"Wh--," Ryuta is taken aback. "Whatever, I'm Ryuta Akagami."
"Ryuta Akagami." She smirks after speaking his name.
"Did she just..." Ryuta thinks to himself but tosses the thought aside. "Anyway, who are you?"
"Amane."
"Just Amane?"
"You don't need to know the rest."
Ryuta stares at her in disbelief, uncertain of how to deal with this girl.
"Well, that aside, what the hell is going on?" Ryuta asks. "You are probably behind this, aren't you?"
"I initiated this dream." Amane answers. "I wanted to figure out the reason why people who lucid dream are dying."
Amane turns towards the corrupting void looming towards her and Ryuta. An air of determination surrounding her. Ryuta could tell that this girl is serious, whatever her reasons may be. While still somewhat skeptical of Amane, Ryuta decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and trust her intentions. Whether it may be a mistake or not, he wouldn't know until later.
"Do you think that dark abyss devouring this dream world is related to the deaths?" Ryuta asks.
"That would be the most logical conclusion currently."
"Right." Ryuta analyzes the abyss. "It's corrupting the world around us and...I'm guessing it will eventually--"
"Consume this entire dream world, thus ultimately leading to the demise of the dream's creator." Amane concludes.
"...Yeah." Ryuta grimaces lightly over the thought. "That means, if you don't stop it, you..."
"I will die."
"She's going to die soon, Ryuta."
"!?"
Ryuta stands frozen, unsure of what he's hearing and why.
"Ryu-ta..." A girl's voice can be heard and an image of her bleeding out in front of Ryuta flashes in his mind.
"Y-Yume?" Ryuta thinks to himself. He grasps his face as he starts trembling. "What is this?!"
"I'm going to count down from ten. Tell me everything...or she will die."
"Wait, what? Is that..."
"Ten."
"NO, DON'T!"
"Huh? Don't what?" Amane asks Ryuta, somewhat disturbed by his sudden outburst.
Ryuta wipes his face from the sweat that formed. His breath is ragged, as he struggles to comprehend what happened. He begins to calm down and looks at Amane who is staring at him curiously. The dark void behind her draws closer to the point where it reaches above them high in the sky. Time was running out.
"It's nothing." Ryuta says between breaths. "We have to hurry and stop whatever that is."
Amane nods in agreement. Ryuta stares at his hands, the image of blood flashes over them. Why am I getting involved in these lucid dreams again? What am I doing?
In the distance, far out of sight, deep within the growing void, a black figure slowly appears. The figure has long black hair with uneven straight bangs. Lifeless ebony eyes as dark as the night sky. Her entire outfit is black, from the hoodie and skirt to the matching knee socks and shoes. Everything about her expressed a deep darkness that not even light can shine upon. Her grim appearance portrayed her as some sort of reaper.
She walks towards the source of the lucid dream. A stygian cloud writhing out of her body like a living flame engulfs the air around her. It spreads like a dense fog and melts into the void, further expanding its reach. Her vacant expression is shrouded by the veil of her hair adding to her ominous approach. She looks up at the building where Ryuta and Amane stand in the near distance.
"Hey, do you see that?" Amane asks Ryuta.
"What?" Ryuta walks near the ledge where Amane stands.
"Down where you were running from that darkness." Amane points. "There's a figure within that black mist blending in with the darkness."
"I see it. Appears to be a girl about the same age as us."
"I know ominous when I see it, she looks ominous!" Amane suggests as she leaps off the building and rockets down at inhuman speeds towards the ground.
Amane lands on the ground, not too far from the girl in black. The girl in black slowly stops walking as she reaches the edge of the void. Amane stands in the light of her psychedelic world. The shadows of the darkness continue inching forward towards Amane. The girl in black remains emotionless as she stares at Amane under her bangs.
"You're the one corrupting lucid dreams, aren't you?" Amane asks.
The girl in black remains still and unresponsive.
"You're the one doing this right? Why?"
No response.
"Is she ignoring me or what?" Amane says to herself when suddenly the girl in black points at her.
