Everybody was looking at Kane, their faces a mixture of confusion and concern. Kane felt a strange pressure on him, as though everyone's focus was a physical weight. After a beat of silence, Effie suddenly burst out laughing. It was a loud, boisterous sound that filled the small chamber. "You did it! I should say, you are a piece of work, Monto-Maniac."
Kane, still shaken from the nightmare, pondered on Effie's answer. He looked at her, his brow furrowed. "What exactly did I do?"
*******
After Kane had gone to sleep, the others had stayed awake. Effie had looked at Kane's prone form and spoke. "He is a fast sleeper, isn't he?"
Sunny looked at her in shock, unable to believe her casual tone. Cassie gave a mild laugh, a soft, pleasant sound that barely reached them. She went near Kane and spoke softly, as if she were speaking to herself. "No, he doesn't sleep at all, most of the time he doesn't. This is the first time he sleeps like this." She spoke while unknowingly looking at him. Sunny and Nephis looked at Kane and, with a new sense of unease, they too began to settle down for the night, sleeping close together in case some Nightmare Creature attacked. It would be easier to wake the others up.
Cassie, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and determination, spoke to Nephis. "Neph, what are we planning to do? How are we escaping this place?"
Nephis's voice was filled with a familiar, indifferent coldness as she answered. "We will. If that's our will, who does-"
Suddenly, a foot landed in Nephis's face, a sudden, jarring movement. She stumbled back and instantly readied for a battle. As she summoned her weapon, Sunny and Effie also prepared for a fight. While Sunny shielded Cassie, Nephis looked at the source of the attack. It was Kane. Nephis spoke, her voice laced with a cold anger. "Kane, why did you do that?"
Kane suddenly stood himself straight, his limbs stiff, but to everyone's surprise, Kane was still sleeping, his eyes closed. Effie, her voice a mix of confusion and awe, spoke. "Is he sleep… fighting?"
Nephis, her face a mask of fury, jumped to attack Kane, but in mid-flight, Kane fell down. Uncontrolled, Nephis crash-landed onto the Nightmare Creature's wastes, her face covered in all sorts of muck. Sunny immediately went to pick up Nephis, and Effie went straight to Kane, inspecting his body with a scientific curiosity. Sunny picked up Nephis, who was now cleaned her face. He then helped Nephis over to Kane's side.
Nephis went to Cassie and borrowed [Endless Spring], a Memory that could cleanse. As they were cautious and curious about what had happened, a sudden, powerful shout erupted from Kane. "RAAAAAAAH!" Everybody went nearby. Cassie and Sunny tried to wake him up, while Effie and Nephis stayed near him, observing things from a distance.
On all of the sudden, Kane woke up, panting with a horrifying expression on his face.
*******
Kane felt like he had just been put through a meat grinder. His body ached, and the phantom sensations from his nightmare still lingered. He looked at the concerned faces around him and said, his voice raw, "It seems like I made a quite a mess."
Nephis, who had now cleaned her face with the help of Cassie's Memory, spoke. "So, what exactly happened?"
Kane took a deep breath. "Well, I had a dream, a terrific one."
Sunny, Effie, Cassie, and Nephis all widened their eyes. Effie spoke first, her tone laced with a strange kind of fear and excitement. "Well, it is okay to have bad… wait, you had dreams in the Dream Realm? Are you really sure?"
Kane nodded. "Yeah, and a fun fact, I am not an oracle. Cassie is."
Suddenly, Cassie spoke, her blind eyes wide with surprise. "You had visions? Is it past or future?"
Kane, still thinking about the nightmare, shook his head. "I have no idea, but I don't want it to be past or future."
Sunny widened his eyes and spoke, his voice filled with urgency. "Kane, explain what you saw."
Kane then explained everything he saw and felt in his dream. He conveniently left out the statement from the blind girl in his dream, as he felt it was something he needed to figure out afterwards. After hearing the explanation, Sunny, Effie, Cassie, and Nephis's reactions were grim. They could all imagine the horror of the nightmare. They were silent for some time.
Effie finally broke the silence. "Seriously, what type of shit? A blind girl eating her own heart and hands sprouting? I'm going to have a hard time sleeping." Kane could feel for her for a moment, a wave of empathy washing over him. Suddenly, Kane remembered something. He looked at his hands, and on one of them, there was a handprint—the handprint where the blind girl in his dream had held her grip.
Sunny saw this mark and spoke, his voice hushed. "Is it the mark of that woman?"
Kane nodded slowly. "Yeah, it is her grip. It was very strong."
After trying to decode and no avail, everyone went to sleep except for Kane. He stayed awake, watching the others, the terrifying images from his nightmare replaying in his mind.
In the morning, they set out for the castle. Before leaving the safe haven of the granite tower, Effie gave them a list of instructions, her tone shifting from playful to serious. "Follow behind me. Listen to everything I say. Don't make any noise. Don't bleed. Don't think too much. Some of the creatures out there can hear noisy thoughts; others can sense strong emotions. So don't feel fear, either."
