(Y/N) POV:

You were back on the bus for another day in college. You were next to (B/F/N), but today you weren't laughing with them like every other morning. You were looking through the bus window, in thoughts. (B/F/N) noticed this of course, and was worried about your sudden mood change compared to the day before.

-"(Y/N)...Is there something troubling you?" They asked slowly. You turned your head from the window towards them. You smiled as casually as you could despite the mess that was your brain.

-"Not really...why?" You lied. You were planning to tell them, but didn't know how to introduce the topic. (B/F/N) rolled their eyes, knowing perfectly you lied.

-"Well... You haven't said a word since you greeted me and now you look like you were in a sad clip, by looking through the bus window like that." They explained sarcastically, making you snort. You smiled a bit as you could imagine the scene clearly in your head. You sighed however as you looked at the seat in front of you.

-"It's just... I had a weird dream last night... Well...more like a nightmare." You told them and they perked up at the mention of dreams. After all it wasn't the first time you talked of your sleep troubles

-"Oh, you got one different this time?" They asked and you nodded. You looked down at your lap, your fingers tapping on your thigh nervously.

-"Yeah... But this one was scary ...very scary. And lucid too. I never dreamt with such details and realism." You mumble. It was also the first time you had such vivid memories of a dream. For the first time you wished you didn't remember one...

(B/F/N)'s curiosity just increased at this. You looked very affected by that dream, first dream in a year should they add.

-"What was the dream about?" They uttered quietly, since it seems like a sensitive subject. You frown as you recalled it. You fiddled with your sleeve.

-"Well, I woke up by the sounds of explosions and screams. They sounded so...real. It literally made me cry from fear." You started, shaking your head slightly as you remembered your blood becoming cold and your heartbeat increasing ten folds at the gruesome sight that was in front of you.

-"I was in a literal battle field. There were corpses everywhere, humans and animals included. The air was unbreathable, the smog was thick. And then I..." Your voice was caught in your throat. You looked down with a pained frown.

-"I saw a soldier just next to me. His state was...I can't even describe it. It made me sick in the stomach. It's also what disturbed me a lot. I could see every little detail of his injuries, and I know I'm weird, but I'm not sick enough to have such knowledge of injuries to have that much precision in a dream where your unconscious is supposed to lead the scenario."

(B/F/N) nodded, agreeing with you. They also had tough dreams sometimes.

-"Don't worry, I know that dreams can be overwhelming. In some of my dreams I'd just be hanging out peacefully with Luigi until Fluttershy comes in flying to kill wanting to kill me. Crazy stuff." They said, making you look at them in disbelief. You didn't even know whether to get angry or not.

-"I'm talking about a super traumatising dream I had, and you talk about Fluttershy?!" They raised their hands in a surrending motion.

-"Dude, I never said my dream wasn't traumatising. Try imagining Fluttershy flying at you with murderous intent!"

-"..."

-"..."

-"Okay, that's pretty traumatising..." You mumbled, (B/F/N) nodded their head in contentment.

-"See? We agree."

-"I can't believe how childish you still are."

-"That's how I cope with miseries of life." They said joyfully. You stared back at them in concern but they didn't catch up on that.

-"(B/F/N)-"

-"Anyway."

You frown. Now you didn't know what to say. You didn't like when they joked about that. You wanted to be able to discern whether or not they were really bothered yet for some reason you weren't able to. How could you comfort your friend in that case?

-"So... What happened after in your dream- nightmare?" They asked. You hesitated before sighing. Surely you could approach their problems later if right now they were curious about your story. You weren't going to ruin the mood.

-"I... Tried to comfort him. But I don't think I did a very good job since I was all shaking in fear. But I wanted to. I really did. He was almost familiar to me... somehow." You explained, your voice going quieter the more you spoke to yourself and less to them.

-"Familiar?" (B/F/N) looked at you with curiosity. This dream was pretty strange. And concerning too, even though they didn't say it outrightly. You shrugged a little, your mind fuzzy.

-"It just felt like it..." You mumble. When you had seen that man, aside of your natural compassion, you felt a need of saving the man, but for a personal motive. Because you knew him. Yet, it was the first time you've ever seen his face...as injured as it was.

Your throat tightened again when you got reminded of how desperately he called to you thinking you were someone of his family, of how sad and terrified he sounded and looked. How you couldn't breathe for a moment due to the smoke, how so many once living beings were scattered around the field, dead.

You also thought of that weird appearance at the end of your dream. A countryhuman. Was the fandom the cause of your nightmare? Should you calm your obsession with it? Why did it affect you like that? You couldn't think. The movements of the bus and the unbreathable air the heating was sending off wasn't helping your headache.

-"Can we talk about it later? I don't really feel so good right now ...the bus sucks." You told them while leaning your head back on your seat, redirecting (B/F/N)'s attention onto the opportunity of criticizing the public transport.

