In which our heroes finally meet, face-to-face...
For a period of time that felt far longer than it actually was, Nemurin sat there in the checkered plaza at the side of the sleeping boy. Expecting his neck to hurt if she left him as he was, she put her palms close together as white, fluffy clouds were made from thin air, making a small poof as they came into existence. Shuffling her knees over to his brown head of spikes, she lifted it up just underneath the scalp before settling the clouds below him, cushioning his head. Letting out a sigh and a yawn, she was left with the realisation that there wasn't much Nemurin could do but wait and watch the world go by. Not that she minded, mind you - in fact, it was her favourite thing, it just left her with a lot of...questions.
What had happened here? Well, she supposed she would find out once he woke up, as surely he had to have seen something, right?
Was that the voice of the spiky-haired boy she heard earlier, accusing someone else about breaking a deal? Or was there another person she had to consider?
Again, how exactly does someone fall asleep when already inside of the Dream World? It just didn't seem possible, not to her, but here she was. Though, she supposed that a fair few things that didn't seem possible had been occurring as of late, so she decided she would worry about that bridge once the time came to cross it. Nemurin would be lying if she said this place wasn't beautiful, especially the fountain, and all Nemurin could find herself doing at the moment was look over at it after she checked on the boy again. She did hope he woke up soon, as calling him 'the boy' in her head just didn't sit quite right.
The fountain was truly beautiful, though. It reminded her of N-City, and their little tradition; a local park had a fountain something like this, where the waters would gush to the tap of a beat as a vibrant rainbow of colours would shoot up against the light, circling through various scarlets, tangerines, golds, teals, violets and magentas before coming to a glittering halt.
But that was reality, and there was something in the Dream World that added a layer of beauty to it all; as anything related to Magical Girls often did. In her mind, the one in front of her now stood as far prettier. The water was a vibrant lapis lazuli, calmly set at the bottom in a small pool guarded by white stone. Pitch black light posts, decidedly not crooked like those in the first district Nemurin had found herself in, were instead decorated with crimson flags that pointed outwards, and two stood at each side of the fountain as if to frame it like a portrait. Pillars almost seemingly made from gold itself sprung upright all around it, forming into a veranda, and a green ledge was lodged into the wall, red curtains slung behind it, like those you saw when out at the theatre. What caught her attention most however was the image ingrained at the centre - just as shining in colour as what surrounded it, depicting what looked to be two dogs. It was a little strange, but it held a charm that she could feel be imbued into her senses - at the very least, it made the otherwise rather lifeless plaza pop far more than it would have otherwise.
Sheppy alternated between rushing up to her side and snuggling close, usually when his new friend was worrying itself over its sleeping owner, or ducking about at the fountain, as if trying to distract his newfound companion from their concerns, even if only for a moment. The sheep bounced and hopped, and the dog-cat padded along, letting out a hybrid between a bark and a meow.
"Huh..." an unfamiliar voice muttered at Nemurin's back.
Turning her body, the clouds that floated with her circling round, she watched for a moment or two as the boy finally began to stir, his spikes of brown hair bouncing limply as he finally turned his head to look up. Suddenly, urgency flashed wide and bright in his blue eyes - the key on the floor disappeared in a sparkling pile of light, now clutched firmly in his hands, his brow furrowed into a glare as he looked around, wondering out loud, "Where is he!?"
"Uh..." Nemurin spoke up, waving her arm.
The boy blinked, the blade disappearing into what Nemurin could only assume was Hammerspace, before turning to meet her properly. "Oh...! Sorry, I didn't know you were there." he apologised, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "What's your name?" he asked as a soft smile made its way across his face, as both his hands moved behind his head.
"That's okay," Nemurin answered, soon yawning again. "I'm Nemurin...I just found you while you were napping there..." she said, pointing to the place in question, that which the hybrid-looking creature was swiftly hopping on its belly towards without a moment's wait.
"Nemurin...man, that's one I've not heard before. Cool!" the boy grinned. "I'm Sora! And- haha, hey, hey!" he laughed, the creature from earlier having reached his side and subsequently pounced atop of him, sending him backwards and onto the ground. "It's fine, bud, I'm alright, see?" he assured, getting to his feet. "This is Morgana. She's my Dream Eater!"
"Dream Eater...?" she repeated, looking down to Sheppy now. Walking over to him, not spotting Sora looking her up and down, as if only just now beginning to wonder about her clothes, Nemurin heaved the ball of fluff into her arms. "So that's what you are...this one is Sheppy," she explained. "Uhh..."
"Yeah?" Sora asked, head tilting in confusion, almost like a puppy.
