Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph2 Ch23: Lost in Confusion

Seven's short moment of confusion ended as he remembered what the girl said in his dream. His confusion spiraled around, but then stopped. The confusion turned into a grim feeling that Seven had never felt before. The feeling of not knowing what to do emerged inside of him, and sent him into deep conflict within himself. He stood up, and without saying a word, he walked over to the stag, and pointed to Dirtmouth. He rode back, and once he arrived, he wandered outside of town. The comments of the citizens failed to reach his ears as he walked further and further away.

Eventually, he stopped walking, and looked up at the entrance to the king's pass. He climbed up the ledge, as if it was instinct leading him somewhere. As he walked through the tunnels, the Grimmchild noticed the state if it's bearer, and tried to cheer him up. But Seven said no response as he continued walking. The Grimmchild began to think of a reason why it's bearer was so distant, but it couldn't think of anything logical.

Seven reached the cliffside that lead to the upper parts of the howling cliffs, and let instinct take over again. He scaled the cliffside, and climbed up to the top of the Howling Cliffs. Once he was up there, he just wandered. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know where to go, so he just wandered. He wandered across the cliffs mindlessly, lost in his confusion. It had built up so much, that nothing made sense in Seven's mind now. As he wandered, he arrived in the cave with the Nightmare Lantern. He didn't notice anything in the room, until he bumped into something.

He came back to his senses, and saw Brumm, standing in front of the Nightmare Lantern, staring at it.

"Brumm?" Seven asked. "What are you doing here?"

Brumm said nothing for a while, and kept staring at the lantern. Finally, without turning to Seven, he spoke.

"The Ritual plays itself out once more. We are like the notes in an old, old song," he said. "Endless, repeating songs of sacrifice, of servitude. For the Ritual. For the Troupe. For the Master. Even the Grimmchild was born into invisible chains. So we serve... Thus it has ever been," he continued. "A song that never ends... is no song at all."

He then paused, continuing to stare at the lantern. "Those were the words I said to the previous bearer of the child, during the previous Ritual," he said. "For so long, we have been repeating this song, and for so long have I wanted to silence it. But now... times are different."

"What do you mean?" Seven asked.

"Something has clung to the flames of our song," Brumm replied. "A large cluster if lost souls now cling to our song for life. So that they may live long enough to finish their task." Brumm paused. "Alas, in their current state, their task cannot be done. They need someone who already exists in physical form to help them. But the people cannot hear their cries. Only someone who exists between a state of life and death, with a strong connection to our flames can hear their desperate calls for help."

Brumm finally turned, and looked down at Seven. "That someone... is you," he said.

Seven lunged back in shock as Brumm turned back to the lantern. "If their task is left incomplete, then a monster with an unending hunger will ravage the lands, destroying everything in sight, all to satisfy itself," he said. "That is why I no longer desire to silence our song. Master hears the voices, but he chooses to ignore them. Because of this, he cannot think straight, and can only repeat things that he has said before. I however, am not affected by this."

Brumm turned to Seven once more. "So I took it upon myself to heed the voices warnings, and convey their message to the one who can hear them," he explained. "The child is your connection to the flame, but if it doesn't know who it is, then that connection can cease to exist, and the voices will not reach the one who can hear them. That is why the child had to remember."

Brumm turned back to the lantern one last time. "I've said all I know. What happens next, is yours to decide," he said.

With that, Seven's immense feeling of confusion returned, and he walked out of the cave. He then wandered to the only place he could remember. The place where he woke up. The place where everything began. He came to the area, and looked over the cliffs. Then, he collapsed to the ground, sobbing his eyes out. The Grimmchild was alarmed by his sudden sorrow, and tried to cheer him up. In Seven's somber state, he finally spoke.

"I don't know what to do," he mumbled meekly. "I don't know what's going on, I don't know what everyone wants me to do, I don't know how to do anything, I don't know why it has to be me to do this," he said as his tears rolled down his face. "I don't even know who I am anymore," he meekly said, still crying. "I don't know if I'm alive or dead, if I'm a kid ir a dream, if I'm even real or not, I don't know anything anymore!" He finally yelled.

As he yelled, his body shook, and his compass fell out. It then started to fall down the cliffside. The Grimmchild panicked, and flew to the compass, catching it in it's jaws. Once it did, the compass activated, and the Grimmchild saw something peculiar. It flew over to Seven, and tried to get his attention by making loud noises.

"What us it now?" Seven asked, looking up.

His eyes looked at the compass map, and he stopped crying for a moment. He looked closely at the map, and saw two more flames had appeared. Not only that, but they were moving closer to the cliffs. There was no area around them, they were just moving. Suddenly, a loud horn rang out, catching his attention. He looked in the direction of the noise, and felt something calling to him.

He scaled Down the cliff, trying to get a better look through the fog of the cliffs. As he neared the end, he was able to make out an ocean at the edge of the cliffs. Was there always an Ocean there? He thought to himself. He looked closer, and saw a hoard of large bugs and people, walking across a bridge to a floating dome in the ocean. As Seven looked closer, he felt like he had seen that structure before. It was very clear in his mind, but he didn't know what it was. And yet, it was so familiar to him.

He inched a little too close to the edge, and slipped off the cliff, falling into the large crowd of people and bugs. They all looked at him, and then screamed out. Seven tried to run away, but was caught in the grasp of one of the figures, and knocked unconscious as he was loaded onto the structure in the water.

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Well well well...

This chapter was a little extended, due to me wanting to explain Brumm's behavior earlier, but that's okay right?

It's just an extra chapter, and that's not bad at all! Besides...

Phase 2 will reach its end very, very soon.

Well, I won't stretch this out any longer for you.

Final chapter coming soon. >:)