“In visions of dark and night 
I have dreamed of a joy departed-"
-A Dream, Edgar Allan Poe (pt.1)

-

Drifting was the easy part. 

It was easy for Sparrow to drift in the darkness of her own thoughts, it was easier for her to forget that she was ever alive to begin with. She was aimlessly drifting in some far place, letting the darkness swallow her whole. She could barely feel small hands grabbing at her, shaking her awake. 

She wanted to keep drifting, and yet when she opened her own eyes all she could see was sunlight. Sunlight spilled into her old room, warming her and yet blinding her all at once as she stood up, startled at the mere feel of it. Startled at the room she was in. 

She looked around with a start, seeing everything was exactly how she left it. Her own desk a mess of college textbooks and novels she had picked up and never finished. Her shoes and clothes were everywhere, evidence of her inability to stay inside long enough to actually clean her space even if it bothered her. 

The small hands moved her again, Sparrow flinching away only to see Alex standing beside her with wide eyes. 

“Jeez, you’ve slept for a year. Papa said to get you up before you ended up hibernating instead,” Alex hummed, picking up a stray candy bar that Sparrow seemed to have left in her bookbag. She stared, panic welling in her heart as a small pain started to form in the back of her head, making her wince slightly as Alex seemed to happily tuck away the bar.

“Alex?”

“Hmm? If it’s about you wanting your candy bar back you aren’t getting it.”

“Alex!” She exclaimed, stumbling to move her blankets off of her as she moved to pull her brother into a tight hug. She pulled him close, nearly squeezing him too tight for him to handle as he hurriedly patted her back in means of tap out. And yet, as she held onto him, she felt nothing. She didn’t feel the warmth of his touch, and could only faintly smell the vanilla that their mother always seemed to dab behind their ears. 

Slowly Alex pulled away, Sparrow rearing back to look him in the eyes, his vivid dark eyes. Her hands were trembling as she took his face in her hands, Alex merely scrunching his nose in response. Nothing. She couldn't feel anything. A void started to grow in her chest as Alex pulled away once more, giving her a questioning look as he slowly backed out of her room and made a break for it with her candy bar.

She merely watched, her hands finding the blanket she had, expecting to feel the soft fuzz, but instead finding nothing. She looked, and it was there. Underneath her unfeeling hands as she ran fingers over the soft material. Slowly did Sparrow get ready, falling into the old habits of the day before finally, she found herself facing her doorway. Her eyes caught the sight of ink where Her height was marked off year by year, Sparrow’s fingers going to run along the etches only to touch nothing.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared long and hard at her hand, obviously touching the frame, obviously coming in contact with some object, with some material thing, and feeling nothing. 

“You've gotten so much bigger since that last mark-”

The voice alone made Sparrow recoil, her eyes growing wide as she looked behind her only to see the man in front of her raise his hands, a worried look in his dark blue eyes. He was already dressed for the day, in a nice clean suit and dress shoes just as he always was. Slowly he lowered his hands, Sparrow blinking rapidly at the man in front of her. 

“Birdie, everything good?” Sebastian asked her softly, Sparrow nearly trembling as she reached out to him, gently poking him in the chest. “Okay, now you're starting to worry me.”

“This isn't real,” Sparrow whispered softly, stepping back slowly only to meet the wall behind her. “You aren't real. Alex isn't real.” Sebastian blinked for a second, looking at his daughter with a raised eyebrow. Sparrow couldn't stand being under his gaze, wanting to cry out, scream, call him an imposter, but she couldn't. She was frozen, stuck in a memory that was too good to be true. “You aren't my papa.”

