Shadow Slave: Monochrome

As Nero walked through that doorway and into the light, something suddenly blocked his vision. His heart grew a little heavy, but once he pulled it off, he was surprised as it was some kind of... white blanket?

The dark water didn't wet his body, so he was completely dry but still very cold. In the end, he just wrapped it around himself to keep warm, but the boys around him were very much different.

He saw the way they fastened and tied the blanket around their body, turning it into a garment that looked much more fancy and appropriate, which made Nero quite embarrassed.

Copying the way they did it was surprisingly easy. In just a few moments, Nero was finally clothed, and that uncomfortable feeling he had in the back of his mind was finally put to rest.

Now that he was in the light a little, he could see his own body properly. His arms were skinny and malnourished, and his nails were obscenely long. He couldn't see his own face yet, but he was sure it was quite unsightly.

'Nothing's changed I guess.'

A voice then called out,

"Line, up!"

It was the silhouette who had opened the door earlier. He was a rough looking man, who had dry yet slick grey hair, with wrinkles from old age. Despite that, he stood firm, while donning armour worthy of a knight. Of course, he was armed with a sheathed steel sword that was strapped to his hip, but he also had some kind of wooden badge with what looked like a crow engraved on it.

Quickly the 5 boys arranged themselves in a line, while the man began to count.

"1.. 2.. 3... Oh my, one didn't make it."

And with that, he slammed the door to the dark water filled room shut, while locking it with a key that he placed in his pouch.

The knight then walked back to the front of the line, before marching them through wherever they were.

While the knight looked away, Nero quickly shifted himself to the back of the line.

They began marching from a strange tunnel, that had an array of torches lit by white flames. As they marched, they emerged into a much bigger hallway that was incredibly lavish and luxurious. The polished marble floor was covered in geometric patterns that reflected the warm, golden lighting from the chandeliers and wall sconces. The dark-paneled walls were adorned in intricate gold detailing, with multiple doors on either side, creating a strange yet grand ambiance.

All those doors slid open, and lines of robotic children much like the one Nero was in suddenly emerged. They were all being led by a knight as well.

Once they were all open, they all marched to end of the corridor, which was surprisingly large. By then end, there was a giant gate made out of pure gold. Nero's eyes shined just by looking at it, but then he noticed a couple of the knights looking at him oddly.

Quickly, he erased any sign of emotion on his face, and pretended to be one of them as well.

'So being expressive is an anomaly...'

Once the gates slowly began to open, a wave of coldness blew harshly into all of them. On the other side of the gate, there was darkness. But not the same kind of darkness as in that strange room. This one, was rather normal.

This place was massive, and stupidly so, as the flooring sharply turned from the gold and black marble into dirt. The room itself reminded Nero of the deep end, as it was a massive hole that seemed to stretch for miles. Thankfully it wasn't as big, but it's bottom seemed just as endless, and even the sky above was pitch black with no light in sight.

'This entire place is underground...'

There was a path that could take you the circumference of the hole, that was lit with more normal torches, but in its wall were several rooms that were blocked by steel doors. In the centre however, there was a massive pillar made of white marble, with something truly peculiar at the top.

'That couldn't be..'

It was a massive bird that looked like some kind of griffin, albeit it was completely white with 4 wings instead of 2. It's head jolted towards the horde of humans, and it looked down on them with it's glowing yellow eyes.

Nero thought it was about to come down and devour them, but was glad to see one of its legs were chained up.

'Is that a Nightmare creature?? Why the hell are they keeping it here?'

In fact, it was even more surprising that it hadn't tried to attack them yet, despite being chained. Nightmare creatures were supposed to be relentless.

The knights then took their groups of children, before guiding them each into one of the strange chambers engraved in the hole's wall.

Unlike the outside, the inside of the chamber was dark, with the only source of light being what little amount could enter through the small opening at its bottom. There was no toilet, no bed, not even a pillow!

'Is this place some kind of prison?'

Nero moved to the furthermost corner from the door, contemplating on what to do. He wasn't strong enough to force the doors open, that seemed to be locked with some kind of key, and he had no idea what the clear conditions for this nightmare even were.

'Oh god.. it's not killing that bird is it?'

Just from its size, it was at least a demon, maybe a devil if he was unlucky. Killing it without any kind of memories was going to be impossible. Nevermind that, fighting it was suicidal in the first place.

'How about we finish checking my attributes? That sounds much better.'

Luckily, reading the glowing runes in here was much easier.

**

Attributes: [Bond], [Yin], [Remember]

Right away, Nero noted something odd. his [Bond] attribute was glowing a little brighter than all the rest.

[Bond] Attribute Description: "All beings are connected, whether it be by love, or by fate. However, as you two were born as a pair, your bond is thicker than most."

[Yin] Attribute Description: "One side of Duality. Yin was there from the beginning, and will be there at its end. As you were born in darkness, you understand what is and what isn't. Even shadows, give you their answers."

[Remember] Attribute Description: "For as long as there is a promise gone unkept, and the balance is not maintained, you will remember, and you will comeback."

Attributes were meant to show either your passive abilities or affinites. [Bond] seemed to lean more towards the former, but it also seemed to be a mix of the later.

'Born as a pair.. Epsilon?'

There were stories of twins sometimes sharing a soul, and it allowed them to have some kind of telepathy between the two, but Nero had never experienced anything like that so he thought it was rubbish. To think it was finally happening to him...

'This isn't going to be very helpful then.. If I need to be with him to use it, then what good would it be in this nightmare where I'm alone?'

Whether he liked it or not, [Bond] was his innate attribute. A trait which came solely from him and him alone... well... mostly. But the other two however, seemed to be derived from his Aspect.

'I think I get this one..'

[Yin] explained how Nero was able to feel the presence of everyone inside that weird room. It didn't grant him the ability to see in the dark, but rather to sense the presence and location of others in it. Even now, he was able to feel the countless presences of children, but the knights felt weak.

'Is it because they're in the light? This kinda sucks then. The constraints are too limiting.'

That last attribute though, [Remember] was really vexing. It did absolutely nothing. Or atleast, nothing Nero could think of right now.

'Is it supposed to give me an affinity towards memory's or something? What, so I can recall things easier?'

Nero tried it then and there, but he couldn't even tell if it was effective or not. For starters, he tried to remember a random conversation he had with Emma 2 years ago. It didn't have to be detailed or about any specific thing. It just had to exist.

'Nope. Not any good.'

This attribute was useless too.

Nero let out a heavy groan. He might really die here. Out of curiosity though, he went back to the [Bond] attribute.

'Oh?'

There was something else about it.

[Would you like to enable synchronization?]

What good would this do?? Anyway, he had nothing better to do other than wait here and die, so he clicked yes.

And then in a couple moments, something curious did indeed happen. A white translucent string seemed to shoot out of Nero's chest, and phase through the steel door. Despite it no longer being in his line of sight, Nero could feel every turn it made and how far it was going.

He was decently entertained, feeling it fly around like a lost bird. He was worried that some people would notice it, but it seemed as if the knights on patrol couldn't even see it.

'Huh..'

Then the string suddenly stopped, and Nero felt it connect to something. And then, new shimmering runes fluttered in front of him, making Nero's jaw drop to the ground.

Name: Epsilon...