Chapter 8:

Daybreak rendezvous

Dive into the Night


Leon was the last to enter the village after his new teammates. May and Hayate had stopped arguing, however Hayate was still wearing a sour expression on his face. Leon continued to look around after they returned, as he walked towards where Kaz was waiting. Leon looked down to check the time as he walked, it was already 11:45 AM. Kaz addressed everyone as Leon joined the group.

“Now, while we are still unaware of the exact number of people Oire brought into the Dream, it is a relief to have our ranks bolstered by a new teammate. Now we should address the other priority issue we face at the moment,” said Kaz before he turned to Touma. “I would like your opinion on the it as well, Touma.”

“Are you sure, Kaz? I think you would have a good understanding of it,” Touma replied somewhat quietly.

“Yes, I trust your judgement on this.”

Touma stepped forward and faced the rest of the team, he opened his book and created a map of the dream identical to the one Oire showed.

“From what Oire told us, the Nightmares appear on two conditions. The first is that they are both formed from and are drawn towards strong emotions. The second is that they are drawn to action or commotion.”

“Leon, you mentioned as we returned that you have only been present in the Dream for the past three nights, correct?” Kaz asked.

“Yeah, and that I’ve been to two other places in the Dream.”

“Right,” Touma continued. “We had only patrolled the city due to its massive size, which explains why we had not encountered Leon until now. However even with all this time in the city, we had only ever seen three large Nightmares. One last week, and the two we witnessed tonight. This ‘goal’ of cleansing the Dream doesn’t appear to be feasible with our current intel. To make matters worse, getting in contact with Oire is more or less impossible.”

“That guy just appears whenever he wants, what’s his deal anyway?” Hayate chimes in.

“Unfortunately, we still lack many answers. Perhaps we should leave for now, we have already spent a great deal of time within the Dream, we should not ignore Oire’s warning,” Kaz suggested.

Kaz looked over to Leon and noticed that he was somewhat distracted, as he occasionally looked around the village while the others were talking.

“Leon, is something the matter? You have been looking around for quite some time now.”

The others also turned to observe Leon, his eyes darted around as if he was looking for something.

“Do you guys not feel like you’re being watched when you’re here?” Leon asked.

“No, although I would say that my perception of hidden or low visibility objects is quite poor,” Kaz said in response.

“I always thought the village was the safest area in the Dream,” said Saya as she looked around.

“Hmm,” May thought for a second. “You sure you're just not paranoid?"

Leon looked around and tried to focus, he could see something moving around. It transitioned between moving slowly and darting around quickly. Regardless, it was clear it was observing the group. Leon noticed that he was still carrying his spear with him. He turned away from the group as he dematerialized his weapon before walking forward several steps.

“Hey,” Leon called out. “I know you’re out there. You’ve been watching us for a while now. You can come out, we’re not here to fight.”

“Who’s the new guy talking to?” Hayate asked as he pointed at Leon.

“Um, if you’re tired from your multiple fights, perhaps you should leave the Dream and get some rest,” said Touma.

“Maybe the loss against Kaz was too much for him,” added Saya.

Leon angrily turned around.

“Hey can the three of you shut up?! Like there is clearly something here, just open your eyes it’s not that hard! Like it would be great if- “

Leon turned back around in the middle of his sentence and stopped talking mid sentence. The other members of the group also fell silent. A small creature had materialized about a metre in front of Leon. The creature resembled a white fox in both appearance and size, but it was slightly transparent with a slight green aura surrounding it.

“Cute,” said May.

Leon looked down at the creature, as he looked closer he also noticed various different animals fading in and out close to it. All of the creatures shared the same green aura and transparency, however the fox was significantly larger than the other animals.

“So you’re the one who’s been watching us this whole time? Who exactly are you?”

“We are not one,” the fox finally spoke, it’s voice projecting into the minds of the group. “We represent the fauna of the world, of past and present. We serve as the caretakers of the realm. However long it should take, the Dream will always renew.”

“So, you just fix the Dream?” Leon asked.

“Our role is not so simple. We maintain the Dream; our job is that to restore the reflection of the world. Be it repairs, or renovations, our work is endless.”

Leon remembered how the signs of his battle in the forest were gone by the next night, as if no battle had taken place.

“However, our duties have been challenged by the appearance of invaders. They destroy that which we maintain, their very presence corrodes the Dream.”

“The Nightmares.”

Kaz stepped up beside Leon and addressed the spirit.

“Please, tell us what you know about these creatures,” Kaz continued.

“We know where they appear, but we do not know their origins. We only know that their advent brought a ring of darkness to this realm. We lack the ability to combat these creatures, for they draw their strength from the Dream itself. “

“And so you were observing us,” said Leon. “You were there when we defeated the bird golem. “

“You are correct. Long have we been aware of the power of humans, for it is their influence that continues to shape the Dream.”

“Then perhaps we can make a deal then.”

The fox spirit tilted its head as if looking at Leon with a puzzled expression.

“We are willing to listen.”

“You wish to maintain and repair the Dream, while we’re looking to eradicate the Nightmares from the Dream. If you know where the Nightmares appear in the Dream, you can guide us to them while we kill them in your place."

