A Beautiful Nightmare

As we approached the coffin that housed Yamin, a faint breath could be heard coming from her mouth, giving a comforting confirmation that her vitals were still good.

Yamin looked suspiciously comfortable in that coffin, and the elephant in the room was that absolutely gorgeous black wedding dress with a very light red shimmer in the dark. A small detail I noticed was that little snake details were sown around the whole thing, most notably her through her vail. It looked stunning on her.

Setting her aside for a second, I guess the second most important detail of this room was the plaque conjoining on a single point above her, sending all the red mana energy there.

“Yalda, do a scan of that location.” Uncle ordered.

My eyes concentrated on the spot above.

When the scan concluded, the results were a bit mixed. It said it was some sort of pod of darkness, absorbing unfathomable amounts of spirit energy. Something was in there, and I think it wasn’t going to be good.

My guess is that something really evil was in there, powerful enough to give us a challenge. If my video game boss knowledge had anything to say about it, maybe even the demon lord was inside there.

I think the first order of business would be to get Yamin out of that coffin. Then we’d destroy the pod with stardust energy.

As Uncle was adjusting Yamin’s position so that he could pick her up, the pod of darkness burst open. Mana like red blood washed over the floor, suspiciously avoiding Yamin completely.

Half of a body emerged from it. An arm was still stuck inside.

A weak voice came from this body, softly uttering “No.”

It flailed around a little until his second arm was free, then another great eruption blasted away the remaining plaque that subdued it.

Wings, like that of an old, decaying bat stretched out, carrying this person down to the floor, where he landed on his knees next to Yamin’s coffin.

He put his arms over her, as if protecting her, or mourning her passing with disbelief. His head laid carefully on her bosom, comforted by its warmth.

“Le…leave her alone,” he spoke weakly.

This person had gray skin, and looked incredibly emaciated. His black hair was so thin and stringy that it was just a few thinning tufts scattered around his scalp. Two barely visible horns protruded just above where his ears should have been, but it looked like they’d fallen off and failed to grow back properly. He looked more like a corpse than a living being. Was he a zombie?

-Analyzing-

-...-

-Unknown demon detected-

-WARNING! Extreme levels of darkness detected! Fleeing is advised-

He was more human-like than any of the other demons. If I had to guess, he was probably absorbing all of that power from the red mana.

“We’re not leaving here without her.” Indena said.

His glowing red eyes tilted toward us, exposing the horrible bags on his tired face.

“Y…you’d take her…from me? I will not lose her again.”

His hand raised up, pluming with red and black energy.

A red fiery glow raged across the room, swallowing everything up as it passed. It didn’t burn, but for a moment I was blinded by the strange brightness.

When my vision returned, no longer was there a demon before us, nor Yamin. The room was completely empty.

“What just happened?” Indena remarked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Uncle said.

The walls started to growl and grind, like they were moving inward toward us.

CRASH!

The stained glass shattered, and all the walls began closing in.

We all started running out of the room. But even out here, the walls were closing in on all sides, circling inward like a mirror trick. A light at the end of the tunnel kept us going at full speed.

The chamber was getting really dark, even my night vision couldn’t pierce through the darkness.

I’d reached the end of the tunnel before getting crushed, but the light just gave way to a basement with stone slabs and chains connected to them, like they were prison shackles.

“Uncle…” I reached up to grab his jacket, “I’m really really scared…”

I kept trying to grab him, but he wasn’t there.

Oh no, where’d he go? Where’d everyone go?! Why was I totally alone?!

Something wasn’t right. I kept looking around, but the darkness was growing stronger, overtaking the room.

“Ahhh!” I screamed as I charged in to find a place to hide.

Finally the darkness started to lift a little, but I was just in an empty concrete room. This wasn’t the place I’d been in a few moments ago…how did I get here?

Oh God, there was movement…I could see little things running on the edge of my peripheral, darting in and out of the darkness.

“Who’s there?!” I raised up my spear.

All I continued to hear was pitter patter all across the floor, then the walls and ceiling…were those Night Hags?

Then it was quiet again, and I wasn’t picking up on anything…

“Little lonely Yalda.” A voice spoke in the dark. “What are you waiting for? Daddy to come along and save you?”

Who was that? I couldn’t even tell if that was a boy or a girl…I just knew it was a jerk.

I was too scared to reply though. I just carefully stepped into the dark, my spear lighting the way.

One step at a time, I went deeper into the heart of this frightening darkness. My footsteps echoed louder and louder down the endless hall. Something red shimmered off in the distance, glowing faintly like a beacon of terror, awaiting my arrival.

Then that scurrying sound came back. It rushed all around the walls.

My spear swung around, lighting up wherever it pointed, but nothing was there.

“Daddy isn’t coming home. He never loved you.”

“That’s a lie!” I screamed. “He loves me a lot!”

“HA HA HA! Then why didn’t he come and get you himself? Sounds like he had more important things on his mind…”

Th…this person was a jerk! Of course daddy loved me! He wouldn’t have made me if he didn’t!

But, he did make me for a reason…to protect humanity. But…that wasn’t any reason to say he didn’t love me!

PLOP!

What did I just step in?! It was some sort of sludge! YUCK!

I skipped back to escape the sludgy mess.

Vomit-like substances were dripping down from the ceiling, I didn’t want to look up, but curiosity was killer.

My spear slowly lit up inches of space above, revealing tiny sections at a time.

Black slime was webbed all over, pulsing red like blood vessels. Identical to the stuff we’d seen before.

