The Awakened Warriors of Bastion looked at the women with strange expressions on their faces. Typically, the mundane people wanted to hear about the strange tales of what they had seen and done, not about a single awakened in particular.
Nonetheless, they decided to indulge her in the strange request, as far as they were concerned, at worst, Damian would get his first mundane admirer, maybe this was what he was missing to return to the waking world, for all they knew.
"Let's see, well, first there is his appearance. He is tall, has dark bushy hair and is built like an actual bear. We've joked that he is actually a lost cub from the bears around Bastion, and that's why he can't return."
Another one chimed in as the other chucked at his own joke,
"We also can't forget about his eyes. I swear they are the most unnatural honeyish colour you've ever seen! The strangest part? He claims they were like that before his first nightmare! Unbelievable."
The next man continued on saying,
"Then there's his personality. At a glance, you would think he would be all tough and scary, but he is actually a very nice and genuine guy when you get to know him. Hell, he has saved my ass more times than I can count. I owe him my life many times over."
The others nodded as the first guy spoke again, having exhausted his laughter from before,
"We all do. Though his desire for strength has created some interesting impacts on his followers..."
The man from before spoke up with a note of irritation reaching through,
"He was able to do all of those amazing things without even relying on his aspect! Of course, we want to follow in his footsteps. He has managed to achieve great things just from smart use of his memories, which means we can all achieve the greatness he has."
Elizabeth's heart was filled with emotions she couldn't quite describe. The man they talked about sounded like her husband, yet there were many people in the world. For all she knew, it was a massive coincidence, so she asked a simple question.
"What…what is his aspect?"
They looked at her as they all turned to each other with sheepish grins and strange looks,
"Well, to be honest…we are not entirely sure exactly."
"We've been able to figure out that it has something to do with his presence, as before he saved everybody the first time, nobody had really noticed him. Yet we don't know for sure. I personally think it's invisibility, whilst others think it allows him to push through no matter what. At least that's the idea of his dormant ability, at least."
Elizabeth turned her head as she asked them,
"What do you mean by Dormant Ability?"
One of them, still chewing his food, answered,
"Makes sense, you wouldn't know. Each awakened has two or sometimes three abilities. The first is an Innate ability which very few possess and is typically rather passive. The second one is the Dormant Ability, which we received after completing what has become known as the First Nightmare. These are weaker abilities that use very little to no essence to maintain."
She nodded as she listened. She had never heard of an innate ability before, but what they described next sounded just like the abilities Damian and Jasper had received after waking from their horrible nightmares.
"The awakened ability was the one received after we reached and passed through what is known as a Gateway and returned to the Waking world, which is the one we are in right now. Along with some smaller abilities all awakened possess."
That all made sense to Elizabeth. After all, Damian had talked her ear off about his theories and ideas about what the Nightmare Spell was and how it seemed to create trials with results of either greater power or death.
"Since then, we have all learnt to use our new abilities, but Damian is strangely proficient with his new abilities. He gained the ability to become intangible to outside attacks. Do you know how terrifying it is to watch somebody simply walk up to an abomination of a creature and casually kill it as it can do nothing to save itself?"
Before she could answer, another one of them quickly added,
"Even then, despite his uncanny ability to slay abominations with cold indifference, he still looks so…sad. I can't really blame the guy, I'm not sure what he has left for him in this world, but it must be really important to him."
Forgetting what she was about to say, she silently looked down as she twisted the ring on her finger, thinking about the loneliness he must be feeling right now.
One of them nudged the other with their elbow before saying,
"Well, at least he isn't alone in it all. He has Warden…Jest and his girl, whose name I can never say properly, so I won't even try, us on occasion, and most importantly, the other lost. The younger guy who seems to be stuck to his side like glue."
One of the other gave a questioning face before saying,
"Yeah, at least he has…him… what was his name again?"
The others looked around as they began to suggest names to each other,
"Drake? No.
"Josh? No, not quite.
"Jake? No, that's not right."
"Jade?"
"Closer but not there yet."
"Jasper"
Snapping his fingers, one of the Awakened smiled,
"That's right, Jasper, damn, we always forget, it's a shame too, he is always so nice, it's just that he gets overshadowed by…"
The awakened stopped before turning to the woman,
For it was she who knew his name and said it aloud.
They stared with awestruck expressions as they wondered how she could have possibly known that.
They began to question her, but she didn't hear them, as tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke softly to herself,
"You're alive. In another world, but alive. I'm grateful, grateful that you're not alone, both of you."
After a moment of silent tears of joy, she decided to explain herself to them. They knew her husband after all, so it was time they got to know her as well.
She had told them of Damian's and Jasper's journey through the wastes of modern society, and how it ended after they fell asleep, their souls sent to the Dream Realm for all eternity.
The awakened sat around, shocked, their faces full of disbelief.
They knew he had something to return to, but never imagined that it would be someone instead.
After a while, one said, much softer than before,
"I don't know what to say. He never mentioned anything about his marriage before. We just assumed that if he was married before, she…you would have passed on by now, and that's why he never spoke about it.
Another one interjects with a more embarrassed tone,
"Really? I had always assumed that... you know him, and Jasper got together during their time stranded alone together. They always seemed awfully close for strangers who had just met.
After they moved in together, I thought it was all but confirmed, but I guess roommates can just be roommates after all."
After receiving a slap on the back of the head by a fellow awakened, Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh slightly. She knew Damian saw Jasper like a son he never had.
His instincts to protect those around him were strong after all.
Despite this joyful atmosphere, she knew what awaited these men if she didn't do something to help them out. Before, she had always left them to their fate as she knew it was for the sake of her own survival, but this time, she couldn't be idle. They were her only chance to ever communicate with her husband again. Who knew if she would ever meet another who knew of him.
So she decided on a plan, one which could determine her and her daughters' fates, for better or for worse.
The people of her group relied on the element of surprise. If she took that away, the awakened would be able to survive this night.
She looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before she leaned in and said,
"Listen to me, you and your companions are in danger. If you want to survive, follow my advice"
The awakened expressions turned more serious as they leaned in as well, all with a clear question written on their faces.
"The other people I travel with…they are not like others. They do not respect or care for the awakened, quite the opposite, actually."
"Whatever you do, don't sleep, for that is when they plan to kill you all."