“Should we go in?” Lucy asked. The cohort stood in front of the mouth of a cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, like the teeth of a nightmare beast. It was the only path available, other than scaling the side of a mountain at a ninety degree angle.

“Do we have another option?” Nico wondered. He could fly with Locust, so climbing the mountain wasn’t out of the question. His only worry was attracting the attention of nightmare creatures.

Core: 247/1000

Nico read his runes as Justin did his Justin things. The man sat crossed legged, eyes closed, and did nothing. He had asked about this strange ritual before and Vivian only shrugged. Ape sauntered up and down the path, a stone club in his hands. A memory Nico recently got. He wasn’t able to kill nightmare creatures in bulk like the rest of the group, but his echoes were. And since they all already saturated their cores, he was the only one using the shards.

The sun dipped behind the peak of the mountain, casting a long deep shadow on the small canyon. Justin opened his eyes and stood up. They all turned to him.

“We'll be climbing the mountain,” He declared. Byron poked his shoulder and gave him a questioning look.

“The cave might be a dead end, or hold even worse terrors, at least out here we know what’s coming.”

“Swarms of flying terrors,” Vivian muttered. Justin sternly looked at the cohort. It was true they had made a lot of progress, but they were tiring. A cave of the unknown, or a climb with the possibility of airstrikes?

“I agree with Justin, we know what’s out here, there’s no guarantee about what’s in there.” Marcus pointed to the entrance, and it breathed out in response.

“Me and Byron want to be done with this, I say we checkout the cave. If it’s a dead end, great, if there's a nightmare creature, we kill it.” Byron huffed to Vivians words, looking annoyed, but then shrugged in agreement.

“I’m being carried either way, so I won't vote.” Lucy smiled at Nico. Then he realized. There was a tie in the group.

“Um, can I also not vote?” Nico asked.

“No,” Vivian said, flatly. Nico looked at the sky. Clouds were already moving in, preparing to release a storm.

The cave whispered,and Nico turned to it. The whispers were too far to tell the words, but loud enough to know there were words.

“I’m with Vivian and Byron,” he eventually said. Justin sighed and capitulated. The rain started to fall, but the cohort wasn’t out to experience it.

What was the difference between a cave and the outside? Not much. The walls and ceiling were covered in bioluminescent algae. The paths were actually wider than the outside. They both had slippery stone paths and dripping water. Nico stepped cautiously, leaning back from the slope. Justin’s hair was a guiding light, as they went deeper into the cave.

“Wow,” Nico couldn’t help but say. The tunnel opened up to a large cavern, decorated with white lights and massive pillars. Below them was a moat of water and a small island at the center, a beam of light faintly caressed the altar in the center.

“What is this place?” Lucy asked. Vivian started to speak but Lucy cut her off.

“That was rhetorical.” Justin found some steps along the wall of the cavern and they walked down. The stairs were sharp and smooth. The walls were all overgrown with algae,but there were some etchings still visible.

“A time of the endless reap. Shall rest in the endless sleep. Oh gods forgotten by hearts so rotten. The moon alone, weeps the bone.”

They looked to Vivian who was reading the wall.

“You can read these?” Marcus asked. He squinted at the wall. Nico looked closely, and couldn’t read the writing. However the lines Vivian read were obviously newer, and understandable.

“Someone’s been here recently.” Lucy noted.

“Maybe, I wonder what it means.” Vivian looked down the wall trying to find something else readable.

“The first line refers to life.” Nico observed.

“You a poet?”

“No, I just know the poem.” Nico touched the carvings, remembering the voice that told him these words.

“What does the rest mean?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t listen to the whole thing.” Nico couldn’t help but tear up. There was a chance. Somehow, she was out there.

“Nico stop.” Justin said.

“Sorry, I’m just--” Vivian put her handover his mouth and Nico was horrified. Marcus was handing from the ceiling, A long cord protruded from his mouth, entering from the back of his head. Lucy stifled a scream and Nico looked up.

Three dragon heads looked back with milky white eyes. Each had twisted horns, accompanied with strings of hair, barbed end to end. Its body was long and thin, with several pairs of clawed legs. The middle one swished its head and Marcus fell to the ground.

They just looked at the unmoving body of the sleeper. Nico couldn’t think, he couldn't act. Everything in his body was telling him not to move. The creature scuttled across the ceiling closing in on the cohort.

