Shadow Slave: Rainy Days

In the endless abyss of darkness, Nephis heard the spell say:

[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Nephis!]

There was no warning and no time to prepare. One moment she lay in the pod, and in the next one she stood inside of the Dream Realm. It wasn't like how it went in her first Nightmare, where time seemed to turn back, giving her glimpses of her challenge, but rather it was just brutal and utter reality.

Nephis found herself standing on a tall hill, massive coral pillars and blades all around her. It was most likely night right now, the only thing visible in the distance being pure darkness.

Deciding to explore further, Nephis carefully made her way towards the edge of the hill, trying to look down but having no success.

Still curious, Nephis decided to activate her Aspect Ability. White flames appeared in her palm, illuminating the sight in front of her. Nephis gritted her teeth, her flaw making her feel abnormal pain. But in the end, she decided to push through the pain, since the information she obtained by it was definitely worth it.

'An ocean?'

The endless vastness of a yet unexplored ocean stretched out in front of her, the cold salty breeze hitting her face, and bringing a shiver down her spine.

'I have never heard of a place in the Dream Realm that had such a large ocean. This probably means that I'm the first one to appear in this place... or that no one has made it out of this place alive up to this point.'

Having seen enough for now, Nephis extinguished her flames and backed away from the edge.

The world was once again fully dark and filled with mysteries she couldn't see. But her inability to see made her other senses improve to a certain degree- which was the reason why she suddenly started to hear quiet and occasional sobs coming from the distance.

'A Nightmare Creature ? No, it sounds human.'

Although Nephis was pretty sure that the sounds were human, she decided to summon two memories she obtained from her First Nightmare. They were an armor, which covered her naked skin, and a long silver sword.

As she hesitantly approached, holding her sword in front of her and moving around a large coral, the sounds started to get more audible.

'I've heard these sobs before, somewhere... Is that Cassie ?', Nephis thought.

Nephis narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on her sword- she definitely recognized that sound. She had heard it early this morning, after all. Even though she thought that the sounds came from Cassie, didn't mean that they truly did. That realization made her feel even more nervous.

When Nephis finally made her way around the coral, she saw a tall and beautiful young woman sitting on the ground, her hands covering her face, as quiet sobs escaped her lips.

"Cassie, is that you ?", Nephis whispered quietly, not knowing if something else might've been close, and able to hear her voice.

After Nephis asked her question, the sobs died down and the earth went fully silent, before a certain blind girl spoke up.

"Nephis ? Wh-where are you ?", Cassie asked, a faint mix of fear and hope in her voice.

"In front of you, I think ... I can't see your face well. It seems like we've been sent to the same place."

Cassie stayed silent for a moment, knowing that what she was about to ask could very well be answered with a no. But finally, she started speaking

"Nephis ... do you remember what you told me this morning ? You said that I could only survive if I appeared near a Citadel ... or if someone decided to help me through everything ... I- I think you know what I mean with this, don't you ?. Nephis, will you- will you help me reach a gateway ?"

Nephis thought intently about Cassie's prays for help. A blind girl like her would surely slow her down, but she didn't have to rush this anyway. She would rather take things slowly and steady, than rush this challenge and die. So she decided to ask the only question which could maybe change her view about the blind girl completly.'

"Your Flaw seems very harsh. So I wonder, what kind of Aspect do you possess?"

Cassie, seeing no reason not to answer, instantly did.

"I'm an... oracle of sorts. I randomly see glimpses of the future and past. I have an affinity to fate and can also read the runes of someone else."

Nephis raised an eyebrow. Many would maybe see this Aspect as rather useless- but not her. She understood how helpful a power like that could be, especially in an unexplored region like they found themselves at.

"Alright, I'll take you with me."

The rest of the night went by pretty quickly. Nephis decided to give Cassie her armor, because it had the property of not luring creatures, which suited Cassie more than herself. Since she now didn't have any armor herself, which made her fully naked, she decided to cover her body with dry seaweed, which she found laying on the ground.

