Floor 19 - Chapter 2 - Sleep No More


Returning back to the campsite, the pair had made notes of roughly where they'd found the physics defying river, and settled back into the bedding. It was no bed, that much was certain, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable either - the soft and fluffy blankets almost making up for the bitter cold water earlier.

That was another thing still replaying in Jet's mind - earlier. The atmosphere as they'd headed back had been thick enough that his sword would be needed to cut it, and they'd exchanged very little in the way of conversation. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that he'd upset Koharu slightly, by being hesitant around her. He knew that they'd agreed not to talk about it, but he wondered whether that was the right course of action. Not talking about things was how couples ended up resembling his mom and dad, and if he was at all honest, he'd rather not go down that path...

''Hey, Ko?'' He whispered over to her, as she rolled over to face him.

''Hm?''

''Earlier? I didn't upset you, did I?'' Deciding there was no point in dancing around the point, he went straight in with the question on his mind.

''I thought we said we weren't going to talk about it.'' She rolled off her side, and onto her back, eyes fixed on the ceiling of the tent. ''But yeah, a little bit. We're supposed to be dating, and well, it feels like... I don't know, I can't explain it.'' She admitted. ''It's like there's a sort of wall between us, I guess.''

''I... I'm no good with that sort of stuff, I kind of froze up...''

''I'm not upset, you know? Just... I don't know. It's like feeling like you aren't attractive enough, I guess?''

''It really isn't that. Believe me, in our relationship, you are definitely the looks... and probably the brains too, to be honest. It's just... I guess I've got issues - the whole wall thing, maybe it's closer than I'd like...''

''If you two are going to discuss your sex life, please do it outside...'' Phillia mumbled, as a pillow smacked into Jet's face. A pillow that had almost certainly been thrown by the mildly annoyed ginger girl, who was trying to sleep...

''We're not, but we'll talk about it later. Goodnight, Jet.'' Koharu rolled onto her other side, facing away from Jet. Some part of him told him that this wasn't going to be forgotten with a good night's sleep. He felt a weight on his eyes as he closed them, and felt himself dropping off to sleep, despite not being particularly tired...

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Jet looked around, as he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the air around him. It smelt off, a familiar smell but not one he'd ever have expected in Aincrad - the smell of diesel fumes. Before he could really process that thought though, the ground rumbled through the chair he found himself sat in. Again, the rumbling felt familiar, but he couldn't place were he knew it from.

The room around him was definitely not somewhere he'd have expected to see in Aincrad - glass panels surrounded him on every side, a clear view into the dark void outside, lit only by strips of luminescent lights about halfway up the glass panes. At each end of the room was a small screen, with lines of information on it, and that was the confirmation that perhaps he wasn't in Aincrad anymore.

He stood up, and took a look at the screens - they were departure screens, but the information displayed was absolute nonsense. Something about this was far more confusing than it had any right to be. His confusion was broken by another familiar noise - a four tone bell that Jet knew intricately... the noise that signalled an upcoming announcement at a railway station.

The next departure from this station is... a sad, lonely teenager with delusions of heroism. The voice announced, and Jet's face contorted. Okay, whatever was going on here was so far beyond ridiculous, it was absolute nonsense and he knew it.

''Well, if you're gonna play games with my mind, show yourself!'' He yelled into the well lit void he found himself in.

Alright then... The voice boomed, before it shifted into another familiar voice. At the same time, another person walked into the waiting room in his mind - around 5ft 2in tall, with emerald eyes, raven hair... and the sweetest smelling perfume he'd ever known. ''Sweetheart.'' The mocking tone she said that in was a pretty good indicator that the person - if it even was a person - stood in front of him certainly wasn't Koharu.

''Right.'' Jet stated, a sense of resignation in his voice. This was going to be one of those dreams, wasn't it? ''Let me guess, you're here because you embody my concerns over intimacy, and somehow, my mind's latched onto that... right?''

''Nope.'' Koharu smiled, before giving a quizzical look towards him. ''Though it is interesting that you'd assume that's why I'm here.''

''Yeah, well, it's still on my mind.'' He admitted, before asking the pertinent question. ''Why are you here, anyway?''

