Ch.X-1 ¤ The Nightmare Returns

[[ 1 year and 2 months after Chapter 0 ]]

I was woken up by a scream.

"S-Suzume, it's happening again!" I hurriedly fetched my old, most trusted friend. The Callidus had already noticed as well that something was wrong when I entered her room. "It's just like a year ago!" I tried not to panic and steadied myself.

"I'll warn the others, you go check up on her. Contain her if necessary... and good luck Silke" Suzume's voice was composed and calm even in a time like this. I nodded energetically and left with the same hurry I came. I hoped things would not be as bad as they had been last time... one year ago... a night where everything almost turned to disaster...

I barged into the Eversor's room without any warning. She was on her knees on the ground, grabbing her head with both hands and muttering things too faintly and too fast for it to make any sense. Her presence and magic were highly unstable, flickering and twisting, but it was not Despair I could feel coming from her. It was a frantic sense of urgency, panic.

"Ryuko!" I called out to her, trying to snap her out of it, but I knew it would be hopeless. This already happened before.

"You're not supposed to be there..you can't be there..why are you there? don't. Don't. DON'T. You don't belong there. It'll  hurt you. It'll stalk you. It'll haunt you. Don't be there.. why are you there? you shouldn't be there..."

I knew it was useless because I tried and tried one year ago, but I couldn't get through her when was in this state. Ryuko had tamer episodes where physical contact or a sharp tone could be enough to snap her back to reality, but as she was now I had no other choice than to try to knock the tainted Eversor out. I lowered the intensity of my suit and let the anti-magic do its dirty business, focusing it at her.

She screamed again; it was an unnatural, disturbing scream like that of a creature or monster. I bit my lower lip slightly as I could feel all the pain and fright in that voice; as I could read it on her face. She had always been hiding sorrows and suffering, tried as she might to hide it, but this was something more. It was something I couldn't bear to look at for too long. It's at times like this that I was glad for my helmet; It hid my tears and allowed me to keep a professional look even if behind it I was wavering. All I ever wanted was to help people and make them happy, so why did I have to end up surrounded by such sorrows?

"I won't let you..I won't let you..I.. I'll come for you.. don't.. don't die..not there..don't let it get to you..don't let it overtake you.. you've had enough.. you don't need this.. you don't deserve this.."

Her energy was going out of control. It was happening again. Just like last time. +Suzume! It's no good! I'll have to use extreme measures.+ I immediately pulsed with urgency, the response coming instantly. +Understood.+

I had no choice, I lowered the settings of my Suit even further and blasted Ryuko again. This time she flinched and leaned forward, letting out a large amount of blood from her mouth. It had always been blood for her; some kind of twisted, darkened foul blood I didn't like to see. I'd almost feel better if it was just vomit like everyone else...

"Please come back to your senses!" I desperately pleaded, only to be met by a deathly glare that cut my breath; blood still coating her lips. "Don't try to stop me! This time I'll.. this time I'll make it in time! I won't allow anything like that to happen again!"

She never told us what she saw or did the last time she left. It was the one thing she never opened up to us about even after all this time, so I had no clue what she was talking about. It was pointless however, even though she spat her words without compromise, I could tell there was a plea within; a begged request. I couldn't in my soul and conscience find it inside me to blast her a third time. I couldn't try to stop her when it looked like everything she ever cared about was on the verge of being destroyed irremediably. I let her go.

A rip tore itself into the fabric of reality, not all too unlike what a Barrier did, but localized onto a small area rather than over a wide one. I could feel all sorts of pain and negative emotions coming from the scar-like maelstrom of shifting colors that opened behind the tainted Eversor. It screamed of Witches and hopelessness. In just a second she turned around and leaped inside the rip which seemed to detonate, but damaged nothing and was gone by the time the explosion of light receded.

+She's gone.+

====

I took a deep breath. The world around me shifted and morphed to become a horrible procession of death and malevolence. I didn't know Its name, but I have known of Its existence for a while now and it's not the first time I come here. I also know at my core it won't be the last. This place... this nameless Hell... I have conflicting feelings about it.

I hate this place. It has come to represent one of my greatest failures; one I will never forgive myself for. I should have been here for her, but I wasn't. I was lost and I couldn't reach her. The memory stings just as badly now than it did back then. I won't fail you again.

But I also love this place, and I don't exactly know why. I know it's extremely unhealthy for me to be here, but I can't help but feel strangely at home. It's just comfortable... somewhat, in ways I can't even begun to explain, and my magic seems immensely easier to cast; as if there is no strain whatsoever to my Soul anymore so long as I'm here. It feels... warm.

But I can't let those thoughts slow me down.

My legs carried me like wings as I roamed through this realm of hell with great speed. As long as I was there... it was as if I could always go all out, as if I could keep going and not lose any energy. So I took advantage of it and began the search in earnest. No compromises, no holding back, and, in the end I hope, no regrets.

 No matter how fast I was and how well I may have known some parts of this shifting hellscape, it was impossible to avoid the Witches fully, or the natural hazards for that matter. Or maybe it was just me that sucked at stealth? no matter. This was a desperate time so I resorted to desperate measures. I reached into my inventory and took the Satrophine container, slowing down just a little bit to focus on undoing the magical seal that kept the thing shut. It was no true challenge as I was the one who made it in the first place, so I made short work of it.

I hesitated just for a second, painfully aware of how powerful the drug was, but I had little choice. If I wanted to carve my way here I would need every little bit of strength I could muster. The Witches were just too strong to be dealt with in any other way. I swallowed a dose and put the container back in my Inventory.

