Chapter 61: A Terrifying and Atrocious Dream

Salomé opened her eyes, plunged into an ocean of white, a total void surrounding her on all sides. She sat up awkwardly, her limbs trembling, and noticed with surprise that her wounds had vanished as if by magic.

— Where am I? she wondered, her voice trembling. Am I dead? In the realm of the dead?

The silence was oppressive, and the blinding white seemed to engulf her entirely. She looked around, but there was nothing, just this endless void.

— What emptiness! Where am I? Is there anyone here? she cried out, but her voice was swallowed by the silence.

Suddenly, the void began to rumble. Everything seemed to twist around Salomé, terrifying her. A massive creature appeared, with white eyes without pupils and immense hair dancing in all directions like living serpents. It seemed naked, but it didn't really have any sex, just undefined forms. Its skin was gray, and its gigantic feet seemed to be standing on a dark rift with giant lightning bolts dancing around.

— Killer man! said the creature in a reasonable, almost hypnotic voice. I will tell you who you are facing. This is the demon Velda. I create voids like this for specific reasons. You should know that I don't do it often, but this time, I need to show you something.

Salomé was terrified, her heart racing wildly. She spoke in a trembling voice.

— Why me?

Velda replied, "Look at it for yourself and come back; we'll talk after that!"

Salomé found herself in another place, still as empty. She scanned the surroundings, but saw nothing.

— But what was the other talking about? she wondered, lost.

She turned around and was surprised to see a woman sitting on a throne. The woman had violet hair tied in a high ponytail with a large black knot. Her piercing gaze, accentuated by bright yellow eyes, reinforced her intimidating appearance. She wore a dark and stylish outfit: a black leather jacket with blue motifs on the sleeves, a short top revealing her abs, and tactical pants with a robust belt. Her hands were gloved, adding a touch of brutality to her appearance.

Sitting on the throne, she adopted a dominant and confident posture, with a baseball bat placed between her legs, suggesting a habit of physical confrontations. The background of violet flames gave her an aura of supernatural danger, hinting at her possessing powers or malevolent energy.

Salomé was terrified by this young woman and backed away, falling to sit on the floor. Her mouth and body trembled as she asked:

— Who are you?

The young woman on the throne fixed Salomé and stood up from her throne with her baseball bat. She began to walk slowly towards Salomé, whose fear increased with each step.

— You are so beautiful! murmured the young woman in a low voice, with unexpected gentleness.

Salomé widened her eyes, thinking she had misheard. The young woman stopped in front of her and looked down.

— Stand up! she demanded in a strangely soothing voice.

Salomé stood up slowly, still trembling. The woman slowly brought her right hand to Salomé's cheek and caressed it gently.

— You are so beautiful, she repeated, with tenderness that contrasted with her menacing appearance.

Salomé didn't understand the young woman's strange behavior. She lowered her head and let herself be caressed on the cheek.

— If only I could have kept that same innocence and emotional glow, I would have always been as beautiful inside as you, sighed the young woman, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Salomé opened her eyes even wider in surprise. She lifted her head and looked at the young woman, noticing that tears continued to flow, and her grief seemed to grow visibly.

— Your skin is so soft! added the young girl, with a trembling voice.

Salomé wanted to know more about her and her strange behavior.

— Excuse me, but who are you? she asked, trying to hide her fear.

The young woman replied, "Who am I? How can you ask that? Don't you recognize me?"

Salomé looked at the young woman again and said:

— Honestly, you remind me of no one I know.

The young woman withdrew her right hand from Salomé's cheek and said:

— So I've gone that far?

She wiped her tears and crouched down to be at a certain height facing Salomé. She gently took Salomé's head and brought it closer to her chest.

— Listen to the beats of my heart; don't they remind you of anything? she murmured.

Salomé focused and listened to the beats of the girl's heart. Then she noticed something strange: the beats of the young woman's heart sang a terrifying melody, telling a story of blood, death, chaos, desolation, suffering, loneliness, wickedness, cries of fear, tears, and a terrifying appearance of the young woman with dragon wings made of a dangerous violet aura and powerful mystical beings.

Salomé became even more frightened and pushed the young woman away to distance herself. She trembled even more.

— I knew it, this woman is dangerous; she has killed so many people and done horrible things... yet... she suffers so much despite all that, thought Salomé.

Salomé looked at the young woman and saw that she was still crying, her tears not ceasing to flow, and her grief seemed to grow visibly.

