Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Our pain filled dream 🩷

Futaba then learned more about the surroundings. It seems like there were more of a dust on the floor when Futaba strolled to get some belongings from the stock room. Her brain started to analyse their current situation. Was it always being like this before? Or was it because of the “sandman” did? She feels that everything clashed each other, like a puzzle, or an onion with layers. But after meeting the people whom still had their breath even though they didn’t move along was like strange. Everything was strange though. Just with how these people gathered together and how they were all transported in the same place already strange enough. How if… Futaba drown on her thoughts. How if all of these just all her dreams? She tried to remember her last activity. It was nearly two days that she wasn’t got enough sleep, the last thing she remembers that she was working on her program. She might have fallen asleep, before her noticing. She had a strange dream that her mother was attacked. She was there to help and she was awake on the strange building before meeting these people. So, is this all really just her dreams? She couldn’t tell so. She was about to pinch her cheeks before Jonathan called and said that Turuilla wasn’t being with them anymore.

“Oh!” Futaba shrieked for a moment. With her analytical thinking everything just straight up coming to her brain. “I feel like Turuilla must have felt scared, with the amount of scene happened in front of her eyes. I hope she doesn’t have traumatic experience with these.” Futaba said out of concern for Turuilla. “And yes, I don’t know if there would be guns or so, I saw knife and axes. Would that be considered a weapon too?” Futaba smirked at Jonathan. “But, I think we should get back to the other first. I already have enough goods for all of us, I think. At least, that could be necessary if something happened to block us.” Futaba sighed. “I wish we could find the source of electricity though. That would benefit me. I think I can repair it. I think we also need a shelter when the night comes.” Futaba added before she nod her head to give sign for Jonathan to go back to their people.

"Guns, huh? Hmmmmm...I've heard about those... They're similar to cannons, but are small and be wield by hand...yeah, that sounds about right... I've never used guns before though; knife and axes, those I'm very familiar with, and can use...though I rather use a battle hammer than an axe... This beauty here can morph into several weapons, my sword is my main armament; but it can morph into a lance, a hammer, a mace, and a magic staff...and I suppose knifes as well since I can adjust and shorten the blade down to that length, but I was never much of a knife fighter... Anyway, are you sure we should head back with the stuff that we have? ...Well, I suppose if we wait it out until dawn then perhaps, we can have more safety looking out for more food...and hopefully we don't get any more company while we figure out how we can get back home... Alright then, let's head on back to the bookstore to relax and rest up." said Jonathan

While both Jonathan and Futaba walks on back to the bookstore, he ponders about something that Futaba said that interested him a little bit...but still tries his best to remain on guard in case the sandman shows up...

"So, you said something about electricity... Hmm...electricity...electricity... Wait...yeah...it's coming back to me... I know what this electricity is...and...perhaps I can help make something that could work to produce electricity...yeah...it's all coming back to me... I can make something if I have both recipe and materials to make it, I remember seeing a recipe about something that would work while I was searching through the books...I need to find it, and learn what stuff we need to make it... Although I feel like there's another important step is needed before I can perform the synthesis...give me a bit more time, I think I'm on the verge of figuring it out..." said Jonathan

"Had a nice, lucid dream actually, though it was pretty abrupt", Ren said, "But, probably just like you guys, I ended up here after that dream"

"I had one too", Azumi said, "Just as I was unsummoned, I slept and had a nice dream too. Spirits don't tend to dream, so it was rather off-putting for me"

While Azumi talked about this, Ren found a blank book which he then put near the group.

"We'll need a plan", Ren said suddenly, "Anti-magic, Poisons, Disruptors of any kind and an idea of his weakpoints- wait, how do I know all of this?"

Azumi knew. The familiar's suppression of his memories were waning. It seemed this world has had an effect on the enchantment placed on her summoner. Despite this, she knew they were placed in a life or death situation. She will have to explain everything once it all comes back to Ren and she does not know how just yet.

