Nightmare's Judgement [Hunt/Complete]

    "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Asher questioned, while walking through an area could only be described as depressing and kind of ominous. Of course, no place in the Dark Area would probably be considered friendly and full of rainbow, so this was of no surprise once Asher had learned the name associated with the location.

    Still, Meicoomon found herself rolling her eyes at her human. "Oh, I don't know. Purrobably die?" Why didn't the spirit user ever understand the gravity of any situation? The cat had to remind herself just who she was talking to! "I mean, they don't just give someplace a name like this fur noth-" the feline began to trail off, as the digivice let out another beep, and a large, black dome fell into view. "I feel like that's new."

    Or, had it been there for a long time? It was so hard to tell, having spent so much time in the human world. How many Digital years had passed over the span of time that Meicoomon had begun her journeys into the Human world? On top of this thought, the Dark Area was pretty big. Maybe Meicoomon just hadn't traveled in this particular area before? It wasn't like this place was full of identifiable markers! Excluding the strange structure, that is.

    With little else in sight, and a progressively beeping device, it was made pretty clear where the next totem was hiding. Whiskers shifted on her hind paws, uncomfortably. "I still think we should considpurr calling someone. I bet Karin would come with! Or Elliot!" Or, anyone, really. The feline wasn't keen on her human just walking into a beast's den like this! It was scary!

    But, Asher wasn't listening, and was quick to continue on the path toward the building. Could it really be called that? It seriously just looked like a giant, shadowy half-sphere that someone dropped on the ground. "Yeah, yeah. You always think that," the teen hummed, after several moments of wandering the sphere. Before he could even question how to enter the object, a large cut-out in the side of the structure came into view. Nice! It actually had a door! That made things way easier!

    "Ashpurr, can we please just-"

    "If you want to, you can go find someone, but I want to check this out," the teen interrupted, already taking a step through the entryway. "I mean, what if it's gone by the time we get back? That would suck, wouldn't it?" Then what would he do for a spirit? Would a new one appear? Or would he have to find whatever happened to this one? Not that a place like this looked like it was going to be moving any time soon. But, who knew? The Digital World did weirder things.

    Knowing that she was going to get nowhere with this argument, the feline sighed and began to follow Asher through the entrance. Placing a paw on the archway, Whiskers swore she could almost feel the wall pulsing. But, this thought quickly vanished as decaying earth and dry air gave way to green grass and... sunlight? That was unexpected!

    Within the dome, it looked nothing like it's exterior! Grassy hills spanned across the room, with blue, cloudy skies on the horizon, and on the ceiling. Heck, the clouds even seemed to move! Whatever had created this place had done a fantastic job at making it realistic! "This doesn't look nearly as scary as you made it sound," Asher mumbled, shooting a glance at his cat. How was this dangerous? There were Digimon having a freakin' tea party in the middle of the 'room'!

    Approaching the group of Digimon, Meicoomon instantly spotted a familiar face among the crowd. "Kitty?"

    Sure enough, a little Wanyamon was bouncing on the table, clattering little plates and teacups alike. Hearing it's name, the Digimon looked over, before fluffing up. "It's the Meicoomon! Meicoomon! Yay!" Then, there was an awkward pause as the tiny feline realized that she never actually returned in time to play with her friends before. "Uh! I still haven't found chalk! We'll play once I do, though!"

    Nearby, one of the larger teapots rattled angrily, while a Wizardmon kept it's hand on the cap. "New guests?" The wizard chimed, overly cheerful. "A friend of Wanyamon is a friend of ours! Sit, sit! Have tea!" Preparing to pour tea from the still clattering pot, the Digimon paused, tilting his head.

    "What kind of tea moves itself?" Whiskers found herself asking aloud, while refusing to sit. It seemed that Asher was finding all of this a little too weird, even for him! While, normally, he'd play along with such a game, he found himself still standing alongside his cat.

    A curious hum came from the hatted Digimon, shaking the tea pot. "Maybe, it's gone bad?" He suggested, with a shrug. It didn't seem that the champion was overly concerned about the contents!

    Waving the pot around in his hand for a moment, Kitty piped up with, "I think that one's full of Tinkermon!"

    "Oh."

    And, with a crash and muffled shriek, the tea pot soon shattered on the ground behind the wizard, as he immediately lost interest in the mystery. Buzzing out of the mess was an absolutely drenched, furious, and tiny fairy. "Why would you guys do that? I almost drowned!"

    "You were only in there for a day," the Wizardmon argued casually. They left their friend in a tea pot for an entire day? She looked like she barely would have fit in that thing! Even Asher wasn't finding the joke in this! "Maybe, I should have filled it with the sleepytime tea. You look stressed."

