38 Chapter 37

"Nature does not need your permission, she has nothing to do with your wishes, and whether you like her laws or dislike them. You are bound to accept her as she is. And consequently all her conclusions." — Fyodor Dostoevsky.

***

They survived.

Barely if one considered how close Sunny was to being devoured by the terrible, dark sea. In fact, he was out of it. His eyes shut in bliss. His body was wet with sweat and rain. The palms of his hands torn and bloody from climbing the tall cliff. He was sprawled near the edge of the cliff, one foot dangling in the air right above the harrowing sea.

"I will bring Sunny a bit closer, we don't want him to be dragged away by an abomination."

Ariel stood up with a sigh, walking towards the limp body of Sunny. The darkness wasn't a deterrent for him, nor will it be in the future with his aspect. Strangely, his eyes perceived the world in a shifting blender of various colours. And what was more strange… was that he could perfectly understand his environment even with the mind-numbing radiance of the colours. The dark, stormy clouds were a mix of white and blue, the sky was periodically changing from red to black. Nephis's body shone in incandescent, white radiance, illuminating the ever-changing world, as if it was empowering them. Sunny's was a very dull dark that bordered on true darkness, it swallowed all the other colours around it. And Cassie's was a blinding golden tinged with a blue hue. Hers… moved in an unpredictable pattern, sometimes covering her body fully, sometimes only a tiny golden seed remained at her heart. Nightmare creatures and such had dark, vile tendrils wriggling around their bodies. Theirs were unlike the quiet, but suffocating darkness of Sunny's. It was violent, corrupt, and erratic. Forming into a beautiful and terrifying tapestry in the depth of the creatures body.

This… unique perception of his definitely held some other meaning. It wasn't something he could activate on a whim. It only did so once he was in darkness. His aspect was working but it was still not showing whether he was immune to darkness or not. Even with him being shrouded in it for days.

Maybe… he had to experience another form of darkness. A magical one, specifically, true darkness. Maybe then will he get an immunity to darkness, not only an immunity to its natural form, but to all types of darkness. He didn't know how many there is to begin with, so only time will tell. And getting full immuntiy to anything seems to have a hurdle that is hard to pass through. that's why he obtained such a massive amount of adaptability fragments when he fully gained immunity to Mind Control.

Anyway.

Shaking off his thoughts, Ariel grabbed Sunny's right arm. Gripped it a bit tightly… then began to drag Sunny away from the edge. The armour on him let out a strained screech that was immediately drowned out by the loud rumble of thunder. Nephis and Cassie attempted to huddle up together after noticing Ariel's disappearance. Nephis, nearly blind and deaf by the darkness that brought with itself the howling winds. And the raging, complex puzzles of bright lightning that obscured the abyssal darkness of the sky once in a while. Giving them a brief flash of vision through the inevitable night.

She managed to feel her way around, abandoning her trust in her senses due to the bizarre state of the world. The instincts that she honed through countless days of vigorous training made useless against the wrath of mother nature. Eventually, she reached Cassie, leaned near her. Then pressed her shoulders into Cassie's. Instantly feeling a slither of warmth transferring into her body. Procuring a calm, but senseless comfort. Cassie's body was surprisingly warm. Luring her in with its irresistible sensation.

A memory perhaps?

Cassie. Who finally noticed the body laying beside her, flinched before uttering under her breath. Her voice sounded wary and suspicious.

"We're not out of danger yet… I don't know what it is. But I'm certain something is wrong out here besides the storm."

Nephis considered her words with a tinge of seriousness, knowing she wasn't talking on baseless assumptions. She also felt a bit uneasy. Though she didn't think much of it with all the disastrous events coming into place one after another. She passed it off as her gut reacting to the pressured situation they found themselves in.

"No need to panic. Let's just wait till Ariel is back."

Hearing Nephis's reply, Cassie didn't say anything other than giving a short, curt nod. Appearing visibly pale in the midst of this frightening night. She didn't seem to be bothered by Nephis's presence, rather. She was leaning her shoulder towards her more and more.

However, Nephis. Did find something out of place. It was Cassie's lack of reaction to her presence.

She knew it was me. Certainly an affect of her aspect. An aspect that shows the future. Its potential is truly terrifying indeed. Besides, she's close to Ariel, which is a whole other matter that I preferably don't want to think about as of now.

Nephis went through all the times Cassie and Ariel conversed with each other. After all she had some experience in observing people and their action. Their patterns, the way they talk when a topic they preferred was brought up, or when they visibly felt uncomfortable by a person or a creature. All in all, there is depeer layers to human behaviour that she hasn't been exposed to. Nor had she felt it. She did. however, notice the underlying, deep but passionate connection between the two of them whenever they faced each other. Though Ariel seems to be shrugging it off for the time being. Which spread an unnecessary feeling of relief through her once she deduced it. What was she relieved for? She didn't know, nor did she want to, because she sensed that it would entangle her in a web of unknown emotions that she wasn't ready for yet.

