It really was small. The glass container wasn't even bigger than his hand, but what was inside of it was what really mattered to him right now.
"Food?" He whispered.
The young girl started to whisper, "Umm… That used to happen to my mommy all the time… Whenever she was hungry and thirsty and grumpy and someone bothered her really badly she would start to walk away, stumbling, and panting, and she would run if they tried to fight. Sometimes, when the scary men passed by the alleyway, she would do the same. After she calmed down, I always handed her some yummy food. It made her happy, do you feel happy?"
Looking down at the food, Day didn't respond to her question. He considered asking her about her mother further, and he considered giving it back, telling her that he didn't want it, but instead, he asked her a question right back, his voice tinged with shock.
"Can I really have this?"
"Well… If it'll make you happy, then you can have it."
"It would make me happy…"
Day opened the container to look at what was inside. It was… Honestly, he had no idea what it was. It seemed a little gross, and certainly didn't look yummy like the girl had said, but he was hungry, and the color didn't worry him too much, so it looked almost… appetizing.
Looking up at the child once more, who was now swaying in place with a sweet smile on her face. He took a breath and started to eat. His hands were dirty, sure, and he had no utensils, but he didn't care in the slightest. No, all he cared about was eating. That was exactly what he did, and for the next few minutes, the food that he greedily consumed was all that was on his mind. Even as the forming scars on his dirty hands began to burn, he did nothing but consume.
'Thank you…' He thought, looking up at the child momentarily as he ate.
Once more, she started to whisper.
"You can have it all, okay? Just try to feel better, okay?"
A soft smile streaked his face and he nodded. The Nightmare Spell was cruel, he knew that, very well, and that was the only thing in his life that he was told was an absolute.
It was odd, really. He had gotten two free memories, and so far, nothing too dire had happened. To boot, he even had something to eat now. He was still hungry, and still sort of thirsty, but things really weren't so bad. He didn't believe for a second that people were somehow wrong about the nature of the Spell, but either way, Day couldn't help but feel like it really wasn't that bad.
The little girl standing over him looked down at the near empty container with her eyes twinkling.
"Do you want to keep going now? Are you okay to keep going now?"
Day pushed his legs off of the ground to prevent further irritation of his burned hands. Leaning against the wall, he took a deep breath.
"I think I'm ready. Ready as I could ever be, I guess."
He was about to move, but he stopped, and slowly turned to face the little girl.
"Hey… Umm. What's your name?"
"Audrey!"
"I see. You have a pretty name, Audrey. Did your mother name you?"
"Yup! My mommy was the best! She was so beautiful, and she had a really pretty way with words! I love her so much!"
The little girl was beaming, clearly excited to talk about her mother.
Day grimaced and turned to look at the wall for a moment. A dastardly pain pulsed in his chest at her happy account of her mother. He felt ashamed and regretful.
This little girl was strong. She had climbed down to cross the canyon all on her own. Her mother was nowhere to be found, probably dead, if he was being honest, but she still seemed to love her so much and didn't seem melancholic in the slightest when talking about her.
He tried to act like he was kind for bringing her along, but that wasn't the case at all. He was just trying to make himself feel good by bringing along what he actually believed would be an obstacle in his journey.
'God, I'm scum.'
Day felt cruel for not learning even the name of the girl who had so graciously accepted him and gave him food after he went through such an episode in front of her. She did not do anything but act kind towards him so far, even though they had only met recently, she showed not an ounce of malice after his outburst.
How beautiful had her mothers soul been, to raise such a powerful girl that could still be full of so much joy?
He had no idea, but there was nothing in the world that he wanted more at this moment than to figure it out, but he couldn't, not right now. He had to push forward, else something comes and kills them both before he can even begin to repay her.
Bringing her along with him wouldn't be anywhere close to enough to reciprocate her kindness. He had to do something more.
He had to make sure she survived, no matter the cost. From the start, it didn't feel like an entirely useless sentiment to bring her along, but his conviction had solidified even more after this short encounter. To help a struggling man who was supposed to protect you in his time of need was the most beautiful act of kindness he had ever seen in his entire life.
Therefore, he would be a damned fool not to reciprocate. From this point forward…
He would forsake every single rising thought that she was even slightly a nuisance, and work to help the both of them escape the tenebrous chasm.
Turning around, he looked the little girl in the eyes with a warm, genuine smile, born from kindness.
"Well… I bet your mommy loves you too."
The little girl, unaware of his sorrows, giggled and nodded effervescently.
"Yup! I know she does."
Shuffling slightly, Day slung his backpack properly over his back again.
"Shall we get going? The journey is long, and it'd be foolish to not complete it before we grew too tired to continue."
