Asher held his head as a sense of nausea took over.
Every color twisted, the hues blurring and mixing. For a moment, the world seemed distant, the noise of his surroundings dulled by the strange pulse within him. It was as if something... Something unknown to him stirred inside of him.
The air around him felt heavy, thick with something he couldn't name. He could almost see it, a faint image at the edge of his perception, like a memory trying to resurface.
Like a invisible hand holding him by the shoulder.
A hand.
'A hand!'
Asher suddenly remember the hand that tried to grab him in his appraisal. That hand was probably the first anomaly that happened to Asher in this world.'
'No!' Asher thoughts were quick. The hand came out of a portal created by a memory he had before the nightmare started. 'The first anomaly was that he had a memory before the start of the nightmare! That would mean...
"Asher! Breathe you fool!" Sunny's shout yanked him back to reality. He snapped his head toward the sound, his heart pounding before he inhaled deeply, his chest heaving up and down.
He had forgotten to breathe.
"Are you okay?" Sunny's voice betrayed his worry.
"Yeah," Asher called back, his voice steadier than he felt. His breathing still uneven.
Sunny let out a relieved sigh as Asher approached. Nephis, standing close to Cassie, let her cold mask falter for just a moment, a flicker of concern passing across her face.
"Did something happen?"
Asher shook his head. "Nothing to big. I hope."
As they regrouped, Asher stole a glance at his surroundings. The trees lay broken, splintered into jagged fragments, while massive rocks were reduced to rubble. The ground itself was cracked and barren, as if life had been violently ripped away.
The messenger didn't spare anything.
The others said nothing, their silence weighing heavily on him. It wasn't just exhaustion or shock. It was the kind of quiet born from an unspoken agreement to not ask questions. Not now.
But Asher couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed. It wasn't just his attribute evolving. It was something bigger, something deeper. He felt it gnawing at the edges of his consciousness, whispering of things he wasn't ready to understand.
"What do you think that thing was?" Sunny asked, his voice strained as he panted, his hands on his knees.
Asher, equally breathless, clutched his knees and shot a glance at Sunny. "A fallen monster."
At his words, Sunny and Nephis visibly tensed. Asher frowned, noticing their expressions. "What? Did you both forget about my eyes?"
Sunny shook his head, "No you fool! It's a fallen monster! I was shocked on how we escaped it!" Nephis sighed. "I was beginning to wonder if this is a death zone."
Cassie's knees buckled as she collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably. "A death zone..."
Nephis crouched beside her, trying to reassure and failing too. No matter how talented Nephis was, she simply lacked skill too communicate.
Asher finally gave in, letting himself collapse to the ground with a groan. He turned his head to Sunny. "Hey, flower boy! Get some food. I did way too much work for this team today!"
Sunny glanced at him briefly and nodded before walking off without a word.
Asher's jaw dropped. He blinked in disbelief, sitting up slightly. "Wait, what? You're not gonna bicker with me? I called you flower boy! That's your trigger word! A clever rage bait of mine!"
Sunny paused, looking down at his hands. He opened and closed them slowly, as though testing their weight. "Last night…" He trailed off, his voice subdued. "Last night, I felt like I finally got some clarity. And it hasn't gone away." His lips twitched upward, but there was no humor in his tone. "I'm too preoccupied with other thoughts to give a shit about you right now."
Asher sighed in exaggerated relief, falling back onto the dirt. "Thank the gods. You didn't change after all."
Nephis turned her gaze toward Asher, her voice soft but deliberate. "No, Asher. You're the only one who doesn't change, no matter the situation."
As she rose to her feet and began walking off, "Any situation."
Asher raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Was that a compliment?"
Nephis didn't even glance back. "Take it however you like," she said, her tone dismissive.
Sunny followed behind her, leaving Asher behind, confused and staring at their retreating figures.
"Huh?"
Did they want him to change or something?! Asher didn't want to. He didn't want to turn into cold-blooded killers like them! He turned around, walking the other direction, "Why the hell should I change?"
Cassie sat there, on a rock. Left behind. She put her hands on her face as she trembled from her lips.
"A death zone."
_______________________
Lying on his back, Asher stared at the empty, broken sky above. His thoughts churned like storm clouds, disjointed and relentless.
Last night had brought pain unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was the kind of pain that carved itself into his soul, making him pray to never face it again. But this was the world of Shadow Slave, and praying didn't get you far here.
Especially when the gods are dead.
He had lost a lot yesterday as well. His first usable memory, and his Echo.
"Asher."
Cassie's voice broke the stillness. He glanced back to see her crouching, searching the ground. "What is it?"
"I dropped my spoon…" she simply said
Rolling his eyes, Asher trudged over. He immediately found it, quickly dusting it off before handing it to her. "Wash it first. Who knows what kind of Nightmare creature microorganisms are crawling on this thing?"
Cassie nodded weakly, clutching the spoon tightly.
"Asher… wait."
He sighed, his patience wearing thin. He turned, but the words caught in his throat.
Cassie was standing now, trembling as she looked at him with hollow, empty eyes. She took a step forward, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Void."
Asher tilted his head, confused. Cassie looked at him, directly in the eye, her blind sight raising the hair on his body.
"In the vision, I saw the void."