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[Dream Scenario: GOLD DOOR]

So as it was, would it always be. There was balance, here, Dazs thought. Nothing is terrible, but nothing is wonderful.

Is it enough?

[Rescuer's POV]

"Nghnn . . ." Cold, it felt far too cold that his body feels so stiff. San tries to move his arms and legs, but nothing. He felt the grip of madness seizing him mind. "St . . . stop . . ." This grip was reaching to the depth of his mind, like a parasite, feeding off his memories. They are his, and no one else to see.

"Gaaaah!!" A voice spoke within the depth of his mind, cringing at the words it spoke about some weapon, and their awakening. San doesn't want to hear anymore of this, this madness. The large boil wants to get out of here somehow. He has to . . . "Ahhhhhh!" Somehow he had a bit of energy to scream and jerk in feeling the pain at his leg. San looks down to see the thorns wrapped around his leg, piercing through the skin, and was being dragged away into the mass of vines. "These . . . these things again . . ." To think he got away from them but his world was slowly being engulf in darkness.

The strength he prize so much vanish, but his internal strength is trying so hard to be alive, to keep what's precious to him as he is fading away.

He was forgetting, slowly . . .

Rescuer POV

Eyes fluttered opened and Sophie blinked in confusion. She hadn't remembered falling asleep and for a brief moment she expected to be in her dorm, fabric swatches in a pile on her bed. But she was not in the warmth of her bed, that much was certain as she shivered and rubbed her arms. Her brow furrowed and she pursed her lips, shaking her head to try and shake the buzzing sound filling her mind. It did not leave and she closed her eyes tightly. Whatever it was, it felt like it was inside her; reading her mind, reading her thoughts.

She wasn't sure if it spoke or if the words were just.. there in her head, waiting for the right time to burst forth with such power that she reeled back, darkness threatening to take her. The last word did take her into the sweet darkness but it was only a temporary release; she awoke to the sound of thumping. Then pain, sharp and real as anything she'd ever felt.

Sophie screamed as the vine pulled, dragging her. There were more; she noticed. So many more. She felt sick and her stomach heaved. She closed her eyes - it hurt to look at them. And the humming, gods the humming. It was leeching her and the words were repeating over and over. She got closer to the center of the vine mass and she didn't fight it. Somehow, she always knew and she felt silly for not realising it sooner. This was what she was created for - they had big plans for her.

A small part pushed against her and images flashed through her mind - people she was certain were important, but she couldn't remember their names. She couldn't even remember her name. Did she ever have one? Did she ever exist?

[DREAM SCENARIO: GOLD DOOR]

Finally he snap out of that dream. It had churn his stomach to see that he was a mad king, and to have done that to his brother. A gold door appears before him, and he opens it in hoping to see something good . . .

Aaron sees himself as a royal now, coming from a good family, and a kingdom who loves him dearly. This was something he never experience before in his life, to be this love by strangers.

His life pass, and saw the life he had and grew as an old man and seeing his son now a king. It was a normal life, well, what can be normal for a king. But it did gave him a warm feeling of content though that it was nice. Much nicer than the last one that's for sure, but he knew it's not his life at all.

No . . . he has only one more door to see now, and wonders what was hiding behind it.

[ DREAM SCENARIO: VIOLET DOOR ]

This is an old bedtime story, old comforts, like worn sheets, old, soft, falling apart, but made clean. Children laughed like they were meant to laugh, but their voices were the adults' too. All around her were giggles and small voices and they came to her with questions that she didn't know how to answer, but this was her role. She guided them, but she had never been taught how.

They listened though and for a while all was well. The wolves stayed in the shadows of the woods, red hooded heads skipped down paths, and the smell of baking bread mingled with clean laundry and somewhere in the distance, pots clanged, beds were made, and a warm voice was singing, something beautiful and comforting.

In quiet moments, Greta remembered that she was allowed to cry.

But maybe she wasn't meant to because it couldn't stay like that forever. They had not feared her, and though they had loved her for a while, they soon grew to resent her through their resentment of each other. Each saw their wounds, inflicted not by her, but by others as by her hand and they turned on her. They screamed and the air turned sour. She shivered in the cold that they inflicted on her and she forgot that she was allowed to cry so she shivered and shivered, folding everything she had left carefully, folding it away until all had been dismantled except for her.

She too could fold, turning into nothing but crisp lines and corners, gone.

[ DREAM SCENARIO: RED DOOR ]

He stumbled back out into the room. Okay that was a trip he didn't want to go on again...he paused seeing...what? MORE DOORS?!? What was with this place and doors?!? He growled...grumbling about stupid choices. Sighing he looked at the doors...

Gold was the first his eyes landed on...too bright...he then looked at the Violet door. Nah. Too girly...Rorrow would of liked that door. He chuckled...then...ah. Red...he pushed it open and was swept into his new dream...

No...he stood there with a skull in his hands. Tears of blood ran down his face, he knew this skull. It was his...his twins...no. He didn't want this...they wanted a god...no...they wanted a Reaper...pathetic cowards. He watched as the skull cracked then shattered in his hands. With it...his world shattered as well...

Then...he fell...

[DREAM SCENARIO: WHITE DOOR]
She was asleep, or at least she could gather as Harper’s body felt light, as if floating in the darkness. She was dreaming, they had started out blurry, like the first time her dog licked her in the face, the smashing of spoons on pots, her mother’s funeral. They started to get clearer, simple things like swinging in the backyard, the first time she drove a car, the first day of school. The smiling face of her dad, how proud he looked at her when she graduated high school. The look on her little sister’s face when she participated in her first dance recital, twirling around the multicolored dance skit in the driveway. Laughing at some dumb joke at a party while someone decided that they should all skinny dip in the pool, the puking in the toilet regretting decisions. Day zero, people running, the screaming as glass broke, the faces disappearing one by one afterwards as she tried to remember their names. Corey crooked grin as they stuck books over holes, Liam’s blushing face, even Austin being slapped by Hitsu as Cecil tried to stop it all. They were all memories, or were? They faded away, twisting, until the doors appeared in various colors.

