Nox opened his eyes to a meadow of flowers. These flowers had dark petals and seemed to give off an ominous energy. All around him was dark, yet somehow he could see perfectly fine. As he shifted his weight, he discovered he was underwater.
'... I know this place... But this meadow was never here... Is this a dream?'
Nox looked around the meadow, but everything was dead silent. He hummed softly and walked forward aimlessly. He thought he would hear Veil's overconfident voice by now, but there was nothing. The surroundings remained completely still. Suddenly, in the distance, he caught sight of a shadowy figure. Instinctively, he took a few steps back, preparing to run, when he bumped right into someone else. Nox took a deep breath and closed his eyes, accepting his fate. He slowly turned around to see a massive shadow, over six feet tall and distinctly human in shape. Its body seemed unstable, shifting and rippling along with the movement of the water. Nox would have fainted from shock two months ago, but now he just stared at the being in utter confusion.
"... Hi?"
The shadow lifted its hand and gently patted his head, causing the boy to freeze stiff instantly. It opened its mouth and spoke in a dialect Nox had never heard before. It was a surprising realization, considering he was well-versed in several languages. The entity seemed to realize Nox couldn't understand its speech. Leaning down, it pressed its forehead against Nox's. A deep, masculine voice—sounding as if it hadn't been used in centuries—echoed directly inside his mind.
""... So you are the one the Lord has chosen. Good child. Let me teach you a few things.""
Nox was incredulous, but with everything he had experienced lately, he accepted this as his new normal.
""You cannot be called a Vessel without receiving the Mark. In order to survive that, you must remember to submit everything you have to your Lord. That means your soul, body, mind, and spirit must be ready to receive the branding of the Lord. Receiving the Mark will be a painful process, but it is a necessary one to temper your entire being. Remember, child, a Vessel must never stray from the teachings and must abstain from the ways of this world. Not everything and everyone works for the greater good. I have said my piece; the rest is up to you...""
The shadow began to pull away. Nox quickly grabbed its hands. Immediately, a biting, supernatural cold seeped into his skin, but he gritted his teeth anyway.
'What is your name?'. He thought, projecting the question. The shadows around the entity shifted slightly.
""... My name is irrelevant. I was also a Vessel like you during my lifetime. It was difficult, but accompanying the Lord wasn't a bad thing... Serve well, descendant.""
"Wha—"
Suddenly, Nox's eyes snapped open. He sat upright in bed, instinctively touching his forehead, which was damp with sweat. He was shocked and deeply unsettled by the vividness of the encounter. His eyes scanned the foreign room, his brow furrowing.
'... This place is bigger than my entire room back at the penthouse. Where am I?'
He wondered for a brief second before the memory of the long journey, arriving at the estate, and falling asleep came rushing back. He let out a sigh of relief.
"... I thought I was kidnapped..."
Nox coughed slightly, his throat feeling incredibly dry. He reached out for a glass of water sitting on the bedside table and drank it slowly. "... What the hell..."
Nox glanced past the glass and saw an alarm clock clearly displaying the time: 4:52 AM. He choked on the water. 'What the hell?! How did I sleep this long?'
He tried to piece it together, recalling the dream, though it was already fading into scattered fragments. Frustrated, he pulled the heavy sheets back over his head.
'Maybe when I wake up later in the morning, I'll remember...'
With that thought, he attempted to fall asleep once more. Or rather, he would have, if not for a rhythmic, heavy thumping sound vibrating against the French windows.
*Thump!**Thump!**Thump!*
Nox peeked out from beneath the covers. Clinging directly to the window frame was an eyeless, bloated figure resembling a drowned man. It was violently banging its head against the glass, desperate to get inside. Nox looked on in astonishment; every single time the creature smashed its skull against the pane, glowing ancient script he couldn't comprehend would flicker across the walls of the bedroom.
'... What the fuck is happening?'.At that exact moment, Veil appeared as if materializing out of thin air.
"'That is a Ruach Ra'ah, it should be a Harbinger.'"
"Then why is it here?!" Nox hissed.
"'Well, it seems you are out of your Familiar's range, so she can't suppress the forces around you easily. Remember when One said you are a beacon for these things, right?'"
"Yeah?"
"'Whatever protective barrier was up when we arrived probably has a hole in it, and that's why it was able to get in.'"
"Protective barrier? Why would there be one?" Nox muttered under his breath. The violent banging continued unabated while Veil floated lazily through the air around the bed.
"'Child, what do you want to do about this?'"
Nox stared intensely at the grotesque figure outside. Suddenly, his eyes caught a specific detail: a strange, intricate pattern of an octagram enclosed within a circle, stamped right onto the creature's forehead. "... Veil," Nox called out.
The ball of darkness drifted back toward the mattress. "'What is it?'"
Nox pointed a straight finger at the monster's face. "Why is that pattern there?". Veil spun around to look, instantly going dead silent. Nox felt a sudden, terrible premonition.
"'... That is not a Ruach Ra'ah... Why is such a thing even here?'"
The knot forming in Nox's belly tightened. He knew instinctively that whatever Veil was about to reveal would change everything.
"'... Nox Arur, that is not a Ruach Ra'ah... It is an Aeshma...'"
Nox's eyes widened in disbelief. "A what?"
*Crack!*
Nox's head snapped toward the source of the noise. Spiderweb-like fractures were starting to spread across the heavy glass pane.
*Crack!**Crack!**Crack!*
The more the creature smashed its head against the window, the wider and deeper the structural cracks became. Nox froze as a brief wave of fear seized his heart, but he quickly narrowed his eyes, forcing his focus back.
"How do I kill it?"
Veil let out a low, resonant chuckle. "'The same way you have been doing it. Do not worry, One will not let you die anytime soon.'"
Nox shot Veil a fierce glare as he stood up from the bed, his eyes beginning to glow with a faint, abyssal black light.
"... Tzel..."
Every single shadow cast in the room detached itself, tearing toward him as if he were a powerful magnet. He opened his palm, actively willing the flickering darkness to compress and shape itself into a weapon. It manifested as a spear—its blade long, jagged, and terrifyingly sharp. He lowered his stance, tracking the monster intently. It continued to hammer its skull against the failing glass. Nox just stood his ground, patiently counting the impacts in his head.
'... Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen...'
The moment he hit his count, he launched himself forward like a rocket. Leading with his legs, he crashed clean through the French windows.
Instantly, loud security alarms blared across the entire manor estate, but none of that mattered to Nox anymore. With a lethal gleam in his eyes, he drove the shadow spear straight through the Aeshma's torso as they burst into the open air.
They were locked together, plummeting fast. There was just one massive problem. They were currently falling from the fourth floor.
'... I'm definitely breaking my legs!'