“The six of you are responsible for this Fusion! Due to Sunny’s efforts, we managed not only to predict where it is bound to appear and when its appearance is due, we also know how many Seeds encompass this Fusion. One Scrounger, two Lords, one Ravager, and one Ancient! You’re tasked with defeating these five demons before they can become a proper Fusion. Anything that need be known is on your Y-Vambrances. You’re dismissed!”
A masked figure has just finished briefing them in a store selling mattresses. Everyone except for Nikolay knows him as Smoker, an intimidating Dream Catcher who solemnly leads the Dream Catchers of Brandenburg. Other than Nikolay, only longstanding veterans who have been around before his glory days are aware of his true appearance and the nature of his abilities. As the grand leader of so many Dream Catchers, he’s likely much more powerful.
Smoker has tasked Shen, Nikolay, and four Dream Catchers with defeating an incomplete Fusion, while Smoker deals with demons in the surrounding area to prevent any mishaps and tragedies due to a change in plans. Though the usual recommendation is to keep your abilities secret, Nikolay and Shen know anything there is to know about their crew. Thanks to Nikolay they can work out which Dream Catcher ought to deal with certain demons.
Starting with the Scrounger, Nine, there isn’t much to worry about as long as you know how to exploit its ability. Offering nine lives to anything in its protection, it oddly relies on other demons to survive. Despite the solitary nature of demons, this one can only survive in the company of others. There’s one worrying uncertainty surrounding Nine: the lack of information on its limits of revival.
The two Lords seem to be rather formidable. Sandman seemingly lulls its victims to sleep, draining them till they die of dehydration or starvation. Few have died of heart attacks. If any sleeping victims were to be kept alive, they’d remain comatose until they are dragged out of their nightmares or this Lord is defeated. Only those who somehow escaped their nightmares have witnessed its proper form. If someone knowingly invaded its space of nightmares, they could likely beat it with sufficient willpower.
The other Lord is a cowardly one that seems to hide among clouds as acid rains down on their victims. Exhausting pursuers with its massive space before taking them down with countless minions mimicking creatures of the sea, is its only strategy but also a rather powerful one. Floodgates of Purity (FoP) itself, however, is rather pathetic as it is somewhat likely that even a toddler could kill it by throwing a few punches.
Most worrisome are Leviathan, the Ancient that had just awakened, therefore being far too mysterious with lots of unexplored options, making it hard to pin down the ideal way to defeat it, and the Ravager, Moment of Birth (MoB), a demon that creates perfect copies of any creature that has the audacity to point hostility at it. If not for these two, even Sandman would be manageable.
“I’ve made a deal with Smoker,” Nikolay says. “He’ll let me keep any Devil Seed I wish for as long as you deal with Sandman.”
Shen is outraged. How could a normal person deal with a supernatural being like a demon? How could Shen defeat it when so much is still up in the air regarding its limits and capabilities? No one is even aware of the full extent of the horrors the nightmares may contain. Forcing Shen to deal with it, by himself no less, is inhumane.
“How could you agree to that?? Are you insane?!”
“It’s not like I had much of a choice…” Nikolay seems rather worried.
“He told me that you shouldn’t be involved to begin with. Beating you into a hospital gown so that you would fear ever being with me again, outright kill you, or force you into a pact with some being called Z… That pact would make you a Dream Catcher, but it sounds sketchy, you know?”
“I guess… Then what is he doing this for? It’s not like I have to participate in that battle.”
“‘If you can’t handle so little, then you both ought to quit looking into demons,’ he said. I don’t want to agree with him, but he’s right. I’m putting you in danger, and I should never have talked to you. It’s my fault, and I understand if you want to wash your hands off of this mess.”
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Shen sighs and grumbles as he ruminates on his decision. Smoker is right. To be involved with monsters that can unleash all kinds of untold horrors is too much of a risk. Some day they’re going to underestimate a demon’s capabilities which may result in their demise or Shen being crippled. Even Dream Catchers may threaten them, their safety, or anyone they associate with. They can’t ever be certain that the people they surround themselves with are ever worth trusting.
“Fine. I’d like to see what that pact looks like before we head into battle,” he says, reluctantly.
“It’s worth the risk… Staying with you is worth that risk.”
Shen shudders as a small gust of wind creeps up on them.
“You’re willing to consider my offer?”
Behind the curtains is a red-eyed creature waiting for its cue. With a tail as fluffy as it is long, you’d think someone had created this being by interbreeding a fox and a cat. Its legs are rather short and seem impractical. Though it is some fox, its short snout speaks of a feline, the long ears of a canine… Its puffy coat once again points to canine. Pure white with red eyes oozing curiosity into this apartment… These eyes are to be feared as an omen of struggles that are yet to transpire.
“Could I have a seat?”
Nikolay puts anything on his coffee table on the ground, ensuring this ‘Z’ has a place to rest. Their little negotiator hops onto the table, and with a poof, a young boy in brown shorts with suspenders and a button-up shirt in white appears. His little black bowtie and black loafers complete his look while complimenting his orange hair with brown ends.
Shen brushes this transformation off. To have such an adorable form while you’re running around forming pacts seems like a conscious choice to these creatures.
“So you’re a Z?” he asks. “I bear a few questions which ought to be answered before any ‘pact’ can be formed.”
“Ask away! I’ll answer to the best of my abilities!”
Even his demeanor is adorable.
“How do these pacts work? How do they turn you into a Dream Catcher?”
“Contracts, pacts, bindings… They’re all the same to us. We take an insignificant part of your soul and offer you the ability to help you accomplish your goals! Upon completion of our pact, you’ll be granted a Soul Solid, which will transform you into a Dream Catcher.”
“But there are other ways to become a Dream Catcher, right? I doubt this is the only way to attain power.”
“Of course there are! But if your genealogy doesn’t match any unlock criteria, you have a higher chance of winning the jackpot at the lottery. Even if you were to awaken powers on your own, you’d have no choice in their limits and capabilities. Would you really want to take that risk?”
Shen can see the appeal to these pacts but is well aware that these creatures keep several secrets.
“Then what are demons?”
“Manifestations of people's darkest emotions!”
Though upset, Nikolay keeps quiet. He wanted to figure out the secrets behind demons by himself.
“Why do you create Dream Catchers?”
“To save mankind from demons!”
“Then why does it seem like Dream Catchers handle several governmental duties? Aren’t they integrated into the government?”
Ever since he heard about Railgun, he’s had suspicions about how far up the political chain Dream Catchers lie. Smoker’s reach and influence and Evergreen’s claims about Christa only solidified these suspicions.
“Humans get to make their own choices! What you decide to do as a collective is up to you, Dream Catchers.”
Counting Shen and Nikolay among Dream Catchers seems like an odd choice. The fact that it is up to Dream Catchers to decide about the world's political affairs also feels strange yet plausible.
“Up to Dream Catchers? Do they really possess that much might?”
“Jeanne d'Arc, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Nikola Tesla, and many more shaped this world according to their image, not just as Dream Catchers but also as people! To deny that Dream Catchers aren’t shaping this world would be outrageous. If not for Dream Catchers, you’d just begin to step past the limits of prehistoric times.”
“Then—”
“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to cut you short. I have to meet a few more potential Dream Catchers today. Would you like to keep in touch?”