Living Emotion: The World Below

Vision of Calamity

I see that old, decrepit well in the woods again, practically towering over me as horrible black ooze spills out from the top, filling up my eyes and turning everything pitch dark. Already, my stomach is sinking and a familiar chill is setting into my skin.

"After all these years, I finally have you," That deep, hissing voice says to me. "The Spirit of Negativity, the perfect pawn to be my Instigator. Will you bow to me easily, or will I have to break you down and make you suffer?"

I feel something large and rough coil around me, tightening against my ribs and pushing them to just before their breaking point. I grit my teeth tightly, trying my hardest to get loose to no avail.

"Stop! Stop!"

"Then give in."

"Negito? Negito, you're okay!"

"AH!" I yelp, jerking away from the hand on my shoulder and looking around. The darkness has given way to a lower lighting- the murky amber glow of the lamps around the park. My heart is pounding uncontrollably in my chest, my breath shuddering as I try to digest everything I'm seeing.

I feel a warm presence beside me and whip around to face it, to which Nick raises his palms so I can see them.

"Hey, hey, it's just me. It's just me. Are you alright?"

I stiffen, reaching up and clutching my arms tightly, squeezing them to try and ground myself. "No, I- I'm not, I'm not."

He nods and holds out his hand. "Okay. Here, I'll take you back to the car and we can go home."

All I can do is just take his hand in response, letting him help me to my feet. Freddy appears seemingly out of nowhere, quietly offering to get Posilyn. Nick agrees and thanks him before he takes me to the car, sitting with me in the backseat and rubbing my back to comfort me.

It doesn't work. And I'm not sure it will anytime soon, especially not when I have to tell Nick what I've seen in my premonition.

Just the memory of that pain and how real it felt jars me to my core, the shaking throughout my body worsening to the point that I can't even breathe.

"Easy, Negito, take a deep breath. Follow me, follow me," Nick urges, gently pulling me into his arms and then inhaling steadily to show me the way. I struggle to follow his lead, burying my face in his chest and trying to block out everything else around me.

I can't even bring myself to register the world around me, losing touch with everything right until the moment a key presses to my chest and everything I feel shatters into an eerie calmness.

"Wh- what the?..." I lift my head, meeting Posilyn's gaze as she pulls back, clutching a key to her chest. The key, her key to the palace, and the key that channels her power over Positive Emotions. Nick had taken ours for safekeeping, wanting to wait until we were ready to use them. I had completely forgotten about them, though.

"Do you need me to do it again?" She asks nervously, rubbing her thumb against the rainbow butterfly set into the bow of the key.

I hesitantly shake my head, bringing up a hand to push back my bangs. "I- I think I'm okay for now."

"I doubt okay is the right word," Nick says, sitting beside me on his bed. Realizing I'm not where I thought I was, I have to glance around, taking in everything until I finally understand where I am- Nick's bedroom, all the way back at his home. "You're safe, I swear. Just take a deep breath, then tell me what's going on."

Slowly, I shake my heard and murmur, "No, Nick, I- I don't think we are."

He frowns, an especially worried crease touching his brow. "Negito, what was your premonition about?"