The Nightmare Parasite had made a critical mistake. It had split its focus, trapping my two dreamers in personalized prisons of their own minds. It thought this would break them. Instead, it just gave my reinforcements a clear target.
In Pip's corner of the dream, the ten-foot-tall Goose of Unrelenting Annoyance let out a terrifying HONK, its red eyes burning with malice. It raised its dagger-filled beak to strike the cowering, banana-yellow rogue.
"VILE FOWL!" a new voice boomed, filled with the righteous fury of a thousand well-stuffed bears. "YOUR REIGN OF PSYCHIC ANNOYANCE ENDS TODAY!"
Sir Crumplebuns charged. He didn't raise his Spoonblade. He didn't lift his quilted shield. He simply charged forward with his soft, plushy arms wide open.
The goose lunged, aiming a vicious peck at the knight's chest. Sir Crumplebuns met the attack not with a block, but with a full-body, running hug. The goose's entire head and neck sank deep into the knight's fluffy torso with a soft fwump. It was stuck.
The nightmare creature thrashed and flailed, its dagger clattering uselessly against the knight's reinforced patch armor. It was like trying to stab a cloud. Sir Crumplebuns simply held on, his grip surprisingly firm.
Then, he began to hum his gentle, off-key lullaby.
The goose's furious struggles began to weaken. The angry red glow in its eyes dimmed to a confused pink, and then faded entirely. With a final, defeated squawk, the terrifying nightmare construct went limp and fell fast asleep, its head still buried deep in Sir Crumplebuns's chest.
Pip, having been saved by an act of aggressive cuddling, just stared in disbelief.
Meanwhile, in Zazu's prison of memory, the silver spires of his homeland burned. He stood paralyzed, forced to relive his greatest sorrow. The dream-form of Kaelen appeared beside him, her expression as calm and still as a frozen lake. She didn't offer empty words of comfort. She simply stood with him, a silent witness to his pain.
'My home burned too,' her thought echoed in his mind, not with pity, but with a shared, quiet understanding. 'I let that memory become my prison. My master used my pain to make me a weapon. Do not make the same mistake I did.'
She was not telling him to forget his grief. She was telling him he did not have to be defined by it. She was using the strength she'd gained from facing her own trauma to help him face his.
Zazu looked at her, at this former assassin who understood his pain better than anyone. He looked at the burning city, the symbol of his endless weariness. He realized she was right. The past was just a memory, not a cage for him.
He then took a deep, steadying breath. And as he found his peace, the raging fires in his dream began to recede, the smoke clearing to reveal the calm, twilight sky of our shared Dreamscape. Zazu was free.
With both personalized nightmares defeated, the full team was reunited on the dream-beach. High above, the giant red eye of the Nightmare Parasite was visibly weaker, flickering like a dying ember. We had starved it of its primary food source: fear and sorrow.
It made one last, desperate attack. The entire dreamscape began to tremble and crack, the sky and sea dissolving into a chaotic storm of pure terror, trying to crush us.
'It's trying to destabilize the dream!' FaeLina's voice warned from the real world.
'Then we will stabilize it,' I replied, and gave my final, most absurd command. 'Everyone. Time for a nap.'
My team, now fully accustomed to my strange methods, didn't hesitate. Zazu and Pip lay down on the warm sand. Sir Crumplebuns gently laid the sleeping goose down and used its soft belly as a pillow. Kaelen, after a moment's hesitation, also sat down, a look of quiet contemplation on her face.
Together, we all projected the single most powerful feeling in my arsenal: the pure, weaponized tranquility of a perfect, well-deserved nap.
The parasite, a creature that fed on terror, was now being force-fed its complete opposite. It was like trying to make a vampire drink a glass of orange juice. It simply could not process the overwhelming wave of pure, unfiltered coziness.
The red eye in the sky flickered violently. It writhed and pulsed, and with a final, silent shriek of pure, frustrated agony, it explodes, vanishing from the dream sky forever.
The oppressive cold feeling was also gone. The dreamscape settled, leaving only the quiet, peaceful beach. In the distance, the faint, sleeping form of the real Elian appeared, a gentle smile on his face. He was finally at peace.
A flood of happy golden notifications filled my consciousness.
[Nightmare Parasite (Ancient Class) has been VANQUISHED!]
[Method: Systematic Application of Cozy Vibes and Emotional Support.]
[Quest 'A Father's Plea' COMPLETE!]
[Reward: 5000 DP, 1000 Gold Coins, and the 'Eternal Gratitude of a Royal Duke'.]
[Elian's 'Cursed Nightmare' status has been removed.]
[New Title Unlocked: The Dream Weaver.]
We had won.