rock that hid this dark sun away. Was that… a floating island? The silver-haired maiden was all too familiar with this concept, still hanging to few unfortunate memories from a past event, one that might have changed some things forever. Letting out a rather heavy sigh, she managed to break even Rose’s gaze at the spectacle in the skies in order to examine her temporary ‘big sister’. Thinking of memories like that was probably one of the worse things she could do in a place like this.

So she would shake her head violently to have the thought leave her, allowing her to focus on what was in front of them. A world filled mostly with darkness, a corrupted Sun and a floating island of some kind. “I don’t see anyone.” Rose’s comment was quite valid. Even looking around, Leila herself couldn’t see the usual black shadow person who was the source of the nightmare. It seemed that they would have to walk around for a bit this time around. And while doing so, the girl realized something else about this place, that was the ground and what was covering it.

Faint purple marks, sometimes even forming symbols generally associated with the more vile things in life. Sins, crimes, blasphemous texts, that sort of thing. With all of that, the Eden’s caretaker started piecing things together, slowly figuring out what might have been the theme of this nightmare. But if she was right, then she had absolutely no idea how to dispel it. However, they still needed to find the core of this place first before even making any assumptions. Thankfully, that would not take all too long. Only a couple of minutes or so of walking around the place.

Then, they have noticed something, hidden in the shadow cast by the island in the skies that was in front of the Sun from this specific place. At the same time, the thing that they have found was somewhat… unusual. Rather than finding the shadow person, they have found a stone statue. It was darker than your usual stone and covered in much brighter markings that were all over the place, at least once they have approached. Rose was very clearly confused by this, her head cocked to the side. “What is this?” Examining the statue for a while, Leila confirmed that her suspicions were most likely correct.

“This is the person captured in this nightmare. They were turned to stone and covered in evil purple marks… a usual representation of someone who was cursed and fell into the darkness.” Not to mention that their hand was reaching toward the floating island, a gesture of desperation almost. So did that indicate they came from that place and could not return while their body was cursed and corrupted by the darkness? It certainly seemed like that was the case, didn’t it? So if that really was the theme of this nightmare, how could she free this person from the corruption?

There was this unfortunate fact that Leila had no magic available at this time, due to the seal on her body. While she might have been able to gather ethernano in her body still, she could not perform feats of magic. At least not without feeling immense pain all over her body. Not that she had all too much holy magic, to begin with. Yes, Gardens of Eden were technically a holy place, but that did not translate much at this point in time, now did it? Scratching the back of her head, the girl felt somewhat stumped. Walking around and examining the statue, touching it all over, trying to apply ethernano, nothing seemed to work.

Rose observed the whole ordeal, still kinda confused. Especially since her bigger companion was mostly silent through all of this, too deep in her own mind trying to figure this out. And so she would just approach herself and try mimicking the only other person here, by pressing her hand against the stone statue. It was at that moment a purifying light appeared all around it, cleansing it of its corruption and darkness, sending out a wave of warm and welcoming energy to spread throughout this entire world. This explosion of holiness even managed to knock Leila back slightly.

Staring at what was happening in surprised, her gaze shifted over to Rose. Was she doing that? No, wait! It made perfect sense! She wasn’t used to thinking that way because no children would ever come along with her to jobs, seeing how that was too dangerous. But someone like Rose, they possessed a very unique trait. The young girl was an innocent child, oblivious to the darkness of the world. She was a pure individual! That meant darkness had no power over her and her touch was capable of purifying whatever curse was present in this nightmare, she acted as the purity in this world!

The exact workings of this were perhaps too complex to explain to anyone, but the main thing was the fact that it was working. Soon, the stone would completely break apart to reveal the shadow person inside. But they would not remain a mere shadow for too long, as brilliant wings of light formed on their back, taking them to the skies as the creator of this nightmare headed for the floating island. The purple Sun started returning to one the two girls were used to from Earthland as well. Just like that, this piece of Dreamland was purified and another person saved from the endless torment.

