This Dream 【RP Thread】

'Something's changed...'

This he could determine, even while amid the ambiguous and torpid swaying sentience that is sleep. Thoughts seemed less defined. Inhibitions and oppressions of the past seemed more intangible. Everything was more... free-roaming.

He felt the warmth of sunlight on his body. 'Morning?' he vaguely wondered. A part of him surfaced, drifting up from the blissful unawareness. Softly, he felt the sunlight. In a sliver of sensory perception, it was noted that his fingers brushed against grass. From the accepting perspective of drowsiness, he dismissed the fact he might be sleeping outside. 'Do I have to get up, though? How long until I have to catch the bus?'

The tangent of mundane reality troubled him, as it begged more questions. 'What day is it? ...Did I even go to bed last night? No... did I even return home?!' At this point, he cracked his eyes open, only to be more confused by observing a natural world. This was definitely not his bedroom, nor was it any place he could recollect. Not that he seemed able to remember much anything anyways.

Bewildered, the young boy sat up. Other bodies lay in the same area as him, some rousing slightly. And who were they supposed to be? Why was he here, and moreover, where was, exactly, "here"? No answers arose, no memories surfaced to help his frustration. 'Come on, think Ethan--!'

Ebrethiel. That is who I am now. Ethan was human, and had to live on useless, boring Earth.​

'Ebrethiel... The name I gave my inner demon.' Recognizing that made something resonate inside the boy, made something stir in him. That stirring ignited an inexplicable chain of realizations, all of which came too fast for him to do anything but instantly adapt.

This world was different. It had none of the societal expectations Earth had; none of the useless and stiff rules that made Ethan long for a realm with more havoc. It was natural-- unleashed. And it would demand an equally unleashed being to survive in it.

'Then I'm Ebrethiel now. I can act how I want, finally. I can be a demon.'​

 

~Twinkle, twinkle little star. . .

Dark brown eyes opened to a clear blue sky, the clearest she had ever seen. Her mind, boggled though it was, was still able to relay a certain urgency that had her scrambling to her feet. Her bare hands and knees brushed against grass but she barely noticed the feeling as she stood upon her two feet, gazing out into the distance. This was it. This was what she had always been-

"-having these dreams lately," she was speaking, her gaze lowered to the ground. There was someone across from her, the person was speaking too but what is it, whatwashesaying?

~How I wonder what you are. . .

But there was something else. She suddenly staggered, hand immediately reaching up to clutch at her head. She hadn't realized it until now but her head was in massive. It was as if it was splitting at the seams. All the while, thoughts, images and things she knew she knew were flashing through her mind and it was so hard to make sense-

"-to ignore it," the other-a male?-was saying. His words echoed and they were almost blurry in their speech. ~Upabovetheworldsohigh. . . "It's not like it's real-

-ity but it was, it was real, that's why she was here now, looking out at scenery she had never known existed before. That was why she-

"Don't do it," he was ordering-no, begging her. Brown eyes so much lighter than hers, the perfect shade of brown, stared down at her, dark circles clear under them. "Don't leave me."

Instantly, she buried her face in her hands, grief and guilt welling up inside her chest. She hadn't meant to hurt him, she hadn't meant to put this all first but they were her dreams the dreams had been changing her, was still changing her, and if she hadn't done it now then she would have done it later.

"Here." One hand reached to her side and the brunette grasped hold of something slim and wooden. Removing her other hand from her face, she looked down at the item. A wooden flute, given to her on her eighth birthday. He had carved it himself. Holding the precious item with two hands, she brought it to her chest and closed her eyes.

~Like a diamond in the sky. . .

 

Rina began to stir, her body shaking from the memories she saw. She remembered how she had been simply dreaming, when she had first found that ribbon, the same kind that she had remembered that her mother had worn all the time, before she passed away. It was then the strange creature had shown up. Using her gloves, she was able to kill it, but then she awoke, and discovered that reality was even worse then what her dream had been. The creatures were everywhere, killing everyone, and all she could do was run. And now, she was here...

"...Where am I?" Rina asked herself, after waking up, and slowly moving to stand. The first thing she noticed was the red ribbon in her hands, she had been carrying it all this time. The next thing she noticed was the people around her, who were either standing like she was, or still sleeping. Finally, she noticed the area around her, and how odd it was, and how the sky was bright without a sun. She could only stare in awe for awhile, as her mind processed it all. "I-is this another dream?"

