"No..." The girl pauses. "And yes."
"So, you are killing lucid dreamers!"
"But how?" Ryuta asks.
"SUNDS."
"What's that?" Amane asks.
"Sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome..." Ryuta answers.
"You know about it?" Amane asks Ryuta.
"I looked into it when the reports started rising about people dying in their sleep." Ryuta answers. "I didn't want to think it is related to lucid dreams, but I guess now I'll have to believe it."
"You're right," the girl says.
"That doesn't explain how you kill them though," Amane replies.
"I'm done with this. Are you going to continue to stop me or give up?" The girl asks. "The longer you fight me, the more your dream will get destroyed."
"What do you mean?"
The girl sighs. "I'm sorry but it is over now. If you won't quit lucid dreaming, I have no choice but to kill you."
Ryuta clenches his fists in frustration. Why does it have to be like this?
"Ryuta what are we going to do?" Amane asks.
Just as Ryuta is about to respond, the girl in black emerges from within Amane's shadow.
"Look out!" Ryuta yells.
"Eh?" Amane looks behind to see the girl inches away from her face. A piercing rip can be heard from Amane's clothing. A blood-curdling gasp escapes from Amane's mouth. A pitch black blade sticks out of the side of her stomach. A black substance drips from the blade and paints the ground in a silhouette of blood. Amane looks at the blade and all shock is wiped from her face.
"Amane!" Ryuta screams.
"So, you can use the shadows to move around instantly..."
"With this, your dreams will come to an end." The girl replies darkly. "You can rest now."
A soft chuckle comes from Amane as she stands frozen in pain. An expression of regret appears on her face. "I can rest now, huh?"
Ryuta and the girl stare at Amane, anticipating what she will say next. Amane's eyes dart back at the girl in black with unrelenting anger.
"To hell with that!" Amane yells as she tries to pull out the blade. "This world is all I have, I won't let you take it away!"
A burning prismatic array of colorful aura blazes from Amane's body. She successfully pulls the blade out and faces the girl in black. The girl withdraws the blade and waits for Amane to make the first move. Amane grabs the wound from her stomach, a warm surging pain causes her to grimace. To be able to remain standing after such an injury is nothing short of a miracle. The amount of blood slipping out of her body and staining her wardrobe would cause any normal person to collapse. However, Amane was determined. Her sheer amount of will to beat this corruption affecting her dream is keeping her conscious. This is the strength of Amane's will.
"This ends now." Amane says, while thinking to herself. "I can only make one move, so this move will be everything I have."
"Amane..." Ryuta says to himself. That look on her face...
It was an expression of someone accepting their final moments, but there was a tinge of hope within it. A feeling that what is about to happen may not end badly. Ryuta understood this and held onto the sliver of hope Amane was grasping. Meanwhile, the girl in black continues to stand still, seemingly unmoved. The way she stood was similar to a stance of confidence, yet completely different. Ryuta had no way of knowing for certain though.
"Indeed," the girl in black says as she closes her eyes. A mirage of black materialized blades of various shapes and sizes emerge from the girl's shadow. "Rest in peace."
"Hmm," Amane closes her eyes in return as she harvests her very will into a powerful energy merging within her fist.
A strong pressure forms around the surrounding area. Wind circulates around Amane as her fist tightens. All of the color from the dream world gets sucked into the mass of energy swarming around Amane's fist. A rainbow of aura continues to swarm around her fist in a myriad of colorful energy. Amane opens her eyes, they glow an ominous gold.
The colorless world slowly mixed into the dark void consuming it. The girl in black raises her arm as the countless blades continue to grow out of her shadow. They bend and extend around her forming an offensive wall directed at Amane. Amane raises her fist in return and readies her punch. The amount of power forming from her fist continues to pressure the atmosphere enough to make it hard for Ryuta to stand properly. As the dream world continues to merge with her fist, the devastating power in her fist grows.
Amane positions herself in a running stance. "This is everything I have."
"Incredible..." Ryuta whispers in amazement. "However..."
Ryuta looks at the girl in black. Not a change in emotion or posture in the slightest. That girl doesn't look afraid at all.
"Take this," Amane says as she propels herself forward at an inhuman speed. The pressure from the launch cracks the ground where she stood into a small crater.
