“Before, I didn’t understand the immortality of the crab; now I firmly believe it doesn’t exist.
If they were immortal, why are they extinct?
Or did those legacy clans take them away to exploit their immortality?
They’ve made me doubt again — it must be one of those tactics to control the masses.
It’s all so confusing.
Although if we run into someone from a legacy around here, we should treat them well.
We could even ask about it on the side.
If they deny it forcefully, they must know something.
If they accept it, they’re ignorant.
If they look at me like I’m an idiot, they probably haven’t been told the greatest secret of this world.”
Exploring the labyrinth of red corals, Aisling often chatted with the doll.
What he called chatting was more like whispering, so as to always stay alert to any danger.
Having the doll on his shoulder, he didn’t think it was necessary to speak with much clarity.
Several days had passed since he almost died.
Since then he had been taking shelter on top of the statue.
A very strange statue — it had something unique he couldn’t put into words.
It wasn’t bad.
It was more like it could slip from his grasp at any moment if he didn’t take proper care of it.
He let out an amused snort.
‘It’s not like it’s going to get up and walk away, either.’
He went on taking in the landscape, searching for any sign of life, and stopped.
His sense of smell had caught blood — not just any blood, but the aromatic, distinctive kind that belonged to humans.
The fact that his Aspect was linked to humans was useful in its own way, especially regarding food: he only needed a small amount of flesh to hold out for weeks.
He quickened his pace without committing.
‘Gods, give me a live and intact companion!’
A blasphemous plea, given his Aspect.
He didn’t take long to find the source of the blood: a Nightmare Creature — an ugly Red Worm — and a female Dreamer around his age, wearing a simple but magnificent white dress.
‘If I can make a good impression, I’ll get a companion in this hell.’
He threw the doll at the monster’s head, applying the same technique.
He had discovered that his doll affected Nightmare Creatures in her own way.
As if by her mere presence they were bothered, enraged — treating her as their worst enemy.
He had tested it over several days, nearly dying multiple times, but managed to survive by a hair and last long enough.
That was why he needed a companion; he wasn’t going to hold out another day alone.
He waited for the creature to turn, and the moment it opened its maw, he drove the needle-leg into the pearl.
[You have defeated an Awakened Beast, Red Worm.]
‘Defeating a Nightmare Creature with style and efficiency in front of a female Dreamer.
Could this be the start of a wild adventure and reckless romantic drama?’
“Dead.”
He pulled out his needle-leg from the shattered pearl with a look of annoyance.
He already felt ready to receive a hug like a hero, when the Presentiment struck him hard.
Aisling was disoriented for a second, having sensed no other enemy.
‘Something else…
Damn!’
Spinning with force, Aisling found himself face to face with a pair of beautiful eyes only a breath away from him, reflecting a deadly cold and an uncontrollable craving.
‘How bad an impression do I actually give…?’
The grey hand of the Dreamer stretched out, visibly deformed, plunging into Aisling’s chest without warning.
Not just the hand — her entire body deformed, twisting and stretching in every limb, moving away from the human and toward a Nightmare Creature.
The beautiful eyes shifted to vertical white pupils ringed by blood red.
Her mouth opened until it unhinged, revealing several rows of terrible fangs.
Sentencing any living thing to death, the fangs closed around his neck in a lethal bite.
Aisling lost part of his neck, and the monster was not satisfied.
He felt the blood abandoning his body, leaving him without strength and visibly paler than ever.
In just a few seconds, his skin clung to his bones and he was completely drained, without a trace of blood.
Satisfied, the monster let Aisling’s body drop, returned to her human form, and stared at him with several emotions behind her cold eyes.
“It’s neither your fault nor mine…
We simply had the bad luck of finding each other.”
He tried to force strength into his arm, reaching for the pocket of the Insidious Tunic, but he couldn’t rise.
He lay inert, and his eyes began to lose their light.
‘Just…
if I could only reach…’
The Dreamer simply left the scene without looking back, not even once.
* * *
At the edge of death, Aisling let out indistinct sounds from his mouth, wanting to say something that would never come out.
If one could see clearly, one would see the doll stretching her tiny hands, passing through the Insidious Tunic and pulling out a piece of raw flesh — very small, something she could hold with ease.
She reappeared over Aisling and pushed the piece between his teeth.
There was a reaction: his jaw moved, very slowly — the best response she could get.
The doll had to push his jaw to help him.
She had no real strength, and yet it was a great support for him.
She managed to make him swallow the piece with difficulty — he nearly choked in the process.
The doll repeated the process, over and over.
The first time, it took nearly half an hour for him to eat that insignificant piece.
The second, third, and fourth times were the same.
By the tenth piece, it took a few minutes.
Lost, without any sense of time, he had to eat another ten portions before he could begin to move his arm.
After eating more, he got up.
His body was still numb.
Even with the blood returned to his body, it was hard to grow accustomed to that strange sensation of having, not having, and being full again.
As if the blood had an identity of its own — blood from others that his body subdued and forced to become part of him.
Looking at the sky, he knew he had no time left.
