Rem lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, listening to his parents through the floor. His mother's voice was hushed, but it carried all the same.
"How could you have done this? Yesterday could have been Rem's last day, and you sneak out early in the morning without telling me? How could you take him to the police station without telling me?"
His father remained silent.
"What if he had died? And how could you be the one responsible for his awakening? what would have happened if he'd failed his first nightmare? Would you have killed him? Your own son?"
She kept asking, giving Oreon no time to answer.
"What do you mean you thought that would be better?" Annoyance crept into her voice. "You think if he had said goodbye to me and his brother, he wouldn't have given it his all in the Nightmare?"
His father seemed to have answered, but Rem couldn't make out what had been said. From his mother's reaction, he could guess what had been said.
"And you still haven't answered my previous question. What would you have done if he had failed?" Anger was apparent in her voice.
This time Rem heard his father's reply, clearly.
"I would have done what any other Awakened in my place would have done."
A long moment of silence followed. When his mother spoke, she was much calmer than before, but that wasn't because her anger had disappeared.
"If something happens to Rem... I will never forgive you."
"I would never forgive myself, either."
there was a long pause before his mother spoke again.
"Your forgiveness won't bring my son back."
Rem kept staring at the ceiling until the house had gone quiet again. At some point, he fell asleep staring at the same spot.
***
He woke up late in the morning to the sound of his mother's footsteps on the stairs. She opened the door to his room and found him sitting on the bed, staring at his own feet.
"Were you awake the entire night?" she asked.
She thought she would enter the room and find him dead asleep after he'd successfully beaten the First Nightmare.
"No, i just woke up a moment ago." A yawn escaped his mouth as he stretched his arms.
When Rem got up and turned to look at her, he noticed a dozen or so empty boxes standing behind the door.
"What are these boxes for?" he asked, confusion plain on his face.
"Your father and I talked early on this morning ,and we decided you'll be going to the Awakened Academy. You'll need these to take all your books with you." as she gestured towards the shelf. "I know how much you love them."
"Sounds good to me. Will father be driving me there, then?"
"Of course he will, sweety." she smiled. "Now, i already cooked something for you. Eat, and then go see your father in the training room. You can tidy up later on after the party."
***
Rem entered their private gym and found his father warming up. That's what he usually did when they were going to have a mock battle. He swallowed hard, bracing himself to have the floor wiped with him.
He walked over to the weapon rack, took the spear and began warming up as he usually did too. After a few minutes, once he had worked up a sweat, His father asked.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes." Rem answered.
But contrary to what Rem expected, his father kept talking, swinging his one-handed sword in the same controlled arcs.
" For starters, Awakened, even sleepers, are no longer mundane. Thus their fighting style should change based on the aspect they've awakened." Oreon said as he lowered the sword to the ground. "To demonstrate, hit me as hard as you can with the spear."
His father stood still, both hands resting on the hilt, the tip of the sword touching the ground. Rem decided against using the spearhead. Instead, he swung the wide and struck his father across the side. He had wanted to put his strength into, but couldn't bring himself to after yesterday's talk in the car.
And as expected, his father hadn't moved. He wasn't hurt or bruised. He still stood in place with his hands on the sword. The shaft carried the vibrations up into Rem's arm, and it felt like he had hit steel.
" It's important to incorporate your Aspect abilities, and Attributes into your fighting style. otherwise you won't be using them to their full potential."
"One of my aspect abilites reinforces my skin, it turns it to stone and increases its weight accordingly." He asid as he pulled his sleeves up showing his hands and arms that had turn into stone at some point. "This also means that my speed drops, contrary to most Awakened. But i can isolate this effect to the area that is about to be hit or to a specific part of my body. When you hit me just now, I only reinforced my left flank.
"And i can do something like this."
He lifted his sword up, his hands had returned to normal at some point and as he brought the blade down he turned them into stone for an instant. The sword decended much faster than it should have and struck the ground hard enough, that he felt the impact through his feet .
Rem looked at the spot where the sword had landed. He imagined what would have happened if he had been standing there, and couldn't stop the image of Niall's corpse from rising behind his eyes. His stomach chruned and the room tilted slightly.
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of nose. "I understand what you mean." When clarity returned, he opened his eyes and buried the image deep down again. "What if I don't have a skill that reinforces my skin, or increases my speed, or does anything?"
Despite the mannequin's blank face, Rem could tell his father was confused. "What do you mean?"
"My Aspect ability makes me lucky. That's it. From the looks of it, it's active the entire time and doesn't consume essence, but it doesn't garantee the affect. Instead it's up to me to make the choice."
"What about your attribute?"
Rem still in his fighting stance, his eyes never leaving his father's body. "It warns me of danger, to some degree."
"Oh? Does it?" Oreon answered. the sword had returned to it's previous place hands still resting on the hilt.
Out of nowhere, [Faint Sense] stirred, warning him of his father. He jumped backwards at once putting destince between the two of them. His hands trembled, and his legs were shook faintly. The warning screamed at him, the same way it had when the Shrouded Larva attacked.
He was sure his father would strike any moment now, but instead the door flew open and his mother barged in, visibly angry.
"Are you two seriously practicing right before the party?" she said in a chilly voice.
Just when Rem was about to explain that they hadn't started Oreon answered.
"We're already done."
"We are?" Rem asked
"Yes, you are, young man. Now, both you and your father will change your clothes and get ready. The guests will arrive any moment now." she shut the door behind her as she left.
His father stared at the door for a moment, his expression unreadible. Rem felt that, if his father could have express himself, he would have let out a heavy sigh.
Then he turned towards Rem.
"What's the name of your Aspect Ability?"
Rem answered honestly. He had no reason to lie now that he had explained his Aspect Ability. "Stray Spark."
"What an interesting ability."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you find it strange that the moment I was about to attack you, your mother barged in and interuppted us? Or maybe that was a coincidence." His father answered
Before they could look into it any further, they heard Rem's mother call out to them again. "Didn't I tell you to change your clothes already."
Rem immediately apologized to his father as he put the spear back, and hurried up the stairs.
Oreon was left alone standing in the training room, thinking.
'Looks like it wasn't a coincedence after all. I really was about to attack him again."
unbeknowst to both of them though, Rem's Soul Core had been considerbly emtpied. Almost half of his essence was gone.