What Waking Up Feels Like [Calypso/Private]

Dreaming was a pleasant experience most of the time. There were nightmares here and there, offering a terrible waking and sometimes unproductive morning. But besides these outliers? Dreaming was a land to explore the most creative ideas, understand yourself better, and more than anything experience a world impossible from reality. Well, with how crazy the world is now, the lines between "impossible dreaming" and "shocking reality" was blurred, but there were still things in the subconscious mind to be untapped. That's how Yuel, who was frequently able to make her dreams "vivid", saw it.

The world around her was now a completely blank white plane, indistinct scenery in the distance. There was mountains with vague shapes, moving entities in the sky, maybe an endless sea at the horizon. There were what seemed like stars all over the sky, the full beauty of all of reality appearing everywhere in this world, but just out of sight and reach. Instead, the only thing in Yuel's reach was pure white. Pale white ground that seemed solid and flat, but with an intent her hand could reach in and the ground turned to sand. Once the "vivid" kicked in, anything in this range of white Yuel could control without reserve, as if she had unlimited power. Unfortunately, just beyond that distance of white was a world unreachable. For some reason, no matter how hard she tried, Yuel couldn't move beyond the white world. If she tried, the white world just got bigger and the distance world further. It was a frustrating point, considering every time Yuel entered a vivid dream, this was the default scenery.

It wasn't something to mull over for too long. Yuel didn't concern herself with these unreachable lands too much; it was enough to be "god" in this white world. As the girl recognised that this world was her dreamland, the girl immediately got to work. The blonde teen sat down in seiza and closed her eyes, imagining a plethora of thoughts and projects she wanted to work on and test, hopefully making it in the real world. All around her, infinite floating articles of machinery rotated around her body at different distances, as some of these articles ranged from the size of her palm to giant robots as large as a skyscraper.

For today, the Duulheim wanted to focus on playing with the thought of "dreams and interconnectivity". This was one of the few projects she could confidently test solely in her dreams; most of the other toys in her mind could be replicated in real life and actually tested. The goal of this project was to find out whether the subconscious could link to other people and if it was an innate trait of "conscience", as she knew some beings had special powers that made them able, but they were the exception.

Ironically, just as she was getting ready to start the testing, something foreign appeared, something not from the scope of her dreams. At least, not anything she could control.

Yuel froze in place, staring at the new being. A little bit because of surprise, a little bit due to curiosity, a lot due to fear. The only thing stifling her internal screaming from coming out was self-control and fear of making any sudden movements. After all, in a landscape traditionally entirely and completely under her control, some foreign entity entered Yuel's domain. That in itself was a rarity amongst rarities, but beyond that, this particular creature was by no means friendly looking. Clad in absolute darkness with two kaleidoscope eyes on what was presumably its face, a plethora of eyes drenched along its torso, and some toothy necklace rung along her neck--by all means, there'd be no fault in confusing this thing for some sort of nightmare boogeyman.

And once this assessment ran its course, Yuel's mind kicked into defensive over-drive. Instantly, the roves of machinery circulating Yuel's position revved up, ready to encapsulate the creature, and if it wasn't for the thing speaking, Yuel likely would've instantly destroyed it. Instead, the blonde observed some self-control, the floating projects around her continuing their peaceful orbit. After all, instead of what a boogeyman traditionally did, haunting and attacking its victim, this one sat in seiza and questioned its comfort--quite a humane thing to wonder.

"And, uhm, you are?"

At this point, Yuel's insatiable curiosity was winning out over her innate fear. Undoubtedly, she was still afraid, but reason pulled through. After all, nothing in Yuel's mind at the time would gradually transform until some nightmarish creature. So clearly, it wasn't something of her own machination. Furthermore, within the bounds of this white world, the girl was honestly akin to god. The only thing not in her control was the world outside her white landscape, such as the mountains faintly outlined in the distance, the starry sky above her with flying entities in its midst, and the endless seas off in the horizon. But the creature before he was in the white-space, so rationally speaking, there was nothing to worry about. Thus, Yuel was able to reign in her emotions a bit.

"OH, ah, the sitting position. Seiza, you mean, right? It's not really meant to be comfortable, it's more of a traditional sitting posture, something a bit more formal. It helps me keep focused sometimes, though usually when I really get into something I switch to a less formal, open-leg position. Like how delinquents sit, kind of?"

It was just that bit of confidence and reasoning that was necessary for Yuel to open up rather abruptly, as the confidence of being in control helped reinstate her mental faculties, though she still felt guarded against this being--and Yuel wasn't the only one. Though the girl herself couldn't feel it, maybe the foreign demon could. Off in the distance, somewhere in the seas, a magnificent beast was waking, its spiritual energy humming violently. And, in the skies above, something seemed to be watching down. It wasn't spiritual energy that it emitted, but it was something just as massive and exasperating, like some sort of divine majesty.

Likely the entity which the foreign demon would sense best was a demonic pressure emanating from the mountain range in the distance. Though it wasn't beyond the creature from the skies and seas in power, the pressure was so much more suffocating than theirs. Maybe because the energy coming from it was demonic, and therefore could resonate with the newcomer more easily, but largely because this energy was most aggressive, as if the creature exuding this pressure was intensely watching the intruder, warning it that one wrong movement would be its end.

Yuel's eyebrow raised in inquiry, her curiosity gradually overpowering her fear even more than before. Main reason being, this creature was much more odd and uncharacteristic of a sort of frightening boogeyman than her initial impression. After a while, and with a little bit of thought, Yuel eventually came to the conclusion that the creature was some sort of demon that enters dreams. The blonde considered the options, and honestly there wasn't any other reasonable explanation at hand. At that point, almost all fear dissipated.