"Alrighty then! Let's get going!"
Day was about to step around the wall, but suddenly…
He heard a low, inhuman growl echo in the chasm. The dreadful sound was not far away, rather, it was…
Directly on the other side of the wall.
He was about to panic, but he didn't. Gripping his shirt until his hand started to hurt, he steeled his will.
'Damn it… It must have heard our conversation. We shouldn't have talked. No! I can't let this fear consume me. The growl was on the other side of the wall. If it's a Nightmare Creature, it would have certainly come around and attacked us already if it knew we were here.''
'I'll take advantage of that, and escape. No… We will take advantage of it and escape.'
Standing up tall, he glanced at the little girl and slowly averted his gaze over to the crevice he had seen before. She followed his gaze and nodded at him. There was an apparent fear hiding beneath her eyes, but the extraordinary little girl named Audrey had something else hiding beneath those beautiful, yellow eyes as well.
A radiant, incandescent flame.
Day hadn't noticed it before, but perhaps that was this little girl's boon.
She felt empowered in the presence of others.
Day was beyond surprise at this point. He had never in his entire life met anyone more powerful than this little girl, and she wasn't even an Awakened.
With a grin that was obscured by the darkness, he began to move.
One step, two steps, three.
The amount of steps that they took slowly began to pile up as they quietly made their way towards the opening. The creature had not turned the corner yet to greet them. There was no guarantee that it even would, whatever it was, so they marched confidently and hopefully, slowly creeping through the endlessly deep shadows.
They came closer and closer to escaping, but before they could make it through…
A plethora of slimy, tapping sounds resounded behind them, and Day heard a screech. The sound was terrifying, and sounded like a video being paused and then started once more again and again.
Cursing inwardly, he started to dash.
"Just run! If we get through fast enough, we can lose it!"
" Okay!" The little girl yelled almost immediately after he finished speaking.
'Wow, she really is trusting, isn't she?'
Their footsteps became heavy as they crossed the threshold between the open space and the crevice.
The inside of the crevice was much larger, like he went from a tiny, narrow opening into a large box. The space was shrouded in a blanket of darkness, so all Day could do was run and slowly break past the veil.
About seven seconds after they made it through, Day heard a crash and the sound of crumbling rocks, followed by another guttural, angry screech with the same pitch and mannerism as before.
'Fuck… Fuck! It's gaining on us! It's fast!'
Shaking his head fervently, as if to shake away the fear, he sped up a little more, hoping that he would soon reach the end of this cage of darkness.
And he did, but the end of it was actually the end…
"A… A dead end? Are you kidding me? No!"
He slammed shoulder first into the end of the box as he reached it and yelled in pure, unadulterated rage.
He slammed his forehead into the wall in front of him and slowly lowered his arms to his sides before turning around with sharp, angry, heaving breaths.
The creature had gained on them, just as he thought. The insidious beast had a terrifying build. It was a pitch black humanoid. Its two legs were split in half from the middle of the foot to the waist, giving it a quartet of grotesque, squelching legs. Its head was the same, split from the skull down to the bottom of the neck. It had a fat stomach, and its two arms were not actual arms, but they were instead two sickles resting on the ground beneath attached to something akin to a string of darkness. Despite its body being mutilated, there wasn't even a trickle of red that seeped from any of the bifurcated limbs.
The creature wasn't running at them with a lust for blood, rather, it was slowly creeping towards them, dragging the sickles of darkness on the rocky ground below with the two sides of its ghastly head tilted slightly. Its two eyes were locked onto Day and the little girl; Almost like the two sections of its head had their own functions.
Day clenched his fists as hard as he could, but refused to even let out a sound at the pain.
This time, his heavy breathing wasn't because of fear.
It was because of his unceasing rage.
'This Nightmare… That damned Spell. It's a curse upon us all. What was I thinking? This Nightmare? Calm? Bull-shit. It's all bullshit. This entire situation. Two memories? A tiny canteen of water? A single, small container of food that isn't even enough for me and Audrey to share? Screw all of that, and screw the Spell.'
He reached over his pack and gripped onto the sword strapped to it tightly.
'I'm sick of it already. I don't care about all of that. I'm greedy now. I don't just want to live, I want this little girl to live, too, and I want us to do it gloriously.'
'It's been a mere few minutes since I made my promise, but it does not matter. I said I would keep her alive no matter the cost, and I'm going to stay true to that damned promise.'
'Whatever it takes.'
Unsheathing the sword from its strap and bringing it over his head, he grabbed onto it with both hands and lowered his body slightly. His squinted eyes were full of rage-born intensity, but his chest was still tight, and the butterflies in his empty stomach were still swirling.
And then, he began to dash towards the growling beast.