Akane looked between the five individuals in her room with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. Part of that could be blamed on the fact one of those individuals was not even remotely human. Vee’s appearance was nothing compared to the living nightmares she had just witnessed, the sight of Zarlaus’ eyes etched into her mind like stone. Didn’t make it any weirder that Dragon had Vee walking on her shoulder without issue. She looked towards Drew, who she currently believed was the only one here with any sense. All he did was shrug, which was not a good sign for her mental sanity.
“So, just to go over everything that was explained to me,” Akane said, starting to pace back and forth. “Nightmares want to invade our realm, and the doll that is currently with us is a… good nightmare. Said nightmare gave Melissa a pin that gave her the power to control dream energy,” She stopped and looked at the group of friends, getting nods. She groaned as she returned to pacing. “Which led to what I saw tonight, which is a couple of nightmares trying to kill two of you due to having said doll and pin in your possession. That is gonna keep happening, and there isn’t any way to stop it.”
“Even if I left with the pin, they would come back for Melissa and Maria,” Vee explained. “The pin is bound to her till death anyways. Bringing it to someone else wouldn’t do anything.”
“Which leaves Melli as the only thing currently between Bael and the likely genocide of three species,” Lucy said, taking a step forward. She crossed her arms and clamped her tongue between her teeth. “This all happened today. We didn’t expect to be under attack so soon.”
“Only one is… dead,” Melissa said, her sentence interrupted by a yawn. She wasn’t sure why she still felt so exhausted, so drained, but the trans girl did her best to hide it. “The other one is likely out there in Burlington now.”
Akane sighed and gripped her face as if it was a rock on a rock climbing wall. In the span of less than a half hour her reality was shattered. Living nightmares, magic, the ability to control dreams, nothing made sense. She hated that none of it made sense, and the only silver lining was that others were there to experience that lack of sense with her. Given that said people were all taking it far better than she was, that was a very small silver lining.
“I feel like I’m talking to characters out of some manga or cartoon or game,” Akane whispered to herself. She brought her hand off her face, calmed herself, and looked at Dragon. They were currently sitting on her bed. “Are you feeling better than earlier?”
“I think so,” Dragon said, head hung. “Are you… are you positive mama isn’t here?”
“I thought you had two dads,” Akane replied. “Unless you mean your birth mother.”
“Yeah, her,” Dragon replied. She tightened one hand into a fist and squeezed it as hard as she could with the other. “I heard her after the nightmare bit me. No, I saw her too, as well as the church she had started forcing me to go to in those last few months together.”
The room went quiet after her statement, everyone taking in what Dragon had said. It was the first time any of her friends had learned about her life before child services took custody of her brother and her. She wanted to keep things like that, but she knew that those before her need to know what she witnessed. The silence was broken by Drew, who walked over to her and sat down by her side.
“Yeah, she isn’t here,” Drew told her, wrapping an arm around her in an attempt to comfort. “If she did show up we would tell her to fuck off. More appropriately, Lucy would.”
Dragon looked to the girl in question, Lucy giving a thumbs up to her. Both knew that, if she was legally able to, Lucy would probably go farther than just badmouthing Dragon’s blood mother. After all, she had tried to break down the door to Melissa’s dorm room earlier that day. Something she was very glad Akane hadn’t actually seen that morning, now that she thought about it.
“What you witnessed is what happens when a nightmare feeds directly on a dreamer,” Vee told them all. “It puts you in a state where your worst memories, fears, and traumas warp the very reality you see. It is exactly like what happens when you are asleep but, due to your brain acknowledging the fact you're awake, it makes what you witness feel far worse than is okay.”
“If Bael gets a foothold here, if he is allowed to break the barrier open enough to bring an army of nightmares…” Melissa said. Her eyes found themselves glued to her hand, one of her revolvers summoning forth as she did. She gritted her teeth. “Then humanity is doomed, as are the dreams and nightmares we made. We can’t allow that to happen.”
Akane nodded and once again swept her eyes over the group. According to Vee, three of the four humans were in extra danger due to smelling like nightmares as well. Melissa was safe due to the pin, but the others were still incredibly vulnerable. She apparently was safe herself but that didn’t make her any less worried for both Dragon and Lucy. Of course, who was or wasn’t vulnerable wouldn’t matter if Bael got his way.
“Promise me that none of you will get yourself killed, and what happened tonight stays between us,” She explained to the group before. The majority of them either nodded or gave thumbs up, with the only Drew not giving a response. Akane didn’t notice it and turned her attention to Vee. “Is there a way to get more of these pins? I can’t expect you to get them for the whole city, but if Lucy and Dragon want to help then they should have them.”
Dragon opened her mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by Vee. “It will take a little time, but I can procure more. We should first make sure Deam is taken care of, though.”
“Which, given the wind chill tonight, we should wait till tomorrow to do. It feels like negative thirty at the moment,” Drew explained. No one had noticed him taking out his phone. “Also, we are gonna have to tell Holly. You sending that picture has just made her more confused, Dragon.”
