Everlasting Shadow

Pet Name: Albtraum
Owner: Amnesia
Theme / Type: Nightmare draklaita
Born: March 10, 2009
Gender: Male

Battle Portal Stats

Level: 2
Hit Points: 3 / 3
Strength: 5
Defense: 2
Speed: 2
Intellect: 3
Misticpower: 3

Battles Won: 0
Battles Lost: 0

Attached Weapons

Books Read

Books Read: None

Exotic Foods Eaten

Foods Eaten: 0/1254 [ View Foods ]

Tea with a Nightmare

You look tired, my friend. Why not take a rest? I can show you such wondrous things, just close your eyes and follow my voice. Deep into the abyss.
Who am I? What am I? I am what I am. I am a magician of manipulating illusions, the gatekeeper to the land of wonders, a poet of unnatural tunes. I am your deepest desire and your worst nightmare. You wish to resist? You wish to flee? Well, I don't mind. A sportsman I am too, so a little haunting hunt is always fun.
Or you could just sit down, and we can talk a bit, have some tea. It is amazing what dreams can create, yet the nightmares are the true masters. So why don't you just stay with me for a while, and together we shall unlock the true wonders that lie deep inside your sleeping mind. Enticing?

Chapter 1 - Dark Nights

It was dark, so dark. The Monster has had many dark dreams, but this one was different. The blur was missing and it all just seemed way too... real. It looked all around, feeling its way through the darkness, but was only met with emptiness. Then it heard a sound, so faint, as if it weren't even there.
A chuckle? It though, trying to look around again, focusing its gaze on the gloom, and there it saw the ever so slight shifting in the blackness.

Just a dream. The cold of the December morning brought this revelation to the Monster as it rose from its slumber. It was not a big surprise, with the history of this castle it was only usual for its new master to have nightmares, the echoes of the past still haunted these old halls.

The day went on as usual, but something was off. Azaveus stayed in his study all day and Whisper has been even more silent than usual. Even Kaernk seemed restless, wandering the castle and cautiously approaching every shadow. The Monster knew it should inquire as to its friends' behavior, but decided it should check something else first.

The dark castle grounds shone bright from the fresh snow as the Monster exited the old structure. The Monster was always amazed by this change, in the snow the castle might not seem as eerie as in the dark woods, but it was still intimidating. It continued on deeper into the snowy forest and soon it reached the place it was looking for, the ancient tree looked so dead without its leaves, yet it held far more magic than anyone would think.

"Aokigahara." The Monster called, the wolfish spirit of nature appearing almost immediately.

"What is it you wish that you would call me on this cold day?" The spirit replied.

"My friends at the castle are restless, I believe they fear we have an intruder." The Monster questioned the wolf spirit, "Do you know anything about that?"

The spirit closed her eyes, a nonexistent breeze flowing through her mane as she communed with the trees.
"The woods are silent, if there is an intruder he didn't travel through them." With that the spirit disappeared again.

That evening everyone gathered by the fire of the castle's great hearth. Even Azaveus finally left his study and was the first one to speak what they all knew.

"Something is in the castle."

No one responded at first, but their silence said it all.

"I met with Aokigahara today, she says the forest doesn't know anything. Did the spirits tell you more?" The Monster asked Azaveus.

"I could feel a shift in the realms, and so did they. Whatever came here is not a being from the material plane." The wolf spoke, his expression remaining grim.

"Well then..." The Monster started, "Whatever came here might not be dangerous at all, and it might leave after a while. But I still want you all to be careful, especially at night. We don't know what this being is really capable of."

Chapter 2 - Chasing Shadows

By the time midnight arrived, the Monster and Azaveus had gone through all of the new books they acquired. Although many gave them interesting insight on the topic of nightmares, they didn't find a clear answer to their questions. In fact, there turned out to be so many stories and theories about them that it mostly just opened new questions.

The following night, the Monster stayed awake after everyone else had fallen asleep. It sat in its armchair in front of an old grandfather clock. It was only a minute before midnight and the Monster just sat there and watched.

"One." It said as the clock hit thirty seconds until midnight. "Two." Fifteen seconds until midnight.

"Three."

The clock rang out, midnight was here, and the voice who counted three was not the Monster's. The Monster opened its eyes, focusing its gaze on the red thirteen that had appeared on the clock, just between midnight and one AM.

"Hour, are you there?" It called out.

"Of course I am, it's my time after all." Replied the phantom hound which had appeared behind the Monster.

"I assume you already know why I'm seeking you out tonight."

"You wish to know about the being that has sneaked into the castle." As always, the phantom was well aware of what was going on.

"Have you seen it?"

"Aye, every night it creeps through the shadows, wandering to each one of you, hovering over your sleeping forms, disappearing into your minds. A living nightmare it is, the kind I haven't seen in a long time." His voice giving away how intrigued he really was.

"Is it dangerous?"

"That I cannot tell. To know the answer, you will have to seek it out in your dreams."

