[Srry about the late update I just couldn't get around to it]
[Once I finish the 1st Nightmare I'm gonna take a break to save up chapters so that I can have a scheduled update time without being late]
[And if you haven't read the previous chapter (Not the Template thing the real chapter) a lot has been added]
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Light peaked into the previously pitch black cave, illuminating Lemon who was huddled in the clothes he stripped off of Teddy while watching the entrance of the cave even though for any threats. He had seen nothing the whole night because of the pitch darkness that didn't allow for any sight, although he still couldn't help but watch, his psyche taking a bit of a hit from the insanity of watching a spot you couldn't see and really couldn't even confirm if you were looking in the right spot, but he couldn't fall back to sleep after his oversight from before.
Lemon dragged his exhausted body up with the help of his sword. "Get up it's time to go." Lemon nudged his sleeping "companions" awake with the butt of his sword.
"Already morning~?" Jason groaned before relieving his limbs of their fatigue with basic stretches that Yone and David copied.
"Mm." Lemon hummed wanting to open his mouth as little as possible, the taste of his mouth disgusting himself. 'He never woke up last night, but he woke up so easily like that?' Lemon had a bold idea, but wasn't all that sure about it, so he pulled his thoughts away from it.
Lemon walked over to the pond and bent down to it as he splashed himself with some of the freezing cold water from the pond, waking himself up manually.
'I had just been celebrating the fact of being able to sleep normally, but look at this now, back to the same routine.' Lemon thought solemnly, his thoughts and emotions now fully in sync with his gloomy appearance, the dark rings around his eyes that he had formerly lost since entering the Nightmare had made a return. 'Haah~.' Lemon sighed seeing his reflection in the pond of crystal clear water his attribute fighting a war to keep him from succumbing to depression.
"We're leaving now Leader~?" Jason inquired with drawn out words and a weird tone.
"What's the extra tone for?" Lemon raised an eyebrow.
"Don't know what you're taking about~." Jason dragged his words again.
"Whatever, yes we're leaving, we can't stay here any longer this forest isn't made for life, it's made to take it." Lemon couldn't be bothered to entertain him as he confirmed Jason's question and removed Teddy's clothes from himself and dropped them on the floor as they soaked up the crystal clear water, having no further use for it since the forest outside and the cave were two different climates.
Lemon walked over to the edge of the cave with zero desire or enthusiasm, this Nightmare had drained a lot out of him, all he wanted now was to go home… 'Home.' The thought of home seemed to rejuvenate him as his eyes lit up slightly and he peaked his head out of the cave, looking for a rock that could bear his weight.
Spotting one that seemed especially sturdy Lemon grabbed it and pulled himself up, then he put his foot on another rock that seemed sturdy, and then he grabbed onto another sturdy rock above him, repeat until he made it to the top.
Lemon let out a sigh of relief once he made it to the top and flipped himself over the ledge onto the solid and sharp granite floor.
"Phew~, note to self, never rock climb while sleep deprived." Lemon grieved. 'Well at least those classes are coming in handy.' Lemon praised his adoptive sister and his survival teacher.
"Hey! Come on give me a hand!" Yone broke Lemon out of his rest and forced him to look over the edge to Yone almost at the top holding his hand out for Lemon to grab.
"Can't you let me rest?" Lemon grumbled as he took Yone's hand and pulled him up, this routine continued for the next two as well until they were all up top.
"Still as dark as ever." Yone sighed, he had the slightest of hope for there to be some real sunlight once they got higher up, sadly he was left disappointed.
'No, it got darker.' Lemon immediately noticed the difference in lighting between now and before. 'Getting higher makes it darker, or are we just getting closer to the core? Whatever it is it doesn't matter, I know I'm leaving.' Lemon steeled himself.
From that point on they marched forward, the trail before them slopping upward it was weird like everything else on this island, the slope just continued going up like a mountain but without the obstacles, it was completely smooth.
For so far and for so long they walked up the slope, and even exited from the the colossal trees that had seemed to extend into the heavens.
