The sky was the only indicator of time passing. Myriads of dark clouds and bright sunlight seemed to cheer Senna up.
Still clutched in her arms was the burnt-up wolf doll. The tight grip would have been enough to strangle a bear, but she didn't seem to be trying to kill the inanimate stuffed plush resembling a wolf. It was almost as if she was afraid a breeze of wind would snatch it from her hand and she would never be able to retrieve it again.
A thin line filled Al's face. Something similar to a smile, which, since he arrived in this world, was a rare accomplishment due to the circumstances.
Al's head throbbed. The sleepless nights had begun to catch up with him, but now was not the time to slow down. Every step forward, he felt the pendant swing like a pendulum, pattering off his chest due to the momentum of constant movement.
It was far from comforting. Every time the weight of the pendulum smacked against his chest, it felt like his ribs would give in. The sound of his own heartbeat replicated the thumping, a sickly reminder of his anxious heart.
Al knew he was out of his depth. If being hunted by the world for being alive wasn't enough, the one person who was ever close to him was isolated and potentially suffering because of this power he had.
The ash from the village still stuck to his palms, a reminder of the cruel world he had found himself tied to.
A world that hid secrets to find Akari, and one that Y could casually appear in. A nightmare of the highest quality.
The sudden pressure and wet smack on Al's forehead caused him to snap out of his spiraling thoughts.
He looked up to the dark and swirling sky as it cried for them both.
"Senna, it is starting to rain. We need to find shelter. I don't know how bad the storm will get."
Al mentally called out to the ghastly beasts he commanded to find shelter.
If nothing else, these creatures are useful.
Al watched as the very soil seemed to birth root and earth abominations. They didn't make much noise; if anything, the absence of noise was what was scary. Quickly, threateningly, they rushed out by the tens in multiple directions.
The time between Al's mental commands and them finding a cave was swift. It was only long enough for Al to grab Senna's hand before he had to start leading her in the direction of the pulsing, mental beacon his creation was letting off.
The rain continued to drench the forest floor. Al placed Senna in front of him as they both moved with more intent toward where the beacon was calling him.
The rain suddenly became hard to see through. The droplets were so frequent Al could no longer distinguish individual drops. It stopped being rain and became waves of water crashing against them both.
A curtain that swallowed the forest whole.
The wind howled and yelled against both Al and Senna. The air was so loud he couldn't make out what Senna was attempting to say to him.
The cave came into view.
It wasn't particularly large, but it was deep enough that the rain couldn't reach the back. Moss clung to the walls, and thin veins of pale crystal ran through the stone, giving off the faintest blue glow.
They rushed inside, their breaths ragged as they stood far enough back that the rain could no longer attempt to drown them out.
Al's lungs struggled for air. His ragged breaths made it hard to pay attention to anything else besides his desperate gasps.
A sharp pain stabbed his brain, much more intense than any headache Al had ever known.
Al slowed his breathing, attempting to not allow the dread to flood his senses.
"...Something's wrong."
Senna didn't answer.
She simply tightened her grip on the burnt wolf.
He attempted to pull on his connection to the earth abominations, but it was as if he was commanding empty air. There was nothing, as if he never had the power the world cursed him with.
Al waited for the familiar pulse through the mental connection that signified everything was safe.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Al grit his teeth hard enough to dull his sharp canines.
The connection simply... ceased.
"Did they die?"
He couldn't tell.
It was as if they had never existed.
Slowly, another creature emerged from the cave entrance.
Al relaxed, his heart calming as the familiar quiet, subtle sounds of the earthen creature pressed against the cave floor toward him.
A light sigh escaped his lips as the creature's form became visible from the darkness, making its way deeper into the cave toward Al.
One breath.
One breath was all he could muster as his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and allowed him to make out the details.
One hand rushed up to rub his eye.
It looked almost identical.
Roots twisted around a vaguely animal frame.
Its face was made of damp earth.
But...
It was a monstrous attempt at a human face.
Its head sat uncomfortably on an animalistic body, its neck hanging lower than the rest of the bear-like form the earthen construct took.
Like it had attempted to make a human and had only been able to replicate an imperfect face.
As Al looked at the face that resembled his own in a twisted and corrupted interpretation, his own face stuck upon a rejected construction of dirt—
His hand flew back to pull Senna behind him, placing himself between her and it.
Then it spoke.
"...Al."
His blood ran cold.
"You aren't made to talk."
The silent denial from Al filled the cave momentarily until the silence between their exchange was drowned by the torrential flood happening outside.
The thing smiled.
"I know."
Its confident words...
Words of something that knew it should not exist...
Silenced the cave.
Even the rain seemed to pause, waiting for a rebuttal or some type of explanation.
But it never came.
Then Senna finally spoke.
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"...Don't answer it."
"Please don't answer it."
Al looked down at Senna, who had pulled on the fabric of his shirt, her hands desperately grasping at him, her knuckles white and tense.
The wolf plush lay discarded at her feet.
Al felt bile cake his esophagus as he looked down and saw her form, scared and pleading.
The disgust he felt only worsened as he saw the creature's neck had extended, peering over their shoulders and looking at her plea.
Its neck was serpentine, a crooked and wet wrong smile plastered on its insidious face.
When it noticed Al had seen it, it slithered back to its original position, its neck hanging loosely below its bear-like form.
Its humanoid face never blinked.
Instead, it intensely watched the interaction, the redness of its face slowly deepening.
Senna turned around to face it as she noticed Al's intense stare.
Her empty eyes weren't fixed on the wolf she had dropped in shock.
They were fixed on the thing wearing his creation's body.
"It already knows your name."
Senna's voice was a calm and shy whisper against the terrifying backdrop.
The creature's smile widened.
"So do you."
Its head snapped sharply from Senna back to Al, its dry, dark, almost fluorescent eyes piercing through the darkness of the cave.
"I finally found you."
The pendant against Al's chest slammed into his ribs.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Not because he was walking.
Because it was moving on its own.
The blue crystal veins throughout the cave flickered simultaneously.
One after another.
Like a heartbeat.
Then every one of them whispered the same word.
"Simulation."
Al took one slow step backward.
The system had never activated outside his own mind before.
Yet translucent blue text slowly appeared across the cave wall.
[ERROR.]
[UNREGISTERED OBSERVER DETECTED.]
[DO NOT CONTINUE FORWARD.]
For the first time since receiving the simulator...
The system sounded afraid.