Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!

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These pictures clearly showed what happened to her in the past, the last picture we saw seemed to shock Emily and Alma a bit, though I had guessed it already.

"Her mom died, didn't she?" Alma asked.

"Yeah, I mean, we already knew that…" Emily said.

"But it still a bit sad!" Alma sighed. "I-I wish I could tell something to Sofia to help her, but everything I think about… I know it won't work. She has closed her heart so much."

"Hmm, yeah," Emily sighed. "But even then, we have to try, no matter what. We have to save her."

As I heard them talking, I sighed, looking around, I noticed other portraits and photos, some of them showed little Sofia playing with a small Automata.

Sometimes they would play hide and seek, other times, they would play teatime, whenever she felt lonely, she would summon him and order him to be by her side.

To be her friend…

"She had her Dream Weapon from such a young age?" wondered Emily.

"I think she was born with a Dream Heart…" said Alma. "I wonder if that has some correlation to her mother looking so sick later…"

"Maybe," I sighed. "But this is… well, I can tell now, I can see why that Automata would be so fond of her, so obsessed too. Maybe it was born without a purpose other than being a weapon, but after all these years of seeing her grow up, and of growing up with her, they forged a very strong bond."

"That's sad…" sighed Emily.

"And we… we killed him…" Alma muttered. "Ugh…"

"L-Look, we didn't have any other option! It was trying to kill us…" Emily crossed her arms. "I-I… I guess…"

"Maybe Sofia's own wish to have a friend when she was all lonely became something like… a Curse," I said.

"A curse?" Alma and Emily glanced at me with confusion.

"Yeah, for a while now I've been thinking, that Nightmares themselves are the byproduct of a curse," I explained. "Curses, which are born out of our hatred, frustrations, traumas, and fears. Of all our darkest, strongest emotions. They manifest out of our bodies, becoming a malefic energy. Sofia… probably cursed her Automata without realizing, through years and years of asking it to be a replacement for her family, it was Cursed into becoming her family, and someone obsessed with making her happy. I wouldn't say this was all of Sofia's fault, her Familiar definitely… planned this."

"Damn…" Emily muttered. "I mean… Damn."

"I-I never thought of everything like that before…" Alma sighed. "My family… they died in a Nightmare Realm accident in the middle of my village. It happened when I was very little, I always thought Nightmares were just hideous monsters and nothing else, but… if they're truly just the Curses that we make, then… Does it means that everyone is held responsible for what's happening in the world right now?"

"I-I wouldn't really… Hmm," I sighed. "I had the idea that this entire Nightmare Phenomenon might have been created when all of humanity harnessed so much negative energy that it harnessed, amassed, and merged into a massive Curse, it cursed the entire world… Well, it just a theory though."

"It freaks me out!" Emily groaned. "Ah, whatever, we can't stay here all day, let's go upstairs!"

"Yeah!" Alma nodded. "What we're talking about won't ever help Sofia, so…"

"You're right."

I walked to their side, then expanding my shadows, I hugged them both tightly. Beatriz also was grabbed tightly, as she meowed angrily.

"Let's go with a single jump!"

I leaped off the stairs and into the shadows that led to the third floor without any moment of hesitation.

"M-Maria?! Wait a second…!"

"Uwawawaaahhh!"

"Mereooow?!"

As all three of them panicked, I reached the shadows and passed through them, feeling like we were going through some very cold, slimy substance.

FLUOSH!

Then, that disgusting feeling was washed away by a very warm, blinding light, pure white light that engulfed us completely.

It felt like we were absorbed by it, and then, throw somewhere else.

"Ugh… My head…"

"Ouch, my butt hurts a bit…"

"Meoow…"

As I heard them speaking, I slowly opened my eyes and expanded my senses, realizing we were now in the middle of a forest.

However, it didn't look dark or "nightmarish", no, it was bright and beautiful, with many normal colors, green forest, blue sky, and a beautiful sun above.

We were sitting over grass and flowers. We felt a bit surprised, but we quickly stood back up, realizing that sitting down wouldn't do much.

"So this is where Sofia is?" Emily wondered.

"Yeah," I nodded after I saw Beatriz give me a little nod.

"S-So what is this place though? Another nightmare? It doesn't seem nightmarish…" said Alma.

"Because it's not," I said. "Technically we're on something similar to an actual Pure Dream, it's like a nightmare absent of its negative energies. A good dream constructed using nightmares."

"Huh…" Emily looked around. "So where's Sof?"

I looked at Beatriz, who started walking to the left.

"Let's follow the cat, she knows where she is."

We followed Beatriz through the gardens of flowers and the grassland, reaching the forest and passing through it.

The relaxing atmosphere of a summer day was really palpable, so relaxing it was that it made us feel more distracted than usual.

Perhaps it was part of the Dream's effect to make you feel more soothed and calmer, while also wanting to just "enjoy the moment" and not think about anything else.

By connecting my shadows with Emily and Alma, I was able to wake them up whenever they felt like they were too distracted.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes of just walking while enjoying the forest's view, hearing the birds chirping and the cicadas singing, we reached a clearing.

The clearing was covered on white flowers, and it had a small hill, with a bit, old tree sitting on top.

And right there, there was a family of three, enjoying a picnic together.

"Mama, I want that sandwich!"

"This one dear? Okay."

"Hahah, aren't you eating too much, Sofia?"

"But I'm hungy daddy!"

After Emily and Alma saw Sofia, they were left speechless.

"Sofia…"

Alma started crying, realizing that this was Sofia's "ideal dream".

"Damn it…"

Emily sighed, fully knowing what he had to do now.

"Let's go."

I led them because I knew they wouldn't be able to do it on their own.

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