Dreameater

Vera opened her eyes for what must've been the fifteenth time, taking a deep breath as her eyes adjusted to the same alleyway she'd turned up in every single time. Every time, her memories would get jumbled near the end of the loop, only to come back.

Her arm was suddenly pulled tight, as Theron got impatient with her slow walk.

Vera waited for Dian to scold him. And as soon as the two let their guard down just a little bit, she bit Theron's hand and slipped off.

By now, the convoluted layout of the alley was all but clear to her. She'd gone through so many times that she had it memorized.

She knew that Naren would come for her as he always did. But she no longer wanted him to find her. She truly never wanted to see him again. And for that, she had to keep moving from corridor to terrace, through windows, into empty houses.

She had to learn to take as silent a step as she could whilst keeping her breathing to a minimum.

Only when she was confident that she was far enough away did Vera let out a deep breath, her back against the wall.

Vera curled up into a ball inside the empty house she'd slipped into.

This was her plan. She would wait. Wait until Naren would finally give up on her. Until she could truly hand herself over to Theron and Dian.

She knew nothing good would come from them. But throughout her loops, she also knew that they were going to the Atlas as well.

Vera had come all this way. Gotten hurt all over, all to go back to that accursed place. So she'd do just that. She'd go back to the Atlas. She'd let them take her. And when she gets there, she'd spit on the ground of the place that took everything away from her.

That much she could do.

Then...Then she'd run away. She'd run into the far corners of the earth where nobody could find her. She'd live there alone and be happy. There nobody could bother her. And nobody could hear her.

Not even Naren.

BOOM

A deep guttural explosion resounded throughout all of Lastlight. The shockwave pinning Vera against the wall as a white light radiated throughout the land.

When it finally dissipated, the walls of the house collapsed as Vera ran out into the alleyway. The streets and corridors all filled with burning rubble. The ground gaping with holes scattered about.

Vera fell back onto a pile of debris, staring at the deep voided holes. The memories of her mother being taken flooding into her mind.

The little girl shook her head as she pushed those thoughts away.

It looked like Naren was finally occupied. She could make her exit now.

Vera pushed off the rubble, her hands dirty. Yet, this time, she hadn't quite bothered to clean them. Instead, she shook them half-heartedly. Something her mother would've surely scolded her for.

At that exact moment, Dian and Theron found her.

"I apologize for the chase. I am ready to go now."

————————————————

Cairo swatted Nico's hand away from Naren, pulling the red-haired boy towards him. Nico skidding through the ground before jumping right at Cairo again, only to be kicked away.

Bringing out his broken blade, Cairo edged it towards the parasitic eye, before Naren pushed off him.

"Get off me! Are you even certified for removing this thing?"

Before he could get another word out, he felt a strong pressure on his shoulders as Yuna held him to the ground.

Cairo clicked his tongue, holding off swarms of husks clumping up together into grotesque malformations. Each trying to jump onto Yuna.

Naren grimaced as Yuna pulled her knife out.

"Stay still, soldier."

In the next second, Yuna's knife slid right across Naren's shoulder careful to avoid any blood vessels, a chunk of it coming off along with the eye as she threw her knife into the crowd of husks.

With effortless speed and a frantic heartbeat, Yuna sewed up what she could of Naren's shoulder, before wrapping it in bandages.

As soon as she let go, the princess fell back on her arms, breathing heavily.

"Okay, you can move now."

Naren gritted his teeth, holding onto his shoulder as bouts of pain traveled through.

"What the hell?! Did you know that thing was on my shoulder when you fixed it? Did you let it stay there?!"

"That thing only grew that large after feeding off your mind. Probably feeding off your helpless resolve if you had any. If we keep it on you, then you have to die. Understand?"

Naren stayed silent for a moment before opening his mouth, but before getting a word out, he heard a disgusting festering of flesh, causing him to instantly shut it.

Whipping his head back, he watched as the husks all laid onto the eye, the veins of the eye growing and latching onto them. As it sludged forward husks clumped into a wisping creature flailing in the wind.

Cairo watched with tug in his gut as Nico's transparent flesh festered while he too slowly dissipated into the beast.

"Uoy era erehw, siS?"

The beast hovered over the air, its size approaching that of a house as its skin looked ripped off on its edge. Hundreds of eyes plastered over the dark abomination, all staring at the three humans before it.

Its mouth opened wide, nothing but a void showed in between its eerily human teeth as it screamed a harrowing wail.

Naren fell to the ground, holding his ears as they bled from the god-awful screech. Yuna and Cairo following in suit. Even if they didn't have super hearing like Naren, the screech was just that piercing that even a normal person would fall.

Naren gritted his teeth as he staggered to his feet.

"What're you staring at?"

Cairo grabbed his trembling blade, sparks flying around as the dust in the air began combusting. The atmosphere grew brittle as a smile etched onto Cairo's face.

Yuna placed a hand on Naren and Cairo's shoulder.

"Do me a favor you two. Don't kill it just yet. Just make it weaker than me if you could."

"I don't take orders from you shorty—"

The ground began rumbling under their feet. The land itself was the dream of the creature. Its manipulation up to the beast's will. Though, there wasn't only one beast. But two.

Two that shared in a mutual nightmare. Feeding into each other. While the Werewolf got to run free and feast, the nightmares fed the Dreameater.

Yuna pointed to the sky as she continued:

"Also, there's an hour before nightfall. Don't take too long."