Emma couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about the Clock Tower and the possibility that Fille went there and put himself in danger. She is not sure why she cares so much to be honest, as they are just mere acquaintances, but knowing someone you met briefly just disappear just… doesn't sit right with her. The blonde sighed and sat up from the sleeping bag. Her eyes trailed to Jess' sleeping form on the bed. She was snoring lightly and curled up in her blankets to keep herself nice and warm. Cute.
As she sat and watched, she wondered if she should just go back to sleep… or get up, sneak out, and head over to the Clock Tower? She can always come back later in the night and hopefully Jess doesn't wake up and notice that she just up and left. The blonde eyed the keys on the redhead's desk. She made her decision, she had to go see what is up with that Clock Tower.
With that, she quietly got up and snatched the keys. She took one last look at Jess to see if she was still sleeping. She was. Nodding to herself, she snuck out of the room and proceeded to head outside. She really hoped Jess wouldn't be TOO mad at her. That is if she found out. She can always make it up to her later. Hopefully…
Emma grabbed her coat from off the coat rack, slipped on her shoes, and then opened the door as quietly as she can. It was very dark outside and hardly a soul in sight. It seemed very peaceful. The blonde barely had any chances to be outside this late in the city as she was normally asleep in her cave with her wolf family by now. She shut the door behind her and locked it before pocketing the keys. She turned to look at the Clock Tower in the distance. To her surprise, she sees that the Clock Tower's hands have moved since she last saw it. Both hands were now at the 12, suggesting it is Midnight. She wondered if that was accurate. She could just unlock the door to go in and check, but she was already outside and she rather not make any more noise that might wake Jess up.
"Alright, time to go investigate that stupid tower." Emma said to herself before walking down the street. She has to be careful around this time of night. Weiss upheld a law that anyone under the age of 21, excluding Weiss herself, must be back home or at the very least not outside wandering around at night from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM. (With the exception of New Year's) If they get caught, they'll be sent home immediately and be given a warning to not do it again or else they pay a hefty fine. Emma believed it was around 3000 euros or something, but at least she doesn't have to pay if she does get caught as it is would be her first offense. Although, now that she thought about it, would they really punish a practically homeless girl like her anyways?
Shaking that thought off, she pulled the hoodie over her head as if it made her more sneaky as she quickly power walked her way to the Clock Tower. She dodged out of sight of any cars that came by and tried to avoid contact with any adult along the way. It took a bit of dodging and waiting before she even made it to the forest area of the city. She just has to go through it and she'll reach the Clock Tower. Emma relaxed a bit as she was now in her element. Now that she has lived outside for so many years, it was hard to find city life comfortable.
"Did you finish the job?"
Emma heard a man's voice not too far away. She also heard some footsteps coming towards her direction. Acting fast, she dived into a nearby bush. Once done, she peeked out and checked to see who is coming by.
"Affirmative. Now all we have to do is wait." A female voice responded. Emma recognized that voice, it was that mysterious woman she met at school! What was her name? Alula? What is she doing out here? Within a few short seconds, she sees the woman in question and a black haired man that looked to be in his 30's that was wearing a black tuxedo. Is that her boss? Or possibly a boyfriend?
"Good. I was getting worried that the plan was a failure since it took so long for you to come out." The man answered with a relieved sigh. Emma arched an eyebrow at this. Just what was this woman up to? She sees them stop in place not too far away from her, seemingly looking in the direction of the Clock Tower, where she was going.
"It only took that long because of the test she had to endure in the Dream. You know this." Alula chided the man next to her.
Test? Dream? Who were they talking about? Emma thought back to her conversation with Alula earlier at school. She did say she was going to see Princess Weiss about those Dreamcatcher strings they found… Is that who they were referring to? And if so, did she do something to her? Emma didn't know what to think or do about this information. Instead, she continued to wait and listen.
"And besides…" Alula continued, "The test was no doubt going to last until after midnight anyways. She wasn't going to pass the test until a whole century has passed."
A century? That rung a bell for the young blonde woman. Jess told her something about something she heard from some boys about a legendary weapon appearing here after a whole century has passed… and that was the Dreamcatcher sword!
