Flawless [Neteyam x Ao'nung ]

Chapter 12: Be Strong With Me

Floating.

Time feels like it's floating. 

Still.

Cold.

Is this real?

What's happening?

"Neteyam..."

"...Neteyam...."

"WAKE UP!"

Gasping, eyes shooting wide open, and vison immediately blurred - Neteyam immediately had no idea where whether this was reality or a dream.

His ears are ringing, along with hearing the pounding beating of his heart in a scorching melody.

And seeing someone.

Right over his body.

"Spider?"

Fog.

Thundering clouds. 

Noises.

Loud noises.

Breathing, barely breathing.

Spider's voices is far away, murmuring into the air like a lost haze in the wind - near yet so far. 

Sudden flashes forces Neteyam's vision; rows upon rows of the humanoid AMP suits, shifting to the lights blaring the angry sky filled with ash and heat.

Fire.

Bullets.

Familiar... 

And screeching heat blared down from the sky, flying beside the small rock Neteyam was laying on, Spider being blown bacm by it into the deep ocean waters right before his eyes.

No...

NO!

"SPIDER!"

It all stopped.

For once since Neteyam began to get these nightmares, this is the first time he ever heard himself screaming while waking up. His siblings have told him that he does make noises, even screeches in his dream, but when he wakes up, he's met with a painful silence twinkling with his anxiety. This is the first time he heard his voice, and not just from inside his dream. This dream is no different from the rest to how realistic it felt, but this one had something different that the others didn't have.

And that was to show Spider.

He saw him.

He saw him, smiling at him like a vivid memory when he woke up, and then he saw him gone right before his eyes.

Just like a speed of a rapid heartbeat.

Usually when he has nightmares, Neteyam's parents approach it carefully - since they don't know whether he's going to throw a fit, suddenly cry, or get angry and explode.

It's unpredictable.

But this time he was surprised when he felt arms hold him tightly from behind around his upper body - keeping him in a secure yet comforting hold when he shot up from his sleep.

It was the right reaction at the moment because Neteyam was definitely scared, and he couldn't think of anything else besides Spider being gone and those things coming after him. 

"Hey, it's okay. You're fine. You're safe."

Ao'nung's voice was like the smooth caress of the wind against gentle leaves behind Neteyam's ear, cooling him down to realize he's not in his head. Closing his eyes with a heavy relief, Neteyam leans back against his arms while he continued to shake - letting the ocean waves along the shore mellow down his racing heartbeat.