Yo, hi everyone :3 sorry it took a while to get the next chapter up. A big portion of his chapter will be told in third person. Oh and I reedited the last chapter again though I am pretty sure there are some things I missed. The important things I may have forgotten to mention last chapter will be mentioned here.
Third Person P.O.V
With a small groan Avery cracked her eyes open and saw a swirl of random bright colors all around her. Still feeling some of the effects of that medicine the nurse gave her, she shakily pushed herself to her feet. So this was the dream realm Nightmare told her about? It sure was colorful, kind of like outer space in a science fiction story. It was actually pretty cool and Avery was really impressed. Except Nightmare himself seemed to be missing.
"Mr. Gottschalk?" She called out, searching her surroundings for the so called incubus. By addressing him by his last name Avery felt she was being more polite; even if he was younger than her.
"Mr. Gottschalk? D-Don't call me that! It makes me feel old." Nightmare's voice complained from behind her. Spinning around Avery saw his young form floating over her.
"Oh, s-sorry." She apologized with a slight stutter. "What would you like me to call you if not Mr. Gottschalk?" she asked, hoping she didn't offend him.
"Just Nightmare will be fine." He told her insuring, his cheeks tinted a light red from the unexpected name. Not even his staff addressed him by his last name.
"Oh but Mr. Gottschalk works perfectly for me, though." Another male though older voice said. Both Avery and Nightmare looked to the side and saw another man who looked exactly like Nightmare floating there.
The first thing that Avery thought was that this new man was Nightmare's father. Or possibly even his older brother. They looked too much alike not to be related. Hell, the older one was even wearing an eye patch similar to Nightmare's though his looked slightly more worn. The only differences between them, besides age, were the style of their hair and the clothing style they wore.
"Oh, are you Nightmare's father? Or maybe his brother?" She asked out loud, curiously looking between the two men. Yep, they must defiantly be related somehow.
"No, we are neither father and son nor are we brothers. We are simply the same person with age and the country we live in being the difference." The older man said with an amused chuckle as he held a pipe in his hand. The younger man's face flushed again and he glared irritable at his older self.
"Wha-"
"He's the me from Clover Country. He's the one responsible for you being in Wonderland." The younger Nightmare explained as he continued to glare at his older self. Go figure he'd appear here without warning.
"Huh? But, but even a different county shouldn't effect age... should it?" Avery asked, trying to figure out what was going on in her head. There was just so much that she didn't understand and that still included how it was possible to fall in train tracks. And what was Wonderland?
Besides being told she was in Diamond Country Avery had no idea where she was. A part of her still believed she was dreaming. After all how else was it possible to fall down a hole in the road only to end up in some strange county? Not to mention that the few other people Avery saw didn't have eyes or the fact that it was snowing. Neither of those were normally, though the latter more so because it was sunny and warm before the fall. Then there was Nightmare. As cool as she found his mind reading ability it was also abnormal in her world. What else could it be if not some kind of dream?
"Ah, all those questions will be answered shortly. However to answer your first question right now, Diamond Country is different from most other countries. To put it simply it's an alternate world where the residents you'll meet are younger than the ones I typically know." The older Nightmare explained as they both heard the storm of questions race through her head. "It's too bad you ended up in Diamond when I intended for both you and Alana to end up in Heart Country." He added with a small sigh before blowing a puff of smoke into his younger selves face.
"Gack, blech-!" The younger Nightmare coughed, covering his mouth with his sleeve as to the smoke from entering. The older Nightmare smirked at his younger self as Avery looked at him concerned.
"How's the strain on my younger self? It's difficult without my help, isn't it?" He teased, tapping the top of his head with his hookah pipe. The younger Nightmare glared at his older self again and swatted the pipe away.
"Shut up! I'm doing just fine on my own." He snapped, his hands balling into fists. "If you want to be useful and help me, why not do so by looking for the other girl?" He asked as he had not been successful in doing it himself. Either the girl was hard to find or she was already awake.
"Oh and why would you need help with that? Can't find her on your own?" The older one teased some more, once again tapping him on his head. He honestly had fun teasing his younger self; too bad the rules instated he wasn't allowed to abuse his power to visit other dimensions.
