2576/Nightmare Management

Nightmare Management
Date of Scene:	04 July 2015
Location:	Equestria <KE>
Synopsis:	Yuna gets some help with her nightmare from Mort's Shuppet ally, Nettle.
Cast of Characters:	385, Mortimer Balman

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Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
While a new bed - a 'modern' bed as she tends to think of it - has certainly helped Yuna's sleep somewhat, the same nightmare that's been plaguing her still hasn't gone away ... and after a mix of dilly-dallying about with the question and wrestling with a case of jitters, she's finally gone looking to visit Mortimer 'Charr' Balman.

She's not even sure why she's nervous about it; she's met Charr before, she counts him as a friend, she knows he's not going to hurt her ... the only real reason to *be* nervous, when you get right down to it, is the very reason why she's looking to get help from one of his allies.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Mortimer was actually half-asleep in his easy chair in the living room when Yuna showed up- dinner was hours since completed and now it was time to rest and relax. Ostensibly it was time to /sleep/. But Mortimer didn't sleep much- more a series of power naps than proper REM sleep, whenever he possibly could. Probably not the healthiest idea, but it beat the alternative..

     The knocking on the door will cause his ears to perk up, eyes fluttering open and wiping away the thin crust of sleep. "I'm comin', I'm comin', half a moment.." Being as he was 'home' he had let Equestria's magic do its work, and thus a large black-furred pony with a fire-red mane and tail would pull the door to his house open, a yawn following it. "Mmph. Who is it, what's going on? Ulbrecht did you 'go' in someone's yard again?" A soft whine from an absurdly massive wolf came from on top of the house, the frame of a Thunderwolf that was close to being fully grown apparently snoozing on the hill'ed section amongst the trees.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Wha -- um."

Yuna takes a couple of steps back, looking up at the big black pony. Black ... with red mane and tail ...

"Um. Mort, right?" The white unicorn with the blonde mane raises a hoof to wave to him. "Sorry if I disturbed you sleeping or anything ... could I talk to you for a bit? - Sorry, I don't think we've actually met when you were in a pony form," she adds with a sheepish grin, briefly rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Rubbing his eyes a little more, Mortimer blinks widely a couple of times. "Eh? Oh Kagurazaka, sure. C'mon in, c'mon in.." He'd start meandering back into the living room, but detour to the kitchen. Switchbait would lazily float down the stairs, "<Do we have company, sir?>" "Yea, it's Kagurazaka." "<Ah.. The songstress? A moment's time sir, I shall get some tea going..>" "Nah don't worry about it, go back to bed Switch. I got it." "<You are sure?>" "Yea. Go, sleep." The little butlerfree let out a yawn, "<Jolly good then, sir. Good night..>"

     A pot of water set to boil with tea leaves inside, coffee cakes and some roasted nuts set on a tray in the middle of the living room. "Help yerself, tea'll be ready in a few. Or do you want something else? I got soda, milk, beer, water, cider, juice.."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"You *can* call me 'Yuna,' you know," she says with a smile as she wipes her hooves at the doormat and proceeds inside as invited. Switchbait gets a polite/friendly wave and a quick 'Hello!' from Yuna on her way to the living room.

"Tea is fine, thank you," she answers Mort's offer once she's settled; the coffee cake looks and smells great, but she sticks with a hoof-ful of nuts for a start. "I, uh ..."

She lets out a breath. There's really not much point to dancing around the issue. "Twilight Sparkle said that your Shuppet friend might be able to help with ... with a nightmare I've been having. Seems like I wake up from the same dream every night ..."

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Mortimer nods, "Tea it is then." Switchbait gives a polite but visibly tired nod, his compound eyes more than half closed, and lazily floats back upstairs- not even using his own wings, just his mind. A pipe is pulled from nearby and Mort lights it with a puff of flame, leaning into the chair to look at Yuna. "Hm. That so?" Puff puff.