"Sorry, but...what's a Dream Eater?" Nemurin questioned.
Dream Eaters...that wasn't a term she'd heard even once in the Dream World, that was for sure. And she hadn't really seen anything like Sheppy or the newly met Morgana either - had they always been around? Something in her wasn't sure, since, on one hand, she had been a Magical Girl for a while now, and had never seen them; but maybe not. Maybe they were around even longer than herself, and she hadn't met any by coincidence. With the Dream World, you could never quite tell, and just when she'd felt enough confidence to generally decide she had a good grasp on it, the universe chose to throw a curveball right back at her. Though, she supposed that knowing did explain a few things; it explained Sheppy's hostility before meeting her Nemurin Beam, and that of the snake's too...just where did they come from?
Upon hearing her question, Sora's eyes blankly stared for a few seconds, before he looked up in puzzlement, folding his arms. "Well...they eat dreams, but Spirits, like Morgana and Sheppy, they eat bad dreams, while Nightmares eat the good ones." he clarified.
"Okay, that makes sense...it's just I'd never really seen any of them until now...guess Fav must have thought they weren't important enough to tell me about them," Nemurin trailed off, falling something into a world of her own.
"Well, whoever this Fav person is, they're wrong - the Nightmares have been causing a lot of trouble, and my best friend Riku and I - we're here to stop it!" Sora responded, a warmth of determination flooding his frame. "Oh, right!" he said, looking left and right again. "Did you see a guy in a black coat? Or a guy with big headphones?"
"Not a guy in headphones, no..." Nemurin shook her head - before her mind returned to that of the man in the black coat. The one who rambled off that stuff about it being best for her to stay in her own dreams and scoffed at her thinking he was a Nightmare. Though, in this context, she could at least somewhat get the joke - even the idea of that guy as a cute little creature would have warranted a giggle out of her if the reminder of him didn't sew a thick veil of irritation for her at the moment. "But, I did see a guy in a black coat before I got to town...wait, did he knock you out?"
"Well, that's the thing; I don't know. I was with my friend, Neku, and when we got here, the guy in the coat showed up. I heard something about how he and the guy had a deal, I don't know what - they started fighting, but before I could help, I ended up feeling really sleepy outta nowhere and then...! Well, I ended up meeting you. Hey...wait, did you...were you keeping an eye out for me when I was asleep?" Sora continued, voice growing swifter until he reached the point that led them here.
That bashful look, lips formed into a decidedly flustered 'o' and eyes widened, had returned to his face once again. Flicks of guilt splashed into the sea of his blue eyes. 'When I went down, she was looking after me and I haven't even thanked her yet!' Sora thought.
"Gah! I'm sorry...! Thanks for the help, Nemurin." Sora apologised, red flushing his cheeks. It was sweet in a way, and it made her smile a bit.
Shaking her head, Nemurin replied, "No, don't worry about it~" she assured. "After all, you've got a lot on your mind, I can tell...aaa, that's always tiring, huh?"
Letting out a sheepish laugh, Sora agreed, "Heh, you can say that again,"
"Actually...I'm looking for someone too, I think she could know you...and since you're looking for Neku, right?"
"Right?"
"We can look together. It'll be easier that way, won't it?" Nemurin proposed, her smile soft as the clouds that adorned her pyjamas and hair.
Sora's eyes flickered like freshly lit birthday candles, the boy nodding as his beaming face only seemed to grow further. "Yeah, you're right, Nemurin!" he chimed in his approval, quickly closing the small gap between them as he took her hand in his gloved one, briefly fumbling a little as he felt for it behind her massive sleeve. "Say, uh..." he began, eyes falling on her pyjama set.
"Hm?"
"...Eh, nothing," Sora said, taking a step back as his vision met hers again. "Anyway - you got any idea where to start..?"
Nemurin gave a nod, Sheppy rolling up at her legs. "Hm. Sheppy and I got attacked earlier, so I took our friend to safety," she mentioned.
"Oh! Well, that's okay; I've actually been here before a while back. Here! I'll show the way!" Sora declared, passion still ever arisen within him.
With that, the newly formed duo (or quartet, if you chose to count Morgana and Sheppy amongst them) left the checkerboard district behind; Sora led the way quickly behind one of the large walls, revealing a panel, one having lost it spark a while ago from the looks of it. "Not for long," he said. "Step back," he ordered. The key-like sword appeared in a flash within his hand - in a quick motion, he pointed at the panel, before yelling out, "Thunder!"
In a shock, a bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere - the panel spat for a few moments, before coming aglow a pure bright white. A clanking sound, like the unlocking of a door, rang out throughout the quiet plaza from the other side of the wall. Still, Nemurin stared down at the key, eyes wide - that sort of ability...that was only the stuff she had seen from Magical Girls. Wherever this boy was from, he definitely didn't seem to be lacking in magic.
