Opening my eyes, I found myself floating in a space-like abyss, unable to discern up from down. I tried to move and scream but I was locked into place, no sound escaped my lips. Darkness slipped past me like water.
The hell?
A sense of confusion washed over me, where am I? Dread began to creep up my spine, but a sound began to ring through the space. Chains clinking, voices in distant prayer. It gave the space soul like I was standing in a cathedral and god was in the house. The voices gave an odd sense of comfort. Like it was telling me to relax—even though I didn't want to. Eerie
This is a dream.
I wanted to pinch myself to confirm but I couldn't. As I thought this, eleven bright lights stars started flying towards me at dizzying speed. Eleven stars, each a different color, drifting around me like lighthouses in a dark sea. Then the stars began to multiply filling the dark space with light, they grew foggy, forming glass-like patterns I couldn't understand. A sense of melancholy grew inside me. I couldn't describe it even for a second. The light they put out felt like home, but a home I couldn't go back to. At the center of it all, a bring light with strings touches all the other stars connecting them. Then a darkness came from one of the lights off in the distance, it came right for the center star and devoured it. Causing its light to dim and the star began to bleed. Cutting off the connection to the other lights, an eldritch panic filled me.
What's happening!
Then, a scream, an unholy massive scream filled the entire space. I felt pulses send a tremble through me. The golden center light began to flicker, the other stars watched and produced a sound like crying and the gnashing of teeth. The golden star then fell into the abyss, it began growing into a red mass, it writhed like flesh growing and rotting in equal measure, consuming the strings between the stars. The other stars crash into each other, as if fighting, a bizarre mixing of light. Colors clashing with one another, they seemingly raged against each other. Ignoring the growing mass, they ate one another, but then as it seemed all hope was lost. Ten stars bound together, projecting their brilliant light on the mass and other stars. Seemingly halting the great war amongst the stars. Tears welled in my eyes, and I didn't even know why. I wanted to wail. Eventually, two of the stars separated, from the rest of them and seemingly sealed themselves off with the mass from the rest of them. Walling it off with only two lights on the other side, a red light and a soft gold one fought each other and the mass.
Why!
A feeling of powerlessness washed over me, unable to do anything but cry as I watched. Then everything began to fade back into nothing leaving only the eight stars.
"What do you want?" A single voice carrying thousands of them seemed sad and indigent. Like a curse lifted off me I was able to speak.
"To not be scared of the Monsters! To survive!" The words ripped themselves out of me before, my tone was like a petulant child.
Why did I say that?
Then everything went dark one more time. All sounds faded slowly, and I woke up. Groggy, disoriented, and in pain, I looked around to see that I was lying against the dead corpse of the cult beast. The gauntlets still on my arms, I shivered. It was one of the visions that newly awakened had, they usually never made any sense. Then a voice in my head began to speak.
"You have awakened" it spoke in many voices like the one in my dream, a predominantly male voice came through.
"You're Heart is, Afraid of Monsters" This time the voice speaking was mainly feminine, like a mother's.
"The Marrow of you're bones is, Imaginary Monsters" A younger voice came through this time it was androgynous and high pitched.
"Your Doubts have awakened your urge to, Survive" The collective of voices then became quiet. Then my vision grew red and then faded, I understood instinctively then that my gauntlets were called Imaginary Monsters. I had chosen the name without knowing, I knew they were mine, that they were my relic, for some reason. If I closed my eyes and thought about them, I could bring forth to the center of my mind their abilities. It was like a third eye had been opened inside me, I also knew that I had unlocked an attribute, something every awakened started off with and would eventually collect more of. I thought about it in my half-dead state. Symbols and words began to form in my mind projecting the words onto my vision, in bright red barely legible lettering it read.
Awakened: Ram.
Heart: Afraid of Monsters
Traits:
(Bloodlust: Able to detect killing intent from living creatures)
(???)
(???)
Marrow Relic: Imaginary Monsters, twin red and black gauntlets
(Form Level: One)
(Traits: Grafting, grafting a single trait of a previously killed beast onto the body)
(Malformed Angel: Trait, ???) (Locked, further fragments required)
Whispers: None learned
Doubts:
(Afraid of Monsters)
What the hell did half of this stuff even mean? Why was so much of it question marks? I knew some of it based on what other awakened have said, like the marrow relics were sorta growing weapons given to newly awakened. Same with traits, most awakened either received one at rebirth or gained it later on. Much of it had question marks though, I had never heard anything like that. The thing that caught my eye the most was the Doubts section, I only ever heard that they were a sorta drawback that came with the powers given by the divine fragment. Most refused to disclose what they were for obvious reasons. But mine didn't really seem like a drawback in any major way. I sorta wanted to test the new abilities, but decided to do it later.
Whatever, I'll think about it later
More importantly—I could go home! Leave this psychotic hell and go back to earth! But I was worried more cult beasts were gonna come, so I decided to make my way back to the city, Cross City, one of the human settlements that we were able to establish in the Angel's Lie which is what they called this messed up nightmare realm.
I need to regroup with the Expedition.
I needed to regroup with the rest of the team... Unless the ingenious bear pokers got themselves mauled by another cult beast. I assumed they would head back to the city since it was one of the few safe places for unawaken. Secondly, I needed to learn the Return Whisper, the spell that lets you return to Earth. It can only be taught by a higher ranked awakened or unlocked from reading the corresponding whisper book, which was few and extremely expensive. I ran with injured but awakened speed, the trees quickly became a blur as I ran at the speed of a car. So fast I nearly skewered myself onto a branch. I had to be careful to not run into cult beasts. Currently, I was on the edges of the City of Crosses, usually, I wouldn't get anywhere near this far away, as it was massively unsafe. But I was so far out here because our team was to explore a recently discovered library. That existed on the very edge of the city, far outside the safety of its walls.
After running for a while I found a familiar stone road, that led me right to the gothic city walls. Crosses were on the walls like a speared creature, various styles and lengths of crosses could be seen all around the city. At the center, a giant unexplored tower, the history books we had recovered said a wise king had lived there eons ago. But that he had been consumed by angels and his city covered in crosses after he committed some sort of sin. The tower itself wasn't safe, but the walls around it were mostly secured, cult beasts still haunted and lurked in the darker parts. But humanity had claimed most of it. As I looked at the tower of crosses, what felt like a creature's hand caressed my neck, my instincts were telling me to avoid that place with everything I had. A creepy thought passed my mind.
Stay away. Survive.
It felt like I was choking like something was trying to crush my throat. I never have had a reaction like that, this was new. Was this... Was this, Afraid of Monsters? Gulping the feelings of fear away, I shuttered and gave the tower one last look. Before turning away, I made my way to the settlement taking the safe passages. Soon enough I saw the gates and the awakened guard standing watch. They had bright steel armor and various relic weapons, I saw swords and axes. Relics could take almost literally any shape, however, the armor they wore was mostly the same. Made from the same cult creatures by awakened blacksmiths, a sense of joy and camaraderie came over me.
Get ready for my arrival!
A prideful petty thought came into my mind, I was one of them, and catharsis filled me. No longer an outcast, no longer a weakling to be protected or pitied. I wasn't as strong as them yet, but I would be... Eventually.