Chapter 3: Anything
The morning after, I woke up in cold sweat and scanned the room around me. The bed next to me was bare and unmade, signifying that Krono woke up before me. I grabbed my pocket watch on the counter to my right; 7:23. Why the guy woke up so early is beyond me, but that guy never made sense to begin with. My palms were sweaty, my breath short, and I had really bad hunger pains. Last night was unusual for sure, but I decided to brush it off. I categorize it as another night terror I've been having that week.
School round-up was today at my school. The usual stuff: school photos, schedules, I.D cards, and seeing people you haven't seen all summer…joy. Since my first name was Alexander, I was scheduled to be early like the others. Begrudgingly getting out of my bed, I shuffled my feet the bathroom, and prepared for the day. I managed to find simple green and gold plaid dress shirt, and a pair of jeans for my outfit. My hair fell in place, my belongings in my pocket, I trudged downstairs passing various hospital rooms. Nurses and doctors tending to visually anxious people shivering and looking blank.
Krono was downstairs in the guest dining area eating a bowl of cereal. I walked into the room and greeted him with a groggy "Good morning;" to which he just responded with a blank stare...I guess I should be used to this now. I approached the the meal giver and asked for a standard egg and pancake breakfast, which she gave me with haste; I guess being the son of the owners does that for you. I sat across from Krono and started eating. He was still staring at me, but proceeded to continue munching on his cereal. I started looking at him back, and thought back to the night terror last night. It felt so surreal, but yet here I am getting the notion that it didn't happen. Did it?
"Sleep well?" I was inquired from across the table. The sudden break in the silence surprised me, causing me to break my trance. I looked down at the table and quietly answered.
"Yeah, kinda. I had another night terror, but it was different this time…"
"Different? How?" the guy retorted.
"I don't know, but it just ended. Like I was saved from what's been getting me for the past week or so." I looked up and he was slowly nodding his head. Did he know something about it?
"Well, that's good. Everyone was worried."
What did my dad say again? Krono just came in, went to sleep and then I stopped screaming? I've never heard that before, it almost seemed supernatural. Nah, it can't be.
"Well," he pushed his cereal bowl away, "when you're finished, wanna walk to orientation together?" Right, his last name was Alberts, so we were pretty close together on the list. I ate the last of my breakfast and got up with him.
"Yeah, let's go."
The school gym echoed with the sounds of other students laughing, chatting away, acting as if they haven't seen each other in decades; the sound was deafening to my ears.
"How was your summer?" a girl behind us asked.
"I had the craziest thing happen to be in San Diego!" a guy with a frat-boy voice yelled.
"I missed you guys so much!" shreeked a group of girls on the far side.
These people telling each other how they missed their company so much, but do they really care? I mean, it's only a formality that we do it. One look at Krono's face said he was thinking the same thing I was. Amidst the clammer, I heard a familiar voice.
"MIIIILLLEESSS!" resonated the hyper-cheerful voice.
My instincts told me to step to the side for an unknown reason. My action was met with a black haired girl tripping and running into Krono.
"KRONO!" she happily greeted.
Alyssa turned around and happily pulled me into the group hug.
"I. Missed. You. Guys!" she grunted with every squeeze. Gosh, my lungs were being suffocated. She released us from her grip of death and pouted at me. "I heard you have to stay in the hospital." she said with a concerned tone, "Scott and I were worried about you."
I scratched my head in embarrassment. "I'm...fine. You guys shouldn't worry."
"But, night terrors! Haven't you seen the news!?" she exclaimed.
"He's fine," Krono interjected, "I can guarantee you he's fine."
"How do you know?" Alyssa questioned.
"Yeah, how are you so confident about it?" I followed up.
Krono crossed his arms and huffed out his breath. "Our parents did some tests. Your brain waves are back to normal. You shouldn't be having any problems." No way they can get it done that fast.
"How was your summer?" he quickly responded.
Alyssa raised her arms to stretch. "It was fine. Scott and I spent a lot of time together. Though, for the past week, I've had trouble sleeping. I think it's just me trying to get back in the school mind-set."
"Well, glad it was fine. Hope your sleep-schedule gets in order soon." I replied.
Alyssa grabbed our hands and started leading us towards the back of the gym.
"Come on! You guys wanna leave don't you?" she asked.
"I mean yeah, but where are you taking us?" I inquired.
"Well, I am the class president right? Lemme give you a fast pass."
"I don't think that's in your job description…" Krono sighed.
School started the following week. Thankfully, my night terrors did indeed stop and I was able to get my sleep schedule back on track. Thanks to my circumstance I can just take elective classes, save for my math classes, and relax throughout the year. Eventually the lunch bell rang, and the class started walking out despite the teacher not finishing his lecture. The obvious freshmen ran to the lunch lines as per tradition, and people conglomerated the doors. I slowly approached the line when a certain spunky girl started dashing up to me with an excited look on her face.