'How could I have never seen this from the beach, it's a skyscraper.' Lemon became increasingly anxious, but quickly recovered with his attribute.
"Finally we're out!" Yone screamed exhilarated to finally feel sun light instead of just heat and shade, that shouldn't go together.
Well at least that would have been the happy ending in a dream, this is a nightmare. Once they had exited above the trees there was no light, all that could be seen was the sun in the sky, but all around them was pitch darkness as if it was night again, except they could at least see each other, even the slope had disappeared to be replaced with a straight walkway that stretched beyond render distance.
Jason even tried to light a way with the moonlight he can generate but it failed, easily snuffed out by the all consuming darkness around them all that was left was the sun in the sky that illuminated nothing and the walkway in front of them that was also slowly disappearing.
"This is terrifying!" Yone was the first to voice anything.
"We should go back." David suggested, but he already knew there was no hope of that.
"We can't go back." Lemon said solemnly, not in the meaning of "they've gone too far to turn back now" but in the meaning that there literally was no back, just forward.
Japan didn't give any feedback, seemingly fighting back drowsiness that could be seen from his drooping eyes that shot open in a repeating process.
"I'm gonna cry, no bullshit." Jason finally spoke, his voice rising and falling like the pulse on a heart monitor.
'Jason is seeming really relatable lately.' Lemon cried inwardly. "We've gotta go forward."
And forward they went.
On the way to their destination that they don't know of, the path in front of them had disappeared leaving only a malfunctioning sun.
However that sun could still serve a purpose, a compass, with the sun in the sky the squad maintained their straight path to whatever was at the end of this long and dark "hallway".
Yawn!
Jason let out a drawn out and exhausted yawn bringing the attention of his squadmates.
"It hasn't been more than 2 hours since we've woken up, how are you already sleepy?" Yone questioned, completely surprised at his friend's laziness.
"Sorry Mate I just can't help myself." Jason shrugged before yawning again.
'He's panicking but hiding it well, if i couldn't tell his emotions I wouldn't have noticed.' Lemon eyed Jason for a second. 'Seems my theory about his Flaw might have been right.' Lemon smiled lightly to himself, not like anyone could notice, he believed to had found out a fatal weakness for Jason. His Flaw. A type of weakness that the Spell gives everyone who finishes their first Nightmare, the flaw someone gets depends on them as a person, a pathological liar would most likely be unable to lie, the flaw you get might even correlate to the Aspect you gain after finishing your first nightmare, some people could even gain a 'good' flaw like being able to tell if someone is lying or not, it just depends on the person and what they would consider a flaw to be for them.
'Jason's flaw must be to fall asleep in darkness, but it must have to be complete darkness so that sun up there must count to stop him from completely going to sleep, just making him drowsy, I also think he can't wake up until a certain time after falling asleep, since he hadn't woken up when the wolves attacked and he wasn't faking it from what I could tell of his emotions though he could be a heavy sleeper, but as a hunter he should be able to wake up in danger easily.' Lemon put the pieces he had together and made sense of them. 'It can be used, but not really, where are you gonna find pitch darkness except for at night? All the dark here is doing is making him drowsy, unless the sun goes out nothing will happen to him.' Lemon complained to himself.
The walk continued, seemingly endlessly they walked, and walked, slowly losing their sanity, the darkness had started to take their senses, hearing, smell, taste, touch. The only thing that brought proof of their existence was the sun in the sky and their own consciousness having already become unable to see each other, but still they walked.
And walked.
And Walked.
And Walked, it didn't feel like they were walking but they were walking, and finally with an almost broken mind they made it. Where did they make it to? Who knows, all they knew right now was that they existed and their path had ended.
In front of the squad was two abnormally large double doors and darkness surrounding it, it was as if you could walk right around and not even need to use the door.
However with their psyche in tatters the door was all that registered, the darkness around them already felt like a wall after the hours they had just spent inside its confines
With a slight push from a dazed Lemon, the doors parted.