He took his needle-leg, the doll pointed him in a direction, and Aisling didn’t hesitate to run.
Pulling out a larger piece from the Secret Compartment himself, he ate it on the way.
‘I won’t make it to the Headless Statue.
I need a place…
What the hell?!’
Before him, the Headless Statue rose in glory and hope before his eyes.
“This is no time to question.
Enjoy what is given!”
Aisling smiled at the doll on his shoulder.
‘She’s just sitting there.
How does she hold on without falling?’
That thought faded as he ran for his life.
The sound of the black sea reached him; the deafening marine current was submerging every reef in its path.
He climbed as fast as he could — he felt more energized than before, stronger even.
‘Did I get stronger all of a sudden?’
The increase in raw strength wasn’t much, but he could feel a slight change in his capacity.
He managed to climb to the statue’s neck in time and let out a heavy sigh.
That situation had pushed him to his limit.
He had believed he would drown choked on his own food.
“What a damned situation.
And they want me to survive in this place like this.”
He lifted his gaze and met a pair of dazzling, mesmerizing eyes.
The Dreamer who had left him for dead was there, seated and majestic.
There was barely any light left in the world, and in the last tone of clarity, he could see her.
She didn’t look as cold as before.
Her composed and pitiless features — the ones he held in his Memories — had been replaced by a bewildered expression in that precise moment.
They froze in their spots, each trying to comprehend what was in front of them.
The silence stretched for several seconds that felt eternal.
Beyond caution, the incredulity of having that person before them was something neither had expected.
Taking the first step, Aisling raised his hand in an awkward wave.
“Hi.”
The light faded and the world went completely dark.
* * *
In the darkness of the night, there was an uncomfortable silence.
Two people had found each other again after having had a…
savage encounter.
Aisling, being the victim, didn’t know how to act.
He could sense the faint brush of the Dreamer’s clothes, but nothing more.
She had a small presence, as if she didn’t want to be noticed — he suspected it might be related to her Aspect.
‘She seems like a Dreamer with a fairly noticeable Aspect.’
He didn’t want to move or make any brusque gesture that might signal bad intent on his part.
Long minutes had already passed and there was no sign of the Dreamer making a move.
He had no plans either.
‘If we’re going to spend the whole night watching each other, I might as well sleep.
I think I could survive if she attacked me by surprise, and since she hasn’t made a move, she must have her own suspicions about why she shouldn’t act rashly.
Besides, I don’t think she’ll do that again…
drain my blood.’
Aisling lay down on the cold stone and all the fatigue crashed down on him.
It wasn’t physical exhaustion — his recovery was impressive and fast, and he felt fantastic.
The problem was the accumulated mental fatigue: regenerating wasn’t pretty or glorious; it was a torture that rebuilt the body.
‘Away with bad thoughts…
away with bad thoughts…’
Repeating it like a mantra, he fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes.
* * *
Feeling the vague fog between reality and his sleeping state, he opened his eyes, letting the painful light in.
Another minor problem with his senses came from the intensity with which he perceived his surroundings.
Even in a place full of clouds, it was still bothersome.
He covered himself with the back of his hand, and a shadow rose over him — not from his hand, but because someone was standing beside him, showing no feeling as they looked at him.
“Did you sleep well?”
The attractive voice registered in his ears, very melodious — one you’d never tire of hearing.
He hadn’t paid much attention to it before since he’d been busy almost dying, but he hoped he could wake up to that voice every morning.
Aisling hesitated a moment.
He had — he felt fresh as a lettuce, but saying so didn’t feel right for some reason.
“Well…
yes.”
“I see.”
The Dreamer withdrew without another word.
‘What kind of conversation was that?
Is that how women my age act — so incomprehensible?
She didn’t kill me or try to during the night; that must be a good sign.
Maybe having a strong reaction, like seeing someone dead come back to life, makes the contempt disappear…
Wait, I’m trapped here with her.
What’s the next step?
Should I ask how she is?
Should I ask about the weather?
Should I apologize?
If someone kills another person, that’s the bare minimum they owe…
The name!
A conversation starts with a name.’
The thoughts kept swirling without stopping.
A girl his age wasn’t looking at him with disgust — it was an improvement for him.
Aisling got up and looked over his shoulder for the doll’s opinion, but couldn’t find her — neither the answer nor the doll.
He turned to look at the Dreamer, seated on the other side, and in her hands she held the Doll of the World’s Beloved.
She was stroking its hair and examining every detail, deeply absorbed in what she was doing.
Aisling marveled at the beauty before him — it had been hard to notice while in mortal danger.
Her elegant and delicate movements, her reserved attitude and mysterious aura.
The most striking thing was her grey skin, which gave her an exotic look without making her any less enchanting.
It was like having the painting of a princess in front of him.
Feeling Aisling’s gaze, the Dreamer said without emotion:
“I’m taking care of it.”
“I see…
My name is Aisling.
What’s yours?”
The Dreamer went quiet for a moment without turning her head or looking at him.
“Seishan.
Pleased to meet you.”
