In the illustrious city of colors and imagination, people lived as they always had.
The event over a year ago had long since faded from the people's minds. They once again immersed themselves in their dreams and lived happily.
Strangely, since the event over a year ago, the crime rate in the city plummeted.
Crime had always been a prominent part of the City of Dreams because, in the City of Dreams, criminals were just people who sought more excitement. To the extreme in most cases.
They wished to cure boredom and to do so, they would engage in activities deemed illegal.
There were many things like this; some created imaginary drugs that were "amazing" but also addictive to the point that the soul would degrade.
There were other instances, like slavery, which used a corrupt Master's creations to lock down the imagination in a person.
By blocking off the imagination of the person, it allowed the masters who owned these slaves to control them freely. The chains created for this purpose weren't powerful and only worked up to Dream Soldiers.
The Dream Lord's people also used cuffs with similar effects, but they only blocked off imagination and commands could not be given.
...
Dream pills passed from one hand to another in the infinite labyrinth that was the dark alleyways of the city. Problems cropped up every other day.
The best part was the authorities on the matter did nothing because, realistically, they couldn't stop them.
It was the shadow of the city that was the main factor in so many people becoming Shades.
Inventions came and went, and imagination created many horrific and detestable things. Lives were ruined, and minds fell into debauchery.
Yet the city stayed the same.
But only a few months ago, this integral part of the city began to slow down. People didn't go to the back alleys, and Dream Masters and Wardens stopped making those products that caused major harm.
Even slaves, which had always been a long-standing practice, disappeared!
Dreamers of all ranks were freed! Of course, what they experienced would always leave a mental scar, but with some treatment, they could return to society with only a few marks left on their souls and not their faces!
In a sleek and fit trench coat, a man with bright green eyes walked down an alley.
He could see junkies and criminals loitering around.
'The filth that's doomed to this place. Too far gone that even Dream cannot save them...'
It was then that Cain felt something weird deep within his soul. It signaled something, but he mistook it for fear of what he was about to do.
The fear was deep within his heart, and he acknowledged it as his fear of crossing a line.
A line he had created to avoid becoming like a person he knew all too well, a person who caused fear to rise like bile in his throat.
'But he's dead. Zeki said the Horrors would use him as sustenance to boost their abilities. Now all we have to do is prepare for the Horrors to launch an attack.'
Cain rationalized his thoughts and quelled his mind. He then thought of happy memories burned into his mind.
A figure came to mind, it was of a beautiful woman with chestnut hair. She was as beautiful as the highest moon and kinder than any soul, a person Cain cared for long ago.
"I knew he was long gone after he decided to only strive towards that goal of being free. Unlike me, he couldn't accept that we have to repay our sins. And now, for both of us, I will succeed in repaying that debt."
'You are dead, but what you did still lingers. Don't worry, I will rid us of this stain.' Cain added in his heart.
Unlike his other self, Cain had always instilled the idea of making peace with what they did in Netherane and elsewhere.
Unlike that monster with the same name, he wanted to fix things, for the people he wronged, and especially for the love of his life who gave him such happiness and peace. He wanted to do something in her memory, to not let her down.
Of course, this is only a warped depiction in his head, a romanticized fantasy.
From the start, Netherane was a filthy place where hope was crushed by those in charge, where people were broken down and used.
He had only forgotten, no, he simply only acknowledged the good memories.
All other fragments of sense were pushed to his other self to deal with, as a way for him to cope, for him to stay in his dream world.
Or at least, that is what the other "Cain" would say, but he's far in the abyss at the moment.
'I have wronged so many, Alex, Anders, Austin, Freddie, Rebecca, Targan, Mark, Michael, Daniel, Sarah, Julius, Lugh, Jamie, and thousands of others. I will avenge all of you and erase my sins. I will create a place built on hope and filled with peace!"
Delusional.
Again, something the Horror of Unknown would say.
Cain took another step forward down the alley. He held in his hand a bundle of rosary beads, in one of them was a tiny green glow.
"I'm sorry, but to treat cancer, it must be completely eliminated."
No one paid attention to Cain's words; those who heard him only looked at him like a fool before going back to talking or their wonderful drugs.
"Please find solace in the world I will create."
With his silent prayer, a white bone sword appeared in his hand.
What happened next was a massacre; red splattered the walls and entered the drains before turning into pinkish gas.
Guttural grunts and pleading were silenced by blood and death. Organs and guts spilled onto the ground, staining the dark shadowy alleyway, and warping it into solid blood. Dream was impressionable after all.
No screams escaped the alley, and neither will those inside it be remembered.
It was on this day the Inquisitor of the Dream Lord began his treatment of the cancer of the city. It was the first stage of creating a place he and the Dream Lord wished for.
A true city filled with hopes and dreams.
Although a false one.
...
Down close to the abyss, the place where many Hunters and Dreamers roamed to fight off the darkness, in a house was a winding and expanding structure beneath it.
The walls were made of a very similar material, gray stone.
A material used only in Netherane was used to build this eerie and secretive structure.
Graystone was used to block any and all abilities that could peer into it or find out the contents on the inside. It was a wall that messed with sense, no one would ever know it was there.
On the lowest floor of such a structure, an old man kneeled before a bloody altar decorated with bones and blood.
The flesh of the Dream Hunters decorated the altar. Somehow, the blood and intestines didn't turn into pinkish gas. This was extremely strange for those who lived in the Dream Realm.
The old man suddenly raised his head, "Hahaha! I felt it, the Lord! He is alive and well!"
The believers around the man raised their heads in anticipation and unwavering excitement.
"Lord Leon, are you sure? Is God going to return and free us from this place?!"
The believers were all Dream folk, people stuck in the Dream Realm. Whether this was a blessing or a curse, only a few knew.
Leon cried tears of joy while he ecstatically looked at his followers.
"I told you, the Lord will return! He will show us many things like these bricks that protect us, all of which shall come from a divine revelation! The Lord shall free us and bring us with him to paradise!"
Leon continued to praise and speak of the Lord. Everyone was listening, not letting a single word fall on deaf ears.
Ever since the Corrupt One fell, Leon felt like his whole life was over. He felt his mind crumble and ended up in some dark corner of the city to die.
All mist ghosts were chained to their master, all of them would die on his death.
Only, Leon didn't die; instead, he continued to live.
Similar to his master once before, he put together his psyche bit by bit and gained back his rationality.
From there he was determined to do whatever it took to help his Lord with his goal and plans. No line was too far after he learned Cain wished to kill his other self and live in this Dream World forever.
That day he was led to the darkest times in his life.
He was denied his Dream for the final time.
With his new goal in mind, Leon found many young Dream Folk. They were in a period of their life where they felt everything was boring, they felt trapped and angry.
Taking advantage of this before they got old enough to grow accustomed to it like all other Dream Folk, Leon led them away from their path.
He imagined himself skin and flesh, became what Dreamers call a Dream Warden, and hid while slowly growing his cult.
Leon told his followers that God made this land and the Dream Folk. After such an act he then left to continue creating many worlds.
God didn't know of the plight of the current Dream Realm.
They had to kill and spread despair to get God's attention so he would return and save them.
Only when God notices all the misery and pain will he return. He will then take everyone away to his haven of peace to live for eternity.
Because of the way Leon introduced 'God', he successfully manipulated the Dream Folk into doing many terrible and grizzly acts. All in preparation for Cain's return and the destruction of Dream City.
Slowly, he was creating an army of brainwashed soldiers to fight against the current order.
Leon continued to pray, kissing the floor beneath the altar riddled with guts, "This is all for you, Lord. I will do whatever it takes to guarantee your success."