Chapter 5
Dreams and Nightmares
Colors swirled and twisted as the group flew through the seemingly impossible corridor, not unlike the ones they'd passed through when jumping from one part of the galaxy to another. The key difference being the total lack of sound. And though they were not in a ship of any kind, they felt no lack of balance or weightlessness. It was as if they were on an invisible escalator taking them to their destination. For Cosmo, it reminded her of the moving floors on her peoples refugee ship. As she and Tails followed behind everyone on this invisible track, they held each others hands tight. No repeats of the last time they were sent through an interdimensional corridor. At last they could see a light beginning to glow, as Lumina looked back at the group with a nod. They had now entered the Realm of Ilum.
Moments later, the lack of sound began to give way to the sound of screams, frightening the group for a moment before suddenly falling silent again. As they looked to each other, about to question what just happened (save for Lumina, who's eyes were wide with fear for her people), the growing light burst forth and they found themselves in the middle of a ruined plaza. What had they had expected to be a beautiful vibrant city or town, instead appeared to be a ghastly prison facility built atop the ruins of what was once there. The sky, which was supposed to be bright and colorful, was instead a depressing gray.
"No..where…is everyone? Please be let them be alright" Lumina spoke surveying the area, though finding it difficult due to the decrease in lighting.
"I don't understand" Tails spoke "we could hear screaming before, why have they suddenly-?" he continued before stopping himself short, his face becoming downcast at the implication.
"Put your feeble minds at ease, they still live…until I have no use for them"
Turning behind them, all saw the enemy before them.
"Void" Lumina spoke with a scowl.
"Lumina! How wonderful of you to return!" Void replied, throwing his arms out in a mock gesture of welcoming "You left so suddenly that I didn't even have time to tell you exactly what fate I have planned for you specifically. Did you have a nice time abandoning your people to flee to the waking world?"
"I did not abandon my people! On the contrary, I have brought aid!" Lumina retorted, not allowing Voids verbal jab to shake her resolve.
"That's right Void, you messed up big time!" Sonic chimed in, drawing the nightmare prince's attention.
"Ah yes, the saviors of the universe: Sonic the hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Cosmo the seedrian and Cream the rabbit, how very nice to finally meet you in person"
"You'll wish you hadn't." Tails spoke up.
"We don't fear you, we've beaten worse!" Cosmo added.
"Whatever you do to try to stop us, we'll get past it!" Cream added as well.
Lumina chanced a smile, knowing she had chosen the right group.
Void however, threw his head back and laughed mockingly.
"Hahahahahaha! Oh that is just precious! You haven't helped them fully grasp the threat they face have you Lumina?"
"Yes, she has" Sonic replied "We know who you are, what you are and what you plan to do. You want to rule the whole realm of Ilum. Sorry pal, not gonna happen!"
"Moreover, we know you're a coward. You destroyed the precious stone through deception. You must not be very powerful then" Tails added.
Glaring hatefully at the the hedgehog and the fox specifically, Void replied.
"Your bravado and wit, however misplaced and ill timed it may be, is refreshing. But you are still lacking in regards to you knowledge of me or my ambitions..."
A flash of deep indigo colored energy and Void had disappeared. Almost on instinct, the group turned to look behind them and sure enough, there he stood, casually leaning against some rubble and gesturing to the prison facility behind him.
"Look around, I already rule Ilum and yet my goals are not achieved. But you have been quite helpful in coming here oh heroes of the waking world. Now I can dispose of you in my here and thus lessen the opposition I will face…when I lead an army to bring ruin to you home"
"That won't happen! You won't rule anything, no more will suffer because of you!" Cosmo called back, a fire clearly burning within her at Voids cruel words.
"You have no concept of the harm of which I am capable Cosmo. Like my dear sister, I have long observed you and your friends. I know your fears and deepest insecurities. Tell me, what was it like being dead?"
