Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/10101149.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      F/F
  Fandom:
      Original_Work, 閃乱カグラ_|_Senran_Kagura, God_Eater_(Video_Games), Gravity
      Rush, Kingdom_Hearts, Jak_and_Daxter, Dangan_Ronpa:_Another_Episode,
      Spyro_the_Dragon_-_Fandom, Hyperdimension_Neptunia
  Relationship:
      Original_Female_Character/Original_Female_Character
  Character:
      Original_Female_Character(s), Asuka_(Senran_Kagura), Kanon_Daiba, Spyro
      the_Dragon, Kat_(Gravity_Rush), Jak_(Jak_and_Daxter), Naegi_Komaru, Sora_
      (Kingdom_Hearts), 5pb._(Neptunia)
  Additional Tags:
      Intersex
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-03-05 Updated: 2018-01-25 Chapters: 7/40 Words: 35132
****** Dream Huntress ******
by FallenKnight24
Summary
     A princess, by the name of Weiss Shinrai, had a bad dream that almost
     seemed real. So real... that something happened to her from it,
     carried over into the real world. Not only that, there appear to be
     Nightmares manifesting out of the realm of sleep and into the real
     world. Taken aback and confused by these turns of events, she goes
     out, looking for answers in the hopes of saving her country,
     Snowtramine. She finds out that there is a Legendary Sword, the
     Dreamcatcher Sword, that is capable of capturing any Dream or
     Nightmare she defeats. If she wishes to save not only her
     country...no the world... and other worlds out there, she must become
     the Dream Huntress and capture any and all Nightmares to stop this
     Nightmare Hell. She and 5 other girls must go on a journey to
     multiple worlds to stop it... Will they prevail? Or fall into eternal
     slumber?
Notes
See the end of the work for notes
***** A Dream? *****
Slam. The sound of a door being slammed shut by a young, white haired woman
with sky blue eyes. The young woman rubbed at her eyes tiredly, well her left
eye anyways, her right eye was covered with white bandages. She looked like she
was going to head off into dreamland at any given moment. She grumbled
tirelessly to herself as she flicked on the lights, revealing a bedroom that
looks like one straight out from a castle fit for someone of royalty. The
bedroom didn't particularly have anything that would differentiate from other
royal bedrooms besides a big screen TV, opposite side of the queen-sized bed,
and a gaming console below it.
She eyed the TV for a moment or two, deciding whether or not to turn it on.
"Nah. I am too tired… and what time is it anyways?" She looked at the
Grandfather clock in the corner of the room. It read 11:34 PM. The white haired
woman scoffed in response. "No point. A lot of shows with some nonsensical
drivel at this time of night…" She went over to her changing screen and started
to undress herself to change into suitable clothing for sleeping.
"What a day… Just meetings, meetings, paperwork, more meetings, and even more
paperwork… Can't Princess Weiss get just ONE day of not doing that?" She untied
her hair and it dropped down to the mid of her back. She got out of the white
dress she was wearing and draped it over the changing screen. As she got out of
her underwear, she thought about what she should do for her country tomorrow.
"I haven't held a ball for my country in a long while actually…"
She got out her blue nightgown and placed it on. She let out a sigh as she made
her way over to her bed and got under the covers. She clapped her hands a few
times and the lights went out in response. "It'd be nice for my people to have
some fun at my castle. I am sure my father would have wanted me to at least
every once in a while." She cleared her throat, picturing her father. "A ruler
must learn to have fun with their people. It is not always about control!" She
said in her best father impression. Weiss giggled, before letting out a sad
sigh as she turned over on her side. "I miss you, dad… I am doing my best as a
Princess should for your sake, but I wonder if I can really do it…"
Her eyes not willing to fight sleep anymore, she shut her eyes and slept. The
last thought in her mind before she went off into dreamland was that this
weekend, she would have a ball and invite everybody she could to her castle and
have a good time.
                                       …
Weiss sees herself in her ballroom, wearing her sparkling white dress and her
tiara. She looked like Disney's Cinderella… except with white hair tied into a
ponytail and of course her bandaged right eye. Not to mention that the dress
only covers her from her shoulders to her thighs, leaving little to the
imagination. A slight breeze and anybody can see the goods under there, but she
didn't care. A smile was plastered on her face as she watched her people
dancing, talking to one another, feasting on the food her chefs prepared, and
overall just enjoy themselves. She held a glass of grape juice in her hand
since she is not exactly old enough to drink alcohol. She is only 17 after all
and even if she was of age, she doesn't exactly enjoy the taste of it, having
tried it when she was 14 when her father wasn't looking.
One of her maids walked up to her as she was taking a sip of her grape juice.
"Your highness… The guests seem to be enjoying themselves quite a bit." She
noted with a small smile. Weiss smiled in return as she put down her glass.
"Yes. I decided it was for the best. Monsters have been destroying the morale
of my people what with them rising in number recently and attacks have
increased as well." Both women frowned at that. Weiss clicked her tongue as she
turned her attention to the many people dancing. "So, for their sake to at
least forget about the monsters temporarily, I held this ball for them to have
a night of fun." The maid placed her hand on Weiss' shoulder, smiling. "And you
seem to be having fun too. To be honest, I was getting worried about you.
You've been working really hard to the point of exhaustion… both mentally and
physically…"
Weiss sighed. That much was true. It was not like she did that to herself
intentionally. It was just that she wanted to please her father by working hard
and protecting her country from harm of monsters and other countries that may
have a vendetta against them. "Yes I know. Thank you, my servant, for worrying
about me. I have indeed been working myself to the bone and I will try my best
to not work myself too hard after this night." She says this, but more than
likely she will return to her usual work tomorrow… 'Sorry, that might be a bit
of a lie' She thought in her head as she sees the maid nod in response. "Good
to hear. Well, if you excuse me, your highness…" The maid bowed before heading
off.
Weiss took her glass of grape juice and downed it one go before setting back on
the table. She was in the mood to do some dancing of her own. However, she
didn't feel like dancing without a partner. Most of her people here seem to be
dancing with a partner and she didn't want to feel left out. The princess was
quite nervous… she never really asked anybody to have a dance with her… or even
have anybody ask her for one. Throughout all of her life, she never had a
friend to call her own. Sure she had her servants, but they were just that and
nothing more. She was mostly kept in the castle to learn from her father how to
become a proper princess, so her social life was seriously lacking.
'How would I go about this? Uh…" Weiss pondered to herself, putting a finger to
her chin in thought. 'Hello citizen, I… I demand that you have a dance with me,
Princess Weiss.' She wondered if that sounded sudden and rude. Nah, couldn't
be. Her father taught her that she should assert dominance over her people.
Something like that is bound to work, right? She thought so at least.
As she was thinking this, she felt a sudden tap on her shoulder. Weiss was
about to shriek but held it back as best she could so it sounded more like a
gasp, before turning around and seeing who would dare interrupt her thoughts
and the gall to startle her. Before her was a blonde haired woman about 2
inches taller than her in a simple red dress that offered a generous amount of
cleavage to the beholder. She was also wearing matching red high heels and a
masquerade mask that obscured everything but her mouth.
"E-Excuse me, miss. Would you like a… d-dance with me?" The blonde woman asked.
Weiss couldn't tell with the mask, but she assumed the other woman must be
blushing under it. She seemed quite shy if the stuttering didn't give it away…
unless her presence made her nervous as she is a princess after all. 'Huh, how
bold for a woman to ask a princess for a dance.' There wasn't anything wrong
with it. Weiss made it perfectly clear that people can do whatever they want
with their love life, it was none of her concern. Now in terms of her own
sexuality, she doesn't really want to label herself as anything. It all comes
down to finding the right person, gender aside.
"My, aren't you a brave one?" Weiss decided to humor her. She was going to ask
around, but this was convenient. It must have taken this woman a lot of courage
to ask and she had to commend her for that. "Well… perhaps…" The princess
smiled as she watched the blonde woman shift nervously. "P-perhaps…?" The
princess dared to take the blonde woman's right hand and held it up. "Well I
would first like to know the name of the partner I am dancing with…" She gave
the hand she held a slight squeeze and the mysterious blonde squirmed a bit.
Weiss saw in her peripheral vision that people were starting to take notice of
her exchange with this woman. She didn't care. She just wanted to have fun.
Dancing with a woman isn't a problem. If they did have a problem… they'll have
to deal with her guards. The blonde hesitated for a moment before answering.
"My name is E… Emerald" The princess raised an eyebrow in response. While she
wasn't very good at catching lies… especially since she can't see the blonde's
eyes, she knew that was a false name. 'She must have her reasons for hiding her
name since she is also wearing a mask to hide her face. This isn't a masquerade
ball.' She thought as she pulled them over to the dance floor. "Well then,
'Emerald', why don't we dance, hmm?"
"Right…" The blonde nervously placed her hand on the back of Weiss' shoulder
and the princess placed her hand on her shoulder. The two entwined their other
hands and then they began to dance to the music that was playing. Step, touch,
step, touch, step, and touch. They moved about the dance floor with almost
mesmerizing elegance. Weiss stared up where Emerald's eyes were, wishing she
could see her eyes, but she didn't want to intrude on someone's personal
business. "So tell me, what made you want to dance with me, hmm?" Weiss decided
to make small talk with the mysterious woman. "W-Well I thought you that you
looked beautiful… very much so…" The blonde looked to the side as if to hide a
blush, but that move was pointless as the mask already hid it.
Weiss grinned as she felt herself being dipped by the blonde. "Oh? Well tell me
something I don't know… come on…" As she waited for an answer, she felt unease…
as if there was somebody… or something… watching her. 'What is this menacing
feeling…?' She thought as she was pulled up back into position to continue
dancing with her partner. "Um… well ok… excuse my french… but you have some
fine ass legs…" The princess giggled, that definitely wasn't something she
heard people compliment about. It was either about her breasts or her beauty in
general, never about her legs. She guessed this woman was really into a woman's
legs. 'That's a fetish I don't see often…'
Before Weiss could comment, she heard a multitude of screams from behind her.
Both her and Emerald immediately broke off and turned their attention to what
was causing the screams. What they saw, shocked them. There, near the entrance
to the ballroom were 3 monsters this country has never seen before. All 3 of
them were covered from head to toe in what seemed like tar. Their shape looked
more akin to a wolf. Their eyes were a tad unusual… they just looked like red
swirls.
"MONSTERS?! How did they get in?" Weiss stood her ground as the crowd of people
rushed past her to safety. The blonde behind her however, stayed behind as if
planning to back her up. "When I find my guards… if they are alive… they are
going to get quite the scolding… and get fired…" The princess reached out with
her right hand and concentrated. "SNOW BREAKER! COME FORTH!" The place felt a
chill as the sword materialized in her hand. A sword with a bluish white blade
with snowflake patterns across it. Emerald could tell that just by being near
it, she was feeling quite cold.
The wolves that looked covered in tar howled and dashed on over to Weiss, ready
to strike. Their teeth were bared, ready to bite and shred. Weiss dashed
forward to strike one of them with her sword. Woosh. The blade didn't connect
with anything as the wolf had jumped right over her attack. Weiss quickly
jumped out of the way when the wolf overhead tried to attack with its paw.
Landing quite aways from the wolves, Weiss quickly pointed her sword at them.
"Ice Blast!" A beam emitted from the blade and connected with each of the
wolves and upon impact, ice crystals burst out and then combust. The wolves
looked unamused as they didn't seem damaged in the slightest. The princess'
eyes widened in response. No way. No damage at all? Just what are these
creatures she was fighting?
"LOOK OUT!" Weiss heard Emerald's warning and turned around, but before she
could react, she took a strong punch to the face. The princess was sent flying
across the room and into the buffet table, knocking everything on it to either
the floor or on her. Weiss wiped off the bits of food off her face so she can
see who her attacker was. The first thing she saw was Emerald struggling with
the attacker. The attacker seemed to be a knight in black armor with what
looked like a scream mask. His or her hair… if one could call it that, looked
it was just… spider legs? What kind of abomination is this?
"Fool!" The attacker lifted Emerald up by her neck, choking her to the brink of
death, before tossing her at Weiss. The white haired woman gasped and tried to
catch her, but the force of the throw was too powerful for her to safely catch
her. They both slammed into the wall, making an indent in it. Weiss groaned in
pain, she was on the verge of unconsciousness as the mysterious attacker walked
up to her slowly with the 3 wolves following. The blonde woman in her arms was
simply unconscious. While she was thankful she wasn't dead… it doesn't look
like they will survive for much longer… she no longer had the strength to get
up and fight back.
"Princess Weiss of Snowtramine…" The attacker started, hovering over Weiss.
"You best get ready… Your country… and soon the entire world… will know the
Nightmare Purge…" A menacing laugh erupted from it as Weiss started to join her
companion into the realm of unconsciousness. "Before you go… have this as a
friendly reminder!" The last thing Weiss felt was teeth burrowing into her
right arm…
                                       …
Weiss sat up from her bed, sweating and panting. She looked around frantically,
quickly seeing if anybody was around. Silence. All there was is absolute
silence. The princess, relieved that it was just a dream, quickly laid back
down. "That was wild…" She remarked as she wiped off the sweat with her hand.
Then… she felt something… something that shouldn't be there if that was a
dream. Something warm was trickling down her right arm. She sat up again and
rolled up her sleeve. There on her arm was a bite mark… a bite that looked it
came from a monster of some kind. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"W-W-What… the...?"
***** Dreamcatcher Sword? *****
The sun peeked over the horizon to greet the other side of the Earth to a
bright new day. The sunlight hit everywhere it could reach, including this one
cave where a naked blonde woman in her late teens was sleeping in. Also
sleeping next to her were a pack of 5 wolves. A strange sight to be sure.
Normally you wouldn't see humans and wolves being near proximity of each other
without the wolves trying to maul the human or vice versa if the human wished
to hunt wolves.
The blonde woman stirred, bothered by the light. She slowly opened her eyes and
then placed a hand over her eyes to block out the sun so her eyes can adjust.
"Sun, can you please come back in like 10 minutes..?" She yawned and stretched
her arms. Her actions caused the wolves around her to lift their heads to look
at who disturbed their sleep. Seeing that it was just the human they came to
know, they brought their heads back down as if to go back to sleep. The woman
noticed and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry… didn't mean to wake you…" The wolves
paid her no mind as she got up from the cold cave floor.
"Well, I guess I should go hunt for our breakfast…" The blonde muttered to
herself as she walked to another part of the cave to grab her clothes. There
wasn't much in this cave that she and the wolves lived in. There was a box with
her clothes in, a metal baseball bat, a backpack, and a desk with a chair. On
the desk was some school papers. Apparently this woman was still attending
school, despite living somewhere in the forest with some wolves.
The blonde rummaged through her box of clothing to find a set of clothes to
wear for today. "Hmm, should I be wearing anything right now? While I have to
hunt for my family, today is a school day... And I don't really want to soil my
clothes while out and about." She got up from looking into her box and grabbed
her baseball bat. Before she went out, she remembered that she just had a
really weird dream that she can't really ignore.
"What was that dream? I don't normally dream of something like that…"In her
dream, she was at the ballroom of this country's princess, Weiss. While she
never seen the princess in person, only in magazines and newspapers at her
school's library, it was quite weird that her dream was able to create Weiss in
such detail that it almost felt real. "And I danced with her… Yeesh, didn't
think the dream me would ever have the guts to ask a girl to dance… much less
the princess of my country!"She blushed heavily. She always had trouble
approaching people. That has gotten better though as she has been more outgoing
in her video game club at school.
And it was no secret that she was into girls. Ever since she was 8, before a
certain incident occurred that led to where she is now, she always commented
about how very pretty or very cute the women she saw on TV were. She felt like
she wanted to be close to them, but not sure why. As she grew older, she came
to realize that her "taste" is labeled as one being a Lesbian. While it was OK
in this country to love people of the same gender as you are, which she thanks
Weiss for making it legal, there were still people that were opposed to it. She
did become saddened about that fact, but she had no reason to hide. Her club
knows about her preferences and even some of her classmates. Her wolf family,
while she has told them, didn't react much to the news, probably because they
don't understand what their human is talking about. All they did was simply
tilt their head in response.
"More importantly though…"There was the other part of her dream she didn't
understand. Some person rudely crashed the party with some weird tar looking
wolves. The person literally looked like something from someone's nightmare.
Definitely not her nightmare… her nightmares are more… personal. When she tried
to fight off the person from attacking Weiss… it actually felt like she was
there, experiencing all the effort and pain in doing it. It also felt real when
she smacked right into Weiss herself… Unfortunately, that is as far as her
dream goes. She was more than likely knocked out and that was the end of it.
The back of her head throbbed in pain when she remembered it. She groaned and
clutched the back of her head. "Dreams are… not supposed to hurt people
physically… right?" She thought about it for a moment to rationalize why her
head hurts.
There was only one rational solution to why, and that is she must have knocked
her head somewhere while sleeping. She was sleeping on the cold cave floor
after all… No pillows or any of that nonsense. And the strange, scary person is
probably because she watched a horror movie yesterday at a theater. Satisfied
with her reasoning, she decided not to think too much about it. Dreams are a
weird thing… they can seem real and have some randomness to them. With that,
she headed out to look for a moose or something relatively big to feed her
family. While a baseball bat is not something particularly effective in killing
any prey she finds, especially ones that are big and can easily put a good
fight with her, she is confident in her skills since she has been out in the
wild for a long time now.
                                       …
A bloody baseball bat fell to the ground as the wielder of it panted in
exhaustion. The moose that fell victim to the baseball bat's power, fell to the
ground dead. The woman wiped the sweat off her brow as she looked at her kill.
While it is never pleasant for her to kill animals, it is something that needs
to be done. Everybody has to do a necessary evil now and then. It just so
happens that hers involves hunting animals on a daily basis just so her family
stays fed. Not a family you normally expect for a hunter… but a family
nonetheless. She doesn't eat the food she hunts. It is not something she should
do anyways since it is not cooked… and her wolf family doesn't particularly
care as they eat it raw regardless. So, she eats at school where they do give
out free breakfast and even free lunch since the country is doing great
economically thanks to Weiss' greatest efforts.
"Ok guys, eat up…" The blonde woman called out to the wolves hiding in some
tall grass from behind her. She knew she was being followed after leaving the
cave for a bit. The five wolves happily came out of hiding and started eating
the poor lifeless body of the moose. She grimaced, watching the sight, still
not quite used to see them tear into their food so… viciously.
She took a look at herself. She was covered in the moose's blood from the neck
down and some had even splattered on her face. A bath in the river is indeed
needed before she sets off for school. The blonde sighed and picked up her
baseball bat. "I will be seeing you guys later... Love you!" She waved farewell
to them. They howled in response before continuing their feasting.
It took her a good 10 or so minutes to reach the river. She placed her baseball
bat against a rock as she walked a little ways into the river before sitting
down to start cleaning herself. While not an ideal place to bathe… she had no
other choice. Sure, there was the option to go to school to shower… but she was
not about to go there with blood all over her. People will get the wrong idea
if she did.
As she started cleaning her arms… she heard a twig snap not too far away. Her
head turned to the direction of the noise. She saw someone dive into the grass
to hide themselves, but too bad for them, she caught sight of them. She was
surprised to see someone out in the wilderness this early in the morning
though. With a sigh, she called out to the bad sneaker. "Come out… if you show
yourself… I may not hit you with my baseball bat for perving on a girl taking a
bath…"
The grass shifted for a moment, as if the person was contemplating whether or
not to show themselves. She heard a sigh, before she saw the person come out of
hiding. The person in question was in black clothes from head to toe. A black
cap, black hoodie, and black cargo pants. The person is male, she noted,
looking at this man's handsome face and his alluring emerald green eyes. If she
was straight, she would definitely find this man attractive. "And who do I owe
the pleasure of seeing in all my naked glory?" She somewhat teased the man. He
gave her a big toothy grin in response. "Well, m'lady, you are talking to Fille
Beau…" He introduced with a slight french accent that sounded almost feminine.
The man then bowed respectively. She raised an eyebrow at the name, noting that
he must be foreign if the accent didn't give it away.
"My name is Emma. I am not obligated to give you my last name…" She said as she
placed her hands behind her head. "So… what brings you here? Have business with
me besides sneaking looks at my body…?" Fille scratched his face for a moment.
Not bothered to be accused of perving on her. "I am doing some investigations
of some strange happenings I've been noticing in these lands…" Emma let out a
'huh' in response. She motioned for him to continue. "I gotta ask you, have you
been having weird dreams lately?"
"Weird dreams…? Well, what kind of weird are we talking here?" She questioned,
curious to know where this is going. While she has an idea of what he is
talking about, it is best she knows more before jumping the gun. Fille inched
closer but stopped before entering the river. "Weird dreams that almost seem
real. Me and a few of the people I've come to know have been having them for a
few days now. And what is strange is that we've all seen a person… male or
female… with a scream mask in every dream. Now, do ya happen to have a dream
like that?" He took out a notepad, ready to jot down whatever response she may
have.
"Actually, I did have one just last night. I was in this country's castle
dancing with a girl." She stopped to take a look at his reaction. He didn't
appear to be bothered by the fact that she danced with a girl in her dreams.
She smiled inwardly, noting that this person isn't a bad guy… for now. Choosing
to leave out the detail of who the girl was, she continued, "Then all of a
sudden, somebody crashed the party with tar wolves… and that somebody was
indeed wearing a Scream mask."
Fille jotted down this info in his notepad. "And what did this person do
afterwards? Please describe everything to the best of your ability…" Emma
looked up to the sky, thinking everything that transpired in this dream. "Well,
the person attacked me and my dance partner. I tried to resist, but I was
inevitably thrown into my dance partner and I was unfortunately knocked out."
She bit her lip… there was something else before she was knocked out… She heard
someone speak… and it certainly wasn't Weiss. "Is that it?" The man inquired.
She quickly shook her head as she may as well mention this to him.
"There is something…" She clutched both sides of her head… trying to remember.
"Nightmare Purge…"It just hit her. That was what the person said. She relayed
the message to Fille, who simply nodded and jotted it down for reference. "I
see. So the same 'Scream' person came in your dream too and said something
about a Nightmare Purge? Interesting… this is valuable info… Thank you." He
gave her a bright smile. "Well, I've taken enough of your time… and privacy…
I'll be on my way." He put away his notepad, bowed farewell and turned to walk
away.
"Wait!" Fille halted, but didn't turn around. "Could you explain the part about
these strange happenings?" Emma wanted to at least know about this part before
he left. The man was quiet for a moment before turning his head in her
direction. "Some monsters we haven't seen before have been popping up to the
south of this land. They only show up at night though. And there hasn't been a
report of an attack just yet… but I advise that you be careful… they may come…
soon." With that, he walked away, leaving Emma in the river to contemplate what
he just said.
"New monsters…?"
                                       …
"I want all of you to do 20 push-ups! Do it now!" The gym teacher blew the
whistle and the students groaned and went down to the ground to do the 20
requested. For Emma, doing 20 was a easy thing to accomplish after being out in
the wild for so long. She did them as fast as she possibly could and then stood
back up. She looked over to her fellow classmates… more specifically, her
female classmates, who are still taking their time in doing their 20.
"Man, I love gym class… probably not for the same reason others would like it…
but…"The reason why she loves gym class was because she loved seeing girls in
shorts so she can see their lovely legs. That's right… she is a leg girl. Tits
and ass may be life and hometown for lots of people… but for her it is all
about the legs. "So many girls in shorts or even short shorts… Thank you god
for letting girls have such beautiful legs!"The blonde thought to herself.
Once her class was finished with the 20, the gym teacher ordered them to find a
partner to do some sit-ups. Emma shrugged and decided to lean on the brick wall
behind her. She was never one to go actively look for a partner. Technically
she should be fixing this if she wants to be more outgoing, but old habits die
hard they say. Fortunately it only took about 30 seconds before one of her
female classmates decided to walk up to her. A redheaded girl with a lean body,
brown eyes, and sporting an A-cup. Emma knew this girl. She is a honor roll
student by the name of Jessica Ruben. While they don't talk much to each other,
they are least on good terms with one another.
"Hey, Emma, want to be partners? And by the way, don't think I didn't see you
sneak a peek at my legs." Yep, this girl knew about Emma's fetish. While she
wasn't particularly bothered by Emma's sexual preferences, she wasn't going to
let some girl ogle her go scot free. Emma simply just grinned sheepishly in
response. "What can I say? When I see a pair of good legs, I just love to
stare." Jessica smacked her arm in response and the blonde feigned hurt.
"Pervert. Anyways, let's begin our sit-ups shall we…? And no, you may not stare
at my legs on your way up…" Emma pouted. "Spoiled sport… that's the best part…"
Emma laid down on the floor with her knees up in the air while Jessica held her
feet down. With her hands behind her head, she began to do her sit-ups. The
redhead bit her bottom lip as she watched the blonde closely. "Hey, Emma, mind
if I tell you something crazy?" The blonde looked at her, not once stopping her
exercise. "Shoot." She didn't see why not.
"Well, I heard this rumor that a legendary sword may appear sometime soon in
this land. Something about it being a whole century since it was last seen.
They say that this legendary sword can capture any dream and or nightmare… just
like a Dreamcatcher." Emma cocked an eyebrow at that. Once again, the subject
of dreams has been brought up. Could just be pure coincidence but… "Ok… Where
did you hear this?" Jessica sighed and looked to the side. "Heard it from some
boys when I was on my way to school. They talked about it like it was a real
thing…"
There seemed to be something else the redhead wasn't telling her… but Emma
didn't want to pry. She considered the possibilities in her head as she
continued her sit-ups. It sounded like Jessica almost believed in this rumor
but seemed too embarrassed to admit it. So, that meant that she either saw
something about it… or…no… she shook her head… That connection didn't make any
sense. "Why did you just shake your head?" Jessica asked, confused. "Pay me no
mind… just thinking to myself." Emma reassured her. "Anyways, huh, a legendary
sword that captures dreams and nightmares…" Dreamcatcher aside, what is the
point of the sword then. Swords are a weapon either meant for dueling or just
hurting/killing someone. Is it supposed to be two things in one? If she wanted
to kill someone, she rather just have a sword. If she wanted a Dreamcatcher,
she would get a Dreamcatcher.
"Sounds like a load of crock if you ask me…" The blonde responded. Jessica
sighed and nodded. "Yeah… you are probably right… Just thought I'd let you
know… you know for funsies." Emma knew that was a lie, but didn't call her out
on it. It did make her curious though. Perhaps she shall do some research in
the library once lunch break starts.
                                       …
"Ugh. I hate Cheese Pizza day…" Emma complained as she walked out of the
cafeteria. Not that she hated Cheese Pizza. It is ok. Just the mere idea of
just having a pizza with no toppings is like admitting defeat in life. She made
her way to the library. The library wasn't too big. It had maybe 5 rows of
bookshelves. A couple of tables and chairs in the back. Some of them had
computers on it for school work only, but not like the librarian cares all that
much what they do on it. As long as they don't disturb others, it was fine.
"Hello, Mr. Dawson." Emma greeted to the librarian as she made her way inside.
The bald old man at the desk was reading a newspaper and didn't even look her
way. All she got was a grunt in response.
The blonde made her way over to a computer and sat herself down. She typed in
the password for guest users and signed herself in. She then clicked the Google
Chrome button to bring up the internet browser. "Let's see here…" Emma decided
to put the thing in Incognito mode and began her research. She typed,
'Dreamcatcher sword', in the search bar.
There appeared to only be one relevant article. The rest just talks about
Dreamcatchers in general. Emma read the title, "Hmm, The Legendary Dreamcatcher
Sword". She clicked on it and a small article appeared with just one pic. She
took a gander at the pic and it was a long sword with the Dreamcatcher symbol
embedded at the top of the blade. The base of the sword and the hand guard were
made of what looked like to be gold. Attached to the hand guard was some
strings that dangled some black feathers to complete the whole Dreamcatcher
theme. Emma whistled softly in appreciation. "Cool. Course, could be really
good Photoshop work." She looked at the actual article now and began to read.
The Dreamcatcher Sword is an ancient weapon made in June 1st, 1924. It was
specifically made to capture any dream or nightmare that have emerged from the
realm of sleep into the waking world. The weapon is made with powerful magic
and it can be said that the sword itself has become a living thing. It is a
very picky sword, only those with a huge amount of bravery and strong dreams
may wield it. There has only been one record of anybody wielding it and that
was the owner itself. The owner was last seen with the sword in the Snowtramine
Clock tower fighting a large pile of rotting corpses that formed into this
gigantic monster. The owner won, but they then disappeared without a trace,
along with the sword. That event happened on June 12th, 1924. No one knows
where the owner is... or where the sword is for that matter. Who is this owner?
Well they are... 010100010101010110101010000110101010101
Emma raised an eyebrow. Did she read that right? What is with the zeroes and
ones at the end? Is the article glitched or something? Or was the author of
this article a troll? She looked at the date of publication and noticed that
this was made in 1990... Where the internet was still very new and fresh. She
scratched her head in disbelief. Something is not sitting right with her. An
article like this existed back then, so it probably can't be a troll, and if
they were, what was the point? Another question, where did those boys get the
idea that the so called sword will be appearing soon? From this article, as far
as she can see, there was nothing indicating that the sword was returning
unless they read it before this glitch happened... if it is one. Well, no
matter, she'll think about this another time maybe. if that is everything, her
research is done. She looked at the date shown at the bottom right of her
screen.
"Well, today is June 9th. So, in 3 days, a century will have passed since this
'event'. I don't believe in this story much… but hey, you never know…" Emma was
about to exit the browser when an ad popped up, saying that the princess of
Snowtramine, Weiss, is making a live broadcast. The blonde's right eyebrow
raised in response. "Huh, what does the beautiful princess have to say?" She
grabbed the headphones that were on the table and placed them before clicking
on the ad.
She was taken to a live broadcast and the first thing she sees is Weiss on the
podium outside of her castle. "Greetings, my lovely people of Snowtramine. As
your princess, I have grown concerned about the low spirits everybody is in
thanks to the rise in monster population… Fear not though, those monsters will
be taken care of in due time. To keep your mind off of them even if just for a
little while… I decided that I shall hold a big ball for you all! Yes, all of
you! You are all welcome to enjoy yourselves at my greatest ball yet this
Saturday!" Emma hears the cheers of the people gathered at the castle. The
blonde bit her lip… this was just like her dream. What was going on? Surely
this wasn't pure coincidence… can it?
***** Something fishy about that clock *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
                               2 days earlier...
 