     Brows furrow somewhat. Twilit didn't really know any better, though.. "Nettle, yes. She can help with nightmares.. But it's an addictive sort of 'help' that does her more good than it does me. I question whether or-" He is cut off by the iconic, sinister giggling of Nettle as she materializes from apparently nowhere. "<Ahh.. Bad dreams, darling?~ I can help with those, yes~ heehehehee.. I don't chew nearly hard enough to hurt~>" Her grin is unnaturally wide, reaching almost all the way around her head.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"EEEP!!!"

It's a good thing Yuna wasn't holding a plate or a cup, because Nettle's arrival startles her hard enough to leap about a foot out of her seat, accidentally tossing several nuts into the air. She manages to catch some again, but there are a few that arc further away than Yuna can reach - and one or two that land on the chair she's sitting on. Looking sheepish, Yuna stands up long enough to try and recover them, munching on the recovered nuts before she sits down again. Only once she's regained her composure and swallowed does she try to speak again.

"It's just ... I can get *some* sleep," Yuna explains - whether to Nettle or to Mort, or to both of them. "But ..."

But the nightmare is still clearly bothering her. She bows her head, looking away from Mort and Nettle, equine ears lowered as she tries to figure out how to talk about it properly.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Nettle's grin widens a bit, but that's until Mortimer shoots her a glare. "None of that, now." "<Ah.. You're so little fun these days, Master~>" The wraithly sock settles on top of Mortimer's mane, nestling into it a bit while he smokes. "That bad, huh.. Alright. Grab yerself a blanket and a pillow. You'll crash here fer the night. Once yer out, Nettle'll go on in an' do her thing. She will even keep whatever she sees a secret between you and her, unless it's somethin' I absolutely gotta know to keep you from catchin' a case of "dead"." He'd rise up from his chair and go into the kitchen.

     But instead of coming back with tea, it was a glass of warmed milk. "Drink this instead of tea. Caffeine'll just keep you up. Blankets 'n pillows're in the guest closet down the hall."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods, accepting the glass of milk and sipping gently from it. "Okay. Is there a guest room, or should I just curl up on your sofa or something?" she inquires.

Nettle still seems to be creeping her out a bit, but she's acclimating. "As to whether it's something you'd need to protect me from," Yuna adds, "I'm ... pretty sure it's okay. I already won that battle ..."

She trails off, her ears drooping again. "Sort of."

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Mortimer waves a hoof dismissively. "Use the couch. Hell, comfier'n my /bed/ is. Nettle? You behave. Got it?" With a resigned sigh, the little shuppet nods, "<Of course, Master~>" Morty then settled back into his chair, letting out a sigh. "'Sort of'. Eh, doesn't matter. Confidentiality is still an important assurance, after all.. Make yerself comfy. You want me to turn on the TV, or do you prefer the silence?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
TV? Yuna doesn't even have that in her cottage, at least not yet. Maybe once the electrical wiring is finished ... "I didn't think they had TV on Equestria," she grins after sipping some more milk. "Where do you get the signal from, or is this a Multiversal network?"

She takes a moment to look up at the Shuppet. "So ... will I see you in the nightmare I'm having, or anything, Nettle?"

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     A few more puffs on the pipe. "I got a pretty good transmitter 'n receiver- Multiverse networks. Equestrians only got a little bit'a radio. On or off?" Nettle simply smiles, much less menacingly this time, and floats over to settle herself into Yuna's mane. It's an odd sensation but not an inherently revolting one- kinda like that feeling when your foot goes to sleep, only in your hair. "<Perhaps, if I so desire to make myself seen. I am quite skilled at being unobtrusive~>"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"I'm okay leaving the TV off," Yuna says with a smile. She doesn't seem to notice the Shuppet's weight as Nettle makes herself comfortable; she does, however, finish off the glass of milk. "Thank you very much," she says to Mort with a smile, licking her lips to make sure she doesn't have a 'mustache' after that. Although, white milk, white coat, it'd be hard to tell.

She trots down the hall to fetch a pillow and a blanket; if the cake is still out when she gets back, she'll take a piece for herself. before bedding down for the night. "I guess I don't really need to tell either of you ... unless I *want* to tell you what the nightmare is about, anyway. Right?"