"MILESSS!" she screamed, and tackled me to the ground. She got up and gestured towards someone outside my line of sight.
A scrawnier looking guy with kept brown hair...wait this seems familiar.
"Long time no see, Mr. Alexander," he greeted with a calm and collected tone.
"Scott Regale," I grunted, "Long time now see."
He picked Alyssa up on her feet and they both looked at me. "She was just excited to see you, that's all."
"We were wondering if you'd like to join us for lunch!" Alyssa chirped.
I was about to decline the offer, but for some reason I got a feeling of Deja Vu. Something compelled me to be different this time.
"...Sure, I'll join you." I agreed, "Mike's Diner?"
"Yeah!" Alyssa sang.
I've personally never been to Mike's Diner before, but I've seen many students gather there as a popular dining place. The food was good, and environment was bustling. The day finished normally after lunch and I went back to the hospital. The place didn't change at all since this morning; there were still screams of eccentricity and shivering patients throughout the halls. I entered my room and was greeted by Krono sitting at the table attacking his homework. I sat on my bed and tossed my backpack to the floor. Krono put his pencil down and looked at me.
"No homework?" he asked.
I turned on the T.V that was hanging off the wall, and opened up a bag of chips I had in the drawer. "I finished it at school. How was your day?"
Krono started scribbling again. "It was fine. Made a few new friends today I guess."
"You guess?"
"Odd choice of words, I know. But I got this feeling that I'll be hanging out with these people a lot."
What he said was curious indeed; but I brushed it off as another one of his weird cryptic sentences. The day transitioned into night seamlessly, and the hours ticked away with speed. At around 11 PM, I approached layed in my bed with weary eyes. Krono, got into the bed next to it and put on his headphones.
"You wear your headphones to sleep?"
"I get the feeling I'll need them tonight." He glanced down at my nightstand, "You always have that with you."
I looked at the pocket watch he was referring to. "Yeah, it was the only thing my grandfather left me before he passed away."
"Were you two close?"
"Not entirely. Since he worked all the way over here, and I was in New York. But he always sent me letters, telling me about his day, how I should always remember to keep on track. Help others, you know usual old-people pep talk. But, it was the last thing the man left me. I guessed I should hold on to it, if it meant that much to him."
"Makes sense. I can tell it's been coming in handy, in more ways than one." He immediately lied down and fell asleep. His words were very cryptic, yet again, and I disregarded it and went to bed.
My eyes opened and I was greeted by the scenery of the school courtyard. It was empty, and the dark sky signified it was night time. I looked down and saw my outfit resembled my usual summer one with the short sleeved hoodie. The stars shined brightly, and I can tell the wind was blowing, but I didn't feel it; it was odd. There was nothing on my possession, just the clothes on my back. Wait, I lied; in my pocket was the watch I always held close.
"It's quite a feeling right?" a familiar voice spoke. I turned to my right; it was Krono, "Welcome."
He was wearing the same outfit he had back in the summer, similar to mine but more kept and he rather had his zipper down. His headphones wrapped around his neck, he stood balanced on the fences.
"I was wondering when you would discover your ability."
"To do what?" I questioned. The situation was starting to become weird.
Krono jumped down in front of me, and looked up at the stars. His back turned towards my face, He pointed up. "To dream."
The guy started running away and jumped over the gate, merely yelling "Follow me!" I was amazed on how he did that, and attempted to follow. The gate was locked, so I had climb over it, slowing my progress. I could see his figure dashing towards downtown and immediately made towards that way. Various individuals were relaxing on their porches along the way, the streets were bustling, and city was essentially lit up. Krono stopped in the middle of the street and turned around with his arms out to his side. I tried to stop completely, but tripped and fell towards a stranger on the street. I phased through him completely!
"Wuh, what!?" I screamed out, "What's going on here!?"
Suddenly the dark sky turned blue, and people started fading away. I got up and looked around me in awe.
"Miles, have you ever heard of lucid dreaming?"
"I mean, who hasn't?"
He jumped up and did a backflip onto the one story building behind him. People started appearing, and soon the streets were packed. People started bumping into me without realizing, and I could start feeling the air on my skin. Krono slowly fell down to meet me.
"Welcome, to the world of dreams my friend."
My mind was flipping out. Was it true, was I lucid dreaming? How could I have achieved this without even trying? Krono put his arm around my shoulders and started leading me around town.
"You remember that night when you had your last night terror?"
"Vaguely," I answered.
"Well, thanks to that, you were unable to unlock your new power." He ran on a car and did a front flip off of it. "The power to use your imagination. If you can think it, you can do anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Anything!"
Hearing that, I tried to run up the wall of a shop to my right. My feet planted on the side of the building and I attempted to raise the other foot. My foot stuck, and I kept walking. Soon, I was on top the shop, looking down on the street. My breath was heavier, a flutter began to appear in my chest. I looked to the right and saw the other buildings. My feet started moving on their own as I dashed towards the other rooftops. I jumped off the ledge and landed on the next one, where my momentum kept going.