“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” A young brunette woman cried out as she was chased by
a boulder that was ready to squish her like a pancake. Carried under her arm
was a golden statue of a rattlesnake. She jumped over death pits and nearly
avoided arrows that came out of the walls. The exit was so close… she could
feel it. “I am not gonna die today! I will get away with this ancient
artifact.”
 
The boulder was creeping closer and the brunette put all her energy in running
faster. The gate was closing ahead of her, not wanting the intruder to escape
alive. She grit her teeth and launched herself to the gate. She narrowly
avoided being squished by the gate as she landed outside of the temple,
knocking off her square rimmed glasses in the process. The gate closed behind
her and the temple shook as the boulder collided with the gate, causing the
whole temple to tremble for a bit before finally settling.
 
The young woman breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat off her brow.
That was too close for comfort. And to think that Indiana Jones deals with this
shit on a regular basis. She reached for her glasses, dusted them off, and
placed it back on. Once that is done, she took a better look at her prize.
“Hmm… this will get me a good amount of money at the Snowtramine Museum.”
 
A buzzing sound interrupted her thoughts about the money she will get. She
reached into her pocket and pulled out her smartphone, immediately seeing the
screen somewhat cracked thanks to her reckless escape. She groaned. “Ugh,
that’s my 5th one…” The caller’s name was familiar to her, so she swiped the
answer call and held the phone up to her ear. “Yuna Yume speaking. I’m all
ears.” She says her usual opening greeting.
 
“Must you say that every single time?” A male voice groaned out. Yuna frowned
in response. “Oh come on, it lets the caller know who they are speaking to
right away so that if they called the wrong number, they know right away. If it
isn’t a wrong number, they may start speaking their business.” If Yuna didn’t
know better, she could have sworn the man she was acquainted with was
facepalming.
 
“That is unnecessary if you know who is calling… Oh whatever, I am not here to
listen to your foolish ways…” The man sighed. Yuna chose not to comment on the
rude statement he just made and just waited for him to get on with it so she
can bring her artifact to the Museum. “I have an assignment for you. I assume
you just finished up your own personal job of getting the Golden Rattlesnake?”
Yuna responded with a “Mhmmm” as she wondered what he could possibly want now.
“Well if you want some more money, you will be hard pressed to ignore this. I
hear there is an ancient weapon in the abandoned clock tower of Snowtramine.”
 
Yuna bit her lip. An ancient weapon at the old clock tower? “Um, you do know
that place is haunted and no one has been there in decades right?” The clock
tower has been abandoned for a long time due to the fact that ghosts have been
sighted. It is bad enough for people to avoid or fight monsters, it is another
thing entirely to face ghosts. There is nothing you can do against them. The
technology to create those weapons the Ghostbusters has had not yet been
produced.
 
“Of course I know that. You aren’t scared of ghosts last I checked unless that
was a fib.” Yuna assured him that it wasn’t. Ghosts, while a pain to deal with,
wasn’t something she was scared of. There is one thing she is terrified of, but
she wasn’t about to share that info with anybody.
 
“So, what is this ancient weapon you want me to find? Can you describe it?”
While she was willing to do a job for extra cash, there was something
suspicious about going into an abandoned haunted clock tower looking for this
weapon. From all the stories she heard about the tower, there was not one
mention that such a thing was in there before it was abandoned.
 
“You will know when you see it. Just head to the top, find a secret door, and
you’ll find it.” Yuna scrunched up her face in thought. It is not like him to
not describe the targeted item of interest.
 
“Well, sure. I’ll do it.”
 
“Good. Rest assured, you will be paid greatly for your service.” He hung up.
Yuna put the smartphone back into her pocket and crossed her arms. Something
seemed off. Years of experience is telling her that she may fall into a trap…
but would he do that? The brunette scratched her head, wondering if she was
overthinking things.
 
“Well, first things first. I have to show this to the Museum and then get my
money.” She brought the Golden Rattlesnake statue to her face and kissed it.
“Oops.” Her lipstick got on the statue. She pulled out a cloth and quickly
wiped it away. “This should be more than enough to pay for rent this month.”
 
                                       …
 
Yuna entered the Museum with a suitcase containing the Golden Rattlesnake. She
quickly looked around the place. There didn’t seem to be that much people here.
Just a few attendees and some staff. She feels like whenever she goes to this
Museum, she wishes everything comes to life like that movie, Night at the
Museum, just for funsies. “Seems slow today. Well maybe this baby will attract
more attention later.” She patted her suitcase affectionately.
 
“Hey, you, can I have a moment of your time?”
 
The brunette turned her attention to a handsome man in a black hat, black
shirt, black cargo pants, and finally black tennis shoes.  This guy likes
black.  She thought as the man approached her. Yuna also noted that this man
has mesmerizing emerald green eyes. Her favorite color. A small blush formed at
how attractive this man is.
 
“Are you blushing?” The man teased her with his thick french accent. The
brunette blushed harder and waved her hands in front of her face.
 
“No, no, no, I am not! Don’t look at me!” She quickly grabbed her paper bag
from her pocket and placed it over her head. The bag had eye holes so she could
still see what was in front of her.
 
“Heh. Adorable.”
 
“I AM NOT! DON’T YOU LIE TO ME!” She yelled, embarrassed to no end. There was
just no way she was adorable, she was just a plain girl, and plain means bad.
Not as bad as ugly, but still bad! The man decided not to tease her anymore as
now it was just getting sad and he was wasting time.
 
“So, you are the infamous Yume Yuna, right? The new brave explorer of the
world?” The man asked.
 
Yuna raised an eyebrow in response. “It is the other way around with my name.”
 
The man shrugged, “Well your name is clearly Japanese. Yume is the Japanese
word for ‘Dream’. And I believe Yuna, means “Night” in Okinawa. So, since you
are Japanese, I referred to you the proper way, last name first, first name
last.”
 
“Oh that. I completely forgot about that. I don’t personally care which way you
call me. Japanese culture aside.” Yuna waved him off. It is not everyday in a
foreign land that you temporarily live in that you hear somebody address you
from where you originally came from.
 
“Yuna then. And since I know your name, only fair to share mine. Fille Beau,
pleasure to make your acquaintance, mademoiselle.” He took off his hat,
revealing his short black hair, placed his hat on his chest, took a short bow,
before putting it back on. Yuna blushed a bit. Good thing this paper bag was
still over her head. “Now, back to the matter I was going to address before we
got distracted…” He cleared his throat before getting out his notebook.
 
“Yuna, have you been having any strange dreams lately?” The brunette scratched
at her paper bag in thought. Strange dreams, huh? What a weird thing to ask.
This man looks to be a detective, so why is he asking about something so…
trivial?
 
“Well I have been having more nightmares recently… does that count?”
 
“And can you tell me what has been happening in these nightmares…? And can you
take that paper bag off? It is hard to take you seriously with that thing on.”
 
Yuna reluctantly took off her paper bag. “Sorry.” She crossed her arms over her
chest in thought. She doesn’t really want to share anything that gives info on
her life, so, she’ll give him the bare essentials. “Hmm, some strange monsters
I’ve never seen or dreamt about before. That was common in most of the
nightmares I had recently.”
 
She had a nightmare just last night that had those strange monsters. There were
some big tar covered bumblebees with those crazy swirly red eyes. She has
melissophobia. The fact they were even more freaky didn’t help matters. Yuna
gave this info to Fille to give him some context.
 
“I see. Bees covered in tar and have red swirly eyes…” Fille tapped his
notebook with his pen. “As I thought, you seem to be having similar dreams that
others had when I talked to them.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
photo. He handed the photo over to her for her to look at. Yuna sees that in
the photo there were 3 trolls, all covered in tar and has red swirly eyes to
boot, similar to the bumblebees in her nightmares. It was taken at night and in
the background there was an abandoned shed.
 
“I spotted these creatures not too far off in the south. I spotted them only a
night though.” He explained. “I looked everywhere for them in the day but I saw
no hide or hair of them.” He took back the photo from her and placed it back in
his pocket. “These creatures are definitely new. The fact that people have been
having nightmares about these creatures is certainly not coincidence,
especially when they haven’t seen them before.”
 
“What do you think it means?”
 
“I am not sure yet. I don’t have anything concrete. For the time being I am
just calling them Nightmares. How and why they show up is anybody’s guess. I am
searching for the answers myself.” Fille placed the notebook back into his
pocket. He held out his hand and Yuna reluctantly grabbed it in a shake. “It
was nice meeting you, Yuna. I’ll be going now. Perhaps we’ll meet again
someday.” He gave her a toothy grin and a wink before heading out the museum.
 
Yuna blushed heavily and placed a hand over her chest as if to calm it down.
“Handsome men these days…” She cleared her throat. “Okay whew, now that that is
out of the way…” Yuna picked up her suitcase and headed towards the office
where the owner probably was.
 
                                       …
 
“1.5 million euros… jesus.” Yuna exclaimed out loud to herself as she hauled
out a very heavy suitcase containing the money. She definitely has enough for
this month’s rent for her house in this country. Hell she could pay off the
whole house if she wants to and still have leftover money to buy some good
stuff.
 
The curator was ecstatic to have such an ancient artifact brought to his
museum. Many people dared to enter that temple but all have perished in there
before even touching the statue. Yuna expected to be offered one million euros
at most… but 1.5 million euros?! She almost fainted.
 
A huge limousine pulled up right in front of her, breaking her out of her
thoughts.The driver got out and opened the door, revealing the beautiful
princess herself, Weiss Shinrai, and 2 of her bodyguards. Yuna was star struck
as the princess carefully got out. She appeared to be in a white fur coat
draped over a blue sparkly dress and some blue high heels to match.
 
“Ah, hello citizen.” The princess greeted with a beaming smile. Weiss looked
Yuna up and down and realized something about the person before her. “Oh. You
aren’t a citizen. You are the great, Yuna Yume, right? The new famous
adventurer?” She placed a hand on her hip, waiting for her to answer. Yuna
blushed furiously, while she wanted to hide in her paper bag just like she did
with Fille, she wasn’t about to do something like that in front of someone of
royalty, she’ll never live it down.
 
“Y-Yes. I am Yuna Yume.” She replied a bit bashfully, never in her lifetime did
she think she would be acknowledged by someone of royalty.
 
“Hmm… you look a lot taller than what the magazines made you out to be.” Weiss
noted, “Not that it is a bad thing.” Her two bodyguards whispered something in
her ear and she scoffed, waving them off. “You two be quiet, I can do whatever
I wish. I am a princess, hear me roar.”
 