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     Mortimer nods, and makes sure to put the cake away once Yuna has had a slice. Tempted to have a slice himself, but he must watch his weight with the WMAT right around the corner! "Nettle will see it, but as I said before- she keeps secrets well. Better than the majority of governments, even." Nettle makes a cheerful sort of affirmation noise. "<You won't even know I'm there, until you do, dearie~>" "G'head and get some sleep.. Okay?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
It's not a particularly big slice - Yuna watches her weight too, as a matter of being an idol singer as well as occasional combat. "Thanks again, Mort, Nettle," she says as she gets settled in. "Sleep well ..."

For all that her nightmare disturbs her sleep, she at least FALLS asleep fast enough. How fast she starts dreaming .... well. Nettle might be able to make a difference on that front, if the Shuppet is in a hurry.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     If the nightmares are that bad then it is indeed no surprise she can fall asleep so quickly on her own. Mortimer settles into his easy chair and reclines, letting out a yawn and slowly closing his eyes. Unlike Yuna though he shant sleep so well, as his sleep aide has been loaned out. His own nightmares will haunt him but, sometimes one needs to deal with one's own terrors and not rely so heavily on crutches..

     Nettle slowly fades from sight, phasing from the Physical world to a more ethereal plane, where dreams hold more sway than such crass things as 'physics' and 'science'. In the corners of Yuna's mind, just past the edge of Consciousness and Self, not truly /inside/ the mind like a psychic might do but watching it all through a glass shell of Thought and Memory, Nettle settles herself in.

     And then begins the watching game.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Once Yuna DOES settle into REM sleep, the nightmare comes up pretty quickly ...

It's one of those nightmares which comes straight out of bad memories - and the memory starts clearly enough. Mortimer might even have known about the incident at the time that it happened: the Noise Marines' attack on a Union outpost, spearheaded by a Titan, a forty-meter giant robot which had been retrofitted to remove all conventional weaponry, and replace every last emplacement with amplified speakers. The sonic assault it unleashes is both auditorily and physically devastating, weaponizing dubstep to rip through the outpost's defenses and defenders as well as being utter horror to hear ... although given that this is through Yuna's memory, the subjectively offensive side of the dubstep is probably even worse than it was in real life.

In the actual battle, and faithfully replayed in the nightmare, Yuna summoned El-Line to try and slow or halt the Titan's advance; there were other combatants, both Union-allied and hostile ... including one pink-haired little girl, in her teens but shorter than Yuna, who used music as well. In fact, as the fight continued, the pink-haired girl actually mounted the Chaos Titan to take command of its 'instrumentation' ... which came to an abrupt halt when Yuna managed to pierce the main subwoofer.

And that's where the nightmare gets *REALLY* bad for Yuna personally - because she didn't know that Titans have crew. A lot of it. Imprisoned, many of them physically integrated into the Titan's frame and systems, many looking undead or worse ...

And that's still not where the nightmare peaks enough for Yuna to wake up out of it normally.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     If it were possible for Yuna to hear it, she could have heard Nettle hissing. The little wraith had little care for the Traitor Legions and their ilk- desecration of souls and such mockeries of proper death offend her at a very personal level. But she does not interfere just yet, even if her clothy 'body' is becoming somehow.. Sharper, and pointier. She begins to see what Yuna's problem is..

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna's no fan of the Chaos Marines either, and would happily take on the Chaos Gods themselves if she were faced with the necessity for it ... but that's neither here nor there.

The crux of the dilemma is that on the one hand, even apart from the terror of seeing that much undeath and near-death, Yuna wanted - she yearned from the deepest parts of her heart - to do something to save the innocents who had been so desecrated. They didn't deserve a fate anything like that, and she would have spared as many of them as lay within her power ... but.

But.

Even ripped open by El-Line's sword, the Chaos Titan was STILL ADVANCING. It would have taken much time and much effort, and probably more than one miracle, to start rescuing anybody from within the Chaos Titan. Elner processed the sensor data for her; there were some 'crew' still alive, some who could potentially have been freed ... but.