Nightmare   ❃   Cirven Mizune

There wasn’t really much point in remaining in this world now that it’s problem was resolved with surprising ease. And yet, the beautiful sight of the world above being now freed from the darkness was… comforting, almost having Leila want to remain for just a tiny bit longer. Shame there was a real sense of urgency this time, with the nightmare slowly consuming the entirety of Earthland. Taking it all in for one last moment and then turning around. While they were admiring the scenery, it appeared that a blue door formed behind them, one with a symbol of a sea vessel. A ship sailing on the waves.

“A sea, huh? Been a while.” The girl quite liked the ocean. She didn’t know why there might not have been any real reason for it. But swimming and diving were great experiences for her. Perhaps because down there, it was a whole new world for exploring? Perhaps. Regardless, she had a feeling they would not actually be going under the water’s surface in this nightmare, judging by the ship. Taking the door’s handle firmly, she opened up and walked into the light again, Rose following closely behind her like a puppy dog. A sixth nightmare… they were now in the second half of Dreamland.

Once the light faded, the scene that Leila pretty much expected showed itself. The helm of a ship, sailing away. Considering the way the other worlds were, this was actually almost like a regular dream at the first sight. Sun shining its warm light onto the deck, pristine blue waves gently making the wooden structure rock from side to side, the melody of seagulls flying around filling the air. But then again, there was that one nightmare filled with puppies… so perhaps this person was afraid of being on a ship during a nice day. That said, it was little too soon to judge anything just yet.

As the two girls turned around, they quickly spotted the shadow as well, quite unlike the previous nightmare. It was holding a broom of some kind, sweeping the floor roughly in the middle of the deck, near the main mast. Seemed normal enough. Approaching him, Leila took a great care in examining this unknown individual, as well as his surroundings and even the object he was using to clean this place. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. “Maybe he’s afraid of cleaning!” Rose’s comment made the silver-haired maiden chuckle. She would actually not be surprised if that was the case.

But as it turned out, their fear was even more common than that of having to clean. The boat suddenly rocked much harder than before, as if a giant wave hit them from the side. And at that very moment, a great number of insects started boarding the ship. All the way from sea spiders to centipedes and other things that people usually found rather creepy and unapproachable. Rose included. The poor young girl shrieked and quickly ran into Leila as if the older girl could protect her. Well… she could, actually. Picking the raven-haired child up, the Saint just sat her at her shoulders and that was that.

The many-legged creatures could no longer reach her. The shadow, on the other hand, found a slightly different solution. That was trying to climb the mast with all of their wills. It was… amusing? At some point, he also turned around and performed several gestures that were kinda familiar to the girl. The shadow was trying to use magic, but couldn’t. So that was what this nightmare was really about. The person was clearly afraid of insects, but normally they could just get rid of them by using magic. However, that was not possible here and thus the nightmare. She got it alright.

But now there was a question of how to get rid of the insects. Trying to pat Rose, she would ask for another favor. “Hey, can you conjure something that can spray water for me?” It might have been a pretty strange request, but the young girl still nodded, her eyes firmly shut as she didn’t want to watch all the bugs beneath her. Using her daydreaming powers, a device suddenly manifested in Leila’s hands. One that looked dangerously like a flamethrower… where was this child coming up with these ideas again? But as she requested, it actually only sprayed water at high pressure, not flames.

Taking a ready stance, she would pull the trigger and start running around. The goal was to use this water to wash all of the bugs back into the sea. It was working… surprisingly well! Not only that, it was actually kinda fun! Just sprinting around the wet deck while targeting a sea of black and brown crawling beasties! Yeah, there probably weren’t that many people who would find this fun aside from Leila herself. But hey, at least she managed to finish her task rather quickly while enjoying herself. And so, the deck was once again completely clean from any possible threats at all.

All the while it was also cleaned, so the shadow didn’t have to continue moping around! Literally. Getting back down from the mast, he looked around and relaxed. His oddly normal nightmare was now over, the shadowy figure fading away to reveal someone Leila actually knew before even that image disappeared. “Was that really… Cirven..?” It seemed that their idea of going through nightmares of those she knew first was a bust now. But even more, she couldn’t quite believe that the person who helped her regain most of her powers after her rebirth had a fear like that.

