I could feel when the cradle came to a stop, officially arriving in the residency of the ghost nannies, but not simply due to the sudden lurch I felt when the cradle stopped moving along the metal line. It was similar to an instinct. I could feel the invisible bonds that the nannies used to communicate tether onto my mind, something any other newborn would be unable to notice.
'Ah, another newborn!' the excited voice of a nanny resounded in my mind.
I immediately looked over to my right, barely making out the faint shape of the nanny.
However innocent and tubby my face may be, my sudden gaze made the nanny take a step backwards, the shock on her face deepening as a thought passed through her mind, 'Did that newborn hear my telepathy...?'
Telepathy. The method of communication that most nannies used, which makes a small tether to the mind of beings around them to be able to communicate with each other. Normally, when communicating nannies use a far more advanced form of telepathy which requires a 'trained' mind to tether with. However, it appears that a newborn may have heard her, so it is only natural for an expression of shock and confusion to appear much more vividly on her already tortured face. Now, this isn't to say that they don't have simpler form where they communicate with anyone, but they'd have no reason to use it on a common newborn.
'Haha... no way... I must've just slipped up or something! Yeah...'
It seems she's been rattled enough to loosely use telepathy too... adding the excitement in her voice from before, she must also be new. The newer nannies often delude themselves with the cute expressions on the face of newborn's to forget about how their past lives ended...
'Ahh... now I feel bad for messing around with her,' I thought guiltily.
Frozen in shock, the new nanny hasn't noticed the storm brewing behind her...
"YOLANDIIIII! STOP SCREWING AROUND AND DO YOUR JOB," a commanding voice sounded out above us, accompanied by the cries of babies, from a person standing on an overlook made from flesh and the veins that are pulsating under its surface.
Shaking her head back and forth, as if to shake the thoughts out for her head, Yolandi rushed forward to my cradle while stammering a response out to the commanding voice , 'Y-y-es sir! S-sorry...'
Taking me into her arms, I felt a physical bond form between us, one that is far stronger than she uses telepathy. Soon after, a sense of fullness and weariness spread throughout my body. The innate attribute, Illusion, all nannies possess is responsible for this feeling. In most cases, they make use of it to soothe newborns and keep them feeling satiated until their next meal, however, they also use their innate attribute to allow them to feed on or hunt human fear without killing their host(s). Demonic Entities require fear to thrive and grow, but they can survive off of normal food items, like chicken or beef.
Fear is a luxury food item in hell, a luxury that can only truly be obtained by ascending from the safety of hell, into the Overworld, where many exorcists will aim to 'purify' hell's residents. Depending on who ascended and 'hunted' the fear, it can taste completely different and have varying benefits based off of the prey and the hunter's attribute. The fear emanating off of a Demonic Entity, like Yolandi, will hold no value as food, as they have none of the 'nutrients' to promote growth in entities although some may enjoy its taste. It will, however, work as a fuel for weapons or torches if condensed into a gaseous form.
'Hey cute boy... upsy daisy! Hehe,' Yolandi picked me up, showering my existence in a voice far cuter than the expression on her tortured face.
'It is time to go night night...'
Knowing what I would wake up to, I fell asleep, unable to resist the demands of her attribute, Illusion.
Fear is an illusion, yes, but so are dreams.
I have 'awoken' to something that is meant to push my emotions to their very limits, a test meant to discover any newborn's attribute compatibility, by testing their mental fortitude. They probe your memories to create life-like dreams, checking your susceptibility to fear and anger, as well as the innate personality of your soul.
For example, they'd present you with bully situations where you could either be an onlooker, the bully, or the bullied. It wouldn't be a light-hearted movie scenario, no, it would be something similar to pure torture, almost always ending in the death of the bullied if the onlooker makes no effort to change the ending. These tests are more commonly referred to as scenarios, which are put on display for the residents of hell to enjoy on their downtime, similar to television shows.
And while they may be a source of entertainment for the residents, it also a way to get a slight portion of fear to dine on, and residents are only able to see the scenarios as entertainment because many of the residents have never experienced these scenarios. This is because only natural-born Demonic Entities are forced to undergo the scenarios, and the only ones foolish enough to walk the path of a Demonic Entity willingly are those referred to as adventurers, the 'normal' residents of hell that felt their lives of farming similarly 'normal' crops, running average businesses, and mining in peril filled flesh mines were far too underwhelming.
Or they could be young people looking to help their struggling family by taking on a high paying and difficult job.
These adventurers are actually given more respect than naturals, because some residents see the naturals as outsiders, existences that suddenly appeared from the void to steal their jobs, and also because adventurers face a very real chance of death or irreversible trauma in the scenarios. These people often express their desire for a soul wall, a boundary preventing the Soul Beasts from grasping at souls from the void, and instead only allowing the residents of Hell to be Reincarnated As a Demonic Entity.
Their running slogan is 'MAKE HELL GREAT AGAIN!' It is actually a well-known meme in Hell after a similar slogan was brought up in what would be a highly controversial scenario, including many hood wearing white humans, on Earth. The scenario was greatly enjoyed by the residents of Hell because of the very high fear content. Among friends, residents will use phrases like, "Don't make me go white-hood on your ass," or, "I need someone to make your hairline great again."
'Alice...'
However, they had something far worse in store for me. Well, at least in my perspective. Before me laid our bedroom, the crimson bedsheets and curtains a clear premonition of her death...
"Please... we can't go through with this," my voice cracked, despite knowing this was all a scenario, despite knowing it wasn't real.
"Huh? What do you mean?!" Alice questioned me, why... why... why?!
"Alice, you are going to die! Please, don't go through with it... for me," I have to try, try to get a good ending.
"No, I can survive...t-this?" Alice word's were cut off by the sound of a smashed lamp, and the sharp pain spreading through her abdomen.
I could see it, the red glow behind her eyes signifying what she was. It was obvious it would be the 'bully' of this scenario, a wolf in sheep's clothing. So... I had to, stop it before it came for me.
'This is too cruel...'
She continued to look at me, an expression of shock and interest appearing on her fragile face.
"Please hurry and reveal yourself already," I said, in hopes I wouldn't have to watch the dying form of my late wife any longer...
"Hehe, how'd you figure it out, pretty boy?" As it said those words, the pretty milky face of Alice began to peel back, revealing a much more sinister black tone, and the sharp shard of the lamp slowly pushed out of its abdomen, causing a clinking sound resounded through the room as it hit the ground. Its orb shaped eyes, with a faint red glow behind them, rolled backwards to reveal its all too crimson truth, as its hair fell off in lockes, revealing a scaly bald head, similar in texture to a biker girl's head.
"Congratulations on being able to discover me, my name Alizinero'k Nilheim, but you can just call me Nil," she licked her lips in a seductive manner, as she focused her now blood red eyes towards me an my shaking hands, "I don't know how you figured out that I'm no longer human, but you made a mistake when you attacked me, pretty boy."
'The real scenario starts now...'
[You've done well to figure out your lover was but an illusion.]
[Many viewers are surprised that you would be able to harm someone with the same visual appearance as your wife, and some believe you to be either [A small amount of trained eyes believe you to either be Rolling her shoulders, as if she was stretching, a proud pair of bat-like wings sprouted out from her dark back. "TIME TO DIE PRETTY BOY!" and with that, she charged at me, bloodlust sown into every word.