《Dreamland》


 Prologue

    The world is desolate and destroyed.


    Wandering around like this is almost sad, there are no more people, no more families smiling together and no more people enjoying their lives. At this present moment in time, there is nothing and no one.


    Despite it all, I want to save this desolate world of mine. I know if I can crush the evil at the source of it all, then this world will finally be free and able to flourish once more. Nothing is gone forever, and so I will save it all.


    Even if it all ends in my death, at least I fought without giving up. I fought as hard as I could.


    With all those words within my heart, I picked up my sword and went forward to my future. The sole entity that destroyed my world that I created from the ground up, today I will kill him.


    The dark aura of the surrounding area meshes and clouds the scenery of the ruins of buildings that once stood tall, but I would never let that intimidate me.


    I walked forward into the foreboding area and stood face to face with this malevolent foe. He and I once knew each other, long ago, before this darkness possessed his soul. I don¡¯t blame him for giving into it, I can only blame the one who spread it with her existence.


    Even so, I can¡¯t let our former ties stop me. I can¡¯t let the idea of killing an innocent man stop me. I have to eradicate this darkness, even if it means killing someone who I once referred to as a friend.


    I leapt forward, sword in hand, and swung with every ounce of strength in my body. This sword which weighs over millions of pounds I hoped would be enough to damage him even slightly.


    However, he stood there, with a dark aura that protected him from even a little bit of ricochet. I¡¯ll never ever even dream of being able to hurt him, and at this rate, I really will die.


    I could see a smirk curl up onto his lips as he prepared to launch his own attack on me. The only thing I can do at this point is retreat and plan differently, so I jumped backwards and began running towards my safe haven.


    Of course, he was never going to let me escape, as he charged after me intending to kill me with every fiber of his being. The darkness surrounding him transformed into spiked chains and began crashing down all around me, only missing me barely.


    I can¡¯t keep up this chase forever, I need to get out of here before he really kills me. I can¡¯t let this world and everyone who died down!


    That¡¯s when, unfortunately, my ¡°savior¡± appeared.


    Crashing down from the sky with her giant scythe in hand, she crushes the chains and sweeps my attacker off his feet, bewildering him for a brief moment.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°How¡¯s it feel to finally be a protagonist for once?¡± She giggled before pulling me forward with immense speed.


    I scoffed, ¡°why are you even here? Did you get what you were looking for?¡±


    ¡°I did! And with that, you can stop being the protagonist and allow me my rightful throne!¡±


    <hr>


    And with a wonderful point of view change, me and him both ran to a safe haven that he¡¯d procured a long while ago!


    The place was of course not in the best of shapes, it was like a small cave but the surroundings were all just destroyed buildings that had toppled over in the destruction of this world. This was all we had for our sanctuary.


    ¡°And? Where is she?¡± He sat on a broken piece of a building and looked at me.


    I proudly put my hands on my sides and puffed my chest out, ¡°She¡¯s still in her dimension preparing, but she said she¡¯d be here soon! So for now, let¡¯s just wait things out!¡±


    His whole body slouched and he simply sighed, ¡°Wonderful¡­¡±


    We were waiting on our savior, a goddess of light. I went to her to plead for her to save this world, since it is entirely my responsibility. If it weren¡¯t for my existence, this would have never happened.


    The darkness that permeates within the heart of the afflicted belongs to me, the goddess of darkness. I was unable to control myself and thanks to that, I¡¯ve destroyed a whole dimension.


    But that was then, and this is now, and now I¡¯m the protagonist who will save this world!


    You¡¯re probably wondering who I am! Well, my name is Tia Tepez, and although I¡¯m the goddess of darkness, I am also the creator of this whole universe. It¡¯s a bit of weird thing, but in essence I am the god of everything that exists.


    It¡¯s boring just looking down at people and watching them have fun, so I created my own dimensions and decided to go forward with my own role in this world. It isn¡¯t like being god has special privileges or anything, I¡¯m just like anyone else who rules over a dimension, I just happen to be immortal.


    The person sitting down next to me is Seiji, he¡¯s very strong. It¡¯s not really me pepping him up or anything, he¡¯s able to wield things several thousand pounds in size. These buildings would probably be nothing more than paper to him.


    He¡¯s another cog in this universe of mine, and the one who rules over this dimension in particular.


    The one cursed with my darkness is Haruto. I don¡¯t really know him too well, he just so happened to be the helpless victim that the darkness targeted.


    And the goddess we¡¯re waiting on now is Kuro, she and I aren¡¯t on the best of terms, I¡¯m sure you can understand, but she¡¯s not just going to let this world die. She¡¯s very intelligent and brilliant at maintaining her dimension and I have no doubt she¡¯ll be a great help to this one.