"That key...what is it?" Nemurin inquired.
"Oh, this?" Sora said. Turning to face her, he held it out, letting her see it in all of its glory. "This...this is the Keyblade,"
The Keyblade exuded an aura similar to that of the weapons her fellow Magical Girls wielded; its grip was pitch black, offset by the golden crossguard, which glinted against the electric lights behind Sora's head, with the blade shining a bright knight's silver. Truthfully, she found herself staring in awe for a moment.
"That's...that's amazing, you know!~" Nemurin said as they turned the corner. "The magic coming off of that...it's really incredible, you know,"
"Heh, you think?" Sora replied, quickly met by a cheery nod. Giving a pearly white smile, he added, "Thanks! Let's just say, I'm...I'm really proud to have it."
The pair left the tall walls and returned; as a wide-open door lay in front of them, a glowing neon sign positioned at its head that read '1st District'. Sora gestured his head towards it, prompting her to follow behind, that which she soon did...only for a familiar sight to befall her; the orange and gold street with the bent light posts where she and Sheppy first met. Her waist and arms flopped downwards, her clouds taking on a more rainy expression, warranting Sora's face to shift to one that looked as if he had a question mark floating above his head.
"If I realised that there was a faster way out of this place straight to the right, I wouldn't have gotten us in that alley, Sheppy..." Nemurin lamented aloud, prompting Sheppy to let out a sad bleat, akin to a whine.
Letting out an awkward chuckle, Sora turned to look at the two, Morgana simply padding up to the boy's feet, staring up at them with an almost puzzled demeanour. "Sorry about that. But hey, look!"
As she looked up, the dreamy girl and her friend noticed something; a mailbox, which had eluded her notice as a result of her meeting with her soon-found Spirit, had taken one hop, two hops, three, to the right; revealing a circular and wide-open hole underneath. Without a word, the second he saw the slide, Sheppy let out a contented baa, quickly balling up and diving straight down, quickly barrelling out of sight.
"Wait!" the human boy and the Magical Girl cried out. As if to tease them, Morgana padded upwards, sticking her nose down - and liking what she saw, promptly flopped forward, sliding along on her belly like the happiest girl in the world.
"Well..." Nemurin trailed off, looking down.
"Worth a shot!" Sora decided, stepping a golden foot forward as he allowed himself to fall, soon landing and sliding; surprised laughs escaping his chest and reaching the top. Sure enough, deciding it'd be fun, Nemurin took an elegant hop inside just as the brown spike of Sora's head was about to disappear from view. The four of them curved and slid and slipped downwards, eventually being emptied out into a depot of pine wood. Sora in particular had the bad luck of slipping a little too far down - straight into Morgana, sending them flying out. Sora was sprawled onto the floor, little star-shaped fruit circling his head, while Morgana grumbled and barked aloud in disdain, rolling the boy onto his back. As she exited the slide, Nemurin's clouds formed beneath her as they floated her towards her companions; "Need a hand?"
"Yeah," Sora agreed, shaking the fruit away - before jumping a little, exclaiming, "Woah!" at the sight of the clouds that seated her. "Wow...that's amazing...!"
"Hehe~ thanks," she replied, cheerily. Jumping down lightly, patting a still grumbling Morgana on the head, she and Sheppy walked forward, reaching a wooden circular spot on the floor. "Ready to keep going?"
Before Sora could answer, the girl was startled as the wooden circle, or rather, elevator, began its descent. Thinking quick, Sora and his Meow Wow friend joined her just before it became a jump; the elevator passed through walls of black shadow, before being illuminated by the same sun-coloured light as before, emphasised by the woods of the floor. As the light slowly emanated their vision again, they soon were able to take in their surroundings again. Brown shelves lined each wall, a rainbow of different packages and boxes filling them with an occasional crate appearing at the bottom. The wall to their right, instead of holding packages, instead displayed many slide-out boxes - confirming they had managed to enter the post office somehow.
"Well, this wasn't what I expected to be doing tonight...then again, I don't really know what to expect when I enter dreams, so~" Nemurin remarked, offering a casual shrug.
"It's a shortcut, don't worry," Sora grinned, before his smile seemed to fade as they walked forward towards a pipe.
"Hey, Nemurin?" he asked as he came to a stop, his hand resting on the railing, their two Spirit companions close behind. Sheppy rolled close to Morgana, who padded along as if roses were thrown across her path at every step and everyone else bowed to her, the sheepish stepping close enough in hopes of being noticed, yet kept a distant small to avoid being invasive.