"Ah yes, I suppose that is true." The man next to her relented. "What is the Princess up to now? Sleeping?"
"No, I heard briefly before I left that she'd be visiting this very Clock Tower to get the legendary weapon." Alula explained, before turning to the side and walking away. Emma was shocked to hear about this. So Weiss is going into this Clock Tower too? And to get the Dreamcatcher sword no less? She bit her lip, wondering if she should change plans or go into the tower and see if Weiss will be ok. She doesn't doubt Weiss' ability to protect herself but...
"Do you not wish to wait around and see if she gets it?" The man stood rooted to the spot, still looking at the Clock Tower. Alula placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. They exchanged looks at each other for a second or two, before the man finally relents.
"I see. You know best after all."
"Not simply because I know best, simply because it is just something that should be left well enough alone. I say we meddled enough, don't you think? You know the rules." Alula stated as she removed her hand and faced the other direction. "Our job here is done. Let us return." She placed a hand to her ear. Emma watched with mild fascination as she seemed to be touching some sort of, button perhaps, on her ear. "Requesting pick-up. The mission is finished. Rendezvous at the Snowtramine Museum."
Whoever these people were, they must be part of some very secret group of sorts. Spies perhaps? Well that doesn't matter to her right now. She has no reason to chase after them. And even if she did, there would be no way she would even win against them. All she has is her signature weapon, her baseball bat, after all. Emma watched as they both walked deeper into the forest area and went out of sight.
"Well that was certainly interesting." The blonde muttered to herself before getting out of the bush as carefully as possible. She can mull over what she learned here at a different time and place. Right now, she has to go to the Clock Tower. She has to go… to at least see if Weiss will be safe. With that in mind, she quickly sprinted off.
….
…
"Mrrgh! Mmmmghhh…" Zuzu groaned happily as she feasted upon what appeared to be a chicken skewer of sorts. Weiss watched with mild interest as she herself was eating an apple.
"Well, I am glad you like it. I am surprised there is still some street vendors open at this hour." Weiss commented as she took another bite of her apple. The zombie next to her mumbled in agreement.
Both of them were in Weiss' Private Car, just eating and enjoying each other's company. They have been out for 15 some minutes by now and the Clock Tower was only a mile away at best from where they were. It was only a matter of time.
Weiss eyed the necklace around her neck. While it is certainly a beautiful piece of jewelry, she doubted it was just that, a necklace. Zuzu made it with the help of Alula and while she could ask her zombie friend about it, she doubts even she knows what it does, and even if she does, she can't exactly talk much outside of a few simple words and grunts. Zombies have it rough… Intelligent ones anyways. If she ever meets Alula again, she is definitely going to ask her the purpose of it.
"...?" Zuzu made a questioning noise, noticing that the Princess was lost in thought. Weiss blinked and turned to face her. She appeared to have finished her chicken skewer. That was fast.
"Oh, uh, just wondering about this necklace." Weiss tapped the aforementioned jewelry in question. Zuzu stared at her blankly for a second or two as if thinking before nodding and then giving a shrug in response as if to say she really doesn't know.
"Thought so. I guess I'll either find out by myself or ask her if I ever meet her again." Weiss let the subject drop at that. She finished off her apple and placed the core of the apple in the trash receptacle installed in her car. With a sigh, she started up her car. "Let's just hope everything turns out ok in there."
Weiss pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street to the Clock Tower. She and Zuzu stayed quiet as they drove off, not bothering to have any sort of conversation or even look at each other. What else was there to say really? This is a serious situation.
A harsh ring shattered the silence. Both of them looked towards the source and noticed that the car has received a call. Weiss raised an eyebrow at this, who would call her at this time of night? Certainly not any of her bodyguards or servants. Hesitantly, she pushed the answer button on the screen.
"H-Hello?" Weiss answered, wondering who it was while she kept her eyes on the road.
All that can be heard from the other side was static. Maybe it was a stupid telemarketer or something?
"Look, if you are trying to sell me something, I don't want it."
Just then, sinister laughter was heard. Both of them looked at each other briefly, surprised. That was certainly not what they expected to hear.
"Weiss… Oh Weiss… Come closer… Soon you and I will meet… And this meeting will spark something… Nightmare inducing…" The voice playfully said before laughing maniacally… The call then ended shortly after.
