BEYOND: The Nameless Eater

Second Dream: Fields, Thunder and Knives

I had another dream. This one left a horribly sour taste in my mouth.

I was in the middle of an unending wheat field, the sky was blindingly and spotlessly white. I was standing alone, the cold breeze of regret swept my hair and formed mesmerising wave patterns on the wheat. No living soul was in sight, except for...

Her.

There she was, the wheat field withered and crumbled around her with every step she took. she was carelessly calling out to me with her soothing voice like she used to, back when I was but a child. But now, the mere thought of her fills me with so much resentment and hatred. What she's done to me was irreversible, she toyed with me like a lab rat. She made me into the inhuman monstrosity that I am. She ruined all chances I had of living a normal life.

Even after I ran away, she still won't leave my thoughts in peace. Even when I thought I finally moved on, she was still there in the backside of my mind, mocking and laughing at me for failing to see her for who she truly was.

I closed my eyes shut, in the hopes of waking up from this nightmare, but I could hear her getting closer and closer, each step was more terrifying than the last. Until finally, she got close enough to reach for me and open my eyes. There, I saw her, her face and her golden hair were as beautiful and soft as the day I first laid eyes on her, but all I could feel was paralyzing fear. tears ran down my face as my wish for this horrible nightmare to end grew. The sky became crimson red as the earth beneath us cracked open to let the black sludge flow out , everything around me was shaking aggressively, except for her, she just stood there, giving me the same vacant smile as if nothing was happening.

The water level rose higher and higher with every second and I couldn't move an inch. All I could do was stare into her blue eyes and suffer, until the rising ooze drowned us both.

Then I woke up.

I finally woke up in a cold sweat, inside of what I thought was a hospital room. It seems I've been knocked out until sunset. Across the bed that I was put on, Mr. Lewis was sitting on a couch waiting for me to wake up, and far off to the side of the room, I saw a completely unfamiliar woman wearing a doctor's coat and a witch's hat for some reason, and she was frantically examining something.

Mr. Lewis: "Hey you, you're finally awake."

Me: "..."

Mr. Lewis: "Now, I know what you're thinking; 'Hey Mr. Lewis.' and to that I say 'Hello to you as well'. you're also thinking: 'Hey Mr. Lewis, I have a lot of questions!'. Don't worry kiddo, I'll answer any question you have."

Me: "... When did you become such a jokester?"

Mr. Lewis: "Oh, I'm just in a good mood right now because I found a new agent full of potential to the organization."

Me: "Found? I'm pretty sure I was the one who walked up to you."

Mr. Lewis: "details."

Me: "Okay, so, what happened to me back there?"

Mr. Lewis: "Well, I assume you were corrupted."

Me: "You know as well as I do that I don't know what that means."

Mr. Lewis: "Right. When a Shifter experiences an overwhelming amount of a certain negative emotion, like anger, sadness or whatever, they suffer the effects of corruption where they would transform into a 'Corrupted Shifter'. Basically, you turned into a monster like them, that's how you managed to pull off your little murder party. You did try to kill us but it was just your first time, you'll get better at controlling that form"

Me: "Okay, you're throwing a lot of new terms at me. Firstly, Shifter? Do you mind explaining that?"

Mr. Lewis: "yeah sure, Shifting is a, quote unquote, superpower that people can have artificially via surgical implants or injections, those people who possess such abilities are referred to as "shifters", and their abilities can range from many things like breathing fire, opening portals, or even shooting literal bad luck out of your fingers like a bullet! but the titular ability of all shifters is to transform into Beyonders that grant the ability to fight other Beyonders, basically. Although, I'm surprised you haven't heard of such a phenomenon before, they're talked about often in the news."