“Should’ve figured that would happen. Tomorrow is her first day back, right?” Dragon asked, getting a nod from Drew. She then turned her attention back to Akane. “Seems we will have to tell at least one more person.”
“If it can’t be avoided, then go ahead,” The RA said. She clapped her hands together and nodded her head. “I think that is all for the night. If there is anything more about all this that needs to be discussed with me, call me. You should all have my number.”
The group nodded, and filed their way out of her room quietly, Melissa first and Dragon last. The trans girl yawned again, then slapped herself in the face to wake herself up. It hurt, but it sent a slight wake-up jolt to her system. Didn’t change the fact she looked ready to collapse from exhaustion to everyone around her. Drew quickly caught up to her, allowing concern to take front stage on his face.
“You really should get more sleep now,” Drew told her, noticing just how bad the bags under her eyes were. “If you’re gonna be out fighting nightmares at this time, it would probably be best to try and reset your sleep schedule.”
“Yeah, you would all like that,” Melissa replied as they reached the stairs. Drew started to descend, only looking back up halfway down the first flight to see the rest of his friends had gathered around the top. “Too bad for you I will be doing no such thing. Sleep is for the weak and I’m most definitely not weak.”
“You got winded heading from my car to the café,” Lucy reminded her. She ignored the discontent her words put on Melissa’s face and continued to speak. “Not to mention that you looked exhausted during the fight despite having not done all that much. Mentally strong? Definitely. Physically you’re a piece of white bread.”
“Is that your way of saying you want to…” Melissa started, eyes going wide as she realized exactly what she was going to say. She turned away and blushed, not noticing that Lucy’s face was as red as her own. “Forget I said that. Forget I even started saying that.”
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A snort escaped Dragon, Drew rolling his eyes at the two. The two looked at each other, Dragon doing her best to hold in the urge to snicker as she pointed at Lucy. Both of them knew exactly where the trans girl had been heading, both slightly disappointed she hadn’t finished the statement. Especially Dragon, who had bet twenty bucks with Holly the year prior that Melissa would be the one to reveal their feelings first. Didn’t make the sight of two individuals unable to admit their feelings to each other any less funny.
“If I was to guess, the exhaustion during the fight probably had more to do with the energy it takes to control dream matter,” Vee said, not reading the mood at all. “For creatures made of dream matter like myself, molding it is nothing. For you dreamers, it is a bit different.”
“Like how mana tends to drain people mentally in fantasy settings,” Melissa said, using the doll’s words as a mean to distract herself. It didn’t get rid of the blush on her face. “That would explain how tired I am.”
“Yes, I’m sure that is the case and not the small three hours of sleep you get on most nights,” Drew said, not holding back the sarcasm that was evident in his voice. All Melissa gave him was a confident smirk. “Nevermind. See you all tomorrow. Please try and think a little bit about how we are gonna explain this to Holly.”
“Night,” the three girls said.
Vee waved one of their small arms frantically as Drew disappeared to the floor below. With him gone the rest made their way to their rooms. Melissa bid them good night first as her door was closest to the stairs. Lucy went past her room and joined Dragon at the front of hers. Taking the door knob and turning it, she opened the door just crack before closing it and shivering. Dragon joined her in visibly shuddering at the feeling of ivy cold wind hitting her. The fate of the girl’s dorm window quickly resurfaced.
“I don’t think you are gonna be able to sleep in there tonight,” Lucy stated, wrapping her hands around and shaking her chest. It didn’t help her feel less cold, but it gave her the impression she was trying to do something. “Guess we’ll have to talk to Akane about fixing the window.”
“Actually, we shouldn’t need to,” Vee explained. Both girls looked down to the doll as it spoke. “If I remember correctly, most magral knights tend to fix the scene of a fight themselves. Keeps questions from being asked by authorities or shop owners while also keeping them from having to pay damage costs. There is no way to know if another nightmare might end up back at the same place multiple times, so it keeps reputations from getting needlessly ruined,” It then shrugged. “Something like that at least. It is how Bael explained it.”
“So Melissa should be able to restore the window as if it was never broken at all,” Lucy summarized, getting a nod from the doll. She turned to the door her friend had headed to. While they most likely wouldn’t fall asleep of their own will, Melissa needed sleep. She knew that, by opening that door, it would lead to the girl putting sleep off for longer. “We’ll ask her to restore it in the morning, but if you need somewhere for the night I guess I’m the only option.”
“Only non-scary option,” Dragon said. Her elbow’s dug into the sides of stomach as she eyed every dorm door that didn’t belong to one of her friends. “I got enough people to socialize with.”
“Hey, we know hanging out with us is a far cry from where you were when last school year started,” Lucy replied as she turned around and motioned Dragon to follow her. “I remember when I finally worked up the nerve to talk to anyone outside of my adoptive family. Heh, you could argue Drew is the only guy I’m actually really comfortable around.”
Dragon tilted her head, Vee mimicking her. “So the stuttering at the café was not because of the good looks my brother had.”
