Chapter 6 – Fear and Desire

Closing his eyes, the pale faced boy hefted the young girl with some difficulty. Annoyed of his own meager physical prowess he thought of ways to improve himself. He knew that training himself using basic exercise was the ideal start, understanding that doing anything too advance would result in injury. However, he also understood that with his new found abilities, there may be a way to bypass that. Before he could begin however, he needed a more thorough understanding of his powers and that was something that bothered him. No, saying that it bothered him was an understatement.

It terrified him.

It truly did. The pain he had experienced during the first time he received his power was beyond excruciating. He was hesitant because he genuinely feared the intensity of pain he would have to go through if he did use his ability. Wincing at the slightest thought, Neo gently placed the now sleeping Aki on the bed. He then put away the map and the ink, hiding both items in the drawer beside the bed.

"I need rest…" Neo muttered to himself as he sat on a chair beside the now empty desk.

Sensing something in his sleep, Neo stirred. But he slowly began to panic when he discovered that he had become unable to move. It was as if he had been dumped in a tank of dense liquid. Taking a deep and uncomfortable breath, Neo gathered himself, taking hold of his turbulent emotions. He stuffed the panic and fear broiling in his chest, down in the depths of his mind.

Only when he had cleared his mind, did he finally get a good glance of his surroundings. It was dark, truly darker than staring into the late evening sky when clouds hangover and the moon is hidden in equal darkness. The silence was deafening, but surprisingly Neo did not hear his pulse booming in his ears. As if he had no pulse. Pressing a finger against his wrist, he let out a sigh of relief as he felt a steady pulse.

He continued to scan his surroundings, looking for something, anything that felt out of place. There wasn't much in the dark space he sat in. Almost as if he was in the midst of the void. That made the room all the more eerie.

If this is a vision, please let it be over soon…well, I'm not actually sure if I want to know what I'd see in shorter visions…anyw-Something made his thoughts pause as the sound of footfalls echoed behind him.

Neo's body quickly tensed up. Though tensing up was difficult. He couldn't even twitch his pinky let alone his entire body. Still the thought of someone approaching him, with unknown intentions made his stomach churn. As the footfalls continued to draw near, so did the pale boy's urge to shout at the approaching stranger or creature rise.

"Wh-who's there?!" Neo's voice faltered, it did not matter that he had powers now. Neo was still just a scared child.

The footfalls stopped just a few feet away from Neo. His heartrate continued to rise, now beating so hard he felt as if it was his head that was pulsating instead. He looked, and looked but he could not determine from where the sound came. But then the silence was broken by a voice. Like a light in the darkness, it cut through silence like a sharp blade.

"You're very…different, from what I expected" Said the voice, it was gentle contrary to his expectations of witches cackling voice.

"Witch? That's a bit rude…I'll let it slide this time because I know this is quite an odd situation to find yourself in" The gentle voice sounding as if they were pouting, or at least Neo assumed they were. Beads of sweat had begun to form on his pale forehead, he was getting tired being so tense. To make matters worse, it seemed as if the voice could read his mind which, sounded incredulous even to Neo who had experienced quite a few things already.

"You're right though, I can indeed read your mind…but that's only because of the link we have to each other. Even I am surprised that I can pry open your head and take a direct look at your thoughts. Mind you it's no easy feat trying to sift through everything that's going on in here" The voice said as Neo felt a gentle tapping on the back of his head.

Neo made a wry smile, he knew what it was like inside his head firsthand. His head was the very definition of 'spiraling down into madness'. Thought followed by afterthought followed by thought and so on and so forth. That was his curiosity. In Neo's case, curiosity was a double edged blade it helped him understand but the more he understood the more he didn't understand. Hence his frequent daydreaming.

"A double edged blade, a good analogy. Of course even double edged blades are amazing weapons don't you agree? Take long swords for example, they're dangerous indeed to your enemy and yourself. A lack of skill can result in a lethal injury or in certain cases, death. But in the hands of a skilled warrior, a longsword is a terrifying weapon." The gentle voice explained.

"I'm not very skilled then." Neo spoke for the first time since the voice made itself known.

"Oh, contrary. You're remarkable" the voice spoke in a higher pitch as if to hint at the smile on the voice's lips.

"Remarkable eh. I find that hard to believe" Neo once again made a wry smile, believing the voice was only comforting him. He never once believed he was anything great. In fact he found most of the things he had achieved to be moronic in some way. After all despite his level of intellect, he was prone to making impulsive decisions and having to deal with the aftermath only served to strengthen that thought.

"I can literally see why you think that, but you should not sell yourself so short young man…you have a lot of potential waiting to be unlocked" The voice spoke in a serious tone as it admonished him. Neo was a bit surprised to receive a sermon but her welcome it none the less.

