"Nelly?" Silas' voice came out shaky.
He stood slowly, rubbing his swollen eyes. A river of emotions moved through his heart, despair, joy, confusion. Silas' of course knew Nelly was truly Nelly. No he wasn't that gullible, however some part of his mind let a few walls down, he had missed her, that contagious smile of hers that could brighten a room. He had missed the kinship him and his former cohort shared.
"Hello Silas." her voice was hollow, devoid of emotion.
She was a hallucination after all. The human mind is a powerful thing, but it is just as fragile as it is strong. Silas had been in the absolute darkness for who knows how long, weeks, maybe months, with nothing but the sounds of his feet clicking on the strange incorporeal floor. He wasn't open to third party physiological attacks, there was no one here in this void. Only himself.
Silas couldn't be entirely sure of that fact but he was confident in it. A Nightmare creature would have smelled his fear, his weakness by now.
'So why? Why is Nelly here? None of this makes sense, there seems to be no end to this nightmare!'
That's when it hit him. How did he forget? He was in a Nightmare. Not just any Nightmare but a Third Nightmare, one that was supposed to be his hardest trial. But that was only just the beginning, this Nightmare had spawned from his Aspect Legacy. Why would normal rules apply?
Nightmares are supposed to have conflicts that an Awaken is supposed to solve. But his one, the one he was in right now seems to have no conflict, or is it that the conflict is not necessarily physical?
'It makes sense… The seed spawned from The Whisper of Memories. So maybe this conflict is a phycological one. One that's tied to my memories.'
Silas' felt a spark of hope in his hollow soul
Silas stepped forward, his shaking hands steading themselves slowly "You're not real.."
Nelly's delicate face tilted slightly, her oak brown eyes cold. "Oh but I am Silas."
No matter that Silas's confidence was slowly returning, he couldn't help but shiver at the sound of her raspy voice. It was so real.
He stepped again, pain spreading through his head like the roots of a tree burrowing further into soil. Nelly took two steps herself which somehow seemed to cover a great distance between them. They were now close enough that Silas could make out each freckle on her face, the small scar on her top lip.
Silas hesitated, why had the void between them shift to bring them closer together?
"Do I seem more real now?" her gaze locked on him.
Silas clenched his fist and jaw all at once and stepped close enough that there nose could brush one another.
"Like I said, you're not real, Nelly. I—I killed you years ago. And if words could express how guilty I feel I'd say them. But there are none. I have to accept what I did back then, and I have to keep moving forward."
Nelly's eye twitched. Her indifference cracking. Her lips curled slowly into a crooked smile, nothing like the one Silas knew, no, this smile was sinister. It shook Silas to his core. Nelly reached a hand out and grabbed Silas by the throat.
"Agh.."
His eyes widened. She was—actually real? No that couldn't be Silas was so confident that this trial had to do with his memories. How could she be real?
"Oh Silas.. You were right, this trial does have to do with your memories. Quite impressive that you managed to figure it out so quickly, we all thought you were a faulty creation. So much emotion, self loathing.. It was disgusting."
Silas clawed at Nelly's hand frantically. Stars started to twinkle in his eyes.
'Wha—What the fuck is going on?!'
"I wish you luck with the rest of your trial. We'll all be watching."
Nelly loosened her grip on Silas' neck.
He fell. But instead of hitting the ground, he continued to fall. Further and further he fell. Deeper and deeper into the void. All that Silas could think of was that crooked smile on Nelly's face.
***
Silas's eyes fluttered open.
'So bright… Wait, why is it bright?'
Rubbing his eyes Silas took in his surroundings, he was no longer in the void. Tall redwood trees stretched as far as he could see, the smell of rain lingered in the air, yet the dirt between his fingertips was dry.
'Nothing in this damn place is making any sense.'
Silas sat up resting his back onto a fallen tree, his head throbbed, neck tender to the touch. A light breeze caressed his neck, the sound of the leaves shaking ever so slightly brought a calm to Silas. For better or for worse this new area of his Nightmare allowed him a moment to think.
As he thought though, he couldn't help feeling a strange sense of deja vu.
He looked around once more trying to find anything that would give him the epiphany that he was looking for. But he couldn't find it. Was it the Nightmare messing with him again? That would be a strange test if it wa…
SNAP!
Silas rolled forward planting his hands and twisting landing on his feet gracefully. Sparks of white shimmered around him as he summoned one of his Memories, his white Chokuto rested comfortably in his hand. It was a short blade one that normally used as a main weapon. But Silas was not a normal human.
SNAP!
Again the sounds of twigs snapping came from around him.
FWIP!
An arrow barreled toward Silas's head, the shot was perfect right in his blind spot there was no way for him to see it coming. But when the arrow was just about to pierce through his skull, it vanished into dust.
Silas activated another one of his Aspect abilities [Null Drift]. Which allowed him to nullify friction and inertia allowing him to glide on any surface at human speed.
His inhuman speed and [Unnatural Grace] Attribute allowed him to flow through the forest with ease. Wind whistled in his ears, his eyes darted from tree to tree scouring for who had shot at him.
It didn't take long for Silas to catch up to his oppressor, they jumped from tree to tree with ease like a monkey. They were wearing brown leather armor, blonde hair blew in the breeze, the oppressor reminded him of another one of his former companions..
'It can't be right?'
Silas stopped his break neck speed in an instant. The man continued to bounce from tree to tree, Silas watched for a moment, his heart beating at his chest.
"Darrow! Is that you?!"
The moment the words left his mouth the man stopped on one of the trees. His back still turned to Silas.
His stomach churned. Silas walked closer, as he did the man began to turn to look at him. What Silas saw rocked his world in the same way it did when he saw nelly.
Cropped blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, broad shoulders and a thick neck. It was him. His large pale friend Darrow.
"Silas? What—what the hell are you doing. I thought you were with everyone, I could have killed you."
Another member of his former cohort. Another member he had gotten killed.
"What the hell is going on.." Silas muttered to himself. If it wasn't for his aspect dulling his emotions his face would have been white as a ghost.
"Well I suppose since you're here for some reason, lets head back, everyone is waiting for me. Well us I guess." his voice soft just as he remembered, he always was a gentle giant to nice for his own good.
Silas and Darrow made there way through the redwood forest. Just about an hour later Silas spotted smoke.
"Is the forest on fire?"
Darrow looked over his shoulder at Silas confused.
"You okay man? You're acting a little weird today." Silas blinked; he wasn't really sure how to respond. The smoke got closer and as it did the sound of faint voices could be heard. Soon laughter followed.
When they finally reached the source of the smoke which was a small campfire, Silas stood frozen. Not only had Nelly come back from the dead, but then Darrow. But sitting right before him was his entire cohort.
Nelly, Darrow, Sylvia, and Lyle. They were all here.
They were all alive...