Opening AN: This idea came into fruition for two reasons: One, I really like Yume Nikki and it's fangames. Two, I wanted to challenge my writing skills. If my first story was a tool to improve my general writing skills, then this story is a tool to specifically improve my skills in fleshing out characters and character interactions. Hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?

Also, despite the fact that there's an OC in this story, he won't be your typical OC, considering that he is basically a benevolent version of Being X that doesn't demand worship. He doesn't have a proper introduction until Chapter One, however.

Prologue: Two Ends

Madotsuki had explored all of her dreams and memories, and yet she felt like she wasn't any closer to closure than the first time she experienced them.

When Madotsuki first arrived in these dreams, which she later dubbed "Nexus Dreams" to differentiate them from the dreams she had prior, she was terrified. While she did had a fair share of lucid dreams before, she had never experienced the same dreams over and over again, and she had never felt that the dreams almost felt as real as reality itself. Because of that, she felt uneasy, although she wasn't really sure if her uneasiness was because of those thoughts or if it was because the dreams innately made her feel uneasy.

Madotsuki was sitting on the floor, her eyes closed. A creature she named "Mars-san" was standing near her, although she would never call it a creature. Mars-san has purple skin with green and red blotches and a single foot. It's single eye was red with a pink pupil, and a green liquid was leaking out of his eyes, which Madotsuki surmised were it's tears. When Madotsuki first encountered Mars-san, she had never expected to feel so much despair and sadness emanating from it. She instinctively found herself wanting to console Mars, even if she really didn't know how, so she simply just sat near him. Surprisingly, she somehow felt that Mars-san felt better when she sat with him. Even if Mars-san's overall mood only improved slightly, Madotsuki felt good that she could help somebody, so whenever she visited him, she would just sit with him for what seemed like hours before leaving.

Madotsuki got up from the floor and opened her eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever. Seeing that it would be her last time here, Madotsuki walked up to Mars-san and gently stroked him(for a lack of a better term) with a pained smile on her face. Despite the fact that Madotsuki's actions were unexpected, Mars-san understood the gesture.

Madotsuki felt Mars-san's mood change into a mixture of denial and anger from the fact that she won't return. Madotsuki sympathized, no, emphasized with Mars-san, as she too would feel the same way if this were to happen to her. Because of that, she had started to cry, both from the fact that she wouldn't visit him anymore and at the fact that she had hurt Mars-san.

Mars-san saw Madotsuki's distress, and his anger and denial had turned into a regretful acceptance. In actuality, Mars-san knew that she would one day never return, but he refused to accept that. Now that the very thing he feared was happening right in front of him, he had no choice but to accept it.

Madotsuki had stopped stroking Mars-san, wiped her tears away, and calmed down. She then smiled a more joyful, but no less pained smile and hugged him, both in attempt to cheer up Mars-san and to tell him that despite that she wouldn't be here anymore, he would always have her in his memories.

At this point in their odd but mutual friendship, even if they couldn't speak to each other, they need not have to say words anyway. Mars-san understood what Madotsuki was trying to convey.

Madotsuki stopped hugging Mars-san and equipped her Eye Palm Effect, her head being replaced with a large hand with a single eye in it's palm. The hand closed, and a few seconds later, she had teleported to a room she called "The Nexus".

The Nexus was a room that contained twelve uniquely-patterned doors arranged in a circle, each leading up to dream worlds. The floor and walls are completely transparent, with the floor showing pentagonal mesoamerican designs. Outside of the door circle was a more normal-looking brown door, which lead to Madotsuki's bedroom, or to be more accurate, the dream version of her bedroom.

She unequipped her Eye Palm Effect and dropped it. One by one, Madotsuki dropped the rest of her Effects. When she was done, twenty-four Effect Eggs were on the floor. Madotsuki pinched herself, and she soon found herself waking up to the real world.

Madotsuki got up from the bed and sighed as she looked around her bedroom. The walls of her bedroom were purple, while the floor was made of wood. On the floor was a rug embroidered with a mesoamerican pattern. Four floor pillows littered the floor, one being near Madotsuki's bed and the other three being on the other side of the room. On the wall in front of her is a sliding door leading to a balcony. To the right of her were 3 objects, them being a desk with Madotsuki's dream diary, a bookshelf, the bedroom door, and a TV with a Famicom connected to it. In the Famicom was a game cartridge named "NASU".

Madotsuki got out of her bed, walked up to the sliding door, and opened it. On the right side of the balcony was a set of stairs. She took off her slippers and walked up to the steps. She looked down and took another deep breath. Madotsuki then took a step forward and let herself fall.

As she saw the ground below get closer to her, Madotsuki thought that if she couldn't find peace in death, then at least she would find rest from these dreams.

Sabitsuki was covered in wounds and was in excruciating pain. Nevertheless, she pushed onwards. Despite not knowing what lie ahead, Sabitsuki had a feeling that whatever lay ahead would bring her some closure, no matter how insignificant it may be.

Sabitsuki was in a large hallway completely covered in blood, with the walls and ceilings being covered with flesh. The hallway also had white, tumor-like growths sticking out from the floor. At the end of the hallway was a door-sized entrance leading to a seemingly dark room. Of course, ever since she went down here, she knew that the next room would simply light up upon her entrance.

