Chapter 54 - Facing the Nightmare (Part 2)

Finishing the delicious, but sadly not-so-filling meal, Aiden, looked at the woman, who was still focusing on her cooking. He gulped and then stutteringly spoke.

"T-t-thank you for the breakfast, mother."

Not even bothering to turn around to face him, she curtly replied.

"Wash up and get ready. You are supposed to be going to the Academy soon."

"Yes, mother." Aiden bowed respectfully then turned around and left the kitchen. As he left, the woman looked at the doorframe and shaking her head, she muttered mostly to herself.

"What a disappointment…"

Getting ready was uneventful, and quick, as all the bathroom appliances were familiar to him, just modernized. After he got ready and got dressed in a white shirt crowned with a dark blue tie and blue jeans. He was wearing dark blue uniform trousers and a similarly dark blue colored uniform suit that had the crest of a roaring lion on its chest.

What surprised him was that seemingly his body remembered dressing up properly and tying his tie even without him actively remembering anything. It took a few minutes to finish up, probably more than he should have spent on it, because as he was doing his finishing touches, suddenly there was a knocking on his door.

Shortly after, he heard his mother calling out.

"You will be late, son. Get ready and go to that school already! I'm not going to remind you again."

As she finished, once again without waiting for him to respond, Aiden heard the sound of her receding footsteps.

Sighing, he picked up his bag that was just sitting on the ground between his desk and his bed, he opened the door and looked at his father who was still resting on the couch and watching the screen on the strange device.

"See you, Father, have a nice day." Slightly bowing he respectfully said his goodbyes. As he thought, he has not received any meaningful reaction out of him other than a snort accompanied by a *Hmpf!* and a wave of his hand to signal him to not bother him.

As he went to the kitchen, he repeated this ritual, once again not receiving any response. His mother didn't even bother looking at him, and just waved with her hand, to let him know she received his wishes.

'I don't understand. Why are they both so cold towards me? Is this really how I lived my life? No… Something feels wrong with all this.' Aiden thought to himself, as he was making his way towards the Academy. This time he didn't need to ask as the large towers with the same large crest that he wore the miniature version his chest could be seen even from the busy street.

[You were not paying attention Aiden. I told you before, this is your last day, but also this is a test. If you would have bothered to check the system, you would have noticed, that both figures were engulfed with black auras. They had evil intent oozing out them.] Enya replied.

He abruptly halted his steps hearing her reply, causing a bit of a commotion. A few grumbled sounds could be heard as people avoided him, but Aiden didn't really bother with all of that.

'Black auras? Do you think, they are both created by the Nightmare I'm supposed to overcome? What do I need to do? I don't think I am supposed to be killing them…'

Aiden could hear Enya's reproachful tone as she replied to him.

[Again, you weren't paying attention. What does the quest require you to do? Read up the objectives once more, if you are unsure.]

Following his suggestion, Aiden brought up the details of the quest to check his required and optional objectives.

[Primary Quest: Cries in the Dark 1

Difficulty: D-A

Objective: Banish the Nightmare Spawns (0/???)

Optional: Fix the vision by cleansing the nightmare

Reward: ???

Failure Condition: Being pulled from the Pocket World, Defeated by any Spawn

Penalty: Death, Soul returned to the Wheel of Life and Death]

'Remove the Nightmare Spawns…'

[Exactly. It does not say 'Kill', it specifically says 'Banish'. Most likely they are part of the trial, you have to be able to recognize the irregularities in their behavior.]

'That still doesn't give me any info on how to do that at all. The optional objective could be a clue though. Hmm…' As he was thinking, he kept standing at the middle of the road. People kept grumbling and some even tried pushing him away only to hit the unmovable obstacle that he was. His strength was far above the average human, especially in this illusion that was created from his recessed memory of his previous life.

The sound of Enya's mature female voice brought him back to reality.

[Aiden, you should not idle around any longer. You have to follow and let the events play out as they are supposed to. If you dawdle any longer, you will not arrive in time to the Academy. It is still quite a distance away.]

'You are right, sorry. I was just thinking about what you and the quest said. If what you say is true, then both my father and mother are either 'Nightmare Spawns' themselves or maybe these creatures are residing inside them, changing how they behave. Either case, I have to be able to make them revert back to their original states, so I could remove them from the illusion. How I will do that, I do not know yet, however...' Aiden kept muttering to himself as he was making his way towards the large tower at the distance.

---

Looking at her mother, Lily had an incredibly hard time to not crumble to the ground and cry her eyes out. She stood there motionless, looking at the woman for nearly a minute, before finally gulping and answering her question.

"Sorry to interrupt. My name is Lil… ianne, Lilianne. I am an adventurer and have just arrived in this village. I was about to knock to ask for directions when I heard a commotion coming from the village center."

Madelaine was focusing on the young teenage girls' tone, and her gestures as she was answering. She realized she was lying when she gave her name, but apart from that, she seemed to be telling the truth. As a retired adventurer herself, she knew that it is not that easy to give out your real name to a total stranger. However, as time was of the essence, she pushed through her, and as she was opening the locked door, she spoke.

"I see. Then please come inside quickly, as we do not have time to waste. Some unknown assailants attacked the village and are killing people left and right as we speak. I have to move and make sure my daughter is safe!"

Finally unlocking the door, she rushed in, while shouting.

"LILY! COME HERE, WE HAVE TO LEAVE!"

Meanwhile, Lilianne, or the 'real' Lily, was following behind, not sure what to do.

'Is this the day she dies? Why am I here…' She didn't understand what was happening. This whole situation is weighing heavily on her heart. She's feeling bitter and distressed. It took her years to finally move on from this bad memory, but now, she is forced to relive it? What is she supposed to do?

Madelaine kept shouting while rushing all around the house, however, she couldn't find anybody, and she received no response. Growing increasingly more anxious, she kept shouting and madly rushing all around.

"LILY! WHERE ARE YOU? COME HERE, SWEETIE!"

Coming back to her senses, she looked at her mother as she was rushing all around.

'This isn't how this should play out. If I remember correctly, I was hiding under my bed…'

With that thought, she quickly made her way towards their shared bedroom. Madelaine noticing this, she followed along, while anxiously looking at her.

"Did you see her? I can't find my daughter!"

Instead of answering, Lily got on all fours and looked under the bed. However, instead of finding her kid-self, she saw nothing but darkness.

"This isn't right… I should be here…" she muttered.

"What did you say?" Madelaine asked confused.

Looking back at the anxious woman, Lily tried to elicit a friendly smile, as she replied.

"I.. I mean, I think I heard your daughter under the bed, but when I looked, she wasn't here anymore… I am absolutely sure she was supposed to be here…"

Hearing these words, Madelaine quickly got on all fours and pushed Lily away.

"LET ME THERE, LET ME SEE! LILY! COME HERE!"

Moving aside, Lily looked at her mother, and doing her best to try to calm her down, she spoke to her from behind.

"Calm down Mot-... lady. She should be close by. I know I heard her voice just a moment ago, she is probably just scared. I know I would be…"

"HOW COULD I CALM DOWN WHEN I CAN'T FIND MY DAUGHTER ANYWHE-" however as she was speaking she saw the darkness momentarily vibrate, and as the strange black aura faded, the sounds of a crying little girl could be heard.

"LILY! FINALLY!" Madelaine cried out in relief as she embraced her daughter. Mother and daughter were crying on the floor, they needed to release some of the stress. The last few minutes were hard on them...