"Um, excuse me Mr. … uh, Mr. Gottschalk? Can you please explain what you meant when you mentioned Alana and I not ending up in the Heart Country?" Avery asked hesitatingly, interrupting the two men before a fight could break out. Besides being curious she also didn't like the fact that the older Nightmare was bulling the younger one.
Both Nightmares looked towards her, sensing her slight discomfort and her confusion. It wasn't unexpected or surprising that she'd be confused to what was going on. Although neither of them really expecting her discomfort in watching older Nightmare tease his younger self. It was something he normally did when he visited Diamond Country so it wasn't that big of deal. However it was probably better to pay more attention to Avery than tease his younger self at the moment anyways.
"Ah yes, that. Well, as I have already mentioned, I had intended for you and your friend to end up in Heart Country. However I was unaware that Diamond Country was undergoing April Season at the moment and it messed with the rabbit hole." He explained, pulling his attention away from his younger self.
"Bunny hole? Is that what we fell down?" Avery asked, thinking about when she and Alana … she and Alana … wait, what were they doing again? With a frown the tall girl looked off to the side as she tried to remember what she and Alana were doing before everything happened.
Both Nightmares stayed silent this time. Even though younger Nightmare had nothing to do with it he knew, along with older Nightmare, that it was best no to say anything. Well, at least not about Avery's suddenly foggy memory. Instead older Nightmare waved some of his hookah smoke around to put her attention back on him.
"Anyways I believe I have located Alana but it might be a little tricky to get to her." He announced, looking somewhat troubled. Although only his younger self noticed as Avery's eyes widened at being told Alana had been found.
"Tricky? Why?! Is she hurt?!" She anxiously asked, immediately thinking of the worst possible scenarios. Both young and older Nightmare looked somewhat disturbed by the thoughts going through Avery's mind; they were pretty gruesome for a foreigner.
"No, I don't think so. I believe Alana had a softer landing than you did. There are just some places that are harder to reach than others." He explained to which his younger self's eyes widened in shock. While his powers were a lot weaker than his adult self in Clover there was always two places that were really difficult to enter than any others.
"B-but you can still connect to her, right? M-maybe you can do it without me and let her know I'm alright?" Avery asked, her blue eyes staring at him beggingly. She really did want to see Alana herself but she'd settle for just knowing if she was alright and knowing Alana knew the same.
"Technically Diamond Country is not in my jurisdiction; I have no authority here. Although I suppose I can manage to bring her to us just this once. I am, after all, the stronger of the two." Older Nightmare claimed as he seemed to think it over. Avery looked hopeful as younger Nightmare landed beside her.
In all honestly while he hated when his older self came to visit, he did need his help in this case. Since he was younger his powers weren't nearly as developed or as strong as his adult self. If their suspicions were correct and Alana was there he'd need all the help he could to bring her to them. It was just lucky that he knew one of the rules involved he wasn't allowed to hurt her; not yet at least.
"Hmph, even you know bringing her from there is hard to do." He said, not liking the fact that Avery was paying more attention to his adult self then him. Sensing this older Nightmare grinned at his younger self and waved his hookah pipe around again.
"Perhaps but it will be easy than taking all of us to her. Especially if she really is in either of those two places." He answered before his grin turned into a smug smirk at his teenaged self's thoughts.
"Heh, is my younger self jealous of himself? How cute~! You've even convinced her you had to sleep together in order to have to stay in the dream realm." He teased, clearly amused. The younger Nightmare's face light up in a blush as he then crossed his arms against his chest.
"I-I was only trying to think of what was practical!" He claimed with a pout. "Anyways, if you are so much stronger than me as you claim, why not bring Alana here as you said you would?"
"Oh but of course I am stronger than you; I'm older and far more experienced." Older Nightmare grinned, having fun teasing his younger self. It wasn't very often he came to visit himself so when he did he liked to make the most of it.
Younger glared at his adult self and gripped Avery's hand. The girl flinched at the sudden action and looked at him but didn't bother pull away. It wouldn't be long until he needed to return to the train station and he honestly wasn't sure what would happen to Avery if he left her alone in the dream realm. Would she just stay with his adult self until he too left or would she enter her own dream where he couldn't interfere? It was a risk he didn't want to take.
"Don't worry; she'll fade out before you do. Well that is unless you truly stress your powers in the end." The older Nightmare said with a chuckle before floating to the ground. As he did so Alana's form began to appear beside him.
