They say if you keep walking, no matter which way you go, you'll get to the same place. Clearly, They have never gotten lost before.
I walk forever, in this never-ending darkness, looking for a place I've only heard about in my nightmares. They call it Reality, a place where nothing can be affected by people, and you have to accept what comes by you. Reality, they say, is where anyone can see who they were meant to be.
Ever since I first woke up, I've been searching for Reality, so I can escape this never-ending nightmare. But no matter how far I go, I always wake up back in the same bed, in the same house, with mother demanding that I go to school.
Every day. The same thing. Why do I hate it so much?
All I remember is this world, this place, where the nightmares come to feed off the week minded, where the humans come to pray for my destruction. I thought it was a paradise, but the nightmares came. They weren't what destroyed me. My teacher- who was she?- kept saying that I was only imagining things, that I wasn't in any danger. But they kept coming, and no one protected me. Fear bloomed in my heart, until it was all I had left.
So I ran as far as I could, and I kept running no matter how often they caught me. They were thorough, I can't remember where I went the night before, and I have no idea where to go next.
So I go to the temple, where I keep the book of memories, to consult and plan.
All five of the dreamland's have a temple, where peoples thoughts and fears gather, and from which new places and people are born. Such places are holy only to the race in question, if one from another races enters they will feel nothing, and will not be under it's protection. For some reason, only I have ever entered the temple in the human lands, where the lucidity star lives.
As I enter the temple, I retrieve the lucidity star. I look through my book of memories, to look into the past so that I may make the future. First, I stay in the land of dreams or nightmares, as I call this infernal place. Then I lose the ability to make out humans from nightmares. Right after that, reality starts to fall apart. The teachers deny all of this of course. Finally, I can't take it anymore, and I decide to seek out reality, to find the truth they are determined to keep from me.
Monsters, Fairies, Sorcerers. I've seen there lands. The only place I've yet to go to, is the Shadow lands. A place so horrifying that no human can go there willingly. I think for a while, then I decide I need to go there. Somewhere in the dream lands is the key to Reality, and I have to find it.
In the temple, there are five doors, each leading to one of the five dream lands. On top of the shadow realms, there is only a single dot.
I head in before my doubts get the better of me. Whats on the other side surprises me. The other temples are in the middle of nowhere, but this place is in the middle of a large city, and it's very lavishly decorated. Many people seem to be working, judging by the somewhat tattered clothes, I'd hazard a guess that they were temple slaves. Other than their clothes, they seem to be well cared for, at least in comparison to the other temples I've been to.
"Hey! Get back to work."
I barely avoid getting hit in the head with a stick. I look towards my attacker. He doesn't look all that menacing, but whether he's a human or a shadow, or one of the other races entirely, I have no way of knowing.
"I'm sorry sir, I just haven't been told what I'm supposed to do yet." I reply hastily. This usually works to stop an angry overseer, but this one seems determined to hurt me. He raises his stick again, and I rush off before he can hit me.
I decide that exploring this place is probably a bad Idea. Most nightmares won't hurt you, instead opting to poses you and have you experience whatever horror they've cooked up. Here that doesn't seem to be the case.
I wonder for about an hour before finding myself back at the temple. It's then that I notice how truly massive it is. And ugly. It's one of those places built to make people feel small, and no one thought much beyond it. And it's all gray, too. Were it not for the large statues around the outside, It would look exactly like a prison. Looking at it, I begin to get a terrible sensation. I immediately go lucid, hoping desperately that I'm wrong.
I'm not. I hear people inside, begging to be set free. I can't tell if it's from a nightmare or a curse. I want to cry, but I can't let anyone see me upset. If they see me upset, they'll wake me up again.
I'm not going to let them keep these poor people trapped in whatever version of hell they've made inside this prison. Moving as quietly as I possibly can, I sneak back into the temple, going in the directions I think the voices are coming from. Before long I come to a hallway, on either side of which are cells filled to the brim with prisoners, who look exactly like the slaves I saw outside.
Let it never be said I don't try and help humans when I can. Lucidity lets people change what the world around them looks like, so the nightmares do everything in their power to keep humans from using it. They couldn't stop me from learning how to use it though.
"The doors are not locked. Open the doors and leave. Leave all at once. Be free"
Someone swears. The door he was leaning against came open unexpectedly. Soon the rest of the prisoners try to open their doors. Not missing an opportunity, they all rush to freedom, moving around me as if I was a rock and they were a river. It isn't long before I hear them clashing with the guards outside.
I walk down the hall to inspect the cells, and see if there's anything I can do to keep them from putting more prisoners in them. I can't help but feel how bare and empty the cells are without the prisoners. I think about all of the time I walked in total darkness to get outside to the human realm, and this seems so much worse. To spend all your day with nothing to do but sit with your thoughts and wonder how you could have avoided this mess. "Let the doors close, and never open again" I think.
"What are you doing here?"
I startle, then turn to see a man, not much older than sixteen, staring at me with an angry look in his eyes. "All the workers are having a riot, and your just here daydreaming." He grabs me by the shirt and yells, "Why didn't you do something?"
I grab his hand. "Lay off you bone headed twerp. I don't know who you are, but you have absolutely no business keeping prisoners."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ball, which then starts glowing and floating above his shoulder. Well if that's how he wants to play, than I'll just have to beat him.
I close my eyes and start to focus. Picturing the point where this stops being real and Reality takes over. Ignoring everything else, I focus on reaching out to where reality must be. Finally, I feel the world start to slip and move around me. Reaching to my neck, I grab the lucidity star, it splits, and starts floating around me.
I don't think, I just attack and dodge. Finally he collapses, and the orb falls to the floor. I grab it in my hands, and it starts to glow.
Than I hear foot steps. It's a dead end. I panic as I realize I can't escape what's coming.
And then I wake up.
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