Snippet #2276311

The reunion with his recent royal acquaintance was apparently delayed as today’s cataclysms of the dreamworld didn’t limit themselves to merely the collapse of a single building. Before Nohizar could respond to him, the light enveloped them all, Zoen only managing to cover up his eyes. Suddenly robbed of any stable patterns which he could perceive, he felt quite disoriented and imbalanced, stumbling with his hands outstretched to regain his stance or perhaps find some manner of solid surface on which he could lean. Surely enough, such surfaces were in the process of being created, as if scribbled from the white nothingness before him and the few who appeared to remain in the middle of the dreamscape as well. There seemed to be some individuals before him, but distance between them was hard to estimate. No space, no form, no shape – an unnatural state for a human mind, nauseating, discomforting and, on some level, intimidating. Finding himself unable to analyze what was happening at this moment, Zoen found that the only solution was to wait for the sudden changes to cease.

As they did, he stumbled to the side, the ground rushing beneath his feet almost painfully to his senses that were put through sudden unnatural stress. He didn’t fall for there was something solid in the direction he stumbled in, like a wall. Turning his head he saw his own hand pressed into its surface covered with an aged pattern the color of which was lost to decay. As he looked upwards he saw something somewhat startling. Over his head was looming a grotesque face with an elongated chin, a broad grin and squinted eyes. It appeared to be a jack-in-a-box. While the traditional toy was already a rather bizarre thing the gigantic broken equivalent staring down on him with its cracked porcelain grin and faded colors looked downright dreadful. It was enough in fact to cause him to take a few steps back on legs that were only beginning to grow steadier.

He looked around and saw that the broken jack-in-a-box was only part of a gallery of decorations that all seemed to be broken toys, ranging from terrifying to tragic looking – some horrific distortions of objects of playful imaginings, others mangled remains of that which may have brought children comfort at some point or perhaps was even a dear friend to some. This was surely a sad shift to go to from Tinker Tocker. What kind of tortured mind could have created this area in the dreamscape? Or was it a whole gathering of saddness...?

- Fascinating… - he murmured, though more thoughtfully than with excitement. This was no doubt a fascinating phenomenon, but his evaluation of it for the time being painted only a fairly bleak perspective. He didn’t seem to be on his own in this situation however, for still ahead of him was a group of individuals. Aside from the two he already knew, being the self-proclaimed royal and his loyal familiar, he saw several more. A large figure clad in armor, its silhouette had loomed over Nohizar’s even back when he approached the scene of the impending disaster. And then there were two girls, one in a jester’s suit and another holding a fidgeting bear in her arms.

- I’m sorry, but would anyone happen to know simply what happened just now and where we are now? – He asked as he began to step ahead casually, his hands raised and palms open just in case, mostly keeping in mind the defensiveness of the jester girl who seemed just about likely to snarl and throw herself at anyone she would consider a threat.