Cosmo glared back, her resolve stiffening. "Yes, I've been dead before, but I won't be leaving again. Certainly not because of you"
"oh ho! You've developed quite the backbone haven't you? Being together with your loving fox has definitely strengthened you."
"You have no idea. I still don't enjoy fighting, but I'm not incapable of doing so anymore. You say we have no idea what you're capable of? You have no idea what I am capable of"
From the rest of the group, most were surprised at hearing such words from Cosmo, still not entirely used to her new confidence (and in Lumina's case not being fully aware of it), but for Tails, he simply smiled in pride and admiration.
Void smiled too.
"I admit, I have been busy enacting my conquest, so I have been missing out since you defeated Metal Sonic. Perhaps you have grown more powerful since then, this will be quite enjoyable for me"
Void then turned his attention to Lumina.
"I also see you have brought back the Precious Stone fragment sister. Do you really believe you can restore it? And by extension our mother?"
Lumina didn't reply, merely clutching the fragment in her hand.
Smirking, Void turned as though to leave.
"Very well then. Embark on you hopeless endeavor. I shall enjoy watching you fail"
"Hey! Where d'you think you're going?" Sonic called spin dashing towards Void.
Turning swiftly, Void backhanded the spinning hedgehog at an angle, sending him flying back and into the air. Sonic uncurled himself and dropped down to the ground with a thud, though still managing to land on his feet and steadying himself with his hands.
"Not yet hedgehog, the game has just begun! You have a long way to go before you're ready to face me. And I do so want you to be truly ready! I want to enjoy this" Void mocked, rising into the air.
"Do as Lumina wants, gather the fragments. But keep in mind: this is my realm now! There is nowhere you can go that I will not be able to see you and nothing you can attempt that I cannot challenge."
Another dark flash and a black portal appeared behind Void.
"Try to make this interesting, and remember: hold close that which is precious to you, for fear and sorrow shall dull their shine"
With that, Void turned and entered the portal which seemed to disintegrate as it disappeared.
Pausing a moment, the group took a moment to ponder the cryptic words of their adversary, before deciding to move towards the massive prison in front of them.
"Okay, so clearly Void's words are gonna need some analysis. Right now though we need to focus on freeing the people in that place" Sonic said as they reached the large gate at the entrance.
"Right, and if we're lucky we may just be able to get some clues at to where we can find more precious stone fragments" Tails replied.
Upon closer inspection, the front gate seemed to be reinforced with some kind of metal, one that appeared to be a patchwork combination of various types.
Cracking his knuckles, Sonic walked up to the gate.
"hmm, this doesn't seem too hard to get past. Stand back guys, I'll take tear through it"
Just as he began to crouch into a ball however, Tails called out to him.
"Wait Sonic!"
"What's up?"
Gesturing to Cosmo, who had walked up with him, Tails replied.
"Let Cosmo handle this"
Sonic paused a moment, but then saw the confident smile Cosmo had.
"Alright, it's all yours"
As Cosmo walked up to the gate, Tails gestured towards it with a bow.
"If you would do the honors flower?"
Smirking, Cosmo looked back at the gate before closing her eyes. She began to concentrate, turning her palms upwards.
As Tails rejoined the group just behind Cosmo, they turned to Tails with Lumina asking the question they all had.
"Tails, what's going on? It's likely that once they gate is down most if not all of Void's forces within the prison will be upon us, Cosmo will be at the highest risk being in the front!"
Tails merely crossed his arms and smiled proudly.
"Just watch"
And they did. They watched as Cosmo seemed to grab hold of something despite there being nothing in her hands. And then watched as she suddenly threw her arms up, the ground suddenly shaking.
Their confusion turned to awe as massive vines not unlike the ones she'd summoned with the planet egg burst forth out of the ground. These vines however, were much larger and some appeared to have massive thorns on them. Further, while the ones she'd summoned with the planet egg were summoned unintentionally with her being unable to control them, here she clearly had full control.
With a clear gesture and graceful waves of her hands, Cosmo had the vines pierce through the reinforced gate before throwing her hands outward, causing the vines to mimic the movement and tearing a massive hole where the gate used to be.