A mighty demon mage who is afraid of insects. Well, the world sure was an interesting place, wasn’t it? Chuckling to herself at this discovery, she also placed Rose back on the floor and told her to open her eyes again. “We’re done here, so let’s get a move on, shall we?” The child had to shudder one more time from the experience, but she was definitely ready to leave here! Certainly didn’t want to wait for another wave of bugs to hit the ship. And so they approached the door that formed in the mast which Cirven climbed just moments ago.

Nightmare   ❃   Sigurd Siegfried

This door seemed to be golden with a symbol of a helmet adorning it. But not just any helmet. Leila recognized this one, a symbol she came across many times in her life. Mainly when she was traveling the world. A helm that once belonged to a hero who saved the entire world, or so they say. Sow a symbol of heroism and associated with those who aspire to be like this ancient man who saved everything and everyone. It gave her a pretty solid idea as to who they would be meeting outside. And strangely enough, she was also reminded of her old days, when she used to pretty often question the morals of so-called heroes.

Swallowing the memory, she pushed the door open and entered the light after giving Rose one last look, indicating that they were going. At this moment, she could only wonder how many times they would have to blind themselves like this before the problem of Dreamland was resolved. Hopefully, they were nearing the finale by this point. But what was in front of them now was a battlefield, corpses littering the ground. Quite an uncomfortable sight, both for her and Rose. “Hmm… why are all these people sleeping?” Her question was piercing, making Leila actually wonder how come this child is so innocent despite her apparent age.

“I… do not know. But we should hurry up and free the tortured soul as quickly as we can.” Her attempt to avoid discussing the matters of mortality with this raven-haired child was successful, as Rose nodded and got close to Leila again. Their target was not too far away this time either, a shadow person who stood tall with a sword in his hand and armor guarding his body. But what he was standing up against was a little unusual. Ghosts. Or to be more specific, ghosts of warriors that perished on this battlefield it seemed. They would charge at him and he would charge at them.

However, the outcome was predictable with the pattern that most of these nightmares followed. No matter how many devastating strikes the shadow individual performed his attacks would just not connect with the ghastly figures, while their attacks pierce the soul’s armor, sending it to its knees. To cleanse this nightmare, Leila and Rose did not require anything special. They just had to help the man no fail his war. The fear of losing in battle… it was a familiar one for the girl. And so, she dashed around him, jumping up and delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to one of the ghosts.

She was not part of this nightmare, she was an outside force. Which also meant that the rules of this place did not fully extend to her. Thanks to that, her attack actually connected with the enemy, sending its head flying while the body remained standing where it was until it dissipated into an ethereal mist. If she could just eliminate them like this, then there was nothing to be afraid of! Even without magic, her hands and feet were still working and could deliver bone-breaking attacks that the girl was known for in the past. And she would have no mercy on beings that did not actually exist in the reality of everything.

Rose was surprisingly helping as well in her own little way, banging on the back of one of the ghosts with her small fists, making it distracted enough for Leila to be easily able to deliver her punches and kicks. It did take a bit of doing, but in the end, these nightmare ghosts were actually extremely weak. And soon enough, they were all dispersed. “May you all rest in peace. Now, you can get back up.” Approaching the shadow person who was still on his knees, she would extend her hand toward him. A helping hand he gladly accepted, using it to get back onto his own two feet.

He might not have won the battle, but he did not lose either. Rescued by friends, or perhaps by a kind stranger, it happened in Earthland as well. In fact, Leila had run into other mages all the time when accepting contracts. It was a natural part of living almost. There was absolutely no shame in accepting an outcome like this. Realizing that fact, the soul was freed of the torment from this nightmare, grateful for the two girls that helped him end up being the one who remained standing at the end of this war. His shadow form broke apart, revealing a face the Saint had never seen in her life but would remember it for the future.

Nightmare   ❃  Kitalpha Aurence

The door that formed in the man’s place had a silver color, the symbol drawn on it being much more cryptic than any of the previous ones. For a moment, Leila wasn’t able to recognize it at all, Rose staring at it blankly all the same. Eventually, she would extend her hand toward the door and trace her fingers over this mysterious image, thinking to herself. “It kinda looks like a stone, I guess?” Then again, just about any somewhat round shape could be considered a stone without any further context. “Maybe it’s a lacrima?”