— I wonder... What went wrong, for you to become so dangerous? Why do you suffer so much? Why is your heart so torn and only sings songs of sorrow and sadness? Why is your life not even a little bit rosy? There's only red and black, asked Salomé, with unexpected compassion.

The girl fell to her knees, completely bewildered, and began to cry even louder.

— I was too weak... if only... if only I were strong, I would have saved them, but I was too weak... I ended up alone and lost in the darkness... I so want to change everything, but it's impossible...

Salomé still didn't understand what the young woman was talking about. She approached the young woman and took her into her arms to try to comfort her.

— Stop crying, please; it hurts me, said Salomé, trying to calm her.

The young woman replied, "Our heart is already torn enough, don't you think?"

Salomé was surprised: "Our heart?"

The young woman continued: "Do you think you can save us from this story? Can you prevent us from suffering?"

Salomé pulled back from the young woman again.

— What are you talking about? she asked, lost.

Salomé looked at the young girl and noticed that despite her tears, there was a radiant smile on her face, as if she had found a glimmer of hope. The young girl closed her eyes and said with a soothing tone:

— Everything depends on you now; it's up to you to play, our destiny depends on you.

Salomé was lost.

— Good grief, I don't understand anything!! she cried out, desperate.

The young woman disappeared, and the void changed abruptly.

— What's happening again? asked Salomé, confused.

A violet aura surrounded her, and Salomé saw her morphology change. She had grown taller, her hair falling straight and well-groomed, all black like a starless night. She was covered in a white blanket over her body.

The aura dissipated, and Salomé touched the ground gently, landing delicately like a princess. She observed herself and still didn't understand anything.

— Is this a dream? she wondered, lost.

She also noticed an unimaginable power within her, which she couldn't explain.

— I feel so strong; it's weird, she said, trying to understand what was happening.

And again, everything disappeared. Salomé saw all her clothes vanish; she returned to her normal size and found herself naked in a chaotic city.

— Is this not ending soon? she asked, desperate.

She covered her breasts with her hands and scanned the surroundings, noticing a terrifying chaos. Burned and destroyed cars, birds of ill omen in the sky, smoke everywhere, and destroyed houses and skyscrapers. There was also a strong smell of decomposing bodies.

— What is this? she asked, horrified.

She spotted something in the chaotic smoke and approached it.

— Is this from the explosion earlier? she wondered, trying to understand.

She stopped and looked at what she had seen in the smoke: it was a lifeless body in decomposition. Salomé widened her eyes, realizing it was someone she knew.

— Baku... Bakuran!!!!!! she screamed in terror and bewilderment.

She approached the body and grabbed Bakuran's hand.

— His body is so cold; it's weird!!! she cried out, desperate.

Bakuran's body was lying down, with torn clothes, his belly ripped open, and his internal organs all out. He was clearly dead and had lost a lot of blood.

Salomé put her hands on her head, feeling helpless, and began to cry and lament over what she saw.

— Bakuran, please, respond to me, please; tell me it's a joke, what kind of nightmare is this, Bakuran!!!!!! she cried out.

Salomé cried like a baby, gesticulating and hitting her head against the ground.

— Get me out of this nightmare, please; I can't take it, please, please, please, Bakuran, you can't be dead, no, Bakuran!!!!!! she screamed again.

The dark clouds dissipated, the birds of ill omen continued to fly in the sky, their feathers falling to the ground, suggesting a rain of ill fortune. One of these birds perched on another corpse caught Salomé's attention with its movement. It moved away from the corpse, and Salomé could see the face of the corpse in question.

— No... it can't be him, she murmured, horrified.

The body was in a pitiful state, pierced by a giant nail, cut in two. The lower part of his body, the waist, and the rest were missing. The upper part was suspended to feed the birds of ill omen, the body leaning, letting out its internal organs below in a chaotic spectacle of the sky and the state of the city, suggesting a nightmare or torture for Salomé.

This body was none other than...

— Sakolomé!!!!!! she screamed even louder.

Salomé's scream was so loud that it scared away the birds of ill omen. She had just seen two of her brothers dead and in terrible conditions.

Salomé placed her hand on the ground, feeling completely numb. Her head was spinning, she had dizziness and would certainly faint. She couldn't bear the awful sight.

— Could it be the explosion earlier that did this? Where is Aquila? No, an explosion like that can't do this; it doesn't make sense. Besides, my brothers are very resilient; this kind of explosion won't kill them. The person who did this... murmured Salomé.

Salomé looked at the sky bordered by black clouds and said:

— It's certainly the young woman I met earlier or Velda!!