Nightmares

It was unknown how much time had passed.

'How long has it been... how long since I looked in that damn mirror?'

When Cain looked into that mirror in the alley, he was transported to this place without even being able to put up a fight. He found himself in a dark realm, one that for all unapparent reasons, was boundless.

A realm forever in darkness; the floor was a thin layer of water, just like in the mindscape. Only this place seemed to be a much more hollow version of it.

Going on, reaching the horizon, trees similar to the ones in Netherane were sprouting from the ground like husks. Their sickly bark oozed different saps, while their branches misshapenly reached out, only to be pulled down by the weight of their pale and shrill vines.

'How many days... should I continue to head west?'

Although Cain was exhausted, he wasn't defeated. Giving up now would be an insult to everything he's been until now. But luckily, he wouldn't have to wait long to exit this horrid place.

A voice touched upon Cain's ears, seeping into his canals and directly projecting itself into his brain.

"Have you been weakened enough now? Is it time for me to show you what a true Nightmare is?"

'What?'

Before Cain could call out to the mysterious voice, the landscape changed.

The hollow light of a bleeding sun shone down on Cain on an unforgiving shore of blood. Cain was suddenly sitting on a divine throne built upon a mountain of bodies.

Each of the corpses was someone he knew; at his feet was Austin, but he could also see Alex, Anders, Edward, Julius, and many more.

"These... are all people I've killed?" The False God's voice was low as if surprised by all the death and despair it caused.

"Yes, all of them were killed by you in your 'Divine' reign, playing God. Many you chose to kill, others you chose not to save, but the result is the same: their blood, a stain on your soul."

Streams of concealed liquid flowed down from the top of the mountain, creating a basin of blood at the bottom. In the crimson soup, bloody figures rose and fought each other, for their God's pleasure, no doubt.

"This is what you have built until now, a throne made on a lie and the deaths of those who've believed it. Creating an endless cycle of death and despair. This place is evidence enough."

Glaring at the battlefield, the False God grew confused, his heart was shaken.

"No, this is some facade you've created, whatever you are. I-I don't care anyway; it was my decision, yes, but it was all a means to an end. They would have been Numineer's slaves if not for me. At least they died free."

The disembodied voice let out a cackle; it wasn't loud but shook Cain to his core the voice felt oddly familiar.

"You think this is freedom? No, you just forced them to bind themselves to you. This isn't freedom but manipulation, just like Numineer; I should know, after all."

Cain stood up from his throne, angry and ready to unleash his wrath. He wouldn't allow this entity to mess with his mind anymore.

"And how do you know what I gave them wasn't freedom?"

This time the voice came from behind. Twisting around, Cain finally met eyes with his captor as they opened their mouth, "Because I'm you!"

Standing before Cain was himself, except this version of him seemed wrong. Its face was perfect, unlike Cain's own face, which was good-looking but mostly relied on his demeanor to be truly called stunning; attitude was everything after all.

No, this creature was him but seemingly perfect...and at the same time, oh so wrong.

"H-how?"

Cain fell back, sliding down the pile of corpses. As he reached the bottom, a cold, chilling hand reached for his shoulder and pulled him a little farther back, just enough for Cain to see their face.

"Stop lying to yourself. I am you; we both know this was the last option you wanted. You wanted Freedom! Not taking it from others; taking away someone's wings is the most taboo thing for you, isn't it? You hate hypocrisy, yet you find yourself with the kingly crown of it in your hands."

Pulled in by the spell of whatever this thing was, Cain answered sheepishly.

"Yes... I indeed never wanted any of them to die. I just wanted to kill Numineer... I just wanted to be free!"

"Yes, YES! But we were influenced, right? By our own desires, our greed. That is our sin, yes?! You wanted more; you had to have more! You lost sight of freedom and caused so much pain! For 100 years! Did you finally get what you wanted? Our freedom is still far away from us, out of sight!"

What the mirror of Cain said was true. He traded one cage for a larger one and, in doing so, created his own Nightmare.

He remembered the old gatherer's words of freedom in the Wasteland of Dead Deities; he knew about the system. He even had memories of when he was searching the Duchy's basement, one of the books being titled 'Delving into the Law of Fate.'

Yes, he thought he was free. But in truth he was just deluding himself, fooling himself into thinking all those lives actually had meaning. 

Even murders are brought down by consciousness, no one can escape the damned. 

The book detailing Fate recorded the theory of Fate, and how no one could escape it. But it was only conjectures, the last few chapters told of the theories prior only leading to falsehood, a concept, and just that.

Cain would never have freedom because it never truly existed, he wasn't strong enough to claim it anyway.

There were things he could not understand, things he needed to learn more about and become stronger to face.

"Were the countless lives enough for you to wake up? Now is not the time to be blinding yourself! We seek freedom above all else! We seek something greater than mere desires!"

The reflection's words struck true, he pulled down every protective layer Cain had. Cain was, after all, just a confused and weak person deep down, hiding behind a mask. Just like every other person in the world.

