[PRP] Lost in a Dream (Titus / Riyo)

[Inu-Mitsu]

As with most things in his life Titus had gotten rather lazy with his dream walking and had fallen out of practice. It wasn't that it was difficult but as with anything else he tried his abilities needed work. Since the time he had joined Amityville Academy he had only extended the range of his reach, no longer needing to be extremely close to the person he was trying to evade the dream of, but that was about the extent of all that he had gained. Though considering the effort he had put into it, that alone was probably a miracle.

Deciding it was time to dust off his skills, the demon waited for night to fall. It wasn't like he had much going for him nowadays and he waited patiently for the clock to strike twelve before settling down on his couch and getting comfortable so he could focus. The ability to extend himself into the plain of existence beyond reality came natural, no less so than breathing air. It wasn't even like an out of body experience, instead he closed his eyes feeling his body grow lighter as his FEAR began to flare around him. When he opened his eyes he was no longer in his room having easily slipped beyond the veil of sleep into the land of dreams.

Rising from his couch Titus began to move through the demon dorms with ease no longer hindered by doors or walls. It was always strange walking just outside the bubbles of existing dreams. Every person created their own small reality and shaped their world to their liking but outside those small worlds existed nothing. Everything that existed in the gaps of dream space was dull and lackluster at best. Sound was muffled, visions were blurred and lifeless. It was only when Titus drew closer to a dream that the images began to clear and color flooded his vision. Sounds grew sharper and on occasion he could even sense the smells. Obviously it all was determined by the imagination of those dreaming but it was his nature to change how they thought and alter what they could imagine.

Dream manipulation was an art he had been honing since he was small. He hadn't always liked it but over time he had grown a certain fondness for the act. The demon only knew how to inflict nightmares, diving into the depths of a mind to dredge up what people feared most but he was slowly working on other forms of manipulation though he found them a little more difficult to grasp.

It was only when he spotted a semi-familiar figure through the haze that he shifted forward curiously, his body breaking through the barrier of the dream and simply waiting for his senses to come flooding at him to shock his system.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

It was raining.

The dream didn't look much like a dream at all. More like a cold, rainy day in Halloween. There were people without faces walking about much like the usual toil of a busy city, but there was one alley that stood out. It was a little drearier somehow, with scattered trash like some minipet had been scouring for scraps.

There was a small whimpering noise from one of the cardboard boxes, the slowly disintegrating vessel shivering here and there. On the side a melting marker scribble read 'free to a good home'.

In the box was a small cat ghoul, who couldn't have been older than 6 or 7 years. Her expression was easily read: scared and miserable. Whatever dress she had been wearing was ruined from the dirt and mud she had trekked through at some point, and her hands were covered in filth. The extra red in her eyes made it obvious that she had been crying at some point, but with the rain it was hard to tell if she still was.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

As soon as the world came into clarity Titus found himself suddenly drenched. His expression flattened as he tilted his head upward to squint at the oncoming rain drops with frustration. On the long list of things he didn't like rain was one of them.

"Beh.." He grumbled, wiping a hand across his face as he had a look around. The surrounding weren't all that usual, the buildings, the atmosphere, the people. It was very much like normal city life and Titus knew, it was where he grew up. If it wasn't for the fact that the FEAR of holder of this dream was drawing him in like a beacon he probably wouldn't have known where to start.

He shifted through the crowd without issue, coming to stand at the end of the alley that had been littered with debris. His gaze quickly settled on the shaking box and he approached it reading the half assed scribbled words. Instead of saying anything the boil stood there quietly, his look thoughtful as he stared down at the small form of the familiar ghoul.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo had been staring at the cardboard for a long time, caught between trying to picture herself somewhere warm and deciding what to do next. She had run away from home. Set off into the big world with a mission. The problem was she was six, and her grasp on how the world worked was... Shaky at best. She had left with no provisions, and no particular way to get home. She was lost. Alone. Terrified. Helpless... And no closer to her goal than the day she had left.

Then a slight shadow loomed over her meager shelter.

Her gaze shifted upward, a look of bewilderment in her eyes. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand as she sat up in her box. "H-hello." She squeaked. "Can you... Help me get home? I'm lost.." Her voice was hesitant and quiet, as if she was afraid to ask.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Also on that list of things Titus didn't like was scarelings. He wasn't sure where it leveled with rain but both were pretty up there. With a shake of his head he took a step closer to the small ghoul. "I would say you're lost if you're hanging out in this tattered hobo box."

He tapped the box with his foot and watched it crumple to the ground around her. "You really like to make yourself miserable in your sleep don't you?"

His eyes shifted up again looking around. Something felt off but he wasn't sure what it was or why. It was like there was a glimmer of another shadowed figure just out of the corner of his eye but as soon as he turned it faded like it had never been there. Maybe it was just a trick of the mind that Riyo had conjured up.