Yuna felt like she should skedaddle before she does something embarrassing in
front of this woman. “Well, was nice meeting you, your highness, but I have
somewhere I need to be… toodles!” She tried to flee, but Weiss grabbed the back
of her shirt before she made any leeway. Yuna tried to get out of her grip, but
the princess is surprisingly strong. Well, makes sense. This princess is known
for doing a lot of work that involves manual labor.
 
“Now hold on… I wasn’t done with you…” Weiss pulled her back in. The princess
looked at the suitcase she had and then turned Yuna around so she could look
her in the eyes. “Am I correct in assuming you just nabbed one of my country’s
oldest treasures and sold it to the museum?”  
 
“I did… Is that a problem?” Yuna asked. Hoping it wasn’t something that irked
the beautiful princess. Thankfully, she didn’t look bothered by the fact. The
white haired woman just smiled and let go of her.
 
“Well, you certainly have a lot of skill. You are quite… ‘legit’... if that is
what people say these days.” Weiss commented, quite unsure if that was the
right word. Yuna just shrugged, wanting to hightail it out of here if she is
quite finished. The princess appeared to be in thought for a moment before
snapping her fingers.
 
“I know. I have a favor to ask of you. I could use someone of your skill level
since nobody has the gall to bother.” Yuna looked at her confused. What could
the princess possibly want to ask of her? The princess reached into her fur
coat and pulled out a photo. She handed it to her. It was that old clock tower
she was just about to go to. “Can you head over there and investigate something
for me. Some people have been sending complaint letters about the clock tower
being very noisy for the past week and it has been driving me nuts.” The
princess sighed. Wondering why she has to deal with this stuff. “I’d do it
myself, I honestly would, but I just don’t have time to deal with every single
drivel my citizens spit out at me. Just find out what is causing it and deal
with it if you can. If you succeed, I will award you citizenship and a custom-
made pickaxe suited to your adventuring needs by yours truly. I hear you are
quite fond of pickaxes.”
 
Yuna’s eyes widened. A custom-made pickaxe by the princess of Snowtramine?! She
definitely can’t deny a deal as sweet as that. Her old pickaxe from her
childhood is on its last legs and she has been meaning to get a new one, but
now, she can get a custom-made one from Princess Weiss herself as she is known
for making great weapons all thanks to her late father, King Raymond.
 
“So, do we have a deal?” The princess asked.
 
“ABSOLUTELY!” Yuna yelled out excitedly, but then covered her mouth when she
realized how loud she was. Tears trickled down her face from embarrassing
herself in front of Weiss. The princess looked at her funny, but chose not to
comment. The brunette really wanted to hide now, she gone and made a fool of
herself.
 
“U-Um… anyways… this is convenient for me. I was about to head there anyways
once I brought the money home as I do have another assignment tied to that
place.” Yuna told the princess.
 
“Another assignment? What else could you possibly be doing over there, pray
tell?” The princess was confused. There was nothing over there that should
garner the attention of this young adventurer. She is only going after ancient
artifacts right? Unless her sources are wrong.
 
“A acquaintance of mine told me that an ancient weapon is being held in that
clock tower and he wants me to go fetch it.” Yuna explained. The Princess
looked at her 2 bodyguards and whispered to the both of them. The brunette
watched as the 3 whispered amongst themselves, wondering if there was something
wrong with her looking for this thing. In a minute or two, they turned to face
her again, the princess still having a confused look on her face.
 
“An ancient weapon… in that old clock tower? Why would such a thing be in
there? There have been no reports in all my father’s days of ruling this
country and my days so far as the new ruler that such a thing exists.” Weiss
looked over in the general direction of the clock tower. “All I’ve heard about
that place is death, ghosts, and now the recent complaints of loud noises
coming from it. Whoever your foolish friend is, I think they are lying to you.”
 
“Hey! Foolish is uncalled for! You don’t know him!” Yuna was offended that the
princess would say that about him. Sure it was a little fishy, but that didn’t
mean she could call him foolish. The princess crossed her arms and looked down
at her.
 
“Look, adventurer. I may not know the guy… but even I know that whatever you
are looking for does not exist in that tower. That clock tower was made in 1912
and abandoned in 1924 after a major accident in there resulting in the deaths
of 46 people. From my knowledge, no such weapon was put in there for any reason
before the tragedy and nobody in their right mind would put a weapon in there
after the tragedy when there are ghosts that haunt the place. Face it, your
friend is sending you there on some foolish errand that may not even be worth
it.”
 
“Well! You never know! Crazy people do crazy things all the time!” Yuna tried
to reason with her. The princess sighed and shook her head. She didn’t want to
waste energy on stupid stuff like this.
 
“Fine. Do whatever you want. Waste time finding that thing if you so desire. It
won’t be there… And while you are there, if you still choose to, find the
source of the loud noises and eliminate it.” Weiss walked to the entrance to
the museum. Once she was inside, she looked over her shoulder at Yuna. “Tata
for now. I have business I need to attend to here. Good luck.”
 
Yuna looked down the ground, clenching her fist. While there was some logic to
the princess’ reasoning, it kinda pissed her off that the princess would dare
say that her acquaintance is a fool. She raised her right hand out and
concentrated. A pickaxe materialized into her hand. It looked to be any normal
pickaxe, but this one had an extra blade at the top, good for stabbing forward
if the situation calls for it. The whole grip of the pickaxe is green, imbued
with the power of wind and earth.
 
“I’ll show you…” She grabbed her suitcase and ran off towards the clock tower.
Disregarding to put the money back at her house first for safekeeping…
 
                       Sometime later in another world…
                                        
“Katsuragi-san… can you please stop groping me so I can make these Futomaki?!”
A young woman with dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail with a white
ribbon. She has hazel eyes, about 5’1” in height, sporting a F cup, and wearing
a school uniform
 
Behind her was the current problem of the young woman. A blonde woman with blue
eyes, a few inches taller than the other woman, sporting a H cup, and wearing a
uniform unbuttoned, leaving the whole middle of her body exposed, just barely
covering the important bits. “But when I see these beautiful mountains of
flesh, I just can’t help myself! I just gotta touch them, Asuka!” She says as
she moves the other girl’s breasts around.
 
“U-Uuuguuu… Sometimes I wish my breasts were smaller…” Asuka muttered to
herself. She was going to make her friends some of the best futomaki they’ve
ever tasted, but now she can’t even concentrate when she is being groped by her
friend. “Seriously, stop, you are making me mad!”
 
“Just give me one more minute and then I’ll let you continue cooking…”
Katsuragi pleaded, still giving her breasts a rub.
 
Asuka grabbed a frying pan and was about to smack Katsuragi with it to fight
her off, but then she heard something. She looked up at the ceiling, wondering
where she heard that sound. “Did you hear something?” The blonde stopped
groping her for a second. She looked around, seeing if she can hear what Asuka
heard.
 
There was a faint cry of someone. It was getting more and more loud as time
went on and it was directly over them. The two girls looked at each other,
alarmed. Someone was about to crash land in here. They quickly separated from
each other and went to the corner of the room.
 
CRASH!
 
The person slammed into the ground where the two were previously standing,
bringing up some dust and other debris, ruining the food Asuka was preparing.
The two girls coughed and waved the dust particles out of their face as they
neared the person. When the dust settled, what was revealed to them was a young
girl about their age with brown hair, square-rimmed glasses, and b-cup breasts.
The girl’s clothes were shredded, revealing white undergarments. She seemed to
be ok, only sporting some cuts and bruises.
 
“Well… not everyday a cute girl crash lands in your academy.” Katsuragi
commented. Asuka paid her no mind and simply picked up the girl. She wondered
who she could be and how and why she crash landed here.
 
“Well, whoever she is, let’s get her healed up…”
 