“Well, I sure hope I am or your mom has some explaining to do,” Bash tried to joke, resting a gentle hand on Sparrows for head before she could flinch away. For some reason, she could feel it. The warmth of his hand against her skin, faint but still there. “You're not running a fever. Come on, your mom made breakfast and if we're not down there soon she'll drag us down.” Sparrow just gawked at her father as he moved to guide her down the stairs. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand, knowing it was too good to be true. To be there, with her dad telling her about something that happened at work. His words faded into the background as a new tone drifted to Sparrow’s ears. The soft notes were off key, and yet vibrant with life that had depleted from the house years ago. Carefully she walked being her father, watching as he immediately moved towards the woman at the dining room table who had the same unruly curls Sparrow had, the same warm dark eyes, the same unfortunate height. She watched her mother laugh as her father kissed her cheek. Her breathing hitched, not believing what she was seeing in front of her. The void grew smaller, instead replaced by the ache to stay.

She stood, petrified, not feeling the warm trail of tears that made their way down her cheek, falling onto the hardwood floors below as one word seemed to resonate within her. Home. She was home.

-

“Where is she?” Eric deadpanned, his eyes piercing into the Sparrow that...that wasn't Sparrow. The woman seemed to laugh, standing up from her piano bench as she slowly moved around, her fingers gliding around the closed lid of the piano. 

“She's still here. I need her to be in order to stay like this. Don't worry though, she's quite happy,” the woman said with a sly wink, not an ounce of fear in her step as she seemed to inch closer to where Eric stood and Eric took an immediate step back. Her eyes seemed to light up in amusement, humming an eerie tone to herself as she carefully ran her fingers over the piano that shouldn’t exist. A chill ran up Eric’s spine as she did so, his breath stilling in his chest as he watched her lips pull into a wicked smile. 

“Oh the way you watch her,” she laughed, spinning right back around to meet Eric’s petrified gaze. “Not in a romantic way. No, but with remorse. Guilt. She notices you know. It’s all up here.” Her slender fingers tapped her temple slowly. She took another step closer just as Eric nearly stumbled taking a step back. A sharp pain ran through his leg at the misstep, but he fought to keep his expression stoic. He had to get to Sparrow. He doomed her once, he wouldn’t leave her for dead again. He stood taller, straightening his back as he took a step forward.

“So you’ve kept her prisoner then? In her own head?” he asked carefully. He knew she was alive in some way, but whether or not that body was Sparrow’s own was yet to be known. “Then she’s not dead.”

“What are you getting at, boy?” the fake Sparrow sneered. Eric cringed slightly, not knowing how to pry at the doppelgangers thoughts. He needed to know if that body was just a manifestation, or if it was the same body that he held not too long ago. Slowly, he took another step forward, the fake raising her chin as if she were the taller one. She knew she was the more intimidating one. And she was. Eric knew she could have made him fall to his knees with one melody. Eric knew he could endure a fate worse than death.

“What do I call you? Surely someone of your talent has a name?” Eric started, motioning towards her carefully. Her eyes followed, fixating on him. 

“I am Nameless. My name died with the memory of me, just as the memory of her will die and wither. Just as yours will.” Eric had to suppress a shudder at her words. Was this what death meant when he had laid out the terms and conditions? He said they would be forgotten. Nameless. Nameless is the price to be paid if they were to fail.  "There's many of us in these woods. We find lost souls. Replace our rotting forms with theirs while they slowly waste away in lost memories. The afterlife isn't a peaceful place for those who didn't make it to an afterlife." 

If there was more than just her then Eric didn't stand a fair chance. He knew this. He knew that he couldn't get very far on his own. The Nameless took advantage of their close proximity as she grabbed onto Eric before he could step out of her reach. He couldn't explain the undeniable warmth that seemed to spread through him like a slow burning fire when her fingers had made contact with his hand. He gritted his teeth but made no move to get away. She pulled him closer, a taunting smile forming on lips that weren't hers as Eric's body tensed almost immediately. Yet, he stood his ground as he faced the nameless woman in front of him.

"Well, you're quite fun to play with. I'm not sure why I'd let this body go when you react so funnily to the slightest touch," she hummed, the melody wrong to Eric's ears. He did his best to remain impassive even if he feared that his facade was slowly crumbling. He pulled away as swiftly as he could manage, barely breathing as he moved back. "Awe, I'm not good enough am I? She is of course. But she's a little preoccupied."