Kane felt like there were too many things he needed to focus on at once. He frowned in concentration. The vigorous huntress grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What? You never tried to solve math equations in your head to impress a lovely lady? Just do the same."
As Kane heard this, his face blushed for a moment. She giggled and turned to Cassie and Nephis. "Correction. The two of you, try not to feel fear. Doofus, Monto-Maniac, you try not to get too excited. If walking behind me turns out to be too much, ask to get slapped, alright?"
Kane scowled at her and gritted his teeth, but both he and Sunny spoke at the same time: "That… won't be a problem."
Effie blinked a couple of times, then smiled. "Ah! Playing for the other team? I see, I see…"
Kane looked at her, confused. He thought, 'Seriously, she's going to be a hassle, isn't she?'
Making sure that they understood her instructions, the huntress turned around and rolled the massive slab of granite that blocked the exit from the tower to the side. Lean muscles tensed and moved under her olive skin, making for a picturesque view. Kane glimpsed at her strength. 'That granite seems to be heavy. Just how strong is she?'
Catching a glimpse of his stare, Effie raised an eyebrow and winked. "Like what you see?"
Kane stayed silent, but Sunny, on autopilot, answered: "Yes… huh… wait, no! I mean, that's not why I was looking. How are you that strong?" Kane glanced at Sunny and thought, 'Bro is too honest for his own good.'
She glanced at the granite slab, then at him. "Oh, that. That's my Aspect Ability. It's a strong all-around physical enhancement." Kane pondered on her aspect. That was… a very rare and powerful Ability to have. While not as flashy as many others, it was practically the ultimate warrior Ability. With not only her strength but also her speed, agility, endurance, and resilience boosted, Effie was like one of those ancient heroes Nephis sometimes talked about. Especially since that boost seemed to be so extravagant. Plus, she had most likely absorbed a very large amount of soul essence over the years of hunting monsters in the Dark City. All those shards the recalcitrant huntress refused to pay as tribute to the tyrannical lord of the castle had to go somewhere.
But why would she just admit what her Ability was? Sharing secrets like that was not a wise thing to do, especially not in the ruthless reality of the Forgotten Shore.
Noticing his surprise, Effie grinned. "What? It's not like it's a great mystery. Around here, anyone with a pair of eyes knows what my Ability can do. Do you want me to tell you what my Flaw is as well?" There was a mischievous glint in her eyes. Kane thought, 'Like hell, anybody would share their flaw.'
"It's very simple! My Aspect not only enhances all my physical attributes; it also does the same with all my physical needs. Why do you think I ate enough meat to create a literal pile of gnawed bones, for the fun of it?" She laughed and shook her head. "Well, it was fun, not gonna lie…"
Kane spoke, "Seriously, who in their right mind would do this?" and thought about her flaw. So the price for having the strength of many men was to have the hunger of many men, as well. Out here in the Dark City, where food was scarce and hard to come by, it was a dangerous Flaw to possess. It was a curse that could force a person to hunt more, and therefore risk injury and death more than anyone else would have to. Most people would scoff at its severity, but not Sunny. He knew what hunger, real hunger, felt like. What it could do to a person. Perhaps that was the reason why Effie was out here in the first place. Perhaps she had become a huntress not because she wanted to, but because she simply didn't have a choice.
Suddenly, Effie shouted at Sunny, "Hey! I said not to get excited!"
Sunny flinched and looked up at Effie, who was staring at him and cackling. Kane laughed at his situation. However, when he noticed that Nephis and Cassie were observing them with amusement clearly written on their faces, his anger somewhat subsided. Belatedly, Kane realized that, perhaps, the experienced huntress had been joking around with him not just out of pure mischief. Perhaps she was trying to lighten the mood to get them into the right mental state, thus making traversing the cursed city less perilous.
Meanwhile, Effie grinned and asked Sunny, "What? No answer?"
Sunny glared at her and said: "Don't distract me." and reluctantly added: "I'm solving equations..."
A minute later, they left the granite tower and stepped onto the streets of the Dark City.
Effie had summoned the helmet of her archaic armor before venturing forth. It was of the Corinthian design, with a tall crest of blue horsehair and a narrow visor that left only her eyes and lips exposed. On her back, there was a leather bag containing the meat, bones, and hides of the monsters she had slain during the hunt. Kane knew for a fact that this bag was much larger on the inside than it seemed from the outside—otherwise, in order to accommodate all of Effie's trophies, it would have had to be comically big. However, it still weighed way too much for an ordinary person to carry. Including the armor, the long knife, and the black leather apron, it was the fourth Memory he had seen the huntress summon. He wondered how many more did she have in her arsenal. He had yet to see what weapons Effie used.
In the ghostly light of early dawn, they entered the cursed ruins.