Chapter End Notes
     A/N: What happened to Yuna between the time she went to the clock
     tower and when she landed in this world? You will find out, don't you
     worry! Thanks for reading!
***** Other Worlds? *****
The morning after the dream…
Weiss was sitting in the dining hall of her castle, picking at her pancakes
with her fork. Not exactly puncturing it so she can bring it to her mouth, just
enough to poke 3 holes in it. The maidservants watched the strange sight. It
was not everyday the princess decides to just play with her food and not eat
it. She seemed quite troubled about something, but they dare not ask, lest they
face the potential wrath of the princess.
The white haired girl eyed her right arm, which was now wrapped in bandages.
The maidservants were surprised and wondered what happened, but she assured
them it was nothing too severe and it was not because some intruder entered her
room. She bit her lip, wondering who that person in her dream was… and why is
it that when she is injured in her dream… the injury crossed over in the real
world.
She supposed that the person in her dream wasn’t kidding that she would be
getting a gift when she woke up. “What a gift… a painful one too…” She began to
actually cut into her pancakes and actually eat it. It was slightly cold, the
taste was borderline good, but at least it will get food in her system. She
rather not work on an empty stomach.
To distract herself, she thought about the actual good parts of the dream. Her
party… her dance with the mysterious blonde woman. Weiss blushed slightly, she
didn’t expect herself to dream about dancing with a girl… and in such vivid
detail too. She was having a lot of fun in that dream, all things considered.
“She called herself Emerald… but I doubt that was her real name…” Weiss
thought, but then she immediately shook her head. Why was she taking what that
woman said seriously? It was just a dream her mind conjured up… besides the
intruder of course. Saving that thought for later, she decided to finish up her
breakfast.
“Any requests and or messages today that require my attention?” Weiss asked to
her maidservants, not giving them a look their way.
“Hmm, only one today, and it is a request.” Replied one of the maidservants.
“And…?”
“It is from a detective… he says he wants your testimony on something…
peculiar…” The maidservant reluctantly spoke out. Weiss dropped her fork on her
plate and rested her head on her hand, thinking. One detective did stick out in
her mind and it was that handsome detective that came into her country 3 years
ago. He is an odd one. Always doing things alone and always taking on cases
that are quite mysterious.
“Hmm… must be Fille Beau that made that request.” Weiss picked up her fork and
started eating again. “Well, since he is the only request today… call him in at
around… 10:00 AM. I should have enough time to fulfill his request before I
start doing my work for today.”
“As you wish, your highness.”
If there is one thing people like about Weiss ever since she started ruling the
country is that she doesn’t do things you wouldn’t normally expect a princess
like her would do. Weiss will willingly listen to requests if she has time for
them. Sure there are times where she is too busy and will leave it to others to
deal with it, but for the most part, she will do the request simply because she
loves her people… Of course there are limitations to what request she’ll
actually do. Things like personal life problems, sex life, and the like are
forbidden and will be thrown away.
“He wants my testimony on… possibly a case he is working on… Hmm, what is that
silly detective up to now?” Weiss mumbled to herself. She finished up her
pancakes and let out a satisfied sigh. That should sustain her till dinner. She
had too many things to work on today to even bother with lunch. She isn’t a fan
of lunch anyways. Breakfast and Dinner were her favorite meal times.
“That will do. You may clean up.” The maidservants went to retrieve her now
finished plate and clean up the table, along with cleaning up any crumbs Weiss
may have unintentionally left on the floor. Weiss got up and stretched, noting
the long day ahead of her.
“By the way, your highness,”
“Yeah? Out with it.” Weiss summoned her sword to her side. Now that she had
some food in her, it was time for her to do some training.
“Did you manage to finish that request about the Clock Tower?”
The princess tapped her chin in thought. That’s right. She requested someone do
it in her stead as she was very busy that day. Yuna Yume… that adventurer. Now
that she thought of it, she hasn’t heard a word from that woman ever since she
met her at the Museum entrance. She was slightly concerned for that shy
adventurer… but she has been in more scary and dangerous places than the clock
tower. She is most likely fine… she hoped anyways.
“Well I was too busy to carry out that request, so I gave the request to an
adventurer. I promised her a reward if she succeeded, but I haven’t heard from
her since.” Weiss responded.
“I see. That is all, your highness, sorry to take up your time with that
question.”
Weiss waved it off and proceeded to head outside to the training grounds. If
she doesn’t hear from Yuna tomorrow, she’ll go check things out herself,
provided her schedule allows it.
…
“Goddammit…” A certain detective man grumbled as he slapped down some photos on
his desk. The photos were of those mysterious creatures that have been popping
up in Snowtramine lately. He even heard rumors that they have been popping
elsewhere in the world. He has been gathering a lot of testimonies lately, but
he barely got anywhere in finding out this mystery.
He sat down on his chair and interlaced his fingers, collecting his thoughts.
Those creatures that have been sighted in Snowtramine were also in people’s
dreams. To note, the people that dreamt of them has never seen them before, so
it being a coincidence is unfathomable.
“The Nightmares… where did they come from? Is it possible that they have
manifested into the real world..?” Speaking of… there was that one testimony
that he got from that girl he met at the river. He wasn’t sure why a girl like
her was bathing there, but he wasn’t going to think too much into it. Probably
ain’t none of his business anyhow.
“A mysterious man wearing a Scream mask and apparently he said… ‘Nightmare
Purge’. Hmm…” Out of all the testimonies he gathered, hers was the most
interesting one. There have been no reports of anyone hearing the man speak.
Something about a Nightmare Purge. It really may be possible that he is the
cause of all these monsters but he needs concrete evidence. It is not like he
doubted the girl’s story… as he knows when a lie is told, but he had to get
more info.
“Mister Beau?” A knock came at his office door. Fille Beau quickly stored the
photos away in his desk. He readjusted his sunglasses and pulled out a notepad
and a pen.
“Come in.”
The door opened to reveal a woman with long black hair that just barely reached
her butt. She appeared to be wearing a red, very revealing red dress that left
little to the imagination in regards to the chest area. A dress that went down
to her feet. She appeared to be wearing sandals. A strange fashion choice to be
sure, but what was more strange is that she appeared to be wearing an owl mask.
Her nose and her eyes were hidden behind it. Fille Beau cleared his throat,
suddenly feeling parched just looking at this woman.
“What can I do for you, miss?” Fille offered her a friendly smile. The woman
sat down on the chair in front of him and simply stared at him through those
owl eyes. The detective suddenly felt uncomfortable. It felt like she was
staring into his soul… judging him.
“M-Miss?”
“Sorry. I was just merely taking in your appearance. You look more handsome in
person. Those pictures online don’t do you justice.” The woman replied, backing
off a bit, noticing his discomfort. Something told him that wasn’t the whole
truth, but he wasn’t going to delve into it. “I don’t actually have a case that
requires investigating… more of a string of questions I’d like to ask.”
“Ok. Go right ahead.” He clicked his pen and began jotting down notes. He
wondered where this might lead.
“I am a merely a traveler and have never been here before. What can you tell me
about the ruler of this country?” The woman asked, putting her left leg over
her right as she waited for an answer from him.
“Princess Weiss?” Fille looked outside his window at the castle in the
distance. He thought briefly on whether or not the princess will accept his
request of meeting with her before looking back to the woman. “Well… I haven’t
delved too much into the princess’ affairs, but from living here and observing
what she has done… I can say with confidence that she loves her people and her
country a great deal.”
“That so?” The woman remarked, intrigued. Fille nodded his head. She
contemplated for a moment before leaning in and asking another question. “Well
I won’t ask what she has done to give that impression, but I will ask this; Did
she at any point mention her dreams and or ambitions ever since she started
ruling?”
Fille blinked. He did not expect a question like that. What was this woman
after exactly? He crossed his arms and thought for a moment. “Yeah. One of her
speeches I remember her saying something to that effect. A dream of hers was to
become a strong person like her father… if not better. She wishes to make this
country a peaceful place for her people. To live without fear. My opinion, she
is doing a great job so far… My only worry is that… she may be overworking
herself.”
While he liked that Weiss is trying so hard to achieve her dream… he worries
that she might just collapse one day in exhaustion. The woman in front of him
seemed to be taking in his words, thinking. A moment or two later, she smiled.
The woman got up from the chair and Fille raised an eyebrow in surprise. She
was done already?
“That’s all I wanted to know. Thank you.” She took out her wallet and dropped
100 euros on the desk. Fille looked at the money briefly and then he gave it
back to her, shaking his head. “I rather not take money that doesn’t involve
solving a case… all I did was answer questions… that involve the princess…” He
trailed off, wondering what this woman was going to do with that information. A
traveler wouldn’t ask just about that.
“Well alright.” She took the money back. The woman turned and walked towards
the door. She paused and looked behind her. “Don’t worry, I am not going to do
anything to the princess… but just know that she might be capable of… dealing
with that case you have going on…”
His eyes widened as the woman opened the door and went out. How… did she know
that? There was nothing that indicated to the woman that he was working on a
case at any point in their conversation. Was this woman a mind reader or
something?
He felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. Fille recovered from his shock
and pulled it out. Unknown number, but he answered it anyways. “Hello, this is
Fille Beau speaking.”
“Mr. Beau, I am a maidservant of the princess, Weiss Shinrai.”
“Ah,” Fille leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on his desk. “Is this
what I think it is? Is she willing to see me today?”
“Why yes. She only had one request today and decided to meet with you at 10:00
AM. Is this acceptable?”
Fille quickly glanced at his watch. 9:02 AM. The castle isn’t too far away. He
can probably get there in 30 minutes by cab. “Yes, that is acceptable. I have
nothing else planned for the day.” He truly didn’t. All he wanted was the
princess’ testimony and hopefully from there he would be getting somewhere with
these ‘Nightmares’.
“Be here no later than 10:00. Time is precious, after all.” With that, the
maidservant hung up. Fille shoved his phone back into his pocket. He pulled out
the drawer with the photos and put it into his jacket just in case. He’ll think
about that mysterious woman another time. At the very least, she doesn’t seem
to have any ill intent.
“Well, I hope this brings me closer to the truth…” He muttered to himself as he
grabbed his hat and put it on before heading out.
…
The princess sat at her throne, slightly bored. She is not a fan of just
sitting around doing nothing. Yeah she was waiting for Fille to show up so they
can get it over with, but even still. “What time is it?” She asked, letting a
yawn escape her. The bodyguards on each side of her quickly looked at their
watches.
“9:55, your highness.” They both said in unison. Weiss simply sighed and
drummed her fingers against the armrest of the throne impatiently.
“I am sorry for what I am about to do… but I am bored.” She summoned her sword
in her hand and simply trapped both of her bodyguards from the waist down in a
block of ice.
“Your highness! C-Cold…” One of her bodyguards complained. The other just
shivered, not saying anything.
“I said I am sorry. I’ll… increase your wage next week in compensation… Just
let me have some amount of entertainment.” Weiss mumbled as she repeatedly
froze and unfroze them, smiling somewhat from their reactions. Now, she’ll
never admit it, but this definitely pleases her more sadistic side.
“Your highness!”
That was the voice of one of her maidservants. She sighed, muttering out
‘finally’, before unfreezing her bodyguards and sending her sword away. “Bring
him in.”
The doors opened and the handsome detective walked in. Weiss took in his
appearance, noting that he hasn’t changed one bit since she last seen him. Once
Fille came within a respectable distance from him and the Princess, he kneeled
down on one knee and bowed respectfully.
“Your highness, thank you for making the time to listen to my silly request.”
Fille started, smiling up to the princess before him. “And I know you’ve
probably heard this before, but you look as lovely as ever.”
Weiss rolled her eyes, but a small smile graced her face nonetheless. “Yes,
yes, yes, I know I am quite the sight. Not to be rude, but you can please get
on with it, I have duties to attend to today.”
Fille frowned. There it was. Confirmation that the princess is just overworking
herself. If only there was something that will make the princess relax, even if
for a little while. He then took notice that the princess’ right arm was
wrapped in bandages. Did something happen? He chose not to comment on it and
went right to the point.
“Now, forgive me if this seems odd, even coming from me, but have you been
having any strange dreams?” Fille gauged the princess’ reactions to his
questions. Weiss thought about this for a moment. She knows what he is talking
about, but just had to be sure. Also, what does this have to do with a case he
is working on?
“What kind of strange dreams? You are going to have to be specific. Every human
being has strange dreams every so often.”
“Dreams that involve… strange monsters. Monsters that you have never seen
before?” Fille responded. He noticed the princess’ eyes widened at the question
before she quickly recovered.
“Why yes. I did have a dream about some strange wolves just last night. Covered
in tar and had these strange… swirly eyes. Never in my life had I seen them.”
Weiss wondered where this was going. If this had to do with a case he is
working on, does it have something to do with these monsters then? And if so,
why? Is there monsters like those roaming about somewhere?
Actually, now that she thought about it… she had been hearing talk of the
monster population rising in the southern area of her country. Is that what
Fille is talking about?
“I see.” Fille got out his notebook and pen. “Can you please describe what
happened in your dream to me the best you can. This is important.”
“Well…” Weiss started, tapping her chin as she recalled the dream. “I was
holding a party for my people in it. I danced with a blonde girl wearing a
mask… for some reason. All was going well and I was having fun until those
monsters showed up.”
‘This sounds familiar… by blonde girl… she must mean…’ Fille jotted this down
in his notes. “What happened afterwards?”
“Well… I tried to fight them, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t harm them.
It was like they were immune to my attacks.” Weiss crossed her arms in thought.
“After that… a strange man in a scream mask attacked my dance partner…”
That confirmed Fille’s suspicions. He now had concrete info. There is just no
way this was a coincidence. “You had the same dream as someone I had just
questioned earlier today.”
“I… I did?” Weiss asked, confused.
“Yes. It was from that girl you danced with in your dream. She stated that she
danced with a girl in this castle and saw the same things that you did.
Although, she stated that she was knocked out in the dream and doesn’t remember
anything after that.”
Weiss took this info in. What did this mean? She shared the same dream as that
girl? Before thinking on this further, she decided to answer the question that
the detective will ask next. “Well, there is not much to add after she got
knocked out as I was pretty much on the brink of being knocked out myself. I
don’t remember word for word of what he said to me, but it went somewhere along
these lines… Princess Weiss of Snowtramine, your country and the entire world
will know the Nightmare Purge.” Weiss looked at her right arm and gripped it
tightly. “And he said he will give me a gift as a reminder. One of the wolves
bit me in the right arm… And as soon as I woke up… the bite marks somehow made
it over into the real world.”
The bodyguards looked at her, shocked. “Your highness! You told us it was just
an accident!”
“I didn’t want people to worry! Also who would believe me?! ‘Hey, uh, I got
these bite marks because my dream self got bitten too. Whoa, crazy dude!’”
Weiss said overdramatically in her best surfer dude voice.
“Thank you… this is some valuable info…” Fille now had something to work off
of.
“Your welcome? I fail to understand why you are asking me these questions. What
are you working on?” Weiss leaned forward to bit, wanting to know more. “Think
you can share with me? Only fair.”
Fille nodded. It was indeed only fair. Not like he was going to withhold that
information from her… especially since she is a princess.
The detective shared with the princess on everything he has gathered so far and
what he saw, even showing her the pictures he took. Weiss took all of this in.
She considered her options as she now knows that this is not something she
should ignore. Her country is in danger for heaven’s sake. Her role as a
princess is to keep it safe after all.
“I’ll have to do something about this. Thanks for bringing this to my
attention…” Weiss got up from her throne as if to go do it right now.
“But, your highness…” Fille started, “I don’t think you can fight them if what
you told me was true… and besides… they haven’t attacked anyone… at least not
yet.”
“That’s the thing, detective, the fact that they haven’t yet gives me all the
more reason to stop them before they do. I’ll… I’ll have to come up with
something with my military base.” Weiss sighed and looked at her bandaged arm
once more. “Not only that… If that man is truly out there summoning these
monsters and appearing in people’s dreams just to harm them… I have to take him
down myself… Hurt my people and it becomes personal…”
“You can’t just go out there and fight them without learning more about the
enemy, we don’t know what they are capable of!” Fille tried reasoning with the
princess. “And not only that… you must be tired. You should relax. I truly do
fear that one day you’ll just collapse and get sick.”
“Why do you care so much? A princess has to do what she has to do.” Weiss
placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the detective. “Yes it is very tiring
to do the things I do on a daily basis… But you just don’t understand… a
princess’ work is never done. There is always something to do. If I can’t do
it, then I am not fit to be a princess.”
“But that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.” Fille sighed. “At the very
least, let me help you. I will look into this matter and will relay any info I
find to you…”
“Wait what? Don’t you make it a point that you always work alone. Why work with
me on this matter?” Weiss was honestly curious. She didn’t expect to hear that
from him of all people.
“True, but just this once, I would like to help you out in this manner, just to
make you less stressed so you can focus on your other work. Please, your
highness.” Fille bowed, hoping that he convinced the princess to back down.
Weiss looked conflicted and bit her lip, thinking.
“With all due respect, your highness, I agree with this detective. You have
been overworking yourself. We worry about you sometimes and you haven’t had a
decent break in weeks.” The bodyguard to her left said. The white haired
princess sighed and threw her hands up in exasperation.
“Fine. I yield. And I guess I do need a break…” Weiss crossed her arms,
thinking. 15 seconds later, she thought of something. “Well I guess I can hold
a party for my people this saturday just like what happened in my dream… before
the mysterious person showed up. I’ll take a rest then and enjoy myself… good?”
Fille stayed silent for a moment. He feared that reenacting a dream would tempt
the mysterious person to come over and attempt to do harm to her, but if he
doesn’t show up, then the princess will get some amount of reprieve to recover
from her work. Guess that is a risk that must be taken. “No objections from me.
I will do my part, don’t you worry.” He reassured her.
“Good. Now if you don’t have any more business with me, you are dismissed. Good
day to you, sir detective.”
Fille did one last bow before heading out of the throne room. Weiss slumped
back into her throne chair and sighed. “More work to do… ah well… perhaps it
will be worth it in the end with this party…”
3 hours later…
The live broadcast has been set up and curious people have gathered around the
outside of the castle, wondering what the princess is about to talk about.
Weiss was behind the podium, waiting for the signal to start. She looked at the
amount of people before her and her heart swelled with love that she has for
them. A smile graced her face. They will be ecstatic to hear what she has to
say, she is sure of it.
The bodyguard to her left whispered in her ear, “Ok they are ready, please
begin.” Weiss nodded and gripped the podium.
“Greetings, my lovely people of Snowtramine! As your princess, I have grown
concerned about the low spirits everybody is in thanks to the rise in the
monster population.” Weiss paused, taking in the reactions of the people before
her. She sees some of them nod, some of them expectant, and of course some of
them being shocked as if this was their first time hearing about this.
“Fear not though, those monsters will be taken care of in due time. To keep
your mind off of them even if just for a little while…” Weiss placed a hand to
her chest before continuing, “I decided that I will hold a big ball for you
all! Yes, all of you! You all are welcome to enjoy yourselves at my greatest
ball yet this Saturday!”
Cheers erupted from the crowd gathered there. There was even some chants of her
name in gratitude of her announcement. She smiled, this is definitely one of
her favorite moments of being a princess. She being loved by her people as she
did them.
“The ball will be held at 7:00 PM. We will have lots of food, music of course,
and perhaps some fun little games for all of you to do. I of course will be
joining in you in these festivities. And who knows, perhaps I’ll dance with a
few… lucky individuals.” She winked. She received some laughs and a few cat
calls here and there. Weiss giggled before continuing on.
“I hope all of you will find time to attend. One more thing… While I am not my
father and I still have quite some ways to go before I accomplish as much as he
did…” She took a deep breath before giving them a heartfelt smile, “I, from the
bottom of my heart, love you all. Your happiness… brings me happiness… and I
will do anything to protect that happiness. All of you have given me your
support and it is only natural that I return the favor and help you all the
best I can. That is what a princess like me should do… Thank you…”
Applause and flashes from cameras broke out. Weiss waved to them all before
turning around to head back inside the castle.
Zap
Weiss stopped in place… shocked… before clutching her head in pain. Sweat broke
out and she started breathing heavily. Loud gasps erupted from the crowd as her
bodyguards rushed up to her, concerned.
“Your highness, are you alright?”
The princess didn’t answer and collapsed onto the floor, screaming in pain.
Vision was blurring… consciousness fading… What was this headache all of a
sudden… why was it so painful?
“Get a doctor here!”
That was the last thing Weiss heard before she blacked out...
…
Weiss found herself lying in a bed of flowers. She got up, shaking her head.
Looking around, she realized she was… in the clouds…? There doesn’t appear to
be any wind either. She must be dreaming. That is the only explanation. She
passed out after her announcement of a party and here she was dreaming about…
something that involved clouds. Well maybe not the only explanation… this could
be heaven. And if that was the case, she is not sure whether to be angry about
being dead or happy that she may be welcomed into heaven.
“Well before I get ahead of myself… I should explore some more…” Weiss wondered
where she should start. She walked forward for about 5 minutes or so before she
sees a golden counter and a locked golden gate behind it. Definitely starting
to look like heaven. She quickened her pace and made it to the counter. There
didn’t seem to be anyone around. If this was heaven, there probably should be
an angel at the counter at all times.
“Hello? Anybody here?” Her voice seemed to echo in… whatever this place is. “If
there is somebody, please come out and tell me where I am.” She waited around
for a minute. There didn’t appear to be a response of any kind. Weiss looked
through the golden gate ahead and didn’t see anything behind it… just more
clouds.
“Maybe this isn’t heaven…” Weiss touched the golden counter, wondering if doing
something with this counter will make something happen…
“DON’T TOUCH!”
Weiss almost yelped from the sudden outburst and backed off. A man popped out
of the cloud behind the counter. He looked to be a man in his early 30’s, a
blonde buzz cut, sky blue eyes, a scar on his left cheek, wearing a white
business suit with a black neck tie, and wearing white gloves.
“I heard you and was making my way here, goddammit. No need to couch the
counter.” He growled and got out a wet cloth and rubbed at the place where she
touched.
“S-Sorry?” Weiss now believed this wasn’t heaven. He didn’t appear to have
angel wings and she was pretty sure she heard him say the lord’s name in vain.
She let out a sigh of relief she didn’t realize she was holding. This must be
another vivid dream then.
“Now that you know not to touch my counter… Just who are you?” The man
demanded. “I haven’t had a visitor here in a near century. So to have somebody
here after so long is suspicious.”
Weiss cocked an eyebrow at that. It’s been nearly a century since anybody was
here? Just who is this man and what is this place? Well first things first,
introductions are in order. Only polite. “I am Princess Weiss. Weiss Shinrai is
my full name.”
“What do I care if you are a princess?” The man grumbled, looking her over.
“How did you get here is what I want to know next.”
Well this man was rude. Weiss held back her tongue on laying it into this man.
“Well, I had a bad headache, passed out, and then somehow I wound up here in
this… dream I guess.”
“You are saying you managed to dream yourself here? I find that hard to
believe. Only a select few can make their way here that way.” The man summoned
a book in his hands and started flipping through it. “You said your name was
Weiss Shinrai, right?”
“...Did I stutter?”
“Fuck you too then.” The blonde grumbled and continued flipping through the
book. “Let’s see… Sariel… Schnee… Senti… Ah here we are… Weiss Shinrai…” He
pressed his finger to the name in the book and began to read.
“Daughter of the late Garland Shinrai and Lily Shinrai. A princess of
Snowtramine… Well looks like you were telling the truth in that regard…”
“Like hell I was lying about that…”
“Shut up. Trying to read.” The man continued to read to himself about Weiss. A
minute or two later... his eyes widened in shock at what he read. Weiss
wondered what made him react that way as he cleared his throat and quickly shut
the book.
“I see now… Well, I still don’t like you, but now that I know exactly who you
are and how you came here… I can give you a proper explanation.” The blonde man
sighed and ignored the glare from Weiss. “My name is Harold Tachibachi. I am in
charge of making sure the Dreamscape stays in order and prevent anybody
unworthy from entering and causing a ruckus.”
Weiss was intrigued at that information. “Dreamscape? So… this is a place where
all dreams come to be?”
“Let me finish…” Harold sighed, “But you are not half wrong in that
assumption.” He turned his back to her and placed his hands behind his back
before he continued his explanation. “Behind this gate lies the Dreamscape. A
place where the dreams of all worlds go. Each world has… let’s say a room where
their dreams stay, ‘live’, and prosper. Each of those individual rooms has a
gate to prevent outsiders and dreams from other worlds to intermingle with
them.”
“Other worlds?”
Harold turned back to face her, grinning. “What, did you think you lived in the
only world in the entire damn universe? Of course there are other worlds.
Countless worlds. Well that’s not true, I know the exact number since I run the
place… but like hell I’ll tell you how many.”
Weiss did not know what to think of all of this. It is just… mind boggling.
Dreamscape… she did not know such a place even existed. However, there was one
thing bothering her. He said only a select few can possibly dream themselves
here, outside of the Dreamscape. So what made her special?
“So then… why did I manage to come here?” Weiss voiced her question to Harold.
“If I were any other human being, I would be dreaming in my world’s Dreamscape
room, correct?”
“Yes. You would be locked into that room with the other dreamers of that
world.” Harold walked around the counter towards her. “And yet you made your
way here unintentionally… And from what I read from my book about you… you are
someone… very special.”
“And how am I special? I am just a princess… that has yet to meet my father’s
expectations…” Weiss mumbled the last part quietly to herself. Harold placed a
hand on his chin, looking over Weiss once more.
“Indeed, I see nothing special about you fruitcake…” Harold chuckled as he
dodged the punch Weiss sent his way in retaliation. “What makes you special…?
Well I’ll tell you… later.”
The princess grabbed him by the collar. “What?! Why not now?! Why do I need to
wait?!” Harold grinned and shoved Weiss off of him easily. He readjusted his
suit before walking back behind the counter.
“Because you don’t have a specific weapon yet. Once you get that weapon, return
here with it and I will share with you all the info you need about this place
and about yourself…” He summoned up a lever beside him. “Until then…”
“No wait!”
Too late, he pulled the lever and the cloud from underneath her gave away.
Weiss screamed as she plunged downward into a seemingly endless abyss. Harold
smiled as he watched the princess fall. “Back to the real world you go. We will
meet again…”
…
Weiss woke up with a gasp, feeling as if she crash landed somewhere. She
whipped her head from side to side, taking in her surroundings. She was back in
her bedroom chambers. The maidservants must have carried her here after she
passed out from her headache. The princess sighed and laid back down, an arm
draped over her eyes. That dream… what was it about? She feels like she should
remember it. Why can’t she? She… She was… in the clouds… Doing… what?
“Gah! Dreams are stupid!” She flew the blankets off of her in exasperation and
got up. She noted she was still in her royal attire before heading off to her
bathroom. She went to her sink and splashed some cold water on her face to
refresh herself. There is no time to being resting, she has a country to run
and a party to plan this saturday.
She heard a knock at her bedroom door. “Your highness, are you alright in
there?” It was one of her bodyguards. Weiss wiped her face before answering. “I
am quite alright. Don’t worry. This headache was a minor setback and I am ready
to continue my duties.”
“Are you sure, your highness? You don’t need more rest?”
“I’ll rest when it is nighttime. Does it look like it is nighttime? No! So
until then, I must continue to work hard… it is a Princess’ duties to make sure
their people… are happy.” Weiss felt a little out of breath but she ignored it.
She’ll have some time to relax during the party perhaps where she can enjoy
herself, even for a little while.
“I understand, forgive me for being foolish, I was only looking out for your
well being.”
“Don’t even mention it…” Weiss quickly made herself look presentable before
heading out of the bathroom to continue on her day. “I just hope that one day…
I’ll make him happy…”
***** Chapter 5: Mysterious Happenings *****
                                        
                                  Weiss’ POV
 
I slowly walked into my chambers, extremely tired. It was 11 at night and I am
ready to sleep like a baby. What a day… I had to bandage my injury from waking
up because of that douche, learned more about these monsters from that
detective, did my princess duties, announced the ball, passed out from a
headache, and then more duties. Never a dull moment. Nope.
 
I was half tempted to not change out of my clothes and just go to sleep in my
dress… but that will be very not princess like. I quickly stripped myself naked
and placed the dirty laundry in the laundry chute near the door. I yawned and
made my way over to my walk-in closet and grabbed my blue nightwear. Putting
them on, I thought about the ball I planned for my people. Would it be too
crazy to think that… that girl from my dream will come to it?
 
The plan was to recreate my dream in order to see if that mysterious person
would show up at the ball like he did in my dream, so… maybe she’ll appear too.
It’d certainly be nice to dance with her for real and perhaps get to know her.
Thanks to being a princess, I don’t have the luxury of time to go out and make
friends my own age. I was always limited to my servants who are older than me,
but the relationships I have with them are strictly professional.
 
Going back to the plan though, I was surprised Fille didn’t speak up about it,
although, him being a good detective in my country, I am sure he knew the not
so hidden motive behind it and just kept quiet for my sake. I shrugged to no
one in particular and made my way to my queen sized bed. Sitting down, I looked
at my Playstation Nexus that have been collecting dust on the counter under my
flatscreen TV. I haven’t touched the console in months as there hasn’t been
time for me to relax.
 
Gaming was a hobby of mine when I was younger. I didn’t take my princess duties
as seriously back then as I do now. Well… maybe just 10 minutes… and then I go
to sleep. “Nexus, start.” I said one of the voice commands and the console
roared to life along with the TV. I reached underneath my bed to grab the
controller as the console logged into my account.
 
Huh, looks like a beta of a game downloaded itself onto my console. “Nekogirl
Online” A game that will be able to send you into this game world without fail.
It appears to be a co-op game with a person and a very smart NPC that is a
Nekogirl to fight giant monsters of some sorts. I scratched my head, wondering
why this is a thing. Maybe if I have children, I’ll let them play it, assuming
this game is still active by then. As for me, no thanks.
 
I scrolled through my library of games and landed on a JRPG, Last Fantasy XX.
Might as well do a race on those horsebirds for fun then go to sleep. “Nexus,
load up recent save.” I commanded the console.
 
Ring!
 
Ugh… Who would call at this hour? “Nexus, Mute sound.” I quickly headed over to
the counter where my smartphone was. Unknown number. Huh. I rarely ever get
unknown numbers. Well, might as well entertain whoever is on the other side. I
quickly swiped answer, put it on speaker, and then quickly sat back down on my
bed to start a horsebird race.
 
“Speak to me.” I was never one to say hello to any of my contacts, especially
unknown numbers. If I had friends my age, I’d be more friendlier.
 
“Your highness, it is me, Fille.”
 
Oh, the detective… How did he get my number? Wait, he probably has connections.
Ah well, it is whatever. I’ll let it go. He is helping me on these new monster
problems and that mysterious man after all. I went into the second lap of my
race before I decided to respond, “Detective, don’t you know how late it is?
What is so important that you needed to call me?”
 
“Before that, why did you take a while to respond. Busy?”
 
“Perceptive as ever. I am busy, but not the kind of busy you think. I am
playing a videogame.” I decided to answer truthfully. Not like he’ll do
anything with that information. There are a good number of citizens who knew
about my hobby before I started ruling.
 
“A videogame? Does that mean you had time to relax?”
 
“If you call 10 minutes enough time to relax. Just a small session before I go
into dreamland.”
 
“I worry about you sometimes.”
 
Sigh, why does he care? It is not like we’re friends. If anything, it is a
strictly platonic relationship. We’ll probably never see each other again once
we solve this problem anyways.
 
“I’ll get my break once the ball is underway. Now, can you please get to the
point?”
 
I hear him sigh from the other side. “First, this is probably irrelevant to the
case, but have you seen or heard from a woman named Yuna Yume?”
 
Ah, the adventurer. What happened to her? I don’t want to assume, but hopefully
venturing into that Clock Tower for me didn’t… kill her. I don’t like the
feeling of sending someone to their death. I felt that before and it was… very
unpleasant.
 
“No. I haven’t.” I responded truthfully. “Let me guess, did one of my
maidservants talk to you about my requests?” That’s the only logical conclusion
I can come up with as to why he would ask me that. I managed to finish the race
in 1st place, earning some money to buy some items if I continue this game.
“Before you answer, let me turn off my console.”
 
He gave me the ok and I placed the controller underneath my bed. “Nexus, save
and turn off.” The console did just that and turned off along with the TV. I
got up and grabbed my phone off the counter. I turned off the speaker and
placed the phone to my right ear to talk normally. “Ok, done. Respond.”
 
“Yes, you would be correct in your assumption. I questioned this girl before
about the case and when I heard this, I grew concerned. I asked around and
apparently nobody has seen her. She either vanished or... “ I hear him trail
him off, knowing what he was about to say. I sighed.
 
“Let’s not think about that. I assume you have yet to check the Clock Tower?”
 
“Not yet. I will soon though. Perhaps I’ll even figure out what the problem is
with that Clock Tower for you. Free of charge.” He offered to me. I can hear
the sincerity in his voice. I thought about it for a moment. I am not one to
accept offers that doesn’t let me repay them. It doesn’t feel right to me.
 
“Well, I appreciate your kind offer, but if you do this for me, I have to
reward you. No buts.” I told him. I can hear him chuckle softly before finally
letting out a defeated sigh.
 
“Fine. If I finish this request of yours, I want the reward to be… a dinner at
a fancy restaurant. How’s that?”
 
