Cosmogyral

Chapter 4: In which our heroes finally meet, face-to-face...

For a period of time that felt far longer than it actually was, Nemurin sat there in the checkered plaza at the side of the sleeping boy. Expecting his neck to hurt if she left him as he was, she put her palms close together as white, fluffy clouds were made from thin air, making a small poof as they came into existence. Shuffling her knees over to his brown head of spikes, she lifted it up just underneath the scalp before settling the clouds below him, cushioning his head. Letting out a sigh and a yawn, she was left with the realisation that there wasn't much Nemurin could do but wait and watch the world go by. Not that she minded, mind you - in fact, it was her favourite thing, it just left her with a lot of...questions.

What had happened here? Well, she supposed she would find out once he woke up, as surely he had to have seen something, right?

Was that the voice of the spiky-haired boy she heard earlier, accusing someone else about breaking a deal? Or was there another person she had to consider?

Again, how exactly does someone fall asleep when already inside of the Dream World? It just didn't seem possible, not to her, but here she was. Though, she supposed that a fair few things that didn't seem possible had been occurring as of late, so she decided she would worry about that bridge once the time came to cross it. Nemurin would be lying if she said this place wasn't beautiful, especially the fountain, and all Nemurin could find herself doing at the moment was look over at it after she checked on the boy again. She did hope he woke up soon, as calling him 'the boy' in her head just didn't sit quite right.

The fountain was truly beautiful, though. It reminded her of N-City, and their little tradition; a local park had a fountain something like this, where the waters would gush to the tap of a beat as a vibrant rainbow of colours would shoot up against the light, circling through various scarlets, tangerines, golds, teals, violets and magentas before coming to a glittering halt.

But that was reality, and there was something in the Dream World that added a layer of beauty to it all; as anything related to Magical Girls often did. In her mind, the one in front of her now stood as far prettier. The water was a vibrant lapis lazuli, calmly set at the bottom in a small pool guarded by white stone. Pitch black light posts, decidedly not crooked like those in the first district Nemurin had found herself in, were instead decorated with crimson flags that pointed outwards, and two stood at each side of the fountain as if to frame it like a portrait. Pillars almost seemingly made from gold itself sprung upright all around it, forming into a veranda, and a green ledge was lodged into the wall, red curtains slung behind it, like those you saw when out at the theatre. What caught her attention most however was the image ingrained at the centre - just as shining in colour as what surrounded it, depicting what looked to be two dogs. It was a little strange, but it held a charm that she could feel be imbued into her senses - at the very least, it made the otherwise rather lifeless plaza pop far more than it would have otherwise.

Sheppy alternated between rushing up to her side and snuggling close, usually when his new friend was worrying itself over its sleeping owner, or ducking about at the fountain, as if trying to distract his newfound companion from their concerns, even if only for a moment. The sheep bounced and hopped, and the dog-cat padded along, letting out a hybrid between a bark and a meow.

"Huh..." an unfamiliar voice muttered at Nemurin's back.

Turning her body, the clouds that floated with her circling round, she watched for a moment or two as the boy finally began to stir, his spikes of brown hair bouncing limply as he finally turned his head to look up. Suddenly, urgency flashed wide and bright in his blue eyes - the key on the floor disappeared in a sparkling pile of light, now clutched firmly in his hands, his brow furrowed into a glare as he looked around, wondering out loud, "Where is he!?"