As predicted, the response was immediate. Void's forces began to charge towards the group, though many were being slapped away or slammed by the vines as Cosmo guided them.
Tails rushed forward to engage the monstrous creatures as well, calling back to his still shocked team mates.
"Come on guys! You can be awestruck later!"
Shaking their heads simultaneously, the rest jumped into the fray.
Tails made rapid movements to maneuver around the creatures while slamming his namesakes into them whenever possible and covering his blind spots by delivering swift kicks and punches where he could.
Sonic fought with his usual style of spin dashes and taunts, drawing enemies in and playing with them before knocking them down.
Cream used a fighting style similar to Tails' albeit with more focus on disorienting her opponents, then kicking them behind their heads and either knocking them out or causing them to collide with each other.
Lumina used magic as well as her slender form to fly past groups of enemies while strategically placing small orbs of magic on the ground, as she reached the end of a flight and turned, she activated them which caused them to explode and thus eliminating the foes.
Despite the clear coordination between them as well as the number of enemies they were putting down collectively, it seemed they had in fact drawn the entire prisons forces upon themselves as they were slowly being pushed back by the increasing swarm.
Ultimately, despite their efforts, while the enemies they beat seemed to vanish in a plume of black smoke, they were pushed back into a circle, the monsters hording around them in a large circle.
"Oh..okay guys, I hate to say it, but I think this might be too many for just us. Tails, ideas?"
"Working on it….wait! Cosmo!"
The seedrian turned to look at him as he made a sweeping gesture from side to side with his hands.
Nodding, Cosmo drew her arms outward before pulling back, recalling the vines that had acted as their barricade. Once more, she held her arms up before thrusting them downward then with a swift gesture, began to make the same sweeping movement Tails had.
At once, many more vines burst forth out of the ground in a circle around the group before suddenly becoming engulfed in thorns and making swatting motions.
The horde of monsters was sent flying back, sometimes into the walls of the prison, each disappearing as they came to a stop.
When the horde had been eliminated, Cosmo recalled the vines once more before she and Tails exchanged proud smiles, turning to their friends who were once again awestruck.
"Okay, now that the bad guys are gone" Sonic began "you have got to explain where you learned to do that"
"Tails and I have been working with my abilities remember? While I don't enjoy fighting, we agreed that I should work on some offensive uses so I'd be able to defend myself or others whenever necessary" Cosmo explained.
"And since this is a dream world and thus susceptible to our thoughts, Cosmo's abilities are enhanced since all she has to do is simply will the plants she summons to be stronger" Tails added.
Sonic, Cream, and Lumina paused a moment taking in this explanation before Cream rushed up to Cosmo.
"That's amazing Cosmo! You did wonderfully!"
Cosmo smiled modestly "Thanks Cream, it felt good to help directly for a change"
"Very impressive" Lumina spoke "it seems I really did miss a lot regarding what you've been up to. Wonderful job Cosmo"
The group was then interrupted with the sounds of voices coming from the prison.
"Alright, let's go free whoever is in there" Sonic said, the team making their way inside.
"By the way Cream, where's Cheese?" Cosmo asked as they walked inside.
"Oh, I decided to leave him at home. Mostly so mother would know where I went"
"Oh, I hope your mother won't be upset"
Cream looked uneasy at first, but then seemed to shake it off, though not replying.
Inside the massive prison, they found the walls lined with cages housing trapped sprites, all clearly afraid and confused.
Upon taking notice of the group, several sprites began to cheer.
"Princess Lumina! You've returned! We're saved!"
"Yes everyone, I come with aid! The nightmare is nearly over!"
Tails made a his way over to the nearest wall inspecting something on it.
"Despite the monstrous nature of those dream demons, it seems they use a more advanced security system"
"Can you get through it Tails?" Lumina asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.
Sure enough, not a second after she spoke, the cages lining the walls opened up, Tails having a triumphant smile on his face.