"Intellectual potential…that sounds about right, I'm all brain and little to no brawn after all. I almost died there…getting crushed by a pillar doesn't sound like a gentle way to go doesn't it?" Neo joked about dying, but his trembling lips failed to hide his poorly concealed fear.

"Hehe, but you didn't die, you're here alive and well. Capable of humoring yourself and me about death aren't you right now?" The voice giggled, amused. "And to correct you young man, I didn't mean just intellectual potential. I meant potential. Do you understand what I'm implying?" The voice asked after emphasizing the word 'potential' with a deep voice.

"I don't know, I cannot read minds like you can" Neo smiled and shook his head, but he understood. He understood clearly, he just didn't believe what the voice meant was true.

"Ah, you are afraid" The voice let out a gasp and a low sigh followed.

"Yes, I am afraid. No, I am terrified" Neo replied, gritting his teeth. As if to prove his feelings. An unknown chill came crawling down his spine, making him tremble in place.

"Mmm, that is true. You are hindered by your fear, yes…but" The voice calmly repeated his words.

"But fear is but another emotion. It's not an absolute cage that cannot be escaped. Do you know what the opposite of fear is?" The voice asked in a tone brimming with excitement. Neo could feel the voice's excitement gently wrap around his entirety. He felt it, the familiar feeling embraced his entire being and invaded even his mind and soul. He was overcome-

With desire.

As the overwhelming feelings of desire filled Neo's vessel to the brim, he couldn't help but groan as the feelings of desire began to overwhelm his senses and his very mind. This was something that he felt many times before in his life, but not to this degree. The need to eat, to sleep, the need for precious items… the need to have what another kid has.

"Sins they call them, seven of them. It's been a long time since someone has been chosen to carry the weight of their power. You my dear boy, are chosen…but-your fate is entangled" The voice spoke in a solemn tone once more. The air in the dark room felt heavier, and the overwhelming desire within his vessel seemed to drown him.

"You are…being punished-no-you will be punished. I cannot tell you why, but the gods know that I wish to…no one wants to be in pain without knowing why. But you my child...you have to bear this pain without knowing the reason for it" The voice began to waver and struggle as it continued.

Neo who had collapsed on the floor, felt someone gently embrace him. He felt warmth, a soothing warmth embrace him and something new joined the desires welling within him. A fiery and scorching desire. Like fire that can't destroy, it only boiled and blazed within him.

"I'm sorry…I am sorry my child, please. Please forgive me…be strong. You will need to be strong, so you can bear it…the pain-I…"

Neo couldn't hear the voice, as he began to lose consciousness, as if drifting off to sleep. The last thing that he remembered were the words the voice spoke to him.

"I-I will protect you from them, until you are strong enough to bring down their rule. Until you are strong enough to break free. I will watch over you from here, so that you can be safe there. Goodbye Neo, until we meet again my boy…" The voice, as if losing its strength slowly softened until it was barely a whisper. Neo fell asleep, and then – he woke.

Hot, it was scorching hot. Neo felt like he was in a large burning furnace. It was excruciatingly painful, as if his skin was melting perpetually, and his nerves and bones were frying and slowly cracking. He grit his teeth and endured, not letting out a sound from of his throat. He powered through the burning pain.

His efforts were not in vain. Soon the painful heat slowly begun to subside. He felt his body cooling down as his sweat stopped evaporating immediately into steam, Taking his time to steady his rough breathing, Neo kept his eyes closed and let his sweat cool his body down even more.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying down in a big stone tub in an unfamiliar room. The tub was empty, but the room was filled with steam. The room was empty except for the big stone tub and the closet and drawer side by side situated on one side.

Creeeeeak

Neo turned to the sound of a slowly opening door where he saw the sight of Aki, carrying a bucketful of water with a pale and tired face. She was looking at Neo with a face filled with relief.

"So…you're finally awake" Aki spoke while letting out a deep sigh. She then carefully put down the bucketful of water. Reaching up to fix her disheveled hair by tying it up into a ponytail. She then closed her eyes.

"Y-yeah, what happened by to me?" Neo asked her carefully as he struggled to sit up in the tub. He noticed the bucket of water that Aki put down on the floor beside her. He had an idea as to what it was for. Now he was more worried about Aki herself.

"I woke up and found you burning with a fever. I thought you we're just sick from your last injury. But when I checked your wounds I couldn't find any signs of infection. Let alone that, I couldn't even find your wounds, not even scars. It's like they disappeared out of nowhere" Aki said as she started to brush her hair with her fingers. Neo could her fingers subtly trembling.

He paled as a thought was born into his mind.

Wait, how long was I out? And is she mad at me?

