What had started as a gathering of survivors from all walks of life had gradually grown into a time of celebration.
It was rare for so many people to be gathered like this nowadays, so they decided to make the most out of it. The party was in full swing, both mundane and awakened side by side, chatting, dancing, and singing. Not to mention, best of all, enjoying a warm meal next to a roaring fire.
It was times like this that people could let loose their inhibitions and let the wilder side show to the world, and in the modern age, this type of activity was a luxury not many could enjoy.
The area around them was desolate.
Any nightmare creature that dared to approach the strange mixtures of rather overwhelming sensations would be seen and dealt with long before it ever became a true threat to the people inside.
Somnus found himself enjoying some synthetic beers he had discovered a few days ago. Sitting around the fire with fine company on either side of him, on one side was his father, who seemed to be enjoying himself as he gouged himself on some synthmeat he had cooked himself.
On his other side, the Captain of the awakened was laughing loudly as he watched his men try and fail at dancing with some of the mundane survivors. It was a sight for sore eyes, to say the least.
Somnus was enjoying his drink with a toothy smile plastered over his face.
The Captain and anyone else who looked at him would think that he was happy that his people were allowed to enjoy themselves, as they no longer needed to worry about the threat of Nightmare Creatures, at least for tonight.
Yet despite what the Captain of the awakened may have thought, his joy was not due to the well-being of his people.
No, that smile held far more sinister intentions than its meaning suggested.
Somnus and his father knew that they stood no chance against this many awakened, even if all their people attacked at once, so they had to wait.
Letting their energy drain by slowly introducing the idea of a grand party with the help of their willing pawns, of course.
No one person had actually suggested this whole charade, but after enough dominoes fell, eventually everything fell into place.
No one wanted to be left out of those playing games.
No one wanted to miss the chance of a lavish meal in hard times.
No one would want to waste an opportunity to let loose at the end of the world.
By now, the survivors were masters at manipulating the emotions of the awakened. They had led dozens of them to their death like sirens without their prey being none the wiser.
Some had even developed their own strategies for making the awakened lower the guard all on their own, even if their methods were far more indecent than what they had originally suggested.
However, as long as they achieved the desired result, the two leaders of the camp didn't really care what needed to be done to achieve their goal.
As Somnus looked over the room, he could feel the energy of the room slightly shifting. It was subtle at first, but quickly spread and grew.
It was strange, as if a wave of lethargy had spread through the air.
The awakened were slowly losing their edge, some occasionally rubbing their eyes to chase away the strange tiredness that seemed to be invading their minds.
In most other circumstances, it would have been a cause for alarm, but with everybody exerting themselves as they let their inhibitions loose? They barely batted an eye at what could very well be their doom.
This was the part Somnus hated the most, waiting. He was impatient and short-tempered to say the least, which made the efforts to conceal his true intentions all the more frustrating, but he had always enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. Knowing he was superior and that there was nothing his prey could do to escape.
It was that feeling which made it all worth it in the end.
So he waited, and let the poison of lethargy do its work. It would take time, a day or maybe two, but they would get there in the end.
He drank in the intoxicating sweetness of superiority as he crushed the can in his hand and dropped it to his feet with the others.
His eyes wandered around the room, taking in many strange and wonderful sights.
Awakened, trying to impress the mundane with their strange aspects, mundane survivors telling their own tales of survival and even groups of awakened and mundane leaving together for one reason or another.
However, one group in particular caught his eye.
It was a group of three awakened soldiers helping carry a woman to one of the back rooms.
This, on its own, wouldn't have been too strange if it weren't for the expressions on their faces.
They were strangely sombre and far more serious to the point that they seemed to stand out among the others.
Somnus followed them with his eyes for as long as he could.
He recognised the woman they were carrying had been a continuous thorn in him and his father's side ever since he executed her husband and his friend just after they had entered the DreamRealm.
She seemed to have a soft spot for the awakened and actually liked their company.
Somnus had tried to approach her a few times since that day, yet she always shook off his advances.
This had infuriated him to no end. A grieving widow at the end of the world should have been the perfect prey for him, and yet her resolve was strangely unbroken, even after all this time.
He had wanted to teach her a lesson in respect, an example to the rest, but his father had stopped him. Even the old man had his limits.
A strange feeling filled his chest as he looked around. It was strange, but it felt like the mood had shifted slightly as the Awakened and Mundane were enjoying their time.
The Captain seemed to flinch as he took a bite out of some monster meat he had just finished cooking, choking slightly as he said,
"Please excuse me for a moment."
The Captain quickly walked away as he continued to choke.
Everyone else who saw this thought he may have gone to get something to clear his throat, yet Somnus was sure something else was amiss.
The man already had a drink by his side after all.
Looking around, Somnus nudged his father, who quickly turned around,
"Yes, Son?"
Somnus didn't even look at his father as he kept his eyes firmly on the door the Captain had left from.
"Something is wrong. Send the warning signal, we need everybody ready to begin."
His father let out a small curse as he rummaged around a small pack he picked up from the ground, grabbing a small spoon. He stood up and knocked it against the side of a synthbeer as he began to announce a toast.
It was nothing too long, and in the end, many others raised their drinks high. As the atmosphere grew more chaotic, the mundane people led the Awakened into smaller groups to enjoy individual games and activities, of course.
However, almost at the same time, multiple Awakened wore a strange expression before their expressions grew slightly more serious. Many tried to hide it, but in their current states, it was becoming more difficult for them.
Somnus reached into his pack, pretending to reach for more beers he had taken, whilst in reality he was cradling a small handgun.
He could feel the energy of the room shift. The joyful laughs and carefree attitudes went from genuine mirth to strange, forced pleasantries.
Soon, the Captain stumbled out of the backroom with a strange grin on his face.
He spoke in a calm yet authoritative tone.
"Somnus wasn't it? I'm curious, what's a man like you doing leading a group like this?"