The air was humid, and every second brought with it the sound of a dripping water. It was dark, so dark that Atlas could not perceive what was directly in front of him.
But he was walking, trodding through the darkness and stumbling against furniture that barred his path. This continued for sometime until Atlas arrived at a hallway.
Immediately he stepped foot into the space, a row of candles flickered on, starting from where he stood and going so far into the hall that he could not see the end of it.
The room resembled a occult hideout. It was bare but ancinent. Vines cling onto the walls of the hallway, reaching up to the ceiling.
There was a musty smell presnt in the room and when he took the first step in he could hear the sloshing of water.
Where am I?
All that greeted him was silence, and his body as though moved by a second mind, stepped into the eeirie rooom, and began to march forward.
Atlas could feel the water soaking up his trousers, he could feel the thickness of the air as he took each shaky breath, he could hear his heart pounding loudly in his chest and yet that was not what was wrong with this room.
The place was strange, almost alive…
Atlas could feel multiple eyes watching him as he walked through the hall. Each one staring him without a shred of emotion—
The walls felt odd, it was as if at any moment they would reach out and grab him, returning the hall to its formerly peaceful state.
Where is this place?
The place was foreign but at the same time vaguely familiar. It was as though he had been here once before, but atlas could not tell when.
Suddenly, he heard an ear piercing scream.
Atlas hurried in the direction of the shout, the water sloshing as he charged through the hall.
That voice
It sounded familiar but he could not piece out where he had heard it.
There was a thick fog swirling in his mind, the more he tried to remeber, the more violently the fog would swirl up until it became painful.
So unable to control his actions, Atlas sat back and watched. Taking the back seat in his own body.
Finally, he seemed to have found what he was looking for because he slowed down and turned around the corner.
Atlas gasped when he saw why was at the other end of the room.
Huddled at the corner was a girl with gleaming blonde hair and vibrant green eyes. She hugged her body, completely overcome by fear and tears streamed out of her eyes in unending waves.
Atlas felt his heart tighten.
Why does this feel so familiar?
He took a step forward, moving closer to the girl.
I have to help her out of this place!
Atlas did not know why but his instincts screamed at him to help her, to save her from her impending doom.
This place was not safe.
But why? Why did he feel his heart tighten the more time passed by?
Alerted by the sound of the disturbed water, the girl immediately looked up, fear clouding her eyes. But once she saw Atlas, her eyes widened and relief flooded those beautiful pupils.
Stephanie
That was the only thing that came to him, Atlas did not still know who she was, all he knew was that she was immensely important to him.
She rose to her feet and immediately ran toward him, her smile wide.
But just as she got mere inches close to him, Atlas saw it.
A flash of steel.
No!
Just as it had been from the begining, his words were powerless to do anything. He lifted his steel dagger and plunged it right into her heart, spilling blood onto the wet ground.
The girl froze, her eyes wide in shock. Atlas could see the pain, the betrayal and strangely the relief in her eyes—
Stephanie fell tor the ground, her blood gushing out of her body like a broken faucet. Soon, the watery ground had taken a scarlet colour.
And reflected in that water, Atlas saw himself. Blood dripped down his face, falllig from his raven black hair and drifting down his emotionless golden pupils.
He was no older than ten and yet he had just killed someone, and not just anyone but Stephanie, his…
Once again the truth was blanketed in a veil of clouds.
Atlas felt someone proudly tap his boulder, but when he tried to look at them, all he could see was a tall man with a deep fog shrouding his face.
The he heard a voice, a deep guttural tempo that chilled his very bones. It sounded like a thousand mocking sneers resounding all at once, it was profound and ancient, something that was better left unheard.
The voice spoke only two words and yet to Atlas, it had a thousand meanings.
"Sacrifice Accepted."
Atlas immediately sat up straight, letting out a stifled scream. He was sweating profusely, so much that his shirt was completely soaked.
He was tachycardic and his mind was racing. He rose to his feet only to stumble forward.
Something was wrong, something was very wrong.
There was a fire burning in his chest, igniting with so much vigour that he felt that it might consume him whole.
'What happened?'
Atlas looked around taking in the environment. He remebered that he had come out to the river to meditate but ended up falling asleep by the stream.
But it still felt like there was something missing, like he was forgetting something…
The fire raging within him intensified, causing Atlas to grint his teeth and cling onto his shirt.
He looked around, desperate for a solution when his eyes landed on the river. Without a second thought, Atlas plunged himself into the bone chilling water.
Only then did his mind settle down and the burning sensation disappear.
"E-Eva, what happened?"
[•••]
[It would seem you are were experiencing an elevated heart rate, hyperventilation and fear. A panic attack]
[There was also an instability in your internal surge essence due to an unknown cause. Shall I run a diagnostic?]
"Yes."
[•••]
[DIAGNOSTIC FAILLED]
[•••]
[I apologize, It would seem soemthing is blocking my search]
Atlas angrily ran his hand through his wet hair.
'Even Eva can't figure it out? What the hell ia going on?'
"Can you at least tell me the cause of this change?"
[A Dream… You were screaming in your sleep]
'A dream?'
How could a nightmare be this severe? Worse of all, no matter how much he tried, he could not remeber what the dream had been about.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the forest. Atlas immediately recgnised her as Anna.
For whatever reason, the sight of her blonde hair caused a slight tingling sensation in his heart.
Anna arrived at the scene in a rush, her eyes were wide in fear, and she frantically looked left and right as though searching for something, or someone, until her eyes landed on Atlas.
"My lord!" She screamed.
"The village is under attack!"