She took a few steps forwards, looking slightly dazed as if she had walking for a while. However, when she noticed the strange eye patched man beside her she let out a cry of surprise and fell backwards onto her butt. Clover Nightmare smirked at the reaction and chuckled to himself, amused by her sudden reaction. Ah, now that both girls were here it would be a lot easier for him to explain things. Although it was technically his younger self's job seeing as it was his country, adult Nightmare was still responsible for them being in Wonderland so he planned to take the responsibility to explain things.
Alana's P.O.V
W-What the hell was going on here? The last thing I could remember after falling down a strange hole with Avery was I had fainted. When I woke up I had been surrounded by strange colors all around me. Even though there didn't look to be a solid ground I was able to stand if there was one and walked for what felt hours. I thought I would walk forever, wondering was I was before I felt a strange force pull me. So I did not expect to see the strange silver haired man next to me and cried out in surprise as I then fell on my butt.
"Alana!" I heard Avery cry and I felt her tackle me in a tight hug before I had time to react. H-huh, she was here too?
What was Avery doing here? Was she even real or was I having some freaky kind of dream? The kind of dream where I am aware I'm dreaming but things are extremely random; like the man beside me or all the random colors. There was also another man in front of us who looked exactly like the man beside me. The only difference was he was younger and wore a different outfit.
"I'm so glad to see you! A-are you alright?" She asked as I felt her grip tighten almost painfully. Although it insured me that, unless I was having one of those vivid dreams, she was really here and I returned her hug.
"Y-yeah, I'm alright, just really weirded out. What the hell's going on here? The last thing I remember is we were falling down some weird hole that opened up beneath us." I asked, expressing my pure confusion. If to make things worse I was having trouble remembering what Avery and I were doing before we fell.
"I-I'm not really sure. We're somewhere called Diamond Country." Avery told me though she didn't really sound too sure herself. Diamond Country? I never heard of a country like that before.
"Ah well then, now that Alana is here, allow me to explain things more fully." The older of the men said with a smile as he stepped forwards. I don't know how he knows my name but if he had answers I'd be more than willing to listen to them.
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Avery's P.O.V
"Whoa." I was the first to say once Mr. Gottschalk finished explaining everything. There were way too many rules and too much information to remember.
"There is actually a whole lot more to know but that you'll have to find out yourself." Mr. Gottschalk told me, probably reading my thoughts. I looked to Alana to see a stunned look on her face, revealing she was as speechless and confused as I was.
Most of the things Mr. Gottschalk had explained to us sounded either made up or just really, really weird. Apparently Alana and I were in another world called Wonderland. The hole we had fallen down was called the rabbit hole -which I was already told about- and it acted as a portal to this world. We were told that there was two types of people in this world and were addressed as either role holders or the faceless, who were people without eyes. Apparently only role holders had eyes as well as certain powers. Other things such as April Season, the different season, the time changes and all that was explained.
"But why are we here? It's not like we choose to come here." She pointed out and I looked towards Mr. Gottschalk in agreement. Yeah, why were we here?
"That discussion is for another day. All I can tell you now is that you're both here to fulfill your 'happiness'. And I can assure you that, if you play your cards right, you'll be very, very happy here." He answered with a smile and made a small, cool looking bow. Huh, I wonder what he meant by all that.
"Tch, stop showing off, old fart! I should be the one explaining everything. It's my country after all." Nightmare demanded, looking pretty upset. O-oh, I didn't offend him by letting Mr. Gottschalk explain things, did I?
"Well, then you should have been faster." Mr. Gottschalk teased as I began feeling weird. I felt really light and the everything looked as if it was starting to melt.
"Avery?" I heard Alana ask. Turning to her I saw her reach out for my shoulder but her hand went right through me as if I was a ghost.
"W-what's happening to me!?" I demanded, patting myself down as I began to panic. W-was I dying?!
"It's nothing to worry about. You're simply waking up. I hope to see you again soon, Avery." Mr. Gottschalk told me with a goodbye wave. Before everything completely vanished I'm pretty sure I heard Alana call out to me but I was unable to respond.
