Rogue POV


They told us about everything that happened to Laxus and I as we followed them through the swamp. My eyes drifted around absentmindedly as we travelled.

The water cypress was a deep black green, where beneath the tangled swamp trees there was a drowsy gloom. The wind carried the rotten smell of the swamp, and delicate shrill mosquitoes webbed the green millpond. While we walked, all of us were quickly drenched by the rain in no time.

"Okay, so the monster is actually a girl who doesn't have a name, but you call her Paw?" I asked, wanting to be sure.

"Right," Erza confirmed.

"And the scarves that the victims are wearing is what keeps them from waking up?"

"Yes, and it also appears to alter their memories in some cases. Seeing as some of the victims didn't remember us when we encountered them," Lisanna confirmed.

"Then why does Wendy remember you all if she has the scarf on?" Laxus looked at the young girl, causing her to flinch slightly most likely out of intimidation.

"If you get them to realize that this is a dream, or hug them in Wendy's case, then they remember everything," Juvia explained.

"Seriously? Wendy remembered everything just by getting hugged?" Laxus looked at Wendy again.

"As weird as it sounds, it actually worked," Natsu told him.

"I think that it had something to do with the power of love," Lisanna piqued up.

A thought popped into my head of Natsu being in love with Wendy, but I quickly and discreetly shook my head to dismiss the thought.

No...they can't have that sort of relationship, she is much younger than he is. I thought to myself. They must have a brother-sister relationship.

We continued walking through the swamp, trying to remember the way that we entered the swamp. We walked along the maze of wooden bridges, until we came across a large patch of land where a large manor looking building was built. Ivy and ferns grew through the crevices of an old winding stone path, which led directly to the colossal structure. The mansion loomed proudly, flanked by rows of skeletal trees crowned in myrtle green, swaying gently to the chilly wind. At its threshold stood the delicate marble fountain, the soft gurgling of the clear water melodic as it resonated in the surrounding silence. But that's not what caught my eye.

There was an umbrella wielding figure facing away from us, standing at a fountain that sat in front of the manor. The umbrella was a dark purple in color, and cast a shadow over the person, obscuring their appearance from view.

"This has to be where-" Levy didn't appear to notice the figure.

"Shh," I shushed her.

"Why did you-?"

"Shh!" I silenced her again, before pointing ahead at the person. They looked, spotting the man as well.

"What the- How did I not see him?" Levy was surprised.

"How did any of us not see him?" Lisanna seemed startled as well.

"I don't know, but be quiet," I commanded, keeping my voice low.

I began to sneak up on them, planning to capture them and hopefully get some information out of them. But just when I was about to reach out and capture the figure–

"You don't have to sneak up on me," they spoke up. "I already know that you are here."

I stopped in my tracks, mildly impressed by this person's detection skills.

"Hold on...that voice," Laxus mumbled, seeming to recognize them. He raised his voice before speaking again. "Is that you, Freed?"

The figure turned around to face us, revealing themselves to be a man with vivid green hair, and was dressed up in pajamas. His eyes bore into us, a dull shade of blue.

"I am not the Freed that you know. I am known as Rune," he told us. "Please refer to me by the name that I have given you."

"Alright, Rune," Gray agreed, calling him by the name he was given. "What are you doing standing out here in the rain?"

"I could ask you the same question, but I won't," Rune replied to the ice mage. "I have been waiting for you...for all of you."

"Why?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. "Are you planning to stop us?"

"If you are, then don't expect to win," Laxus said determinedly, cracking his knuckles.

"Please calm yourself, I am not here to fight you," he replied coolly. "I am merely here to ask you a question."

"What's the catch?" Natsu said suspiciously, clearly untrusting of the man.

"If you are able to answer my question correctly, then I will allow you entrance into the manor. But if you fail to answer right to my question, then you will remain outside," Rune explained.

"What's stopping us from walking past you?" I asked him.

"Though I am not here to fight you, it doesn't mean that I don't possess the means to face you in battle," he answered. "If you try to pass by me without answering my question correctly, then I will be forced to attack."

"Oh please...it's you versus all of us," Laxus said, clearly doubting his abilities. "What can you do to us?"

"Would you care for a demonstration of my abilities?" Rune looked at him, tilting his head.

Without waiting for a response, Rune pointed at Laxus with his free hand, causing a purple magic circle to appear underneath his feet.

"Rule breaker."

Thorned vines as thick as chains appeared and wrapped tightly around the lighting mage's body. They without a doubt pierced the skin, judging by how tightly they were squeezing him.