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
The rooftops kept coming, until I saw the end. My legs pushed with all their might, and I imagined myself flying through the air. It was met with a face full of concrete. I heard the footsteps running towards me and a helping hand pulling me up.
"Correction, you can do anything your persona can allow you."
"My...persona?" I asked. Everything came back: the shadow, the fight, Krono's act of kindness, facing myself.
"What's going on…" I muttered, "Where is this place? Why are there so many people still?"
"Come on. There's somewhere I need you to go." he led me down the street and explained things in detail. "We're here in the central hub. Everyone in this town, connected together in one dream. They say, when you see a face in your dream, it's actually that of one you've met or passed by. Here people can subconsciously let out their greatest fantasies, within reason of course."
"That sounds great!" I said, "Their innermost desires can be fulfilled with no repercussions."
Krono stopped and looked around him. "You're not wrong, but you're not right. For every action, there's an equal opposite reaction of course. What you see here is mainly the stasis. You know, how when people just imagine their everyday life. This is the dream before the real dream. And sometimes, those dreams cause others nightmares. Come on."
We figured it would be faster taking to the rooftops. The town seemed to be the same, save for a few dark patches here and there.
"Why do those parts of town look inaccessible?" I asked.
"Cause they are. It means no one who is dreaming right now is thinking of them, or nobody who knows that area is asleep at the moment. We could access them, if we've been there in real life. Dreams are subconscious thoughts right? That means we know the layout, therefore we can go there."
The two of us stopped at a house by the suburbs. It was tall and green, with the doors and lights shut off. Confused as to why we were here, I noticed some odd blobs crawling their way towards the house. I started to approach them when Krono stopped me and shook his head.
"What are those?" I asked.
"Shadows. The manifestation of humans' inner primitive thoughts."
"Like the one you fought in my night terror?"
"Yes, but a little weaker. They're not...as emotional and aware as yours was. They're still a threat. I wouldn't advise fighting one out there."
I looked forward and saw the blobs seeping into the walls of the house. Curious, I walked forward and tried to open the door. No dice. Krono stepped forward, and turned the doorknob and the door opened. "I've been here before," he said, "So we can access cause I know the layout."
He put his hand out, and the sword he used in his fight last month appeared in his hand."I suggest you get a weapon too."
Not knowing how he did that, I closed my eyes and wished for a weapon. I felt it appearing in my hand: a chain with a crescent scythe at the end.
"Kusarigama; nice."
The chain attached to my belt loop, and I hung the scythe on my back. We entered the house, and the inside was the most terrifying scene I've seen. The place was filled with various torture instruments. Blood was splattered everywhere, skeletons and limbs hanging out and around the hallways, and various creatures slithering around.
"Brace yourself." Krono warned.
Suddenly, more monsters appeared. Slimes with blue masks, giant eye-less balls with giant tongues coming out, tables with floating knives; they started coming towards us! Krono dashed forward and started slashing the monsters. Upon impact of the blade, they fizzled into black nothingness. More started appearing and attacked me! I grabbed my scythe and aimlessly slashed around me. I got some of the monsters, but they kept coming.
"How do I do this? I don't even know what this thing is!" I screamed.
Krono turned around and yelled back at me. "Use your imagination!" he explained.
I cleared my head and visualized the movements that would be related to anything chain related. I threw the scythe and it wrapped around one of the ball-tongue creatures. My arms heaved with all their strength and swung the creature into its comrades, destroying them. But the effort proved fruitless as more started to pile on.
"There's too many of them!" I screamed.
Krono took out another five on his front. He cupped his headphones and yelled out a single word: "Persona!"
On cue, the knight in blue and white emerged from his mind and slashed the area. In one fell-swoop all the creatures became small black particles. I looked down and noticed something attached to my belt loop, a pocket watch. My flashbacks kicking in, I held it out and clicked the cover lid: "Persona!"
A familiar scythe-wielding man in red appeared after the sound of glass shattering, and swung his scythe, thus clearing the area.
"Thanks, Dante." I graciously said, and he nodded and faded away.
Krono and I kept running down the hallways, eliminating whatever got in our way. The place was a labyrinth, and after wandering around for what seemed like hours, a set of stairs going down appeared before us. Tired, we trudged down; I wish I hadn't. The next floor was even more terrifying. Stone walls to resemble a medieval castle, and various human beings strapped or chained to torture devices; people I knew hung before me. It didn't faze me physically, but it gave me a sense of dread. Where is this place, and why are we here.
"Krono, what is this place?" I asked.
"You know how I told you shadows are the manifestations of human's most deepest and primitive thoughts?"
"Yeah. It's a side they're trying to suppress. I remember reading this in Jung psychology."
"Yeah, we are in a place created by someone's inner-most desires. A self they cannot portray in real life." he explained.
"Wait, you said you've been here in real life. This home, whose is it?"
There was a long pause. "It's…" he sighed, "Alyssa Lee's."