River tilted his head upwards, his gaze settling firmly upon the starless sky as he sighed deeply. His life had changed so much in those few days–it was as if everything that could go wrong had done so. It felt almost intentional as if the world itself had some sort of vendetta against him.
'A vendetta… huh?' The sudden thought reminded him of the words his father had spoken to him so long ago.
"The world doesn't like being taken from River. If you continue to take from it, the world will take something back. And it never trades fair."
It hadn't meant much to River in the moment. Just some stupid life lesson his father had spoken in hopes of curbing River's kleptomaniac tendencies before they spiraled any further–something he hadn't taken seriously. Yet, in hindsight, his father's words couldn't have been more accurate. He had taken 'too much' from the world, and in return, the world had taken everything from him. His family.
It was almost ironic, in a way. The world had stripped everything from him because of his greed, determined to punish him for daring to covet what was never meant to be his. But in a cruel twist of fate, it mocked him by granting him the very thing that led to the downfall of his family. It was so absurd that River couldn't help but laugh.
"River…?" Iris's voice cut through the air, cautious but edged with concern. "You okay?"
River blinked as if just now remembering she was there. His laughter faded into a breath, and just as easily, he straightened, brushing it off like it hadn't happened at all. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
Iris narrowed her eyes, clearly not buying it, but let it go for now. "I was just asking about the outskirts."
River shrugged lightly as if they were talking about the weather. "Same as always. Poison in the air is thick enough to rot your lungs. Buildings packed tight like hives. People clawing for scraps just to stay alive." He paused, glancing lazily at the shoddily crafted campfire in front of them. "Nothing new."
Iris's mouth pulled into a tight line. "You say that like it's normal."
"It is," River said simply, tossing a small piece of coral into the fire and watching the sparks dance upward. "At least, it was for me and millions of other people."
The fire crackled between them, the dry coral hissing as it burned. The conversation slowly died out as the night settled in fast, the starless sky swallowing the last gray smear of twilight. And with it, the ocean reformed below, returning the crimson landscape into a pool of undulating black.
It almost would have been relaxing if the vibrations beneath River's feet hadn't begun to hum more chaotically. At first, it was nearly imperceptible, a low rumble that blended with the usual sounds of the ocean. But soon, it grew even more chaotic, unnaturally so.
His head tilted slightly, brow furrowing as he focused on the erratic tremors that resonated through the earth. He closed his eyes, trying to isolate the source. It took only a few moments before terror settled in his chest. The vibrations were originating from somewhere near the water. The waves battered the cliffside with growing violence, as if… something massive was displacing the water around them.
He barely had time to process that grim realization before the ocean heaved violently.
Something colossal broke through the surface—a tentacle, black and impossibly large, rose upwards like a towering spire. It hovered there for a breathless moment, suspended against the night sky almost as if it was the sky itself. Then, with a sound like a mountain breaking, it crashed down toward the cliff.
The impact shattered the air with a deafening roar. The ground exploded beneath them, sending cracks and spider webbing throughout the black earth. Their campsite wiped off the face of the Dream Realm as fragments of coral shot through the air.
'Was our campsite really that bad!?' River questioned as he grabbed Iris by the arm and yanked her away from the cliffside. They would have died if it wasn't for seismic sense, just barely giving River enough time to react to the tentacle before it violently slammed into the cliffside.
"Move!" River barked, already dragging her toward the center of the cliff, away from the water.
Behind them, the ocean lurched violently, waves of all shapes and sizes slamming against the cliff sides as the tentacle crashed into the earth once again. Every second, the rumbling grew louder, the vibrations more frenzied. River's senses were a mess, his mind barely able to keep up with all the information that the world was feeding to him.
That's why, when his senses warned him of something in front of them, he was a fraction of a second late to react.
Without warning, a massive pincer lunged out from behind a coral tree, snapping toward River's neck with enough force to tear him apart in a single strike. River barely twisted out of the way in time. The pincer grazed his chitinous armor, grinding violently against it as the pincer flew by his head. The sudden rush of air and the brutal snap of the pincer jolted him fully into the moment, clearing the haze of sensory overload clouding his mind.
