Sweet Dreams

Chapter 1: Sweet Dreams

In Himura, a picturesque ancient town nestled at the border between a village and a small city. Its charm lies in the blend of historical architecture, winding cobblestone streets, and a serene atmosphere. The birds were chirping, and the sun was setting, families were walking around on the streets with smiles on their faces and they were holding hands. An 18 year old Kenjiro (He has a colorful middle part haircut with vibrant orange streaks. Kenjiro wears casual and modern clothing. Picture him in a comfortable yet stylish outfit – perhaps a denim jacket over a plain white T-shirt, paired with dark jeans. His orange streaked hair stands out, giving him a distinctive look even in everyday attire) was running on the pathway, he was pretty stressed out and was rushed to go somewhere. He almost runned into the family that was walking on the pathway but he dodged them.

Husband - "Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"

Kenjiro - "Sorry!"

In the distance, there was a large dark creepy building with tainted windows and full black walls.

Kenjiro starts running towards it and when he arrives in front of it, he was absolutely exhausted. He was breathing heavily and puts his hands on his hips.

Kenjiro - "I'm… *breathes heavily* here… *breathes heavily*"

He walks up to the building's door and opens it, he enters the building and looks around. It had a dark atmosphere in it and fog was covering the place. Kenjiro looked pretty worried and confused.

Kenjiro - "This… isn't scary at all…"

He takes out a little piece of ripped paper out of his jacket pocket and he looks at it.

On the paper, it said,

"Job, Dream Guardian, 62nd floor, address: Yugen Street, Himura

Kenjiro looks around once more and puts the paper back in his pocket. He sighs and says,

Kenjiro - "Yup, this is the place."

As the fog slowly runs out, he sees a huge staircase. His eyes widen in shock and runs to it.

Kenjiro - "WHAT?!! I HAVE RAN 10 KILOMETERS TO GET HERE AND NOW I HAVE TO CLIMB ALL THIS?!! WHAT FLOOR AM I ON?!!"

He takes out the paper again and he looks at it with huge worry hoping it was the 2nd or 3rd floor.

"Job, Dream Guardian, 62ND FLOOR, Address: Yugen Street, Himura."

Kenjiro gasps in shock and he puts his hands on his head with his eyes and mouth wide.

Kenjiro - "62ND FLOOR?!?!?!?! AHHHHH!!!! MY WEAK LITTLE BODY CAN'T CLIMB THAT MUCH!! OH GOD!!!"

His screams slowly fade away, he was now on the stairs climbing, he was walking up confidently with a smile on his face with great determination.

Kenjiro - "First floor!"

He was still walking up the stairs with great confidence.

Kenjiro - « 2nd floor! »

He was now looking a little more tired and less motivation and confidence.

Kenjiro - « 10th floor. »

He was now tired with a lot less motivation and confidence.

Kenjiro - « 30th floor… »

He was completely exhausted and he had no motivation or confidence anymore.

Kenjiro - « 56th… floor »

Kenjiro - « 60…th »

Kenjiro - « 60… 2… »

He finally reaches his level and he bends over exhausted and worn out. He was breathing heavily from all the effort he did, Kenjiro was also sweating a lot on his face. Suddenly, Kenjiro realises that the door to the room he was supposed to work in was right in front of him. He starts walking up to the door and he puts his hand on the handle, Kenjiro opens the door and he sees a group of 12 men sitting on the ground with their legs crossed, in a circle around a palm-sized, circular disc made of rare, iridescent material. Intricate ancient symbols adorn its surface, and a radiant gem in the center.

An old man with a bald wrinkled face with a long white beard, he also had a long white robe. He looked like the leader of the group gets up and walks up to Kenjiro and pats him on the shoulder, his name is Eiji Takamura.

Eiji - « Everybody, i'd like to introduce our new recruit, Kenjiro Kito. »

All 12 men get up and bow to Kenjiro.

12 Men - « Welcome, Kenjiro Kito. »

Eiji bows too and he points to a place around the circle where Kenjiro can sit with all the other 12 men.

Eiji - « You can sit down there, Kenjiro. »

Kenjiro nods and the 12 Men sit back down, Kenjiro sits down at the place where Eiji told him to. Eiji sits down too and he looks at Kenjiro with a little smile.

Eiji - « Kenjito Kito, welcome aboard in the Dream Guardian, do you have any questions? »

Kenjiro looks at the circular disc in the middle curiously and he points at it and then looks back at Eiji.

Kenjiro - « Yeah, what's that circle in the middle? »

Eiji chuckles slightly and gently touches it with love and respect.

Eiji - « This "circle" is the Celestial Talisman, crafted centuries ago, it's a palm-sized disc with intricate ancient symbols. Passed down through the Himura lineage, this sacred artifact channels the spiritual energy of the guardians. When activated during the ritual at the family shrine, it creates a bridge between the waking and dream realms, allowing the guardians to fulfill their protective duties. This Talisman has been crafted over a thousand years ago and it passed through all of the generations of the Guardians. Did you understand what this "circle" is? »

Kenjiro was blown away by what this Talisman can do and he was wondering what he got himself into.