But.

With the Titan's mass pushing El-Line steadily back, and what was left of the outpost ever nearer, and the outpost's escaped survivors fleeing but not yet safe ...

And in her desperation to save the lives whom she KNEW could still be preserved, Yuna wielded the Lightning Sword once more, destroying the Chaos Titan's powerplant -

*THAT* is the point from which she awakens from the nightmare normally. Not just from the desperation, but from knowing that despite her deeply-held desire to save every life ... she made the choice to sacrifice those whom she knew she couldn't save in time.

That is the critical point where, if Yuna is to sleep through the night, Nettle is going to have to intervene in whatever manner lies within her abilities.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     It is now that Nettle makes herself known as a presence within Yuna's mind. The dream seems to freeze in place, as soon before the breaking point as can be managed while understanding the problem- probably well before it. This is a pain that Nettle is familiar with, and one that is easily.. Consumed.

     In the midst of the frozen dream, her tiny body appears. But it is no longer tiny. Rather it is a grotesquely bloated thing, with a crack that could be a mouth that goes almost all the way 'round her head, lined with innumerable teeth. Twisted, glowing runes in some forgotten, profane tongue coat her body.. And then her work begins. She sinks her teeth down into the very fabric of the dreamscape, feasting upon it piece by piece- carefully, gingerly ripping it out one chunk at a time. And with this, the horrors fade and become.. Muted, and dull. A hollow, empty sort of feeling follows as she feeds.

     It would probably unnerve Yuna- perhaps even frighten her, to feel her fear and pain and terrors being /consumed/ from her- but she may find that it is difficult to wake up from it, as Nettle's dark magic helps keep her in the land of slumber. For her part, Nettle is quite enjoying herself. The pains and fears of others are sweet meats to be relished, and though the pains that Yuna suffers are familiar to her, the presentation is new and makes the 'meal' all the more delectable.

     If Yuna has any sort of lucid dreaming trickery up her sleeve, she might be able to interfere with the little ghost.. Otherwise she'll just have to struggle with this hollow sleep, or try to force herself awake.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
At least it keeps Yuna asleep; she tosses and turns more than she normally would, and may have a pretty awful crick in her neck come morning, but she doesn't really know how to interfere with what Nettle is doing.

Now, *Elner* might ... but the little robo-faerie is back at Yuna's cottage, and given that Yuna visited Mort specifically for help with her nightmares - help which Elner has encouraged her to seek out in SOME form - Elner wouldn't be inclined to interfere either.

What might be more helpful to Yuna than just 'hollowing out' the nightmare would be if the trauma of the fight and of the Sonic Chaos Titan itself could be addressed, toned down to a point where she can confront it on her own terms. But for now ... well.

It's been more than two weeks since Yuna had a night's sleep WITHOUT this nightmare haunting her. Forcing herself awake is farther outside of the question than she could handle. If getting her primary nightmare eaten like this makes for less restful slumber, her body and her brain are going to take THAT over outright-interrupted slumber.

Mortimer Balman has posed:
     The dream gone, Yuna's mind can drift in a void. Free of fear, free from pain, free from thoughts of horrors from the days before. If only for a little while. A tongue that drips with some sort of ectoplasmic ichor licks Nettle's horrid fangs clean of the dreamstuff, and she settles in to rest within Yuna's mind, and keep close watch on things.

     Despite being a monster, though, Nettle is not completely without any form of empathy or compassion. A gentle, but nonetheless haunting melodic lullaby drifts into the corners of Yuna's subconscious. It is the sort of tune one might expect to hear from some wizened old crone from a storybook as she sings small children to sleep. But there is at the same time a sinister undertone to it all- one of the drawbacks to Nettle's state of existence.

     Perhaps it will help, perhaps it will not. But it's the thought that counts, right?

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Sinister, disturbing ... whatever. Yuna does love music, and the lullaby helps a lot.

She might even find herself trying to come up with a song that can use the melody or a variation of it ... will she know who to give credit to, if she does?