Ch. 8 Losing My Mind
{Nix's Point of View}
When I opened my eyes, I found myself at the end of a tunnel. A dim light shone down on me and revealed a dead end behind me. The dead end wasn't what concerned me. I could hear something move ahead of me. I tried to see what it was but it's too dark to see past the edge of the dim light. That is... until a pair of menacing yellow eyes started to blink in the dark. The eyes approached me until it's head was shone in the dim light. It was that parasite from before but it looked much more mature now. Its skin seemed rougher around its face and the mouth showed several rows of sharp teeth. As it approached me, I noticed it seemed hesitant. Its body resembled that of a centipede with rough scaly skin and needle point legs. Two large insect like legs extended from its back to help the parasite move. The tiny needle point laid on its stomach but periodically extended out only to lay back down. Each one of these seemed about 4 inches long.
Then... it spoke with a terrifying hiss, "Do you know..? Who I am..?"
"N-no. No I don't." I replied shakily.
It seemed to tilt its head before hissing at me angrily, "I... am a Nobody just like you."
I was confused, "Huh? Like me?"
It nodded, "Yes. Don't you know who I am? I was there from the beginning. Since you first became a Nobody. Think about it. What could I be?" It asked.
Before I could answer, I found myself waking up from the dream.
-Present-
When I woke up, I felt so confused. It's been six days since my brother died and I got his sword. Since then, my memories started to fade more rapidly. The red bladed sword seemed so... normal... and yet... so evil. Two days ago I actually forgot Rexdek's name until he told me what his name is. After that, he seemed worried about me. Wasn't this normal? I still remember him telling me that losing memories happens to every nobody. So why is he worried? I sighed as I couldn't figure out what was going on. I sat up and got dressed before heading out of a tent made for me. It was a small temporary home for me before me and Rexdek head out to find the other bracelets. Rexdek's tent was across from me. His tent is an exact replica of mine. It was a simple two stick tent with a green cloth and a black tarp over it. Inside the tent is a small pillow, some soft mats for the bed, and a brown blanket. The tents were only able to house one person and even then it's almost too small. I walked over to Rexdek's tent to hear him snoring since he's still asleep. His foot stuck out of the tent so I stepped on it to help wake him up. He groaned for a moment before finally waking up.
"Ugh. Who is it?" He asked drowsily.
"It's me Rexdek. Come on, we have to leave today, remember?" I reminded.
"Oh yeah, right. Forgot about that." He groaned again.
"I can see that." I sighed.
"You sure your okay?" Rexdek asked.
"I still remember your name but I should be asking you that. I don't remember a time when you were genuinely concerned about me." I joked.
"Sure guy. I'll remember that when your in my cross hairs. The arrow will go right through you, ya won't feel a thing." He chuckled.
I stepped back to give him room. Within seconds, Rexdek got out of his tent and cracked his neck. I nudged my head when he was ready so we could begin walking. Before we left, I spoke to that Gardevoir from before. When I told her we were leaving, she was saddened. The kids in particular were going to be devastated. Their heroes were leaving without telling them and have to rely on the pokemon and humans here to protect them. Rexdek didn't really care about the kids... or so he says. Rexdek tries to be so... cold... calculating... and... selfish. The only problem with that is this. It's just an act. I can tell he's just trying to act like this guy that's just coming along because he has to. He tries to be critical and straight forward on our options even if they'll cause another harm. He says it with such an emotionless face but in his eyes, they show his sadness. His despair in the world we live in and the lifestyle we are forced to have. As we walked into the forest, I couldn't help but glance at Rexdek and wonder. Why did he want to come with me, a complete stranger, on my hopeless quest? There was always more to this then he'd let on. After an hour of walking, Rexdek stopped us and started looking around.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Sh. You hear that?" he asked.
"Hm?" I started listening to the forest closely and heard something faint, "Actually, yes. I hear something." I whispered.
Rexdek pointed up, "Let's get in the trees. That way, we'll have the drop on whatever it is. If it doesn't come this way then we can just continue on peacefully." Rexdek whispered back.