In the middle of the Talisman was a radiant gem, Eiji moved his fingers towards the radiant gem and pressed on it.

Eiji - « Sweet Dreams. »

Suddenly, a purple wave of shockwave flies through the room in an instant making everyone fall asleep.

Kenjiro, the 12 Men and Eiji enter a realm with nightmarish landscape of jagged rocks, thorn-covered trees, and perpetual darkness. Eiji had the Celestial Talisman in his hands. Kenjiro looks around in fear and worry, his body started shaking cause this isnt what he signed up for.

Eiji started walking around the place and told the other guardians to follow him.

Eiji - « Alright, you guys know the drill, stay close and kill as much Yokai as possible.

Kenjiro's eyes widen as he's trying to figure out what's more terrifying between killing or Yokai actually existing. (Mythical creature)

12 Men - « YES, SIR!! »

The guardians all stayed close and Kenjiro followed them in fear and was still shaking.

All the guardians had spiky gray metallic swords but Kenjiro didn't. Eiji had 2 swords so he stopped, looked at Kenjiro and extended him one of his two swords.

Eiji - « There you go, you will need it. »

Kenjiro grabs the sword and holds it tightly,

Kenjiro - « Umm, sir? Where are we? »

Eiji - « We are in the Dreamworld. »

Kenjiro looks around scared and confused.

Kenjiro - « Dreamworld? »

Eiji nods and looks around too but he doesn't seem scared.

Eiji - « Yes, the Dreamworld, when we get summoned by the Talisman to another realm, we get summoned to a place where people get nightmares in their sleep. In this place, there are Yokai, mythical creatures that you've maybe heard of, these Yokai, if they stay too long in the dreamworld, then… they would go into the real world… reality… and cause total chaos.»

Kenjiro scratches his head confused and he continues to look around

Kenjiro - « This… isn't the kind of job i was looking for… »

Eiji - « What we're you looking for? »

Kenjiro - « I don't know! Some… office job for some money, but… can these Yokai kill us too?… »

Eiji looks back at Kenjiro and then at the 12 Men.

Eiji - « Yes, Yokai are very dangerous creatures that kill humans but we don't know why, perhaps it's because we are on their territory and they want to continue the nightmares or they're just pure evil. »

Kenjiro was now trembling in terror and he puts his hands on his shoulders.

Kenjiro - « But… we can't die… right? They're just dreams right? »

Eiji stops and looks at Kenjiro in the straightest face.

Eiji - « This is a dream for the normal people, however, for the guardians, you feel everything. »

Kenjiro's eyes widen and he hides behind Eiji, suddenly, a branch is heard cracking in the distance. The 12 Men get into attacking positions and point their swords towards the sound.

Eiji - « Everybody, get in your positions! »

No more sounds were heard and it was pure silence. A bush started moving around indicating that someone or something was in it approaching the group. Eiji whispered very slowly and cautiously,

Eiji - « Everything stand… veeeerrryyy… still. « 

Suddenly, a huge spider arm gets out of the bush and the 12 Men all gasp in shock and their eyes widen.

A Yokai with a tarantula body but a terrifying face comes out of the bush, his face had terrifying huge bloodshot eyes, no nose, huge sharp teeth like a knife, he had no hair and 2 horns on both sides of his forehead. It starts walking towards the group alternating two pair's of legs.

Kenjiro - « WHAT IS THAT THING?!! » One of the 12 Men called Kayoshi looks at the Yokai surprised by the ugliness of that creature.

Kayoshi - « It doesn't seem strong but he doesnt seem weak, he shouldn't underestimate it. Chef Eiji, protect the Celestial Talisman at all cost! »

Kayoshi and 3 other members run to the Yokai and try to slash it but the Yokai swings his arm at the 4 members and they all get thrown away and they hit a big rock that was behind them. Kayoshi started bleeding from the forehead as well as the other 3. The Spider Yokai jumps on Kayoshi but before it could react, Kayoshi slashes his pair of left legs off which makes it fall to the ground. Suddenly, the pair of the left legs regenerate in an instant and it tries to bite Kayoshi in the head but he stabs the Spider Yokai in the mouth which makes it bleed a lot.

Eiji runs to help Kayoshi and he decapitates the Spider Yokai's head off, it slowly disintegrates in the air.

Eiji extends his arm to Kayoshi and the 3 other members.

Eiji - « Are you guys okay? »

They all nod even though the little portion of blood on their forehead, Eiji nods too and puts his hands on his hips.

Eiji - « Alright! Now we only have to kill all of the Yokai in this dream and… »

Suddenly, at least 90 more of the tarantula yokai get out of the bush and they stare at the group with their terrifying faces.