Reincarnated as the Final Villain's Vessel

Chapter 258: Dreams

We moved across the edges of the island to get closer to the other side where Emeris and her team would continue their way, there we found a good place to rest and camp... after all that marching and no sleep it would’ve been crazy to push them straight into fighting.

Yeah I did this on Ancient Earth... but they’re not the same people.

So here we were setting up some tents on the purple grass, a few dozen meters from the black trees... unfortunately none of us could build something straight out of the ground... maybe I miss Elliot now.

With the breeze blowing the leaves of the trees rustled like thousands of small bells, making an unfamiliar and strange melody... uncomfortable.

Luckily none of those souls inside the darkness came near us, which left the twenty-five people and me here in peace.

And while they were setting up the camp we’d use over the next days to purge this island, I moved away and sat at the edge staring downward... of course I wasn’t running away from work... yeah I wasn’t running away.

The clouds covered and flooded the islands below us, forming a sea of thin mist, which left only the silhouettes of the islands.

And while I was taking in the view listening to the noise and the arguing in the background, Emeris came closer and sat right beside me without words... I mean she never needed words.

"Huh... so high." She left her legs hanging off the edge, leaning forward to look down, which filled my line of sight with the strands of her silver hair.

She was so close that our knees were touching, and with a breath she leaned back, but instead of just sitting, she leaned toward me, putting her head on my shoulder with her silver strands tickling my cheek, sending a nice feeling.

For a moment I stiffened without meaning to, before I relaxed... but she didn’t care about that, using me as a pillow to rest. "Huh!... you’re so comfortable, I want to sleep like this."

I couldn’t see her face, but maybe she was closing her eyes and smiling.

"Is it really comfortable?" I asked without thinking.... just to ask.

"Mmm..." She rubbed her head gently, letting out a lazy sound of satisfaction.

Silence fell for a bit, and I found myself leaning toward her a little to balance the push of our bodies and make this sitting more comfortable!...

"Do you need help here before I go?" she asked, her voice sounding weaker than usual.

I shook my head slowly which made my nose touch her hair and smell her scent... sweet and faint. "No need... you can come if you finish your side before me."

She shivered as she let out a short laugh. "You know you can rely on me?"

I stayed silent for a bit before I answered. "Yeah."

With my answer the silence came back between us, there was no shyness or tension... it was just... comfortable, and warm.

Until Emeris broke it again. "You know?" Her voice sounded shaky and lazy like she really was about to fall asleep.

So I shook my shoulder a little to wake her. "Know what?"

She let out a short sound of complaint. "Mmm... do you remember when we met for the first time and had dinner together?"

"Of course, it’s only been a few months," I answered as I stared at the stretch of clouds, strands gathering on my cheek from the breeze.

"At that time I told you I suddenly started getting stronger fast and for no reason." Her tone was empty of amusement, like someone about to tell an old story.

"Were you lying?" I smiled as I asked, but she pushed me with her head angrily. "No, why would I lie?"

"What I told you was true... but with the fast growth, I got something else." She went quiet for a moment longer than she should have.

I opened my mouth to ask but she got ahead of me, her tone fading from lazy to serious.

"They were dreams... a lot of them."

She didn’t stop. "They were blurry and unclear, full of pain and misery... but also a glimpse of happiness."

I could feel her breathing getting heavier. "In those dreams, I was someone else, someone whose features I never saw... but it was me too."

"I told you I feel like we’ve met before, right?"

I nodded as an answer, and even though she didn’t see my face she felt the movement of my body, so she let out a breath... a breath mixed with a short laugh before she said what I was expecting.

"I think you were in my dreams."

A long silence fell between us, I just stared at the stretch of floating islands, before I asked, "What was I like in your dreams?"

Her voice echoed full of disappointment. "I don’t know, I forget everything the moment I wake up... only the feelings stay, and a voice whispering to me that I have to do something... something I don’t know."

She went quiet again, I don’t know what to say, I had no idea what I should say... I knew I’m very bad at everything to do with comforting, and feelings... especially the warm ones.

So I just stayed silent, I don’t know how to answer... and so did she.

Maybe when I know who I really am, I’ll get the answer... and many other answers.

But now.

Now there weren’t any answers, just silence... comfortable silence.

...

After setting up the camp and having lunch together, Emeris took her group and set off to the next island... the one next to us, which left me and twelve people here.

A group made up of me, and Garon, and Ivan, and Valia... and a short blonde healer named Aya and her friend, the sharp archer with long dark hair named Sarah.

And six other people, a group of four guys who look like friends from another academy and two girls.

With these people we needed to purge this dark island.

But we didn’t start anytime soon... yeah I can get up and fight easily, the climb wasn’t tiring for me or Garon... even Ivan was fine.

But the others are still drained from the fighting on the first day, so we needed sleep... and I decided to sleep first while the sun is still in the sky.

I came closer to one of the tents set up on the purple grass as I glanced at Garon sitting near the fire staring at it with a very strange expression... I mean compared to the old Garon.

He looked like he was reflecting.

"I’m going to get some sleep, can you take the watch in case... you know, they did something stupid." I said that as I pointed toward Ivan at the edge of the forest.

Garon looked at him as he narrowed his eyes before he nodded, that’s when I went into the tent... it was simple with a mattress on the ground.

So I lay down without dragging it out, closed my eyes and let sleep carry me away.

Maybe because of what Emeris talked about, or all the tension I’ve been storing these days, but when I slept, and the comfortable darkness consumed my consciousness.

I had a dream.

A beautiful dream... very beautiful.

In it I was in my home... my real home, the one I forgot.

But when I opened my eyes, the memory faded into the darkness of forgetting.