TW: ambiguous (?) depictions of violence
Shadows without owners, faceless grins and eyes that covered every inch of his
imagination. Scissors, in his heart- rabbit’s heart- his heart again, stabbing them
until he couldn’t recognize the mangled remains in front of him, whether they
were him or not to begin with. It didn’t matter, because it was all him in the end.
His fault, his death, his goddamn lies that got his friends killed- friends? Had
they been friends? He couldn’t even remember, because friends didn’t kill you,
friends didn’t kill other friends and god he was no friend if that was the case-
For the first time in two weeks, A-ya didn’t dream of such things. That was why
he lurched out of bed, hand covering his face and heart racing. Those dreams,
consumed by fear, had been tormenting him ever since he landed in that strange
world, memories that he couldn’t quite recall and laid just out of his reach,
instead taunting him by appearing in dreams that he knew he would forget.
But this time.....this time, his dreams were blank, and his mind was at peace,
and that peace was almost even more terrifying than the nightmares that
plagued his sleeping hours. Had something caused this? Had something taken
away the one constant in his life, the one thing that reminded him that Unova
wasn’t his home, that he was a stranger in a strange land with even stranger
demons roaming it?
A-ya yelled out in surprise when he heard the voice, scooting up so his back hit
the headboard of the bed he was laying in. He hadn’t seen it at first, because he
was so focused on the dream itself that he hadn’t looked around the room, but
there it was, floating close by and staring at him unblinkingly. A pink, oddly
cute looking demon, with a small jewel embedded in its forehead.
It crooned again, floating closer, but A-ya backed away from it. it had to be
this....this thing that had caused his nightmare to go away; there was no other
explanation.
It was a story that he had read countless times, although if you asked him where
he would be unable to answer. The baku, the demon who ate dreams. Summon
it, and it would eat away all your nightmares and leave you with comfortable
slumber. Fail to satisfy it, however, and it would eat everything else as well,
leaving your life colorless and without meaning.
The demon - the baku - trilled happily and scooted closer to him, even going to
far as to nuzzle him. It seemed content with him, and he had no doubt that it was
because of his dream; perhaps it was so delicious, so heart-rendingly
nightmarish that the demon had grown addicted. Because of a life that he could
not remember, A-ya had attracted the attention, and favor, of such a terrifying
creature.....
“Y-You want to stay with me?”
His voice came out trembling even as he tried to control himself. A torrent of
emotions gripped him, and to anyone else, he would seem paralyzed by fear. But
rather, it was the opposite. This was a world where ferocious demons existed
alongside humans, and now it was a world where he could use them to his advantage,
spread rumors and tell lies and perhaps make this life terrifying and heart-pounding
and a little more interesting-
His heart stopped at the mere thought of it.
It was one word, but the baku perked up, letting out yet another trill that sounded vaguely
like the word moon. It was happy, and he breathed a small sigh of relief; as long
as it was satiated, it would listen to him, and a dream-eating demon was such a
nice ally to have on his side.
He didn’t even care if it ate his hopes and dreams. After all, it wasn’t like he had
any to begin with.