Back above the machinations and inner workings of the Hub, Cain teleported over to a console, where he began the mass teleport to the Dream Lord's Palace.
The Hub was only supposed to be regularly used when transporting supplies such as Dream Pills. Even when Zeki used it, he would bring lots of men with him to make up for the expenditure of Imagination.
From what Cain gathered, the Hub relied on Imagination fueled by the citizens; the side effects were quite the little secret. The hub wouldn't only take Imagination but drain it, slowly turning the masses into uncreative drones. This effect was only enhanced by Hope.
'It seems this Dream Lord has been planning something... most of the energy doesn't even go to the machine but is sent to the Palace as well. Interesting!'
Starting up the machine, Cain watched as the colors around him turned pink and vibrant. After a few seconds, the colors receded, and he found himself in an unknown environment.
He was in the Palace.
Studying the intricate and extravagant walls and features, Cain couldn't help but smirk.
'This guy likes to have a good appearance. If not for the obvious signs this place was made of some strange golden sand; I would think this place was made of pure gold.'
The halls were draped with fine tapestries made of strange and beautiful silks. Lining the walls were lavish paintings, and tables fitted with decorum made of expensive materials made themselves known by their lavish glow.
'This place is excessive.'
Cain knocked over a vase made of jewels. Upon crashing against the floor, golden sand sprouted out, safely caught it, and put it back.
'That's new... well, time waits for no one. Onwards!'
Setting his eyes on the prize, Cain picked up the pace. Unfortunately, he underestimated how many guards would remain in the Palace.
Turning the corner, hundreds of guards were marching together.
"You've got to be kidding."
The guards glared at Cain, "Stop, foul Nightmare! You will go no further!"
'Hah...'
Snapping his porcelain-like fingers, nothing happened. But only for a moment, before long, one of the guards was holding his face in pain.
"Argh! Ah! Help! Help!"
The guards surrounded their screaming teammate. A medic came forward, and while the rest were holding down the guard in pain, the medic removed the man's hands from his face.
What the medic saw was a cluster of worms protruding out of the man's eyes. Below, he could see tiny holes in the membrane where the gruesome creatures drilled through. But that wasn't all; inside the holes were several glowing lights, sparks representing eyeballs of their own.
Turning dark, the medic's eyes became full of turmoil before shifting completely black with red dots in the middle. From there, the medic looked over to his fellow man and smiled.
Noticing the abnormality, the soldier became flustered; the medic's teeth fell out one by one as more worms exited the gums and sprang out like newborns.
AHHH!
This process repeated over and over, and halfway through, the worm-infected defenders became feral and started to consume and attack the others. Those bitten and scratched quickly grew lumps and mounds which would quickly explode as a new clump of worms would break through flesh.
Cain watched as the chaos consumed the Palace guards, who completely ignored him as he walked past.
'These worms are interesting? It's like a virus but alive? An entity? Hivemind? Ah, if only I could study it.'
Even Cain wasn't immune to the worms. Walking through the chaos, his skin would break as thousands of maggots cried out. They would quickly be erased by a red mist, and the patch of skin would heal.
'If I use the powers of horror to combat the effects of horror... that might make it worse. Such a random and crazy power... I'm starting to dislike it.'
Eventually, Cain was free from the mess he created, and the halls were once again clean and quiet.
Step after step, Cain created a rhythmic tune; he felt good now that everything was coming to an end. He would soon be free to explore the world once more.
'Hmm? There's one last guard? He's just standing there?'
Before Cain was a man standing before a large door, no doubt the entrance to the Dream Lord's throne room.
The strange thing about the man was his head was hung low, his black hair was a mess, and his clothes were stained with blood.
Ring!
The sound of a ringing bell echoed. When Cain listened to it, he understood. The connection long blocked out returned, a connection between two halves of the same soul.
"You? Just... why the hell do you look like that?" Cain snickered at the state of his other self.
Yet he was annoyed when they didn't respond.
'Strange... is he okay? Wait, did he gain my powers due to our connection?!'
Quickly and efficiently, Cain backed up to the other end of the hall. If his guess was true, he might lose in a fight, the powers he was given were erratic and relied on luck.
A weak and emotional voice cried out, "Why... Why! It doesn't make sense, I did it, I thought I did it! Why are you here?! What have you done?! Do you know what you've taken from me!? Do you know what you have caused?! What you have wasted, what you have destroyed!"
Cain scoffed, half confused, half certain of something, "Wasted? I've wasted nothing. As for what I've done... I'm simply getting my prize and leaving. Who knows how much longer it will be until we die of old age!"
The other Cain ignored his words, "Do you know what I did, what I had to do?! All for you to destroy it! I was at peace! But now, the thousands I slaughtered... I... It was all for nothing!"
"You what? You killed people? Were they innocent?" Cain was beginning to get intrigued.
'Did this idiot break? Oh, this is too good!'
The other half's voice became dark; his voice soon turned to whispers, his words depressive, "They were all innocent! They all didn't deserve death! I-I killed them anyway. I did it to create peace... but... but... it's gone now. All of it's gone..."
The Horror of Unknown chortled, "Well, that's sad, But what did you expect? Did you really think you could change anything? This was all destined to happen you know. Don't take it so hard. At least your... uh... peace was temporary; you half succeeded. That's a good thing, right?"
Cain's words agitated the lost and confused other self.
Words spiraled, the broken half's tongue became numb, and his body violently shook, "This is all your fault! I won't let you win; I won't, I can't!"
With his thoughts said out loud, he lifted his head. The crescent green moon on his forehead slowly receded into his skull. The green light was dimming; it was losing all color.
He was going to kill himself.
Doing so would trap the blasphemous murderer who destroyed everything, the one who denied him his end and removed the peace he had set. He couldn't live anymore, knowing what he had done, knowing it was himself that had done it. Everything was just worthless now; he failed her, he failed everyone he wronged.
It would just be best if he disappeared and took the one who ruined everything with him.
But his actions were something Cain couldn't accept, "No! Don't you dare do what I think you are doing! You idiot! Why is your head so broken?! Damn it!"
Shifting to red, Cain rushed forward. His other self already closed his eyes, and a white foggy mist was rising and converging near his forehead. Once it all collected, it would signal his death and Cain's doom.
"Stop! This isn't how it's supposed to be! Do you think doing this will save anyone?! Do you think this is the best way!... Damn it all! What about Luna? What would she think!"
Cain tried everything, playing on every weakness known to him. But nothing worked.
Glowing white, Cain stood there, his face slowly forming a smile. Yes... this was fine; he should have never made those choices, and he should have never left Netherane.
He should have died with Luna; at least then, none of this would have happened, better yet, everything would have been snipped in the bud.
Cain couldn't understand the feelings of his foolish half. He couldn't accept such an outcome!
"Bastard! What about our home!? Our family! That dream meant something! It's our past! Our history!"
The fog was close to completion; tears began to fall from Cain's cheek. He would soon die, and it would all be over.
His lips quivered, and he finally spoke, "I-I.... It's all in the past; our parents, even if they existed, are long dead by now. Just... just accept my wish."
The white fog became complete; it began to glow so bright it fused with the whole world.
"NO!"
Cain's body flickered with Unknown power, his vision blinded by nothing and everything.
But it was too late to stop it. Even Unknown was not all-powerful. Nothing was as powerful as a wish powered by a Dream.