A few hours later—

"We should probably call it a day," I said.

We had spent some hours watching over Elma's Mission. She seemed to be doing alright with the party. At the rate they were going through the whatever dungeon they were exploring, we were hopeful she would help the world's Hero find the critical treasure some time tomorrow.

Svilran and I walked Dorthaunzee back to the dorm and said our goodnights. Dorthaunzee plucked the mushrooms off of us before she turned in too... It was a little disorienting being separated from the pleasant background noise she had been generating.

"Man, so many new sensations—who would have thought I'd miss being hooked up to a mushroom?"

"We have a new Hero, Fainn!" Svilran said as she skipped ahead of me. She spun on her heels and showed me the widest and happiest grin. "It was scary at the start, but it worked out."

"We got lucky," I replied.

She raised a finger and pouted comically. "Do be careful, though. Our luck will run out eventually."

I glanced at the as we crossed it. "I'll keep that in mind."

Svilran giggled and walked backward with her hands behind her back until she was back in step with me. "I hope Dorthaunzee enjoys the watermelon."

"Me too... though... how do you think she eats? She doesn't have a mouth—"

"Actually, her species do have gullets. They just don't have the opening naturally... Still, how does she eat... Oh, I hope she didn't accept the melon to be polite." Svilran slumped forward, and I patted her shoulder. "We can ask her tomorrow or something."

"Yeah..." Svilran inched closer—enough so that her arm would occasionally graze mine.

"I... had a lot of fun tonight, Fainn. The activities we did... Hanging out, watching over Elma, and sitting at the edge and talking... That's the type of stuff I want to be able to do with all Heroes..." Svilran clasped her hands and rested them in front of her heart. "A scene of many of us sitting together enjoying a peaceful moment and laughing—that is what I want to be part of. I can't wait. When we really start developing our Hub—it's going to be amazing. I hope we'll be able to make a lot of recreation facilities."

"Heh. It sounds heavenly. I can't wait."

"But there are more activities we can do now, too! Ones that can really strengthen our bonds!" Svilran said, showing a toothy smile. "Maybe we can do sleepovers or stuff like that. That sounds fun, right, Fainn?"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"I'd say so."

I kept a straight face on, but oh man—there were no words to describe how amazing that would be. I resolved myself that no matter what, I would support Svilran at all turns until these sleepovers were a reality... I prayed my desperation wasn't obvious on my face.

"Oh! We can share ghost stories or talk about all the heroic legends we know!"

Svilran's excitement was infectious. Yeah, I definitely wanted to sit down and chat with the girls like that.

We got to the door, and I opened it and let Svilran in.

"Oh my," she giggled. "What a gentleman."

"I love how enthusiastic you are, Svilran," I said as I followed her in. "I can't help but smile."

"Ahh," she said, her cheeks reddening. She stepped over closer to the kitchen and scratched her cheeks. "I just... It'll be really nice..." She glanced at a watermelon on the counter.

"In the mood for some melon?" I asked.

She covered her face with her hands and peeked from between her fingers. "Is that bad?"

I laughed. "Of course not, you worry wort." I went to the counter and sliced up the melon. "Besides, it's healthy. I'll have a slice too."

"You don't have to," Svilran replied, looking a little meek.

"Come on. These things are delicious." I put slices on a plate and took them to the table. "God bless the Hero Hub and its well-stocked facilities."

We both sat across from each other at the table and enjoyed our slices of melon. It was just her and I, but I hoped she enjoyed this peaceful moment. The beautiful smile she wore gave me hope she was happy.

Eventually, the time to sleep came. Svilran went to her room—

"Good night, Fainn! Sleep well!"

And I went to mine... The moment I got in there, I breathed and tried to calm my nerves.

"Nothing will happen. Nothing will happen. I'll be okay... Svilran's close enough. She's right in the other room. The first night was fine..."

I made my way to the bed as I peeled off layer after layer of my outfit. I took my rings off and slipped into the pajamas the house provided.

"I'll take a shower in the morning... That'll be fine..."

I got into bed hesitantly.

"It'll be okay... I'm fine. I'll be fine."

I was tired. I closed my eyes.

"I'll be fine..."

I drifted into a dream...

.....

....

...

..

.

My eyes sprang open. I looked down at my hand and saw tentacles and teeth surging out of it. A tentacle tore out through my eye. Another bound my neck. I grabbed the eye-tentacle and ripped it out with my good hand. The transforming hand—I swung it around and started slapping it with the tentacle I ripped out. I didn't stop until the emanations turned into nightmare smoke. Finally, the tentacle binding my neck—I clawed at it until it turned to smoke too. Freed, I shot up and gasped.

"Shit! It affected me after all! How stupid could I be..." I panted as beads of sweat fell from my head. "That was the longest I was ever anyone's nightmare. Of course it would stick in my head."

+Nightmares ARE Fiction+ had a few downsides... Well... It had many downsides. Chief among them was the fact that on some nights, the nightmares would slip out of my head and terrorize me. Today they were worst than usual, thanks to the very mind-searing events of the day.

I felt something and looked at my hand. There it was, the other common downside.

"A rotten apple this time, huh?"

For whatever reason, when food wasn't around, I would be left with some spoiled and rotten food items. This thing, unlike the nightmares, didn't go up in smoke. Instead, it only kept rotting. Incidentally, when food was nearby, it would be as rotten when I woke up.

Seeing the rotten fruit now made my stomach churn. I put it on my table and rested my head back on the sweat-drenched pillow.

"Maybe... Maybe I won't sleep tonight... I hope Elma's having a better night than I am..."