13 Chapter XIII: Welcome to the Dream Realm
A.N: This chapter's gonna grind so many gears.
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William found himself standing on a hard surface while all around him was surrounded by darkness. The sound of ocean waves crashing onto something resounded in his ear. Above him was the sky, which was completely dark like a canvas thrown into a tub of ink.
However, before he could make sure where he was, he heard something. When he listened closely, it looked as if someone was drowning.
Immediately moving into action, he ran towards the direction of the sound only to be met with the edge of the piece of land he was on. The voice was still coming, but it had gotten slightly weaker.
Thinking fast, he summoned his grimoire and cast the spell [Light], causing a ball of light - the size of a tennis ball - to manifest above his head. The light from the ball served to greatly push back the surrounding darkness, and it allowed him to see the dark ocean before him.
After using his enhanced vision, he was even able to see someone struggling to keep themselves afloat in the tumultuous currents in the ocean - it was Cassie.
The poor girl couldn't catch a break, it seemed.
Without wasting anymore time, William threw himself off the cliff and dived towards the blond girl's direction but not before summoning his necklace and covering himself with a white aura of purity. After all, he didn't know the kind of powers the Great Titan had in store for him.
It took all but a few seconds before he made contact with the Dark Sea.
Fortunately, the ball of light on his head had followed him and didn't seem to be affected by the dark waters. Thus, when he dived into the ocean, the whole area around him was illuminated by white rays of light.
On one hand, it helped him to immediately find Cassie's partially body before she drowned further or worse got eaten by the acquatic monsters; on the other, the light made him stick out like a sore thumb in the darkness, exposing him as a prime target. Also, his [Fateless] attribute was basically a nightmare creature magnet.
Thankfully, at least, he didn't need to worry about running out of breath or drowning due to his partial undead physique.
The white-haired Sleeper swimmed towards Cassie before anything and was greatly hearbroken by the look of sad resignation on the poor girl's face. After having secured is friend in his hands, William didn't want to overstay his welcome in the Great Titan, or else they would both become monster munch. Moreover, he had a rough guess that the elevated piece of land he was on before was quite a bit away.
Thus, he had to improvise to survive.
White plates of bone manifested around his torso and arms, providing him with their protection. Utilizing the [Living Bone] enchantment of the [Osseous Exoarmor], two bony protrusions emerged from the armor's back before changing into propellers.
The propellers spun rapidly pushing William and Cassie upwards towards the surface of the dark sea. When they emerged from the dark depths, William immediately changed their direction towards the first elevated piece of land, his eyes caught.
As they were moving towards the land mass, the young Lich King examined the features of the blond oracle nestled in his arms, and her features were not looking good. Her face was a deathly shade of pale, and her lips were bluish. She had clearly drunk too much sea water in her struggle to remain afloat while not being able to see where she was.
Thankfully, they were able to reach the land mass without any major hurdles.
When they reached the land mass, William retracted the bony propellers; however, he couldn't climb with Cassie in his arms. Thus, four thick, bony arachnid-like legs arose from the back of the armor and pierced into the rocky surface. Redirecting his entire focus towards controlling the osseous appendages to climb up, William didn't notice the triangular fin moving towards his direction.
When they had climbed about a quarter of the land mass's height, he heard something jump out of the dark sea, and before he could react, rows of sharp teeth pierced into his unprotected leg.
"AAArrrgh! MOTHER FUCKER!" William grunted in pain. Glancing down, he saw a hideous hybrid between fish and man dangling by its teeth from his left leg.
Its skin was a dark shade of brown while its body and covered by sea plants and mosses. Its eyes were bulging and fish-like while the digits of its arms and legs were were webbed together like some form of swimming paddles. All in all, the creature looked hideous to look at and it was enjoying its time knawing at his leg.
(Image)
Incensed by the wretched creature gnawing on his leg, a sharp bony spike sprang from the armor and immediately struck the creatures head, between its eyes. Then, it erupting into a mass of smaller spikes that turned the inside of the creature's head into swiss cheese.
The creature's mouth lost its force causing it to let go of his leg and falling into the Dark Sea below. Just in time for the Spell's voice to resound in his ears.
[You have slain a dormant demon, Merfolk Child.] (D20 = 5)
[Your soul grows stronger.]
"Fucking piece of shit," he muttered under his breath before he resumed climbing up. Moments later, he felt his leg itch as if a thousand ants were running on it.
When he looked down, he saw the teeth marks closing at an impressive speed and soon enough it was back to its pristine condition - the only marks of the previous injury was the still liquid blood trickling down.
After a few minutes, they were back to the safety of solid ground. Even so, he didn't have time to relax since Cassie was going to die any minute now.
First, he checked her breathing: she was not breathing.
Then, he checked her pulse; there was none.
Thus, starting giving her CPR: thirty chest compressions, with 2 mouth-to-mouth breaths. "Come on, Cass. Don't die on me, please," he muttered under his breath in a near panic tone as he did the CPR cycles.
Thankfully, after the third cycle, immediately after he finished giving the second resuscitation breath, Cassie's body twitched and she violently expelled dark water from her mouth and she began breathing in ragged breath.
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Cassie had always been in darkness since she returned from her first nightmare; yet, this darkness she found herself in was different. It was too thick, too fluid. She felt resistance whenever she moved her body as if she were submerged in some fluid.