 

Sekhmet squeezed at her eyes, trying hard to keep them shut as the light shone through her eyelids, almost as if the world was urging her to awaken. She grunted in irritation, giving in to the fact that Ra wanted his eye to awaken.

She sat up, looking to the sky to give her morning greeting. But something was off... The sky gave light, but the sun -- Ra; was nowhere in sight.

She was confused as she examined her surroundings. All of the surroundings were familiar and instantly recognizable, however it felt different- As if something about this place was surreal... "Am I truly awake?"

For a moment she sat there, looking to the trees, and sky, wondering why it was that the fog that clouded her mind would not cease. She exhaled a heavy sigh, remembering how her own father had given her orders he had so hastily regretted, blaming her after poisoning her with a sea's worth of old-liquor.

Sekhmet lifted herself to her feet, brushing off pieces of grass and dirt from her fur. She touched at her back-- Yes, it was there. She gave a mental sigh of relief as she touched a paw to her bow.

She took a step, scrunching her toes around the soft, cool grass. Something caught her eye; it was a feather. She knelt down and picked it up, triggering a realization. Anubis... she uttered softly to herself before slipping the feather into the silk of her waistband.

Her mind was reassured knowing that she still had a connection to her family, however small it may be. The feather of truths was not the most powerful, but it was practical in it's own right, and easily remembered -- Ironically, she couldn't remember when she had gotten it.

Sekhmet stretched, pulling out her bow, gaining a sense of confidence. "This time, I control my onslaught..."

 

Arkai violently awoke, as if from a nightmare. His upper body jerked up and he spent a second or so paralyzed with fear. After calming down, he scanned his surroundings.  This was the place called Leiobea. As Arkai looked around, he was almost disgusted by the lack of any sort of coordination to this… plane of being. Items lacked detail, as if conjured by a lazy illusionist. There was no sun; he even tried to use shadows to locate it, but they seemed to care nothing for consistent direction or shape. Even glancing at his own attire, he was wearing a suit, just like he would normally, sure. This wasn’t any particular suit he owned though, more like the concept of a suit than actual fabric.

There was one thing at stood out in particular though: His Glove. His Weapon. It was torn and looked to be in a general state of disrepair. “How did I manage this?” he muttered aloud, with something between confusion and anger. He could have sworn that he had been taking better care of it, it was his trusty tool. The one thing he knew would never fail him. Now he failed it.

He stood up and tried to piece together from his scrambled knowledge what he was doing here. He had signed a contract. A mission of importance far bigger than himself: Stopping the Leukanthropes. It felt as if he was tasked with putting a stop to one mindless plague of destruction after another. He flipped the power switch of his glove on and off, as if on one of the attempts it would turn on magically and work flawlessly as his weapon from there on.
His memory slowly started piecing itself together. It seemed as if his own mind was constructed by the same half-assed illusionist who made this world. With his limited knowledge of the dreamflow, he knew the power he must tap into. His true passion, which had almost become forgotten to him. Nature.

He reached into a pocket on the inner part of his suit coat. A pocket he wasn’t aware he had. A pocket that probably wasn’t there in the first place. He pulled out a sickly rose. It was flimsy, and contained only a few of its petals, but it was something. With the flower in hand, Arkai stared longingly into the distance, as if the nonexistent sun had formed a nonexistent sunset.

 

Okay, no more wallowing in guilt and grief. Lifting her face, she took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come. She was sure this wouldn't be easy, nothing was ever easy after all, but she would do her best. Once this was done, she would go back and then everything would be alright again. She had to be optimistic about this. Looking down at her side where she grabbed the flute, the brunette was confused to find there was nothing that could hold it. And then she saw it, a little satchel like object that was just the right size for her flute. Stuffing it in carefully, she spun around to face the rest of the people around her.

"Hello everyone!" she greeted with a little cheer, a simple smile in place. Her voice was light and almost airy in a way. She placed a hand to her chest. "My name is Lillian Guardia. I know I'm seventeen but my memories seem to be a mess right now so I can't really tell you guys anything else." Lillian's smile twitched downwards but she quickly brought it back up. "I know we were all brought here for something so I'll do my best to be of the greatest help I can be! Everyone, I hope we can all get along!"

With no small amount of nervousness, Lillian glanced around at the other members of the group. So far, she could make out three males and two other females. One of the males had some sort of winged canine with him, the creature looked very pretty in her opinion, and one of the females was clearly not human. Lillian couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was but made sure not to stare. She was sure the other wouldn't appreciate it at all. Really, the brunette hoped they would all cooperate. She didn't know what she would do if they all started fighting instead.

