Chapter 23: a shadow, a star, an oracle and a shapeshifter.
Hugo looked down at Sunny from his towering height, then extended a single finge —which was the size of Sunny's entire body—and poked him slightly, snapping him out of his bewildered state.
"Focus. I know you might have a thing against women, but this is the Dream Realm. We need to band together to survive."
Sunny looked up at Hugo with a horrified expression. "What?! Who said I have anything against women?! I don't! Matter of fact, I love women! They're very..." He trailed off before stopping himself.
Hugo tilted his massive tentacled head, a gesture that was somehow both quizzical and terrifying. "They're what? Lesser?... That's quite dissapointing. I expected more from you, Sunless."
"Gods, just shut up! I don't have a thing against women, and this conversation is meaningless! Let's just focus on the main problem here and try to communicate with the other Sleepers!"
Hugo felt a strange, primal urge to kick the tiny creature that was giving him orders but he suppressed it and simply nodded.
"Alright. You should get back to normal or else they'd be terrified of you..."
Hugo remained silent for a moment before scratching his tentacles awkwardly. "About that... I sort of can't detransform until a timer ends..."
Sunny sighed, the sound like a tiny whistle to Hugo's enhanced hearing. "Well, that's going to be a problem so Just wait here; I'll go talk to them then You should come out when I tell you to."
Hugo nodded though he didn't appreciate being treated like a pet. He simply sat on the ground, staring at nothing in particular as Sunny went to reveal himself to the Sleepers his shadow had spotted.
'Maybe I should consider using less monstrous imprints in the future,' he thought, contemplating the social complications of his Aspect.
"Nonsense," he muttered to himself, a low rumble. "Anything less than perfection wouldn't do this form any justice." He raised his eyes pridefully.
After a couple of minutes, he heard Sunny's voice. "Hey, you can come out now!"
Sunny's voice was a little muffled to avoid drawing any abominations.
Hugo got up and walked in that direction, finding Sunny standing next to two girls.
The first was tall and lithe with silky silver hair and clear, grey eyes. Her revealing clothes were crudely made from black seaweed, leaving her fair skin and athletic build exposed. She was poised, alert, and barefoot.
The second girl was the complete opposite, delicate and fragile, with blond hair and cerulean, aimless eyes. She was dressed in a simple tunic with leather sandals on her feet and a cloak the color of sea waves draped around her shoulders.
He recognized both of them. The tall, lithe girl was none other Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan, Changing Star. While the second girl was Cassia, the blind girl he had thought was doomed to die the moment she entered the Dream Realm.
'Guess I was wrong...'
Changing Star's eyes locked onto Hugo's towering figure, assessing him coolly before speaking in a calm tone. "You are the Paragon of Purity, correct?"
Hugo nodded, a slow, heavy motion. "That I am. Changing Star, I presume." he said before turning his head into Cassie "And Cassia, I'm glad you're well and alive."
His voice came out as a ragged, terrifying rumble making the blind girl shiver slightly
"Excuse me, but do I know you?" Cassia asked, hesitant.
"Ah, right. I'm Hugo. I was the second person sitting with you in the academy. I understand why you'd be confused, considering my ability changes my voice and physical appearance." And also his entire personality but they didn't need to know that.
Cassia's face lit up slightly. "Ah, right! I'm glad you're alive too!"
Hugo took a step closer, which made Changing Star tense slightly.
'Are all of these people racist?! ' he shouted internally, gritting his teeth and looking at Sunny. "So, what now?"
Sunny crossed his arms. "Well, remember that massive hill we saw earlier? Maybe we should go there..."
Cassia smiled a little at the mention of the hill. "Actually, we spent the last few days on that hill. We were just about to go back."
Sunny seemed to lick his lips a little, a gesture that disgusted Hugo quite a bit. "Well... can we come with you?"
Nephis looked at the odd pair with a neutral expression before speaking in a cold tone. "No…"
'She's racist!' Hugo thought, suddenly feeling the urge to swing his trident at her.
"...problem," Nephis finished.
'She's not racist...' He lowered his trident slightly, a bit disappointed for some strange reason.
Sunny smiled hesitantly, feeling the awkwardness in the air. "Well. Alright then…"
---
They spent a couple of minutes walking towards the hill. It seemed Nephis had already memorized the paths which was a great help.
Hugo's Omnitrix timed out just as they reached the hill's base, which was incredibly convenient as climbing a hill while being a 15-foot giant wouldn't have been a pleasant experience.
So, Carefully, they used a rope—one of Nephis's Memories—and began their ascent, pulling Cassia up with them. The blind girl's inability to do anything by herself was a difficult predicament and would likely hinder them in combat but Hugo wasn't keen on voicing his thoughts in front of the two girls.
After reaching the top, Hugo glanced at Sunny who was discussing various things with Nephis and Cassia such as sharing food and water, the carapace scavengers movements and what Sunny and he had seen during their first night here, Hugo didn't have much to add so he remained silent even as they all sat down and cooked the food they shared.
'Ahh, water. What a luxury,' he thought as he drank greedily from Cassie's memory. .