The white.

The floor was cold as Harper laid there, the tile was an off shade of some sort of blue green made to match the beach theme of the rest of the bathroom. Various vases decorated the shelves and counter top; they were filled with things, useless things that her mind didn’t want to remember. Instead she kept her eyes on the ceiling tiles counting them one by one over and over again. Every hour, every day, every moment had been like this. Repeating the same thing over and over, the pulling of things out of drawers and cupboards and rearranging them into a various order before shoving them all back to where they belonged. This day was going to be the same, always the same.

A soft knock came from the door, Harper didn’t move, her mind convinced that it was nothing more than something rattling around in the cupboard.

The knock repeated, “Harper? Are you ok in there?” A voice? She sat up, looking at the door handle as she got to her feet and walked slowly over to it still unsure of what she heard. Turning the chilling knob in her hand she pulled it open.

“Corey…” Her crooked grin greeted her as the woman took her hand pulling her down the hallway. “Are you ok Harper you were in there a while? You couldn’t have had too much to drink already.” Her hand was warm as Harper turned and looked at the kitchen as they passed by it. Harvard, Caroline, Kim, the other professors where there, some more preoccupied with one another than her when she waved to them.

Down the hallway they continued, it seemed to stretch on forever before Corey pulled her into another room with music playing in the background. Familiar faces, greeted her cheering as they held up the familiar red solo cups before returning to what they were doing. Cecil’s face was as red as the cup as Hitsu was laughed while Austin made some sort of overly sarcastic comment to them both. There was a unicorn that danced in the corner as rook and Justin where flipping through music choices, neither agreeing on the same one as others where playing some sort of game.

“Harper, there you are.” She looked over as Liam got up from his seat next to Austin. Letting go of Corey’s hand she gave him a large hug and a kiss on the cheek before stealing the cup out of his hand. “Sorry I must have fallen asleep or something but this should do the trick.” Before she could even take a sip Corey’s arms were around hers pulling her towards the other door.

“Sorry Liam we have to go.” Corey’s grip tightened on Harper as she dragged her feet on the hardwood floor trying to keep the cup from spilling.

“I’ll be back, but I’m taking your drink with me.” The last of her words were barely heard as she headed out the doorway again into another hallway and then into another room. It was quiet there, as Corey plucked the drink out of her hand and started to chug it down before Harper could say any word of protest. Setting it down, the woman gave Harper another crooked grin before raising her hands to her face resting them below the jaw. “I thought you could use a distraction.” Corey leaned forward raising Harper’s face to hers as she kissed her gently, the taste of alcohol still lingering on her lips. Harper’s mind went blank as her hand pressed against Corey’s sides, the soft feeling of her warm skin beneath her fingertips.

“Come on lets leave the party.” The woman looked at her, meeting her gaze before pulling back and taking Harper’s hand in hers. All she could do was nod as the woman led her out of the room, not pausing as they passed by the other’s door way.

“We… we should stop…” Her heels dug as Harper tried to head back to the room, as someone laughed. The music started to grow louder as someone else cheered, boasting over his or her win.

“No.” The grip tightened around her fingers, as Harper tried to take a step backwards back to the doorway.

“At least we could say goodbye…” It was hurting now, the grip on her hand as Corey pulled her further down the hallway.

“No, we should just leave.” Harper stared at the door as the light faded away, her mind wanted to make sense of something, trying to listen to some warning, but Corey wrapped her other arm around her waist kissing her again.

“Let’s leave, no worries they will be fine. Besides I’ll be a good enough distraction for you.” Harper didn’t protest this time.

[ RESCUER POV ] Haze the Halloween Kitsune
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Haze’s eyes open, heavy and hurting as if he had been blinded and beaten. His breath heaved out of his mouth, cold to the touch as his skin felt a chill. It hurt. His body… his mind… there was no escaping the pain he was in. It was different than what he was used to, he didn’t want to feel like this anymore. And yet there was no escape. The young Kitsune’s mind began to waver, feeling a different presence in it, one that was not his own… just like before. Wincing he clenched his teeth tightly together, his chest becoming unbelievably heavy as he tried to endure the ringing. He was afraid, for the first time he was afraid of what was in his mind. Listening to its words was the only thing the white haired kitsune could do before it ebbed him back into unconsciousness.

The relief was only brief, ebbing out as quickly as it pushed in. His ear twitching as the thumping began, his mouth opening suddenly as something pierces into his leg. Haze’s eyes blinked open, trying to see what was happening. It was hard as his vision blurred, but kept blinking his eyes until it all came into focus. The kitsune’s heart pounded as he saw the masses of green vines, grabbing onto him as if he was a victim. “N-n” he couldn’t speak, not breathing a single word. As if the vines had caught onto his tongue as well. He was utterly trapped. As he looked at the vines his vision quickly darted away. Feeling his stomach come up in his throat as he tried to overcome this pain. He should be used to it, he once had been locked away… he once was forced to endure overwhelming pain no matter how much he pleaded… or did he?

His mind continued to wander, flickering deeper into the humming sound. Haze wants to remember, he tries to remember why he was here, what he had done, but they won’t let him. The more he tries the more his identity slowly slips from him. His eyes becoming a simple lifeless shell of what they used to be, though there was still a slight dim glimmer. The kitsune’s other half wasn’t one to give up as easily, constantly fighting against the humming. Grasping onto the last few threads that he had left to remember… or did he even have anything to remember at all?