After their heated discussion over magical girls reached its peak, Nightfall returned with Morning Dew bawling his eyes out. It seems the more experienced fairy had plenty of thoughts to share some of which are better left untold.

  “Lay off! He genuinely doesn’t know!” Rem says trying to reprimand Ellis’ companion.

  “Hmph! He should think harder! How can he just allow himself to be so stupid?” Nightfall angrily points his scythe at Dew. “He could even help you during fights but all he does is look stupid and get on my nerves!”

  “He can?”

  “Indeed! Lie down now! I’m forcing the two of you to head into another nightmare! I’ll teach you how to be proper Dream Catchers!”

  Nightfall closes the blinds and forces them to huddle together beneath a blanket. The ground beneath them shakes and shatters submerging them into another nightmare.

  “Ellis calls himself Light when facing nightmares. What do you call yourself, Rem? Answer!”

  “Sky?”

  “Approach your duty with more confidence, Sky! You stay with the child while Light handles the nightmare. Dew and I will assisst him!”

  Rem turns into her magical alter along with Ellis. They’re both rapidly descending onto a blazing landscape below. A volcano lies at the center of this hellscape covering the world in lava while spewing ash and soot into the skies creating a poisonous atmosphere. Beneath are several glaciers one of which is protecting the victim of this nightmare. It’s a young boy bandaged up head to toe almost looking like a mummy. It’s likely that he had been burned by this hellscape. Sky can clearly feel the heat radiating from the source of evil as Light is being hoisted off by Nightfall and Morning Dew. She hopes she can accomplish something before they are set ablaze.

  “Hey, I’m Sky. Are you okay?”

  “Do I look okay?” he yelps

  Rem tries to grab him as the glacier sinks further and further. However, upon being grabbed he shrieks louder than the bellowing blows of the volcano almost rupturing her eardrums. He’s in constant pain wherein any sort of movement or physical touch comes crashing down on him causing horrific pain indescribable to the nonaflicted. She recoils in shock letting him cry and yell his heart out. Not knowing how to help him is forcing unpleasant memories of her own to rise to the surface. Feeling helpless and absolutely clueless is something she struggles with.

  “I’m sorry,” she stammers. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  He continues crying not hearing a word of what she has to say to him. The eruption grows in intensity as Light faces off against the main threat.

  Light lands on a melting patch of debris. He wears black running shoes with lightning bolts to the side. White bush pants with blue ends just asking to be stained are covering his lower body. His black belt is connected to belts fixated to his knees. A brown corset-vest with two red stripes to the left and to the right that reach from his armpit to the bottom is fixated atop a black button-up shirt. Light also wears a choker with a lone eight-pronged star on his neck. His hair is slightly longer now being white instead of black except for the root. It’s far more ruffled and chaotic with two little braids in the front grading to black at the tip.

  “We actually have to fight that thing again?” Light asks Nightfall.

  “Again? We?” Morning Dew cowers behind Nightfall not enjoying this ordeal.

  “We’ve fought this nightmare a few times. This kid probably was burned in the real world and likely deals with actual disfigurement in day to day life. We’ve found the victim and managed to discern that they weren’t too severe but they were great enough to at least mentally scar him for life. Since these wounds are still fresh, this nightmare is still very strong,” states Nightfall. “However, with Sky keeping the kid safe it’s rather unlikely for the kid to awaken due to intense fear or shock.”

  “We have to tell her! I’ll be right back!” Dew says but Light grabs him not letting Morning Dew inform Sky.

  “We were lucky to have found that kid,” claims Light. “Calm down, okay. Most of the time we won’t be that lucky. She’ll have to figure out how to deal with nightmares without background info. I can’t beat this thing alone anyway so I need you two here.”

  Shaken, Dew nods wondering just how he could be useful.

  “Observe carefully, Dew,” says Nightfall. His scythe turns into a chained staff, something he believes to be ideal for this battle. It can grow longer, turn sections of itself into a chain. Remain solid and tethered like a normal staff and generally seems to be great for someone that can make use of momentum.

