The woman looked directly at him with emptiness within her soul. Gazing into her eyes felt awful for some reason, even though this woman was his mother and a person he longed to see more than anything else. It was as if he was seeing an empty shell of his mother.
She had the appearance, but lacked the familiarity he wanted. A doll with nothing inside. That made his soul shake.
Even as he stared at her, his eyes couldn't believe it. However, no matter how much he tried to deny it, that was his mother. Her face and height were exactly as he remembered them. Without realizing it, a tear trickled down his cheek and snapped him out of his daze.
'No! No, it can't be. This is an illusion of some sort or maybe a dream.' He thought to himself as he wiped his eyes and looked up with a complicated expression. Even with knowing that, it was still so hard for him to look at his mother and not feel anything.
At that very moment, his desire to simply hug her was so intense that he had to actively try not to do it.
As the two looked at each other, neither seemed to move at all. His mother seemed lifeless as she stood there. She didn't say a single word or move a single finger.
"Whoever is doing this, get the fuck out!" With no other choice, Talon looked around him as he started yelling angrily. "If you don't, I will make sure you regret this for the rest of your life!"
His aura exploded powerfully as the sand around him started rustling and moving with sheer pressure. His face turned way darker and his eyes flashed with a furious glint.
The fact that was potentially using his mother against him was something that infuriated him beyond words. This was something he wouldn't forgive no matter what.
'Oh, if I just find you...' Standing up slowly, he looked at his mother silently. His lips quivered slightly just from inspecting her face. He didn't realize that he missed looking at her this much even though it has only been a month since he last saw her.
Perhaps the fact that he wasn't going to see her again made that time seem way longer than it should've been. Yet, here he was, as bitter as it was, he had another chance to see her.
'Goddamit...' Even when he tried to look away, his eyes would wander back to her.
"I missed you..." Opening and closing his mouth for a while, he finally was able to utter a few words. "I really missed you... Way more than I care to admit..."
The woman didn't reply at all as she stared at him.
"I try to move on with my life... But, who am I tricking? I can't move on... I think about you every single day, mom. My twisted mind sometimes wonders if I could've been a better child from the start. Going back over every moment in our lives and how I might've wronged you when you only deserve the best. Till the very last moment where you died. I could've been better."
Talon used to believe that his relationship with his mother would have not been any better than it was. However, now that he lost her, those smaller details that he missed resurfaced again and became his worst enemy.
He hated that bad things happened between them, as small as they were. In his head, he sought a perfect relationship where they only were on the same terms. He knew how foolish it was to think that his relationship with his mother could be perfect when nothing in this world is perfect.
"*Sniff*..." Feeling the tears about to spill out again, he quickly wiped them as he drew a small, weak smile. "I know that you would be angry to know that I'm still blaming myself for what happened.
But, I'm sorry, I can't do it, mom... I cannot move on and pretend that I could've not been the difference... However, here I am, still trying to do that and be better for the people I care for... Well, that part still needs some work." Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, he closed his eyes.
'What the hell am I even doing? This isn't even my mom... Am I really this desperate now?'
With those words, the black liquid completely engulfed the woman's body and she turned into a Dimension Walker. Then, she stopped moving completely as her body slid out of the spear and fell to the ground.
***
"AAAAAH!!!" Talon woke up with a loud yell. His aura got out of control as it expanded to the extreme and his heart started beating loudly.
"Talon? Are you ok?" Acrypha was surprised by his sudden burst as she looked at him.
"Hah... Hah... Hah..." With a sweaty face, he looked around him before his eyes ended up finding Acrypha. The moment he saw her, his heart calmed down a little as he realized what happened.
Moving his head down, he held it with his hand.
'That was... A nightmare?'
"... Are you ok? Did you have a nightmare?" Acrypha approached him as she asked worriedly.
"Huh? Ah, y-yeah... Just a dream..." He replied as he closed his eyes. "A very nasty one..."
Acrypha stared at Talon silently for a second, not knowing what to say. She had never seen Talon this terrified before in her life. The way he yelled was nothing like Talon at all. Even when he was scared before, he had never screamed that way.
'What kind of nightmare was it?' She asked herself. For something to make Talon react like that, she didn't even want to imagine what it was. Even when he woke up, he still looked like he was in shock from what he saw.
"It's ok, bad dreams are just bad dreams. They are never real." She tapped his shoulder. "Go back to sleep, you still have a few hours of sleep."
"No, please, I don't want to. Let's start moving again." Talon said as he wiped his face. "I don't feel like I can sleep anymore."
Acrypha wanted to reject his offer since she wanted him to sleep more. But, just one look at his eyes made her completely scratch her decision.
"... Sigh, ok, gather things up and let's go." She replied.
"Thank you."
With that, Talon woke up, washed his face with some water before he started gathering his stuff in complete silence. He seemed completely lost in thought as he walked around monotonously.
Acrypha watched him from the side with a complicated expression. She didn't know what to say at that moment. Not even she could understand what he was feeling at that moment.
'Hopefully he will be better later.'
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!