'I'm tired…'
The sleeping pod was cold as the grave, dark and all-encompassing. There was no escape. Not now, not ever, and not again. All he had to do was close his eyes… fall asleep… never wake back up.
'I'm hungry…'
It was an abyssal hunger — one deep in his chest rather than his stomach. Other's would've called it longing, or desire, or even a dream, but he knew better.
'I want to go home…'
But there was no home. Not after Him.
'I miss her…'
He couldn't even bear to call her by her title, let alone her name, lest he lose himself further. Left alone, with a seed of chaos blooming where his heart should be, he finally let his eyes fall.
'I want to die.'
But then a monstrous grin suddenly bloomed on his face, and even the dark trembled under its wickedness. A voice spoke in the void. It was his voice, but it was not him. And when He spoke, He spoke with Nico's heart, Nico's emotions, and Nico's mind. He said:
'Oh, but you must live — and you will live — my dear son. I've use for you yet. Now dream. Dream a sweet dream. Dream a great dream. Dream a beautiful nightmare, conquer and change, and return back to me…'
***
Nico's eyes flung open a moment later. Despite himself, he was scared, dazed, and grief-stricken. It took him longer than usual to realize that it was Shaman's mind and not his own. The nightmare, too, was not his. He did not think of things such as those, even more so in rest.
Sighing, he took a glance around. He was laying on a couch. More specifically, it seemed he was inside his private quarters in the Song Domain's compound. It'd been so long since he'd actually been here he'd almost forgotten it existed. Glancing around, he saw a piece of parchment on the coffee table beside him. He reached out and unfurled it.
It read:
'I have seen it fit to allow your upcoming expedition with Seishan. Challenge the Second Nightmare within a year and a half's time.'
Nobody needed to tell him Ki Song herself had written the letter. He could even feel some sort of mystical quality in the crimson ink. Folding the paper neatly, he sat for a couple seconds, feeling oddly different.
'Wait… Didn't the Queen allow me to assimilate her lineage?'
Nico's eyes widened. The memories returned all at once. He opened his runes to assess what, exactly, had changed — and review his runes while he was at it. Whatever announcement the Spell made had been said while he was still asleep.
Name: Nico.
True Name: Eternal Dawn.
Rank: Awakened.
Class: Devil.
Soul Cores: [4/7].
Soul Fragments: [435/4000].
Attributes: [Empath], [Specter], [Flame of Divinity], [Godheart], [Blue Moon].
There was a new Attribute, and it seemed one of his others was ready to evolve.
[Godheart] Attribute Description: [You have inherited the lineage of Heart God.]
[Godheart] is ready to evolve. Proceed?
"Yes."
The runes shifted, then cleared. He felt nothing in particular change.
[Godheart] Attribute Description: [The lineage of Heart God takes root in your form.]
A few moments passed as Nico wondered as to the implications of that statement. Did it mean that he hadn't fully utilized his lineage before? Is he only now receiving it's power now that he had fed it?
There were no real answers at the moment, so he continued on.
[Blue Moon] Attribute Description: [A descendent of the Moon has recognized you as her child. Her gift, twisted by the blood of the heart, is a primal beauty that evokes emotions and memories into the souls of all whose eyes set upon you.]
'Not… particularly useful.' Nico furrowed his brows. 'A mental attack could be strong, but who knows as to the potency of its effects, what emotions it entails, and if I can even use them to my advantage.'
Not to mention the fact that it appeared to be a passive effect. Grimacing, he banished the new Attribute from his mind and moved on.
Memories: [Silver Wraith], [Mourning Star], [Song of Steel], [Wrathful Crescent], [Winter's Vase], [Glass Torch], [Herald's Locket], [Sacrificial Sight], [Infectious Root], [Nameless Sun], [Purifier's Ward].
Sadly, he only had one new Memory since the Forgotten Shore. He had used more in the past, but most of them were given away in exchange for his soul shard debt to his clan — one that Ki Song appeared to have stated didn't exist but Hel and Beastmaster made sure to remind him did.
Either way, having a ginormous collection of Memories was of no matter to Nico. A small but effective collection was more than enough, and despite what most people thought, the more useful enchanted items didn't appear quite as frequently.
Memory: Purifier's Ward.
Rank: Ascended.
Tier: I.
Memory Description: [The Lighthouse caved before monsters — walls shattered under their might and stone shuddered beneath their foot. Time waits for none, least of all those who seek its blessing. When a hero purged the Corrupted and placed the bones of the deceased into the Lighthouse fire, the only mercy he could provide for the fallen was the the promise that no such tragedy would ever happen here again.
But, like all others, his promise was eventually broken.]
The Memory itself was a thin circlet with carefully inscribed runes. Nico didn't know what they meant, but he did know that once they stopped glowing, the first enchantment — which used invisible force to protect his body from most physical and elemental damage — stopped working despite continuously feeding it essence.
The ironic part was that, because the glow was so faint and the symbols hidden under his hair, he would never be able to tell when it wasn't working. The Memory's second enchantment, a passive one, made its first undetectable, so his opponents wouldn't know either.
Aspect: [World Tree].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [You are a powerful spirit fused with heart—always hungry, always growing, always reaching.]
Innate Ability: [Sacred Fruit].
Innate Ability Description: [Fruits born of the Soul Tree bear life.]
Aspect Abilities: [Soul Roots], [Soul Construction].
[Soul Roots] Ability Description: [The roots of your soul can empower and shape soul essence.]
[Soul Construction] Ability Description: [You can transmute soul essence into physical matter.]
Aspect Legacy: [Architect of Being].
[Architect of Being] Description: [The Architects swore a singular oath: creation before destruction, life within death, and growth beyond decay. Their mastery was a timeless craft, not born of division, but by the fostering of their bodies, minds, and spirits into an ever-growing whole. Into one blistering flame.
But when the end came — when the Forest burned, and their ways proved naught but misbegotten — all that remained was time. Time to twist heat into cold. Time to twist day into dusk. Time to twist dusk into the vision of Eternal Dawn.]
[Architect of Being] Mastery Level: [0/7].
Relic of Soul: Unearned.
Relic of Form: Unearned.
Relic of Mind: Unearned.
Relic of Spirit: Unearned.
Relic of ???: Unearned.
Relic of ???: Unearned.
Relic of ???: Unearned.
Flaw: [Cold Flame].
Flaw Description: [You are unfeeling, and you feel everything.]
After a few moments, Nico realized he didn't really need to study his runes again and leaned back onto the couch. The past few days had been taxing. Despite having some… rest… after that horrible transformation, he was mentally spent.
The future could wait. He closed his eyes and sank into the cushions. Tonight he would sleep, and tomorrow he would prepare to embark on a journey with his cohort…