After a bit of asking around, I found myself outside the Sleeper compound.
To my left, the sun was halfway below the horizon, transforming into a solid orange disc. The sky displayed a gradient of purple, yellow, and red, as if a wall of warm flames were rising from the horizon.
To my right, I found a dark alleyway that was situated between the Sleeper and Awakened compound. The alley was completely blanketed in shadows and darkness except for a few scarce spots which were still in the range of the sunlight.
Though I felt the urge to walk to my left into the welcoming light of the sunset, I walked to my right instead, since that was where my person of interest was.
Eternity was sitting on a set of steps that led to a heavy metal door. She rested her face on her thighs, her ghastly blonde hair falling down the sides of her legs. In the darkness, she looked more like a wraith than a human. One strap of her white mask was looped around her pinky finger, which hung freely.
When she heard my footsteps, she quickly scrambled to put on her mask again, making a mess of her hair. When she turned to glare at me with her lifeless green eyes, a few loose strands of hair were caught between her mask.
"What are you doing here?" She said, her voice was hoarse.
My reply was simple, "Awakened Rock wants you back in class."
Eternity let out a sigh, but she got up nonetheless. She was making her way past me when I snickered.
Eternity glanced at me. "Oh sorry, I'm just thinking about what happened at the end of the sparring session…it was…ironic."
Eternity didn't respond to my obvious agitation, but she didn't move either. I continued. "I'm really sorry about Ford, that's the big guy by the way. It's just that the dude is pretty talented, but that also means he's prideful. So when you said that he couldn't beat Lorelei, it probably snapped something in him."
No response again.
"I know he's frustrating but could you cut him slack on my behalf? He may be annoying, but he's just a pure-hearted, muscle-headed idiot."
I snapped my fingers.
"He may be an idiot, but he isn't dumb by any means. I agree with him that you shouldn't have made our team forfeit so easily. You didn't even forfeit because Ford got hit, you forfeit because you were about to be hit. Talk about selfishness, sheesh." I chuckled, "Imagine that a nightmare creature stopped just because you were about to be hurt when your teammate just got sliced in half."
"And what Lorelei said--you didn't even help during the fight. Okay, I give you credit for the plan, me and Ford wouldn't have lasted so long if it weren't for your plan. However, we don't always have to fight with your instructions."
I scowled at her. "There. I said it, we won't listen to you. I guess that gives you permission to leave us to our deaths then." I saw something in Eternity's mind click, she probably recognized me from her Healing class. "But plans don't always work. Say you, me and Ford were all one team in the Dream realm. We meet a really strong nightmare creature, something that completely overwhelms us and makes your plans irrelevant."
"By your logic--" I pointed at her, "--We'll just let it kill us. There's no point, right? Is that really the type of thing we're going to do?"
"Let me tell you: You're royally screwed. You flushed all your chances at gaining allies down the drain. Even if you and another stranger were transported to the dream realm in the same location, they'd probably leave you behind. Though don't be too surprised, after all, isn't throwing people under the bus your specialty?"
I knew I was overstepping my boundaries when I was insulting this girl, but it was all part of my plan.
I needed Eternity, whether I liked it or not. Healers were a huge help in the unforgiving hell that was the Dream realm. Though Eternity seemed weak and her attitude was complete garbage, she didn't seem like the type of person to argue without a proper argument. If she did, she'd probably be cutting me down with her words, but she hadn't even let out a squeak when I was ranting to her.
However, the fact she seemed so sure about her healing abilities meant that she had the aspect ability to back it up. I didn't know what rank her aspect was, but it was likely high; Ascended, Transcended, and even Supreme were all on the table for what her aspect rank could be. Not only did this mean she could heal me from normally fatal injuries, she could also be the counterbalance to my own aspect ability.
[Blood Purge] was an undeniably powerful aspect ability of the supreme rank, but seeing how dangerous it was for me, it was more like a cursed power than a blessing. [Higher Healing Factor] did heal any wound that [Blood Purge] made, but I would already have lost too much blood by the time it healed me.
But the power of my attribute combined with Eternity's aspect…that still didn't count for the unimaginable pain it would cause me, but it felt better knowing I could likely use my aspect ability at full output without dying instantly from blood loss.
Though that still wasn't a good justification for how I was treating her.
I was ranting to her to make sure she knows that she was alone and also make her aware of her faults. I hoped that it somehow made her more motivated to fix her faults. Though talking to someone like this, even if it was for their own good, was still extremely rude.
But I had a trump card…[Wishing Moon.]
Attribute Description: [You carry the wish of the one who personifies the moon. Others will feel tempted to assist you when you want to achieve the moon's wish. Actions that go against the moon's wish will bring tragedy.]
"I'm telling you all of this because I'm deathly serious…" I started to avoid eye contact with Eternity, making it seem as though I was uncomfortable…and vulnerable. "I made a promise with someone, and I want to do my best to help them."
"The reason I'm sharing all of this with you is because... I want your help in keeping my promise to that person," I said, giving her a bittersweet smile.
AND THAT'S THE HOME RUN!!!
I intentionally made Eternity angry in the beginning, but then I changed the tone of the rant from insulting to frustrated. I likely made her think that I was angry at her because she wasn't as serious as me, and because I needed to help someone. She didn't know who I was supposed to help--a saint of all people--but she probably imagined it was important to me. Then casting that vulnerable image over me, she'd become empathetic. All that was left was using the effects of [Wishing Moon] to smash the nail in.
Though I sounded like a goblin inside my mind, my outside expression hadn't changed from a bittersweet look, "So…will you join my cohort?"
Nice! Here comes the "Yes!"
Eternity looked at me with a softer expression, which made my hope rise, only for her to crush them as she glared at me.
"First, you're unbelievably cringe."
"Bwahuh???" I blurted out gibberish from her unexpected response.
"You sound like one of those arrogant detectives in those murder mystery webtoons," Her eyes were laced with so much disgust that it felt as though she was staring at a roach. "By the gods, what the hell was that even? I never even knew people actually said stuff like that in a real conversation."
"It's not even like your intentions were hidden, you were literally shoving all the details in front of my face." She seemed very angry now, not because I attempted to manipulate her, but rather because my manipulation was just so badly executed. "If Nightmare creatures could talk, I'd bet they could say execute that even better! Like-"
This continued for a few more minutes, with every insult she threw at me, my back bent even further. I was practically at her mercy.
Finally, Eternity sighed. She looked at me, I was now kneeling in front of her in apology.
I desperately hoped the darkness of the alley concealed the tears brought on by her humiliation of me.
"...I'm sorry…" I muttered.
Eternity took a long look at my pathetic figure, "You're right though. I screwed up."
I looked up at her with wide eyes. Eternity took a step back, and crossed her arms. "I was far too arrogant, too rude to others. I should have been more respectful to those idiots."
By the gods, this is a miracle. I never imagined Eternity would be apologizing. For the short time I spent observing her, she seemed like a ruthless tyrant who never admitted her mistakes.
After thinking for a few seconds, she locked eyes with me. "I'll join up with you."
I got up smiling, a hand outstretched. "Great! Let's do our introductions again--I'm Vincent"
She took my hand and then twisted my arm inwards playfully.
"I'm Eternity--you better not try to pull a stunt like that on me again." She said, a hint of amusement in her eyes.