Chapter 53 - Facing the Nightmare (Part 1)

Looking through the forest that was only illuminated by the serene rays of the two moons resting atop the clear night sky, a female figure could be seen, as she was making her way through the dense foliage.

The only sounds were the snarls and hoots of the various predators that were out on their nightly escapades in the distance. The figure, Lily, was walking towards the flickering light she saw when she 'arrived' at this place.

While she didn't know where she exactly was, she had this feeling that at some point in her life, she was once here. She didn't know it, she just felt it. When she first looked around, although she couldn't recognize the place, her heart started aching as if a long-forgotten needle pierced an already sutured scar.

Still, as she wasn't a little kid anymore, she didn't crumble and she wasn't crying on the ground as she would have a few years ago, but calmly, relying on the methods she learned from her dear brother, Aiden, she looked around to examine and analyze her surroundings. One of the first things he taught her was to always have a clear head when you are at unknown locations and check your surroundings. 'Find your bearings, and use everything to your advantage.' He used to say. It was thanks to that she noticed the light source in the first place.

With nothing else to go on, she decided to go and investigate it. She wasn't sure what this test was about, but she understood that this place must have some relevance to her past, present, or maybe even her future.

'As long as I have my brother, nothing can hurt me. I can face whatever challenge that woman throws at me!' she exclaimed inwardly.

As she was getting closer, the outskirts of a village emerged on the horizon. A village that she wasn't that caused Lily to remember back to her old home. These were unpleasant memories, stuff that was best left forgotten. This was the elven village where she had to live on the outskirts alone, with her mother.

A small tear formed in the corner of her eyes, and with her fists balled, she continued her steps. She will not falter, she will push on. She now had someone to rely on...

---

'My previous life? What do you mean?' asked Aiden, confused.

[It is something that you have forgotten. You had some faint memory of it when you arrived, however because of you using the power provided by the Almighty Ioris, it brought a backlash on your soul and as a result, these memories were locked away on the deep recesses of your subconscious. This situation could actually be a blessing in disguise. It could help you trigger you to recover more and regain some more important details.]

'Important details? Like what for example?' Asked Aiden.

Enya however didn't elaborate on this any further.

[Aiden instead of sitting around all morning, wake up and start gathering information. You have a trial to complete as well as a quest to complete. You don't have time to waste.]

��Sure, just change the topic when it is no longer convenient for you… So typical!' He grumbled. However, he still followed her advice and stood up while he also opened up his eyes.

Giving it a once-over, his eyes rested on the picture one last time, then he made his way towards the closed white wooden door, that separated this small den from the rest of the household. As he had no idea what to expect, he was ready to jump into combat in a moments' notice and was also using his [Dark Sense] to its maximum efficiency.

Unfortunately, the skill couldn't penetrate the closed door for some reason, so unless he himself experienced the 'outside world', he wouldn't get additional information.

Pushing down the handle and opening the door, a large living room greeted him. There was a large couch placed next to the eastern wall and a table in front of it in the middle. On the other side, there were various electronics that Aiden wasn't familiar with. One of them even showed pictures, scenes of people interacting, and fighting.

The middle-aged man that he saw on the photo was slumped on the couch and was currently leisurely watching the screen. He either didn't notice Aiden leaving his room, or he didn't care about it in the slightest.

Not sure how to handle this situation, Aiden was puzzled. Looking at the lazy bum on the couch, he felt that he knew this man. Connecting the clues from Enya and the picture, Aiden took a big leap and while internally screaming in trepidation, tried to speak as calmly as he could.

"F-father?"

The man turned his head towards Aiden, but after a few moments, his focus went back to the screen in front of him. He still hasn't said a word, nor did he greet the boy.

"Good Morn-"

Aiden continued and wanted to greet the man himself but was cut short as he waved his hands and rudely spoke a few words.

"Shut it brat. Go to the kitchen to your mother, don't bother me."

Aiden was stunned by this reply. The situation was confusing, to say the least. In fact, he was so confused, that he mindlessly waved the system's notifications away. Feeling lost and not sure what to do, in the end, he followed the man's rude advice, and took the door to his right and followed a small corridor that ended with 2 rooms both on his left. Checking the first door it opened to a modern bathroom, so Aiden quickly made his way towards the second one.

The second room didn't have a door but just a few scraps of cloth were dangling, doing a lousy job as a separator. This room was obviously a kitchen, although Aiden couldn't recognize most of the equipment that was placed here.

There was also a middle-aged wavy brown-haired woman working in front of a stove in regular clothing and was also wearing an apron. Just like the man before she also didn't even look at the arrival. She kept on focusing on the contents of the pot in front of her.

"Mother. Good Morning!" Aiden started the conversation.

The woman looked at him with a stern face and then motioned for him to sit at the table. Without any other alternative, Aiden decided to follow the events for now and sat at the table as he was ordered.

When Aiden finally took his seat, the woman placed a plate in front of him with some scrambled eggs. She also gave him a glass of milk, and without saying anything she went back to the stove not bothering Aiden the slightest.

'What is happening here? Why are they both so cold towards me? Did I do something to earn their ire?' Thought Aiden as he was mindlessly digesting breakfast. As he expected the food did not provide any energy to him, but they did have a familiar taste. Everything he experienced so far just confused him. Everything was alien, but at the same time, everything had this faint sense of familiarity in it. He understood that everything he experienced should be from his memory, but at the same time.

His brain was working in overdrive trying to process everything, every information he received. He was so overwhelmed that he didn't even check the notifications the system was showering him with.

---

Carefully sneaking around the outskirts of the village, Lily made her way towards the eastern side. More specifically she made her way towards a small cottage at the very outskirts and was currently standing in front of the door, unsure what to do. This was her first home, where she spent the first 8 years of her life with her mother.

Thinking back, those 8 years should have been miserable, as being born a half-blood, she was basically an outcast. The residents while didn't exile them, did not welcome them either. She had no friends, nobody to play with. Because of her, her mother also received the same rough treatment and had a hard time to even get the stuff that was absolutely necessary for their daily lives.

However, even with all the troubles, they lived a happy life. They had each other. Lily stayed at home, and when her mother was back from her trips, she always played with her. Despite everything, they lived a simple, happy life.

All changed during that fateful night. Bad guys came and robbed them of this slice of life. Lily never really understood who those people were, and what they had against them, they just suddenly appeared and started killing everyone. Old, weak, woman, child none of that mattered to them. They weren't even trying to take slaves, they were mercilessly wreaking havoc.

Lily was reminiscing the past and was about to knock on the door when suddenly she heard screams towards the center.

Madelaine, Lily's mother was on her way back from her usual trip gathering the fruits and veggies for dinner when she heard the commotion. Screams echoed in the evening, accompanied by blood-curdling sounds.

Immediately understanding what was going on, she rushed home. She didn't know how much time she had, but she was sure that the invaders will soon get to them. Luckily, they didn't cover all exits and instead were making their way towards the center from the south and west. If she is fast enough, she should be able to escape through the east exit and be safe.

Arriving closer to her house, she saw a young girl, vaguely familiar standing in front of their home. She stopped a few steps away from the girl. Madelaine looked at Lily who had tears in her eyes and asked.

"Who are you, and what do you want? Why are you standing in front of our house?"