After receiving from that heavy blow from Alex, Ryan was now covering his nose.
“What The hell was that for!” Ryan screams.
Alex huffs in anger and says: “I relived your last days! You are a fucking selfish, and inconsiderate ass hole! You didn’t listen to your friends who were warning you about your girlfriend! You over-reacted and killed yourself over something stupid! You don’t know how fucking angry I am at you!” Alex screams while getting out of the car. “My first impressions I had about you were shattered after seeing that! I thought you died differently than that!” Alex screams
Ryan opens his door and hops out of the car.
“Alex look, I’m sorry you had to see that! I got over-ran with too much emotion at the time. I’m sorry you had to see me die a coward. Look just like you I am only human. I’m not perfect.” Ryan says while walking over to her. He then gives her a huge hug. Alex then calms down.
“Compared to my problems at the time, I was weak. If we compare my death to yours, you kept getting kicked while you were down and kept on living. You were WAY Stronger than I could ever be. I can’t believe your mom treated you like that. I am so sorry you had to live through such hellish nightmare” Ryan says while hugging her tighter. Alex then accepts the hug and starts to break down
As he hugged her, he notices her starting to cry.
“Alex what’s going on?” He asked while wiping away one of her tears.
“All that pain. All that hurt I’ve been keeping inside and carrying for so long. It been corrupting my afterlife here!” Alex cries out emotionally. “Every devastating moment that has been haunting me from my other life, you saw it! You experienced my own personal hell with your own eyes. I’ve talked my feelings out with other people, but they don’t understand. Anyone I talked to about my past doesn’t understand or feel what I went through!” Alex pauses take a breath while wiping away her tears. “YOU HOWEVER HAVE! Now I don’t feel along in all of this. You don’t know how weight has been lifted off my shoulders by knowing you saw my last moments through my own eyes” Alex expresses while hugging him back tightly and crying some more.
Ryan pats her on her back with one hand and gently massages the back of her neck with the other hand.
Alex manages to calm down 30 seconds later, and he then releases her. They then lean against the car and slide down to the ground next to each other.
“I… feel so much better” Alex says to Ryan. Ryan smiles and tilts his head at her.
“Less baggage the better. Life is always easier when you carry less weight in here” Ryan says while pointing to her head.
“I know. That was some really fucked up, yet high end therapy” Alex says.
“I don’t think he was expecting that little stunt to make us stronger” Ryan says with a change of heart.
Alex looks over at Ryan and shoots him a confused look. “What do you mean?” Alex asks
“This little “empathy” trial he threw us. He probably had the intention it might have divided us” Ryan says while leaning his head forward off the door of the car.
“Oh, that’s right” Alex said while feeling awaken by what’s going on.
“We’re still in a dream like state” Ryan says while standing up and pointing to the car.
“Holy crap you are right Ryan!” Alex shouts while jumping to her feet quickly. “Why would he try to sabotage us like that?” Alex askes while opening up the driver side door and starts searching for clues.
“First of all, you know who the boss of this cave is right?” Ryan replies to her.
“Umm Ya, Its Marilyn Manson” Alex replies while popping the trunk of this Honda Civic.
“Exactly. We are fighting the “Prince of Nightmares” himself. He made us life out each other’s deaths in hope that it would weaken us. But little does he know we are too fucked up to get his desired effect” Ryan says with a smile.
Alex who was rummaging through the trunk stops and smiles at Ryan and shoots a flirty smile at him. She then finds a red digital timer that was counting down from 35 minutes and 42 seconds. She then holds it in her hands and flashes it at Ryan.
As she does so Ryan can hear a distorted voice in his head. As Ryan hears this terrifying distorted voice, he falls forward from the headache it caused in.
“Ryan! Are you okay?” Alex asks him while tossing the clock on top of the car.
“Yes, I’m fine. I just heard something otherworldly. It was creepy as hell” Ryan says as he makes his way to the passenger seat of the car. As he passes the trunk, he slams it shut and grabs the clock off the roof and puts it on the front dash. Alex follows suit and gets in the car with him.
“So obviously this little “Trial” is timed for something. Ryan says while reaching over and turning the key over in the ignition and starting the car. Alex then puts the car in gear and speeds off forward.
“So, what are we looking for?” Alex asks him.
“I don’t know. Obviously when we see it, we will know” Ryan replies back to her.
“I have been driving for about 20 minutes before you even got here. Hopefully I didn’t pass it” Alex says.
