(Maria's POV)
Darkness engulfed us for a split second, before we were tossed into a completely unknown landscape.
Using my powers, I was able to protect Emily and Alma, bringing them with .
"Hahh... Hahh..."
"W-What happened?"
The two girls were confused, as they glanced around a completely different world.
A dark garden, with red, black, and purple plants.
A purple sky, illuminated by a crimson moon.
"Heheh!"
And...
"Mamaaaa!"
"Oh no..."
"Papa?"
The whisperings of a child echoing everywhere.
Small phantoms of soone, a girl with long white hair and silver eyes.
Running around, giggling.
Constantly, everywhere.
"This is... a Fractured Nightmare Realm."
I stood up, looking around.
"Eh?!"
"What?!"
Alma and Emily couldn't believe it.
"Sofia... made this."
Their eyes widened.
A twisted world born from her Traumas.
"Her Dream Heart... it beca a Nightmare Heart."
The two glanced at in disbelief, they really didn't want to believe this happened.
But it was clear as water that this was all provoked by her, or well, by whatever was going on with her.
"This dark garden, and those visions we occasionally see... They're most likely from Sofia," I explained. "We are in what could be said to be a Nightmare Realm made from her own Heart."
"But that's... how is that possible?!" asked Emily. "Maybe you're wrong Maria, maybe it's a Nightmare that attacked us!"
"Maybe... or maybe not," I sighed. "I'm not so sure myself, so please don't take it on ... I'm just trying to bring whatever I can tell right now."
"Um... I saw it too..." Alma sighed, looking around with slight fear. "I saw Sofia, when she said we had to run away... She was afraid, I think this wasn't sothing... she could control. Please, don't bla her for this!"
I guess that's indeed what Alma would have said.
And I like her because she's very honest and good too.
She's a good friend, I wish she had been my friend back then...
"Yeah," I nodded. "I think what happened to her is complicated... But I believe all her dark emotions and perhaps... even her mories of her past, they all seed to create enough Negative Energy from her to infect her own Dream Heart, turning it into a Nightmare Core... or well, Heart."
"So you're saying she birthed a Nightmare?" wondered Emily. "Ugh... Guuggh..."
Emily started puking after she realized what had happened, I couldn't bla her for that. Alma used her healing magic to make her feel a bit better.
"I wouldn't say she gave birth to it..." I said. "More like, her Negative Energy and her Dream Heart beca one, creating a Nightmare from her Traumas, Frustrations, Hatred, and Fears. Has it even been registered before? This happening?"
The two girls looked at one another, without a clue of what I was talking about.
"N-No, never," said Emily. "This might be the first ti it happens... Or..."
"Or the governnts have been hiding that Dream Warriors can beco Nightmares..." Alma muttered, in utter disbelief.
"Definitely could be a possibility..." I nodded, sighing. "If people knew they could turn into Nightmares by becoming a Dream Warrior, then many wouldn't ever want to work as or train to beco one, right? They would rather stay ho... Or even worse, normal people would discriminate or try to outright kill Dream Warriors as they could be a threat if they turn into Nightmares."
"After all, I don't think humans can turn directly into Nightmares, right? They're born from Dream Realms after all," said Emily. "But our Negative Energies is what... apparently creates them... Agh, I don't know if we should bet talking so much right now, this whole damn place is so unnerving."
"I agree," nodded Alma. "But um... Then this ans that while normal humans can't turn into Nightmares, those that develop Dream Hearts can? Because our Negative Energy doesn't simply go away, it continues to... accumulate inside our Dream Hearts?"
"Wait, wait, wait," Emily muttered. "Does that an that just anybody could turn into a Nightmare then?! And it seems like its inevitable then! Everyone goes through shit all the ti after all, so..."
"Yeah, it's just Alma's theory but it could an that all of us have a tickling ti bomb inside of our Dream Hearts," I explained. "Sooner or later, we could all turn into Nightmares once enough Negative Energy is accumulated in our Dream Hearts... But Sofia seed to have been accelerated with this whole drama. However, I still believe it wasn't just that, but it might have been the last thing to completely trigger it."
"What else could it have been then?" asked Emily.
"Since when has Sofia had her Dream Heart?" I wondered, as I started spreading my Shadows, summoning skeletons and sending them away to inspect the surroundings.
"I... I think she's one of those that was born with one," said Alma. "She said she had always had "her talent" from birth!"
"So after the appearance of Nightmare Realms, not only could normal people gain a Dream Heart through exposition to the Soot," I said. "But also there's people that can be born with one already, maybe because their parents were exposed to it and survived..."
"Y-Yeah, I think so..." Alma sighed. "Um, Maria...?"
"Yes?" I wondered.
"I want to save Sofia..." Alma sighed. "I-I don't want her to remain as a Nightmare, could it be possible to kill that Nightmare and save her?"
"I don't know, I really don't know..." I said. "But it's worth giving it a try, right? Though, I don't know about this but, do people die if their Dream Heart is shattered?"
"So die..." said Emily. "Well, the majority die instantly, Dream Hearts are said to regulate the Soot inside our bodies, making it our power, which then help us manifest Dream Weapons
and Magic or Techniques derived from them."
"Hmmm..." I nodded. "So in a way, it is as if... as if Dream Hearts are like Nightmares
themselves, but purified, the Dream Weapon even, it could be sothing like a "Tad
Nightmare" in a way."
"What? That's insane!" Emily muttered.
"T-There's no way..." Alma cried.
"Heheh..."
"Hahaha!"
"Oooh!"
Suddenly, as we continued talking, we heard giggles, the giggles of children approaching.
The little phantoms of little Sofia we saw, they were rapidly approaching us, coming from the
dark gardens.
Their eyes were red, crying blood.
"Hey, hey! Let's play!"
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