Milo dreamed a sweet dream. Which was strange, people didn't dream in the Dream Realm, that was impossible. This was a vision... or reality that just felt foggy. He was floating through something, gently being tugged into a certain direction. It was dark, oh so dark.
Ah, he was drowning, yes that's what was happening. It was hard to tell at first, there was no burn in his lungs as water forced its way through his air track. However, the resistance and feeling surrounding him was most certainly water. Something was dragging him down. Milo quickly changed his prosthetic into a sharp blade and cut at the thing gripping around his leg.
Once a clean cut didn't work, he changed the blade to become a saw, his prosthetic moving to saw the limb off. The dragging got stronger, it was pulling him deeper and deeper. Milo continued to saw, he felt his brain get foggier, he must not have much time.
Milo felt the tug let go. He couldn't know where up was though. He blew some bubbles and felt them head to his right. With that, he began his way up. He swam as much as his legs would allow him. He turned his prosthetic into a mini propeller as it pushed him forward.
Milo felt whatever dragged him down attempt to grasp at him again. Whatever Nightmare Creature it was, it had tendrils that whipped at his legs. Milo smelt copper, his leg was likely flayed. He kept swimming regardless.
His conscious was slipping, he needed to reach the surface now. He felt a tendril grab onto his leg again. Another quickly reaching for his chest. Milo hesitated, then acted on the only chance he had.
Milo summoned the Dreamer's Hope, and quickly threw it downwards, towards the tendrils.
The bracelet moved downwards, the light illuminating the tendrils that were a phantom grey and they seemed almost transparent. Milo saw a visage of a face that resembled a young girl, another that resembled a fish...?
Milo didn't have much time to dwell on it because something was making its way. Whatever horrendous creature was coming to target the light, it was terrifyingly fast. Milo heard a screech resound through the water, his hearing dulled, nearly gone entirely.
The moment Milo could see the vague outline of a shark head towards the creature that was dragging him downward, he dismissed the Dreamer's Hope. The tendril was still wrapped around him, however there was no tug on his leg or chest. He continued up.
His swimming was weaker, the prosthetic carrying most of his weight. He heard more screeches, this time much more powerful. An echo reverberated in his very brain, he felt his vision going black, yet his body was still moving. Then Milo felt relief, his hand was no longer surrounded by water.
Milo started swimming, he had no idea where he was going or where he would end up. It didn't matter, he just needed to reach a surface to relax on quickly. He had no idea how hard he had pushed his injured leg. Considering the fact it was hard to keep it moving, the muscles in there and had likely been injured much worse then Milo had thought.
Milo kept swimming, his head felt heavy. His brain felt like turning off and resting. His body was weighted, attempting to sink him back down into that dark sea.
Yet he kept swimming, he needed to live... most of the reasons why were already gone, but he still had one hope left, one connection to cling too... Creation, he needed to live to create. To build and forge and create something truly magnificent.
Until then, he could not die. Until then, he must survive. He wrapped his hope around that thought as he swam. He swam and swam, even when his left leg refused to move entirely, he continued swimming. Even when he heard something following under him, he continued swimming. He swam through the darkness until the sun came up and he could see he was nowhere near anything.
The sun was coming, and with the sun came the sea being sucked up. Milo felt the water lower, he saw a limb of red stick out. A piece of coral, it was nearby, he swam towards it. The sea was receding faster and faster. It pulled him away, his prosthetic transformed reaching long and wide with multiple sharp points to stick to the coral.
Milo was being pulled with the receding sea. His prosthetic barely keeping him in place. The strength of the pull was ten times worse then the strange ghostly apparition pulling him into the depths of the lightless sea.
However, Milo was lucky, his prosthetic had saved him. Eventually, he was dangling from the piece of coral. It was difficult to descend from the coral with a tired body and badly injured leg. Now that he could see clearly, he realized just how long and far he had swam. That same massive coral pillar he had seen days ago was now closer then ever, likely only a kilometer walk away.
So Milo began walking, and walking was a strong word. It was more like he was hopping and limping his way towards the winding coral structure. At some point, he fell, and at the same time, he heard something nearby.
"This isn't the best."
Milo had to admit, this was looking dire... very dire. Every single bad thing that could happen to him was happening to him. He stood up by supporting himself on a piece of coral. He then let his prosthetic change into a blade. Milo got into the best combat stance he could. The Dreamer's Hope summoned on his right hand.
