ｏｍｏｒｉ： １０ ｙｅａｒｓ (2022 ver)

another dream

warnings: desperation, blood/gore, violence, executions, graphic descriptions of a corpse, descriptions of hanging

I woke up to the sound of a raucous crowd cheering and chanting madly. At first, my vision was blurry, but I adjusted to the view quickly. Thousands of sprout moles stood in front of us. I still had no clue what the hell 'us' was supposed to be.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and everybody who happens to be otherwise! Do I have a show for you all today!" a rather frustratingly loud voice yelled. "Today is a very special episode of Sweetheart's Quest For Hearts, because we're featuring some very special guests!"

When I finally properly came to, there was a stage in front of me, my vision obscured by metal bars. I was in a cage. And, Hero was next to me, rattling it back and forth. He was also, notably, tied up and forced to sit next to a manic Sweetheart, who was smiling widely to the audience.

"Oh, my head..." I winced a little as I placed my hand against the side of my head where a chunk of rubble fell onto it. The pain pulsed through the blood-encrusted wound, and I sucked some air through my teeth. "Hero, what's happening?"

"Yuki, it's getting bad. We need help."

He gestured over to the stage, where a certain three were kneeling with sacks over their heads, facing the audience and too afraid to move. There were sprout mole guards holding spears, armed and ready in case they fought back. The audience was roaring with excitement and animus. The air was tense. I was upsettingly close to the stage. A pang of stress knotted in my stomach. I slammed my fists against the bars repeatedly, but they were left bloodied and bruised from the course metal. "Let me out! Please, please, let me go!"

She turned to me, a demented smile on her face. It was the smile of a horrid woman with no regrets. "Hmm, seems like he's woken up already! Well, I hope you had a nice nap, I really do. But, this is inevitable!" Standing over the crowd, she raised the megaphone she was holding into the air. I continued to scream pathetically, slamming on the bars as hard as I could as Hero pulled in hopes of them breaking from the force.

"Please!! Please, I need to see them! I need to see them!!"

"Everybody, I am so very glad to see you made it out here to witness such an important event! Yes, today is the day I'm proud to announce the end of a certain reign of terror. Yes, we have finally captured the one they call Omori! And he deserves a little punishment, don't you think?" She was met with uproarious agreement, and it made her laugh. I continued to fight, slamming my body against the bars. I felt my body slowly weaken from the pressure. "Ohoho, yes! That's why I've finally captured his pathetic little gremlins, and my dearest Hero alongside them!! And, I feel that it's about time that we put an end to this... as he watches it all from the sidelines. My dear followers, listen to him beg!"

She held the megaphone to my lips as I struggled, and I took the opportunity to try and make my point. "Everybody, I swear on my life that I did nothing wrong!! I wouldn't do anything bad to anybody!! I just want to fix it here! Please, PLEASE!! I NEED TO SEE THEM! I NEED TO SEE THEM! PLEASE!!"

"Aww, how quaint. I vote we should get this over with. I may let you go, just a little, so you can watch the show."

A sprout mole guardian opened the door, making me leap out and attempt to run, but I was quickly apprehended by an oddly gentle embrace. Hero was holding me back and keeping me from getting away. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, S... Yuki. I have to do this." He leaned in closer to my ear. "She'll kill me if I don't. So, we're gonna find a way out of this once I can get whatever stupid power I've got to work again."