Come To Life: Into The Outerworld: SAO After Alicization

6: Memory

Eugeo woke up screaming.

The beads of sweat on his fevered brow were mixed with tears and his entire body was clammy, shaking, and drenched in sweat. The entire room around him was out of focus and his head was spinning with panic while his pale, thin hands hands were clutching his sheets so tightly that he had lost all feeling in his fingers. It took a great effort for him to steady himself when he felt a sudden feeling of someone next to him, a strong, yet gentle grab of his shoulder that brought the terrified Eugeo back to reality.

Kirito.

"Eugeo, Eugeo, calm down, it was a dream, a nightmare!" he was shaking Eugeo's shoulder and his voice sounded so far away. Eugeo turned to him his eyes wide as Kirito's face finally came into focus. The black haired boy looked gravely concerned.

A girl's voice echoed from his other side. "We thought you were having a seizure or something," Asuna was also sitting next to him holding his other shoulder. He turned and looked at her as well, there were frightened tears running down her pretty face.

Glancing away from her Eugeo gasped, breathing hard as a wave of pain and nausea overcame him and he gagged a bit. Asuna jumped up from beside him and and returned, pushing the trash can from beside the bed against his chest as Eugeo gave another wretch and vomited violently. The tears stung his eyes and he gave a few more heaves while Asuna had gotten up again and wet a cloth in the sink by the door. Sitting back down beside him she gently wiped his face with it.

"Oh, Eugeo, poor thing," she ran her hand softly through his hair, "What a horrible nightmare you must have been having. You were talking and crying in your sleep, we kept trying to wake you up, it was like you were possessed or something..." her voice faded off.

Breathing hard, Eugeo met her gaze, his eyes wide with terror.

"It...it wasn't just a dream" he paused and gulped "...it felt too real...I think...I think it was something that happened to me...before." For a moment he looked as though he was going to continue speaking but he stopped short, leaning forward again to wretch his guts up.

Kirito looked at Asuna, his face serious. "He might be right, I mean," turning back towards Eugeo he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and patted him softly, "The way he was shaking and talking in his sleep... it's like you were hallucinating or something..."

"It felt so real," Eugeo repeated again, his voice fading into weeping as he buried his head in his hands. Asuna continued to stroke his hair attempting to comfort him, but Kirito had instead stood up and walked to the door, opening it and peering out into the hallway.

"Something's not right," he turned back to look at Asuna who had pulled Eugeo against her shoulde. "Doesn't it seem weird...no doctors or nurses...wouldn't they have come running when Eugeo's heart rated spiked like that?"

"I guess?" Asuna looked down at Eugeo's arm, he still had a few IVs and sensors attached to it. "But, maybe they don't have to..." her eyes darted up to the ceiling, "What if they're...watching us?" She pulled Eugeo closer to her.

"Of course they've been watching us, Asuna," Kirito closed the door quietly and came and sat down with them again. "The thing that's weird is that they didn't come running with sedatives and shit like they've done before...why let him go through a night terror like that?"

"Because they're cruel," Asuna said, "I thought this before, but then I figured that maybe, just maybe..." she broke off, "Maybe Rath doesn't really want him to get better...but how..."

"Who knows, but we have to find out," Kirito's eyes glowed. Beside him, Eugeo had gone silent and was staring ahead with a blank look on his face.

"Eugeo?" Asuna shook him slightly. "Are you okay?"