Tiredly opening my eyes I saw that I was back in the infirmary. With a tired sigh I tried to sit up but was unable to as I felt a trembling figure snuggled up against my side. Looking over I saw that it was only Nightmare. He was curled up against me and was gripping my arm pretty tightly as his body seemed to shake. Something seemed off and, with a closer look, I noticed that Nightmare looked paler than normal and his lips were as blue and my eyes.
My eyes widened in shock and realization as I pulled myself from Nightmare's grip and sat up. Looking towards the window I noticed it was wide open and snow had begun to build up in front of it. There even seemed to be since ice forming on the floor. W-who in the world would leave the window open! It wasn't like that before I fell asleep.
Quickly jumping from the cot I nearly slipped on the slippery floor as I struggled to get to the window. I don't know who could have opened the window but it needed to be shut. The floor was coated in ice and I nearly fell on my butt a few times but I managed to get to the window in seconds and shut it. Although I had to stand in the pile of snow to do so I'd be fine. After all I wasn't the one with blue lips. With a small sigh I turned to look back at Nightmare, only to see him going into a coughing fit.
"O-oh no! I need to get him out of here!" I mumbled to myself nervously, hurrying over to the door and grabbed the freezing metal. Too cold to hold onto I let go of the handle and instead banged on the door, trying to break it down.
It wouldn't be the first time I had to break down a door but this one wouldn't budge. I tried to break down the door two more times but it still wouldn't move an inch. W-what in the world? Was the door locked?! Why would anyone want to lock us in here?
Just as I was beginning to panic I heard muffled voices and footsteps from the other side of the door. They were kind of faint but loud enough that could make out a few words being said. That meant there was someone out there that could help! If I can't get the door open maybe I can get their attention.
"S-someone, please help. Anyone please!" I cried, banging on the door to try and get some attention. However, when it became obvious that either no one heard me or wasn't coming that left me with no other choice.
"S-s-so, so s-s-sorry." I stammered, shivering in the cold as I took a few steps back. Reading myself I lifted my leg and kicked at right at the base of the handle as hard as I could.
Instantly the door creaked and groaned as I kicked it again and again. I was rather surprised by its resiliency as I finally managed to kick off the handle. I felt a moment of triumphantcy before I stumbled back over to the cot and shuffled Nightmare into my arms. Trying hard not to slip and slide on the slippery floor I made my way back to the door. My legs ached horribly from the bruise but I did my best to ignore it as I instead noticed how empty the Train Station was. Weren't there some people out here a little while ago?
Third Person P.O.V
Nightmare didn't even seem to realize that he was being carried and continued to shiver. A bit of blood rolled down his bottom lip as Avery followed the sounds of voices she suddenly heard again. One was unmistakenly female while the other was a man. The female sounded angry if not slightly scared. The man sounded calm but with an unmistakable undertone of anger.
'Oh no! I need to get Nightmare to his room or at least somewhere he can warn up. The poor boy is freezing!' Avery thought as she looked down. Nightmare had shuffled his head around so it was resting on her shoulder, allowing him to see down the hall.
Don't go any further. Turn around and head back a voice weakly and quietly demanded in the back of Avery's mind.
"H-huh?!" Avery asked, stopping in her tracks and looking down at Nightmare in confusion. Did he just speak to her without moving his lips?
Quick, turn around and go to the room with the large double doors up the stairs the voice ordered again before fading out. S-stairs?
Avery was slightly confused but did as the voice told her. Turning she was surprised to see a flight of stairs to her left. Why didn't she notice those earlier? No matter. Trying not to think about it Avery rushed up the stairs and towards the mentioned room. As she did so she heard the female voice scream in the distance.
Frightened by the sound Avery kicked the door open and rushed in, kicking it closed behind her. Rushing towards the couch that was convently placed in front of the fireplace she put Nightmare down on it. Luckily there was already a fire lit so she believed he'd be fine as she went to investigate. That woman that scared probably needed help.
No, don't go the weak voice returned, startling Avery.
"W-wha- who is that?" She demanded, searching the room before looking to Nightmare. He was hugging himself as he continued to shiver but was looking right at Avery.
T-that woman, she's an assassin trying to finish the job. S-stay here he says before letting out a slight groan. Avery's eyes widen as she realized it was him somehow speaking to her through her mind.
"N… Nightmare? I-is that you?" Avery asked, staring at the boy in worried shock. Was he really speaking to her through her mind? Honestly if this wasn't such a dire situation she would have found it pretty cool.