Ah… this is too complicated. She thought in slight dismay. Fortunately, the person that she was thinking about brought Sunny closer and left him there. Walking towards them the next second.

"You girls handling it well? What do you think about spending the rest of the day here?"

Ariel sat opposite them in the never-ending downpour of rain, his eyes piercing directly into theirs. Cassie, hearing his voice, immediately voiced out her concern, her tone had the same wary approach to it.

"Ariel, this place has something very wrong with it."

Ariel absorbed her words with a passive face.

"I know, I felt it the moment we set foot on this cliff, and that's why I have to be sure you two will stay safe once I start investigating. I'm sure you won't do anything unreasonable but I have to be certain."

Both of the girls took his words seriously. With Cassie already aiming to oppose the idea but was stopped by a strong grip. It was Nephis, her slender hand felt cold and strong at the same time. Her intent obvious. An intent that made Cassie feel lost and confused. She knew she had to accept that this wasn't nor will it be the last time they found themselves in tough circumstances. It will not be the same as the merry and happy days she spent along with Ariel in the warm cavity she appeared in. Yet, she still persisted and hoped it will remain the same.

If only I wasn't so useless. I would've done everything to make sure Ariel is safe. Alas, power doesn't come that easily.

Cassie's expression kept constantly changing for a few seconds before she eventually breathed out in defeat.

"Fine, go do your thing. Just… please be careful. I know you're the strongest out of all off us but I'm still worried."

A small smile crept up Ariel's face in response to her defeated tone.

"And you're the sweetest."

"Shut up."

"Sure, you tsundere."

Nephis and Cassie both tilted their heads at the unusual word.

"What is a tsundere?"

"Yeah, what does it mean?"

Ariel, faced with their curious eyes, nearly released a chuckle. Even in this dire situation, something was able to ignite their curiosity.

Oh boy.

"It doesn't mean anything. It's just a word that's a bit famous in the outskirts. Nobody even knows what it means."

Then he did what he was best at.

Coping and blaming everything on the outskirts.

Man, that place is really useful for everything other than living in it. If only it was a little bit cleaner, it would've been perfect.

Cassie's and Nephis's face turned a bit awkward at the mention of his birth-place. His actions, his demeanour, his way of talking didn't resemble someone from the outskirts. Not at all. Making them forget he was from there to begin with.

Ariel ignored the silence and stood up, walking away from the two. His voice, nonchalant, rang out.

"Be right back."

Nephis watched as his figure was obscured by the veil of darkness and rain through the numerous lightning strikes. Her hand, still holding Cassie's, tightened firmly. Giving comfort to the pale faced girl.

Now the truly difficult part begins. Waiting. Something that I'm not fond of.

…

…

…

Ariel looked at the world with his distorting and exaggerated vision. The cliff they were on was expansive, its end not visible because of the storm. And a certain distance away from them, the rocky surface of the cliff was abruptly sloped into a deep, wide fissure. The darkness in its depth appearing almost tangible.

He strode closer until he arrived at the edge of the downward, curved end of the fissure. A sense of incongruity beginning to emerge writhin him as he stared into the hole. There, humanoid figures were resting in the bottom, the colour radiating from them, was the same vile and violent darkness that he had seen before.

Nightmare creatures. It seems we're not the only ones who thought ahead.

But the underlying problem was that there was nearly forty of them laying on the ground of the fissure. Their bodies Unmoving and still. Probably deep in slumber.

Shit.

Some of them even gave off stronger vibes than the others, their darkness forming into two balls of erratic, twitching tentacles. Which Ariel guessed corresponds to their class.

This vision is getting more and more useful by the second. I do wonder though, why wasn't it like this at the beginning? Is it because I'm adapting to darkness as we speak, thus strengthening it? Or was it due to the mind hex I was under? Well it doesn't matter, as long as I can make use of it.

Ariel looked down onto the slumbering bodies, his eyes turning sharper and sharper by the second.

Now… how do I get rid of them swiftly? If I make a wrong move and wake them up. Then it won't be good. But… you know what, fuck it. I survived a battle with a possibly great nightmare creature. So why do I have to be worried? Even though I advised Sunny to get used to killing awakened nightmare creatures. It seems I, myself have not accepted it fully yet. I mean, why the fuck should I be scared? I'm literally immortal!

Clearing his head of useless thoughts. Ariel willed for his sword to materialise. A few seconds later, the sword came into existence in sparks of light. The sword, once the forefront of his defence against the tentacle pervert. Was smooth and stainless. The scars and wounds from the previous battle but an afterthought in the grand tapestry of time.

Now… with his trusty sword summoned, his head empty and focused. Ariel took one step forward before he deftly leapt of the edge. Descending into the net of darkness.

Lets finish this fast.

A/N: sorry, midterms poped up out of nowhere. So yeah enjoy this ch. and thx for your support.