"Why don't you think of somewhere else to go huh?" Titus urged, looking back down at the ghoul before him  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo's eyes darted back down to the box as it fell apart, her ears folding against her head. She had worked hard to find that...

"Sleep?" The ghoul repeated, standing up and wiping the cardboard remains from her dress. "I'm sleeping?" She looked around curiously, stepping out from the box and closer to Titus. It would certainly be nice if she was. "That means it's all just a bad dream, right?" A slight glimmer of hope filled her eyes just before she tapped her little chin in thought. "Then... I don't have to go home." The rain began to slow until it was just a small sprinkle.

"Can we go to the park?" She tugged gently on the boil's pant leg, her face lighting up at the idea.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

The boil stood in near silence save for the occasional 'yeah' as Riyo began to piece the information together. His nose crinkled slightly as her expression changed, feeling a little weird that he was stopping a nightmare instead of creating one. It actually left him with a strange sensation that prickled along his skin telling him this was not quite right but he ignored it.

Noting that the rain was starting to slow Titus turned to look back down the alleyway. "Yeah, I guess." Always the park, nothing good happened at the park. At least for Titus. "Just lead the way."  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo said nothing to his response, she only smiled and turned to run out of the alley. "But..." She paused, glancing back at Titus with a furrowed brow. "I'm lost! I don't know how to..." Her head turned back around, and suddenly there was the park, right across the street. "Oh."

The small ghoul rubbed her head as she tried to grasp what was happening. "Does that mean... I can do anything?" Her hands squished her cheeks as she considered the possibilities. "Am I... A God?"  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Long legs followed the ghoul as she sprinted down the alleyway only for her to stop and repeat that she was lost again. "Being lost in your own mind I'm pretty sure there's a joke there somewhere..."

But as Titus expected, as the ghoul began to imagine a park one appeared not far away. "I am pretty sure there is a cheesy line about your limit is your own imagination or some s**t like that." He stepped out of the alley moving toward the park without stopping, rolling his eyes at the notion that she was a god.

"I guess in a way though you could probably use a little more control."

Another glimmer of something caught his attention and Titus shifted his gaze toward it. As soon as he did the shadow vanished from sight. "Riyo...who is here with us?" It was possible the ghoul was conjuring up something within her own mind but he could sense someone else's FEAR. Maybe the little baku was here, he hadn't seen her in a while.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Certainly there had to be a joke, but Riyo couldn't say where. "A joke? I want to hear a joke." The small ghoul waited momentarily for the joke that never came, and instead of asking about it, resumed walking by Titus's side. "Oh, Oh! Then I can fly, right?" The feline looked down at her feet and stared really hard, but nothing happened.

Then she jumped where she stood. Nope. Nada.

"Aw.."

Titus's question caused the ghoul to look back up and tilt her head. "Someone... Else?" Riyo wasn't exactly used to dream invaders, so sensing something of that nature was a bit... Alien to her. "It's just you and me, I think... Oh, and me."

"Hey." And suddenly there was a grown Riyo. Two cat ghouls for the price of one. What a deal. Except instead of looking like a poor kid, this one was dressed like some broad from a street gang. Led pipe included. The larger ghoul glanced around with a furrowed brow. "Always the park... Five bucks says something terrible is about to happen."

"But... The park is fun! I love the park!" Little Riyo squeaked as she started floating without realizing it, to which big Riyo promptly grabbed her by the skirt of her dress and hauled her right back down.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

She may have wanted to hear a joke but Titus certainly wasn't going to supply her with one. He tilted his head down to watch her, to see if she would actually take off in flight and somehow Titus wasn't surprised that she couldn't.

"Keep trying pipsqueak I'm sure you'll figure it out." Titus grumbled. He was actually a little edgy now, eyes darting back up to glance around but what, or really who, he found was yet another Riyo. Though this one was a little closer to the one he saw regularly. Paradox dreams were always exciting. Her foreboding words were all the encouragement he needed, somehow managing to smile sarcastically. Yeah...the park was fun. Yay the park...



"Just don't focus on the nightmares and you should be-"

"Tsk tsk." Came a voice from the shadows, a broad toothy smile appearing first before the person that it was attached to moved forward. The being in question was a fairly tall ghoul with slender features and a narrow face that only made her smile look wider than it should have been. She emerged from the darkness like it was giving her shape instead of it merely concealing her form, stepping toward Titus with a casual grace. There was something familiar about her though it was hard to mistake those similar black and white eyes.

"Father would be very upset if he saw this display."

Titus' gaze was wide as he stared at the ghoul, looking around to see if anyone else was there. "He's not here is he?"

The ghoul chuckled softly, a bubbly sound that made the air almost tingle from the effect. "No, it's just me, Little Brother."

