2nd Phantasm [Nightmare]

[crimsonspearit]

[Those who find their way into Kyoko's dreams will find that they're not pleasant at all. In this particular nightmare, there's an imposing shadowy figure with a large, crooked grin looking down at three bodies, each one with a terrified expression frozen on their faces. They're not alone, though. There's a younger Kyoko on her knees, trembling and unsure what to do.]

Are you ready to die, child?

[Kyoko's gaze shifts to her family. They couldn't fight...she couldn't protect them...]

Mom...dad...Momo...I'm sorry...

[Her words are little more than a whisper, nearly drowned out by the cackling of the Spiritomb shifter as he steps closer, she shows one final act of defiance. She grabs a tent stake and holds it out like a weapon to face the nightmarish creature before her, tears streaming down her cheeks and clearly terrified. It lunges at her, and she stumbles backwards, but flames seem to burst from her body, enough to distract the monster and giving the girl a chance to run through the trees.]



or




[The second dream isn't much better. Kyoko looks as she does now, however she's once again standing before the Spiritomb shifter that killed her family. And once again, she looks...powerless. Even with her spear in hand and cloaked in fire, she's trembling.]

...pathetic. All this time, and you're still weak.

No...I'm not weak...I can't be.

Weak and all alone. How tragic. Now it's time to join your family.

[The shifter cackles maniacally as it continues approaching her.]




((ooc: Cut for deaths/mention of deaths.))

Comments

[a_gentle_boy]

Freeze.

[The dreamscape ripples as Lucas exerts his will, and the movements of the Spiritomb suddenly seem to come to a screeching halt. Not something he could ever do in reality, but how many times had he desperately wished he could have frozen reality in the moments leading up to when it had happened?]

...Wait.

[This is spoken to the girl now.]

Don't run.

[crimsonspearit]

[This is the one and only moment Kyoko wishes she could change. The moment she had everything taken from her.

Even as the twisted creature stops moving, as if it were frozen in time, she didn't stop, although she did glance over the boy's way.]

Get...out of here! Or it'll get you too!

[a_gentle_boy]

...Wait.

[He calls again, his voice a little softer. If she doesn't stop running, he'll begin to follow as well as he can.]

It... can't hurt you anymore. It's over now. ...It's going to go away.

[crimsonspearit]

[There's a short while before she stops, and that's only because she trips and stumbles, before hitting the ground. Tired and now sore, she really doesn't have the energy to keep running.]

They're...gone.

[a_gentle_boy]

[He walks forward a little bit and reaches down to try and help her up.]

...Yeah.

[His eyes close briefly as he shakes his head.]

The worst part is wondering... if it could have been... different somehow.

[crimsonspearit]

[She doesn't take the offered hand. She chooses to struggle and push herself up on her own. Where was the help when she'd needed it?]

I wasn't strong enough...

[a_gentle_boy]

[He doesn't seem offended, backing up a few steps.]

No... Not against something like that.

[He wonders briefly if she's realized yet that she's dreaming.]

And that's why... you have to become stronger. You can't ever let anything like this happen again...

Is that right?

[crimsonspearit]

[She's relived this moment so many times. It's something she can't let go of.]

I will be stronger.

[That's why she's trained so hard by herself. To try and push herself past her limits to grow stronger.]

I'll destroy it.

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas just nods in response, a soft smile on his face.]

I'm sure you will.

[His own thoughts hadn't turned to revenge... but he could understand that same drive.]

...I have this dream sometimes, too. I always ask myself... if there's anything else I could have done.

And I'm never sure which answer is better...

[crimsonspearit]

You...can't change the past.

[No matter how much she wishes she could.]

Only the future.

[a_gentle_boy]

[A slight nod.]

It's hard not to help wishing, sometimes... even if that's true.

But... destroying that - that's what you want for the future, more than anything?

[crimsonspearit]

I won't let any trace of that thing remain.

[a_gentle_boy]

...Ah.

[He nods a little bit again.]

But, um... please also remember... to have something else beyond that, too.

[crimsonspearit]

I can worry about that afterwards.

[If there is an afterwards.]