While they were rambling their hatred and plenty of anecdotes from their experiences or from others', you were trying to rest, the eyes closed while (B/F/N)'s talking was strangely soothing. Maybe because it was familiar, something that reminded you of home.

You were awfully sleepy. As if you've done a sleepless night. Did the dream really shake you up that much that the hours of sleep counted for nothing? Fortunately you slipped into a light sleep, without any dreams. (B/F/N) Looked at you, realising you fell asleep. They stopped ranting and slowly they frowned. They were worried about you. This story of yours didn't sound right as much as they tried to light up the tone.

While the bus approached their college, (B/F/N) started to think. They felt that you left out something of your dream. Maybe even unconsciously, maybe you didn't think it'd be important. But they wanted to know. They might do a little study on their own secretly. They looked back at your sleeping form. Yes, their decision was taken.

They were going to protect you.

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The day felt awfully quick, it was already time for you to go home, yet you felt unhappy because your brain didn't recall anything of the day. Having a nightmare is one thing, the fact that it disturbs you the whole day was another. It wasn't good for your studies, your grades and work in general. Your parents are going to notice something's wrong, they might catch on... Catch onto what? You had no idea what it meant either! What was your brain making up?

With mindless desparation you opened your front door, right now your usual routine felt like a heavy burden, your body was so tired. Moreover, you knew you had to wait maybe an hour or so before your parents come back, and before you can eat and sleep... It annoyed you to no end. Why was it when you were tired you were always easily irritated?

Maybe a nap won't hurt? You're not used to take naps, even less on a school day but right now you were so exhausted. You walked upstairs and barely put down your bag and took off your shoes that you slumped down on your bed. Immediately you felt like melting in the covers and your eyelids didn't bother to stay open any longer. You quickly drifted off to sleep, your worries about last night gently disappearing. Surely a specific nightmare like last time wasn't likely to happen again, right?

How silly you were...

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Your brain refused to register the first explosion. But at the next one, you had to face the fact that it was indeed happening again. You slowly opened your eyes. Maybe you thought that if you didn't act panicked or scared, then the situation you're panicked and scared about won't be here too. But again, you got deceived when you met the familiar smoke-filled sky, the familiar awful smell and the familiar field. Great.

-"No, no, no, not again!!" You finally gave into your panic, your eyes open wide in denial. This time, you stood up. Your mind was a mix of genuine fear, because even the second time it wasn't very comfortable to be here, and also a mix of indignation that your own brain would do this to you.

Is this because you haven't fed it enough nutrients ? Is that it? Is this some kind of revenge of your body against yourself? 'Well mind I tell you, Mr. Brain but you'll be the first affected by a traumatism so your plan doesn't work', You thought angrily while looking around with a newfound confidence after hating on yourself.

You sigh out of relief when looking around. There's no corpses anymore, or they're simply not visible, nonetheless, it was a good emotional burden lifted. All you have to do now is ignore the strangely red mud puddles...

You frowned while clutching your hands into fists to distract yourself. It is just a dream. A crazy one, yes, but still just a dream. There's no other way. You're just unlucky that your first lucid dream is scary as f-

-"Hey, you!"

Fridge. Your body froze in fear. You didn't expect there to be people. What should you do? It's been so long since you had dreams that you forgot how to interact in them. Yet you would have remembered if the voices sounded so real. It was someone's voice you never heard before.

How was it possible? The brain can't make up voices right? Like it can't create faces. The man from yesterday's dream, you didn't recognise his voice either, and the feeling of familiarity you felt wasn't one of déjà vu... It's so weird... Were you going crazy? That's problematic.

-"Are you deaf or something? Turn around!" The authoritative voice demanded again, he sounded closer, maybe just behind you. Out of confusion and fear you played the safe way and raised your hands and turned around.

'Wut'.

Your fear almost disappeared and was replaced by bewilderment as you caught sight of the man in front of you. He looked as weirded out as you when taking in your appearance. This guy was gray. Literally gray. No racism. He was wearing a helmet but you could still see some dark gray strands of hair. It looked odd. It wasn't the colour of hair getting old, it was its natural colour.

In a second, your brain has gone through plenty of emotions. You had been starting to calm down when you then realised that the strange man had raised his rifle and was pointing it at you. You gulped. This all seemed too real. A shiver went down your spin at the all too realistic view of the gun pointed at you, the thought of what it could do to you didn't make you feel easier.

-"What the hell are you?" The man spoke. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks and was seemingly fed up with everything. Your voice was caught in your throat as you kept looking at him. He looked so... Human, and yet, didn't... Was it just the abnormally lifeless gray colour of his skin that gave off this impression?

No. It was more than that. His attitude, his eyes... He looked almost like a puppet. The only thing vibrant about him was this little colourful rectangle on his left cheek. Which, by the way, seemed awfully strange and familiar. Was it...a flag? Oh. You frowned, his flag held the colours of the German Empire. Such a reassuring sight.

