Night Terrors

Amaris awoke and found herself in a cold snowy plain. She was facing the dark sky as small crystalline snowflakes gently danced down and kissed her face. It wasn't quite night time, but the clouds kept the sun in the dark. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light and when she sat up it looked like she woke up in a battlefield. Looking up at the sky would have given the impression of a peaceful winter's eve, but the truth laid around her. The snow under her was dyed red and weapons dotted the landscape. And the bodies. Dozens. Hundreds. Maybe even a thousand all around in different states. Stabbed. Decapitated. Dismembered. Some were even charred, while other bodies looked intact and clutched their throats.

A massacre. All around the bodies looked to have been fighting together all facing the same direction. All wearing the same colors and insignia. The insignia was blurry and details couldn't be made out in any way that made sense. Amaris figured it must be some kind of enchantment but she wasn't sure. Everything here felt wrong. She continued scanning the battlefield and saw two figures in the distance. One, dressed in something crimson red, stood over the other, clad in an oceanic blue, that was kneeling. Seeing as they were the only living things around Amaris stood and began to make her way over to them. After her first step she became aware of the fact that she was no longer wearing her armor and travelling garb, but an ornate and flowing silken white kimono decorated with pink flowers. The silken wear was remarkably comfortable and seemed to adjust itself as she moved. The next strange thing about her outfit was that in place of her typical worn boots was nothing. Her feet were bare against the snow, yet they did not feel cold or wet. As she drew closer to the two figures she could hear the one dressed in blue sobbing and letting out pained cries. It sounded strange to Amaris as the blue figure didn't appear to be nursing an injury.

She approached closer and she could see the red figure clenching their fists and trembling behind the blue one. Finally reaching just a few steps away from the two she could see the blue one clutching onto a body. The figure was blurry much like the insignias and Amaris couldn't tell anything notable about it at all. While she was studying the body the one in blue, which Amaris decided to call them Blue and Red in her mind, began to speak through her sobs,

"It-it killed {••••} them. How can I go on? *Wahhh* We should never have brought them." Blue continued to cry into the body when Red decided to speak up,

"Visitor. Come around and look upon us." Their voice had an edge of aggression to it, Amaris couldn't tell but it was caused by Red's barely repressed anger.

Surprised at being addressed by the figure Amaris walked around to the front of the figures as she was bade to do. What she saw was definitely the most confusing thing she ever witnessed. Red was wearing the same outfit as her, but the kimono was red and decorated with organs, only some of which Amaris recognized. Blue was wearing a blue copy of the same kimono that was decorated with dark clouds. Both of the figures looked exactly like what Amaris looked like when she saw herself in reflections. Amaris leaned in closer to study their faces and saw that some features were slightly blurry. Her eyes flickered from her usual pink to another color that got lost in the blur. Atop her head was her long hair, but also something else that was covered in the same blur.

"You! You did this! Fix it now!" Red shouted at Amaris and she took a step back to distance herself from... her oddly aggressive self.

"Who are you?"

"You seriously going to ask something so stupid? Fix us or else you're not going to like how I fix you!" Red took a step towards her but Blue grabbed onto the bottom of her kimono,

"N-No. Not her fault. *sniffle* We weren't ready," the weeping Blue looked up at Amaris. Amaris was slightly uncomfortable seeing herself with tears running down her face, "Beware the Prowler. Find the weapon first. E-east you have to go East! Please..." Blue looked back down at the body and continued in a quiet voice, "I don't want them to die. Please go East."

"Go East or I swear I'll find a way to get to you and make your life a living hell. However strong you think you are, I'm stronger." Red cracked her knuckles to further her point.

"Uh," Amaris' mind was blank so she just asked the first thing that came to the surface, "Can I at least take Ritz home?"

Red glared at her with ferocity in her eyes. After several seconds of unbroken silence Red simply nodded once.

Amaris looked down at her weeping double, or was it a triple, "What weapon is to the East?"

"J-just go E-east. You'll find it... Just like we did too late," her self broke down again and was sobbing uncontrollably into the chest of whoever they were holding.

With Blue broken down and Red continuing her fierce glance Amaris started to wonder how she could leave this place. She didn't even remember how she got here so how could she leave? As she was thinking about this the ground around her started to crack open and suddenly the ground beneath her was gone. She fell and fell until all around her was black. She could feel the air whistling by until eventually the darkness and rushing wind turned into nothing. After what felt like hours Amaris finally felt her backside hit something semisolid and she kept to her feet. Or she tried to at least. When she tried to move her body she found that she was now snuggled up against Ritz and back in their bed in the Guild Hall.