It was true, he was someone who had never been true to himself. He was someone who let his emotions warp him and stray him away from his true goal. 

But he would not let that mask define him. But through surviving thus far, there was strength in that alone. However, even if he had these qualities, it only helped in aiding his mental state. Not fixing it.

'This is a Nightmare; I can't do this...'

Cain had succumbed to his sins; his Nightmare had won and broken him. The world around him seemed to break; his Nightmare began to consume him.

The one who orchestrated all this, however, wasn't pleased. Cain's reflection gritted his teeth while watching everything crumble. Its hollow, eerie eyes seemed to come to life; this wasn't the result it wanted. If this continued, he would only be hollow like the rest.

"Bastard, stop this! This is not what I wanted; we can never be a true Nightmare if it ends like this! Don't you understand? We'll be incomplete, a shell like the rest! Get it together!"

The reflection didn't get the response he wanted; Cain continued to mumble to himself, his façade crushed and his Nightmares brought to light. 

"Damn it! I thought you would be stronger than this; was that Ruler too much? Were all those deaths truly that heavy?! Hah.... I guess this is it then."

As the world continued to fall, the sky broke and revealed a towering abyss. All sorts of creatures tried to invade within it, breaching the shell of the Nightmare.

The reflection sat beside Cain, defeated.

"To think I pushed too hard... all I wanted was for you to wish for freedom even more. Together we could have had it. We would be free from all influence; nothing could affect us, only our goal driving us forward. But now it seems to have all been a Dream. Funny right? Now I'll become a slave to those great Horrors residing in the subconsciousness of imagination, inside the Abyss.

"Congrats, we will receive binding chains once more."

Cain looked up at his reflection; his eyes were bleeding red; the pain of his mind being corroded hurt, no doubt about it. A hint of recognition flared in his eyes and in that ember, determination. 

"Freedom? Can we really do it? I... I don't want to be tied down anymore; I don't want to lie to myself and say I'm powerful and not be. I don't want to act like a monster yet only be human deep down... I want to be free! Truly free!"

The reflection's mouth curled upwards; staring at himself; he was a mirror but mirrors went both ways. They were both themselves, both a Dreamer and a Nightmare. And now they were going to become one, a Nightmare with a Dream, a dream of its own and no one else's.

"Just take my hand; that's all you have to do."

Reaching out, Cain grasped his Reflection's hand, and then everything stopped. The outside Nightmares seemed to become frightened; the sky started to repair, and the two Cains fused and became one.

From the abyss, a horrifying and monotone voice blared from its darkest reaches. With it, it showed its disgust.

"W̶͕̮͓̺̻̯͆̌́͛R̴̮̞̹̯͛͌̈̂̅͋Ò̸͎͓̭̽̈Ņ̶̻͍͇͂̔̓̂͘G̸̏̿̔! A̷͌̏͌Ḃ̷̠͚͊͑̽̌͂O̴̧̘̦͓̹̲͗M̷̮̰̊̓̈́̔̚I̸̗͚͖͛̊̃̒͠N̸̢̛͈̥̪͗͌̐͌A̴̠͌T̵͇̣̃͝Ȉ̴̯͕̮O̸̠̳̗̝̅͋̊̕͝ͅN̶! C̸̛͕̰̊̄̀̀̿Ǫ̵͓̹͉̿͐̽͗Ń̷̛̮̗̈́̆̍Ţ̸̹̣͙̎͌͒̊̅͛Ṙ̴͙A̶̡̨̱̦̻̳̾D̵͍͙̼̬̏̓̂̃͐̑͜I̵͍̼̥̽̀C̴̲̩͖͖͗͌Ṱ̷̖̅̽̌̉́ͅḮ̸͙̅̀͑̌̕Ô̸̧̦̹N̷̮̜̓! Ṅ̵̪̰̭͗͛Ơ̵̧̠̮͓͐͛́̏̀!"

The voice brought a terrible sickening feeling, but to Cain, it was nothing; such Nightmarish echoes couldn't stop him; they couldn't restrict him, not anymore.

Glaring at the abyss, he gave a cheeky grin in response. "What's so bad about being a contradiction? What's so wrong with being me?"

The abyss didn't respond, and the Nightmare repaired itself.

Cain looked at his Nightmare one last time, as it all dissipated and fused with him. It would no longer haunt him, he was free from his sins. He was free from his own inner demons.

...

Waking up in an alley, Cain felt odd. Before him was a shattered mirror; from the glass shards, he saw himself. His skin was... shedding?

Cain watched his skin peel and fall off. The sheddings would then drift upwards, turning into dark sand that disappeared from sight.

Studying himself, he saw his eyes were still red, but his irises held dark whirlpools in their deepest reaches; those with weak minds would undoubtedly succumb to fear just by looking at them.

'This is... me? I feel... stronger....even a little..... free.'