“Intriguing indeed, and an offer we will accept. We are everywhere in the Dream, call for us and we shall appear; granted you have already removed any Nightmare creature from the surrounding area.”

Kaz turns and addresses Leon.

“You are quite the negotiator.”

“Well I’m used to being the guy who has to order food for the group.”

Kaz looked at his arm and realized the time.

“We really should be leaving, staying this long may not be good.”

“Alright,” Leon replied before he turned back to the spirit fox. “Hey just one more thing, do you know where Oire is?”

“That we have little knowledge of.”

“What."

The fox's answer caught Leon off guard.

“He may be of the Dream, but his origins lie with humanity. We may share our place within the Dream, but our paths rarely cross,” the spirit fox paused for a moment. “His presence had been dormant for quite some time; it is somewhat perplexing that he appeared once more.”

As he walked away from the fox spirit, Leon found the creature’s last words somewhat strange. What did it mean when it said that he had been dormant? Is it just because he became active again after pulling us into the Dream? 

The fox bowed its head as the group made their way back over to one of the houses.

“We shall meet again in another night, when the Dream renews once more.”

***

As the other members exited the Dream, Kaz and Leon were the last two to leave. Kaz stopped Leon as they were about to exit.

“Leon, there is one more thing I would like to tell you about.”

Leon turned around.

“While I have already spoken to the other members about this topic, it is important that you are also aware,” Kaz continued. “I have already met with the others in reality, where we can plan how we operate within the Dream. Time flows somewhat differently within here, so it may be wise to use any available time to us."

“Uh, sure. How would I find you?"

Leon instinctively reached for his phone, before he realized that input in the Dream does not translate to reality.

“If you prefer for me to get in contact with you, I shall oblige as best I can. However, if you prefer I contact you instead, it may be a bit easier,” Kaz added. “Now I cannot hand you one of my business cards seeing as we are still in the Dream; however, I take it that you have at least heard of the Ryusei Group?”

Leon thought for a moment. The name did sound familiar, but where have I seen or heard it before? He said ‘group’ so it must be some sort of large organization, but I don’t have a clue what it could be.

“I believe I heard of the name, but I just can’t put any images to words right now.”

“That is quite alright,” said Kaz. “You should be able to easily find them online, from their site you will be able to send an email to the group directly. Address your email to Kazuya and sign your name so I am aware the message belongs to you, I will handle the rest.”

“Alright then,” Leon replied. “So what’s our next plan of action, leader?”

“Kaz is just fine. Now, try to remember to send that email when you wake up.”

Kaz paused and chuckled.

“Ah, this is under the assumption that your body reacts well to overexposure.”

“Overexposure?” Leon said with a puzzled expression.

“You do remember Oire’s advice, about limiting our time exploring the Dream? Aside from taking advantage of time, it is the other reason we are arranging meetings in reality. However, you may not have the same experience as any of us, so perhaps you may be perfectly fine. It may be best if you experience it yourself.”

Kaz opened the exit door using the keyhole and stepped inside. Leon walked forward and entered the door after him.

***

Leon opened his eyes, he laid on his bed as he started at the ceiling. He remembered the name that Kaz told him to find. 

Guess I should find out who these guys are. Leon thought to himself as he laid still. 

After several minutes had passed, Leon finally decided to turn over to the side of his bed to get his phone.

“Eh?”

Leon knew he had put in the same level of effort and strength to turn over in his bed like he had done many times, but his body did not move. Leon exerted more strength as he tried to turn to his side, before he felt a wave of soreness and pain course through his entire body. He had managed to turn over, but now he was lying on his stomach. Grabbing his phone, Leon exerted the same amount of strength and turned himself onto his back again. He placed more strength into his arms as he pushed himself to sit up in his bed. The three movements took Leon around a minute and left him breathing heavily.

“Well, that was painful.”

Whenever Leon moved any part of his body, it felt as if he was wading through water. As if his entire body was being weighed down by some invisible force. He opened his phone and looked at the time, it was just past 12. Opening a browser on his phone, Leon put in a search for the Ryusei group and began to read.

“The Ryusei Group is an international business conglomerate that is currently led by Hirotaka Ryusei. The organization has specializations in a variety of sectors, including retail businesses, technology, manufacturing, food services, and even defence contracting. Their net worth is estimated to be $200 billion USD."

Leon quickly did a double take as he reread the last sentence.

“Holy… $200 billion? These guys are huge, just what kind of connection does Kaz have?"

Leon went over to the conglomerate’s main site, where he quickly located the contact section.

“Well there it is, just like Kaz said. Alright then.”

Leon filled in the sections with his info, only adding Kazuya as the subject and the body. He signed the email with his full name before he sent it.

“He did add that he would handle the rest, so I guess it’s just back to waiting.”

Leon stared out his window for a minute, admiring another cloudless sunny day.

“I guess I’ll go make some food.”

He attempted to scoot himself slowly to the side of his bed, but gave up after three moves and laid back down.

“Yeah… I think I’ll just wait a bit before I try that again.”

Makech
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