The Child
AFFINITY : Desire
LEVEL : 5 ORIGIN : Folklore
HP : 300
ATT : 0 MAG ATT : 0 ATT DEF : 0 MAG DEF : 0
MP : 0
RESIST : 0 AGI : 10
< “To dream is a gift. Dreams are what the heart desires. One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Why do they cackle with current?” >
< “The pain goes away when they let me sleep. Sometimes I was allowed to sleep with others. The caretaker took care of me all the time. But she always looked so sad.” >
The Child’s LEVEL was already halfway to ten. Frost considered elongating the fight, and the moment she took a step forward, a flaming great sword materialized from nowhere clashing with only a single finger of hers.
“So you really are Lailha. These are your old memories.” She spoke apologetically. The Cradle didn’t react.
She only continued reading from the book. Frost slowly walked towards her, deflecting the flaming swords. Eventually, she gave up blocking and allowed them to bounce off her body with a dull, echoing thud.
Then, as she peered over the shoulder of The Cradle, she realized that nothing was written inside of the book. The Child roused from her sleep; her body much more developed this time as the illusions returned.
< [Goodnight] >
< “In memory you exist. All thousands of you. Every night is spent like our last. Memories were fuel.” >
< “The closer to maturity I became, the more scared the caretaker became. I wanted to take her hand with me on the day we go see the world!” >
Imagery of chocolate and strawberry flavored cupcakes appeared again. The Child scribbled them everywhere, each having differing HP. They were meant to be destroyed, but Frost found herself incapable of it.
She just watched from over the shoulder of The Cradle. Her stories, the fairytales, and the beautiful wonders of the world above – all of it was spoken from memory. But never from experience. Her voice carried a similar sense of wonder shared by The Child.
“Both of us were trapped in that ‘paradise’. We were stuck so far underground that we both didn’t know what the world was like. But I don’t understand. I came from Earth. Why did I lose my memories in the old world, but regained them here?” Frost solemnly whispered, watching the girl grow further until her LEVEL finally reached 10.
In that instant, countless wires reached out towards The Child.
< [Goodbye] >
< “May we see each other again. The cycle repeats. All for the sake of maintaining humanity’s demand.” >
< “I was happy then I was sad. But caretaker didn’t cry when they took everything away from me. Because I think she had seen it more times than I can count.” >
An immense surge of Nex was generated from The Child. Frost’s Nex jumped from a million to five million in an instant as The Child was rendered down to nothing but a pile of glowing liquid, the particles of light returning to the tree.
The Cradle’s figure suddenly distorted, her hair amess and her dress now coated in darkness. Her invulnerability was gone, but Frost didn’t go for the kill. There was one last attack she wanted to see. The story was not over yet.
< “Cycles of lament kept me chained here at the base of the facility. Tales were told to a fleeting friend.” >
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< “Tales memorized like they were experiences of my own. I too wished I had wings to fly from this cage.” >
The Child did not speak this time. Both came from the woman. By now the attacks on Frost had subsided.
“… Lailah…” Frost tenderly whispered, crouching down to hug the side of The Cradle. “It’s ok. In the future you’re alive and able to see the things you could only see in those stories. Those lullabies were more for you than for ‘me’, weren’t they?”
Frost wished the Corrupted weren’t so mindless. There was nothing she wanted right now than to tell this person that they didn’t have to worry anymore. The curse of the Corrupted ensured they were enslaved to this endless cycle of grief and torment.
Her rugged appearance reminded her of the corroded Elysia she saw in her flashback to the past. Both were hurt more than she could ever understand. That’s why these Corrupted were so important. They were windows to the past. Unlike previous Corrupted, this one had no relevant history to the current world.
But if she had to mirror it with something, then it would be a mother’s grief.
< “Emotions swirled inside of my chassis. Ironically, it only made me colder.” >
< “I longed to escape with this friend of mine.” >
< “But it was impossible. I will do everything I can to make their temporary days memorable. Even though it will slip past my fingers again and again. This metempsychosis of yours was unbearable.” >
< “What cannot be written will be etched into my memories.” >
The glimmer of light at the end of the branch shone brightly now. Children appeared one by one before her, each with golden eyes. They looked up at her with a mix of confusion and interest, some already reaching to grasp at her clothes.