At the moment Rose said that, Leila froze in place. In the context of Earthland, that would actually make sense. Lacrima is a crystal that interacts with magic in a number of ways, but mainly, storing it. Thanks to this incredible ability, it has been used all over the land for just about anything. Knowing that all the victims in this world are from Earthland, such conclusion actually made perfect sense. “Regardless of what it really is, we will see soon enough.” Rose nodded and traditionally moved behind her bigger companion, ready to traverse the door of brilliant light.

Beyond the light, it seemed to be once again pretty dark. But unlike most other nightmares, they seemed to be in a contained room this time. All four walls were immediately visible, dark gray in color. The same for the ceiling and floor. Naturally, the door disappeared behind the duo, so now they were stuck here as well. And despite the lack of any light source, they could still actually see pretty clearly in this place. But they might have just been the only ones. Someone was sitting on a small stool in the middle of this room and all around them, on the floor and walls, were images of eyes crossed out.

Not only that, the room was also filled with beautiful paintings and items that glowed in the faint darkness that rested on this place. All things that would be considered artistically pleasing. Taking few steps further, they also noticed the ceiling changing, as it was no longer only one color, but instead seemingly disappeared completely to reveal star-covered skies. For a nightmare, this might have been one of the most beautiful things both Leila and Rose had ever seen. The reason why this was a nightmare was revealed a bit later when they finally walked around and looked at the sitting shadow person from the front.

They had a blindfold over their eyes, unable to see any of this. And by the sound of it, they were also crying, unable to remove this blindfold from their eyes. “The fear of losing one’s sight…” Leila commented on it all in a rather sad tone. Rose simply looked at her and tilted her head to the side again. “But can’t they just remove the blindfold?” To that, the silver-haired girl shook her head. “The blindfold is a symbol. This is their nightmare and they might not even know that it is just a removable item that took their sight.”

She would reach out with her hands, slowly grabbing the cloth. “They probably think that they have gone completely blind, lost the ability to perceive the beauty of the world around them. It’s… a terrifying thing indeed. But that’s why we are here, to let them know that this is just a bad dream and that their eyes were just covered up.” And just like that, she tugged. The blindfold was removed easily and the shadow opened its eyes, able to see the two girls and everything around them. Tears would run down its face as they realized the beauty around them, the shadow's form falling apart.

Another person was freed from this place, this simply. It showed the nature of some nightmares. They could be so simple, yet instill so much fear in those who experienced them. But at least this individual was now free again. It was strange, really. Leila was able to sympathize with this person much more than the rest, even though she did not know them at all. It was because of one of her spirits, Harape. The spirit was almost like a protective sister to the Saint when she still had access to her magic, despite the fact that Harape was actually blind. She should have taken care of her instead, but it was the other way around.

Now, Leila had to hold back the tears, wanting to see her spirits again. It was not the time… there was no room for her to be sad. She had to press on! Just a few more! Turning around, she saw the doors forming from one of the walls and then turned her gaze to Rose. “Let’s go.” “Okay.” The child probably sensed her companion’s sadness, but remained silent. Indeed, there was little they could do to comfort one another right now. But once all of this would be done, then they could surely dry the tears that would be shed.

Nightmare   ❃   Aliarey Casady

The newly formed doors were green in color and the symbol adorning it was one of two guns, crossed in a similar way swords usually were when drawn like this. Guns… they seemed to be a bit more frequent in the world nowadays, weren’t they? It made Leila wonder just how fast the magical technology was progressing. Despite being closely related to nature, magic and technology powered by it was always something that captured her attention. Though she had this feeling that nothing technologically interesting was waiting for her on the other side. This was confirmed when she went through the door and into the light again.

Whatever was on the other side did not even come into view yet and she already heard a loud buzzing noise in front. Finally able to open her eyes, she spotted something… unusual, to say the lease. A meadow with the tormented soul running around, a literal army of bees following it. It wasn’t exactly hard to figure out what this person was afraid of. And it wasn’t exactly hard to help them either, given the setting. “These are getting more and more ridiculous. Stay back, Rose. Wouldn’t want any of them to sting you.” “Okay, Rose will stay here and pick the flowers!”

