A strange grey fog appeared out of nowhere.
It drifted down the gigantic mountains as if in a trance, moving about the jutting slopes, large rocks and odd protrusions, all under the unending starless sky.
Far behind the fog, one could only see a blanket of grey fog or mist covering the mountains. Slowly but surely it all seemed to be fading into the darkness.
Or maybe into nothingness.
As if it was conscious, the fog continued to move about, leaving behind what was maybe it's home, it continued to descend and silently move towards the distant dark waters.
However-
It suddenly paused for a moment.
Seemingly sensing something, it crept across to the side towards a chain of grey hills, which seemed to have been made up of strange uneven rocks with fine course sand littering all over it.
At the lower part of the hill, multiple large branching protrusions of hill appeared to be enveloping something, behind them hidden from view, was a wide clearing giving way to a cave inside.
As soon as it approached closer to the nearest hill, a creature of ebony fluid jumped from the shadows and draped itself above the fog, as if trying to consume it.
A small mouth like structure on the creature made a strange noise, it was trying to suck the fog, the fog just stayed where it was, as if coming to a decision.
The ebony creature was halfway to devouring the fog, when it's mouth just disappeared as if melting into the air.
The creature shrieked, instantly trying to move back, at the same second, the fog went through it and and another second later, there was no creature.
There was nothing, as if it never existed.
Maybe the fog seemed a little bit bigger or streched out or-
maybe it was just nothing.
The fog was about to move back to the way it came from when it stopped before it picked up its speed, moved behind the protrusions and crept inside the cave seemingly hypnotised.
If possible, It appeared to be excited by something.
***
Cassie lay curled up on on her left side inside the cave, her breathing was rough and shallow.
She flinched every once in a while, the cold air was really bothering her and the sound of waves colliding with the rocks in distance made her feel uneasy.
She had been sleeping half-heartedly, when she felt wrong.
Something was very wrong.
She was already up and standing before she was even conscious of it, the projection around her was the same for a few seconds, when right from the cave appeared...nothing?
There wasn't something, but it's just where her projection should have been in her mind, there was nothing.
As if something blocking it, or some kind of drifting mass.
And this was her first night in the dream realm.
...
'Damnation!'
Cassie cursed in her mind, feeling quite scared.
Scratch that, she was terrified.
A few terrible seconds later, the drifting mass appeared in front of her.
And then it just stopped.
Without hesitation, Cassie swiped her hand like she was holding a sword.
Well, she was holding one, only it's wasn't visible to sight.
The irony wasn't lost to her, sadly she didn't have time for jokes.
However what Cassie expected was to meet some kind of resistance to her invisible blade, yet it passed through the mass like knife through butter.
'...huh?'
Moving to the side, she tried to dash outside but the ...thing appeared in front of her before she even had time to take the first step.
Her slash hasn't done nothing it seems, before Cassie could not perceive the area where the thing was, but now where her blade had passed through, she could perceive a diagonal area, it seems the mass had been cut, though it also seemed to be recovering itself.
Cassie could not see it's attributes, either it was very high in the ranks of nightmare creatures, or it was something else, after all she could not feel the vile repulsion from it as she did from the water body outside the cave.
So Cassie once again slashed it, and continued to do so for the next few moments, not stopping for a single second.
When the mass appeared to be just broken fragments only then did she stop, she tensely waited for something to happen, for the spell the announce the kill.
She cursed when she realised it wasn't dead, and once again tried to run outside, but once again it appeared right in front of her blocking her way, though this time the mass seems to have recovered more than half of it, and appeared to be moving in a different shape.
Cassie stopped.
'...moving in a different shape?'
She was more suprised the scared when she felt attributes appearing over it, as the mass started to take up a humanoid shape.
But she was terrified when she realised the humanoid shape and the attributes that appeared above it were...her own.
She felt all her hair stand-up, her whole back was drenched in sweat.
It was some kind of shapeshifting monster, and it was turning into another her.
Cassie tensely waited a few moments, at the very least the monster wasn't antagonising her.