The soldier seemed to get internally frustrated. He kept aiming at you, his finger on the trigger and ready to shoot or stab you at any point with his bayonet rifle. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know what you were, nothing in his brain told him, nor did it say what to do to you. What would he order? This was all so confusing.

But, despite the intense confusion he felt, a strange feeling in his chest was starting to bloom when looking at you. You looked so...alive. He didn't know why your hair nor your skin colour was colourful, but they looked mesmerising to him. It almost made him feel like someone, and not just one German soldier.

-"I won't repeat myself." He nonetheless said, his finger pressing closer to the trigger. He didn't want to shoot you, but you weren't an ally, so you were an enemy, and he was ordered to kill his enemies. Plus... You didn't have a flag.

Now, that's what bothered him the most. How could you not have a flag? You certainly weren't one of them. The obvious lack of the little mark everyone has on their left cheek made him feel uneasy maybe even nauseous if he wasn't used to living in the hell he was in.

-"(Y/N)! My name's (Y/N), please don't shoot!" You exclaimed out of fright seeing him get closer to pull the trigger. He released a bit his grip but still looked cautious.

-"(Y/N)." He says, furrowing his eyebrows. It definitely didn't sound like one of their names. Meanwhile, you were still in a somewhat thoughtful state. That man's appearance, the flag on his cheek... You knew now why it was familiar. It was how you drew your countryhumans citizens.

You had theorised previously that it might have been this fandom to give you such traumatic dreams but seeing it confirmed still felt a bit heavy for the mind. Was this fandom you loved...so harmful to you?

The soldier kept looking at you for a few seconds. You were lost in your thoughts again. Your vulnerability made him drop his guard slightly, moving away his rifle. The movement made you look back at him. While he was putting his rifle back in place there was an awkward silence. You tried to cut it.

-"Uhm... And what's your name?" You asked. He scrunched his nose. You were weird. Who cared what his name was, he was obviously a soldier with an loaded rifle, wouldn't you be more concerned instead of trying to chat? He grumbled under his breath that he had better things to do or that it was always the craziest stuff that happened to him.

-"I'm Berthold. Soldier of the German army. Which side are you on?" He asked. He didn't threaten you with his rifle anymore but was still defensive. You pursued your lips, not knowing how to answer. At least now you knew his name. That was a little step forward.

-"Uhm. The good one?" You said, smiling sheepishly. He sweatdropped. 'That's definitely not us'.

-"Why don't you have a..." He trailed off, gesturing with a certain unease to your left cheek. It was still an abnormal sight to him, like a mistake of nature, maybe even a work of the Devil. Even though you surely didn't act like some sort of demon.

-"Ah, that? Well..." You blinked. What were you supposed to respond? At least you were lucky enough to know what it was. A mark of the ownership a country has on you.

-"I guess that I'm just... Unclaimed by any country." You tried to make an excuse but he didn't buy it. Plus you also had your colourful appearance to explain.

-"Even people with no nationality, as rare as they are, have a mark on their cheek, it's just blank. You cannot just be unmarked." He argued back, annoyance in his tone. You frowned and stayed quiet. Why couldn't he be gullible? And what the hell was up with this dream? Why does your very unconscious was bullying you? It's not fair. Berthold kept observing you like if you were an alien and honestly, it wasn't actually too far-stretched.

-"Just follow me." He finally sighed, as he turned away and started walking across the sinister field. You hesitated an instant as you looked around once again, looking at the indifferent steps he took in the red-ish mud. He seemed unaffected by the sight nor the smell around them. You frown. How long has he been here to get used to such horror?

However, you quickly reminded yourself that this was a dream, that this man wasn't real nor everything around you, and that if the slightest thing happened, you'll just wake up safely in your bed, all warm under your covers. So, with the confidence that nothing could happen, you followed him.

-"So... Berthold was it? How are you sure I'm not like some kind of monster ready to attack you?" You asked once you caught up to him. You weren't going to complain that he didn't hold you at gunpoint but you were still a bit suspicious. After all, some of your features like your skin, hair and eye colour were completely abnormal to him, as well as the lack of a flag on your cheek. How could he discard such details? Or, what was he planning to do if he hasn't discarded them?

Berthold sighed, seemingly fed up with your presence already. He glanced over his shoulder to look at you with a cold stare, clearly indicating he wasn't doing this because of the generosity of his heart.

-"You clearly look harmless, as weird as you are. And if you try anything, I'll shoot you. For now I'm letting you live because I don't have any order for this situation." He says, firmly gripping his rifle, as if it didn't send enough message. You frowned but said nothing, it was fair enough. But, still, doesn't he have a mind of his own at all? Now you kinda feel guilty for making those people so dependent on their countryhumans.

-"Alright then..." You mumbled. Now, you were just following him in silence through the seemingly endless fog of the deserted battlefield. You pondered on how longer this dream was going to last. You weren't exactly feeling relaxed nor in rest right now, how tired were you going to get?

Yet, this dream was so interesting, that you didn't want to wake up yet.