Bob walked down the palace corridors. Murky feelings arose in the desolate halls. "This place gives me the chills... Am I stuck here forever now?!" At the very end of the corridor, there was a large door engraved with gold. "I bet this building is owned by some tacky rich guy." He pulled it open, making the halls echo with the loud creaking. Inside came as a surprise.
It was a bedroom, red as a noticeable color in the room. Roses flowing against the gentle breeze of the winds, the sheets all around in a scarlet hue and patterned with gold that glistened under the moonlight. In front of him on a chair, he could sense a presence. And to him, that presence also senses him too. But the velvet curtains that breezed along with the winds blocked his view. Glimpsing the figure as the velvet curtains lowered, a wave of melancholy washed over him. As the curtains lowered, it exposed the lovely rose of a person in front of him. She had pale skin and scarlet eyes. Her lengthy white hair stretched down to her velvet dress that looked exquisite. And on top of her head was a tiara with a ruby engraved into the very top of it.
"Oh? Are you my destined servant?" She spoke. Her voice was crisp and soothing, and her gaze was intoxicating. He had never seen such a beauty in his entire life until now. He points at her in an enthralled frenzy. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You're c-calling m-me a s-s-s-servant?" He could barely formulate a sentence because of the pressure of the beauty standing before him. Seeing his pathetic demeanor, she sighed, turning her back on him. "How disappointing. It seems you aren't him. You may move on now. I need my time to myself."
"What...? Who does this bitch think she is?! Why is she acting all high and mighty? I bet she doesn't know I can beat up tons of guys! I've gone into martial arts for this exact reason! So these snobby bastards are not able to look down on me! Especially a woman who's talking down on me! Women are inferior in terms of strength compared to men, meaning they should know better than to mess with guys like me!"
The beautiful princess feels an unpleasant aura coming behind her. Turning her gaze back to her guest, she sees his nasty glare toward her. "For some reason, I feel like I want to avoid this weirdo."
Then, a weird rumbling came from behind the room's large doors. Both of them stopped in place to look at the door. "What? Who's knocking?" While he held onto the latch and gripped open the twin doors, the princess screamed, "Wait, don't open that door!"
For a split second, he saw the mirage of a ghastly knight figure directing his blade to pierce his heart. Right after, he felt a strong force drag him above the knight and into the outside corridor. Pulling his head back, he saw it was the beautiful princess in scarlet, yanking him mid-air with a sturdy strand of fabric. Dropping down, Bob falls on his back with the princess standing at his side. Seeing a scarlet fabric coil back into the palms of the princess, she smacked her lips. "Tsk, dang it. I can't believe a powerful Echofiend has manifested here."
"An Echofiend?!"
"I don't have time to explain. All I need to tell you is that we're going to perish here if you don't make a contract with me."
"No, I demand an explanation right here, right now!"
"Stop whining and just make a contract with me!"
"When I want an explanation, I get my explanations!"
Groaning, the princess takes her hand and places it over Bob's. As a bright red glow emerges from their conjoined hands, it blinds Bob momentarily. Grasping his vision again, he sees the princess standing in front of him, blocking the way of the knight ahead. "My name is Lysandra Virellae. I am the Scarlet Princess Reveris, and now you're my contractor. May I know your name?"
"Bob Anderson."
Upon hearing his name, Lysandra steps forward, summoning two lengthy fabrics that extrude from her palm. "Okay, Bob. I'm sure you must be confused with everything, so allow me to explain." She aims her thread at the knight. "That thing is called an Echofiend, and it's a monster manifested by this world—Noctheris. Their strength depends on certain conditions, but in this case, it's a tremendous foe, so please stay put while I take care of it."
Lysandra used her fabrics to grapple to a chandelier connected to the rooftop. Then, yanking it down, she smashed it on top of the knight. Rattling echoes as the knight roars in frustration, standing from the rubble. Amidst its rise, Lysandra immediately wrapped the knight in her fabric and yanked the knight toward herself.
However, in this action, the knight managed to power through the fabric and break free halfway, preparing to let his final destination lead to a slash at Lysandra. As he accelerates toward Lysandra, she smiles. "Hmph, expected from the usual Echofiend. Absolute moron." Aiming her palm, she calmly says, "Luton." Before a multitude of fabrics formed right in front of her, condensing into a massive spike. With the activation of her ability, Bob can feel his strength slowly draining away. "I-Is this because she made that spike thing?"
Hurling the spike forward, it flings itself at the accelerating knight descending toward her. Unable to change its trajectory, the knight panicked midair before being impaled. Fragments of dark matter scattered in the air as the spike seeped past its armor and came out the other side. As the knight flopped to the floor, Lysandra took one of her legs and raised it in the air. Charging up a scarlet aura around her leg, she slammed it onto the knight's corpse, turning it into mush. With that final blow, it drained Bob even more, making him collapse.
Seeing him collapse, she sighed. "Is my contractor really this pathetic? And here I was, trying to find any good in you." Walking over, she knelt down beside him. "Are you still there?" she asked.
"Fuck... you." Bob murmured, sticking up the middle finger. Lysandra chuckled at the gesture as his eyelids slowly became heavy. Falling deeper into slumber, her chuckling echoed in his mind vividly.
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He woke up in his bed, feeling like he had a full night's sleep. Sitting up, he stretched and let out a satisfied groan. "Wow, I feel great! Normally, I feel like utter shit."
"That's because you are utter shit, contractor." Lysandra says.
Jolting back under his covers, he let out a high-pitched, girly scream. "What are you doing here?! I thought all of that was just a dream!"
"Yes, technically, all of that was a dream, but also reality at the same time."
"What do you mean?"
"The world you entered is one that can only be manifested at night. It's called the Noctheris. A world that only a few can enter—made by the aspirations of humanity."
"But why only at night? And why can I enter it?"
"At night, humans dream. And when they dream, their aspirations collectively build up. That's how the Noctheris was created. And the reason for how you can enter it is solely due to you being a person with powerful aspirations. Normally aspirations are more tame, but only a few have it on an extreme level."
Bob didn't agree with that. For a while now, he hasn't felt that spark. "That's... not true." It was a spark that he buried long ago, one that he couldn't resurface even if he tried.
"It is true. Because I was created. I am a Reveris, a being made by the aspirations of someone. And after making my contract with you, I sensed that you were the one who made me."
He got out of his bed and proceeded downstairs. "Then leave me alone. We're outta that place anyway, so it shouldn't matter to me." Rudely walking past her, he shut the door behind him before she could even get a say.