As soon as she says that Ryan notices something weird about the road they were on. It had preexisting tire tracks on it. Ryan then decides to do something out of a hunch. He takes off the head rest of his seat and tosses it on the side of the road. They then keep driving forward and start talking.
“So, prior to your death, I had some pretty interesting girl problem moments from your end” Ryan admits.
“Like what?” Alex asked seeming interested.
“I got spawned into your life during the night of a neighborhood shooting. The next day I had to wake up and go to your middle school. But before I did so, I had to learn how to put on a bra. It was so weird” Ryan confesses.
“Ahh, I felt the same way about riding your motorcycle. I didn’t know what to do at first but suddenly your knowledge got transferred into my head. It was pretty cool” Alex replies to him while keeping her eyes on the road and the timer on the dash.
“Same exact thing happened to me when I was getting dressed in your room. I suddenly knew what to do” Ryan says while slouching down in his seat. Suddenly he gets another hit with another distorted scream from inside his head. He closes his eyes and grabs the front part of his hair and pulls it to overcompensate for the headache that noise just induced.
“So did you like what you saw in the mirror though?” Alex asked curiously while making a flirty gesture toward her chest.
Ryan recovers from that disoriented scream and thinks to himself.
“Yes, to be honest you were pretty. You had an awesome body. Hell, you still do” Ryan replies back with a smile.
Alex glances over at him and tries to figure out what he saw through her eyes. She prepares herself to imagine herself and how she looked like back with her own original body back to their original dimensions before she got affiliated with that Vanity curse too many times.
“So, what else did you do or see while in my body” Alex asks.
“Oh, I didn’t do anything disrespectful or dirty, although I almost did get to “almost” experience a lesbian moment between you and another girl, but the damn thing time leaped forward, and I was not able to see anything” Ryan replies while crossing his arms and looking back out the window.
Alex blushes and starts to giggle.
“My experience started with me waking up with your ex in your bed. I actually got a chance to sleep with the bitch though your eyes” Alex teases while playfully punching him on the shoulder.
Ryan suddenly feels embarrassed.
“Bro having a penis changes things from my perspective big time! I know how you guys feel after you orgasm now, along with a ton of other things” Alex continued teasing.
“Alex, Lets just stop with this awkward conversation” Ryan says while tapping his foot nervously.
“No, I think we need to keep this conversation going. I have some somethings to say about what I witnessed. I basically slept with your Ex in your own body. Dude Victoria had red flags from me right from the start of me waking up in your body. I can’t believe you didn’t pick up on them. Your friend “Amanda” who I met, and thought was gorgeous by the way, would have been more loyal to you if you gave her a chance” Alex says with disappointment.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Amanda and I were not compatible Alex” Ryan blurts out immediately.
“Bull fucking shit…. You forgot that I also relived your thoughts and feelings. You want use that shit as an excuse but we both know why you won’t date her. Her family travels a lot, and you don’t want to fall in love with someone that’s going to turn quite possible into your mother and possibly never come back. Ironically enough Victoria on the other hand was apart of the school’s exclusive slut club. That demonic bitch fucked you and implanted herself deep inside your heart with such precision and set you up for the hardest fall of your life” Alex shouts with a criticizing tone.
“Alex there is more to it then just that!” Ryan cries out in shame.
“No there isn’t dumbass! Face the facts. You rejected a girl who was just too perfect for you. You fucked up and choose the slut over the sweet girl next door. Amanda tried to warn you of her, and you just ignored her. That shit pisses me off from my point of view” Alex shouts firmly.
Ryan balls up his fists in anger over but remains silent. He knows Alex is right but is so ashamed of his life choices.
“It sucks that you did what you did. Amanda seemed like an amazing girl but now you have to live the rest of your life knowing you will never have the chance to have her in your life again”
As soon as she said that Ryan gets extremely aggravated and punches the dashboard in anger. That last truth bomb Alex just dropped on him hurt horribly.
Alex, who was happy she, got her point across then notices the head rest Ryan threw out of the car earlier laying next to the road. This prompts her to apply the brakes and stop quickly.
“What the hell?” Alex says while putting the car in park and opening her door.
Ryan still disgruntled by the conversation slowly attempts follow Alex’s motions and gets out of the car with her.
His hunch he had earlier was now confirmed upon seeing the tire tracks and the head rest.
“What the hell is going on here?” Alex asks while picking up the head rest.
“Obviously we are on a super small imitation of earth. We only traveled about 2 miles and came back around to this point. Couple that with the timer, obviously this is meant to purposefully distract us from something” Ryan states.