He jumped backward, shoving Iris behind him without a second thought. "Shit, an Awakened Beast and a giant tentacle. Can this place get any worse?" he bitterly muttered out loud, summoning Viper's Lament into existence. But before his weapon could fully materialize, Iris's figure dashed past him with a long, curved silver dagger in hand. She nimbly ducked under the pincer, dragging her blade against its thick armor without causing even a scratch. Yet, despite the lack of damage, she didn't seem to care at all.
The moment Iris's blade dragged along the scavenger's shell, a shimmer split off from her—a translucent, ghostly double that mimicked her exact movement. In an instant, the spectral Iris twisted midair above the creature, her silver dagger plunging down in a perfect line toward its exposed eye.
The scavenger lost interest in the real Iris, shrieking in anger at the sudden appearance of the phantom. It reared back wildly, one of its massive pincers flailing as it tried to knock the apparition away. But the pincer phased straight through, allowing the spectral blow to strike true, slashing itself into one of its many vulnerable eyes with a sickening squelch.
Iris didn't waste the opportunity. Even as her double dissolved into mist, she pivoted with fluid precision, sliding beneath the beast's legs. Her real blade, now slick with the creature's blood, carved into the small, vulnerable gaps in its otherwise impenetrable armor.
The scavenger staggered, one of its legs giving out. It tried to stand up again, but Iris was already moving. Another flash of silver—another mirrored strike—and another and another. Each time she struck, her spectral double mirrored her attack from an unpredictable angle: a slash across a joint, a stab into the soft flesh near its mouth, a gouge into another eye.
No matter how much it tried to move, the scavenger's movements grew sloppier with every hit. Blood poured out from dozens of wounds, flowing into puddles as it hit the cracked ground. River could only watch for a moment, stunned at how brutally efficient she was—almost beautiful in the way she dismantled it piece by piece without hesitation.
'...is this really the Iris I know?' River couldn't find even a single similarity between this battle-frenzied Iris compared to her previous teasing self besides the fact that they looked the exact same. It was almost uncanny how different she seemed.
But finally, with a burst of speed, Iris vaulted up along one of the beast's faltering pincers. Her spectral twin mirrored her ascent as she jumped a foot above the scavenger's head. And in perfect unison, both Iris and her ghostly double plunged their blades down, driving them deep into the Awakened Beast's exposed head.
The monster let out one final, gurgling screech before collapsing in on itself with a shudder that shook the ground.
Aspect Ability: [Spectral Strike]
Aspect Ability Description: [When the user strikes an opponent, a spectral duplicate of themselves mirrors the attack, landing a simultaneous blow from a different angle.]
River could barely focus on the runes in front of him as he watched Iris land softly in front of him, the blood sliding from her blade with a sharp, practiced motion. Her face had an unreadable expression as she stared at him. And for a long, tense moment, she didn't move.
Then, almost imperceptibly, her features began to shift. The cold sharpness melted away, replaced by her usual softer expression. But this time, it was undercut by visible confusion, as if she didn't fully understand how she had gotten there.
'What the hell…? Are they really the same person? And how was she able to butcher an Awakened Beast like it was nothing?' River felt thousands of questions flood his brain, but for some reason, only one slipped through.
"Iris? Are you some sort of sleeper agent sent here to kill me?" River's hesitant voice cut through the tense air as he slowly backed away.
"What? N-" But before she could finish her sentence, another shockwave rippled through the air as the tentacle slammed itself against the ground a few meters away from them. And then, without warning, it was like gravity flipped. River and Iris were wrenched off their feet and hurled skyward in a violent surge. The world spun below them until gravity remembered itself and dragged them back down.
River crashed shoulder-first, the impact jarring straight through his collarbone. He bounced once before skidding across the torn earth, a trail of dust rising in his wake. Pain ripped through his ribs and shoulder like splintered glass. The world tilted, a haze of dirt and motion, but he grit his teeth and pushed himself on to his feet. Iris struck nearby with a sharp cry, rolled once, then forced herself upright, limbs shaking.
But like always, the world decided that wasn't enough for River. Suddenly, seemingly out of thin air, two more carapace scavengers suddenly lunged out at them from the dark.
"Damn it! At this point, I don't even care if you're here to kill me. Just help me deal with these bastards first!" River didn't wait for an answer. The moment one of the scavengers dashed at him, he surged forward as Glacial Veil was already pouring off him in slow, curling streams of frost.