Just as she said, the child would step aside and squat down around flowers with petals playing in many different colors. Leila, on the other hand, found a stick nearby along with two pieces of sharper rocks. Hitting these rocks together carefully in a specific way created sparks and those, in turn, ignited the stick. It was not exactly the best torch ever, but it would do… probably. With the flaming wood in her hand, the Saint moved between the running shadow person and the bees, swinging it around. If there was something those pretty little buggers did not like, it was flames.

And so, in no time at all, they would all scatter and the problem was solved. Honestly, Leila was thinking that they really could have sent anyone to this place and not bother with her. But oh well, she was here and the number of nightmares that required solving was decreasing rapidly. The tormented soul, free of the bee’s wrath, would look happily at her savior. But before it was to depart, Rose ran over with a flower garland in hands. Apparently, she was really quick and picking them. Jumping up, she managed to place her crown on the soul when the shadow disappeared to reveal a pretty girl, free from this place.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?” “I know! But Rose wanted to make the soul happy anyway!” A pure and innocent existence indeed. Smiling, Leila would not toward her in acknowledgment and look for the new door. Since this one went by so fast, hopefully, the rest would as well. There was no guarantee, but she was free to hope. Spotting it in the distance, the two girls walked toward them, only to look back one more time. Even if it was a nightmare, some of these places really were beautiful. A bright sea, room filled with art and now a meadow.

It showed just how beautiful Dreamland itself could be, if it was to be focused on happy dreams rather than the nightmares. It was one of the reasons why they had to stop the king and stop his corruption. Looking at the new door, it was pure white and bore the symbol of the Sun. And interesting symbol to represent an individual. Eager to see what was behind the blinding light, the two girls would enter it once again, finding themselves in the final nightmare they had to dispel. But things would go differently to how they imagined them. Much differently, as the Dreamland king finally managed to notice them.

Nightmare   ❃   Takumi Yoshino

What awaited was a fairly standard room. One she would expect to find in a hotel. They were places she knew very well, considering she used to stay in one pretty much every single day until she finally realized that she had a direct access to her own realm, Gardens of Eden. Though with her magic currently sealed, that access was once again denied and so she was spending some more time in said hotels. Even before she went on this very mission, she was in one. But whether this was a hotel or a regular home probably did not matter at all. The object of their interest was right in front of them.

Shadow person who was sitting at a table, holding his head in his hands. Approaching him, Leila noticed many different papers, covered in writing and pictures scattered all across the table. Examining them further revealed something interesting. They were all ideas for a guild. A mage guild, to be more precise. From the name, to what the guild’s focus would be. It was… interesting to see. It actually made her wonder if Elyx went through something similar when he was creating Golden Phoenix. But what exactly was the problem here? Was it the fact he was unable to piece it all together?

Or perhaps there was fear from failing to establish this guild that was stopping him from coming up with sound ideas? If that really was the theme of this nightmare, then she had absolutely zero ideas how to help this tormented soul. If she herself were to make a guild… well, it would probably be nature-themed, knowing her. Perhaps even having something to do with an animal, like a wolf. But this was not about her. It was about this individual, who she probably did not even know. Did she have to inspire him somehow? Or rather, she would have to remove the fear of failure from his heart.

This one was much more difficult to figure out than the rest. But then, something happened. The room… flickered? Rose noticed it too and quickly scooted over to Leila. “Something is happening!” And indeed, something was truly happening. A door opened up on the other side of the room and a young girl entered. One with a strange skin, kinda as if she was made out of dirt or something. Her hair was green, too. Looking at her, Leila’s heart nearly stopped. “F..Frey?!” Frey Rune. A young girl that the silver-haired maiden met during one of her adventures.

They then went on to do more contracts together, to the point where Leila even started calling her ‘princess’ due to how well they interacted. But behind her, someone else walked it. A man with a scar over his nose, a faint aura of lightning surrounding him. At that moment, the tormented soul got up and looked at the man. “Brother, you have finally arrived!” What? This was the first time ever one of the shadow people spoke! What was happening here? And then the newly arrived man stopped right next to Frey, one of his hands on her shoulder. “Yes. I’ve come to announce to you that the two of us are getting married, brother.”