‘Move!’ Nico summoned Ape and Locust. Backstabber appeared in his hands and he waited. The creature got closer, sticking its tongue out, before cocking its head at them. Ape moved first swinging the club at the nightmare creature. Vivian let go of Nico and pulled a bowstring back.

The long hairs shot out wrapping around Ape. Other ones moved and blocked Vivian’s arrows. Justin glowed brightly and his swords ignited with fire. Locust snapped at one of the long necks of the beast.

[Your echo was destroyed]

The long hairs pierced the bug and ripped it apart from the inside out. Nico couldn’t waste time being surprised, and quickly summoned Ape back. The monster turned its attention to Justin and sped across the ceiling.

Justin swung his swords, sending waves of fire through the air. Nico could feel the heat from a distance. The monster fell from the wall and landed in the water below them. It looked at them with a mocking expression on all faces. Justin sent more fire, but the monster whipped its hairs spraying water everywhere. Steam blasted in the air and Vivian continued to shoot white arrows.

“Run, all of you.” Justin ordered. The monster was prowling up the stairs, hissing as it got closer.

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“And leave you to date that thing?” Vivian shook her head and jumped off the stairs. The monster replaced her, and it let out a surprised growl. Three arrows stuck into its hide before it crashed into the water. Justin attacked again with his fire, burning one of the heads. Nico flinched and dodged to the ground, taking Lucy with him. The long thorn hairs stuck into the walls, sending debris from the wall.

Blood dripped from his shoulder and he checked Lucy. She was unharmed. Nico brought Ape out and handed Backstabber to him.

“Throw.” Nico ordered and the Ape threw the scythe. The monster reacted and cut the memory out of the air. Nico summoned it back, and a few seconds later he had it again.

‘We need to keep off guard.’ Ape threw the scythe again, simultaneously with Vivian’s and Justin’s attacks. The monster’s rightmost head was burned off, and it took more arrows to the back. Then backstabber slashed the monster's middleneck.

‘What the--’ Nico was bashed into the wall. The creature had split into three other monsters. The barbs dug into Nico’s body, and he felt it contracting.

‘The farther they go the weaker the hairs are.” Nico smiled. Ape was able to rip the hairs before they shredded Nico. Justin wasn’t so lucky. The man’s armor was dented and was torn by the barbs. The monster had entangled his arms, keeping him from using his swords. The third headless monster jumped from the moat and extended its claws towards the immobilized man.

“Throw me.” Ape heeded his master’s order and three the boy. Backstabber appeared back in his hands and he cut the headless beast across the chest. It thrashed, blood gurgling from its burned stump. Nico crashed into the floor and he succeeded in saving Justin

Vivian appeared where the monster just was and was already shooting at the other two. Their hairs were powerful weapons and shields. Keeping their enemies at a distance. Nico cursed and helped Justin from the hairs.

‘crap.’ Nico looked back, where he had left Ape and Lucy. The Ape was snarling at the monster, but the monster tore through the echos body. Nico gritted his teeth and summoned Ape back.

Justin shot fire between the girl and monster and Vivian traded places with her, shooting the monster at point blank range. It howled in pain and its hairs destroyed the wall and stairs around it.

Nico watched as Vivian’s body was torn apart, but it wasn’t. Byron was there, hollow and see through. ‘Like a phantom.’ The monster looked confused, and Byron punched the monster in the face.

‘I forgot about him,’ Nico sighed in relief, before coming back to his senses. The monster threw the Sleeper away, causing a wave in the moat. Nico watched as Byron surfaced before the second monster was upon him.

Justin jumped down landing in the waist deep water. It steamed when he moved and he cut the monster’s legs, cauterizing the wounds. Nico ran down the stairs and waded through the water. He swung backstabber, but a barbed hair stopped his arms, cutting deeply into his flesh. Nico lost his grip and the memory splashed into the water.

The other monster jumped to the ceiling, and Nico knew what came next.

‘Crap’

[Fearful manifestation has ended. Returning Sleep Nico to original form.]

‘What?’ Nico balked at the words and his body changed. He felt stronger for a second before being pounded by barbed hairs. His arms, legs, and chest were deeply cut, and the water stained red. But Nico was still standing, something that should have been impossible for him and his…flaw.