Suddenly Ryan receives another otherworldly scream from inside his head. This stuns him again but now he can make out a familiar female voice.
Outside the dream world they were in Citra was flying to them as fast as she could. She was less then a half a mile from them. She was feeling a strange and dark connected force that was weakening Ryan and consequently for their soul-link, her as well. She draws on memories from Ryan to gauge where they were last, and she finds a memory of him and Alex looking up and out of an old well. Citra finds that well from the air and dives down it in one swift motion. She then finds the runic sealed door and reads it.
Chills run down her spin upon learning of the notorious sealed demon that was locked inside. Citra takes a deep breath and charges through the door. What lied on the other side was Ryan and Alex trapped in a Red magical dome and shade like creature slowly siphoning life energy from the two inside as the doors magically seal behind her.
The demon sees Citra and appears a little alarmed on her presence. Citra then opens her bag and pulls out a magic crystal and throws it at the dome. The crystal then engulfs the magic from the dome and dispels the prison around Ryan and Alex.
From Ryan and Alex’s point of view the world they were standing in was fading away and they were quickly waking up from their “dream” world. Citra immediately charges toward Ryan to protect him. The Demon in the room who was extremely threated by Citra’s unplanned intrusion, decides to instantaneously teleport Ryan right out of the chamber and open the doors in hopes his “pet” would follow him out.
However, this was not the outcome that would occur. Citra who noticed Alex was vulnerable and severely weak choose to guard her.
“You are not supposed to be here! This place is for mortals only!” The demon shouts in a high-pitched voice.
Citra grabs her 2-handed sword and starts walking toward the demon and swings at him. Her sword passes through him like a ghost, and she learns the runic writing on the wall about the “Nightmare Master” was right about his immortality.
“Fucking knew it!” Citra shouts while closely guarding Alex.
Meanwhile from Ryan’s point of view he was just now waking up in the middle of the Guillotine PvP zone and in the presence of that Ganker group that Alex was stealthily was avoiding earlier.
The group who was confused at to where Ryan came from as he just arrived out of know where, were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who gets this easy kill.
Who was just now opening his eyes to hostile looking people jumps up in a hurry and notices a man in the back with a Bow taking aim at him. Ryan instantly casts [Ball Lighting] in Stun mode and lets out a small burst that stuns the archer. He then jumps back and starts raining down [Black Rain] on everyone.
He then in a hurry realizes he was weak and needed health. He takes the archer in the back and casts [Drain Health] on him. The deliberating pain from the spell sends this man to his knees and allows Ryan to start confidently casting [Detonate] spam on the group.
When 2 shielded people from the side start charging toward him Ryan pulls out his swords and enchants them with [Black Plasma] and charges head on to meet them. The first large and super built woman that approaches him on the left gets a quick [Detonate] blast that knocks her on her ass. The Bald-headed barbarian looking man with a large 2 handed Axe that was closing in on him on the other hand gets something different. Ryan pulls in his right arm like he was about to throw a frisbee and throws his sword striking the man in the knee. The impact and razer hot heat from the sword cuts throw his kneecap and snaps his joint and causes the man to fall forward and scream in pain. Ryan then takes his other sword in his hand has a flash back of Alex’s words to him.
“It sucks that you did what you did. Amanda seemed like an amazing girl but now you have to live the rest of your life knowing you will never have the chance to have her in your life again”
As those words echo in his mind Ryan channels his inner anger and slams down his sword down on the mans neck making a clean cut through and rendering the threat safe.
The woman on the other screams upon seeing her husband get decapitated. She gets up and charges at Ryan with her sword and shield. Ryan anticipates her moves and chooses to stab her through her shield. Her cheap and poorly made Tin like shield doesn’t even stand a chance as the blade pierces through it like paper. He then stabs her in the middle of the chest and channels [Detonate] through her swiftly ending her suffering as Alex’s words echo through his mind again.
“You have to live the rest of your life knowing you will never have the chance to have her in your life again”
The rest of the group that was alive starts scramming away from Ryan. Ryan who still felt a little bit weak decides to target the nearest fleeing person with [Drain Health] and starts sucking their health out of them.
The sheer pain from the spell makes the mage fall to the ground, but Ryan chooses to give the man mercy. He stops sucking out the man’s health when he had only 15% health left and stops casting the spell and starts walking away. The mage who was stunned and didn’t understand why Ryan didn’t kill him starts to feel grateful and doesn’t waist any time getting away from him.
Ryan then looks up at the dark night sky and notices the sun was starting to come out.
