The Originals

The Nightmare

The air reeks of blood. The area around is covered in lifeless bodies. The sky is a dark crimson that highlights nothing.
Hiro stands in front of a pile of corpses. He looks down at his blood soaked hands and sees them shaking. He tries to steady them, but is unsuccessful. He looks up, slowly. He sees a head of white hair flowing in the wind. Behind that, is a head of blue hair with streaks of dry blood sticking to a few strands. Next to that is a dark red head of hair and a head of long flowing golden hair. Hiro blinks and shakes his eyes, attempting to escape this nightmare. When he opens his eyes, he sees his old comrades. Yeon, Taka, Yumida, and Claire. In front of the group, is a man. His entire body is blurry. Impossible to make out. The only thing visible on the man that stands against the Originals is a green necklace that hangs around his neck. It's a beautiful emerald that is stained in blood. It's triangle shape stops it from spinning in the wind. 
"Hirito," Yeon's voice echoed softly at first, almost lost in the crimson sky. "It's up to you now."
"W-What?! No! This wasn't how this battle went. Yumida was the one who killed him!" Hiro yells, though his voice is barely audible. Yeon's words seemed to multiply, filling the air as his comrades slowly turned, their faces a grotesque mask of burnt skin and blood. Yeon's face showing the most burn marks, with half of his face missing the skin. Hiro's heart clenched in his chest as their eyes, hollow and filled with pain, locked onto his. Guilt surged through him—a familiar, choking weight that made it hard to breathe. I must help them...
"Y-Yeon?" Hiro asks, attempting to walk forward but realizes he cannot move his legs. 'What the fuck is happening?' Hiro thinks to himself. 'Think logically about this. This is a nightmare, that much is obvious. You lived this once-' He stops for a second and looks around. It's exactly how he remembers it besides Yeon's voice and the faces of his friends. 'Right?' He thinks to himself. His breathing becomes rapid and his heartbeat matches that. Within a second, all of his friends are right in front of him.
"It's up to you now." They all say in unison. All but Yumida, who didn't leave the spot he was standing. He is no longer looking at Hiro, but instead, looking at the figure with the necklace. 
"Yumida!" Hiro attempts to yell, but nothing comes out. He attempts to force his way through the force stopping him, he uses all of his might, but nothing is happening. 'Is what Yeon was talking about true?! Has something happened to him?' Panic begins to overflow Hiro, and he continues to struggle against the force. His eyes begin to highlight purple as he uses everything he has to push through. His purple aura explodes out around him, everything goes silent around him. He can see everyone's mouth moving, but no sounds come out. As his foot slowly lifts off the ground, the ground around him begins to explode in a vibrant array of purples, blacks, and blues. Revealing the shattering galaxy again.
"YUMIDAAAA!!!" Hiro yells as he manages to take a step.
Yeon's cold voice echoed in his mind—"Enough."
Hiro jolted upright, his breath ragged. His heart pounded in his chest, but the silence of his room pressed in around him, broken only by the faint sound of wind against the window.

Hiro's day at school was as peaceful and normal as one could have. He taught his three classes and is currently at lunch. Though he may seem calm and collected on the outside, he was falling apart on the inside due to the nightmare. 'What was that?' He continuously asks himself throughout the day. His heart continues to race every time his mind drags back to it, and it does it constantly. The gripping feeling of hopelessness he felt during it, still haunts him. 'I've had that nightmare 100 times, but never has it gone that way. It's usually just a replay of the final fight.' He continues to talk to himself in his head, while playing with his bowl of rice. Running his chopsticks in and out of the bowl.

"You shouldn't play with your food." A female voice says. Her voice is commanding, yet extremely soft. Hiro recognizes it instantly. His head jolts up from his rice and sees a beautiful woman standing in front of his desk. She wears an oversized black sweatshirt that still doesn't hide her beautiful curves, and grey sweatpants. She has a ballcap on, but her gorgeous long blonde hair is impossible to hide. Her golden eyes stare directly into Hiro's soul. For a second, Hiro sits in awe, his mind racing and his heart racing faster.

"Claire." The word slipped out before he could stop it, the sound of her name stirring something buried deep inside him. He quickly shoved the feeling down, locking it away with the rest of the memories he'd tried to forget.

"Hello, Hirito." She says with a smile. The same smile that would normally take away all of Hiro's troubles.

"What're you doing here? I went out of my way to live in the Colony of Wealth so you wouldn't come to me." Hiro goes back to playing with his rice.

"Can't I come see my husband?" Claire says, her smile has faded and concern fills her eyes.

"I told you we were no longer betrothed." Hiro pushes his bowl away and leans back in his chair.

"I didn't listen." Claire says, sitting on top of Ana's desk.

"Did Yeon send you to try to convince me to help?" Upon Hiro saying that, Claire's face goes flush. Her eyes spark with sadness. She hesitates before speaking.

"Wh-" She stops and averts Hiro's eyes, "When did he come speak to you?" She looks back up to reveal she is fighting back tears.

"J-" Hiro begins but stops the second he notices. He stands slowly and his heart begins to race. 'Why is she acting like this upon my mention of Yeon?' Hiro thinks, surveying everything about Claire to see if she is acting. Hiro's mind flashes back to Yeon's face in his nightmare. 'No.' Hiro thinks. He can feel his hands beginning to shake and his breath become shallow.

"Yesterday." Hiro finally gets out. The tears that Claire were holding back begin to flood down her face.

"So he's alive." Claire's breath hitched, the tears pouring freely now. But behind her joy was something darker—an urgency that Hiro couldn't ignore. "I... I thought we'd lost him. Without Yeon, we're..." She stopped herself, but Hiro could sense the fear creeping into her voice. He took a step forward, then stopped, a hundred reasons flashing through his mind why he shouldn't. But the sight of her tears—the silent plea in her eyes—dissolved his resolve, and before he knew it, he was holding her, his arms wrapped around her tightly. His mind flashes back to his nightmare, 'I must help them..' Echoes in his head. He quickly snaps himself out of it.

"Claire..." His voice dropped, a mixture of concern and something darker in his tone. "What aren't you telling me?"