Chapter 39 - Nightmarish Dream

Back in the Six Blades quarters.

As Yin still had his eyes shut, a dream slowly crept its way around his subconscious mind.

Or was a nightmare?

Yin walked around a field of flowers.

Soon as he passed by them, his mere presence itself caused them to decay and wither.

He walked for what felt like hours.

Yin wanted to scream, but he could not.

The sound of what should have been fabricated by his voice and words never really came about.

All he could do was walk.

Walk towards the sound of something distant.

Every step he took killed the flowers.

His strides created a garden of nothingness.

Piled on by the ashes of what should have been there, had he not walked forward.

The distant sound turned out to be music.

It was a melody, in fact.

A piano piece which he seemed to remember, but not from where.

This piece of music gave him that existentialistic feeling of dread and loneliness.

He walked closer and closer to where the sound was.

Now disregarding the flowers that died in his wake.

But for a moment, he stopped in place.

Yin looked at his hands.

How long has it been since he last felt them without the gloves that the Commander provided?

He sure felt like it was an eternity.

When the sonata hit the heavy notes, Yin looked at his hands.

His red eyes gazed at his palms.

And Yin cried.

He walked as he wept.

Droplets of tears slowly dripping from his eyes down to his open palms.

"Why are you crying?"

A woman's voice at the back of his head asked him.

This was clearly different from the System's deadpan monotonous voice, though, it was strangely…human?

"W-Who are you?"

Yin asked while wiping the tears off of his eyes.

The woman's voice simply laughed, as if his question was nothing more than an attempt at fooling around.

"Do not joke around like that, Thanatos. When will you be coming back?"

In a split second, Yin lost control of his body.

It was as if he was viewing his body from a third-person perspective.

Seemingly sucked out of his own body from behind like a vacuum.

As if he was a mere soul watching his physical form stand idly.

He could not breathe.

Just as he was gasping for air, his body knelt to the ground.

Covered its face with both hands and cried even harder.

"Soon, my love."

Yin's body spoke.

But it was not his voice.

No, it was the voice of someone else.

A deep voice of someone or something whom is greatly in pain.

After that, his soul merged back with his body.

He panted, pressing his chest for any semblance of air.

Yin slowly calmed down.

His eyesight was now focused on the ground below.

The ground was made of glass.

Yin watched intently as his reflection was not something he could even recognize.

It was a dark figure, like a shadow, but the features were covered in pitch black. All he could make out of it was its shape.

Yin freaked out and fell to the ground.

"W-What are you?!"

The symphony was still playing, he stood up and continued to walk.

A massive door stopped him in his tracks.

This huge gigantic red door was plated with gold.

But there was no doubt in Yin's judgment whatsoever.

This was where the piano was coming from.

As Yin was about to open it, he saw the glimpse of the reflection on the floor.

The black figure was the one seated on the piano's chair, playing this symphony.

Before the light could even shine on the figure's face, Yin jolted and woke up.

A familiar monotone voice greeted him first thing in the morning.

It was the System's lifeless voice.

[ Good morning Thanatos, it is now time for your daily quest.]

[ Daily Quest: 400 pushups, 400 sit-ups, 400 curl ups ]

Sweating and delirious, Yin ran to the bathroom.

There, he closed his eyes.

"W-What's happening to me?"

He slowly opened them while looking at the mirror in front of him.

Yin exhaled a sigh of relief to see his reflection was still his own.

Although he still was not used to his pupils turning red and his hair turning white, he was thankful it was just a dream.

He took off the gloves and looked at his palms concernedly.

Suna knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey! What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm good, Suna!"

"I guess all that barbecue took a toll on your stomach that badly, huh?"

"W-What, no! I-I mean, sure, you're right."

Suna walked away and went back to their quarters.

"What happened to him?"

Luken asked her.

"He must really have had to go, you know?"

She answered.

"I told him not to eat that much last night!"

Luken exclaimed.

"Well, you can't blame him, the food was the best I have ever eaten in my entire time as a Slayer."

Suna said.

"Is that supposed to be a jab at me? No. I still will not learn how to cook. We'll either starve to death or hold out until Gavin comes back and rejuvenates us to life with his food."

Luken said.

Gavin walked into the room with all smiles.

"Seems like you're in a good mood, Gavin."

Suna stated.

"Is it that obvious, Suna?"

The Serpent Summoner asked while he still continued to have that huge grin on his face.

"Yep, it really kind of is."

Suna sat down by her bed.

Gavin prepared to clean up the place and arrange all their bags for the long arduous journey up ahead.

"Hey, you know what we should do? We should stay for breakfast at least!"

Luken suggested.

Gavin stared with the hint of disappointment at him. His eyes seemed to judge Luken's whole existence in that very moment.

"Let us not abuse the kindness and hospitality of the Lancasters. We have burdened them long enough, Luken."

His green eyes pierced the Commander's soul.

"T-True, we really shouldn't do that, Suna!"

Luken faced towards Suna's direction.

The Commander forced a cough as he shook his head as if it was her idea.

"Hey, weren't you the one who wanted to stay for breakfast?!"

She exclaimed.