You'd still thought that everything you thought about that night, the shame, the fear would fade in time. But that had not happened. Instead, the things that you remembered, these little details, seemed to grow stronger, to the point where you could feel their weight in your chest. Nothing, however stuck with someone more than the memory of stepping into that dark room and what you found there, and how the light then took that nightmare and made it real. So, let us begin.
"How does it make that sound?" Daina stared hypnotized by the gentle music caressing his ears. The small box before him let out a harmony that reminded him of angels. The warm body next to him grew closer, nuzzling up against him.
"I don't know the details myself," a younger boy's kindly voice swept through his ears as if the voice itself was trying to hug him. His voice was soft yet delicate, "But it's just like an instrument. Every piece is finely tuned, so that when a cord is struck it plays a gentle note."
"But it only plays one song…" Daina mused as he continued to stare, comforted by the warmth of the other with him. "And… it seems a little sad…" he rubbed his little brothers head.
"Yes, I suppose it does sound a little sad." The younger boy smiled warmly, he leaned his head against Daina's body, resting against it. The jet black haired boy chuckled a little as the hair tickled his face, before moving it out of the way to smile at the music box, "But this music box is very special... to us." The younger boy said cheerfully.
"…I like it." Daina smiled happily, closing his eyes as he listened, the melody softly flowing through his ears. He couldn't help but think it was beautiful.
"Please don't forget… that I love you…" The younger boy's voice grew quiet with those words.
"I know little guy… I love you too." Daina hugged his little brother happily. The younger boy grew quiet as he nuzzled against his big brother. There was a silence that filled the air, only being filled by the gentle and calming music from the box.
"…Souta?" Daina broke the silence, but it soon returned. The chimes of the music seemed to slow down, drawing out each individual note. "…Souta…" he called again, lifting his head up to try and look at his little brother. Souta had suddenly grown quiet.
"Hey… say something…" Daina pleaded, pushing against Souta, trying to get his attention. The little boy's body felt like it was growing colder, wobbling a bit before falling over. The younger boy lay on the floor, his hair looking like cobwebs on the ground, his skin growing decay, his unmoving form framed against the darkness of the ground.
"Souta!" Daina cried, wrapping his little brother in his arms as the music box continued to slow down, each note ringing in his head that something was wrong. Daina moved his hands away from Souta and stared at his hands, his blood covered hands. The body of the poor little boy was withering away, blood escaping from underneath his body.
"No... No... NO!" Daina cried as tears began to stream down his eyes, shaking his poor little brother's body to wake him, to tell him everything was alright. The music from the box died.
The body of the little boy turned to dust, as it vanished in the wind, leaving nothing but the blood that had been spilled.
Daina shook and sobbed softly, tears drenching his cheeks. He touched the blood stain on the floor, trying to feel any remaining heat that told him that Souta was still there.
The blood was cold, no sign of life to it.
The music box started to play music once more, but it no longer played the sad but beautiful song. The music box hissed a horrifying sound, as if bees suddenly filled the box. The jet black haired boy looked up into the darkness, terror filling his core.
Red eyes gleamed as a presence made itself known. It towered over him as it drew closer, its body cloaked in darkness. The darkness itself flickered and flowed off of its body, its face revealing a sick and twisted expression. The presence of the creature crushed him, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he was paralyzed by the very thing that stood before him. With a single swift movement, the creature closed the distance.
"Haa... Brotherly love..." The demonic voice said in a haunting glee. "That poor thing ... You really have take care of him, shouldn't you? What a shame."
It grabbed Daina's neck, lifting him up and holding him as if a prize. Tears continued to stream down his face, as the blood slipped down his body. The dark and evil version of Daina laughed, before dropping Daina on top of the dust of his little brother. Daina could do nothing but stare into the darkness of the world.
Even that darkness was soon fading, fading into a separate darkness.
Daina's vision was filled with another him. Its frown turned into a grin, as it once more, it smashed Daina in the face.
"NOOOOOO!" Daina awoke with a scream. He panted heavily as he sat, staring at his pillow in the darkness, the covers hanging on his shoulders, his body soaked in sweat. The cool night air filled his burning, aching lungs. He put a hand to his face, feeling the fresh tears that had been streaming from his face. He hiccuped softly as he tried to rub them away, still feeling fresh ones wanting freedom as well.
Something rustled under the covers next to him as he froze, turning as he heard the moan of something waking up.
"Another one?" Reo groaned, sitting up from his spot on the bed, rubbing his eyes. "How many is that now? At least ten…" he let out a yawn, obviously still not used to being woken up in the middle of the night constantly.
"I'm sorry…" Daina said quietly, closing his eyes shut as he desperately tried to hold back his tears, his body shaking. "I… keep waking you up… I shouldn't… have asked you to try and comfort me…" Daina stuttered his words, lumps forming in her throat as tears escaped her shut eye lids.
"Ugh." Reo put his hand to his face. He shifted on the bed, before wrapping his arm comfortingly around his friend. Daina looked down and sobbed softly. "Come on Daina, you should know by now that me sleeping isn't as important as you feeling better." Reo said quietly, lowering his head closer to Daina's. Daina didn't reply, only continuing with his soft sobs. "So me spending the last few nights here hasn't helped your nightmares, that's no big deal. It just shows us how serious this is." Reo said trying his best to offer comforting words, something he wasn't too used to.
Daina could only let out a sigh in response. The nightmare's terrified him, he was barely able to fall asleep anymore knowing they were waiting for him inside of his own mind. He didn't want to sleep anymore, he wanted to stay up and be rid of the dreams, but his body was exhausted, it demanded sleep, but his mind screamed to stay awake. The conflict inside him only brought out more tears.
Reo looked out into the darkness of Valt's room as he tried desperately to think of something to do or say. 'If only I was a smarter…' Reo thought to himself.
It was as if a light bulb had been turned on in Reo's mind.
"Hey Daina, in the morning lets go see Shu. I'm sure he can help with these nightmares, I mean he's got all in his head, I'm sure he'll have something that can help with this." Reo spoke eagerly but softly, making sure Daina heard him.
"..Do… do you really think… he can help?" Daina asked, managing to wipe his face as his sobs softened.
"Yeah, of course he can." Reo said in a cocky way but confidently, heroic grinning at Daina, "He's Shu, he's trains for days and becomes a strong blader! We'll get rid of these nightmares before you know it."
"…Thanks…" Daina smiled softly, the tears finally stopping.
"Hey, what's a friend for?" Reo grinned, giving a fist bump to Daina.
"…I still don't feel like sleeping though…" Daina said, staring at the pillow of his bed. It was still deep in the middle of the night.
"…Hmm…" Reo said in thought. He wasn't sure what to say for that. He looked up at the ceiling as he thought about it. He then let off a small shrug unintentionally as a thought rolled through his mind, 'I guess it's now or never then.'
"Wha?" Daina said confused as he looked down at Reo lying on Daina's legs, making a mimicking a white noise with his eyes closed.
"Don't worry; I'll take your mind off of those nightmares so you can finish resting." Reo whispered, then kept making a noise again.
Daina sweat dropped and smiled. "Yeah..."
It is so much better to end this dream before it becomes a nightmare.
- Lily Eclipse