Fourth Night: Broken Dreams

[raisethemoon]

[Luna looks tired and irritated as she comes onscreen, her ears low and her fur a bit matted as if she's only just woken up. Ordinarily, she wouldn't make an announcement about something that pertains to her work like this, but after the last time this happened, she believes it relevant to the community at large. And, well, no one else seems to be forthcoming about their nightly travails...]

We are all sharing the same dreams. Again.

Doubtless, you have all noticed the...general pattern these new recurrences have been taking. [Said in a tone that clearly indicates she knows that practically no one here is sleeping peacefully.] And, once again, the Keyhole is common to all. Perhaps this heralds the opening of yet another world?

Comments

[hiptobe_eraqus]

[Eraqus appears to have been suffering from nightmares too, since he looks quite a bit tired himself.]

That does seem a likely conclusion, yes.

[raisethemoon]

Then we must prepare for a great battle. 'Tis likely enough there shall be another Nightmare as well.

[hiptobe_eraqus]

If that is what's coming again, it would be best to prepare in a way so that people do not overload on magic all at once and cause great injury. Strategy would be best.

[4letters4ninja]

[Ziva looks slightly intrigued, even if pretty close to exhausted. She's not a huge fan of dreaming of family members every night...especially when dead ones are involved.]

Know if anyone has been able to fix said Keyhole successfully waking up?

[raisethemoon]

None that I hath witnessed, but we do not watch everyone's dreams, every night. We think it unlikely, however. The Keyhole previous was never caught within a dream, to our knowledge; it seems to be their way.

[dork_of_keys]

[The last time everyone had been having recurring dreams that cut into their sleep, Luna had remained fairly perky. This time, not so much by the look of things, which has Sora a little concerned. Is the theme of things being broken a little more personal for her, maybe?

He had discussed this privately with Xion recently. Maybe one of them should have made a post about it...]

The theme is different, but there is still a Keyhole.

It's kind of hard not to notice. [How could anyone sleep peacefully when the topic their minds are being forced to explore is things breaking in a very personal sense?] I guess the only question now is where and when the giant Nightmare will show up and which type.

[raisethemoon]

Didst thou encounter them in any particular order before?

[dork_of_keys]

Well... the monkey had been the first one, but not the version of it that we saw here. Then was the gargoyle and the ice lobster. Then the bird summoning other Nightmares, including the fire lobster. And then the bird itself eventually.

But Twilight Town was not one of the worlds I'd been to last time, so I have no idea what Nightmare would even show up here if any.

[And he's not even mentioning Anti Black Coat given that it had more or less been born of his own personal nightmares with a specific set of circumstances mixed in. That being said, his dreams have been bouncing between either arguments and fights he's had with his friends (Riku especially) or getting his heart shattered in various ways including, of all things, Namine's powers slipping. He's pretty sure that last thing has something to do not only with having discussed the mess that was Castle Oblivion recently, but also the argument he'd had with Eraqus a bit before that. None of it helps his mental state at the moment, nor does it contribute to current conversation. Sleep deprivation makes for too many random thoughts...

[trademark_skull]

[Well duh, it was pretty obvious to notice a plot device when you see it.]

Thanks for telling me something I already knew. [My, what cranky sarcasm. Looks like someone didn't get their nap.]

[raisethemoon]

Thou hast been keeping thyself aware of the dreams of others?

[unrecovered]

[Guess who's already in full armor. On a related note, guess who's been losing sleep and may or may not have woken up screaming once or twice this week. Yeah, it's this guy.]

Hopefully with fewer giant monkeys this time around.

[Filtered to Luna]

You should probably stay out of mine until this blows over. They're...worse than usual right now.

[raisethemoon]

I imagine a giant creature of some sort is a possibility. Perhaps the gargoyle.

[Filtered]

That would, as a rule, be my precise reason for entering them. But if thou art requesting privacy...

[skysmirror]

I was thinking the same thing--thanks for bringing it up.

[She or Sora probably should have said something. Though she is curious how Luna knows that they're sharing dreams, she can ask that privately later.]

We should be on the lookout, then.

[raisethemoon]

Yes, we should attempt to be rather more organized in our efforts this time, should another giant Nightmare appear.

[buymedumplings]

So that's why I keep...oh. [Bolin looks troubled for a space of a second but he's quick to hide it.]

Uh...the last time this happened we also had to fight a giant monkey box...is that going to happen again too?

[raisethemoon]

It seems quite likely. 'Tis best to act as though we shall, and be ready for battle at all times!

[Filtered to Bolin]

Dost thou require aid within thy dreams?

[shadearchivist]

It would be rather nice to have a battle where we didn't nearly kill ourselves, yes, though I don't find these dreams as troubling as the last ones.

[He might be the only one, but at least being unable to piece his life back together is something he has a lot of experience in at the moment.]

[raisethemoon]

Oh? 'Tis well for thee. [You're definitely the first she's heard of.]

We hear thou art well-practiced in the art of illusion. Hast thou any other particular combat skills?

[shamelessy action because she's like right behind her.]

[letteropener]

[Celestia had had her own share of bad dreams, and yet waking both soothed the dreams and made them far worse. Soothed because the subject of the dreams is here, well, happy, and not attempting to plunge the world into eternal darkness; made worse because Celestia couldn't, possibly can't, stop feeling guilty and remorseful over a thousand lost years.]

[She watches her sister without rising.]

For some reason, this puts me in mind of those times way back when, when our duties sometimes kept us both so busy the only time we had to talk was in my dreams.

[olololololol]

[raisethemoon]

[Her message left, Luna closes the device and tucks it away to receive responses as it will. Aaaaand her face falls as she realizes she hasn't been monitoring her sister's dreams very closely in the past few nights.]

Well, we hath very few duties now. [She moves to sit back on her own bed, setting her fur in order as she watches Celestia.] We must make the most of it.

[icemaker]

[Gray doesn't like the sound of that at all. You mean this place isn't all fighting and getting monsters to crap out munny?]

What's dream sharing?

[raisethemoon]

An unknown force is altering the dreams of those brought to this world, as it hath done once before. The content of the dreams depends on the individual, but the themes and basic outline are the same. An image of a glowing Keyhole - in fragments, this time - is also common. It is our belief that this foretells the discovery of another such Keyhole in the waking world...or what passes for it, we suppose.

Last time the dreams occurred, a Keyhole was found shortly thereafter, in the aftermath of a giant Nightmare's assault. This is how Twilight Town was discovered.

[video]

[alwaysfaithful]

[Chris shows up on the feed again, this time with a new Spirit: a female Toximander named Veno. He appears to have had little sleep as bags were under his eyes. Even someone accustomed to little sleep like Chris was getting annoyed.]

This has happened before then?

[raisethemoon]

Yes, once before. Shortly thereafter, a large Nightmare attacked Traverse Town, and with its destruction the keyhole to Twilight Town was discovered.

[wavesinherheart]

It wouldn't surprise me. Not after last time.