"Ah, no, I'm sorry as well. I was surprised to have a demon in my dreams; I met someone like you before in that department, but they didn't look nearly as frightening as you do."

Without awareness of how blunt her words were, Yuel carried on and rose from her seiza position, walking towards the creature now that her awareness and confidence of surroundings was reestablished. Yuel still wasn't a fan of their appearance, but she at least wasn't wary of it anymore. The young Duulheim only stopped her approach when the creature seemed to struggle with their own form. At first, Yuel was going to extend her hand to help them up, but through what seemed like a reluctant interaction, the creature jumped to their feet.

"Uh-huh... uhm, are you alright? I have a habit of talking to myself as well, but I'm guessing you're not just talking to yourself?"

Though it may be a bit of an intrusion, Yuel was never one to hold back her questions and curiosity for the sake of manners and courtesy, largely because her curiosity overpowered her self-awareness on the way she acted--for better or worse. That same curiosity led the girl to follow the creature's pointing to the distance, an ambiguous direction from her spot.

"Over 'there'? I don't know if you're aware, but what you're pointing at isn't very clear. Are you pointing towards the mountains or towards the sky? Either way, I think I could only really respond with 'mountain' or 'sky', so you're really going to need to be more specific."

Yuel's eyebrows furrowed in distaste. Though the creature might not consider her words to be offensive, Yuel took it as an insult, a challenge to her competency or something. That said, as a generally easily provoked person, and one whose emotions could be honed but often led her actions, the human couldn't help but retort.

"You're right, I am lucid dreaming; that's why I know this is a dream, and I think I already touched up on that earlier. Rather, are you aware of everything around you at all times? Do you know everything about yourself, everything going on in your head all the time? Are you really that self-aware?"

The girl scoffed, and whilst usually she'd have some pity or earnest worry if someone just out of the blue commented on how horrible they felt, that wasn't the emotions in mind. Yuel was still salty about the demon's presumptuousness. Honestly, just because she knows it's a dream, doesn't mean she knows everything that happens in it. Though, in all honesty Yuel really was interested in what was in the mountains, and more specifically, what lied within. It's not like this intrusive demon in her dreams started randomly hallucinating--that'd be a frighteningly poorly-timed coincidence, and Yuel rarely assented to explaining something through "coincidence".

"You still didn't really specify, you know; something in the mountains, sure, do you have any more information? And, more important than what's in my dream, why are you in my--"

Yuel's words were interrupted, both by the creature's sudden screaming outburst, yelling at some nebulous entity with a less than amicable tone. At this point, the young Duulheim offered a judging gaze, like the demon was something "special". Fortunately, this assumption was more or less corrected once "something" responded to the demon's demands for "talk".

"You want to talk, worm? Fine. Then speak, and only answer; why is an Asthavon intruding in my host's domain?"

The voice resonated across the entire world, its deep booming tone carrying a menacing tone, each word enunciated with a rough growl. It was clear that the words came from the direction of the mountain, but the tone was so clear and loud, it echoed through the skies. Its presence raised, emanating a pressure that made the air feel like it was frozen. In response, Yuel's left eyebrow raised in an inquisitive manner. She turned back to face the mountain with an amused smirk, whispering to herself in a low tone,

"Ohooo~, so that's where you've been."

Calypso's excessive nervousness may be warranted, but the particularly judgmental Yuel found it obnoxious more than anything. Not just because of the constant stuttering, as Yuel was also very impatient, and waiting around to understand someone because they couldn't spit it out the first go made for a terrible conversationalist. The demon girl's saving grave was that blonde was considerably more interested in the demonic, booming voice coming from the mountainside.

That said, Calypso's dumbfoundedness was to a degree rather comical. Before Yuel gave all her attention to the voice, mostly out of both amusement and courtesy, she deigned to respond.

"You certainly did offend me, but since you're aware, it is what it is, I guess. As far as the big voice goes, I was, er, more or less aware of it? I've heard it before, and I had my suspicions as to what the entity was, but never did I find anything conclusive; and I can't sense it, either. I'm spiritually inept, so sensing anything beyond what the five can do for me just isn't feasible."


"Mm."

A short response, but still fearsome as ever; the demon didn't make any more comments, and the presence rescinded, as if it were going back to its sleep. Meanwhile, Yuel took steps forward to stand directly in front of Calyspo, specifically looking down on her cowering form. The blonde's face offered a frown, her body offering crossed arms, forming a bit of a comical picture with Yuel's already decently small frame; at least, that would be the case if it weren't straight after a menacing voice made hostilities.

"Mmm, something about you pisses me off, though."

The Duulheim's hand rose slowly towards the demon girl, at first in a somewhat threatening movement, but her aim was to plant it on Calypso's shoulder.

"And I think it's how fearful and anxious you are."

Yuel's frown soon changed to a smile, something like a "cheer-up!" kind of expression? Her hand-on-shoulder extended forward and soon turned to an attempt to wrap her entire arm around Calyspo's neck, like some sort of bro. With a wave of her free hand, a plain white table and two comfortable looking chairs appeared, some tea on presentation.

[b]"Either way, since this is my dream, it's not like you'll get hurt if I don't wish for it, you know? My dream, my discretion! That said, your anxiousness still kind of tilts me, so take a seat young skywalker, I'm in the mood to pry and fix this up!"

Thereon, Yuel moved ahead and sat down on one side of the table. She poured the tea from a white porcelain kettle into the two tea cups on both sides and patiently awaited--and fully expected--Calypso to come over and sit down.