Prison of Despair
When Allura opened her eyes, she was shocked to find herself once again in the nightmare from last night.
"Wha-what?!" She said as she looked around, and was horrified to see a bunch of sheep in cages. "What's going on?! What is this?!" She panicked, but then noticed the falling platform and began climbing like last time.
"Hey! You're that newbie from last night!" A familiar voice rang out.
"It's you! The person who helped me!" Allura said in realization.
"Word of advice. Watch out for cracked blocks. They'll collapse when you step on top them." The voice warned. Allura took caution as she climbed. Eventually, she started hearing the bell again.
"You've done well, and have come pretty far. I'll see you at the landing. Everybody else is there, too!" The voice said.
"Everybody?" Allura questioned then climbed up to the top. Above her was a chain with a hoop dangling from the ceiling. She jumps up and pulls it, then a bunch of stairs appeared. She then climbs up the stairs until she found herself at a landing, full of sheep all standing on two legs.
"Looks like you survived." She looked up to see a sheep with a tie.
"What? Who are you? A sheep?" She asked confused. What was all this?
"Do I look like a sheep. You're the sheep. Everybody here's a sheep but me." The sheep said. Wait a minute, his voice sounded familiar.
"You're the one who's been helping me." She realized. "Who are you? And what is this place?" She asked.
"I wish I knew..." The sheep with the tie replied. "One thing's for certain, though. If we don't climb... we're dead." He said.
"Dead?!" Allura said horrified.
"If you see this place once, that's it, it's all over. You'll keep coming back every night." The sheep explained.
"Every night...?! You can't be serious!" Allura said back.
"We all have the same fate here. If you don't want to die, you gotta climb." The sheep explains.
"So, if I want to survive, I have to climb too?" Allura asked.
"There's no guarantee... But take a look at that." The sheep with the tie said as he pointed to a ringing bell above something that appeared to be a confessional. "See that bell? It's like a church or something. If we can make it to the top, there may be an escape." He said.
"So there is a way out then?" Allura reiterated.
"Like I said, there's no guarantee." The Sheep repeated. "But we've got to believe, keeps us sane. Those who panic, die first." He added.
"J-just stop with all this dying nonsense...! I'll do what you say! Just-just please help!" Allura pleaded. She was terrified, but who wouldn't be in this situation?
"Look, from here on out, I'm afraid you're on your own. I'm going now." He said and began walking away.
"N-no wait!" She begged.
"You better hurry too." The sheep simply said and left.
"Why?" She asked herself. She walked up onto the platform and saw all the other sheep around. She walked up to talk to them to see if they knew what all this was, but they didn't seem to know anything.
"Where am I?! What's with all these damn sheep!?" One shouted.
"Everyone dies eventually..." One who was lying face first on the ground said.
"Why am I here?! What's with those cages?! Why do they have sheep in them?!" That was a question she was concerned with as well. Why were there sheep in those cages? What had they done to deserve being imprisoned?
"Dammit! I'm going to survive! Even if it means kicking off others! If you get in my way! I'll kick you off too!" That comment unnerved her.
Many of the sheep were nervous wrecks, not that Allura blames them, but when she tried to comfort them, they would just yell at her, accusing her of trying to get them to let their guard down. One even cursed her.
Deciding she had enough, she walked up to the confessional, where she saw the sheep with the tie go. There was an open box, and a closed box. She looked into the closed box's window, but could barely see anything through the glass, though she did make out the silhouette of a person, or what she at least assumed was a person, before going into the open box and sat down.
"Well, hello there." A voice greets from the other box. Allura jumped a little. So there is someone in the other box. Their voice made it hard to tell if it was a man or a woman. "Looks like a new "lamb" has arrived. Welcome to the confessional." The voice said. Lamb? Did they mean Allura.
"Wh-who are you? What is this place?" Allura asked.
"This is the World of Nightmares. I guess you could say I'm its supervisor." The voice answered. "Ah... I sense a force of change... What exactly happened in the other world?" The voice asked. Change? What did they mean? "Ah, well, I guess it doesn't really matter. Considering all you lambs are going to die here anyway." It said.
"What?! Die?! What do you mean?!" Allura asked.
"But, before you die... I want to determine your life's worth. So I'll have you answer some questions." The voice said.
(AN: Here's a fun little tidbit. Comment on the answers you pick for the questions.)
First Question: What expectations do you have for your significant other?
Good Looks <<
Good Personality <<
"Hmm... So that's your answer huh?" The voice said after Allura answers.