The white haired princess growled a bit, knowing exactly who it was that called her. "Nightscream…" She spat, using the name that the detective called him.
"N...Niiightscreeeeam?" Zuzu tried to voice out, wondering who she was talking about. Weiss pretended to ignore how cute that sounded and decided to clarify for her out of the loop zombie friend.
"He is the one that is supposedly behind all the strange nightmare monsters that have been popping up lately," She paused and then stared ahead, anger and determination running through her. "And the reason that I am getting the Dreamcatcher Sword. It is pretty much the only weapon that can fight against him. Nobody… and I mean nobody gets away with harming my country."
Zuzu bit her lip and nodded in understanding. They didn't say anything more the rest of the trip… which was only a minute. Weiss parked just outside the opposing Clock Tower. She turned off the ignition and turned to her friend. They both nodded to each other and then got out of the car. Weiss stared up at the Clock Tower. Up close, it looked really worn down, almost like it could collapse if a earthquake hit. Other than that, it was just a mere building holding the legendary weapon she needs. Ghosts being in it doesn't matter to her. She is not scared of those things.
"Okay… we're here." Weiss summoned her signature sword to her hand and gave it a brief swing before turning to Zuzu. "Zuzu, I trust that you can stay out here and watch my back? I don't know if anybody will try and come in after me, but you know, just in case."
"Y-Yeess." Zuzu pulled out a pistol from her uniform and showed it to her. Weiss simply nodded and then turned towards the entrance to the Tower. She looked around quickly before quickly sprinting to the door. The princess took a deep breath and then pushed the door open. Loud creaks accompanied the door opening and as quietly as she should, she slipped inside and closed the door behind her.
Satisfied that Weiss made it inside, Zuzu slowly paced around the perimeter of the Clock Tower, keeping watch. She hoped that Weiss will be able to find that weapon or at the very least, be ok. They haven't known each other for long, but she has grown rather attached to the princess. She would hate to see her perish.
"Ow…"
Zuzu immediately cocked her pistol in the direction of the noise. She stared harshly with her colorless pupils at the bush nearby. The intruder, knowing they were spotted and of course being threatened to have a bullet through their skull, slowly came out of the bush. A young blonde woman crawled out and then slowly stood up with her hands up.
"L-Look, don't shoot! I am not here to cause any trouble for the princess!" The blonde woman reasoned with the bodyguard. Zuzu was unconvinced so she continued to point her gun at her. As she continued to look at her, the zombie became aware that she seemed familiar. Not too long ago she saw this face. She racked her infected brain for an answer.
Noticing that the bodyguard was slightly distracted, she quickly rushed forward and knocked the gun of her hands with a harsh karate chop. It didn't hurt her at all, but she did drop the gun from the force of the hit.. The blonde quickly picked it up and pocketed it for the time being.
"There, now you have nothing to threaten me with and we're on equal grounds… kinda." The blonde smiled sheepishly. Zuzu didn't respond to that and instead continued staring at her. Realization hits her after a few seconds. She was that blonde student she saw at the school grounds.
"Y-Youuuu…"
"Hmm?" The blonde was confused by the sudden outburst. "Wait a second, do you know me strange bodyguard?"
Zuzu decided to remain quiet and not say anything more on the matter. If this blonde woman realized she was the zombie that was on the run earlier, her undead life will be over.
"Well, whatever," The blonde shrugged after a few seconds of complete silence. "Listen, sorry to have you fail your job at protecting the princess, but I must go in there to at least watch over her and confirm a few things on my end. Something that I thought the princess would task you to do and not just… be out here guarding the place like a dog."
Zuzu continued to say nothing as the blonde placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I promise I won't do anything. I like the princess too much to do anything to her. Some serious shit is going on around here and I want nothing more than to help out with this whole Nightmare situation. She is going for the legendary weapon, yes? So I want to make sure it gets into her hands."
The zombie stared into her eyes, wondering if she was being deceitful, but her voice carried sincerity… as well as the eyes. She sighed and gave a brief nod, still keeping in mind to keep her mouth shut. Hopefully Weiss won't judge her too harshly for letting a civilian interfere.