"Are you..." The girl in black starts, her voice nearly inaudible. "The creator of this dream?"
"What if I am?" Amane responds aggressively, feeling a sense of tension in the air.
"So you are." The girl in black replies.
A shroud of darkness pours out of the girl's body. It becomes a shadow erupting from the girl. As if of its own volition, it grows into a long pole shape. From the end of the pole, it stretches out into the form of a scythe. The obsidian colored scythe created from the mind of the girl had streams of shadows trailing away from it, like whips of black fire.
Amane notices the sinister weapon conjured from the girl and prepares herself to fight. Spectrum colored aura forms in Amane's hands. It spreads to the rest of her body, painting her body in a barrier of bright colors. Amane's eyes glitter a bright gold. Just as she takes her stance, Ryuta casually walks up to her.
"Ryuta?" Amane is surprised. "What took you so long to get here?"
"It was a tall building. It took a while for me to run all the way down."
"Run? Why didn't you--"
"Anyway, I'm here now." Ryuta interrupts. "So she's the one, huh."
"Looks like it."
They observe the girl as she stares back. Ryuta is unsure of how to proceed. Amane is ready to fight and the girl has started walking towards them. With each step the girl takes, the shadows creep closer. While Ryuta wasn't sure of how to handle the situation, he did understand what would happen if he didn't take action. There is no telling what this girl in black could do, and on the other hand, there was also no way of knowing what Amane is capable of. Ryuta had two decisive choices: escape this dream world, or fight with Amane. The former would be a selfish yet most likely safest option. The latter would result in him staying with Amane and possibly ending up in an unfavorable outcome.
However, Ryuta could not turn his back on this situation. "I don't know if I'll be much help, but let me assist you."
"Ryuta?" Amane looks at him shockingly at first. Her shock quickly changes as she starts yelling at him, "What are you talking about? Get out of here and save yourself! This is my lucid dream."
"Eh?"
"I can take care of myself, you know." Amane says confidently. "So get going alre--"
Amane is knocked down to the side mid-sentence by the shadow scythe. "Amane!" Ryuta shouts.
Amane tumbles against the ground several meters. No blood or injuries show as she quickly picks herself up. After wiping dirt off of her face, she engulfs herself in her vibrant aura. Amane sighs and her hair slightly lifts in the air as if being pulled by a breeze. In a flash of radiant light, Amane disappears suddenly and the ground beneath where she stood crumbles into a miniature crater. With incredible speed and devastation, Amane throws a punch into a swiftly erupted shadow barrier surrounding the girl in black. The force of the blow cracked the Earth beneath it. Tremors could be felt throughout the ground as if there were an earthquake. However, this punch, which feels like a comet hitting the planet, seems ineffective as the barrier remains intact.
"No way," Amane mutters in disbelief. "You managed to block my attack?"
The girl in black whose face has remained partially hidden the entire time finally looks at Amane directly in the eyes. Her lifeless eyes stared at Amane's as if peering into her soul. Amane felt shaken by this and retreats away far enough to be out of reach from the scythe. Amane's breathing becomes heavy as sweat forms on her face. With that one exchange, Amane quickly assessed the difference between strength. She knew instantly that this girl in black was stronger. Amane realized that her chances of winning were slim.
"Amane," Ryuta walks to her side. "That was impressive but, what are you going to do now? That attack didn't work."
The girl's mouth opens slightly as she notices Ryuta. This reaction was so subtle that if one was paying attention, they would barely notice. The girl in black never noticed Ryuta until this very moment. After seeing him now, a frown forms on the girl's face. The shadows fleeing from her scythe grow more erratic as she starts walking towards the light. The girl's brows furrow. Her lifeless eyes gleam as she steps into the light outside of the void she concealed herself in. She left the darkness she had been emitting behind.
"I don't know what to do, honestly." Amane tells Ryuta, unaware of the approaching threat.
"Fine, then I guess its my turn." Ryuta says, while noticing the girl coming towards them.