    Stressed was certainly an understatement! "Kitty! We're leaving!"

    "Nya, no!" The blue feline huffed, "I want more tea and playtime!"

    Having taken enough time listening to the banter, Asher finally found a place to cut in. "Okay, this looks like a ton of fun, but we're looking for something."

    "Well," the Wizardmon started, while reaching for another tea pot, "have you found it?"

    Looking up at the sun, the redhead took a deep breath. "No. That's why we're here." And, exhale! "You haven't seen a spirit totem anywhere, have you?"

    Raising from his seat, the Wizard leaned over the table with tea pot out. "I have!" Lifting the lid on the object, he began to slide the container under Tinkermon's feet. "I've seen a lot of them!" And, before anyone could respond, there was another clatter of a lid crashing down on the poor Tinkermon, and sealing her into the pot. "One, recently! None in this room!"

    "Is that a riddle?" Meicoomon grumbled, trying to figure out what exactly the Wizard was getting at. Was he just saying that there weren't any around? Beause the D-Scanner was saying otherwise!

    Mulling over the question, the Wizard shrugged. "No, but if you need, I have a riddle! Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

    Seriously?

    "Because Poe wrote on both?" Asher grimaced, still refusing to look at the stupid wizard. Man, that riddle was everywhere online! Why would he pick that one?

    "What's a Poe?" The Wizard inquired, honestly, while looking to Wanyamon. It was clear that neither had any idea of the answer given!

    Ears twitching, Meicoomon looked up at her human. "It is rawrly weird when you're the smartest one in the room." What kind of place was this?! Whiskers was certainly not enjoying this madness!

    Pouring more tea for Wanyamon, using the pot full of Tinkermon, the Wizardmon gave up on interpretting the answer. "If you're looking for something, have you tried going up?" Like, into the sky? Noticing the puzzled expressions, the Digimon used the still-pouring tea pot to point further into the field, where a very obvious stone staircase stood. Hot liquid splashed across the table, and then the grass, while the Data digimon jabbed the spout in the direction of the object. "You know! Up! The stairs? What, you don't think I meant up into the sky, did you?" With silence as their response, the Digimon scoffed, "it's like you think I'm crazy!"

    "Absfurlutely so," Meicoomon deadpanned, while using one of her tendrils to pull on Asher's hand. "Let's go, befur he gives mew bad ideas." Insanity wasn't contagious, was it? For Whiskers' sake, she could only hope it wasn't! Either way, the redhead didn't resist, and was actually quick to follow the cat to the top of the staircase, though they couldn't proceed any further. Everything stopped entirely, there, and was only met with a mirror. No rooms, hallways, or even a floor! Just a full-body mirror on the top step. "Oh, you're kitten me," the feline grumbled at her reflection as it rippled across the -- wait. Rippled?

    That didn't seem quite right.

    Reaching a paw out, Whiskers found it engulfed by the mirror, as if she were reaching into a pond rather than a solid surface. Taking a deep breath, the feline took a step through, Asher still in tow. Now, they found themselves in another room, completely different than the last. The floor was as reflective as the walls, and mirrors were scattered like a maze.

    With a groan, Asher began to wander the mirrored area, adverting his gaze from meeting his own eyes in any of the reflections. "So, do you think there's a door at the end of this room, or something else?"

    Meicoomon couldn't say for certain. "Who says there's even an end? Maybe we have to tilt the mirrawrs at just the right angle, and the spirit shows up?" Weirder options were out there, after all!

    "What? Does that happen?" The teen huffed, turning his head to look at the cat. Any logical person would have stopped walking the maze when looking away from their steps, but Asher was the obvious exception. Bumping into one of the mirrors, the spirit user let out a small, "oof," while reaching out to steady the object. Don't break, don't break, don't -- oh good, he seemed in the clear now.

    Or, at least, until a voice chimed from around him. "Don't smudge the glass," it chastised, while the duo began to look around for the source. Not that it took much searching. Each mirror soon became overwhelmed with the face of a green chameleon. Hypnotic eyes shifted around wildly, examining the intruders to his room. "It really breaks the illusion, when there are finger and face-prints on them."

    Trying to use the sleeve of his shirt, Asher tried to rub the fingerprints off of the corner of the mirror. "Right. Sorry. Wouldn't happen if, you know, I knew where we were going."

    One of the nearby mirrors began to ripple, while the Chamelemon crawled out from it, and rested on the top of the frame of the item. "I don't know," he commented, dully. "If you don't know where you're going, why are you here?"

    Now, it was Meicoomon's turn to answer, giving a simple, "we're looking for a spirit totem."

    "And, what will you do with it, once you've found it?"

