Somnu had owed Mr. Emberlyn far too much to ever be able to repay him fully.

  Saving him from the forgotten realms of Nirvia could have been the start on that long journey. Learning he had been trapped there for centuries, protecting everyone on his own, silently… Somnu had promised to find a way to free him from that fate.

  However, before he knew it, his chance had already passed.

  Mr. Emberlyn was no more.

  Instead of getting stronger and keeping his promise, the scarecrow had wasted over a month and a half drunk on the effects of the cursed lake. He couldn’t have done anything to change that, nor could he do anything now to change the facts.

  No matter how much he tried…

  “How…?”

  A word finally escaped his lips, falling on the clouded mind of the devatested girl in front of him.

  “A heart attack, I’m afraid.”

  “!”

  The head doctor, Arman, entered the room again, a dark expression on his face as he took it upon himself to explain.

  “At least at first, that’s how it started. A heart attack led him to the hospital, where he passed away peacefully in his sleep shortly after.”

  “...” Somnu’s brows quickly furrowed, his borrowed vision quickly falling on the bloodied skull symbol grinning still at him.

  He couldn’t confirm anything, he had no clues, let alone evidence, but he felt it deep within his soul.

  This was the doing of the one behind John Doe, the deity supporting him.

  The very same deity that ordered the serial killer to murder Somnu’s mother.

  Even his sister, Leyna, had almost died at their hands, or the hands of their pawns.

  I’m putting an end to this.

  His grudge was burning with a neverending, chilling flame.

  Somnu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. The fingernails on his remaining flesh and blood right hand dug deep into his palm, drawing blood.

  Right here, before we move on to the Second Layer, I will find John Doe.

  For everything he has done, I will…

  “I’m sorry, Aurora.” Arman interrupted the scarecrow’s thoughts, crouching down next to the mourning girl. “I thought you would want to tell him yourself. You hadn’t cried even once, but I see all your pent up emotions finally broke through.”

  “No… I’m sorry, I… I shouldn’t be crying.” Aurora muttered, wiping her tears away and suddenly rising back to her feet. “It’s just for a moment, I held out hope that he could still be…”

  As the girl turned around and leaned on a couch, Arman looked toward the blind Sleeper and the serpent that had retaken her spot on the scarecrow’s shoulder, replacing her clone.

  “Please tell us, Somnu. When and how did you meet old gramps?” The head doctor asked, his eyes turning unusually sharp.

  Is he suspecting me of lying? Somnu thought, his mind far too busy to consider all the options he needed to go through. Do they not know about Nirvia? Did the old man keep it from them so they wouldn’t worry or feel bad? Or was there another reason?

  “It’s important that you tell us, Somnu. A lot is riding on this, many people believed in old gramps, you see.” Noticing the silence, Arman spoke again, urging the scarecrow on.

  “Believed in him how?” Somnu perked up an eyebrow, but kept a stern expression under the blindfold.

  As far as he knew, Mr. Emberlyn was a simple old veteran who settled down with his wife and became a farmer.

  The old geezer was respected in Duskville, having helped many out of a tough spot and done too much good for the community.

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  However, believing in someone meant certain expectations were put on them. That was news to Somnu.

  “In truth, Eamon Emberlyn was the former leader we still looked up to.” Arman summoned a holographic screen in front of him, flickering with a few shades of blue.

  Somnu could only recognize it from sci-fi stories he had consumed in the past, but nonetheless, the item likely to be a Memento didn’t match the environment around it, nor the First Layer, at all.

  “Leader?” He asked, then bit down on his teeth for a moment. That sly old geezer, he still had secrets. He hid this from me… why?

  “Yes, after he stepped down, I took over the organization.”

  Gradually, as the head doctor spoke, the screen hovering in front of him began to create a pattern. Soon, it took the form of a dream catcher design from earth.

  “We are called the Dream Chasers, and we have been looking for a way to prevent this upcoming disaster.”

  “You knew about this?!” Somnu blurted out, clenching his fists unintentionally again.

