Nightmare Mythos

"Hah…!"

Breathing raggedly while glancing behind her once in a while, Reyna felt her legs weakening while being chased down by a couple of corrupted humans just right behind her. Attacking them was neigh impossible, much more on escaping them since it would not be too long till she got too exhausted and gave up.

To make her situation worse, she was bleeding at the side of her shoulder and stomach. Because she was determined to survive and escape her pursuers she was able to pull off the ridiculous actions in her current dire situation.

However, those wishful thinking would soon turn into nothing if she remained at her current pace.

That slowly started to come true.

Her vision started dwindling and hazy as her movements became sluggish. Everything seemed impossible to pull off and the negative thoughts that entered her mind only made the situation worse.

She was already losing hope.

"God damn it…! I just got randomly dropped here and freaking corrupted humans attacked me! Goodness, it fucking hurts!"

These thoughts that momentarily clouded her thinking came to an abrupt halt however when she screamed the pain she felt throughout her whole body outwards. Additionally, throughout the relentless running, she had to herself with injuries throughout her body, she was able to spot an ancient wooden door right at the end of it.

Screech—!

Going for one final push at the relentless hurdle she was facing, Reyna pushed through the door with one of the corrupted humans almost touching her back but failed to follow up once she closed the door instantaneously.

Thud—!

Hearing the corrupted humans right behind the door violently trying to get in that the wooden door would not just allow, Reyna plopped down on the ground while touching her bleeding stomach.

"Damn it…"

By the looks of it, barely doing that stunt took too much toll on her already injured body. With the bleeding intensified to the point that her eyes started to roll back, Reyna just knew that she was going to die there.

Alone, and most of all, afraid.

"Fuck…"

Just as she was about to lose consciousness, Reyna spotted a figure rushing at her. She couldn't get a clear view of this individual but she didn't need to upon realizing the situation she was facing.

"Reyna!"

She was on the brink of death.

…

-Reyna, you're going to be the most beautiful and respectable owner of our bank. Not only you're smart but also brave. However, it is a requirement to attend the Academy but you don't need to try really hard, my daughter. I'll get you out of the Army once you graduate. So hang on, okay?

Remembering the words of her father right before entering the Academy randomly, Reyna violently stood up from her place as she widened her eyes and tried to talk.

Her actions were futile when she found out that her mouth was covered with a cloth.

"Hmm!"

As if not to hide her surprise, Reyna spotted a familiar individual who was cutting a piece of wood with a gloomy expression.

"Quiet down if you don't want to wake up the Monsters in the Depths."

Joshua, another person from Cesar's, warned the agitated Reyna.

Almost immediately, Reyna began to assess her current situation they came across as she and Joshua. Moving her head all around, all she could see was the still water as they floated through it using only a boat.

Removing the piece of her cloth from her mouth, Reyna meekly approached Joshua and demanded, "What exactly is going on in here?"

Joshua pitifully observed Reyna for a brief moment before giving her a reply with a soft tone, "According to the people that went ahead from us, this place is called Still Waters. And right beneath its surface was an Intermediate Nightmare Creature. I-I've seen it with my own eyes… this behemoth, we better not make too loud noises,"

Reyna as if that was enough to conclude the confusion on her head replied, her tone almost raising, "If these so-called Still Waters are that dangerous, why are we traversing through it…!"

"Your tone…!" Joshua let out a sigh, "It's because the Nightmare I was mentioning came through the shore and is resting there…! Yes, this is risky but we need to see if there's another door towards the end of this… weird place we're in."

'A door…'

Reyna couldn't help but notice that clue that saved her life from the corrupted humans. In fact, she wouldn't have stayed alive for even a few seconds too late if she hadn't found the ancient wooden door that led here to Still Waters.

Eventually, she began to ponder deeply how she was alive throughout all the times she garnered injuries from those things.

Shifting her gaze from her shoulder down to her stomach, Reyna saw that she wasn't feeling any more pain in there. Instead, her previous injuries were wrapped around with the same cloth that used to cover her mouth.

"I applied a low-level healing ability that I got from my Facet. But you're very lucky that you landed to me, and to this terrain when there's an abundance of water. Without it, you're pretty much dead. But hurrah, you're alive. Why even matter the past?"

'Why even matter the past huh? Well, he's right…'

Observing Joshua busily cutting the wood with the use of available blood, Reyna curiously moved closer to him and asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Making a weapon,"

Reyna scoffed, "Will that even hurt Nightmares?"

Joshua dangerously looked at Reyna before replying, "To use it on you. Too bad, you woke up. You are supposed to be my dinner,"

Reyna was flabbergasted that her instincts were screaming for her to run but Joshua immediately stopped his actions and chuckled softly.

"I'm just kidding. We have different kinds of food here that aren't made of any human flesh. There's no way I'm going to commit cannibalism… unless it becomes too desperate."

Staring at Joshua which acted almost too believable for him, Reyna chuckled nervously and commented, "You have a fucked humor, you know that?"