Words that strangely resonated within Leila. “What the… but Frey is so young, this is not possible! What is going on this nightmare? And where has she been? I’ve not seen her in ages, unable to find her, I feared that… that she had… abandoned…” At that moment, Rose tightly embraced the older girl, or at least did something reminiscent of a hug due to their height difference. “This place… I think it changed into your nightmare!” And all went black.

Nightmare   ❃   L̵͇̆e̵̪̒į̶͑l̴̦̓á̵̺ ̶͓̓V̷͍͠ẻ̶̺r̶̡̾g̷̠̍ḯ̵̟õ̴͖ṷ̷͘s̶̘͘

“What the hell is happening?!” Her voice resonated in the darkness surrounding her. “You are being taken care of, Lost One. The damage you have done to this place is enough. We, the loyal Counts of the Dreamland King shall put you to sleep in this Nightmare.” In that moment, Leila was finally able to see her own form again. There was nothing around her, only an endless darkness. And she was alone. “Where is Rose? If you’ve done anything to her, I will-” “Ah, the Young One. Her daydreaming powers are… annoying to deal with. So we shall remove you first before looking into her. But… ah, yes! You have given us a wonderful idea, Lost One!”

Rose suddenly appeared in front of the Saint, tripping and falling to the ground. Naturally, Leila quickly rushed over to her to check if she was okay. She seemed fine, but the situation was far from being ideal. “You do not even really know who she is, do you? Why don’t we remedy that!” At that moment, the counts took partial control over Rose’s powers, forcing both her and Leila into a vortex of memories. It was a harmless thing to happen, but it showed something that revealed strangely lot. Images and scenes flashing in an instant, yet being burned into Leila’s mind.

Rose Ambrose. Ambrose… Jiyu Kazehime was a fake. A fabricated lie. The one who was born in Peace Village was actually Mikka Ambrose. Sister of Rose Ambrose, the dreamer. But Mikka Ambrose died. Instead was born Jiyu Kazehime who ran from home. Doing nothing but running, stealing and clawing her way to life. Using everything and everyone to her advantage in order to survive. That was the person Leila knew. A thief and manipulator. Knowing her real name and past… who cared?!

“Do you really think you can break me?! Come here and face me directly, you cowards!” A second voice appeared in the darkness. “Oh, but we can see you shaking from witnessing all that. You are a liar as well, Lost One. Saying that you no longer care for that girl. But then, why are tears flowing from your eyes? But let us show you how individuals like her end up!” A swirl of maddening darkness would capture Leila again, separating her from Rose once more. This time, she was brought to a fabricated space, a memory of Earthland itself, witness by Dreamland connected to it.

The scene in front of her, a demon laying dead on the ground, drowned in the pool of his own blood as hunters of his kind, Onmyouji. They have slain him. And who exactly was he? The girl knew fully well, his name, the name she hated so much. Marschal. Jiyu Kazehime’s lover. “Ah… so that is why I no longer see them together.” “This one tried to fly too close to the Sun. It cost him his life. And these were the humans that erased his memory from the mind of the girl you know. Because of her Inugami powers, she could easily revive him if she remembered.”

So they knew of her as well then? Ah… their words made sense now. In this world, there were some that would do anything to kill you, for you were a monster in their eyes. That was the logic, yes? Finding herself back in the dark space, tears staining her face as she stared wide-eyed forward, feeling sick from the smell of alcohol that still lingered from being so close to that man’s corpse. A third voice joined. “You did so much for her. And yet, she still lied to your face and chose that drunk over you! Betrayed by the one you loved, you broke. But you recovered eventually, only for her to admit her betrayal to you again!”

They were right. Their words made the girl clutch her fists in anger. She was mad. At them, at herself, and at Jiyu Kazehime who had succumbed to her powers, her physical body dissolving into the air she adored so much. “Perhaps she is dead. Perhaps she didn’t make it through her rebirth. Perhaps I am no longer burdened by her existence. That is what you are thinking, is it now?” Looking up at the disembodied voices, the Eden’s caretaker laughed. “Yes… that is exactly what I am thinking. But… I also wonder if I can rid myself of you all.”

A fourth voice joined. “Oh, Lost One, how we pity you. All us, the counts of the King of Dreamland to ease your pain. Allow us to give you the pleasure of slaughtering what you hate most!” At that moment, four lights appeared up above. The four counts, taking in a more physical form. And in a moment, they all fused into a single being. Marschal, the man she allowed herself to hate this much. He grinned at her, approaching slowly. “How dare you… I was so glad that he finally disappeared… and now you’re bringing him back? HOW DARE YOU!”