"I-well I heal faster than normal people…hiiih!-", Neo let out an eek as Aki's brows begun to twitch and her lips curled down in a frightening sneer.

"Yeah, I can guess that buddy. I thought you were going to be fine after that, but then you screwed me over because you started to get dangerously warm. I had to haul your ass to this bathroom and I had to fill the tub with water to cool you down." Aki was now gritting her teeth and her forehead had a throbbing vein.

N-no way, is she actually mad at me?!?!?

"AND AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, YOU STARTED GETTING SO HOT, THE WATER IN THE TUB STARTED BOILING UP AND TURNING INTO STEAM!!! I HAD TO GET MORE WATER!! YOU BRAINLESS PIECE OF-" and finally after holding in the anger, Aki burst into loud shouts as she picked up the bucket of water and threw it at Neo. Bucket and all.

Neo tried to dodge but the water splashed his eyes and made him flinch. The bucket came flying and hit him square in the forehead with a loud THUNK! Knocked back down the tub, Neo rolled around as he grasped his aching skull.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUH-", Neo exclaimed in barely suppressed frustration.

"Next time you pass out on me, I'm going to dump you in the river!!! WHO PASSES OUT FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT FOR NO REASON!!!", Aki lifted up the stool right next to the door and threw it at Neo, hitting him square in the face just as he was about to crawl out of the tub.

THUNK-a loud thud echoed as Neo received another critical hit to his head.

"AAAAAAAAAH!!! STOP!! STOP!!" Neo hurriedly curled up into a ball to protect his head from all the deadly projectiles flying at him. Aki continued despite his repeated plead for a ceasefire. Letting out the frustration she had built up from the three days she threw objects and shouted out her complaints until her arms got so tired that it was only her mouth throwing out words. Only then did Neo crawl out of the tub, his back and arms aching from all the damage he's received.

"Ahh- my arms..." Neo groaned.

"Arms?! Your arms hurt?! My arms are sore from all that pulling and carrying I did!!" [Aki]

Neo hung his head and sighed audibly. "This is too much, even for me…" He muttered under his breath. He took a second to calm his breathing down, as Aki glared him down, eyes blazing with fury and glistening with unshed tears. Neo, lifted his eyes up and looked at her.

"I am sorry…I didn't mean to worry you" [Neo]

Aki's eyes visibly softened after that. She sighed loudly, and the heated air seemed to fizzle out. As she calmed down, Neo stood up and walked close to her before wrapping his arm around her. She stiffened up at the sudden approach, but she didn't seem to dislike it. She leaned her head against Neo's chest and he responded in kind by gently stroking her hair.

"Don't do that again please…At least warn me if you can't help it" [Aki]

"I'll try my best to inform you of my imminent loss of consciousness" [Neo]

Neo chuckled nervously as Aki's hand 'lightly' pinched the skin on his rib. Lightly of course meant painfully, but he endured. It was the least he could do for worrying her so much.

I'm glad to know she cares for me

Neo thought to himself as he awkwardly stroked her hair and held her. Feeling the awkward atmosphere, she stepped back and he gladly let her go. She fixed her hair and wiped away the trace tears on her cheeks. She then snorted as she crossed her arms across her chest, assuming her neutral stance once more.

If she says what I think she's about to say, I'm not confident I can hold my laughter in…

Neo braced himself, but his worried scenario didn't come to be. "What now?" Aki asked simply as she turned and exited the bathroom. Neo paused for a second wondering what she meant, before his thoughts caught up. He stroked his chin. "First…we will need to gather supplies, food, water, medicine. As many as we can make and carry. I plan to explore this entire valley to see what we can find" Neo spoke seriously.

"How are we supposed to explore the entire valley, when we don't even know how big the 'entire valley' is?" Aki asked hands akimbo once more while staring down at the old map spread out on the table.

"Your mother was smart, she didn't make this map for no reason at all. She knew somehow that it would become very useful someday. I have a feeling that's now" Neo pointed with his fingers to the west part of the map and the east. On the spots that he indicated were drawn symbols, the monstrous faces of two creatures. "You never explained the entirety about the monsters, but I may have pieced it together enough. The monsters didn't just appear out of nowhere, the earthquakes that occurred weren't earthquakes at all, but rather were tremors from a large influx of stampeding creatures."

Aki nodded lightly, the look in her eyes dulling briefly before going back to normal.

"Yes, a wave of monsters, my mother called it that. They mainly swept through here…" Aki dragged her finger across the middle of the map, from the west monster symbol to the east one.

So they swept through the plains, but why? A wave of monsters who acted only on instinct would've flooded the entire valley including this place. But why didn't they?

