Inside

Countless small bubbles emerged from Free's dormant body as he slowly sank down, encapsulated in an endless abyss of...blood

In the next moment, his eyes suddenly flickered open.

Where...am I?

Free didn't have much time to think as panic immediatly set in while he scanned his surroundings.

Blood...everywhere.

The oozy liquid was so solid that Free couldn't see through it.

His vision was consumed with the crimson color.

But...how am I breathing?

Despite being surrounded by blood on all sides, with no space for air, Free's body held up perfectly.

*CRACK*

Suddenly, Free felt his descent speed up at an exponential rate as he and the blood free-fell downward.

*CRASH*

As Free slammed against solid ground, he didn't feel anything.

Ah right...I'm dreaming.

Mountains of blood spilled on top of Free's collapsed body, like water spilling out of a tank, but he simply waited, allowing the oozy liquid to bury him.

*DRIP~DROP*

*DRIP~DROP*

While the last few droplets of blood fell from the sky, Free slowly stood up, the blood not impacting him anyway.

His body could move perfectly fine in all directions despite being covered in it.

It was as if the blood were simply...a hologram, not even real.

Finally, Free's vision was freed from the crimson-red color, as his head popped out of the dune of blood holding his body.

And...he saw himself.

A stone-brick wall, covered with moss, stood before him, and on that wall lay a mirror.

The full-body mirror was surrounded by a gold exterior that seemed more suitable to hold a painting, but he was too busy to notice that.

Free's hands instantly surged upward from the blood, into the free air, and grasped the top of his head.

My hair...it's back!

Not only that, but the leathery char that had been imprinted on his skin by the ring of flames had disappeared, bringing back his pale skin tone.

Most importantly, though, Free felt no pain. In fact, he felt nothing... besides a tinge of happiness.

*WHOOSH*

A moment later, the sound of a toilet flushing echoed through the room, and within seconds, the mountains of blood began slowly vanishing into the ground, like water being drained from a sink.

In a matter of seconds, all the blood on the floor had been removed, leaving no stains and revealing a grey medieval-style stone-brick floor.

A small golden chandelier hung above Free, barely lighting up the room and casting an ominous mood.

Then, without any warning, a familiar voice suddenly sounded through his head.

[Blood-Moon Eclipser 8/8 has joined. Maximum capacity has been reached.]

Before Free could even fully comprehend those words, his body suddenly started moving involuntarily, defying his brain's commands to halt and stay still.

His body walked right in front of the mirror, but when Free looked at his reflection...there was something off.

When did that get there?

Despite Free's vision not having blurred once and him not feeling anything, a pearly-white mask now appeared on his face, covering everything except his two onyx-black eyes.

The mask resembled that of a winged warrior from a myth, with three sharp feathers on each side flaring out of the top of the mask like wings, blocking the front portion of Free's black hair.

Two feathers also protruded from the bottom of his mask, blocking Free's jawline and making him resemble an eagle.

Interestingly, on Free's forehead, a pair of black goggles, which could be used to hide Free's eyes, with blue-tinted lenses lay.

Besides the mask, Free's body now wore a clean white collared shirt, partially revealing his neck, and a pair of white pants.

...not my style.

Wait! This is my dream, so I should be able to choose what I wear!

Placing his hands on his ears, Free intensely concentrated, trying to change his white pants to black, but when he looked up...nothing had changed.

"..."

*WHOOSH*

Suddenly, Free's reflection blurred and twisted around, forming a large circular whirlpool in the middle of the mirror.

[Please enter when you are ready.]

Nodding his head at the voice, Free sighed and stepped through the mirror, and as he thought, his body simply phased through the glass.

In the next second, Free found himself...in a new area.

The room was similar to the one he had just been in, featuring a chandelier and stone-brick walls, but it was much larger.

Most notably, a large dining table with two chairs, positioned at opposite ends of the table, appeared, with sets of plates and utensils.

Right before Free, a quartz-white chair lay, and on the other side of the table, another aquamarine-blue chair lay...before another mirror.

What was going on? Wasn't this his dream!?

Why was there another chair and mirror?

Before Free's confusion could consume him, a loud voice echoed from his right.

"Oh look, someone else is here?"

Thinking he was hearing things, Free's head suddenly flicked to the right, and there in the front right corner of the room was a figure.

The boy calling to him had messy amber-brown hair with matching eyes and wore a light-blue blazer, accompanied by a light-blue mask featuring images of white clouds.

A sky mask...?

Not just any sky...but the day sky.

Scratching his brown hair, which flowed above the top of his mask, the boy tilted his head and awkwardly said.

"You know, since I was number 8, I thought I'd be last."

Free paused, alternating gazes between the sky mask and the dinner table.

This was a dream...a dream meant to introduce him to a mystery that he would need to solve in order to become a Lunite.

Perhaps noticing Free's uneasiness, the boy's eyes softened as he headed in the opposite direction of Free, toward his blue chair.

Pausing and taking a deep breath, Free nodded his head before pulling out the chair before him and taking a seat.

He had to find out as much information as possible if he wanted to solve the mystery that this scenario was supposed to propose to him.

Perhaps, this boy would be useful.