| Zero Hour | 172732014

Night Terrors & Fever Dreams | Somatogravic Illusion

Back once more into the endless sky that stretched forever beyond the horizon of clouds ahead. You've been here before, once or twice, recalling briefly the feeling of weightlessness while you floated above. It felt odd how you could manoeuvre easily without assistance, but it all felt natural to you, as if you had perfected it for years. The crisp air filled your lungs, partaking in this weightlessness that seemed to take you through your mind's eye. Why did it feel like dreaming when it felt very real, perhaps surreal, while your body drove you to dive through the clouds, breaching through the cold until your vision basked towards the sheer size of the earth below that curved and bowed. It felt like home while you saw others taking flight beside you. You couldn't quite catch their figures, spotting their forms descend quickly past you without even a glimmer of recognition.

Why did they look so familiar? Why did this feeling envelope you in a sense of joy and happiness? It was the same every visit, hearing the whip of a cloak behind you while you fell towards what looked to be something floating above the oceans and lands. A behemoth of a world unlike any you had seen before. You surrendered to the fall, eyeing the figures that still encircled you with outstretched wings that roared in the air.

They were familiar - too familiar with red eyes that smiled at your company.

"Ugh! Pitiful," echoed a brash and ugly tone that snapped you out from your fall. The instant that voice reached your ears, those familiar eyes disappeared leaving you falling towards not the earth, but an abyss. That sensation in your stomach turned upside down before the ground approached you too fast for you to react. You held your arms before you, waiting for the crash only to sense the inertia of a sudden stop.

You slowly opened your eyes, finding you trapped floating above the ground of familiar hallways, unable to right yourself onto your feet. What control you could have had was nowhere to take hold, swimming aimlessly in the air until another familiar pair of eyes stared into yours. His sneer and his patronising glare looked down upon you while you aimlessly flailed, trying to find your feet.

"Look at you," he hissed. "You can't even do the most simplest thing. Give up already."

You ignored him, glaring back while your legs kicked in the air, hoping that you could manoeuvre yourself onto the ground, but to no avail. You still floated about with no sense of direction, your eyes swimming past him every once in a while against the backdrop of school halls and stairways around you.

"You're not a Hero," he insulted with a curdled tone. "What good are you? You pulled out two, three people? Real heroes can do thrice as much in that time."

"Shut up," you whispered while you swung around in the air.

"What a waste of a spot," he continued with eyes peering at you in the dark. "Thank god UA didn't take you in. You'd be a joke."

"Shut up!" you yelled, swinging around to stare into the face of the man who taunted you in the back of your mind. Your ex stood with a grin tainted with wicked and unsavoury intent, his eyes disgusted at the sight of you before you slowly halted your body from swinging any further.

"But you still have me, at least until you bore me."

"Leave me alone!" you roared, gaining traction in the air before you swam towards him, your hands outstretched like claws until he suddenly disappeared, as if he were a spectral.

Failing to seize him, your body continued to aimlessly float while your fingers scraped the ground, feeling the slight touch from your fingertips in hopes to steady yourself. It felt soft for a moment, like feathers, or linen, odd for hardwood floors to feel as soft as clouds. It was a mild comfort until something seized your attention from behind, the force of it pulling you away from the familiar surroundings of your school days. The wind roared in your ears like a vacuum that refused to cease. The force taking hold before you turned to find a dark abyss above, circling menacingly within the void of the sky. A black hole, with its roar deafening your ears, and it was dragging you into its maw.

You urged yourself to grab hold of anything while your fingertips scraped along the floor. The softest of its trails was fleeting before you saw the earth now disappearing from your sight, growing smaller the closer you were sucked into the abyss.

"Help! Help me!" you cried, yelled, screamed at the top of your lungs, feeling tears prick your eyes. The sound of your voice drowned within the vacuum, hearing nothing but the deafening roar of air and sound while the void grew larger in size, swallowing you into nothingness.

"Twinkle Toes, wake up!"

A gasp took your heart with a leap. A moment of it throbbed in your ears before you felt an overwhelming sadness wash through. Your eyes darted around the room, finding that you laid upon the ceiling still strapped with a futon against it as a failsafe whenever you found yourself up there. Still you felt the prick of tears cascade from your eyes, as if by instinct, your body wept from the sensations you felt so strongly. Eyes still locking onto familiar things, they soon turned towards Katsuki Bakugou below, his eyes staring back at you while he stood atop your bed. Through his scowl, he watched you crumble into a mess, finding that droplets of tears landed upon his face.

Had you been crying this whole time?

The silence shattered what sound you recalled in your mind, only focusing on the sharp breaths you took while you wept. This sadness and anguish was strong and powerful, and yet, you couldn't remember what you had seen, only felt what was left behind.

An outstretched hand caught your sights, finding Bakugou with his large palm open to take you back. You slowly accepted it, feeling him pull you gently from the ceiling of your bedroom and cradling you in his embrace, laying you next to him now with arms weighing you down. You felt his warm breath on your skin, attempting to sleep once more while you still wept silently.

"Tell me everything in the morning," whispered Bakugou along your neck, tightening his grip on you to ensure you stayed by his side, pressing you against his chest.

You calmed your breathing, wiping away your tears before you turned to face him, digging your head into his neck while he held your head near his, cradling you. The sound of his breath lulled you back into sleep while the rise and fall of his chest reassured your frazzled state. You weren't alone, not tonight. You were safe in Bakugou's grasp.