''You were right - I do embody something about your fears. Care to guess what?'' She asked, almost mockingly.

''Not really, no.'' He shrugged, aiming for apathy, but getting boredom as an expression.

''I'll tell you then... I'm your loneliness.'' She stated, sitting next to him.

''How's that work? She's one of the few people I don't feel isolated around...'' He asked, confused at the statement.

''Tell me, what happens when you scare her off?'' Koharu asked, her face shrouded in shadow. ''When she sees you for what you are - sad, lonely and pathetic... So desperate for a friend that you latched onto the first person to show you a shred of decency, and now, look where you are! Scared that she will fly oh so high, whilst you barely hover...''

''Yeah, this conversation is over.'' Jet stood up, and made to walk away before a hand grabbed hold of his sleeve. He looked back, ready to shout at the likeness, before he noticed it's new visage...

Another girl, this time one he hadn't seen in almost a year. Brown hair, tied into a ponytail, with piercing pink eyes, and a smile that he, if he was being honest, had missed slightly. ''Momjii?''

''Long time no see, Mike.'' She smiled as she gave him a small wave.

''Michael.'' Jet muttered, as he confirmed this was just something in his mind playing tricks on him. ''Thing is, now I know you definitely aren't her - she has never once called me ''Mike'', only Michael...'' Jet's pained expression turned into one of a resolve to fight back. ''Go on then, tell me exactly what you are...''

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The group looked around Jet, as his HP continued to drop. Only gradually, but whatever was going on, it certainly filled the category of ''Not good''. Actually, that was probably an understatement, if ever there was one...

''I don't get it! Why's he losing HP?'' Rain asked, almost in a panic as she forced a health potion down his gullet. Koharu watched on, struggling to comprehend what was even going on - they'd had a disagreement, gone to sleep, and now Jet was dying? How the hell had things gone this south, this quickly!

''Jet, wake up!'' Phillia shouted, and the way she held her hand suggested she was about to slap him out of his sleep...

''Ty zlish'sya!?'' Rain grabbed her hand to hold her back, before whisper shouting at her. ''He's already losing HP, don't hit him!''

''Worth a shot, isn't it?'' Koharu heard Phillia defend, before a thought came to her mind...

''Keep his HP up, I want to try something...'' She asked, crawling over to Jet and sitting beside him. Here went nothing, she thought to herself... ''I don't know if you can hear me, but...''

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Midway through the shadow Momjii's explanation, Jet noticed something - she was becoming almost translucent. At first, it was only the faintest of halo effects around her body, but as the seconds went by, the strip lighting began to be visible through her torso, and a few more seconds after that, the girl stood in front of him changed again... ''Please don't die! We made a promise - together till the end, right?! I... I love you, and... just don't die, please!'' The image of Koharu was almost in tears as she spoke, yet she kept a smile on her face somehow. Something told him that wasn't the illusion, but rather his Koharu somehow breaking into his dream...

He reached out, trying to place a hand on her to reassure her that he wasn't going to die in here, only for his hand to phase through her. That was one part of the confirmation of his situation. For the other, he walked over to the departure screens, and memorised the text on it.

09:45 - Leicester via East Mids. Pkway

09:54 - Maesteg via Gloucester

09:59 - Bristol T M via Bristol Pkway

He closed his eyes briefly, and only for a second, remembering something he'd read way back when. Text in dreams would never stay the same. It constantly shifted, and was more often than not a game of word association than anything solid. That second over, he reopened his eyes:

10:56 - East Mids. Pkway via Leicester

10:59 - Cinderford via Gloucester

11:08 - Cardiff Ctrl via Bristol Pkway

''Yeah, it's not real then.'' He smiled. Within seconds, that smile morphed into a grin. ''Koharu, I'm coming back!'' He shouted defiantly, as he felt the world around him begin to fade away quickly. The lights went from fluorescent strips, to blinding white all around, whilst the rumbling under foot became far more pronounced...

Despite the destruction of the world under foot, he couldn't resist a last quip at the entity that had trapped him... ''The, ahem, sad, lonely teenager at Platform Three is now leaving! Byyyeee!''

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''Do you think...'' Koharu fought back the flood of tears threatening to break through, as Kizmel pulled her into a reassuring hug.

