"Hey, Mari, get your dumb ass out of that library. We're eating out tonight!" Ed yelled, breaking Amari's immersion.
"Alright, you don't have to yell, though. It's still a library." he murmured back at his brother.
He probably didn't hear him.
"I heard that!"
"Oh."
He shrugged and got up from the chair he sat on. A wave of nausea crashed into him and he grabbed onto one of the two stacks of books on the table.
They shook violently, but Amari let go of them only after the nausea left. He'd been in this library for a while.
He hummed a small tune in his head. "Three days? A week?"
The turf war lasted a month after the explosion that almost killed Jaz. It turned out that everyone had evacuated that building a few minutes before the enemy blew it up, so Jaz was safe.
Since then, two more months had passed, and everyone was safe.
He slipped into his trenchcoat, bumping the small fire arm on the desk not near him. It was a basic gun, nothing too special, only passable as a concealed weapon with limited damage. Against someone with more advanced defenses, it was basically a toy. Still, Amari picked it up and tucked it into one of his inner pockets.
"Come out you shut-in!" This time it was Jaz's voice.
He stepped out of the library for the first time in a few days and sucked a breath of cold air in. Jasmyn and Edward were waiting for him out front.
'Here they are. Same as ever,' he thought to himself, looking at them. There they were. Not dead. Alive and well.
It still felt unreal.
Jasmyn was still the same, with long black hair and brown skin. She was like him in that regard. Well, they were blood siblings after all.
"What took you so long?" she scolded, whipping her hair at him.
He ducked to the side, dodging the impromptu "attack" and shrugged.
As they approached each other, Edward called out, "Come on, let's go already!".
Amari was older than Jasmyn and taller than her. He had seen and remembered their parents, but she did not. But he always felt she was too mature for her age.
The events of the last week had intensified those feelings and thoughts.
His eyes bore into his siblings' backs, as if trying to figure something out. Ed turned to meet his gaze and his heart jumped a bit.
"What are you looking at so hard?" He wore a slight grin and his eyes curled upwards.
"Nothing. I thought I saw something on your back." He said unhurriedly, eyeing his brother suspiciously.
Ed raised an eyebrow. "What, like an insect or something?"
Amari didn't answer, but his frown made it clear enough.
'Insect? I just saw a disgusting butterfly-looking creature. Was that what I was thinking about?'
A second later, he shook his head. Reading too much fantasy had its problems.
Had they finally reached a restaurant? The place probably couldn't even pass for a homeless shelter. Several trash bags lined the alleyway's walls like red carpets. When he stepped into the alleyway, he was greeted by several smells.
A rat scurried across, stepping on his shoes.
Amari reeled back quickly, standing firmly behind the thin line separating the alleyway from the rest of the world.
"Come on, guys. This place has the most delicious food." Ed said, having already reached the large door that marked the end of the suspicious alleyway.
The door handle looked like a tongue and the dog door looked like a large mouth. The so-called restaurant door reminded him of a monster's maw.
Jaz followed nonchalantly, humming all the way.
"Come on big bro, or don't tell me you're...scared?" she giggled behind her palms, pointing in Amari's direction.
Amari cringed at the challenge but stopped his competitive side from taking over.
'That's the way Jaz speaks, but is that really Jaz?'
His mind was awash with all kinds of thoughts. Suddenly, something came to mind.
"What type of woman do I like?"
Edward rolled his eyes, "What kind of dumb question is that? Of course, you like big-tittied- Ha, I'm kidding, I know your big booty fetish!"
Amai remained calm. If what he suspected was true, there would be no way to prove it. After all, his memories could already be compromised.
"What's my favourite animal?" he asked again.
"Edward" frowned. Amari grew sharper in that instant. He had struck the nail right on the head.
It was a trick question. Until he asked the question, he hadn't even considered the implications. This was because Amari no longer had a favourite Earth animal.
Reida and Felaud's figures came to mind, giving him his answer.