"Yeah?" the blonde-haired girl said.
"You said earlier, about entering dreams, and that you saw a guy in a black coat before, right?" Sora inquired.
"Yep, that's right...it was really weird, honestly," Nemurin confirmed, letting out a puzzled sigh. The words in her head floated about like sticks in the muck, and trying to pick them out was just sticky business that she currently didn't care for at the moment.
A level of severity, urgency, laced each corner of Sora's voice as he spoke; "What happened? Did he hurt you?" he questioned - he hoped more than anything that nothing had happened, but would clearly be lacking in surprise if it had.
"Well, no, I guess not...but he crash-landed somewhere in my domain outside here. I followed and he spouted off some weird things, about how I should stay in my own dreams...something else how I won't have many left and the strength of Nightmares..."
The thought still tumbled like dark clouds within the regions of her usually peaceful mind, abruptly striking like thunder amidst an ever bright summer. She didn't wish to talk too much about the last part, about how she could have to return to the waking world; and by that, return to whatever lay beyond. Something about the thought, though it didn't send her quaking, still left a curve of unease cut fairly deep into her.
"So, he's got something to do with all this...I wouldn't be surprised. Watch out for anyone in coats like those, they're bad news. Trust me, I know," Sora warned, his eyes narrowed as he seemed to recall what came before. What that actually was, she wasn't quite sure; whatever happened in the past laid within himself and only him, unless his dreams chose to reveal part of it. Technically, she could go prying into it with her own powers, but the thought of that didn't rest well with her for reasons she didn't feel the need to spell out.
Whatever it was, Sora had known them before now, and viewed them in a dark light, almost like a mortal enemy judging by the look he gave now. Pondering a little the girl in pyjamas replied, "Right..." she spoke - before she couldn't help but find curiousity building in her all the same. Though she knew Sora couldn't be a Magical Girl per se, he definitely seemed to have the same aura as one.
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"You know, entering dreams!" Sora answered, his sense of cheer having quickly found him again. "Is it like your special power?" his eyes beheld a sense of wonder; Yen Sid had to do a lot in order to get him and Riku there, what with heading back to Destiny Islands before the darkness took it and all. Yet all of it seemed to come easy to her...of course, he was wondering how.
"Ehehe...~" the girl trailed off, questioning how she would explain the Magical Girl thing without it getting tiresome for her. "Yeah. I guess you can put it that way."
"That's so cool!" Sora effused.
"You think so?"
"How can't I?" Sora chirped. His head turned to the railing, which led out into the wide space before them. Pipes of different colours hung from the roof, and mountains of mail naturally filled the room. It was strange how there could be so much mail here when there were so few people, but all dreams were strange, so thereby the confusion was quickly cancelled out for her. A confident smile made its way to Sora's face, a hand on his hip. "Actually, since you've shown me something cool, there's something I wanna show you."
Tilting her head, she asked, "Oh? What?"
Sora grinned. "Just watch."
With a thought, Nemurin formed a cushion of clouds at the end of the railing, big enough for Sheppy and Morgana to rest without the risk of separation. The pair quickly settled, Morgana nestled into it like a pet of royalty, and Sheppy possessed nervous energy akin to that found by those about to go for the big drop at the funfair. Blinking, she stepped towards Sora - only to be scooped up - sure enough, the Magical Girl comparison from before was about right, as lifting one wasn't exactly a feat that could be performed by just any human.
"Hold tight!" Sora called, before leaping upwards, landing atop the railing; a pale pink light glowed around his figure the second he made contact with it, the speed he slid across almost unnatural, like that of a speeding car; or at least, it sure felt like it! Nemurin's long tails of hair lapped backwards in the air, cries of laughter escaping her chest as her arms went around his neck instinctively, her loose sleeves flapping wildly in the air. The cushion of clouds arranged for the Spirits followed close behind, as they lounged comfortably within the soft material.
Both of their eyes glanced upwards, spotting the bright green railing; that which seemed to lead to an opening, the shortcut Sora had mentioned earlier! A mischievous, almost catlike smile remained split on Sora's face as he carried her, "Ready?"
"No!" Nemurin laughed, eyes wide with anticipation.
Taking another jump, the pink light still emanated off of Sora's figure as he jumped towards the green railing; the whole world below seemed to go by in a flash, yet as if they were flying in slow motion, with style. Sora seemed to be weaving and flowing through the air, like the lashes of water through the river rapids, his feet meeting the mark of the green bar. As they slid along, however, they soon found their flow disrupted; namely by a projectile, like a ball of shadows. It nearly made Sora lose his balance, but Nemurin pulled him into steadiness once again. Dream Eaters, Nightmares, they hung from the walls; appearing as spiders, except their web was shadowy and somehow even grosser, wearing postman hats atop their heads that would almost be rather cute...if they weren't trying to kill them and eat all their good dreams, that was.