Sabitsuki entered the next room, and sure enough, the next room lit up, revealing a blood red room. If the hallway before was covered in blood and flesh, then this room seemed like it was saturated with them. The blood on the floor was approximately half a centimeter deep, and the folds in the fleshy walls and ceiling were more pronounced.

The most important thing however, was a version of Sabitsuki partially fused to the wall. This Sabitsuki seemed to be barely alive, with the only sign of life being her barely noticable breathing. She was covered in bleeding wounds and what seemed like two blood-stained horns was sticking out of her head.

The real Sabitsuki, now knowing what to do, moved closer to the horned Sabitsuki and killed her.

Sabitsuki then woke up and found herself in the real world. More specifically, her bedroom. Sabitsuki's bedroom has gray walls and dark-colored wood as flooring. To the right of the bed lies a desk with a desktop computer and life support appliances, a bookshelf, a pink floor pillow near a TV with a Famicom plugged into it, and the bedroom door. On the wall facing Sabitsuki's bed was a sliding door that led to a balcony.

Sabitsuki briefly lost her train of thought before she remembered that she killed her inner demon. Whether that was metaphorical or literal, she did not know, since she didn't know how her dreams felt more realistic than even the FLOW program, which was a Deep Reality program specifically made to help people cope with their ailments, whether that was a mental disorder, such as Depression, or a non-curable, lethal disease, such as Rust.

Rust, even though it was officially classified as a non-curable, lethal disease, it is more akin to a zombie plague, as it turns people into Kaibutsu, which are zombie-like monsters. However, Kaibutsu are not true zombies, as they are able to maintain bodily functions, such as the circulatory system and respiratory system. Even with that caveat, however, Kaibutsu are still obviously not human, as their most distinct feature is a large mouth with sharp teeth where the face should be and rust-colored blotches covering most of their skin, hence the disease's name.

When it was found out that Sabitsuki was infected with Rust, doctors were surprised, as Rust approximately took a few months to turn someone into a Kaibutsu, and yet she apparently had it for a year. Of course, that was a few years ago, and while the doctors initially thought she was just a carrier, the rust-colored blotches on her stomach that appeared a year after the first checkup said otherwise.

Sabitsuki got out of her bed and started to stretch her muscles. She then got out of her room and walked up the stairs that led to the rooftop of the apartment.

Soon enough, Sabitsuki reached the rooftop. She walked to the other side of the roof and looked out to the sky. She thought that despite the bleak and ruined state of the city she currently lived in, the blue sky had always looked beautiful.

Sabitsuki heard the rooftop door open behind her. It turned out to be the robot maids that frequently wore gas masks. Even if they really weren't robots, Sabitsuki sometimes referred to them as such, as they always spoke in a monotone voice. Of course, she'd never call them robots to their faces, as they were just doing their jobs.

All of Sabitsuki's thoughts were interrupted by the fact that the maid was holding a chainsaw. It didn't take long for Sabitsuki to put two and two together, especially since the maid started to charge up the chainsaw.

Unfortunately, Sabitsuki wasn't able to act on her thoughts, as she felt her legs move on their own. The fact that her face wouldn't express her surprise confirmed that Rust was starting to take over parts of her brain.

The maid stopped, wondering what Sabitsuki's next move was. When Sabitsuki's shuffling turned into a walk, the maid tightened her grip on chainsaw.

Sabitsuki suddenly charged towards the maid. Despite the fact that Sabitsuki's face hasn't mutated beyond recognition, it didn't take someone with a degree in pathology to realize that Sabitsuki was starting to be a Kaibutsu. The maid dodged Sabitsuki's charge and struck Sabitsuki's legs with the chainsaw, cutting them off.

Unfortunately for Sabitsuki, it was now of all times that she regained control of her upper body, and her face instantly showed that she was in immense pain. If Sabitsuki could, she would be screaming in pain right no, but the only way that she showed pain was to apply pressure on her right leg, a futile attempt to slow blood loss.

The maid was confused at what Sabitsuki was doing. True, Kaibutsu reacted to injuries, but they never showed nor vocalized any signs of pain, much less made any attempts to place pressure on external wounds.

Sabitsuki started to cry in pain, and even if she couldn't vocalize anything, she could still shed tears. She saw the maid just look at her. Sabitsuki started to crawl backwards in a supine position away from the maid, fear apparent on her face.

The maid was watching this play out and her confusion only grew. Was Sabitsuki becoming a new strain of Kaibutsu, or did she regain control of her body? she did not know, but after years of being a nurse to Rust-infected individuals, she was always cautious of their actions.

Sabitsuki stopping her crawl interrupted the maid's thoughts, as Sabitsuki looked too lethargic to continue.

While Sabitsuki was still on edge, or at this stage, her failing body and mind's attempt at being on egde, a part of her was wondering why the maid didn't just outright kill her. Was the maid just as confused as she was, or was she watching with a hidden, sadistic glee?

Sabitsuki's fading consciousness didn't allow her to find out, as her breathing became more shallow and her lethargy was increasing in strength, causing her to lie on her back.

Sabitsuki mentally laughed. It seemed that she would die as herself, it would seem. With that in mind, she had stopped strugging to hang on to the thread of life and accepted death with open arms.

A few minutes later, she was no longer of this world.

Closing AN: I was wondering if Madosuki and Sabitsuki should be able to speak, considering the fact that they come from games that feature no dialogue whatsoever. For now, I'll have them not being able to talk, but it's up to you folks if you want them to speak or not. Critique is always accepted, as it helps me be a better writer.