"I see. Thank you for the information." The Monster stood up to leave.

"One more thing." The hound spoke up again. "A nightmare never has a stable form, it will always shift and change."

HourXIII didn't explain any further, and the Monster's vision began to blur, soon to wake up still seated in its armchair. The clock showing one AM.
The Monster was determined to solve the mystery of those nightmares tonight. With that thought in mind it returned to its chambers and slowly drifted into a deep slumber.

Again it found itself in the now all too familiar darkness. Focusing it tried to find the creature that had been creeping in its dreams all this time.

"I wish to speak with you." The Monster called out, hoping this would make the creature show itself.

To its surprise, the darkness brightened and the Monster found itself in one of the castle's many hallways. Something was still off though, the place seemed somehow... foggy? And slightly blurred at times as well. The only thing that could be seen outside the windows was an infinite space of navy blue, the color appearing almost bright compared to the black interior of the castle, creating the illusion of light coming from the windows. The castle itself seemed to consist of nothing more but dark silhouettes. A dream, it had to be.
A movement down the hallway caught the Monster's attention, there was something moving through the shadows, the Monster went after it. After a while the shadow vanished into a room, when the Monster followed it inside it was yet again met with that unearthly darkness.

"If you planned to lure me back into this darkness, why did you even bother showing me the castle?"

"I wanted to show you a part of my world."

The Monster was suddenly taken aback, because the answer did not come from one voice, but four.

Chapter 3 - Unmasked

"How many of you are there?" A slight concern evident in the Monster's voice

"Just me." The 'just' was spoken by only one voice, but 'me' was said by all four.

After a bit of thought the Monster spoke up again. "You are all one being, aren't you?"

"Of course. After all, two heads are better than one, and four are better than two. I needed the extra heads to keep up with all the sleeping minds here." A chorus of laughter echoed through the dark.

"Whatever you are, there is only one thing I'm concerned about. Are you a danger to any inhabitants of this castle?"

"Well, do you think I am?"

Four grinning faces emerged from the dark, and for the first time the Monster saw the creature that has been haunting the castle for the past few weeks. SilentWhisper spoke of a dragon, this one though looked more like a hydra. The Monster thought that perhaps there were more creatures like that in the castle, but even now some details and features of the creature were constantly changing. Like HourXIII said, nightmares don't have a stable form.
The Monster seized up the creature, it could definitely be described as a nightmare. Something people would run from on sight.

"You are strange, but you mean no harm." It concluded.

"Good. Now that we sorted that out, we should talk business." Out of nowhere a cup of tea appeared in its claws. "Tea?" It asked, offering the cup to the Monster.

"Thank you, but I can't stand tea."

"But it's really good." It took a deep breath of the odd colored steam and took a sip. "Dream tea, the taste differs depending on the dream it's made of. I can assure you there is nothing like it in your world."

The creature offered the cup again, and this time the Monster accepted it. If there existed words to describe the taste, the Monster didn't know them. It was not exactly the tastiest thing it ever consumed, but it was still unique and interesting. In a good way.

"Not bad." The Monster stated.

"Told you. Now I shall clear up a few things. First off, I go by the name Albtraum, and you may address me as a male."

"Albtraum? You are literally called 'Nightmare' in German?" There was a hint of amusement in the Monster's tone.

"I just don't like complicating things." Albtraum grinned back.

"I see, so why are you here anyway?"

"I used live with someone else before, but we ended up parting ways. I needed a new home, and this place is intriguing me. So, master of this castle, may I stay?" There was a hopeful glint in the eyes that littered parts of Albtraum's body.

"You are welcome as long as you don't cause any trouble. But I would ask you to stop giving my friends nightmares."

"What if they agree?" He asked in a strangely knowing tone.

"Why should they?"

Albtraum grinned and the world around them began to change, showing abstract and unreal places and images.
"Nightmares are a fascinating and powerful thing. They hold the power of creation and change. If we work together we could create unimaginable wonders." He grinned again.

"Did you do that with the last person you haunted?"

"Oh yes, we were a great team. Xeaviel, we had a lot of fun together, I'll miss him. But I'll always have our memories." With that a white glowing brain appeared in Albtraum's hand.

The Monster looked at it quizzically and then back at the hydra.

"Don't worry, his mind is still in one piece, these are just memories, dreams. I wished to keep something to remind me of our adventures." Albtraum's expression softened as he looked at the artificial brain. Remembering old times.

The Monster thought for a moment. "Alright, as long as no one is bothered by it, you may remain in their dreams."

"Very kind of you, I'm sure we'll work together perfectly." The hydra purred in delight. And soon Albtraum's laughter echoed through the void of the dreamworld, fading just as the dream did.

The Monster's vision was still hazy from sleep. But in the dark it saw Albtraum hovering over it. He looked different now, like an illusion of fog and darkness. The Monster reached out to touch one of the creature's heads. Its fingers making contact with something solid, just before Albtraum's grinning form faded away.

-Gallery-