Scene: Classroom. Late afternoon. The low hum of fluorescent lights.
[Student murmurs and the scratch of pencils—normality.]
Teacher (distantly):
"…and once you solve for x, make sure to—Akira? You with us?"
Akira:
"Yeah. Sorry. Just… tired."
[His hand moves slowly, pen dragging half-formed equations. Eyes heavy.]
Akira (to himself, barely audible):
"…why does this keep happening…"
[His vision blurs. Everything seems to slow down. Sounds muffle.]
Akira (inner thought):
Not again. Not now…
[A whisper. A soft, echoing hum. Almost a song. Female. Harmonizing.]
Whispering Voice (faint):
Come back…
Akira (tensing, confused):
"…who—?"
[The classroom fades. Students vanish like mist. The chalkboard empties. The light above flickers out.]
Akira (stands suddenly):
"…hello?"
[No answer. Just that soft voice, like water through stone.]
Voice (closer now):
You've always known the way…
Akira (staggering back, eyes wide):
"Where the hell am I?!"
[The walls ripple. A shadow shifts across the floor—tall, humanoid, but hollow-eyed.]
[The air turns thick. The silence presses in.]
Akira (breathing heavy):
"…this isn't real…"
[The shadow moves. Akira flinches.]
[Suddenly—steel cuts through silence. A blur of silver.]
Kiera (cool, focused):
"Move."
[She crashes into the shadow with a shimmer of light. It recoils, evaporating into smoke.]
Kiera (turning to him):
"You're not ready. But ready or not—you're awake now."
Akira (still shaken):
"…what was that?"
Kiera:
"One of many. And more are coming."
[Akira stares at her. The voice still lingers in his head. Faint.]
Akira:
"Who… are you?"
Kiera (walking past him):
"No time. We have to get you out before this place resets."
[Akira hesitates, then follows, the soft hum still echoing in his chest.]
Scene: Dreamschool Halls – Warped and Shifting
[Akira stands, still catching his breath. The classroom is gone—twisted into dim, endless hallways, lockers humming with a low buzz. The ceiling stretches unnaturally.]
Akira (uneasy):
"…what the hell is this place…?"
Kiera (already moving):
"Stay close. Don't look back."
[She takes off down the hallway without another word. Akira hesitates, then follows, footsteps echoing too loud against tile.]
Akira:
"Wasn't the door—on the other side?"
[They pass a window—only black outside. No sky, no world. Just shifting static.]
Akira (frustrated):
"Can you tell me what's going on? Just one answer."
[Kiera ignores him. She turns a corner, blades faintly humming on her back.]
Akira:
"Are you even real? Is this a dream?"
[A locker bangs open on its own. Papers scatter, blank sheets spinning like feathers.]
Kiera (without stopping):
"Keep moving."
[They turn down a stairwell. It loops—impossibly—right back to the same hall they left.]
Akira (panting):
"…what the hell is this—some kind of trap?"
[A low sound. A breathless groan from somewhere deeper in the hall. Lights flicker violently overhead.]
Akira (tensing):
"Okay, seriously. I'm done playing. I need answers."
[The floor shifts slightly—just enough to make him stumble.]
Kiera (finally turning to him, voice calm but sharp):
"You don't want answers here."
[Behind them—shadows slip through the walls. Long-limbed silhouettes. No faces. Just movement.]
Kiera (coldly):
"Run."
[They sprint through the corridor. The hall elongates. Doors slam as they pass. Something scrapes along the ceiling above them.]
Akira (under breath):
"This isn't happening. This can't be—"
[A bell tolls once. Deep. Distant. Everything around them freezes for half a second.]
Akira:
"Did you hear that? That bell—"
Kiera (gripping his arm):
"Don't stop. Ever."
[She yanks him forward just as the hallway splits open—tiles cracking into a yawning chasm of static.]
[They jump. Fade to black—
—then land hard on cold pavement.]
Scene: Noctis – Rooftop Edge, Neon-Fog Horizon
[Akira gasps, looking around. The city stretches endlessly—skyscrapers with flickering signs, twisted alleys glowing under purple clouds.]
Akira (quietly):
"…what is this place…"
Kiera (finally releasing him):
"Noctis."
[She watches the skyline warily. The hum of the city pulses like a living thing.]
Kiera:
"If we stay here, they'll find us."
Akira:
"Who the hell is they?!"
[Kiera starts walking again.]
Kiera:
"You'll see."
[Akira stares after her, then glances up. The clouds above shimmer faintly—like something watching from beyond.]
Akira (to himself):
"…this is insane…"
[And faintly—just under the city's hum—the voice again. That soft, harmonizing whisper, like a memory that won't let go.]
Scene: Twisting Alleys of Noctis – Just Before Reaching the Library]
Akira:
"How long do these alleys go on for?"
(Kiera doesn't answer. Neon reflections slither across the wet stone. The air's growing thicker—like breathing through smoke.)
Akira:
"And these damn shadows keep following us—"
Kiera:
"Don't stop."
(A sudden blur darts past. Then another. Figures in glass-like cloaks start phasing from the walls, surrounding them.)
Akira:
"…Nope. I'm done pretending this is normal."
Kiera:
(low)
"They're faster here. The city's pulling them in."
Akira:
"The hell does that mean?!"
Kiera:
(draws her blade)
"It means we fight."
(One cloaked figure lunges—distorted limbs flickering like a broken reflection. Kiera meets it mid-air, metal clashing against dreamglass. Sparks of light ripple out.)
Akira:
(stumbling back)
"This isn't real—this isn't real—"
(A second cloaked figure rushes him. Too fast. Too close.)
(The voice again. The faint song. Harmonizing, somewhere deep in his chest. He grips his hand—feels something heat up.)
Akira:
(voice low, desperate)
"I don't wanna die here—"
(A sudden flare of crimson light explodes from his hand. A blade forms—long, jagged, glowing like burning memory.)
Akira:
"…What the hell…?"
(He barely has time to process. The blade moves with him as he blocks the strike—metal ringing, dreamsteel meeting glass.)
Kiera:
(eyes sharp)
"So. You've finally woken up."
(Three more rush in. Kiera dives left, slicing through one. Akira moves on instinct—his blade almost pulling him with it.)
(The sword pulses with a heat not his own. Echoes of someone else's voice in the back of his head—like a memory bleeding through.)
Akira:
(gritting his teeth)
"I don't know what this is—don't care right now."
(He charges. Cuts through mist. Another figure shatters into prismatic shards, scattering like broken light.)
(A final figure steps in, mask cracked, hand outstretched—but then…)
Cael (off-screen):
"Enough."
(The space warps. The figures freeze in motion. Everything bends inward—then snaps.)
[Cut: Inside Cael's Library]
(The walls close behind them. Warmth. Stillness. Candlelight flickers.)
Akira:
(panting)
"You—who the hell are you?"
Cael:
(walking down stone steps, calm)
"Someone who just bought you ten minutes of peace. Make it count."
Kiera:
(to Cael)
"He manifested it. Crimson. Stronger than expected."
Cael:
(eyes on Akira's sword)
"Hmm. The blade remembers him, even if he doesn't."
Akira:
(looking at the sword in his hand, breath shallow)
"I didn't… ask for this."
Cael:
"No. But the Dream doesn't wait for permission."