Pologue - The Protector

A lone spirit frantically searches for someone to stop the nightmares of the dream realm from destroying the universe.

The universe was in danger- terrible danger. And the worst part was that nobody knew it! There

was one person, though.

He had no name. He technically didn't have a gender either, but he felt that he was some sort of

masculine being. Whatever he was, it didn't matter. All that mattered was finding a “hero”, so to say.

Lately, the nightmare of the dream realm had been getting out of hand. Of course, this had been

happening for years on end, but someone was usually able to stop them. Over time, they became more
and more powerful. First, it was just some creatures “accidentally” slipping into children's dreams.
Now, though, they were admitting to intentionally terrorizing children when they weren't supposed to
be having a nightmare! On top of that, they were even switching worlds!

This man, who was the protector of the universe- one of the oldest beings that are still alive- had

to find a human to stop the nightmares. The fact that he wasn't able to stop them baffled him! Perhaps
that nightmares had gained too much power? Or was that man losing power? Neither of which mattered
at the moment. He had to find someone! He was growing tired, though.

Just how many humans would he have to look in on before he'd find someone? They couldn't

just be a simple human! They had to be smart, strong-willed, and have a great imagination!
Unfortunately, no one like that really existed anymore. The government had somehow gotten everyone
to believe that they could not stand out, think on their won, be their own person!

Doubt grew more and more powerful in his mind. What if he doesn't find anyone? What if no

one is up to it? Of course, there would be countless “what if” moments in his life, but it had to work
out this time! He had given up his previous body, became an invisible soul, and is about to take the
form of whatever some lowly human wishes him to be! He could end up as a fluffy, pink bunny!
Surely, he was going to prevail!

He couldn't let any of that get to him. He had to keep searching, completely forgetting about his

past conditions. He was being reborn, in a sense- giving up his body, receiving a new personality, and
changing up his role as protector of the universe. He would take residence in the dream realm, quite the
change from his previous nomadic lifestyle.

“Maybe I should give it a rest,” is what he often told himself. “I can't possibly find someone in

time! And in this world- impossible!”

But then he happened upon her.

A small child, who he later learned is named Marielle, with a bright imagination, filled with

vivid dreams! She had the ability to think of something while dreaming and make it appear! She was a
lucid dreamer!

“This is it...” he told him self, positive that this girl would be the one to save them all. Knowing that

someone cannot simply waltz right into someone's mind, he tried to make himself as unnoticeable as
possible. Forcing himself into her mind, he felt pangs of nervousness in the back of his mind. He
admitted that he was, indeed scared- which is understandable given the present situation- but his
opinion didn't matter.

“This is the beginning...” he thought to himself, slowly slipping into an unconscious state. “Or

perhaps the end... If this girl fails, everything will come to an end.”

**

Eventually, he woke from this unconsciousness to find that he'd been given a new body. It also

appeared that he was in a house, presumably his. He searched around for a while until he found a small,
hand-held mirror. At first, he was a bit startled by his appearance, but relief took over soon enough.
Pure, black hair with a cowlick! Dark brown eyes! He was almost exactly as he was before!
With a small smile spread across his face, he sat on a nearby chair.

**

After arriving in the dream realm, he met many different creatures. One of which, he recalled,

had a very significant impact on who he is known as present day.

**

He had been walking in the crossroads, where are often went when he wanted time to

think. This time, though, he found it hard to concentrate. The usual sound of dripping water and
whistling wind was still there, he knew that much. However, there was something else. The man
couldn't quite identify the sound, but it was repetitive, loud, and annoying.

Footsteps! The sound was footsteps! He figured it was his own, so he stopped moving. They

continued. He looked around- nothing. Not a thing single living thing within the vicinity of his
eyesight! Usually, there weren't any creatures wandering around the crossroads during the daylight
hours.

Suddenly, the man flinched. Above? Only nightmares climbed in areas where you couldn't see

them, so as to go unnoticed and seemingly appear out of nowhere. He held his breath and slowly
looked up...

Nothing.

He heaved a sigh of frustration. Where were they coming from?! He decided that it was

probably just an oncoming attack by some nightmares- or as the beings living in Salum called it, the
darkness- so he would just go back to his house. With yet another frustrated sigh, he spun around on his
heel.

A sudden wave of pain washed over his entire body, followed by a gasp that didn't seem to

come from himself. The pain caused him to black out, leaving him clueless as to what happened after
he was attacked by whatever the creature was that was wandering around.

**

He woke with a dull pain in his upper lip- not laying on the cold pavement as he expected.

Instead, he was in a soft, warm bed. By instinct, he knew that it wasn't his own; that would be far too
perfect. Whose was it, then? He certainly didn't know anyone who would have been walking in the
crossroads, and he was positive that he was alone. Or was he? Perhaps there was someone else there?

He slowly opened one eye. From what he could see, he was in a dimly lit room with red walls.

On a small table beside him was a candle and some books, along with a folded-up piece of paper.
Carefully, he sat up. He placed one hand on his lower back and sat up as straight as possible.
There was a loud pop, grunt, and a sigh. “Nn... I'm getting rather fragile...” he mumbled while he
reached for the slip of paper. He fumbled with it before successfully unfolded it. Neat handwriting was
scratched across the page, reading:

“I don't know who you are, but I was following you around
for a while (sorry). You startled me when you turned around
so quickly, so I panicked and punched you (sorry). I brought
you back to my house to clean you up. I waited around for a
while after doing that, but you didn't wake up. I'll let you
rest for a bit. If you wake up, just yell and I'll be there.   
Also, here's some books if you want them. They are of no use
to me. I already know its information.”

