The cold embrace of water slammed into my senses.
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I didn't even know which way was up. My limbs flailed as I spun in the suffocating dark, submerged somewhere deep in an endless sea. Panic scratched at the inside of my skull.
And yet... I smiled.
'The Forgotten Shore…'
I had spawned in the middle of the ocean. Just my luck.
Mind racing, I forced myself to focus. I needed to get out—fast. These waters were home to things I didn't want to see. Things I didn't want to touch, or hear, or even think about. My lungs screamed for air
[Event horizon] enveloped around me, I felt the gravity pull down on a particular direction, prompting me to swim against it.
"BAEH!"
I gasped for breath, coughing as saltwater burned down my throat. A cold wind sliced across my face. I blinked.
Everything was black.
No stars. No moon. Just clouds and shadows.
No time to rest.
I spun, searching—there!
An island—far, but not unreachable. Relief surged through me, and I didn't waste a second. I shifted gravity again, using it to thrust myself forward, cutting through the water.
A sudden shift in gravity beneath me sent a jolt of panic racing through my veins. Something's coming, I realized, dread settling in my gut like a stone.
I swam faster. My muscles burned, tense and screaming in protest. I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain.
My face went pale. It's getting closer.
It had noticed me.
That's when I felt the true terror of my flaw.
Beside me, raised a tentacle. Then another and one more after that. My body froze due to fear, amplified by my flaw. I felt terror gripping me in its icy claws. Rising from the depths before me were tentacles, their grotesque forms twisting and writhing in the darkness.
Frozen with fear, my body betrayed me as I watched them approach.
Desperation clawed at my mind. I needed to move—escape—but my body refused to obey. My heart pounded like a war drum as I began to sink. Saltwater filled my throat, choking me.
I'm screwed.
But then—just as sudden as they came—the tentacles stopped. They sank back into the abyss as a massive dorsal fin sliced through the water beside me. The presence turned, chasing after the fin, and the suffocating pressure in my chest began to ease.
I broke the surface with a violent gasp, coughing up seawater between ragged breaths. There was still more water—I was still not safe—but I could see the island now.
I swam for it.
"Keuk!" I hacked up more water, collapsing onto the sand the moment I reached the shore. My chest heaved. My lungs burned. But I was alive.
That… that was the same creature Sunny had encountered. The tentacles. The shark. If not for that fin, I would've died right there.
My flaw...
I always knew that even looking at a corrupted Nightmare creature as a Sleeper was suicide—but this… this was something else. With my flaw amplifying my emotions, 'fear' grew to be something more.
It was paralysis, helplessness.
And then it hit.
—BEAAHH!
My stomach lurched. Acid burned up my throat as I vomited seawater and bile. Even after my stomach emptied, I kept retching, gagging on nothing but air and panic. I have to stop... I might puke out my intestines. But I couldn't. My hands were trembling. My face was pale. I was still trapped in it.
Still experiencing fear.
Eventually, my body gave in. I lay there, gasping, the tremors slowly fading.
"Holy shit…" I whispered.
***
It had been nearly a week or so since the winter solstice. It was night and Sunny felt about as comfortable as a cat at a dog show. In front of him were two extremely beautiful girls. Though he knew them better than most, they were nothing but acquaintances to him. He could still not trust them fully and he was sure that the feeling was mutual.
Cassie had a smile the entire time as she was simply happy to be reunited with the few people she knew, to an extent. Nephis leaned against a stone with her arms crossed with a thoughtful look on her face.
She was still extremely skeptical of Sunny. Though he was Asher's 'friend,' she still didn't trust him. Of course, she could hardly trust Asher as well. Moreover, Sunny was the Academy's infamous pervert.
The atmosphere was very awkward as Asher was missing.
*Uhm*
Sunny coughed to break the silence. "It's seeming that we are only missing that bastar-, I mean Asher!" He said in a friendly tone. He received little more than a pair of noncommittal hums in response.
"It's funny that we still don't know anything about each other, other than our names!" He said, the desperation evident in his voice as he searched for some semblance of connection amidst the awkwardness that threatened to suffocate them all.
He got no response.
'Where the hell is that damned bastard when I need him?!'
He chuckled awkwardly, "Since we're going to be depending on each other, should we share what abilities and Memories we have at our disposal?" he suggested. He was confident that this would get them talking and thwart the ice between them, After all, in a world as crazy as this one, a little camaraderie could go a long way.
.
.
.
The silence stretched on, punctuated only by the soft rustle of the night breeze, Sunny couldn't help but feel a sense of futility wash over him.
'Fuck my life.' he thought to himself as he looked at the night sky with a warm smile on his face.
In a world where trust was a rare commodity and alliances were forged in the crucible of necessity, he finally realized how important social skills are...
Sunny finally sighed, "Fine, I'll start."
And just like that, the conversation went on to be one of the worst decisions Sunny has ever made since after the conversation, the two girls were convinced that Sunny was a desperate pervert.
________________________
[A/N: Yo why is my FF stuck all the way in the bottom😭😭]