Negotiation with the Nightmare Man
The black door slowly closed on its own.
A thunderous sound echoed—
sealing off every escape.
A freezing wind swept through.
Not an ordinary wind—
but fear itself,
given form.
The Nightmare Man stood, leaning on his staff,
watching the three of you
with unreadable eyes.
"Before we fight," you said,
forcing your voice to stay steady,
"let everyone go."
Silence fell—
heavy,
as if the entire castle had stopped breathing.
The Queen of Dreams stepped forward.
"They've done nothing wrong," she said,
her voice calm—
yet filled with power.
The Nightmare Man let out a soft laugh.
"Wrong?"
"They chose to dream."
The rabbit clenched its paws.
"Dreams… aren't meant to be cages."
Its voice trembled—
but it did not step back.
The Nightmare Man tilted his head.
"And the real world?"
"Isn't that a cage as well?"
Those words—
cut deeper
than you could easily deny.
You took a breath.
"It may hurt," you said,
"but waking up—
is their right."
For the first time,
the Nightmare Man's eyes narrowed.
His smile faded.
"Right…?" he murmured.
"I merely give them
what reality never could."
The ground beneath you trembled.
Shadows crawled along the walls,
like living things.
The Queen lifted her gaze.
The light around her flickered.
"You're destroying the balance."
The Nightmare Man struck his staff against the floor.
Thud.
The sound twisted the dream itself.
"Balance?" he said in a low voice.
"Balance died—
the moment no one wanted to wake up anymore."
The rabbit stepped beside you.
"That's enough."
"If you won't let them go—"
The Nightmare Man looked down at it.
Pale, hollow eyes fixed on the small figure.
"And what will you do,
little rabbit?"
Silence stretched—
on the verge of breaking.
The rabbit paused—
then answered,
with the firmest voice you had ever heard:
"We'll fight."
At that very moment—
the sky shattered.
Screams of nightmares
echoed in every direction.
The Nightmare Man smiled—
wide—
as if he had been waiting for this.
"Good," he said.
"Then I'll show you…"
"…what a true nightmare looks like."
Shadows lunged forward.
The castle floor split apart—
becoming a battlefield.
The Queen raised her hand.
Light burst forth.
The rabbit leapt ahead—
without hesitation.
You followed.
Your heart raced—
but your resolve was clear.
The negotiation was over.
And the war of dreams—
had begun.
Four Years Ago
In the past,
he was once a child
who dreamed nightmares
almost every night.
Not the kind filled with monsters.
Not screams,
nor grotesque horrors
adults like to imagine.
But quiet nightmares—
endless ones.
Dreams where he stood alone
in familiar places—
yet no one
was ever there.
The feeling of being left behind
repeated itself
again and again—
until he could no longer tell
what was dream,
and what was real.
Every time he woke,
his heart still raced—
as if he had never escaped.
But the real world
offered no comfort.
To everyone else,
"dreams" were temporary—
something to forget
when morning came.
No one asked
how he felt.
No one believed
that fear
could follow a child
night after night.
So he learned
to say nothing.
To bury his fear in silence.
To pretend—
everything was normal.
The fear of closing his eyes
took root.
Alongside
a quiet acceptance
of loneliness.
And as time passed,
he no longer feared nightmares.
He feared
that they would never end.
That is why,
when he grew older,
he never ignored
anyone's nightmares.
And never believed
that pain within dreams
was something small.
Present
The silence in the castle—
shattered in an instant.
He raised his head.
No hesitation remained.
Only anger—
compressed, overwhelming.
"I won't let you
do this!"
His voice roared
through the Dreamland.
And in that moment—
everything froze.
As if the nightmare—
was about to truly begin.
To be continued…