I scoffed. That can be easily arranged. I expected more to be honest. Well, if
that’s what he wants, that’s what I’ll give him. “Sure. I can see the headlines
now, The Princess of Snowtramine on a date with the great detective, Fille
Beau. How bold of you…” I teased him.
 
“I-I assure you it is not a date! I just really want to eat some expensive food
for once… and you could use some more time off away from the castle that isn’t
work related.”
 
“You must really care about me… you sure this isn’t a date?”
 
“P-Please stop… It really isn’t…”
 
I giggled. It was so easy to tease him. For his sake, I’ll stop. Still though,
I am quite surprised that I will probably see him more often from now on.
Perhaps this relationship of ours will not stay professional and maybe progress
to… dare I say, friendship. That’d… be nice actually. Won’t hold my breath
though.
 
“Well we certainly gotten off topic. Heh. Now then, continue on. I believe you
have something that’s actually relevant to our case, right?” I asked, sitting
back down on the bed. I can hear him clear his throat before he continued
speaking.
 
“Right. Well a short while ago… I came across something pretty disturbing… I
saw one of those monsters… kill a person.”
 
...What? Seriously, what?! I got up from the bed, enraged. They already started
killing my people? Un-fucking-believable! Whoever that bastard is, he is going
to get what is coming to him. Gah, gotta calm down. Need to figure out more
information… I breathed in and then let it out. “Ok… and what happened next?”
 
“Well, after they killed their prey, they eat them whole.” He paused. I can
hear his disgust from the other side. To be honest, I can’t blame him. I am
quite disgusted too. “Then… they turn into a giant monstrosity with… human like
qualities… and their eyes are no longer those red swirls. They look like normal
human eyes, just red.”
 
I took in this information. So they essentially get stronger anytime they
gobble up a human. In that case, they need to be stopped before then.
 
Whoosh
 
I gasped and looked to where I heard the noise, which was the window. I see a
handprint that seemed to be made from the other side of the window, but no sign
of the owner of that handprint. I quickly ran over and open the window. Poking
my head out, I don’t see anyone. Just tall trees. Also, this room is very high
up with no ledges to let anybody peak in somewhat safely. So how did they peek
in?
 
“Your highness, what happened?”
 
I scratched my head, confused. “I think I have a spy lurking around. I see a
handprint on my window, but they shouldn’t be able to peek in since there is no
ledge.”
 
“That is odd. I know the design of that castle and I agree that looking into
your room is nigh impossible without some kind of makeshift ladder.”
 
As he said that, I see something out of the corner of my eye shoot up into the
sky at lightning speed. What was that?! And it was not too far off either. A…
UFO? Hmm… I don’t really believe in exterrestrials… so it was probably
something else or I am simply imagining things because I am too fucking tired.
Latter very possible.
 
“So, is that all?”
 
“At the moment, yeah. I just wanted to inform you of that.”
 
“Well thanks for bringing me up to speed, detective.” I closed the window. “I
need to go to sleep. I don’t think I can stay up any longer. If you find out
anything more, please contact me at once.”
 
“I will. Good night, your highness.”
 
He hung up. I turned off my phone and put it back on the counter. I let out a
big ass yawn and collapsed on my bed. Time to go to sleep. I got under the
covers, laid my head on my comfy pillow and shut my eyes. Tomorrow I start
planning for the ball… can’t… wait… With that, I headed off to dreamland.
 
                                       …
 
“W-Where am I?”
 
That was the question I asked myself. I was standing in midair… somehow… in a
dark abyss of some sorts. Seriously, where the fuck am I? I feel like I’ve been
in this scenario before… just recently in fact. Another weird stupid dream I’m
having that seems to be really vivid.
 
Well, standing around like an idiot is not going to help matters, so best walk
forward and see what I can find… assuming there is something in here. I marched
forward. Onward and onward and onward. While I was doing that, I crossed my
arms over my chest, thinking about what this dream reminds me of.
 
It had something to do with the clouds. In there I found… what exactly?
Something golden…. And I believe somebody told me something important. Ugh, I
don’t remember… Why can’t I remember?
 
“FUCK MY IMMORTAL LIFE! FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUCK!”
 
Woah, that was a lot of F-bombs dropped. It sounded female and not too far
away. I picked up my pace and ran towards the source. Not even 30 seconds
later, I found the owner of the voice. It was a long black haired woman with
bangs covering both her eyes. She wore black lipstick and all she seemed to be
wearing was a black dress with spider web designs on it. Wow, gothic much?
 
She was behind a purple counter with the same kind of spider web design,
slamming her fists onto it repeatedly. And right behind her was a big open
black gate. I shiver as I see a dark mist escape from the open gate and
disappear into the abyss… Whatever that is… it can’t be a good thing.
 
“H-Hey. Uh… what happened?” I reached out to the woman. She stopped her
childish tantrum and looked up at me. We both looked at each other for a good
20 seconds and I was starting to grow uncomfortable. Is she going to say
something or what?
 
The gothic woman then scoffed and jumped over the counter. She was now a good
foot or so away from me. Jesus, personal space, woman! I can feel the glare
from behind those bangs of hers before she spoke. “What happened?! Hahahaha!
What happened?! Well I’ll tell you what happened, bucko!” She pointed towards
the opened gate. “I was in charge of making sure this gate never get opened by
people who are unworthy… and lo and behold, somebody managed to open it without
me knowing! Now everything is escaping! Fuck me sideways!”
 
“Couldn’t you just… close it now?” I asked, confused. She gave me a strange
look as if the very question I asked was a stupid one.
 
“Well obviously if I could close it I would have done so already, but
unfortunately sweet cheeks,” She slammed her right hand on the counter, angry.
“Until I have a specific ‘key’, I cannot close it and lock it. Gah, if only one
of those key sword things actually work on this gate, it would make my life all
the more easier… Locks and unlocks any lock my ass…”
 
I ignored the latter part of that sentence and chose to focus on the most
important part. So she needs a specific kind of key to lock the gate behind her
and prevent… whatever that dark mist is from escaping… I need more information.
 
“Wait just a cotton pickin’ minute…” The woman blurted out suddenly, startling
me. “How in the world did you get here?! Very few even have the qualifications
to come here!”
 
I am having Deja vu all of a sudden. I feel as if I heard that line or
something similar before. Well I am not sure how I ended up here. I can’t
control what I dream most of the time anyways. Should I even be taking all of
this seriously?
 
“I do not know. I simply fell asleep and I found myself here. It is as plain
and simple as that.” I answered truthfully. The goth woman looked me up and
down, as if my appearance will give her a more concrete answer. Then she tapped
her chin in thought, looking up into… well the darkness.
 
“Hmm… well you don’t appear to be lying. Is it ok if I check your memories? It
will be a quick process, I need to confirm something.” The woman suddenly being
serious. Well I don’t see why not. Anything is possible within a dream right?
Might as well go along with it. I gave her a nod and she pulled out what
appears to be a wand. She whispered a cantation for a spell of some kind and
tapped my forehead with the wand. I blinked. I didn’t feel anything and I
didn’t see anything come out of the wand. She had her eyes closed,
concentrating. 10 seconds later, I see her eyes widen, surprised.
 
“Ah! I see now.” She pocketed her wand, giving me a big grin. “No wonder you
got here. You also met my brother I see. Still the hot-headed jackass. Nice to
meet ya, White Confidence.” She giggled. I rolled my eyes in response. Please
don’t call me by my literal translated full name. Also, I met her brother?
Really? Where? I feel like I know, but where? Well before that, I’ll ask a more
important question.
 
“So… how did I get here exactly?”
 
“Well I can’t tell you everything… at least right now. What I CAN tell you is
that you are in the Nightscape. A place where all Nightmares are kept. Heheheh…
scary huh?” The woman explained to me, grinning from ear to ear. I crossed my
arms, taking in this information. It is certainly interesting, but am I scared?
Well, no. I don’t feel threatened, at least not yet anyways.
 
“Right, with who am I talking to, of course not.” The woman facepalmed. “Oh how
rude of me. I haven’t even introduced myself! My name is Dayna Evans.” She held
out her right hand and I hesitantly took it in mine for a shake. Getting back
to the information she told me though. I feel like it might be related to the
problem I have in the real world as well as a dream I was in just yesterday
night.
 
“So, am I correct in assuming you don’t know who opened the gate?” I asked.
 
“While I didn’t see it, I have an inkling as to who the criminal is. Too bad I
can’t really stop him. I am stuck here and can’t leave… like ever. This is like
my own personal hell. I am trapped here for all eternity.” Dayna sighed. “Thems
the breaks I suppose.”
 
“C-Could it be…”
 
Dayna just shrugged in response. “Possibly. Either way, this spells bad news
for the real worlds. Letting out the Nightmares just causes a mass Nightmare
Apocalypse across all worlds. No one will be able to escape their fears. Just
the thought brings chills down my spine.”
 
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked. It is becoming my problem and I would
like to take care of it ASAP.
 
“Well yeah. But, you lack a certain weapon at the moment. You have the
potential, but you don’t have the means. You can’t go saving the universe
without the means to an end, sweet cheeks!” Dayna laughed and I growled in
frustration. So apparently I do not have the correct weapon to deal with this
evil. Just what is this weapon?
 
“Then, at the very least, can you tell me what this weapon is and where I can
find it?”
 
“I am sorry. That is something you need to figure out on your own.” Dayna then
placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at me square in the eyes… well my one
eye anyways as the other is… covered up by my eye patch.
 
“Weiss, I wish you luck. This is how your real story begins…” She then puts
something in my right hand. I held it up and looked at it. It appeared to be a
crow’s feather tied to a small string of rope. Confused, I looked at her for
clarification. The woman just shook her head, instantly telling me that I am
not going to get an answer from her.
 
“Hang on to that. You’ll know what to do with it when the time comes.” Dayna
summoned a lever to her side and I felt the sudden need to brace myself. “Now I
do believe you have a new day to greet. See ya next time, amigo!”
 
“NO!”
 
My objection went ignored and she pulled on the lever. A dark monster like hand
came out from under me and grabbed me. I struggled against its grip but to no
avail as it began spinning me around in circles. Few seconds later I was tossed
into the air at high speed, screaming my head off.
 
                                       …
 
I woke up, gasping. Sweat was pouring down my face as I looked at the time. It
was 6:40 AM and the sun was peeking into my room. I sighed… another dream… that
I do not remember at all. Jesus christ.  I was about to get up when I felt
something. W-Wait… what is in my hand? There is definitely something that
shouldn’t be there. I brought my right hand up to my face and loosened my grip
on the object.
 
“A crow’s feather on some small rope?” How did that get there? I don’t remember
going to sleep with it. Did someone plant it on me? I scratched my left cheek
in thought. For some reason, I feel like keeping this thing, whatever it is.
Well, for the time being, I could just use it as a fake lucky charm. I don’t
know what else to do with it…
 
“Gah, I’ll think more on this and that dream I do not remember later. New day,
more work.” I tossed the covers off of me and went to get myself ready.
 
                                       …
                                        
                                  Emma’s POV
                                        
                           After Weiss’ announcement
 
The bell ringed, signalling that lunch break was over and it was time to head
back to our next assigned class. I pulled off the headphones and logged out of
the computer. I leaned back against the chair, not believing that I just
dreamed of something that will happen in the future. Well, actually… If I don’t
go, then that changes things. But do I have any reason not to go? I don’t have
plans this Saturday. Every night I am just hunting food for my family. I am
sure they can hunt food on their own. They are wolves after all. They might
miss me, sure, but I can’t always be with them.
 
“Guess that’s fine.” I muttered to myself as I got up and headed out the
library. I’ll get to dance with the beautiful princess after all possibly. And
if that guy shows up… well… I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
 
“Hey Emma!”
 
Ah, Jessica. I look behind me and sure enough, I see the small, cute redhead
power walk towards me. I am quite surprised she is talking to me a lot today. I
mean, we aren’t friends… at least I don’t think so. But I wouldn’t be opposed
to being friends with her. She’s nice.
 
“Yo, Jess. What up?” I gave her a friendly greet. We walked together to our
next class, which was Physics class. I think I am barely passing Physics and
since the school ends next week for us seniors, that means I have to do
somewhat decently on final exams if I want to graduate. I would hate to be held
back a year and disappoint everyone I am acquainted with.
 
“Did you hear the announcement from Princess Weiss? A ball! And everyone of us
are invited to it! Ah I knew Weiss was a nice ruler, but I didn’t know how
nice!” Jessica said to me excitedly. I can only giggle at how cute she was
being. “Her father was a nice ruler too, but I feel like she is much better,
she really does care about Snowtramine and the people in it.”
 
“Yeah she is isn’t she?” I smiled. I have nothing but admiration and respect
for the princess to be perfectly honest… obvious attraction aside. “Hope you
and your boyfriend have fun.”
 
“You’re not going, Emma?” Jessica looked at me, confused.
 
“Oh I am going. I got nothing better to do. I am hoping to have a dance with
the princess…” I decided to tell her for the heck of it. I trust her well
enough.
 
“Pfft… Good luck with that.” Jessica slapped me on the arm playfully. “You
don’t know if she’s even into girls.”
 
True. I don’t know her sexuality. But I won’t know until I try. At worst I’ll
get turned down. It is not like she is homophobic, otherwise she would be the
biggest hypocrite for legalizing gay marriage, but is still against gays.
We entered our Physics class and parted ways so we can go to our assigned
seats. The teacher has yet to arrive. Nothing too special today, just more
review for our final exams for those that care to listen. I certainly don’t.
I’ll just review my notes back in my cave and hope for the best. Study all
night if I have to.
 
Wish I can nap in class, but the teacher would just throw chalk at me for that
kind of behavior. So I stared out the window instead. I started thinking about
what to do after graduation. I don’t have any scholarships or any kind of money
to go to college. I would if I stayed with my parents… but I ran away from them
for good reason.
 
I can’t live in that cave forever. I have to move on. I would need to get a
decent job as far as a high school diploma would get me. Then once I get enough
money, I can hopefully find a decent place to stay… perhaps even find “Mrs.
Right”. I have a long road ahead of me, regardless of what I do. I am probably
one of the poorest, if not the poorest student in school.
 
“Good afternoon class.” I didn’t bother turning to look at the teacher. “We’ll
be reviewing for your final exams coming next Tuesday. For those worried about
their grades, I strongly advise that you pay attention to this review. If you
don’t care, then do something productive, but don’t bother others.”
 
And I won’t do that. Allow me to stare at the scenery in front of me for the
next hour or so. Do your boring review without this useless girl over here. The
scenery I was currently looking at is just the courtyard, couple of trees, a
little koi pond, and a bench.
 
At least I can watch the koi fish swimming around. I am not easily amused, but
better than staring at nearly unmoving scenery for an hour and being totally
bored shitless.
 
…
 
…
 
…
 
...Huh? Some 15 minutes later and I see something I didn’t expect come into
view. A purple haired teenage girl in what appears to be a lab coat and boots
walked limply towards the koi pond. I turned to look at my classmates to see if
they see her, but all of them were just taking notes. The teacher was too busy
writing on the chalkboard to notice either. I turned back to look at the
mysterious girl and she was currently looking at the koi fish.
 
I leaned in a little closer to get a good look at this girl. I am not too sure
but… her skin looks… really pale… like deathly pale. Her eyes… I am not sure
what color they are… but they look clouded. What happened to this girl? Is she…
no… I don’t think she is one. If she was… she would be acting more differently
and would probably go after everybody in here.
I decided not to make a commotion just yet and stare at the girl some more. I
see her kneel down and fetched a koi fish out of water with little to no
effort. My eyes widened as I see her tear into it hungrily as if she hadn’t had
a meal in a long time. Once again, I looked back towards my classmates and
teacher to see if they see what I see. Nope, they were still preoccupied.
 
I fidgeted uncomfortably in my seat and looked back at the strange girl. To my
surprise I see her stare at me from her spot by the pond. The koi fish’s
skeleton was on the ground. Not a single bit of flesh left. I froze, my body
refusing to move a muscle as we stared each other down. My blue eyes to her
cloudy eyes.
 
After what seemed like minutes, she finally turned around and walked a bit
faster off towards the exit of the courtyard as if I spooked her. Now I am even
more confused. This was totally unexpected. She doesn’t seem like a zombie…
kinda looks and acts the part… but when she saw me, she didn’t immediately go
after me like I was food to her. This is worrisome.
 
“Uh, teacher!” I spoke up to get his attention. He groaned and turned to look
at me. “I need to go to the bathroom real quick… Can I please?”
 
“Fine. Go.”
 
I quickly got up from my seat and headed out the room. I quickly glanced
around. I don’t see any hall monitors or anybody in the hallway. Thanking my
luck, I quickly exited the building and headed near the courtyard. I need to
see if she was a zombie or not. I knew I was taking a big risk in both my life
and possibly getting detention for skipping class, but I had to find out.
 
“H-Hello?” I called out as I looked around near the courtyard.
 
No answer. If she was a zombie, I don’t think she can speak anyways. All they
can do is make weird deathly groans… or even growl. At least, to my zombie
knowledge. She couldn’t have gotten far. I decided to traverse further outside
and into the parking lot of the school.
 
I looked and looked and looked as quickly as I could around the cars, but I
still couldn’t find her. Where did she walk off to so fast? Damn.
 
“Emma?”
 
I quickly turned around and see Jessica made her way towards me. “What are you
doing here, Jess?” Dammit, I got caught. Well, hopefully she won’t rat me out
or worse we both get caught by someone patrolling the perimeters and we get
detention.
 
“I could ask the same to you. I also called for a bathroom break since I knew
you weren’t actually going to go to the bathroom. You look like you were…
worried about something. What are you trying to find?” Jess looked at me,
eyebrow arched. “And don’t lie, cause I’ll know.”
How do I explain this without sounding totally crazy? Beating around the bush
isn’t going to help matters… Uh…
 
“I was staring out the window and I saw a purple haired girl in a lab coat go
to the koi pond and ate a fish. She saw me and fled so I came out here to see
if I can find her…” I left out the part where I was trying to see if she was a
zombie or not. It is not like I am totally lying about it. Jess looked at me
funny, like she wasn’t completely buying it.
 
“And why would you chase after an intruder like that? Don’t you know that is
dangerous?”
 
“Well duh, but…”
 
Jess sighed and grabbed my arm. “Come on, let’s go before we both get into
trouble. Your lucky I like you well enough.” She mumbled quietly before yanking
me along with her. I groaned, accepting my fate. Guess I’ll never know who that
was. I gave one last look at the parking lot before heading back to school.
 
                                       …
 
The deathly pale girl crawled out from underneath one of the cars. Her pursuer
was gone. She slowly got up, careful not to fall over thanks to how weak her
body was. Groaning softly, she looked around to see if the coast was clear.
There didn’t appear to be anybody.
 
“...”
 
Fighting against her instincts, she walked off the school campus.



***** Some developments *****
                                  Weiss’ POV
 
“A string with a crow’s feather? And it was in your hand while you were
sleeping?” The detective asked from the other side of my smartphone. I was
currently eating breakfast that consist of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, and
a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Before I go on with my day of
planning the ball that was coming the day after tomorrow, I figured I let the
detective know of this.
 
“Yes. Nobody entered my room that night. The security footage hooked up to my
room did not show anything.” I explained before taking a piece of bacon into my
mouth. I held back a moan at the taste. Bacon is just so tasty.
 
“You have a security camera in your room? Do you not care about your private
life?”
 
Really? I roll my eyes, even though he couldn’t see it. “I don’t personally
care. They see me naked, whatever. I am over it, my safety is more important
you know than letting people see what I do in my room.”
 
“True.” He paused for a second before continuing. “Oh and since you brought it
up, did you manage to see who was spying into your room last night?”
 
“No. We saw the exact moment someone left that handprint on my window but not
the person themselves.” I am not sure how the spy managed to make themselves
invisible but no matter, there are slightly more important matters to talk
about than that.
 
“Hmm.”
 
I took a sip of my orange juice before continuing. “Back to the topic at
hand... What do you think it is?” I hear him typing something into his
computer, so he must be looking up something. While he does that, I decided to
call over one of my maidservants.
 
“Yes, your highness?”
 
“For the ball, bring in a band that is popular amongst the general public. Just
to give the people a live performance. I am sure they’ll enjoy it.” I told her.
She nodded and went off to do just that. Gotta make sure the ball is something
they won’t soon forget. Their happiness is my happiness after all.
 
“Your highness, the thing that mysteriously ended up in your hand is part of
what is called a Dreamcatcher.” The detective finally responded after a little
while of searching. Interesting. I cut a piece of egg and put it on my toast
before taking a bite. A Dreamcatcher. That is quite an old ‘magical’ item of
sorts.
 