Finally, Nephis told Cassie that she would take watch for the night, which meant that Cassie could go to sleep.

Cassie laid her head down on more seaweed, and quickly dozed off- naivety or just pure trust making her unafraid of falling asleep in front of Nephis.

***

On a different part of the island sized hill, a girl with long black hair and dark eyes was just celebrating her 17 birthday. In front of her laid a large amount of cooked meat- truly a feast for her.

"Ah, Cupcake, you're so nice for celebrating my birthday with me. You're the first in years."

With Cupcake, she was of course referring to a three meter tall Nightmare creature. It had eight scythe-like legs and 2 pincer-like arms, and a large maw that could easily bite off the head of a human. That creature was called Carapace Scavenger.

Rain leaned back against a coral, while chewing on the delicious flesh. She then looked up into the fully black sky.

'I've already spent a month here, huh ? At least I've had Cupcake with me. Took a while and a bit of luck though to break his mind into a little mindless follower for me.'

Rain then stood up and held out a piece of flesh towards the mouth of her big friend.

"Come on, eat your brethren. You hunted them yourself, so you should also have some food."

At Rain's command, the Carapace Scavenger instantly started eating, having no way to fight back anymore, after it's mind had been carefully broken down by her Aspect Ability.

Suddenly, the Carapace Scavenger halted to eat and looked to the east, where it had heard sounds coming from. It's massive body towered over the rather small and lithe Rain, but in the end, it was still her pet, so it waited for her command.

"Cupcake, is something there ?"

As the Carpace Scavenger produced clicking and purr noises, Rain started moving towards the source of the distant sounds.

"Cupcake, hide in the darkness. If things go wrong, protect me."

***

Nephis stood a few meters in front of the sleeping Cassie, holding her sword in front of her body and simply swinging her sword. Sweat rolled down her fair skin, showing that she already had been training for a while now.

'835.'

'836.'

'837.'

Nephis maintained her discipline for a little while longer, continuing to repeat the same movement over and over again. She wasn't expecting anything to happen now, since nothing did for a few hours, but then, she noticed 5 pairs of footsteps approaching.

Nephis acted quickly, stepping over to Cassie and gently shaking her body.

"Wake up, Cassie.", she said- or rather even ordered quietly.

Cassie slowly stirred up, rubbing her beautiful eyes before licking her dry lips. Her expression was still sleepy and dazed, abruptly being woken up of course not making it easy to adapt.

"Nephis, is something wrong ?", Cassie asked innocently, not yet truly realizing why Nephis had woken her up.

Nephis didn't answer, only looking into the endless darkness in front of her. As a smelly silhouette approached, Nephis finally answered.

"Nightmare Creature. Cassie, stand back.", she said quickly, not leaving her eyes off the weird silhouette.

Without waiting any longer, Nephis activated her Aspect Ability to augment her sword. Her body stormed through the air, the white flames around her sword illuminating their surroundings.

"NEPHIS, THAT'S NOT A NIGHTMARE CREATURE !", Cassie yelled, but it was already to late.

'With one hand pull, with the other push.', Nephis thought while putting all her power into the swing. But before it could hit her target, a large pincer-like arm appeared out of nowhere, parrying the blow. Nephis, not having expected the resistance, dashed back.

In front of her stood a small girl, her whole body covered in red liquid. Her body reeked of death and mud, making her whole presence not seem human.

"Who are you calling Nightmare Creature, you silver head? Just because my whole body is covered in blood and mud doesn't mean I'm not human ! Am I so pedestrian for a princess like you that you see me a wild beast? And why are you attacking me, Cupcake could've gotten hurt !", Rain yelled loudly, without a care in the world.

Nephis stood wide-eyed in front of Rain and the Carapace Demon, having expected anything to happen but this. The world continued without any of them doing anything. But finally, Nephis spoke up.

"Who are you ?"