    Introductions aside, we need to strategize our next move. I¡¯m unsure of where to go towards next, and how this dark night will end.


    <hr>


    ....


    The low rumbling of my phone alarm wakes me up in an instant.


    My room is entirely dark, with black curtains shutting out the light entirely. I¡¯m used to being in the dark anyways, the sun is annoying.


    I shift out of bed and shuffle towards my computer, turning it on and causing its red and blue glow light up my whole bedroom as the bright screen turns on.


    I spend everyday like this, right here, in front of this computer. The only solace I get is my dreams.


    ¡°I need to figure out how to give Kuro a good introduction the next time I sleep¡± I whisper to myself.


    Naturally, everything was just a dream. For a shut-in like me though, that dream is nothing short of my life. If only it could be a bit more real¡­

 Chapter 1: Darkness?

    ¡°Heya, message me when you¡¯re home from school <3¡±


    I leaned back in my computer chair, causing it to slide back a tad.


    I just finished messaging a friend of mine, hoping for their quick return to relieve my boredom.


    I dreamt up a good portion of my story last night, it¡¯s something I¡¯ve been thinking up for such a long time at this point¡ª4 years now. Tia Tepez means a lot to me as my ¡°would-be¡± self.


    I can¡¯t dream forever unfortunately, so I wake up to my everyday life of just¡­ hanging out. I don¡¯t really go outside much, let alone leave my own room. My parents work all the time so I don¡¯t even go to school, I¡¯m exactly what you think I am, a shut-in.


    I¡¯d say I¡¯m a little creative I suppose, I draw a lot of the characters for my story. I mean, all the characters are just my friends, so I guess I¡¯m not original enough to not include self inserts, but otherwise they don¡¯t even resemble them, not even through their personalities.


    I always call it a story when I talk about Dreamland, but I guess it¡¯s more appropriate to call it my second life. It¡¯s the only way I get to live in a world at all, because let¡¯s face it I don¡¯t exist in reality anyways.


    ...I¡¯m bored.


    I usually sleep until 3:30, that¡¯s usually when ¡°Haruto¡± gets home, but I woke up at 2:45 so I could grab an item in a video game.


    Should I watch a video? But all of my let¡¯s plays I follow don¡¯t even update until later. God, what the hell is there to do? I¡¯m so fucking worthless.


    A loud ding makes me jolt up a little to see a reply back to my earlier message.


    ¡°heyo i¡¯m home a bit early, whats up?¡±


    ¡°Perfect! I¡¯m super fucking bored and have nothing else to do lol¡±


    Kind of an awkward way to start a conversation, but I don¡¯t know what else to do right now.


    ¡°lol you don¡¯t have anything else to do? go draw or something xD¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to though I¡¯m tired of drawing. Hey do you think Seiji would mind being in my story?¡±


    ¡°what? I dont know, i dont think he¡¯d mind but you¡¯d have to go ask him yourself¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not, it¡¯s just a little difficult talking to him. But then again its a little hard talking to everyone in that group¡±


    ¡°just go in there with something random or something you¡¯ll be fine¡±


    ¡°Uh, no thanks.¡±


    ¡°oh well then. i gotta go do homework, so lets talk later ok?¡±


    Nice. Now I¡¯m just a little annoyed, why can¡¯t you just give me actual advice when I seek it out? Whatever.


    ¡°Okay, have fun selling your soul to america¡¯s educational system.¡±


    He says later but I already know he¡¯s just not gonna reply for a while, that¡¯s fine though I don¡¯t need to talk much.


    I just don¡¯t even wanna be awake anymore. There¡¯s nothing to do and I don¡¯t wanna draw and honestly, I¡¯m just tired. I¡¯m just gonna eat and go to sleep. At least Tia will have more pressing issues to attend to, and I just wanna close this darkness arc? What should I even name this chapter?


    Oh well, back to sleeping!


    <hr>


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.¡°So? What have you accomplished thus far?¡± Kuro speaks with obvious annoyance in her voice.


    Seiji sighs. ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s extremely hard to even damage him, it¡¯s like the darkness is just an overwhelming shield for him.¡±


    Kuro arrived just a short while ago and we¡¯ve been trying to figure out our next stage of action. Stage of action? Is that correct? Either way, we¡¯ve been wondering where to go from here.


    ¡°Honestly, with Kuro here now, do we even need a plan? I kinda just wanna rush head-first and get this over with.¡±


    Both of them glare at me. ¡°Tia, how is that even going to go well?¡± Kuro practically hisses at me.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty strong, so I can make things go kinda well I guess. I just needed some light to help, so that¡¯s why you¡¯re here Kuro.¡±


    I knew saying that out loud would cause some ill-will to be thrown towards me, but I don¡¯t care. I really wanna get Haruto into this group already, and that means taking him down.