…
 
…
 
…
 
Wait a minute. “Detective, don’t you think this is a sign of sorts?”
 
“I’d say so. We are dealing with these Nightmare like beings and people are
having strange dreams involving this mysterious person amongst other things.
Now all of a sudden you have a piece of a Dreamcatcher, an item that capture
Dreams and or Nightmares. An item that helps the person sleep peacefully.”
 
“Do you think that if we get Dreamcatchers that we’ll be able to… trap these
things?” I asked, wondering if this might help solve the problem. Maybe not
deal with that bastard controlling these things, but it might be something.
 
“I highly doubt it is that simple. If we are dealing with a dangerous person
capable of bringing Nightmares into the waking world, then the solution to the
problem shouldn’t be as simple as getting a lot of Dreamcatchers and trapping
them that way. Not to mention that doesn’t deal with the main problem; the
culprit. We still have no idea who he is and how to deal with him.”
 
Right. The main problem needs to be dealt with somehow. However, I got this
thing for some reason, so it must be something relevant to dealing with those
things. Just, what is it? I feel like we are on the right track… but not the
right kind of weapon.
 
Weapon… Weapon…? I dropped my fork and scratched the back of my head. Weapon…
why do I feel like I am on the verge of remembering something?
 
“Your highness?”
 
I snapped out of my thoughts and picked up my fork to continue eating. “Sorry,
was trying to think about a weapon to deal with those Nightmares.”
 
“Well I just came across an interesting article that was published when the
internet was very young that is relevant… though I doubt it will help us much,
if at all. Want to hear it?”
 
I shrug. Might as well entertain the thought. “Sure, why not? Nothing to lose.”
 
“Apparently there is this Dreamcatcher Sword that somebody created in dealing
with those Nightmares… Dreams too. The time that this weapon was created was
near a century ago in this very country…”
 
I searched my memory, trying to recall if I ever heard of such a thing
happening that long ago. I have heard of a magical blacksmith back in the day
that made legendary weapons, however I have never heard of this weapon. I don’t
even think my father has heard of it. Well not like he is around for me to ever
ask him. I sighed sadly.
 
“You ok?”
 
“Yeah I am fine, detective, continue.” I plopped a hashbrown into my mouth,
realizing my food is getting cold. I really should eat my food quickly…
 
“The rest of the article doesn’t say much… and appears to be glitched, but I’ll
tell you the rest of what I can read. They last saw this person with the
supposed weapon fight a monster made of corpses in the… Snowtramine Clock
Tower.”
 
Again with the Clock Tower. Just what is up with that place? Assuming this
article is to be trusted that is. Still, wouldn’t hurt to check. “A lot of
things are happening with that place, past and present. Detective, do you still
want to check it out?”
 
“Well of course. It warrants an investigation. I’ll head there after lunch.
Don’t worry, I will report all findings to you.”
 
“Thank you, detective.” I finished up the last of my breakfast and decided it
was time to wrap it up. “Well, I’ll leave it up to you, I got a lot of work
ahead of me today… as per usual.” I faked laughed at the end as if trying to
poke fun at myself for never having a busy day.
 
“... Yeah. Have a good day, your highness.”
 
I hung up and got up from my chair. The maids came by and picked up after my
mess. Well, before I do anything, I have to know if I have any requests/news
that require my attention today.
 
“Hey, anything I should know about before I head off?” I asked my maids. They
all gave me a look and then shook their heads. I raised an eyebrow. Nothing?
That’s… unexpected. I thought for sure there would be at least something today.
 
“There is nothing that requires your attention today, your highness… However…”
One of the maids trailed off as if deciding whether or not she wants to tell
me. I urged her to continue, I am in the mood for whatever it is she has to
say.
 
“There is talk around here about some… strange sightings.”
 
“Strange sightings? Like what?” Come on, elaborate, I don’t want vague shit.
 
“Well, apparently just late last night, people have apparently seen something
fly in the sky… They assume it is a UFO of sorts.”
 
My mind immediately went to the thing I saw fly into the sky last night when I
was trying to look for the spy. That must be what they saw. I did dismiss at as
a trick of a light or some such as I did not want to believe it as anything
otherworldly. Well, while interesting, there is nothing I can do for them… even
if it is a UFO.
 
“Anything else? You did pluralize ‘sighting’.”
 
“This one is also kind of a rumor. Some people spotted a zombie prowling
around.”
 
...A zombie? Just  A zombie? I find this hard to believe. If they saw one, they
should have immediately killed it. I don’t want any stupid zombie apocalypse
nonsense. I simply had enough of it in media already. Stop it. The maid noticed
my the look on my face and continued.
 
“The thing is your highness, this supposed zombie is acting very unusual, at
least that’s what the people who saw it, say.”
 
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Unusual in what way?”
 
“The zombie did not immediately go after them like they were food. They saw the
zombie just… move away as quickly as it could.”
 
The zombie chose not to go and eat them? That is indeed unusual. If it is true
anyways. However, I still find it hard to believe that a zombie made a run for
it and managed to escape.
 
“And are they looking for this zombie now?”
 
“The police are on the lookout, but they don’t really believe that there is
just a zombie out and about and not eating people.”
 
I don’t blame them. I checked the time on my phone, noticing that I should be
going now if I want to get everything done on time today. “Thank you, you may
return to your duties.”
 
                                  Normal POV
 
Fille hung up and looked at the Dreamcatcher image before him on his computer.
He clasped his hands together and leaned his head forward onto them, thinking.
Everything that happened in the past few days all relate to Dreams and
Nightmares. The monsters… the dreams people had… that man… and now a piece of a
Dreamcatcher in Princess Weiss’ possession somehow. Also this information about
a Dreamcatcher sword is also suspect. If he didn’t know any better…  HE  is
setting all of this up. But for what purpose?
“Nightscream… what are you up to…?” Nightscream was his name for that man that
appeared in several people’s dreams now. Simple name really, he is the cause of
the Nightmare monsters and of course his mask. He has no idea why that man
chose to use a mask from an old movies’ killer, but he’s sure there is some
kind of meaning behind it.
 
3 consecutive knocks broke him out of his thoughts and he looked towards his
office door, wondering who it could possibly be this early on in the day. He
quickly put everything away in his desk before clearing his throat.
 
“Come in.”
 
The door opened and a familiar blonde girl stepped into the room. “Excuse me.
Yo, nice to see you again, Fille.”
 
“Oh it’s you. Wait, shouldn’t you be in school right now? Unless I somehow
didn’t get the message that summer vacation started early for you students.”
The detective asked, confused.
 
The blonde girl sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, “I uh, I am ditching
school today. I am not missing out on anything important anyways, just review.
Don’t judge me.”
 
Fille shrugged in response. “Not my place to judge. You do what you do with
your life.” He got up from his chair and went over to his counter to grab a
flask of coffee. “Care to have some coffee? I still have some in here if you
want it.”
 
“Unless you have lots of sugar and cream in that coffee… I am good.” The blonde
girl stuck out her tongue in disgust. Fille chuckled in response.
 
“Well, the bitterness of coffee is not for everyone. Acquired taste.” He placed
down the flask and walked back to his chair to sit down on while she sat on the
opposite side of him. He put his hands together and looked at her. “Now then,
what brings you here, Emma? Do you need my help with something?”
 
Emma looked a bit hesitant for a few seconds before deciding to tell him.
“You’re still trying to look into the strange happenings that has been going
around here right? Y’know besides the recent zombie sightings and UFO
sightings.”
 
Fille didn’t understand where she was going with this but decided to go along
with it for the time being. “Yes, I am still looking into that. I may have some
leads and I am going to investigate them after lunch.”
 
“Really? What did you find out?” Emma asked, very curious.
 
Fille shook his head. “That’s on a need to know basis and you don’t need to
know. Sorry.” Emma pouted but understood. Detectives have to follow at least
some protocol. Fille pulled out a notepad and a pen from his jacket pocket.
“Well, continue.”
 
“Well I done some investigating myself and I found this.” Emma reached into her
pocket and pulled out… a string with a black feather on it. Fille’s eyes
widened when he saw the item. She handed it over to him. “If you are wondering
where I found this, it was on… a very bloody corpse I found in this forest.”
She shuddered at the memory, really wishing she could unsee it.
 
“I see. Can you tell me about this investigation of yours?” Fille asked,
examining the item in his hands. He couldn’t believe his luck… another person
found a piece of the Dreamcatcher. How many were there? 3? 4? Wait, are these
even the same part of a Dreamcatcher?
 
“Well…”
 
Emma was walking through the forest at night with her baseball bat in hand. She
thought she would investigate about the matter about those strange new
Nightmare monsters that have been appearing lately. She wasn’t going to kill
them, just study them and if she needs to, use the baseball bat as defense.
 
She continued to walk when she heard a sound not too far off. It sounded like
something rustling in the bushes. Emma readied her baseball bat and headed
straight to the noise. She knows it could be just other usual wildlife, but
just to be sure…
 
“Quietly… quietly…” Emma muttered to herself as she neared closer to where she
thought she heard the sound. To her surprise, she saw a corpse of a man in… she
guessed what was the remains of a white lab coat. Most of the flesh on his
face, chest, arms, and some on his legs were torn out of his body. The smell
and the sight was naseauting that it almost made her want to throw up. Did a
monster do this? Also, what was this man doing out here?
 
“Ugh, so gross…” Emma pried her eyes from the corpse and noticed something on
the ground nearby. She went over to it and saw that it was a string with a
black feather on it. “Is this… part of a Dreamcatcher? Where’s the rest of it?”
Something clicked inside of her head. There is something funny going on around
here, but she needs to figure out more.
 
“Interesting…” Fille commented after she finished. “Did you find out what was
the source of that sound you heard?” The blonde shook her head.
 
“I didn’t. I thought it was simply a monster or animal of some such that preyed
on the poor guy.” Emma took back the string from him. “So, I came here to show
you this as I know you were investigating these matters and I thought this
might help out, even if just a little. I mean, all these things about Dreams
and Nightmares and all of a sudden I see a piece of a Dreamcatcher near a very
dead body… there is no way that is coincidence.”
“Indeed. Thank you for showing this to me. It did help me out a little on some
thoughts of mine.”
 
“I assume you won’t tell me because of confidentiality or some shit?”
 
“Yeah, sorry again.”
 
“Not a problem.” Emma got up from her seat. She ran a hand through her head and
blew raspberries. “I sincerely hope none of this ends up ruining the upcoming
ball…” The blonde then looked at the detective. “Oh, by the way, are you
attending the Princess’ ball?”
 
“... I don’t… think I will. I was never one for… big crowds, music, dancing…
and all that jazz.” The detective responded a bit uncomfortably. “Are you going
with someone, Emma? A pretty girl like you probably has a boyfriend or
girlfriend.”
 
“Flattery will get you nowhere, detective.” Emma says, even as a blush formed
on her cheeks. “Also, no, I don’t have a date. I am hoping to get a dance with
the Princess herself though.”
 
Fille laughed at that. “You and probably thousands upon thousands of people.
Good luck with that though.” He had to wonder though, would Weiss even bother
to dance with her people? Surely there would be some suitors there from other
kingdoms that may show up and try their luck with the pretty princess. Wouldn’t
they be better suited to dance with her? Eh… probably a stereotype… Weiss is
certainly not your ordinary princess.
 
“Yeah yeah… but before I go, what should I do with this string?” Emma asked.
 
“Keep it for now. I don’t have a use for it. If I do find something of use for
it, then I will try and get in touch with you. Again, thanks for your help.”
 
“Yep. Well, I got to go. Nice talking to ya!” Emma waved him goodbye as she
headed out the door. When she left, Fille grabbed the remote control on his
desk and turned on the TV. There was still some time till lunch, so he might as
well entertain himself until then… or until a potential client comes in.
 
“Dreamcatcher… I wonder if you are really the solution to the problem…”
 
                                       …
                                        
“Hyaah!” Weiss struck the training dummy with her sword and then blasted it
with icicles. She was out in the training grounds of her castle, trying to
figure out some new moves for her to use in upcoming battles. It is important
to stay fit and practice her moves. It is but one of her duties many duties.
 
“Frostwave!” She yelled as she winds of frost formed around her and struck the
training dummy, making it frozen solid. She then jumped up high into the air
and sliced downwards onto the training dummy, cleanly cutting it in half. After
a few seconds, the training dummy put itself back together, ready for more
beatings.
 
“If I am ever to defeat those monsters, I need to practice hard…” Weiss
muttered to herself. She continued to strike the training dummy while throwing
in some ice moves here and there. Once she froze the dummy again, she jumped
flipped backwards onto the ground and was ready to do a charge stab.
“HYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
 
As she charged forward, she heard a twig snap nearby. Weiss skidded to a stop,
now aware she was not alone on her training grounds. She looked around and
listened closely to her surroundings. 10 seconds went by and not a peep was
heard from anywhere besides some birds off in the distance. Still not convinced
she was alone, she slowly approached the bushes, sword at the ready.
 
Weiss cautiously looked through the bushes in front of her, trying to find the
intruder. She looked for a bit and was about to look elsewhere when she felt a
presence behind her. Before she could turn around, she was pushed down into the
bushes with a gasp. The unknown intruder placed a hand over her mouth and
pinned down her right wrist to prevent her from retaliating before slowly
pinning down the rest of her body with theirs. Weiss struggled as best she
could, but the intruder was really strong.
 
“ WHO IS THIS PERSON?!”  Weiss screams internally, trying to fight back.
 
“That zombie be around here somewhere…” The sounds of 3 people walking around
the training area she was just in. She and the intruder pinning her down must
not be visible at the moment to the people looking for this zombie. Quickly,
she put two and two together. If that unusual zombie she heard about from this
morning made its way over here and those 3 people are looking for it… then the
intruder on top of her must be...
 
“ This is one smart and unusual zombie…”  Weiss thought to herself. She may as
well stay quiet. After all, if this zombie wanted to eat her, they would have
done so already. Other people finding them be damned. Sure it would probably be
easier to kill them, but if this zombie still has some good amount of
intelligence… she shouldn’t. After all, this zombie could have been one of her
people that somehow turned. She doesn’t want to kill or indirectly kill any one
of her people for no good reason.
 
“Are you sure that zombie ran this way?” Another person asked. That was one of
her guards.
 
“Positive. They couldn’t have gotten far. Look around.”
 
“Can’t believe a zombie somehow slipped by us.. Oh I do hope Princess Weiss
didn’t get eaten by that zombie.” That was also one of her guards. So 2 of her
guards and one other person, who she assumes must be a police officer, looking
for a zombie around her castle grounds.
 
“Speaking of her, she is not around here is she? I thought she was training at
this time of day?”
 
“ I was… but I am pinned down by a zombie at the moment…”  Weiss thought to
herself.
 
Weiss and the zombie listened to them look around the grounds for a minute or
two before ultimately hearing them give up and look elsewhere.
 
“The zombie probably retreated into the forest area. Let’s go.”
 
The 3 of them marched away into the forest not to far away from them. Once they
were comfortably out of range did the zombie release their hold on Weiss. The
white haired princess gasped and slowly got up from the ground and got out from
the bushes. She turned to face her intruder and saw a purple haired woman in a
white lab coat staring at her with those… colorless eyes of hers. She was… very
very pale… The cons of being a zombie, she guesses.
 
“Um… so…” This was really awkward for her. Just what exactly should she say to
a zombie? Can the zombie even talk? From what she learned about zombies, more
than she ever cared to learn thanks to movies and video games being so
saturated with them, is that they mostly groan and moan.
 
“...” The zombie reached out for her with her right arm for a moment, but then
placed it back to her side. Weiss then saw the zombie turn around and walk away
from her slowly. Very confused, but not wanting to let the zombie run off to
where she may get killed, she grabbed her by the shoulder.
 
“Wait!” The zombie stopped, but didn’t turn to look at her. Weiss quickly
racked her brain as to what to do with this zombie. She could just take her in
and maybe call in some scientists to possibly figure out a way to make her
human again… but would the zombie want that? It’d be so much easier if this
zombie could just talk. She is not sure why she cared so much… but perhaps it
is because she is… sad that one of her people turned.
 
“Hey um… I am not sure how you turned… but you going out there is clearly
suicide for you so…” Weiss sighed, not sure if this is a good idea given how
much work she had already but… “I’ll… look after you… just until I can figure
out how you turned and how I can… turn you back.”
 
The zombie turned to look at her and Weiss sees what seems to be… surprise on
the zombie’s face? It was kind of hard to tell. The white haired princess gave
her a small smile and grabbed the zombie’s hand. It was cold, but not
unexpected. “Come on, I’ll bring you to my workshed and… we’ll go from there.”
“T… Th…” The zombie started to say but was having troubles speaking. Weiss just
nodded. Knowing exactly what the zombie was trying to say. Baby steps. Maybe
someday she can figure out this woman’s name, so she can stop calling her,
‘zombie’. Or maybe she can just call her something in the meantime.
 
“Um, I hate to refer to you as zombie so… how about I call you… Zuzu?” Weiss
knew it was kind of cliche of her to name a zombie something that started with
a Z, but it was better than just calling her what she is.
 
“Grrgh…” The now named Zuzu groaned indifferently.
 
“Good… Good. Let’s go Zuzu!” Weiss then began to lead the zombie over to her
workshed. She really hoped that taking care of a zombie wasn’t going to be too
much more work for her. Lord knows she has enough work as it is.
 
                                5 hrs later...
                                        
                                  Fille’s POV
 
CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! One second I am in the secret room of that Clock Tower and
now I am falling out of the sky to my death. How on Earth did I get up here
anyways? Nevermind that, I see the ground getting closer and closer and if I
don’t do something fast, lights out for me forever.
 
It is a good thing I have some custom-made gadgets that help me get out of
sticky situations. I reached into my jacket and pulled out a pen and clicked
it. A green blob popped out and put me inside it. This is essentially my
version of Flubber, but its only purpose is to help me make a proper landing if
I happen to fall out of the sky. A little gross to be inside it, sure, but
better than dying.
 
Upon nearing the ground, the blob extended out a hand and once it hit the
ground, it bounced up high up into the air and then back down again, again, and
again until it didn’t anymore. I felt dizzy afterwards, but at least I am not
dead. The blob disappeared and I landed on the ground with a thump. I let out a
sigh of relief and grabbed the pen off the ground, now that the deed is done. I
placed it back in my jacket before taking a good look at my surroundings.
 
… I definitely wasn’t in Snowtramine. This whole area is in ruins. Buildings as
far as my eyes can see have either collapsed or have big holes in them. There
doesn’t appear to be any greenery anywhere and a lot of holes in the ground
that almost look like they go into the center of the earth.
 
“What in the…? What is this place? It is like I have arrived in a post-
apocalyptic area!” I just couldn’t believe my eyes. As far as my knowledge
goes, I don’t think there is a single area on Earth that has a wasteland as…
devastating as this. Have… Have I arrived in another world somehow?
 
“I...Interesting…” I pulled out my notebook and an actual writing pen to begin
jotting down notes of my current situation. As much as I want to freak out
about it, it is best for detectives like me to keep a level head and think
about things carefully. I wonder though, if the apocalypse have already
happened in this world, are humans even still around? Might as well explore and
find out. I’ll figure out a way to get to where I was later… if that is even
possible, but for now, I need more info.
 
…
 
…
 
…
 
10 minutes or so later, I found myself standing in front of what looks like the
ruins of what used to be a church. Curious, I tried looking for an entryway.
Maybe I can find some clues in here. I quickly found the entrance… to which I
found that there is a ruined factory nearby… at least I think it is. I
carefully walked inside as to not alert anything that could possibly be in
here. Heading a little further in, I hear sounds of… eating? I turned a corner
and took a peek to where I heard the sound.
 
I froze. There was a yellow… gorilla like thing eating something in the corner.
What it was, I do not know. Regardless, this thing was huge, and I am pretty
sure it ain’t friendly. Getting into a fight is not something I want to do
unless it is absolutely necessary. Besides, I don’t think I can stand a chance
against such a creature of that caliber.
 
I inched closer to get a closer look at its eyes since I needed to clarify
something. There doesn't appear to be any red swirly eyes, so that rules out
the fact that it is a Nightmare.
 
Grrr….
 
HUH?! I turned around quickly and see what looked to be a Iron Maiden monster
staring at me. How did it sneak up on me? I quickly dodged out of the way when
I noticed it was about to attack with me with a beam of some kind from its
head. However, that garnered the attention of the gorilla monster. It was now
beating its chest angrily, ready to attack me. Shit. Looks like I have no
choice.
 
