Guardians 1: Ashes

Chapter 64: Trying

Nick's POV

It was weird being back, really weird.

Everywhere I looked I just saw fear. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw a weapon. I sat in my room, then heard a knock on the door .

"Come in!" I called out and Rex came in with Cory by his side.

""What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Everything worked like a charm." Rex said with a grin.

"Meaning, they are on our side?"

"Yes sir they are." Rex replied.

"After all, they are deep down like us Nick." Cory added in and I nodded at him in understanding.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"Now-" Rex started pushing Cory out the door." He keeps his end of the bargain and gets his entity under control."

I followed after them, and Rex had just taken Cory to Uni's room. I poked my head inside, and Jin was sitting their.

"Oh, I want to know how to talk to my entity!" I called out and ran inside the room sitting in front of Jin.

Uni looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhh, Nick. We are focusing on Cory's specific entity, I don't think this will work for you." Jin told me.

"Let him stay, he could help." Uni said and I relaxed.

"Very well then. Close your eyes and relax. Think back to the past... the faded memories. The ones that are always beckoning in the back of your mind. Now hold that image accept it."

I followed Jin's directions.
I saw the tall trees, the dry yet green grass of the forest. I saw myself wondering between the trees, then heard the screams and yells as I ran further and further away.

Soon, I was looking for something, no... someone. I maneuvered through the trees spun and turned as I followed a trail of blood.

The images began to flash as I got closer and closer. My heart beating faster, then I approached the hollow tree and my eyes flew open with a shout.

Uni's, Cory's, and Jin's eyes were all focused on me now.

"S-sorry." I said embarassed.

"Need to get something off your chest?" Uni asked with a raised eyebrow.

I shook my head telling him no.

"Well then, back to the meditation... as I was saying. Focus on that image, the last memory of them... and let it go. Let it fade away just as the others, come and go just like the rest. Do not dwell on it, let it mean something more than pain."

I could feel the tension in the air, a dark void sucking the light and I opened my eyes.
Cory's necklace was glowing and a creepy dark shadow was standing over him.
He was clenching his fist tight, and seems to be holding his breath.

Uni looked at him uneasy and Jin shook his head in disappointment.

"Stop dwelling on the past! No good will come out of it!" Jin shouted at Cory, and it felt as if something snapped.

The entity with one swift move was standing in front of Jin with a hand filled with claws wrapped around Jin's neck.

"You know nothing of Death." Cory said, but it wasn't his voice... it was the dark figures.

Uni quickly got up and started shaking Cory but he was unresponsive. I started to get worried.

"Did you think simply meditating me away will fix it, no Death will always be here."