'I'm an idiot.'
Asher's hand brushed against his shoulder, the phantom ache flaring at the memory. His gaze fell to his palm, fingers curling into a fist.
He had tried replicating what Dahila did, and he had failed miserably.
Miserably.
'So much for trying something new...'
All of the sudden, the cohort stopped as Asher bumped into Caster, hitting his nose.
Asher narrowed his eyes, but Caster only stared back in silence.
'Bastard.'
He shook his head and forced his attention forward.
Inside the giant nest of spiderwebs, a desiccated corpse of the colossal Matriarch lay shriveled on the floor, its iron carapace shattered by some devastating blow. The creature was long dead, but the sight of it was still terrifying.
Asher shivered, turning away quickly but that proved to be wrong as he noticed numerous cocoons of spiderwebs attached to the walls of the nest all around the dead Matriarch.
Inside them, withered carcasses of Nightmare Creatures of all shapes and sizes were preserved in a strangely good condition.
He suddenly felt an all familiar sensation. His body lurched as bile clawed its way up his throat.
The iron spiders did not use the monsters caught in the cocoons for food.
...They used them as incubators.
The creatures in the broken cocoons had been devoured from within. A few of them still had hundreds of small, moist eggs embedded into their flesh, with embryonic spiderlings moving weakly behind the slightly transparent shells.
Asher's stomach rebelled. Bitter bile exploded from his mouth, burning his throat as he convulsed with violent gags.
The cohort averted their eyes, granting him the dignity of silence. Still, other than Sunny, Nephis and Cassie — who all knew Asher's tolerance, the other found it quite unexpected.
For how strong Asher was...
'Damned flaw.'
His retching wouldn't stop. His skin crawled, hair standing on end as the disgust threatened to drown him.
Finally, it subsided. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sunny offered the Endless Spring.
"Take it easy."
Asher seized it, gulping greedily, then coughed as the burn lingered in his throat. He forced the bottle back to Sunny, his eyes drifting toward the entrance.
His jaw tightened before he turned to Nephis, his expression wavering.
Nephis exhaled, steady and knowing.
"You go. We'll follow."
Asher lingered on her for a long moment, he felt the blue sky calling him. He tightened his jaw looking at Nephis. "No need. I'll stay."
If he ran away now, then he would keep running in the future.
And the future would only get worse. If he couldn't stomach this, if he couldn't endure, then he would never be ready for what was to come.
Nephis studied him in silence for a moment, her pale eyes unreadable, before turning away.
The rest of the cohort exchanged uncertain glances. No one spoke—until finally, Sunny drifted to his side.
"Hey, Ash… you, uh… holding up?"
Asher looked at Sunny, his eyes widening a little. Then he grinned, "Hey... Are you trying to comfort me...?"
Sunny's face stiffened, as if the words caused him physical pain. "…So what if I am? Someone has to. Your mental health is—well, it matters. To the cohort. If you—"
"So you are worried about me."
Sunny stopped short, frown deepening as color crept into his cheeks.
Asher's grin widened, adopting Effie's mischievous tone. "You didn't deny it."
Asher chuckled a bit as Sunny bit down on his lip.
"You're worried!" He began to laugh, holding his stomach.
Sunny refused to dignify it with an answer, pushing ahead stiffly. His steps were rigid, his jaw tight, his eye twitching every other second.
Kai slid up beside him, wearing the look of someone trying not to laugh. Effie, meanwhile, was staring at Asher as though she couldn't decide if she was amused or disturbed.
She finally leaned toward Sunny. "Hey… don't you think his emotions are a little… unstable? A moment ago he was dead serious, and now he's—this?"
Kai nodded his head, agreeing.
Sunny just waved them both off, exasperated. "He's always been like that. Forget it."
Effie said nothing, but her gaze lingered on Asher. His laughter wasn't forced, exactly—but it wasn't natural either. Something about it rang false.
He's coping, she realized.
Joy was the strongest emotion humans could cling to. Stronger than anger. Stronger than fear. When wielded deliberately, it drowned out everything else. What Asher was doing was simple: finding scraps of humor, any reason at all, to smile in the middle of a nightmare.
Whether he realized it or not.
Still, Effie allowed herself a small smile. 'I guess he really likes teasing Doofus if it makes him that happy.'
Caster, trailing just behind Nephis, caught the whole exchange. His sharp eyes narrowed as they settled on Asher, still chuckling as he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.
'Unnatural.'
***
Asher was surprised.
"Come on, Asher! Get your legs moving!" Effie's voice rang out as he stumbled free of the nest.
In a strange way, it all made sense. He had gone in knowing what he'd find—or what he thought he'd find. Stephen's corpse, Caster's friend, rotting in a cocoon. He wanted to see it. He wanted to feel the disgust, to confront it, to learn from it.
But there had been no corpse.
And of course, there wouldn't be.
Because Asher had taken Stephen's place.
Originally, five people were meant to be cast into the Forgotten Shore. The Spell never bent its rules for anyone. Why should it bend for him? Instead, Asher's presence simply changed how fate flowed, possibly rewiring it. It wasn't like he was Fateless or anything after all.
The thought gnawed at him. If Stephen had never died here, what then? Would the story unravel into some butterfly effect, spiraling into something unrecognizable? If so, then Asher's greatest advantage—his knowledge—might be slipping away.
Advantage…
He hesitated, brow furrowing. Did the flow of the story even matter?
The truth was, maybe not. His memory only stretched to the early volumes—what, up to five? Beyond that, he was as blind as the rest of them.
Did it matter, then, if fate was already off-script?
The question lingered as he drifted back to the cohort, lost in thought.
______________
[A/N: I'll be honest, I'm kinda losing interest writing these particular chapters since I didn't really plan anything. It's feels like he his just a self insert going self insert shit and while I don't like it, this journey is like kinda important. So! I'll ask you someting! Vote:
Should I continue this arc
(or)
Skip it after the climb the statue to directly reach the hollow mountains?]
What do Ya'll say?]