3. Castle of dream.
Standing on the plain of darkness once again, Nich looked around him at beautiful scenery.
'It is the same dream."
Nich remembered everything now, even though he presumably spent hours in this place, he forgot that when he woke up.
The distant stars that hung in the limitless void were like tiny fireflies, some dimmer than other while other sparkling.
They were moving, ever so slightly.
... Or maybe he was moving.
The absurdity of things that surrounded him was incomprehensible, and Nich noticed that he could not linger on a single thought for too long.
It was as if, the place was singing him a lullaby, wishing for him to be drowned in oblivion.
Nich lost his focus for a second, then regained it.
He forced himself to stay awake, and stand still.
Nich furrowed his brows when he saw the the gigantic structure in front of.
The scale of it was so vast that he was like a tiny speck of dust compared to it, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not see the end of the structure.
It was a castle built in ancient style, the details could not be precived by Nich, but he could tell that it must look magnificent.
The walls of the castle were made of some kind of strange material, some parts of it were black and there were symetical designs, an a strange light escaped from within these designs.
The castles gates were open and inviting, as if waiting for him to arrive.
The strange air and the aura around castle was quite Inticing, inviting him to its depth.
Nich took a step forward.
And then another.
He continued, and kept walking, he had no idea for how long he was walking for, the only thought that occupied his mind was reaching the illustrious castle that stood in the endlessly vast plain.
He felt as though there was something calling him from the depths of the castle.
Nick walked for an unknown amount of time, and then reached the entrance of the dream like structure, gazing in its depth.
The gates of the castle were open, inviting him in.
But before Nich could take the last step forward, his vision twisted, and he woke up.
*beep* *beep*
The familiar sound of alarm clock buzzing was right besides his ears, Nich's hand moved, shutting the loud alarm down.
His eyes regained their focus, and looked at the ceiling.
Nich sat on his bed, the dream he had last night was more clear this time.
He could remember the castle, the details still seemed to slip through his grasp when he tried focusing, but he could at least remember that he had a dream, this time he was more lucid than previous time.
Nich, did not need to hurry to go down today, today was saturday so he was free to wake up as he pleased.
He just regreted not turning off the alarm before going to slee.
***
Nich was looking at the mirror in his bathroom with a strang expression.
"It looks like i am on a skin care routine."
Usually, he had messy hair, dark bags under his eyes and a pale complexion.
His hairs were still messy, but the dark bags under his eyes were not as domineering as they had once been, before he looked like he was constantly sleep deprived.
Now, he looked like he was just sleep deprived.
And his complexion also seem to have improved a little, his skin was slowly gaining the vitality and vigor a kid his age should have.
Nich took a shower, then breakfast and then went straight to his room, his sister was not awake, his mom was busy watering the plants after making breakfast, his dad went on a morning jog.
His father liked fitness, he was in his early forties, his appearance was quite energetic, along with his cheerful personality he was quite a likeable character.
So he ate in silence and then left.
"What kind of dream did was that"
Nich lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling.
Nich knew that the dream he had was not a normal nither simple one, usually people do no have the freedom to control their movement or thoughts in a dream.
So he had a lucid dream.
Lucid dreams were different from normal dreams, in a lucid dream a person is aware of the fact that they are dreaming, and are able to control their actions, and even the events occurring in the dream.
Was it even a dream though?
He didn't knew, the events occurring in his dreams were quite elusive, and he decided to not think deeply about it.
He instead focused on the benefits of the said dream.
It has only been two days and yet, he felt better now, his ability to focus was better, his mind felt clearer and somehow his health was also improving.
But the biggest gain, was undoubtedly the disappearance of the hateful head ache.
Which meant that the strange dream was... a good thing?
Nich thought for a while, then gave up.
Today was saturday, he had much free time on his hand.
Unfortunately, time passes in the blink of an eye in good times.
Before he knew, monday was already upon him.
During this time, he had the same dream, twice and he was undoubtedly more lucid than before.
This time, he was more aware of his actions, and decided to rethink his life choices.
This time he decided to just sit while the dream was going.
Yeah right, i read enough horror stories to stay five miles away from that castle!
Indeed, he was not so easy to posses.
"Is something wrong?"
Nich asked, to the curious gazes that were set upon him ever since he entered the dining room.
"Did you start a skin routine?"
Asked his mother, looking at him with an amused look.
"Nope, i am just eating and sleeping lots nowadays."
"Definitely."
His sister remarked.
Nich glared at her.
But he can do nothing, for he was the one gave away an opening.
Alice smirked, and then continued eating.
And the parents looked at their children with a content smile.