The effect was immediate, and immediately taunting. I never knew a drug as mercilessly addictive as this one. Power immediately surged through my entire body and my mind sharpened to impossible levels for a time. It was the kind of power you could get drunk off with just the smallest taste of, but I've seen this drug entirely consuming those who fall to its thrall. Because of that I had always remained wary of it, despite how... admittedly fucking incredible it felt to be on. That feeling, combined with what I said earlier about this ethereal realm's... I had to focus to not lose myself in it.

"Well~Well, what do we have here?"

I stopped and froze. This voice. Why did it have to be this voice? Why now of all times?

"You've been naughty, doing something like that so early... it's like you actually -wanted- it." That impossibly silky voice made my guts twist. I could just hear her licking her lips behind me.

"Fuck. Off. I have no time for this right now."

"How rude, and here I came just to see how you were doing."

She's lying. All she can say is lies. "Don't give me that crap, you're trying to slow me down so I end up failing and--" I tensed, feeling a long, soft tongue on the back of my neck. I  shivered and resumed running again, but the voice didn't let go of me. Even when my body was pushed up way past points it had little right to reach, this bitch was still keeping up with me. She always kept up.

"I might be~ but you're still being rude, refusing to look at me again... it's almost like you don't like my form..." the impostor managed to sound genuinely saddened, but I didn't buy it, I knew better. I refused to look at her. I refused to acknowledge her. "And now the silent treatment again... you really need to fix that attitude of yours, else you'll... well, no, that's a given~"

"SHUT UP." I roared. I focused on the endless ruins around me and kept to whatever high grounds I could. At the moment I found myself to be overseeing a frozen parody of an once-city.  steel was covered in frost and icicles of dark crystal rose and fell like ice. It snowed as well. It could almost look like a scene from a holiday... if it hadn't been from the fact that it snowed powdered bones. Human bones I'd be willing to bet.

"No matter how much you deny it, you know inside you I'm right; I'll -always- be right~" Her voice was still silky, but turned as cold as the dead city around me. "Go ahead and check it, you've gotten sooo bad already~" I grunted lightly and humored her  slowing again just a little to check on my Soul Gem. Like she said it had already darkened way past what I would have liked and I was still just starting with my search. This realm of death and forgotten ends was more vast than could be comprehended. Damn Bitch was right.

"Seeee?~" The Witch whispered in my ear and I barely resisted the temptation to elbow her smug face so hard it'd break the skull. "I don't see anything."I grumbled as I lied. "Don't lie." she immediately scolded me with a tone of contempt. "You can't lie to me and you know it." I don't know nothin' about this shit.

"I am you."

I couldn't resist, I stopped, turned around and swiped at her face with my left claw. She dodged, unfortunately. She always dodges, goddamn bitch. Why can't you just BLEED for me once in a while!?

She was... much more beautiful than I ever was. Forget about Eldritchian horrors that look like nothing, she was... different. Fully human looking save for the limbs, she had flawless, pristine snow white skin and traits, with matching flowing white hair that almost reached the ground, but never quite. Her claws were longer than mines and reached back into some sort of jet black armor covering her fore-arms and a bit past the elbows, almost to the shoulder but falling short by about 10 centimeters and showing off her bare shoulders. Her legs were the same and her snow-skinned thighs showed a little between the metal and her short black sleeveless dress.

"I will never become you, how many times do I have to tell you that?" She just smiled and shook her head lightly, as if looking at a child being cutely unreasonable. Fuck I hate her, I hate her the most.

"Repeat it all you want, pointless denial doesn't reach me." I twitched at that, tempted to strike at her again. "You know you can't escape your fate." she reached closer, putting her face just a centimeter away from mine. "You know it better than anyone, don't you?" I know it. "There will never be any rest for you." I know that as well. "You will fall, and when you do, I will laugh."

"I know I won't be able to have a peaceful death anymore, but see, I've got a really simple solution that just might work." I smirked and she stared back. "Oh really? What would that be?" she asked and I laughed, dryly. "Don't. Die." I replied and she laughed, mockingly. "That's impossible. You might as well just give in already."

I rolled my eye and opened my mouth to give some sort of witty retort, but I was silenced.

Strawberries and white chocolate. She tasted like strawberries and white chocolate.

I remained shocked for a second or two but quickly enough freed myself and jumped back, the taste lingering in my mouth with the feeling of that tongue she stole. If looks could kill my glare would have murdered her thrice over. Unfortunately, she was still alive and smiling. I checked my Soul Gem immediately, looking for anything she might have done to me, but it didn't seem like that was the case.

"You've always been so easy to tease, but no, I didn't do anything to you... at least nothing you hadn't already done to yourself. You know what you should really look out for?" she tilted her head lightly and smiled. "I don't want to know." I flatly responded. She wasn't going to listen to me, but whatever. "That drug of yours Do you want to know what it's really made of?"

"No" I responded again. Just the same, it was pointless again. "What if I told you it's actually made of... " she paused for a moment, as if looking for words. "From shattered hopes and despair ~" Her smile widened and I blinked, taking a moment to try and understand the implied imagery. "...That's impossible, there's no way what you're implying could be done."

She shrugged and shook her head again with that pseudo-disappointed expression. I just stopped paying attention to her and resumed my search, running again. She kept up, annoyingly enough. "Have I ever lied to you?~" I grit my teeth and bit back the urge to try to claw her again. "When you claimed to be me." she sighed lightly. "Now you're just contradicting yourself, but alright, I've bothered you enough. You'll never make it in time now.~"

"ETEEERNAAAA"

My claws fell onto empty air, her presence gone.