The moment night falls, the black sea floods the red coral labyrinth, and that moment drew ever closer.
Storing the body of the unknown Sleeper within his Secret Compartment, Aisling grimaced as he felt millions of needles piercing his skin and weaving through his cells, reconstructing thoroughly his body.
His teeth creaked from the unpleasant sensation.
His missing limbs grew back, and every bone and organ returned to its proper state.
But he wanted to rip them off again by force, at how inhuman and revolting did it feel.
The process of recovering his missing limbs took no more than a few seconds, but his body was crying out for it to stop, but he could not afford to listen.
He had to survive.
Planted on the ground, the needle-leg was the only thing keeping him standing.
He looked at the sunset and knew he had to move.
He stretched his arms and legs in an attempt to get used to his new limbs.
Even his internal organs tingled and felt insufficient.
“Ah…”
He opened his mouth and a dull, prolonged sound scaped him.
He began beating his chest repeatedly like a drum, and the noise cut off.
“Ah…
Ah…
Ah…
Ah…
Ah…!
Ah!”
He got used to it enough not to trip, and he started climbing the Headless Statue.
He held his body up by the cracks that countless years had carved into the statue’s stone framework, carefully choosing his next move.
However, he couldn’t avoid the instability in his body, and when he reached the statue’s knee he slipped.
He fell fifty meters to the ground and shattered his bones with a horrible sound.
He barely managed to eat another bite and feel the time pressing down on him; the sun was about to set, and he was running out of it.
“One more time…”
He started climbing again, but this time he didn’t do his best; he had an obligation to climb.
“One, two.
One, two.
Yes, it works.
Do you count your steps when you walk?”
He spoke to the World-Loving Doll on his shoulder, and she shook her head.
“And how did you learn to walk?
Do Memories have classes for that?”
He kept climbing, higher and higher.
If instability hit, he held the statue tighter, even if he bled.
If he couldn’t hold on any longer, he ate a piece of flesh to gain more strength.
He was was in a very precarious balance, because he could give way at any wrong decision.
He couldn’t eat too much, because greater strength would generate greater instability, and he had to eat just enough to have the strength to keep climbing.
Hearing the sound of approaching water, Aisling cursed internally, if he said bad words out loud, the World-Loving Doll would hear him.
He didn’t turn back to check.
He didn’t accelerate the climb either; he was already going as fast as he could, not walking but leaping on a tightrope.
He reached the statue’s chest, and his luck ran out.
His hand slipped and gravity hit him instantly.
Aisling panicked and couldn’t regain his grip.
Hold on, idiot!
He suspended himself and fell.
He spun in the air until his hands were near a ledge on the statue’s shell.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated and it was his forearm that struck it, snapping his arm on the spot.
“This can’t be happening!”
He didn’t give up or lose heart; a chilling cold settled into his eyes.
The impact hadn’t even had the grace to slow him slightly.
He’d sacrificed his arm for nothing, but that was behind him now, no doubt.
The next second, he used his other arm and grabbed firm but with a raw crunch that resonated from his shoulder all the way down his arm, finally stopping his fall.
He replaced it quickly with his already-regenerated arm to avoid falling again, giving time for the fracture, tears, and twist to rebuild.
He took a breath, letting his mind rest as he stared at the stone with deep conflict; not even glancing at his arm to confirm what he already knew.
He had to conserve and use every instant he could.
Up, up, up, up, up, up, up…
The sound of the black sea grew clearer.
Aisling could no longer ignore it.
He took a larger piece of flesh and digested it.
He adjusted himself and held the statue tight.
He looked at the World-Loving Doll on his shoulder.
“Still here?
This is going to be awful; hide inside my soul right now.”
The World-Loving Doll disappeared and reappeared on top of his head lying down, hugging his head as best she could.
“Really…?
Just hold on tight.”
He closed his eyes and concentrated deeply.
He perceived the grey sky covered in clouds and how the light was leaving, felt the warmth of the world abandoning the earth, and heard the sea at his side rushing with force.
He inhaled deeply and, in the next instant, was assaulted by an incessant torrent of black water.
Aisling was pressed against the statue.
He held on long enough for the pressure to ease and was able to maneuver.
Fortunately, he found no Nightmare Creatures swimming beneath the black sea, he managed to swam to the cut neck of the Headless Statue.
Just when he thought he had finally saved himself, only a couple of meters from the surface, something terrible coiled around his leg, pulling him back to the depths.
Aisling had had enough.
With resolve, he drew the needle-leg from his Secret Compartment and stabbed his leg enough to make the creature holding him take the leg instead.
And it wasn’t enough; it never was.
He stabbed again, this time his other leg.
Ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend…
He managed to separate his leg, and the moment he sensed that fucking creature coming back to trap him, he left the bait behind.
He swam, and kept swimming.
And after all the filthy garbage the world had thrown on top of him, he managed to reach the surface and ascended above his weakness at the neck of the statue.
Collapsing on top of it and managing to survive one more day.