''If I know Jet, he'll be back soon. Have faith in him.'' She answered, keeping an honest smile on her face as she did.

''Only question is, will it be soon enough?'' Phillia mumbled, listening for any signs of life from him. He seemed to be otherwise fine - no injuries to speak off, and there didn't appear to be any status effects on him, other than the obvious sleep one. Not yet anyway, but she figured that may not be the case when he woke up, and the girls told Strea what happened...

A voice groaned from below, almost in her ear, and she soon bolted upright. ''Uhh, girls?'' She called out, getting their attention.

''Jet!''

''I think I just had the strangest dream ever...'' He mumbled, his eyes opening slowly as Koharu tackled him into a hug... ''Heh, anyone would think I almost died with how tightly you're holding me, Ko...'' He joked, as the collective eyebrows of the group raised at the joke.

''You, uhh, you kind of nearly did...'' Phillia rubbed her hand against her neck.

''Wait, what?'' He asked, in complete surprise.

''Your HP was dropping rapidly while you were off dozing. Kind of lucky Koharu tried to wake you up, and spotted your HP, really.''

''I, uhh... I'm going for a walk...'' Jet sat up, and attempted to get up. His escape attempt from the bed that had nearly taken his life was soon thwarted by Koharu, who refused to let go of him. ''Uhh, Ko? I'm just going for a walk, you can let go, you know?''

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Considering what had happened only a few hours earlier, it hadn't taken a lot to convince Jet not to go back to sleep that morning. If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't as if he'd have gotten to sleep anyway, with the Sword of Damocles that was their current situation dangling over his head. Whatever had happened, he wondered if it had something to do with the disappearance of Nesse all those years ago...

Still, he wondered, that could account for the disappearance of the population, sure, but that didn't explain the village itself disappearing. From what Kizmel and the Professor had told them, the village had functionally disappeared overnight - so the village gradually decaying over the years, due to having no one to maintain it, wasn't particularly likely either. Then there was the question of the children - they'd been sent away for some reason, but what could that have been? His comparison with evacuation was completely the wrong way round, so it wasn't that, but if the children could've been exposed to some kind of illness, then, as morbid as it was, they'd have been kept there?

There were just too many questions, and nowhere near enough answers, he thought to himself as he pulled a flask of coffee from his inventory. Whilst he may not have been able to sleep, that didn't mean he was going to stay awake either, and so, coffee was necessary...

''Are you-yawn-okay?'' Koharu, showing that she wasn't any less tired than he was, sat next to him as he looked out over the camp.

''I'll live, Ko.'' With his arms on his neck, and head thrown back, he let out the biggest yawn he could. ''Just... a bit shook up, that's all.''

''What was it like?''

''Kinda dull, to be honest. Bit confusing at times, but mostly dull.'' He explained.

''I'll take your word for it, not too sure that I want to find out for myself!'' Koharu laughed awkwardly, and he continued to look ahead, a small snort escaping as he did. ''Too soon?'' She asked, trying her hardest not to upset him. Not that he was particularly bothered by her quip - after all, he'd told her that sometimes all you can do after a life and death situation is laugh. Laugh simply because you're still alive, if he'd had to take a guess as to why.

''Nah, just thinking. This lost village, and what happened to me, they've got to be related. I mean, yeah, they could be coincidental, but that would be a one in a million bit of bad luck, surely?''

''I guess so. But then, why were you the only one affected? Both Rain and Phillia were at least partially asleep, and none of the Lyusulans had that problem?''

''Wait, you weren't asleep?'' He asked.

''I couldn't sleep. Just kept thinking about stuff, and well...'' Koharu admitted, a sense of unease in her voice. She was thinking about what he'd said earlier, if he had to guess. He thought back to the lake, doing his best to keep his hormones in check as he did so. A losing battle, if ever there were one, and so his mind rushed over to the mysterious distributary, the water mysteriously disrupted by some kind of force applied to it...

''The water!'' Jet exclaimed, taking Koharu completely by surprise.

''The water?'' She asked, taking a sip from the coffee flask besides her, a mistake considering the sugar content in it.