  Light begins to run up the volcano rushing straight toward his opponent. With haste he believes Sky to be capable of soothing that child enough for him to defeat this nightmare. Why he’d have so much confidence in her remains a mystery even to Nightfall.

  Ellis never quite had a solid home to go back to. His parents often were on the move meaning his friendships were short-lived. Since he’s grown tired of their entrepreneurship he doesn’t even engage in any conversations featuring school, work, and the future. He tends to eat alone in his room as they’re never home before 7pm anyway. Their business venues have offered freedom in ways many others can’t even imagine; opportunities that are unreachable for many. Yet, he resents them, hating any priviledge he’s handed.

  “I am Ellis,” he says deadpan. Believing he won’t be around long enough to remember half their names he bears no interest in presenting himself to class. An overenthusiastic teacher inconsiderably forced him to the front of class on his first day here to goad him into talking about himself.

  The other kids are more less snickering with each other wondering why someone would transfer here a month into the year.

  “There’s a seat open next to me! Over here!” Rem is signaling him over as his self introduction ends after just three words. With haste he walks toward his classmate experiencing 10th grade like any normal kid would.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “I’m Rem. Nice to meet you,” she says. “Why’d you transfer here and from were? Isn’t it weird to transfer right at the start of the year?”

  “Why are you asking? It’s none of your business anyway.” He’s cold and distant.

  They silently sit next to each other spending their first two periods just awkwardly jotting down whatever was going on the blackboard. Even the surrounding students are offput by his demeanor. For him to always look tense and closed off just feels strange.

  He spends breaktime sitting on the ground around an awkward corner a handful of students walk by every few minutes. Though he hates attention and the public eye, he’s drawing even more attention to himself by looking odd and out of place. Yet, Rem has found him, waiting for answers.

  “Yo!” she says raising her hand.

  “Why are you bothering me?” he thinks.

  “Yo,” he says deadpan attempting to replicate her gesture. He makes himself smaller waiting for her to pass yet she’s just standing there staring at his book.

  “What are you reading?” she asks.

  “A book,” he replies hoping that would make her back off.

  “Huh? Are you stupid? I can see that you’re reading a book,” she replies unfazed by his snark.

  “HUH? Who are you-” he catches himself losing his composure. “It’s Hesiod’s Theogony, a bunch of kids receive mysterious packages to a game that forces them to do complete increasingly more unhinged tasks lest they wish to be banned forever.”

  “Oh we read that in class last year! It was so much fun! I can spoil everything for you,” Rem jeers.

  “Do that and I’ll push you down the stairs,” he says, still deadpan.

  “But then everyone would know and you’d be caught immediately,” she counters.

  “There are no witnesses here. I can just leave before I get caught, stupid.”

  They’ve breached into some sort of understanding. What was supposed to be a short time he wouldn’t think much of after transfering once again in the near future, would turn into the most precious years of his life thanks to this heathen. After that initial hurdle they instantly clicked spilling secrets and embarassing stories left and right without hesitating. Even if a handful of secrets remain, they’ll eventually be brought to light likely in the near future.

  “If that idiot can drag the me out of myself then she can surely comfort a child and drag him little further away from fear,” he thinks. His time to reminisce is over. His duty calls.

  A flaming humanoid with long limbs and large hands and feet and a rocky shell protecting its body is smoking a cigar… Its skeletal face is contorted into a grimace rage almost foreign to man. This monstrosity bears the heart of this world after swallowing it and claiming it as its own. To purify the seas and restore nature, they’ll have to defeat this beast and reclaim the heart. Until then, this child cannot rest.

  It swings at Light with such vigor and speed unraivaled by any foe these veterans have faced before. Its simplicity makes it predictable but its ferocity renders most strategies entirely meaningless. Even a magical weapon conjured up by a fairy won’t amount to much when faced with utter brutality.

