Myth//OS - Chapter 59

-🝰-

I sat inside of a hospital room. The heavy scent of chemicals burned my nose far more than they usually did, and the clinical whites of the room were like a flashbang.

Beep! Beep!

A console next to an inhabited bed beeped lightly with life signs. I couldn’t see who it was though. I was down on the ground, much lower than my usual height. I could see Lucia sitting in a chair nearby though. Her face was heavy with worry.

How did we get here- no… probably a dream, yep? I stared at my fluffy paws. That made the most sense… Nighteye? This was a dream?

[Nighteye nods her head. Lucia’s from what it looked like.]

”Mrow?” I called out to Lucia. She didn’t hear me, instead staring straight ahead. Her eyes were dilated and her focus was entirely on the figure lying on the bed. 

I felt an uncomfortable feeling surge through me. It was one that I usually felt in my own dreams. A kind of terror that ebbed against my heart. It was hard to put into words, but even with a brush of it, I knew this was a nightmare. Usually, I just forced myself to wake up in this kind of situation. I wasn’t in control of the dream though.

I followed her gaze to the figure on the bed. They were entirely wrapped up in bandages like one of the mummies from that pyramid rift I just hit. The bandages were slowly but surely turning red. The beeping of a biomonitor accelerated, spiking erratically.

”D-dad?” Lucia jumped from her seat and rushed to the man’s side, grabbing his hand-

He vanished, dissipating into nothingness. The biomonitor nearby let out an eerie screech, radiating with an ear-splitting noise. Blood continued to flood, though this time down the walls of the hospital room. My lady turned into a trembling mess in a mere moment.

The blood poured down onto the ground, creating a small layer of the stuff. Lucia pulled at her feat to move away, but it was sticky like some kind of dark slime. It sucked at her feet, holding her hostage in the rising waves.

Slowly but surely, more and more blood poured into the room. The once clean facilities were soon covered in dark stains. It filled up the room, causing the entire layer to rise steadily. It fully enveloped her ankles, rising to claim her calves next.

Lucia quit struggling entirely in the blood. Instead, she half collapsed onto the hospital bed with a face full of despair. Her sniffles turned into full on wails, causing the entire world to shake. Still, the blood kept rising.

The rancid substance washed over me. It didn’t have the same effect and I easily jumped up onto the bed next to her.

[Nightmare Collected - Inevitable Tide]

Hmm- what was all of that-

“A-Aylin?” Lucia finally seemed to realize I was with her. Her hand dropped onto my head, roughly ruffling my ears.

“Mew~” I pushed up against her hand, hoping to make her realize what was going on.

The entire dream trembled without warning. She didn’t seem to notice. I could feel it though. It made my entire body rumble. An intense bout of nausea washed over me, though I pushed it down and focused on the situation.

From previous experiences, the shaking was probably her subconscious rejecting my intrusion. I was like a virus, and her blood cells were out to get me. Since I wasn’t created in this dream world, I was treated like some kind of parasite that needed fending off.

As if to strangle me out, more and more crimson tides flooded into the room. The walls of the hospital burst like lesions, letting even more flood in through the gaps. It was only a matter of time till this entire room filled up.

Luca’s beautiful silver eyes closed tightly. She took a deep, shuddering breath. Her entire body trembled under the sapping substance that was now up to her waist, fully trapping her in. “S-save yourself, Aylin.”

“Mrow!” If she didn’t want to wake up… I’d force her to. I wouldn’t just leave her here, trapped in a nightmare, if I had anything to say about it. 

I allowed Ebonshroud to flow up and out of my body. It didn’t feel like it did in reality, like it had a sense of disconnection. Not that it mattered. More and more of the substance flowed out like I had an endless supply. It flooded up the walls of the hospital, sealing any and all gaps into the room. The tide slowed down to a trickle.

Radiance burst out of me, making my entire feline body glow with a gentle silver light. The rotting blood recoiled where it met the light, burning and sizzling away like it was some kind of living creature. If I kept it up like this, it was only a matter of time till she was free-

The entire room trembled once more. My Ebonshroud, without putting up any resistance, burst apart and the tide continued. The lights all throughout the room flickered, and Radiance shut off alongside them. Only a red emergency light illuminated us.

”It’s okay, my friend.” Lucia gently stroked my head and picked me up. She held me tightly in her arms, pressing me into her chest. Her head dropped down onto the fur at my neck like I was some kind of pillow.

”Mrow!” I struggled for a moment, but I was just a weak cat compared to her. She held the complete advantage.

”There there… just close your eyes. I-it’ll all be over soon.” Her voice tinged with fragility and deep seated sorrow.

The blood, living up to its name as the Inevitable Tide, continued to rise no matter what I tried. I even wrapped the both of us in a dome to try and keep it out. Every single attempt was thwarted. It was, like its name suggested, inevitable.

I still had some things to try though. I’d be damned if I just gave in and let us be consumed. It was up past her belly now, and my tail was fully submerged in the stuff. If I couldn’t top it, then I’d just have to destroy it.