"Thank you," The blonde smiled brightly. "And hey, if I did do something, you can say it was Emma Falls that did it and have all her guards come for my head on a pike."
With that, the blonde quickly dropped the gun she pocketed and moved past the guard quickly. Before Zuzu even had the thought of picking the gun up, Emma entered the Clock Tower and shut the door behind her. The zombie sighed, hoping she did the right thing.
…..
….
Weiss didn't know what to expect inside the Clock Tower but… certainly not this. The entrance hall was filled with lots of human bones and grafiti by the looks of it and it smelled horrible in here. She quickly covered her nose and almost vomited a little. She knew lots of people died in here, but still! Did they even bother giving the dead a proper burial?! She felt bad for any spirits that reside in this tower. If she ever had the time after she saves her country, she would like to give them a proper burial. Dead or not, they are still people of her country.
"I am sorry to those that died here. I can't even imagine what happened to you here." Weiss muttered to the countless human bones that were strewn about. She quickly moved about, careful not to step on anything. The faster she gets to the sword and get out of here, the better. "Although, now that I think about it. I don't hear or see anything, 'Ghostly', here. Well, I am not here to hunt Ghosts. I am not one of those weirdos on Television that actively goes out to find ghosts."
She kept walking through the entrance hall until she reached the elevator. A quick look around to see if there was a staircase just in case resulted in she finding it blocked off with rubble, rendering the only way up is by elevator… and possibly the only way down… unless she wants to jump down… and kill herself. She may be a human with magical powers, but even she can't withstand a fall that high.
"Is it just me… or does this elevator seem... Familiar?" Weiss asked herself as she tentatively touched the elevator door which was very cold to the touch. She was having a strange sense of deja vu. Shaking that feeling off, she pushed the button to go up. The elevator door immediately opened. She raised an eyebrow at this. The elevator should have been on the top floor or something if the detective and Yuna have gone missing in this very tower looking for the weapon… so why was it on the bottom floor all of a sudden? Was it the ghosts that did this?
She shook her head, thinking that she was putting too much thought into this and walked in. There appeared to be 13 floors. Classic stuff for haunted buildings. Shrugging, she pressed the button. As the elevator doors closed, she swore she could have heard the sound of the entrance door being open. "Intruder? No… I trust Zuzu to have taken care of any intruders. Maybe she was peeking inside just for curiosity's sake or to see if I am ok in the ground floor?"
Satisfied with that thought, she let the elevator take her to the 13th floor. She took this time to look at her reflection in her sword's blade. A confident looking princess staring back at her. Confidence, if there is one thing she takes pride in, is her confidence to do things, that or her courage. And before she knew it, the elevator made a ding noise and opened its door. She appeared to be on the floor where the face of the clock is. Unlike the ground floor, there were fewer human bones scattered about and little less grafiti.
"ANOTHER INTRUDER?" She heard a harsh whisper not too far from her.
"Wait… Is she?"
"Unlike the previous intruders… she is another of those cursed people!"
"Gah! Don't let her come near you! She'll prolong our suffering here!"
Several harsh whispers came out. Weiss can only guess that they were the spirits residing here. Still, the things they said gave her pause. What did they mean she was, "One of those cursed people,"? Even the last one she heard was more confusing. She is not a bad person, why would she make these lost spirits suffer more? God forbid she ever does such a thing.
"I wish I can say that I am not a bad person, but I doubt these spirits will listen to reason. Besides, I believe one of the rules of dealing with the paranormal is it to not speak to them directly too much, otherwise I'd invite something sinister to enter our world through some portal. Still, I hope there is a way to get them to move on."
Weiss stepped out of the elevator and looked around. There appears to be a door to the left that seems to be barricaded shut by metal plates and the like. No going into that room it appears. Although it does make her wonder what the heck is in there for it to be barricaded shut. It can't be where the Dreamcatcher Sword is being held. Alula said both Fille and Yuna must have entered the room where the weapon was being held and therefore punished as a result of not being worthy. So the fact that it is barricaded shut must mean it isn't relevant. Still, she can't help but feel that there is SOMETHING in there. Something… bad.