“It’s… both,” Lucy explained, rubbing her right arm and darting her eyes to the carpet. “He brings the bisexual out of me, that can’t be denied, but guys scare me still. Besides, as wonderful as he is, I’ve had eyes on someone else longer,” She turned around and brought her pointer finger as close to Dragon’s nose as possible. “That. Is. All. You. Are. Getting.”
Dragon hastily nodded her head, the fear of a boop enough to keep her silent. Not that she needed to be told anything, for she had known for a long time exactly who that someone was. It was really just a matter of if the french girl or the newly made magral knight would be the one to break the silence. Even funnier, they both knew they liked each other as well, they were both just ‘too much of a bottom to admit it’, as Holly had put it. They were oddly unfiltered when not in public, especially considering she was typically considered the group mom.
She really looked forward to seeing that again, for the past few months of school had not been the same without them. She still remembered just how shocked they had all been they had learned what Drew and his girlfriend had gone through. An attempted carjacking which, while ended in just an attempt, had left with the culprit putting a few bullet wounds into Holly’s right leg. While they had all been horrified at the news, Melissa had easily taken it the worst of all of them, breaking down in tears chanting ‘no’ over and over.
Holly was okay, and the man responsible was behind bars as was deserved, but it didn’t change the pain within each of their hearts. Drew took weekly visits to the hospital to visit her, and each of them had gone more than a few times themselves. Now, however, she would finally be back among them, where she truly belonged. Holly was a part of the group dynamic, and removing her made things feel unnaturally tense and harsh. She made everyone happier, especially Dragon. It was Holly who had pulled the sports loving otherkin out of her shell in the first place, and had introduced her to all of them.
If it wasn’t for that single action, she wasn’t sure if she would have spiraled back down into depression.
“Do you think Holly smells like nightmares?” Vee whispered to her. Dragon looked at the doll, confused as to what had brought the question on. “Minds are linked, remember? I know everything you do.”
Dragon opened and closed her mouth as if trying to be a trout. The sound of the door caused her eyes to look back in front of her for a second, and then back to the doll on her shoulder. For a brief moment, she turned back to the doll on her shoulder and gave a shrug. It wasn’t as clear cut for them as it was for Lucy, Melissa, and herself. She knew that Melissa’s sleep habits were originally born out of being afraid to sleep, and the trans girl had told her that Lucy was actually a lot less comfortable sleeping by herself. Dragon knew herself, of course, and that out of all the living nightmares she had most likely given birth she was thankful that Vee was the one to find her.
She shuddered at the thought of meeting any more, especially when one no doubt involved her.
The point was Holly didn’t exactly seem like she had all that many nightmares on the outside, but looks could be deceiving. Whether she did or not, Dragon had absolutely no idea, but she wasn’t going to pry. If she had learned anything, it is that the more nightmares one has the more baggage they are likely to carry. She wasn’t sure if she was prepared to learn that another of them was in the same exact boat. It would be better for Holly to have no need for the knight’s pin, especially while she underwent physical therapy.
She turned her attention away from Holly and instead focused on Lucy’s room. It was surprisingly barren of things compared to her or Melissa, who had filled hers with art and video game stuff. One wouldn’t imagine the daughter of a CEO not having the most high quality, expensive, and possibly absurd stuff decking their dorm out. That was the stereotypical standard, however, and while Lucy did spoil herself with things here and there, she was not that kind of women.
She was a simple girl who liked things to be as simple as possible. The most Lucy had was a decent collection of Yu-gi-oh and Pokemon cards and a Nintendo Switch. Outside of that the only extra thing the french girl had was a spare mattress for when Melissa or any of her other friends slept together, which was rather often. The room was the perfect description of Dragon’s friend without needing to say a single word, and that was simple.
They watched as Lucy pulled the spare mattress out from under the bed and then practically ripped half the sheets off the bed. She placed those on the mattress for Dragon neatly, forgoing a pillow. Dragon typically did the same in her own room after all, preferring to curl up and squeeze her pillow between her arms and legs instead of resting her head on it. She smiled at Vee and gave a chuckle, one the doll joined in on. With the temporary sleeping arrangements put together, Lucy let out an oddly long sigh and shook her head.
“She hesitated badly,” Lucy explained, turning to Dragon as she sat on the edge of her bed. “Melli seemed so excited at first but… we both saw it bleed. I don’t think she expected it to be so human.”
“We living nightmares and living dreams, for all our quirks, are as living as you all. It only makes sense that we bleed,” Vee explained nonchalantly, not reading the tension in the air. “Is it odd?”
“No, odd isn’t the problem,” Dragon explained with a shake of her head. Vee turned back to its dreamer, noticing the sorrowful look on their face. “It would be best for you to know what happened. Everyone else does.”
Vee tilted its head. “Eh?”
“If I remember correctly, it was about eight years ago,” Lucy replied, staring out the window. She couldn’t see anything, but the wind audible through the quietness of the room. “She thought she was still a he then. She was playing a game with her older sister, Grace, the only one in her family worth a damn. That was when they got a call.”
When Lucy couldn’t bring herself to continue further, Dragon decided to take charge. “Her father called them. He was about to enter a mall. He had a gun.”