The White Dream

I woke up like any other day. My life was like that, calm, routine. The sun streamed through my window, my mother's voice calling me for breakfast... Everything so simple and perfect. I went to school, laughed with my usual friends, and simply enjoyed every moment without a single worry. Worries? In my world, they didn't exist. It was so... normal, that sometimes it felt almost unreal.

For example, that time in gym class, seeing myself in the polished reflection of the gym floor, I felt a strange pang in my head, as if something was trying to pierce my memory. Or when I passed a mirror in the hallway at home, there were moments when my own image seemed alien to me, as if someone else was looking through my eyes, a fleeting sense of incongruity that made me shake my head and move on. Sometimes, at night, before falling asleep, I was assailed by the strange feeling that someone, or something, was watching me from the darkness, but I always attributed it to imagination.

But this morning, as I walked to school, the cool air on my face and the familiar sound of the city around me, that feeling that something didn't fit became more persistent. It was a distant echo I didn't understand, but it grew stronger with every step. Suddenly, a voice whispered, barely audible, right at the back of my mind.

"Are you sure about this?"

"What...?"

I froze. Sure about what? About going to school? It seemed like a silly question, but the strangeness of that voice, and the persistent feeling that something was wrong, paralyzed me for an instant.

In a blink, everything changed. The street, my friends laughing in the distance, the morning sun... it all disappeared. In its place, I was standing in the neat and enormous hallways of the prestigious Carmilla Academy. My heart skipped a beat. No, no, no. This was wrong. I should never have been here. Never! This wasn't my life.

"What... what's happening?"

I murmured, my own voice sounding strange in the unreal silence that surrounded me.

"I'll help you remember."

The same voice, now clearer, resonated directly in my head.

A wave of uncertainty, almost panic, hit me. I tried to move, to find a way out, to understand why I was here. I started to walk, my footsteps echoing in the seemingly empty hallways. But then, I noticed it. Other students passed by me, talking, laughing, but their eyes went right through me. No one saw me. It was as if I were... a ghost. An icy pang ran down my spine. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

"Do you remember that girl?"

The voice whispered again, this time with a more insinuating quality.

Just then, my eyes caught a girl. She walked with her head bowed, her shoulders slumped, and her eyes... they were dull. Lifeless. She was heading towards an unoccupied classroom that, for some reason, felt strangely familiar. Although I replied that I didn't know her, my body moved on its own, my legs running to follow her. Terror began to settle in my chest.

As I entered the classroom, my breath caught.

"A-aaahh..."

There she was, lying on the floor, motionless. Blood stained the floor beneath her cut wrists. Death. It was evident. A word escaped my lips, almost unconsciously.

"...E-Evianne."

I whispered in shock, my eyes fixed on the scene.

Moments later, a dense mist manifested again, enveloping everything. The scene changed once more. Now, before me, lay the burnt corpse of a man, a twisted testament to what seemed to be a failed experiment.

"And this man?"

The voice asked in its imperturbable tone.

"BBUUUUAAARRGGHHH!!"

Horror and nausea overcame me. My stomach churned, and I vomited, a bitter taste filling my mouth. My mind, a whirlwind of confusion and terror, filled with endless questions. Why was this happening? Who was doing this to me?

"Why are you showing me this?!"

I cried out, my voice cracking with despair. "What are you?!"

"I am what you need now," the voice replied, serene and disturbingly calm.

That answer only irritated me further, leaving me just as confused.

"I don't understand!"

I roared in denial, as Carmilla Academy and its horrors continued to spin around me.

The mist invaded everything once more, and the image changed violently. Before my eyes, Carmilla Academy was completely destroyed, engulfed in devouring flames. The sky itself cracked into fragments, like broken glass, revealing a terrifying void. My fear amplified, paralyzing me, while screams of terror echoed everywhere, drowning in a sea of blood that welled from the ground and began to swallow me. I struggled to breathe, asphyxiation tightening my throat.

"All of this was your fault," the voice whispered, now colder, as my mind spun in pain and confusion from the lack of air.

"All of this is your regret."

Suddenly, I fell. It was an abrupt descent, as if I were plunging down an invisible waterfall. My body hit the ground of a cemetery. My eyes fixed on two graves. Their names carved into the icy stone: Blair... Galana... Seeing them, an unbearable pain pierced me. Tears streamed uncontrollably, and a cry of agony escaped my chest.

"Please!!"

I pleaded, my voice torn. "Stop! I don't understand! Why are you doing this to me?!"

"All of this is being shown by your mind," the voice replied with an eerie calm.

Immediately after, everything dissolved into the familiar mist. The scene changed one last time, and I returned to my normal room. I got out of bed, cold sweat soaking my pajamas, my heart pounding furiously. I walked to the mirror, my breath ragged. My reflection stared back at me, its eyes fixed on mine, and its lips moved, speaking words in a voice that was and wasn't my own.

"You must remember, Fionn."

But the vision in the mirror didn't hold. The entire room began to crack into fragments, as if it were a crystal illusion.

"There's no time for a normal life," the voice resonated, unyielding, amidst the chaos.

The scene constantly shifted, a whirlwind of all my memories up to that moment, flashes of my existence racing by at dizzying speed.

"We cannot waste time that way."

From that chaos of images, a memory surfaced with clarity. I saw a silver knight fighting fiercely against a monster, protecting the surrounding animals from collateral damage.

"That began this journey, didn't it?"

The voice asked with a tone that suggested an obvious answer.

The vision mutated again. I was transported to a house, and my mind began to recall "reality," the true one. I observed my past self, a younger Fionn, sitting and starting to write in a diary. Hot, real tears streamed down my face. I wiped them away with the back of my hand.

"...This scene... me...? Why is it so familiar?"

I murmured with a pang of recognition piercing me.

"Good luck, self."

The voice concluded, with a strange mix of farewell and encouragement.

Finally, the mist began to completely envelop everything, a darkness that transported me to a white space. The confusion dissipated. Now, I remembered: the spider attack, the pain, the Veil. And in the midst of that immaculate void, I noticed a presence.

It was a girl. Seeing her, an overwhelming sensation flooded me, as if I could remember the moment I was born, the first time I laughed, the pure joy of being alive. Her long white hair floated around her face, framing sleepy sky-blue eyes that showed an expression of deep slumber. She wore a white tunic that gently rippled as she floated on an immense, soft pillow, which in turn rested on a strange blue lake that stretched in an ethereal space between an infinite sky and a nebulous ocean.

"...I guess this is a reunion, isn't it?"

The figure spoke to me, her voice soft as a dream's breeze.

"Yes... I guess you could call it that..."

I replied, not fully understanding my own words or why I was saying them, as if a part of me already knew the answer.

"And... tell me...", the figure continued, a small yawn escaping her lips, "Yawn~... What's your answer this time?"

The figure looked visibly irritated, puffing out her cheeks with adorable frustration. But I kept speaking, my emotions and thoughts overflowing into words.

"But... Even though I don't know... I still want to continue!!"

My declaration surprised her slightly; her eyes widened a little, curious.

"There are many things I don't understand, there's so much I want to comprehend, and that's why I want to, no, I will advance one step at a time!"

With those words, my gaze became determined, fixed on the infinite white space.

The figure smiled, genuine joy lighting up her face.

"That... is a better answer than last time."

A warmth emanated from my forehead, enveloping me as the mist surrounded me again. I heard the figure's words resonate, full of joy and amusement, before the white space became empty once more.

"Try to start again, Fionn... And this time... Don't go back."

And then, a final whisper, before silence claimed everything again.

"Truly... Yawn~...this... Is Interesting..."