    "Oh, no, we are not doing this stupid question game like with the crow. Not again."

    "A crow?"

    "Well, it's definitely not a writing desk." What was the difference between a normal desk and a 'writing desk' anyway?

    The answer elicited a small chuckle from the red striped monster, while he tilted his head sideways so far that it made Asher's neck hurt just to watch. "I take it that you spoke to Wizardmon." Oh, good. So it was obvious! "Are you so sure that you want the item you're here for?"

    That seemed obvious, also. After all, why would Asher willingly walk into mirrors if he wasn't dead-set on getting this stupid totem? "Why wouldn't I? We came all the way here for it."

    "All the way sounds like a long way," the chameleon blinked one eye, while the other shifted to examine the mirrors spread across the room. Every so often, one would subtly shift out of place, and the striped monster would shift to avoid catching itself in a new reflection. "But, if you can't bear to look at yourself, you won't want Her to look at you."

    Her. Great. Female spirit, confirmed.

    "She's very judgmental," the green Digimon warned, feeling the mirror under his feet shifting to a new angle. "Did you know, you're not the first spirit user to come here?" Smile began on an otherwise sour face, "do you really think you'll be the last?"

    What had happened to the last ones to visit?

    Before Meicoomon could ask, a terrible shatter filled the air, while Asher bit down on his tongue in an attempt to repress the sudden pain. "Why does everyone have to talk so much?" The teen huffed, slowly pulling his hand away from falling glass. "I'm tired of games, and I'm tired of people telling me that I'm not good enough." Had anyone actually said that to him? It always felt implied! "So, new game! I'm going to bleed all over every mirror in this room, until you tell me how to get to this spirit. I think this sounds like fun! Doesn't it?"

    If Chamelemon didn't like fingerprints on his glass, he surely wouldn't want to wipe human fluids off of them, either. The smile on the Digimon's mouth returned to it's original, irritated look, as it debated the time it would take for something without a rag to clean the mirrors. Did that mean that he'd have to actually touch blood?

    Why did Asher have to be so dramatic? Even Whiskers was cringing away from her human's reaction to this day. Surely, he was going to have glass stuck in his hand! "Ashpurr," the cat murmured, lowly. There had to have been an easier way of going about this! A better one, at that! "Are you okay?"

    "You're damaging the aesthetic of the room," the chameleon grumbled, one eye giving a twitch. "Is this how you people think that things are accomplished? Violence and attempted grabs at leadership?"

    Yellow eyes glanced about the room. The champion seemed at least a little accurate. Now, with one broken mirror, none of the others aligned quite right. "Mmm," the teen hummed, pursing lips together tightly. His hand was already stinging, while he tried to avoid making any expression to imply such. "Yup, I think it is. Do you want to find out with me?"

    Was that a threat? It really sounded like a threat. Asher needed to stop saying things like that!

    "Not particularly," the digimon clicked, while slowly crawling back into the pool that pretended to be a mirror, soon emerging from another one at the other side of the room. "You've ruined my game, though. My nightmare cannot work, if even one mirror is out of place." Was whatever this game was, what turned away anyone that sought the totem? Luckily, it didn't seem that Asher would have to find out. "I still advise you leave. You do not want this."

    Taking a few steps away from the broken mirror, the teen began to reach for another with bloodied hand, "no, I'm pretty sure that I do." Everyone was so naggy!

    Still the Digimon's eyes fell to a different mirror, along one of the walls. "If you must pursue the rabbit, I request you not take it out on my belongings." This seemed to be enough to stop Asher from placing a hand-print on the other mirror. Oh, his hand was going to get infected, wasn't it? This was going to suck. Following the line of sight, Meicoomon and her human began toward the mirror, seeing the occasional ripple in its reflection. "Only the insane equate pain with success," the chameleon quoted with a hiss of air. Turning on the mirror's frame, the Digimon moved to climb back within it. It was going to take forever to clean up this mess, and prepare it for his next game!

    But, before disappearing, Asher found the need to place another question. "Hey, just a few seconds." For some reason, the champion obliged. "Why does your game have to be called a nightmare? Can't it just be a regular old dream, or something?"

    What an odd question, for someone in such a hurry. "Nightmares are dreams, too," the green monster was quick to argue. People always forgot that. What differentiated a bad dream from a nightmare, after all? "And, wouldn't it make sense?" Chamelemon's chuckle echoed across the mirrors in the room, only having a dead spot within the shattered one. "It is the element that this spirit wields, after all." And, now, the Digimon had vanished entirely within the reflections of its home.