Caught in its clutches were about a dozen people, maybe more, scattered across the ceiling.

This plaque strung them up by various parts of their bodies, grafting itself to their skin and drawing out that red mana.

“Turn out that light,” one said in a calm voice as my spear shined over him. “I have to go to work tomorrow.”

“Oh, that is rather bright,” a woman added. “Dear, please turn that out, or my husband won’t get any sleep.”

“Kids these days.”

Why were they talking to me like this was a normal day? What was wrong with them!

Someone started coughing, almost throwing up. I turned over to see him, hung upside down and being swallowed up by this plaque of evil.

“I was sleeping so well…why’d you turn the lights on?”

That dark plaque was stuck on his eyelids, keeping them wide open. How was he sleeping like that?

I slowly backed out, scrunching up on myself.

“I can’t sleep!” a stuck person next to him announced. “You little brat! Why’d you wake us up?! I was dreaming about this smoking hot babe too…”

His screaming was freaking me out even more…I continued to back away, but where was the exit?

Oh God, was this plaque moving around? The room looked different than before.

“HEY! Where do you think you're going?!” He shouted. “AHHH!”

“Hey, shut up!” A person on the ceiling shouted. “You’re keeping us all awake!”

“Go to hell! Everything was great before that stupid kid showed up!”

They all started arguing, snowballing into much worse arguments full of cursing and anger, mainly directed toward me…

Some took my side, but others hated me.

“Hey, where’d that kid go? She started this!”

“Yeah, she was hitting us with that bright light! Someone should teach her a lesson!”

I was bolting out of there by the time they were turning against me. That place…it was scary.

I just kept running, but I couldn’t leave the room completely. My legs weren’t working right, as if I was being petrified from the waist down.

No matter how much I just kept going, I was dragging my feet along.

More of that plaque had appeared, covering up just about everything around me now. It was so concentrated that no longer was their a hint of concrete beyond where my spears light touched.

I curled around the glowing, the only source of light left. The plaque didn’t seem to want to reach for me, so long as I kept this light close.

“Give up.”

“Turn out the light. Join us here.”

“It’s time to sleep.”

The voices chanted.

“NO!” I screamed.

“Sleep. Sleep with us forever. Why not rest here? You’ll be safe from all your pain.”

“I’m not tired!” I shouted.

“But it’s been a long day.”

That voice…it wasn’t like the cacophony of chants…it was familiar. Warm and kind.

There was a bed before me, just like my bed back at The Hive. I saw my stuffed unicorn there, and my sheets smelled like someone had just done the laundry.

This was my room. All my drawings, my furniture, and my toys were here.

Pajamas were neatly folded on the rim of my bed, awaiting me to put them on and snuggle under my warm blanket. Samael was already curled up in his little cup holder, ready for bedtime.

Sitting at the desk was a man, petting Samael…

D…Daddy was sitting at my desk. He was wearing his old glasses, the ones he’d use for reading.

“Yalda, it’s time for bed.” A book was on his lap. He smiled, giving it a pat. “One story before bed. Get dressed quick, and maybe you’ll get two tonight.”

It only took me a few moments to slip into my pajamas, and then hop right into bed.

Daddy handed me a nice glass of warm milk. I took a sip of the frothy beverage, feeling its soothing effects almost instantly.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to read together. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much. Work has kept me busy.”

“It’s okay, daddy,” I said. “You help people, like a superhero or something.”

That made him snicker.

“Yes…well, I’d hardly call myself super.” he kindly pulled my blanket over me. “You’re the real hero, Yalda. The things you’ve done, the people you’ve saved…You’ve earned a good rest.”

Rest…yeah, I was pretty sleepy. Helping people was hard work.

“Alright…what book did I pick out…ah!” daddy said as he flipped it open.

“Once upon a time…”

He spoke the incantation of dreams, magic, and wonder with those gateway words. What adventure would we go on tonight?

“...In a magical land, far far away…”

Listening to his voice was comforting. A treat I hadn’t had for a very long time. My anxiety melted, my fears vanished, all of the bad feelings washed away.

This was nice.

I just listened to him. Telling me about knights, fairies, and dragons…a sword in the stone, and a lovely princess who cared for her people.

It eased me into slumber. Once daddy had noticed I dozed off, he dimmed the lights and stood up.

“Goodnight, Yalda. Sweet dreams.”

This was my dream. Just to see daddy again. To have him tell me stories, play with me, and teach me all kinds of cool science.

He was my idol. Everything I ever wanted to be. Kind, helpful and intelligent.

That was when I knew this wasn’t real.

It couldn’t have been.

Because daddy wasn’t coming back for me.

The reality was, I had to go find him.

I had to become just like him and save humanity.

I just wanted one more thing before I had to end this dream. Just another minute before I was thrust back into the clutches of a demonic realm.

My feet leapt out of bed, chasing dad down before he exited the room.

I spawned my wings, wrapping everything I had around him tightly with a hug.

“I love you, dad.” I said.

He looked down on me.

But he didn’t say anything.

“I’ll find you, and then we’ll save the world together," I promised.

He smiled.

“I’d expect no less from my own daughter.”

-Initiating Stardust Nova sequence-

It was time to put an end to this beautiful nightmare.

My body lit up with rays of light, ready to burst with mighty solar energy.

The sequence primed quickly. I was now as bright as a star.

Waves of pure solar power rushed out of me as I let the massive explosion tear down the walls of this dream. Everything was obliterated. All that remained was a void of white.

Goodbye, dream. May you one day be a reality again.