Then it hit Ren. Psychic powers. That was what what the Sandman was capable of and there was a possible weakpoint. So, he began writing rapidly on the blank book while speaking.

"Dream based mind manipulation causing entrancement of subjects involved. If countered with a stronger and more distracting force of psychic energy, the caster of the dream manipulation may falter", Ren recited rapidly in a monotonous voice and a blank expression yet again.

“Wow, you have a magnificent tool with you.” Futaba couldn’t help but being amazed on the mention that the sword would transfigure to other shape which benefit the user. Futaba wonders if she could build something similar with the function of Jonathan’s sword later. It might be handy for the defense tool too. She perceived the other talks about the morph and nodded along way. “Yeah sure, we should proceed when its safe enough. At least not in the dark.” She added. “Sure then, I think I saw you made something like an orb before? What was that though? A magic?” She ponders as they walk back to the bookstore and find the others already gathered with some suggestions. Futaba arrived at the scene along with Jonathan when Ren said about the lucid dream.

So, it was why everyone collected here? Are we somehow having a linked dream to each other? Futaba wondered. Ren then mentioned about manipulation of physic energy. Futaba leaned her back on the wall nearby, went silent to listen on what Ren said while her brain work in immense power to analyse about their chance.

"Oh, this? I call it a glow faire...it's not really an actual fairy, per se... It's just a ball of light magic that sort of behaves like a fairy in some way, hence I name it as such. I normally have something else I use as light called a firefly lantern, but I don't have it on me at the moment...and I don't know if I have the materials to make myself one either...even worse I sort of forgotten how the recipe goes for making one too... *Sigh* Having lost your memories, all because of being teleported to this awful place...it really starts to get to you... Thankfully the glow faire doesn't use much magic at all, it will fade away over time or if I decided to dispel it myself. Anyway, here we are back at the bookstore." said Jonathan

Once the duo enters the bookstore, Jonathan then opens his sling bag to get all the stuff they managed to savage from the store. He examines all things closely and cleans up any slight spoil or rotten parts.

"It's not a bad all, and all of it looks good to eat right away... Hmm...not enough variety to make a complete meal though, but it's good enough for everyone to enjoy... Hopefully... Anyway, I'll let everyone else decide on what they want out of this stuff here, I'm going to see if I can find that recipe to make something that can produce electricity for you, Futaba." said Jonathan as he then goes back to the books that he had stacked up in three neat stacks of ten "When I skimmed over all of these recipe books, I did saw something..."

Needless to say that Jonathan will be deeply occupied in finding what he's looking for with his talent of super fast reading...

Callisto nodded a greeting to Futaba as she came upstairs.

"I had a dream too. Well, a nightmare actually. I don't remember much. I was standing by a river when it started boiling. It took on a humanoid shape and lunged for me, but my feet were glued to the spot so I couldn't run. It didn't hit me, instead it dissapated and created a bubble over me, almost like a dome. The boiling heat was almost cooking me alive, I could feel the heat even after waking up. But before I woke up, it threw me into the air like a volcano. Then, as all my nightmares end, I was falling towards the ground and woke up screaming."

She stopped there, wondering if she had said too much.

Turuilla felt warm just hearing Callista's dream. "Ouch...almost makes me enjoy the coolness here. Do you have a fear of being cooked alive?" Turuilla tilted her head before looking to Ren. The man seemed to go into a trance...reciting information as if he was a walking encyclopedia. Nevertheless he said something quite interesting-

"Psychic powers strong than his...? Beat him at his own game eh?" Turuilla hummed. She searched her own person, finding a pen and leaning over the table to doodle in Ren's book. "I don't have any magic abilities myself...but maybe if we combine the powers and abilities we do have we can psych this guy out?" She suggested. "Even if no one had direct powers like this maybe we can use what we have to create an illusion of sorts?"

She continued, now absent-minded doodling trees. "If this is the same man that wrote in the journal maybe...he's very familiar with this place? What if we changed the environment up- making him think he's somewhere else or in a dream or something...?" On the paper Turuilla had drawn a forest...a kid could have done better.