"Let her go. Surely there are others you can find and manipulate," Eric spat, slowly clenching his fists by his sides. He wouldn't hurt her. No, he couldn't hurt her if it would risk hurting Sparrow. He had hurt her enough in the short time he knew her and hadn't wanted to hurt her anymore than he already managed to. Eric watched as the Nameless rolled her eyes, walking away slowly with her back turned to Eric. 

"I'm willing to trade. Haven't been in a male body for a while. My, it was a fun little adventure right there," she said as a widening smile grew on painted red lips. On Sparrow's lips. Lips that had always a soft pink. Lips that had begun to chap with the cold. Eric could have sworn right then he heard a scoff at the thought, unsure whether it was the stranger from before or the woman in front of him. 

Her words took a minute to process with Eric and his mouth went dry. Strangely, the idea didn't bother him as much as the image in front of him. Of a Sparrow that wasn't Sparrow, standing in a desolate forest in a deep red gown. A Sparrow he was sure didn't exist. Eric took a step forward then. Dead leaves broke and crunched underneath his feet as he moved. It was the only sound filling the silence around them. 

He could see his breath fall from his own lips and curl in the air as he finally spoke. "I want to make a deal."

"You're in no position for that," the Nameless chirped without missing a beat as she crossed Sparrows arms over her chest. "I have what you want and you have nothing I want. Where's the fun in that? There's no risk. No adventure. No suffering. Ah, such a bore."

 "I want a chance to find her. To find whatever memory she's stuck in. If I don't find her within two hours you'll have both of us," Eric said coldly. This seemed to get her attention. The Nameless stood straighter then, a devious smile on her lips.

"And if you manage to find her? Am I supposed to set you both free and be forced back into the withering body from before?" 

"There's more champions as far as I know. Surely you'll come across some of them." Saying that aloud caused an uneasy feeling in Eric's chest. He was dooming other souls for his own benefit. Was he any better than the monster in front of him if someone else ended up taking their place?

"That's not enough," the Nameless cooed. "If you manage to find her I'll let her go. I'll let you both go. But if you're to die in the course of Saol's game, or lose, then you're mine. You can take her place. Who knows? She may just follow in Daddy's footsteps." Eric couldn't miss the sneer that came from the last sentence.

Sparrow had a chance if she lost. A chance to do whatever it was the blue eyed man from before would help her do. But Eric? Eric had nothing. Accepting this deal would seal his fate. Though, what life would he be living if it wasn't with Jaime?

Slowly, Eric extended a hand. He wasn't sure how demonic spirits made deals, but this was all he would do. He wasn't prepared for the cold ache that traveled through his arm as the Nameless took his hand in a tight grip. A handshake that would seal his fate should he fail.

Dread filled his heart as he saw a devilish smile spread onto her lips as if she had won a lottery of sorts. He supposed she had. "Two hours. Good luck." The cold continued to spread through him as the Nameless didn't release her grip. Eric's breathing began to quicken as he hurriedly tried to break her grip before he fell to his knees. The cold earth seemed to almost embrace him, to make this cold fire soar through his limbs faster. Soon, an inky blackness started to take over the corners of his sight before all of a sudden it was engulfing him.

Eric could only panic as he grabbed at the Nameless, praying she'd release her tight grip before suddenly both she and the darkness were gone and the deafening sounds of people and cars seemed to buzz all around him. The cold earth beneath him moved and shifted until it was replaced with concrete, Eric slowly standing slowly to take in the scene around him. All around him there was a buzzing city. Life poured from all around him in people trying to catch taxis or walking from one shop to another. The smell of coffee had even hit him from what he assumed was the shop he had been dropped at. 

An unfamiliar shop that stood in a memory that was never his. 

-

A|N shorter than usual but this scene is too long to be in one chapter. Don't worry, I actually have the next chapter almost done! Woo! Surprise! But I've been revisiting and remapping this story. Originally it was meant to be twenty chapters tops....but then I realized I would be rushing this all way more than I would like. Next chapter will be up next week! Shooting for the 17th :)

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-tonks