The thing was getting closer, the footsteps were heavy and weighted. It sounded like plate armor made of stone. Milo quickly changed the form of the blade into a flanged mace.
The thing was right around the corner of a large cluster of coral, and it stopped right there.
Milo held his breath in anticipation. Just what was he going to have to kill today?
Milo then saw a red glint through the haze of crimson coral. The glint widened, and something burst through the coral.
It was a knight, fully adorned in heavy armor. The armor itself was stone black in color and didn't show a hint of skin on the knight. All the crevices or seams were covered. They wore a helmet with two small slits that served as eyeholes.
The Nightmare Creature froze, and the helmet disappeared, revealing...
"Eva?" Milo asked, a mixture of relief and shock.
"Milo? Holy shit... you're alive." Eva then looked over Milo, noticing his grim state and muttered. "Barely."
Eva rushed over and caught Milo as he stepped forward, nearly collapsing from the pain.
"I got you. I got you, just don't pass out on me"
Milo let out a shallow breath, the best thing he had to a laugh. "I won't. I think, I've lost a lot of blood already, I feel very sleepy. Just take me someplace nice, I don't think I'll die... I can't either way but I would air on the side of caution."
Milo and Eva made their way towards the nearby pillar. Milo wasn't amiss to notice the two satchels Eva had on her. She seemed to have found food, now some water would be great as well.
Eventually, they reached that winding coral. Milo began climbing, his prosthetic helping a ton. It was slow ascent. Eva had joined him, but not before looking around at the bottom, she seemed scared.
Milo hadn't bothered to mention if before, but he always found the way she seemed so inexperienced a little strange. Sure, even if she was a spoiled homeschool legacy... wasn't she way too nervous?
She might've already received an Echo, or multiple convenient memories that could increase her survivability. So why was she shaking so much? What made her afraid? Why was this nepo legacy so terrified?
Milo was curious, very curious. He had to remain curious and not suspicious. If he became suspicious? Well he could kiss goodbye to ever getting around to ask that question.
So, as soon as Eva reached the top, shortly after Milo did, he asked.
"Eva, tell me something... are you really a legacy?"
Eva looked at Milo with a bit of shock... then she seemed to become anxious. Milo smiled, this is exactly what he was looking for.
"Don't tell me... are you a delinquent?"
Eva froze, a hint of relief occurring on her face before she seemed to act like she had been caught.
"Yep, you got me... I skipped school, I got scolded by my parents, I never learned properly. I only attended school once a month."
Milo then tilted his head. "Really, tell me, have you ever been to correctional facility then? I'm sure as a delinquent you must've been up to a lot of crime right?"
Eva vehemently shook her head. "N-no, I'm not a delinquent, not a criminal. I didn't commit any crimes."
Milo smiled softly. "Really? Ahh, that's a shame, because if you skip school for more then a week without a reason, you go to a correctional facility. Yet you didn't? You must've been really good at avoiding the police if they couldn't get you. You wouldn't lie to me right? You might as well tell me your true background now, spit it out already. I'm dying of curiosity." Milo was lying, there was no rule like that.
'I'm very curious now... so very curious.' Milo maintained his curious emotion, what had she really been up too? He wasn't suspicious, not one bit. After all, if she ulterior or nefarious motives she would've just threatened or killed him.
Eva seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "You said you can't feel negative emotions, right?"
Milo nodded. "That's right, I don't see how that's relevant however."
Eva contemplated, bringing her hands to her temple. Then she rubbed her hair.
"Does that include suspicion or hostility?"
Milo nodded again. "It depends on what you count as hostility, after all, if someone attacks me or poses a threat to me, everything I feel or do is done out of self defense... is that all?"
Eva didn't answer, however seemed to calm down a bit, however she was clearly still anxiety ridden. Noticing he was looking at her face, she summoned the helmet. Then she responded.
"Alright, I'll tell you. Just let me go scavenge some materials to patch up that wound of yours and to make a fire before it gets dark out." Eva reached the edge of the coral flooring they had. Her leg seemed especially twitchy.
"Alright~ but as soon as you get back you'll tell me right?"
"I will." Eva said as she began her descent. Milo yelled out from above.
"Don't think I didn't see you cross your fingers, tell me or I'll seriously consider dying on you."
Eva was already out of view, but Milo was sure that rattled her.
