Dreams in Grey

"The trees are grey...They sky is grey...Land, sea, my own skin...Grey..."

Purgatory was a place that even Scarlet feared more than anything else. After his first visit to the Grey woods, he had hoped that would be the end of it and he would spend many years before even thinking of that place again. Sadly, Shade was very much mistaken. In the few months since his death had occurred, every time he feel asleep, he would dream of Purgatory, the visions becoming ever more Vivid and real as when he was actually there. He would feel as if he was suffocating or drowning, for in that place, there was no air only the illusion that he was breathing. In fact, the whole place was an illusion. The beings what stalked the forests of Purgatory were only essence's of their former selves. But that is what Purgatory did, it imprisoned them somewhere familiar, but twisted it and manipulated the way they saw things. The beings that "Go bump in the night"? Purgatory was their own special Hell. A Prison for the creatures of the dark that was filled with...well, nothing. They never aged or died in there, making the nothingness even more maddening. Still, these were but dreams of nights past, but they continued to worsen.

This night was no different.

Scarlet breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling faster and faster as he moved through the forest. He knew he was dreaming, or that's what he hoped. He moped his brow, sweat dripping off his forehead though he was not warm or even breathing air. Shade knew this, but it did seem to help maintain his sanity for the time being. Like every night prior, he moved through the trees, calling out to the members of Maelstrom, only for there to be no reply, he even called for the Void to no avail, shouting himself horse. Again, after this pointless endeavour, he slumped against a tree, the same tree he always slumped against. It felt familiar and was a comfort to Scarlet, even if it was just as twisted and grey as the rest of the forest. Scar closed his eyes for a few minutes, feeling exhausted, though he dared not do so for too long as he never knew what other creature could be lurking near him for in Purgatory, he was as good as mortal.

Scar proceeded to repeat the running around and shouting peoples names, but again, to no avail. He was always desperate to leave as the last time he was in Purgatory, he encountered his Death, or the physical apparition of it anyway. Though it had not attempted to harm him or keep him locked away, he still disliked that he had a conversation with the very thing that would cause him to die, so he always avoided walking north of where he appeared whilst dreaming as it lead to the centre of the forest, and the central piece that connected the entirety of Purgatory was the Mirror of Ages, bonded to a giant oak's roots. But no matter how hard he tried, scar would always end up at the Mirror, greeted by visions of friends, enemies, loved ones and one time, himself. He had seen the likes of the Tsarina multiple times, Ziel and even Rider had appeared before him. Of course he knew they weren't actually there, but it gave him a little more comfort. This time when he arrived at the centre however, all was not well. He looked with horror at the Mirror of Ages, only to see it had been smashed into hundreds of pieces, and at the threshold of the oak roots, a tall slender female stood there, unmoving. She turned to look at scar, a eye plate coving one of her eyes, and he would swear he knew her, but from where? He was not sure.

Whoever or whatever she was looked very much like a Demon, 4 horns adorned her head, but she didn't look like any Demon scar had encountered before. The Women turned and ran at scar, wielding two tribal looking daggers made from what appeared to be dragon fangs, before leaping over him and sinking into the forest floor. Scar stood once again and looked between the spot she had vanished, and the Mirror of Ages. Deciding following her would be pointless, he made his way to the Great oak. He touched the bark of the tree and felt the energy that sustained it ebb away. It wasn't life, it was an energy unlike any other. He looked to the glass fragments that remained, kneeling to lift a large piece that remained. Even from his gentle touch, the glass cut scar's hand, his blood seeping over the shard.

And that's when he woke.

Cold, stale sweat covered him from head to toe, his chest rising and falling as if he had been running for miles, his voice horse as he yelled. He felt like his whole body was on fire. Scar was in his down town apartment, in his own bed, in the dark. He felt his heart racing and tried breathing slower in order to calm himself a little. Fear was something he was used to giving out by the bucket full, not receiving it. He glanced out the windows and it was one of the rare occasions where it was raining in MC and thunder and lightning crashed over head. A sudden pain caused him to turn around and hiss at his own hand. The lights flicked on and he looked at the palm of his hand, which was stained with thick black demon blood, a deep cut etched into his flesh, but, even more worryingly, he looked where his hand had been and saw the Mirror shard, exactly as he had dreamt it. His eyes widened and he spoke out loud "But...it was a dream.... just a dream". Thunder crashed and caused him to turn fast enough to see the female Demon standing by his bed, as grey and lifeless as Purgatory itself, before disappearing in the blink of an eye.