"No, I don't have any fears..." Callisto trailed off, looking in the book.

She politely took the pen from Turuilla, adding a full moon into the drawing along with some stars. With all their powers together, they could easily confuse the old man.

"Um, Turuilla, I think you may have powers," Callisto mumbled to her.

When touching the girl's hand as she took the pen, she felt something, almost a vibration. A vibration like one would feel from the Earth's core, only fainter...for now?

Turuilla gave a joyful smile as Cal added her own parts to the picture. It was almost as if it meant Cal's agreement to add her part to the plan. When Cal mentioned Turuilla may have powers the woman's face froze. Infact one could say she looked frightened but she tried to shake it away.

"N-no.Just because I can hear plants doesn't mean I have powers. My mom and dad are both humans. Simple..." Turuilla looked away. The way her eyes had changed color earlier came to mind; the fact that they always have changed color when she went on a different trip. It was strange but...nevermind it! She was human.

Right?

She cleared her throat, standing up. "Cal, will you come with me to find the others? I think it's important we make haste to tell them the plan." Turuilla didn't know of Cal's injured ankle, however.

"Sure, I'll come with you," Callisto replied, "But I need to speak with you."

She turned from the table after adding a few small touches to the book. Her ankle was hurting, but not enough to hinder her from anything.

Maybe Callisto was wrong, maybe Turuilla didn't have powers. But that vibration wasn't nothing...

With Cal's agreement, Turuilla would hold Cal's hand (if the woman allowed) and go downstairs to hopefully see Jonathan and Futaba back to the library. Presenting a pleased smile the woman would go infront of the two. "Did you bring back the cans? I'm already hungry...Anand we may just have a plan on how to get out of here."

Turuilla would take a seat, holding her hands out infront of her. "Picture it. We trap the sandman in an illusion of our own...one we create using our gifts and talents. Maybe trip him up and boom-" she clapped her hands. "We defeat him and go home! What do you think?" She inquired, rather proud of her statement.

"Aand...what do you offer?" She asked to Jonathan and Futaba. "I got the nature side covered. Cal can...erm what was it?" Turuilla didn't know how to explain Cal's powers.

Turuilla thankfully didn't need to bother and distract Jonathan as he was able to find what he was looking for in the alchemy recipe books that he found.

"Ah ha! There it is! I'm sure something like this will work to produce electricity...and now to see what kind of materials I would need to make--" said Jonathan as Turuilla came in, and said what she wanted to talk about with him "Oh, Turuilla, you caught me just in time looking through several alchemy recipe books looking for something to help Futaba with...I find it rather strange to find such books here in this world, but... Regardless, you said you wanted to see the cans that you have collected? They're over there along with the rest of the food I found, I've checked and cleaned them, so you're welcome to have whichever you like. I'm sure we have at least enough food for tonight, but we need to get more tomorrow morning."

Then Turuilla explains her plan about trapping the sandman in order to defeat him so that they could return home.

"I see... Well, if we could trap him for an easier win, I'm all for that plan...unfortunately I don't have like any magical ability that could work for trapping enemies... Well...maybe I might have one or two, but I still can't remember...all I know is some fighting combos and very few basic magical attacks... I'm sure anyone else could do something like that? Either way I'm sure I can fight him despite not having all, or the best, of my abilities...maybe..." said Jonathan as he then quickly relooks at the alchemy recipe book at something looking like a portable electric generator that looks very different from a normal modern one "Hmmmmm...finding all the materials to make this might be pretty difficult... A sheet of metal, a heated rod, and a electric coil...I wonder where I'm going to find these things in this ghost city...?"

After letting Jonathan finish his statements, Callisto spoke to Turuilla, "To put it simply, I have lunar abilities. I can do anything the moon can, as well as protecting the moon itself. As I did with Jonathan earlier, I can help people relax. I can change the tide, I can do multiple different things. And there's others I haven't even discovered or figured out yet."