“Same.
A unique experience — I mean…
it was something new for me.”
He touched his neck, right where he had felt those horrible fangs tearing into his flesh.
“Can I have my doll back?”
“No problem.”
Seishan stood and held out the doll, which he accepted with gratitude.
“She’s very pretty.
“She’d be angry at me if I did…
Setting that aside — do you have any idea about this place?”
“No…
but I have a route.”
“A route?”
Extending her grey arm, she pointed into the distance.
Aisling followed her arm and made out a red line far away, only visible thanks to his enhanced senses.
“A tower?”
“I don’t know.
It’s a clue.”
“Do you want to get there?”
“We want to get there.
There’s no other landmark to get out of here.
In the intrinsic structures of the Dream Realm, you’re more likely to find the gates back to the waking world.”
Aisling sighed.
She wasn’t wrong.
They’d had a rough first meeting, but they needed companions to get out of that place.
He had been wandering aimlessly, looking for a light in the depths of the abyss.
Having a place to pursue was more gratifying.
Seishan held out her hand with a beautiful, polite smile.
“I hope you don’t mind being my companion.”
Aisling looked at her hand with misgiving and took it.
“No one survives alone.”
“Exactly.
And now more than ever we need each other’s support.
We’ve already felt each other’s abilities firsthand — we can skip the trouble of breaking the ice.”
‘I was the only one who felt your abilities firsthand.’
Aisling wanted to say that.
He only whispered:
“It’s not like we could share a cup of tea.”
“We’ll postpone that for later.
You’d better look at this.”
Looking down, at the feet of the Headless Statue, a giant red coral was moving back and forth, circling the statue in silence.
“Corals are expressive.”
“Those red corals aren’t corals in the proper sense of the word.
And that coral is, at minimum, a Fallen Demon.
It seems to know we’re here, but it neither climbs nor leaves.
We’re trapped.”
Recognizing several details of the Nightmare Creature, Aisling recalled it as his welcome gift.
“Oh…
it’s an old friend.
I ran into that thing the moment I arrived.
Not bad.
If it marks us, other Nightmare Creatures won’t come to bother us, and since it doesn’t climb, we won’t be in danger.”
Seishan watched as the grey-haired young man beside her lay back down and closed his eyes.
* * *
‘Aisling…
He’s crazy.’
Because of her Flaw, she had killed him — or so she believed.
Facing difficulties and trying to survive among the red corals for days, she couldn’t resist the first body of fresh blood in front of her and attacked him until she was sated.
And now he was there as if nothing had happened, not even bothered that she had drained him and abandoned him.
She had stayed awake the entire night without letting herself sleep, worried he might take action.
The giant’s neck was not very suitable for fighting, and if Aisling took it into his head to launch some suicidal attack, she would suffer with him.
Anyone would be angry if you attacked them to the point of death, wouldn’t they?
She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or annoyed watching him sleep so peacefully in her presence.
‘More importantly: how did he survive?
I’m certain he couldn’t move or resist, and he didn’t heal at the moment of receiving a mortal wound.
Besides, he knew I was going to attack him, even though I can conceal myself.
If he isn’t crazy, he must have confidence in his abilities to survive even when he’s completely off guard.
That makes sense if he survived the mortal wounds I caused him.
He has very useful skills; even through everything that happened, I have to keep him by my side to get out of here.
Even if he later seeks revenge for what I did to him, it doesn’t matter once I can heal and am stronger than him.’
Seishan kept her beautiful smile, well aware of its effect on boys her age, without lowering her guard for an instant against Aisling’s apparently clumsy attitude.
With more questions than answers, what mattered now wasn’t whether she knew about him or not — she only needed to know if he was going to be against her or not.
“I’m sorry you ended up in that state because of our meeting.”
Aisling opened one eye without paying her much attention.
“That?
It doesn’t matter…
I want revenge, but this isn’t the time.”
“At least you know how to order your priorities.
I have no problem with that.”
Aisling let out an amused snort but said nothing.
Seishan found his response positive, so she considered the discussion closed and withdrew.
“But now is the time, Seishan.
We don’t want one of us to betray the other out of cold vengeance.”
‘What is he saying?’
Aisling moved fast and silently as a snake.
He caught her off guard by the shoulders, and to her bewilderment, he drew dangerously close to her neck.
‘What is he doing?!’
Before she could react, she was bitten on the lower part of the neck, near the collarbone.
Aisling’s teeth sank in deep, indifferent to the force of his bite, drinking avidly from the blood that seeped out.
Seishan let out a startled gasp — from the pain of the deep bite and from his bold, shameless act.
It lasted only a few seconds before Seishan’s body began to transform.
Aisling pulled away at once, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender — he didn’t want to get drained to death again.
He gave her a smile, wiping the blood from his mouth with satisfaction.
“We’re even, Seishan.”
Seishan cancelled her transformation and stood there expressionless.
Her shoulder bled and she gave no sign of treating the wound or turning to look at Aisling.
Instead, unable to hide her irritation, she whispered:
“This is going to be difficult.”