Maybe it would go away after copying her.
Somehow, Cassie wasn't sure.
Most of all, she's rather fight to death then leave it to luck.
She had learned that from Sunny and Nephis after all.
Feeling motivated, she attacked with her sword again, only this time, what met her wasn't butter like slash, rather the cold steel of another blade meeting her own.
The shapeshifter had attacked back.
Cassie felt horrified, because now in front of her stood another Cassia, well the thing still hasn't formed it's legs maybe a half-cassia?
Immediately the thought struck her, the thing started to become 'her' faster than before.
Cassie once again lashed out, only to be repelled back again.
'Think! What to do!?'
She squashed down her panic the second it emerged, and tried to maintain a cool head.
But the thing had been copying her faster now, unlike before...
'...!?'
'faster now, not before!'
What happened before?
It came towards her, like...like a fog, it was slowly trying to become her, however the moment Cassie recognised it as a humanoid shape, it became faster and then when she thought it's trying to be another Cassia, it became faster still.
So the key is...
'Recognised...no, perceived!.'
A creature which requires someone to perceive it for it to exist.
She felt a shiver on run down her spine.
But, what is she gonna do next, with her mind working like speeding PTV, she tried to think up of a solution, first of all- she is not sure it would go away...no referring to it as 'it', is wrong.
'That's it!!'
'After all, it is nothing.'
She chanted the same line over and over.
'....nothing.'
'....nothing.'
'....nothing.'
As if struck by something, the almost fully formed Cassie stumbled and started to deform, it's skin started to vaporise in grey smoke, the legs started to stretch unevenly before falling away in the same smoke, before it could fully melt itself away however-
Cassie went ahead and severed the wannabe hers neck cleanly off.
Only then did she heard it.
[You have slain a creature of Nothing, Cassia of Nothing.]
Finally feeling safe a bit, she exhaled deeply, and let out a sigh of relief.
She had thought of dismissing her memories, but somehow. She wasn't sure it would have been enough, afterall by dismissing her memories she is giving her perception the fact that it is something to not be perceived, thus effectively perceiving it in return, especially since it had already been perceived by the perception itself hence any out doing the perception will only lead being perceived.
'ugh! All this is hurting my head.'
Summoning Endless Spring, she sat down and focused on her sword.
This is what she has gotten after killing of Dante, the leader of Ashen grounds, also known as Phantom.
It sounds so easy, but it was an almost impossible battle, one in which she could have died any second.
Of course she didn't fight alone, Sunny and Nephis were with her, and the only reason they won is because Phantom was very weakened from his fight against Soul Reaper.
That and because Phantom had severely underestimated Cassie.
Grabbing her mystical bottle from the air, she greedily drank from it before sighing and dismissing it.
What had Sunny taught her again?
'Being underestimated is the best feeling ever!'
Especially against someone stronger then you, and an Ascended at that.
Yeah, they have killed off an Ascended, the three of them. Sunny, Nephis and Cassie.
Shooking her head to get rid of her thoughts, she focused on the runes of her sword.
Memory Name : Mockery of Being
Memory Rank : Ascended
Memory type : Weapon
Memory description : [ A mockery of a human, who lived in nothing but lies and deception, died by the same. ]
One of the sword's enchantment was to be invisible while the other she still hasn't figured out.
Willing it's enchantment to disappear, she stabbed it in the ground, and resting her head on it started to think her next action.
If someone would have been there, they would have seen a beautiful grey long sword, it's blade was thin and double sided, while the hilt was black and engraved with strange runes, the handle was long and had a small chain attached to the hilt at the end.
Cassie was safe now, and just now her only option of staying safely in the cave was taken away from her, not that it was a good plan given it lacked the element of progress in it.
Water she had, she still needed food to survive, so she will have to venture in the dream realm, dangerous as it was.
Cassie can not give up after all.
She will not.
Not after going through so much and she definitely won't be giving the world the satisfaction to see her dead.
Just then, hearing something, Cassie looked up towards the only entrance and exit of the cave.
She tilted her head and frowned.
'What?'