Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph2 Ch19: Troupe Master Grimm

Seven's eyes burst open. He threw his body up, gasping for breath. What was that? What just happened? Seven closed his eyes, and tried to process what occurred with the Bellman. The girl, the Nomes, the glitched children, he remembered it all. He remembered her screaming for his help, begging him to... save them? What did that mean? But there was something else that was troubling him. The girl's voice, it sounded... familiar. Did... did he know her? The more he thought about it, the more it troubled his mind. A cry from the Grimmchild woke him from his confusion.

He remembered where he was, and what happened. He was back in the room where the Grimmchild lit the candle, and his nail was on the ground beside him. He looked back at the candle, and noticed it had completely melted. Just like with the Barber. He thought. He picked up his nail, but it felt different in his hands. It didn't feel the same as before, as if he wasn't used to using it. Seven shrugged it off, and walked out of the room.

He pulled out his compass, and found a stag station was nearby. When he noticed that there were no flames on the map, he remembered the task. He had to get the Grimmchild back to the Grimm Troupe. He walked to the stag station, and told the stag to go to Dirtmouth. He smiled to himself as he rode. It had been a while since he had been to Dirtmouth. It had been a while before he saw the Grimm Troupe. A bit of excitement stirred around in him as the stag trotted off to Dirtmouth.

The stag came to a stop, having arrived at the destination. Seven hopped off, and rode the short elevator to the main town. Dirtmouth hadn't changed a bit since he left. He walked towards the bench in the town's center, and was greeted by the face of Elderbug.

"Ah! You've come back!" He said. "Many thought that you had perished for sure down in the caverns below."

Elderbug turned to his flower, and started to gaze at its petals in a deep trance.

"Something wrong?" Seven asked.

"You really remind me of my little friend," he replied. "They were so young, and strong. They took extended trips down that well there, and every time I would wonder if they would fall, but they came back to the town every time." He continued to look at the flower, sadness growing in his eyes. "They haven't come back yet, but I know they will. Someday," he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, " Seven said. Even the Grimmchild showed remorse for the Elderbug.

Seven would've stayed a while longer, but the music from the red tents outside reminded him why he came here. He looked at the Grimmchild, who looked back at him, ready to grow stronger. Seven smiled, and entered the main tent. He walked through the long hallway of the tent, and met with Brumm, still playing his accordion.

"Very good. The child burns with flame," he said. "Master... is waiting for you. Mrmm."

Seven nodded and proceeded to the center room of the tent. With a burst of red flames, Grimm appeared before him. He turned his head, and looked at the Grimmchild, then at Seven.

"Wonderful. Wonderful! My kin arrive and the time has come," he said.

He opened up his cloak, and the Grimmchild flew into it by pure instinct. There was a flash of red flames as Grimm closed his cloak around the Grimmchild, and returned to his normal stance.

"This searing fire," he said. "It carries well the Ritual's promise."

He turned his attention back to Seven, and snapped his fingers. Lanterns all around the room lit up with a scarlet fire, revealing an audience of Grimmkin eagerly watching Seven and Grimm.

"Dance with me, my friend," Grimm said, his scarlet eyes glowing with fire. "The crowd awaits. Show them you are worthy of a starring role!"

Seven knew exactly what he meant when he said dance. He drew his nail, and readied himself. Grimm bowed, then vanished in a flash of scarlet flame. He appeared behind Seven, and opened his cloak. Three flaming bats flew out from inside, all aimed at Seven. Using the dash slash, Seven managed to cross over the bats, and strike Grimm at the same time. As Grimm vanished again, Seven stayed astute, looking for where he would appear next.

To his shock, Grimm appeared above him, with his cloak wrapped around him, pointed like a knife. He flew towards Seven, and landed on the ground. Seven backed away from Grimm, but once he landed, he lunged at him, striking him with his cloak. The cloak felt like a flexible knife, shifting and changing, with the intention to hurt. Seven regained his composure, and kept his eye out for Grimm. He appeared in front of him, and swiped at him with his cloak. Seven fought back with his own weapon, managing to strike Grimm a few times. As he was about to swing again, Grimm leapt into the air, and vanished as flames rained down from above.

He then appeared in the center of the stage, sticking his cloak into the ground. Seven charged up the great slash, and struck Grimm with a powerful blow. He expected his attack to be completely successful, but he didn't know that Grimm was fighting back. Spikes suddenly sprung out from the floor, all around the stage. One of them struck Seven while he was unaware.

As Grimm vanished again, Seven began charging his energy. He figured that was the best thing to do while Grimm's attacks remained unpredictable. He appeared in the air again, surging towards Seven. He was quick to jump in order to evade Grimm's surge, and once he landed, Seven used the dash slash to get over him. He continued to focus, making sure he could perform a nail art at any time. Grimm appeared on the floor, and swung at Seven with his cloak. Luckily, Seven landed a great slash on Grimm, greatly damaging him.

Grimm appeared in the stages center again, impaling the ground with his cloak. Seven managed to hit him with another great slash while he was in the room's center. Then, he quickly evaded the giant spikes that burst out of the ground. Grimm unleashed more of his Firebats, but his attacks were becoming predictable. Seven allowed a confident smile to spread across his face.

"You wanna dance Troupe Master?" He asked, readying himself for Grimm's next move. "Then let's dance together in fire."

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Okay, so I realized that this chapter would take a lot longer than I originally thought it would, and since I wanted to get a chapter out early this week, I decided to split this chapter into two.

This chapter also took a bit longer because of my high standards to keep the dialogue from the game accurate. I don't have too, but I have very high standards for this story and phase.

How convenient for Grimm to appear around Halloween right?

See you in the next chapter!