“Are you fucking kidding me! Today is yet another nightmare. When will it fucking end!” Ryan screams.
Upon him saying that the solution to defeating Marilyn Manson became clear.
Back in the chamber Citra was getting over ran with dark magical attacks from him and Alex was running around this chamber trying to find a way out now that the door was sealed.
Suddenly Citra gets a message telepathically from Ryan.
“Hey how is the situation in there?” Ryan asks.
“Fucking busy! Call me back later!” Citra replies back to him. As she gets hit with a dark spell that explosively sends her flying back into the wall.
“I’m going to summon you, but I need you grab on to him. We need to get him outside” Ryan replies.
Citra gets up and wipes some of her blood off her mouth.
“How!? I can touch this guy. He is like a damn ghost!” Citra screams back.
“Tell Alex to play his song: “SOLVE COAGULA” and activate the damn buff on it. The song will dissolve any immortality in the area for 30 seconds. Then just grab him and hold on!” Ryan shouts back to her.
Citra then looks over at Alex who is now panicked and terrified.
“Alex, Ryan says play his song: “SOLVE COAGULA!” and activate the Buff on it!” Citra orders her from across the room.
Alex who was terrified decides to follow his suggestion and pulls out his phone and finds the song. As she activates the buff on it His intangible body slowly starts to fade into sight. This allows Citra to charge forward and pierce him through the chest with her sword. She then grabs him and engulfs him in a hug.
“RYAN DO IT NOW!” Citra screams.
Ryan then from his position draws a circle on the ground and Citra sees the summoning circle below her feet. She then jumps down the portal with him and she magical teleports with him outside.
As the demon sees the sun coming up over the horizon, it panics and tries to run away. But Citra holds him in place. The sun light then starts dissolving him and starts making him scream in agony. As the immortality buff wears off, the sun light keeps damaging him and Ryan smiles.
“You see Citra, the thing about nightmares is that they are terrifying, but they don’t last forever. Soon or a later the darkness of night will fade, and the sun will come out forcing you to wake up from your nightmare. Only then can you move on and forget about that personal hell you were trapped in” Ryan says as Marilyn Manson screeches demonically and bursts into ashes.
After it was over Ryan and Citra hug each other and start walking 3 miles west to where Alex was at. Ryan then takes this time to talk to Citra about his personal problems.
“Would I be creating a bunch of problems for myself if I choose to pretend the girl I was dating was the girl that got away back on my planet?” Ryan asks her.
“Of course you would. You could create even more problems than the ones you currently have if you lie to yourself and do that. But who is to say this girl you miss so much isn’t her? I mean people die on your planet and can come here if they wanted to” Citra says.
“Well, that’s not even plausible.” Ryan says while conjuring up the image of Amanda inside his head and sending it to her telepathically.
“Zephyr does not even look like Amanda. Plus, she doesn’t even act like Amanda. The girl I miss a lot never acts the way Zephyr does at times. She had a clearer head, wasn’t as reckless as Zephyr is and Amanda was not nearly as perverted or crazy as Zephyr is. Not only that but Amanda and I had 1 thing in common that I know automatically disqualifies her from even coming close to being Zephyr. She hates Furry culture and thought it is gross as well. She would never do that, so that automatically rules her out from ever being her. They are not the same person and will never be” Ryan states firmly to her.
“What is the most haunting here is the words Alex told me while we were trapped in that dream state: “You have to live the rest of your life knowing you will never have the chance to have her in your life again” Ryan says wistfully
“Those words are so true and hurt so damn bad right in here” Ryan says while patting his fist in front of his heart”
“Look the past can haunt you for the rest of your life, but you need to keep being strong and move on. But I really wouldn’t try to project your expectation from the “girl that got away” onto Zephyr. If you want a true healthy relationship with her, drop the lies and try to do things with Zephyr you never got a chance to do with that one girl. That’s the only advice I can give you buddy” Citra replies sincerely.
Ryan then chooses to be quiet and think about the advice Citra gave him while they walk to Alex’s location.
When they arrive at the ruins of that old church, Ryan and Citra climb down the well and open the door Alex was trapped in from the outside. When they find her Alex was sitting on the ground listening to the song “HALF-WAY AND ONE STEP FORWARD” From Marilyn Manson. Ryan offers her his hand and picks her up off the ground. They then leave the chamber and start walking south through the PvP area with the song playing.
Ryan would deploy his kite and the two would sail all the way back to Faterra. They then would be taking a long nap at an Alex’s house and then go meet Simon the next day.