She felt as if there was more to her powers...she knew there was. Would this adventure be where she figured it out?

Futaba felt really glad that Jonathan was able to find something to create electricity for her and just think about the material they should use to produce it. Futaba needs some electricity for her Ipad so that she could do some work for scanning their place and make their coordinate as a map. Moreover, she could build another program to scan their enemies. Just when Futaba was drowned on her thoughts, Turuilla and Callisto came to pick them up. Futaba listened to Turuilla’s plan to trap the sandman and each of them appeared to have some sort of magic abilities.

When suddenly Futaba came up with an idea.
This would be crazy, even she did realize about that. But she has no other choice.

“Hey guys.” She paused. It seems like her brain tried to block her actions but her heart already sank and told to continue. “If we want to defeat the sandman, I think we need a vessel… Or a container. Means a human bait.” She bites her lower lips nervously before she took a deep breath and become certain of her ideas. “So, after listened to you guys’ abilities. Here is the plan that I come up.” She added. “To defeat the human sand, we need to be under illusions. I can become the human bait. As you see, I don’t have any magical abilities, let alone any combat intelligent. I only rely on my technologies.”

Futaba pull up a paper from her bag, it was kind of wrinkled but still clear. Futaba then write each other names and draw a line. “Callisto power to control the emotion with lunar means we have to move on the night. So, Callisto can help me to relax, and when I fall asleep and have a dream, Turuilla can draw an illusion to trap the sandman. Add to that, only Turuilla and I whom can hear the noise so while I'm being the bait, Turuilla can lead you guys when the time come meanwhile the sandman being petrified, Jonathan or Ren and Izumi can attack him.” She drew each other person linked to each other’s attack as her name being in the center as the human bait.

Jonathan listens to Futaba's plan...and while it's also a good plan, he really can't go through with it in good conscience... It's a pretty risky plan with her life possibly on the line with probably no room for error if they wanted Futaba to get out safely back home in her world.

"It's a good plan, Futaba, but... I don't know...I can't help but to be worried if something really bad were to happen to you that we messed up, and ended up forfeiting your life...? I...I can't do that...not again... Not...again..." said Jonathan as he was suffering from another headache "Ughhhhhh...the headaches again... It's not as bad, but something is telling me about not remembering something relating to what's going on... *Sigh*...I need to nap for a few hours... Call me if anything comes up..."

Apparently, Jonathan decided to be the first to go to bed as this whole ordeal has been affecting him the most. It's one thing about his memories returning, almost all of them have returned...but there's a certain memory, a very painful memory, that's being suppressed spiritually to prevent Jonathan from learning the full truth... Jonathan would want to rest until decent light of the next morning because he wanted to explore and find the materials to make Futaba a portable generator along with more food.

"Risky, but alright ", Ren noted, "We could use Azumi's illusions to catch the Sandman off guard and... finish him off"

Finish him off, That sounded terrifying to Ren, yet it felt as if he had been desensitized to killing. It's as if he knew he had done so with other people. Azumi's hold on Ren's memories were starting to weaken further and she was sensing it as well. The fox spirit held Ren's hand and dragged him away from the group's discussion

"Under no circumstances are you to actually kill him!", She said sternly, "It could prove too much for your mind and... we aren't killers!"

"I know, Azumi. But is he going to listen to reason?"

Reason?, she thought to herself. Yes, that was precisely what they could do. The old man seemed to have a grandchild or someone similar to such a role, based on the picture they saw. There had to be some semblance of humanity within him. Yet she thought of the plan, it could possibly and inadvertedly return Ren's memories with the organization that they tried to avoid for so long up until now. There was no choice. Despite being a familiar who must protect her summoner through any means possible, she was a divine spirit who vowed not to kill, only incapacitate.

"I have an idea", Azumi said as the pair returned to the group, "We must find as much information about this man as possible. Maybe more journals in this bookstore. I cannot bear the thought of killing him when he was not born a monster, an abomination."

