The Chronicles of Sorataki: Lucid Wish

Chapter 5: Shattered Will

Natalie

What do you mean 'a lot worse, what happened to her? Natalie thought back to her younger apparition. The numb look for mournfulness did not leave her face and it was starting to tick her off.

She bit her tongue as her young self-wiped a tear from her eye, the droplets twinkled like pixie dust thanks to the golden light of her skin.

Just promise me that you will not get mad. If you get all caught up and her will-

"-Just tell me!"

This made Allisa jump to attention with an incredulous look, Natalie blinked in realization to what she just did.

"Something wrong?" Allisa said squinting back to the spot there Natalie was looking at but saw nothing. She was still standing by Clare, her arm around her back in comfort. "Did Dullahan say something?"

Seeing that it was the only other thing to look at in that direction it made sense despite everything. Natalie lowered her head to shake it. More for the number of things swimming inside it over the scene she just made. Allisa still looked baffled but peeled her eye off Clare's apparition to look back at her waiting for an explanation.

"It's nothing," Natalie mumbled.

Allisa did not look convinced but did not push the issue further. Instead, she drew her attention back to Clare, talking to her in a hushed tone. Natalie looked at the girl with silver hair and pink-framed glasses. She was still coming to terms with the fact that she is in fact trapped in her own dream, a dream that she has been wandering around in for a long time. How long she was not sure but she could understand that this was bad. To then have her younger apparition tell her that it's a lot worse?

The cold tension in her chest grew once again but this time she had no patience for it and this made her snap.

Tell me, her mind channeled to her younger self. Her eyes still looking at Clare.

Natalie's apparition went tense for a bit as if clashing with a part of herself before she let out a long breath as if to deflate. Soon after she looked up to the void white sky.

May's been here before, her younger self-started.

May? Natalie asked a little exasperated. She just looked back to her, the conflict in her eyes never waning.

You know who I'm talking about. Just because you ignored her doesn't mean that you were not listening!

Natalie squinted back at her younger self with peeved eyes. Despite everything, she was beginning to understand why her apparition was reluctant on bringing this up at all.

What does she got to do with anything? She asked, her eyes poised, face guarded.

She's got everything to do with this! Perhaps if you were not so stubborn when she tried to talk to you then you'd have worked this out by now instead of- her apparitions grew more intense with light as screamed her voice within Natalie's head.

Stunning her to attention Natalie remain idle as she watched the features of her younger self. Even though she looked upset her skin did not flush red with blood but instead glowed a brighter gold making it harder to look upon her. Her eyes had taken up an alums purple indicating that she activated her angelic sight. Simmering down she dimmed in her brightness and her eyes returned back to their normal brown pupils.

Try to remember what she said when she came to speak to you on the slopes. She'd been struggling to remember someone that she'd met.

And? Natalie shrugged, but her chest was already rising and falling with fright. She could not yet recall the rest of that conversation word for word but what little she had unpacked already left her head burning with dread.