Chapter Text
Of course, dreams don't make sense. They're not supposed to.
But when Niko sees the odd, angular tower in the center of their village, they think, that's weird.
It matches the colors of the rest of the buildings, almost. The only reason it's out of place is because it looks so much more… manufactured. The village was built mostly by the people living there, so it's imperfect and beautiful.
This is also beautiful, but it's…unsettling.
It's what really makes Niko lucid. They don't want to look at the clocktower. They want to believe that they're home.
So, they don't. They wander around the streets instead. They know the way to their house.
Maybe Mama will even be there. It wouldn't be real, but…
Nothing reacts when the door creaks. No one asks how their day was.
The house is… empty. It's so personalized; Niko and their mom are both creative people, there are silly things everywhere, but somehow, it feels soulless without her.
They hug themself. It's just not the same.
They get more frantic as they search the house. She's not going to be in here- but maybe- they're lucid dreaming, right? They want to tell her they love her, and hear her say it back.
They are feeling dejected by the time they get to their own room. Mama respects their space, so they know she's not in there. They almost don't go in.
But, something about the familiar, soft space beckons them.
Their room is messy, but they know where everything is, so they don't mind. The light shining through the window is dim, thanks to the curtains shielding them from the morning sun.
It's not shielding them from the one sitting on their bed, though.
Not their sun– the lightbulb sun. It's very out of place here, and they gawk at it for a few moments before lifting it gently from the blanket it's resting on.
It makes sense that their most recent memories would find a way into their dreams. They've been carrying this sun for as long as they've been away from home.
It's warm, but they still feel cold. They associate the sun with being away from home, so they're getting conflicting messages from their mind.
Their house suddenly feels claustrophobic, with that thought. They're suddenly terribly aware of the walls closing in on them, the weight of the roof above their head.
So they leave. It doesn't feel safe. Nothing feels safe anymore. Not without Mama.
The tower is still looming. And… closer? They swear it was closer to the community area, but maybe they didn't remember it right.
Niko notices now that there's a… probably a door, on one of the triangular walls of it.
It doesn't have any handles, though… is it just another wall?
There's also a small, nearly transparent orb that sits in an indent along the upper side of the doorframe.
It looks pretty. Niko tries to grab it, to see it closer, and nearly jump out of their skin when it scrapes the wall loudly. They yank their hand away, and it stops.
…What?
Cautiously, after waiting for their heart to calm down, they raise their palm towards the orb again.
It glows. And it follows their hand. It's a surreal feeling, and they slide it back and forth a few times, mesmerized.
Eventually, though, it locks into the opposite side of the doorframe, and the door opens up in front of them.
Well… more like the door slides into the wall? They gaze at the split it fell into for a moment. They've never seen a door like this. The ones in the Refuge could be kind of fancy sometimes, but they still behaved like doors.
There are paintings on one wall, accompanied by swirling purple patterns in seemingly random shapes.
The other wall has… a dial?
Niko has no clue what it could be used for.
There's seven tablets, with one set on a half circle path, and the others all stationary.
They try to pull the moving one this way and that, but nothing happens.
Before they can ponder much more, though, the world outside crackles, and collapses inwards, sharp edges and overwhelming noise smothering anything familiar.
The door starts to close, despite them not interacting with it since entering the tower, and they throw themself at it.
“Wait!” They cry loudly. “No, stop!”
That wasn't their home, not without their family, not without everyone they know, but it was better than this. This cold, sharp, mysterious room.
It doesn't listen to them. They jump away before it can crush their arm.
They watch helplessly as the world they know collapses into a single point, and explodes in a violent nebula.