Waking up next to the love of your life was most certainly the best way to start your morning, especially after you've been apart for so long, Damian awoke to find his wife cuddled up next to him underneath the sheet of their cot, their room was small, barely enough for the two of them but for the moment it felt just like home. Yet despite this brilliant start to the morning something felt wrong, he was awake earlier than most others in the compound sure but why did he still feel so tired? Despite only waking up a short time ago he found that his body was unusually unresponsive compared to how it had been as of late.
After a quick shower and helping out with some minor chores as the sun rose across the distant horizon he thought that he would finally be able to shake off the drowsiness at long last but if anything it only seemed to grow even deeper. Did they overdo it last night? Did he finally find and push past the limits of his inhuman endurance? A soft chuckle left his lips as he carried a pair of plates towards their room, as he opened the door he saw the tantalising figure of his wife already preparing herself for the day.
Wordlessly he placed the plate of warm food in front of her before giving her a small kiss on the forehead as he went to sit by her side on their cot, their daughter was still asleep in the adjacent room and he didn't want to wake her so early, they had all been through so much so he wanted her to enjoy what rest she could get.
He enjoyed the calming presence of his wife as they ate together, they had shared only a few meals since they reunited and every time filled his heart with such joy to know that they were with him again and that nothing could get between them any longer. However despite the peaceful nature of the morning Damian couldn't shake the feeling of drowsiness which clouded his mind, and it was clear enough to the point where his wife turned to him to ask,
"You doing alright there my love? You seem tired, still exhausted from last night?"
Her devious smile made his heart flutter for a beat or two as a stupid looking grin found his way on to his face as he answered,
"Yeah I'm good, just a bit drowsy is all, and I should be the one asking you that question."
She let out a small laugh at his response before her faced turned a little more serious,
"Thats what you said last time as well…. but we both know how that ended…."
She was right, the last time he felt this way was just a day or two before he fell into the nightmare of the horrific war in the desert and this time the feeling was compounding much quicker than before, suddenly a sharp fear burst through his body as his mind spun as he could only form a single thought as he rushed out the room with panic written over his face,
'Jasper!'
He rushed over to his companions room with his wife following behind as best she could but by the time she arrived to the room she could already see the panic on her husband's face as he was trying to wake his companion,
"Come on Jasper, wake up! Please not now, I can't…I can't leave them again!"
But no matter how hard he tried his friend never once opened his eyes, his body was otherwise healthy but it was like he had slipped into a coma, an endless dream with no signs to point to when he would wake up. This was different then last time though, both him and Jasper had been infected by the spell at different points and yet out of the two of them Jasper was the first to fall into a second nightmare.
No it was something else, he had been feeling tired all morning with the feeling only growing stronger by the second, Jasper had always been a deep sleeper so maybe he never even had a chance to wake up this morning before being thrown into it, he had seen the young man just yesterday so the change was all too sudden.
He could feel tears forming in his eyes as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him as feel to his knees, he spoke out with clear distress in his voice as he tried to rationalise what was happening,
"I…I don't want to leave you two alone again, I just want to be able to protect you and now….I don't know what to do but it doesn't look like the world is giving me a choice any more."
He held onto the arms of his wife as his tears began to fall uncontrollably as the gravity of the situation hit him, he would be thrown into yet another nightmare and forced to fight for his life all alone, the threats he would face would surely be terrible, beyond anything he had faced so far he was sure of it.
It took some time for him to collect himself before he stood silently, holding onto his wife every moment he could, wanting to engrave her touch into his skin so that he would always remember it no matter what happened to him. By the time they returned to their room their daughter had come around and was silently waiting for their return.
Upon seeing her it took everything in him to hold his tears back as he spoke,
"Morning sweeetie, how did you sleep last night?"
The little girl looked up at her father with such love and care it made it feel like his heart was being gripped by an icy claw knowing what would soon happen,
"Good, these beds aren't as comfy as my old one though…"
Damian wished he could tell her that they could return h ome some day, that this would one day just become blip in humanities history which would be looked back on as the end of the Dark times, but he knew better, he knew that this wasn't the end of a terrible period, it was the start of one that was surely going to get worse as time passed. Leaning downwards he swooped his daughter into his arms and held her tightly as she struggled to be let go, and despite her pleas he never wanted to let go of her, of either of them, he had to let go once and it was the most difficult decision of his life.
His vision had started to blur from the strain of forcing himself awake, he had spent his day helping out where he could and spending as much time with his family as possible, he intended to come back this time as well, but making that promise felt empty no matter how heartfelt it was, for in this world uncertainty was the new normal. He spent his last few hours of consciousness by his loved ones sides trying to stay strong or hoping that if he just powered through the sensation would fade, but in the end he failed, as his body collapsed on the cot from the draining exhaustion he gazed at his wife one final time, tears were forming in both of their eyes as they said their final goodbyes. His daughter's eyes were watering from teh scene, she had seen it before and knew that he would be gone for a while but he promised her he would return before embracing her as well.
Soon his vision darkened his senses shifted as he opened his eyes, standing naked and alone in a dense woodland devoid of life a voice rang out to him,
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Damian!]
The voice was calm and friendly but with the stirring emotions within his soul he found it hard to focus on its meaning, he would have plenty of time for that later, feeling the cool air brush against his body reminded him of just how exposed he was in this place of unknown dangers lurking around the darkness. He breathed in before sparks of light appeared around his neck as a collar of twisting nails wove itself into existence. Feeling the sharp edges threatening to pierce his skin as his body shimmered in the light.