When they finished their meal, the dark sea had returned, and the night was upon them once more, Everything was consumed by absolute darkness. That darkness frightened Hugo more than anything, reminding him of his house during long, lonely nights... There was also the fact that he would be utterly helpless if any of the three decided to attack him... especially Sunny, who had shown the ability to see in the darkness.
It seemed Sunny and Nephis were having similar thoughts as none of them spoke.
Suddenly, Cassia broke the silence with a bright voice: "How about we formally introduce ourselves? I'm Cassie."
"Neph," Changing Star's voice reverberated through the darkness.
Then Sunny, who was next to him, spoke. "I'm Sunless. But you can call me Sunny."
Lastly, it was Hugo's turn. "I'm Hugo," he said calmly. Strangely enough, Hugo felt a bit out of place in this group. They all seemed so interesting, while he was... quite the boring person.
'...I guess I didn't really develop much of a personality...'
Unaware of his thoughts, Sunny spoke again. "Since we're going to be depending on each other, should we share what abilities and Memories we have at our disposal?"
Hugo flinched, his eyes locking onto the spot where Sunny's voice had come from. It was a reasonable question, but the boy hadn't bothered to ask him anything about his abilities during their first night together, so Hugo was a little baffled.
What surprised him even more was that Sunny was the first to reveal his cards. "I'll start. My attributes give me an affinity to shadows. I also have a slight affiliation to divinity. Lastly, I am prone to finding myself in unlikely situations."
"Uh… he is telling the truth. Not that we doubted your honesty!" Cassie said.
"Really? That's good to know. But… why are you so sure that I am being honest?"
"Oh! That's my Ability. I can 'see' people's Attributes. Sometimes, I also receive, uh, 'visions'. They can be about the future or the past. I mean, that's what I think… it only happened a couple of times."
'A seer, then. And I thought she couldn't get any creepier...' Hugo thought, feeling a strange unease around the seemingly harmless girl.
He found himself lost in thought as the conversation progressed until one particular line brought him back.
"Have you ever used your Ability in the Academy?" Changing Star asked the shadow, clearly indicating he had done something scandalous with his ability
'Oh.. so a racist, a misogynist, and a pervert... This guy is an entire package deal.'
"In the Academy? Sure, of course. Why?" Sunny spoke before widening his eyes in horror—at least, that's what Hugo imagined in the dark. "But I have never used it to do anything improper! You have to believe me!"
Sunny went on to explain why he was innocent and how he didn't use his ability for anything improper because he was too busy learning how to survive.
Sunny continued: "Anyway, that's my Ability. As for Memories, I have three. One is an armor, one is a sword, and the last one is a really loud bell."
Now it was Nephis's turn. "My attributes give me an affinity to light and fire, as well as a strong affiliation to divinity. I have two Memories: a rope and a sword. The rope is very sturdy and can change its length. The sword is very sharp and can protect its wielder against soul attacks, to a certain extent. My Ability… can be used to heal."
'A healer... That's great!' Hugo thought with a bit of enthusiasm.
"It's my turn? " Cassie said hesitantly. "My attributes are nothing special. I guess I have an affinity to revelations and fate. My Ability is like I told you before. It's not very useful. About my Memories, I have three: the bottle, the wooden staff, and this armor. You already know about the bottle. The staff can create wind. The armor is actually of the Awakened rank… uh, Neph gave it to me when we met. It has a very powerful protective charm."
The fact that Changing Star had been benevolent enough to give such a powerful Memory to the blind girl was strange to Hugo. While some people were kind, Nephis didn't strike him as a saint—both literally and figuratively—so he made a note to keep track of that, Understanding his companions characters was definitely necessary.
Finally, the trio went silent, awaiting their fourth, mysterious member to speak up. Hugo sighed, unsure how much he was willing to share.
"My attributes are a bit strange. I have six in total, each changing my body, shadow, and soul to a different extent. One of these attributes allows me to have perfect memory and an immunity to mind attacks that I'm still not sure how it works..."
He didn't see it, but he could feel Changing Star and Sunny both turn their attention to Cassie.
"He's telling the truth..." the girl said. She must have been particularly confused by his [Soul-Bound] attribute, which had traits in it, but she said nothing for the moment.
"My Aspect, as you might've guessed already, allows me to transform into certain creatures for around 10 minutes..." Hugo suddenly went silent, debating whether he should tell them the true extent of his Aspect. "...There's also more than one transformation if you're wondering" he added, not sharing the fact there was a recharge time between each transformation or the fact he can scan almost any creature that isn't a human.
"As for my Memories, I have a charm that makes me stronger, a trident that muffles my presence and can also create vortexes, and there's a compass which can guide me to anything I think about, but it's range is weak considering it's of the dormant rank. Then there's a spyglass memory that's decent for scouting and –"
Suddenly a voice cut him off. "There's still more?! Just how many Memories do you have?!"
Sunny's annoyed voice rang out through the darkness, making Hugo a bit agitated.
"Well, more Memories than you," Hugo retorted.
The shadow user fell silent before snarling in frustration.
"As I was saying," Hugo continued, "I also have two armors. " He decided to leave [Polymorphic Crystal] out of the conversation for now.
