“You can’t… accept it?”

  Somnu stood in bewilderment, questioning her unexpected reaction.

  He had carried this Memento ever since he had stumbled into the forgotten lands of Nirvia and met Mr. Emberlyn there.

  The old man who was believed to be a simple veteran turned farmer, the actual last knight of Nirvia, and the eternal warden of the forgotten sanctuary, had entrusted Somnu with the task of delivering this item to his beloved granddaughter.

  And yet, now…

  “It’s not just that I don’t want to…” Aurora muttered with a heavy breath, squinting her eyes as she paused. “It’s not accepting me either.”

  “...” Somnu furrowed his brows, wrinkling the blindfold slightly.

  Mementos needed to accept the Sleeper, otherwise they couldn’t be used, only carried. That was why Somnu hadn’t considered using the item even once during all his close calls.

  So far, he hadn’t met anyone who knew how Mementos chose a Sleeper exactly and based on what, but one thing he had known for sure. Eamon Emberlyn gave this to him, fully expecting his granddaughter to be chosen.

  After all, he had mentioned the Memento was actually a Dream Catcher that was passed down through the generations. Although Somnu hadn’t asked if the process was related to family or if there were other conditions that needed to be met first.

  “There must be a mistake, what is it saying exactly?” He asked, noticing his raised tone before dropping it.

  “It’s not a mistake, I have received other Mementos, this one is just rejecting me.” Aurora kept her head low, as if refusing to even meet his blind gaze.

  “,,,” Somnu noticed her shaking fingers as the trembling slowly moved across her body. He instinctively took a step back, his thoughts racing out of control. What am I supposed to do in this situation…? Is she crying? Is this where I’m supposed to comfort her somehow? Is this a man’s duty?

  Both of them quickly adapted to the silence around them. The girl shaking on the couch, and the boy standing a small table away from her, his lips hesitating with every attempt.

  “I think…”

  “?!”

  Aurora finally spoke again. “I think you should have this back.”

  “... I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Somnu shut her down right away. “It rejected me too, and it’s very likely that it will choose you eventually. Maybe it’s just an issue of time or the rank of one’s Ego Core…”

  “That… is possible.” She got out, before shaking her head slightly left and right. “No, I don’t deserve to carry this. Not until…”

  [Memento Received.]

  “!”

  [Memento in question is not compatible with Sleeper Somnu ERROR.]

  [Dreamkeeper’s Amulet has been safely stored in Sleeper Somnu ERROR’s inventory.]

  Before he could even reject the idea again, she had already sent it back to him.

  “What am I supposed to do with it?” He scratched the side of his cheek.

  “It’s up to you…” Aurora trailed off, looking away with distant eyes. “You can give it to someone else, or wait for the right time to give it to me again.”

  “Well, alright. If it makes you feel better.” Somnu accepted, then rubbed his chin slowly. “I’m sure it would have given you a big boost though. An extra Memento isn’t bad to have, especially this one.”

  “That’s fine, I’m the strongest Sleeper on this Layer already.” Aurora said blankly, her raised face remaining completely still.

  It’s not simple arrogance… She means it. Somnu watched through Naga’s eyes. “You seem pretty sure about that. The strongest people are those who don’t go around advertising their strength, you know?”

  “I’m not trying to do that, I’m simply stating the fact.” Aurora proclaimed, but couldn’t hold back a slight chuckle from escaping her lips. “What even was that? Did you hear it in some superhero series?”

  Wait, that’s right! She was wearing the Nightmare Slayer uniform on that Halloween night! Somnu’s eyebrows perked up suddenly. “You’re one to speak, I remember what you were wearing that night!”

  “?” Aurora raised a single eyebrow and leaned back in an exaggerated manner, as if trying to distance herself from the creep in front of her.

  “Wait, what are you thinking about?! I’m clearly talking about that Halloween night! You were with those other girls from town. They brought you some sweets to try out, they mostly wore witch outfits, I think one might have been a zombie witch, but that’s beside the point. You were wearing the Nightmare Slayer limited edition bracelet from the moment on the bus, and then her outfit on that night!” Somnu fired them off one by one, not stopping a second at defending his already shaky reputation. By the end, he was quickly attempting to catch his breath.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “...” Aurora simply looked at him with slightly wide, open eyes, her mouth stuck half open.

  “... You don’t remember?” Somnu swallowed as he asked, fearing the worst could have happened. Did I imagine that whole night? Did I create it based on the head injury? Blunt trauma is sometimes known to cause hallucinations, and especially with my lack of sleep… No, no! It can’t be possible! My reputation will be completely-

  “Pffft!”

  “Eh?”

  “Hahaha! You should have seen your face! Even with that blindfold on, it was quite the sight!”

  Somnu stood paralyzed, now his turn to have his mouth be left half-agape. His borrowed vision watched Aurora break into so much laughter, she had to wipe away tears.