Azumi paced around them before speaking once more, "I can use my illusions to return the memories of anyone near me provided that I have just enough information about him"

For the most part everyone seemed on board, and the more information she was given the clearer the picture became. She was concerned about Futaba's safety...yet with the bait in place it would be a perfectly controlled way to bring the sandman in. Turuilla watched as Jonathan left, agreeing they all needed to sleep soon. "Jonathan's right. We probably should rest. Move when we have rested."

Or were they already asleep here? It was hard to say. The woman sighed, stood up and cracked open a can of hotdog and some canned coffee. Not the most appetizing but sufficient fuel as she tried to work this all out. "I'll look through some journals tonight and see what I can produce for you tomorrow. I like the idea of moving at night- giving Cal a good advantage." Turuilla hesitated, looking up to Azumi and Ren. "I'm down not to kill him.. I vote we use Futaba as bait, see if we can lure him in and boom- we use the information i find and Azumi can hopefully bring him back to his senses."

"However-" she continued, looking away woefully. "If things get too dire for Futaba we have to do what we must. Who knows how many people have been trapped here? We can't let Futaba or ourselves get lost too." It was disturbing how calm she was about potentially killing someone. Whatever it took to get the job done right?

It felt inhumane.

To shake off the thought she bit into a hotdog, took a drink of her coffee and began searching through the library.

"It's okay... I trust you guys will do well." Futaba replied to Jonathan's concern. She eventually listened to Ren and Azumi banters and nodded when Azumi said she can use the illusions. "It's a good idea too, Miss Azumi. So, when the sandman has been petrified, we can strike through his memories, maybe use some of illusions about something that could trigger the humanity side of him and weakened him. If we're lucky then he might surrender. But, if things get worse, so we have no other choice than to demolish him." Futaba phrased everything that came on her brain. Futaba then nodded at Jonathan when he said he wanted to take some nap because of his headache again.

"You guys can go to rest. I'll be on guard. I will help Turuilla to find more journals." Futaba took some chocolate on her bag and began snacking. She then proceed to look for another information they can find from the shelves. She goes closer to Turuilla and Azumi. "Thank you for agreeing with my idea anyway, Turuilla." Futaba felt finally relax for a moment that she drew a smile on her face. "You know, I don't feel like want to go back to where I belong. Because I don't have any reason to continue my life there..." Futaba mumbled. "I like it here, with you guys I mean. I feel like I have friends. Even though these weren't real but I felt overwhelmed enough."

She had nothing to lose. She had no friends on her world. She was like a secluded person whom like to lock themselves on their room doing their hobbies. Futaba likes to dwell on her technologies or hacking some rotten adults' business to falter them. So, being around with these people here are such a wonderful feelings that Futaba never experience on her world. She decided that even if these all are her dreams, even if these all aren't real, she would try her best to protect these people because they are her precious friends whom having the same tragedy as her.

The woman was thankful Futaba resided to staying up with her, and Turuilla listened to Futaba. Somehow her words made Turuilla sad. Turuilla's life was consumed with her work and mission. Sure she had coworkers but...no real friends either. Biting her lip, Turuilla walked over to Futaba and lightly bonked her head with the book she held.

"Don't say such things. Ofcourse you have something to live for. Surely someone wants you around. You seem like a kind girl." Turuilla said lightly scolding the girl. "With your knowledge you could get a good job. Heck, if we were from the same world I know you'd be a huge asset for my work." Turuilla smiled, leaving the book playfully on Futaba's head. "I get what you mean though-" it was nice to have companions around. People other than other needs staring at plants all day.

"It's nice to have people around."

Sometime in the deep conversation, Callisto had disappeared. She went up to the roof to "recharge." The moon was full and- wait.

"Wasn't the moon a crescent earlier?" she muttered aloud.

After snapping herself out of a trance staring at the moon, Callisto ran all the way downstairs to find Turuilla and Futaba. She paused to catch her breath when she got there.

"Turu.....Turuilla...the moo...the moon," she stumbled breathlessly.