"I can make them even tighter than they are now, but if I do then you will be crushed," Rune spoke with a darker tone to his voice. "You don't want that now, do you?"

"You son of a-"

"It's a very simple question. Just answer yes or no," Rune wasn't phased in the slightest.

"No..." he growled.

Rune lowered his hand and the vines disappeared, freeing Laxus.

"Was that really necessary?" Wendy asked as she walked over to him, most likely planning to heal him.

"Maybe not to you, but it was to me," Rune answered.

"Necessary my ass..." Laxus grumbled, waving her off which got her to leave him alone. "Ask your damn question already."

"I love but I hurt, I entertain but I trap, I hide but I watch," Rune recited a riddle. "What am I?"

"Easy," Natsu spoke up immediately. "You're Rune."

"That is not what I meant, but I believe that I am allowed to give you another try if you don't understand," that relieved me. "I meant, what am I describing?"

I went back over to the others and we began to discuss what we thought the answer was.

"Take your time," he was patient with us. "You should not rush this decision."

We continued to discuss it, before I remembered what the others had told me about the creature. I departed from the group and walked over to Rune.

"What the-?" Gray was the first to notice my leaving. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Is the answer Paw?" I asked.

"Paw?" he rose an eyebrow. "I can't say that I know who that is...could you be more specific?"

"I'm talking about the PawPrinted Dream Dweller," I used its full name.

"Oh...do you mean my Master?" I nodded in reply. "That is the correct answer."

"Seriously?" Natsu was surprised, before grinning widely. "Alright, go Rogue!"

I ignored him, keeping my gaze on Rune. In return, he stared back at me with his cold, calculating eyes.

"So, you'll let us in now, right?" Erza asked.

"I'm afraid that I cannot allow you entrance into the manor," Rune answered flatly.

"What?! But you said-!" Gajeel protested.

"I am well aware of what I said, so you don't need to repeat it," he interrupted. "I am simply not authorized to allow you entrance into the manor."

"Then why did you say that you were going to let us in?" Juvia questioned.

"Because I can point you in the direction of someone who will unlock the door for you and let you inside," he replied. "In the tower is a man known as Beast. He has a key that can allow you entry into the manor."

Rune pointed at a nearby tower, which sat in the swampy water with a small bridge leading to it.

"Beast can be quite stubborn, so it'll take some convincing to get him to relinquish the key to you," he continued. "I'd recommend trying to trick him, as he isn't that smart."

"Thanks for nothing," Gajeel grumbled.

Rune didn't respond, instead turned away to continue staring at his reflection in the fountain's water.

"I wouldn't say thanks for nothing, Gajeel," Levy looked at him. "He told us how to get into the manor."

"Yeah, but he lied right to our faces," the iron dragon slayer said with a frown.

"There's no use arguing about it," I walked over to them. "We know how to get inside now, so we shouldn't waste time."

I didn't wait for a response as I headed for the tower.

"Please don't tell me that there's another person in our group who wanders off on their own," Lisanna sighed. Everyone glanced at the fire dragon slayer at her words.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Natsu asked.

"I have a hard time believing that you're this dense sometimes, Natsu," she sighed.

I opened the door to the tower, which was unlocked, before stepped inside. The others soon came after me, walking up the winding stairs to the top of the building, which was styled in the manner of a bedroom. It was simple, with a bed and closet and such, and a window in the wall. A white-haired man in his pajamas stood by the window, gazing out of it.

"Hey, Rune!" he was calling down to Rune. "It's not often that I see you around!"

"Excuse me," I got his attention.

He quickly swiveled around to face us. Judging by his expression, he wasn't happy to see us.

"What the– Who are you guys?! How did you get in here?!" he yelled, getting into a fighting stance.

"I'm guessing that you're Beast," Gray assumed. "I'm not surprised that you look like Elfman."

"Huh? How did you know my name?" that confused him. "And who the heck is Elfman?"

"That isn't important right now," Lisanna avoided his question. "What's really important is that we're on a mission from Master."

"Master? It must be very important if she sent all of you," Beast looked surprised. "What does she need you to do?"

"She wants to up the secruity inside of the manor for when those people get here, so she sent all of us to do so," Erza lied. When Beast turned to her, his eyes lit up with joy.

"Holy crap! Knight, is that you?!" he looked ecstatic. "Man! You have no idea how much we've missed you! How've you been? Where have you been?"

"Ummm..." that question seemed to make her uncomfortable.

"Wait! Don't tell me! Tell me all about it once you guys are done with your mission!" he smiled. "Here's the key to the front door by the way! Catch!"

He tossed a brass key to us, which Natsu easily caught in his hands.