  ‘Master, I believe she got you.’ Naga said telepathically with a slight hum, turning her head to see her master’s supposed funny expression too.

  ‘Oh really? Thank you for clarifying that for me, Naga…’ Somnu shot back.

  ‘You’re very welcome, master!’

  Even though he was seeing his own face through the serpent’s eyes, he could guess the kind of smug expression she was sending his way.

  ‘Naga, can you go check on the water instead of mocking the master who can refuse you any and all potential future praise?’

  ‘Wha?! How cruel, master! I’ll go right now!’

  In a split second, Naga left a clone on the scarecrow’s shoulder and slithered away beneath the door’s crack. Most of her serpentine body vanished into smoke as she effortlessly passed through.

  That’s… new. Keeping his [Resonance] active on the main body, Somnu commented inwardly before seeing what was on the other side of the door. These two… are you kidding me? Am I just surrounded by joking idiots?!

  In a room that was very obviously a bathroom, both Arman and Bro’Ski had their ears to the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation with ecstatic expressions on their faces. They didn’t even bother turning the water off as it overfilled a small bucket sitting in the sink.

  ‘Master, they are-’

  ‘I know.’

  Somnu unintentionally slumped his back forward, switching his vision back to Naga’s clone.

  “Sorry, sorry, I don’t know what came over me. This is no time for jokes, I just…” Aurora trailed off as she looked at Leyna’s sleeping body. “This was in poor taste…”

  “It’s fine, maybe a little cheerfulness is exactly what we need right now… Nothing like a good joke to lighten the mood a little, huh?” Somnu curled up the corners of his lips into a faint smile. I couldn’t do this for them even if I tried. I’m glad they can at least have someone cheerful and full of hopeful light around them, someone with an energetic imagination.

  “...” Aurora seemed to be staring at him, but when she noticed the snake looking at her, she looked away. “Oh, you just said something familiar… One of Pop-pop, I mean Grandpa’s go-to sayings.”

  “Yeah, but you really are his granddaughter. The resemblance is one thing, but you can’t deny the similar taste in jokes…” Somnu moved slightly to the side, and stood in front of the grinning skull symbol he was planning to wipe away before his sister woke up. “I really wonder how that Memento didn’t choose you, he was so sure about it too.”

  “?!”

  Aurora was jolted to her feet once more, immediately rushing toward the blind Sleeper.

  “...!”

  “You saw him?!”

  “What…? Yeah…” Somnu took a step back, finding himself against the other wall, diagonally to the one with the bloodied symbol.

  “Where?! When?! How?!” She fired her questions with shaking pupils. Her hands gestured uncontrollably, her feet taking a few steps back, then forward again before pleading. “Please, tell me!”

  “...” Somnu was taken aback by the sudden reaction, even her constricted pupils seemed to be shaking in place. Should I really tell her everything? I still need to make sure she’s not one of John Doe’s pawns…

  The scarecrow knew how distasteful his distrust and suspicions were, and yet, he couldn’t just deny the possibility of grave danger just because she had a pretty face, a very pretty face even.

  He wasn’t basing this on just a simple doubt, there had been a few circumstances that supported his suspicion.

  For one, Aurora had been the only one inside the apartment with Leyna when he opened the already closed door. She was standing there without moving. Somnu didn’t know when she had passed the dead bodies and entered the room, so he couldn’t suspect her on that alone.

  Then, she had hesitated to heal Leyna, saying she had already tried. However, she had soon healed his sister, so Somnu overlooked it.

  And lastly, and the most important, she was rejected by the Memento Mr. Emberlyn was sure would choose her. What better reason would there be than she had been corrupted for some reason?

  Besides, she seemed to forget what she was wearing that night for a moment there, only to act like it was a joke. And why was she asking about her grandfather when he should have already told her about the Memento himself?

  Somnu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tight. He didn’t want to believe his own suspicions, he hated the thoughts flowing into his mind. For one, it took him back to a world full of deceit and cheating, a world of lies.

  And the other reason he hated those thoughts was because the only thing that could resolve some of those questions and potentially free her from his doubt…

  It was something he didn’t even want to consider. Something that threatened to shatter the barriers around his reality, to lay him bare to a world of true nightmares.

  However…

  “Pop-pop – Grandpa…” Aurora’s hoarse voice broke for a moment, tears overflowing from her previously confident, strength-filled eyes. “He’s already…”

  “...!?”

  “He’s dead…”

  Somnu’s heart dropped, those words weighing the mass of a thousand stars.

  And to make matters worse, his borrowed vision was stuck on the constant reminder of his misfortune.

  The bloodied skull symbol, grinning at him as it always had.

  As if laughing at him, reminding him once more.

  “You failed again, Sleepless Scarecrow.”