Nalalie woke up under a red, starless sky.
Something soft twitched against her fingers, and she looked down to see her hands clasped against Subaru's.
'We were talking about his past.' Nalalie thought.
He seemed to take his time waking up, and Nalalie took a moment to watch him sleep.
'He looks so peaceful. Like an angel... Subaru's kind, thoughtful, and has incredible perseverance. How can anyone despise him just because of his eyes? His eyes... they're not frightening at all. Subaru... I'm a little worried.'
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, and his fingers started to relax.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mina and Ray jogging towards them and Leila slowly sitting up as she woke.
Clearly, Mina and Ray had been up for longer than them.
"What's wrong?" Leila asked as she turned to the two teens beside her.
"Is he still asleep?" Ray also asked as he and Mina came to a stop in front of the three of them.
"No-"
"I'm up." Subaru interrupted Nalalie with an unperturbed yawn.
'I guess after waking up here so many times, the scenery isn't that shocking anymore.' Leila thought.
"You three took longer to wake up than usual." Mina said. "It's a little concerning."
"Why?" Leila asked.
Ray clicked his tongue, looking around.
"I don't know exactly. But I think we're getting used to being here." He said.
"What if... What if, one day, we don't ever wake up in here?" Subaru wondered.
"I-is that e-even possible?" Nalalie stuttered worriedly.
"Who knows." Ray answered. "The faster we get rid of that monster, the better."
'Sleep forever in the Nightmare World? I didn't even think of that...' Nalalie thought. 'But all we have to do is regain Subaru's memories, right? Surely it won't come to that...'
'If the Nightmare World continues to exist even after Subaru regains his memories, then I'm not sure what we're going to do.' Leila thought. 'When we die here, we die in real life. But if we just fall into a deep sleep? What will our real lives be like? Wait... A coma?'
Suddenly, a wave of realisation hits Leila.
"Licht! Where is he?" She asked as she turned to find the swing empty, swaying gently in the breeze.
"We've looked around the courtyard and found no trace of him." Mina said.
'Where could he be? I'm getting worried...'
"We waited for you guys to wake up so we could search together." Ray said.
"Let's go, then." Subaru said as he rose to his feet, offering a hand to Nalalie of which she accepted as he helped her stand up, before she turned to Leila and helped her to her feet too. "At least there's a bit of good news we can tell him."
****
The group found themselves walking through the underground passage with no clue as to where Licht might be.
The sounds of their footsteps were the only thing that broke the silence.
'Nightmare or not, this place still gives me the creeps. What will we do if Licht isn't here? What if we never see him again? If we wake up tomorrow morning to find Licht lying there, cold... We switched out his IV. I know I can trust that Ray knows what he's doing.'
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Nocturne of Nightmares (Fanfic)
Fanfiction**** IF YOU HAVE YET TO PLAY THE GAME AND ARE PLANNING TO OR YOU HAVE YET TO FINISH PLAYING, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK AS IT HAS MAJOR SPOILERS **** Leila is a young woman whose childhood was always a blur. No matter how hard she tried, she could never...
