The Dreamers

11: The Remidiation

He took her hand as they stood up.
"Now, close your eyes and focus."

They both closed their eyes and focused hard. He heard him speak in his deep, beautiful voice.

"Now, open." The two opened their eyes to the dream realm. The black void surrounded them with magical particles that looked like stars.

She looked around. "Wow. I haven't even noticed how magical this place is."

He smiled, "Congrats. You just passed the first test. You are able to go to the dream realm."

"Yay! What's my next test?" She asked curiously. He took her hand, and she smiled widely, blushing. The blue glow coming from him made him look so handsome."

"How are you um- glowing?"
He turned to face her.
"All dreamers glow based on their ranking. 3rd grade glow white and 2nd grade glow a certain color that's given at random. You and Pyro glow black, but because the dream realm is black as well, it's hard to tell."

"Oh-, I see." She looked at herself. She could see the glow, but barely.

He walked her up to a random girl. She had a blank expression on her face. She looked to be about 16 and had straight brown hair.

"This is Leilani. Dreamers keep track of who sleeps at what times in the city. She always sleeps in late on the weekends."

Serena looked at Leilani sweetly.

"Place your hand on her forehead and focus."

"O-Okay." She followed his instructions. She placed her hand on Leilani's forehead and immediately taken to another place. The black void and dreamer particles were gone. All the people who were dreaming: gone.

"Where are we?"

"We're inside Leilani's dream."

She looked around. They were on a beach with a gorgeous sunset painted in every hue. She heard the waves crash on the shore, the feeling of sand on her feet, and the taste of the salty air. Everything felt so real.

"Dreams can be very realistic and very unrealistic. But in my opinion, Leilani has some very beautiful dreams that are also realistic."

She looked to see Leilani talking to a boy with tan-ish skin and messy brown hair. They were wearing swimsuits and sitting on the beach with ice cream.

"Can they -"

"No, they can't see us."

She nodded and looked over at him. He was smiling at her, the ocean breeze blowing in her hair.

"Congrats. You passed your dream realm preview! You are able to enter the dream realm and peoples dreams"

She smiled and celebrated, "Yes!" She stared out at the ocean smiling.

"This has been the best few days ever."

"Really?" He smiled.

"Yes, for the first time in forever, I feel..... free." She smiled at him sweetly. He blushed at her pretty eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Her long, sandy blonde hair blowing gracefully in the breeze. Her perfect body hugged by her tight, fancy uniform.

"What?" She looked at him. His face was red.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just have never been to a beach before."

"Really?"

"I've been in Dreamix since I was born. My Dad sometimes took trips to other Dreamer corporations, but he never took me and Giddion."

She looked up at him.
"I once had a modeling job where I got to take pictures by the ocean. The beach was so beautiful, but I didn't get to stay long."

"Did you like modeling?"

She shrugged, "I didn't hate it, but this job feels like an escape from my parents that I've never really gotten before."

"Your parents didn't seem like the best type of people when I met them," he confessed.

She looked upset.
"They drink constantly. Their marriage is a complete failure, and they always fight over my future like it's their own."

He sighed, "I'm so sorry. My family has never gotten along, but we've never been that bad." He rubbed her back, trying to comfort her, "Does anyone else know about this?"

"Antonio, I mean Pyro knows about this. He doesn't excatly have a perfect life either."

"Y-yeah. You're right." His voice got a little quiet, and he looked away. His expression looked scared and a little guilty.

"Damion?"

He cleared his throat and looked at the sea.
"Forget about it." Then, he sees a black hole start to form in the water.

"What the - oh no..."

"What? What is it!?"

Suddenly, a giant nightmare emerged from the black hole. The sky went dark. Leilani and the boy looked frightened and started running away from the beach.

"A nightmare must've infected her dream! We have to get out of here and get Pyro!"

He takes her hand and starts running them away from the beach. Then, he feels her hand slip away.

"What are you doing!?" He runs after her as she goes back to the water.

"Stay put, I have an idea!" She keeps running. He looked shocked and scared. She wasn't about to fight that nightmare, right?

She ran into the water until it was up to her ankles. He looked at her from afar. She was going to FIGHT this nightmare. The nightmare was as tall as a mountain. It stood high above her, it's wails sounded like freakish crys. The wind picked up, and she planted her feet so she wouldn't drift.

She focused all her energy into her hands. Black dream particles swelled around her arms as it grew bigger and bigger.

"Serena, no!"

Before he could say another word, she launched the dream energy at the giant nightmare. It hit it, exploding the nightmare. The last thing it did was wail loudly as its smoke covered the sea. She panted, contemplating her next move. She decided, "I'm going to do it."

She stuck out her ring and let the smoke absorb into it. She winced in pain. It felt like being tortured slowly with no way to stop it. She fell to her knees, gasping in pain as it continued to absorb. Tears formed in her eyes. The pain became unbearable as it filled her whole body.

Damion was shocked, "Serena!"
He ran to her and got down to hold her. The nightmare finally absorbed into the ring. They sky was a pretty sunset again, and Leilani came back with the boy.

"Are you okay?" He held onto her as she gasped for air.

"I-Im, I'm alright." He helped her stand up, and he snapped his fingers. The ocean, sunset, and people were gone. They were now back in his office.

"D-Did I pass?"