Immediately, the people ran (or rather flew) out of the prison, their joy to see the light of their sky again disappearing when they saw the darkened sky instead.
"Princess Lumina, what has happened to the sky!?" One of them cried.
"This is Voids doing, he shattered the Precious Stone. This is how he and his forces were able to enter Maginaryworld in the first place."
Lumina held out the fragment she had.
"We are searching for the remaining fragments so that we may restore it, drive back Voids forces, and hopefully restore my mother."
"Excuse me"
From the crowd emerged a small sprite, a little girl by the look of it. Her wings appeared small and rounded, and her hair was a bright shade of blue. Further, it appeared the girl had the same buns in her hair that Lumina did, albeit smaller while the rest of her hair flowed down her back. With her purple eyes shining innocently, she spoke.
"Princess Lumina, is this a Precious Stone fragment?" the little girl asked, holding out her hand.
It was indeed.
Her eyes lighting up, Lumina smiled at the girl.
"It is indeed little one! Where did you find this?"
"It landed not to far from me just before the monsters attacked. I kept it with me for light since the prison was so dark"
Taking the fragment, Lumina proceeded to the hug the little girl.
"You have done wonderful little one, may I ask, what is your name?"
"I am Celeste, Princess"
"I am very proud of you Celeste. With this we are one step closer to saving Maginaryworld, and all of Ilum"
Just as Lumina finished speaking, the sky seemed to shift. In the area directly above them, the dark clouds gave way to allow a ray of light to shine through. Lumina, Sonic, Tails, Cosmo and Cream noticed the two fragments glowing brightly as though reacting. The light from the sky shone down on the prison and withing seconds, the prison crumbled to dust. From the now empty ground emerged several buildings, as though they'd been suppressed by the massive grim structure.
"This confirms it" Lumina spoke "the power of the Precious Stone fragments dispels the darkness, we collect all of them, we end this nightmare"
"Princess, if I may" Another sprite, somewhat older than the others spoke up "we were being held in that horrid place so that they could try to tap into our power. They desired to find the other fragments hidden around the city"
"And did they?"
"I believe so. I'd wager whatever fragments remain here in the city are likely being held by the overseer. That's the monster Void charged with leading his forced here"
Lumina's eyes flashed with determination, as did those of the others.
"Where is he?" she asked
Pointing to the eastward, toward the center of the city, the elderly sprite spoke.
"The foul creature has taken residence in your temple Princess"
"Not for long he hasn't. Come on guys, let's go!" Sonic spoke enthusiastically and already beginning to head that way.
"Seems he's grown bored of standing still again" Tails sighed "Sorry Lumina, looks like we gotta hurry"
He began to follow Sonic, with Cosmo and Cream following with him. Turning to the elderly sprite, Lumina rushed to offer thanks.
"Apologies, my friends seem to be heading off in a rush, thank you very much for the information mister…?"
The old sprite chuckled.
"No need to apologize Princess, you're rushing to save us all, and please, call me Gerald"
As they made their way to the temple, Tails noticed Cosmo looking somewhat forlorn. Moving over to her, he spoke softly.
"Cosmo? What's wrong?"
Lifting her head to look at him, Cosmo replied.
"Oh…it's just…that girl back there…"
"Celeste?"
"Yes…it's just… she reminded me of..of my sister Galaxina"
"Oh…I see. But Galaxina was older than you wasn't she?"
"Yes, she was" Cosmo replied nodding "but it seems so strange, save for the wings, attire and the lack of a flower, she looked so much like her!"
"I admit, it is a strange coincidence, but then Lumina kind of resembles you, and this is a dream realm, perhaps the inhabitants take their appearances based on those in our world?" Tails hypothesized.
Pausing a moment, Cosmo pondered this before speaking again.
"I suppose that could be it…but why would one look so much like Galaxina? Shouldn't they take on appearances based on those who dream? My sister is….she doesn't sleep anymore!" Cosmo, eyes began to tear up as she said this, the confusion and unexpected reminder of her deceased kin starting to get to her.