“Nocturne Gauntlets!” I called out, summoning my trusty black gauntlets onto my
hands. I am not one to use guns, if I have to fight, I have to resort to my
fists and my speed. I see the gorilla roll into a ball and charged my way. I
quickly jumped up into the air so it slammed into the wall. While it tried to
regain its bearings I went in did a speedy lightning punch to its backside.
 
… Huh? It… didn’t do anything? I did not seem to inflict any damage on this
beast. It turned to me, growling at my attempts to do it harm. I hear a blast
of something coming my way and quickly cartwheeled out of harm's way, noting it
was the Iron Maiden trying to fire pot shots at me. I focused on my magical
storm magic and conjured up a bolt of lightning in my hand. Fine, if my punches
won’t work, then maybe this! I threw the lightning bolt with all my might at
it. The results… were rather lukewarm. The Iron Maiden thing just continued to
stare at me even though it was electrocuted as if it didn’t even tickle it.
 
“What are these things?” I can’t help but yell out, flabbergasted at how they
just take my attacks in stride.
 
“STUN GRENADE!”
 
Huh? That was a girl’s voice I just heard. I saw the aforementioned item fly
into the area and hit the ground where I was. I covered my eyes, waging a guess
that it was like a flash bomb of some kind. I hear a small explosion noise and
then the noise of the monsters being agitated by it. I quickly opened my eyes
and see a cute pink haired girl with blue eyes staring at me. My eyes trailed
lower to the big massive… cannon shaped weapon she was holding in her hands.
Then my eyes trailed to her… strange red armlet on her right wrist. Next I
looked at her outfit, it seemed to be a black sleeveless shirt underneath a
green dress with 2 pockets, a black glove on her left hand with 2 wristbands,
black leggings, and white boots with belts.
 
“C-Come on, let’s go before they recover!” The mystery girl quickly grabbed my
arm and dragged me out of the ruined church. I didn’t dare look back at the
mystery monsters and simply let this girl drag me to… wherever she is taking
me. So there are still humans left on this world, good to know.
 
“My thanks, miss.”
 
“You don’t have to call me miss. My name is Kanon. Kanon Daiba! God Eater of
the Defense Squad!” She introduced herself with a cute smile. I took what she
said into account. God Eater? Strange title. Well, I can think about that
later. I am just grateful she saved me.
 
“My name is Fille Beau,” I introduced myself and chose not to mention that I am
a detective. “Pleased to meet you, Kanon.”
 
“Likewise.”
***** All coming together. *****
Sunlight made its way into Princess Weiss’ room. A new day was upon her. Weiss
grumpily mumbled in her sleep at the invading sunlight. She turned to her side,
not wanting to get up just yet. “I don’t want to wake up, let me sleep a bit
more…”
 
“...”
 
Weiss felt someone pinch her arm and she let out an undignified squeak before
sitting up, wide awake. She was about to give the person who rudely awoke her a
good scolding, but then realized it was her new “disguised” bodyguard. The
zombie was now dressed appropriately in a red and white guard uniform. Her hair
was dyed black, her misty eyes now had brown contacts in them. Not much can be
done with her pale skin, but Weiss did apply makeup to her face to hide any
indication she was a zombie.
 
“Zuzu! You didn’t have to pinch me! I was going to get up eventually…” Weiss
sighed as she rubbed at her eyes tiredly. She took a look at the clock and
noticed it was 7:30. She quickly calculated how much sleep she has gotten and
it was about 4 hours worth. Not nearly enough time to be fully refreshed for
the day ahead of her.
 
Zuzu didn’t say anything… or rather she couldn’t at the moment and just stared
at her blankly as if to say, “Yeah sure.” Weiss stretched her arms out and
slowly got out of bed. She gave one last once over on her work on the zombie
before her. It was a lot of work, but she made a convincing human out of this
zombie. Her other servants and guards were certainly fooled, but did find it
strange that Weiss would hire another bodyguard to follow her at all times… let
alone one that didn’t speak.
 
“Well, I sure hope this disguise works in the long run. Just try and blend in
as best you can. Don’t act too… Zombie-like I guess…” Zuzu just gave a brief
nod in response. Weiss smiled a little before heading towards the bathroom to
get ready for the day. She closed the door behind her and started undressing.
While she does that, she thought about what she learned about this zombie just
from watching her.
 
While Zuzu does still retain some intellect than most zombies do, she still has
a hunger for human flesh. She learned that the hard way when she watched in
horror as Zuzu tried to bite a guard that was being mean to her, but she had
just enough willpower to resist that instinct of hers. That was a fun thing to
explain and work through…
 
She has yet to see if Zuzu was capable of turning others… but she didn’t dare
to risk anything with that… that just spells all kinds of trouble. She had to
wonder though if there are more zombies out there that she isn’t aware of. It
is a tad strange there is only reports of one zombie being sighted. It really
made her curious as to how Zuzu turned if that’s the case. The only clue she
has is what Zuzu was wearing when she met her. A white lab coat. She can guess
that perhaps Zuzu was experimenting on something and it turned her, though that
is a weak theory at the moment.
She’ll figure out her real identity soon. She did cut out a piece of her hair
and it is currently being looked at. Perhaps she’ll find out today?
 
10 minutes later, Weiss came out of the bathroom all clean and freshened up.
Zuzu looked away so she can get dressed. The princess smiled in response. “Come
on, it’s not like I have anything you haven’t seen before. Besides, I am used
to it. My security staff has already seen me naked anyways.”
 
Weiss doesn’t really mind people staring at her body. It was more of a
compliment if anything. If they try anything inappropriate… then she’ll mind.
Otherwise, look as much as you want. Sure, having a changing screen in her room
contradicts that, but it is just there because it decorates the room a bit.
 
Zuzu shook her head and continued to look away. If she wasn’t a zombie, there
probably would have been a heavy blush on her cheeks. Weiss shrugged in
response. “Suit yourself, eye candy isn’t for everyone I guess.” She teased her
before getting her clothes to get dressed for the day.
 
After a couple of slightly awkward moments, Weiss was fully dressed and ready
to take on the day. Tomorrow is the ball and thankfully planning is all done.
All that’s left is to set it up. She is excited, but also slightly concerned.
The ball will be fun… but at the same time, that Scream guy could very well
show up like in her dream and ruin things. Hopefully she could take that guy on
this time or at the very least fight him off until there is a way to deal with
him permanently.
 
“Zuzu, are you going to use the bathroom?” Weiss asked, before they go along
with their day. Zuzu looked at her for a moment, before shaking her head. The
princess crossed her arms. Surely she needs to freshen up at least. Sure she
doesn’t need sleep anymore, but at least freshen up and possibly not reek of
death? She can still smell it slightly.
 
“Look, I know you are a zombie, but that doesn’t excuse you of living the…
undead life of being stinky. If you are going to be my bodyguard… even if it is
just pretend… kind of… you need to freshen up.” Weiss forcefully grabbed her
arm and dragged her to the bathroom.
 
“Ugghh…” Zuzu groaned, giving up.
 
10 more minutes later, Zuzu was ready for the day also. Weiss looked at the
time and noticed it was nearing 8:00 AM. The maids were probably wondering
where she was as she should be down in the dining hall eatingt breakfast by
now.
 
“Oh! Uh want anything for breakfast? I mean… I can’t feed you human flesh… but
maybe I can feed you something else… equally as meaty?” Weiss honestly didn’t
know what to feed her. Zuzu didn’t want anything last night sure, but surely
she must be hungry now. She is a zombie after all.
 
“...B-...Ba…” Zuzu started but still was having difficulty speaking. Weiss
snapped her fingers, knowing what she wanted.
 
“Ah, so you want bacon. Sure! I love bacon too. I will gladly ask for them to
cook you some tasty bacon.” Weiss smiled. She was just honestly happy to be
spending time and or even talking with someone that doesn’t really work under
her. Ever since she became the ruler of this country when her dad died, she has
become incredibly lonely. So this whole situation is a welcome change… more
work added to her pile aside.
 
Zuzu nodded, confirming that that was what she was trying to say. With that,
both of them headed downstairs to the dining hall. Upon arriving, they noticed
that a good number of maids were already waiting for them.
 
“Your highness, where were you? You are never late for breakfast!”
 
“We were just about to go look for you!”
 
Weiss scratched her cheek nervously. “Oh I was just helping my new bodyguard
get ready. And also get her up to speed of what is required of her around
here.” Good thing, the security cameras in her castle don’t pick up audio,
otherwise they would have definitely seen through her lie. Zuzu looked at her
for a moment, hesitating, then ultimately nodded in affirmation that that was
what happened.
 
“Plus I slept in later than I intended. I didn’t mean to, but going to bed at 3
in the morning will do that.” Weiss further explained to them. The maids didn’t
need to question that. They knew how hard their princess was working… though
once again further worrying them that she might fall ill if she keeps this up.
 
“Now then, get me my usual traditional breakfast. Oh and please do feed my
bodyguard too. She desires lots of bacon… possibly some toast and water.” Weiss
added those in because just giving her bacon is just weird. She didn’t know if
a zombie could eat toast, but might as well give it a shot.
 
The maids exchanged weird looks. This was a first. Weiss doesn’t usually let
someone eat with her, much less ask them to feed someone that works under her.
The white haired girl was nervous but didn’t let it show. To be fair, it was
weird. A few awkward moments later, the maids just went ahead to the kitchen
without any questions.
 
“Grrgh…” Zuzu groaned quietly.
 
“I know.... But hey, at least you are getting fed and not have to eat… humans.”
She whispered the last part.
 
Both of them sat down at the dining table, Zuzu sitting not too far away from
her, but not too close either. As they both sat there waiting for their
breakfast, Weiss leaned forward in her chair and started thinking. She feels
like she is forgetting something. It was nothing work related, she made sure to
do everything yesterday that she needed to do… so what was it?
 
…
 
Weiss’ eyes widened in realization. That’s right. The detective! Wasn’t he
supposed to call her if he found something in that Clock Tower? Weiss pulled
out her smartphone and called his number. Zuzu watched Weiss, wondering what
she was up to. The princess bit her lower lip and drummed her fingers on the
table, waiting.
 
“We’re sorry, the number you have called is disconnected or not in service.”
 
Weiss looked at her smartphone in shock. His number is disconnected? That
doesn’t make sense. He should have his smartphone on him at all times. Did
something happen to him? Weiss looked in the general direction of where the
Clock Tower was. She narrowed her eyes. That settles it. She has to visit that
Clock Tower soon. Two people have already gone missing and it feels like it was
her fault to send them off to such a dangerous place.
 
“...?” Zuzu let out a questionable sound to get her attention.
 
Weiss turned to face Zuzu and shook her head. “I-It’s nothing. Was just trying
to get in touch with someone and apparently they changed numbers or something.
How rude!” Weiss lied through her teeth. It was a pretty obvious lie, but she
hoped Zuzu wouldn’t push anyways. The zombie looked at her for a few moments,
shrugged, then looked elsewhere as if suddenly bored.
 
“Yuna… Fille… I hope both of you are still alive. I don’t want any more guilt
on my soul.”
 
Few minutes later, their breakfast was served to them. Weiss watched as Zuzu
tried to restrain herself from eating like an animal and picked up a fork,
trying to eat the bacon normally. When the bacon disappeared into the mouth and
she started chewing, Zuzu let out what seemed to be a pleased moan. Weiss
giggled, it was actually kind of cute. She then turned red and shook her head.
She probably shouldn’t be thinking about such things. Probably not a good thing
to find a zombie enjoying their food, cute, even if the zombie is abnormal. She
is not into (kinda) Necrophilia.
 
Weiss turned to her food and started eating. Eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, toast,
and orange juice. The typical breakfast that she loves to eat almost every
morning. Sometimes she mixes it up a bit with pancakes or maybe even a
breakfast sandwich, but for the most part, this is her go to.
 
“By the by your highness, you have a request from someone for a little meeting
of sorts.” One of the maids told her. Weiss paused mid-bite of her toast and
looked her maid’s way.
 
“A request? From whom?”
 
“They didn’t write their name. Just that they wanted to meet to talk about info
they wanted to share with you personally.”
 
Weiss took a sip of her orange juice, thinking what to do about this request.
Seems harmless enough. She won’t know if this is some stupid request until she
meets them.
 
“Did they write their number?”
 
“Yes, your highness.”
 
“Then give them a call and tell them to meet me at 10:00 AM.”
 
“As you wish.”
 
If that was the only request she had for today, good, more time to work on
other things that require her attention before the ball tomorrow. Weiss looked
over to where Zuzu was sitting and noticed that she has already finished her
bacon, water, AND the toast.
 
“My, you ate fast.” Weiss said in surprise. So she can eat the toast. Good to
know that her appetite isn’t limited to just meat. Perhaps if she feeds her
well enough, she won’t have to crave human flesh. Maybe it will slowly turn her
back to normal… even if just a little.
 
Zuzu nodded, rubbing her stomach in satisfaction. “T... Thaannkkkkss.” She
voiced out kinda raspy.
 
Weiss’ eyes widened. That’s the first time she heard her say a complete word.
She couldn’t hide the grin on her face even if she tried. “My pleasure. I do
what I can.”
 
Meanwhile…
 
Emma yawned as she sat in her Advanced Calculus class. In her opinion, math is
fun, but not when it is stuff she already knows and it becomes painfully easy.
Thank god it is just one more review day before they take their final exams on
Monday. Frankly she wished she could do the exams now and have summer vacation
start tomorrow, but nope, life never works conveniently like that.
 
“Bored?” Jess asked from the seat behind her.
 
“Extremely. Doesn’t help when the teacher has a very monotone voice.” Emma
answered in a whisper. Jess can only nod to that.
“So Emma,” Jess started, “Did you see the UFO last night?”
 
“Well I saw something in the sky, but I don’t know if it was a UFO.” It was a
good thing this teacher allowed students to talk to each other if they didn’t
feel the need to review today just as long as they don’t bother others that do.
 
“It is crazy how frequent they are. You think Aliens might decide to either
talk with us or perhaps strike us down soon?”
 
“I am not sure.” Emma shrugged. “If they really wanted to strike us down, they
would have done so ages ago. I am not sure what they are up to if they are out
there. Perhaps they are just seeing what we are up to.”
 
“I guess.”
 
Emma sighed and without anything better to do, pulled out the string with the
black feather she found in the forest from her pocket. A piece of a
Dreamcatcher… She hasn’t really figured out what the significance of this thing
is. The only thing she knows is that finding this was no coincidence. She
wondered what that detective was up to regarding all these strange happenings
that involve Dreams and Nightmares.
 
Jess eyed the item in her hands. “You still have that?”
 
“Yes.” Emma responded, not even looking her way. “I am not just going to throw
it away. It will probably have significance later… just… don’t know when.”
 
“It is just part of a Dreamcatcher you found. What significance is there?” Jess
was honestly just confused at her friend’s insistence to keep that thing.
 
“I’ll figure it out.” Emma simply said, before pocketing the item.
 
10 minutes later, the bell rang. Everybody started gathering their things to
leave for their next class. “Okay class. Try and study this weekend. Your final
exam is worth 50 percent of your grade after all!” The teacher told their
leaving students.
 
Emma and Jess walked together out of class to head to their lockers. They were
in no hurry to get to class. 10 minutes is a generous amount of time in between
classes to go to your locker and get ready for your next class.
 
“Well, only 6 classes to go and then we are out for the weekend.” Jess remarked
as they arrived at their lockers. Emma just groaned in response. Sitting
through more boring classes is just hell for her. She wonders why she even
bothered to show up to school today, she could skip today too and probably
nothing would change.
 
“I am just glad that my school days will be over soon.” Emma said as she opened
her locker and placed her Advanced Calculus book away. “Then I can start
looking for a job.”
 
“Oh right, forgot you don’t have money to go to college.”
 
Emma shook her head. “I would go to college if I could, but sadly I’ll have to
settle with a High School Diploma. With my grades I don’t even qualify for a
scholarship. Thems the breaks.”
 
“Well I only known you for a short while, but you’ve been working hard, despite
some laziness but hey I am proud of ya for getting this far.” Jess smiled at
her friend. Emma faked a pout at the laziness part of her sentence but then
smiled afterwards.
 
“Thanks Jess.”
 
Jess nodded before grabbing her book for next class and closed her locker.
“Well, I will see you at lunch!” She waved Emma farewell before heading off.
The blonde watched her go for a moment or two before grabbing her own book and
walking in the opposite direction.
 
“Oh boy, time to get through Ceramics.” Emma muttered to herself quietly as she
walked in the general direction of her class. Upon nearing the entrance to her
school, she spotted a person that looked really out of place. Mostly because of
her outfit. Emma stared at a woman with black hair in a snowy owl mask that
covered most of her face. She was wearing a very revealing black tank top,
short red skirt and red high heels. Definitely not a student and certainly not
school appropriate. She seemed to be on the phone with someone.
 
“Ah so she is willing to see me today?” The woman spoke out happily. “Oh 10:00
AM is just fine with me. I don’t have anything to do around that time.” Emma
continued watching her as the woman leaned back on the wall. “My name? Does she
really want to know my name?”
 
…
 
“Alright fair enough. My name is Alula. You will know when it is me when you
see a snowy owl mask on my face… Yes seriously.... Well alright, ta-ta!”
 
The woman now known as Alula hung up and pocketed her smartphone. She was just
about to leave when she realized she was being watched. Emma flushed a bit as
the woman looked her way.
 
“Well now, isn’t it a bit rude to be eavesdropping, young lady?” Alula scolded,
though she was smiling all the same. The woman walked over to Emma to get a
better look at her. The blonde turned really red at how close she was to this
woman.
 
“I am sorry to ask… but what are you doing at this school, miss?” Emma croaked
out. She honestly just wanted to melt and die on the spot. She never does well
being so close to rather beautiful women.
 
“Hmm? Why do you want to know?” Alula asked, genuinely curious.
 
“I well...  You know what? Nevermind.” Emma shook her head, wanting this
conversation over with so she can go to class and stuff her face into her book
in shame. The woman found this amusing and let out a small laugh.
 
“Well aren’t you adorable.” Alula patted her head. “If you really want to know
then I’ll tell you.”
 
“Awfully trusting…”  Emma thought to herself but gave the mysterious woman her
undivided attention.
 
“To be frank, I was just here searching for an item and lo and behold I found
it, thanks to your principal. To think he would help a random lady like me.”
Alula remarked.
 
“Well the principal here is a pervert… And your clothes certainly help…”  Emma
thought wryly. “Well cool. What is it if you don’t mind me asking?” Alula
contemplated for a bit, wondering if it was really alright to tell her. She
looked at the young blonde as if judging her for a bit. Ultimately, she gave a
smile and a nod, not seeing the harm.
 
“I don’t see why not. You seem to be a nice young lady.”
 
“T-Thanks…” Emma couldn’t really deny that.
 
Alula reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out… Emma couldn’t believe her
eyes. It was another piece of a Dreamcatcher. That makes two now and surely…
SURELY this wasn’t just coincidence. The woman seemed to have noticed her
reaction.
 
“Hmm, you seem to know what I am holding. Why is that?”
 
Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out her piece. Although Emma couldn’t
see it, the woman probably was shocked about what she held in her hand too. The
tardy bell rang, but the blonde didn’t care if she was tardy, this meeting was
kinda worth it.
 
“Young lady.... Where did you acquire such a thing?” Alula asked not unkindly.
 
“I um… found it in the middle of a forest…” Emma answered, refusing to tell her
about the corpse part. Alula took the piece of the Dreamcatcher from her and
looked at the two of them together. “H-Hey!” Emma protested, trying to grab the
item back.
 
“Dear sweet young lady, I must take this. You must understand that these hold
significant power and I have to bring them to the princess at once.” Alula
explained as she pocketed the items.
 
“Why? Does Princess Weiss know about them?”
 
“You’ll understand in due time I am sure.” Alula tapped her chin in thought.
“In fact, I dare say you will play a part with the Princess regarding these.”
Before Emma could get a word in edgewise, a hall monitor walked by and spotted
the two of them.
 
“Emma Falls! What are you doing?! Get to class right this instant! You are
late!” The hall monitor scolded the blonde. The blonde squeaked in response.
Shit, she was in trouble.
 
“Please excuse her, I held her up by talking with her, so I am the one at fault
for her tardiness.” Alula explained to the hall monitor.
 
“Oh you did huh? Well fine then. Emma, I’ll let you off with a warning this
time around. Be lucky you didn’t get detention on one of your last days of
school.” With that, the hall monitor walked the other way. Emma wiped her
forehead. Glad she didn’t have to deal with that.
 