Neo stippled his fingertips, and he began to think. This place was no normal valley, it was beyond the logic of the world he came from. For all he knew, things like magic and spells might exist in a world like this.

Could it be that they weren't acting on pure instinct? But I can't make any assumptions unless I can confirm them with enough evidence. For now I'll have to make room for error in my plans.

"The monsters didn't reach this place, or else it wouldn't have survived such an attack. In that case, how did that creature, the one that attacked your mother get here?" Neo looked at Aki. She took a deep breath and sat down to recount the events that occurred.

"It had been more than a month since the monsters flooded into the valley, they roamed in the plains, fighting against each other, and eating each other. It was grotesque, my mother described it as so. It was like the plains was being watered by blood and fertilized with their flesh." Aki clenched her hands into fist as she continued to describe the wave of monsters. "The plains were our main source of food since a lot of wild vegetables and plants grew there at random, my mother and I used to forage there before we were forced to stay in the forest permanently by the monster wave."

Neo stared at the map intently as Aki spoke. Thoughts turning in his head.

"Our supplies were running low, and my mother was starting to feel worried. So she made a decision. She would enter the plains once more to look for food. At first she was able to gather enough food safely. The monsters never entered the forest, so she didn't have to worry about being followed to here, at first." She pointed at the boundary between the plains and the forest.

"But I guess not all of the monsters acted on instinct, and one of the more intelligent ones noticed her. It followed her quietly, until it reached this place. That's when my mother and I tried to escape deeper into the forest, hoping to get it lost in the forest." Aki shook her head in dismay as tears formed in her eyes.

"It didn't work" She finished weakly.

Neo, looked at her from across the table, and reached out to pat her hand gently. He didn't know what else to do besides this meager attempt of comfort, but it seemed enough to ease her heart as she composed herself.

"I'm fine" She said in a meek voice.

"That's good, you don't have to force yourself" Neo said as he gently squeezed her hand.

"There's still something I don't understand though. If the valley is flooded with monsters, how did you get to the old ruins up north?" Neo leaned back and scratched his head. Aki rolled her eyes, "That's because there are no monsters flooding the plains. They disappeared after half a year since they appeared, I don't know where they disappeared to. All I know is that they were gone when I last gathered supplies" She shrugged and started playing with a loose strand of her hair. "It's like they disappeared into thin air. There wasn't a single trace left behind, not one bit"

"Now that's simply impossible. If how you describe the monster wave is accurate and not at all exaggerated, then there would be more than one bit of trace left in the plains. You're telling me you didn't see anything at all?" Neo rubbed the bridge of his nose, his head started to ache, there wasn't enough information to work with, and now there was the mystery of the missing monsters.

If there aren't monsters, then that makes things easier for us to move around then. If we can move around, we can explore better without having to worry about the monsters. But that's a massive if. There's also the monster that's hiding further into the forest, what about that monster?

That particular monster was a big problem for Neo. "The monster…the one that killed your mother, what happened to it?" Neo pinched his nose bridge gently. Aki shook her head. "I have no idea, I didn't stick around long enough to find out. All I know is that my mother did some damage on it. She used a concoction she made from the materials we've found and gathered. I don't know what it did, all I know is that it was screaming a lot when mother doused it with the concoction" Aki scratched her nose, "I remember the smell, it was horrid. Worse than the smell of burning garbage"

"Well if that's not what monsters smell like, I don't know what does" Neo chuckled a bit.

"Acid…It must have been acid, the concoction your mother threw at the creature" Neo said. Aki stared at her with clouded eyes, she felt confused, very confused. The way he said it was as if he witnessed it with his own eyes. "You still haven't explained how you know about my mother, the monster…what happened in the forest. You said you saw a vision, what does that mean?" Aki asked curiously.

"I don't know. I just saw what I saw. It's like I remembered it as if I experienced it myself" Neo shook his head, he was just as confused. First, he discovered that he had superpowers, next he started to see things, and now he's remembering other people's memories, at least Aki's memories. It was confusing and beyond his previous scope of logic, so he had a hard time wrapping his head around it. Even now he still didn't understand many things that were happening.

"Let's focus on important things. For now, let's prepare to traverse the entirety of the valley." Neo spoke resolutely.

Aki nodded in agreement, "I have to remind you though, we have no idea how big the valley is. Without knowing, we won't be able to prepare for our exploration." She said while playing with a loose strand of her hair.

"I know, that's why before we explore the valley…we'll go to the old ruins…and go past it, all the way to the north" Neo said as he used his fingers to tap the symbol of the Old Ruins on the map and slide it further up the map to its top edge.

"Good plan, we can gather supplies on our way there while we pass through the plains." Aki said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Let's hope the key to escaping this place is somewhere in this place as well." Neo said while looking at the map.