"So, uh," Lillian coughed to try and cover up the slight tremble her voice had adopted. She lowered her hands and clasped them together at her stomach, anxiously trying to keep her hopes up. "Would everyone please introduce themselves?"

 

Sekhmet grunted in irritation as a young woman attempted to introduce herself. Sekhmet didn't know what the girl was thinking -- maybe that they were in this together? Perhaps they were... The question was; did she have the capability to work alongside the goddess of war and violence?

Sekhmet gave a heavy sigh as she turned to the girl, half-minded to slap her to the ground. That would shut her up... she thought to herself with a spiteful grin.

She raised  brow at the the girl. She had some nerve, openly speaking to a goddess, without praise nor an understanding of hierarchy. Sekhmet was amused however, the girl could hardly hold herself together -- at least in this light. Sekhmet took a step towards her, sheathing her bow. "Unlike you, I will not pretend to enjoy this meeting, so I will make my introduction brief. My name is Sekhmet; I tell you this only because you tell me your head isn't quite right, and so you can remember the name of your better. Otherwise I would've struck you down for such ignorance..."

Sekhmet took a breath, forming a deep scowl on her face. "Something tells me this place is dangerous, untamed... However my confidence falters when I gazed at you girl. Can you handle yourself in a fight?" she said sternly. "Because frankly I see only a bewildered whore, hardly worth any real challenge..."

Sekhmet gave a mental smile, she enjoyed this type of cruelty. It felt even better knowing that her incestuous relatives weren't around to get in her way, stop her from doing what she liked. It was these things that angered her most; the fact that Ra, had given her life and purpose, only to regret it, and blame all violence and ills onto her, after the fall of Set.

Sekhmet crossed her arms, standing tall over the girl, staying in full stride of her conceit.

 

"... packs of Adjule wandered, keening low with a desire for some prey to sink their prideful teeth into..." Ebrethiel whispered, gazing at the book bound in a thin black sheet of metal he held. "The demon Pythons, purported to be the cause of devilish powers in the humans they-- quote-unquote-- possess, wound through the landscape. They consist only of bones and a haunting aura, so they constantly seek mortal flesh for companionship..." he read on.

'It's all just like how he told it. He always just made up stories on the spot, and every word he said is in here ... what is this book? How could it have been written down?' wonders the demonic boy. He had found the thin book in his hoodie pocket, and with every word he read further, the image of laying in bed while his father sat nearby and excitedly-- animatedly-- improvised stories about demons, became clearer.

Ebrethiel was jerked out of his comfortable reverie by a feminine voice calling "Hello everyone!" Groaning, he tucked the book away back into his sweatshirt. He had almost forgotten there were six other people-- or, things-- around him.

After the obnoxiously polite girl was finished with her greeting, a very interesting creature made itself known-- a tall, lean, human-like lion woman. She introduced herself--rather rudely, to Ebrethiel's amusement-- as Sekhmet. That name vaguely rang a bell in the 12-year-old's mind, but he didn't fully remember what it meant...

As the beast finished evaluating the outspoken girl's apparent lack of belligerence, Ebrethiel meandered towards the pair. "Hey," he addressed 'Sekhmet', "who the hell are you supposed to be? Are you a demon too?" 'You've really got the disrespectful attitude down,' Ebrethiel added in his mind. 'But I'm the top demon around here... so you better get used to being my minion!'

Oh, demon children. They just have the darndest preconceptions about ruling everyone~

 

"Um...hello." Rina said to the group, bowing slightly, trying to distract everyone before an argument started up. "I don't mean to interrupt, my name is Rina by the way, but it appears this place is a dream like world."

Rina looked around the group. The one known as Lillian seemed like a sweet girl, while the part feline one reminded her of some of the snobby girls from school. There also seemed to be a little boy as well, Rina wondered if he was going to be ok in such a dangerous situation, and then there was the boy with the flying wolf. She briefly wondered what kind of creature it was, but shook off the question to be asked later. And their last companion had yet to say anything.

"I remember something about a contract, does anyone know what exactly it is we're spose to do?" She asked the strange group of people.

 

Arkai’s attention was pulled by the people surrounding him. Where these his fellow contracted? The people who share a common goal? They certainly didn’t act like it. Two overly polite young women, one of them being picked on by a narcissistic furry and a demonic grade schooler. In the distance, a young man argued with what (considering the nature of the world) could best be described as his imaginary friend. No, surely he wouldn’t be so cursed as to have these people be his fellow soldiers.