When Titus was satisfied there was no one else around his gaze turned back to his sister. "Then why are you here, Mirren?"

That smile grew, a finger twirling a lock of long wavy black hair. "That is the winning question isn't it?" And with that the ghoul vanished from sight.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

"You're no fun me!" The ghoul yelled as she was tugged back to the ground, her cheeks puffing up.

"No, I'm not. We've come to terms with this." The larger ghoul sighed, shifting her gaze to Titus. Just don't focus on the nightmares, huh? Tall words coming from a demon who specialized in them.

But wouldn't you know it, she was right.

Both Riyo's shifted to look at the sudden, stark stranger approaching. It was incredibly unsettling, much like the first time she'd seen Titus wander into her dreams. Riyo had never met this ghoul. She was an unknown variant in a sea of familiarity that was her mind. Riyo didn't like it, and both expressions said as much, though the smaller was more fearful and the taller was angry. Very, very angry.

Still, the feline watched in silence, hoping for an explanation before she opened a can of subconscious whoop a**... And then she was gone.

Oh, so many bad feelings about this.

"Since you obviously don't know what's going on-" Big Riyo started. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how ******** do you think we are?" Riyo knew Titus didn't get along with his family, and she imagined his sister was no exception. "And... Exactly what should we do about it?"  

[Inu-Mitsu]

At no point did Titus focus his attention on Riyo. Instead his eyes were drifting about looking for his sister again the moment she disappeared. "On a scale of one to ten?" Titus swallowed hard, his own fear creeping into his eyes. "Somewhere in the twenty range."

A laugh filtered through the air again, distant but echoing giving no real clue to the ghoul's location. "I've missed that look in your eyes, Little Brother." Her voice came and went like the wind making a chill run up Titus' spine. "Let me show you what you should be doing."

"Mirren, if you want to pester me that's one thing but-" Titus wasn't able to finish as the ground shifted beneath his feet. Trees turned to ash around them floating away in the wind as the park disintegrated to nothing. The ground cracked and rumbled as it broke apart, a building rising up in the distance. It looked similar to Riyo's home but the air about it gave the impression something was terribly wrong. The building itself sat slightly slanted, its frame crooked and bent. Windows were cracked and scorch marks spread from all around it and up the sides of the building itself like it had risen from the ashes of the fire that had been set to it.

Without warning the door opened inviting them in and it was probably impossible for Titus to nope any harder. "You must think I'm pretty stupid if you think I'm just going to waltz right in."

"Hmm....I wasn't going to give you a choice." Came Mirren's voice again.

The scenery rushed around them as they were pulled toward the front door without ever moving. It was apparent Mirren's skills of dream manipulation were quite a bit more advanced than her brother's and Riyo might even feel the tingle of her touch through her mind as she dove into darker thoughts of things that would frighten her.  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Riyo didn't like this. But... More than anything, Riyo didn't like seeing Titus afraid. There was something very unsettling about it as she tried to recall the last time she saw him like that.

She hadn't.

Perhaps... It was time to pull herself together.

Only one Riyo remained as the scenery disintegrated, and she held onto that led pipe like a lifeline. Not that... She imagined it would do too much. This was a dream world, after all.

The feline's eyes widened as a scene from the past rose and loomed over the two of them. Home. No, it was just a house. It hadn't been home in a long time. "If we're not going to avoid this... Then we'll just have to play along for awhile." Maybe she could figure something out, but...

Her mind was fragile. Sure, she had done some reinforcing in the passing time, but there were some things you just couldn't fix, and as she felt the tingling feeling, the ghoul knew something awful was waiting behind that door. The cat ghoul looked at Titus before grasping his hand and squeezing. "It's... It's just a dream, right?" Riyo had a feeling she'd be internally repeating that for awhile.

As they arrived at the front door without ever moving, the demoness took in a deep breath and stepped through the threshold with her head held high and her eyes burning with anger.  

[Inu-Mitsu]

Titus continued to stare up at the house and while the structure itself didn't hold a sense of fear for him the fact that Mirren had conjured it up did. His sister was capable of a great many things and he still didn't know why she was here.

Feeling Riyo's hand in his the boil shifted his gaze to her briefly. Her question was answered with silence, Titus' eyes drifting back to the open door where only darkness lay beyond it. He knew the ghoul was moving forward without even seeing her and he tightened his grip on her hand to pull her back.

"My sister can reach through dreams to hurt you physically." Titus warned, bringing his hand up to will the door closed again. "It would be best if you could just wake up."

"Oh Titus, there is no need to be so afraid." Mirren purred. "I'm just here to have a little fun at your expense." Her voice was suddenly behind them but before Titus could turn he found himself being shoved forward, the door flying open as he was thrust through it. He stumbled to catch his balance whipping around just in time to have the door slammed in his face.

"b***h..." He hissed.