Itri pov.
Everything was gray.
"Poor child…"
What was happening? No, what happened?
I was eating breakfast—bread and jam with, with…my family. Where was my family?
WHERE.
"How sad…"
My body hurts. My insides hurt. When did breathing become so painful?
I coughed once, then twice. I couldn't stop, I was choking. I wanted clean air, not this smoke that was slowly killing me!
"…To be in the middle of a nightmare gate…"
Nightmare gate? Who was speaking right now? Why did they mention a nightmare gate?
WQSC was a paradise compared to the other quadrants, we never had nightmare gates!
"For it to spawn right inside your home…oh, great spell!!!" The voice that came from the smoke that surrounded me sounded truly agonizing. It was a cry that seemed to resonate inside my whole body, making my mind twist and bend.
Then the memories started to return…
…A morning sun, a clear day, laughter.
Bread, jam. It tasted sweet. So sweet that the smoke I was inhaling now couldn't be more of a contrast.
Then space itself seemed to shatter and then be ripped open by invisible claws. Then a real hand with curving claws did appear, it reached out for my mother.
…
Screams, cries. Blood, so much blood…
When did my brother have no legs?
I found dad's hand…where was the rest of him?
Blood…so much blood…
"Aahhhh…." I collided against something, someone who was wearing a dirt colored robe. There was an energy coming off of him, as if his presence was bleeding into the world.
"Child…I can't help but give you my deepest sorry, for the spell can't issue you one." The voice took on an apologetic tone. It was infuriating.
I clenched my throat, gasping for clean air. There was none, only that stone gray smog that was suffocating me.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh…." I groaned, my mind was simultaneously racing and slowing down. I grabbed onto the figure's robes, pulling on them like an infant holding a parent's finger.
"If only you were like them…" The voice belonged to a man, that was all I could tell. The rest of my mind was replaying the massacre of my entire family. Again and again.
"If only you were awakened…"
Awakened…I needed to become awakened.
I felt the man placed his hand on my nape, and then drew his hand closer to the center of my back. He knelt, so that we were face to face.
His eyes…one was like a brilliant blue sky you would see from a mountain peak…the other was darker than the blackest night.
He brought his lips close to my ear, whispering, "The vassal of Shadows is guided by fate."
That was all. The next moment I fell to the ground, falling asleep.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare spell…]