    ¡°Yeah, no, how about this tactic instead, it¡¯ll have all the urgency you want with some actual thought put into things.¡± Kuro sat in between me and Seiji and began discussing an idea she had.


    ¡­¡±That doesn¡¯t sound too bad actually, yeah. I think that might work.¡± Seiji smirks.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s jump right into it!!¡± I jumped up and headed towards the exit, with the two others following behind me. This was it, this was gonna be the final battle! This is gonna be awesome!


    <hr>


    6:23 PM.


    Yeah, that¡¯s what time it is. I woke up from my short nap. Unfortunate too, I was about to end this chapter.


    I actually ended up getting a message from Haruto a lot sooner this time, it was sent about an hour ago and I missed it. Oh well, but I¡¯m sure he¡¯s still awake.


    I jumped outta bed and hopped right into my computer seat to check out whats going on, it¡¯s not very often for him to message me at about 5-ish.


    ¡°have you got around speaking to seiji about the story thing?¡±


    What a weird question, but I feel a pit in my stomach. I don¡¯t really have time for annoying drama stuff, I just wanna enjoy my life.


    ¡°No, why? I told you I don¡¯t really know how to talk to him at all¡±


    ¡°i spoke to him a bit, not really about the story but just about you and he just isnt sure if you¡¯re okay still. like, does that make sense? do you get it?¡±


    The vagueness of his messages are really bothering me, how old are we again?


    ¡°Can yhou just come out and say it you¡¯re really annoying me¡±


    ¡°sorry, i just mean you guys recently broke up so hes wondering about lingering feelings¡±


    ¡°Ew, what, he¡¯s just my freakin friend I can¡¯t even utter his name without one of you being weird? Why did you even talk to him its not like it mattered¡±


    I promptly went to task manager and forcibly shut down my messaging program. I didn¡¯t really wanna bother anymore, I¡¯ll deal with it tomorrow. That¡¯s just annoying.


    ¡°Hey, are you awake¡­?¡± My mom peers into my room to check on me.


    ¡°Yeah, I am, whatcha need?¡±


    She comes in with a bag of food, my usual I get on Fridays. ¡°Here you go, I got dinner. I¡¯m gonna be taking care of the girls in the living room, text me if you need me! Love you!¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I love you too.¡±


    And as she came, she went. At least I have a chicken sandwich and fries to occupy my thoughts for a little while, and I bet some playthroughs have updated by this point.


    So, I went towards the interwebs and began wasting a few hours before bed again.


    <hr>


    And there he was. Standing in the midst of a pool of darkness with grim, hollow eyes. It looked as if all life was gone from within his body, but I knew that wasn¡¯t true. The boy afflicted with my darkness was still inside of there, and I¡¯d be the one to save him from the curse I dealt to him.


    Both Kuro and Seiji rush towards him as a duo, swinging and slashing their way towards him.


    He looks towards them, and without hesitation and a bit of cockiness, unleashes multiple chains of darkness that aims towards them.


    Seiji blocks, but Kuro doesn¡¯t stop her chase. She jumps onto one of the chains and continues to run towards him full force, without letting anything get into her way.


    She throws multiple of her spears at him, causing him to block with his shield of darkness.


    Seiji manages to forcefully cut through his chains, and rush towards him whilst dealing multiple blows to his aura.


    This must¡¯ve just pissed him off, as he suddenly strikes back with a shockwave of darkness, knocking both Seiji and Kuro back.


    But this is my time to strike.


    I form my signature scythe and use all of my own darkness and will to slice through his shield, causing it to shatter to bits.


    He looks up in shock, as if he wasn¡¯t expecting it, and that¡¯s when I merge my own consciousness with his.


    ¡°I know you still have a will within there, and if you have a will, you can fight this darkness! Don¡¯t just give up because it¡¯s hard, or because you¡¯d rather sleep or something, fight! There are others out here fighting too, so why don¡¯t you do your part and stop being lazy?¡± I scream to him.


    It must¡¯ve done something at least, because there¡¯s a visible struggling going on with him, but that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s over yet.


    Kuro forms light shackles to hold him down, causing him to struggle more but his own inner fight makes him unable to break free.


    ¡°Seiji, now¡¯s your chance!¡±


    And the finale to our great plan, Seiji lifts his sword above Haruto¡¯s head, causing him to look up in fear.


    ¡°I know it seems like a lot, but this sword has been blessed with light. It won¡¯t hurt, only save you.¡±


    ...and he swings down towards him, causing an explosion and beam of light to flutter up towards the dark sky causing it to be illuminated once more.


    Naturally it seems like a finale, but this is just the beginning to a long story.