"Hmm." Weiss muttered and decided to turn her attention elsewhere. She moved forward towards the clock face. The hands on the clock were on the 12. Were… were they always that way? She feels like that the hands moved at some point. The Clock Tower hasn't been in commission in decades. It has electricity sure, but without someone to do maintenance, the clock shouldn't have moved by themselves. Did the ghosts did this?
She felt a strange rumbling on her neck and looked down. Her necklace was glowing and all 3 of the metal feathers of the Dreamcatcher necklace pointed to her right. Puzzled, she looked in that direction. There appeared to be 8 paintings on a wall that did not fit the Clock Tower atmosphere at all. The paintings were in rows of 4. Starting from the top and all the way to the end was a painting of, ninja star, fenrir symbol, dragon wings, game console, yin and yang symbol, a flying car, an apple falling from the tree, and a star shaped fruit.
"What a random combination of paintings for just one wall. This must be where the hidden room is." Weiss commented as she walked up to the wall. "But for some reason… I am having some major deja vu here."
The princess wondered what she had to do in order to reveal the room. Both Fille and Yuna managed to figure out this puzzle of sorts, so she should be able to solve this. She touched the wall and all of a sudden blood came oozing out from behind all 8 paintings. Startled, she took a step back and watched as the blood pooled down on the ground. The blood then soon formed into words.
RUN FOR THE SPEED. BE GRATEFUL FOR GRAVITY. SHOW BRAVERY FOR THE FUTURE. SMILE AT DESTINY. EMBRACE COOPERATION. BE NEUTRAL TO BOTH SIDES. MOURN FOR THE PAST. SHOW DETERMINATION IN THE FACE OF COMPETITION.
Weiss read that again and then look at the pictures. Normally she'd be very confused, but for some reason she somewhat knows what to do here. She has to do a certain action in front of a painting. It is quite a strange puzzle and clearly there is some deeper meaning to those phrases, but for now, she has to figure out which painting gets which action.
She looked at each painting one more time, trying to figure out what each one symbolizes.
"Ah. I think I understand."
Weiss first looked at the ninja star one and ran towards it. Ninjas are quite often known for the speed and stealth mostly. A small click was heard, which means she was probably correct. Then she looked at the painting of the apple falling from the tree. The story of Isaac Newton was basically depicted in this painting and the law of Gravity. But how would she show gratefulness. Could she just say something? She thought briefly for a moment before putting a hand on her chest and closing her eyes.
"I truly am grateful for gravity. If it weren't for gravity, the universe wouldn't even exist. The gravity we have right now is perfect. Not too much… and not too little. Just right. Just the right amount for all manners of life to exist."
Another click. Weiss was thankful she watched that one old show as that was the basis for her little speech here. Now she looked at the flying car. Flying cars have yet to be a thing, though she knows that will be a thing a not too far of in the future. She put on the best pose for bravery as best she can, like some sort of proud superhero. Click.
"This one, using process of elimination, could only be the star shaped fruit. That one symbolizes destiny… for some reason." Weiss reasoned to herself as she gave the painting in question a toothy smile. Click.
"Cooperation…" She stared at the Fenrir symbol. Wolves hunt in packs. A team, they work together to take down their prey. Although, is she supposed to do something that symbolizes embrace? Or does she actually have to... Embrace the painting?
"... I am going to have to hug this painting aren't I?" Weiss deadpanned. She never hugged anything or anyone in her life and she is starting with a painting? "I believe I reached a new low in my social life. I am going to hug a painting first before hugging an actual friend."
Whoever created this puzzle is a weirdo. Or doesn't know how to make good puzzles. Sighing, she, at the best of her ability, embraced the painting. Click! She quickly got off, cheeks burning red. "Calm down, Weiss, you are doing this for your country and possibly the world."
Next is the Yin and Yang symbol. There is no other painting that has two sides. Be neutral? Weiss decided to just shrug her shoulders with a neutral expression on her face in front of the symbol. Surprisingly there was a click as she didn't think that would work.
She then walked over to the painting of the dragon wings. Dragons… were a thing of the past. The only thing close to them now are just lizards and such. To mourn… She kneeled down, clasped her hands as if in prayer and muttered some words of sorrow. A satisfying click was heard.
