Darkness Is Your Nightmare (Ch. 6)

Meanwhile in the dark castle within the next dimension, Solaria swiftly walked through his throne room. Through the dark lord's eyes, he saw his minion's vicious work as the Nightmare Demon viciously ravished its victims' dreams, turning them into nightmares. The dark lord took each of their nightmares and slowly stole the souls of each victim, causing many to feel disease-ridden, pale, and sick, killing them slowly, while a few began to unnecessarily attack others. Solaria stopped in his tracks and teleported into the Underworld, a place where he kept all of the entrapped souls. There, he dumped the next load into the Pool of souls. With each soul poured into the pool, the ear-bursting screams of each victim is heard. The grim demon slithered slowly out of the area and back to his lair, but as he did so, the angel goddess, Feliferi began to cloud his mind.

As the demon's claw slowly scraped the walls beside him, his mind slowly wandered from his plans to seeing Feliferi standing before him. The dark lord jolted in shock and shook his head, hoping that he wasn't hallucinating. Solaria looked at "her" demanding for an answer to why she is standing before him, but Feliferi said nothing. The goddess merely looked at her in disappointment and fear, not for herself, but for him.

"HOW DARE YOU STAND BEFORE ME AND LOOK AT ME WITH SUCH DISTRAUGHT FEELINGS!?!" Solaria demanded, but the goddess continued to be silent. Solaria's eyes widened as he continued, "Well?! Don't you have an answer or what?!" Feliferi closed her eyes as she looked down, and then began to walk away, which enraged the dark demon.

"Don't you walk away from me!!? I will not stand for this, you hear me?!" Solaria commanded, but Feliferi didn't listen. Solaria pent up in anger as his demon claws began to entice dark energy. He then charged to the goddess at full speed and slashed "her" only for her to disappear into the wind. It was only a vision... a dream... a mere hallucination of the dark lord's corrupted mind. Filled up with anger, the demon cursed Feliferi as he released a full-on roar that echoed through the castle walls and temple caverns.

Later...

It was near midnight, and Sonia was all worn out from one night of training. Though she hasn't had much use of training her swordsmanship, she has improved slightly upon her balance, stamina, and reflexes, at the cost of tripping a few times in the process. Feliferi floated to Sonia, Matthew, and Scruffles, congratulating her on her first night of training, however, all good news came down once Feliferi's smile slowly disappeared. The goddess sensed the energy of a new demon lurking within.

"I sense trouble, my friends...." Feliferi noted.

"Really? What kind?" Matthew queried. The goddess's eyes glowed as she sensed the trouble up ahead. She examined a glimpse to what type of demon lurks through the area. As soon as the glimpse of the demon caught her mind, the goddess startled in shock.

"O-oh my.... Wha-what a beast..." Feliferi stammered. Sonia looked at the goddess in worry. The goddess shook her head and regained her composure as she looked at the worrisome Sonia and sensed deep trouble within her mind. The goddess kneels down and comforts her. Feliferi opened the portal and escorted Sonia home, showing Sonia's real body safely sleeping in her bed. Feliferi, Scruffles, and Matthew watch as Sonia's soul carefully go back into her body. Sonia's body gasps as she regains life and memories of her training suddenly surface her mind. The girl opens her eyes slowly, but Feliferi was gone...

"Keep your mind in deep composure," were the last few words that the goddess spoke as it echoed in her brain. Sonia sighed as her head fell back into her pillow, while Matthew and Scruffles got themselves comfy in their own tiny beds. As the night rolled onward, Sonia tossed and turned, with flashes of her past mixing with the thought of demons taking over her continued to awaken the poor girl from getting any kind of peaceful slumber. About an hour and a half has passed, and the Nightmare Demon has found its target. Using its special vision to see different souls fast in their slumber, it took grasp to the Hardell Household where Sonia resided. The demon cut through the silent night like a knife, and slid under the door of the house. Once it was inside, the demon began to slither up the stairs, cringing and creaking the wooden and metal bearings of the peaceful household, clawing and making its dark marks wherever it travelled, turning the beautiful home into a horrific sight.

It was two o'clock in the morning and Sonia's eyes were awake, full of gravel in the corners, and were very red as the veins looked almost like they could pop by a single touch.

"Why can't I sleep?" Sonia asked in a groggy voice.

The ginger could barely move freely as her body began to shift back and forth by force. Sonia tries to warn her pets but to no avail. She had no control over the force that assaulted her mind. All that Sonia could see were flashing nightmares left and right, dark imagery of a demon-like being attempting to kill her through first-person imagery. Shuddering in fear, the only senses of sanity that Sonia had left made her jolt up and shout her awake. The girl slowly looked around her room and saw that everything was normal. Nothing was going to get her, not even the "monster in her closet" or the "evil man under the bed." Matthew and Scruffles, on the other hand, look at Sonia in fright and were in their protective state.

"Jeez, Girly. I know I'm a nighttime cat, but there ain't no reason to be waking me up at the dead of night trying to make your own version of "the boy who cried wolf," Scruffles reacted when she realized that there was no danger. Matthew came into the bed and nuzzled Sonia gently. Scruffles came and did the same thing, but mostly just to get Matthew out of the way. Sonia gave both her cat and dog a hug and then slowly fell back to sleep. An hour passes, and Sonia, Matthew, and Scruffles all sleep together in bed calmly. However, as Sonia's eyes were closed, her mind was awake, and her dreams were returning to that evil creature haunting her dreams. Her dream-self fought hard and fought with all her might, but suddenly began to succumb to the manipulative beast. Just then, in reality, a tiny black hole opened up Sonia's head, causing her to grab her bedsheets tightly and grind her teeth in pain. Once the hole has enough energy, it proceeds to suck Sonia inside the black hole. Matthew yelps, waking Scruffles, and sees the hole suck her inside. Both the cat and dog grab Sonia's hands and pull as hard as they can in order to free her, but the force was too strong, and the effect sucked the trio into the tainted nightmare of Sonia's mind.