Her human insticts told her that she was underwater and she needed to get out before she drowned. In panic, she moved in the only direction she had available to her: up.
Using her her body as best as she could, she pushed herself against the water to rise up to the surface. Thankfully she reached it; however, that was not the end to her problems. She didn't know where to go!
Moreover, the waves of the Dark Sea didn't make it easy for her as it assaulted her with reckless abandon wanting to bring her back to its cold, lethal embrace.
She tried her best, she really did but even as a Sleeper, there was only so much someone in her situation could do.
As her consciousness was fading due to the lack of oxygen, she had nothing but regret in her heart, 'This is how it was always going to end for you Cassie, you were always a lamb for the slaughter.'
With that, she floated in the endless void of the Dark Sea, her last dregs of consciousness fading with time. Suddenly, she felt something pull at her body - most likely a nightmare creature about to eat dinner. She didn't care either way, her consciousness was already dispersing as her hear was beating less and less.
Suddenly, her heart began beating faster and harder and her oxygen deprived body was being supplied with sweet air. As a result, whatever was left of her consciousness began to collect itself back together in a final struggle to get back to life.
A voice, a voice she had been hearing for the last month reached her ear, "Come on, Cass. Don't die on me, please."
Cass, that's what he used to call her. Who was he? In the muddy grounds of her mind, she scrambled to get back all her dispersed parts back together.
The name of the voice's owner was coming back to her. He was the one who reassured her when everone had turned their backs on her. Neither the government nor the Legacy clan wanted anything to do with a walking corpse like her - even after she admitted to having a Sacred ranked Aspect.
However, he was different. He encouraged her and told her that she had potential. He was the only one who even wanted to have conversation with her without looking at her with apathy or condescension. Even if she couldn't see them, she felt the looks she was being given everytime she walked in the halls by using the walls as a guide.
It was not her fault that she got blind. She did her best at her nightmare only to be met with more suffering. What did she do to deserve this? Why was she destined to this wretched fate?
All these questions slowly built up hate and anger within her. It built up until it erupted from inside of her in fit of coughs and ragged breaths. The inside of her mouth tasted horrible like she had swallowed fistful of salt.
Forgetting that she was blind for a moment, she looked around frantically, looking for any danger and more importantly to know where she was.
She felt two wet arms embrace her in a hug. She struggled at first, fearing it to be another nightmare creature.
"It's okay, Cass. It's okay. You're safe now," the familiar voice said reassuringly.
"W-William?" Cassie asked in a low tone, not daring to believe what she was hearing.
"I'm here now," he reassured her as he stroked her messy wet hair, "you're safe now."
She sniffled, "William!" Then, she returned the hug desperately while crying her heart out with her face plastered to his chest.
"It's fine. It's fine," the white haired boy said patiently, "let it all out."
She didn't know how long she cried but Cassie knew that she cried herself to sleep in her first day in the Dream Realm.
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Willaim sat on the elevated piece of land with nothing but the darkness of the night around him. He had already dismissed the [Light] spell since he didn't want to attract whatever nocturnal, flying monsters. Thankfully, he had dismissed his armor too as soon as he noticed Cassie's attempt at hugging him, lest she slams her head against bone plates.
He gently stroked Cassie's hair as she breathed softly in his arms. She had cried herself to sleep, and he didn't have the heart to wake her up - especially after the near death experience she just had. He had experienced death many times, and he can say for certain that it is never a pleasant one.
The blue gem of his [Teardrop Amulet] shone dimly, and two motes of light flew out of it before manifesting into the spirits of Arthas and Jaina.
"Poor girl," the sorceress said with a sad sigh as she observed the sleeping form of Cassie.
"From what you told us, she has some form of foresight ability," the blond ex-prince commented somberly with his back facing the two Sleepers, " people with their powers are forever haunted by bad luck since they are the only ones who can reveal the plans of fate."
He then turned back to a mote of light before going back to the blue gem.
Jaina pondered for a bit, "Take care of her will, you. I may have an idea on how to help her. However, it will take time to prepare. Also, cover yourselves up, would you?"
Then, she retreated back into the gem.
William was confused at what she said, so he took another look at themselves... They were both naked.
Due to his rush to save the blond girl, he had forgotten that people do not take their clothes into the nightmare realm.
Thankfully, it was too dark to see anything too damning but the sensation of flesh on flesh could still be felt.
However, even if he was a Sleeper, he was just a teenager with chaotic hormones. Thus, without his consent, something was rising in him and sure as Spell it was not the shield hero.
'Fuck! Why do you decide to rear your head now?' he asked his lower, more primal brain. No answer came - not like he expected any. He sighed in exasperation.
Maybe he was not able to control his body's reactions but he was able to make their situation more comfortable.
Raising his free hand, a subtle glow covered it as he cast the [Prestidigitation] spell. Their bodies and hair was no longer coated with the salty sea water as if they hadn't ever been in an ocean a few minutes ago.
(For future reference, I'll be using Prestidigitation very liberally for menial stuff. I'll also be using homebrew trinket tables in addition to the normal D&D table.)
Thus, the two Sleepers, one asleep and the other flushed with embarrassment, were alone in the darkness of the Forgotten Shore with only the sounds of their heartbeats and the ocean resounding in their ears.