Taking Cosmo's hand tightly in his own as they continued to walk, Tails squeezed it lightly for comfort before replying.
"Maybe even after people in our world pass on, the people here that mirror them continue on. If you think about it, if Celeste really is Galaxina's counterpart here than in a way, she is still alive in a sense"
Hearing this, Cosmo looked over to Tails with wide eyes, before she smiled lovingly.
"I didn't think of it like that…thank you."
Tails smiled back, though said nothing.
"My family would have loved you Tails, especially Galaxina"
"I would have loved to meet them"
The two said nothing after that, continuing onward while still holding each others hand.
Thankfully, it was only a short trek to the temple, though upon arrival the group found it to be strangely clear of enemies.
"Okay…this is weird. I thought for certain they'd have some kind of guards present or something, but this is even less fortified than the prison!" Sonic spoke, gesturing his arms towards the temple for emphasis.
"It is strange, this being my people's capitol as as well as the capitol of Maginaryworld as a whole, I was also certain that Void would have it be heavily populated by his forces…." Lumina replied, scanning the area warily.
Putting a hand to his chin and closing his eyes, Tails assessed the strange situation before speaking.
"Either they were focusing all of their forces on running the prison or…it's an invitation"
"Which means it's likely a trap right Tails?" Cream replied.
"Most definitely"
"Well then! Best not wait here and wonder! Let's go find out!" Sonic cheered enthusiastically.
"Wait! Shouldn't we have a plan?" Lumina called out before anyone could move.
Cosmo answered.
"Most of the time we go without one. Besides, once Sonic's ready to go well, he's ready to go."
"That's right! I'm all pumped for more action!" the hedgehog affirmed before speeding off to the main door.
Lumina stood perplexed a moment, while Cosmo and Cream gave the confused princess sympathetic looks before they and Tails followed after, this time with Lumina keeping up.
Getting through the main door proved to be no trouble at all, literally, as the door was busted open already and was only barely holding onto the frame. No, what troubled the group was how as they made their way through corridor after corridor, there still seemed to be no enemy presence anywhere. This of course, had the entire group on edge, Lumina especially since the last time she had gone through these halls she had not found enemies lining it either. Instead, she had found much worse.
She prayed this would not be the case this time.
"Lumina" Cosmo's voice snapped the princess out of her increasingly fearful thoughts. She hadn't even realized she'd been so distracted.
"Y-yes Cosmo?"
"Which way is the throne room? Perhaps the overseer is there"
"Oh please mother, wherever you are, don't let this be like last time" Lumina prayed mentally before answering.
"We're close, it's just down that hall" she said, pointing to the hall left of the group.
Lumina braced herself as they barged through the grand doors of the throne room. She braced herself to see it in even worse disrepair, to see statues of her wicked brother built atop the rubble left from the attack. She braced herself to find a monster sitting on the throne, perhaps with more of her people being held there. She braced for an ambush consisting of a large force of dream demons all being led by a massive monstrous overseer.
But they found nothing. The room was empty, in fact, it appeared no different than when she had escaped. Everything seemed exactly as she remembered down to the last piece of rubble. This couldn't be right, there should be a horde of monsters to take down, there should be a cruel creature sitting mockingly on her throne greeting them in a sadistic manner. There should be…..something!
Perhaps though, she should be happy. After all, this is exactly what she wanted wasn't it? This is what she had just prayed for, to not find something horrible upon entering the throne room as she had last time. Her people would never lie to her but they could be wrong! Perhaps they were wrong in this case! Perhaps the overseer had been called back by Void after they freed everyone. She should be happy.
But Lumina Flowlight had spent her whole life dealing with Void and had more than once been witness to her brothers method of inspiring fear. She knew that while she should be happy, she couldn't be.
Because it was never this simple with him.
"This is anticlimactic" Sonic groaned "I thought the old guy back at the prison said this overseer guy was supposed to be here?"