    "Nightmares?" Meicoomon meowed, with a scrunch of her nose. Sure, Asher had this running joke of calling his spirits nightmares for being women, but who would have thought it was so literal? "Ashpurr, I know you're not going to listen, but I have a really bad feeling about this."

    Stepping through the mirror, and into an almost pitch-black room did not help this feeling. The only light within was surrounding a pedestal in the center. Though, it seemed that the mirrored theme had continued into this room, as the lights reflected off of the chilly looking floor. The two stood along the wall of the circular room, while a shiver slipped down Asher's spine.

    "Okay, this is seriously a trap," Whiskers announced, loudly. "And you've already hurt your human form," stupid person, "so, I vote we get some backup."

    Finally, cupping his hand with the other to try to apply pressure to it, the teen seemed to cave. "Alright. But, I'm just going to wait here until you get back, alright? I want to make sure it doesn't go anywhere."

    That didn't sound promising at all. "You're joking. You don't think I'm going to fall fur that."

    "Do you think I'm that stupid?" Don't answer that! "Plus, this place feels really cramped. I don't think I can make it all the way over there by myself."

    "Timezones. It'll take furever if I have to leave the Digital World. Are you really going to wait?"

    "Of course I will. Just, try not to take more than a few of my world's hours." It would suck to wait the equivalent of a human world's day, in this creepy room!

    Shooting a concerned glance, the cat finally gave in. "Okay. But don't do anything dumb." Hearing the words come from her mouth, it already felt stupid. Meicoomon knew Asher wasn't going to follow that suggestion.

    At least, once the feline left, Asher gave her about a hour. Probably just to make sure that she wouldn't come back and check on him! But, once that time had passed, and the teen had successfully picked several pieces of mirror out of his hand, he began to walk across the empty room. The first step was the most alarming, as the surface beneath him let out a small crackle.

    Maybe this wasn't glass, after all.

    Each movement further echoed throughout the otherwise silent room, buzzing on the walls and returning to the redhead's ears in the form of a slight headache. If it wasn't so dark, maybe the room would feel less suffocating. But, as-was, it was a little claustrophobic for the poor teen! Still, he managed to press on, until he was standing in front of the altar. That hadn't been so hard, had it?

    It made Asher wonder what would drive away a spirit user from this totem, anyway. It wasn't that hard to get to! It just involved a lot of annoying characters along the way! Like a stupid storybook, or something! Unless, maybe, the others had listened to Chamelemon more, and found it wasn't actually a spirit they wanted? The thought of Elliot's beast crossed the young man's mind, but was quick to fade. After all, he hadn't gone through all the trouble to get here, just to leave empty-handed, right? And, it sounded like whatever game Chamelemon played with people would wreak havoc on the mind!

    Or, at least, Asher was going to keep telling himself that, as he lifted his good hand up to pull the totem from the place that it had been seated for quite some time. Fingers twitched, feeling a pulse across his skin. Hesitance. Something didn't feel quite right. But, maybe it was just a difference in power between something like Yatagaramon, and whatever this was?

    A second pulse felt more like a shock, threatening to make the spirit user drop the object onto the ground. Instability. Why was he becoming such a nervous wreck now of all times? All Asher had to do was load this into his digivice, and he'd be golden!

    Minutes ticked away, as the teen began to realize that he had been standing completely still for far longer than initially perceived. What he had felt was only a breath, he was beginning to realize had been at least thirty minutes. Legs tensed, threatening to give into his own weight. Had he blacked out? While standing up?

    Still, the totem rest in his palm, as if awaiting his return to their otherwise empty room. Was it a room? Or, more a cage?

    A third pulse tore under flesh, forcing the actor to grasp the item with both hands, bringing it to his chest. None of this was affecting him physically, but it certainly hurt like it was! Maybe this was the actual reason that nobody claimed this totem! You're alone. The thought pierced his head like a bullet, managing to stagger the poor teen. This didn't seem right.

    And, again, he found himself losing time.

    Not wanting to find out what would come from waiting any further, Asher shakily removed his digivice from his pocket. With a deep breath, he began to load the item into the device. It couldn't actually be that bad, once everything was settled, right?

    Except, with a small click of the device sealing the spirit's fate, the Digivice itself gave a final pulse that forced the teen to curl in on himself. Managing to stay standing, arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, fingers digging themselves into his sides. He could feel his own fingernails digging into his skin through his jacket. Maybe Whiskers was right. It was stupid not to wait for her to come back. But, it was too late now. With any luck, once the pain had settled, everything would be over. Asher had the spirit. Whatever the beast was, it couldn't just hurt him forever. This would be even better if he didn't have this awful voice lingering in the back of his head, overlaying his regular insecurities like some sort of inaccurate echo.

    You're afraid.