"Who exactly are you? Are you the one who is doing this?" Allura asked.
"I told you. I'm just a supervisor. Someone else brought you here, and wanted you to die. It's someone that you know." Allura was shocked by their reply. "You never really know what people are thinking. Or what they say behind your back. If you want the truth, you have to survive. I'll send you to the next trial." The voice said.
Suddenly the silk curtain on the door of the box closed and Allura felt it moving, like an elevator. When the box stopped moving, Allura stepped out to find that she was on another block tower.
"Another one? How many must we do?" She asked herself, but she knew she didn't time to dawdle. She had to climb, so she did. Suddenly she heard the voice of the sheep with the tie.
"Are you getting the hang of this?" He asked.
"How am I supposed to get the hang of this?" She asked herself quietly. "Wait! Don't go! Please help me!" She pleaded to the sheep. As strange as it sounds.
"Sorry, but I'm not going to die. I have to climb as well." He replied. "Oh, yeah... I forgot to tell you, as you climb you'll run into strange items. It's best if you have one on hand." The voice informed.
Allura was unsure, but she kept climbing. Sure enough, she came across a small white cube, kind of like the normal blocks. She took it and decided to keep it for later. As she was climbing, one of the sheep suddenly shoved her off the block she was standing on, and she fell onto a cracked block, that started to break. She quickly took the white cube and used it, creating a 3 by 3 block platform, and she was able to get to safety. She let out a breath of relief and went back to climbing.
"I've seen others here and there. The fighting's gonna start getting fierce." The sheep with the tie said.
"You mean these others? They keep shoving me around. I nearly fell." Allura replied back.
"They're trying to climb too. This is a dog-eat-dog world. There's not time for courtesy. Anyway, no matter what comes up, stay calm and keep climbing." He said back.
With nothing else, Allura continued her climbing, making sure to not run into any of the sheep. If she did, they would start shoving, but she managed to shove back. Eventually, she made it to the top, there was another chain, which she quickly pulled and moved up to the next platform.
"It's you... Looks like you're alive." Allura looked up to see the tie wearing sheep.
"It's you! Oh, thank heavens you're safe as well!" Allura said relieved.
"Barely. Still... How many people died trying to get here?" He replied then asked.
"People? What?" Allura was confused. What did he mean by people?
"Look.. Here, you see everyone as sheep, but they're really human. All of them." The tie wearing sheep explained. Shocking didn't begin to describe this revelation. She suddenly remembered all those falling sheep. Those... Those were really people? "There's got to be some reason we were brought here..." He continued.
"What reason would there be? Why are we being forced to suffer like this?!" Allura asked. None of this made sense. Sure, dreams usually didn't make sense, but this was just ridiculous.
"Who knows really, but we should top this speculation. It'll just confuse and slow us down. We need to think of what to do next. I've been hearing rumors of "something big" coming... You be careful." He cautioned. The statement made Allura nervous. "Still, you really got the hang of things. There's nothing more I need to teach you." The sheep said.
"Th-that can't be true. There must be something." Allura tried to reason.
"If we're lucky, we'll meet again!" The tie wearing sheep said and left.
"No! Wait!" She tried to call, but the sheep already left. She sighed and stepped up, onto the platform. The first thing that caught her eyes, was a particular big sheep next to a table with items on its top, and bag below. She walked over to the big sheep and it noticed her.
"Oh! You're new here, right?" He, judging by the voice, asked. "Let me ask: do you have any coins. You may have seen them lying around while you were climbing." He said. Yes, in fact she did. She had found the coins and had collected some of them. "I'll trade you useful items for them." He offered. What?
"Why do want coins instead of an item though?" She asked.
"I'm a numismatist. I love money. "There's nothing in life money can't buy!" I've got a plaque with that on it in my office. No matter what world you're in, as long as you've got money, you can do anything. These coins are symbols... symbolizing money. And if that's the case, I'll be able to save myself if I have enough! Well... That's my theory, anyway." The sheep merchant, guy said. Allura wasn't sure that was how it worked.
"If you want an item, just pony up some coins. Tonight's product is the white cube." He said. Allura still didn't think money was the solution, but she could use the item just in case.
"Okay." She said and proceeded to buy the item.
"Come back anytime." The Merchant Sheep said and Allura walked away. Looking around the platform. She saw a lot of sheep with distinct features. The first being a sheep with a white headband. She walked up to the sheep in question.
"Hmm? You want something?" The sheep, male from their voice, asked.
