Shadow Slave: Rainy Days

Rain dreamt of a Ocean.

An endless and never ending Ocean. In the horizon, the morning sun woke, brightening the world and making creatures of the night swim into the depths of the water.

At one second it was day, at the other night- time seemed to move very quickly.

Sometimes the sea level rose, and sometimes it sank. Sometimes showing the land that was still drowned underneath a second ago- and sometimes making it disappear into the abyss once again.

A few hundred years passed, the creatures inside the ocean evolving naturally. Rain smelled the salty musk, which came from the ocean, of course, and felt the harsh winds create waves- tsunamis even.

But what really catched Rains mind was the thing she saw deep under water. A creature ? No, it was human made, a metallic fortress made for traversing in the deep ocean- a huge submarine boat.

And then, her vision suddenly shaped into something else. Rain found herself in a small room, laying on a soft bed, which seemed to be there for people that were injured, since her body was connected to a machine with wires.

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]

Rain felt slightly uncomfortable in her body, like it wasn't really hers- just something similar. She turned to her left, seeing a small and round window looking back at her.

The reflection did validate what she had thought about just before. Her face and hair looked similar to her original body, but it wasn't her- it was someone completely else.

But what surprised her even more was what she saw past her reflection. Past the windows was a bluish liquid, Water. Rain was underwater.

'What the fuck … Please tell me this isn't really happening. My Nightmare takes place underwater ?!?! Definitely because my name is fucking RAIN !!! Wow, Nightmare Spell, you're so funny. God, things couldn't be worse. The policeman told me that the Attributes and the Aspect I get at the start of the Nightmare are the most important. I should probably look at them then.'

But Rain didn't exactly understand how to look at them. What she did know were the bare minimum tho. She had heard that there were the so called "Runes" that would describe her abilities.

'So, how exactly do I summon them ? Do I just think about them appearing in front of me ? Yeah, that's surely it!'

And that's how she found herself about thinking the Runes appearing in front of her- which, to her amusement, actually happened!

'Hahahaha, I'm so smart!', she thought, while raising her nose high.

Name: Rain.

True Name: —

Rank: Aspirant.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Memories: —

Echoes: —

Attributes: [Destined], [Mark of Divinity], [Terranaut].

Aspect: [Guide].

Aspect Description: [Guide is skilled navigator who knows the terrain and paths like his left pocket. Guide has an important ability of often going the right and safe way, leading towards the wanted goal.]

Rain thought about the Runes she saw in front of her. Her Aspect would definitely be helpful, especially here underwater. Maybe she could find her way out of this absurd location she found herself at.

'Guess I'm happy with this, even though it's not combat related. I should probably look at my Attributes now, since I haven't done that yet.'

But before she could look deeper into her Attributes, Raid started to hear footsteps approaching.

'Huh, there's someone else ? Makes sense, I guess. The officer said that there would be other humans too, after all.'

And just a second later, the door to her side had opened, making her notice a tall man with short, brown hair and a beard stepping inside.

"Oh, Maria. You're awake again ? Thank god, the team already thought you would never wake up after the injury you suffered."

'Seems like he's talking to me. The name of this bodies real owner is Maria, huh ? But I don't know his or the names of the team he was talking about. They could find out that I am not Maria. Should I start acting ? Yeah, that's the best option.'

Rain- no, Maria started smiling gently and deliberately started to look slightly confused.

'Uhm, w-who exactly are you ? I .. I don't remember anything. Where are we ?'

The middle aged man in front of her now started to look slightly hurt and sad, even close to tearing up.

"M-maria, y-you don't remember anything ? Not even me ?"

Rain started to move her palm to her forehead, and try to act like she was slightly in pain, making her lies seem even more authentic.

"No … I don't remember. Who are you ?"

The man's expression twisted into one of horror and hurt. He took a step closer, his voice starting to tremble slightly, making Rain kinda feel bad for her deceit.

"I'm Mark … You, Me and the Team have been through a lot together. We are underwater investigators. We were right in an expedition, where a underwater beast suddenly started to follow us. On the run … y-you got injured. Thankfully we had the option to use a light bomb to make it be distracted while we brought you inside the submarine boat."

His voice started to crack slightly and his hand hovered over hers, unsure if she should touch her or not. But in the end, he decided to pull away and sigh.

"Maria, you should probably rest for a while. I'll tell the team about your situation and prepare some food for you, you must be hungry after sleeping for 2 days, after all."

Rain gave him a fake smile, still feeling bad for lying, but having to think about herself first in this situation.

"Alright, I'll rest here for a while. Thank you, Mark."

After that, Mark had left, leaving her alone in the room again.

'Poor guy. By how sad he was, I'm guessing that Maria was his Wife or something. But oh well, we can't change this now. Time to look at my Attributes.'

Attributes, even thought not as important as ones Aspect, are still very important and can be the factor between life and death since they could provide passive abilities.

[Destined] Attribute Description: "The strings of Fate have created a path solely for you, a goal you must reach and overcome. They see you as someone of high importance and will give you many gifts on your journey, but also many horrors. "

'I have never heard of an Attribute like this. Fate has set up a path only for me ? And there's a goal I need to overcome ? I don't know if its a goos or bad thing if Fate sees me as someone important. And I don't like the horror part of the Attribute- the gifts sound nice though.'

[Mark of Divinity] Attribute Description: "You bear a faint scent of divinity, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago."

'I don't really know if this is useful or not, but been having touched by a god sounds good, no ? But what if demons will now search for me ?!?! Nah, I'm just panicking.'

[Terranaut] Attribute Description: "You were born in a place of sea and earth, being accepted by both but not truly loved by either. You are able to live in both places, like a water and a land animal combined."

'Does this mean I can breathe on land but also underwater ? Yeah, that's definitely my most useful Attribute, especially in a situation like this.'

Just when Rain was done looking at her Attributes, she started to hear footsteps once more, but this time multiple pairs and not one.