And last but not least, show determination in the face of competition. That led to the game console. Games can be very competitive in general whether against an AI enemy or a human player. Satisfied with that answer, she showed her determination in front of the painting in question, thinking about all the things she needed to do to defeat her opponent. And the last click was heard.
Weiss stood back as she saw the wall descend into the ground, revealing the secret room and more importantly the Dreamcatcher Sword! It seemed to be stabbed into a piece of stone, just waiting for the right owner to come pull it out. She heard some gasps from behind her as she made her way inside, but she paid them no mind. The princess pulled out the 3 strings with the feather attached to them out of her pocket once she reached the sword. They glowed brightly in response. Knowing what she had to do, she quickly attached them in little tiny holes in the hand guard and at the tail end of the grip.
"That should do it…" Weiss said as the sword glowed for a bit before it simmered back to normal. She dismissed the sword she was carrying. Weiss was sad to be part with her signature sword, but it was a necessity. With that, she grabbed a hold of the sword with both hands and pulled. She pulled and she pulled and she pulled. The sword was slowly dislodged cm by cm each hard pull. "C-Come on… I w-will… be your new master!" Weiss exclaimed as she pulled as hard as she could. The sword dislodged and she fell to the ground with an undignified squeak.
Weiss shook her head and looked at her newly attained sword. It was glowing brighter than ever before and before she can even react… the sword got out of her grip, floated up into the air… and stabbed itself into her head. Weiss let out a loud shriek of pain, wondering how she is not dead yet. It is inside her fucking brain, how is she not on the ground dead?! After a few more painful seconds of screaming, the sword dislodged itself from her head and fell into her lap. Weiss quickly placed a hand where the sword stabbed into and felt no blood or anything for that matter. What did it do to her brain?
"W-What the fuck, dude?" Weiss muttered to the sword in her lap. "I become your master and you decide to brain fuck me quite literally? Pardon my french by the way." She honestly did not know why it did that but… hmm… she honestly feels stronger somehow. Hopefully she can find some answers.
BOOM!
Weiss was startled by loud explosion that happened nearby and quickly got up from the ground, gripping her newly attained weapon. She heard some loud stomping and it was headed her way! Weiss braced herself as she saw something poke out from the entrance… a decayed hand?!
Slowly the creature revealed itself and it was a giant fat green zombie guy… and it was a naked one too. She was more grossed out than horrified. Weiss then looked at the eyes of the zombie and noticed there were red swirls. Meaning that this monstrosity was a Nightmare. Her first ever real life encounter with one. She smirked, now it was time to give this weapon a test drive.
"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Come and get a piece of this!"
….
Emma gagged as she made her way through the entrance hall, trying to avoid the mass pile of bones that were strewn about. "T-This is horrible! I… I knew something happened here in the past, but… I didn't think it was this bad… There must be hundreds of bodies here…"
The blonde really didn't want to be depressed about thinking about these things so she tried to switch her thinking to a different topic. Like… like the bodyguard she met outside. That woman was strange. Not much of a talker and if she really wanted to, she could have fought against her, but nope, she surprisingly made it very easy for her.
"Hmm… well, who am I to question who Weiss employs as her bodyguards." Emma shrugged as she made her way to the elevator. "Although… she does seem familiar somehow." She muttered as she pressed the button to go up. She tapped her foot as she waited for the elevator to go down. "I am surprised this place still has electricity. You would think they would cut it off after being abandoned for decades."
The elevator arrived and opened up for her. She quickly stepped inside and looked at the pad. 13 floors. Emma rationalized since it took a bit for the elevator to arrive that Weiss must be on one of the higher floors if not the top floor. However, she cannot follow to closely to her or else she may get spotted by her and that is definitely not how she wants their first meeting to go.
"Let's go with another suspicious number. 4. 4 pretty much means death in Japan. I am such a weeb." Emma shook her head at herself and pressed the aforementioned number. The elevator closed and ascended. "Now don't go all Tower of Terror on me… I hated that ride."
She doubted anything was on this floor but whatever. Investigation is an investigation. She'll go to the top floor later. Hopefully they don't run into each other in the process. She wants to be close by, but not too close.