"Oh, nothing. Let us both make it out alive." Allura quickly said.
"I'm not on board with being encouraged by a sheep." The Headband-Sheep scoffed. "But, I guess it's better than a chef or kitchen hand." He added.
"Kitchen, Band?" Allura asked, having heard that last line wrong.
"Hand! I said Kitchen Hand! Like a cook! You need to pay attention more!" The Headband-Sheep snapped, suddenly defensive.
"Oh! I'm sorry." Allura apologized. The sheep sighed.
"Tch! ...kitchen band." He seemed to scoff. "Sorry for yelling, but you need to pay attention. Especially here." He wasn't wrong. She walked over to another sheep that seemed to be down and was able help to help by comforting them.
But when she went to the next one it turned out to be one of the sheep she'd shoved earlier. Needless to say, their weren't too happy to see her. Not to mention how they threaten her and anyone else who got in their way, even when Allura told them the sheep were really people. They didn't seem to care.
She quickly moved to where two sheep were talking to each other. One had glasses and the other had a sort of spiked hat. She walked over to the two.
"Hey!" Greeted the Glasses Sheep. "We're talking about techniques. Want to join?" She, it was a female, asked. Allura decided to join, they did provide some useful block moving techniques with her and she found that the one with a hat was a man. She then moved to other sheep.
One was depressed, lying on the floor, and felt guilty when they learned that the sheep were people, having pushed some earlier. She then came to one sheep that was full on panicking.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! Monster!" They shouted.
"Is something wrong?" Allura asked concerned.
"It's big, fuzzy and fluffy at the same time, and it's coming for me!" The sheep shouted. "The monster talks! Oh fuck it talks." Oh dear. Sounded like he lost it.
Allura soon went to the confessional. She still couldn't who was in the other box, but she went and sat down in the open one.
"Oh, you're here, little lost lamb." The mysterious voice seemed to mock. "Next question: What do value?" The voice asked.
"I've had it with this!" Allura snapped.
"One's life worth can't be determined by just a single question." The voice reasoned. "Not to mention, you have more than one path ahead of you... He-he!" The voice laughs, annoying Allura.
Second Question: Does life begin or end with marriage?
Life begins <<
Life ends <<
"Hmm... So that's your choice. I see." The voice said when Allura answered. "This here is actually a giant chapel, with eight floors." The voice suddenly said.
"Wait, so does that mean there is an end to this?!" Allura asked.
"The world is in a flux state... I can't guarantee what your future holds." The voice says. "Be careful what you take for granted though. I'm sure you've heard of people losing such things. Something big is coming... I can feel it. Something the likes of which this world has never seen." The voice said and Allura was stunned.
"I guess there's no point in worrying about the future though. You have more pressing matters to attend to. Ohh... Hear that? I think I hear your night terrors calling. Hehehe!" The voice said then laughed.
"What?!" Allura asked, but just then the curtain closed and she was riding up to the next stage.
Allura stepped out onto the block tower, but then she hears something.
"You... won't... escape..."
"What the-? That... voice... Where have I...?" She asked herself as she looked down to see something emerge from the darkness below.
"We won't... Let you... escape...!" Now two voices were heard as a pair of arms appeared. Both were muscular, but were different skin tones. One was similar to her, and the other was paler, with one pale hand holding a bent fork. Allura was shocked. She... she knew those voices. And those arms. No. It couldn't be.
"What... What in the world? Shiro...? Father...?" She said horrified, and immediately began climbing up to get away. Not easy with those things on her tail. With Shiro turning blocks into heavy blocks, making them harder to move, luckily she found an item that turned blocks normal, and her father's arm grabbing at her, not to mention their words.
Fists of Grudge
Shiro: Found you!
Alfor: Get back Here!
Shiro and Alfor: Hahaha!
Shiro: There's no escape!
Alfor: Young Lady, back here!
Alfor: We're not finished!
Shiro: Take responsibility!
Alfor: Don't you dare run from me!
Shiro: Don't ignore me!
Alfor: You won't get away!
Shiro: Come back here!
Finally, Allura made it to the top. This time there was a door. She opened the door, a light shining brightly from inside. Suddenly she heard a groan and turned to see the two arms have caught up to her.
"Don't you run!" Shiro shouted.
"You can't escape!" Alfor yelled.
"Shiro! Father! Please stop!" Allura screamed, but the light from the door way seemed to burn the hands into ashes. Allura released the breath she was holding, and immediately went through the door and out of the nightmare. What she didn't know, was what was waiting for her in the other world.
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