Milo contemplated his ability to swim. He knew that the seaweed satchels should be relatively okay, though the meat inside might get wet that would be a minor inconvenience. But after his escape from that Sea Serpent, he was rather terrified of what would happen to him if another one of them, or worse, one of the monsters that easily killed it, got to him.
He used what little precious time he had left to scout his surroundings. Though it was difficult to see in the dark, it wasn't entirely impossible. Milo prepared himself, and the water reached his waist, than his chest, and he began to swim.
The enchantments of Serpent's Scales allowed him to slither through the water with efficiency. While not a boost in speed, it helped greatly with conserving his energy. He swam through the eerily quiet sea.
Milo only had precious seconds, maybe the monsters were just taking time to really begin their rampage. He had no want to stay around and find out. He swam as fast as he could, he counted the seconds that had passed.
It would be nice to know how much time he had before the monsters of the deep began to take action. Twenty seconds, thirty. He felt something staring at him, his whole body shivered from the pressure. He kept swimming faster and faster.
He eventually reached another platform, this one above water. At last, he vaulted to the ground. Milo laid down staring up at the sky, letting out an unbelieving chuckle. Was he an adrenaline junky?
"What's so funny?" A voice called out.
Startled, Milo hurriedly rolled to his knees, but he recognized the voice.
"Eva?"
"In the flesh, well, stone flesh? Same difference. You ended up in this shithole too huh?"
Milo scratched the back of his head, the moment he had been anticipating had happened, but at the same time...
"Are you really from another world?"
Milo couldn't see Eva, but he could feel the energy in the air change.
"Yeah, no. You actually bought that crap?"
"Well, no, I didn't... but yeah? Look, before I got transported here, I ran into some demon."
"A demon?"
"I think? I don't know, they kept referring to themselves as we and us. Regardless of, they had some three horned mask, and they kept saying something about being helpful to their epigones. They also said that they had shown me a vision of my potential future, and in that, you said you were from another world, and we discussed it thoroughly. Which didn't make sense, because my Flaw would've flared up."
Eva remained silent for a moment, then spoke again.
"Well... I have no idea what that would be about, you sure some Nightmare Creature didn't have you under some illusion or hex?"
"Maybe, but it felt too real... that demon also mentioned a woman, and you're the only one I've been relatively close to."
"Did they mention by name?"
"No, they just said you and that woman"
Eva sighed. "It seems way too vague, it probably really was just a mind hex. You're lucky whatever Nightmare Creature was hexing you didn't devour you. I've heard they're really terrible, especially the stronger ones."
Milo found himself not believing Eva. He stood up, his prosthetic slowly changing to that of a long chain. Was it worth straining their friendship? Was it worth breaking down what felt like the closest friendship he had since Juno and Wallace?
His Flaw told him no... but regardless of. With a deep breath, he shot the chain out. It searched the ground and wrapped around Eva's foot, yanking her towards Milo.
Milo summoned the Prototype and brought the sharp end down to Eva's throat.
"Move an inch and you die." Milo's voice was shaky, well, why wouldn't it be? This was his first time threatening a human life, and it seemed much more easier in the webcomics than now.
His prosthetic shifted into that of the same pointed combination that he had against the Sea Serpent. He could tell Eva had some armor Memory on made of leather and cloth.
"First, tell me what the name of your armor Memory is."
Eva remained silent, then she spoke
"Hunter's Garbs"
'It really is true?'
"So you aren't from this world? Don't lie to me."
Eva hesitated
"I-I'm not."
Milo felt his Flaw flare up, there it was, true and proper, unlike that vision of his. He felt a wave of emotions wash over his body, was it rage? Despair? Was he truly fake?
Milo slowly removed the blade from her throat. She shivered and scurried a couple of feet away. She hadn't had any real experience and combat outside of her First Nightmare more than likely. Even then there was no telling how she passed it.
"How did you end up here?"
"Well. I was pulled here with an objective."
"What is that objective?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Do you know someone named Carmen?"
"... No."
"You're lying."
"I don't know someone named Carmen."
"Fine, then what was your life like before?"
The air changed slightly, Milo felt a slight pressure press down on him.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Milo gritted his teeth. The words barely slipping past his teeth.
"Am I... fake?"
Eva didn't answer for a moment.
"I don't know. I don't think so."
"Tell me why I wouldn't be fake."
"Well, you didn't exist from what I know. So the fact you exist now, must mean by some extent you are real."
"I wasn't in the original novel right?"
"Right... how did you know about that?"
"Well, I had a vision of the future."
"I can tell you this much, you ran into a Daemon, or Demon. Either way, you ran into what is presumably the strongest."
"Yeah, Weaver can control Fate. Very powerful, and he seems to have given me a new one. It hurt like a bitch, especially with my Flaw."
"So now you're Mr. Know it all?"
"Well, sorta... we had this conversation already, in a potential future of mine, As Weaver called it at least."
"So you know pretty much everything?"
"Mhm"
"What are you going to do about it?"
"You know you asked me something like this before in that future. Originally I said I was going to sit back and do nothing. Let the story take its course and sit back safely, but now... I want to change it. I want to prevent all the tragedies that happen, and if there's consequences? I'll do with those too."
Milo didn't care anymore? If he was fake, what mattered? If he was real, than could he not change everything?
"You said you had something similar to a Divine Aspect, and I have a Divine Aspect. We can get it done just like Sunless and Changing Star, can we not?. I mean, my Aspect itself calls me a god. What can a god and... what is your aspect?"
"The Non Believer. That is my aspect name."
"Right, so the Machine God and the Non Believer. We can do it right?"
"Yeah, we probably could, but for now we should focus on getting out of here. Also, don't think I'll forget the fact you threatened to kill me."
"I was bluffing, if you did move I was just going to knock you out."
"With a blade pressed to my throat?"
"It adds to the fear factor."
"I'm not buying that shit for a second."
Milo's voice became much more sincere "I'm being serious, you're one of my only friends, what kind of idiot would I be if I just killed you because you kept your secrets?"
"I guess. Either way, lets just go to bed. I'll take first watch."
Milo smirked, even if Eva could barely see it through the lightless night.
"No need."
Triscarion appeared, and Milo laid comfortably against the dog.
"W-where in the world did you get a three headed dog?"
"First Nightmare, came from this really cool lady. She'll warn us if any Nightmare Creature appears."
"I-I see."
Eva hesitated, then laid herself down against the dog as well. It didn't take her long to completely settle and fall fast asleep. Milo looked around.
"So she doesn't know Carmen... maybe he wasn't a transmigrator."
Milo fell asleep as well. He had something to live for more than just himself and his loved ones... though he couldn't help but feel that he was making the wrong choice. Did he really need to get involved, was that what he should really do?
'Probably not, but I'll do it regardless!'