  “Not for certain, but according to ancient writings and tribes, we have been suspecting something like this to happen at some point.” Arman explained, changing the image on his screen from the organization's logo to some examples of ancient runic writings. “In that time, we practiced lucid dreaming, hoping to prepare ourselves for the right time. Unfortunately, all that effort only seemed to guarantee we would be chosen by the System too.”

  “Why didn’t he tell me about this…” Somnu muttered, turning his head away even though his borrowed vision was still focused in front of him.

  “All I know is that he didn’t want you to be involved, I’m sorry, Somnu.” Arman added before taking a long pause.

  No, he didn’t tell me for two reasons. Somnu realized. One, he had known I can’t sleep, so taking control of one’s dreams is not possible for me. And two, I was a complete mess that only caused him trouble, there was no way I could have been of any help at all… Best I was able to do was scare some birds away… dammit!

  “I can happily tell you more later, but for now…” The head doctor said, gesturing with his head towards the girl still facing the opposite direction.

  “... I met him just a few hours after finding myself here.” Somnu began to explain with a heavy knot in his chest, his hand instinctively rubbing the back of his neck. “I stumbled upon a crypt, and then a summoning circle that took me to a place where he was.”

  “A summoning circle? What are you saying?” Arman widened his eyes for a moment, then narrowed them while holding his chin. “Summoning circles don’t teleport Sleepers, Somnu.”

  … Crow-Shit! I didn’t know about that! How am I going to explain this now?!

  It took everything in Somnu to not let any panic show on his face.

  “I don’t know how it works, I haven’t been able to use them since.” He lied, lowering his hand and keeping his composure. “The old man… Mr. Emberlyn, he was strong, too strong even. Maybe he summoned me to him to give me the Memento? He had to send me back almost right away.”

  “So, a few hours here would have meant around half a day or so in the waking world.” Arman calculated, dismissing his tablet Memento. “That must have been the last time he was alive…”

  “He…” The scarecrow mumbled hesitantly, his stomach suddenly tightening. “He died the night I was attacked? Was the heart attack because of the news about-”

  “No!” Aurora blurted out in a panic, keeping her back to him. “He died because I went against his wishes. He died… because of me.”

  “... Somnu, is there anything else he told you to mention? Anything that might help our situation at all?” Arman took a few steps forward and held Somnu’s shoulders. His eyes were wary, his breath growing slightly heavier. “Anything could help us!”

  However, Somnu couldn’t recall too many details regarding the Nightmare Realm that the others didn’t know already. Mr. Emberlyn had mostly talked about the forgotten realm of Nirvia and what had happened to it.

  He had focused on freeing the souls trapped within the Woodland Spirit, and preparing Somnu to fight the Nightmare Creatures better. He even had the scarecrow sit on the empty black throne to test him, only for it to yield no result.

  In the end, he had entrusted him with the Memento for Aurora, talking about her and his hopes for the next generation.

  Why he hadn’t explained more about the Nightmare Realm, or the Dreamscape, to the others before the sleeping disease hit, Somnu couldn’t begin to guess.

  Unless he had, but his knowledge of the Layers was outdated after the countless years he spent in the forgotten lands of Nirvia.

  “He didn’t say much, but he did believe in his granddaughter.”

  “!”

  Hearing those words, Aurora suddenly turned her head. The aqua blue eyes glistened with newfound hope.

  “He never mentioned anything about you letting him down, only that he believed you would be chosen and carry on the mission.”

  As Somnu spoke, the girl lowered her head slightly, reaching for her chest.

  “He left his trust in the new generation, in us.”

  Arman stepped back. The blind Sleeper in front of him straightened his posture and slapped his right hand on the grinning skull symbol, drawn in his sister’s blood.

  “I don’t know about you, but I made a promise and I’ll keep it. Starting with this murderer, to every Nightmare Creature that threatens our world, our loved ones, I will make sure none of those monsters remain by the time I’ve passed through all the Layers of the Nightmare Realm.”

  “...”

  The two stood listening to him, one deep in thought, while the other looked at him with hopeful, yet pained eyes.

  “For the sly old geezer, and everyone else they took, I will avenge them all.”

  This ever-growing, lifetime-lasting grudge was going to be satiated in the end.

  Even if I have to cheat, lie and kill to do it.

  Even if I have to lose myself to do it.