The man raised an eyebrow and reached for the books. Dreams, The Official Quadruple World

Atlas, and The History of Samtlich. He paged through them for a few minutes before the door opened.
A tall, sad-looking man flinched when he looked to the bed.

“Y-you're awake!” he stuttered. “U-um...” he paused for a long time. “What might your name

be, sir?”

There was a long silence. “I... don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“No. I've never talked to anyone before, so I never had a use for a name.”
Another long silence.
“Well... you should think of one.”
“Mmm...” the older man thought for a while. “Alden.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.” the man, now deemed Alden, nodded. “I like it.”

“Alright.” the tall man walked over to Alden and began shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you,

Alden. You can call me Big Brother.”


“Big Brother... huh? That's quite odd.”

“Yes, well...” Big Brother paused. “Like you, I never had a name- not that I know of, anyway. I

always liked the idea of being called 'big brother', being looked up to, protecting someone... however...”
he trailed off and his already sad look deepened.

“But you never had any siblings?” Alden asked, cocking his head.

Big Brother lowered his head and remained silent for a while. “I never knew my family...

apparently, my mother died a few minutes after I was born. My father was there for a while, but was
killed when the coal mine he was working in collapsed, which left my 10-year-old sister to care for me.
I don't know what happened, but one day, my sister was gone. I'm not sure if she was killed or got sick-
she probably just got tired of me and left. I asked people in my village about what happened, but they
just looked at me pitifully and didn't respond. I suppose that I grew tired of the frustration after a while,
so I just left. My childhood was rather vague, so I can't recall any specific dates and so forth...”

Alden, although he had begun shaking Big Brother's hand a while ago, had kept his firm grasp

in his hand until now. He jerked his hand away, a bit embarrassed by this involuntary act of kindness.
Big Brother glanced around a couple times, then straight at Alden. It appeared that his eyes
were inverted; his black irises took up the entire visible portion of his eye. His pupils were perhaps the
most incredible feature about his face; they black as usual, but they also appeared to be filled with
some sort of glowing, bright blue liquid. It swirled around in clouds, fading every few minutes, only
to have more seemingly injected into his pupils.

“So... who raised you?” Alden hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Well... my sister disappeared some time before I can remember, so I must have been very

young. All I really remember is being passed around by numerous housewives, but they would get
scared of me for no reason and disown me!”

“What were they like?” Alden asked. “I assume that they'd be nice.”

“Oh, most certainly! Most were widows or their husbands were away. The majority of them

didn't have children, either. They would pamper me; buying clothing, baking cakes and cookies... I
didn't mind any of this of course, but what I really wanted was education! They taught me the basics
such as reading and writing, but I wanted more!”

“If that's the case, how are you able to speak as you are now? You seem to have a good grasp on
grammar and such...”

“Once I left the village, I worked for loggers or at an inn, slowly earning money. I used that

money to buy books!” Big Brother stood up and walked over to a book shelf. “I still own the first book
I bought...” he said, carefully sliding an exceptionally thick book from the top shelf. “I must have only
been 9 or 10 when I got this.” he chuckled. After lugging a chair from across the room to in front of the
bed, he sat down.

Alden leaned forward a bit, curious as to what the book was. “A dictionary...?”

“Yes!” Big Brother gleamed with happiness as he he;d the book in his hands, tracing over the

crease on its spine. He carefully opened the cover, revealing its old, yellowed pages. The author
appeared to be a man by the name of Bjorn Erikson. Alden knew of this man! He was a poet from the
land of Fryst, and the first to compile a dictionary used by the citizens of Uberlegen. Just from this bit
of information, Alden knew that this book was well over 50 years old.

“Quite the old book.” Alden stated in a monotonous tone.

“Ah! I know it!” That's what the book seller told me when I bought it- and that was over 12

years ago!” Big Brother gave a hearty laugh. He flipped through the pages for a while, stopping and
reading different words aloud. “I've always had an interest in books, words, writing... literature in
general. I was absolutely determined to learn as much as possible about these things. I went out and
bought books on grammar, writing, and the structure of our language.”

“So you're self taught?”

“Yes. Along with reading and writing, I've also learned magic and self-defense. I can perform

basic spells and curses, alchemy... most of that.”

“Alchemy, you say?” Alden's eyes widened a bit. “I also know alchemy! Well, the basics,

anyhow.”

**

After this incident, Alden and Big Brother got to be good friends. They would spend hours

together talking, reading, and other things they both enjoyed. Alden told Big Brother of the Darkness,
Marielle, and the up-coming war. Together, they watched over Marielle, guiding her around without
completely revealing themselves.

...But that was over 10 years ago.

Now, Alden had to come up with a way to confront Marielle. He would have to pull her out of

her home world, which will probably scare her a bit, and hope for the best. All that was left was the
question that weighs life and death...

Will she do it?

Author's Note

Something wacky happened when I tried to indent, so please try to ignore that the best you can.