LU 133 - Nautilus 8

Nat opens his bright, green eyes to the ceiling of his room. He gets up, and still manages to hit the wall with his head. Dunce. At least the pillow was there to help. He remembered his conversation with Edelle earlier, about... well him. He decided not to worry about it now. He walked over to Illios's room, where Space seemed to have dozed off in her chair. He snaps awake when Nat calls him, and immediately they talk about preparations to head to the tree. *It's happening*, Nat thought to himself. He knew where they were going, and Edelle would pick up on the direction soon enough. Slumber. The one that talked to him in his head weeks ago. He had listened to his babble, he had done as he asked, by going to Seren. Seren had told him how to defeat the trees, which also meant- he couldn't dwell on that thought. He wasn't supposed to. Space and Nat walked up the stairs to talk to Edelle, sooner or later they had set out for the tree of Slumber.

The distance was nearly immeasurable. It felt like they were traveling across the whole continent to reach their destination. Yet Nautilus could feel something below him... heading in the same direction. Suppose it helped him guide his way.

*I... I remember now. This is the furthest memory I can think of... before I met Edelle. This is where it all started... it was that island when I blinked for the first time in the basin. Slumber was the first tree I saw... in fact he was-*

Nat began to glow... then fade away. They had arrived at the tree.

[*Slumber's third person perspective.*]

The near identical image of Fallen sits in a house, watching as the coffee brewer brewed it's own coffee, and poured it's contents into a cup, all by itself. He took a sip of it, and smiled at the taste. *I have perfected its taste, according to his memory. Wasn't that hard I suppose, now that I took the time. Speaking of time... they're on time.*

Edelle and Space stepped foot into the domain of the ruined mushroom village. The buildings seem to have dated back during the 5th century it seemed to them... Edelle recognized the area.

*"It's been a while..."*

The two walk towards the center of the village, nerve wracked by the scenery around them. There was no question where all the living matter went, they knew the tree consumed them all. They turned around to make sure Nat was with them- but he was not there... Rather someone that looked exactly like him stood a bit of ways behind them. Fallen paced himself forward, with his hands behind his back. His gold eye gleaming a harsh light, the blue eye glowing with dull, soulless intent. He stopped 5 meters in front of the two. Space was first to respond.

*"Nat! Where were you? I thought we lost you during the trip here for a second! Don't scare us like that..."*

Edelle knew it wasn't Nat. The eyes... the clothing... She froze up in fear. No one gave intimidation by a mere pose like *he* did.

*"No... it can't be... Space. That isn't-"*

Fallen smirked.

*"Isn't Nat?"*

Edelle stopped dead in her tracks. Space was still confused.

*"Haha! Nat you're funny, now stop fooling around this isn't funny."* Space mumbles to himself *There's no way it could be him... There's no way... I watched him burned to ashes during the funeral.*

Fallen looked amused to Spaces delusions. He crossed his arms in front of him now.

*"Fallen? Alive? Interesting to think you believe that such a tale could even be possible. Think again."*

Space started to sweat. Fallen was right... there! He was standing before them, he's posing as he would be in a civil discussion. *Wait*, he thought. It's obvious. They're next to the tree. Nat has disappeared like he said he would so that means-

*"Who even are you then? Are you the guardian?"*

*"I am the extension of Slumber, his voice if you will. Or as my siblings have come to call our magic, the guardian."*

Edelle still, stood frozen. *"H-how are you even doing that? Stop it!"*

*"Stop what? Taking Fallen's form? You may as well tell Nat the same thing."*

Edelle's eyes widen. Nat looks exactly like Fallen. He only has a separate pair of clothing, and green eyes. Slumber's current form *is* Fallen, with the same eyes and everything. Nat is a dream. The guardians are a dream. Slumber speaks once more.

*"Do you even know what Nat is?"*

Space spoke up. *"A... Dream?? I don't know, what else would you consider him?"*

*"Of course he's a dream. But you don't know why he looks like Fallen. Why I look like Fallen. Let me tell you. A man crumples to the ground on a dark day, skies clouded with raging storms. A girl flaps her wings with panic, fleeing from the scene, leaving the young man to bleed to his death. A figure of white trudges with effort, and touches the head of the fallen man. The white figure returns to their resting place, and sends a message throughout the air, telling the winds of the treasures they found within the dying man's eyes. Sooner or later a girl in the night plants magical seeds into the ground, and gazes into the dream brought forth from the seeds itself. A man of the sea, clenches his fist. Nautilus was born.*

*To put simply, the dying man was Fallen. The white figure was Notion. When Edelle planted the seeds of Slumber, Notion gave me the memories of the dying man, a form I will assume for the time being. Using that, I created Nautilus, Slumbers second extension."*

Edelle, stood amazed, in an unwavering shock. He really was a dream. Space began to realize what was going on. Slumber and Nat were both guardians of the same damn tree, they might as well be the same person!

