Arise - Chapter 7: Whose Nightmare?

"You felt this was the best one?!" Astar lashed out, her sharp eyes full of anger. She stopped herself from lunging at Regis and took a deep breath. Regis didn't want to say it out loud, but the way she looked incredibly cute while she did so. She smiled coldly and asked, "Shouldn't you ask your teammates before opening a door? Where is your common sense?"

"That's right. The elf and I were discussing the path through while you just waltzed in and opened the door." Danube played a soft melody from his guitar. Then, the guitar screeched into a nonsensical tune that grated on people's ears as a delighted expression overtook his face. "But I like that! Hahaha! As a fellow rebel, I enjoy that spirit. Though, next time, you have to talk with us first. What's the point of a team otherwise."

"Sorry. I had a strange feeling I had to go through this door." Regis lowered his head apologetically and then looked at the fog within the door. The urge was faint now, lingering on the edges of his every thought, telling him to walk through. That same feeling made him the first out of the labyrinth, and he enjoyed a full day with Yvel.

Surely this door would also be a fast and easy way out. Regis smiled at the two and walked through the door, hearing their clattering up the stairs. The fog enveloped him, and he felt drawn into it as a numbing sensation washed over him. "Am I falling asleep? It's so nice…."

His vision darkened, and all the sounds of the world seemed to die down, leaving nothing, only the comfort of silence. Then, out of nowhere, he heard screaming and wailing, panicked cries yelling out for mercy, for salvation. Overwhelmed, Regis snapped his eyes wide open, yelling against the countless cries around him.

"Where am I?" Regis turned his head all over. Many people, strange walking creatures, and beasts all stampeded his way. Fearing for his life, Regis held his hands up, thinking he would be trampled to pieces. However, everyone simply passed by him, his body phasing through them, reminding him of the tales about ghosts who can pass through walls. People had frightened, helpless faces everywhere he looked, crying and screaming.

"What is this?" Regis heard a loud thunderous noise deafening all other sounds. Everyone fell on their feet, tumbling to the floor. Looking at the sky, Regis shuddered as cracks formed in the sky. Not how Yvel split the clouds, but real cracks like the sky were some random object like a rock. The cracks spread fast to the farthest reaches where the sky met the ground on the horizon. Many knelt on the floor, begging for mercy, begging to live. But nothing responded, only the pieces of the sky falling cruelly onto the people.

"Stop it!" Regis shouted to the sky as more pieces of it fell. To his infinite shock, people, trees, rocks, animals, and cities fell from the sky. Where were they coming from? Regis knelt on the floor, unsure what to do or where to go. He could only watch in horror as the bodies fell into large mounds around him, crushed by buildings. Then the floor underneath quaked and formed deep chasms. Clutching his head, Regis felt a splitting headache as he fell and screamed, "What is going on?!"

…….

Within the room Regis entered, he, Astar, and Danube were lying down, an orb hovering around each of them with a blue glow. The orbs tethered to Regis and the others through a mana link, coursing endlessly into them. Small creatures leaped out of the orb with thin faces, long ears, pale skin, and gnarled fingers.

They were gremlins, the small troublemakers of the Tower who enjoyed toying with people, causing them grief and harm.

"Kekekeke. What idiots! To have chosen the worst door out of them all. I haven't eaten in so long." One of the gremlins jumped up and down in joy.

"I wonder what kind of nightmares they have. Mmm. It'll be delicious." A gremlin grew impatient and rode the mana link into Danube. The others followed along and entered Astar and Regis.

The gremlin who entered Regis snickered as he swam through the ocean of thought, wondering how he should keep scaring the child. Within the dream, he would have full control to keep drawing fear, tasty sustenance for him. He smiled, revealing his sharp teeth as drool traveled down his sharp chin; children were so easily afraid.

He delved into Regis's mind and entered the nightmare the orb played for him. Usually, his kind needed to wait for a nightmare or cause conditions for one, but the orb created a nightmare, an easy feeding ground for gremlins. Passing into Regis's nightmare, the gremlin froze, his mouth gaping wide open at the horrific sight.

"W-what…what kind of nightmare is this? Why am I feeling afraid in a dream? Is this a dream?" The gremlin roamed around, jumping from fallen buildings to piles of corpses. Vast rivers of blood swelled and flowed in between. Everything was so detailed, too real, contrary to everything this expert of dreams knew. No matter how far he ran, the vivid images remained detailed and distinct, not repeating or dulling into obscurity. "How far does this go? Who…who the hell is this kid?!!!!"

"Someone you should never have encountered." Voices sprouted from all over, not from a single location. The gremlin yelped and tried to escape back through the link. However, his efforts were in vain, an invisible force locking him in place.

"W-who is this? Who are you? I swear I won't tell anyone! I'll even help the boy." The gremlin begged.

The world churned, and the ground rose in front of him, distorted into the shape of a maw, rows of teeth circling endlessly inside its mouth. "You can help…by being his food."

"No! Please!" The gremlin who loved causing fear and feeding off nightmares was now the afraid, the food. The maw chomped down and ground him into mush between its teeth.

Outside, the orb linked to Regis shuddered as the mana inside it burst into the link, all heading into Regis's body. The orb lost its glow and fell to the floor, drained of everything it had within it. A tremor passed through his eyelids, and Regis slowly woke up, feeling refreshed.

He leaped to his feet and stretched, jumping up and down. How did he feel so good, even after such a bad nightmare? Putting that aside, Regis found both Astar and Danube on the floor. "Danube? Astar? What's wrong? What are these orbs?"

Regis ran toward Astar's side and tried to shake her. She seemed to be in pain, panting and sweating heavily. "Astar? Wake up! Astar. Wake up!" He continued to shake her.

…….

'What happened to Thrin? How is the kid up?' The gremlin inside Astar couldn't understand. Staring at the strange kid, the gremlin shuddered, seeing something indescribable behind him. A dark, shadowy presence made itself known, shapeless, formless, and horrifying to behold. 'What the hell are you?!' The gremlin screamed as the shadows enveloped the orb, and all the mana flowed into it, sucking the helpless gremlin along with it.

The last gremlin watched in horror as the shadows went to his orb. Before he could plead for mercy, it sucked from the orb and ate him along with the mana. All of this happened without Regis knowing. The shadow only revealed itself to the gremlins and no one else. They died without ever being seen or heard, voiceless in the dark.