As Amane unleashes her attack, the blades of shadow shift into a full defensive black wall. The attack makes contact with it. The force of the punch pushes Ryuta back and creates a devastating blast of wind against the sides of the wall, accompanied by a blinding light as bright as an exploding sun. The black wall remaining seemingly unscathed. However, the attack continues with extreme prejudice of unrelenting force. It was a punch filled with the entirety of the dream landscape's color.
In this case, it was a punch powered by the creation of the dream itself. Amane's attack was one of which a colorful blast of energy strikes its target with the force of the world she created. This attack filled with a myriad of colors clashed against a lack of existence. Such a powerful attack, it began to overwhelm the wall of nothingness.
"Incredible..." Ryuta whispers, admiring the immeasurable power radiating from Amane's attack.
The girl in black is being pushed back. As her wall starts to fade under the blinding light of Amane's attack, the girl withdraws into her shadow. The wall is submerged completely in light and Amane's attack halts. Amane catches her breath then realizes the girl is gone.
"Did I win?" Amane asks, her eyes cease glowing and her aura fades slowly.
"You won this fight," Ryuta answers, walking towards Amane. "I don't think that girl is defeated though."
"Where did she go?"
"Who knows," Ryuta replies with a shake of his head. "Looks like she can manipulate shadows to her will, or something of that nature. I suppose she just dipped into her shadow and disappeared."
"It's too early to let our guard down."
"It's fine. I believe she won't be bothering us anymore for now."
"What?! How do you know that?" Amane replies angrily. "You heard what her motive is. She will take any chance she can get to kill us now!"
"In any case, we're okay for the moment." Ryuta says calmly. "For now we should leave this lucid landscape."
"You're right, I'm tired anyway." Amane closes her eyes. "It was for a short while but it was nice knowing you."
"Likewise."
Amane falls to the ground. The amount of blood she lost is too great. A small puddle of blood forms under her body.
"Amane!" Ryuta rushes to her. He lifts her head up, trying to wake her. "Amane hang in there!"
"I'll put this dream to an end," Amane says weakly. "Take care, Ryuta."
"Wait no, don't die on me!" Ryuta begs. "Amane, come on! Just hold on."
"It's okay."
Ryuta looks at her. Damn it, if only I did something.
"Thanks for helping, Ryuta." Amane says in one last breath. "Good bye."
Ryuta bites his lips in frustration. Struggling to not get emotional he musters his strength to properly say good bye.
"Sleep tight, Amane."
Ryuta closes his eyes and when he opens them again the world resumes moving once again. The sounds of traffic and people talking fill the air and bring Ryuta back to his senses. The transition is instant. It was as if nothing happened. As Ryuta observes his surroundings he hears a voice calling his name next to him.
"Ryuta, what's wrong? Wait are those tears?"
"Huh?" Ryuta looks in the direction of the voice. "Yume?"
"Uh, yeah?" Yume is confused. "You like spaced out for a few seconds. Were you crying just now?"
"Ah, sorry." Ryuta rubs his head. "I think lucid dreams are pretty scary after all."
"So, you agree? It's nothing to cry over though."
"I do." Ryuta answers honestly. I'm sorry, Amane. If only I had done something back then.
"Enough of that though," Yume changes the subject. "Do you think the homework will be hard?"
"I'm sure it will be," Ryuta answers. "It's summer homework after all, it's meant to keep us busy."
"Boo~" Yume pouts.
"You better give it your best effort, don't let your intellect go to waste."
"Yeah, okay...like it matters." Yume mutters the last bit under her breath.
"Did you say something?"
"It's nothing!~"
"If you say so."
Ryuta and Yume continue walking. A burning rage deep within Ryuta pushes him forward. A sense of guilt motivating him. A feeling of dread keeping him alert, making him aware of the lurking presence behind them. The presence is a figure blending into the crowd in front of the cafe Ryuta and Yume were once at. A pair of blood tainted irises motionlessly peer through the crowd. A sly grin appears on the figure's face. The figure disappears as the crowd of people grows more dense.
"After seven years," the figure's voice whispers. "You finally come back, Ryuta."
Ryuta clenches his fists, he isn't phased by the voice. I'm done running. I'll stop you.
The voice of the figure laughs.
A burning glow emits from Ryuta's eyes. This time, I'll kill you.
Permanently.
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