“T-Thanks for that.”
 
“No, thank you for finding this. Now, I shall be on my way. Study well, dear.”
 
Emma watched as the mysterious woman walked out of the school. The blonde
wished she could have the piece of the Dreamcatcher back, but if this woman was
being truthful, then it is best that Princess Weiss sees them. Maybe she can
figure out this whole mess. It is certainly better than waiting around for an
answer. With a sigh, Emma made her way to her Ceramics class. First things
first, she has to endure more classes.
 
Elsewhere…
 
“ How long have I been here? It has probably been over a week now.”  A young
brunette adventurer thought to herself. She was currently looking up into the
night sky while laying down in the grass. A lot of things happened over the
course of her week here in this… new world she crashed into. Quite a number of
good things… and quite a number of bad things. It was all just overwhelming for
her and she really wants to head home. She just doesn’t know how to go about
it. How exactly do you return to your own world without perhaps a spaceship of
some kind. And given what she knows about from this world, that just wasn’t
possible.
 
To think, it was all because she was pressured into going into the Clock Tower.
She was not sure how it happened. All she knows is that she went in there,
avoiding the spirits, traps, and other such nonsense… and then she entered a
secret room she found. Next thing she knew, she was in the sky and fell into a
place called Hanzo Academy. A school for shinobi. There she met 5 girls who
took care of her. She was glad to meet them and also glad for their help, but
she doesn’t want to be a burden on anybody. She needs to head home soon and go
on an adventure in her own world. But how exactly?
 
“Yuna-chan?”
 
Yuna didn’t bother looking towards the direction of the voice. She knew it was
her very busty friend, Asuka. She felt the girl lay down on the grass next to
her. They both stared at the starry sky together for a few moments.
 
“What are you thinking about, Yuna-chan?” Asuka asked, giving her friend a
sideways glance. Yuna looked back at her for a moment, before looking back at
the sky, shrugging.
 
“My home.” She said simply.
 
“Naruhodo…”
 
When Yuna first talked about wanting to go home, the girls were confused as to
why she couldn’t just go and do that. Like get a plane ticket home if she
really wanted to go home that badly. The adventurer from that point didn’t
really know how to explain it without it being very weird. She can’t just go
about saying she is from a different world. First of all, would they even take
her seriously? And second of all, she feels like it is an unspoken rule to not
give away info that there are other worlds out there even if they didn’t buy
it. So for the time being, she just said it is very complicated to go home.
 
A week later, hardly any progress was made and Yuna was forced to accept that
she will be here for quite a while. Not that staying here was all bad. She made
some new friends, albeit it took her awhile to accept the fact that these girls
wanted to be her friends given her self-deprecating ways.
 
“Yuna-chan, what’s your home like?” Asuka asked, very curious. “If you are not
going to tell me what the complications are… would you tell me at least this?”
 
The brunette thought for a moment. She should watch what she says here. In
truth, she doesn’t have a home she stays in indefinitely. She travels around
the world, buys a vacation home there if she has the money, then moves on if
there is nothing more to explore. The world is her home technically. Well, she
can at least tell her half truths.
 
“Well it is a rather nice 2 story building located near the mountains. It is
hardly ever warm where I live. The highest temperature around 67 degrees
actually.”
 
“Only that warm?” Asuka’s eyes widened. “You must be well adapted to the cold.”
 
Yuna smiled. “I am used to all kinds of climates actually. So cold weather
nearly all the time doesn’t bother me.” She sat up and leaned back on her
hands, still staring into the sky. “It is a rather beautiful place all things
considered and ruled by a pretty good princess.” Disregarding that one moment
before she headed to the clock tower.
 
“Hime?”
 
“Right. She does a lot of work for her people. She is respected and loved by…
well pretty much almost everyone. She is something else.” Yuna explained. Asuka
hummed in understanding before sitting up as well. She placed a hand on her
shoulder as if trying to comfort her. Yuna blushed at the contact, but didn’t
object.
 
“Yuna-chan, you’ll be able to return home soon… I am sure. In the meantime,
stay with us for as long as you need.” Asuka gave her a reassuring smile.
 
“Why are you all so nice to me?” Yuna just couldn’t believe that these girls,
this girl in particular, wanted to help her out. She was just some stupid,
plain, ugly, and all other negative adjectives, type of girl.
 
“We’re friends right? This is what friends do.” Asuka stood up and helped Yuna
to her feet. “Now then, let’s go to sleep. It is very late.” The young brunette
shinobi tapped her chin in thought, feeling like she was forgetting something.
“Oh right!”
 
“Hmm?”
 
“We got an invitation to go to an island to participate in something called
‘Peach Beach Splash’.” Asuka told her.
 
“Peach… Beach… Splash?” Yuna repeated, confused. That is a really strange title
for some kind of event. What did it entail? Other than a Beach and possibly
peaches… unless they mean a different kind of peach. She blushed heavily at the
thought. And the splash part had something to do with water. So what is this
event?
 
“I am just as confused as you are regarding the title, but the invitation did
say to bring our bikinis.”
 
“B-Bikinis?!” Yuna waved her hands in front of her face, blushing madly. “NO!
NO! NO! I don’t look good in a bikini! I don’t want to show off my ugly body to
people!”
 
“You are not ugly, Yuna. You’re cute and I bet you’ll look cuter in a bikini!”
Asuka assured her truthfully with a smile. Yuna just shook her head in vehement
denial. The young adventurer grabbed a paper bag and placed it on her head.
 
“I AM UGLY! NOT CUTE!”
 
“Mou… Yuna-chan.” Asuka sighed. Making Yuna accept the fact that she is cute is
hard work. Well, she’ll come around eventually. With that, the Shinobi grabbed
Yuna by the hand so they can go to sleep.
 
Elsewhere again…
 
Fille laid on the bed and stared up at the ceiling of the guest room he is in.
He has only been here in this world for 6 hours, yet he learned quite a bit
about it. He is still mulling over what everything meant, but he got the
general gist.
 
He is currently at the Far East Branch that is run by Fenrir. There are
branches all over the world that have soldiers known as God Eaters to take down
these “Aragami” monsters. God like beings that infest this world and eat pretty
much anything… not just a lot of things… ANYTHING. He shuddered at the thought.
He was surprised there is still traces of human life with these monstrosities
around, but apparently they came up with a solution pretty quickly with these
weapons called God Arcs. Transformative weapons made up of… Oracle Cells that
came from those monstrosities. Once defeated, the God Eater devours the core
from them using the God Arc and if they collect some pretty strong cores from
some strong Aragami, they can fortify the wall protecting the people from them
because of something called the Bias factor. In simpler terms, it means the
Aragami will find it unappealing to even eat it.
 
“What a fascinating world I turned up in…” Fille muttered to himself.
 
He thought back to the girl who saved his life. Kanon Daiba. So she is
apparently one of these God Eaters that help keep humanity alive, even if it is
just prolonging the inevitable. Apparently she is one of these Old Types kind
of God Eaters that only a God Arc capable of only being one type of weapon…
could be either melee or a gun. Not both. Those kinds of God Arcs are for more
capable God Eaters that are called New Types.
 
“New Types, huh? And to think, they apparently see me as a potential New Type
God Eater.”
 
When Kanon accidentally let it slip that Fille could use magic of some kind and
summon his gauntlets from seemingly out of nowhere, they were confused but
wanted to see if Kanon’s words held any merit. He didn’t see the harm of
showing them this AT THE TIME and gave them a brief show of his powers.
Needless to say, they were astonished and wondered who he was. Fille chose at
that point to keep his mouth shut and say that the information is classified.
 
And before he knew it, he was being tested on. To see if he has any
compatibility with any of the God Arcs. To be honest though, if his magic and
his gauntlets couldn’t do any damage to the Aragami, he wasn’t anything
special, but apparently they wanted to see if he can be a God Eater. Lo and
behold, he can be one. His potential is apparently almost on par with another
New Type of this branch: A captain of the 1st unit, Yuu Kannagi. Fille has yet
to meet him, but he seems to be famous around this branch.
 
Which leads to where he is now. Staying in a guest room while thinking about
his response upon whether or not to become a God Eater and help protect
humanity. Fille honestly didn’t know what to do. This isn’t his world. He can’t
just meddle here. If it was his own world, maybe, but some detective that
somehow made it into this world and trying to change this world’s history? That
doesn’t seem right.
 
Knock Knock
 
Fille broke out of his thoughts and sat up on the bed. “Come in.” The door
opened and in came the cheery pink haired girl that saved him. She appeared to
have a plate of snacks of some kind. Cookies?
 
“Hi! Uh, was I interrupting anything?” Kanon asked sheepishly as she entered
the room and closed the door behind her. Fille shook his head in response. She
smiled and sat down on the bed next to him. The detective got a good look at
the snacks that were on the plate. They looked to be some kind of cookie…
almost looks like Oreos to be honest. Although the presentation of these
cookies leave a little to be desired almost like they were burnt or something.
 
“So… I brought snacks! Snacks that I made…” Kanon said as if she was boasting
about it, “And I was hoping that you would like to share them with me?”
 
Well, what kind of gentleman would he be to refuse a lady’s offer like that?
Especially if the lady made the treats herself. Not to mention how cute she is.
“My thanks, Kanon. I will gladly try these.”
 
He grabbed one and looked at it more closely. Out of the corner of his eye,
Kanon was watching him expectantly. It still looks kinda appetizing, so that’s
something, but hey maybe it is tastier than it looks. With that in mind, he
took a bite.
 
…
 
Fille’s eyes widened behind his sunglasses. They were actually pretty
delicious. They were actually better than Oreos and he was kinda neutral
towards those cookies… too bad Kanon doesn’t have any milk to compliment these
cookies, but he’ll take what he can get.
 
“Kanon, presentation aside, these are pretty delicious!” Fille complimented her
while also telling her her main flaw with these cookies. Kanon smiled brightly
at that, happy that he liked her cookies.
 
“Yeah I know my cookies don’t look all that good, but if the taste is bad then
no one wins.” Kanon pointed out as she grabbed a cookie and plopped it in her
mouth.
 
“Right.”
 
They sat there in comfortable silence, eating the cookies together. Fille
thought briefly on Kanon’s character he has seen so far. She seems like a very
nice young woman. Very cheerful… knows how to bake sweets at the least. And she
seems somewhat clumsy. He hoped she wasn’t that way in a fight, but she says
she’s been a God Eater over a year now… so perhaps she is an experienced
fighter.
 
“So Fille,” Kanon wiped her hands off after they finished eating all of the
cookies. “Did you decide whether or not to become a God Eater?”
 
Fille shook his head. “I am honestly conflicted. I am trying to think of the
pros and cons in my head… and I… still need time to think, Kanon.” Though
honestly, he prefers to find a way home if at all possible. It is not like he
is stuck here forever right? Right? He bit his lower lip, hoping that’s not the
case. His home world is in trouble from being overrun by these Nightmares. Sure
this world has it worse, but… priorities?
 
“Maybe Princess Weiss can save me. She surely must have already figured out I
have gone missing and will go to the Clock Tower herself.”
 
“Uh, Earth to Fille, you there?” Kanon waved her hand in front of his face,
snapping Fille out of it.
 
“Sorry. I was just thinking about some other things. What did you say?”
 
“I said I understand, Fille.” Kanon gave him a reassuring smile. “Becoming a
God Eater isn’t easy and you have to make a lot of sacrifices. I was nervous
too when I became a God Eater… but the thought of protecting my family,
friends, and my home gave me the courage to go through it and quite honestly…
being a God Eater can be a lot of fun… Just slaying pitiful Aragami left and
right all for the sake of preserving mankind! Woo!” Kanon explained cheerfully.
 
Fille could have sworn he saw something dark in her eyes when Kanon talked
about slaying Aragami. It almost gave him a shiver down his spine. “Is that
right? That’s some good motivation, Kanon.”
 
“Yeah, but hey, you do what you want to do. I’ll support any decision… cause
we’re friends aren’t we?” Kanon said, putting out a hand for a shake. Fille
looked at her hand for a moment, before smiling and firmly shook her hand.
 
“Yes, we are definitely friends. I mean, you practically saved my life. I am
really thankful.”
 
“Aww, it was nothing. You looked like you were in trouble while I was out on my
mission so I had to help out.” Kanon blushed. “But I must say, if you do become
a God Eater, would you go on missions with me? You are so cool and I would like
it so much if you joined me!” Now Fille was the one blushing. That’s something
no one has ever called him before. ‘Cool’. Something about this girl was giving
him a lot of… unnecessary feelings and he is not sure if he likes it or not.
 
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. It is getting late.” Kanon picked up the plate
and started heading out the door. “Good night, Fille!” She cheerfully waved
goodbye.
 
“G-Good night, Kanon…”
 
With that, Kanon left the room, leaving Fille back to being alone in the room.
He sighed and took off his sunglasses to set on the counter. Honestly, it was
getting rather late and he is very tired from everything that transpired today
here and in Snowtramine. Shame there isn’t any sleepwear for him, he’d hate to
wrinkle his clothes, but nothing can be done about that. He turned off the
lights and went to sleep. He began dreaming of going back home… and a certain
cute God Eater.
 
Back at Weiss’ castle
 
Weiss sat on her throne, waiting for the meeting to start with this, “Alula”
person. Zuzu was standing not too far away from her, along with another
bodyguard of hers. As usual, Weiss was bored just sitting around doing nothing
but wait. She drummed her fingers impatiently.
 
“Ugh, I hate waiting around for meetings. Sometimes I just wish they ask me to
do something else.” Weiss complained, but knew that she shouldn’t back out. It
is a princess’ duties to make their citizens happy. Zuzu turned to look at her
for a moment, almost feeling sorry for her.
 
Weiss noticed this and gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I am just rambling,
ignore me.” Zuzu shrugged before facing forward again.
 
“Yeah, she does that sometimes.” The other bodyguard told Zuzu.
 
“Silence!”
 
The door to the throne room opened and in came one of the maids bringing in the
woman known as Alula. Weiss examined her carefully, taking in her rather…
risque type of outfit and the strange snowy owl mask covering all but her
mouth. She looks tall, a lot taller than her even, which irked her to no end.
She hated being short.
 
“Alula, is it? Welcome.” Weiss greeted not unkindly. Alula kneeled down on one
knee and bowed respectively before her.
 
“Your highness, it is a pleasure to meet you and thank you for taking time out
of your busy day to meet with me.”
 
“It is what I do…” Weiss cleared her throat, “Now then, you say you have info
for me. Pray tell what kind of info you have that will interest me?” She was
awfully curious as to what it is. She doesn’t normally get requests of this
nature.
 
Alula smiled, “Well your highness, I am sure you are well aware of the strange
monsters popping up not too far from here?”
 
Weiss gave a brief nod at that. So far so good. If this is going where she
thinks it’s going then she might just get a new lead.
 
“These creatures of the night, Nightmares, must be stopped at all costs. And
there is only one weapon that can deal with them… I believe you have heard of
the Dreamcatcher sword?”
 
Weiss’ eyes widened slightly. How did she know that? She only just found out
about that weapon yesterday and surely this woman wasn’t around when she learnt
about it. Getting suspicious, she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. “Why yes…
And what of that rumored sword?” Zuzu looked between the two, wondering where
this was going.
 
“I know where it is. It is in that dreaded Clock Tower. You must grab the
weapon and fight against the evil sending these monsters out to destroy us.”
Alula told her.
 
Weiss had an inkling that the Clock Tower had something to do with that sword,
but to have it confirmed…although… “Hmm, why should I be the one to grab it?
Why can’t you grab it? For all I know this could be a trap.”
 
Alula gave her a smile smile. “Your suspicions are justified your highness, but
I cannot grab the sword. Those who try to get close to it get punished. Only
one person that is brave, confident, and believes they can make their dream
come true with hard work and determination can even touch it and therefore
become its master.” She then once again bowed respectively before Weiss. “And
you, your highness, fits all the criteria. You are the one that will capture
the Nightmares and end the evil behind it all.”
 
“Only I? Hmm…” Weiss took in the information she heard. She decided to think
about each point of interest one at a time. First of all, the sword punishing
those who get close to the sword that are not worthy. Would that mean that
Fille and Yuna came into contact with the sword and therefore got punished as a
result? It would definitely explain their disappearance. She would hope that
the punishment wasn’t… death. “So what happens to those that are not worthy?”
 
“I do not know. I only have a decent amount of knowledge about the legendary
weapon. My sincerest apologies.”
 
“Hmm… where’d you get this info is what I’d like to know, but we’ll talk about
that later I am sure.”  Weiss rubbed her chin in thought. So it is not for
certain both of them are dead, although it still leaves her uneasy. Next is the
fact that she is the only one that fit that requirements to wield the sword.
She is well… honored? A sword that she can wield and potentially put a stop to
that person herself. It actually made her kind of excited, it sounded like she
was the main character of some video game or even a story.  “Alright, Weiss,
don’t enter geek mode.”
 
“So… only me? And how would you know if any of that is true about me?” Not that
she wasn’t wrong. It’s just really suspicious.
 
“Your highness, ever since you started ruling, you have been working hard for
your dream of keeping your country happy and to appease your late father.”
 
“My father…” Weiss whispered to herself, sadly. Alula noticed this, but
continued on regardless.
 
“Taking on such a role requires a great number of confidence, bravery, and
determination, don’t you think?”
 
“... I guess point taken… Honestly though, where did you get all this info?”
Weiss wanted to know who this person is.
 
“Let’s just say…” Alula adjusted her mask on her face. “I have my sources… Very
smart sources.”
 
What did she mean by that exactly? Weiss wasn’t sure, but was definitely sure
that Alula wasn’t going to shed more light on that. She hated when people
withheld info, even if they have good reasons for doing so.
 
Zuzu on the other hand found all of this very interesting. This was the first
time she ever heard about this sword and to think that the girl she is
‘pretending’ to protect is the potential wielder of it. Assuming all of this is
true of course. If only she could speak more than one word so that she can talk
to the princess about this later.
 
“Now then, I have something to offer you, something you definitely need for the
Dreamcatcher Sword to get its power back.” With that, Alula reached into her
skirt pocket and pulled out the 2 strings of the Dreamcatcher.
 
“You have 2?!” Weiss exclaimed loudly. Alula expected this kind of reaction.
 
“Yes. One I found on school grounds… the other was… given to me by an adorable
young lady at said school.” Alula not giving away any more than that. “With the
one I bet you are carrying around with you, that makes 3. Thus all the pieces
are now together.”
 
Weiss took out her own piece, but now was faced with another question. “Wait,
was the Dreamcatcher sword broken apart or something? What happened?”
 
“Another time, another place, your highness. Explaining it to you all at once
wouldn’t be a good idea anyways. You’ll know in due time.”
 
“But I like exposition… especially when I want to know more!”  Weiss complained
in her head, but didn’t show her disappointment. “Zuzu, bring me the other 2
pieces from her.” The zombie obliged and walked forward to mysterious woman.
Alula looked at this bodyguard closely for a moment, taking in all of her
features. Zuzu stretched out her hand, waiting for her to coff them up. She
stood up and gave them to her, but not before whispering her ear.
 
Weiss arched an eyebrow at the exchange. She sees Zuzu then look at her like
she grew a second head and waved her off with a grunt. What was that about? Did
Alula tell her something weird? The zombie walked up to her and handed it to
her. She gave her a small smile then looked at the 3 strings now in her hands.
So she has all 3 of them. Now what? Should she head to the Clock Tower now and
get the sword?
 
I’ve been waiting for you…
 
Weiss gasped as the 3 strings circled around her, glowing blue. The bodyguards
gasped and Alula just looked on, not worried in the slightest. The princess
found herself floating in the air as they spun faster and faster. Then, in a
blink of eye, the strings stopped, forming a triangle around her. Weiss’ eyes
were blank, but not lifeless. It was as if her body was left behind and her
mind went elsewhere.
 
“Your highness!” The bodyguard was flabbergasted, as was Zuzu.
 
“She’ll be fine.” Alula assured them. “Think of it like she is sleeping. Once
she wakes up, she’ll return stronger than before.”
 
“Well until then, you are staying with us! You brought this upon her after
all!” The bodyguard pointed at her accusingly.
 
“Oh my… Well I wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon anyways.” Alula
shrugged and then looked over at Zuzu. “You. I want you to help me with
something while we wait…”
End Notes
     If any of you wonder why my Weiss looks and sounds familiar, it is
     because my Weiss is inspired by RoosterTeeth's Weiss from the
     animated show RWBY. While similar in appearance and other aspects,
     that's about it. I have my own backstory, personality, and such for
     this Weiss.
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