42: Strange Unease

Both dreamers continued eating the flesh of the strange beast, exchanging conversations on various topics. Sometimes they spoke of trivial things, other times about their next goal or new strategies to face similar situations.

Battles with winged creatures were a huge challenge, but at least now they had some experience if they encountered them again.

"Tell me, Sara, do you have any idea how long we've been here? I lost track of the days... or weeks." Grey looked up, waiting for an answer.

Sara stopped chewing for a moment, looking at him as she finished swallowing before speaking.

"Um... I think it's been about four or five months. The journey here was so exhausting that I lost count for several weeks. I'm not entirely sure."

Grey, meanwhile, chewed thoughtfully, directing his gaze toward the sky before replying.

"Almost half a year? That's much longer than I thought we'd be here."

He paused to eat another piece of meat before adding, "Sara, do you think we were the only ones sent here?"

She looked up at the sky, lost in thought, searching for an answer. A minute later, she spoke.

"Maybe yes, maybe no... I don't know. But what is almost certain is that someone else must have arrived here with us."

"Think about it: at the academy, there were around two hundred people entering the Dream Realm for the first time. The fact that we, who met by chance, were sent so close to each other sounds too improbable."

"So yes, I tend to think that someone else was sent to this place. Maybe in a farther part of this cursed labyrinth. But I'd rather believe we're not the only humans here."

Grey remained silent for a long time, focused on finishing his breakfast. He knew the day would go on, and soon they would have to resume their journey northeast.

Grey looked up from his food, watching Sara for a few seconds before asking curiously:

"You said you also got a memory after killing this 'shiny one,' right? What is it?"

Sara quickly swallowed what was in her mouth, then raised her hand in front of her, summoning the memory. White sparks began to form around her hand, transforming into a beautifully intricate brass torch.

Suddenly, a layer of darkness covered the entire platform, extending even further. Grey immediately tensed and, with slight confusion, cast a cautious glance at Sara.

"You could have warned me," he muttered, trying to hide his surprise.

"Oops," Sara replied with a mischievous smile as she made the memory disappear, and the darkness vanished in an instant.

"What kind of memory is that?" Grey asked, intrigued. "I think I could see through that darkness, right?"

He moved closer to Sara, who was now focused on the air, seemingly reviewing the runes associated with her new memory.

"Is something wrong?" Grey asked, taking a few more steps until he was by her side.

Sara lifted her gaze from the ground and extended her hand with an excited smile.

"Look, look, it has quite an interesting description," she said, almost bouncing with excitement.

Grey took Sara's hand, and as he did, he felt a slight spark travel through his chest. Then, a light electric shock traveled from his hand to his chest, causing a tingling sensation.

Sara watched expectantly as Grey began to read his own runes:

Name: Grey

True Name: Legacy of Ruin

Rank: Dreamer

Dual Core: Inactive

Soul Fragments: [638/1000]

Memories: [Odyssey], [Tear], [Kalictis Armor], [Fallen Light]

'What would happen if I reached a thousand fragments?' Grey thought. 'I also don't understand what that inactive dual core means. Sara doesn't have anything like that, so it must be something only I possess.'

A light sigh escaped his lips as he returned his attention to the newly acquired memory.

Name: Fallen Light Rank: Awakened Memory Type: Tool Description: When the radiance fell into the grasp of corruption, it tried to retain its sanity by dividing itself into sparks. Unfortunately for that being of light, its attempt ended in failure, and its light was corrupted.

'Into sparks of itself,' Grey repeated in his mind.

'If it divided, there should be more of these creatures then, right? Or maybe this was the last of its kind?'

"And?" Sara's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "What do you think it means?"

Grey, still with the echo of the description resonating in his mind, looked at her and replied:

"Oh, yes... uh, I was thinking about that."

"So?" she insisted, tilting her head with curiosity.

"I thought that maybe this creature was the last of its kind. We haven't seen any others like it all this time, have we?"

"Exactly. But, do you want to know what I think?" Sara asked, with a sparkle in her eyes that showed she'd been reflecting even more on the matter.

Grey smiled at seeing her excitement and nodded, curious about his friend's thoughts.

"Well, what if..."

Sara paused dramatically, savoring the moment before continuing with her idea.

"What if there's a tyrant that controls these beasts? Think about it, tyrants create subjects of their same kind and rank. From what we saw of Fallen Light, there once were, or still are, more of those 'sparks.' Don't you think? What do you think?"

An arrogant smile formed on Sara's lips as she watched the surprise appear on Grey's face. With each passing second, her expression of self-satisfaction grew stronger, enjoying that rare moment.

It wasn't common for Sara to surprise Grey. In fact, those occasions were few and far between, and they always filled her with a special feeling. Not that she lacked ability, quite the opposite: Sara was brilliant and clever, but rarely did something manage to interest her enough to bring out her wit.

Grey stayed silent for a few seconds, processing his friend's theory. Finally, he looked at her seriously, reflecting on the possibility.

"I have to admit it's very likely. I hadn't thought of it that way when reading the runes."

Sara let out a soft, melodic laugh that filled the air. The warmth of her laugh made Grey smile involuntarily, stirring a feeling in his chest that he couldn't easily explain.

'It would be nice to hear that laugh more often,' he thought without realizing it.

"Well, well, if there were such a tyrant, it would surely be a fallen tyrant, right? Do you think we could face such a creature?"

Sara's laughter stopped abruptly, and her expression turned serious as she looked at him.

"Grey, I know we're stronger than most dreamers, but a fallen tyrant... even the masters couldn't kill those creatures easily."

Grey fell silent, his gaze lost on the horizon as the sun slowly rose. Then, with an arrogant smile, he turned his gaze back to Sara.

"You're right." His tone became confident, almost defiant. "But I killed a corrupt terror, and I wasn't even a dreamer."

Sara's eyes narrowed in disbelief, her face clearly expressing that she didn't believe a word.

"Yeah, sure, you're very impressive and all that, but... do you have any proof that you really killed such a creature? Oh, great slayer of tyrants!"

Grey smiled without saying anything, closed his eyes, and extended a hand toward her. Sara, still doubtful, took his hand, feeling that familiar sensation of receiving a memory. She opened her runes, and then...

She was completely stunned.

She looked at Grey with a crooked smile, and one of her eyes began to twitch slightly in disbelief.

"G-Grey... where did you get this?"

He smiled, full of satisfaction, and extended his hand again for her to return the memory.

"I told you, I got it from a corrupt tyrant."

...

After that surprising exchange, Sara couldn't help but watch Grey more than usual in the following days. He, however, didn't seem to care. They continued their daily routine, traveling through the labyrinth in search of shelter for the night, only to resume their march at dawn, exploring further.

Strangely, after a month and a half of heading in the same direction, both began to notice an unsettling lack of living nightmare creatures. Their bodies appeared more frequently, trapped in huge webs covering the labyrinth's walls and floor.

The most disturbing thing was that the corpses were filled with small holes, hundreds, or perhaps thousands, scattered across their surfaces. This forced them to act with much more caution over the last week. They stayed in high places longer, watching closely from above for any signs of danger.

However, what worried them the most was the increasing number of webs, growing stronger and more abundant, sharp as blades and so thin they could barely be seen with the naked eye.

Grey couldn't shake the feeling of unease. A dark premonition haunted him day by day, as if the shadow of death had been watching him for a long time.

Perhaps, if he had paid more attention to that instinct and left that cursed area, the tragedy awaiting them the next day would never have happened.

____

Note: Did you notice anything strange in this chapter?

Post: memory