But what can I do? he asked himself. These people were the only ones around. His only hint in a world he only knew by concept. It would be best if he heeded the first young women’s call to introduce himself. He walked forward until he was relatively close to everyone there, and spoke in a polite but stern manner. “Excuse me everyone. May I have your attention?” He paused for a moment. Maybe he shouldn’t be doing this; these people may be his enemies. I didn’t matter though, it was his only hope. “My name is Arkai Genium. I’m out looking for information on something called ‘Leukanthropes.’ Do any of you have any leads?” Arkai tightly clutched the half-dead flower, knowing full well that if these were the wrong people to talk to, he could end up being attacked on the spot, without having made any progress at all.

In the short time it took for the others to respond, Arkai made his first attempts to harness the power of the dream. He experimented with the grass around him, making it subtly shiver around him as he tried to expand his understanding as much as possible before disaster had time to strike. It didn’t really make much sense. This was no science. None of his prior knowledge of mana was at use here. If a battle of this scale were to happen now, he would be doomed.

 

Sekhmet rolled her eyes. There were no proper words to express her distaste for these 'people.' She was surprised at the amount of humans there were -- not a single capable individual?! She looked at the girl once more, then to the others. The didn't seem very special, and their tendency for manners and simplicity sickened her.

However her attention was caught by a small boy, who, for whatever reason had taken it upon himself to act like the tough guy... Wrong choice 'boy'... She walked over to him, taking heavy strides emphasizing her strength. "I'm sorry, were you trying to act tough...?" She said with growing anger as she grasped his collar, bringing him to face level. "Because believe me, I killed more children than the men your mother has been in bed with... But that would make sense wouldn't it? It helps that I have a prime example of your mothers inability to close her legs right here -- you."

She threw the boy to the ground, smiling internally as she took a step towards the girl named Rina. "And yes, I DO realize this is a 'dream' world, and now that I think about it, since this is a dream -- I won't regret this-" She stopped mid-sentence as she backhanded Rina. "Now maybe next time you'll stop stating the obvious, and do whatever ratty disgusting human girls do..."

Sekhmet took a breath, even though it didn't calm her whatsoever as she stood above Rina. "Yes, I hate you... No it's not personal, its hereditary..." She turned to face Arkai, still bearing an unpleasant look on her face. "No, I don't know about anything like that, I've only just arrived here... even a fool could see that. However I must set my personal feeling aside, seeing as you've peaked my interest. I assume there will be killing involved?" She said, her words shockingly pleasant.

Sekhmet closed her eyes briefly, letting her blood simmer, knowing getting enraged too soon and without reason would not be efficient at all. She slowly walked back to where she had woken up, crossing her arms. She was quite through with dealing with imbeciles...

 

Rina quickly pulled herself up, clenching her gloved fist, which had begun to gather power, she stared at Sehkmet, who was walking back to her spot, her back towards the girl, after having just attacked her and a young boy. Oh...it's on!

She instantly fired a blast of power from her gloves, straight at the back of Sehkmet. Rina was now standing, glaring at the 'goddess'. She had crossed the line, and Rina wasn't going to take anymore shit from her.

 

Burning tears welling in his eyes, Ebrethiel vaulted onto his feet. He had been surprised-- taken off guard-- when the beast had lifted him and spat the most ridiculous string of insults at him, but that disrespect-- he was a demon now. He didn't have to stand for it, he could... what could he do? Could he suddenly breath fire now? Damn it all, he was just as mundane as he was back on Earth...

THE DEMON PYTHONS-- cause of devilish powers-- consist only of bones and a haunting aura-- constantly seek out mortal flesh​

It all surged through Ebrethiel's mind at once, distinctly in the voice of his father. His father...

"I don't care about my mother!" Ebrethiel spat out angrily at the hulking figure that had assaulted him, voice vacillating so much it was only a hiss. "My father was the demon, and so am I!"

cause of devilish powers-- the demon Pythons--​

"Python..." Ebrethiel whispered, holding his palm out to the ground. An arcane wave of power-- of tyranny that bordered on euphorically immoral swept through the boy. The grass beneath his outstretched hand quivered, the ground beneath it splitting.

consist only of bones and a HAUNTING aura--​

A sepulchral sight sprouted from the land, the tip of a skeletal snake's head yawning outwards, sheer fangs exposed.

constantly seek out mortal flesh​

The demon slipped upward from the ground, connecting with Ebrethiel's hand. Sharp, clacking bones wound around his body. Ebrethiel locked his eyes on the bitch that had disrespected him. Had dared to handle him with such impunity when he was the boss here. Raising his opposite hand and pointing at Sekhmet with steady fingers, both demons-- interconnected and sharing the same violent ambitions-- hissed "Lunge!"

