Noah

“Ugh…” I groaned, slowly pressing my palm to my temple as it began to throb. Fuck… it feels like someone just got done playing hopscotch on my skull.

I brought my other hand up and grew confused when I heard something rattle.

My heart about stopped when I noticed what was responsible. A chain, one binding me to a table.

Wait, where in the Goddamn am I? Some sort of meadow?

White dandelions engulfed nearly every inch of the lush green grass, their petals glittering as the wind carried a group of them away. A massive yellow moon hung above, the sparse clouds accompanying it allowing small flakes of snow to jump down.

An aged brown dinner table coated in dust sat before me, claw marks denigrating its body. Cracked blue and silver plates were laid out with rotting foods on each, flies plaguing their withered husks.

The amount of food… It’s like a feast was just waiting to happen. Fruits, meats, desserts, everything was here except it was moldy and spoiled—even a vase of decayed flowers rested in the center.

Doves were spread out around the field. Hundreds all aimed toward the sky, each frozen mid-flight, as if they were paused.

The table came off as big enough for multiple families, but only two chairs were present—my own and one on the other end seating a girl.

A girl, staring off into the sky, chin propped up via her arm.

How did I get here? Wasn’t I just looking for... Shit, that’s right. I got locked in some room while Gael and I were searching for Ethan. But when did I pass out? All I remember is something smelling like citrus, and that was that.

I looked back at that girl, hesitancy chaining my words inside my lungs. 

She’s not paying me any mind, but she’s likely the reason I’m stuck here, seeing as I can’t find any restraints on her.

But if I passed out, then wouldn’t this be a dream?

I pulled at my rusty restraint, its cold body scraping me like freshly sharpened knives.

Shit, that’s honestly too realistic. If I had to bet, I might just go with this being reality. My dreams were never once this vivid.

Should I say something? But what if… You know what? Screw it; I’ll ask her straight out. She’ll notice I’m awake soon enough.

“You the reason I’m chained to a table?” I spoke up, a chain’s jingle appending me.

An empty smile came over her as she finally looked at me, nodding, her curly brunette hair bobbing with her head.

“You’re rather calm?” She cocked an eyebrow, her bloodshot blue eyes meeting my own. Ermh… Green eyes, I mean grey? Brown? How are they changing? “This isn’t a dream, you know?” She forced a laugh, exhaustion lurking behind her words.

“I’m kinda doubtful it is,” I replied, my voice unwavering as I studied my restraint. “It’s too realistic. You wanna tell me why I’m here?” There’s no keyhole? In that case, maybe I can break it?

“My,” she shook her head, wiping at her eyes. “You’re certainly an interesting reaction. No panic or anything. Just a person resigned to their fate.” She paused for a second as she slowly dragged her nails across the table, peeling away at some of its paint.

“Panicking never got me anywhere,” I responded, scanning the table for anything I could use as a weapon if it came down to it. Nothing’s looking promising. At best, a rusted steak knife that looks ready to snap if I just look at it wrong. “You gonna answer my question?”

“It isn’t necessary,” she began, tapping her fingers against the table, wincing each time they made contact. “We both know why you’re here.” She beamed, a gust of frigid wind rushing past us as a swarm of flies attacked a cluster of apples. “You’re looking for your friend, aren’t you?”

I almost didn’t feel myself move. In the blink of an eye, I was standing, on the verge of shouting, “You mean Ethan, right? Do you know where he is? He’s not hurt, is he? I swear to God if you’ve hurt him in any way.” I rocketed off questions at a thousand miles an hour.

Shaking her head, she suppressed a giggle as she motioned for me to chill, “so much for that calm demeanor. Relax. I haven’t hurt your friend in any way, shape, or form. Quite the contrary, in fact.” Does she mean she help-no. She could be lying.

The chain groaned as I yanked at it with all my strength, commanding, “then show me. You're full of shit until you do.”

“That’s fair.” She sighed, slowly interlacing her fingers to reveal her cracked nails. “I have a proposition then. If you partake in a little game of mine, I’ll answer your questions and even relieve you of your chains. Winning isn’t necessary either.” Her smile grew wider. “Is that fine, Noah?” She cooed.