I tried to activate Radiance once more, but the dream played by some rule I couldn’t quite grasp. It didn’t work. Instead, a scythe formed of Ebonshroud. It took shape in the free space around us, turning bigger and bigger with each passing moment. Echoing Reinforcement flowed down the length of the blade. With a simple flick, the scythe cut through the hospital room-

The world churned more violently than ever before.

-🝰-

I flopped off the side of the bed, dropping to my bedroom’s floor. I landed on my feet. Cats always landed on their feet. I was tired of being a cat though. Dream Shift deactivated, causing shadows to coalesce across my body. They twined around me like threads, pulling and twisting in every direction. My body melted, reverting back to my normal humanoid form.

My clothes and stuff all returned too, which was nice. I wouldn’t have to worry about that being an issue when I used Dream Shift. I stretched out, getting used to the sensation of two arms and legs once more.

Lucia was still on my bed. Her entire body trembled, and her hand was outstretched as if to stop something from happening. It seemed like I couldn’t do anything after all… I must’ve been too forceful and kicked out.

Still… I could do something from this side. Ebonshroud flowed out of my body, creating a harp. Two globs likewise flowed out, creating hands. I was a bit rusty, but I got the hang of it once more. The Ebonshroud hands plucked at the harp, playing a gentle lullaby from back home. 

I sat back on the bed and gently rubbed her back. Her expression immediately eased up, and her breathing evened out.

— — —

The next morning, Kali watched me and Lucia with interest. “Didn’t expect you two to have a sleep over.”

”I-it wasn’t intentional.” Lucia blushed and covered her face with her hands. “Her bed is just so comfy- and she can turn into a cat!”

”Really?” Kali turned to stare at me. There was an uncomfortable intensity in her eyes that I wasn’t quite used to seeing from her. “A cat, Aylin?”

”Yep.” 

Kali leaned over the kitchen counter from where she was cooking. The intensity in her eyes picked up several notches, if that was even possible. “Hmm… show me?” 

“…” Should I? I hesitated for a few moments longer and then let Dream Shift take over once more. In a mere moment, I was transformed back into the pure black form of a cat. 

Kali appeared like a ghost in front of me and picked me up. The intensity in her eye faded- no, it changed. It changed to one of pure adoration. “Why, aren’t you just the cutest little thing?”

”Meow.” My claws reflexively poked out, catching on her shirt. The pervert seemed to just get more and more excited by that though instead of backing off from the obviously threatening motion.

”Aw! And your claws are so sharp! You’re so adorable.” My roommate pressed her face into mine, rubbing up against me. As expected of a pervert, she had no grasp of personal space.

”M-mew?!” I shot a look at Lucia begging for help. She just looked the other way and pretended she didn’t notice. 

Eventually, while I was being tortured by an overly affectionate Kali, her consciousness seemed to get the best of her. “S-so, you like c-cats?” 

“Any kind of small animal… They usually hate me though.” Kali tucked me into her arms and sadly dropped her head onto my back. I had half a mind to just shift back, but I wasn’t sure if that would affect her or not given our forced proximity.

“No wonder…” Lucia muttered under her breath. My sharp ears twitched toward her and I found myself nodding in agreement. I felt like I was getting strangled and man-handled. If this was how she treated other animals…

”It’s really heart breaking.” Her voice shifted like she was talking to a baby. “Aw- but you love me don’t you? Such a cutey~”

Lucia finally reacted to my pleading look. ”Y-you remember that’s Aylin, right?” 

“Ugh- don’t remind me.” Kali’s grip loosened substantially. “How can someone so- so her turn into something so adorable? The world really is unfair.”

“…” What was that supposed to mean? I took the chance to wiggle out of her arms and dropped to the floor. Before I could be picked up again, I shifted back and shot a glare at my roommate. 

“Ah, are you sulking, Aylin?” Kali snickered and moved back to the kitchen. “Although I suddenly find you really adorable now.”

A shudder went down my spine and I backed away to put Lucia between the two of us. My reputation… if this got out, it’d be totally destroyed. That’s it- I was never using Dream Shift out in the field. 

“Breakfast is ready.” Kali called out a few minutes later. We all gathered around the table to eat. It was nice being able to just get together like this most mornings. ”You have any plans?”

“Work. I’ve gotta go discuss with the engineers about our Epsilon deal.” Lucia sighed and twirled her fork on her plate. “You?”

”Same. I- uh- need to go do some IT work.” Kali shrugged and nodded her head to me. “What about you, lazy bones?”

”Rift.” I wanted to start working on a specific skill combo that I found while doing research at OuroSec. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure they’d merge, but I could always try it and replace them if they didn’t. “Cloud Keep. Temple.”

”Hmm… D-rank rift, right? Up in Strata?” Kali smirked. “Have fun with that. This’ll be your first time in Strata, right?”

”…” I dipped my head. Strata was also known as the party district. Definitely not somewhere I’d be comfortable, but I hopefully wouldn’t have to be there long. I had four hours worth of time slots reserved on Throne’s Tower app.

We finished up eating and all three of us split up, heading our own ways.