Leo stirred sometime past midnight, a dry throat and an unfortunate bladder dragging him out of bed. The house was quiet, Nyaira's hospitality resting warmly in his stomach—but his thoughts? Anything but calm. The wooden floor creaked under his feet as he stepped down from the bed and—
The world shifted.
It didn't fall or blur or even swirl like dreamscapes usually do—it clicked, like a door unlocking to the wrong room.
Suddenly, he wasn't in the guest room. He stood on a flat expanse of... nothing. Just darkness. Not pitch black, but deep, shifting indigo, like someone had spilled ink across the stars. Beneath his feet, no ground—yet he didn't fall. Around him, no trees, no walls, only the occasional distant flutter of what might've been wings.
Leo blinked. "What... the actual what?"
And then, without warning—splash.
He was standing ankle-deep in a river. Crystal clear. Cool. Rippling with faint echoes of laughter.
And in that river, not too far ahead—
"Oh nope nope nope—" Leo spun around, ears burning as he caught sight of two silhouettes he definitely recognized—laughing, hair wet, very much not clothed. It was Ari and Elaria. He scrambled backward, covering his eyes even though it was too late.
And just as he turned to run—
As if the Universe itself said-
NO YOU PERVERT ABSOLUTELY NO
A deep, amused voice echoed all around:
"Welcome... to my Fort of Solitude."
Leo froze.
The river vanished.
He now stood beneath a starless sky, surrounded by walls made of mist and fractured light.
"You seem to really like baths, huh?" The voice teased again, sharp with mischief. "Too bad you won't have many left."
Leo gulped. "W-Why? Why are you taking my... my bath dreams?!"
The voice growled in exasperation. "I'm not after your dreams, you fool. I'm after you."
Leo narrowed his eyes. "Why? Who even are you?"
The mist swirled tighter. "I am the air. The soil. The breath of the silent ruins. I am always near you… but always out of reach."
He paused. The voice was darker now.
"And why? Because you... are the one who could destroy everything. My world. My dream."
Then—snap.
Back to the river again.
The scene played for exactly three seconds—Ari dunking Elaria in mock protest, both laughing, Leo somewhere in the background screaming into the void of his own guilt—
And then—
RIP.
As if the universe itself ripped the reel out of the projector and screamed:
"WHAT THE HELL, DUDE!?"
The void swallowed him again.
Then silence.
---
He woke up with a loud thud, face smushed against the wooden floor, blanket tangled around his leg.
Ari stirred in the bed nearby. "Did you fall out of bed again?"
"...No," Leo muttered, trying to pull himself back up. "The universe just called me a pervert."
"What?"
"Nothing. I'll... go wash my face."
As he walked toward the wash basin, his eyes trailed to the window.
The moon glinted over the village rooftops.
But somewhere, far away, he could still hear that voice whispering:
"I'm always near you, Leo…"
---