How does she know my name? I like to think I’d remember someone whose eyes change color like it’s a damn rave. Maybe... no. Focus, I have to focus. Let’s get Ethan back. That’s all that matters right now.

I barely hesitated. I didn’t have much choice, to begin with. Even if she’s lying, this is my best chance.

I nodded, “deal.”

- - - -

Aria

“Close… that was close.” I heaved, scanning the trees ahead for any further hostiles. Radiant orange flowers lined the snow-packed soil, shredding every inch of shadow to nothing.

“Nothing?” I let out a sigh of relief, leaning on a tree as I caught my breath. I’m pretty sure that thing grazed my leg on the way up, and… ugh, no, thank you. My skin’s crawling, just recalling that feeling. It felt like wet sandpaper with missing patches.

An ear-piercing creak rang out from behind me, causing my stomach to churn. With a reluctant deep breath, I turned around as I slowly backed away.

“What the heck?” I whispered when I noticed it. A hand was poked out from under the hatch, fervently trying to grab for something... or someone.

It stopped mere seconds after it realized I was watching, a whimper vacating my quivering lips.

 Just give up on me; I didn’t take your stupid dagger. There should be no reason to pursue me anymore.

In nerve-wracking silence, it raised its hand and snapped its fingers, gesturing for me to come back. The snap echoed, but its sound was nothing like it should be.

A sob echoed in its place, one that seemed to somehow know it would fall on deaf ears.

“No!” I yelped as fear ran through me like a sword, my body being yanked forward. The torch was ripped from my hands as I reached after it, desperate to keep it from the snow’s glacial clutches.

My finger clipped the flaming stick, failing to secure my salvation as it landed headfirst into the ground. It went out, and with it, my heart sank into my stomach.

I turned around and felt chills overtake me when I noticed what was happening.

That creature, it’s stealing the light.

Time slowed to a crawl as the plants were robbed of their hue. It was like the plants were being constricted with darkness. They tried to break out of their shadowed confines, but not a single one succeeded. Any that came close were promptly smothered in a fresh sheet of shade.

In seconds I was adrift in a sea of dark. One that the now solitary moonlight kept me floating above.

The moon’s breath was scant, it being hindered by a thick canopy of trees. What little that seeped through carved the silhouettes of trees out of the infinite dark.

A familiar deep sigh shattered the veil of newfound silence. Only this time, it sounded disappointed... upset even, like a person on the brink of tears.

What followed was the sound of that hatch slamming shut, a series of soft somber sobs ensuing. Ones that appeared to only grow closer with each fleeting second.

I didn’t dare linger. With panic feasting on my composure, I bolted into the umbral forest, praying I wouldn’t get lost.

- - - - 

I hadn’t the slightest clue as to how long I was running. All I knew was that my lungs were about to burst from exhaustion, and my legs were practically jelly.

I almost tripped and ran into a few trees, but I managed to get by without injury.

If that thing was following me, it was doing so in such silence that me hearing it was a lost cause. All I heard were the occasional rings of something unknown.

Thankfully, the further I got from that hatch, the more luminous plants I found. They were different from those flowers earlier, but the constant trend was the light being emitted.

The trees were a special kind of strange. The branches hung relatively low, offering me a view of their snow-laden leaves. Most of them had some outcrop, one oddly akin to a spiral staircase, that extended until it was hidden within its leaves.

Glowing purple crystals matted parts of the ghostly white tree bark, causing each tree to do more than just “stand out.” They all emitted a mist that practically poured onto the ground, helping to obscure the forest floor with a dense fog. 

Luminous pink mushrooms and reflective rime blue moss painted most of the snowy soil. The mushrooms featured the appearance of a darkened bullseye, one that appeared to follow your gaze as the fungi sunk inward like they were breathing.

And to top it all off, a green, semi-transparent, almost seaweed-like plant protruded from the ground. Their weeds slowly wafted around, giving them the illusion that they were underwater.

But more importantly, I appeared to be alone, minus the steadfast ringing. I didn't even see any animals.