Realising things weren't going to be as easy as he hoped, Sora took in a sigh of relief that Nemurin managed to stop him from plummeting to ground level. "Got any ideas?" he asked.
For a few moments, Nemurin pondered as they slid back and forth across the railings; and then, a lightbulb clicked in her head. "Actually...yes. Sora, can you keep sliding across these? Can you get closer to those guys?"
"You bet!" Sora answered, seeming to realise that she had an idea turning in her head. Readjusting his grip on her, so as to be sure he didn't drop her, Nemurin turned her head towards the wall of Nightmares ahead of them; waiting for the right moment. She dodged her body downwards, firmly enough to avoid taking a hit but not abruptly enough to throw Sora off his balance, pulling her arms up towards her head. With each leap, and each crossing of railings, her plan was coming to fruition.
Once she felt they were decently close to the wall, Nemurin ducked her head forward; "Nemurinnnn!~ BEAM!" the familiar line of sparkles burst from her forehead, lighting up half of Sora's face, mouth open with surprise - the beam burst across the space between, closing the distance between themselves and the spiders. Once they touched the spiders, their weaponry seemed to disappear, their bodies engulfed with light; and what crawled out were the same soft, bright colours as the ones Morgana and Sheppy had, even tipping their hats as they crawled downwards to the bottom floor to resume their work. Admittedly, he wasn't one to find spiders all that cute...but damn if those things weren't trying!
His eyes almost felt as if they were sparkling as Nemurin's beam finally faded away, the happy squeaks of their former enemies falling out of earshot and out of mind. "Woah...that was...that was amazing, Nemurin!" he cried aloud as they slid forward. "I don't know how you do that, but...wow...you...I mean, you can purify Nightmares!" he panted. His head turned, spotting a swarm of spiky-looking Nightmares down on the floor; "Man, this exam might not be so bad...ready to offer help to more of these guys?"
"You bet," Nemurin nodded, pulling herself from his arms and onto his back, so she'd be more well-equipped to dodge before firing off the next beam. Jumping high from the green bar, he soon landed on a pale yellow one, his shoes grinding across as Nemurin rose above his shoulders - a white light soon glittering right in front of his eyes as it blasted straight from where they stood and all the way down, and with their movement across the rainbow rails, the beam's distance was nigh impossible to escape.
'This girl...just who is she?' Sora found himself thinking there, as he hooted for her victory. "Now that's what you call victory by a landslide, huh, Nemu?" he asked, not thinking much of the nickname.
"Yeah..." Nemurin replied, lazily resting on his shoulders for a moment, her expression a peaceful one. It felt odd, hearing her normal name; but she didn't really mind it much, after all, since it was so close to her normal one anyway, what was the big deal? "Yeah, it is~"
With a dramatic finish of sparkles and a post office's floor worth of happy Spirits, fluffballs and friendly spiders, the literal dream team finally disappeared through the opening, and soon returned to the dark streets. Exiting through a large doorway, Nemurin's thoughts felt as though they were glistening and new; 'This is the most fun I've had in a while...' she thought.
She wasn't normally a participant, and she never normally cared to be. But getting involved was fun, particularly if there were no limits, if it wasn't by herself. And with her weakened powers, there was something about Sora's excitement over what she was capable of, particularly in contrast to those who had no clue what she could do, who thought her powers weren't really useful unless she worked in the real world, it...it brought a rising sense of fondness to her heart.
Nemurin would admit; what with Sheppy in his constant affection, Morgana in her prim yet gentle concerns, Sora in his perpetual sunshine - it was nice to have company again, that much she was sure of.
A/N: So, I actually didn't expect to get this chapter done as soon as I did, as I've had induction stuff for university on top of a bad cold this week, but you'd be surprised what happens when inspiration is just begging to be used to its fullest! Honestly, this is probably my favourite chapter I've written so far; writing Sora and Nemurin's dynamic and establishing it was just a lot of fun for me, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Indeed, Sora and Nemu have finally met. To answer Hekkasi's question, I was a little torn on who to pick at first; but ultimately I decided to go with Sora, first because it made the most sense story-wise to me, since it's Sora's dreams that get entered in 3D, and also because I thought a sleepy, chill person like Nemurin would bounce off better with Sora, the little ray of sunshine that he is. Thanks again for reviewing and for the compliment on my story, and I'll see y'all next chapter!