With a nod, Rexdek and I climbed some nearby trees. Some bushes shuffled as Dark Spawn started running underneath us. They came from the direction we came from much to our surprise. The sound of footsteps resembled hundreds of Dark Spawn running all around us. Where they were going? We didn't know but we were going to find out.
"Quite a spectacle huh?" We heard from behind us.
We turned in shock to see a Gallade wearing a black cloak like Vixsila's, "Chroxno!" Rexdek yelled.
Chroxno shook his head with a sigh, "You know, you never were the most observant type Rexdek. I've been spying on you for awhile now and you never even noticed. Hell, I even snuck up on you two without a Shadow Sneak. Granted, you two were rather... preoccupied. A huge horde of Dark Spawn going in one direction is never a good thing." Chroxno shrugged.
"If you were spying on us then would you kindly tell us how?" Rexdek asked with a grunt.
"How? You still can't think of a way Rexdek?" Chroxno asked with a grin.
Rexdek sighed before shaking his head, "No, I can't." he admitted.
Chroxno tilted his head with a neutral face, "If I had feeling I'd say I'm disappointed right about now. I hid in plain sight. I was Chrome the entire time." Chronxo told us.
"What?" I asked.
Rexdek bit his lip, "The entire time huh? Well that explains my strange feeling about you while we were there." Rexdek frowned.
"Yes. I was quite surprised by your passiveness. I expected you to chase after me when I said my name was Chrome. I never was very creative, especially when it came to names. Any who, number 2 wants you to come back home in three days." Chroxno reported.
"Wait, he expects me to go back just like that? Like he owns me?" Rexdek asked calmly.
"Well, it's either thank or he meets you in person and... straight up kills you. Even if we're nobodies, we don't want to disappear. Everything wants to exist; to breath but others try to stop that. Whether it be fate or people. If you get on your knees and beg for forgiveness, maybe he'll make you a true member again. Thaxony and Jyxa both miss you. They'll be delighted I bet." Chroxno explained.
"Sorry but I'll have to think about that." Rexdek answered quickly.
I glanced at Rexdek a moment before refocusing on Chroxno, "Sigh. Alright. Pity you'll most likely forget and get your face rearranged. Don't say I didn't warn you. Peace." Chroxno waved before jumping off in a random direction.
"...Strange..." I whispered.
Rexdek looked at me, "Hm?"
"They're being... distant. They haven't attacked us and decide to just... watch us. Then he comes out in the open and basically say for you to obey them just because some dude said to." I explained.
"It's much more complicated than that. Number 1 and 2 are the last people I'll ever want to fight. When I left the Organisation, I wanted to go on my own path. To do something that I wanted. In the end, I ended up following you for some damn bracelets. Ugh, enough of this Tauros shit. Let's go see what's up with those Tauros." Rexdek reminded.
I shrugged to that, "Alright bro, whatever you say." I agreed.
We got down from the trees and started running in the same direction the Dark Spawn ran. After a couple minutes, I noticed the forest scenery suddenly started to change. The grass, flowers, and trees were all turning pure white. Eventually, the decay became very apparent as the entire area became a white desert. The dirt underneath us, replaced with pure white shifty sand. The blue sky changed until it was warped in a dark rainbow. The emptiness of the desert was staggering. We could look in almost any direction and see nothing but an endless white desert. Due to this, we were easily able to spot something happening in the distance. The Dark Spawn were piling up together as if to merge together. We ran faster to close the distance and get a definitive view of the situation.
"What's going on?" Rexdek asked.
I wanted to say I don't know but something drove me to say, "They're doing exactly what the nobodies can do. They're merging together to create a monster of immense lethality."
Rexdek looked at me in surprise, "How did you know that? I know you saw two nobodies merge before but I don't recall that happening with Dark Spawn. Then again... I could have lost the memories." Rexdek thought to himself hard after saying that.
I looked at the desert, "This world is dying. Its life grows shorter every day and it's all because of the Dark Spawn." I told him blankly.