“Oh, thank God,” I panted as I leaned into a tree, sliding down to its base. “That’s enough running for about a month.”

“Wait…” I thought when I noticed an object swaying with the frigid winds. It’s hard to make out, but is that a bell just outside my cone of light? A bell that emitted a series of multi-colored specs from its body, akin to if they were shaking off a coat of iridescent snow. Was that actually the source of the ringing this whole time? 

Out of caution, I peered into the branches of the other, higher trees, barely discerning the darkened silhouettes of bells up above. I wasn’t being followed? The trees just have bells on them for some reason.

So that's why this place is called the resonant forest? I wasn’t expecting something so… literal.

I didn’t bother moving after my discovery. I just fully embraced my exhaustion.

I retrieved that black book and popped it open to an oddly ordinary book? There’s no fire?

“Wait, what?” I mumbled in confusion when it registered.

Fresh black ink glared back at me. Black ink that read:

The one who grieved, mourning for the morning that never came.

Someone wrote in this? That wasn’t there earlier. The ink hasn’t even dried...

The way it’s phrased… Is it referencing a nightmare?

The book sparked back to life, causing me to jump in surprise. The text was still there, now seemingly a permanent fixture.  I guess I'll worry about it later.

Hushing my anxieties with a deep breath, I directed the book to the layers tab once again. I tapped on Vanith, hoping to wring a few more droplets of information from this thing.

The page burned away, revealing a litany of new information.

Vanith, the union of beauty and purity.

Nightmarish Skills: Unusable for they reek of the corrupted... the impure.

Creatures Encountered: None

Vegetation Discovered:

Tornado Tree

Bullseye Spore

Crystalized Chredorne

Dultha Weed

I began skimming the plants for anything helpful, thoroughly inspecting each recorded plant. Thankfully, the plants I'd discovered weren't harmful. To the contrary, I learned that tornado trees actually stored water.

According to this, it's incredibly bitter, but very much drinkable. Bullseye spores on the other hand were safe to eat, but release a potent hallucinogen when harvested improperly so I'll have to be careful.

As for Crysta-

“Hey, thanks for coming out here.” Someone sighed, their voice distinctly gruff and masculine. “You make a better distraction than I give you credit for.”

I shot my gaze up in surprise as my eyes were torn from the book's stare. Was that a person? And one speaking English at that?

“Wait, what?” I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the “people” mere feet from me. The “bell snow” was coalescing in certain spots, forming the shapes of people?

Their details were a luxury I wasn’t afforded. They were two silhouettes with a yellow and magenta chalk outline to their bodies. Their insides, like staring into the vastness of space. That was it, nothing more was offered.

“Cut the small talk,” Magenta responded, inching toward Yellow. His voice was softer than his acquaintance but still boyish. “You already know why I'm here.”

“Wow,” Yellow replied with a hollow laugh as he attached something to a tree branch. “We’re down to business already? That’s unlike you.”

“What can I say? I’m feeling business savvy today.” Magenta shrugged as he drew a chalk-bodied sword. “You doin this or what?”

“I suppose so.” Yellow shook his head as the tree branch snapped upward, just out of his reach. “A deal’s a deal.”

Magenta didn’t respond. Instead, he dropped his sword to the ground, it dispersing in a flurry of magenta sparkles.

Sniffling, Magenta wiped at his face, “I-i… I never thought I’d hear you say that, Julian.”

Turning to face him, Julian cocked his head to the side, mumbling, “Are you… crying right now?”

In silence, Magenta rushed forward and yanked Julian to his feet, holding back tears as he excitedly yelled, “You bet, buddy!” He let out a jubilant giggle as he pulled Julian after him. “Let’s go kick my ass, pal! I’ve been waiting a good three years to fight you again!”

“Would you let go, you bellend!” Protested Julian, attempting to dig his heels into the ground. “How are you this happy about me fighting you?!”

“Don’t you dare kill this for me!” Magenta hissed with the ferocity of a feral animal. “Now, where would you like to fight? I’m thinking we have Ulla pull us into her veil and start tearing some shit up! Any objections?”

With a defeated sigh, Julian muttered as he was pulled after his friend, “yeah. Literally everything about that.”