"Nice catch, Dragon!" Beast praised. "Now go on, you shouldn't waste any more time. Those guys could show up at any second!"

"Thanks," Lisanna thanked him.

"No problem," he responded with a smile. "Just remember to lock the door behind you."

We headed back down the stairs and out of the tower, only to find that Rune was gone. But it didn't bother us as we headed over to the building's entrance.

Natsu unlocked the door with the key, before swinging it open. We then made our way into the manor, no idea what lay in store for us inside.


Nobody POV


Mere moments after they had headed into the mansion, Beast was gazing out the window of his tower at the manor with a gleeful expression.

"Knight's alive, I can't believe that Knight's alive!" he babbled on. "Oh my Master! This is probably the greatest day of my life! It's gonna be his best day ever too when I tell him!"

"Tell who?"

Beast looked over his shoulder to see that Dragon had appeared in the room.

"Oh, hey Dragon!" Beast greeted him. "What are you doing in here? I thought you were supposed to be in the manor."

"Why would I be in the manor?" Dragon frowned, clearly confused.

"Well, didn't Master order you and a big group to go inside of the manor?" Beast asked. "That way when the enemy shows up, the secruity is impossible to get by."

"Even though that sounds like a good idea, Master didn't tell me or anyone else to do that," he confirmed.

"Then who the heck did I let into the manor just now?"

Dragon thought about it for a few seconds before growling.

"You idiot!"

He rushed over to Beast and smacked him with his stuffed dragon, but he put more force than he realized behind the hit, and Beast was knocked out of the window. He fell for a bit, before landing on the wooden bridge below with a sickening crack.

Dragon took a few deep breaths to calm himself, before the realization of what he had done came to him.

"Oh shit! Beast!" he exclaimed, horrified.

Dragon stuck his head out of the tower window and stared down at the unmoving body of Beast on the ground.

"Beast! Say something if you can hear me!" he yelled down.

But Beast didn't respond, and instead began to fade away, leaving behind a plush version of himself which was quickly soaked by the rain.

"Oh shit, oh shit!" Dragon began to panic as he pulled his head back inside of the tower. "Master is not going to be happy about this in the slightest! I am in so much trouble!"

He began to pace around the room before sticking his head out of the window, only to see that there was someone crouched down, holding Beast's plush form in his hand.

"Oh no..." Dragon paled, fear churning in his stomach. "I am so screwed..."

The person, having heard him, quickly looked up, causing Dragon to retract his head into the tower.

"He saw me he saw me he saw me!" he yelped. "He's gonna beat me until I'm nothing but a plushie!"

Dragon could hear the person throw open the door to the tower and begin to race up the stairs towards him.

"Wait, Meteor! No!" he tried to call to the person. "It...it wasn't me!"

That didn't stop the person now identified as Meteor, who ran into the room with an enraged look on his face.

"You...you're not in the form of someone from the real world, Meteor," Dragon gulped, while backing up to get as far away as he could from the person.

"I already told you, I'm not being apart of this...the dreamers should love us for who we really are, not for who we take the form of," he growled. "And don't call me by that stupid codename...my name is Primrose."

Primrose was a young man with straight white hair, and multi-colored primrose petals stuck in his hair. He had scruffy white hairs on his face, like a beard, and angry, neon yellow eyes. He wore grass green pajamas that had pale yellow primroses printed on it.

"Master will hear about this, Primrose!" Dragon's back hit the wall. "We're all supposed to be in disguise! You're gonna be in trouble!"

"She won't hear a thing if you can't get back to her, Sunflower," he spoke using Dragon's real name.

Primrose ran at Dragon, planning to attack him.

"Eep!"

He quickly teleported out of there, causing Primrose to stop in his tracks with an angry look on his face.

"Dammit...that onesie-wearing pansy escaped..." Primrose growled, clenching his fists. "He won't get away with this."

Primrose began to descend the stairs of the tower.

"I'll find him and make him pay," he snarled. "There was no way in hell that Gladiolus deserved to die."

Primrose left the tower, quickly becoming drenched by rain. Beast's plushie was no longer on the wooden bridge, but he didn't pay it any mind.

"I'll find him even if I have to spend hours upon hours searching for him," Primrose determined.

He walked over to the manor and headed inside, planning to search for Dragon in there. But unbeknownst to him, the people that were supposed to be his enemies were already inside of the building.


PawPrinted-Writer: Before you ask...yes, all of the dream people are indeed named after flowers.

Review plz?

RevlisCharm(beta): HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAWPRINTED-WRITER! And I'm excited for the upcoming chapters! I wonder what PawPrinted has in store~