“…HA!” Andie pumped her fist with such vigor that she knocked herself out from the rubble she was lodged in and onto the ground. “Yes!” Utterly undiscouraged by her face being suddenly introduced to the ground, Andie scrambled upright and raced over toward Cedric. “We did it! You did it? Whatever! It got did, and that’s Awakening número dos done and over! Successfully - of course. Wouldn’t be celebrating other… wise… Hey! Where are you going?”
Cedric paused, already halfway toward the comic shop’s front door. “Andie. My Nightmare is still out there. Alive and well. Inside the semi-physical manifestation of my own mind.” He sighed. “I hate to dampen the mood, but I do believe that you’re smart enough to realize what that means, if you’d just think about it for a second.”
“Well, it obviously means we still have work to do.” Andie started to wave dismissively. “But we always have work to do. And this is a big deal for you! What’s wrong with taking a moment to…” Andie froze mid gesture. “Oh. Ohhh…” Andie let her body language relax again, but a subtle, confident tension remained. “If the Nightmare is still here -” Her eyes narrowed. “Then so are all the emotions it’s made of.”
“Exactly. And as long as that thing is rampaging, my newfound wholeness remains unstable, and my mood remains quite foul. So you’ll understand why I want to save the after party for after my awakening is finished.” Cedric waited just long enough for Andie to give an affirmative nod, then resumed his march toward and through the shop’s front door.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Outside was total chaos. The entire mindscape had been uprooted by a massive hurricane, the rancid air and clear water alike assaulting everything left unprotected. The asphalt islands were, surprisingly, mostly intact - having only lost a few bits and pieces, in spite of being completely caught up in the hurricane’s orbit. Though the island the comic shop used to be on seemed to be an exception, having been quite thoroughly destroyed - save the shop itself and a little pavement near its entrance.
“Oh thank god.” Dyllan followed Cedric out the door - though he was a bit reluctant to actually leave the shop at first. “The air out here is actually breathable now.”
Cedric smiled in an affectionate but annoyed manner. “I appreciate you coming out to support me, I really do…” He frowned. “But I thought we’d already established that dreamwalkers need to beat their Nightmares alone.”
“We’re dreamwalkers, Cedric.” Andie rushed out of the shop to catch up with Cedric and Dyllan, having been delayed by getting lost in her own thoughts. “And dreamwalkers never need to do anything alone.” With a flick of her wrist, she summoned her Courage in a burst of orange flames - calling it back from wherever it was she’d dropped it. “Besides, unless I missed something, you still don’t have a weapon, yeah?”