Edward's clone froze and his eyes widened rapidly. He held out both hands and opened his mouth to talk, but Amari had made up his mind.
"That's what I thought!"
Amari shook his head and pulled the small revolver out of his coat, shooting Edward in the head. His brother's body fell to the ground, blood gushing from his head rapidly.
For a few minutes, nothing happened, and his heart skipped a beat. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps he'd just made the worst decision of his life.
'Edward?!'
The slightest bit of sanity in him stopped him from rushing over to Edward's now-transforming body.
It became a mini Spore Goblin Fairy.
'Why am I relieved?' He asked himself, staring at the body for a while longer.
Now all that remained was "Jasmyn".
Seeing Amari's gaze turn towards her, Jasmyn whimpered a bit and ducked to the ground. She clutched her head and rocked back and forth everywhere.
Now she was no longer the ever-confident teenage girl he knew. Her coat had turned into a long blue nightgown and her hair had been cut down.
"Mari, where are Mom and Dad?"
"I- I don't know, Jaz." He looked away from the little girl, hands still on the gun's trigger.
"Why do people not like us?" she asked again, inching closer.
Amari sucked in a large breath, trying to keep his emotions in check.
Jaz had asked this question countless times before, but he'd never been able to deliver a satisfying answer. He snuck a glance at her, only to find her searching for the answer on his face.
"Don't talk like that. Some people like us." He said, still holding the gun, but allowing her to move closer to him.
She turned away from his guilty eyes and buried her head in his arms. "No one does, Mari."
Amari shook his head. "That's not true. There are people who care about us."
"Who? The mean nun in the orphanage? Stupid mom and dad who left us here? Who cares about us?!"
"Don't worry, Jaz, we'll find them soon enough. The ones who'll love us."
Warm droplets fell onto his arm as she sobbed quietly.
It wasn't her. He knew that. It was a recreation of an image from his memories. He also knew that. It was only done so he could be killed. He knew all that.
'But. I- I can't kill her here.'
However, the most obvious solution was often the simplest one. He let go of the gun and hugged his little sister for the last time in years.
Energy coursed through his body and into his hand. He gently placed a finger over her eyes and closed them.
"Sleep, for now. I'll wake you up when I find them," he whispered.
And just like that, Edward and Jasmyn disappeared.
"Exit!" He shouted out into the sky, not expecting it to do anything.
However, a voice in his head told him otherwise.
"Hmm, what an interesting demon you are. I can't wait to consume your essence!"
They were still imitating his memories, but now he was no longer being tricked. The Goblin Fairy wanted to fight him and finish him off for real this time.
Amari looked around again, hoping to see Lilia, Ken or even Fuller. However, while The Goblin Fairy stood there, a few dozen meters in front of him, there was nobody else.
Alone.
Back to square one.
A series of familiar notification windows appeared in front of him, interrupting his rapidly developing thought process.
[The God of Dreams has shown interest in you]
[You have been granted the Level 1 skill: Dreamwalking]
[Skill - Dreamwalking]
[Effect 1: User retains consciousness in dreams, allowing lucid dreaming]
[Effect 2: User can activate other skills they have in the dream world]
[Effect 3: With a size limitation, the user can bring real items into the Dreamworld. The limitation can be circumvented with spatial items]
[Worship him to gain more spells and skills!]
[Host is experiencing a soul battle.]
[Call Soul Bond?]
[Soul Bond will automatically learn the situation as well as obtain the skill Dreamwalking]
[Y/N]
He mentally clicked the yes button and smiled as Belat's shadowy figure appeared in front of him.
He was not alone.
Amari then turned back to the Spore Goblin Fairy. Its segmented mouth curled into a grimace as it hissed at Belat's figure angrily.
After a while, it calmed down. "That was unexpected."
****
AN: Fifteen chapters!
Edit: I fixed several things that would cause issues in the future, new readers don't need to worry about it.