  He dodges its first attack by sliding underneath it between its legs. He immediately follows up by twirling the staff around its ankles and waiting for Nightfall’s assistance. His partner forms another weapon out of thin air, a massive mace too heavy to be wielded by a person. Even Light is struggling to drag it through air needing both speed and momentum to crash it into the humanoid’s hard and rocky exosceleton. It cracks yet doesn’t deal enough damage for its functions to be hampered.

  It tears apart the chained staff crushing and melting it into oblivion. It swings at Light as it turns around. He barely avoids it by jumping into the air yet leaves himself vulnerable to attack.

  But he’s thought ahead! Nightfall fires a harpoon quickly propelling him down and away from all danger. It turns into a super-sized shovel upon landing digging into the unstable scree still intact atop the volcano. Light quickly buries this beast beneath the hazards that are supposed to strengthen it, following up with a summersault as the shovel turns into a hammer that grows heavier with momentum. It cracks the skull of this humanoid yet this temporary setback won’t keep this beast down for long.

  The air is heavy and filled with ash and soot toxic and unbreathable to even superheroes. Light is also expending a lot of stamina as his normal speed lies beneath the levels he’s reaching now. His strength bottoms out even lower than his speed meaning even more energy is spent in this battle for. This beast is growing stronger by the second turning more terrific with each instant.

  Meanwhile, Sky is dragging this boy up the slopes of this glacier as he continues to cry and weep for some sort of relief. She can feel him waking up as the pain, fear, and terror grows stronger.

  “What do I do? What do I do?” she asks herself knowing she’s just making it worse. “I can’t believe they just left me here without telling me a thing! I’m gonna box up Dewy and make sure he regrets abandoning me!”

  Unknowingly, her very own fears and worries are adding to the intensity of this nightmare. This fear is bouncing off of the creator of this nightmare creating a stronger nightmare again bouncing off of the others in an eternal loop that amplifies itself with each completion.

  Sky is reminded of the one time her brother stumbled and fell so badly that it tore off some skin. His cries were unbearable and since he was so young, his shrieks were tiny but mighty. Her mother drew attention to Rem by twirling her around till she got dizzy. That distraction gave them the time needed to patch him up without causing much of a fuss. Though she’s dealing with a much greater threat than scrapes and bruises, distractions may work just as they did back then.

  Determined, she leaps into the skies with hope. Believing that she’ll be met with clear blue skies, she picks up in speed. Her cape is covering the child while she’s getting burned. Though her fears of being met with nothing more than dark clouds and ash for rain are slowing her down, she’s still advancing past the upper limit of calamity till…

  Cloudy blue skies. Gentle winds. Cool air.

  The sudden drop in temperature, though the boy’s still crying, has him opening his eyes as the dream grows more stable. Sky herself is suffering from intense burns and blisters yet she’s smiling past the confines of pain. Even if teary-eyed, she’s smiling.

  “Are you okay?” she asks him.

  He nods as the bandages come undone. Panic begins to set in again as he becomes aware of his own wounds.

  “Such a pretty face! And cool battle scars too! Though mine don’t look as cool as yours,” she says. Sky can’t fully believe these words and believes his wounds to be unsightly.

  “They’re not! They look–”

  “I’m Sky. What’s your name?”

  “Kai.”

  “I’m gonna be right back. Just wait a sec, okay?”

  She chuckles as he remains confused.

  Down on the volcano, Dew is panicking as he’s carrying an exhausted Nightfall watching Light stumble about with a huge gash in his head. The atmosphere cools and the burns become more bearable as his fellow Dream Catcher is inciting positivity both within herself and the child who’s powering this nightmare. Even the fiery foe is exuding less heat and feels far slower than before.

  “Of course it worked out,” Light tells himself. With the final bits of strength nesting within him and Nightfall, he’s reshaping a broken weapon into a massive rainbow halberd. Its weight is about to bury even him and its intensity is too bright for someone like him. One mighty swing!

  And that swing can only cut halfway through its waist. Its glow fades as does the remainder of his strength.

  The clouds scatter as one lone rainbow comes crashing down claiming the emerald heart of this world as her own. One final blow from the skies to down below is gloriously transforming the world shaping it into the vigorous planet it always was supposed to be.