In her hand, something started forming. A blade made out of darkness itself. Or was it? While its surface was black, it actually appeared completely element-less. It formed despite the girl’s magic being sealed away. It was a different power, different to her magic. The Void… it started manifested in response to her wrath. But before she could even lift the weapon, the man’s claw-like hands were buried in her throat, ripping it apart without effort, sending her into unimaginable agony. But she knew that in Dreamland, no one could ever die. It hurt. It hurt so bad… but it was all just an illusion!

Just as much as what she would do to the man. Gathering her strength, she would get back up and swing at him, cutting of his bloodied hand, severing his leg from the rest of his body, piercing his chest. She would stab and slash at him over and over and over and over and over and- It was dark. So dark. She allowed her anger to take control of her. And now, the counts were slowly using it to put her to sleep. But she could not afford to just lose here. No. Her anger, her wrath, her jealousy. They all still needed more. To tear them apart. To destroy them all. She was nowhere close being done!

The void resonated even stronger, opening a hole in the nightmare itself. A hole which started consuming everything nearby. Not expecting something like this, the counts were taken by surprise. And in an instant, it was them who were consumed instead. Leila’s form in this realm was freed again, around her only a complete silence. With her feelings turned up to the max, it was hard to even imagine what just took place, the almost imaginary battle between herself and the four counts. After all, no one could ever die in Dreamland. There was no actual fighting. What she did was exile them from here to the Void instead.

Surely they would find their way back here eventually. But by then… she would tear the Dreamland King into pieces! Her eyes shining green in the dark, she no longer even cared about Rose and what happened to her. Walking forward, she had only one goal. The presence that was not too far off. The king. The source of all this. But when she finally got near, her feet sunk into the dark space all around her. And the king did not even say a word to her. He was the ruler of this place and because she did not manage to fix the last nightmare before the counts attacked her, he still held much power.

And so, her body sunk completely, finding itself drifting in the endless dark, unable to move at all. Ah… he knew her fears as well. They all did. She was so afraid of losing Jiyu Kazehime for good, that she allowed them to do this to her. But not only was she afraid of losing her best friend, someone she loved so deeply that she could die for her. She was also afraid of being abandoned completely, by everyone. Left alone for all of eternity. And now, that was exactly what happened. Drifting through the endless black, she was all alone. No voice could reach her, comfort her. She was… all alone.

A Hopeful Dream

“Or so the queen thought. But then she realized that this was not the end, not in the slightest!” Suddenly opening her eyes, Leila found herself still standing, rather than sinking. And in front of her was Unknown, the miracle demon. “What… happened?” The demon grinned. “Why, you were defeated by the King of Dreamland! Pretty pathetic if you ask me. But, if you by any chance remember what I told you when you entered this place… my presence was not required until now! That’s what I said! ‘my presence is not gonna be required for a little bit.’ I swear!”

“I… I believe you said that, yeah. But… did you pull me out of my own nightmare?” Floating in the air, the demon assumed a relaxed position as he crossed his hands behind his head, still smiling with that unnaturally wide grin of his. “That is correct, my queen. I have pulled you out because it’s finally time to end it all.” Suddenly dropping down to the ground, the demon walked right up to the girl, his smile suddenly much more natural and sincere than ever before.

“When you started your work here, I have told you that I lost something and that you could help me regain it. That something is my mortality. You see… I have existed for a long time now. We Miracle Demons are completely immortal, you see. You just can’t kill us, no matter what you do. It’s a curse. I have lived long enough. Ruined enough lives, yours being one of them. I… want to die, Leila. I want to be finally released from this endless pain, this endless torture! I can’t stand it anymore! So for the last several thousands of years, I was searching for a way to die, for good!”

His words… they were heavy. Leila was barely able to take them all in, understand what they meant. She had never seen this side of Unknown. “You see, I have finally discovered a way for me to die. Dreamland is unique as a world. Especially the nightmare we are in right now. If I merge with it and you destroy it… then I will be finally able to die, alongside the nightmare itself. I tried merging with many other things and doing the same, but none of them were compatible enough with my existence. This Nightmare is the only way. Ah, but don’t worry. I will reward you for helping me. Here.”