As the girl approaches within view, free from the void, Ryuta gets a clear look of her face. Ryuta's eyes widen for a moment. The girl's porcelain white skin is beautiful and she has a fair complexion. The expression the girl has seems morose. Ryuta could sense there was more to this girl in black.
"I don't know why you are corrupting dreams, but," Ryuta speaks to the girl in black. "It ends now."
The girl stops in her tracks, her scythe writhing sporadically. Ryuta stands in front of Amane with his hand to the side to keep her back and safe. Ryuta puts his fist to his chest and closes his eyes, concentrating. The girl in black lifts her scythe up behind her. Her imposing composure is less intimidating as her hands start to shake. Whether it was from rage is uncertain.
"You," The girl speaks with a disgruntled tone. "Both of you, must die. Lucid dreams must no longer exist!"
With her declaration, she swings her scythe horizontally towards them. It's faster and stronger than when she first struck Amane. The arch of the swing moved at such a speed that if it was seen from above, it would appear like the sliver of shadow from a crescent moon. The scythe cuts the air with ease as it nears Ryuta. Ryuta opens his eyes and the scythe fades into a harmless black cloud right before it reaches his body. The black cloud dwindles almost instantly while Ryuta sighs in relief. Amane is in awe by the sight of what happened. The girl stands stock still, her mouth agape with incredulity. This awestruck moment continues for several seconds before a word is finally spoken.
"How did you..." the first to speak is Amane.
"I'm not sure exactly." Ryuta answers.
After comprehending what happened, Mr. Kiroshi's words replay in Ryuta's head. "What humans see is what they believe is real." Ryuta looks at the remnants of shadow fading away from where the scythe once was. Is it that easy? Ryuta tries to confirm his thoughts. If what I'm thinking is correct, then all it really takes is to just...
A new scythe starts forming in the girl's hands impatiently. Before it takes its full shape, she violently charges at Ryuta. Ryuta is caught off guard and has no time to think. The girl strikes swiftly and Amane rushes in just in time to defend against the attack. Amane this time holding her ground as she manages to catch the edge of the scythe. Blood seeping through her grip as she tightens her hold on the weapon. Amane pulls the scythe closer, dragging the girl along with it against her will. Amane uses her other hand and readies a punch. The girl realizes and tries harder to resist. As Amane begins to throw her punch, the girl retracts her scythe and twists the shadow into a dense barrier. The thick barrier repels the punch perfectly as it strikes.
"Damn it," Amane growls, her polychromatic aura bursts into a kaleidoscopic fury. "After waiting the whole summer to find you, I can't even land a single hit!"
"I will end all lucid dreams," the girl fights back. "If you don't stop lucid dreaming, I will have to stop you myself!"
"Why are you trying to stop people from lucid dreaming?" Ryuta asks, while the two girls continue to attempt to overpower each other.
"I can't let lucid dreams exist. Lucidity corrupts the mind!" The girl answers. After hearing this, Amane eases away from the girl as the girl does the same.
"It corrupts the mind?" Ryuta asks.
"What proof do you have?" Amane adds.
The girl hesitates, seemingly reluctant to answer.
"You don't have any do you? Ryuta and I are more than enough to defeat you. You're the one killing lucid dreamers!"
"Have you ever heard about Professor Eden?" The girl asks as she scowls at Amane.
"Yeah, of course. What about him?" Amane responds.
"He was the first to lose his mind."
"That's the first I heard of it."
"Wait, is that why no news has been heard from him in several years?" Ryuta asks.
"You could say that. I don't want anyone to end up like him or..."
Amane and Ryuta look at each other and then back at the girl patiently waiting for her to continue. However, the girl remains silent as she solemnly stares at the ground as if deep in thought.
"Or what?" Ryuta finally asks.
"Nothing. I hate Professor Eden and want to put an end to lucid dreams. The world will fall into chaos if everyone obtains the knowledge of how to lucid dream."
"What are you talking about?" Amane asks. "I don't get how lucid dreaming is bad!"
"If you've heard lately, there's an increase of unexplained deaths occurring when someone is sleeping. Or in other words, when they are lucid dreaming."
"Isn't that because you're killing them?"
...
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