𝐊𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐬 || [𝐀𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥! 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ

".....? Where are we?"

Najenda dusted herself off in a disoriented fashion. She looked around to gauge her surroundings.

A bright, clear day, with trees and shrubs growing around her. There were several small, wooden houses built quaintly by the riverside. The place looked serene and beautiful, and there didn't seem to be anyone around the two of you.

"We're in."

Najenda looked towards you, and raised her eyebrow. "So we're inside Tatsumi's dream right now?"

"Yup," you said. "Here, see for yourself."

You pulled out the pocketwatch from your pocket, and held it out with its back to the front, towards Najenda. The ex-General looked carefully.

"One of the horizontal lines is glowing brightly....."

"Yup. That means we're currently in the first layer of a dream," you replied. "Which means we're currently inside Tatsumi's mind and dreams."

Najenda tried to digest the information that was dumped on her. She'd been hearing about the legendary Dream Eater Teigu for years now, since she was a child. How it has been elusive to mankind, and how no one in the world had been able to find this Teigu.

But now here she was, within the dreams of a random person with her ex-colleague's subordinate. She would never have imagined that she would be in this situation right now.

"If this is Tatsumi's dream..... where is Tatsumi?"

You looked around. "He doesn't seem to be here. But now that we're here, he'll know."

Najenda looked confused. "He'll..... know? Know what?"

Just then, there was a chatter of sounds and talking coming from the village that the two of you had spawned in. The cheerful and evergreen voices of two — no, three children were heard. They seemed to be having a fun time playing together.

"Gotcha! Sayo, you're it!"

"Ahh damn it, Ieyasu! I'm going to get you back for that!"

"Ahh, I'd like to see you try! Run, Tatsumi! She's coming for us!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

The three voices joyfully headed in your direction. The shrubs vibrated nearby, and the three emerged with smiles and laughter on their faces.

Sayo and Ieyasu noticed the two of you by the tracks, but did not comment. They just ignored you and Najenda, assuming that you were just weary travelers or something.

But Tatsumi noticed the two of you, and he slowed down to a stop, with wide eyes.

Najenda was the first one to speak up.

"Tatsumi, I know we've got some explanation to do —"

You held out your hand in front of Najenda, wordlessly signaling her to stop speaking. The silver-haired General looked at you with narrow eyes, as though demanding an explanation.

"He doesn't know yet," you replied to Najenda's questioning gaze, while Tatsumi just seemed to be frozen from shock. "But now that he's seen us, he knows."

"Knows what?"

"That's he's in a dream."

Najenda widened her eyes, and she gawked at you. "W-wait, what do you mean?!"

You proceeded to explain the rather difficult concept to grasp. "Tell me one thing, General — when you dream, do you ever realize that you're in a dream?"