The ghastly serpent pushed off from Ebrethiel's body, following the path his lord had directed and lancing towards the foolish cat.

 

Lillian couldn't help it. She gaped. It seemed all her hopes were in vain and clearly not everyone was ready to cooperate. This did not look good. Lillian also had to admit that Sekhmet's words hurt, mostly because the other had made no attempt in even trying to get to know her before making her own assumptions. However, the brunette made no attempt to talk back. Lillian knew even if she did, it would only make the situation worse. What she had to do was prove the lion woman wrong.

Closing her mouth, the brunette swallowed down the pain in her heart and then moved to speak once more but was too late. She had hesitated for too long and now a boy, he couldn't be older than twelve, had walked right up to Sekhmet with only the attitude a child could have. At his words, Lillian wanted to bury her face in her hands. This was not going to turn out well, she just knew it. She hadn't known Sekhmet for even two minutes and already, Lillian could tell she was the type who didn't care much for people and held a general disdain for all beings except herself.

When Rina spoke, Lillian smiled weakly. Thank goodness there was at least one person who had no intention of causing trouble. If she hadn't spoken up, Lillian herself would have in an attempt to stave off the fight that was sure to happen. And, as if in a chain reaction, one of the other males in the group spoke. He seemed to be holding some sort of flower in his hand, though it looked quite dead to her. Hope rose back up in her chest.

Only to die a quick and incredibly painful death. Lillian watched in slight horror as Sekmet proceeded to threaten the small boy and insult his mother before backhanding Rina in the face. Though the non-human did not do anything to Arkai, it was clear that she would have if he had done something she deemed as stupid. Lillian took a deep breath, and sighed. At least they hadn't gone to using their real powers yet.

But of course, she spoke too soon. Rina, who had fallen to the floor after taking the slap from Sekhmet, was now back on her feet and furious. Lillian could barely watch as the other female gathered ethereal energy to launch at Sekhmet's back. It was like a trainwreck, there was really nothing she could do. Not unless she herself got violent as well. Lillian didn't want that. She really didn't want that. She couldn't understand how, in minutes, everything had just descended into chaos.

Seeing the boy summon up some sort of bone creature from the depths of hell, however, was the last straw. She couldn't just let them hurt each other like this! She had to do something! Thrusting out her hand, Lillian focused her mind. She released a mental cry, calling upon the power within her. They would answer. She knew they would.

"Stars, heed my call!" the brunette ordered, raising her hand towards the sky. "Fall!" In an instant, orbs of light fell from the clear blue sky. They rained down around the group, impacting the ground with enough force to create small burning patches in the grass. One orb of light was fast enough to intercept the lunging python, knocking it off its intended course towards the lioness. However, Lillian found she was too late to stop Rina's attack. It had been launched earlier than she had expected and now, Lillian could only watch with a pale face as it continued towards the unsuspecting Sekhmet.

This was not going to end well.

 

” I assume there will be killing involved?"

Arkai cringed in disgust. With how the goddess had been conducting herself so far, there could not be good intent behind those words. The last thing Arkai wanted was to be associated in any way with someone with genuine bloodlust. He quickly regained his professional composure before his contempt became too obvious. He wanted to say something, but before words came, the demon did.

Everything went downhill from there. Arkai backed away in shock and horror as these people all rushed in to start attacking each other. He had thought that maybe they would come after him, but it never occurred to him that they would go after each other. He hid his weapon in his non-existent pocket. He did not want to be mistaken for a threat. Although, in retrospect, his flower was not the most menacing thing in the world.

"Hey, hey, hey! Guys! Calm down already!"

Oh thank goodness, one sane man (and some wolf thing) still graced his presence. He considered adding to the man’s attempt to calm the fight, but feared that they would turn on him just as fast if he were to intervene in any way. Instead, he just stood there. Far enough away to not be seen as part of the fight, but close enough to learn more about these people. He was already learning fascinating things. One woman seemed to have a weapon similar to his broken gloves, and the other (non-furry) woman was using the dreamflow to command stars. Even if it didn’t give him a lead, this fight would be an invaluable learning experience for how to defend himself in this world.