Y-yeah. The voice said with another groan, confirming it was Nightmare after all. Seeing his eyes close and that his shivering wasn't stopping Avery jumped into mother mode.
Reaching for nearest pillow she could find Avery gently lifted Nightmare's head up and put it under him. Next she looked for some random papers she could use as kindle to the fire. Finding some newspapers on the desk Avery grabbed those and walked back to the fire. Crumpling them up she threw them into the fire, barely paying any attention to what the papers actually were. Nightmare, however, did noticed and a small smile broke out on his face.
'Yay~ no paper work for me~' he thought happily before breaking out into more coughing fits. Avery tossed in the last piece of paper before walking over to his side.
"A-Are you alright? Do you need water?" She offered, gently setting her hand down on his forehead. She pulled her hand away a moment later and looked down at him in shock.
"I-I'm fine." He replied roughly, hugging himself as he waited for the fire to really warm him up. Avery sent him a scolding look as she sat down beside him and pulled him into her arms.
"No you aren't! You're as cold as ice." She fretted, wrapping her arms around the boy to get him as warm as possible. Nightmare's face flushed slightly but gladly accepted the hug. This was something his adult self would never get to have.
For a while neither of the two spoke and instead allowed the fire to warm them both up. Avery stared into the fire as she worried about Nightmare. It was lucky that the boy didn't seem any sicker from exposer to the cold. She could remember taking care of her brother John when he stayed outside in the cold too long. He had gotten the flu and none of her other brothers had the time to take care of him. Avery hoped that Nightmare wouldn't become that sick. He seemed so young that it would be a pity to see him bedridden with the flu.
"…. Sorry I didn't wake up sooner, Nightmare." Avery apologized after the short silence. Maybe if she did she could have caught who opened the window or, at the very least, gotten out of the room a lot sooner.
"It's not your fault. It wouldn't have mattered how soon you'd wake up." He answered softly, leaning against her as he enjoyed the warm from her embraces and the fire. "That nurse that was in the room with us was probably an undercover assassin who came to kill me. I should consider it lucky she tried to freeze me to death rather than put a bullet in my head. If she'd done that she would have killed you too."
"A-a-assassin?!" Avery gasped, shocked at the news. "B-but what would anyone want to kill you?" She asked, mortified. T-then that meant that scream from before was-?
"People have wanted me dead for a really long time now because I'm a role holder, just like my older self explained. If you heard a woman scream than Gray must have killed her." Nightmare explains, as if talking about death was causal. Then again the older Nightmare did also mention life didn't typically matter to the people of this world.
"O-oh …" she trailed off, not sure what to think of that. Even though Mr. Gottschalk did explain it hearing it in action is still just … well, terrifying.
"Perhaps but it's a normal thing in this world. Don't worry, Avery, you'll get used to it sooner or later." Nightmare sighed contently, now much warmer and comfortable. His head drifted down slightly until he was able to hear the abnormal bur calming thumps of her heart.
"I-I don't know if I ever could get used to that." Avery replied sadly, gently brushing her fingers through the incubus's hair. Nightmare enjoyed the affection as the girl leaned back, allowing his head to rest on her collarbone.
"Well I hope you enjoy Wonderland either way. I would be sad if you wanted to leave." He admits, feeling his cheeks flush as he felt feelings develop for the girl. After all she was the first person who was actually nice to him without wanting anything in return; not to mention that she thought his mind reading powers were cool.
"Hmm." She simply hummed in response, leaning against the side of the couch to rest. This allowed Nightmare to rest even more against her as they both looked into the fire.
'Gosh was it ever so cold outside but at least it's better in here.' She thought, feeling calm and contented as she continued to brush her fingers in Nightmare's hair.
The young incubus smiled, enjoying Avery's touch very much. He could feel his body warming up in more ways than one; and he liked the feeling. He really did hope Avery would agree to stay with him, even if it was just a little bit longer. It just sucked knowing that he'd have to share her with his Clover self in the dream realm.
Ah, finally got it finished! I might have some spelling mistakes still unedited but I was really tired of the chapter by then. Please let me know if you spot a mistake. I will show where Alana ended up the next chapter. Please Favorite, Follow and/or review