Then it was Changing Star who spoke, her voice tinged with interest. "You said you have two armor Memories, correct?"
He nodded, though the gesture felt stupid in the pitch black. "Yes."
Changing Star remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Is there anyway we can make a deal? I would like one of the armors."
Hugo remained silent for a moment. In truth, he could just give it to her considering they were now teammates which would increase their chances of survival, there wzs also the fzct thay [Chitinous Corpus] was useless to him being of the Dormant Rank.
But getting a deal would certainly be nice.
"Yes, although I'd warn you, the Memory is of the Dormant Rank and has only one enchantment."
"That doesn't matter. It's better than nothing," she said, her voice as calm as ever. "So, what do you want in exchange for it?"
"Well, do you have soul shards?"
"No... But I will have some once we hunt tomorrow."
"Then how about you give me three soul shards, and I give the armor to you now."
Changing Star was silent for a bit, thinking about the offer, before sighing. "Deal."
"Alright... Uhh, I can't really see you, so can you come closer?"
He suddenly felt someone facing him. He touched her hand slightly; it was colder than stone.
[You have lost a Memory.]
The Spell's voice rang out as he transferred the Memory to her. Instantly, Nephis summoned the armor. A white shower of sparks adorned her figure as the dark, chitinous carapace materialized. It contrasted against her silver hair but gave her a slightly more terrifying aura.
"Thank you," Changing Star said before returning to her spot next to Cassie in silence.
Sunny once again broke the silence. "Well, it seems we have more than enough to survive. Cassie as a seer is incredibly useful for warning us of danger through her visions, Nephis is a healer and Hugo is extremely versatile especially as a damage dealer, while I can be a scout. This is a perfect lineup if you ask me."
...
Silence.
Sunny sighed, his disappointment practically vibrating through the air. "Well, I think we should go to sleep. It's late."
"Alright. I'll… take the first watch," said Nephis.
Sunny retorted, "Actually, my shadow doesn't sleep. It can wake us up if something happens."
Changing Star spoke again, her tone impassive. "I'll take the first watch."
He stopped arguing clearly finding it impossible to reason with changing star.
Sunny and Cassie then went to sleep in their own separate spots, while Nephis simply remained seated where she was. Hugo followed the shadow and the oracle's lead and settled into a sleeping position.
'...Should I try hunting in the sea again ?' A crazy idea ran through his head tempting him with the potential of scanning more creatures and acquiring memories or even an echo.
'No, that would be dangerous... and stupid. Besides, I've already got an aquatic imprint that's incredibly fast, so it's not worth it.'
There was also the problem of the transformation timer, which was limited to 10 minutes.
One slight miscalculation and Hugo would find himself trapped in a sea filled with harrowing abominations. So he simply decided to sleep, pushing all thoughts away as he peacefully drifted into the embrace of slumber.
---
In the morning, Sunny and Nephis were the first to get up finding Hugo swinging his trident some distinace away While the sun was rising and the sea was retreating, they made a fire and began preparing a simple breakfast.
With Cassia still asleep, they did not talk to each other much. It was as if the previous night's conversation had never happened. However, after some time, they somehow ended up discussing the plan for the next few days. Nephis had some ideas.
"With what you told us about scavengers crowding to the west, the logical step would be to start moving east as soon as we can. Of course, north and south are also acceptable, but that won't put as much space between us and the enemy."
Sunny nodded, agreeing with that logic. "We have explored to the east a little, but not enough to confidently make it to the next high point in a day. That's why the best course of action would be to spend today scouting a path to that group of cliffs over there and move the camp tomorrow."
Hugo, who had been quietly listening while checking the [heart compass] finally spoke up. "East makes sense, whenever I think of danger it points towards west, so it's definitely a bad idea..."
Sunny sighed. "Well that aside, Do you have any idea where we are? Would there be a human Citadel to the east?"
Nephis shook her head. "I've never heard of a region that fits the characteristics of this place. In any case, we have to move to find out more. We'll either find a Citadel, encounter an unconquered Gateway… or die. East is as good of a direction as any. Plus, it's the safest, because there's a horde of monsters to the west."
Hugo looked at the two with a hesitant expression knowing full well they were fooling each other...
The truth was grim and clear.
This was an undiscovered region of the dream realm...
At that point, Cassie suddenly sat up straight. Her eyes were wide open, and her face was a little pale. She looked both nervous and excited.
Nephis frowned. "Cassie? What's the matter?"
The blind girl turned to them and smiled. "A… a vision! I had a vision!"
'please don't be something horrible...' Hugo grimmiced his hands clutching his compass slightly.
Meanwhile, Changing Star stretched her hand, as though prepared to summon her sword. "Are we in danger?"
Cassie energetically shook her head. "No, it's not that! People… I saw a castle full of people!" She smiled and pointed with her finger. "I don't know how far it is, but I'm sure that it's in that direction!"
Sunny and Nephis looked at each other, not knowing whether to be glad or petrified.
Hugo watched them, a skeptical frown forming on his face.
Cassie's small, delicate finger was confidently pointing west.