Their voices grew distant as they froze in place. Shortly after, their bodies blew up in a puff of shimmering yellow and magenta dust. Like someone decided to clap some blackboard erasers together.

“Do all the bells do that?” I said aloud, taking a few steps back as their image dissipated with the bell’s parting ring.

I trudged over to the branch Julian was screwing with, barely discerning a bell shape within the dark. Pulsating yellow text slashed through the shade, reading:

Rest easy, old man. I got it from here. I… We love you. Thanks for everything. Sorry, it took so long to hang this.

“Oh,” I whispered, backing away as the text faded into oblivion.

I'll pass on messing with it. It’s clearly a memorial of sorts. The last thing I need is to anger some locals by messing with their dead.

I wonder how many objects are in this forest then. Based on what I can see from here, at least dozens, and that’s just in this area. Do they all serve the same purpose?

I turned and jogged away, electing to test my skills next. I need to find a clearing. If I can use skills like Inverse Arrow without a weapon, having breathing room is a must since I’m not trying to headshot myself.

Besides, light should be plentiful there too. The moon’s shining in this forest, but the trees are blocking it out for the most part. Unfortunately, clouds look to be moving in slowly, so that may not last. Worst case scenario, I spend a night under some glowing plants.

“I hope they got out okay,” I whispered as I trotted by a set of green and blue apparitions. I glanced back at them, taking in their fleeting image. Blue was on the ground, laying in a way that implied injuries, while Green did their best to keep them comfortable.

Their image didn’t last. In seconds, they scattered into more of that glimmering dust.

This forest was a calm nearly on par with Sanctum. I was expecting danger at roughly every turn.

But no, the forest serenaded my anxieties with its song-like ambiance. Animals were even starting to join in, their cries so alien I couldn’t hope to decipher as to what they were. All I noticed were the outlines of small creatures leaping from branch to branch.

The bells, minus the first set, didn’t offer me much in the way of information. All I got were goodbyes, some heartfelt, and others an anger I could nearly feel.

I got some knowledge on Ulla, though. Apparently, she can pull you into a veil? I pray there’s a way of knowing that ahead of time, if at all.

I guess I’ll find out eventually. I’m not naive enough to think I can avoid every creature I stumble upon. I’m just praying I’m not alone when that moment comes. Maybe I can leverage my healing to get into a group at some point.

 I kept up my ambient-filled jog, paying no further mind to those apparitions. I pressed on until I found a clearing, one that ensnared my eyesight with its grace.

“Woah,” I let out a breath lathered in pure awe. This place is gorgeous. Are the other layers even half as beautiful as Vanith?

The lighting is phenomenal. It’s bouncing off the snow just enough to almost shimmer.

I proceeded into the clearing and felt my mouth turn to sand when I peered upward. The sky, more specifically, what appeared to be the moon. A swirling mass of stars rested behind the celestial entity, swelling outward in a way that almost makes it look like a giant eye. The few stars, not churning around it, remained on the outskirts, slowly twinkling.

“At least I have light?” I suggested, attempting to see the positives in all of this. I swear if that actually blinks, I’m gonna lose it…

Untrodden snow surrounded me for hundreds of feet, a glistening frozen pond in the center of it all. The same mushrooms and translucent seaweed painted the rocks. Crystals dotted the edge, each reflecting a vibrant violet hue.

I took a seat by the pond, deciding to start with Nurture’s skills. I can’t see a way of getting through this unscathed, so healing myself is a necessity. Hopefully, skills aren’t too complex to figure out.

Skepticism took hold as I held my hand up, uttering, “mend?” Cliches aside, it’s worth a shot.

Nothing? Not a flash, some glowing object? An auditory confirmation? Did it even work? Can I heal myself if I’m not wounded?

“I guess I can attempt healing later then,” I murmured, trees rustling in the wind.

Reaching toward the treeline, I instead imagined what activating Raze would do. Theoretically, my nails should count as a slash-based weapon.

Unlike the first time, my hands grew hot. Mild pain bled into them like they were wrapped in barbed wire. They stayed at a bearable level, but something in the back of my mind whispered of the potential they held. The ability to grow into a raging inferno of crimson.

