"of course; i told you i would. not to worry."

it was almost funny to her that the underboss would be afraid of needles, but then again, he had been the subject of much medical torture and experimentation, and so maybe it wasn't so silly after all.

she stared down at him on the bed, eyes practically sparkling with hunger. it had been so long since her mind had tasted a human dream. it called to her, despite her morals. and this one... this was a twofer.

"anything else you'd like to talk about before we do this? questions, concerns?"

Chu-e Choi

☉

ptsd. she had been looking into it before tapu fini had effectively ‘fixed’ much of her trauma’s effects. when darkrai had rid her of sleep entirely, she’d then stopped wondering about her psychological ailments.

for a moment, she said nothing, unsure of what words to offer him.

“well, not sure if i’ll even see them, so…” a shrug. in the past, being sucked into nightmares instead of feeding off the good dreams had been miserable—but for once, she wanted to see.

when addressed by the underboss, darkrai rose from a shadow in the corner, eerily silent, but acknowledging. under command, but also protective.

“alright. ready.”

lulu nodded, a chill sending bumps over her skin. the breath in her chest nearly tickled with thrill and anxiety. her eyes grew darker.

“you’ll go to sleep now.”

pits of black stared into his face, pulling him under to drown in the dark energy that pooled around him on the bed, extracting the innermost workings of his slumbering mind and delivering them to her. from another who likely had no good dreams, maybe she would see nothing.

but, maybe like it had been with other avatars, like Cillian Quinn and FERNANDO SILPH , he would drag her down with him, into the plane of ultimate nightmares.

necrozma.

show yourself to me.

Chu-e Choi

☉

fueled by the power of darkrai, their nightmares were always vivid. it was part of the reason the terrifying sensations they inflicted lasted for so long afterwards, haunting like ghosts of horror, and even causing some of their victims, like Alexandra Briarwood , to relive their traumas over, and over, and over…

perhaps they were part of the evil in the world. but, could the nature of something or someone ever be inherently evil?

this question could be applied to yveltal and giratina as well, and maybe most interestingly of all: necrozma. while yveltal and giratina were weighted in understanding with essential concepts of the human experience, like life and death, and the importance of balance; ideas that led to the conclusion that all would be gone at some point, but that society would persist; necrozma’s purpose when applied to humanity was almost unfathomable. it seemed to have no benefit or resolution—at least, not to the common person.

necrozma was pure destruction; the end of all; the thing that said their luck had run out, and that they were not so important after all. the human totem pole was a mere splinter floating through the merciless space of infinity.

their passenger one was met with the scent of macabre itself; invading her senses as yes, she was pulled in—and this nightmare was eerily immersive. she brought an arm to her nose, stomach turning and eyes stinging terribly as they passed over dark crystal, and eventually fell on him, tiny and crumbled in the sickening truth of man’s impermanence.

she waited, and said nothing, because she believed he couldn’t hear.

Chu-e Choi

☉

she felt her eyes begin to water at the odor. why was this so vivid?

the stare of his near-corpse suddenly pierced right through her, freezing her there, only capable of staring back as though she’d seen a ghost.

when the person passed through her, she found herself relieved, because, oh, he’d been staring at them.. when they turned to head past her again, their facelessness stopped the life in her chest. it was like a figure out of her own dreams, before she’d lost them altogether. like the people at the party, under the purple sky.

she watched as he was dragged out, prepared to follow despite her momentary spook. before she could take a step, however, just as they passed, chu’e’s hand shot out to grab her wrist with a strength and firmness he hadn’t previously appeared to possess.

shaken and wide-eyed, she said nothing, only taking in his jumbled string of dark words, and his terrible request.

kill me.

she blinked, but then he was gone. she was outdoors, at night presumably. she looked over, and there was… someone.

only when she walked closer did she begin to realize.

the contrast from the person from only moments before was unbelievable. she’d never seen him from the past. was this a true version? perhaps. he’d been a beast, after all.

she decided to try something she never had before.

“chu-e?”

Chu-e Choi

☉

she jumped visibly when she was acknowledged.

okay. this was new.

the tension in her shoulders tightened, but she moved to sit down anyways. she was captivated by his health. he hardly looked like the same person.

when she sat down, it took her a moment to realize—but then she did.

she’d had dreams like this. hands that weren’t her own. a coincidence, sure, but it spooked her. this was chu-e’s dream, wasn’t it? everything was exceptionally disorienting here.

staring at the young chu-e, she put her layered hands out towards the fire.

Chu-e Choi

☉

it was certainly like no dream she’d ever witnessed. while diving into dreams of avatars seemed to allow her a deeper connection to the dreamer than with those of regular people—though perhaps this was only by coincidence—this one was almost too immersive.

the hand that seemed to exist over her own took the weenie, but it was promptly dropped as chu-e reached out and grabbed her roughly by the arm. she stared back, just as frozen in shock as time seemed to stop around them.

it was utterly terrifying.

how had he been able to see her, much less touch her?

his grip was so very real. the grating of crystal as he opened his mouth was like a sound straight out of a horror movie. Even she was stunned with fear.

and then, they were somewhere else. trying not to panic, she eyed a young and blood-covered chu-e, lingering near a mangled corpse. quite a sight, but not an uncommon theme in nightmares. it did not surprise her, except maybe for the particularly brutal fashion in which this victim had been presumably ‘taken care of’.

the voice behind her caused her to spin and stumble away, not wanting to come into such close contact to others within the dream. she wanted to leave, but she was not so great at pulling out at will as she was going in.

Chu-e Choi

☉

it was alarming.

she stumbled back, giving a light yelp of surprise, and then immediately clapping a hand over her mouth for fear that it might respond in the way that chu-e had before. as though it might bring her to its attention.

yes, she had seen the utmost horrors that darkrai could produce. they had been brought to life time and time again, around her, creeping through corners in the lighthouse… night terrors that only comforted her with the fact that they were presumably on her side. illusions to remind her that her guardian was close.

however, as the immersion of the dream seemed to increase, she began to wonder if these were not darkrai’s terrors. if they existed on some side against her. this was not her realm.

she blinked, and the monstrosity that had loomed behind her had vanished and reappeared pressed against chu-e, seeming to breath down his neck. the sight was chilling. the rest seemed… abstract. flowers, and tears of blood…

black crystal.

carefully, she crept along the perimeter of the room, eyeing around at its contents. looking for the more of the same strange material.

Chu-e Choi

☉