My head started to hurt as new memories flooded my mind drawing Rexdek's attention, "You okay?" Rexdek asked.
"Yeah, just a slight headache," I lied.
We turned to the fusing Dark Spawn and noticed eight black spider like legs were formed, "What are they making?" Rexdek asked.
"A Widowmaker. One of the two Widow Types of Dark Spawn." I answered.
Rexdek looked at me, "Okay, I need you to tell me right now what the fuck you're talking about. What is a widowmaker and how the hell do you know about that?" Rexdek demanded.
"I just have these memories that are telling me what to say." I replied.
-Charles' memory-
I found myself looking at a piece of paper with a picture of a black spider like creature.
Name:Widowmaker
Height: 24 feet tall
Span: 34 feet in length with a span of 22 feet
Weight: Over 5000 pounds
Speed: At full sprint, can travel about 178.3 km an hour.
Body Count: Takes about 1500 bodies to create.
Effectiveness: Extreme.
Abilities: Toxic Gunk, Toxic Haze, Webbing, Burrows in Sand, lays eggs that can hatch life suckers.
Name: Life Sucker
Height: 5 inches
Span: 5 inches in length, 4 in width.
Weight: Less than 3 pounds
Speed: Travels about 50 feet an hour maybe.
Effectiveness: Little alone but extreme in group attacks.
Abilities: Life suck and venom bite.
-Present-
I shook my head to refocus my vision, "Ugh, well that felt weird." I mumbled.
"What happened?" Rexdek asked.
"I felt like I was sucked in a memory that ended up being a picture. In it was a piece of paper describing the Widowmaker." I replied.
"You mean that?" Rexdek asked as he pointed forward.
I looked forward in a bit of confusion only to find the Widowmaker complete. The Widowmaker resembled a huge black spider with a heavily armored carcass. It's exoskeleton seemed to shine in the relative darkness of the white desert. Its head was the smallest part of the body with a mouth big enough to swallow me whole. Around its mouth were a set of pincers that dripped green liquid, probably poison. The Widowmaker's Abdomen was at least 50 times bigger than its head. The black Abdomen had a white Skull and cross bones. The skull's mouth was open revealing a red hourglass. Along the black skinny legs were pictures of bones that ran down to the tips. The underbelly seemed soft with exposed brown skin as the tip of the abdomen showed a puckered hole... gross.
"...Yeah... Yeah we are so screwed..." I muttered hopelessly.
"Eh, we've got a shot. Come on." Rexdek replied with a nudge to my arm.
I jumped but quickly nodded, "Alright, we got this." I agreed as I started running towards the Widowmaker.
Rexdek created his bow and charged a yellow arrow. The Widowmaker looked at us and opened it's many black soulless eyes. It started slamming its front legs into the ground as its head shrieked into the air. The shriek itself sent a little shockwave. The Widowmaker started running towards me. Several yellow arrows were shot at the Widowmaker but its exoskeleton was too strong. The yellow arrows shattered into yellow light as they bounced off, leaving the exoskeleton unharmed. I neared the Widowmaker and waited for its first move. The Widowmaker noticed my presence and raised its front four legs up. They quickly shot down but stopped mere inches from me. The widowmaker stared at me for a long time before backing down. As it stared at me, I felt like it was trying to talk to me. Then, a large pain started to shoot throughout my body as if something was moving within my body.
"Argh! My body!" I dropped to my knees and scratched at my chest.
"Nix! Are you okay!?" Rexdek asked in worry.
I noticed my vision started to dim as my brother's sword started to glow brighter. When I blinked, I found myself in that tunnel from my dream. The parasite was there again but he stared at me worriedly.
I quickly spoke, "Your my brother's sword, aren't you?"
It shook its head and said, "I'm your sword. He's your brother's sword."
He nudged his head to point behind him. I noticed the tunnel get brighter as a black skinned parasite now showed itself. Black Ooze dripped off it profusely and started to pool quickly. It's eyes were very bug like as it glared at me angrily. I couldn't understand what was going on but the parasites didn't give me a chance to ask.