I glanced down and felt the fires of hope singe me. The fingertips of my gloves, they had a blood-red aura to them. They were almost steaming, causing the runoff to dissipate with the breeze.

“Cool,” I muttered, eyes widening in awe. The skill specified a “stack” of bleed, so hopefully, I can apply them to the same target.

I waved my hand around, observing as the aura seemed to spread like a small fire. It stayed confined to just outside of my hand, but it was fascinating to watch.

“R-right, next skill,” I shook myself out of my encroaching stupor.

I dispelled Raze and moved onto my final set of abilities: Duality. Inverse Arrow never actually said that I needed a weapon. And seeing that Raze can be used on my nails, this may just work. 

I elected to skip over flipping skills. It specified that it only works on other people. The possibilities I’d have if I could use it on myself…

Focusing, I reached forward and allowed my mind to paint a mental image of my goals.

When I went to move my hands, a different sensation blessed them. One that felt like thread... as if I was touching the seams of reality itself. It sung of what I could achieve. It was almost begging me to press on and begin weaving my own fate.

I drew a finger back ever so slightly, taking a cosmic blue string along with it.

“It feels so… real.” I thought, comparing the string’s rough texture to the one time I’ve shot a bow. I can genuinely feel the tension as if the cord belonged to an actual bow.

A sparkling blue arrow in the treeline announced itself, one wholly focused on me. The sight caused me to grow nervous, but I refused to let it deter me.

Composing myself, I brought the string to its apex and let the arrow fly as I went to move. The string burst into what I could only describe as some sort of stardust as the arrow tore off.

I wasn’t given a fraction of a chance. Before I could react properly, I felt the wind from the arrow brush me by. That nearly took off my head...

“H-holy…” I sputtered, glancing back at the arrow now sunk into a nearby tree. That had to be as fast as a bullet. What kind of arrow flies like that?!

“N-note to self,” I stammered as I staggered over to one of the many pond-side rocks. Do not use that skill unless my life depends on it. With how quick that thing moves, I’m just as liable to kill myself before anything else.

At least I can use it as a last resort in case something corners me. I doubt most things are prepared for an arrow to the back of the head.

“Oh, who am I kidding?” I sulked, pulling my knees to my chest as my eyes began to wander in the snow. “I'm screwed.”

I know I’m supposed to reach the bottom of Alceria, but to say I’m pessimistic about the current state of my affairs is the understatement of the century.

I don’t know how many layers there are. I don’t know what awaits me. I haven’t the slightest idea what I should do to even go down a layer.

That thing I encountered earlier basically executed my optimism right in front of me. What if I actually have to fight something like that?

I’ve never been good at defending myself against people, let alone actual tangible monsters. Growing up, I defended myself so poorly I could’ve doubled as a doormat.

“Am I gonna die in this place?” The lone question wandered through my mind. Should I write something just in case? Would it even matter? No one I know is here, so it’s not going to get back to them.

“Guess that’s a plus after all.” A dry smile marked my face. If my friends were here, they’d be in danger too. I just hope no one worries themselves into an early grave over my disappearance.

And yeah, I said to stay positive, but after seeing what I’m pitted against… I’m just not sure anymore. My skills aren’t nearly enough to keep me going on their own. It’s not like I have some magical ace up my sleeve that could tear the very essence of reality asunder.

“I wish,” I let out a sigh as my chin came to a rest on my knees. I never thought I’d be begging for an easy mode in anything, even tangentially related to a game.

I shifted around a bit to get one last look at the pond. Anything to try and pull me out of the ocean of despondency flooding my mind.

“Huh?” Was all I could muster when my eyes noticed what lurked beneath the ice.

Is... is that a hand?

Dely

I have no idea why this took so long to write. I'd claim writer's block, but that's not entirely accurate. I'd like to have the next chapter out in a week, but I can't promise that one. I'm just gonna go play Fallout 2 or something and try an write chapter 7. So see you next week... maybe. Hopefully, this chapter wasn't terrible. And just *insert obligatory remark pertaining to being shouted at about typos here*