River dropped low, feeling the rush of air as the scavenger's massive pincer sliced overhead. In the same motion, he drove Viper's Lament upward into the beast's stomach. The blade bit into the chitin with a slight resistance before breaking through. Immediately, the scavenger staggered—its limbs twitching erratically as Regretful Melody seeped into its mind, drowning it in a wave of confusion and sorrow.
But before River could finish it off, he sensed another scavenger rapidly approaching him from behind. Without a second of hesitation, River preemptively side-stepped the attack. A second later, it flew past him and crushed a coral-like tree.
'Ouch… glad that wasn't me.' River thought with relief as he took advantage of the brief opening and thrust his blade forward into the scavenger's side. It screeched out in pain as Viper's Lament carved a deep wound into its side, frost beginning to cling to its armor. River quickly yanked his blade free as the first scavenger charged at him again, its desire to kill him even stronger.
But, he wasn't fast enough to dodge it cleanly. The blow crashed into his shoulder, a brutal impact that hurled him backward and slammed him onto the ground with a dull, jarring thud. Despite the pain, River gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, flipping back onto his feet in a sharp, practiced motion.
'Bastard.' River couldn't help but curse, he was starting to hate scavengers with a passion. It almost made him question how good they'd taste if he cooked them alive, but he had no time to be indulging in such thoughts.
As he rose, he barely caught sight of both scavengers barreling toward him, their pincers snapping hungrily for his life. Usually, he wouldn't have stood a chance. But in that instant, something aligned. Before his mind could catch up, his body moved on instinct, guided by the subtle pull of seismic sense. He dropped beneath the first strike, the air hissing as a pincer carved through where his head had been, and twisted sharply to avoid the second.
Then it slipped. The clarity fading just as fast as it came.
Unable to react, the scavenger to his left suddenly swung low before snapping upward, while the one on his right launched a wide, heavy swing aimed to smash him against the broken stones. River grimaced despite Glacial Veil slowing them down and seismic sense warning him, he wasn't going to be able to dodge both.
But then, a blur of silver cut across his vision.
Iris.
Her dagger flashed in a wide arc, slicing into the scavenger on his right and forcing it back a step. The creature shrieked, its pincer clamping shut a breath too slow to catch her. She moved like a ghost, weaving through the chaos with an eerie fluidity.
River didn't waste the opening.
He pressed forward, driving Viper's Lament into the already wounded scavenger's throat. The blade met no resistance as a sickening crunch resounded throughout the broken battlefield. The scavenger twitched violently before it collapsed, its body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
"One down." River muttered under his breath.
The second scavenger, unfazed by the death of its brethren, continued with its attack as it attempted to slam River against the ground. River jumped to the side, getting just out of reach of the blow. Without waiting, Iris darted in from the flank, her spectral double forming as she attacked. Two simultaneous slashes—one real, one phantom—ripped across the scavenger's exposed underbelly.
The creature screeched in pain, rearing up to retaliate.
But before it could, River surged in under its guard. His blade pierced directly into the mouth of the scavenger, killing it instantly. It collapsed without ceremony, a lifeless heap against the cracked earth.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
River cast a quick glance toward the ocean, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The colossal tentacle, its presence like a black mountain against the sky, seemed to lose interest once the fire had been entirely snuffed out. With a final, reluctant heave, it sank back into the crimson-black waters, leaving only restless waves behind.
Even then, River didn't relax completely. His gaze swept the fractured landscape as seismic sense whispered its quiet confirmations—no more scavengers, no more hidden threats. For now, at least, they had a moment of peace.
He turned back toward Iris. Her expression, yet again, had returned to a state of indifference he had seen before while she was fighting the first scavenger. It was almost as if nothing mattered to her, viewing the world from a higher plane of existence.
Yet, she didn't feel like a threat. River briefly considered letting himself brush off the shift entirely. Everyone had their own secrets they wanted to keep hidden, after all.
But River couldn't let it go. He couldn't bet his life in the Dream Realm on someone he couldn't trust. He refused to become a hollow. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, his voice low and edged with suspicion he didn't bother hiding.
For a second, Iris didn't react. She just stared at him, her silver blade still soaked in blood. Then, slowly, she opened her mouth to speak.