< [Hello] >
< “The cycle repeats. Be reborn, my friend.” >
The light travelled into her palms, then, it entered one of the children. Their eyes became red, and The Child reappeared as the others soon vanished without a trace. It seemingly possessed them.
< “Tell me more about the worlds I can’t see.” >
< “I always found it weird how my caretaker used to know all the questions I had before I even asked them.” >
The Child spoke this time, repeating the very first words she spoke from the beginning.
“Is that part of why I don’t remember anything? I was harvested at a certain age for my Nex?” Frost’s embrace tightened around the body of The Cradle as she looked over at the innocent smile of a younger, androgynous version of herself. “Fuel were memories. Calfasio gave me a gift to never let something like this happen again. I’m sorry you had to experience this.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Nav asked.
“Because it feels like the right thing to do.”
Nav was taken aback by her words. She placed her book down as the Star Child looked up at her with soft eyes, her hands moving to tug on her sleeves to see if she was ok. Nav smiled back at her before responding with:
“… I too wish I could understand what you mean.”
“One day, Nav. One day… you will. I promise you. This past of ours isn’t going to come back to haunt us. We can change. You’re already in the process of it.” Frost assured. Her voice was caught in her throat for a moment. Tears evaporated in the corners of her eyes. She not once considered how she herself must have suffered. Instead, all she could think about was Lailah’s suffering.
And likewise, Elysia’s.
“The Piece of the Fallen Star. We’ll find it. You don’t have to rely on the cupcakes anymore.” She couldn’t help but to see The Cradle as Nav. She felt like she’d disappear if she let go, but now that they knew the extent of this Corrupted’s tale – it was time to Subjugate. “… Nav. Dreaming Mortality is your tale, isn’t it?”
“Highly likely. But I am also skeptical. You’re the Amalgam. Don’t all tales relate to you and an Archetype of the same Affinity in some manner? You also dreamed of mortality if we take into account the aspirations of The Child.”
“Anything can happen. I’m sorry. I’ll take good care of you this time.” Frost apologized to The Cradle, her embrace instantly crushing it until it disappeared into fragments of light.
< Lull-A-Goodbye has successfully been Subjugated >
< Stats from Lull-A-Goodbye gained >
< Unique Ability Gained >
< ABILITY: Dreaming Sheep >
< EFFECT: You are more likely to have good dreams. They will reinforce what your heart desires >
< Dreams are an escape and the one place where no one can tell us no. >
The light was then swallowed into her body. She absorbed everything. The tree. The Cradle. The world. However, the girl didn’t move at all. In fact, only the light was robbed from her. What stood in her place was a girl that stood at around 150cm, so not at all that much shorter than herself.
She had black, long, messy hair and wore a sleeping cap on her head. Her eyes were droopy, and she swayed like she would collapse at any moment. What she wore was a similar getup as her own, except they looked cozier, like they were meant to be slept in.
Frost couldn’t tell if what she wore was a black, fuzzy onesie or pajamas.
“… no fucking way. Not another one.” Frost rubbed her eyes and pinched between her brows to dispel what she thought was an illusion.
“Huh…? You look kinda like me. *Yawn*. I must be tired. I wanna sleep and dream already.” The girl spoke, rubbing her golden eyes as well.
“Nav.” Frost spoke in a deadpan tone.
“What’s wrong? Why can I hear someone that sounds just like you?”
“You’re not going to believe this.”
Dreamer
Sleepy Frost
AFFINITY : Desire
LEVEL : 30 ORIGIN : Trauma
HP : 15,000
ATT : 0 MAG ATT : 0 ATT DEF : 0 MAG DEF : 0
MP : 500
RESIST : 0 AGI : 5
“Another Alter Frost just came up. And I’m scared that this one is going find itself in the hands of all kinds of idiots.”
Her stats were abysmal, and judging by her personality, the triplets and probably Jury was going to have a field day with this Alter her. That being said, just… what was the benefit of this Alter Frost?
Aside from looking cute and cuddly. Shit… no way, am I being swept too!?
“I’m surprised you haven’t already by the Little Frost.” Nav jabbed.
Frost wryly smiled at her newfound companion, watching as she limped over. She reached towards Frost with hands that were covered by oversized sleeves.
“Other meeee~ Hold me. I can’t stand up any longer~” She spoke like a spoiled child, wrapping her arms around Frost’s waist. “So warm. Smells nice. As expected of me.”
She could already imagine Jury frothing at the mouth.