***
Eva returned around an hour later. Milo had sculpted a rather nice looking hotel with his forging skills. It was pretty nice practice to get down specific details on such small surfaces.
At this point, the red sun was high above the sky, creating a rather morbid mood.
Eva began a fire, and bandaged Milo wounds. After that, she sat down next to the fire. She didn't bother dismissing her helmet.
'She wants to hide her face.'
"I-I'm... goddammit." Her voice was faltering, she was scared, terrified even.
"Take all the time you need. After all, I can't feel suspicion."
Eva didn't respond. She seemed rooted in place, like if she breathed she would die. Milo became surprised as Eva's shoulders began to shake, and sobs echoed from out of her helmet.
"Hey, what happened? Are you okay? Did something rattle you down there?" Milo asked, he began to approach her slowly.
Eva couldn't answer. She was trying to breathe, but all that came out were more sobs. Milo felt reminded of something... it had been quite a while since he felt this? What was this feeling, this overwhelming build up in chest that wanted to be released? So many emotions were like that, a buildup... it was hard to put a finger on which was which when they barely appeared for mere moments before disappearing.
Milo stayed still. What was he supposed to feel in this situation? He was sure it was something he had felt before, like when he made his sister and cry and got scolded by his parents. Or when he had been caught cheating off a classmate on a history test...
'I forgot'
He remembered the name clearly, it was guilt. Yet he forgot the feeling of guilt... even in his memories it seemed so foreign and unreal. He couldn't relive those memories properly. They felt so wrong without that emotion, like why even remember them? Why were they tied so deeply to his core?
Milo shook his head. His Innate Ability crushed those negative thoughts, and so he pressed forward. "Eva, I can't help if you don't tell me what made you like this."
He squatted behind Eva and placed a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what else to offer, he had already told her everything that could comfort her. He wouldn't be suspicious of her so long as she meant no harm... unless that meant the secret would reveal her intent to harm him.
To his left, his prosthetic began to subtly shift into a blade, slowly.
Eva leaned into his touch. "I c-cant do this. I don't belong here! I want to go home, not to NQSC, but home! To my real home!" Eva continued to sob, her shaking worsened.
"I didn't ask for any of this! To be ripped from my home, my universe, just to be put in this godforsaken death trap! I wanted to graduate, play games with my friends, and become an engineer. Now I'm stuck here and I don't even know if I'll ever go back!" Eva's voice was choking.
Eva's breathing was shallow, it was like she was suffocating. Maybe she was "You know how suffocating it is to play a character you can't even maintain? I felt so relieved to finally make a friend out of you. I could show emotion around you. I didn't feel alone... I had almost forgotten where I was. This entire screwed up world is ruthless! How can I survive here? Let alone thrive!? Nether, that stupid Daemon! I hate it here!"
Milo retracted his arm, backing up from Eva, this seemed like something he couldn't comfort her in. His curiosity had been resolved, so she seemed to be from another world, how entertaining. He should ask if there is anything there he could replicate in terms of forging. Eva seemed dazed by the fleeting comfort.
"Milo, I'm begging you. Whatever you do, d-don't let me die. Please don't let me die. I don't want to die. I'll help you in anyway I can, do anything you ask perfectly, I'll help evolve your Aspect-"
"No."
"W-what?"
"I won't let you evolve my Aspect."
Milo was vehemently against it! So much so that this feeling building in his chest wasn't being removed by his Innate Ability... this disgust at the mere idea of changing his Aspect. He was a forger, a creator! Who cared about an improved Aspect? He already had everything he wanted and needed here. He just needed to create more.
"I'll help you survive, but I won't change my Aspect."
"B-but."
"No buts, I won't change my Aspect."
"A-alright... just don't let me die..." Eva finally found a steady breath, she inhaled and exhaled slowly. "I was so tired of being stoic."
Milo shrugged. "Well, I can't exactly relate to that feeling, but there's no need to be stoic around me. I can't even judge you after all."
Eva couldn't even bother to respond, she simply laid on her back, recovering from the breakdown she just had. "I have some food in one of the satchel's, please cook them." Eva asked softly, and Milo complied.
This was a useful asset now. There was so much he could learn from her. What could attempt to replicate from her world She mentioned becoming an engineer, so she must've been knowledgeable on something, right?
'This is too much... I can't hide my grin.' Milo faced away from Eva. Attempting to quell the flame in his heart by creating different structures out of coral.