"If your wondering why I'm here then I'll tell you. You ate my master! Now, I will make you my slave!" It yelled.
My parasite shook its head in a disappointed manner, "He can't. When you ate your brother, you got infected with Dark Spawn power. That parasite is the form the infection wished to represent. I guess it was using it to be figurative. I choose this form because I live inside you since your my host. I don't wish to die, therefore I empower you and protect you as you do me. I rely on you for strength just as you do to me. When your alone, your not. I'm there. If you can take strength in that, we can become more. More than just nobodies. Maybe we can be ALIVE if we work together." My parasite nodded with a happy tone.
"You will never be alive. I will never allow that. In fact, I will try to hinder you in every turn until you DIE!" The Dark Spawn Parasite yelled.
My parasite glared at him until his eyes started to glow a bright blue and yelled, "Silence! You will do nothing until I say so!"
The Dark Spawn Parasite started to screech until all the black ooze was forced back inside it and forced into the floor. The tunnel grew darker until it left just me and my parasite. It looked at me hopefully until I smiled and started to pet its head.
"Well... partner... let's go kill a spider." I smiled.
My parasite started to smile until I was thrust back into reality. The Widowmaker was still staring at me but when I looked at it, the damn thing attacked me. Faster than normal, I jumped back and held my sword out to each side. I started to feel strangely warm as my body began to radiate with energy. I noticed FLOW was spelled across my sword. Both in fact. I held up both sword overhead and crossed them.
"FLOW Parasite gift-Extreme Speed!" I screamed.
Faster than an eye can blink, I went straight across and slashed the stomach of the Widowmaker. It screamed in pain before falling forward. I turned to face it with both swords normal and noticed a load of eggs on the sand. When did those get laid? As I wondered this, they hatched as hundreds of miniature Widowmaker, aka Life Suckers, emerged. They immediately started to go after me with little bits of webbing coming from their abdomen. When they jumped at me, I started to cut them in half as fast as I could. FLOW quickly spelt across my swords as I began to spin.
"Flow Style-Tornado Break!" I yelled.
In a flourishly of spins, I sucked in the Life Suckers and cut them to shreds. The Widowmaker finally recovered from the attack and stood back up. When it did, a green arrow hit its head and exploded. The Widowmaker looked dazed but unharmed. Taking my chance, I ran underneath the Widowmaker and started attacking its underbelly. The Widowmaker regained its composure and quickly fell on top of me. To have something that weighs more than 5000 pounds lay on you hurts... a lot. When the damn thing stood back up, I was stuck in the sand from its weight. As I got out, the Widowmaker began to spit green liquid onto the ground. I didn't want to get touched by it, so I got up as fast as I could and ran away. Another green arrow exploded on contact with its abdomen but didn't do any damage. The Widowmaker hissed before quickly turning around and shot a load of webbing at Rexdek. Rexdek wasn't able to dodge it and got stuck to the ground by the spider webbing.
"Nix! A little help here!" Rexdek called out.
"On it!" I yelled as I ran over to his position.
When I got to Rexdek, the Widowmaker screeched before digging into the ground. I began to cut the webbing until I felt the sand start to shift. When Rexdek was freed, we jumped out of the way as the Widowmaker's head appeared to try and eat us.
Rexdek growled, "Ugh, how do we kill it?"
"Uh... shove a grenade down its throat and pray?" I joked.
"Nix that's genius!" Rexdek yelled.
"Wait what?" I asked.
"You'll see." Rexdek told.
'I'll see?' I wondered.
The Widowmaker appeared out of the ground and stared at us. It started to scream at us as it began to lay more eggs. We had to hold up our arms to block the wind from its scream. The Widowmaker picked up its legs to attack us but we jumped back. When we landed, it started to shriek at us but didn't do anything. I looked back at the eggs and began to wonder how long until they hatched. Man... after this, I'll hate bugs forever.
'Yeah... the only thing I see... is a really pissed off spider.' I thought to myself.