The elevator arrived on the 4th floor and opened. Emma stepped out and looked at her surroundings. Hardly any bones here, she noted. Grafiti galore though. "Is that… yep that's a penis. Probably compensating for something. Gross. How come there isn't vagina graffiti art? Too much?"
Moving on from that… There appear to be only one room on this floor and it was barricaded by some wood. "Ok I doubt Fille went in there then, but since they are clearly trying to keep something out or something in, I'll take it off myself." She summoned her baseball bat to her hand. Emma closed her eyes and summoned her inner strength. A moment later, her eyes shot open, fire in her eyes, "Mighty Beast Chop!" Emma slammed her baseball bat onto the wooden planks and smashed through them effortlessly like they were mere twigs. She kept the baseball bat in her hand just in case something might jump out at her.
"Alright, let's see what's in here." Emma opened the door and went inside. It appears to be an office… or what used to be an office. Broken furniture, scattered papers, etc. What wasn't broken was the desk in the center of the room with a very grotesque skeleton sitting behind it. There doesn't appear to be anything that can attack her… yet. Perhaps the skeleton will come alive and attack her, that's some classic horror shit right there.
She walked up to the desk and noticed that whoever this dead person was, wrote something before they died as there was a piece of paper on the desk and a pen in their hand. She must be the first person to ever see this person's dying message. Emma scratched her head in thought. Someone barricaded this person in and perhaps they died from starvation? Probably too early to jump to conclusions.
"Well, I think I can still read it… still kinda legible even after all this time."
With that, she carefully picked up the piece of paper and began to read.
To anyone that manages to read this if by some miracle the worlds have not been purged into an eternal nightmare hell… I need to tell you this. If the worlds have been saved… that does not mean they will be safe forever. You cannot be rid of the Nightmares. There will always be Nightmares for as long as people still Dream. If the battle against the Nightmares been won. Then the next battle is not too far off. To best prepare for that next battle, you must infuse the Dreamcatcher sword with 8 gems that spel-
It stops there. The person must have died before they managed to finish the note. Still, she can't believe her luck. She managed to find something relevant to what's happening right now.
"8 gems…" Emma decided to mull over that part of the note first. "So if Weiss wants to take down whoever is causing this… she needs 8 gems… What kind of gems though? Gah… how unlucky that they died right before they could write all that they wanted."
BOOM!
Emma almost let out a squeak as she heard an explosion happen somewhere up above. "Weiss?! WEISS!" Figuring that something terrible must have happened, she carefully pocketed the note in her pocket and left the room. She quickly headed over to the elevator and mashed up button repeatedly as if it would make the elevator door open faster. To her surprise however, the elevator was on a different floor.
"WHAT?! Did the ghosts do this or something?! Come on! I need to get up there!"
The elevator finally arrived after what felt like forever. Emma quickly went in and pressed the button for the 13th floor, hoping that is where Weiss is. She paced in place, biting her lip with worry as the elevator slowly ascended.
Please be ok. Please be ok. Please be ok. Was all that Emma could think in her head. Ding. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Emma rushed out and took account of her surroundings. The first thing she saw was the room to her left that seemed to be the location of where the explosion happened as smoke was coming out of it.
"Glacial Burst!" She heard a familiar voice say. Emma quickly hid by the wall, wanting not to be discovered and slowly peeked her head out towards the sound of the voice. To her surprise, she sees a green fat zombie of some kind fly out of another room near the face of the Clock Tower and smash into the wall on the opposite side. Another zombie? Did the zombie apocalypse start?
The blonde saw the owner of the voice come out of the room with a smirk. It was Weiss and… she had the Dreamcatcher Sword! She managed to get it! N-Not that she had any doubts… Ok there was a doubt here and there… but she got it though. She quietly let out a sigh of relief that Weiss was ok. There is not much else to do other than watch… she really wants to go into the room near her and investigate but she needs to keep watch and hopefully not get spotted in the process.
Weiss watched as the Nightmare Zombie got up from the wall and growled at her. She shook her head at it, not at all intimidated. Without warning it spat out something foul at her, like some sort of toxic vomit. She quickly erected a ice wall in front of her, shielding her from the vomit however the wall melted on impact. Weiss gasped as it vomited at her again and this time she jumped to safety. She grabbed hold of one of the wires hanging from the ceiling and swung herself at the zombie. It saw what she was doing and retaliated with a punch. Weiss quickly blocked with her sword as she fell towards it. On impact, the zombie groaned and reeled back as if it was burned by just touching the sword. As she landed, she quickly stabbed it in the gut and it went all the way through it.