He extended one of his hands, gently placing it on Leila’s chest. A gesture completely devoid of any malice or mischief. And the moment he made this contact with her, something broke. The seal that he had placed on her that closed away her magic. But as it broke, the girl felt… different. Her magical energy surged out, completely transforming the area around them into a natural paradise, in an instant. She felt… unbelievably powerful. “What… is this?” She did not understand this power. Why was it inside of her? She was way weaker when he sealed her magic away.

“My gift for you. That seal I have placed on your body, it was nothing ordinary. It was a sealed that, while making you unable to use your magic for a while, would power up your Gardens of Eden in the meantime. Marking today, your magic has truly and honestly ascended beyond what it once was, thus me being able to remove the seal.” “But why would you do something like that?” She still did not understand. This demon who only wanted her to suffer mere months ago was doing this for her now? Why? He merely chuckled.

“I already know you that I am nearly omnipotent. Only thanks to my visions I was able to formulate this plan, my final death wish. But… ultimately, it was my fault that you have sacrificed everything for Mikka Ambrose. Your powers were lost, and even though you started slowly regaining them, it was not fast enough. My visions showed me that you would never be able to defeat the King of Dreamland like that. So I decided to give you this gift, make you powerful enough to purify him an instant.” The girl stared at him with a surprise. He really was something, this Unknown.

“If you have all this power at your disposal, why can’t you defeat the king yourself?” The demon boy sighed. “Even with this powers, I have my limits. The moment the king is defeated, the nightmare will be destroyed. I just can’t instantly merge with it after defeating him. I would not be fast enough. In a way, it’s almost the same as how I cannot use my nearly infinite power to kill myself, or create something capable of killing me. It’s quite funny, really… in the end, we are hardly almighty with such stupid limitations. But no more. The finale is at hand.”

Floating back up into the air of the dark space, the boy’s body suddenly started glowing. It was time indeed. “Your memories returned and now I gave you back your powers. You are free from my curse and I will no longer plague your life. This is the end for me, so… let us enjoy it until the final second, shall we?” Leila did not know what to say at all. So she simply nodded, while holding back tears. “Just one more thing. I know Rose is in this space somewhere. Will she be safe?” The boy had a very clear answer for her.

“Actually, she is no longer here. After being so forcefully taken over by the Counts, her body returned back to the world that overlooks all. She is resting there right now and will be just fine in few hours.” “That is all then.” The girl confirmed with both her words and a nod. The demon smiled as his body started fading, becoming part of the nightmare itself. “Oh, and by the way… name’s Artoreus. Break a leg out there, Leila!” Taking a small bow, the girl smiled back. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Artoreus. Truly.”

Despite their war against one another, the hardships he caused both her, her friends and spirits… in the end, all ended well. The demon might have been selfish until the end, but that was just his nature. And they both made peace before they departed. His body disappeared completely and the girl was left alone. But… not quite alone. Walking forward with a smile, the Gardens of Eden would seep into the nightmare, tearing it apart and closing in on the King who was just ahead. He had no shape, becoming nearly one with the nightmare himself.

But as she mentioned when cleansing one of the previous nightmares, the aspect of her Gardens was indeed Holy at least to some extent. Every single step of hers repainted the back into white as the corruption faded away, all the tormented souls here being freed one after another in mere seconds. As one could expect, the Dreamland King was furious because of this, making the entire realm tremble with his wrath. But the Saint of Eden cared not. Simply pointing her hand forward, she spoke out. “Farewell, Artoreus.” And the King’s form was torn in half.

In that exact moment, the nightmare shattered completely. Without the corrupted king at its core, there was nothing that could keep it together. And along with the Miracle Demon, it faded away. Did he truly die? Or did his mind simply cease to exist? Whatever the case, he was surely happy, free from the prison of life that he was forced into by his very own powers. In the end, they were all but pawns in the bigger game. But for now, that did not matter to Leila. For she had woken up from this long-lasting dream. And with everyone around her waking body celebrating her success, she was happy. At least for the time being.