Sterth and the Dream

The blood around Atsuo made it very hard to breathe. The scent was so horrid that he threw up numerous times. Unable to stop, he felt like there would be nothing left for him to regurgitate other than his organs the next time.

He walked for miles, staring at the unchanging landscape that gradually scarred away at his sanity.

He was getting very thirsty and his stomach began to growl, making him wish he ate more during the lunch on the train.

After another hour of painful walking, he saw a big pit in the distance, to his left.

Unable to restrain himself, he took a detour and went over to take a look.

Peeking down the pit, his eyes quivered from the sight and smell.

He gagged uncontrollably as he looked away.

Inside he saw Veto’s corpse among the countless skinned bodies and skeletons, starting to decompose.

‘Fuck… fuck… fuck…’ he thought to himself, chocking on his own vomit.

He hastily got up and ran as far away from there as possible, repeatedly stumbling from his trembling legs along the way.

***

Atsuo walked with a contorted expression on his face from the ghastly sight.

Just the slightest reminiscence of it made him gag. He wished he never looked.

He tried to think about something else but couldn’t.

All that was on his mind was the suffering Veto must have endured before his final moments.

Atsuo shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

But to no success, the image of his mutilated body was imprinted in his head.

“NOOOO” he yelled, falling to the ground and tearing out his hair.

He hit his head against the ground, when a thought came to mind.

“What if I forgot…” he mumbled in hopes of forgetting the horrors of the pit.

A few seconds passed, when he glanced at himself down on the ground, confused at why he was sitting down.

He flinched when he touched the spots on his head that were now missing hair.

Not knowing the sources of his wound, he decided to ignore it and continued walking.

He took a right turn seeing that the empty plains were never ending, and walked down the dark red valleys. Except instead of water, there was blood.

Making his way down the road, he saw something resembling a ritual site. He wondered whether that was where the cultists were hanging around when they weren’t stalking people in the Boundless Forest.

Deciding to ignore it, he went past the site, and onto another patch of land resembling a jungle. With red vines hanging around the trees and red undergrowth filling the whole area, Atsuo was very reluctant about going in.

He decided it was best to avoid and went back instead.

He appeared at the empty plains again, walking down the faint path that seemed to have no end.

‘I wonder if Kaiser and Deimos are okay…’ he thought to himself gloomily as he stared blankly at the ground.

‘If only we didn’t get separated in the beginning…’

Out of nowhere, Atsuo stopped.

Directly in front of him stood Lord Kaiser, holding something close to his throat.

He was shaking as he looked up at the sky above himself.

Suddenly, Lord Kaiser noticed Atsuo, turning around with a harrowed smile.

“…I’m sorry sleeper…” he said, distraught, “…I’m sorry, but…”

“…what is the point of living, if the future doesn’t have her in it…” he said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Before Atsuo could react or say anything back, he slit his own throat.

Atsuo’s eyes widened as blood gushed out of Lord Kaiser’s neck and he collapsed to the ground.

In a panic, Atsuo rushed over to him, trampling over the red undergrowth and landing headfirst into what was now a pond of blood.

He quickly got up, coughing and sputtering the contents out of his mouth, while wiping his face, but he could no longer help.

‘NO…’ he thought to himself.

‘Why am I here?’ he thought, looking around wildly, ‘Kaiser…’

He stared at the Brimor walls around him and the sea of blood before him.

‘What is going on…’ he thought, breathing heavily.

Suddenly he jerked around, hearing a scream from around the corner.

His eyes widened, and he ran towards the noise after a moment of hesitation, sloshing through the blood.

He ran through the Brimor halls which felt like a maze.

He got out near the main entrance, looking around frantically, before choosing to head for the Fortunatus dorm.

He hurried to his faction, feeling uneasy as a strong feeling of foreboding began overwhelming him.

He stopped at the entrance, terror-stricken and feeling hollow inside.

He scowled at the sight of Yuna’s cold corpse and lifeless eyes beside Taru and Fumi’s bodies in the dimly lit room.

Taking a few steps forward, he fell to his knees, picking up her head from the floor.

“…no…” he sniveled, tears flowing down his face.

“…why…” he cried.

“…when he was dying to see you again…” he said breaking into a sob and moving her hair to the side.

Suddenly, his breath hitched as he saw Kiyo in his arms, in the same state as everyone else.

Rivia, Crod, and Eskasa, lay beside them completely motionless, as blood gradually escaped their body.

Atsuo began to tremble, unable to stop the tears flowing down his face.

He lifted their hands, which were now stone cold.

“If only… this was all just a bad dream…” Atsuo whimpered, looking at them.

He wiped his eyes, before standing back up and bringing them together.

He covered them with his jacket, taking one last look at them and stumbled out of Drezore.

It was a violent storm as Atsuo plodded through the mountains of accumulated snow on the academy grounds.

He did not know or see where he was heading. Nor did he care.

Tears freezing on his face, he was going numb.

He kept going for a couple of minutes before he finally stopped feeling his limbs, collapsing to the ground.

All that could be heard were the howling winds and Atsuo’s weeping as he mourned the death of his friends.

“hhn… hnn…”

“hhn… hnn…”

“why…”

He did not want to live anymore as his body lay on the frigid ground.

The cold that was piercing his whole body, now felt like a warm blanket as his consciousness slowly faded and he went to sleep.

***

Atsuo slowly opened his eyes, hearing indistinct muttering nearby.

He groaned, getting up and finding himself behind a desk near the window.

“Oh? Finally up?”

His breath hitched and tears welled up in his eyes as he slowly turned around.

This time, what greeted him was a warm, colorful smile.