''Yeah, I was the only one who touched it, remember? The water in the lake was fine, but when we followed that distributary...'' He explained his thought process as best he could, quickly glossing over the images in his mind of his girlfriend's glistening skin in the water. Seriously, hormones were a hell of a thing, apparently...

Koharu raised an eyebrow at him. Both for the theory, and how the hell he was drinking that coffee. ''So, don't drink the water then?'' She joked.

''That probably wouldn't be a good idea, no.'' He agreed, as they turned back to the camp. With the mystery of the nightmare now on its way to being solved, that gave Jet another thought - that water had been contaminated somehow. Could that have factored into the loss of the village, maybe?

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Some hours had passed, and the couple had explained to the others and the Professor what they believed, considering all the evidence. The Professor looked at them curiously, hand beneath his mouth whilst tapping a finger against his cheek, as he listened to their theory. ''Hmm, interesting. The village was lost due to water contamination... certainly not a theory I've heard before, I must say. Still, it warrants investigation, and especially after your close call last night, young knight! Kizmel, I wish for you to accompany us to the site of this distributary. We shall leave immediately!'' The Professor wasn't exaggerating when he said immediately either - none of them could see more than a motion blur as he sprinted out of the command tent...

The others followed suit as fast as they could, with Jet and Koharu bringing up the rear of the formation as they left the camp.

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The trek hadn't taken long, and before 10am, the group had reached the mysterious run off from the lake. A mist had set in around the area, but visibility was still relatively decent. When they'd been here last, and in the darkness, neither of the pair had noticed something that was painfully evident in the daylight - the strange shimmer around the land. A shimmer effect that Koharu recognised to a degree... ''Is it just me, or does that look like the same effect that the Moonlight Mantle had?'' She asked as she held a hand near the effect.

The light around her hand distorted awkwardly, as if her hand had left a ripple in the sky...

Kizmel looked over, and tried the exact same motion in a different area, to a very similar effect. She recited the spell she'd used to deactivate the Moonlight Mantle, and to her surprise, the daylight shone on something that no human, Kales'Oh or Lyusulan had seen in generations...

''The Lost Village of Nesse... lost no longer.'' Phillia whispered to herself, as the village reappeared to the world. Of the buildings they could see, the centuries of neglect and abandonment had taken their toll on the village. The village was eerily silent, bar the sounds of their footsteps and the faint rush of water from somewhere. Unsurprisingly, the only signs of life were wildlife, most of which had long since overrun the buildings.

The look of sheer, unadulterated pride on the Professor's face was oddly pleasant though, the man's smile being one of a childlike glee at their discovery. Jet wouldn't blame him - the man had just answered a question that had been asked for generations with no solid answers. It'd be like finding Atlantis, Jet thought to himself! ''Knights, I, and the kingdom of Lyusula, owe you a great deal...'' He whispered, as they entered the village.

Walking through what he assumed was once the main street, Jet had thought of one single word to describe the place - unnerving. The same kind of unease they'd had on Floor 13, walking amongst the statues, only without the stained black skies this time. The buildings were all in a state of disrepair, many having already collapsed partially after ages of disuse. Weeds and vines had begun to grow across the buildings, coiled around them and holding dilapidated ruins together in many areas.

One building in particular seemed to interest the Professor more than the others - an old mill of sorts, still with the water wheel going, despite centuries of neglect. The mill was an old stone building, and fair areas of the structure above the wheel had collapsed into the water, although the lower portions of the building were still intact.

A portion that, rather annoyingly, still contained a locked door. ''Okay, so now what? We knock the door down, or...''

''Leave that one to me...'' Phillia smiled, as she summoned a pouch from her inventory. The pouch contained a number of metal tools and implements, and she selected a few, as she knelt in front of the door, mumbling something about precise work...

After a few seconds, he glanced towards Phillia, as the treasure hunter, and apparently wannabe locksmith, made short work of the challenging lock in front of her. ''Should I be worried that you know how to pick a lock that quickly?''

''Eh, you say that like you have anything worth stealing. Besides, I promise to use my power for good...'' She grinned, despite the sarcasm in her words, and Jet rolled his eyes at her.

''Yeah, well, don't get picking my lock, will you?'' He grumbled.