"Perhaps Void called him back after we broke into the prison and freed everyone?" Tails reasoned, unknowingly mirroring Lumina's attempt at rationalizing the absence of any foe.
Lumina stood there as the group conversed, still in a tense state of uncertainty, Void would never allow this to be this easy.
Then a memory from during one of their meetings with mother came to her. Their mother had left the room for a moment and Void decided to "entertain" her with a lesson on the "rules of terror" as he put it.
"There are several rules to observe when dealing with a fearful situation sister, rules that the beings in the waking world always seem to break when experiencing nightmares. Though their failure does make for very entertaining terror" Void had spoken casually, though the cruel smirk on his face revealed his enjoyment.
"Honestly it's kind of hilarious in an way, for all the stories and media they create depicting their various fears and superstitions, they always make the same mistakes. They call out for someone or something to show themselves, which only gives them away. Or they carelessly enter a dark room without taking any precautions. That's rule one you know…"
Unfortunately for Lumina, she had tried so hard to tune Void out as he spoke, she couldn't remember what he said next. She sincerely wished now that she hadn't, as now it might actually have been useful.
"Well, in any case I'm glad there's no one here. Maybe the precious stone fragments are still here though" Cosmo spoke.
"I doubt it. Given that Void doesn't want us to fix the precious stone it's unlikely he'd let the overseer leave them here" Tails replied.
"Can't the fragments react to one another like the chaos emeralds? Are the two we have reacting miss Lumina?" Cream asked.
Lumina, dropping from her tense stance, one she didn't even realize she was still in, used her magic to make the two fragments they had appear.
As she'd hoped, the fragments were reacting!
"Yes! They are reacting! And it seems the other fragments are close!" she spoke excitedly.
"How can you tell they're close?" Sonic asked, cocking his head slightly and staring at the glowing fragments.
"The fragments, like your chaos emeralds, glow brighter as they're brought closer together"
The group turned to face the throne and began looking around.
"I don't see anything. With how dim the lighting is here you'd think glowing gem fragments would be easy to spot!" Sonic said.
Silence prevailed for a moment before Cream spoke again.
"Miss Lumina, the fragments are glowing brighter!"
Looking down at the fragments in her hands, Lumina saw that they were indeed glowing brighter, almost blindingly in the dimly lit room.
"I don't understand, the fragments are glowing so brightly it's as if we're standing on top of the others…."
Lumina paused suddenly, her eyes dilating not due to the light from the fragments, but due to sheer fear. The kind of fear that comes with a stark realization.
Void's cold voice filled her head once more as the rest of the memory suddenly came back to her, sending chills down her spine as she remembered his words.
"Rule one is: when dealing with a dark or dimly lit room in a hostile or dangerous environment, always check your surroundings first before moving into it. Check your left, check your right, if you have a light source check as far in front of you as possible…"
Suddenly the groups blood went cold as they heard a terrible growling coming echoing around the room. They swiftly turned around to check behind them, then after finding nothing, they scanned the room once more.
"FEAR"
The deep growling voice thundered through them, as did the realization of where it had come from. They weren't standing on the fragments that's for sure…"
They're heads slowly tilted back.
"...and most importantly…" Void's voice continued to echo in Lumina's mind.
Their eyes came upon a large creature glaring down at them. It's six glowing red eyes piercing into them as it moved the six spider-like limbs it held itself in place with to better position itself.
Their eyes dilated as it spread it's lips in a rictus grin showing needle-like teeth, speaking with the same ominous growl as before.
"FOOD"
"..always look above you"
Okay, maybe I went a bit too horror movie at the end there but what can I say? It's not often I get to play around with the idea of fear and monsters much and darn it I'm gonna have fun with it! Also I am so sorry this chapter took so long! Writers block folks, that's something to fear! In any case, I've already begun working on the next chapter so hopefully it won't be as long a wait for that! Also, what's with the little girl? Or the old sprite named Gerald? Questions, questions… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, see ya!