Phantom Awakening

Niko Saga: Chapter 6

The dorm was silent, wrapped in the stillness of midnight. Niko lay asleep in his corner, curled up beneath the spare blanket, his breathing soft and steady. Kujo had finally begun to feel the pull of exhaustion, his mind sinking into the darkness of sleep. But sleep didn't bring him rest. Instead, it dragged him down into a nightmare—a memory he could never escape.

In the nightmare, he stood in a dim, hazy space, his surroundings blurring in and out like shadows cast by flickering flames. A voice echoed through the mist, familiar and filled with cruel laughter.

"Look at you, Kujo. The boy who wanted to be a hero," the voice mocked, dripping with derision.

Kujo turned, his heart pounding as he saw the figure emerge from the shadows. It was his older brother, Riku, with the same piercing eyes and defiant smirk that Kujo remembered. But there was something wrong with him—his face was twisted, his gaze hollow and dark, like a cruel version of the brother he'd once idolized.

"Riku..." Kujo whispered, reaching out a hand instinctively, the way he used to as a child, looking up to his older brother for protection and guidance.

Riku sneered, his voice cutting like ice. "You still don't get it, do you? You killed me, Kujo. You crushed me. I trusted you, and look what you did." He held up his hands, bound in a cage of twisted metal, bent and mangled by Kujo's own ability. Kujo felt the weight of the memory settle on him, the horror of it constricting his chest.

"No," Kujo breathed, his hand shaking as he reached out toward Riku. "It... it was an accident. I didn't mean to—"

"An accident?" Riku interrupted, laughing, the sound cold and mocking. "You lost control, Kujo. You always do. You're dangerous. A monster." Riku's image flickered in and out of focus, his face distorting, becoming more twisted, more furious.

Kujo took a step forward, his hand still reaching out, desperate to bridge the distance between them. But every time he moved closer, Riku seemed to slip further away, like a shadow dancing just beyond his grasp.

"Riku, please," Kujo whispered, his voice breaking. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I never wanted..."

"But you did hurt me. You killed me, Kujo," Riku hissed, his voice echoing around him. "And it wasn't enough for you, was it? You can't even feel anything about it, can you? You're empty, hollow."

Kujo tried to protest, but the words caught in his throat. He remembered the weight of the metal pressing down, the sickening crunch, his own scream as he realized what he'd done. He'd been young, terrified, and untrained, his powers slipping out of control in a moment of panic. But the result had been final. Fatal. And Riku had paid the price.

In the nightmare, Riku's figure loomed closer, towering over him. "You're alone, Kujo. You always will be. And no one will ever understand the monster you really are."

"Stop," Kujo whispered, his voice barely audible, his outstretched hand trembling as it reached for his brother one last time.

But Riku only laughed, turning his back on Kujo and disappearing into the darkness, his mocking laughter echoing in the void.

Kujo lunged forward, desperate to reach him, to bridge the gap, to somehow change the unchangeable past. But his hand met nothing but empty air, and he fell to his knees, the crushing weight of his guilt pressing down on him, suffocating him. He opened his mouth to call out, but no words came, just silence, the hollow echo of a boy who'd lost everything.

He jolted awake, gasping for breath, drenched in sweat. The nightmare clung to him, wrapping around him like a shroud. He sat up, his fists clenched tightly, his whole body shaking with a grief he could barely process.

"Kujo?" a small voice whispered from across the room. Kujo looked up to see Niko, sitting up in his blanket, his eyes wide with concern. "Are you okay?"

Kujo took a shuddering breath, trying to force himself back to the present, away from the ghost of his brother and the weight of his past. He unclenched his fists, feeling the tremor in his fingers as he relaxed his grip, the faint, unconscious pull of metal responding to his emotions fading as he regained control.

"I'm fine," he managed, his voice rough, strained. "Just... go back to sleep, Niko."

Niko hesitated, clearly unconvinced, but he nodded, lying back down and pulling the blanket up to his chin. Kujo leaned back against the wall, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, but the image of Riku's twisted face and mocking laughter remained burned into his mind.

He had made peace with his inability to feel, but this nightmare made him realize the guilt still lived within him, haunting him in the shadows. He could control metal, manipulate it with precision and power, but he couldn't change what he'd done. He couldn't bring Riku back.

Kujo closed his eyes, willing himself to breathe, to find the calm he usually felt so easily. But tonight, that calm eluded him. And as he lay there in the quiet darkness, he wondered if he would ever truly escape the shadow of his past.