Warning: Now that we descending into the world of dreams, the next batch of chapters will center on Kosei and Solis only. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Chapter 8: Entering a Nightmare (Kosei)
Location: Dreamy Seaside (XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)
I felt the rain before I even opened my eyes. I quickly opened my eyes and sat up from the… paved ground? Wait..
I stood up and looked around. I was in Seaside, but everything was wrong. For one thing, it's fall, and it looked like the season wasn't in sight. Luna, the bed, and Lloyd weren't at the plaza. The only thing that proved that I was in the Dream World was that the train track was blocked off, as well the Campsite.
'I didn't know that you could enter your own dream town…,' I thought before feeling an odd chill, and it wasn't because of the rain.
I didn't know how I could tell, but it wasn't like the same Seaside I grew up and took care of. It felt… unnatural. I headed south, towards the bridge that would lead me to my house, until I saw Merry.
"Hi, Merry," I said as cheerfully as I could in my current situation. But she just blankly stared back at me. The cold chill returned, spreading across my shoulder blades, making me shudder involuntarily. I looked at the sign in front of her house and took a double take.
P37CA12
I looked at Iggly's sign, since the penguin lived next to the cat. Same thing, yet also different: J30PE9
What the hell was going on?
I entered my home and covered my face with my hands. Already, my brain was all over the place.
"Okay. Already in here for ten minutes and I'm starting to lose it."
"Already? That was faster than I originally expected."
I looked up to see Solis, and was stunned by her appearance. Her lavender hair was longer, reaching the middle of her back. Her beaded shirt looked worn out and was a bit tattered at the bottom and the sleeves. The same could be said for the skirt, although it looked like it had recently been patched up judging the different colored fabrics. Her fishnet tights and shoes were gone. But the smirk on her face and the mischievous glow in her emerald eyes told me that it was only the beginning.
"Shocked, aren't you? I can't blame you, honestly. But don't you think it's enter another human's home without their permission?"
"What are you talking…" I never finished my sentence as I looked past Mira's mayor and looked at the main room. It was nothing like mine. I was in Solis's house, but it had the exact same aesthetics as my own.
"Dreams are supposed to be fluid, constantly shifting to our desire. The suite solidifies the current state of our towns so that it can be seen." The smirk grew, revealing a sort of calm madness that Solis had. "We humans have accepted the idea of visiting other towns without even leaving our own, but we never questioned it. I did, and that was before I remembered that Umbra was my brother."
She stared at me, and I suddenly felt like prey. Compared to me and everyone else, she was the most experienced with the Dream Suite and its concept. But knowledge is power, and power can corrupt anyone if left unchecked.
"Open the door that leads to buried secrets and dangerous knowledge. Will you survive the town of madness? Or will you snap like the others that had been sent there?"
"You don't scare me." I said with false bravado hoping to deter her with a mask of bravery. But her next set of words dissolved that mask and instinctively open the door and flee the house.
"If you want to see my decaying dream, you'll have to descend into our madness and survive. Failure to do so varies. Have fun, Mayor Kosei of Seaside."