Flaw: Empathy

[You feel the emotions of your friends. ] Nico read the runes, momentarily bewildered. His flaw was different. Just then he was bombarded with fear. With agony. It was like someone had put his brain in a blender. He staggered back, blood pumping, arms twitching. He couldn't process what he was feeling, Then his mind flared, the strongest emotion overriding the others. It was Justin, diligently observing the battlefield. Nico felt the man’s caution and dove under the water.

Nico heard ripples in the water and felt several things pass around him. He balled his body, making himself as small as possible. He felt the dirt and rocks being churned in the water by the hairs. The attack finally stopped, and the other feelings in his head calmed down. Now he could think. His own feelings were muted by the other four. Fear, courage, hopelessness and stubbornness. These emotions swirled in his head, flaring at moments and subsiding.

Nico surfaced, gasping for air and relief. The situation was dire. Two monsters threatened the cohort. One striking from the roof, and the other in the water with them. Nico pulled Backstabber from the water and raised it. He felt powerful. Nico was wounded and bleeding. Before that would cripple him, now he could still move and swing.

His mind raced with these thoughts and he jumped out and over the water landing next to Justin. Confusion, then reassurance passed through Nico.

“When could you move like that?” Justin asked.

“Is this really the time to ask?” Nico said back, blocking the monster's hairs.

“When else will I get the chance? We’re about to die here.” Nico felt some despair under the man’s courage, but it was quickly squelched.

“Don’t talk like that. We’ll get out of this.” Nico actually cut the monster. Three people were attacking it, and it was finally slowing down. Vivian kept the second one busy, firing at it and switching places with the corpse of the third.

‘Corpse.” Nico located the origin of the stubbornness he was feeling and spotted Vivian. Her body was slashed and bruised in too many places to count, and her armor had long been destroyed.

“Vivian, swap with me!” Nico yelled. He felt confusion, the most common emotion now associated with him.

“Do it!” He couldn’t figure out why she felt annoyed, but he was busy trying not to fall face first into a wall.

The headless Nightmare creature was drained of blood, but still was frightening enough. Nico looked into his soul sea and found Ape. The lone echo was damaged, its leg gone. It was so much emptier without the Locust.

Ape looked morbid and grunted as he entered the world.

“I’m sorry, you’ve worked hard, I need you to do one more thing. I'll give you a hand, or a leg.” Nico smiled a little as Ape heaved the monster up. Nico climbed on top and the wind whipped through his hair, and his skin dried. The monster on the roof screeched and attacked. Nico fell back, gripping the skin. The hairs hit the body, but didn't cut through. Nico heard the monster screech.

Amazement. Nico felt his own amazement and three other sources. Nico jumped up and sliced the monster, plunging the scythe into its neck.

Nico hung, holding on to the handle. The monster’s voice went silent and he felt the Monster struggle to hold onto the ceiling, but then he was in free fall.

The monster smashed into the one below it. Nico felt so many things crack and all went white for a second. His arm hung off the stone altar, His head rolled, facing the two monsters. They were two headed again, still kicking. Nico pushed himself, trying to get up. He felt something under his hand, then it vanished.

[You have gained a memory] The spell blasted in his head, far louder than any of the new emotions. Nico jerked up, sending spikes of pain through his chest. Something stabbed his lung and he spat blood. Nico opened the runes to see what caused this.

[Hunter’s mark]

Rank: Awakened

Tier: VII

Type: Armor

Attributes: [Home of the Wild][Primitive][Unspeakable truth][Moonlit][Tracker’s Mind]

[Primitive] This memory is a shadow of what it once was and awaits the one who carries its master’s will.

[Unspeakable Truth] The creatures slain by the wearer shall repair this memory.

[Moonlit] When the moon shines all memories and echoes shall be enhanced.

[Tacker’s Mind] This memory provides exceptional defense to mind attacks.

[Home of the Wild] ???

Long black fabric wrapped around Nico, covering his pale skin. The memory glistened in the moonlight, turning it a pearly white.

The two headed creature cocked its head towards Nico. It roared, shaking the cave. Nico stumbled back and the nightmare creature slammed onto the ground sprinting towards him. The whips of hair shot out, encasing Nico. He heaved Backstabber up, and felt a momentous strength in his body. Nico cut the hairs and beheaded the two heads of the beast. Without stopping Nico reaped the monster's life, cutting its body in half.

[You have slain awakened demon ‘Vile Guardian Hydra’] Nico breathed out, and stood still. The whole cavern stopped. The water calmed and the moonlight illuminated the pale Sleeper for all to see.

[Your Aspect has extracted an echo]