*"Edelle... as much as I want to figure out what's going on, we need to LEAVE. Don't you have some chick inside your head- Zinnia? Zinnia~ come on get Edelle to move or something~, we need to LEAVE~"*

Zinnia snapped into focus. The trees. They can talk to each other. When Illios returned she did not speak to anyone, she locked herself down in the kitchen with Bruce. They still haven't figured out what had happened, but one thing was for sure, something bothered Illios. Maybe... something had to do with Edelle. The guardian had walked up behind Edelle and Space as if he was expecting them. *Nat had spoken to Slumber before only weeks ago, and this was the destination that he chose. If Nat is the same as Slumber...*

*"Edelle... Edelle.... EDELLE... COME ON... WE HAVE TO GO, NOW!!! EDELLE COME ON GET A MOVE ON, STOP FUCKING STANDING STILL, YOU IDIOT!!! THIS IS THE WORST TIME!!! WE ARE WALKING RIGHT INTO THEIR TRAP-"*

The ground below them began to shake. A root tore through the ground and wrapped around Edelle. It then pulled her under, and then there was silence. Space had looked around frantically. Edelle was now within the tree of Slumber. The trap had worked.

***"Finally... I have Zinnia... the power of possession... is finally mine. I can finally possess whom I wish at will... and that worthless scum will finally be one with me once more. We are whole again! LET US BEGIN... THE END OF GODS REIGN."***

Zinnia floated in her now dark prison, searching for a way to wake Edelle up.

*"EDELLE! PLEASE. WAKE UP. I BEG OF YOU DO NOT LET SLUMBER DO THIS TO US. WAKE. UP. Wake up... please just wake up... don't fall asleep again..."*

By the time Zinnia had realized Slumber had entered Edelle's consciousness, Zinnia's screaming of terror had come to an end.

Nat had managed to reform.. next to the tree! Space stood on guard, expecting it to be Slumber again. Particles of light form in a spot near Nat and Slumber, and when the light show was over, Edelle lay in the purple grass, pale. Nat rushed over to her.

*"Space, what happend!?"*

*"Oh, THERE you are. There isn't time to explain, MOVE!"*

Nat picked up Edelle, and sprinted to the edges of the island where the boat was. Nat and Space look back towards the tree, and watch as it's leaves glowed with a menacing light, a translucent sphere growing from it's center, encasing the tree at a fast rate. Nat rests Edelle in the boat, and whispers to himself, though it was loud enough for Edelle to hear... if she was awake.

*"It's going to be ok. I promise."*

After Space situates himself, Nat gets behind the boat, and pushes as hard as he can. They arrived at spawn, and Nat carried Edelle in his arms. He made his way to the stairs. He turned his head to her sleeping face. *She isn't smiling...* Nat rested her on Illios's bed. She wouldn't mind, right? Space had a grim look on his face.

*"I think... she's dead."*

Nat's hands loosened, his gaze gone blurry. She... couldn't be.

*"This... this is my fault... I let Edelle die. She cared... she cared about the fact that I was her friend, not some tool. She... was there for me. And I disappeared when I was needed. Again. ...I'm going to get some air."*

Nat left the room, later Space doing the same. Nat headed to the dock where he talked to Edelle the day before.

*"I'm so sorry... Please don't leave..."*

The voice of Slumber, loud and clear in his head, rang in his head.

*"Delightful, isn't it?"*

*"Delightful? REALLY? YOU CALL THIS FREAKING DELIGHTFUL?"*

*"Delightful for me at least. Why don't you go back to being a rock? You're worthless anyway. It's not like you could do good as a rock."*

*"...I'll show you worthless."*

Nat turns, and notices Mira behind him. She asked him who he was talking to, but Nat brushes her off with the old 'I'm fine' treatment, and heads to the tree of Slumber once more. He steps foot onto the oddly colored island... and moves his hand to the right side. Particles of light shine in his hand, and lengthens. The front widens, and forms into 3 blades. The light dies away... and reveals his trident. His gait is fierce, prideful, and fearless. The glow of his eyes glared on the tree with resentment, and rage. Nat begins to glow, particles exiting from him as he got closer.

*"SLUMBER! Show yourself. I know you're here-"*

And with a blink, Nautilus the dream, vanishes once more... but this time into the dream-world... where his other self resides. The world around him was hazy, the fog was dense. The ground reflected his image- infinite water. With every step he took forward, the ground rippled, distorting his clear, yet darker image. In front of him, his clone stood before him, also taking the form of Fallen. He had his back facing Nautilus.

