The sun was gone and the moon had risen. The boughs of the trees shook as the night breeze offered them a pleasant embrace.

The students were snoring away in their tents. They had collapsed immediately when their head had hit their pillows, all exhausted after another round of the cat and mouse chase training between them and Zero. Shinichi was laying down on the warm soil, resting his head on someone's poor backpack. His eyes were closed tight. Occasionally he squirmed around, as though something was attempting to disturb his sleep.

In the veil of the night, it wasn't wrong to assume that evil forces would be abroad. Two allies of the wicked world looked through the clearing with open eyes.

One figure was crouched in the shadows, rummaging about. Another figure moved closer, feet brushing through the grass, not caring for the noise he made. Moonlight shone down his face, illuminating tanned skin and green eyes. Even if the night offered no cold, a thick scarf still circled his shoulders. His mouth curled down.

"What're you doing, Akatsuki?"

Zero stopped her movements. "When did you free yourself?" she asked.

"I got eaten," explained Irish with a shrug. "Easier to break free from a stomach than… whatever sticky substance that was."

Looking away, Zero only nodded before continuing her task.

"That's not your bag."

"Good observation," she said, uncaring. "He does have a name, huh? Shinichi...awfully familiar name."

Irish was silent.

When Zero rose, there were two black markers on her hand. She presented one to Irish. "That old man's more prepared compared to a student. Wanna draw on his face?"

Irish observed the pen, lips set into a thin line.

He took the pen.

The two marched with steady strides, pausing as their shadows cast over Shinichi's figure. A sliver of moonlight coated his untainted face. The ideal canvas for misdeeds. They huddled over it, minds brooding over the perfect tattoo. Zero lowered a hand, cupping Shinichi's supple cheek. Her thumb traced over the rosiness of it, feeling the blood travelling through it. Shinichi shifted with a moan, pink lips falling on Zero's palm, his warm breath ghosting over it. Irish poked the mole beneath Shinichi's left eye.

"He's no longer on it?"

Irish nodded his head as an answer. "So you know him?" Irish asked.

Zero raised her weapon, twirling it on her fingers like she would a knife. Irish, at her side, shook the pen, as though he was reloading it, readying it to blast off its shot.

"I had my suspicions when I saw the glamour," said Zero. "He's very knowledgable and his connection to Bobu, even as a janitor, and his voice… like c'mon, he's not even trying."

Zero drew a disfigured phallus shape on Shinichi's cheek. Irish added three lines on the end of the shape and curves that looked like a splash of water at the tip.

"You're not angry?"

Zero didn't answer. Her pen strokes became faster.

Irish slapped his pen on hers. "What are you going to do then?" continued Irish.

"I'm not going to tell you that," she answered. The pen tapped playfully on the bottom of her lip. "You don't have to worry. I won't do anything now."

"I'm not worried. I won't let you lay a hand on him."

Zero stared at him. "Why are you protecting him?"

Irish only gave a slow rising grin.

The world was not a simple place. Though these two figures drew on unbothered, there were always other creatures lurking unspotted, hiding within the nooks and crannies of the world. Whether or not these beings dwelled on the same plane of reality was a mystery these two would never solve. Where the two at the material world remained ignorant, one individual was watching the scene. His stony expression cracked at each stroke the marker made.

Shinichi sent a serious kick, only for it to phase through Zero and Irish. "I swear these two… they should've never met."

Their conversation was inaudible to his ears but their actions were loud and very visible.

Shinichi hunched over his sleeping material body. "Hey! Wake the fuck up! Those two are making a fool of you," he shouted. He bit his lip as another thought passed through him. "Even worse… that pen is permanent…"

The plane in which Shinichi's body floated and shimmered unnaturally: the dream realm.

Everytime Shinichi fell into the depths of deep sleep, he would open his eyes and see his own flesh presented before him, sleeping peacefully and undisturbed. The world before would be different from what he knew and he would be forced to wander the unwaking world until his body became satisfied with the sleep it had consumed or if he was rudely awakened.

Well, there was another method to escape this plane.

If Shinichi squinted hard enough, she would be there, waiting, with the slame billowy dress and warm smile.

Somehow, meeting his mother's phantom ended the dream. That may be because each time he attempted to reach her figure, his mind would be overcome with strange visions and his body would crumple as pain entered his body.

Making myself suffer is a fast way to wake myself up, he concluded begrudgingly. I'm not a big fan of pain though.

There were times when Shinichi was forced to take that route. Yet usually he'd accept his fate and explore this non-human world.

Shinichi sighed, accepting his other fate of being made as Zero and Irish's object of ridicule.

For now, he was meant to walk through the dream realm until his body had sufficiently rested.

Through Shinichi's eyes, Zero and Irish appeared to be covered by a transparent sheen. The world itself emitted a silvery sheem. Up in the sky, no visible moon or stars occupied it; instead, glowing will-o'-the-wisp-like creatures floated through the space, giving light to the lonely realm. It floated aimlessly giving light to the dry soil and shrivelled oaks it passed.

Shinichi appeared invisible not only to the human realm (he dubbed the material realm as the 1st plane), but to other realms as well.

He glanced to his side, where a large wooden building resided. It's wide windows were painted a warm orange of a burning hearth. It's design suggested that it was a tavern of sorts.

The only problem was its size.

Shinichi stared straight at a 30 foot door.

Not the strangest thing he has seen in his dreams.

The world was not a simple place. If there was a 1st plane, it would imply the existence of other planes.

The tavern door opened and out came a 20 foot tall monstrosity. It strided languidly, sticky purple fluids flowing out its body, dropping heavily to the grey soil. On its hand was a wooden mug, a frothy-like substance leaking out of it. Reminds me of beer, Shinichi thought. It took a swig, misshapen lips circling over the tankard. Some of it streamed out through the gaps of its jagged teeth. Drops of it passed through Shinichi's body.

Shinichi eyed the creature with judgeful eyes.

Shinichi didn't know what to call this creature. Not exactly like the mindless devourers found in the human realm, it acted more human than anything, though its appearance suggested otherwise.

It wobbled around Shinichi. Incoherent babbles cursed out of its forked tongue.

Nasty appearance yet language is still discernible… one of the lower planes.

The dream realm was almost all seeing… almost omnipresent.

And Shinichi was the only one who roamed it.

"Gah!!"

And Shinichi was--

"Ah! Oh my gahd!!"

And Shinichi wasn't the only one here.

As the monster's foot heavily stomped through the underbrush, a ball of haystack rolled out of its way. It tumbled helplessly, collecting soil on its dry hair before landing into a heap on the ground. An arm stuck out of the hay, trembling fingers reaching out desperately in the air. Its whimpering grew louder as Shinichi approached.

He looked down on it, feeling too bewildered.

Unveiled through the crisp and thick looking hair was the scratched and dirty face of Rinko. "It's a devourer!" she screamed. Snot and tears had smeared her face from her previous tumbleweed impression.

The devourer in question roared as it stumbled on a large tree root protruding from the ground.

Perhaps, the human equivalent of that roar was a squeak.

Shinichi closed his gaping jaw. "What're you doing here?"