''I don't need to, I can hear what goes on in your room at night...'' She uttered under her breath, as the click of the lock rung through the area. The ping echoed off the ruins nearby, and caused them all to wince slightly. It was a good job no one was around to here that, he thought to himself... ''Well, we're in!''

The house attached to the mill had probably once been a place of fond memories for the family that lived there, way back when - but now? It was a crumbling wreck, not even considered passable accommodation for the plant life living in it rent free. A smell wafted through the air, and forced everyone present to clutch their hands to their face, desperate to avoid even momentary exposure to it. A smell of rotting and decomposition, made even more wretchedly pungent by hundred of years to grow...

''What the hell - gurgh - even is that?!'' Rain asked, fighting her gag reflex at the smell.

''I don't know, but it certainly isn't a warm welcome.'' His face contorted, as he pushed open a door... ''OH SHIT!" and leapt out of his skin at the sight in front of him. A badly decomposed skeleton collapsed almost on top of him, and he dropped to the floor, covered in bones and rotten flesh.

''Jet! What the-'' Koharu came racing forward, and clutched her hands over her mouth tighter, fighting the urge to vomit at the sight of the disfigured skeleton. The fact it was missing one side of its skull, with what appeared to be a broken fang piercing the remaining eye socket, certainly didn't help, and as Jet untangled himself from the unfortunate victim, he took a more in depth look at it.

Its ribcage was mangled, probably from some kind of blunt force trauma, whilst both arms and a leg were broken in various places. Along with the goring wound to the head, he'd have guessed that whatever did this wasn't human, nor was it an elf of either kind. ''I think we found the smell...''

''No human or elf could've done that... could they?'' Kizmel asked, still somewhat shaken if her unusually wavering voice was anything to go by.

''I doubt it, there's a fang in their eye, and that looks like the type of wound you'd get if you were mauled by something...'' Rain answered, as she looked over the remains.

Quickly leaving the rotting skeleton behind, the group headed into what appeared to be some kind of living room. What had once been comfortable chairs were now mostly devoured by time -or more likely- by rodents, whilst the fireplace had covered the room in soot and debris from the collapsed chimney that now rested where the wood that stoked the fire had once been.

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On a nearby table, Koharu found an unusual book, of a type she hadn't seen in a long time... a diary. She picked it up, and only opened it hesitantly, considering whether it could be a breach of someone's privacy. She wasn't a nosy person, not by nature anyway. Yes, she'd listened to the gossip in school, but she'd tried not to let it colour her opinions on anyone, especially if she couldn't verify it...

This was perhaps a little bit more important than that though, and she decided she should read it, even if it was a breach of privacy for someone.

The entries in it seemed to paint a relatively normal life - that of a blacksmith in a small, but closely knit community, with a happy family. The journal entries shifted slightly, as the blacksmith wrote of a professor who had settled in the town, and set up some kind of laboratory nearby, much to the unease of the people of Nesse.

Those entries soon changed again, as mention of a ''dreaming disease'' became increasingly commonplace, and soon the deaths from that disease overshadowed everything else. It was hard to read, reading the words of someone who had long since died, and who seemed not to waver in their convictions, despite the obvious way that they had died...

Eventually, and after a few breaks to regain her composure, she began to read the final entry in the diary - one that was dated nearly 250 years earlier, almost to the day if the Professor was to be believed.

The village elder died today - passed on in his sleep, as has everyone lost to this wretched affliction. It is a peaceful death, mind yet an unavoidable one. Of our populace, only a small number claim to be untouched by the illness, and I must doubt even them. They claim a monster has begun to prowl the streets, taking those well enough to see them. It is now that I am glad for the kind Professor, as our young are moved to safer lands with him. It is for the best that they live, but I fear that we will not see many more cycles. We become fewer in numbers each day, and it is for that reason that we seal this village - a village of the damned.

May the sacred tree be with us, and may it bless our souls.

Koharu put the diary down, wiping a tear away from her eyes and looked over the room as a chilling revelation came over her. The children had been evacuated, not by their parents or an elder of the village, but by whoever a random stranger, purporting to be their saviour...

They hadn't been evacuated at all, they'd been abducted.

With that question answered, albeit with an horrific answer, the group soon found themselves asking another, and arguably more immediately important one...

What was that growling noise outside?