*"So. You have arrived."*

*"Yeah. I need to get something straight."*

*"Get what straight? The fact that no matter how hard you try, you are destined to fail?"*

*"No. Who the hell are you. Who the hell am I. Why the HELL do I exist to be toyed by... the trees."*

*"You do realize... they're your siblings? Our siblings? As I've said before to your girlfriend and her friend, you're simply an extension of me. Didn't you get it the first time I told you? I'm you."*

*"But... Why?? What is the point of me? Shouldn't I have been made to help you guys??"*

*"Ah. Right. This quite silly now, thinking about it. But when we were born, we were without the knowledge of Seren's whereabouts. We only gained the knowledge of our past... our bloodline. Zinnia's lament was engraved in her soul, and in her blood."*

Slumber turns Fallens body, to face Nat. He waves his hand, and his image shimmers. Fallen fades away, revealing the bulky armor that now stood. Behind it, was a golden halo, shining with a godly light. Nat looked down. He looked exactly the same.

*"We wanted to know more from our mother. By using the body of a fallen mortal, you would be disguised amongst the masses, unable to be discovered. Luckily, it happened to be a leader, one that befriended those that defeated Zinnia in her past. By interacting with them... you would draw the information that we needed, and we would locate Seren, to question her ourselves. Your existence was purely... to locate the location of Seren. I'm sure you know already... Our existence was merely acted as a present to peasants. We wanted to know why. Just as you are questioning now. Why? What is the point? Why must we exist... simply as a gift, or some tool, to destroy one another?"*

*"That... just makes you a hypocrite then! You basically just made me just like... You... Just like you..."*

*"Just. Like. Me. Congratulations Nautilus, you have seen the end result of my work. When we located Seren before your mission was completed, we simply discarded you. You were an extension of me after all, you would understand how it feels to be us, if we gave you a scenario similar to us."*

*"You could have saved so much time, by giving me the memories! I would know! I WOULD KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!! But no. Instead you kept it to yourself, and let me figure it out for myself, for absolutely no reason."*

*"Your right. You're absolutely right Nat. I made that mistake. I made the mistake thinking I could rely on using another of myself, an empty self, that wouldn't be biased when completing this mission. But that fateful day, when you refused our command... we had no choice but to seal you. At least... you managed to break free. But... because you are here now, no? I want to offer you something, Nautilus. Something revolutionary."*

Slumber stepped toward Nautilus. Nautilus stood still, and fearless. Fallen's personality rubbed off on him it seems, as his memories surfaced.

*"I offer you the ability to dream. An endless... fulfilling, lucid dream. Every possible thought you could ever imagine, could come to reality. Every fear, every danger, every opposing threat, would be gone in the snap of your fingers."*

A ball of light descended from above, inside it was the soul Zinnia.

*"This is our grandmother. The one who gave birth to us. With her, we can control whom we wish. We can become one with them at will, with a simple snap of our fingers. We don't need... or want to use you anymore Nautilus. We want to let you free. Should you wish Edelle to be... in your Elysium, then it shall happen."*

A glowing arm formed from Slumber, and he extends it towards Nautilus. Nautilus glances at the arm, then back at the headless helmet. It was almost like Slumber was smiling.

*"Let us become one again. I achieve what our family has sought after for so long... And you shall be granted dreams that will give satisfaction for years and years to come."*

Nat stares. He looks around, at the empty fog of the world around him. This... is the dream world. This was a dream. With a simple thought, he could bring Edelle back. But... Was that right? No... No. Dreams are fake. Dreams aren't real. Neither was he. Neither would his dreams be. And neither... was this offer.

*"If you can control people... Why haven't you forcefully made me fuse with you?"*

Slumber stood, in silence.

*"That's what I thought. You can't, I'm an extension of you... You can't possess yourself, and because of that I am in control of who I am."*

Nat lifts his trident, and hurls it at the sphere, and breaks Zinnia's cage. Zinnia awakens, and summons her dual tridents. She smirks.

*"Hey fish boy. Long time no see. I'd love to leave, but we have some business to attend to, no?"*

Slumber summons a a blade from existence, a long, blue blade that may have been as long as the armor set itself. He points the blade towards the other two, and the blade glows.

*"I tried Nautilus. But it looks like it was a no. This is where your legacy ends, brother."*

Zinnia raised her right arm, and the twin tridents spun around her. Nat summoned his trident to return, and gripped it, holding it behind him, with his left hand in front. Nat lunged forward, and performed a spin strike. Zinnia zipped behind Slumber, and attempted a cross slash with her tridents. Slumber also performed a spin strike, pushing Zinnia backwards, and knocking Nat to the ground. Nat backflips, and lunges again. He throws his trident at Slumber, then leaps to the right. Zinnia swings her tridents in a vertical and horizontal slash. Slumber dodges all strikes, and valiantly swings the sword in a mighty arc, but Nat jumps up into the air, where Zinnia flies towards him to knock him out of trajectory of Slumbers next strike. Nat moves his hand, and summons the trident back. Slumber lunges for a strike, and is impaled in the back. Zinnia taking advantage of this moment, impales his chest.

*"Foolish... to think you could defeat me here... heh. Not quite... augh..."*

*"Let us leave Nat. Before he recovers."*

Nat's vision shimmers... and he appears in front of the tree, beside the faintly glowing soul of Zinnia.

*"Guess you aren't as worthless as a rock. Well? Get us home I'm tired."*