"Weiss seems to be having no problems." Emma commented as she continued watching the fight unfold while continuing to hope that the fight doesn't come over here.
Weiss tried to move the sword upwards so she can slice the zombie almost in half but it seemed to be stuck. It growled at her and kicked her in the gut. Weiss groaned in pain and flew several feet away, taking the sword with her. Emma gasped silently as Weiss landed on the ground and skidded a foot or two before her head slammed into the wall. The zombie jumped up into the air, prepared to belly flop her into oblivion.
"I… I won't go down that easy!" Weiss groaned as she put both hands on the sword and pointed it upwards. The zombie fell down and impaled itself on the sword, this time the sword going through the chest area, however, it still landed on Weiss and she got the wind knocked out of her. It must have been quite a sight. A naked fat zombie on top of a princess.
"C-Can't breathe… owww…" Weiss tried with all her might to shake the zombie off of her. But it was no use, it was way too heavy. The zombie was in pain but was moving in to bite her neck. She quickly managed to get a hand out from under it and held onto the neck of the zombie, refusing to let it bite her and quite possibly turn her into a zombie as well… after she dies that is.
"GRRAAARR! I…. I WON'T LET YOU WIN! I… I WILL PROTECT MY COUNTRY FROM ALL MANNERS OF EVIL!" Weiss was getting really angry. She clutched tighter onto the zombie's neck almost as if she were trying to snap it off. Frost started to form on Weiss' skin as she struggled with all her might. The Dreamcatcher Sword turned frosty as well, mimicking what their master was doing. The zombie stopped what it was doing, confused as to what was happening to its insides.
With the last bit of strength she had while pinned down, she screamed as ice spikes poked out of her and into the zombie. The Dreamcatcher Sword did the same and casted ice spikes within the zombie. The zombie didn't even let out a sound as everything inside and outside of it froze solid.
Silence fell as Weiss returned back to her normal state, exhausted. She watched, somewhat confused as the sword then turned bright and shot something out from the tip without Weiss' say in the matter. A bright Dreamcatcher symbol appeared in the air a few moments later and without warning, sucked the defeated zombie nightmare into it. It turned smaller, smaller, and smaller until it was no longer visible and was inside the circle of it. Once the deed was done, it dissolved and went back into the sword.
Weiss shuddered as she felt something go through her before she blacked out. The sword falling down to the side of her.
"Weiss!" Emma rushed over to her and kneeled down to take a better look at her. She was still breathing, which was good. However, she can't sleep here. Who knows what else might be lurking in this tower. Having no choice, she picked up the Dreamcatcher Sword so she can place it on Weiss' person and just as soon as she touched the handle, her hand was grabbed by Weiss'. She let out a squeal and quickly looked back at Weiss. She still seemed to be knocked out, but she had quite the grip on her hand.
"W-What? Weiss, let go!" She tried to pry her hand off but to no avail. The Dreamcatcher Sword started shaking uncontrollably after a few more seconds of prying. Before Emma could even have a chance to react to the sudden movement, it went out from under their hands and stabbed itself into Emma's head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Emma screamed as she had the worst pain she ever experienced given to her by this sword. She felt like her head was being pumped full of something and then have something taken out of her. After what felt like excruciating minutes, it pulled itself out of her and went back into Weiss hand. Weiss began to glow as the sword began to dim back to its normal state…
"H-How am I still alive..? What the heck just happened?!" Emma asked to no one in particular as she touched her forehead, looking for a gaping wound but found none. After the initial shock died down, she felt… kinda tired.. Which wasn't good considering she needed to get them both out of there. "Ugh.. whatever, I'll ask questions later… for now…" She looked at the now back to normal Weiss and picked her up bridal style.
"What a weird legendary weapon… But it is only one that can help defeat those monsters…" Emma commented as she walked towards the elevator so they can head out of the tower… not knowing that she was being watched by someone.
Hahaha… Fools… Thank you for your help…
